Disclaimer: I own nothing. Seriously!
A/N: Here is the big moment, one of the biggest! *chills* Chapter 34, in which Baelfire comes face to face with his mother.
Chapter 34: Reunited
He could smell the brine, and the wind in his hair soothed his heart as his hands gripped the Providence's railing.
It was happening, and he was not afraid.
"Anytime now," said Shang, as he stood by his side on the deck.
He looked at the Captain and nodded, finding it funny how the man seemed to be taking that moment much more seriously than him. He had made sure Neal was wearing very fancy eastern soldier attire before they actually entered Ursula's territory, and had even draped his own cape around Neal's shoulders, which felt kind of odd. He actually didn't mind. Maybe that was some sort of ritual that meant something to Shang, and he appreciated the thought, nevertheless.
He looked at the sunny sky above them, and thought of what else he wanted to tell Shang before he headed to Storybrooke.
"Tell Henry I'm proud of him," he said. "That I love him."
"You've already said that," Shang responded calmly, with a smile forming on his lips. "Multiple times, by the way."
"I know," Neal replied. "That's the kind of thing that should be said multiple times, so that he never forgets."
He lowered his head, and tried to bite back a sudden feeling of sadness that had spread across his chest.
"Tell Emma she still has to learn how to drive stick, from what I can remember," he laughed.
Shang had no idea of what "drive stick" was, but he surely would try to deliver the message in the most possibly accurate way.
"Do you still love her?" Neal asked, when he saw the Captain fidgeting with the ring on his finger once again.
"Who, Emma?" Shang replied, raising an eyebrow. "No, I don't think we've ever met."
Neal's jaw dropped to the floor.
"Hey, hold on a minute," he said, as he reached out for Shang's shoulder. "Have you just cracked a joke? Are you feeling well?"
The Captain, for the first time since Neal met him, let out a wholehearted laughter.
"Should I take you to the sick bay?" Neal asked, still chuckling. "It might be contagious!"
Shang was shaking his head, and his laughter was slowly replaced by a silent smile.
"Yes," he answered, without looking at the other man. He knew exactly who he was talking about when he asked that first question. "I guess that even after all this time… I still do."
The two of them exchanged a silent look, and each of them thought of different people, but similar situations.
"Then make sure you tell her," Neal said, patting the other man on the shoulder.
"We're here!" they heard the shrieking voice of Mad Dog Majima announce. "This shit is gonna get real, bitches!"
Night fell upon them, as the loud sound of thunder brought the whole crew to a silent haze. Monster waves started sweeping up alongside the ship, and Neal had to grip the railing as his knees faltered with the impact.
"Drop fore topsail!" Shang yelled to his crew, as he too struggled not to fall.
Rain and salty water poured heavily over them, and the ship shook to and fro amidst the threatening roar of the ocean. The crew was now frantically pulling some ropes and releasing others, and when Neal's half-closed eyes finally settled above the sails, he saw her.
Dark as night… half a sea monster, half a woman trapped in a cloud of despair… her skin a sickening purple… stars of the Plough for her eyes …
His mother.
"If that isn't Captain Shang and his little boat, again!" he heard her thunderous voice echo around the ship. "What a surprise!"
Neal felt his heart was racing as his feet led him towards that voice, in an attempt to place himself in a place where she could see him.
"What do you have to offer this time, Captain?" Ursula roared.
"Me," Neal whispered, but Ursula kept sliding towards Shang. She hadn't heard him. "Me!" he yelled, hoping his voice would trump the deafening sound of thunder and waves crashing down upon them.
She whipped her head in his direction.
"And who are you?" she asked, and Neal felt his heart skip a beat. She didn't recognize him.
"Your son," he yelled, and panic rushed through his veins as seven piercing dots of light bore into him.
"Again?" Ursula roared, as she once again floated towards Shang. "Again? How dare you?"
A blinding bold of lightning sent the Captain flying in the air, and when he landed back on the deck with a loud thud, his body was limp.
"No!" Neal screamed again, and he felt his vocal chords were about to break. "I am your son! Baelfire!"
"No, you're not," she had slid towards him in a dark cloud of anger, and he could barely breathe when he felt her tentacles sway an inch from his face. "Because my son died long ago!"
"He didn't!" he answered, and he knew he wouldn't have time to explain how that was possible. He had to think of something else. "I didn't!"
