Chapter Three

They both got back into the truck. David started up the engine again, looking at Emma briefly before driving. They didn't say anything until they drove into town.

"Happy to be home?" David asked, trying to be cheerful. Emma didn't answer him. Happy wasn't what she was feeling at all. Sick, Anxious, tired, maybe even powerful. Not happy. She could feel the sparks of her magic just beneath her fingertips. She would be lying if she said it didn't feel great. The power made her feel invincible in a way. But the headache she had made her want to go to bed and never get up. Not to mention how nervous she felt to be seeing everyone, and having to explain to certain people… certain things.

Pulling up to Granny's, David parked and turned the car off. Emma could see through the window that many people were still there. Remembering all the times they had a celebration there, Emma felt a feeling of longing take root in her.

"Are you ready?" David interrupted her thoughts.

"Not really. But I suppose I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Emma sighed. She really didn't want to do this. She didn't want to see all these people at once.

"It's going to be alright." David tried to reassure her.

"I'm not sure that's true. We might as well get it out of the way though. This is pretty unavoidable"

David got out of the car, and walked around to Emma's side. Opening the door for her, Emma looked at him and could tell he felt nervous too. For a moment Emma almost laughed. Of course he'd be a little scared of what Snow was going to do to him since he'd been gone all day.

Emma got out of the car and led the way to the door. She opened it slowly, and they both walked inside. The whole room was buzzing with conversation, but as soon as they stepped inside, it collectively came to a halt. Emma closed the door behind David, avoiding eye contact from anyone in the room. She didn't want to see who was here.

"Emma?" It was Snow. She was over to them in the blink of an eye. Snow pulled Emma into a tight hug. First Emma held back a bit, but then she was hugging her back just as tight. She forgot how good it felt to hug her mom. Snow broke the hug, and held Emma's face. "You're back?"

"Yes."

"Oh I missed you so much!" Snow was hugging her again.

"I missed you too Mom." Emma said softly.

"Sorry to interrupt a tear soaked reunion, but I have a question." Emma broke her hug and looked up to see Regina walking slowly towards her. There was no hint of welcome or happiness in her eyes. Emma understood why, but she really didn't want to fight right now.

"What do you want to know?" Emma said with a little harshness to her voice.

"Where's Henry?" Regina asked looking behind Emma at the door, perhaps hoping he was about to come inside.

"He's not here." Emma said plainly.

"You mean not here as in Granny's or not here as in Storybrooke?" Regina asked. Her voice was taking on a threatening tone now, which spiked Emma's anger.

"He's not in Storybrooke. We left him behind." David answered. Emma was grateful. She knew where this conversation would head if she kept it up.

"May I ask why? Why you seem to be trying to keep my son away from me?" Regina walked right up to Emma.

"Don't test me right now Regina. I'm not in the mood." Emma threatened.

"How am I testing you? I'm asking a question. You take my son away without telling me, and then don't even let him communicate with me or anyone else. I'm allowed to be angry." Regina was on the verge of yelling.

Emma raised one hand in front of her, "Don't start with me, Regina. You tore my family apart. You're the reason I had to grow up without my parents. You tried to convince my son that he was crazy for believing what you did. You don't have a right to anything. I didn't take Henry away from you to keep him from you. He came with me of his own free will. He asked to come with me. I owe you no explanations."

"Emma, stop." Snow said sharply. Emma lowered her hand, glaring at Regina.

"Henry asked to be left behind." David explained softly to Regina.

"I'm sorry Regina." Emma apologized, realizing that there was no point in letting her anger get the best of her. "I know you just miss your son, but he'll be here in a few days."

"You're sorry now?" Regina laughed. Emma felt angry flare up again. She knew the best way to deal with this was to remove herself from the situation.

"I'm going." Emma said to David. "It was a bad idea to come here."

"Emma, no. Don't leave." Snow's voice was almost hysterical.

"I didn't mean leave…leave. I just meant here. Granny's." Emma said in what she hoped was a reassuring tone.

She turned her back and was about to open the door when she heard someone call her, "Swan?"

Emma's breath hitched. Turning back around, she found Killian staring at her from across the room. He had just come from the other entrance. Emma looked around. Everyone was staring at both her and him, waiting for something to happen.

Why did this need to happen here of all places?

Emma stared at him, stunned for a moment; then started walking towards him, pushing past Regina on her way. Finally reaching him, she stopped at a safe distance and looked at the floor awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, Killian." It was the only thing she could say. She was still aware of everyone staring at them. Killian looked around briefly before he looked at her. His eyes. Just like Eva's.

