Lost and Found
part 7
Bella and Killian had just filled the bottles with magical water from the spring when Emma called them on the mirror. When they got back from getting the shadow, which had been much faster than they had thought it would be, they had found Neal's jacket, the one he was wearing when he fell through the portal, lying on the ground in front of the cave's hidden entrance. Snow could see the tracks and they were following it. Bella and Killian hurried and ran as fast as they could to catch up with Emma and the others, only to stop in front of the Echo caves.
"This can't be good..." Tinkerbell shook her head.
"We lost half our crew in there the last time Captain..." Smee said as he shook with fear.
"Whatever Pan has planned for us, it can't be good." Hook replied before he explained to them what this cave did before leading the way inside.
They all followed him, except Smee who offered to stay outside and keep watch. Once they were all standing in front of the deepest hole they had ever seen, they looked up to see Neal on the other side of the hole, sitting in a cage.
"So, what's the plan? I tried using my powers and it doesn't work." Bella asked Killian.
"I told you what needed to be done. We need to reveal a secret. The biggest the secret is, the bigger its echo will be." Hook said.
"So... Anyone wants to kick things off?" David asked, looking around nervously.
"I suppose I can do it." Killian nodded, knowing that being the first to speak in a situation like this one was hard and willing to show Bella that he could be a good man.
"I never thought that I'd ever be able to move on from my first love, my Milah. That's until I met you, Bella. What I felt when I first saw you, I had never experienced before in my life. It was like for the first time, I could see the sun shining on my dark life. I know you're going through something, that you need time to get over your loss but I do Love you and I'm not going anywhere. When you're ready to be with someone again, I'll be there. I won't give up and I'll do anything in my power to make you happy, even if you never love me back." Killian hadn't looked away from Bella while he spoke and when he was done everything shook, revealing a portion of the bridge to get to Neal in his cage.
Bella blushed and didn't know what to answer. She was about to open her mouth to tell him that she was flattered and needed some time but that she would give him a chance eventually when Leroy said:
"My turn next. I'm still in Love with Nova. I know that Blue doesn't want to let us be together because Nova's a fairy and I'm a dwarf but I can't help my feelings. I love her, dream of us together every night and go out of my way everyday just to cross her and see her smile at me. Actually, that happens twice a day because I found a way to accidentally cross her in the afternoon as well." Leroy spoke very quickly.
"Blue's an idiot, I lost my wings because of her and her overly strict rules. If she had let me do what I wanted to do, Regina would have moved on in love, she'd have never cast her curse and I'd still be a fairy." Tinkerbell said, rolling her eyes in the process just before everything shook and another part of the bridge was revealed.
"Leroy, I'm sure that we'll find a solution to this... We'll speak with Blue... If Nova shares your feelings... There has to be a solution." Snow told him with a gentle smile and he nodded.
There was still a part of the bridge missing and Gold stepped forward while Bella stayed silently next to Killian.
"I guess I can complete this bridge. It's no secret that I've done horrible things in order to get my son back but there is one thing I've learned when I thought that Bae was dead: I'd rather die and know that he's alive and well rather than lose him again. A long time ago, shortly after Bae fell in the portal, I went to see a seer who told me that the boy who'll reunite me with my son would be my undoing. This boy is Henry. I've spent my entire life sure that when I met this boy, whoever he'd be, that I'd kill him but when I found out that he was my grandson... I couldn't. That's why I came here, that's what I separated from my shadow and gave it my dagger before we left the ship. I will save Henry, and now that Neal's back, I'll save him as well. I won't survive this trip, Belle knows it, I left her a letter explaining everything and she'll find it eventually. I'm living my last days and I'm at peace with that, because I know that not only is it the right thing, but I deserve it after everything I've done in my life." The Dark one explained, making the rest of the bridge complete itself.
They knew that he was saying the truth, that he was determined to die in order to protect his son and his grandson and it moved them all, especially Neal who had heard everything from his cage.
Bella waited until Emma reached Neal safely before she told the others that she'd wait outside and asked Killian to follow her there.
"I... You're right, I'm not ready to move on yet... I mean, I do feel something for you. Don't get me wrong, I know it's there but... I need some time to sort through everything, especially the guilt. I just want you to know that when I'm ready, you will have your chance because I can see past the pirate. I know that you're also a man of honor, a good man, behind this pirate facade." She told him, blushing and looking down as she spoke.
"Thank you, it means a lot to me that you'd say that." He nodded, replacing a loose strand of her hair softly, brushing her cheek on the way.
"I... If you want... I mean, it's the same to me, I just want you to know that if you want your hand back, once we're back in Storybrook, I can give it to you. I know that Rumple kept it in a jar that's in his shop... I... I mean, I'll still like you if you keep your hook, it has nothing to do with me or anything..." She added quickly, feeling like she wasn't being very clear with her words.
"I... I'd like that." he nodded with a smile on his face, already imagining Bella in his arms and being able to touch her with both of his hands.
