Bae awoke to a banging on the room door. Although he hated to get up and leave the warmth of his bed, the hope that Emma decided to talk to him and and listen forced him out of bed and running to the door. Seeing her face on the other side of that door would be the best thing that has happened to him in a very long time.
Turning the knob and flying the door open, his heart beat faster. She was there.
"Okay, what's going on?" Emma forcefully asked Neal.
There she was. Standing, looking pissed at ever but to Neal, still as beautiful as the day he betrayed her to the police and left her forever. He wasn't sure if he was glad that she still had her spunk or afraid now that she was standing in front of him. After all, she didn't remember. He wasn't sure what memories Regina had given her and Henry but he was sure that she would still remember him betraying her and with the attitude she was sending him, he was right.
"I don't know what's happening and I don't really care. All I want to know is how you know of Henry. So start talking."
Bae barely heard what she said when he had to shake his head to get himself out of his thoughts. Right. Emma was here and she was demanding answers. He just wasn't sure if he had the right ones. Belle was right when she asked him how they would get her to remember anything if they didn't have magic. He really wished now that he came up with some kind of answer. Wait. He did.
"Emma, please. Just stay calm and I will explain. I know you don't remember this but you need to believe that it's true." Now he was just was just shooting at the sky.
"Believe what? What aren't you telling me?"
"This isn't something I can tell you right now. Listen, just give me a moment to get ready and then we can go down stairs, get some breakfast and talk. Please?" Emma stayed silent.
"Please Emma. Just trust me."
"I did. Once. It was a mistake then and I'm sure it's a mistake now. How do you know of Henry?"
Neal had to smile at himself and he realized that Emma really never changed, no matter what memories she had. Always assertive and demanding. Always to the point.
"Please? Let's talk over breakfast?" Bae pleaded. He really couldn't just blurt it out like last time they met again after he left. He remembered how that went, even if she didn't.
"Fine." She said.
Bae went back into the room and wrote a note for Belle and Ricky saying that Emma finally came and that he would be downstairs talking to her. He and Emma then finally left to talk. He only prayed it turned out even a little better than last time.
"So, where's Henry?" He asked.
"You don't get to know that. What's going on."
He had to agree with her on that. To him, they made up but to her, she was back to when he had left her to the police. Despite what he knew, he figured that she had a right to be mad at him still. Seeing that she wasn't going to handle small talk, he figured he get to the point.
"We need your help." Neal said.
They were sitting at a lonely table in the corner of the breakfast room and it almost felt like they were the only ones there. He had to remember that his father's lover and his old friend was upstairs.
"Why would I help you and who's we?"
"Me, Belle, and Ricky. Well, mostly me and Belle. Ricky is just here for the ride I guess."
"Who's Belle?" Emma asked. If Neal didn't know any better, he would have said that Emma might be jealous. Thankfully, he did know better.
"Don't worry. No one you need to worry about. In fact, she's my dad's girlfriend." He explained.
"Your dad's girlfriend? Wait, what is going on?"
"If I told you the truth, you would not believe me."
"Try me." Emma urged.
"Fine. I'll tell you if you tell me where Henry is." He smiled. He thought that maybe if he gave her a deal, she might corporate a little better. There were two things he forgot to take in account. One, she wasn't his father. Two, he should know her well enough to know she wouldn't risk Henry being around him because knowing her, she wouldn't have told him about his father. However, he did not fully expect Emma's answer.
"He's not here."
Neal paused. His hope was starting to fail again. Henry was the key to getting Emma to believe. What he wanted to know was why she would leave him alone. It didn't really sound like her.
"What? What do you mean Henry's not here. You left him alone?"
"I wouldn't leave our son all by himself. He's only twelve. I left him with a friend. I wasn't going to let him anywhere near you." He was right.
"Fine. Tell me. How is he doing?"
Emma stared down at Neal. "Why do you care? You didn't before."
"Because before I didn't know he was alive." He said.
"You told me that you knew of him. How? How did you find out I had a son and how did you know he was yours?" Emma asked. She was going to get her answers, one way or another. Neal sighed.
