Chapter 11
Before everyone knew it, Emma had led them all to a cave. It looked like a cave where a caveman or woman would be living in, but only from the outside. As they walked into the cave confidently and slowly, making sure there weren't any traps, Pan appeared out of nowhere in front of everyone. They were hardly even inside the cave,just right on the edge of being inside, when Pan showed up.
"So I see the Savior has finally made it to the island and found Regina. I am already almost done with Henry, so this little detour that I had everyone take to find Regina,has allowed me to have more time with the boy. He's already a lost boy. He gave up on his family coming to save him. He doesn't even know you're here! Now I just need one more thing from him and I'll be doing that as soon as I'm done here! I thank Greg and Tamara for bringing the boy here to me upon my request!"
Emma now looked pissed, as well as everyone else. Although Emma's evil glare beat everyone else's by far. It didn't take Emma but a few seconds to question Pan.
"What the hell do you want with my son and where the hell is Greg and Tamara?"
Pan then just laughed before continuing.
"Oh don't worry. You'll get him back….or, what's left of him anyway. You see, your son is going to help bring back magic to this place. But the how is something you'll figure out in time. After what's done is done, there's nothing you can do about it. Once he saves magic on this island, I will become unstoppable and as for Greg and Tamara well, let's just say you no longer need to worry about them anymore!"
Emma almost went in to punch Pan in the face. He looked like a teenage boy, yet Emma didn't care. He was evil and anyone that was this evil didn't deserve her sympathy. Both David and Neal held Emma back so she couldn't go in for the punch. Though, Emma knew by the way Pan said they no longer need to worry about Greg and Tamara must've meant they were now dead. Though Emma had to be sure.
"Your saying you killed Greg and Tamara?"
"Indeed I did. I didn't need them anymore. Especially not here. Though, your son is a different story. Him I need. He thinks I saved him from Greg and Tamara. He has no idea what really happened!"
Emma tried going in for yet another punch but Neal and David still had there grip on her so she didn't get very far. Her facial expression looked like she wanted Pan dead.
Pan again laughed evilly and continued.
"Get mad all you want. You can't hurt me. Not here. I own this island and the magic here. Nobody would be on this island without me and the magic I have here. So you see, trying to fight me is just useless. However I didn't come here to fight. I came here to tell you what needs to be done in order to free Regina from her cage, as well as what needs to be done in order to even get close enough to the cage!"
That's when Neal finally jumped in.
"And why in the world would you help us in saving Regina? After all this ti
Pan formed a smirk around his lips and then continued.
"Well, you see, this is rather different. It's more like a game to me. One I'm pretty sure everyone here will hate!"
"Oh really? How is that so?" asked Snow who was now intrigued.
"Well, you see the only way you're going to form a bridge to get to Regina, is if each of you tell a secret that no one else knows about. It has to be a secret you've never shared with anyone before and once the bridge is formed, the person who has to free Regina also has to share a secret for the cage to magically open to let Regina free. Are you all willing to tell your dirty little secrets just to save the Evil Queen? Or someone who once was the Evil Queen, should I say?"
Pan smiled again with that little crooked evil smile he did moments ago, before vanishing away before everyone's eyes. No one even got the chance to ask him any more questions regarding Henry. He was just gone.
After Pan vanished, Emma practically ran further deep into the cave and that's when she saw Regina in the center of the cage on top of one round rock. There was no bride to get to where she was. No way to jump over to her. There was a steep drop between them and the cage.
Regina immediately noticed Emma and the whole gang behind her. Although her mind focused mainly on Emma.
"EMMA!" yelled Regina feeling extremely happy that Emma was here and trying to actually save her. She never thought in a million years that Emma would want to save her after all she's done. Yet, here was Emma. Trying to save her.
"Just hold on Regina. We're going to get you out of there!" yelled Emma.
Emma then looked around the cave, this time trying to find any other way to get to the center where Regina was at,but there was no visible way to get to her. They all had absolutely no choice but to spill some secrets.
"We're not gonna have any choice but to tell our secrets, aren't we?" asked Emma now turning around and looking at everyone else behind her.
They all looked to each other for a few moments before Snow finally opened her mouth to speak.
"Okay you know what, we obviously can't get to Regina without telling our secrets, so I guess I'll start. I can't leave Regina here to rot. I know Emma would hate me if I did and truthfully Regina is family, whether we like it or not. So here it goes…."
Snow then turned to David and looked him straight in the face before continuing.
"I want to have another baby and this time we get it right. We missed everything with Emma. We never got to teach Emma anything. I want another chance at being a mother to a baby I can actually raise. Not that I don't love Emma, I do. I love her with my whole heart and I'm so glad we found each other again. I'm glad she found us. But, that doesn't change the fact that we were robbed at raising her!"
Suddenly, the ground started shaking. Almost as if an earthquake was about to break down the cave walls and collapse on them all. A small bridge started to magically form to the center of the cave where Regina was. Once a small part of a bridge was there, the ground stopped shaking.
