Reckoning
Chapter 8
Nine Years Ago-
"Do I really have to do this again?" Emma asked as she looked into the mirror.
Caroline just smiled fondly at her daughter as she placed the last minute touches on Emma's hair, "Yes you do mio figlia."
Emma frowned in the mirror. It wasn't like she was not happy with the way she looked, in fact she never would have thought she would like this after spending years in the system, in jail, and a year on the streets. Her hair was pulled back and up in a bun with a lock of hair hanging loose on the side and Caroline had given her a flowered tiara to wear in her hair as well (A/N: think of her hair at King Midas's ball). The dress she was wearing was midnight blue in color and the necklace that hung around her neck was a 24-karat yellow gold chain with a swarovski swan pendant that held her birthstone (opal). The hoop earrings were also 24-karat yellow gold that held small imbedded diamonds, and the bracelet that she was wearing on her left wrist was a simple gold bracelet also with little diamonds embedded in the jewelry. Her make-up was very light and subtle, "There, you look lovely." Caroline said smiling brightly.
Emma hesitantly looked at her surrogate mother's reflection to see the bright and proud smile, "Really?"
"Of course my dear," Caroline said as she gently turned Emma so that they were face to face. Her hand came up and cupped Emma's cheek, but being careful to not mess up (in her mind) her daughter's make-up, "Never doubt your beauty nor your personality. Always take pride in who you are." Caroline then frowned suddenly in thought.
"What is it?" Emma asked suddenly nervous under the older woman's gaze.
"You are missing something…" Caroline trailed off, then it hit her, "Be right back."
Emma sighed and watched her leave as she turned towards the mirror once more. This was not the first ball/gathering/cotillion that she had to go to. The first was six months ago when Emma had officially accepted to be in the family. They had a small, low key party for just extended family; but the definition of low key for them was way different than what Emma had considered low key. However now as she looked at herself in the mirror, she could definitely see that the gathering six months ago was low key compared to this.
It was her 'coming-out' party into society. The family was considered to be old money and as an upper class, and therefore followed the rules of what was considered to be 'social protocol'. Under normal circumstances, this would have happened when she had turned sixteen; as Caroline had explained, but under the circumstances as they were, it had happened when she had accepted to be a part of the family. So in terms of what this entailed, it was a way to formally introduce her as a part of the Vance family and recognized by society. Michael, Lucas, and Noel had a similar experience when they had become of age. That was the only thing that was making her feel better at the moment as she pictured them in the same predicament, "Here we go!" Emma turned Caroline seemed to float gracefully back into the room holding a small black velvet box in her hand. That was another thing, Emma reflected, she had to take lessons on proper decorum and ball room dance for the past few months in her preparation for the formal cotillion.
"What is that?" Emma asked as she eyed the box.
Caroline just smiled and sat on the bed, patting a seat next to her as an invitation for Emma to join her, "This has been in the family for generations. It was something from the old country that was given to me by my mother and her mother before her and her mother before her." Opening the box, Emma gasped at the two rings inside. They were white gold with diamonds in the bands and a small raised diamond on the one, "These were my great grandmother's wedding rings; and normally I would have given these to your intending fiancé if he should ask for your hand, but I think this is more important at the moment."
Emma made no move to take the rings, but she could feel tears pooling in her eyes as she tried to hold them back as to not mess up her make-up, "You want me to-?"
"Wear the rings? Yes, that is why I am giving these to you."
Emma shakily took the rings from the box and slid them on her right hand and held it up to the light where they sparkled and seemed to glow, "Thank you…" Emma gasped out, not knowing what else to say.
Caroline pulled Emma into a hug, "I really do love you Emma. There is no reason why these cannot be passed on to you."
"Wait you are really letting me have them? Just like that?" Emma asked pulling away trying to find a lie in the woman's words.
