A/N: Hi everyone! I hope you are doing well. I have missed you all! Believe me, I have wanted to update this story since the last update. Alas, school must come first. I want to thank everyone who has favorited, followed, and/or reviewed since the last update! You guys make me so happy! Thank you for your patience and understanding in the long update schedule. I'm hoping this chapter will be well worth the wait. Afterwards, I would love to hear your thoughts about it. Well enough about me. Pull out a chair, pour some rum (as our favorite pirate would do), and enjoy—Chapter Thirteen!
Disclaimer: If I owned anything from OUAT, I wouldn't have to buy my own food because Granny's would feed me for free! ;-)
This chapter is dedicated to my amazing fan, PopPotter777! Thank you for your reviews! I hope you enjoy the chapter! :)
Chapter 13
Hopkins, Minnesota: 1998
The flashing hues of blue and red from the lights of the police cars sting Emma's eyes. She hears the crickets chirping and the frogs croaking as they return to their homes for the night. A home, a place to sleep, a place to feel loved, is something Emma Swan thought she had only moments ago, but that fairytale turned out to only be a dream.
In a few moments, she'll repeat the same routine she knows. The social worker will drive her to a temporary foster home until other arrangements are made. If the system manages to find a foster family willing to take her in, Emma knows it won't last. They'll neglect her and never see or love her as their child. There's no point in hoping things could be different, because she knows they never are.
As the social worker and Lily's father beg the police not to press charges for Emma and Lily's trespassing, Emma steals a glance down at her wrist. The star that marks its surface reminds her of the promise she shares with Lily, to never go back, to never be alone, and to be best friends forever.
Two orphans, two best friends who understand each other and promise to be there for each other in their times of need. That's what Emma thought she could be with Lily. After all, Lily is the first person she met that supposedly understood her pain and what it was like to walk in her shoes. Just hours ago they laughed, hugged, and enjoyed each other's company. But the moment Lily's dad barged through the door, reality sneaked its way back into Emma's heart.
"Emma! Emma," she hears her companion whisper. Hearing Lily's pitiful attempt to reconcile with her is the last thing that the foster child wants to hear. Still, until the social worker gets back, the only alternative is to fiddle her thumbs. Sauntering over to the dark van, Emma finds her adopted friend peeking out the backseat window.
"Emma, don't worry about my dad," she says. "He's just pissed I used his Visa." The anger Emma feels silently boils up in her chest as Lily writes something down. "When this blows over, come find me," she says. "We can run away together."
"You tricked me," Emma retorts, not hiding her disgust at Lily's betrayal.
"I'm sorry," her friend responds, sincerity in her voice. "I know I lied about my family, but everything else I said is true. I hate my home. I feel invisible there. I'm just like you. I am! I was an orphan. It's just they adopted me. But it's not my home. You promised. Friends forever, no matter what."
With those words, Emma storms off. How could Lily compare her situation to her nightmare?! Lily possesses the one thing Emma craves: a family. Her new friend is just like everyone else Emma knows. The second the 15 year old lets her walls down is the moment her heart gets damaged beyond repair. And with each heartbreak, her walls thicken and become harder to break.
No more, never again will she let this happen. She has no family and has no friends. She'll find a way to survive. She always does. She doesn't need anyone's help, especially Lily's. Smearing the star off of her wrist with her thumb, Emma Swan decides she is better off living her life alone.
"Emma!" Lily cries from behind her, heartbroken. Hoping for absolution, she receives no response. "Emma!"
"Emma!" Lily screams, breaking out of Kay's arms and scrambling over to her friend.
The storm unleashes its fury upon the forest of Camelot. The rain pours down from the heavens as lightning illuminates the sky. In the darkness, Maleficent's daughter rolls the Emma over and holds her limp and unconscious body in her arms.
Crimson blood tarnishes her dress of cerulean silk and lace. The Savior's skin looks deathly pale. Even with the sound of her friend's voice calling out to her and the soaking rain drenching her hair, Emma doesn't respond.
"Emma!" Lily cries, shaking her friend. "Emma, please! Wake up!"
All she wishes for is to see a pair of emeralds. The sound of the world without Emma's voice feels deafening. Tears stream down her face and mix with the rain as Kay crawls up to them.
"I—I barely feel a heartbeat," Lily tells him.
How could this have happened? Only hours ago, she saw Emma dancing and briefly enjoying herself at the Queen's birthday celebration. If she knew that this would happen, she would've never let Emma go after Hook alone. With each passing moment, Lily's fears grow, terrified that Emma's sendoff is the last time she will ever speak to her friend again.
