What does she want? He can see she is about to break. They are standing mere inches apart. Her parents are standing off to the side, confused. They came for his help, but she came for something else. Her eyes reflect everything he loves about her and hates about himself. There is a silent battle going on behind her eyes, something buried under many hardships and much suffering. The key to what makes her how she is. An answer so elusive even she hasn't caught it. There is the war of heart and mind, soul and body, what she wants to feel and what she does feel. Her sound bravery in the face of danger, but her cowering fear in the face of love. Her determination to help everyone, and her need to have no one depend on her. Her never ending need to be accepted, and her desire not to care. Her need to hate him, and her want to love him. Her need to keep him near, and her want to push him away. Underneath everything, what is she?
She came for a different reason than her parents, but what was it? He had walked around the counter to stand in front of her. She knew he could see past her slowly crumbling walls. She wanted to know what he saw, but would he tell her. Would he know, or worse, would he not? She couldn't figure it out, so how could he? What was she? A child or a mother? Fearless or scared? Loving or spiteful? Should she trust him, or distance herself? She could see similar conflicting emotions behind his eyes. His quiet strength battling against his accused cowardice. His want of touch and his need of distance. His broken heart and his hopeful spirit. The love he gave and the hate he received in past times. His lonely eyes and his solitary mind. Some of his emotions fought, and some bonded. All at once, she saw him. Not like everyone else, not even how he saw himself, but how he really was. Hurt and broken, yet brave and whole. Hated and shunned, but steadfast and resilient. Shattered and beaten, but hopeful and loving. Loving. The spinsters who raised him, his son, his grandson, and her. There was something else behind all of it, though. A hidden dragon that wanted to show itself. Not like the one behind everyone else's eyes. The fake strength that hid the hypocrisy and the naivety. That hid selfish actions so it could mark those actions as righteous. The dragon that looked like honey, but tasted bitter. The sweet words that were laced with poison. The heroic actions that left someone hurting. No, it was different than the beast disguised as a dragon. It was the same thing he saw in her eyes. The things that were said and ignored. The things that were done and forgotten. The truths that were dismissed. The strength that was beaten down and called weakness. The hurt that made them both who they are. But what are they? What did all of it make them.
It made them heroes.
Emma & Rumplestiltskin