Oh my God, guys! Only five chapters left and then the epilogue! I am getting emotional again. I promise we are going to find out what happened with Milah very very soon.
"So," Henry asked before taking another bite of his sandwich. "What about Hook?" he continued with his mouth full of food.
Emma and Henry were on the beach for an hour and a half before Henry asked the question. They were sitting on the sand in a corner where people didn't go, eating sandwiches and fruit and drinking hot chocolate from Granny's. Emma spent the first hour telling Henry about the things that happened in Neverland when they went to rescue him, and the other 30 minutes were spent answering Henry's questions. It had been fairly easily so far until out of the blue, Henry decided to ask about Hook.
"What about Hook?" Emma asked, not sure of what Henry was getting at.
"He's still around."
"Well, he helped us a lot in Neverland," Emma said.
"Yes, but you spend quite a lot of time with him."
"How do you know that?"
"He was there today in the park with you and Milah. And Ruby told me you had breakfast with him yesterday at Granny's."
"How do you know that?" Emma asked intrugued. "When did she tell you?"
"Earlier, while you were making plans with Granny about this basket of food," Henry said, pointing towards the basket that was in front of them.
Emma rolled her eyes at Henry's answer. She should really talk to Ruby and tell her to keep some things to herself. Emma having breakfast with Killian at Granny's wasn't something the whole town needed to hear about. Especially not the people in her family.
"So?" Henry asked again, bringing her attention back to him.
"He's a friend, Henry. He's trying to change and I'm trying to help him."
"Hmm," Henry puffed, letting Emma know that he wasn't believing her.
"What does that mean?"
"He looks at you in a different way."
"And how do you think he is looking at me?" Emma asked intrigued.
"With feelings in his eyes."
"I see," Emma said, looking towards the ocean.
She wasn't sure what to say to that. Should she tell Henry about her kiss with Hook? The True Love Kiss to be more specific? She was worried that he might not take it well. He just lost his father and now his mother found out she has a True Love, a True Love that wasn't his father. Emma knew that before Neal died, Henry had hoped that they were going to get back together again, so she had every reason to worry. She didn't want to lie to him again, though, especially not about something so important. She promised him a long time ago that she would never lie to him again.
"Do you like Hook?" Henry asked Emma, interrupting her thoughts.
She didn't look at him. Instead, she moved her head to the right where she could see the masts of the Jolly Roger. She could imagine Killian there, working on the ship. Then she remembered both the night they shared together and the moments they had that morning, before Milah interrupted them. Thinking back to these moments and how she felt back then, Emma realized that yes, she liked him. She liked Killian Jones more than she was willing to admit in that moment.
"I do," Emma finally answered Henry.
Her son looked at her and smiled. "Good," Henry said.
"Good?" Emma asked with an eyebrow raised.
"I like Hook," Henry said, raising his shoulders. "And he can teach me how to sail."
"Wait, what?"
"What? I like him."
"For real?" Emma asked, surprised that Henry was okay with Emma liking someone else.
"Yes, mom!"
"And let's say…," Emma started, not being sure how to say what she wanted to say. "If I were to start seeing him, would you be okay with it?" she finally asked him.
"If, let's say, he makes you happy, sure. Why not?" Henry answered with a smile on his face. Hearing him, Emma's arms were around Henry before she could stop them. "You're already together, aren't you?" Henry asked when she let him go.
"It's complicated."
"Why?" Henry asked, looking at her confused. "Is it because of Milah?"
"No," Emma quickly said.
"Then why is it complicated?" her son asked again.
"Because of my own feelings."
"I thought you liked him."
"I do!"
"Is this because of Neal?" Henry asked seriously and when Emma looked at him with narrowed eyes, he continued. "I'm not stupid. I know he hurt you, I just don't know how."
"I promise I will tell you. One day," Emma said, hearing the hurt in her voice.
"I know. But if Hook makes you happy, you should definitely give him a chance," Henry said, shrugging his shoulders and smiling at her.
Emma saw the soft look on his face and she knew she had to do something. Henry was okay with her and Hook dating but they were so much more, she knew that. She told Henry that she likes him but she wanted to tell him about the other thing too. So, deciding that her son was more important than any other secret, she opened her mouth and let the words came out.
