"Because... I didn't want either of us to get killed. I still need your help to get back, even though you're being an ass about it," she smirked, enjoying the look of aggravation that crossed his face. She watched him roll his eyes before he turned his focus back to her arm, and she kept quiet, not wanting to give him another reason to press on the wound.
"So... this lad of yours, what's his name?" Hook asked, his voice bland. Emma narrowed her eyes at him for a second, thinking he was trying a bit too hard to sound not interested.
Still, his question surprised her, "Henry," she said softly. A smile tugged on her lips when she thought of him and all the things he made her go through. "He's kind of awesome," she said after a while, "sometimes I can't believe he's actually my kid."
"Why not?" he asked, twisting his body around to grab the bottle of rum and soak the rag with it some more.
"Well I'm not really the parenting type, and he's so... not like me. He just... believes, you know? He thinks the good always wins and that true love is out there for everyone and things like that. I'm not like that. I'm a lot more grounded. It was him that made me believe in magic in the first place. And we both went to hell and back before I actually started to believe."
"And what happened to him?"
"His father's fiancée and her boyfriend kidnapped him and took him to Neverland," Emma said, making Hook to look up. She noticed the mix of surprise and curiosity in his eyes and immediately thought she blurted out the wrong thing. But when his interrogation continued she relaxed, thinking he might let her slip slide.
"His father kidnapped him?" he asked suddenly, and Emma frowned.
"What? No. Why would you think that?"
He cocked his head, "You just said his father's fiancée and her boyfriend kidnapped him. Isn't Henry's father the... boyfriend?"
She thought about it, and almost wanted to laugh when she realized how it sounded to anyone who wasn't familiar with the complicated history of their family. God forbid she told him that Henry's father was the son of the woman he was still pining after and that the Dark one was Henry's grandfather. Hook would probably make her walk the plank.
"Oh man, no," she shook her head, "she wanted to get to Henry, that's why she got together with Neal, but she had a real boyfriend on the side, and he helped her take Henry away. Crazy bitch..." Emma muttered, her mood growing dark as she thought about Tamara and Greg and all the crap they caused and made them go through.
Hook looked like he wanted to say something, but he shook his head shortly and went back to cleaning her wound. He cleaned almost all the dry blood and Emma could see traces of her skin, which looked sickly pale and was taking on a more gray-ish color. She frowned, trying to figure out how she didn't notice the huge gash before. It certainly poked her in the eye now.
A few minutes later, Hook got up and fetched another rag, this one looking pristine clean. He slowly pressed it to her wound and tightened it with a leather lace, making the pain die down slightly. Emma observed her hurt limb, thinking of a way to say thanks. What was she supposed to say?
Thanks for making sure my arm, which was hurt in an ogre attack, wouldn't fall off?
"You should eat something," he said eventually, "or you might really lose consciousness," he smirked, "it would be a shame if you fell overboard."
She gave him a dark look, but got up to follow him as he made his way to the deck. At the mention of food, her stomach growled loudly. Now that she thought about it, she really was starving.
Her stomach growled again, and she could see Hook smirking as he walked in front of her. She looked at her middle. Traitor.
The next few days seemed to grow long, with Hook barricading himself in his cabin. He never came out, and Emma tried to figure out why. Her gut told her it had something to do with her, and that only made her more anxious to find out what was going on in that crazy head of his. She would spend the day trying to muster up enough courage to break down the damn door and drag him out by his hair, but then night would come and she'd give up, going back to her hammock and thinking about Henry and her parents.
During the nights, Emma was woken up regularly in the middle of the night by Hook's screaming. He kept calling out for Milah, shouting like it was his last breath. Emma would lie in her hammock and try to block him out, but every single one of his cries was like a cut through the quiet night air, making it seem like it was the only sound she could heard. After he'd stop screaming, a few quiet minutes would pass, and then she would hear him walking around deck, pacing like a mad man. She saw him drenched in sweat, his hair sticking to his face, which was ghostly pale.