Caroline's heart began to ache as she looked at the younger woman who had immediately became her daughter when Leon first brought her home. It angered her that this special woman was shown no love or respect growing up. So keeping her voice firm so that Emma understood what she was saying, yet gentle enough so that Emma could hear the love in her tone she explained, "You are my daughter…that is what these are for. To be passed on to the next generation, and when or if you have a daughter someday;" Emma looked away and Caroline made Emma face her, "when you are ready and it is the right time, I hope that you pass these on to her or if you should reunite with your son, that you passes these to him if you like the girl he chooses to marry." Seeing that Emma was still upset, Caroline sighed and said softly, "Just promise me that if either scenario happens, you keep the tradition on."
Seeing the seriousness in her eyes, Emma nodded, "I will."
"Good." Giving Emma one last hug, she pulled away after a moment and said, "Let's go, it is time to meet our escorts."
They exited the room and made their way to the main stairs. It was not held in the family mansion, but in a different mansion in Newport Rhode Island. It was larger and more extravagant for a celebration such as this, "Because you are worth everything we can give you," Leon had said when Emma asked if this was really necessary, "besides I am cashing in on a favor that a friend owes me."
This mansion was called The Breakers. Built in 1895, in was the jewel of the New York Central Railroad fortune. It was used as a statement by the Vanderbilt family to show off their global sensibilities. Emma's eyes swept the grand hallway that was lavished in oil paintings and portraits, who she guessed were the Vanderbilts. The whole style seemed to be something out of an old Victorian movie as her silver heels sunk into the lashed red carpet. She shook her head as they continued to walk, finding it ridiculous how a seventy some-odd room with a two and a half story high Great Hall and a Morning room adorned with platinum leaf wall panels, and entire walls made out of rare marble, alabaster, and gilded wood was only used as a summer home.
"Remember, head high, shoulders back, make eye contact, and the most important thing;" Caroline stopped them at the top of the stairs as the lights dimmed in the Great Hall and the crowed started to become silent, "Have fun." Emma nodded and took a deep breath. Caroline looked her over once more before engulfing Emma in a hug, "You'll be fine."
"Presenting Caroline Elizabeth Vance and her husband Leon Michael Vance." Emma looked across to the other landing and saw her surrogate father making his way down the Grand Staircase, he caught her eye and smiled and nodded to her.
The crowd bowed or curtsied low as they made their way down the stairs, stopping in the middle landing to link arms after they greeted each other. It was moments like this that Emma wondered if this is how the royals really did things back in the day, or even by today's modern standards. The announcer called out Lucas and Noel's names, and when they had come down the same results occurred: people bowed or curtsied to them as well before finally announcing, "For the first time, help me welcome our guest of honor, Emma Ruth Elizabeth Swan Vance and her escort Michael Richard Vance."
Emma closed her eyes and took one last deep breath, before opening them and making her way down the stairs. She kept her head high and made eye contact with the people as they bowed and curtsied before her and Michael. Once she was in the middle, Michael held out his arm towards her, "Ready?" He mouthed as he faced her before allowing them to turn towards the crowd when she linked her arm with his.
"Ready." Emma said smiling.
He gave her a glance out of the corner of his eye and saw through her façade, "You'll be fine. Think of the previous one that we had as a dress rehearsal."
"In all honesty, I am trying not to think about anything except for not tripping." Emma muttered as she tried to keep smiling as they continued to walk down the stairs.
"I'll catch you if you do, but we do not have to worry about that." He said continuing to smile.
"Why is that?"
"Because we are at our destination." Michael said as they approached the middle of the room near the rest of the family.
So they are, Emma noticed as she looked at Caroline and Leon's smiling faces as her arm passed from Michael's arm to Leon's, "Presenting my daughter, Emma Ruth Elizabeth Swan Vance!" Leon's voice resonating to the crowd.
People clapped and cheered and the announcer called out for the first dance, "Ready mia figlia?"