They were silent for a while, ignoring Smee who wasn't far behind them and when everyone finally came out of the cave, Bella and Hook finally broke their gazing at each other and they went back to Neal's cave to plan what they would do next.
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"How do you plan on leaving?" Neal asked them once they were all inside the cave.
"I have a bean." Bella assured him.
"Good. So what's the plan?" He asked.
"Tinkerbell gets us in the camp, Bella uses her magic to put the Lost boys to sleep while I call my shadow back. Pan will sense her magic and it will hide mine. Then I fight my father, kill us both. You all go back home with Henry." Gold summarized.
"Isn't there a way to defeat Pan and keep you alive Papa?" Neal asked his father.
"It's the only way. You can only kill Pan if you're willing to die too and if we don't kill him, he'll keep on coming back after Henry. We can't have that." Gold shook his head.
"Okay crocodile, I know that we're not friends, far from it and that we're only starting to tolerate each other but if there's one thing I've learned from their hero type is that there is always another solution." Hook replied.
"He's right. All we need is a way to make Pan prisoner, then we can take him back with us and if we take him across the town line, since he doesn't have his shadow, it'll kill him and we'll be rid of him." Bella nodded.
"Well, I've already tried to use squid ink on him and it didn't last very long. It won't be enough to take him all the way back home." Neal shook his head.
"I have something that could help, Pandora's box... But it's in my shop, back in Storybook." Gold told them.
"Going back to get it and coming back here would take too much time, we need something else..." Emma shook her head.
"And Pan would definitely sense us leaving and try to block us from coming back." Smee added.
"Maybe we can try and get a mermaid to go and get it for us..." Snow suggested.
"The same ones who tried to kill us when we arrived? Mermaids can't be trusted, especially here." Hook reminded her.
"I might know of one... I'm sure you remember Ariel, Snow? Regina took her voice away to punish her for helping you escape but I can give it back to her, and give her legs... Her Prince is in Storybrook so that will be enough to convince her to help us, especially if you're with me when I ask her..." Gold explained.
"Okay then, we do that and when we have it, we rush to the camp and get Henry back." Emma nodded.
"No, we need to do something else first. No matter what we do to Pan and the Lost boys, Pan's shadow will come after us and kill us if we're not careful. I have a way to keep it prisoner." Neal said.
"The coconut, yes Hook told us. We already used it. We have the shadow." David nodded.
"You do? Great. Then I guess we can all go." Neal smiled.
"I just hope this Ariel can be trusted, my experience with mermaids isn't that good." Hook said.
"If she's anything like the Ariel from our world's tales, I love her already. Little Mermaid was always one of my favorite Disney movies." Bella smiled.
"The Disney movie is pretty good but the actual book isn't that happy... The evil squid witch wins in the book." Emma told Bella.
"I know, that's why I pretend this book doesn't exist. I'm all for happy endings and when a story doesn't have what I think is the proper happy ending, I just pretend it ends the way I want it to end." Bella replied with a smile.
"Always looking at things on the bright side... I should try it." Emma nodded.
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The way to the beach was quiet. Neal was walking by hi father's side, talking together, catching up and making peace. Hook was walking behind them, with David. Snow and Tinkerbell were right behind them and Bella and Emma were closing the walk, both trying to avoid any romantic conversation they weren't quite ready for yet. Bella used the time to give Emma advises on how to use her magic.
"I'm getting better, I even managed to light the fire last night!" Emma reminded Bella.
"I know... What do you say we try something a bit funnier while we walk?" Bella suggested.
"What do you have in mind?" Emma asked her with a small smile.
"Let's mess with them a bit... Try to get Neal's jacket in your hands." Bella whispered, pointing to the boys.
"Okay, I can do that." Emma nodded before she tried to concentrate.
"Hey, what happened to my belt?" Neal called out a few seconds later, making Bella laugh.
Everyone turned to look at Bella who was laughing while Gold, who seemed to already know the answer, chuckled.
"Emma, I said get his jacket, not his belt!" Bella exclaimed in laughter.
"I don't know what happened! I swear I was trying to get his jacket!" Emma replied, looking in confusion at the belt in her hand.
"Perhaps you couldn't concentrate on his jacket because your mind was thinking about something else..." Hook smirked, amused by this.
"Let's... let's go back to finding this mermaid... I think I'm done practicing for the day." Emma replied with a blush, giving Neal his belt back without looking him in the eyes.
Bella shared an amused smile with Killian before she followed Emma.
When they finally arrived, Rumpelstiltskin called for Ariel and with Snow by his side, told her what they needed from hr. of course she agreed and promised to come back as soon as possible. While they waited, they light a fire and Bella decided to take a step forward in their plan. She destroyed the shadow by throwing the coconut in the fire's flames. The flames turned blue and green for a few seconds and they knew that the shadow had been destroyed.
"Do you think that Pan felt this?" Emma asked Neal.
"I don't know... I hope so." He replied.
"At the very least it has weakened him. He can be killed much easier now." Killian added.
"Good, one less insufferable brat will do everyone some good around here." Tinkerbell replied, shaking her head.
