She had the handcuffs on him when she decided to trust him. Hand still on his wrist, eyes locked on his, she read the truth in his eyes, felt the truth in her gut. A half-remembered conversation about mental walls with Mary Margaret flashed before her eyes. Emma nodded and stepped away from him. He cried out as she turned and ran. Emma closed her eyes and told herself she was making the right decision.
She returned to Hook a few minutes later, having collected the keys from Anton the giant. Hook narrowed his eyes at her return. His expression didn't change while she unlocked the handcuffs and let them hang limply against the wall. Meeting his eyes again, she scowled at him. "Don't make me regret this," she said. Hook smirked at her, that smirk that had appeared for the first time when she had called him out on his lies, the first time he had been honest with her.
Climbing down the beanstalk was less difficult than climbing up but all in all unenjoyable. Emma kept the compass firmly in her pocket. Hook kept up idle conversation, just as he had on the way up. Emma responded, not minding it, not preoccupied with finding the undertones as she had been on the way up. He tells her about adventures, about some of his crew, at Emma's request. He, in turn, asks her for stories of her adventures.
"My life hasn't been quite as exciting as yours," Emma said and Hook laughed at her.
"I don't believe that for a moment."
"Well, not everyone can have a pirate's ship," she replied.
"It used to be a navy ship," he told her. Emma laughed under her breath.
"Why am I not surprised? What did you do, steal it?"
Hook nodded. "Although I wasn't yet a pirate. Stealing was rather new on me."
"What, you want me to believe you were some innocent sailor?" Emma laughed, stopping to turn to him and look him in the eyes. He raised his eyebrows at her.
"Maybe not completely innocent, but closer than I am now," he said, waggling his eyebrows at her. She assumed he knew just how depraved he looked when he did that.
"Why did you steal the ship?" Emma asked, curious. Hook's smirk faltered and he looked down.
"That's a story for another time, love. We're nearly at the grou-"
As Hook spoke, the whole beanstalk shook. Emma cursed. It had clearly been ten hours. "Fuck, Hook, we have to get down, now," she emphasised. He looked at her, clearly saw her mounting panic.
"Jump!" he instructed, before doing as he said himself. Wide-eyed, Emma watched him hit the ground. She heard his curse from way up there on the beanstalk. Letting out an irritated sigh, Emma followed him, whirling through the air and then crashing, right next to the pirate.
Sitting upright, Emma swore at the pain that resounded through her body. She looked to her right and found Hook looking very pleased. "What-" Shaking herself, she glanced at what Hook was watching and found Mary Margaret - her mother - fighting with Mulan. Snow White fighting with Mulan.
Groaning, Emma jumped up. "Mary Margaret, stop, stop," she cried, grabbing her arms and pulling her back. "Aurora, help me out here!" Hook was still watching and Emma glared at him, making him chuckle. When Mary Margaret finally realised that it was Emma pulling her off the other "princess", she gasped, crying out. She wrapped her arms around her tightly, causing Emma to chuckle a bit awkwardly and try to pull out of the hug.
Mary Margaret pulled away, holding Emma by the shoulders. "Did you tell Mulan to cut the beanstalk down?" she demanded. Emma sighed.
"Yes. If I didn't make it down, I needed you to be able to carry on and go and be with Henry." Mary Margaret shook her head emphatically.
"We stick together," she said, eyes ablaze with passion. So, this was the woman who fought a war against Regina.
"I just-"
Mary Margaret cut her off, "We stick together."
XXX
They camped that night, about three hours walk from the beanstalk. Mulan hunted for food and then cooked it over a fire. Emma brought up the idea that Cora would be able to find them because of the fire. Mulan reminded her that, really, they needed Cora to find them at some point or they would be running around the Enchanted Forest trying to pin her down for months. Emma gave her that.
Eating in silence, leaning against trees, the group was rather subdued, despite Hook and Emma having found and collected the compass. Mary Margaret was still angry with Emma and Emma was unmoved on her position that someone had to go back to be with Henry, to protect him from Regina. When it was time to sleep, Mulan suggested they took shifts. Wired from her climb up the beanstalk, Emma offered to take the first one.
Her mother asleep, Aurora's head in her lap and Mulan slumbering not far from them, Emma allowed herself to lean back against the tree and sigh. "Trouble in paradise, love?" Hook said, standing over her. He passed her his bottle of rum and she smiled, taking a swallow. It was stronger than the rum of her world, but more flavoursome. She returned it to him and he took a seat behind her, stretching out his legs where Emma's were curled against her body, her arms wrapped around them. "You and the queen," Hook started.
"Regina?" Emma asked incredulously. Hook furrowed his brow and shook his head.
