When Emma and Regina arrived at the camp they discovered that Snow and David had already returned and were accompanied by Hook and Neal. When Neal laid his eyes on Henry in Regina's arms, his hand flew to his mouth. Snow and David had informed him and Hook of what had happened, but seeing it with his own eyes was certainly something else.
"Hey guys..." Emma said.
"That's him?" Neal asked a little faintly, still not able to believe it.
"Yeah. This is Henry. I know it seems hard to believe but trust me it's him."
Henry was still asleep and most of his face was hidden against Regina's jacket.
Neal stared at the boy. "He's so small." He smiled.
Regina was eyeing the man closely. She hadn't yet grown used to the idea of having to share her son with him as well as Emma. And now that she had this Henry, she felt even more reluctant. This Henry was hers. She hadn't had to share him the first time around and she shouldn't have to now. Letting Emma get to know him seemed like quite enough already.
"Well I'm glad to see the lad's alright," Hook said. "In a matter of speaking anyways. But shouldn't we get a move on?"
"A move on where?" Snow asked.
"Why back to my ship of course. Or did you forget that we still need to get off this blasted island?"
"But we can't leave yet," Emma said. "First we need to find out what happened to Pan. Neal, we're going to need to look at your coconut star-map thing to see if Pan's shadow is still in there... and we still don't know where Gold is. We aren't leaving without him."
"Have you forgotten love? He's the one who left us in the first place. Why should we bother waiting for him?"
"Because without him David can't go home!" Snow said, holding onto her husband's arm.
"Mary Margaret..." David began.
"I agree," Regina spoke over him. "We should wait for Gold before we try to leave. He helped us find Henry, we owe it to him."
"That settles it," Emma said. "We're staying 'til we find Gold. And who knows, maybe he'll be able to help us figure out what happened to Pan."
"As the lady wishes." Hook gave a small bow which caused the blonde to roll her eyes, but give a small smile all the same.
"Even so," David said. "Maybe going back to the ship isn't such a bad idea. We can defend it better than we can the campsite. It might be the best option for keeping Henry safe."
"He's right." Emma agreed. "Just because Henry has changed doesn't mean the Lost Boys will stop coming after him."
"Let them try." Regina said darkly. "No one is getting anywhere near my son. I will destroy anyone who so much as gives it a thought."
"A lioness protecting her cub..." Hook muttered under his breath.
Emma was watching Regina suspiciously, noting the revert to claiming that Henry was hers and hers alone.
"So, I guess we're heading back to the ship after all?" Snow asked.
"That depends," Emma started. "Neal do you still have your map with you?"
"I left it with Tink."
"Okay, can you go get her and meet the rest of us back at the ship?"
"Yeah of course."
"I'll accompany you mate." Hook offered.
"Thanks man."
"The rest of us should stay together and look after Henry." David said. "Not that I don't think you can take care of him yourself Regina." He added in response to the look she was giving him.
"No, you're right." She replied. "I won't object to having more people guarding him. I will not lose him again." She glanced down at the toddler and her eyes warmed at how peaceful he looked. Not to mention how wonderful it felt to have him in her arms again.
"Keep him safe." Neal said to Emma.
"No one will be able to hurt Henry with all of us here to protect him." Emma said. "We'll take good care of him."
"See you all back at the ship?" Hook said, clearly getting impatient to head out.
"Good luck." Snow smiled at the two men before they disappeared into the woods.
"I guess we'd better get going too," David said.
"Hey Regina, if you need someone else to carry him for a while I can." Emma offered.
"Thank you but I'm fine."
"You sure? You've been carrying him for a while now. Your arms must be getting sore."
"I said I'm fine."
"You should save your strength. We never know if or when we're gonna face another attack."
"In the case of that happening I want Henry close to me."
"Regina, we're all here to protect him." David said.
"Even though he's not our Henry he's still special to all of us." Snow added.
"I know that. But... I just want to hold him. I... I've missed him so much."
None of them, not even Regina, was sure of which Henry she was referring to.
"Okay." Emma said. "It's your choice. I guess we should head out then."
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
Not surprisingly, Neal, Hook and Tink had not yet returned when everyone else reached the Jolly Roger.
"Why don't we wait out here until they get back?" Snow offered.
"You mean you haven't had enough of the great outdoors yet?" Regina scoffed.
"Well, the weather is pretty great, what can it hurt?" Emma said.
"I'm sorry, I thought we were coming back to the ship because it was safer. Now that we're here you've changed your mind?"
"Go aboard if you want, we're not stopping you."
"Emma we should stick together." David reminded her.
"I wanna see the boat!" Henry said from David's shoulders. David had been piggy backing him through the forest once Regina had finally admitted that she needed a break from carrying him.
