I am baaaaack! It's been an awful week, I am tired as hell and I can't wait to go to sleep but before that... Here it is another chapter of the story!
Milah is back! And so are her friends. Did I ever tell you how much I love writing the friendship between Milah, Ruby and Belle?
But don't worry Milah's part is not long and then we are going back to Neverland where are our favorite pirate and princess are! What do you think they are doing this chapter?
Storybrooke
Milah was supposed to meet with Belle and Ruby yesterday at the library to see if they could find anything about how and why she was still alive. They had to cancel their meeting however because, if she understood right, there was a mermaid in town, Ariel, who had a message from Rumpelstiltskin to Belle, and Belle had to help her with something.
It was still strange for Milah to see Belle everyday and understand why or how she fell in love with someone like her ex-husband, but she wasn't going to comment about it in front of Belle. She was really sweet and helpful with everyone and, most importantly, full of hope. She had a good heart, anyone could see this, and Milah was sorry to hear about what Killian did to her while trying to get revenge on Rumpelstiltskin.
The mermaid who came into the town said she was sent by the Evil Queen (Milah had to remember her name was Regina) and Rumpelstiltskin to get a box from his shop. Belle helped the mermaid without any further questions, having hope that her lover will do the right thing in the end.
Milah preferred to stay away from Ariel, fearing that she would say something to Rumpelstiltskin when she saw him again. She was scared though, she wasn't afraid to admit that in front of anyone, because she feared about what he could do to her when he saw she was still alive. If their last encounter many years ago was any indication, Rumple still hated her for leaving him and Bae and running off with Killian. Thinking about Bae made her sad because when she came into town, she was fully prepared to talk to him, to explain to him everything that happened when he was little and apologize. But instead of seeing her son for the first time in 300 years, Milah found out that he was dead. She regretted that she would not be able to talk to him one more time, a regret that would last for the rest of her life.
On this particular morning, Milah was waiting for Belle and Ruby in front of the library to start their search, hoping that when Killian and his new friends came back, she would be able to offer some explanation to him. Belle told her that it was going to be a long day, that she had never heard of someone who survived after their heart had been crushed, especially after 300 years, but Milah was prepared to stay in the chair the whole day and read books to find out, finally, why she was alive. Not that she was complaining, thank you very much.
"Hi Milah," she heard Belle's voice from behind her. She turned to see Belle and Ruby coming towards her with cups of coffee in their hands and bags with food from Granny's.
"Hello you two. All good?" Milah asked them when they were in front of her.
"Yes, a day without having to work is an amazing day," Ruby told her, laughing.
"Me too. I helped Ariel yesterday and she just left this morning," Belle explained while she was opening the door to the library.
"She went back to Neverland?" Milah asked.
"Yeah. I told her to get a message to Hook but she said she didn't know where he was exactly and if all is good with Regina, she will come back here immediately because her True Love is here," Belle explained.
"Oh, well then, I am happy to hear that. Although, it would have been nice to get a message to Killian. I'm afraid he will have a heart attack when he comes back and sees me."
"Yeah, but hopefully we will have a way to explain it to him by then," Belle assured her, opening the big doors of the library.
"To be honest, I can't wait for that," Milah said with a smile, following her inside.
"I have to tell you I am not very good at what we are going to do today," Ruby said following them.
"Don't worry Ruby, we are just going to read some books," Belle assured her.
"Well then, that I can do," Ruby said with a grin.
"Have you found any books that might be good for our search?" Milah asked Belle.
"Last night I found some books about hearts and magic but with Ariel here, I couldn't start reading them. She was so curious."
"Well, she did just come to this world. It's normal to react that way. Wait until she comes here for good. Her boyfriend will go crazy with all the questions he will get!" Ruby said while laughing.
With that, they started to read the books Belle prepared the night before. There were around 30 books and they shared them between the three of them. Milah read the first two books with excitement, not letting the lack of information stop her from trying. But after another two books with no results, Milah started to lose her hope.
"Have you found anything?" Milah asked after a few hours of reading.
"Nothing," Belle said with regret, closing yet another book and adding it to the pile next to her.
"I did. I found out that I hate reading this stuff and that I could never do this for the rest of my life," Ruby said closing another book.
"Ruby!"
"What? It's boring! I would rather work at Granny's all day than read this stuff."
"We have to help Milah," Belle said to her friend.
"I know, and I want to do it too, especially now that I know she's not here to murder us," Ruby smiled at Milah remembering a few days ago that she was prepared to jump on her at the first wrong step.
"I know it's hard, and I appreciate your help, truly," Milah told them. "But maybe these books won't help us at all. We have been reading for hours, book after book, and there is not a single piece of information about why I am alive."
