Finally! A chapter with a little more length to it. I hope you guys enjoy it!
Going Home
Emerlyn swallowed nervously as the adults spoke about what Pan had in store for them, her father standing behind the other adults and holding onto her for dear life. She almost wanted them to sail away, find a way to get out of this realm and live a safe life away from Pan.
But she knew they couldn't. Pan was their problem as much as he was everyone else's. They needed to help stop him. But they had to stay together.
She slipped a little closer to her father's side.
He squeezed her a little tighter, kissing the top of her head.
"Another curse?" Mary Margaret asked. "It's happening again?"
"Gold," Emma called quickly, "this curse, is it going to work like the last one?"
The Dark One looked down as he began to explain. "The last one was created to service the Queen's wishes. This will be done per Pan's desire." He looked back up at them with certain dark eyes. "I would count on something hellish."
Regina turned toward the group to help with the explanation. "The curse was built to be unstoppable. There's nothing that can be done."
"Well," Mr. Gold said, eyes cast downward in thought. "It is possible to stop it."
"What?" Regina asked in surprise.
"By using the scroll itself," he explained. "It can only be undone by the person who used the scroll. That's you, Regina."
"What do I have to do?" The Evil Queen asked, seemingly willing to do anything to save her son.
"You must destroy the scroll," the Dark One said simply. "Both your curse and his shall be ended. But know this, there will be a price. A steep one."
"What do you suggest?"
"Instead of us going to him, bring him to us with a that will return Pan and Henry to their own bodies."
Henry seemed to realize what exactly Rumplestiltskin meant by his plan. "If I'm back in my own body, that means I'll have the scroll. I can bring it to you guys."
"Exactly right, Henry," Gold confirmed.
Regina still looked doubtful. "Even you aren't powerful enough to cast such a spell."
"Well, given the proper tool, I could be," the Dark One pointed out.
"The Black Fairy's wand," Tinkerbell said suddenly. "One of the most powerful fairies that ever existed. Well-versed in dark magic. The Blue Fairy exiled her, but before she did, she took her wand."
"I assume our dearly departed Mother Superior had it hidden at her residence," Gold guessed.
"Then what are we waiting for?" David asked quickly. "Let's get to the convent."
"Can I come?" Tinkerbell asked. "I should pay my respects to Blue after all."
"Then it's settled," Gold replied to the group as a whole. "The rest of us should go back to my shop and prepare Henry for the spell."
Killian slipped his arm off of Emer's shoulders to take her hand, leading her away from the vault as they went to help search for the Black Fairy's wand.
Emer strolled into the church with the adults to see nuns gathered around the Blue Fairy's body.
"Sorry to interrupt," Tinkerbell said quickly, "but we need your help."
"With what?" One of the nuns asked, looking at the gathered group with an almost puzzled expression in her dark eyes.
"The Black Fairy's wand is here," Neal explained quickly, "we need it."
The nun stepped back, shaking her head. "We can never…"
Emer rolled her eyes. They didn't have time for never.
Tinkerbell seemed to feel the same way. "Yeah, it's a terrible, terrible thing," she said quickly, almost huffing. "But what's coming is worse. Where is it?"
Emerlyn jumped at the sound of a loud thump against the door, like something was trying to force its way inside. Then she heard the all-too-familiar growl of Pan's Shadow as it soared by the window.
Killian backed up a step, wrapping his arms around Emer to pull her close to him as it let out a shriek. That damned Shadow would not hurt her again.
"What the hell was that?" David asked in shock as everyone became defensive.
Killian tucked Emerlyn closer to his back as gusts of air started to move through the church. "It was Pan's Shadow."
The Shadow hit another window with a loud thump.
"What does it want?" The nun asked desperately, eyes wide with fear.
"The wand," Emerlyn and Killian called at the same, wearing nearly matching wide-eyed expressions.
"He must've been watching us," Emer said, clutching her father's coat again.
Pan's Shadow broke through the window with another shriek.
"Run," David ordered quickly, starting to push the nun's to hide somewhere in the back. "Run, run!"
