(Okay, so I realize that this may not be the only such short drabble in this vein posted, but I hope mine has its own unique take. I really wanted to get this written before Sunday when 6x15 aired, but alas, real life got in the way! After learning not to doubt Killian's motivations and genuine love for him and his mom back in 6x06, I just had this vision of Henry knowing better than to believe their pirate would simply leave he and his mom – and that he had the means to find out the truth. Hope you enjoy – I'd love to hear what you think!)
"Shell Phone"
By: snowbellewells (TutorGirlml on )
Henry knows something isn't right – whether he can express it or not, whether anyone will listen to him and take action or not. The certainty tingles under his skin unpleasantly, like an itch he can't quite scratch, and though he tries rather convincingly to hide behind sullen, wordless teen behavior and his video game, a protest is on the tip of his tongue.
He bides his time, watching his mom pack Killian's things back into his sea chest with such clear hurt on her face, such longing, and it's all he can do to wait for the right moment when she'll be opening to listening. It's really more than he ought to have to bear. He eyes her sidelong while her focus is distracted, only pretending to ignore her troubled actions. She can't get rid of those things! She can't give up after all they've been through, after she's finally begun to open up – thanks mostly to Hook. There's no way the stubborn pirate he knows would just take off now that he's finally won them all over. Henry doesn't know what is going on in detail – and Hook is going to get an earful from him when he returns – but right now his mom needs to believe what Henry knows is true.
Before Henry can speak more than "Are you okay?" though, his mom's phone rings.
When she hangs up and asks Henry to take the sea chest to the shed, rising to go out and check on the call she's received, Henry merely nods, trying to look bored. Now isn't that right time, when she is rushed, impatient, and trying to hide how lost she really is in her other True Love's absence. He agrees vaguely and watches until she leaves, closing the front door behind her.
As soon as he hears the Bug start out front, Henry bolts up from the couch and, completely ignoring the sea chest where it sits, hurries upstairs to his bedroom for the item Hook had given him some weeks back, in case of emergency.
Opening his top dresser drawer and pawing through the array of paired – and unpaired – socks which he had used both to hide and protect the fragile token, Henry grabs the conch shell at the back of the drawer, a match to the one Killian had given Belle while she hid out on his ship. Grasping it anxiously, Henry carries it back to sit on the edge of his bed before taking a deep, tense breath and bringing the shell up to his mouth.
"Killian?" he asks hopefully, voice almost cracking with nerves and hope. "Are you there? Can you hear me?" Biting his lip, Henry tries to wait calmly, heart pounding in his temple, not sure what he will do if he's wrong. A full minute passes with no answer or sound coming from the conch, and he tries once more, a break escaping as he speaks this time, "Killian, please answer me!"
Just when he starts to give up, about to lower the shell to his lap in defeat, a tinny voice comes echoing from inside the strange vessel. "Henry?! Hello? … Is that you, Lad?" Killian's voice calls wildly.
Heaving a deep sigh of relief, Henry quickly responds, "Killian, yes, it's me. Where are you?"
As the pirate he has come to look up to – and honestly, to love as family – begins to explain what's happened, a hopeful smile breaks across Henry's face. Sure, they're separated by realms now, but he knew Killian wouldn't leave his mom. And it is clear by now that the pirate and his Savior are as sure as Henry's grandma and gramps to always find a way back to each other. Henry's eager to help and already plotting and way to launch Operation Home Port as soon as his mom returns.
"Henry?" Killian's voice breaks into his thoughts once more, earnest emotion in his accented speech. "You'll give this shell to you mother for a moment once she gets back, won't you? I must speak to her as soon as I can."
"Yeah, of course I will," Henry assures, beaming now, sensing just how frantic Killian had been to get word to them, to make sure they knew he was trying his hardest to come back, and also just what this was going to do for his mom. The problem wasn't solved, but they were on their way.
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A few hours later, when Emma returns from Snow and Regina's false alarm attempt at female bonding, tired and emptier than before, she grits her teeth upon seeing from the entryway that Henry didn't move the chest at all. He is still sitting on the couch, seemingly engrossed in his phone, and she has to breathe deeply through her nose several times so as not to lash out at him in her pain and frustration. However, he quickly looks up on hearing her footsteps and smiles broadly at her, an excitement that makes no sense to Emma evident in every fiber of his being.
"Mom, you're back! Finally!" Henry exclaims, motioning for her to come and sit beside him.
Sighing, she moves to do so, but nearly trips and stubs her toe on the chest, irritated once more at its very presence; unfairly hating the reminder that it is here and Killian is not. "Henry," she begins in exasperation, "why didn't you-" but he interrupts, reaching out to grasp her wrist and placing something sharp with pointy ends on her open palm, folding her fingers around it.
"Because you didn't want me to," he states simply, "Not really." He shakes his head, forestalling the argument she begins to voice. "No Mom," he continues, "we didn't have the whole story…and now we do. Just listen, okay? Hold that shell up to your ear and call for him, please?"
Emma's heart somersaults even as she scoffs, knowing exactly who Henry means and shaking her head with a stubborn, almost fearful, look.
But her son won't be dissuaded, that determined expression, the same one he's had ever since he found her in her Boston apartment as a 10-year-old, is on his face now. She can tell he won't be moved. "Please just do it," he presses. "You'll understand in a second. I promise."
She's still reluctant, but Henry knows her well enough to see the hope she tries to hide behind the protective doubt in her eyes. When he gets to watch her whole face change – light up and come alive again – it's all the reward he needs. Listening to the exchange happening next to him, squeezing back when his mom grips his hand while she and Killian talk, he's just incredibly grateful he had belief enough to make the call.