"Henry, how would you feel if I were to tell you that out I have a True Love?" Emma finally asked.
"Do you? Have one, I mean," Henry asked her and instead of answering, Emma just nodded. "Hook?" Henry asked again with narrowed eyes and, again, Emma just nodded. "How? When did you find out?" Henry asked, jumping on his feet, suddenly excited.
And with that, Emma started to tell him how. She told him earlier about how Hook got poisoned and how her magic saved him, but she left out the part about when she kissed him. This time, thought, Emma told Henry everything, from the moment she used her magic to send the shadow away to the moment she kissed Hook and he woke up. She told him how they figured it out that it was True Love's Kiss that woke him and how, later, on the Jolly, Tink confirmed the fact that it had, indeed, been True Love's Kiss.
"Wow," Henry said when Emma finished her story.
"Are you okay?" Emma asked when she saw that Henry wasn't saying anything else.
"I just… it's a bit unexpected?" he said, although it came out more like a question.
"You tell me." Henry was looking at her, or more like, through her, without talking. So Emma decided to break him out of his thoughts. "Kid, are you okay?"
"I am! It's just… wow!"
Seeing the lost expression on his face, Emma decided there and then that if Henry wasn't okay with the thought of her and Hook together, she wouldn't do anything more with Hook. It wasn't like she had something to do exactly, they were True Love after all, but as long as Henry wasn't okay with it, she wouldn't pursue a relationship with him.
"I won't make you spend time with him or anything like that if you don't want to, Henry. I won't even try anything with him," Emma said, trying to assure him.
"What? Mom! I want to spend time with him!" Henry said, trying to stop her from panicking. "And I think it's amazing that you found your True Love!"
"Really?" Emma asked confused. "Because the look on your face right now doesn't make it seem like that."
"Yes! I mean, I know you know that I wished for you and dad to be together again. But since he is.. you know…," Henry said shaking his shoulders. "I am happy for you, truly. And don't even think about staying away from him."
"I don't want you to feel uncomfortable, Henry."
"I won't, I promise. Not as long as he teaches me how to sail. And maybe how to sword fight," he said, raising an eyebrow at her.
Hearing his words made Emma feel better and somehow warm inside. Henry was fine with her and Hook being together and that was all that mattered for her. Now, she just had to sort out her own feelings and get the courage to tell them to Hook. But for now, she stretched her arms out and put them around Henry while Henry hugged her as well.
"I love you so much Henry," Emma said when she finally let go of him.
"I love you too," Henry said, smiling at her. "Oh! Did you and Hook have a date yet? Or was breakfast the date?" Henry asked her.
"No. We're trying to keep it between us for now. Only you and Milah know the truth."
"I promise I will keep the secret," Henry said with a serious expression on his face.
"I know," Emma said smiling at him.
After that, neither of them said anything. There was another sandwich in the basket they had and Henry took it out to eat it. While he ate his sandwich, Emma was thinking about how good it felt to let the words out in front of someone else. She was happy that she told Henry the truth and that he was okay with it. Her poor kid had gone through a lot in the last few weeks, with Neal and Neverland and now this and Milah.
Thinking about Milah, Emma's mind flew back to earlier when she was in the park with Henry, Milah, Killian and Regina. Henry seemed to click immediately with Milah, something that made Emma feel good. Milah seemed to be good with her son. Emma still didn't know what the two of them talked about while she spoke with Regina, but she wasn't going to ask Henry about that because she knew that if it was something she should have known, he would tell her on his own. Instead, she wanted to know what made Henry so determined to help Milah find out why she was alive, especially wondering what made him come up with the idea of asking Gold for help.
"So, you want to help Milah?" Emma's words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.
Henry looked at her with an eyebrow raised, a look that reminded her too much of Hook, and then he nodded. "I do."
"Why?"
"She's my grandma?" Henry said, the words coming out more like a question than an affirmation and Emma could see that he was lying.
"Henry?" She said, looking at him pointly.
"She told me a few things about Neal," Henry said, dropping his shoulders. "What she remembered from when he was a child. And she promised that she would tell me more the next time we meet. She also told me she would tell me stories about all the places she's seen both in the Enchanted Forest and in this world," Henry finished.