David looked over the group with eyes wide with concern as he looked at Tinkerbell, Neal, and Emer. He'd never personally dealt with the Shadow before. "Get the hell outta here!"
Killian rushed to rush toward the pews, keeping himself between Emer and Pan's Shadow as much as he could. "Stay covered!" Over there!"
The Shadow let out another growl as Killian ducked behind the pews with enough room for the others, pulling Emer close again.
She slid close to his side, looking up at the Shadow as she tried to prepare her voice to scream just in case he got too close. If she could knock him back again, they could catch him in the coconut.
Pan's Shadow let out another shriek, and David looked at the group beside him. "So, all we have to do is light the candle again, right? That's how you trapped it in Neverland?"
"Yeah," Neal said quickly. "This time, I say we get rid of it for good."
"I'll draw its ire," Killian said quickly.
"What?!" Emer demanded in shock. "It almost got you last time, and now you're going to let it try?"
Killian kissed the top of her head quickly, hand running over her hair softly. "I'll be alright, Em. Especially since you can save me if it starts to go wrong."
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Tinkerbell interrupted before Emer could say anything else.
"If it's the only way to prevent this bloody curse from obliterating us all, then it's a risk I'm willing to take," the pirate replied quickly.
"I thought you'd only risk your life for love or revenge," Tink commented almost snidely.
Emer couldn't have thought of worse timing to be a smart-ass.
Killian looked at the green fairy almost exasperatedly before they ducked again as Pan's Shadow swooped down. He pushed Emer down carefully, covering her before he looked back at Tinkerbell. "I just got my daughter back after she was trapped with Pan for centuries. I think this falls under both of those bloody categories."
He pushed himself to his feet and climbed over the pew in front of them with a "Hey!"
The Shadow snarled and swooped down at him.
He ducked quickly.
Emer was holding her breath, heart pounding out of her chest. She was ready to scream her lungs out if it kept the Shadow from hurting her father again. She couldn't lose him. He was all she had left.
"Is that the best you got?" Killian taunted, almost laughing as Pan's Shadow rose and prepared itself for another dive.
The Shadow swooped down, stopping just short of him to curve back up into a loop before it hit Killian full-force.
The pirate slid across the hardwood floors.
Emer almost let out the scream she'd been saving then, in an accidental panic.
David tugged him quickly into the pews before the Shadow could try to pull his free.
Emer slid back to her father, trying to look him over to see how badly his was injured as the others tried to figure out how to get it close enough to the candle to stop it. The former Lost Girl took a deep breath, kissed her father's forehead, and crawled from the safety of the pews.
The talking of the adults kept the Shadow distracted enough from her presence for Emer to climb to a higher height, one where she could knock Pan's Shadow toward the candle with the scream she'd been trying to build.
Emer had to try. Even if her plan didn't work, it would at least stop the Shadow's assault for a moment. She stopped climbing when she reached a high enough vantage point, watching carefully as Tink rose to her feet, holding glowing green pixie dust.
She smiled. If the fairy could get into the air, Emer could knock the Shadow directly into the candle.
When the former Lost Girl saw the candle light, she started making noise to attract the shadow to her until Tink could get into the air with the candle trap.
The Shadow soared toward Emerlyn with an angry shriek.
Emer watched as Tink rose, floating off of the floor, and nodded to her. The green fairy was ready.
The dark-haired girl screamed, power flooding the church with such force it warped glass until it shattered and knocked the empty pews backwards.
Pan's Shadow wailed in pain as it was hurled backwards by the magical sound, tumbling until it was close enough to the candle to be sucked inside.
Tinkerbell caught it and snapped the coconut closed before lowering herself to the ground.
Emer climbed back down quickly, stumbling a little from some exhaustion at the scream, and her throat sore from the effort, but it had worked, and that's all she could've asked for as Tinkerbell tossed the coconut into fire that stood in nearby… Emer wasn't really sure what to call them. They looked like torch bowls.
Killian rushed toward his daughter as quickly as he could manage without causing himself excess pain, brushing her hair back to look at her closely. "Are you alright?"
Emer nodded. "Sore throat," she said in a hoarse voice. "But I'm okay. I'm sorry I can't heal you now."