They waited for a little less than a day before Ariel came back with the box Gold wanted. They had taken the time t rest and talk about various subject and as soon as they had Pandora's box, protected by Emma and Bella's light magic so pan couldn't steal it, they made their ways to the camp, warning Henry quietly about what was about to happen.
After that, everything happened very fast. Break into the camp, put the Lost boys to sleep, put Pan into the box, rescue Henry. There were a few surprises, like the presence of Neal's old friend Wendy but everything went pretty well for them all. When the Lost boys finally woke up, they were tied up and given the choice to go back with them and find a home, a family, or stay on the Island. Since Felix was the only one who wanted to stay, they let him, knowing that without the shadow, he wouldn't be able to leave anytime soon.
They walked out of the camp, leaving Felix behind, not caring about checking what he was doing. None of them saw him following them and coming aboard the ship.
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"So everything went pretty well... are you okay? I mean, I couldn't help but notice how pensive you looked." Hook told her as they sailed away from the land to use one of her beans to go back home.
"I'm fine... Just thinking about my life, my past and what I thought my future would be like... I can see myself in these boys... I just hope they'll all find a welcoming and understanding home." She replied.
"I'm sure they will, and if not, there's always a solution. You'll find it." He smiled at her.
"What about you, are you going to stay in Storybrook or are you going to go back to pirating?" Bella asked him.
"I thought I made that very clear when I told you I loved you in the Echo caves. I'm not going anywhere unless that's where you're going as well." He told her, looking at her with so much intensity that it made her blush and look down.
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Felix waited until everyone had left the ship to go to their welcome back party at Granny's dinner before he left his hiding spot on the Jolly Roger to spy on the other lost boys. He got very angry when he saw that they had truly all switched sides but he got even angrier when the Savior released Pan outside town, where there was no magic. There, without his shadow to protect him and keep him alive, Pan died quickly.
A revenge plan already forming in his head, Felix used what little magic Pan had taught him to locate the Evil Queen's vault. As he entered it, Felix didn't notice a silent alarm, that David and Emma had installed after Regina's death and that was tied to a modern surveillance system, turning it on and filming his every moves in the dead queen's vault. He looked around for a while before he finally found what he was looking for:
the dark curse that had created this town.
He knew that casting it would cost him his life since now that Pan was dead the one he loved most was himself, but he didn't care, he was willing to die to avenge Peter and give them all hell for killing him. He would crush his own heart and curse the entire town to a terrible fate.
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"What's going on, why did you ask us here?" Bella asked Emma when she arrived at the station the next morning, at the same time as Hook (who had come from his own room at Granny's).
Emma's parents, Neal, Gold and Ruby were there as well. Without realizing what she was doing, Bella went to stand by Killian's side.
"Felix broke into Regina's vault. Look what the camera got." Emma said, playing the tape for them.
"What is he holding?" Bella asked.
"The curse. The scroll Regina used to cast the curse." Gold replied.
"THE curse?" Ruby asked.
"Do you think he's going to cast it?" David asked.
"Maybe he already did... The ideal spot would be the wishing well..." The Dark One replied.
"I'll call Leroy and ask him to check it out." Snow nodded.
Of course they found out that Felix had, indeed, cast the curse and killed himself in the process. In order to save them all, Gold, who had created the curse, could destroy it but it would take everyone back in the Enchanted Forest.
Emma would have to stay behind with her son and since Neal didn't come with the curse, he could also escape it. They would get new memories and be happy together.
"Can't we use one of Bella's beans to go in the Enchanted Forest on our own?" Henry asked.
"Sadly, Felix's curse is already blocking any other portals... And bringing us back will block any portals in the Enchanted Forest..." Gold shook his head.
"Don't worry, I think I know how to bring you back to the Enchanted Forest later. I'll go with Killian to find his ship since we don't know where the curse will take it, then we'll sail it far enough from the Enchanted Forest and use one of my beans to get back here. I'm sure Rumple can work on a memory potion for the three of you in the mean time." Bella told Emma.
"I'll make sure you remember Bella and Killian as old friends of yours. Friends you made soon after meeting each others." Rumple promised.
"And here I thought I'd be the one who'd have to follow you..." Killian told Bella, who smiled.
"This doesn't mean anything yet, you know that right?" She asked him.
"Of course." he nodded.
If they didn't have much time to prepare for their departure back in the Enchanted Forest, Bella packed her most precious possessions in her backpack and kept it on her. She'd track down the rest later with her magic.
When the time for Rumpelstiltskin to destroy the scroll came, Emma had said goodbye to everyone and had crossed the town's line with her son and her first love, waiting for their memories to be gone before they drove off.
Right before they were taken in the smoke, Killian hooked his arm around Bella's waist, assuring her with a smirk that he was only doing it so they'd land in the same place. She only shook her head and let the warmth of his arm reassure her as she was taken to the place she had been born in.
One more chapter, after that, I think it'll be over.
Review please?
Lorelei Candice Black
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