Neal watched her soar above him as soulless laughter engulfed the Providence, and even more brutal waves hit the ship. He squeezed his eyes shut and forced his mind back to when he was just a child…
"Cinnamon!" he yelled, his eyes still closed as he grabbed the railing, feeling that the ship had started to tip sideways. "And rosemary! Your hair… Your hair used to smell of cinnamon… and rosemary!"
The laughter died away. For one moment, only the sound of the rain and clashing waves could be heard.
"And you would sing… you sang to me when I couldn't sleep," he screamed, or tried to, as his voice was far from steady, and trembled at each word. His eyes were burning, and his chest hurt more than he could explain as he dug for those long-lost memories.
Ursula approached him again, and once again he found himself gazing into stars.
"Son?" she whispered.
He swallowed. That was it. The time had come. He closed his eyes, and waited.
"Baelfire?"
She called out to him in a soft voice that reminded him of the nights she sang by his bed, and he felt tears run down his face, along with the rain and the ocean.
"Son?" she whispered again. "Open your eyes."
He did, and more tears poured from them.
Her wavy black hair floated in the air, and her strong eyes and fair skin seemed to glow against the dark sky behind her.
"You are so beautiful!" he heard his mother say, and his throat tightened as she smiled, sadly. "I am so, so sorry!"
He stared into her eyes, and all the memories of pain and unhappiness that seemed to haunt both of them rushed to his mind as he spoke in a barely audible whisper.
"Me too."
She kept studying his face, and her eyes seemed full of sorrow and regret.
"Can you forgive me?" she asked.
He lowered his eyes, thinking of how much it had hurt to learn that his own mother had abandoned him when he was just a child. Then, he also remembered the tragic events that followed, and when he looked at her again, his heart was a mess of resentment and pain.
"Son?" she asked again.
He felt his heart was going to break. All these years… and he really didn't know… He felt like a boy again, and wanted to hear it so desperately that it was choking him.
"Do you… do you love me?" he asked.
"Oh Bae!" she replied, as she reached out to touch his face, and warmth spread inside his heart. "I love you so much!"
Neal closed his eyes, and let those words wash over him.
"I should have never, ever left you!"
He took a long, deep breath as he wiped his eyes on his sleeve, and waited until his heart quit trying to jump from his mouth so that he could speak again.
"I forgive you," he said, as he lifted his eyes to his mother, feeling his thoughts and feelings had never been clearer.
He was ready. She could take him now.
He outstretched his arm and reached out for the tips of her fingers. When they touched, she smiled one last time, before disappearing in a mist of tiny drops of water.
Neal blinked as the soft drizzle fell over him, and the sky slowly opened to show the radiant sun above.
The sea was calm, and the ship slowly stopped rocking.
And he was still in the Providence.
"What the fuck?" he heard Majima scream behind him, breaking the blissful silence.
Yeah, he most certainly was still in the Providence.
"You made it!" Shang had stumbled his way towards Neal, limping. A streak of blood was running from the corner of his lips. "You made it!"
"But I don't understand…" Neal muttered, his mind running wild with the realization he was still alive. "I thought she would take me with her."
Shang coughed, and winced before he replied.
"I guess everyone did," he said, breathing heavily. "I'm glad we were all wrong."
Next thing he knew, the crowd around him, including Shang, was roaring in delight.
"Of course," said the Blue Fairy as she rushed out of Sisters of Saint Melissa. "That is all she needed to ensure, before striking," she went past the gates with Astrid and Tinkerbell on her heels. "She had to make sure she had the heart back, before unleashing hell."
And that was exactly what they saw when they made it to the street. Houses were now burning as a wave of pirates, trolls and other creatures raided Storybrooke. Snow and Charming were leading the townsfolk in one front, while Emma and Mulan led their own crowd towards the pier, in an attempt to stop Hook and his troop.
"Astrid, you keep going, we'll join you in a minute," Mother Superior Said, as she grabbed Tinkerbell's arm and stopped. "Go and tell Rumplestiltskin that Cora might be shape shifting, and that he should keep that dagger safe from anyone that comes near him."
She watched Nova run as fast as she could towards the pawn shop, and only spoke when the fairy was out of hearing distance.
"You have to promise me you will do everything as we discussed," she whispered, hurriedly, still gripping the other fairy's arm. "I'm leaving everything in your hands."
"I know," Tinkerbell replied, nodding. "She will be fine. They will be fine."
The two of them looked at each other for a brief second, then transformed into sparkling dots of light and headed separate ways.