Guys! Chapter Ten! This is a big deal! We should celebrate! And you'll see just how when you read this chapter :)
Sorry for leaving you guys on a cliffhanger last chapter…I have a feeling I'll be back in the good books by the end of this one! ;) Also, you all need to come play on Tumblr; set photos galore over there! Hit me up at wonder24.
Enjoy!
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The Thief and the Pirate
Chapter Ten
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It's all silent and still for a moment as the world seems to catch up with them. A soft breeze on the ocean air helps Tink make her way back to the ship, but as Killian catches her softly in his hands and brings her down to the deck, it's apparent that she is struggling to even draw breath.
Killian allows the tears to roll down his face, not caring about looking calm and cavalier right now, not with his best friend dying in his hands. Four figures lean in over her tiny form, offering her the best comfort they can in the moment; a binding circle, knowledge that she had fought for people who were so grateful for her.
"But you did this once before, for me, all those years ago." Neal's words come on a plea, "You were okay, then." He looks to Killian, "She was okay, then."
The pirate doesn't avert his eyes from his fairy, "Every time she does it, she weakens herself. She dedicated her life to helping people."
"It has been worth it, every time," comes a timid whisper from her drained body. She reaches out a hand to hold onto Killian's finger one last time as she slips away, her wings folding neatly against her back, finally at ease after so many centuries of helping others.
They all sit in silence around her for a while longer, before Killian speaks again, "You should go; take the lifeboat. This shouldn't be in vain. I'll follow right behind with the ship. I'd just like to say farewell."
Neal pats Killian on the shoulder, then takes Henry by the hand. The young boy looks back, wiping at his tear stained cheeks, expecting his mother to come as well, but she's still crouched in the same position, "Mom, are you coming with us?"
She looks up and it breaks her heart to see her son in so much pain, "I'll follow with Killian." Pulling herself up, she accepts the hug that Henry offers her.
"Please come home. I can't stand being in different lands."
She nods, "Of course, kid. I'll be right behind you."
Neal and Henry manage to release the lifeboat from its hold and climb aboard. As they wave their way through the portal, Emma turns back towards a mourning Killian.
"You should have gone with them."
She places a hand on his arm as she crouches back down next to the pirate and Tinkerbell, "I need to be here."
He looks up at that, trying to read her expression, "That's sweet, lass, but-"
She smiles, cutting him off, "For Tink. I cast a protection spell over her as she flew away."
He frowns, "But she's gone. You can't bring someone back from the dead, love. No one can."
Emma reaches out her hands, "But she isn't dead. Her life force was displaced, but I protected it. I don't know if this will work, so I don't want to get anybody's hopes up." Taking the fairy in her hands, she nods at the steering wheel of the ship, "Her life force is in the portal, so we'll have to time this just right."
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It's cold down by the docks, but with Rumple refusing to let up on Henry, they have no choice but to wait for the Jolly Roger to come back so they can protect him to the best of their ability.
Mary Margaret rubs her hands together, leaning into David, "This is going to be alright, isn't it? We're going to be able to keep them safe, aren't we?"
He runs his hands up and down her arms, trying to keep her warm, "Of course."
She sighs quietly, trying not to sound disappointed, "You don't seem convinced."
He pulls her in closer to him, tilting her face up to look her in the eyes, "Good always wins, Snow."
She doesn't say anything for a while and when she does, he voice is small, a fraction of the brave Snow he knew all those years ago who fought with him to take back their kingdom, "Just because Regina isn't coming after me right now, doesn't mean it all just goes away. I can't sit here and believe that good will always beat evil when I couldn't find any alternative to allowing Regina to kill her own mother."
He brushes cool fingers against her cheek, catching a stray tear as it tumbles from her eye, "You can't trust yourself right now, I understand that, but I want you to trust me when I say that it's going to be okay."
She leans into him, pressing her lips softly against his, taking in the feeling of having him back her up, to know so surely that it is all going to work out.
They draw apart; this isn't over but they let it settle for the moment as their attention is lured out past the bay where a portal in the water is becoming more apparent.
"Is that..?"
"It could be."
They run to the end of the pier, trying to see out as far as they can.
And sure enough, gliding on the water, approaching them is a small boat with Neal and Henry.
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The portal has a different feel going back the other way. It's almost as though the burdens of her being the saviour are compounding and attaching themselves back onto her. The weight that she had rid herself of in Neverland is back on her shoulders. And her head is still killing her.
She looks up at Killian at the helm, notices how intently he is watching her. She has to get this right.
She doesn't even know what she's doing.
Holding Tinkerbell's limp form in her hands, she concentrates on that little golden ball of light she had seen the fairy expel out over the portal. Her eyes close as she pictures it and then pictures all the reasons the fairy needs it back within her. She can see the Lost Boys lined up on the shores of Neverland, waiting for their guide to come home. She can see Henry and how he had mourned the loss of someone who had only been in his life a few hours; how important that tiny body must be to hold so much weight.
And she can see Killian. The man who cared so much for this bright fairy, the man who Tink had cared for in return. No matter whether he was Hook or Killian, Lost Boy or pirate, he had been loved by someone. And she had asked Emma to care for the pirate in place of herself.
Her eyes fly open as a flash of light burns behind her eyelids. A flash of golden light.
From within the portal she can see the ball growing in size as it cascades around the edges of the tunnel. She looks up, seeing Neverland fading in the distance and knows this has to happen now.
Locking eyes with her, Killian nods and Emma flings Tink's body into the air. As she tumbles through walls of blue, her glittering ball of life crashes back into her. Like a moth to a flame. She almost seems to hover for a moment, suspended in nothing.
Then her wings unfurl and she is flying. She's a real distance from them now, too far to tell her what's going on, but she seems to know that she needs to fly up and it needs to happen fast, though Emma swears she sees a graceful wave from Tink as she climbs higher; a second of closure to get them by.
As the fairy disappears from sight Emma feels herself being flung against the side of the ship as Killian pushes up against her, "You bloody did it," he leans in, something joyous overtaking his entire expression, "You saved her."
And then he is kissing her and she can't breathe and she doesn't care. This isn't tentative or careful, this is a pirate claiming his treasure, this is…amazing. He runs a hand up one side of her, tugging her arm around his own body with his hook on the other side. She doesn't need telling twice, pulling him closer trying to gasp in small bursts of air without lifting her lips from his.
Water rains down on them as they burst through the Storybrooke end of the collapsing portal, and only then do they reluctantly pull apart, Killian brushing Emma's sopping hair from her face. He leans in, tenderly kissing her swollen lips again, "Welcome home, love."
And she can't help but laugh because they've actually made it. She's home and he's with her and they are soaking wet and Tink is alive and her son is here and she is happy. She has the immense weight of the burdens of being the saviour pressing down on her, but they feel like something she can handle now.
Turning her head to her right, she sees Henry and Neal a fair way ahead of them, safe and rowing towards two figures on the docks who she can just make out as her parents. Grinning, she wraps a hand around Killian's neck, tangling her fingers in his drenched hair and pulls him back to her once more.
He doesn't need her to say anything, because he knows that when they reach the docks there will be reality waiting for them in the form of a Crocodile. He knows that she's just trying to hold onto this feeling for a little longer. And so he kisses her because she is worth it.
She's worth feeling good for as long as possible.
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