Hey guys! I'm sorry this chapter's so short. This episode had a lot of flashbacks in it so I didn't have a whole lot to work with.
Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy!
Save Henry
"Gold is in a box?" Mary Margaret said slowly. "Then David can never leave the island."
Emer didn't really think it was time to talk about that. Not while Henry was dying and Pan was gone.
David seemed to think the same thing. "Mary Margaret, that doesn't matter. I've already made my peace with that. What matters is Henry." He looked back at Regina. "How much time do we have?"
Regina didn't look up from Henry, where he was laid on Wendy's old bed. "Maybe an hour before the preservation spell wears off."
Neal sighed heavily. "If he's airborne he could be anywhere on the island."
"An hour isn't much time," Killian reminded. "I suggest we start looking."
"I could try and draw him to us by singing," Emer offered. "Set a trap."
"No," Killian said, shaking his head. "Besides the fact that I won't put you in more danger than you're already in being here, I'm afraid Pan would be expecting that now. He'd never fall for it."
Emer nodded slightly, sighing. He had a fair point. She turned to follow him as he walked off, but he froze and quickly stepped in front of his daughter.
She knew why quickly. Felix.
Regina marched forward, the evil queen revealed in full force as she grabbed the Lost Boy by the collar. "Where is he?!"
"Gone," Felix said with a small smile. "There's nothing you can do. He's already won. Pan never fails."
"You won't talk?" Regina snarled. "How about I make you talk?" She pulled her hand back, ready to plunge it into his chest and rip his heart free, but she was halted when Emma grabbed her arm.
"Regina, wait."
"There's no time," Regina protested sharply.
Emma pulled Regina away, voice low as she spoke to the Evil Queen. "I don't think torture is our best option here. Look at these kids, they've been to hell and back. Would you do that to Emer if she hadn't cooperated with us? We need to try something else."
"Yeah, we tried the cute and cuddly," Regina snapped. "They don't respond to reason. What else do you have to offer?"
The Savior was staring at her mother before she answered. "What every kid wants," Emma told the queen simply. "A mother."
Emma knelt in front of all of the Lost Boys and Wendy, her tone soft as she tried to convince them of what they needed. "Guys, listen to me. We are not gonna hurt you. I know you're loyal to Pan. And I get that. But you are making a terrible mistake. For a long time I thought I was never gonna find my family. I was an orphan, like all of you. A Lost Girl. And I was reminded today that I am not alone. That I have a lot of people that love me, and I never thought that was gonna happen. If that can happen to me, it can happen to you."
Felix leaned forward with total conviction. "Pan is the only family we need."
"No," Emma told him, her tone simple but still soft. "Family doesn't do what he did. Pan lied to you and made you do terrible things. He lied to Henry and convinced him to give up his own heart."
"To save the island," another Lost Boy, one of the youngest among them, said quickly.
"No," Emma corrected, "to save himself."
"Don't listen to her," Felix said to the boys. "Pan cares about all of us."
"No, he doesn't," Emma insisted again. "We care about you, and we can save you. We can take you home with us, to our land. There's no reason to fear Pan anymore. Until he absorbs the power from Henry's heart, he can be stopped."
Mary Margaret looked over the group with gentle, mothering eyes. "You just have to tell us where he is."
Felix rose to his feet, his tone warning. "Leave now, while Pan still allows you to breathe."
Killian pressed his hook into the Lost Boy's shoulder and forced him back into a seated position. Felix knew exactly how sharp that hook was, and the proof was written all over his face. Literally.
Once he was sitting again, he finished his statement. "That's the only help you'll get."
Emma turned to Felix, her voice still soft. "Where is Pan?"
"Not. Telling." There was finality in his tone.
Emma sighed softly, shoulders sagging almost like she was defeated.
"Can you really take us home?" The young Lost Boy asked softly.
"Shut your mouth!" Felix ordered in a snarl as he jumped back to his feet.
Emma quickly moved over and knelt in front of the young boy. "Yes," she assured softly. "With your help."
"His thinking tree," the boy said softly, eyes cast downward almost like he was guilty.
"No!" Felix shouted as Killian kept him restrained.
Emerlyn almost flinched at the sound. Usually when she heard that, it meant someone, possibly her, was going to get hurt.
Killian noticed when his daughter shifted behind him. It made him dig the hook into Felix's shoulder a little harder.
"Yes," another Lost Boy, this one older than the first, confirmed. "His thinking tree."
"Stop it!" Felix roared, struggling against Killian's hold. "All of you!"
"What is that?" Emma asked quickly.
"It's where he goes when he wants to be alone," the younger Lost Boy explained.
The older boy nodded. "You can find him there. It's not far."