So she let him pace and left him to scream, until one night, when she couldn't take the sleep deprivation and the torture anymore.
That night, they set sail towards another realm, another kingdom. Emma overheard one of the pirates say they were going to a place where, supposedly, the Dark one liked to cause the most havoc. It was, according to him, Rumpelstiltskin's former home, the place where he lived before he got his powers. Emma refused to believe the man until she saw the place with her own eyes, but still, hope gnawed on her insides.
Was it possible? Were they really travelling to Snow White and Prince Charming's future kingdom? Emma rubbed her eyes as she stared at the water under her. It'd be a blessing if they were. To say she's been feeling useless for the past few days would be an understatement of epic proportions. This way, they'd be going to a place she has already been to and she'd know something.
The whole adventure -debacle- with the Mad Hatter's hat, Aurora, Mulan, Cora, the beanstalk and Hook was still fresh in her mind. Her palms itched at the memory and a frown found its way on her face. She remembered how she ditched Hook on that beanstalk, how she just about left him to die. Why did she do that again? Right, she didn't trust him. It was funny how trusting him came so easily to her now.
She lied in her hammock later that night, feeling the ship rock slowly on the waves underneath her, and she tried to lull herself to sleep, failing miserably. She bumped her arm earlier in the day, and it was now throbbing painfully and every breath made it hurt more, which, along with thinking of home, made up the perfect way not to get a wink of sleep. She climbed out to the deck and headed for the cabins with a sigh, fully knowing she should just go back and try to fall asleep.
But she ignored her own instincts, and continued her search for Hook, who, just like she expected, could be heard pacing around his cabin. She stopped in front of his door, thinking of her next step. Should she go in? No, she shouldn't, she knew that, but she didn't care. She was feeling slightly homesick, and since he was the closest thing to home right now, she wanted to be near him.
She knocked softly, once, twice, before opening the door. He stopped pacing, and turned to her with an empty look. "What are you doing here?" he asked almost rudely.
She thought quickly, "My arm's killing me. Came to get more rum," she lied, shrugging her shoulders. Though when she thought about it, it wasn't actually a lie, her arm really was killing her. "I see you're having a good night's dream," she commented sarcastically noticing the bags under his eyes. She didn't want to mention she heard him scream every night, thinking that would only make him more hostile.
He handed her a flask. "None of your business."
Ignoring the sting his words brought, she rolled her eyes, trying to look as indifferent as possible. "Fine, whatever." She turned around and headed for the door, hoping with every piece of her that he'd say something to stop her from leaving. With every step she made the hope got crushed, because he stayed silent.
Until she reached for the knob.
"Can't say I've slept lately."
She stopped, "Why's that?" she asked, her back still turned to him.
"A monster killed a woman I love not long ago," he said coldly, cutting straight to the chase.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly.
He laughed, almost sardonically, "There's nothing for you to be sorry about. It's him that will get to feel all the pain, once I get my hand on him. Another thing he's responsible for. Made me lose two things I can't live without at once." The pain he tried to mask in his voice was still audible and Emma kept herself from wincing. She wanted to tell him that it got better later on, that the pain would subside with time, but she knew she couldn't. So she settled on looking as if she was sorry but not like she knew too much. It proved to be harder than she thought it would. Faking crap was hard.
"I can't really say I know the feeling," Emma admitted. It was true. She never had things taken away from her. David and Mary Margaret put her in that closet willingly, she gave up Henry because she thought it was for the best, Neal left her because he wanted to. There was never anything for her to lose anyway. She played with the bottle in her hands for a few minutes, before finally settling on the edge of his bed. "My parents..." she started, her voice heavy.
"Yeah, who are they anyway? They keep coming up in this interesting life story of yours, yet they remain a mystery," Hook said quickly, obviously eager to change the subject, or at least get it away from him.
