The Heart of the Truest Believer
Everyone on board the Jolly Roger was holding on tight as they travelled through the portal. They reached the other side and flew out of the portal like a breaching whale. Once the ship was steady, everyone looked around. It was a fairly quiet night there was a little wind and the sea was fairly calm. Emma saw the land mass in front of them, "Is that it?!" she asked
"Aye, Neverland," said Hook.
A short time later, Regina was standing near the helm of the ship, and she noticed the ship was slowing down. She looked over at Hook and asked, "Why are you slowing down? In case you didn't know, my son's life is in danger!"
"Oh, I know, my hot-headed Queen," said Hook, "The plan is to bring us to the far side of the island, link up with the widest part of the river, and.. then we sail right through, take him by surprise. The irony..."
"What irony?"
"Oh, I spent more time than I care to remember trying to leave this place to kill Rumpelstiltskin. And here I am, sailing right back into its heart with him as my guest of honor. It's not quite the happy ending I was hoping for."
"Greg Mendell said something funny to me. He said I'm a villain, and that villains don't get happy endings. You believe that?"
"I hope not, or we've wasted our lives."
Emma was standing along the starboard side railing, gazing out at the sea. Mary Margaret and David walked up to her and Mary Margaret said, "What happened to Neal, and Henry, it's not your fault. You can't blame yourself."
"I don't," said Emma, "I blame you. All this happened because I listened to you. You say good always wins? It doesn't. I didn't grow up in some fairytale land. My experience is different, that's all I can go on."
"And all we have to go on is ours, so if you would just let us share our wisdom…"
"I appreciate you trying to be parents, but we're the same age. We have equal amounts of wisdom. And all I want is Henry back. I should never have broken the curse. I should've just taken Henry and…"
"You're right. Th-Then you'd be together. We missed you and Travis growing up Emma, and it haunts us every day."
"And that's why we're here now," said David, "We don't want you to have to go through the same thing, too, and you won't. We are gonna get our family back."
"How can you two be so infuriatingly optimistic!?" asked Emma.
"It's who we are."
"Why? Ever since you got your memories back, ever since you remembered that you're Snow White and Prince Charming, your lives have... they've... we'll, they've sucked!"
"No. No, we found you."
"And lost Henry! And Neal, and countless other people!"
"Emma, the minute I let go of the belief that things will get better is the minute that I know they won't," said Mary Margaret, "We'll find him."
"No, you won't," said Mr. Gold voice. They turned and saw Gold standing by the helm in his old Rumpelstiltskin outfit.
"Oh, that's a great use of our time—a wardrobe change!" said Hook.
"I'm gonna get Henry."
"We agreed to do this together," said Travis as he and Elsa walked up from the bow of the ship.
"Actually, we made no such agreement."
"Why are you doing this?" asked Emma.
"Because I want to succeed," said Gold
"What makes you think I'm gonna fail?"
"Well, how could you not? You don't believe in your parents, or in magic, or even yourself."
"I slayed a dragon, I think I believe."
"Only what was shown to you. When have you ever taken a real leap of faith? You know, the kind where there's absolutely no proof? I've know you some time, Miss Swan. And, sadly, despite everything you've been through, you're still just that... bail bondsperson, looking for evidence. Well, dearie, that's not gonna work in Neverland."
"I'll do whatever it takes."
"Well, you just need someone to tell you what that is. Sorry, dearie, our foe is too fearsome for hand-holding. Neverland is a place where imagination runs wild. And, sadly, yours doesn't." Gold spun his cane and then it fell to the deck and he disappeared leaving his cane behind.
Emma went below deck to get ready and Hook went below to talk to her. He left David and Mary Margaret at the helm. A short time later, there was a bang and the whole ship shook, "What in the world?" said Travis.
Soon there were more thumps and bangs, David and Mary Margaret were having trouble controlling the ship, "What the hell are you two doing?!" asked Regina.
"Trying to keep it steady!" said Mary Margaret
"Hold on!" said David.
Just then Hook and Emma came up from below, "Prepare for attack!" said Hook, as he took back the wheel.
"Be more specific."
"If you've got a weapon, then grab it!" said Hook as he fought the wheel.
There was a strange screeching as Emma and Travis looked over the side, "What's out there? A shark?!" asked Emma
"A whale?!" asked Travis.
"A kraken?" said David, as he took a lantern and looked in the see below.
Travis wasn't sure but he thought he could see a human face, "Worse," said Hook, "Mermaids."