As the rain falls and Lily throws off her cape to cover the dying Savior, Kay spies the arrow that protrudes from Emma's abdomen. The knight's features twist with horror. The sound of wrenching flesh makes Lily's stomach churn as she hears him rip the arrow out.
"Kay! What did you do?"
Examining the arrow with a keen eye, the knight's heart sinks as he discovers the sticky fluid coating the arrow is the culprit for Emma's demise.
"Hemlock."
"Aren't—aren't you—aren't you suppose to keep it in to—to stop the bleeding?"
"Not when it's hemlock."
Maleficent's daughter barely forms a sentence as she feels herself shaking from her sobs. "What—what is that?"
His grey eyes pierce her soul with sorrow. "It's a poison that we use to take out dangerous animals. It's suppose to paralyze the animal and stop their heart, but I've—I've never seen someone use it on a person."
Lily's heart plummets to the pit of her stomach. "So—so we have to get help. A doctor or a—"
"Lily!" the knight stops her. "We can't move her, because it will cause the poison to spread faster."
"So then go get help!" she snaps, but the knight doesn't move. "Why aren't you leaving?! Go!"
"Lily!" he shouts through the rain, grabbing her shoulders. "She's been exposed to the poison too long. Even if I left right now, she wouldn't be alive by the time I got back. She's too far gone."
At this moment, Lily's entire world crumbles. How could this be happening? She just came back into Emma Swan's life. It wasn't her choice to travel to Camelot, but Lily knows that all of Emma's loved ones count on her, not only to help Emma, but to protect her.
"No, no, no, no, no," she whimpers, shaking her head as she peers down at the Savior. "Emma! Wake up! You're not doing this."
"Lily."
"You don't get to drag me all this way to sit here and watch you die!"
"Lily—"
"You have to stay alive for Henry, your parents, Killian, and—me."
"Lily!"
"No!" she sobs, choking on her tears. "I need her! She can't die."
"I know you want to help her, but there is nothing we can do. She's been out here for too long. In a couple of minutes, the hemlock will reach her heart and she'll be dead. I'm sorry."
In the mounting chaos, Lily clings to Emma tighter, praying that this is just a dream. As she brushes wet curls of blond out of Emma's face, the stillness and tranquil features that the Savior portrays leave Lily trembling.
Whispering to herself, she wonders, "Who could have done this?"
"She's dead, Captain," the demon declares. "And it's your fault."
"No!" Killian screams, unleashing a deep cry that echoes through the cavern like an earthquake.
It is the only word that escapes the Dark One's lips. How could this be? He just saw her, just ran his fingers through her soft golden hair. The idea that his Swan no longer lives is Killian's worst nightmare.
"It can't be," he exclaims, denial contorting his features. "You're lying!"
"You wish I was," the demon hisses. "Don't worry, Captain. At least she will no longer be a distraction."
Emma's gone. Emma's gone! Once again, the woman Killian Jones loves is dead and he stands by, powerless to stop it. The grief that plagues his soul overwhelms him. With her gone, like a river that runs dry, Killian loses his faith. If she isn't there to help him, who will?
With rage flooding his veins, the pirate squints his eyes, staring at his captor. "I am going to kill you!"
"Good!" the demon laughs. "That is just what I wanted to hear! You see, Captain, I've always been a part of you. I know your fears and your struggles. Nothing is new to me. You let your infatuation for the Swan girl distract you. Now every single thing you love slips through your fingers—"
"Stop," the pirate pleads. "I don't want to hear anymore."
"Of course not," the demon mocks. "But you don't seem to understand the power you can possess. Don't get me wrong, I admire your resilience, your fight. But the thing you fought for is gone. The only way this ends is to embrace the darkness—"
"No!" the Dark One bellows. "I can't."
"It is the only way you will ever have a chance of seeing the Swan girl again!"
At those words, the pirate glares up from his pit of despair. "What does that mean?"
"You can have her," his companion tells him. "Fully embrace the darkness, take back your dagger, kill the sorcerer, and release the darkness. Then you will learn how to bring her back. You can save her."
Killian's cheeks drown in his tears. His chains grow heavier by the second. Every voice that screams in his head feels like a dagger being plunged into his skull. Without Emma, the pirate's brightest star, his shining compass is gone. She leaves him behind in a world that is so dark and cold, all the pirate wants to do is curl up and die.
