The Magic Within
By Schroederplayspiano
Chapter 10: But It's Like Trying To Tell A Stranger 'Bout Rock N Roll
Concentrate. It should not be this hard.
Emma stared at her reflection in her mirror. Her thoughts dwelled on Rumpelstiltskin's mutterings she had heard through it moments before. He knew about her mom's pregnancy. He knew more about it than she did.
And it was all her fault.
Graham's voice echoed through her. All his warnings and concerns were now cemented in her mind forever. How could she be so reckless and not know it? A year ago, before Henry had reentered her life, she would have never made such a mistake.
Emma noticed a breeze enter the room. It took up her hair and sent chills through
her skin before exiting the way it came.
She was not concentrating. Emma turned back to the mirror and smoothed the crinkles on her forehead. Forget about Graham, and mom, and dad. Those people could not help her. Neither could Rumpelstiltskin, if she thought about it. All she needed to do was concentrate on the mirror.
Rumpelstiltskin. Robin Hood. Neither would appear in the mirror. Emma ran her fingers down her curls before trying again. And again.
"Forget it!" Emma slammed her palms on her dresser, making the small mirror shake, and pushed herself up from a slouch. Her riding boots clunked on the wood floor with each step.
Firelight sparkled through the door crack to her parent's room. Their silhouettes informed Emma they were in their favorite place; a loveseat by the fire. She watched them for a moment, in awe over how at peace they seemed while a storm continued to rage inside of her.
Before she knew it, Emma was sprinting back down the hall. It seemed she was running for her life, as if a great tiger had targeted her for his next meal. She lunged for the door handle, swung it back, and then slammed it with her feet as she leaned against it.
Too busy recovering; she failed to notice the dresser-top mirror straight across her. If she had looked up, she would have seen it swirling with colors as it tried to focus on an image.
As it was, Emma concentrated on her feet, rather than her mirror, and realized how uncomfortable her boots were. She leaned down while picking up one foot to tear off a boot. It thudded when it hit the floor a few feet away from her. Sighing, she reached to repeat the motion with the other boot.
"Mom!" Henry burst through the door, causing it to crash into the wall, and turned a full circle until he spotted Emma who still against the wall. "You'll never guess what happened!"
"What happened?" The second boot flew several feet. Its owner sighed with relief.
"The Blue Fairy brought me to watch the fairies do magic!"
Emma's tired eyes, content with seeing her son's shoes pace back and forth, opened so widely she could feel her skin sketch. "What?" She exclaimed.
"Yeah, after school today. It was so cool!"
Emma reached out to Henry's shoulders, preventing him from pacing any further. "You went to the Fairies' Hollow today?"
Henry somehow missed the serious undertone in his mother's voice. "Yeah…"
"With the Blue Fairy?"
"Yeah…" Henry attempted to shrug his mother's hold off his shoulders. "Mom – what -?"
Emma released him and turned her back to him. Dots were found and connected in her mind in a way she didn't know was possible. Her fingers ran through her curls for the second time. "She's watching me," Emma muttered to herself.
Henry's head crept around her. "What?" He said and then the rest of his body followed. Mother and son were face to face.
"Nothing," A fast smile appeared on Emma's face. Henry caught the cover-up.
"What's going on?"
"Not-"
A streak of anger darkened Henry's face. Emma stepped back. "Don't say it's nothing. Don't lie, Mom."
"I – I-" Emma's gaze ricocheted from one side of the room to the other.
"Mom…"
She reached for Henry again and the touch brought her back to reality. "I didn't know The Blue Fairy could take you on trips. Did Grandma say you could go?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, then," Emma patted Henry's shoulder. She wondered if the gesture looked as fake as it felt. "Why don't you go tell Grandma about it. I'll-"
"I wanted to tell you," Henry nagged.
Emma took a deep breath. It made her taller. "I'll be there in a minute, Henry."
"Mom…"
"One minute. I promise." Her smile was genuine and she released him. Henry was gone before she could form any regret.
She was alone with her mirror again. Emma registered the fact before approaching it slowly, its power and allure drawing her closer.
She sighed, placed her elbow on the wood, and rested her chin in her palm. "What's a princess to do," she whispered rather sarcastically, complete with a smirk. She scoffed inwardly at her cliché remark and let her eyelids drift down. Her warm cheek felt nice in her cool hand. The breeze too, which had dropped in temperature, was a welcome soothing.