"Magic." He gave up. He was so tired and exhausted lately. He's been crying when Belle wasn't looking. Crying for his dead father who he couldn't save, over losing the woman he loved twice already and the son who wasn't in his life for a whole year. He was exhausted over the traveling they have been doing and the thinking of plans to get them back home, where ever that was at the moment. And he was tired of trying to beat around the bush with Emma to calmly try and get her to understand without her trying to bite his head off. Well, if she was going to be forceful, he was just going to get the pain and frustration over with.
"Excuse me?" Emma asked, staring at Neal as if he grew a few more heads. He didn't like it. He already got that look from Belle a couple of times already.
"You wanted an answer, there it is. Magic." Emma sighed.
"I want a real answer."
"It is the real answer. Magic."
They sat in silence for a few moments. Neither knew where else to go with the conversation. Well, Neal did but he wanted her to move it on after he told her it was magic. Maybe then she would be more open to listening to him.
Before either could speak again, Belle and Ricky had come down from the room to see Bae and Emma talking in the corner.
"Bae?" Belle asked. Neal didn't need to hear her say anything else, he already knew what she was asking. She was asking if it was okay to approach them or if he still needed to talk to Emma. He felt that lately and definitely after last night, he and his father's girlfriend were getting closer.
"Hey Belle. This is Emma," Although he knew that they already met, in another time. "Emma, this is Belle and Ricky." Belle and Ricky both waved to Emma and gave her a nice hello. Emma, however, merely gave them each a small smile, already tired from talking to Neal.
"So, get this guys. Emma says that Henry is not with her." Bae gave a fake smile.
"What?" Belle asked. She wasn't sure what they will do now.
"I thought Henry was going to get her to believe?" Ricky mentioned.
"What? In magic?" Emma sarcastically asked. "Don't tell me you believe him too?"
Belle and Ricky only looked at Bae, wondering how far they got into the conversation.
"Emma, come with us and we can explain further on the way."
"Go where?"
"A small town called Storybrooke." Neal said.
Belle and Ricky both exchanged looks, wondering what Bae was talking about. They thought they already decided that even going to where the town was wouldn't help.
"Bae, I thought we decided-"
"I know, but I've been thinking last night. What we are trying to do is go back in time. Well, the town is back in time. If we go back, we land in the town."
"Okay, what is going on?!" Emma cried out next to them. "Last time I saw you, you were stealing watches and handing me over to the cops. Now, you're talking about magic and time travel? I don't know what's going on but I don't want any part of it. I'm glad I left Henry back home, not that he would have found this weird."
"Wait, what?" Ricky asked.
"What do you mean Henry wouldn't have found this weird?" Bae asked.
"In fact, you're starting to sound like him a little. Not long ago, he's been talking about magic too. Thought about sending him to a therapist but I figure that it's some kinda of stage he's going through since he's becoming a teenager." Emma explained.
"Henry believes in magic?"
"Not sure he believes in it but he likes to talk about it. It's just one of his phases."
"Maybe it's not." Belle said talking to Bae. "Maybe he remembers a little. Enough to jog his memory and get her to believe."
"No. I'm not letting Henry anywhere near this stuff." Emma said. "I'm not helping you. I'm going back home and see if I can beat Henry's high score."
"Emma wait," Bae followed Emma as she headed outside. Belle and Ricky stayed inside, giving the two some more time to talk and hoping he could convince her to at least come with them. They could help her remember on the way to Storybrooke, or where Storybrooke is suppose to be.
"So," Ricky asked Belle, "do you think it could work? What Bae said about the town being in the past?"
"It actually sounds possible." She said. However, she wasn't sure if it was the lack of full rest she wasn't getting, the emotional roller coaster she's been on, or the last piece of hope she had. After all, her and Bae were back to Manhattan with their full memories in tack instead of being taken to the Enchanted Forest with everyone else. Surely, there was a reason for that.
"Beside what we already heard from Emma, what is she like? I mean, you knew before, right? Back in Storybrooke?"