"No, let's not start on that bitch. The real queen, your friend," Hook said and Emma nodded. She had forgotten that her roommate - and her mother - was a queen. "Snow White, although you call her something else. You have an odd relationship." Emma rolled her eyes, lolling her head back against the rough bark of the tree and reaching out for Hook's rum.
"She's my mother," she informed him. "Obviously, she's not aged for 28 years, but I have, because she sent me to my world to be able to come and save them and break the curse." Hook let out a whistle and Emma sniffed out a laugh. "I lived my life with no parents and now I have her and David, or you might know him better as Prince Charming."
Hook shook his head, nonplussed. "Do you mean King James, her husband?" he asked and Emma nodded. "As a pirate, I'm quite aware of whose goods I'm stealing." Emma snorted.
"I wouldn't tell Mary Margaret that," she suggested. Hook smirked.
"So, you and your mum are the same age," Hook said with a nod. Emma loved his accent, the way he said 'mum'. She'd always been a sucker for Irish accents and wondered briefly where in this realm the Irish accent originated. Her chest twinged as she thought of Graham, who must have been from a similar place to Hook. "That must be why you have the lost girl look about you." Emma remembered his comments at the top of the beanstalk and half-scoffed, half-laughed under her breath, giving him a side-eyed look. He smirked. "So, that's all there is to it, then. Your parents put you in a magical wardrobe to save the world. Or are there more adventures in heartbreak in the life of Emma Swan?" he asked. Emma chuckled.
"There've been a few bad guys too."
"Oh, aye, guys are the worst."
Emma laughed and he winked at her. Pirate.
XXX
Emma woke to the sound of her name being called. Her eyes flicked open reluctantly and she flinched, finding her mother crouched beside her, too close for just having woken up. "Emma," she said again. "Aurora dreamt of Henry."
Emma sat up straight. "Henry?" she repeated. "My Henry? In the fiery room?"
Mary Margaret nodded, standing up and offering Emma her hand. Emma took it and stood up, rushing over to where Aurora was sitting beside Mulan, who was comforting her. Emma took a deep breath. She didn't want to freak Aurora out but her son's safety was at stake. "What did he say, Aurora?" Emma asked. Aurora swallowed.
"Just that his name was Henry."
Emma nodded, turning around and searching their surroundings as though any of it would help her make sense of this. She saw that Hook was awake, glancing at them with interest, although not standing up and waking properly. "Oh!" Emma cried, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her card-holder. From one of the slots, she took a picture of Henry, from his last photo day at school. Passing it to Aurora, she said, "was this him?"
At Aurora's nod, Mary Margaret spoke up. "It's because you have both been under a sleeping curse," she shared. Emma furrowed her brow. "I've been to the fiery room too, Emma. After you leave the sleeping curse, it's all you see in your dreams until it begins to fade away."
"Henry is dreaming of this every night?" Emma said, her brow creasing. She saw Henry taking a bite out of Regina's apple turnover in the back of her mind, saw herself denying the curse and forcing him to do it.
"Emma," Mary Margaret said, breaking Emma from her memories. She had her hand on Emma's forearm. Emma shook it off. "This is not your fault," she said, every word emphatic. Emma closed her eyes. If she'd only believed… "We have a way to communicate with them, now; this is good!"
Emma nodded slowly. She could see the benefits of that plan. Through Aurora and Henry, they could make contact with the other side, get information from Regina or Gold that would help them to get home, or to defeat Cora.
"Okay, Aurora, you're going back to sleep," Emma said and Mulan protested immediately. Emma rolled her eyes and ignored it. "I need to speak to my son; we need information. Regina or Gold will know how we can defeat Cora or how we can escape from here." Mary Margaret nodded along with Emma's plan. "We'll be right here, Aurora," Emma assured the princess when she saw the wary look in her eyes, "but you have to do this."
They got Aurora back into 'bed', her head leaning on Mary Margaret's lap. Mulan stood awkwardly, watching, with her hand on the hilt of her sword. As Emma looked on, Hook came up behind her, shrugging on his thick leather coat. "Who is this Gold?" he asked her quietly, his face completely neutral. Emma cringed.
"You don't want to know."
She heard him exhale and could feel his irritation level rise. "Rumplestiltskin, as I thought," Hook said. Emma turned around to face him, grabbing his arm, and dragged him off a few trees away, far from where Aurora was trying to sleep.
Meeting his eyes, she placed a hand on each of his shoulders. "I know you and Rumplestiltskin have problems and I get them, I really do, and, if there was another option, I promise you I would be taking it, but I have to get home to my son," Emma said, hoping her wide-eyed insistence would defeat his gritted-teeth annoyance. She sighed and relaxed her arms back to her sides. "And, anyway, don't you like the idea that, when we get back to Storybrooke, it will have been Rumplestiltskin that brought us there, brought you there to kill him?" Emma said, ignoring the warning signs in her head that told her not to encourage his revenge, not to encourage him to go anywhere near a man who Emma had thought dangerous when he didn't have magic.