Light changed through the thinness of her eyelids. Emma shrugged off the movement, her position too comfortable to move. The light kept growing brighter; however, and soon Emma couldn't ignore its power anymore.
There, staring at her though the mirror, was Robin Hood. Emma had never seen him before, but she had no doubt who she was looking at. She squinted around him to see if there were any details about his surroundings that would give him a hint about his location.
The image shifted. Pine tress passed over glass and led to a bank beside a river. Emma knew that river; she had been to it once before. David had brought her there when she needed a break from princess lessons and castle restoration.
Robin Hood's army was not far from them.
The dresser shook when Emma used it to push off of. Her parents' room was three doors down the hall, but it seemed much longer.
She was out of breath as she swung around their door molding. Three heads spun in her direction.
"Emma?" David released his wife to give all of his attention to his panting daughter.
"I - know – where – his – army – is." She declared to the whole family.
David stood. Disapproval shaded his face as Henry and Snow tried to make sense of Emma's panting desperation.
Henry perked up. "Whose army?"
"What's going on?" Snow looked from David to Henry and then back again. "David?"
"Emma," David walked closer to her, trying artfully to ignore his wife. Under his breath, he murmured, "Let's talk in my office."
Snow stood. "You will do no such thing." She said and walked between father and daughter. Snow looked to the floor and then up at David. "How bad is it?"
Unable to confess, he reached out to her. "Snow-"
Snow turned her cheek at him. Her anger vibrated through her voice. "How great a threat are we under, David?"
"I don't know." He admitted. Emma noticed how, when they talked to each other, they were the only ones in the room. The world seemed to disappear when they connected. Emma could not tell if she loved that about them, or hated it.
"But you knew our kingdom was threatened?"
David froze in his stare. "Yes."
Snow winced at the conformation. "How could you not tell me this?"
"I didn't want to worry you, Snow." He whispered.
Snow's passion was visible through the force she used to point her arm out the window. "This is my Kingdom, David. My people that I swore to protect. My Kingdom-"
"Our Kingdom, Snow." David corrected her as softly as her could. He tried to hide the offence in his voice, but he was sure some escaped.
Henry watched his grandparents argue and soon noticed his arms begin to shake. By the time he could tear his gaze from them to Emma, she was already walking towards him with open arms. He ignored his teenager side and went into them willingly.
Still, the grandparents continued. "I wanted to protect you. There was nothing we could do until we had more of the facts."
"We used to worked together. We were a team - a pretty good one at that. What would make you want to break that bond?"
For the first time in minutes, David acknowledged Emma and Henry. While he motioned to them, he said, "We have a family to protect."
Snow followed David's arm and scanned over her daughter and grandson. She parted her lips to speak, but before words could form, Emma took over.
"You guys, none of this matters. I told you, I know where his army is. We have the advantage."
David and Snow turned to Emma. Four eyes looked at her for answers, for solutions, and quickly turned into six eyes as Henry spun around in her arms. With the pressure growing, Emma blurted out, "They are in Bee's forest, twenty miles from here."
The announcement was met with silence. Emma didn't know why, but her heart was racing under her family's glares.
"Emma…" Snow started with caution. "How do you know that?"
Under pressure, it was hard to come up with a cover-up. "I saw it."
"What do you mean, you saw it?" David approached Emma less suspiciously than Snow.
Emma dropped her shoulders. "Why does it matter? I know the army is in Bee's forest." She gestured out the window. "Can we just – direct our army there and protect our kingdom?" No one answered her, so she added, "Which it is. It is not your kingdom," she motioned to Snow. "Or yours," then to David, "But all of ours."
"Emma," Snow was serious. "How did you see Robin Hood's army? Were you in Bee's forest?"
Swaying to one side, Emma answered, "No."
"Did someone tell you Robin Hood's army was there?"
"No."
David stepped closer to his daughter. "Then how do you know the army is in Bee's forest?"
Emma took a deep breath before answering. "I saw Robin Hood's army through a magic mirror."
A/N: Gawk! I haven't updated in a month! The good news is chapter 11 is completed and then are two more chapters to go until the end of the story. Thanks for sticking with me.