⁶ ➡️ • dark hollow •
the group had found another clearing to set up camp. they were all sat facing emma and neal, who was currently telling them how to get off the island. however it wasn't as comprehensive as they thought.
"pan's shadow? that's your way off the island?" emma repeated his method of escaping.
he nodded his head at her, "unfortunately it's the only way." he said solemnly.
david spoke up from his place behind mary margaret, "we though you learned how to navigate the stars?"
once again, neal nodded. "i know how to navigate the stars... but i can't fly."
from behind mary margaret and david, e listened to them converse. the aftermath of the cave was still effecting her and revealing edmund's name to mary margaret only made it harder. eleven years had passed since she had last said his name out loud - to do so and relive his death on the same day was taking its toll on her.
she was keeping her emotions locked away for now. after having a cry in the cave, she decided the best thing for the mission was to try not to feel anything that would distract her. distancing herself from the group to think to herself seems to be working. but it was also keeping her from focussing on the next plan, which she appeared to have missed as emma came to stand beside her.
"hey, you okay?" she muttered, arms crossed over her as she watched her parents share longing glances from across the campsite.
e shook her head but smiled anyway. "no but... i've decided to push that away for now and focus on getting your boy back. maybe i'll deal with the crying and all that afterwards. maybe i've let it all out already." a shrug followed.
a smile slid onto emma's face too. "you sound a lot like me. and my da- uh, david."
blinking twice, e watched emma for a second. "why do you do that?"
"do what?" a defensive tone had now moved into her voice as if she knew exactly what e was asking.
huffing a large sigh out, e looked to david and mary margaret instead. "they seem to really love you. you're lucky there. some people go their whole lives without someone to love them. or some go their whole lives with only three people to love them." she was smiling now but it was dimmer than her previous.
mirroring her, emma too moved to stare at her parents. "i guess i am lucky. it's just so hard to open up to them. for twenty eight years i always thought they didn't love me and they sent me away because they didn't want me. to then break a magic curse and be reunited with them after meeting them as somebody else... it was hard." e could see tears coming to her eyes as she spoke about her life and knew emma shared her feelings. "and they keep telling me how much they love me. i just feel so guilty when i can't say it back because i know they want someone else, not me. but i'm who they're stuck with."
a nudge to her side got her to look to e. "don't say that. they do love you even if you aren't ready to say it to them, that doesn't matter. and they're not stuck with you - you were a gift to them. you can see it in their eyes whenever they look at you. they are so glad they have you." she hoped what she was saying was what emma wanted and needed to hear because she never had to say anything like this to anyone before. it was all new but if it made emma feel better, it was worth it.
said girl let out a hollow-sounding laugh and leaned down, putting her head on e's and closing her eyes. "thank you."
"your welcome." though she smiled at the other girl, e was confused towards the feelings now inside her. she didn't know emma all too well so why did she feel so connected to her?
it had been a few hours. the group had gotten a little sleep before packing their belongings and moving out. emma had tried to convince e to join her, neal and hook capturing pan's shadow but e had declined. she had told emma that she didn't want to be anywhere near the shadow but the truth was she didn't want to fourth-wheel them. so she was to go with david and mary margaret to meet with tink.
at her tent, e tucked her arrows into their quiver after sheathing her sword. she put both her bow and arrows on her back, along with her bag, in time to feel mary margaret brush past her. looking to her left, she saw david rub his face with a tired expression. to the right emma and mary margaret spoke quietly. taking her chance, she stood and approached david. "she'll come around. eventually."
he spun around in shock, not having heard her come up behind him. "i don't think so. she's pretty pissed at me."
her jaw dropped slightly - never had she heard the prince swear or say anything near a swear word. "look at me and tink. i haven't said, what, ten words to her in eleven years and she's not holding it against me. you did what you thought was right. she understands at least that. you just have to keep talking to her. she can't ignore you forever."
david smiled at her in return, nodding in thanks before moving back to his tent to pack the rest of his things. e watched him go as the same feeling she got with emma crept up on her again.
shaking her head, she walked over to emma and mary margaret who had seemingly just finished speaking. "what, uh, what's going on?"