The pirate shook his head and held her face softly. "Don't be. I'm just glad you're okay. And maybe you can lay off the screams for a while. They're a bit harder on you than a normal song."
She smiled a little sheepishly. "Yeah, maybe," she said in agreement before she hugged her father again.
He returned it more than happily until a new female voice joined the celebration.
"Well done, Green. And you, too, Emerlyn."
Everyone turned in shock.
"Blue?" Tinkerbell asked in shock. "But you were…"
"Gone," the blue fairy agreed, "I know. But when you killed the Shadow, mine was returned and I was revived." She looked at the green fairy proudly. "You finally believed in yourself, Green. Tinkerbell. Welcome back."
Tink's eyes were wide. "I'm a fairy again? Even after I disobeyed all your rules?"
Blue chuckled softly. "I might have been overly strict. You deserved your wings, Tinkerbell. And you have earned them back many times over."
"Thank you," Tinkerbell whispered.
Blue looked to the others in the room. "As for the Black Fairy's wand…" She sighed, almost like she was working up the nerve, and summoned it to her hand. She handed it to Neal. "Go. Save us all."
Emer looked around at the mess of shattered glass she'd made, and whistled slowly, the song she'd heard the dwarves whistling in town before they went to the mines.
Slowly, piece by piece, the glass started to come back together as the group exited the church. She broke them, it was only right that she at least tried to fix them.
"She's back," David announced as they entered Gold's pawn shop with the wand. "The Blue Fairy. She gave us the wand."
"Do we need anything else?" Emma asked quickly.
"Only one more item," Gold said simply as he pulled a leather cuff from one of his many cabinets.
"What is that?" Mary Margaret asked.
"One of the only useful things I managed to pilfer from Greg and Tamara before they left for Neverland," Gold explained simply. "It renders anyone with magic utterly powerless."
Emer found herself wanting to migrate a step backwards.
"I haven't forgotten about all that, by the way," Regina commented, looking up at Killian.
He didn't say a word, only looked at her and backed up a step with his daughter.
"May I see your wrist, Henry?" Gold asked, still holding the cuff in plain sight.
Henry held up his arm.
Gold slipped it on him with an explanation. "I want to make sure that when my dear old dad awakes, that he's weakened. This will block his powers."
Henry looked at his grandfather almost anxiously. "So what happens now?"
Emer had a hard time listening to him with that voice. She just had to keep coaching herself, reminding herself that it was Henry, not Pan.
"I enact the spell," Gold explained, "you fall into a deep sleep, and when you awake, you're back in your own body."
Regina leaned around to look at Henry closely. "And then you hang on to that scroll, and you come find us as fast as you can."
"When I gave my heart to Pan," Henry started, scoffing a little and shaking his head at himself. "I thought I was being a hero." He looked between his mothers as they rubbed his back comfortingly. "I'm sorry."
It even made Emer want to hug him. Henry was such a sweet boy, always wanting to do the right thing. He didn't deserve to be going through all this.
"You're not the one that needs to be sorry, Henry," David assured him quickly. "Pan does."
"It's time," Gold said softly when David was finished.
Henry laid down on the cushioned couch his mothers had been on with him as he prepared for the Dark One's spell.
Everyone else quickly backed out of the way.
"Keep your eye on the wand," Gold instructed as he began the spell.
After a moment, Henry's eyes drifted closed, and Gold touched the wand to his forehead.
There was a bright flash of light, and Henry started convulsing.
Emer's grip tightened quickly around her father's leather coat again, her blue eyes wide as she watched in awe and fear.
"What's happening?" Emma asked in a near panic.
"Henry's spirit is leaving Pan's body," Gold explained, his voice an almost eerie calm.
Pan's body went still.
"It worked," Regina said quickly, brown eyes growing with hope.
"Let's go find our son," Emma said in agreement before the two women marched out of Gold's shop while everyone else followed to help with the search.
"He's nearby," Granny announced as she tracked Henry through Storybrooke, the large group following her until they truly found the boy.
Emer was holding onto her father's hand as they rushed through town with the others.