Felix was looking at them like a crazed, cornered animal. "No, don't trust her!"
Emma leaned forward slightly. "Can you tell us where that is?"
"Yeah," the younger boy said softly. "But you have to swear, swear that you'll take us with you."
The Savior looked near tears as she leaned closer to the pair of boys that had helped them so much. "I promise. We're going home. All of us."
"The Pixie Woods?" Regina clarified. "That's where it is?"
"It's just north of here," the younger Lost Boy assured. "It's where the pixie dust used to grow."
Emma looked up hopefully at Killian and Emer. "You know where that is?"
"Aye," Killian assured. "The whole region is deserted now."
"No one but Pan has gone in those woods for ages," Emer said softly, arms crossed over her chest. "Probably centuries."
"Then let's make history," Neal said quickly.
"We're gonna need you here," Emma told Neal as she walked toward him. "Once we get Henry's heart back, it's gonna be a race back. We need help on both ends."
"Okay," Neal agreed quickly.
"What do you need from us?" David asked for both himself and Mary Margaret.
"Let's gather gather up the Lost Boys and get them on board the Jolly Roger," Neal said as he looked over the adolescent boys. "Prepare the ship to fly."
"Let's hope you have a Pegasus sail," Killian said with a small sigh, "otherwise we're at the mercy of the trade winds."
"Pan's Shadow's in her," Neal reminded, "it'll get us home. As long as your ship holds together."
Killian scoffed a little at the notion that she wouldn't. "Well, as long as your plan holds together, she will."
Emer followed her father as he sauntered off, and the pirate seemed more than relieved by the fact. With Pan on the loose and growing more powerful by the moment, the last thing he wanted was for her to be far away.
Emer climbed up the side of the Jolly Roger's rigging like she had never left, smiling brighter than she had in centuries as she smelled the salt of the sea and a cool nighttime breeze whipped through her tangled hair.
Killian was smiling at her, a new light behind his eyes as he saw his daughter back where she belonged. With him, happy, and climbing like a monkey across his ship.
The former Lost Girl bounced along the side of the ship as she rushed to point Emma and Regina to Henry, and make sure he was okay when they put his heart back.
There was a moment of suspense, the ship going as silent as it could as it moved through the water.
Everyone was waiting anxiously for any kind of reaction from Henry.
"Henry?" Regina called softly.
Nothing.
"Are we too late?" Emma asked almost anxiously.
"Henry?" Regina tried again, swallowing hard as her tone grew more urgent. "Honey!"
Henry woke up with a gasp that made Emma and Regina's faces light up.
David let out a breath of relief.
Killian smiled at the family before looking at Emer, who was bouncing up and down happily for the family.
Regina and Emma both hugged Henry tight at the same time.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Neal said as he watched Henry move like he was going to stand. "Take it easy, buddy."
"I'm sorry," Henry said in a hoarse, tired voice. "I wanted to save magic."
"It's okay," Emma assured quickly, still clutching her son as Regina ran her hands over his hair. Emma let out a soft sigh. "It's okay."
"I-I wanted to be a hero," Henry admitted slowly as he looked between his two mothers.
"There's plenty of time for that," David assured with a smile.
"But now it's time to rest," Mary Margaret told her grandson softly.
"Welcome back, young sir," Killian said with a smile. "Only the best for our guest of honor, don't you think, Em?" He turned back to look at his daughter.
She grinned at him. "Aye, Captain."
Killian smiled and turned back to Henry. "Captain's quarters."
Emer nodded as she looked back at the group's champion as she hung off the rigging. "Welcome back, Henry."
Henry blushed a little, smiling at her before Regina helped her son up. "Come on. I'll tuck you in."
Emer swung herself down from the rigging to stand on the deck beside her father as they prepared their escape of Neverland with Pan's Shadow.
Killian wrapped an arm around her, careful of his hook. He wanted her close, but he wasn't sure how dangerous it would be for her there. It was a chance he had to take.
Emer watched with wide eyes as Regina contained Pan's Shadow in magic before it could fight back, grafting the shadow to the Jolly Roger's sails.
"You think it'll fly?" Emma asked as she stared at the newly black sail.
"It has no choice," Regina replied with a smirk in her voice.
"Then let's get the hell out of Neverland."
"As you wish, m'lady," Killian replied. "Boatswain, weigh anchor!"
Emer looked over the side of the ship as it lifted from the water, passing by Skull rock and reaching the clouds in only moments.
Killian laughed as he watched his little girl hold onto the rigging and touch the clouds. From now on, they'd be a family again. A small family, a little broken and a little scarred, maybe, but a family all the same. Now and forever.