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Chapter 3
"Where are you taking me?" Emma asked for the fifth time. Tugging her along by her forearm, Neal lead her to the middle of nowhere.
"Just keep your eyes closed and stop asking!" He replied with a smug grin stretched across his face. He had been dragging her since they got out of town and made her cover her eyes ever since.
"You're not gonna put me down like Ol' Yeller are you? Cause I gotta say, I might just be able to out run you."
A bright smile lit up his face as he listened to her complain about his surprise. "She never was a patient one." He thought.
"Hey! There is no way that you can out run me, alright? I am speedy quick!" he taunted.
"Shall we test that theory?" she bantered back. She knew that he was in fact quicker in a dead sprint. But she knew how to cut a corner in order to catch up with him. Sighing, she rolled her eyes that were hidden beneath her palms.
"Hey, no rolling your eyes, now. This will be worth it. I promise."
Dang he was good. He didn't even have to see her eyes to know she was rolling them at him. They were like an old married couple the way that they knew too much about the other person. Guess that was sort of inevitable now though seeing as they were both living in the back of the old yellow bug together and when they could, scraping enough cash to get a motel room cheap. She didn't mind it though. Heck, she preferred this running around life to the crappy one she grew up in. At least here with Neal, she had someone she could depend on. She had never had that before.
The sound of rushing water brought her out of her thoughts. Where on earth was he taking her?
"Ready?" he whispered in her ear. With a nod of her head, he moved his hands so that they covered her own and gently slid them down her face, quickly grabbing her in a hug around her back before planting a soft kiss on the side of her cheek.
Looking around, she noticed that they were surrounded by complete darkness. The sweet smell of flowers mixed with a scent of a musty cave, she noticed that they were behind a waterfall. Standing about 10 feet wide, he held her close and buried his nose in the crook of her neck, smiling from ear to ear.
Swooping down, he swiped an arm behind her knees and the other behind her shoulders, swiftly cradling her to his chest in a matter of a second. Gasping at the sudden movement, she squirmed in his grasp as he held her close.
"Put me down, you crazy…"
She was stopped abruptly as he crushed his lips to hers in an attempt to keep her from talking. She could feel him grinning as he kissed her softly. Pulling back, he gave her a devilish smile before taking a tentative step back from the waterfall.
"Wait. What are you…?"
Running forward, he lept through the water, still carrying her in his strong arms. As soon as they jumped through, soaked through their clothes, he threw her out from him before they both splashed into the warm waters below.
Pushing up, she broke the surface of the waters gasping in air. Neal came up from behind her, a huge smile was plastered to his face and she couldn't help but smile back.
"You were starting to stink up the car, thought you could use a bath" He teased.
With that snarky comment, she shoved his head underwater with a playful shove and got a quick tug on her feet as he stayed below. Splashing from the ticklish spot, she sunk herself down into the water until she was nose to nose with him, bringing his lips to hers. Both needing to breath, they broke the surface in a feverish mess of tangled wet hair and soaked, clinging clothing. And they weren't planning on getting dry anytime soon.
"Emma? Emma!"
"S-sorry. What?" Shaking her head from up in the clouds, Emma tried to focus back to the person that was sitting across from her.
"You need to focus if you are to get this spell perfect. Do you understand? One thing wrong, and this entire plan goes up in smoke." Regina tried to meet her students' gaze but found it difficult as Emma couldn't seem to focus completely. With a tired sigh, Regina decided to call it a night. They had been working on magic the whole afternoon and after awhile, Emma seemed to become lost in her thoughts. She knew exactly where she was daydreaming though. She had done her fair share of daydreaming and reminiscing after Daniel and knew a broken-hearted dreamer when she saw one.
Seeing Regina beginning to gather up her coat, Emma braced herself once again, preparing for the task at hand. She had to get this right. This was her one job. And there was no way that she was going to back down now. Not when they had come this far to getting Neal back.
Eying Emma tentatively, Regina stood again towards her; hands out where a tiny, blue light rose up from her palm and hovered over her hands.
"In order for this to work, you have to think of your strongest more precious memory of him. Something that you will never forget no matter how many years have gone by. A memory that depicts the deepest kind of love that exists. Do you have one in mind?"
Thinking back to her latest day dream, she nodded. That was the first night that she and Neal and made love. The first night that they promised each other that they would never leave each other, no matter how rough things got. That was the night that Emma knew she had met her true match in the world and it was now what was going to bring him back to her.
Taking a deep breath in and closing her eyes, Emma remembered Neal whispering in her ear about keeping her eyes closed, his callused hands guiding her in the dark. The tentative kiss under the waterfall before he plunged her into the water. His giggling and laughter filling the air with every intake of breath he took when he came to the surface of the lake. Their bodies becoming one underneath the water.
Snapping her eyes back open, she breathed out and extended her hands away from her body. Turning her palms up, a glowing incandescent light rose up into the air. The small ball hovered there momentarily before climbing upwards towards the sky.
Breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of the beautiful magic she had just conjured, Emma smiled up at her artwork. The light began to swirl out and seemed to lick the air around it.
Bringing her hands back together, she clapped them and the light fell back into her hands. Looking up from her hands to Regina, her friend smiled brightly back as she too brought her hands together.
Regina had come to her a few days ago and had questioned Emma about what she wished to accomplish when it came to bringing Neal back. And after seeing the determination in her friend's eyes, she had happily asked around for a favor from a genie that she had known long ago. He owed her one anyways from when she took her mother from them in Wonderland and spared them as having her horrid mother as their queen, but she was sure that he would have done it anyways despite that. He had been told the story of the hero who saved the entire town of Storybrooke and who had put his life to an end in order to do so.
The spell came from his mother who was once a powerful sorceress before she died. It was known as a soul star. Based off of the memory of the person who cast the spell, the soul star would then search out its' other half and bring light back to those that were lost. The magic itself, was ancient, forgotten about after years of people not practicing their own magic and turning to those that would do their bidding for them. If done correctly, there were no lingering side effects on either end. As long as the bond between the two souls was strong, the magic would hold tight and last till they were old with age.
Feeling a sense of accomplishment after a hard day's work, Emma leaned into Regina's side as she wrapped her long arms around her friend's torso. Feeling her squeeze back, they slowly began walking from the woods back to town where they would get a good night's rest before performing the magic again tomorrow, but this time, it wouldn't be for practice.
So Emma really didn't have to go to Wonderland after all! Everything she needed was inside her all along :) haha yeah yeah I'll shut up now.
I know this took forever and I do apologize. Kinda got lost in work and vacation and life. But I'm back and I'm thinking that this story will come to a close in just a few chapters... 3 or 4 maybe? Just depends!
As always, please leave a review for me to let me know what you think! What you like, dislike, it's all good stuff! I love hearing from you guys!
Until the next chapter,
uniquelytypical