"I can take a look in Rumple's shop. Maybe I can find some things there that can help us." Belle wondered.
"No!" Milah answered immediately. "I don't want any of his things close to me."
"So what are we going to do if we can't find anything in the books?" Belle asked her.
"Wait! I know! Blue!" Ruby said suddenly.
"What?" Milah asked confused, wondering why Ruby was suddenly saying names of colors. "What about that color?"
"No!" Ruby started to laugh "Blue is a fairy. She helped us many times in the Enchanted Forest and she is here, in Storybrooke. She has magic, good magic, so maybe she can help."
"I don't know much about Blue," Belle said honestly.
"I do. Trust me, she helped Snow and Charming to catch Rumple back in the Enchanted Forest. She's one of the good guys."
"Well, then, maybe we should go and talk to her?" Milah said, although, it came out more like a question.
"Yes, let's do it," Belle said taking her keys.
The three woman left the library quickly and started to walk together towards the convent.
While walking with them, Milah realised that she liked spending time with both Ruby and Belle, and that having friends to talk to was a nice feeling. She never really had friends, not back when she was married to Rumplestiltskin, since people often talked about her and her husband behind her back. And when she left with Killian, she tried to make friends with the crew, but they saw her only like their captain's lover rather than their friend. Sure, Killian was her friend for a long time, not just her lover, but she wanted female friends, friends to gossip with, talk about her and her relationship with Killian, and she couldn't talk to Killian about… well, Killian.
So yes, Milah liked spending time with them, learning about their lives in the Enchanted Forest and then in Storybrooke. Ruby told them more about herself, the fact that she was actually a werewolf and the story about her first boyfriend, while Belle talked about her life as a princess before Rumplestiltskin took her. Milah told them about the places she had been to, from the Enchanted Forest to Agrabah, to places with beautiful beaches or amazing mountains and different countries from this world, too.
After about an hour and a half of walking from one end of the city to the other, they finally arrived at the convent.
"So, do you really think she can help us?" Milah asked when they were in front of the convent.
"I know that she is the only one that can help us right now. It's either ask Blue, or wait until Regina and Gold come back," Belle explained.
"Ok then. Let's try with Blue."
And with that, the three of them started to walk towards the entrance of the convent, with Milah hoping that finally she will have some answers.
Neverland
Back in Neverland a new day was about to start. Killian Jones woke up from a deep sleep feeling considerably better than he felt in the last two days.
This is new, he thought.
He opened his eyes and realized that it was still dark outside and the others were still asleep. He looked at them, the Charmings on a cot, hugging; Snow White's head was on Charming's chest while he had both his arms around her. On the other side of the camp was Regina, alone, with what seemed like a portrait in her hand, and the mirror they used the night before to talk to Henry beside her head. Closer to him was Emma, who was on her right side, her face turned to him. He could tell her sleep was restless by her shivers and the frown on her face.
Hook hated to see her like this, not being able to get enough sleep, having nightmares and being haunted by the Lost Boy's cries. She needed her sleep; she more than anyone because they were there to save her boy, and she needed her strength for any battle that might come soon. No matter how much Regina insisted that Emma needed to practice with her magic, Hook considered Emma's skills in hand to hand battle were her best bet against Pan's minions. And for that, she needed her rest.
Emma continued to move restlessly on her cot and Hook decided, against his better judgment, that it was better if he woke her up. So he rose from his place and started to walk towards her, quietly, so he didn't wake up the others. He dropped down on one knee and put his hand on her shoulder, shaking her softly.
"Emma? Love? Wake up," he whispered.
But Emma didn't move. Instead, she continued to shiver, her lips starting to move, as if she was talking to someone.
"No," Emma whispered.
"Emma," Hook tried again.
"Hook," she said clear enough so he could understand.
"Emma wake up."
"Killian," she murmured again.
"Wake up, Emma," Hook said putting a hand on her cheek.
It was that exact moment that Emma woke up. She looked at him with her big green eyes and then observed his hand on her cheek. She opened her mouth to say something, just as he started to put his hand down.
"What happened?" Emma asked him, rising to a sitting position.
"Nothing, you had a nightmare. I wanted to wake you," Hook said taking the same position in front of her.
"Yeah, I- I remember."
"Are you alright, Emma?" he asked her, worried.
"It was just a nightmare. It kind of hit me hard," Emma explained.
"You want to talk about?"
"I don't. But something tells me that you are going to ask me about it, anyway."
"I will," he said smiling and thinking about the fact that she called for him in her sleep.
"I dreamed we found Henry."
"That's good, isn't?" he asked confused about why that would be a nightmare.
"The fact that we found Henry is; what happened after isn't," Emma said, looking into his eyes. He had a vague idea about what could have happened in her dream, but he needed to know.