Hook met her eyes. "Admittedly, that would be satisfying," he said. Emma tried to smile. "I still think this is a bad plan."
Emma nodded. "I know, and Gold has double crossed us before, but we have to do this. I have to get home to Henry, before Cora gets there."
"Quite passionate, love," he said, meeting her eyes. Emma didn't take hers from his until he did. She had to know that he wasn't going to betray them. "Let's go and see what's happened."
XXX
They travelled further, once Aurora had awoken and told them that she had conveyed the message. They were heading towards the safezone again, where they knew Cora would come back eventually. It was exhausting, walking, and the weather wasn't helping. It had rained most of the day. Hook had loaned Emma his leather undercoat to hold over her and Mary Margaret while Mulan and Aurora used his larger one to cover themselves, but it was miserable. When they finally stopped, it was to the relief of all five of them.
They found a mostly-covered alcove, although it wasn't perfect. In this weather, a fire was impossible, so Mary Margaret and Mulan scavenged for berries and mushrooms while Emma and Hook tried to create a sort of canopy out of Hook's coats and Aurora settled herself down to go to sleep.
When Mulan and Mary Margaret returned, Mulan gave Emma some berries without a word. Emma sighed. She knew that the warrior was angry at her for asking this of Aurora, especially after they had discovered her burn, but there was no other choice. And Aurora was willing.
Aurora ate a few bites of food before closing her eyes, Mulan and Mary Margaret on either side of her, taking up almost the entirety of Hook and Emma's canopy.
Emma's body was protesting still being awake. The constant walking and fighting was exhausting her and she just wanted to sleep for a full night, preferably in a bed that wasn't just the ground and had a roof that stopped rain dripping down onto her all night. She sighed. Hook glanced at her. "Sorry, just not feeling particularly excited by the prospect of sleeping in the rain, still in soaked clothes."
"If you need help divesting yourself of those clothes, love, it would be my gentlemanly duty to help you," he said, smirking at her. Emma glanced up at him, her eyelashes touching her lids. "I'll take that as a no."
"Unless you've got something else for me to wear, yes, take that as a no."
"I'm sure you'll give in eventually." Emma snorted, walking over to the edge of their canopy and sitting under it, so that her head was covered even if her legs weren't. Hook sat opposite her, not covered in the slightest. Emma gestured to the small amount of space next to her. "As much as I'd love to be pressed up against you, love, I'm perfectly fine here. I'd be a poor sea captain if a little rain scared me off."
Emma snorted. Mary Margaret cleared her throat and Emma struggled to contain her grin at the look her mother was giving the pirate captain. Clearly, she did not enjoy his innuendos. Emma personally found them rather amusing. It had been a long time since somebody had flirted with her so openly. She'd always enjoyed flirting.
Aurora fell asleep eventually. Mary Margaret and Mulan offered to stay awake while Emma and Hook slept, so Emma closed her eyes, leaning back against the tree that Hook's coat was tied to. Hook's breathing deepened quickly, leaving Emma annoyed that she wasn't sleeping too.
She lay there for what felt like hours, peeping her eyes open every few minutes to glare at her mother and Mulan who were whispering and at Hook who was slumbering peacefully. He looked far less threatening whilst asleep.
A stick snapping pricked Emma's ears up and her eyes flicked open, finding her mother and Mulan already on their feet and looking around, each with a hand on a weapon. Emma could say a lot about this world, but clearly it developed better reflexes than her world. Glancing at Hook and noticing he was still asleep, Emma kicked him in the ribs lightly, causing him to stir. When he opened his lips to speak, Emma pressed a finger against her own. His eyes cleared in understanding and, impressively quickly, he was up, no sleep left in his eyes.
And that was when they attacked. Zombies or something like it. Hundreds of them, all brandishing weapons and with no light behind their eyes. Emma fought them as best she could, thankful for Hook and her mother on either side of her, their skills far outmatching her own. Emma's arm ached far more quickly than she expected. Her heart raced and she was reminded that she hadn't been to the gym since she left Boston. Stupidly, she wondered if there was even a gym in Storybrooke.
All Emma knew was she had to protect the compass from these creatures. Too many times, Hook reached across and took out one of them who was encroaching closer on Emma, their clear target. It was as if they knew that she had the compass. Perhaps they did. If it weren't for Hook right now, Emma knew that she would be dead.
Emma's energy levels were failing. She'd never have guessed that she would have so little stamina, after chasing men for years as a bailsbondperson, but clearly she was not ready to swordfight for extended periods. If she was going to be stuck in this world for awhile, she would have to start training with Hook. Or her mother, who was also keeping herself alive quite well.
Just as Emma stabbed her sword through yet another one of Cora's zombie army, they all disappeared, slinked away as quickly as they had arrived. Emma breathed, throwing her head back and dropping her sword when Mulan cried out, "Aurora!"