The slightest chance of getting Emma back tempts him. Just once, he wants to think about himself. All he wants is to touch her, stare into her captivating eyes, and feel her soft lips against his own. Living without Milah for centuries nearly shattered his soul. He cannot imagine living forever without his Swan, the woman he swore to himself to love and protect. He promised to never let her down, but now he has.
Resisting his evil desires just for a few hours feels like torture. But if he learned anything from being by the Savior's side, it is sacrifice. He remembers all of the innocent lives he took from Camelot, the last time he gave in to his temptation and to the darkness. He knows she loved him more than anything, but if their places were reversed, he knows what Emma would do.
"No," Killian declares, clenching his teeth. "I won't give in; not today, not tomorrow, not ever."
"Oh you are such a disappointment!" the demon roars, growing impatient. "No matter. When she dies, you will eventually come to your senses and—"
"What do you mean, 'when she dies'?"
The demon fills with regret at his slip in judgement. "It's nothing."
"Wait—she's still alive?"
When the Dark One's captor doesn't answer, he knows the truth. "She is still alive, isn't she?"
"Not for long, Captain," he reluctantly answers, with no grin sitting on his scaly features. "You see, she's been poisoned, and the only cure is too far from that shabby structure."
"Someone will find her," Killian tells him, not only to the demon, but to himself. "They will save her."
"Do you actually think they can help her? Your master chose the poison carefully. She is out of time, and it is too late."
"It's never too late," the prisoner says. "Because if there is anything I've learned from Emma, it is that there is always hope."
Rumplestiltskin's rotten teeth come on full display as he breaks into a fit of laughter. Barely able to calm himself, his golden eyes peer into the pirate's soul.
"Oh Captain, you forget. Your Swan girl is the Savior, and there is only hope because she saves people. But, the Savior is dying, and the only thing she needs is a savior of her own. And last I checked—there isn't one."
The seconds tick by as the Savior approaches her ultimate doom. By now, the rain lessens to a drizzle. With despair and unknown dangers lurking in the shadows, Sir Kay leans down to the maiden.
"Lily, we have to get out of here."
"I'm not leaving," she replies, never exchanging eye contact with the knight.
"The Dark One is still out here—"
"Can you please—just go? I want to be alone to—say my goodbye."
Realizing that there is no point in arguing with her, Kay nods. "I'll be up by the house."
As the knight wanders up into the shadows and heads for their horses, Lily tastes the rust of the tears from her eyes. The darkness coils around the two former best friends, draining the life out of both of them. Stroking her friend's cheek, the gravity of the inevitable outcome makes Lily's heart shatter into a thousand pieces.
"Oh Emma," she whispers, resting her head upon the Savior's. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, for everything."
As the spirit of life leaves Emma, the warmth in her skin fades. Lily's guilt soars.
This is her fault. If she just went with her, they wouldn't be here right now. As the drizzle forms pools of water on the surrounding leaves, Maleficent's daughter remembers their broken promise, made all those years ago.
"Let's promise to stay friends, okay? No matter what, there won't be anything we can't come back from."
"Okay. Yeah. Promise."
"For real?"
"For real."
How she wishes they could go back to that day. The scars from that night will never heal. Lily lied and betrayed Emma's trust because she wanted to feel accepted. Even now, she feels like she cannot belong anywhere. When she rescued Emma from being caught shoplifting, a flicker of hope sparked in her soul. For just a couple of days, Lily finally felt like she found a sister, the one she never had.
Feeling just as helpless as being stuck in the van when Emma turned and walked away from their promise, Lily barely keeps herself by the Savior's side. In the few days since their reunion, Lily rekindles feelings of friendship between them. She hoped that with time, they would eventually repair the burned bridges, but now, she knows that will never happen.
As she is about to give her final goodbye to Emma, the alarms ring in Lily's head. Out of nowhere, a lightning bolt strikes and the nearby ground quakes. The wind howls wildly, yanking a nearby branch and hurling it in their' direction. Lily screams, shutting her eyes and waiting for the branch to knock her unconscious, but it never comes. Reflexively, she feels something shoot from her fingers. When Lily's eyes flutter open, moments later, she finds the branch now several yards away from her.
How? she questions. Her gaze darts in every direction, wondering if the pirate lurks in the shadows and sent her the branch. But as the darkness conceals the forest, the sparks of light coming from her hand catch Lily's attention.