Emma looked at his shining eyes, eyes that only seemed to shine special just for her, "Ready padre." Their family parted off to the side, and people watched as Leon guided her across the floor into a waltz.
Present day-
"Emma Ruth Elizabeth Swan Vance?" Snow asked as she tried her daughter's full name across her tongue. It sounded so foreign to her, and yet the first middle name sounded so right, only because of David's mother's name which they were going to use anyway…had they had the time to properly name her that is.
Emma nodded and sighed, "They wanted me to have a full name rather than using my last name that I had when I was with my first family. Ruth was Leon's mother's name and Elizabeth came from Caroline's great-grandmother's name, also it was her middle name as well."
Henry had paused in his writing as he looked towards his mother, "So they just placed them all together?"
"I chose to have it that way." Emma responded as she reached for her glass and took a sip, this time it was a hot chocolate with cinnamon and Irish Whisky in it. David and Snow shared a hurt expression, and Emma sighed deeply not even noticing this exchange, too caught up in her own memory of that night.
Killian was watching her as she started to pick at her bear claw, "Then if you were used to this type of high societal occasions, why were you so nervous and unsure about Midas's ball?"
Emma stopped picking at her bear claw and looked at him. His gaze was that of hurt and confusion; as if he was trying to will himself to under what was going through her mind like he could always do, "Because it was a real thing, it was a situation that I couldn't have even begun to imagine."
It wasn't much of an answer as it was an excuse, and Regina saw right through it, however as she glanced down at the dreamcatcher she saw a smiling Emma and a proud man with jet black hair gliding across a ballroom floor. It was curious really, seeing the woman sitting across from her and then in the memory, "So you were really close with them then." Robin said slowly having gotten the gist of how Emma's life situation was when she was growing up, and how hard it was for her to trust her real biological family.
Emma did not respond as she took another sip of her hot chocolate. They waited for her to acknowledge the comment, but in true Emma fashion, she deflected, "It was later in the night when I first laid eyes on Atticus Langdon…"
Regina glanced downwards again, and this time the dreamcatcher showed a man with messy brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. The image started to move slowly, before coming to a sudden halt as Emma's phone rang. Emma pulled it out and Michael's ID came up, "Mike-"
"I just talked to Noel and Lucas," they heard Michael say on the phone before Emma could even properly greet him, "they are on their way here."
"What?"
"I gave them the coordinates and they are expected to be here tonight." Michael stated, "They were just entering Connecticut when I called their phone. Of course I had Eli give me the new burner number for them."
Emma frowned at the tone of voice he was using. She pulled the phone away to look at the time and saw that when she had made contact with them it was about six-thirty in the morning, now it was about nine-thirty in the morning. Almost a full hour had gone by since her and Michael's fight where he ended up storming off, clearly he still was really upset with her; "I am not talking to them about the mission Mike." She said with a heavy sigh, "I am telling them about-"
"Emma si prega lo davvero non voglio discuterne ora." His voice was heavy and she could picture him pinching the bridge of his nose in aggravation.
"I am not discussing anything other than letting you know that I am not talking to them about the mission." Emma said when she caught everyone's eyes and they mouthed 'English' to her. Not giving him a chance to respond, she told him, "I am telling them about the cotillion." There was a pause on the other end, "Michael?"
"The cotillion?"
"Yea, when I first met Atticus." Emma said, "Remember?"
Regina looked away from Emma and back to under the table. The scene started to pick up again as it picked up on Emma's memory of that day through the jumbled memories that it had captured before. Robin noticed her shift in movement and followed her gaze. Seeing the dreamcatcher, his eyes widened slightly and he nudged her. Regina looked at him and then saw his eyes shift, she had been found out. Stepping on his foot, she silently communicated to him that she would explain later. He took a silent, but shaky breath and consented. Although he moved his eyes slightly towards everyone else who was focused on the conversation on the phone, and knew that when they found out what Regina did, they wouldn't be thrilled, "Oh yes, that was an eventful night." Michael's voice drawled out through the phone, "The memories that must be bringing on for you huh?"