"What happened after?" he asked her.
"You died," Emma said simply, still looking into his eyes.
"Emma."
"Don't. Don't even try to talk to me again about this."
"I'm not. I wanted to say something else."
"What?"
"I... um … I heard you saying my name in your sleep," he said, somehow embarrassed that he told her.
"Yeah, I figured."
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Hook told her.
"Stop," she said smiling at him. "I think you know why I did it."
He didn't know it. He hoped, yes, but he didn't want to tell her his hopes just so she could crush them later.
"I want to hear you say it. You know, just in case you are not thinking about the same thing I am."
"I care about you and I don't want to see you dead. That's why I did it. In my dream, I wasn't going to let you die," she said, finishing her words in a whisper.
"Emma," he said coming closer to her.
"I was worried and scared," she said leaning closer to him.
They were so close he could feel her breath on his face. Emma looked into his eyes and Killian into hers. He tried to see what was going on in her mind, read her the way he always does, but unlike other times, he couldn't. All he could see was the color of her eyes. Her eyes moved from his eyes to his lips and then back up and she leaned even closer, if that was possible. This time, their noses were touching and he saw Emma closing her eyes. Hook closed his eyes too, in anticipation of what he hoped was going to happen between them. Their lips were so close, he thought he felt them touch when he heard a sneeze from behind them.
As the spell between them broke, Emma opened her eyes and backed away from him. He opened his eyes too and searched for her, but sadly Emma was looking in the direction of the sneeze. Snow White was the one that interrupted their moment and Killian cursed everything on this earth in his mind.
"Sorry," Snow said looking at them. "Have I interrupted something?" she asked.
"No."
"Not at all," both Emma and Killian answered at the same time.
"Hook, how are you feeling?"
"Much better than yesterday, that's for sure," he replied.
"I am glad to hear that. You scared us a bit yesterday," Snow said.
"I am sorry about that."
Before Snow could say more, Charming started to wake up and Snow moved her eyes to her husband. Killian was grateful for that and he looked back to Emma, hoping that she hadn't put her walls back up in just those few minutes. Fortunately, she was looking at him too. When she realized that he was looking at her, she moved her eyes away quickly and her cheeks started to turn a nice shade of pink.
"I-," Hook started to talk but was stopped by Emma.
"It's okay," she said, smiling at him.
"It is?"
"Yeah, absolutely," she said again looking right into his eyes. He hoped she was seeing what he couldn't say out loud.
"Good," he said smiling.
"Are you sure you're feeling good?"
"Positive. I woke up feeling much better than yesterday. Almost as if nothing happened."
"Isn't that kind of impossible?"
"It is, but I'm not complaining."
"Yeah, me neither," she said with a soft smile.
Quickly, everyone was up and ready for another day in Neverland. This time they had a plan, a good one. All of them were feeling better than before since they got to talk to Henry the night before.
As they walked in the forest, they heard movement around them. They stopped, getting ready for another attack from the Lost Boys or even from Pan himself or his shadow, when someone unexpected came from behind the trees.
"Rumplestiltskin," Regina said letting down the fire ball that was ready in her hand.
"Good to see you all again."
"Do you have the box?" Regina asked him, making everyone curious about what they were talking about.
"What box?" Emma asked her.
"Yes, and the mermaid got her legs back," Rumplestiltskin answered, ignoring Emma.
"Regina, what the hell are you talking about?"
"I added a little something to our plan last night while you were sleeping," Regina said.
"What do you mean?"
"An old friend of mine, Ariel the mermaid, was in Neverland. I asked her to do something for me and as a reward, she gets to spend the rest of her life with her True Love, who is, apparently, in Storybrooke."
"To do what?" Hook asked, not knowing what to expect.
"Back in my shop I had a box," the Crocodile started to talk. "It has great power and it can help us catch Pan and never let him go."
"What box?" Emma asked this time.
"Pandora's box, Miss Swan."
"You want to catch Peter Pan in Pandora's Box?"
"I think I was quite precise about that."
"We already had a plan, Regina. Don't you think you should have talked about this with us?" Emma asked her.
"Don't worry, the plan remains. Gold knows it, I told him. We follow the plan and at the end, after we have Henry, Gold is doing his little trick with the box."
"Are you sure it's going to work?" David asked this time.
"Yes. It will work and we are going to get Henry back and put Pan down once and for all."
"Alright then. Let's go get Henry back." And with that, they started to walk again, this time with the Crocodile as part of their team.
Hook felt his wound start to make its presence known again, but he decided to ignore it. It wasn't the time for that. They were going to get Henry. They would succeed, and he would be in his mother's arms again. Emma would be happy with her family, he would make sure of that. Even if that was the last thing Killian Jones did in his life.