"The tower?" Mary Margaret asked urgently.
"Yeah," Granny confirmed.
Henry rushed out of the door at the bottom of the clocktower, running toward his family. "It's me! It's me, it worked!"
He rushed toward his mothers, where they both caught him in a tight hug.
"Mom, Mom," Henry said with a small laugh. "I just saw you guys. You guys just saw me."
Regina put a hand gently on his chin as she spoke. "But we didn't see you."
Henry turned and handed the scroll to Emma.
"Oh, he's got it," the blonde said in relief before she handed it to Regina. "It's up to you now."
Regina curled it in her fist, and there was suddenly a bright flash of light as she collapsed.
"Regina!" Emma called in a voice that almost sounded like a gasp as the Evil Queen fell unconscious. "Regina!"
Killian held Emer back as the family continued to try waking up the Evil Queen, though the Joneses couldn't help but look on in concern. After another moment, Regina woke up, and the others helped her to her feet in concern.
"You okay?" Emma asked, looking over Regina carefully.
"Yes, I'm fine," Regina assured a little breathlessly. "I just…"
"What is it?" Mary Margaret asked in concern. "What happened when you touched it?"
"I saw what needed to be done," Regina said simply, but her gaze seemed entirely focused on Henry as she twisted the curse in her fingers.
"Mom," Henry asked, his voice almost shaking, "are you gonna be okay?"
Regina leaned down, closer to his level with her hand gently on his chin again. "The important thing is you will be."
There was a whoosh sound of magic, and suddenly the scroll was gone from her hand.
"No, he won't," a male voice said from behind them. Pan.
Emer felt all of the color drain from her face. He was supposed to be trapped. This wasn't supposed to be happening.
Killian stepped in front of Emer to shield her from Pan, quickly trying to warn the others. "He has the—!"
Pan waved his hand, and froze every single one of them in place with a flash of magic. He grinned as he finished Hook's statement. "Curse." He shook the little scroll between his fingers as he walked toward them. "That I do."
The fear growing inside Emer felt like it was almost strong enough to break the spell, but she knew she couldn't do anything without being able to move her mouth.
"Look at you all," Pan taunted as he walked closer to the gathering of heroes and villains. "A captive audience. I could play with you like a pack of dolls, couldn't I? And I think I'll start with these two." Pan marched toward Neal and Belle. "Hmm, and you both look so adorable. Hard to tell which one to kill first."
Emer hated the relief she felt when he didn't march up to her. It was so selfish, and Neal and Belle didn't deserve that either. She was just always concerned with what Pan would do to her.
Pan didn't seem to notice just yet. "No it isn't. You." He pointed to Neal. "You first. And then maybe I'll do Belle, and then move on to my traitorous little Lost Girl."
Emer felt her heart clench, but she could do nothing.
Suddenly a hand grabbed Pan's shoulder from behind and pulled the boy away from Neal and Belle. It was Rumplestiltskin, his voice a growl. "Stay away from them."
"Well how about this," Pan said casually as he stepped away from the group. "The worm has teeth." His voice turned mocking. "You're here to protect your loved ones?"
"I'm not going to let you touch either one of them," Gold replied sharply.
"Oh?" Pan continued to taunt, eyebrow raised. "Well, I'd like to see that."
"Oh, you will," the Dark One promised. "Because I have a job to finish. And I have to do it, whatever it takes. No loopholes. And what needs to be done has a price. A price I am finally willing to pay." He turned to look at his son. "I used the curse to find you, Bae. To tell you I made a mistake. To make sure you had a chance at happiness. And that happiness is possible, just not with me. I accept that."
"Pretty, pretty words," Peter Pan mocked again.
Gold looked back at Neal again, and whispered, "I love you, Bae. And I love you, Belle. You made me stronger."
"Stronger?" Pan scoffed.
"Yes," Gold said softly, eyes unmoved from his son and love.
"But still," Pan pointed out, "no magic."
"Oh, but I don't need it," Rumplestiltskin said simply. "You see, you may have lost your Shadow, but there's one thing you're forgetting."
