Chapter Thirty-Four
Emma starts regaining consciousness as the Jolly Roger pulls up to the docks of Atlantis. With the kraken roaring in anger and pain in the distance, the heroes waste no time disembarking. Killian slides an arm under Emma's to help her walk down the gangplank to meet the others on the docks.
"Did we get it? Did we win?" they hear Snow ask as she comes running up, holding baby Robin.
Zelena steps into her path to take her daughter before they turn expectantly to Emma.
Emma immediately slaps a hand lightly onto her hip and sighs with relief as she pulls the two small vials of murky green blood from the wet pocket of her jeans.
"I stuffed them in there before I fell. What about the ink?" she asks, looking to Nemo and Zelena. Nemo holds up the two vials of ink and everyone breathes easier.
The kraken gives sounds another howl and Emma tries to straighten herself, giving Killian a nod to say that she is okay. He stubbornly keeps a hold of her hand and she just smiles at him in response.
"I can't believe we did that." She says with a small giggle and several people raise an eyebrow at her, suspecting a concussion.
"I can't believe we aren't all dead." Nemo says with a charming smile at Regina. She grudgingly smirks back at him.
"We aren't finished yet. There's still the Dark One to reign in before we can all relax." She says with as queenly an air as she can manage while she is still soaking wet.
"Right, let's go bag us a Dark One." Emma says with another uncharacteristic giggle and she takes a step forward only to wobble and end up back in Killian's arms.
"Darling, you know I love it when you fall for me, but we are wed now." He says with an amused chuckle as he holds her up.
"Sorry, Saviour, but I think you're benched for this one." Regina says to Emma before she turns to Belle, standing behind Snow.
"I think I'll need the bookworm and the witch for this one." She says, raising a brow at her sister.
"Oh, bollocks." Zelena mutters with a roll of her eyes and turns to Snow to start returning baby Robin into her arms again.
Belle steps hesitantly forward and carefully moves Hope into David's waiting arms with a whisper of kisses over her brow. She turns to Regina with a new resolve.
"What do you need me to do?"
Regina looks down at the petite woman and gives her a sad smile.
"I need you to betray your husband."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Emma is sitting cross-legged on the living room floor of their Atlantean house, playing with Hope and Robin as Snow, David and Killian sit nearby, watching Emma with half-amused, half-worried expressions.
"She'll be fine." Snow says, trying to convince herself.
"Not much you can do for a concussion other than take it easy, right?" she asks with a falsely cheery tone as Emma grins darkly and starts crawling towards Killian on her hands and knees. She crawls almost completely into his lap before taking his hands and pulling him down to the floor with the her and the babies.
"Come on. You can get more practice." Emma says with a wild giggle and Killian can't help but laugh with her.
"WHAT?!" David yells a bit louder than he intended and everyone looks at him with shock before both babies start wailing.
"Emma, are you…" he blurts out as Snow gives him an incredulous glare and kneels to pick up a tearful Robin. Killian looks over to see Hope's up-raised arms and tear-stained face and scoops her up as he stands.
Emma glares angrily at her father from the floor and David's face is starts to turn pink.
"Sorry, I was just a bit t—You're not, though, right?" he rambles out.
Emma just glares and Killian bounces a now smiling Hope in his arms.
"Smooth, mate."
"David! That is none of our business!" Snow angrily chastises her husband but no one misses her furtive glance to Emma's stomach.
"I should have gone with Regina to fight Gold." Emma whines dramatically while still managing to glare at her father.
"We did just fine without you." Regina says as she sashays into the room with a grin, breaking the tense stand-off between Emma and David.
"You did it?" Emma asks excitedly from the floor.
"Yes. Nemo is loading Rumpelstiltskin onto the Jolly Roger as we speak and Belle is with him." She says with a satisfied smile at her sister who walks in behind Regina. Snow gives Robin one more cuddle and hands her back to her mother before asking.
"How is Belle?" She asks worriedly and Regina pauses to frown.