Regina rubbed Henry's back, "I'm sorry sweetheart but no one else besides us wants to." She looked pointedly at the others.
"Awww..." Henry frowned.
"Fine, whatever, let's go." Emma shook her head a little at Regina. "Sorry Mary Margaret."
"Emma it's fine! It was just a suggestion." Snow grinned.
"Alright, we'd better get the life boat ready so we can head back."
"Or I could just..." Regina began.
"No."
A few minutes later they had taken the little boat out of its hiding place and everyone had piled in. Emma was sitting at the front, David was rowing in the middle and Henry sat snuggly between Snow and Regina at the back.
Henry continued to be in awe of everything he saw.
"Mommy look!" Henry excitedly pointed towards some bright red fish.
"Henry!" Regina grabbed a hold of him before he toppled overboard. "Stay in your seat!"
"But there are so many fishies!"
"I know Henry, but you need to sit down so the boat stays balanced. I don't want you falling in."
"But then I can't see!"
Regina sighed. She patted her leg and then helped her son sit down on her lap, wrapping her arms securely around him. She scooted closer to Snow to even out the weight.
"Better?" She asked.
"Yes thank you." Came Henry's pleased reply.
"What are you guys doing back there?" Emma called from the front.
"Everything's fine now!" Snow answered. "Henry was just looking at some fish."
"Well let's just all stay in the boat okay? If one of us goes in we're probably all going in."
"Do you still think rowing was the best idea?" Regina challenged. "We could be there by now if you would just let me..."
"No!"
"Look Henry," Snow whispered.
Henry gasped as he saw the little blue fish in her hands.
"Just how did you manage to catch that?" Regina asked disapprovingly. "Ughh never mind." She added, knowing her stepdaughter's nature.
"Look at all the scales it has," Snow delicately petted the creature.
"Wow! Can I touch it?" Henry asked.
"No," Regina said quickly. "It's probably full of bacteria."
"But Mary's holding it."
"Well Mary has self control issues when it comes to animals."
"What's self contol?"
"Alright fine, you can pet Nemo. But be gentle. And only one finger."
"His name's Nemo?"
"What? Oh... I suppose it can be." Regina said, forgetting that Henry hadn't seen this particular film yet.
"The blue fish is Dory, not Nemo." Emma was smirking as she peered around David.
"No one asked you."
Emma just shook her head in amusement as Snow allowed Henry to pet the fish once more before releasing it back into the water.
"Apparently we're missing all the fun back there." David said to Emma.
"It appears so."
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
"This boat is HUGE!" Henry beamed.
As soon as he got on board he immediately began running across the deck with Regina chasing after him.
"Henry be careful!"
"Regina maybe just let him explore, he can't really go anywhere and this is an exciting adventure for a kid." Emma called over the ruckus, just stepping onto the main deck.
"Are you crazy?! This place is an accident waiting to happen! Henry stop!"
"Mommy it's like in Peter Pan!" Henry shouted happily as he barely missed falling through the open hatch that led to below deck.
He stopped abruptly to stare up the sails and Regina just about tackled him.
Henry was giggling at her uncharacteristic behaviour until he saw the expression on her face.
His own face fell. "What?"
"Henry," she said in a shaky voice, holding him firmly in her arms. "What did I tell you before we got on the ship?"
"No running." The three year old said in a small voice.
"Next time listen to me. Do you see that door right there?"
Henry nodded.
"You almost fell through it and if you had you could have been seriously hurt. It's dangerous up here."
Ashamed, Henry looked away. Regina gently placed two fingers under his chin. "Look at me," she said softly. "It's dangerous. This is not a playground. Do you understand me?"
"Yes mommy."
Regina pulled him into a hug and she felt his arms go around her back.
"Regina are you alright?" Snow frowned, noticing how pale the other woman's face had become.
Regina looked up at the other three adults, still holding Henry close.
"You said Peter Pan," she whispered to Henry.
He pulled back from her and nodded vigorously. "This ship, it's like the one in Peter Pan."
"How do you know that story?"
"We watched it in preschool."
Regina exhaled deeply. "You see what filth your school lets my son watch?" She snarled at Snow.
"It's not my fault! I didn't show it to him. And Regina it is just a harmless children's movie."
"Harmless!" Regina began to stand, picking Henry up along with her. "It's nothing but lies! It's probably one of the reasons he trusted the brat in the first place!"
"Look," Emma said steadily. "I know everyone is a little on edge right now but Regina you need to calm down. Nothing happened. Henry's fine."
Regina's eyes softened as she looked back down at the little boy. "I know."
She was surprised when she felt the blonde's hand on her arm.
"Come on, let's show him around the ship."
Reviews are welcomed and encouraged!
