Chapter Thirty-Three
Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT or any of its characters. I am simply borrowing ideas and developing my own for creative writing purposes.
"They're back!" Emma heard another man shout as she and Regina exited the tent. In her rush to finish pulling up her pants to hear the news and – let's face it – catch a few last glances of Regina's ass, she missed the bundled blanket at the threshold of the tent and, mid admiration of her girlfriend, tripped, and pitched forward towards the dirt. In a flash, a strong tanned arm reached out and caught her around her waist, pulling her back to her feet before Regina had even turned around.
"I understand she is beautiful, but that does not excuse your ignorance of your surroundings," Bruin teased in Emma's ear. The blonde scoffed and shook him off, rolling her eyes at his patronising chuckle and hurried off after Regina.
Everyone gathered where they had set up their campfire the night before. Robin, Hook and Neal stood in the center with everyone else around them. Emma and Regina were two of the last to arrive and took a seat on a log beside Belle.
There was silence. They waited for the three men to speak, but not one did.
"Well then, what did you find?" Will asked impatiently.
"The lake seemed… safe," Robin said after a moment's hesitation.
"Then what's the problem then? Why so quiet?" Allen demanded.
"It is complicated to explain," Robin began.
"It seemed too safe, which is what's making him – us – nervous," Hook continued. He glanced at Neal, who said nothing. He stood there, a little ways apart, arms crossed with a frown etched onto his face.
"Too safe? How is it too safe?" Emma asked, perplexed. Didn't they want it safe? Didn't no obstacles mean that the Witch didn't know their plan?
"Yeah, Hook, Robin. Why are we worried about it being too safe? It seems a little unclear to me," Neal said, finally, stepping around to face the other two men. "One hour at the lake and we'll have him back. One hour and we will have our most powerful ally-"
"That one hour you are so concerned about, Baelfire, will be one extremely vulnerable hour for us." Robin stepped forward, facing Neal directly. "The lake has no cover for us but it is surrounded by trees, so there are plenty of places for an ambush to hide. They could surround us and we wouldn't know it until their swords and arrows or even magic had us at our throats. Not to mention, our most powerful allies here with us will be too occupied to help should an ambush be the case. We just need more time to plan our next move."
"Or there is nothing out there and we're all just wasting time sitting here arguing about it!" Neal shouted, red faced and breathing heavily. He turned, still steaming with frustration and marched off towards into the woods.
"He misses his father," Belle whispered after he disappeared into the trees. "He misses him and he's scared this won't work." She wrung her hands together and stared down at her lap.
"You miss him, too," Emma said. Belle nodded and quickly wiped a tear from her cheek. "Do you understand what Robin is saying?" she nodded again. "Do you think you could talk to Neal?"
"He understands, Emma, he just needs time to cool off. I would too, but I trust that you will make this work. Both of you." Belle reached across Emma and took one of Regina's hands in hers and brought it to Emma's lap and took hold of Emma's pale hand. She held both women's hands in her own and looked at them with such confidence, Regina felt ashamed. If this woman who was so scared and alone and desperate for her true love trusted her so deeply, she should have enough confidence to trust herself, to trust Emma and to trust the solid plan they all thought out. This was going to work; if not to save them, then at least to give this strong and courageous woman a second chance.
A couple hours later, towards midday, Neal approached Robin again, now filled with more anger which had built up from his hours of brooding. They had been at it for a while, quietly bickering back and forth, but, slowly, the tone of their argument came to a crescendo, calling others to congregate around them.
"We don't have time to wait," Neal said through gritted teeth. He stared Robin down, who stood unmoving with his arms crossed over his chest.
"I will not risk my men."
"No one asked you to come along, anyways!"
"Queen Snow and King Charming did. And as we've seen with the hounds, youneed us."
"From here on out, we don't." Neal turned on his heels away from him and looked to Regina and Emma. The women stood behind in the crowd of Merry Men and knights, wordlessly watching as the two men battled again, each insisting his own plan. "I only need you two," he said. "The rest aren't needed."
"You'll be completely vulnerable should anything attack you!"
"Not completely." Hook stepped forward from the crowd, placing his hand on his old friend's shoulder. "I go where he goes. A crew stays together."
"If my queen and the Savior are in need of protection, then I shall also be there to provide it." Bruin took a step forward with Hook, Belle quickly following him and adding her support.
Robin's mouth hung open in astonishment. His eyes flittered around; from the small group before him, to his silent men, to the two knights – Caleb and Lionel – who stood with them. "I do not support your decision to sacrifice all these people, your friends, for selfish reasons!" his eyes narrowed, focussing on Neal. "We will not let you leave."
Neal fought the stare for as long as he dared, but soon deflated and let his head hang towards the ground. "Fine."
****SWANQUEEN****
"Emma? Emma!"