"Henry did Milah ask you to help her?" Emma asked, suddenly worried that maybe Milah had just been using them.
"What? No!" Henry quickly denied. Emma looked into his eyes, searching for any trace of a lie, but there was nothing. Henry was telling the truth. "I want to help her."
"You should let us take care of it," Emma tried to explain to him.
"But what if Regina doesn't find anything?" Henry asked.
"I'm sure she will. She is a resourceful person," Emma assured him.
"Mom. I can talk to Grandpa." Emma stiffened her back at the mention of Rumplestiltskin, remembering very well how he acted when Gold saw Milah days ago.
"Gold isn't happy that Milah is here, Henry. I don't think he wants to help her," Emma said.
"Maybe I can convince him. With Belle's help of course," Emma raised an eyebrow at him and Henry explained further. "Milah said that she and Ruby and Belle became friends while we were in Neverland. I think together we can do it."
"Just promise me you will wait until Regina has news."
Emma could see on his face that he didn't like the idea but she looked at him, daring him to argue with her again. He opened his mouth to say something but Emma looked straight into his eyes and when he saw her determined look, he closed his mouth again.
"I can't find anything," Regina told Emma while sitting at the table she and Henry shared.
They had gone to Granny's for dinner before returning to the loft for the night when Emma received a text from Regina asking her where they were. Rolling her eyes and thinking that maybe Regina wanted Henry to spend the night with her again, Emma texted her back and told her that they were at the diner.
Regina was there in less than 10 minutes, angrily entering the diner and sat down at their table even angrier.
"What?" Emma said, looking at her confused.
"I just spent the last six hours in my vault reading book after book, trying to find out why Hook's ex-love bird is alive and there is nothing to be found," Regina explained, trying to calm down.
"Nothing, nothing?" Emma asked surprised.
"Nothing, Miss Swan! All I could find out about dead people coming back to life was about either creatures coming back for revenge or those that haunt those who killed them. Milah, or at least what I've seen of her, doesn't seem to have three heads, nor a mermaid tail, nor sparkling eyes."
"How is it possible? To be alive and not know why?" Emma asked.
"I don't know, but it is definitely strange," Regina said, looking at Emma. Regina opened her mouth to say something else but Henry interrupted her, excusing himself to go to the bathroom.
When Henry left the table, Regina started to speak again. "Have you tried her heart?"
"What about her heart?"
Regina rolled her eyes and then started to talk. "Have you tried to see if she even has one? Gold crushed it. Does she have a heart?"
"I don't know, Regina," Emma snapped at her.
"We should take a look," Regina said. Emma could see in her eyes the exact moment when Regina decided that she wanted to take out Milah's heart.
"I'm not doing that," Emma told Regina. Pulling out a heart wasn't on Emma's 'to do' list, especially Milah's heart.
"I can do it," Regina said quickly. "Just talk to her, and convince her to let me do it."
"I don't know, Regina," Emma said, still hesitating.
"I'm not going to kill her," Regina said, rolling her eyes at Emma.
"I know, but what if she doesn't agree?"
"She will if she wants to find out what is going on with her."
As Regina finished talking, Henry came back to the table while Ruby came over with Emma and Henry's food. She then asked Regina if she wanted something as well and Emma was grateful when Regina shook her head and said that she would leave the two of them alone.
She gave Henry a kiss on the cheek and then rose from the table, telling him good night and telling Emma to think about what they had talked about with a pointed look on her face. After that Regina left, leaving Emma and Henry alone again.
Emma wanted to start eating when Henry spoke up. "Does this mean I can talk with Belle?"
Emma rolled her eyes and pointed to his food, using her own fork. "Eat."
Henry smiled at her but didn't say anything else.
Later that night, back at the loft in her room with Henry sleeping in the bed next to hers, Emma was playing with her phone. She wanted to talk to Hook. She wanted to tell him what Regina said, to talk to him about what she had proposed, but she had no way to do that.
Instead, Emma opened her text messages, searched for Milah's number, and quickly sent her a message. She waited for an answer, but when she saw that nothing was coming, she put her phone down and went to sleep.