It was time to start teaching Emma how to harness her magic. Regina and I were her designated teachers, and I don't think Emma was too happy about one of us. Emma was staring at the dead fire. "Focus." Regina ordered. "Concentrate!"
"It's kind of hard to focus when you're talking in my ear." Emma snapped.
"And when the wind blows, or it's raining, or someone's shooting arrows at you." Regina walked around Emma. "Yes, concentration's hard, that's the point. Find your anger and use it to focus."
"No, there has to be a way without going dark." Emma turned to me. "Hadley, how did you start using your magic?"
"By accident." I admitted from my spot in between our parents. "It was a heat of the moment sort of thing." I stood, walking over to Emma. "Granted, most of my magic was learned from my Mother's spell book, but each person is different." I stood next to Emma. "To make magic, you have to feel it." I turned Emma to the fire. "Now, for fire, you feel it here." I gently touched Emma's chest. "Fire is passion." I took my hand off Emma's chest. "Now, for me, I think of the people I love. I let the feeling overwhelm me and…" I lifted my hand and a fireball appeared hovering above my palm. "There you have it."
"Ok." Emma breathed. "And…" Emma lifted her hand and a small fire appeared above her hand. Emma laughed. "I did it!" I smiled as Emma threw the flame in her hand into the kindling and the fire burnt brighter. "You gotta teach me more." Emma demanded, turning to me. I lifted my hands in surrender.
"Emma, Emma wait." I chuckled. "You just cast your first fireball, you have to wait before casting another spell. Magic is like a muscle, you have to use it gradually, working your way up to more complicated spells like conjuring."
"Ok…" Emma trailed off. "Alright." Emma knelt next to her fire. I walked over to Regina and sat next to her.
"How were you able to do that?" She asked me.
"Patience." I said softly. "You were taught by both Rumpelstiltskin and Mother, right?" Regina nodded. "I didn't have any mentor's, so I had to adapt." Regina smirked at me.
"Look at you." Regina nudged my shoulder. We approached Emma as she neared Hook, David and Mary Margaret as they prepared for...something.
"Where are you guys going?" Emma questioned.
"To get water." David said.
"To get firewood." Hook said. My eyebrows pinched together.
"Guy's, what's going on?" Emma asked.
"Neal's alive." Mary Margaret revealed. My jaw dropped as Emma's face fell into a mask of shock.
"Neal is…" Emma looked over to Hook. "Alive?"
"Maybe." Mary Margaret looked to David. "Sorry, she deserved to know." I looked in between my parents and Hook.
"Wait a minute…" I trailed off. My eyes widened. "You're going to look for him, aren't you?" A look of realisation crossed Regina's face as the trio shifted nervously.
"This is a waste of time." Regina stated. "He's toying with us."
"I don't think so." Mary Margaret argued. Mary Margaret lead us to a bush where some branches were broken. "Look, more scuffling. Someone was definitely resisting."
"How do we know that means Neal?" Emma questioned.
"Well, I mean someone was fighting for his life."
"Are you really going to fall for this?" Regina demanded. She looked in between all of this. "Fine. You want to follow the Evil Mumchikin's dirt road, be my guest." Regina turned on her heel and started to walk away.
"Wait!" I called, grabbing Regina's sleeve before she could eave. "Where are you going?"
"To save our son."
"We need to stick together." Emma reminded her.
"No, we don't. You may be prepared to risk Henry's life over some heartbroken fool's errand, but I'm not. I'm tired of waiting around." And with that, Regina ripped her sleeve out of my hand and stalked away.
"What if she's right?" Emma asked Mary Margaret. "Pan could be lying."
"Just because it seems too good to be true, doesn't mean it is." Mary Margaret replied. "Don't give up, you owe it to Henry to find out if his father's still alive. And you owe it to yourself." After collecting our things, we started our journey to find Neal. Emma, Mary Margaret and I at the front as David and Hook brought up the rear. Ema scurried closer to Mary Margaret and I.
"I kissed him." She admitted.
"What? Who?"
"Hook. I kissed Hook."
"Hook?" I repeated, my eyes wide. "Where in the middle of a Jungle that wants to kill us, why did you kiss him?"
"I don't know. I was...it's been a while. I was feeling good."
"Did it mean anything?" Mary Margaret questioned.
"It was just a kiss."
"I'm sure Neal will understand."
"If he's still alive."
"I get that you don't want to have hope that Neal's alive." I said softly. "But you should."
"Why?" Emma asked, pausing her walking, causing Mary Margaret and I to follow suit. I shared a look with the short-haired woman before approaching Emma.
"Because everyone deserves a happy ending. Even you. I'm clutching to mine with my fingertips, hoping against all hope it doesn't slip away. And that's what happy endings start with, hope. Take it from me, Emma. I never had hope, not until Ben gave me a chance." I reached out and placed my hand on Emma's arm. "Give yourself a chance." I told her softly. Emma pressed her lips together.
TIMESKIP
We soon arrived at a hole in a stone mountain, the trail ending at the stone. "The tracks lead directly into that cave." Mary Margaret reported. "This myst be where Pan is keeping Neal."
"If the cave is some sort of prison, why aren't there any guards posted to stop us?" David questioned.
"Even on the Isle, Maleficent's house always had guards." I said. "I mean, she didn't need them, but they were there."
"Because this prison doesn't require guards." Hook revealed. "Echo Cave…" He sighed.
"You know it?" Mary Margaret guessed.
"All too well. I lost half my crew inside those rock walls. The only way to rescue someone from inside is to reveal a secret."
"A secret? That's all?"
"Your darkest secret." My heart stopped. Oh gods…I looked over at David, who was already looking at me. I shook my head slightly, but he turned away from me. "Echo Cave derives it's name from an old saying. 'The deeper the lie, the more truth in it's echo'. The cave demands that you reveal a truth about yourself, a secret you would never admit to anyone."