"As well as can be expected, I suppose. I'll let you talk to her yourself." And Snow nods, sadly.
"So, what happened?" Emma asks impatiently as she stays sprawled on the floor.
"Plato told us that we would find Gold beneath the central acropolis and so Zelena and I went in with magical guns blazing to find him siphoning the magic out of a giant swirling magic ball that floats in mid-air. Zelena and I barely managed to keep Gold distracted so that Belle could slip in and creep closer to him. There was a lot of that nasty banter going back and forth and I must say, he was being particularly nasty this time."
Zelena nods in agreement and picks up the narrative.
"By then Belle was getting quite close to him and he spun around when he sensed her there, but he was too late. She was within arm's reach by then and he had no idea that the pretty gloves on her hands were covered in kraken ink. All that magic that he painstakingly sucked out of Atlantis went flying out of him and he was frozen to the spot with a rather entertaining look of shock on his face." She says with a hint of glee.
"Wow… just… wow!" Emma says and the others nod at her assessment.
Regina brushes the dust off her pantsuit and smiles patronizingly at everyone.
"Now, that we are all up to date, I think we need to make our arrangements and say our goodbyes since the kraken won't actually retreat until we take Rumple out of Atlantis. Emma, could I have a word in private?" she says in a commanding voice and then beckons Emma closer.
Emma gets up, with Killian's helping hand, and wobbles closer.
Regina tilts her head suddenly at Emma and with a sigh, waves a hand over Emma's head, healing her concussion in an instant.
"Wow, why didn't I think of that." Emma says, shaking the fog from her head.
"Because you had a concussion." Regina says with a supressed roll of her eyes before looking suddenly nervous.
"I wanted to ask you a favour."
"Of course. What's up?" Emma says in a friendly voice.
"Would you come with me to the Enchanted Forest ask Little John if he would allow Roland to come live with me in Storybrooke?" she says in a fast ramble before looking worriedly into Emma's eyes.
Taken aback for a moment, Emma blinks several times and then smiles widely.
"That is an amazing idea Regina. I think you and Roland would be very good for each other." She says and then hugs her friend tightly.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Atlantean Docks
Emma, Killian and Regina watch the Jolly Roger sail smoothly out to sea, towards the swirling portal and slip over the edge just before the portal snaps shut.
Killian gives an uncomfortable sigh and scowls at the spot where his ship disappeared.
"Nemo will take good care of your ship, babe." Emma says, looping her arm through his and kissing his cheek, making him smirk despite himself.
They, with all the rest of the gathered Atlantean's, turn to watch the kraken suddenly duck below the surface of the water and disappear, sending a huge wave to pound the beaches of Atlantis.
"I really hope I never see one of those again." Emma says with an agreeing smile from Regina before she turns to Plato, Socrates and Delphi, to start her goodbyes.
After several rounds of hugs and well-wishes, Emma takes Killian's hand and turns to Regina to hand her a magic bean from her satchel.
"After you, your Majesty." She says with a big smile and Regina nervously takes the bean and tosses it on the ground before reaching to take Emma's hand. With one last look at Atlantis, the princess, the queen and the pirate, jump into the portal.
The three of them come rolling out of the portal, onto the grass of the Enchanted Forest. They all stand and brush themselves off before looking around to get their bearings. They have landed only a few yards from Robin's old camp and Emma grins when she hears the high-pitched squeal of a small, excited boy.
"Roland!" Regina exclaims as the boy comes barrelling towards her and leaps into her arms.
"You came!" the little boy says as he hugs Regina tightly around the neck.
"Of course, I came." She says as tears well in her eyes and she holds him so tight.
Emma leans against Killian's chest with a watery smile as she watches the touching reunion. Killian wraps his arms around Emma and nods to Little John with a smile when he makes his way over to them.
"Looks like we're having a party tonight." Little John says as he claps Killian on the back in welcome.
"How are ya, ya dirty pirate?" he asks with a laugh and Emma turns with a mock-angry expression as she plants her fists on her hips.