"What? Huh?" Emma's head shot up off her pillow-blanket, blond hair flying about as she whipped her head around in the dark to find the source of the voice calling her name. She looked behind her at the opening of the tent. Moonlight spilled in through the open flap and silhouetted a head and shoulders she was fairly certain she recognized. "Who is that?"
"It's me," it said.
Emma groaned and let her head fall back on her pillow. "What do you want, Neal?"
"Emma, please. If we wait too much longer, we won't make it."
"Emma, darling, what's going on?"
"Regina, we need to get to the lake now. I need you both to come with me."
"You seriously need us to go now, Neal?" Emma moaned and covering her face with her arm.
"Yes, Emma!" he hissed. "I already talked to Belle and Hook and they agree; we leave tonight."
"Robin said he wouldn't let us leave."
By the sound of his sigh, Emma could just imagine him rolling his eyes. "That's why we have to sneak out now!"
"Emma, I believe he may be right," Regina whispered close to her ear. "We need to finish this so we can continue onto the next step of the plan."
Emma sighed. That was now four against one. They were right, she supposed. The sooner this was over, the sooner they could return to the castle; the sooner she could see Henry and her parents again and they could keep working on saving the Enchanted Forest.
Grumbling, she sat up and untangled herself from Regina's arms that had become a constant comfort around her sleeping form. "Alright, alright. Let's go."
"Thank you, thank you; we've got to hurry. If Robin catches on to what we're doing, we won't let us go."
"How're we gonna get out, then?"
"Belle's taking care of that. Caleb and Lionel seem to agree with Robin and won't let us go, but they've become a little attached to Belle. She's going to distract them long enough for us to get halfway, and then she'll follow."
"You're going to leave her alone-"
"Shhhh! Of course not! You think I'm stupid? If my father figured out I let her walk through the forest alone, he'd kill me. The Dark One has a temper, even against his son. Bruin will stay with her."
"You've got this figured out."
"We better get going," Regina said reaching beside her for her shirt, careful to keep the blanket she was covered with over her chest.
"Hurry," was the last word he said before slipping his head back outside and closing the flap and submerging the tent into darkness once again.
"Do… do you think he noticed we weren't dressed?" Regina asked once she believed Neal had left the area of their tent.
Emma chuckled and reached for her own clothes, which Regina had tossed somewhere off to the side when they went to bed several hours ago. "No, I don't think he saw, babe."
Suddenly Regina gasped, pausing right in the middle of tying her corset. "I called you 'darling'. Damn it! Emma, what if he suspects?"
"Regina, baby, calm down," Emma said taking the brunette's shaking hands in her own. "If he suspects, so what? It'll be okay, 'kay?" She smiled reassuringly, but she doubted her girlfriend could see that in the dark, so she slowly leaned forward and kissed her full lips gently, urging Regina to calm down with the slow movement of their lips against the others'. "Don't worry about anyone else for now," she said once they parted. She brushed over Regina's cheek with her fingers and felt her nod against them.
Emma threw on her shirt and pants quickly and left Regina in the tent to finish dressing while she went out to find the others. She found Neal with Hook and Bruin crouched behind a few bushes just beyond the boundaries of their camp. "So are we ready to go?"
"Just about. We've been waiting for you." Neal looked up at her and frowned. "Why did Regina call you 'darling'?"
"She does that," Emma replied smoothly. "Kinda like your freaky dad calling everyone 'dearie'."
"Wait, Regina called you 'darling'?" Hook's head shot up suddenly, his focus now on the blonde instead of the brunette seated around the fire with the two knights on guard.
"It is not unusual for my queen to use terms of endearment as such. 'Dear' is her preferred term; I'm sure you've heard her use it towards others, specifically the Charmings," Bruin added just as smoothly as Emma had her own lie.
Both men grunted and turned back to watching Belle engage the knights in an animated conversation.
Emma let out a silent breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and nodded her thanks at Bruin. Regina had told her that her knight knew or at least suspected of their relationship and supported them. If she trusted him, Emma would try to as well.
"There you are. Are we ready to go?" Regina whispered as she came up behind Emma, placing her hand on the woman's lower back.
"Now that you're finally here, we can go." Neal stood abruptly and began marching off in the direction he, Robin and Hook had taken before. Hook stood a second later and followed.
"Did I say something?" Regina asked looking back to Emma.
"You know what you were so worried about in the tent? Yeah, I think Neal has an idea," Emma sighed and rubbed up and down Regina's arm.
"Do not fret, my queen. They are jealous boys, but soon they will understand and accept your love," Bruin said bowing his head to her. "And if they do not, I will have words with them."
Both women chuckled and looked to the other, intertwining their hands.
"You both should follow. I am to wait here for Belle and join you shortly."
"Well, you ready for one awkward walk, babe?" Emma smiled wide and pulled Regina along with her after Hook and Neal.
"I've always hated awkward silences."