"And what's that?" Pan hissed.
"So have I," Gold answered with an almost wild grin. "I sent it away with something to hide." He lifted his arm with a flourish as the sound of a shrieking shadow echoed through the sky. It dropped a jaggedly curving dagger into his hand as his shadow grafted itself back to his body as he grabbed ahold of Pan.
Pan struggled in his grip. "What are you doing?!"
"You see," Gold said simply, "the only way for you to die is if we both die. And now? Now, I'm ready." He jammed the dagger with his name on it into Pan's back.
Pan gasped and choked in pain before the magic around the teen disappeared, and he was turned back into the adult he really was.
Emer couldn't get past her shock enough to hear what they said before the Dark one twisted the dagger in Pan's back, and light began to glow from the blade until they both disappeared.
The magic that held the large group in place faded, and Emer almost immediately started shaking. It was over. Pan was gone. So why was she still so afraid?
Killian immediately turned to pull his daughter close, whispering reassurances into her hair as he clutched her tight.
Belle's legs gave out beneath her as she sobbed at the loss of Gold. Her love was gone. "No… Rumple… He's gone…"
Emma walked over to Neal and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry."
"My father did what he had to do," Neal said simply, but his voice was strained. "He saved us. Regina, don't let him die for nothing."
Killian squeezed Emer a little tighter as she slowly stopped shaking. Now it was up to Regina to save them.
Regina didn't answer Neal.
"Regina?" Neal tried again.
"What?" The Evil Queen asked, like she hadn't heard anything else that had been said.
"We're here for a reason, luv," Killian reminded quickly. "Pan."
"He's dead," Regina said sharply.
"His curse remains," the pirate reminded. "Can you stop it? Or shall we all start preparing our souls? 'Cause mine is gonna take some time."
Emer snorted a little, but held onto her father tighter. At least if they died, her family was whole again for a little while.
Before Regina could reply, Leroy, one of the dwarves Emerlyn had met briefly, rushed down the street toward them. "It's here! The curse! It's here!" He was panting as he slowed to a stop beside them, his voice trembling. "It's coming. From all sides. There's no escape."
Killian pulled Emer closer to his side.
She swallowed hard and squeezed him, drawing herself as close to his side as she could possibly get. She could feel her father's heart pounding in his chest. They couldn't lose each other, not again.
"But you can stop it, right?" David asked quickly, his attention on the evil queen. "Regina?"
"Yes," the queen replied, but her voice was faint. "Yes."
"Well, what's the price?" Emma asked as she looked at the scroll around Regina's shoulders. "Gold said there was a price. What is our price?"
Regina stepped forward before she turned and looked to Emma. "It's not our price. It's mine."
"What are you talking about?" Emma asked, brow furrowed as she looked at the dark haired woman.
"It's what I felt when I first held it," Regina explained softly, her tone almost anxious. "I have to say goodbye to the thing I love most."
Emma turned to look at Henry with wide blue eyes, and the boy moved quickly toward his birth mother as she put an arm around his shoulder. "Henry?" Emma guessed almost shakily.
Regina continued to anxiously twist the scroll in her hand. "I can never see him again. I have no choice. I have to undo what I started."
"The curse that brought us to Storybrooke," Mary Margaret realized quickly.
"That created Storybrooke," Regina corrected. "It doesn't belong here. And neither do any of us."
"Breaking the curse destroys the town," David said in realization of his own.
"It will wink out of existence as though it were never here," Regina confirmed softly. "And everyone will go back to where they're from. Prevented from ever returning."
Emer hoped to God that didn't mean Neverland. Hopefully it meant where they were originally from.
"You'll go back to the Enchanted Forest," Emma said softly, clearly trying to reason her way through it all.
"All of us," Regina explained, looking over Mary Margaret and David before her eyes scanned the rest of the group. "Except Henry."
Everyone looked at him in shock.
"He will stay here because he was born here," Regina finished.
"Alone?" Emma asked, expression shifting in panic.
"No," Regina said as the curse continued to rumble from all sides surrounding them. She took a step toward Emma. "You will take him. Because you're the Savior. You were created to break the curse. And, once again, you can escape it."