At the mention of this, Regina saw that the images of the cotillion fast forwarded a bit in rapid succession before freezing momentarily on a scene of Emma and Michael kissing on a balcony. She swiftly looked up and glanced at Emma, whose hand was interlocked with Killian's as he rubbed her knuckles with his fingers. Then she looked over to Henry suddenly, and then back to Emma as if trying to figure all this information out at once. Just where was this story heading?
Emma saw this sudden movement and rose an eyebrow to her. Regina swiftly made the dreamcatcher vanish, knowing that she had what she needed at the moment so that Emma wouldn't question her behavior, "Look come back to the diner and we can talk about it together." Emma suggested slowly as she looked at Regina in question.
Everyone else was now puzzled as to what was happening to the former Evil Queen and the Savior. Snow and David were still trying to figure out Emma's relationships within the family, and a question that they kept going back to was: how was it that Emma trusted them so easily and yet she had taken a long while to trust them explicitly?
There was a pause as Emma pulled away from Killian's grasp and looked away from Regina. After a moment or two there was a response, "You are just telling them the background information?"
"Si. Stavo per trovarvi a parlare l'altra cosa dopo…" Emma said giving everyone an apologetic look, especially Henry who had given her a disappointed look back.
There was another round of silence on the other end, "Ok sarò diritto indietro sopra." There was another pause as his voice turned hesitant, "Mi dispiace per prima."
Emma shook her head and smiled sadly, "Anche a me, ma possiamo parlare più avanti."
"Più tardi poi…ci vediamo a cinque." Emma hung up after that and sighed.
"I thought you said no more secrets from us." Henry stated slowly as Emma put her phone away.
"I am not keeping secrets. There is just something called privacy." Emma pointed out, "Now where were we?"
"The cotillion love." Killian said as he placed his hook gently on Henry's knee to prevent him from arguing with Emma, who had ordered a refill of her hot chocolate and started to pick at her bear claw once more.
"Right…"
The Cotillion-
After opening speeches and the father/daughter dance, there was a formal dinner in the Grand Dining Hall. There were multiple delicacies to choose from that included a variety of finger sandwiches as a snack or a small appetizer buffet style in the very beginning, but when Leon called for everyone to start being seated, this is where that changed. Everyone had gotten a salad after they ordered their dinner followed by another platter of appetizers that was consisted of stuffed mushrooms, eggplant parmesan, stuffed clams, mozzarella sticks (Emma had requested them), and tomato mozzarella salad. Afterwards everyone had gotten a choice of Greek or Cesar salad, then almost immediately whoever did not order an entrée that came with pasta had gotten a small bowl of penne in vodka sauce. Needless to say if you were still hungry after the event was over, there was something wrong with you.
Emma had just finished her dessert, which was cheesecake, and took a sip of her coffee when the announcement was made for the dance floor being opened for all to participate. She smirked as she looked over at Michael, who was giving another girl the 'look', "So?"
"What?" He asked startled when she started to talk to him.
"What are you waiting for?" Emma asked as Leon had started to lead Caroline away from the table followed by Lucas and Noel who had given their brother the same look that Emma was giving him; however Emma shooed them away with her own 'look', "Just go talk to her."
"Do you know who that is?" Michael asked incredulously.
Emma looked over and recognized the girl's father as Richard Cypher, he was one of the best cardiothoracic surgeons in the area. While Emma had seen the girl around the hospital quite a few times, she only knew her as Sara Cypher, "Yea," Emma responded, "Sara Cypher, daughter of Richard Cypher, one of the best cardiothoracic surgeons."
"Don't be a wise-ass." Michael bit back as he snapped his head towards Emma to give her a reproachful look, "She is a high honor's student at Yale, top of her program." He looked back at her and he felt his face redden up a bit as she looked at him; to which he looked quickly away.
