Chapter 12: The Warrior

Emma:

She sat up in her bed and looked around. I'm still on the ship, she thought to herself. Emma realized that Snow was grasping her shoulders, holding her in place.

"What? Why –why are you in here?" Emma asked Snow.

"I came in to check on you and I found you in this mess, and you were crying, and saying Henry's name, and…what happened?" Snow was panicking.

"I –I had a nightmare. But, I haven't had one in ages."
"What happened in the nightmare?"

"Cora. She killed Henry. She ripped his heart out," Emma continued to describe the rest of the nightmare to her mother.

"Well, I don't have a candle with me, so, do you want to go outside, to get some fresh air?" Snow asked.

"Yeah, but, the dream, it seemed so real. It was as if it really happened," Emma looked down.

"Come on, Emma," Snow desperately wanted to change the subject. "Let's get you outside. Mulan is at the wheel, so you can go with her."
Emma nodded and followed her mother outside. It registered to her after a few seconds that it was night time. She looked up in the sky and gasped. There were more stars in Fairytale Land than there were in the entire universe. The stars lit the night, not the moon. It was a sight to take in, and Emma never wanted to take her eyes off the sky. There was one particular star in the sky that shined brighter than all the others. It seemed to call to her.

"It's beautiful, isn't it," Snow stood with her, smiling. "Your nursery had a balcony, you know. Whenever you stood outside, this was your view. We knew you would like it when you'd grow up."

"It's amazing, I've never seen anything like it," Emma agreed.

"Every night, before the Dark Curse was enacted, your father and I would go outside, and we'd stargaze for hours. There are constellations in the other world, kind of like the constellations here, in this land."

"Tell me about them," Emma begged her mother.

"Later, when the time is right," Snow reassured her. "I'm going to go and check up on Aurora. Mulan's right over there."

Emma nodded and watched Snow walk away. She made her way over to Mulan. "How long have you been out here?"

Mulan looked at her. "I came out here when the sun began to set. It's my favorite part of the day."

"Really, and why is that?" Emma asked.

"You're making fun of me, aren't you," Mulan smiled back.

"No, I'm not. I'm just curious," Emma laughed.

"Well, if you say so," Emma listened as Mulan began her story.

Mulan:

"I was born in a faraway land; my home is within this realm, but nowhere near. My parents were poor, and my grandmother lived with us. I grew up with this pet dragon, I named him Mushu."

"This all sounds really familiar," Emma nodded. "Let me guess, you went off to war and you met a warrior and you fell in love with him."

"How did you know that?" Mulan wondered.

"You see," she listened to Emma. "You're supposed to be a fairytale character in my world. You aren't supposed to exist…yet, here you are."

Mulan smiled. "Well, I'll tell you my version of it then."

And so, Mulan continued.

"My father was enlisted to the war. He went and was gone for a whole year…I still remember the day I first met Shang. He knocked on the door to tell us…he said –it was the day he told us that my father had died in the war. In my world, it was forbidden for a woman to fight, but I did so anyway. I left with Shang within the next hour, yet, I didn't know that I wouldn't see my mother or my grandmother for the next year.

"I trained endlessly; I wanted to prove to all the other men that I could fight, that I was better than I looked. Shang looked down upon me at first, but eventually, we became friends, and eventually, we married. We won the war, against the Huns, even though we lost some of the soldiers along the way. It was painful, but bearable.

"After the war, I came home with Shang, and that's when I found out I was pregnant," Mulan looked away, not wanting Emma to see the forming tears.

"What happened with the baby?" Emma whispered quietly.

"The baby was born nearly a year later in the house than Shang and I moved into. He'd been only a few weeks old when it happened. Shang and I were sleeping when we heard the noise. There was a crash in the nursery across the hall, and Shang woke first before waking me. I remember running and breaking the door open," Mulan caught her breath.

"We looked in the crib and our son was gone. There was a pool of blood in the spot where he lay. Shang organized a search party and it went on for three months, but we gave up," Mulan was crying now.

Mulan felt Emma's hand on her shoulder. "The week after the search party ended, we met him, Rumplestiltskin. He was there, with our son. I tried to get him back, but I never got the chance. Shang, he…he died in the fight with Rumplestiltskin. The man ripped Shang's heart first and I was forced to watch him die. I'd had enough and I grabbed the closest sword and fought Rumplestiltskin myself," Mulan gritted her teeth.

"He used his magic and threw me to the floor each time I got up to fight. I had no energy left and I remember, he asked me, 'How much do you love your son?' I told him that my child was the most important thing in my life, but he didn't care, that monster. He gave my son back to me, but before he let go, he ripped his heart too. It pained me to see my son die in my arms. It was already hard to watch my husband die, let alone my only son," Mulan said through her tears.

She heard Emma ask her, "What was his name?"

"I named him after his father," Mulan looked down to her feet.

Emma:

Emma realized her life sucked at the moment, but Mulan and Hook were far worse than her. They both lost the most important people in their life. In fact, Mulan had to watch Rumplestiltskin kill her entire family.

Emma hugged Mulan and let her cry in her arms. She stroked Mulan's hair in comfort.

"Why don't you go inside with Snow and Aurora," Emma suggested.

"Will you be alright by yourself?" Mulan asked.

"I know how to take care of myself," Emma smiled and reassured.

"Alright then," Mulan gave Emma one last look and squeezed her hand. "Thank you, for listening."

She smiled and Emma watched as she walked into Snow and Aurora's cabin.

Emma looked at the wheel and decided that she'd wanted to try to navigate the ship. She took hold of the wheel. The moment she held the device in her hand, she knew it felt natural to her, as if she'd done it plenty of times. She looked beyond the horizon and realized that the castle was coming closer. I'm almost home, Henry, she smiled.

She felt a tap on her shoulder. "Emma, why don't you let me steer."

Snow came back to be with Emma. She told her, "You just can't take your eyes off the view, so why don't you go enjoy it."

Emma smiled and hugged Snow. "Thank you, Mom."

Emma walked over to the main deck and stood as close as she possibly could to the rail. The wind picked up a little and she felt it wash over her face. Emma breathed in the air and looked up at the sky. The brightest star was still shining over them.

She didn't hear anything because she was so lost in her thoughts.

"It's a beauty isn't it," she heard his husky voice in her ear.