"Fuck," Emma swore, picking up her fallen sword. Hook chuckled at her and she scowled, approaching Mulan. Aurora was gone and Mulan was panicked, her eyes wide and her movements desperately fast as she searched the small camp for the princess that they all knew had disappeared. "Mulan, she's gone."
"I know!" Mulan snapped and finally stilled, closing her eyes and pulling herself entirely straight. At her full height and stillness, Mulan looked all the more warrioresque, the thunderous look on her face completing the picture. "We're getting her back."
XXX
A raven arrived hours later, when the relentless pace that Mulan was setting to reach Cora's camp - and hopefully the princess - was beginning to wear even Snow's energy down. She knew immediately as the raven began to circle that it was a message from Cora and called them to a halt, ignoring the look of irritation that marred Mulan's delicate features.
The raven stopped on Snow's shoulder and allowed her to take the scroll from his foot. He flew off immediately, without the time for a reply. Snow's stomach sank. This was not an offer that they could respond to.
Snow cleared her throat as she read over the message. "Cora says that she will kill Aurora if we fail to bring her the compass by sundown."
Mulan's gasp was shuddering and it made Snow feel tremendous pity for the girl on her left. To her right, Emma and Hook exchanged a look that prickled Snow. The two of them had some sort of connection. Snow did not like that Emma seemed to prefer spending time with the pirate than with her own mother.
"We have to make the trade," Mulan announced, stepping over quickly to Emma and holding her hand out in expectation. Emma scoffed and took a step backwards. Hook put his arm - and hook - out as though to protect Emma from Mulan, a determined look on his face.
"We worked bloody hard to get that compass," Hook growled, "and it is the only way to get back to this Storytown of theirs." Emma nodded though Snow noticed that Emma's determination was somewhat lesser than Hook's. Snow could see the pity for Mulan, and for Aurora, on her daughter's face. And Snow felt it too. Mulan clearly wanted to protect Aurora, because of her oath to Philip, but Snow and Emma had family in Storybrooke who they needed to protect from Cora.
Snow shook her head. "We can try and speak to Henry again, to find out how to overpower Cora."
"How? Aurora is gone!" Mulan protested. Her eyes were still wild, which made Emma think she was still ready to run.
Snow shook her head. "I'll go under."
XXX
The trip to the poppy fields was not far and the process of creating the poppy powder did not take as long as Emma had feared. Soon enough, her mother had slipped into a deep sleep, watched over by Emma. Mulan announced that she would find some water and hunt for food, ready for the journey to meet Cora. Nodding, Emma watched her leave and then turned back to her mother.
"What is bothering you, lass?" Hook said quietly, as though a loud voice would wake Mary Margaret from her sleep. Emma did not take her eyes from her sleeping mother.
"Henry is only under a sleeping curse because I did not believe him." Hook looked at her, bemused, so Emma continued, "his adopted mother, Regina, hates me, so she sent me an apple turnover with the sleeping curse in it. Henry told me that it was poisoned but I didn't believe in magic so he ate it to prove his point."
"And now he has the sleeping curse that was intended for you," Hook finished and Emma nodded at him. He shook his head.
"Don't blame yourself, lass," he said lowly. "Regina is an evil witch. The fault lies at her door and hers alone." Emma blinked tears out of her eyes. He had mentioned a few days ago that he knew Regina, though only in passing.
"How well do you know Regina?" Emma asked curiously. A haunted look flashed across Hook's face and then disappeared as quickly.
Hook laughed. Emma wondered if it was forced. "We worked together once or twice," he shrugged off. Before Emma could ask Hook more on the subject, her mother bolted upright, her eyes wide like a deer in the headlights. She gasped raspingly.
"David," she groaned as though she were in pain. "Emma, it's David - he's under a sleeping curse too."
Emma's throat tightened. David could not be woken from the sleeping curse without a True Love's Kiss - and his True Love was here, in another realm. If they never returned, not only would David be stuck under forever, but Henry would be alone, with nobody but Regina. An irrepressible surge of anger forced Emma to close her eyes. Why had David risked so much? Surely there were other people in Storybrooke that could have gone under.
Shaking her head, Emma opened her eyes and reached for her mother's hand. "It's going to be okay. We're going to get home."
Mary Margaret nodded twice, wiping the tears that had leaked from her eyes. She then explained that they needed to go to the castle - her castle - to Rumplestiltskin's cell, where the weapon to take down Cora could be found. "Where's Mulan?" Mary Margaret asked as she pulled herself from the floor.
Mulan had been gone for awhile. As Hook explained where she had gone, a horrible sinking feeling filled Emma and she desperately checked each of her pockets for the compass. It was an empty gesture, though, because she already knew that it had gone.