Emma snickered a bit as she also looked over at the brunette haired girl, "She is so out of your league then." Michael shoved her roughly, but Emma just laughed, "It's true though. If she is a high honor's student, you are just an honors for what? One semester?"
"Two thank you very much." Michael said smugly.
"Yea, this semester and what? Two semesters ago?" She watched him deflate a bit, which caused her to sigh, "Look what are the odds?"
"Of what?"
"Oh I do not know…of you asking her to dance perhaps?" Emma asked now sounding smug.
He cocked his head to the side before comprehension eventually dawning on him, "Oh no…not playing this game…"
"Come on…what are you? Chicken?" Emma asked as she then poured herself a glass of wine.
"No."
"Then come on, one to what?"
Michael looked over at Sara and she flashed him a smile, "Twenty-five. One to twenty-five."
"Ok then…" Emma trailed off getting her number ready, "So are you ready then?"
"Yup." He said as he turned away from Sara's table and looked back at Emma, "One."
"Two."
"Three!" They both said, "Twenty!"
His face went white and Emma laughed, "You have to do it! Those are the rules."
Grumbling he got up from the table and straightened out his jacket, "Just wait until I find someone for you." He stated.
Emma stood up now and helped him fix himself, "Good luck with that," she leaned closer, "if I want something, I just do it." Then giving him a shove this time, she said, "Have fun. Smile!"
He through her a dirty look, but none the less put on a smile and walked over to the table. Emma crossed her arms looking satisfied as she watched Michael introduce himself and held a hand out to her, "C'est la vie et de l'amour." Emma jumped to see a man with messy brown hair and bright blue eyes standing next to her with his arms crossed watching Michael as well.
"Êtes-vous Français?" Emma asked hesitating a bit. She may have caught on to Italian very quickly, but she was still learning French.
The man looked at her, seeming to be impressed, "No," he said and Emma internally sighed in relief, "ma io sono italianio. E tu?"
Emma was still relieved as she felt that she could still talk freely. Leading them into the ball room, she began to answer his question, "Inglese in primo luogo, mia madre e mio padre," Emma pointed them out on the floor and the man nodded along, "mi ha insegnato italiano."
"Could have fooled me." He spoke this time in English as Emma snapped her head towards him, "You are fluent."
"Thank you." Emma said mock curtsying in her dress.
He smiled and bowed, "So then you are Emma?"
"I am, and who might you be?"
His smile became brighter and wider as he took her hand and kissed the top of it as he bowed again before her, "My name is Atticus. Would you like to dance?"
Emma smiled, "Sure, I would love to." With that he placed a hand around her waist and guided her to the dance floor.
Present Day-
"Probably the one mistake that had our own domino effect which lead into our own personal series of unfortunate events with having to do with that family." Heads turned to see Michael approaching the table and pulling up a chair at the end of the table next to Emma, "Did it occur to you to ask for a last name, or better yet Atticus is not really a common name so did you forget that Gideon had a son named Atticus?"
"I was being polite, besides you were pre-occupied." Emma stated as a matter of fact.
Michael snorted, "Could have at least asked for a last name though so you knew who you were dealing with exactly."
"Oh please, says the guy who was making goo-goo eyes at Sara Cypher." She then looked at him and smirked, "How did that work out in the end by the way?"
"Shut up…Emmy."
"Do not call me that." Emma warned lowly.
"Or what…Emmy?"
"Shut up."
"Ok enough please." Regina cut in before Michael could push Emma further, "We just want the story, we do not need the side commentary."
"Fine." Emma said crossly as she glared at Michael, who was sporting a teasing grin, "Well finish it."
"Finish what?"
"The story, about meeting Atticus Roman."
Killian did not like the grin that had formed on Michael's face after Regina's reprimand. It made him want to gut the man, but unfortunately he was not wearing his hook. Emma had requested that so long that Michael was in town, that he wouldn't wear his hook, "Yes, please tell us the story." He did though put a protective arm around Emma, and tried to pull her close to him.