"nothing," they said together.
mary margaret glanced to david then to the girl in front of her, "what were you and david talking about?"
e smiled at her uncomfortably, "nothing."
moving to the centre of the campsite. emma cleared her throat loudly to gain everyone's attention. "everyone ready to do this?"
they shared one last glance as they were leaving; emma, neal and hook on way and mary margaret, e and david the other.
after ten minutes of awkward silence, e was beginning to regret her choice of partnership. the couple she was with hadn't spoken once and she couldn't bring herself to break the quiet so they were stuck exchanging mixed glances.
david kept looking back to her with pleading eyes. begging her to help him start a conversation with his wife. she subtly handed him a flask of water before pushing in front of them. "i'll lead for a while. i know more of the jungle than you two." she kept her gaze forward but listened to them closely.
"here." david was the first voice she heard.
she waited for mary margaret to say something but all she heard was a mumbled 'i'm okay' and sighed to herself. some people were really stubborn. but if she was being honest - if she was in mary margaret's position, she would probably do the same. and she had.
she had pushed tink away for eleven years because of something that wasn't her fault. it was hard on her. she had never thought about how hard it was on tink. she had left her to be alone for eleven years too. e felt guilty thinking about the impact her leaving had in her friend.
tink had spent god knows how many years alone on neverland before e showed up. they had become close, they both needed each other. but e had selfishly abandoned her in an emotional fit. she hated thinking of how tink had felt during the eleven years. she had always assumed the fairy hated her and never wanted to see her again. apparently not. tink was her best friend. she wouldn't give up on her that easily. and for that she was glad.
mary margaret pulled her out of her thoughts, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from david. "did you tell david to talk to me?"
gulping, e shook her head slowly. "ab-absolutely not, no. i didn't do that." it seemed she wasn't as believable as she tried to be. "okay, maybe. but it was only because he looked so sad without you. and i think you two should make up cause you're gonna anyway so why not just do it. what he did was wrong, yes, but he was only trying to help henry get away from pan. i can understand that." unknowingly, she had copied emma's words almost exactly.
however, mary margaret noticed this and stared at e for a moment. it was the same look she had gotten when talking about her lost daughter. only this time it didn't fade away too soon. it took her a moment before the brunette realised why she kept looking to the girls' eyes: they were her husband's. her prince charming had the exact same eyes as this girl before her. "sorry, it's just your eyes... they remind me of someone." she mumbled to her.
in return, the blonde sent her a nod as she turned away from her and kept walking to tink's treehouse. e was confused as to why mary margaret kept looking at her like that. it scared her - a look of admiration, if that was the correct word. it was as though she was seeing every part of her in one look. it made e feel exposed to this stranger.
another beat of silence washed over them before david gathered the nerve to speak again. "i think we're almost at tink's. i can see why she picked this area. nice quiet jungle... might make a good spot for a hut, don't you think?" his wife stopped in her tracks but continued as if she hadn't hesitated. he looked at e who sent him an encouraging glance. "or a treehouse if you prefer. mary margaret." she ignored him. "snow! when are you gonna start talking to me again? when we're storming pans camp? when we're grabbing henry? when? you need to say something!"
his shouting made e feel uncomfortable; she felt as though she was intruding on a private conversation. lucky for her - distraction came in the shape of a treehouse. tink's treehouse to be exact. it was right ahead of them, although the currently arguing pair wouldn't have seen it yet. she made her way over to it, hearing the shouting of mary margaret echo through the jungle and was happy she wasn't on the receiving end.
left alone to her thoughts again, her mind drifted off the when her and tink first met. pan's shadow had dropped her on the beach and flew off. she was eighteen. after spending three years settling down in a loving home, she was alone again. not wanting to sit in the open, she walked through the jungle until she reached a treehouse. it was empty but someone lived there. there was a bed with a blanket. she tried to fight the tiredness off but it was a losing battle.
she slept soundly for almost three hours. the sound of twigs snapping made her wake up and head to the window to see what was making the noise. a woman around her age stood in front of a pile of broken sticks, brushing two violently against each other in an attempt to start a fire. deciding to make herself useful, and pay the woman back for borrowing her bed, e made her way down to help her. the two spent hours by the fire: tink explaining the ways of the island, neverland, and e explaining how she got there. their friendship only grew from there.