She knew what he was doing, but she let it slide. She wasn't in the mood to have that fight anyway. "They're... Snow White and Prince Charming. That probably doesn't mean anything to you, since they haven't even been born yet."
He lowered himself into his armchair, and Emma relaxed in her spot on the bed, leaning her back against the wall. It seemed he was good enough with her being there. "And what is their tale? Their names are ridiculous, by the way," he mentioned.
Emma snorted, "Hey, those are my parents you're talking about. Anyway, I... don't really know where to start. They kind of have a long story. Like, the world history book is small compared to theirs. I guess I can start with David, my father. He had this twin brother, but his parents gave James, the other one, to Rumpelstiltskin in exchange for a farm or something. James became a prince and David... a shepherd," she saw Hook roll his eyes and bit her tongue to stop herself from blurting out that him and David were forming one pretty disturbing bromance back in Neverland.
"Anyway, James got stabbed to death and David had to take his place to kill a dragon that was terrorizing this rich kingdom. After he, god I have no idea how he did it, killed the thing, the king wanted him to marry his daughter. They were travelling to another castle when Snow White cut down a tree and robbed them, after which David swore he'd find her which kind of became their thing, true love and everything. But Snow White had this step mother that was a real piece of work and..."
She went on, telling him the story she learned by heart in the last few months since she found out magic existed. She spent so much time staring at Henry's storybook, and every story, every detail from it became etched into her brain. She could tell the story with little to no trouble, and surprised herself with the flow of the sentences.
"... and he managed to find her, but she was under the sleep curse and the dwarfs thought she was dead. But when he kissed her she woke up and that's when everyone realized just how strong true love was. Reading about it, that's when I realized it too," Emma said quietly. She opened her mouth to get on with the rest of the story, but when she looked at Hook she saw he was out cold, his chest steadily rising and falling. "And you're sleeping," she mumbled. "How long have I been talking?"
She shook her head, pushing herself out of her spot. She gripped the flask in her hand as she made her way to the door. She gave him one last look before disappearing through the door, fighting the want, the desperation that suddenly spread through her chest. She saw the peaceful look on his face, and instantly wished she was back home, where he wore that look much more often, not just when he was asleep. Everything felt wrong in this world, everything felt out of place.
Except him. And she hated him for that.
She plopped into her hammock, nestling the flask in her hands. She realized why Hook liked to drink so much. There wasn't really anything else to do on the ship. She waited in silence for his screams to start, thinking that maybe her story made it worse. She kept talking about true love, maybe he'd have dreams about Milah that were worse than before. Hours passed by slowly, but the ship stayed silent.
It was the first night she was on board during which he didn't wake up screaming.
Mary Margaret was tired. They'd been walking for hours on end and she was starting to feel drained. She was persistent, and ever the survivor, but even she couldn't keep up with David and Hook's rigorous pace that had them moving through the jungles of Neverland. Her shoulder was slowly healing, but it still made her whole body hurt as she carried her bow and arrows around.
"That's it!" she yelled, making the two men stop. Regina, Rumpelstiltskin and Neal have separated from them, moving on to look for Henry, agreeing that Mary Margaret, Hook and David would continue the search for Emma. They were hunting for Pan, who apparently had two hiding places he liked to coop up in. In one he held Henry, and that's where Regina insisted they should go.
"Regina, you've lost your mind. We're not leaving Emma alone to figure out a way to get back!" Snow screamed at the woman in front of her, wishing she could rip her head off.
"She'll be fine!" Regina fired back, her eyes lighting up dangerously. She wanted her son back, couldn't any of these people understand that? "Lucky for you, your daughter's like a cockroach - she survives through anything. If you think she won't find a way to get Captain Hook here on his knees than you're even slower than I thought. Henry, however, is small and defenseless, he can't handle Pan on his own. He's the one who needs to be found!"