"I don't want to," Emma insisted quickly, pulling Henry a little closer to her side. "We'll both go back, with everyone."
"That's not an option," Regina told her simply, despite how much she clearly wished it was. "I can't be with him. If I don't pay the price, none of this will work."
Thunder clapped overhead and the rumbling sound grew louder.
They were in such a lose-lose situation. If Regina didn't break the curse, they were doomed, but if she did, they were all forced from Storybrooke. Emer just hoped that wherever she ended up if Regina broke it, she was allowed to have a life with her family, even if that was just her and her father.
They all looked around in near-panic at the storm that was growing closer.
"Emma, you have to go," Mary Margaret told her quickly.
Emma looked a little heartbroken. "I just found you."
Mary Margaret sighed, the sound a broken itself. "And now it's time for you to leave us again. Four your best chance. For his."
"No," Emma protested. "No. I'm not done. I'm the Savior, right? I'm supposed to bring back all the happy endings. That's what Henry always said."
"Happy endings aren't always what we think they will be," Snow White told her daughter quickly. "Look around you. You've touched the lives of everyone here."
Killian adjusted his grip around Emer and kissed the crown of her head softly. He wasn't sure what would happen next, but he needed it to mean his daughter would be okay.
"But we're a family," Emma argued again.
"Yes," Mary Margaret swore, "and we always will be. You gave us that."
"You and Henry can be a family," David said quickly, "and you can get your wish. You can be like everyone else. You can be happy."
"It's time for you to believe in yourself, Emma," her mother said quickly, knowing they were running out of time. "It's time for you to find hope."
Regina stepped toward the Savior again. "I've known you for some time. And all I wanted was for you to get the hell out of my life so I can be with my son." Regina's voice cracked. "But really what I want is for Henry to be happy. We have no choice. You have to go."
After a long moment of silence, Emma finally whispered, "Okay."
Emer and Killian clung to each other as they watched the green, rumbling smoke of Pan's curse approach the town line where they waited for Regina to save them.
Emer jumped at another thunderclap before Henry walked over to her slowly, almost shyly.
She smiled slightly at the boy, her expression a little shy herself.
"Bye, Emer," he said softly. "I… I wish we had more time to become better friends."
Emer nodded slightly. "Bye, Henry. Be safe. I… I'm gonna miss you."
"I'll miss you too," Henry promised, hesitating before he turned to his family.
Emerlyn looked back at her father. "Where do you think we'll end up when Regina fixes this?"
He smiled slightly at her and pushed her hair out of her face. "Probably in the Enchanted Forest like the others. After all, that's where we were from long before Neverland."
Emer nodded slightly. "We'll be together, though, right?"
Killian pulled her close to his chest and kissed the top of her head repeatedly. "Always, Em. I'll always be with you."
He slowly let go of Emer after a moment to speak with the Savior first, though he didn't try to catch her until Emerlyn had nodded slightly, letting him know she was okay with it.
"Quite the vessel you captain there, Swan," he tried to tease as he caught the blonde woman. His tone became more serious. "There's not a day will go by I won't think of you."
"Good," Emma replied softly, almost a whisper. "But take care of your daughter. She needs you."
Half of Killian's mouth turned up in a small smile. "Aye, I will." He turned and gathered his daughter in his arms again.
"You know I want you to be happy, right?" Emer mumbled into her father's leather coat. "I just… I still want to have a father, too."
Killian lifted her chin for her blue eyes to meet his. "No matter what happens, Emerlyn, you will always have a father in me. No matter where I am or what I'm doing, I will always love you and do everything I can to protect you."
Emer hugged him tightly as thunder rumbled again.
"No matter what," Killian repeated in a whisper as he held her just as tightly. When that curse hit, and they were swallowed by the billowing smoke just after it turned purple, he knew he would have to find a way for them to have their happily ever after. As a whole family. And the only way for that to work was with Emma, too,
He had to find her again. For himself, and so he could be the best father he could be for his little girl.
He just never imagined it would take so long. He never imagined he would have to leave his Emerlyn behind again for a year.