"This is ridiculous." Emma spat.
"Don't kill the messenger, love."
"Even if we spill our guts, how do we know Neal is still alive in there?"
"Because this is what Pan wants. He wants us to rescue him."
"Why?" David asked.
"So we turn on each other." I realised. "Once we reveal our secrets, Pan's hoping that they ruin us." Hook nodded slowly. We all trudged through Echo Cave. We made it to the centre after a couple of minutes. The centre of the cave a huge cavern. In the centre of the cavern, was a single pillar of rock with a wooden cage on it, holding a man, Neal.
"Emma!" He shouted.
"Neal…" Emma trailed off.
"Must be a hundred feet across." Mary Margaret speculated.
"Even if we fashioned some sought of rope there's nothing to attach it to." David added. "No way to swing over."
"So what do we do?" Emma asked.
"We told you what needs to be done." Hook said, "Consider this a moment of truth, literally. Who would like to start us off."
"So, what?" Emma questioned, "Someone tells their secret and they sprout wings?"
"I don't know the particulars, only what I've been told."
"Then how do you know it'll work?" David questioned.
"There's only one way to find out I suppose." Hook muttered. "I kissed Emma."
"You did what?"
"David, now is not the time." Mary Margaret scolded.
"I already told Hadley and Mary Margaret so technically it's not a secret." Emma revealed. "And it was just a kiss. How's that your darkest secret?"
"It's what the kiss exposed. My secret is, I never thought I'd be capable of letting go of my first love, of my Milah. To believe that I could find someone else. That is, until I met you." There was a rumbling, and I looked across the cavern to see that a stone bridge had formed about a quarter away across from Neal's cage.
"Uh...Mary Margaret-" David started.
"No, no, no." Mary Margaret interrupted. "Me next. Ever since the Curse broke, since we found each other, since we found Emma and Hadley, in all of that happiness, there's something I haven't wanted to admit. Our daughters are beautiful, smart, amazing women whom I love very much, and of whom I could not be more proud." Mary Margaret gazed at Emma and I lovingly, but I think I could guess where this was going, and it hurt like hell. "But they're all grown up. And as much as I want to pretend I'm ok with that, I'm not. We missed it, David. What we have with them is unique, but it's not what I wanted. We were cheated out of everything. Their first steps, their first words, their first smiles, we missed it all."
"What are you saying?"
"When we get off this island and get back to Storybrooke, I want another go at it. I wanna have another baby." The stone bridge extended to halfway across the cavern.
"Nothing in this world would make me happier." David said. "And I know, with all my heart, that you would make an amazing mother. But it can never happen. At least, not with me."
"What do you mean?"
"When Hadley, Hook and I went to search for the sextant, he was really taking Hadley to find a cure." I turned away from the group, anger flashing through me at what David was about to say.
"A cure for what?" I felt eyes burning into the back of my head.
"Dreamshade." I closed my eyes.
"The lost boys." Mary Margaret realised. "The arrow, Hadley, you pushed me out of the way."
"She wasn't fast enough. She was hit. Hook was able to find a cure, but it comes at a price. Hadley can't leave Neverland. If she does, she'll die. I can't leave my daughter here alone so...I've decided to stay with her."
"What the hell, David." I exclaimed, turning on my heel and ignoring the rumbling of the path as it extended. I stalked up to him and jabbed him in the chest. "I told you not to say anything." I felt tears prickling at the corners of my eyes. "I would have said something after we saved Henry. You're so selfish! All of you!" I was breathing heavily, smoke exiting my nostrils slightly. "All you care about is yourselves, your own wellbeing and Emma."
"Hadley, we don't-" Mary Margaret started.
"Yes, you do!" I but in. "Everything is Emma this, Emma that, Emma's the saviour, she can do no wrong, she has the final say in everything and just because she's the oldest and you've spent more time with her, she's the favourite." I felt the tears escape my eyes and start to run down my cheeks. "I get it...I was never important on the Isle, but I felt I'd be worth something here." I clenched my fists angrily. "I feel as if you don't see me, as if...as if I was a burden to you the moment I was born." I glared at Mary Margaret and David. "If you don't want me as your daughter, that's fine, I've only ever been wanted by one person, but she's dead."
"Oh Hadley…" Mary Margaret approached me and cupped my cheeks. Her thumbs gently wiped the tears from my cheeks. "Of course we still want you as our daughter."
"We're so sorry." David added softly, placing his hand on Mary Margaret's shoulder. "We never meant to make you feel like that. We love you, and I promise, I'll try to be a better father to you."
"That's all I ask." I breathed. "But you can't stay here with me, you and Mary Margaret need each other. I'll be fine here." I smiled softly. "I'm part Dragon, they won't be able to hurt me." There was one final rumble as the bridge connected with our slab of Earth. Emma drew her sword and slowly made her way over the bridge towards Neal. Emma tried to cut the cadge, but after some words from Neal, ones that we couldn't hear, but we know Emma did it as the cage opened and Emma and Neal embraced. We exited Echo Cave happily, and I was somehow excited to be in the Dark Jungle again.
"Thank you." Neal said.
"Don't thank us yet." David replied. "We still have to save Henry."
"We found your star maps." Hook informed. "The real question is do you know how to get off this island?"
"If we can find Henry, I can get us home." Neal stated.
"Then let's go get Tinkerbell and retrieve the boy." I reluctantly followed behind my parents, but when the silence was too great, and so David broke it.
"Look, I know I should have told you, but Hadley-" He started.
"Don't." Mary Margaret interrupted. "Just...not now." Mary Margaret sped up to avoid David. David looked at me. I glared at him, still mad that he revealed my secret, before speeding up as well to get away from him.