"Mermaids?!" asked Elsa, as the screeching continued.
"Yes, and they're quite unpleasant."
"You think?" said Regina.
"I'll try and outrun them," said Hook.
"How many of them are there?!" asked Travis, as he watched the mermaids smash the side of the ship with their tails.
"I will not be capsized by fish!" David went to the stern and loaded the cannon and started to open fire on them.
"Emma! Travis!" said Mary Margaret as she moved to the bow.
The two of them followed their mother and Travis asked, "What are you doing?!"
"Fishing."
The three of them picked up a large heavy net and threw it overboard. David continued to fire on the mermaids while Mary Margaret, Emma and Travis held onto the net. Mary Margaret looked over the side, "We caught one!"
"One?" said Regina, "There are dozens of them… Enough of this." Regina then sent a barrage of fireballs into the water scaring the mermaids away, "There. They're gone."
"Not all of them!" said Travis, "What about that one?!"
Regina used her magic to bring the mermaid on board, said Hook, "Get that thing off my ship!"
"No," said Regina, "Now we have a hostage."
"I hate to say it, but I'm with Hook," said Travis, "Those things just tried to kill us."
"And perhaps we should find out why."
"How?" asked Elsa, "By torturing her?"
"Well, if need be. Sure," said Regina.
The mermaid grabbed a conch shell off of her waist and blew into it like a horn, "What the hell is that?" asked Travis.
"A warning," said the mermaid. Then they all heard a clap of thunder, "Let me go... Or die."
"What is this?" ask David as he grabbed the conch shell ,"What did you do?!"
"Let me go."
"Not until you tell us," said Regina, "Or we make you tell us."
"Threatening her isn't the way to motivate her," said Mary Margaret.
"Well, I'm all out of fish food."
"Doesn't matter if you get her to talk," said Hook, "You can't trust her. Mermaids are liars."
"Of course they are," said Emma.
"Maybe they're just scared of Pan," said Elsa, "If we let her go, maybe they'll be on our side."
"Or maybe she and her friends will come right back to kill us," said Regina.
"Oh, I don't need my friends to kill you," said the mermaid, "You'll kill yourselves. Now let me go."
There was more of thunder and bolts of lighting, "What the hell?!" said Travis.
"It's a storm," said Hook, "She called it. Don't let her go! She'll swim off and leave us all to die. At least with her, we've got leverage."
David grabbed a sword and put the blade at the mermaid's neck, "Stop the storm. Then we let you go." The mermaid shook her head with a big grin on her face. David then went around behind the mermaid and got ready to slit her throat.
Regina laughed, "That's more like it, Charming. Filet the bitch."
The mermaid gasps and whimpers. David looked up and saw the shocked looked on his wife's face then releases the mermaid and stepped away, "No. We're not barbarians."
"What we're going to be is dead," said Emma as the storm got closer.
"Hold on!" said Hook, "I'm gonna turn her around. I've outrun many a storm."
"Make it stop or die," said Regina.
"We are not killers!" said Mary Margaret.
"Yes, you are," said the mermaid, "And you've brought this death upon yourselves."
"This is why we should free her!"
"That feel-good nonsense, Snow, might play in the Enchanted Forest," said Regina, "but this... this is Neverland."
"Keep your grip, pirate!" shouted Travis.
"It wasn't me, mate! It was the ship! We're taking on water!" said Hook
"Now may I resume killing her?!" asked Regina.
"No!" shouted David, Mary Margaret, Elsa and Travis.
"You kill her, and her kind have a personal vendetta against us," said Mary Margaret.
"Look, the queen is right," said Hook, "They've already tried killing us."
"Stop! That's enough!" said Elsa, "We need to think this through!"
"I already have," said Regina. She waived her hand and the mermaid turned to wood, "There. That should stop the storm."
"Regina! What did you do?!"
They all looked forward and saw a giant tidal wave looming over them.
"No." said Regina.
"What have you done?!" shouted Travis.
They all grabbed onto a rope and held on tight as the Jolly Roger climbed the wave and water poured over the deck.
Once they cleared the wave Hook and Emma made their way to the wheel and tried to get the ship under control, "I thought you said you could outrun a storm!"
"This isn't a storm," said Hook, "It's bloody damnation!"
Mary Margret looked at Regina, "Why would you do this?"
"You're going to blame me?" asked Regina.
"Well, you did turn the mermaid into wood!" said Elsa.
"I did something about it, which is more than what either of you can say!"