Emma cocked an eyebrow at him at this action, but Michael ignored it and nodded, "Alright then. I heard that you two got comfortable on the dancefloor. Is that were you left off?"
"Yup, and we were not comfortable."
"Not from my perspective." He stood up and did a small waltz in their general area, pretending to be dancing with an invisible woman, "Look familiar Emma?"
Everyone saw Emma's face redden a bit as people turned to look at him. Most of the diner had emptied out seeing that breakfast was coming to an end, but a few stragglers remained and they were the ones that were watching with curiosity, "You are embarrassing yourself you know that?"
"Hark, my face isn't all that red. Besides I bet you have forgotten everything that Rachel taught you."
"No I haven't." Emma stated, "If memory serves, she was prouder of me than of you and the twins combined."
"Look at how cute you are," Michael stopped and started to make the baby-voice at her, resulting in Emma fuming, "whittle Emmy thinks she can still pwlay wit the big boys. Look how precious…"
"Touch me and David might have to arrest me for murder." Emma snapped as he reached out to touch her cheek.
This was a three-sixty from earlier as Henry, Killian, Snow, and David watched the banter back and forth. Regina was starting to get really impatient now and was considering on murdering the two of them, and Robin was trying to whisper comforting words to help Regina calm down, "Fine. What are the odds of you dancing right here and right now to prove me wrong?" Michael asked.
"One to a thousand."
"Chicken?"
"No."
He started making clucking noises now and about a minute later, Emma snapped, "OK! Fine! One to twenty-five."
"Ok then. Ready." He leaned on the table and stared her down, "One."
"Two." Emma responded leaning forward to meet his gaze.
"Three!" They yelled causing people to jump, "Twenty-five!"
"Damn it!" Emma yelled as she smacked the table with her hand.
"HA! I knew I would get revenge one way or another."
"Took you long enough." Emma snarked back. He held his hand out to her, and she took it. He guided her out of the seat, then dug into his pocket to pull a quarter out to her, "What is this for?"
"Music duh!" He said as he forced her to take the coin, "You can choose the song."
Emma shook her head as she turned back to her family, "Intermission on story time."
Before they could object to the statement, Emma went over to the machine and put the coin in. Scrolling through the songs, she smirked at the one that had come up. It was near perfect and she still felt slightly guilty about making him angry earlier. Choosing the song, she pressed play and it had come on (A/N: I do not own the song, and I know that yes this song is fairly new and wouldn't have been around during this time line or the pervious as I will mention later; but I think it works with the dynamic that I am trying to create for her and Michael…also it is called fanfiction for a reason. Song- Unbreak You by Ryan Star)
As soon as the melody started playing, Michael's eyes widened. Emma smirked as she sauntered over to him and placed his hands properly on her as she whispered in his ear mockingly, "Does whittle Mikey still 'member how to pwlay wit the big girls?" He cocked an eyebrow and proceeded to turn her out and then in towards him before the lyrics started to play, gliding her across the dining room, expertly avoiding the obstacle of tables.
"Does that answer your question?" Michael asked as they started swaying a bit.
Emma smirked as the song started to play.
I wanna know your whole skin, every mark, every inch
I wanna heal your pain, don't be scared, let me in
Lay yourself down, I will comfort you, I will comfort you
Until the stars fall around us
Emma looked at Michael and instantly she was no longer in Storybrooke, but in a different life time as they danced, getting lost in the music, "Déjà vu huh?" Michael asked reading her thoughts.
"You could say that…" Emma whispered as it felt like they were floating.
"In all honesty I thought you have forgotten this song."
"Why would you say that?"
"Listen."