"Hey. Watch how you address my husband." She says, ruining the effect with her big smile but relishing the shocked expression on John's face. Killian laughs and swoops an arm out to pull Emma in for a quick kiss before draping an arm over her shoulders and turning back to a grinning John.
"Looks like we're having a big party tonight!" he says with a laugh and motions for everyone to follow him back to camp.
All night the ale flows around the campsite and the bonfire burns as friends drink and laugh. Emma and Killian join in the revelry and in short order are quite drunk and holding each other up.
Regina sits talking with Roland until his bedtime and then helps Little John tuck him into bed.
"I was hoping to speak to you about Roland, John." Regina says as they walk back to the drunken party.
"Of course, your Majesty." Little John says a bit stiffly and Regina smiles awkwardly at him.
"You can just call me Regina."
He nods at her and relaxes slightly.
"I'm just going to ask you, plainly." She says, stopping to face him, trying to word her request carefully.
"I'm hoping you will allow Roland to come stay with me for a while." She blurts out and then nervously darts a glance at Little John's face.
The big man smiles and breathes a sigh of relief.
"I was hoping you would say that." And Regina is so overcome with joy that she lunges forward to hug John, taking them both by surprise. She rears back after a moment and smiles apologetically.
"Sorry." And John chuckles as they continue walking, stopping at the edge of the party when Regina halts again.
"I think I will retire as well, actually." Regina says, looking over at a drunken Emma and Killian with distaste.
"We can suss the details about Roland in the morning. Sleep well, Regina." John says with a small bow and Regina smiles genuinely at him before turning away.
Emma feels so light and happy that she doesn't want to overthink it too much. Killian and Emma keep having drinks thrust into their hands by well-meaning friends and the world is starting to spin. Emma plunks herself down on a wooden log and then laughs as she slides off the log to the grass. She lies down on the soft grass, laughing at the swirling stars in the sky. Killian's face appears amongst the stars suddenly and Emma laughs harder as he kisses her quickly and lies down beside her.
That is the last thing Emma remembers before she wakes up to the sun coming up over the trees and setting off a throbbing in her head. She slowly becomes more aware and realizes that her pillow is a snoring Killian's arm and his long leather jacket is covering them like a blanket.
Emma smiles to herself and snuggles back into Killian's arm for a moment before lifting a hand to magically cure her massive hangover and then brushing her fingertips over Kilian's temple to cure his. She watches his lips curve into a smile and pulls herself up and over him to kiss them lightly.
His hand comes up to stroke her jaw as he draws out the kiss and then smiles up at her when she pulls away.
"A man could get used to being woken this way, Love." He says as he curls his arms behind his head and grins saucily.
"Shame we aren't alone." He whispers with a sexy arch of his brow.
Emma leans in close and whispers back.
"A real shame. Considering this is technically our wedding bed and that was technically our wedding night." Emma says with a teasing grin.
Killian's eyes go wide and he jerks upright, rolling Emma onto her back and getting on top of her.
"Well, everyone will just have to forgive us and look away as we make this marriage official." He says teasingly as he starts tickling Emma.
Emma is overcome with uncontrollable giggles as Killian pins her under him and tickles her mercilessly.
"Its bad form to laugh at a man on his wedding bed, Swan." He says with a chuckle and then he rolls off her to stand and holds a hand out for her with a sexy grin. Pulling Emma to her feet, they wander into the camp again to join the others for some good-natured ribbing and some breakfast.
On the way to breakfast, they find Regina laughing with Roland as she helps him pack his belongings into a large rucksack.
"Looks like we are going home with a few extras." Emma says with a smile at the Queen and the beaming little boy.
"I'm going to stay with Gina and my sister for a while!" Roland exclaims loudly and Emma smirks at the boy who is almost shaking with excitement. She gets down on her knees to grin back at Roland.
"Well, we better have some breakfast so we can get going back to Storybrooke, then." She says and Roland starts jumping up and down.
"Yaaaaaaaaa"