A Strange New World
They landed back in the portal chamber. Everybody except Killian was on their feet.
"Everyone ok?" Emma asked. Then she noticed a certain pirate. "Killian!"
He was unconscious again. Shaking her head, Regina conjured up a wheeled gurney and magically placed Killian onto it; after securely strapping him in, she tasked David with pushing.
"Why do I get to push the pirate?" He asked, frowning at her.
"Because you're a guy, Dad," said Emma.
Rolling his eyes at his daughter, David made his way out of the chamber first, the others following behind him. Once out in the library, Deli could only gape.
"I didn't really look earlier but there are so many books in here! What kind of world is this? I know a bit from Killian, but," she trailed off, gesturing.
Smiling at her, Emma led the way out of the mansion. Deli balked in confusion and fear at seeing the vehicles parked in front.
"What are those?" She glanced at her unconscious cousin, still sleeping on his gurney. "He knows them as 'metal contraptions.'"
"This one," said David, pointing to his old single cab. "Is a truck. Regina's is a car."
Deli moved toward them cautiously. She poked the truck's side mirror, and then jumped back, as if expecting it to bite.
"It won't hurt you," said Emma with a laugh. After helping her dad load Killian into the back, she magically attached the gurney to the side of the truck bed to keep it from moving, then got in the front. Snow, Henry and Regina meanwhile, got in her car.
Deli gave Emma a dubious look before reluctantly getting in beside her. She gave a huge jump as David started the truck and the engine rumbled to life.
"Oh, I don't like this much!" She cried, grabbing hold of Emma as they made their way through town.
By the time they arrived at the loft, Deli was white, her eyes round. Once David cut the engine, she practically exploded out of the cab.
"You alright, Deli?" David asked as he got out and unstrapped Killian from the gurney.
Shaking, she nodded. "I'll be ok, I didn't know that's what they did."
Emma frowned at her. "Why not? Killian does."
Deli shrugged. "I guess that tidbit didn't come through." At Emma's blank look, she said, "I don't get everything. It's one of the reasons bodily possession is rarely attempted by most Astrals. The possessed could know everything in the world, but the possessor may only get bits and pieces. Control of the body is easy, but gleaning information at the same time can be difficult."
Nodding, Emma led the way into the building. Her dad brought up the rear with Killian in a fireman's carry.
Deli watched with a tender expression as, up in the apartment, Emma lovingly tucked Killian into the spare bed they'd brought in for him. Though he rarely used it, preferring to spend most nights on his ship, he was so much a part of the family now it didn't matter.
"I can see it, you know," said Deli.
Emma looked up at her from where she sat on the edge of the bed, her fingers gently carding through Killian's hair. "See what?"
"Your soul tie."
"What's a—"
Deli held up her hand and projected something from her palm. Emma stared at it. The image, sharp and crystal clear, showed interlocking gender symbols. While most of the male was blue and the female pink, where they met glowed a deep, bright gold instead of purple.
Emma frowned as Deli closed her hand and the image vanished. "What does that mean?"
Deli grinned. "The gold represents true love. You're supposed to be together."
"That's a nice thought, but I'm not really a forever kind of girl."
Deli joined her on the bed and put a hand on her shoulder. "You should be." She glanced at Killian, letting the love she had for him swell inside her, and she deliberately let that sensation flow from her to Emma.
The other woman's eye bugged at the feeling. "Whoa, what was that?"
Deli smiled. "That's the love I have for my cousin . . . and he for you."
Emma couldn't help but scoff. "Please, Killian doesn't—"
"As you wish," Deli intoned quietly. "What is that from?"
Emma clapped a hand to her mouth then after a moment, lowered it to her lap. "That's from The Princess Bride; it's Westley's way of saying 'I love you.' Killian said it to me in Neverland."
Deli raised her eyebrows. "See the point I'm trying to make?"
With a nod, Emma went back downstairs, followed by her new friend. Her parents were waiting for an update.
"He's fine," she said. "He just needs to sleep again."
"Lucky for him, I won't have to possess him anymore," said Deli?
"Celebration at Granny's, anyone want to go?" Snow asked?
The others agreed. Just in case he woke up, Emma left Killian a quick note.
When they arrived, Henry and Regina were waiting for them as was what looked like half the town.
"This is a very strange-looking world," Deli commented as they crowded into the diner.
They managed to squeeze over to where Henry and Regina were sitting, Henry was scribbling madly in the Book, trying to get down all the details of their adventure.
"He's been writing like that for the last half hour," said Regina with a shake of her head.
"He's busy."
They spent the rest of the afternoon and much of the evening at Granny's, enjoying everyone's company. After one story too many, Deli said she would like to explore the world and see what else there was.
Regina sobered. "You won't be able to return," she said. "Once someone leaves, they're not able to come back to Storybrooke."
To her surprise, there was a sparkle in Deli's eye. "I won't be gone," she said, and Emma knew she was hinting at possession again.
The next day, Killian woke up and was able to see his cousin off with the rest of them. He was sad to see her go, and made her promise to visit again.
"I will," she said, giving him a fierce hug, one he returned in kind. "I'm not gone forever."
Then she stepped over the barrier, her new family vanishing from sight.