For every dream that you lost, every tear that it cost
I will, I will unbreak you
All the pain that you feel, let this moment be real
I will, I will unbreak you
I will undo the hurt 'til it feels like I'm the first
I will unbreak you
I wish I knew you when eyes were white and innocent
If I could cut through time, I'd hold you close, make you mine
Stay where you are, and I will come for you, I will comfort you
Until the stars fall around us
As the music continued to play softly, Emma recalled why this was 'their' song. This represented a piviotal point in her life. It was the first intimate moment she had with him, where almost all her walls were down since Neal had left her. This was when she had revealed to him herself about what Neal had done and the outcome that occurred when she was forced to give Henry away.
She looked into Michael's eyes and saw that he was thinking the exact same thing. Happier and less complicated times, before she had fully been integrated into the family business, before he took on the majority of the responsibilities, and before it all came crashing down on them. It was like nothing else in the room mattered, as they were lost in the music and therefore lost in their own world of yester-years.
For every dream that you lost, every tear that it cost
I will, I will unbreak you
All the pain that you feel, let this moment be real
I will, I will unbreak you
I will undo the hurt 'til it feels like I'm the first
I will unbreak you, I will unbreak you
For every dream that you lost, every tear that it cost
I will, I will unbreak you
All the pain that you feel, let this moment be real
I will, I will unbreak you
The pace of the song had picked up a bit, as did their rhythm. Michael twirled Emma around elegantly and everyone that was not in the family pulled out their devices and recorded the dance. There was no doubt in the people's minds that Emma would have made an excellent dancer had circumstances been different in their world.
Snow and Charming watched mouths almost open as they watched their daughter. Yes they were listening intently to the story, especially when Emma was explaining the party. It was something that she would have definitely had in the Enchanted Forest had the curse not happened. Watching Emma and Michael even more closely, they sensed a chemistry between them and as Snow glanced at Killian; she knew instantly that he sensed it too.
Killian felt as if his teeth could crack under the amount of pressure as he clenched his jaw tightly while he watched Emma and Michael danced around the room. In fact it was taking all his restraint (which was not much as of this moment) to not stand and pull Michael away from his Swan and gut the guy like a fish. However what made his blood boil the most was the way the man's arm slid a bit further down Emma's back and pull her slightly closer to himself. He stole a look at the lad, and saw that Henry was jotting down the way Emma and Michael moved across the floor, but he could tell the boy was not thrilled with this at all. Turning back to the duo on the floor, he recognized that this was almost the same exact dance routine they had shared in Camelot, and once the whole mess with the Underworld was over; and it hurt. Not being able to take it much longer, and rather than do something he would regret, he slid out of the booth.
"Killian?" He paused and looked at Henry's pleading face, "Where are you going?"
"Sorry lad, but I cannot stay here right now." Without any more words he sneakily went to the door. Looking back at them, his heart nearly shattered at what he had seen in the very shot amount of time it had taken him to decide to leave to the entrance of the establishment:
Michael had just twirled Emma around once more and pulled her back into him as they had continued the slow waltz, but what Killian was not expecting was Emma leaning her head against his chest; and him holding her protectively as they swayed to the beat. Scowling, he threw the door open and stormed outside, leaving Snow, Charming, Henry, Robin, and even Regina feeling sorry for the pirate.
We can make it alright, you and me here tonight
I will, I will unbreak you
For every dream that you lost, every tear that it cost
I will, I will unbreak you
I will undo the hurt 'til it feels like I'm the first
I will unbreak you
Once the song ended everyone who watched the dancing lost interest and went back to their business. Emma's eyes snapped opened as she became suddenly aware of the world around her. The real world, not the one filled with memories that had long since passed. Looking at her family, she could tell that they were wearing looks of faux happiness while trying to hide disappointment. It was then that there was one face that was missing, "Where did Killian go?" Emma asked.
"Captain Guyliner left when he saw you little PDA." Regina stated arms crossed and wearing a scowl.
"PDA?" Michael asked, "We were just dancing. We are not into each other like that anymore."
"Anymore?" Snow asked eyebrow arched.