"Where were you?" He asked softly. Emma noticed he was trying to talk quiet so that no one could hear, but it was way too quiet in the diner. Everyone was hanging onto every word.

"A couple hours out of town. I wanted to stay close." She answered. She really wished they could alone for this, but she didn't want to raise suspicion by asking for a word outside. Besides, everyone would know sooner or later.

Killian nodded his head. Looking around again he asked, "Where's your boy?"

"Something I would like to know myself." Regina muttered behind her.

"He asked to stay behind."

"Why?" Killian asked.

"Because he was…he didn't want…" Oh, God. This was so hard. She couldn't find the words Taking a deep breath she looked into his eyes. She could see so much hurt in them, so much pain that she had caused. And it was about to get worse. So much worse.

She tore her eyes away from him and scanned the room again. Seated in one of the booths was a boy about three years old with black hair and grey eyes. Neal. He was looking straight at her with a bit of confusion on his face.

Tearing her eyes away from her brother, she looked back up at Killian. "He wanted to wait until I got a grasp of the darkness; to wait and make sure that I wasn't going to be too dangerous. Give me time to come up with a way to get rid of this before…he came."

"Was he afraid you would hurt him?" She heard her mother ask from behind her. She glanced over and saw her mother walk over and pick up Neal. The sight made her wish she had her own little one to cling to.

"No. He just wanted to make sure…" She paused for just a second "that my daughter didn't have to see me like this."

She closed her eyes. Everyone was talking again. Why did this have to be so dramatic? Opening her eyes once again, she saw Killian's face fall. She could hear Snow gasp behind her.

"Your daughter, Swan?" Killian asked, trying to smile. "You found someone else."

Emma stared at him, her mouth opening slightly.

"No! Your daughter." Emma said quickly. "Ours."

Killian stepped back in shock. Emma couldn't think of anything else to say. Everyone was quiet again.

"She's beautiful, Killian." David said.

"She looks just like you. Here." Emma reached into her pocket for her wallet. She opened it and pulled out a picture. She handed it out to him, and he took it. She noticed his hands were shaking slightly.

He sat there looking at the picture for a moment before Snow came over apprehensively. "Can I see?"

"Oh here. I have a ton on my phone." Emma said, handing her phone to her mother. A whole crowd of people gathered around Snow's shoulder looking over, as Snow swiped through the photos.

"She's gorgeous, Emma." Snow whispered tearfully.

Emma looked back at Killian staring at the picture. Finally he looked back at her. He looked like he was about to say something, but then he walked past her and headed out the door. Emma followed him quickly. Getting back outside, she started running towards him.

"Killian, wait!" She didn't really expect him to stop, but he did. He turned around to face her again quickly, and Emma almost bumped into him.

"Wait? Haven't I waited for you long enough, Emma?" He was holding back tears. Emma's heart broke for him. "You left! You turned off your bloody phone so I couldn't get in touch with you. And this whole time, you had… you had a child? Our child? And you didn't think it was import enough to let me know?"

"I know! I know alright!" Emma shouted over him. "I'm a horrible person. I get it."

"Why? If you had to leave, why didn't you let me come with you? You know all I've ever wanted was to be with you. Did you find out you were expecting, and just rush to get away from me?"

"No." Emma stated plainly. "I didn't know before I left."

"Why didn't you tell me after? Why did you stay away?" A tear escaped down his cheek. Emma realized she had never actually seen him cry, and she was the cause of it.

Because I'm a monster, she thought to herself. After a minute of silence between them, she spoke again.

"Listen. I don't expect you to forgive me. I know what I did is unforgivable." Emma said, walking closer to him. She reached down and held his hand. "But I would like for you to get to know her. Eva. I want you to be a part of her life. If you want to be."

"Of course." Emma felt him squeeze her hand gently. Lifting the picture back up, he stared at it again for a second. "Can I keep this?"

"Yes. Yes you can." Emma let go of his hand and stepped back. "I never stopped loving you. Please know that. I truly am sorry, Killian."

Killian nodded at her but didn't answer. Emma turned around and started walking away. She figured she would walk back to the loft for now, not wanting to go back into Granny's. Her head was pounding with every step she took. She couldn't bring herself to look behind her to see if Killian was still there.

Killian looked after her for a while, before sighing and putting the picture of Eva into his pocket. Turning around in the other direction, he walked towards the docks; his favorite place to process through his thoughts.

She hadn't answered his question. She always found a way around these sorts of things. He figured being the Dark One didn't exactly help her in opening up to him. Maybe he should just resign himself to never understanding why she would leave him. It didn't make it hurt any less. Glancing back briefly, he saw her outline disappear into the night.

A/N

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