"i would happily build a treehouse and spend the rest of my days dodging poisoned arrows and lost boys as long as i had you by my side." mary margaret's voice made her jump. it sounded like they had stopped shouting at each other and were talking it out. "but you should've told me."
david's tone exposed just how sorry and tired he was. neverland had really taken a toll on their relationship. "i know. i'm sorry."
she walked closer to him and pulled him into a tight hug, resting her head on his shoulder. e smiled as she spied on them through the branches. she was glad they made up. too far away to hear, she watched mary margaret whisper something into his ear. he kissed her head and smiled at her in apology.
the trees to e's left began moving as someone approached them. she moved back to the couple, all of them pulling their weapons out and aiming them at the moving branches. a second later, however, e's sword was back in its holster and she was hugging tink, who had just pushed through the trees.
"hey, tink." she mumbled in her ear.
the fairy wrapped her arms around her, still confused to why she was hugging her but not complaining. "did something happen? are you okay?"
e smiled largely. now that tink was back, she felt more at ease; something about the fairy calmed her. probably because she was the only friend - or person closest to fitting the label - she had had for eleven years. "no, no. i'm fine. just missed you."
tink smiled as she pulled out of the hug, "missed you too." her gaze flickered to the pair watching them from a distance. "i was wondering if i'd ever see you again. but if you've come to talk me into helping you before you found a way off this island, i still-"
she was cut off by david who seemed too happy to stop the smile on his face. "we found one. or we're about to."
unbelieving, she looked to e who nodded at her. "not sure i like the sound of 'about to'."
e rolled her eyes. "pan's shadow, tink." she said making the fairy's brows shoot up in surprise.
"emma went with joke and neal to capture it. that's our way off the island." mary margaret elaborated e's comment.
still, tink didn't believe their plan would work. no one had trapped pan's shadow, well not that she could remember. "capture pan's shadow? yeah, i'm sorry e, but i'm not lifting a finger until i see some proof that you've succee-"
"hey!" a male voice interrupted them. from where tink had entered, neal, emma and hook came into the clearing. neal held a coconut wrapped in vines for them all to see. "here's all the proof you need. been a long time, tink."
e turned to the fairy, "wait, you know him?"
but she was ignored by tink as she stepped closer to neal. "bae... is it really you?"
he nodded and smiled at her nostalgically. "yeah. most people call me neal now." they kept smiling at each other while e racked her brain in search of the name 'bae'. she was sure she had heard it before.
hook spoke up from beside neal, "we did it. you finally ready to do your part, tink?" he sounded more angered than he had when he left camp. something had happened between the three of them, they could all see.
everyone's attention went to tink who stood straighter, a confident aura around her. "yes. yes i am."
they took a moment to smile at each other; they were proud of themselves. proud that they could finally rescue henry from pan's clutches. david took his wife's hand to tug her back the way they came. hook followed behind tink and e.
"i can't remember." e told tink who furrowed her brows at her random comment. "'bae'. i know you told me about him but i don't remember him."
the fairy rolled her eyes at her friends curiosity. she knew e wouldn't stop questioning her until she told her who neal was, so she gave in and explained how they knew each other. not a very exciting story. "he was a young boy. came to the island a couple years of years before you did. but he escaped. i knew him for a small time when he was here, we ran into each other a few times. that's all really."
now e remembered tink telling her about him. the only person she knew who had successfully escaped neverland. which meant they were right to believe his method of escaping would work. they were finally going to leave neverland.