"Yea, we had something, but-ow! Emma!" She had whacked him upside the head, "What the hell?!"
"I hadn't told them that yet!" Emma replied back angrily. Then frantically looking around she exclaimed, "I have to find Killian!"
Before she could move, her phone rang and anxiously she answered it and said, "Killian?!"
"Nope! HI SIS!" Emma yanked the phone away from her ear and winced, "We are crossing the line now!"
"Noel?" Michael asked as he heard one of his brother's on the phone and pulled it closely to him and pressed the speaker button.
"Hi Bro!" There were two voices now.
"Who is this Killian?" One asked.
"None of your business Lucas." Emma answered this time, "You are crossing the line now?"
"Yup be there-holy crap!" There were loud bangs and then, "We have trouble!"
"Noel! Lucas!"
"We will be ok. See you-" The phone went dead.
Emma and Michael's face went white as a sheet, "Where those gun-?" Henry started asking slowly.
"Gun shots? Yes." Emma stated as she looked at Michael.
Then there were sudden commotions outside and Grumpy came running in, "Gunshots heard in the woods near the border!"
This started another round of talking and looking at Emma for answers, "Come on." Michael stated.
"No you stay here. You are still injured." Emma countered him.
"Emma-"
"As your technical physician I didn't clear you for duty. So I said stay here. Get a hold of Eli and tell him what is happening."
"I'll come with you." David said as Snow slid out of the booth.
"No. I will go alone. Help Michael." Emma ordered as she grabbed her jacket and keys.
Before anyone could stop her, she started leaving. Regina was the one who stopped them as they started arguing, "Emma wait!" Emma did not wait and exited the door and stormed over to the Lincoln, "Hey wait I said!"
"Regina I don't have time for this. I have to see where they are."
"How are they getting over the line anyway?"
"I deactivated the shield obviously so they could make it over. I didn't think they would run into trouble."
"So you put us all in danger."
"Nothing I cannot handle. Or we cannot handle." Emma referred to 'we' as herself and Michael.
The two women glared at each other, "Just who am I talking to right now?" Regina asked slowly as she stared directly into the blonde's eyes.
"What do you mean?"
Regina stared longer, "Just be careful on the line you are walking Ms. Swan."
"That did not answer my question, but I will ask since when are we back to formalities?"
"Since I cannot decide on who you are right now." Regina stated back as she stepped away from the car.
It was at this moment that Emma caught sight of her family and Michael exiting the diner. Giving Regina and them a final look, she entered the car. Once she was in, she slammed the door and started it. Looking out the window she caught sight of Henry's face and taking a final deep breath, she sped off to the town line.
"I swear if anything happens to her, you will be sorry." David threatened Michael, "You started all of this."
Michael said nothing except, "Come on, she told me you would help me contact Eli, and considering you know this town better than me, you will have the information he wants. You too," he motioned to Regina, "seeing as you are the mayor."
Together they reluctantly went to the station, leaving Henry standing on the stoop of Granny's. Looking down on his notes, he jumped when he heard his name, "Hi Henry."
"Violet!" He started as he saw her walking up to him.
"Is everything ok? I saw your mom's new car speeding down the road." She said as she motioned to the direction Emma had gone.
"I am not too sure, but want to help me with this?" Henry asked as he motioned to the papers.
"Ok."
"Cool, but first we have to find Killian." With that they ran down the road towards the pier.
A/N:
So again, here are the translations as they appeared in the chapter. Again please take note of the fact that I used Google Translator. If it is wrong, please blame Google and not me.
1 and 2 My daughter
3 Emma please I really do not want to discuss it right now.
4 Yes. I was going to find you to talk about the other thing later
5 Ok I will be right back over
6 I am sorry about before
7 Me too, but we can talk about that later
8 Later then…see you in five
9 That's life and love *Not Italian, but French
10 But I am Italian. And you?
11 English primarily, my mother and father taught me Italian.