"Lily!" Kay shouts, hurrying down the hill and breaking through the brush. When he approaches his visitors from another land, he catches his breath. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
As the knight tries to get Lily's attention, she remains trapped in her thoughts, staring at Emma's wound and remembering the words they shared earlier in the day.
"And what do I have? Nothing. I'm just a high school dropout and runaway who waits tables and hopes that I'll make just enough to keep a roof over my head."
"Lily, you are more than that. You have magic. You just don't know how to use it."
"Magic," she mumbles before exclaiming, "Magic! That's it!"
"What is it?" the knight questions, clearly confused.
Finally, Lily acknowledges his presence. "We can save her with magic."
"And where are we going to find someone with that kind of—"
"You're looking at her," she answers.
"Emma?"
"No—I can do it," Lily says, wiping her tears.
"But how—"
"It doesn't matter. Now, come over here and hold her still."
It takes a couple of seconds for the knight to process what Lily asks of him, but he obeys and scoots Emma into his lap. The Savior doesn't stir.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" he asks.
Lily may not be an evil queen, wicked witch, dark one, or even a savior; but she is Emma's last hope. Although she barely knows how to control her powers outside of transforming herself into a dragon, she must try. In the back of her mind, she knows Emma would fight until the end and never give up.
But part of her wonders if she is even capable of doing this. After all, she lives with the potential for darkness in her heart since Emma's parents cursed her. Emma needs light magic, and Lily hopes that amidst her inner darkness and its shadows, there is some inside of her, somewhere.
"We're about to find out," she responds to Kay's question.
Placing her hand over Emma's wound, sparks of untamed magic begin to glow from her fingertips. Suddenly, just as she begins, her hand shakes violently and the sparks stop.
"Come on, please!" Maleficent's daughter yells in frustration.
"Lily—"
"No!" she barks, shaking her head. "I can do this!"
Closing her eyes, Lily's mind travels away from Camelot. Like a raging river, memories of her friendship with Emma flood her soul: their meeting at the convenience store, their time together at the lake house, and their separation. Though the darkness unleashes its greatest blow, Lily will not let Emma, once again, leave behind everyone she loves.
All of the anger and hostility she harbors towards Emma disappears. Like shackles falling to the ground, for the first time in years, the weight of Lily's inner darkness vanishes, and a light hiding inside of her comes to the surface. At last, she feels free.
It is then that the glow returns to her hand. Magic streams from her fingers into Emma's wound, causing a dark substance to rise out and vaporize into thin air. A few moments later, the wound magically closes itself and the night grows still.
"Emma?" Lily whispers, her hand no longer glowing. Gently, she curls her frostbitten hands around the Savior's, waiting to see if Emma will respond.
"Emma, it's me, Lily. Come on—please wake up. Say something."
The seconds tick by, with only the crickets and wind answering Lily's plea. Both the knight and maiden remain quiet, looking and listening for signs of life. Lily prays that she wasn't too late.
Just as they begin to lose hope, the Savior coughs up water and gasps for air. Her emeralds emerge from her eyelids as the color slowly returns to her face. A gigantic smile sprouts on Lily's features as she feels Emma's hand squeezing hers.
"Hey," the Savior groans.
"Hey, Swan," Lily replies, caressing her cheek.
"Welcome back, Lady Emma," Kay says, a slight smile erupting from his features.
"What—what happened?" she asks, still trying to regain her senses.
Both Kay and Lily lock eyes, unsure of what to tell her. Finally, Maleficent's daughter responds, "It's complicated. Let's just promise each other you won't try to go and die on me again, okay?"
Still trying to remember what happened, Emma manages a sedated grin. "Okay. Promise."
Remembering their first promise to each other, Lily can't help but add, "For real?"
"For real."
A/N: Emma's alive! Yay! You didn't really think I was going to kill her, did you? Well, the chapter is done and it was pretty emotional for me to write. I loved getting to focus a little more on Lily and her growth as a character. As always, thank you for reading. If you've got a minute, I would love to hear your thoughts in a review or PM! On another note, Season 7 has started (and just finished airing 7x03). What are your thoughts? I'm still a little unsure, but maybe that's because I'm having CaptainSwan withdraws. I won't spoil anything, but if you haven't seen it, I think it's worth watching. Don't forget to favorite and/or follow this story if you haven't already! Our Storybrooke gang will be headed to Camelot very soon! I will try get another chapter up within the next couple of weeks. Thank you for your continued support! It means more to me than you will ever know.
Until next time!
C.M. Singer:)