"I've met with her on occasion but we never really talked, talked together. We weren't friends. I don't even think we were acquaintances, but I know what she's like. She's strong, brave, smart, and really does care for her family. So maybe if we got her to listen and somewhat believe, even a little, she might help us. We'll just have to see."
"Same Henry isn't here. From what it sounds like, he could really remember and help us."
"I know. However, Bae is like his father, he really cares about his family. He'll do what he can to get back to them." Belle said.
"But he is back with them. Or at least the same country and world. Why not convince Emma to accept his apology and live with them?" Ricky quickly regretted his choice of words because it mean that Belle would be left alone without her True Love and possibly family. However, she had other ideas why Bae was determined to get back to Storybrooke, even in the past.
"I'm not sure if he believes it, but I really think he wants to get back to his father. I don't think they really patched things up and I don't think Bae liked how it ended. He wants a second chance. After all that his father went through just to see his son and say he was sorry and that he loved him, Bae probably feels that he owns his father to bring him back. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair." Belle explained as Ricky listened while watching Bae and Emma outside arguing.
"Also, he knows how much Emma would really want to know her family, again. Since he has a way, he wants that too. He knows what it's like to grow up without a family and knows that Emma has been looking for hers."
"And after what he did to her, whatever that was, he kind of owes it to her, right?" Ricky asked.
"Right."
Bae and Emma then walked back in, Emma looking around annoyed more than already. Belle guessed that Bae finally convinced her to come with them. However, Belle couldn't really find it in her to feel sorry for Emma being dragged. Belle knew that if everything worked out, she would probably thank them. Emma has been looking for her family for a long time and now that she has a way of finding them, no matter how strange or stupid it sounded, she was always one to take opportunity. This was one she wasn't going to waste.
"Great news." Neal said. "Emma is coming with us."
"And Emma isn't happy." She said, looking even more pissed than before.
After checking out of the hotel and returning the rental car, the four set out in the famous yellow bug towards Maine. Belle had the map, Ricky had the gyroscope to send them back in time, Bae was driving, and Emma was in the passenger seat on the phone with her friend. She was letting her friend know that she was taking a quick trip and if she would watch Henry a little longer until she got back. After a few more minutes, she hung up and set the cellphone aside.
"So did you talk to Henry?" Neal asked.
After a few heartbeats, Emma replied no. "I wasn't sure what to tell him. How do you tell your son that you met up with his long, lost father and was headed out on a trip to some abandoned town, so you can meet your long, lost parents? Along with two complete strangers who believe in magic? Also, his father believes in magic and time travel."
"He might have liked it." Neal smiled. "After all, you said that he kinda believed in magic. Maybe he would have liked to come along."
"Sorry Neal. Not happening." Emma directly said.
Bae kept his mouth knowing that he already pissed her off on many levels and thought that she would just jump out of the car if he kept arguing with her. Besides, she was right. How do you tell yours on all that? Bae hated to admit it but he figured that it was probably better that Henry didn't come. He wasn't sure what dangers they might encounter since, as his father loved to say, 'all magic comes with a price'. Also, he felt a little relief knowing that if everything went well when they got to Storybrooke, if they got to Storybrooke, that he would see Henry again in another time.
So, the four sat in silence as Bae drove to Maine. All wondering what would happen, and none knowing of the trouble that was following.
I like this chapter. Sometimes, if a chapter isn't going well, you can take a few months off and come back to it. Most likely it will turn out better. I'm glad I'm back in the writing mode now. I was hard to get back into it but totally worth. I love revisiting my old stories and finding them an ending. However, if you kept up with my other story, 'An Empty Heart and a chipped cup', you probably know by now that I had to discontinue it. I am truly sorry for the readers of that story because I know how hard it is to have a good story stop midway. However, I do hope you can understand that I had a very, very hard time moving forward with it. Also, it is hard to keep up with multiple stories when you are writing them and I had to make the painful decision to discontinue one. I had finally decided it would be 'Empty Heart' because it was my absolute least favorite and the best decision to stop. Please understand and thank you for reading this update. The best way to help me keep updating is reviews. You don't have to tell me much, just let me know what you think. Please and thank you. :)