"Undo your spell!" said Mary Margaret, "Bring back the mermaid!"
"And what, you'll win her over with your rainbow kisses and unicorn stickers?!" asked Regina.
"Considering that your plan failed, at least we could try!"
"You're such a naive princess!"
"And you are such a..." Then Mary Margret punched Regina.
"Huh. Is that your best?" asked Regina with a laugh.
"Not even close! I am so tired of you ruining my life!"
"I ruined your life?"
"Hey!" said David.
Then, Regina punched Mary Margaret and they started to fight. Elsa tried to separate the two women but she wasn't having much luck. She ended up trying to defend herself from the two women's punches.
David went to help her but Hook stopped him, "Hey, let the slags go. I need you at the mast."
"Don't call my wife a slag!" said David. Then, he hit Hook in the gut.
"Or my mother!" said Travis, as he hit Hook in the Jaw.
Emma was left alone to keep the ship under control. "Stop it!" Then, she realizied what was going on, "It's not the mermaid. It's us!" then she shouted, "If you don't stop fighting, we're all gonna die! Don't you see we're causing the storm?!" But, her words fell on deaf ears as the fight continued, she jumped on the railing and grabbed a rope to keep her steady, "Hey! Stop! You need to listen to me!" But still no one was paying attention to her. So, she got ready to dive off the side of the boat.
David and Travis saw her and they both shouted, "Emma!"
Emma dove in and then Mary Margaret saw her, "Emma!"
They fight came to an end as they all ran to the side to see if they could spot Emma in the water. Then a line snapped with a metal pulley attached it headed into the water and hit Emma in the head.
"Emma!" called Mary Margaret when Emma didn't surface.
"Idiot!" said Regina.
"Regina, get her up here!" shouted Travis.
"I... I... I can't! Not in this storm. I... I can't even see her. I'll just bring up water and half her leg."
David climbs up on the railing and got ready to dive in, "Wait!" said Hook.
"She'll drown!" said David.
"And so will you! Let me help," said Hook. He picked up a rope and handed it to Mary Margaret and Regina, "Here, tie him."
David slipped the loop of the rope over his head and around his waist. Then, he dove in. Mary Margaret, Regina, Travis, Elsa and Hook could only watch and wait. Soon, David's head resurfaced, "He has her! Pull!" said Travis.
The five of them on deck started to pull. Hook put the rope through a pulley, "I've got it." Hook then started to pull the rope and Soon, David had his arm around the railing and Travis and Mary Margaret help pull David and Emma back on board. Travis and Mary Margaret laid Emma on the deck and she was unconscious. Mary Margaret held her head in her arms. Travis looked at his sister and said, "Emma?"
But there was no response, "No," was all Mary Margaret could say.
But then Emma started to spit and cough up seawater. She looked up at the moon coming through the clearing clouds, "I told you," she said.
A short time later they all arrived at Neverland by a dingy. As they walked up the beach, Regina said, "We don't have to do it this way. I can fix the Jolly Roger. My magic is powerful enough. We can execute the pirate's plan."
"Sneak attack?" asked Emma, "Let's not be naive. Save your magic. We'll need it later, because Pan already knows we're here. It's time we stop running. Gold was right. This land is run on belief. All of us have been too busy being at each other's throats to be believers. I was as wrong as anyone else. It's time for all of us to believe... not in magic, but in each other."
"You wanna be friends? After everything that's happened between all of us?"
"I don't want or expect that. I know there's a lot of history here and a lot of hate."
"Actually, I quite fancy you from time to time, when you're not yelling at me," said Hook.
Emma ignored Hook's comment, "We don't need to be friends. What we need to know is the only way to get Henry back is cooperation."
"With her? With him?" asked David as he pointed at Regina and Hook, "No, Emma, we have to do this the right way.
"No, we don't. We just need to succeed. And the way we do that is by just being who we are... a hero, a villain, a pirate. It doesn't matter which, because we're gonna need all those skills, whether we can stomach them or not."
"And what's your skill, 'savior'?" asked Regina.
"I'm a mother, and now I'm also your leader. So either help me get my son back or get out of the way," said Emma. She drew her sword and headed into the forest. David and Mary Margaret followed. Then, Travis and Elsa and finally Hook and Regina.
AN: This chapter was one of the hardest I had to write. It was so hard to find spots to put Travis and Elsa. I hope you guys think it was OK. Remember, if you like this story, Review, Favorite and Follow. It gives me motivation to keep going.