"Well so does Emma!" Snow shouted. "And I'm not doing anything other than finding her. Regina, Pan needs Henry, he won't hurt him, while Emma might already be dead for all we know."
"Wouldn't that be a good thing?" the queen muttered under her breath quietly, though not quiet enough for Snow not to her. The men surrounding them two didn't even get to blink before she had Regina pinned against a palm tree, her fore arm pressing on her throat. Snow's eyes flashed dangerously. She couldn't do this, not now. She was tired, hungry and scared for her daughter, she couldn't fight with Regina now. Somewhere deep down she knew the queen was almost in an same situation, but she couldn't bring herself to care.
"If you ever..." she whispered, "say something like that again, I will have your heart Regina. I swear to you."
"Mary Margaret!" David shouted, moving in to tear her away. "Stop it," he asked her, tightening his grip around her waist, pulling her away. "Emma's okay, and it'll all be okay," he cooed softly in her ear, making the tension ease up. "How about this," he started, "we split up. Mary Margaret and I will go to Pan's north hide out, where all his magic doodles are, and you four go to the south one, where he's keeping Henry. That way, we get to save both Emma and Henry. How about that?"
Hook and Neal immediately started to protest, breaking into a serious of loud speeches and shouts. As far as David could keep up, they weren't happy with the idea and neither of them wanted to go with Rumpelstiltskin and Regina. But David knew he couldn't leave those two alone, free to plot and come up with whatever fresh hell they could think of.
"Enough!" he commanded loudly, using his 'prince voice'. Apparently it was still effective, because both Hook and Neal calmed down, shooting him dark looks. He ignored them slyly, "You need to figure it out, stop acting like kids. You want to help her? Fine! Finding Henry is also helping her, think about it that way. Neal, I think you should go with Regina and Rumpelstiltskin," David said seriously. The man opened his mouth to fight back, but David quickly cut in, "He's your son."
Neal shut his mouth, nodding swiftly after a few seconds of considering David's words. "You're right."
David dragged him away from the group, "Make sure they're not up to anything... bad," he advised. "If you notice anything out of the ordinary, get away from them and find Henry on your own. I would suggest you knock them out, but I doubt that would help you."
Neal smirked at his words, "Got it. Though I think it'll be okay, dad's been trying to... I don't know, be the best he can, I guess," he said, scratching the back of his neck. David nodded seriously, before they both headed back to the group.
The prince turned to his wife and the pirate smirking at him, "Well, now, can we get going?"
"Mary Margaret?" David asked, worry showing on his face, "What's wrong?"
She stayed silent for a few moments, and Hook and Charming's eyes stayed glued to her. "Everything," she said finally, "everything is wrong about this."
Emma was woken up by thunder booming above her. Her eyes snapped open and she shot up, looking around. She relaxed when she realized where she was, and breathed out in relief when she figured out she was finally able to get some sleep. Sure, it couldn't have been more than two or three hours, but for her, it felt like ten. Her shoulder didn't hurt as much as it did before and her mood was definitely improving.
Still, that didn't stop her from jumping when thunder struck again. She broke out to the deck, and looked around, her eyes searching for Hook. She saw him manning the ship, yelling out orders, making pirates run around the ship like scared chickens. He was looking at the sky, his face grim and worried. Emma followed him and looked up too, her breath hitching when she saw the dark grey clouds above them, lighting up every now and then. She finally saw Hook's reason to worry. They were out in the open sea and it seemed like the weather was going to be a bitch.
They were sailing straight into a storm. A bad one.
Alas, I wanted to update today while I still had the time. Stupid school. Also, twenty reviews for the last chapter? You guys rock! I hope you liked this chapter, I had a lot of writing it and it's one of my favorites really, especially the part where Emma tells the story of Snow White and Charming.
Uh-oh, next chapter brings us the storm and there's gonna be some suspense there... suspenseful... obviously.
Well, review if you liked the chapter, I'm thrilled by your feedback!
'Till next time =)
