"I thought they'd try a kiss on the forehead first." Henry's voice is barely a distant echo in the room.
"Me too, sweetheart. Me too." Snow sounds slightly uncomfortable but also a bit… proud?
Then, both of them burst out laughing and –Emma can't believe the insolence of these little shits– cheering. Regina blows a soft laughter and gives her a sweet peck before leaning back, her hands still on Emma's face, and looking brightly at her. The fuss comes to an abrupt end, however, when he door rumbles with a brutal thump. The iron hinges don't give way at first, but soon a second blow hits harder. Behind the solid wood, muffled screams resemble vaguely the names of those inside the room. Soon, an even more savage third impact kills every other sound.
At the other side, Hook's cry – "SWAN!"– seems to be the signal another charge. Two particularly vicious thrusts after, the door plummets to the ground, and three sweaty men emerge holding the bench they have temporarily turned into a battering ram.
Emma, Henry and Snow remain around the table, as if guarding its occupant, who remains leaning on her elbows with bloody clothes and messy hair, but clearly recovered and silently demanding an explanation.
"We sensed the magic! When he tried to get, the door had been blocked," Hook utters, taking a step forward.
"Oh, yes," Henry announces, after the tiniest bit of silence. "I have healed my mother with a true love kiss!" He imprints such enthusiasm in this words that Emma feels tempted to start clapping and hooraying.
"We thought... we thought it might have been Emma," Hook declares managing to sound both entitled and uncomfortable, and releases the bench along with the others. "And assumed the Dark One had been released and you were locked up at his mercy."
"Always so perceptive," Regina mutters with a wry half smile. Her voice seems to bring Robin out of his slumber; he calls out her name and runs to the table. Nobody gets in the way and he's all over Regina after four strides, kissing her through tears. It's actually a brief kiss that quickly turns into a close hug, but it feels somehow excessively long. Emma looks away and soon she leaves the vicinity of the table.
David opens his arms to Snow, and Henry quietly walks out. Emma walks beside him, intentionally avoiding Hook. The pirate follows her anyway, and the room is left just for Regina and Robin. Emma's eyes linger on them, before turning away from the door. As she does so, to her left, he feels Henry's presence. To her right, floating, the scrawny figure of Rumpelstiltskin appears in plain form. Smiling, bustling, coming back to her brighter than his crocodile skin.
He brings his mouth up to brush against Emma's ear. A nauseating chill shakes her. But she doesn't stop walking, she doesn't let any of it show. Not even when the icy, childlike voice pierces her head and scratches her insides.
"You do notice, right? That need to hurt... to kill."
Emma remains composed in the outside, but her heartbeat thumps against her head, and each step increases the nauseating feeling of turmoil.
"Don't resist it, Emma. Let yourself fill up with that appetite. That's what we are," he yells with a shrill laugh that reverberates throughout the castle, but only to Emma. Only in her.
To be continued...