David looked at Snow realizing that now he should go next. Especially after what Snow just confessed to him. He then looked into his wife's eyes and began talking.
"Snow, I would love to have another baby with you and be a father again. We can raise that kid like we were never able to do with Emma. I'm glad Emma found us as well. I'm not gonna lie and having a baby would be a great addition to our little family. Although, that isn't what my secret is. I have only one secret that I've kept from everyone because it wasn't my business to tell anyone and now I have no choice…."
David then looked over to Emma.
"I'm sorry…."
Emma didn't understand why he was telling her sorry. What's he sorry for? Emma now started to gesture with her hands for him to continue. David then looked at Snow and then at Neal, before looking back at Emma to read her facial expressions as he continued.
"I was coming by to see Emma and ask her for help on this call I got from the sheriffs station, about a drunk guy giving the bartender a hard time not wanting to go home from the bar. It was around lunchtime and the guy was already too drunk and had gotten cut off from the bar. He started to have a fit and called the bartender every name he could think of, that was very harsh for not serving him more drinks. That's when the call came in. I was told by Snow that Emma had gone to Regina's office to give Regina some lunch. I didn't think much of it at that time. I figured it was an innocent little luncheon. That was until I got up to the door about to open it and I saw through the window of her office that Emma and Regina were kissing. Passionately. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, so I left and let them be with each other. I never told anyone. It wasn't my secret to tell. Only now, I had no choice. We need to get to Regina. I'm so sorry Emma. Please forgive me!"
Emma's eyes widened. She was so shocked. She never once knew that anyone ever saw her and Regina kissing. She never even talked about what had happened between them with Regina herself yet. They never got around to talking about it and yet here David was spilling the beans to everyone who actually mattered to her.
As Regina listened to every secret, her heart skipped a beat for a few seconds after David admitted to seeing her and Emma kiss. She also had no idea that anyone saw them, let alone knew anything about them being involved at any level, other than just a friendship. Regina knew how she felt for the blonde but she never once admitted it to anyone.
All the sudden, the cave started shaking around them again like an earthquake and another stretch was added to the bridge. The bridge formation was now halfway to the cage.
Neal now felt a little jealous. He figured that something had happened between the two, ever since David told him that he saw something happening between the two women, right when Regina had first been captured. Yet, he never thought in a million years that it would be something like this. When Emma automatically knew where Regina was, as soon as she arrived on this island, he began thinking about it. Hard and in deep thought. How did Emma and Regina get this close? And why couldn't he have been not engaged to another woman. Neal figured that he could have won Emma's heart back if Hook didn't beat him to it, knowing that everyone knew how Hook felt about Emma.
Though, now he knew for a fact that he would never get Emma back. Not even if the stars collided, he still wouldn't have her. This made Neal feel a great deal of jealously that he now had no choice but to admit. Neal looked to Emma, who looked like she was starting to have a panic attack and started telling his little dirty secret to everyone.
"I guess now it's my turn. After hearing what David just admitted, I see not even Snow looks as shocked, at least not as shocked as I thought. I'm surprised at that. She must've figured it out before I did…"
Neal now looked Emma straight in the eyes before continuing and this time Emma's panic breathing slowed down a little bit as he continued.
"After I found out that you could feel a magic pull towards Regina and knew exactly where she was once you got here, I couldn't help but think continuously about how I might not be able to win you back. I know I was engaged to Tamara before she turned out to be a crazy psycho. Though now things have changed in the last few days. I realized I made a huge mistake in ever leaving you way back when. I should have stayed. I could have showed you the way to Storybrooke somehow, so that you'd still be the Savior. Yet, I didn't do that. So now I feel regret and jealously at the same time. Regret for leaving you and jealously over Regina. Although if you and Regina had formed the type of connection to where you knew exactly where she was, that's none other than true love. It has to be. I've never heard of something like this happening before. So whatever happens, please know I'll still be over here for you as a friend. It'll just take me a while to get used to the fact that I'll never get you back!"
Emma didn't know what to say. She had no idea that Neal felt this way. Yet, she had no feelings for Neal anymore. Those feelings had gone away a long time ago. All Neal could ever be to her was a friend. She realized she had acted a little jealous towards Tamara before, but it wasn't because she loved Neal. It was because she felt like Tamara couldn't be trusted and turns out she was right all along.
The ground suddenly began shaking again all around them and the bridge formed longer. Yet, still it wasn't complete.
Now, Ariel figured she'd go next. She knew that no one here but Snow, David and Regina really knew her, so she wasn't really sure if she should even tell her secret. Yet, she also knew that she had no choice. She was a part of the crew, which meant she had to tell a secret in order for the bridge to form completely to help save Regina.
Ariel then started talking.
"I understand that only Snow and David really know me here besides Regina. But I have to admit, when David first told me that Regina was captured by Pan and how he wanted to rescue her, I couldn't understand it. Why would someone want to help the Evil Queen? I wanted her dead. She took my love away from me. Everyone knew I didn't want to help at first. I made that clear. But no one knew that I wanted her dead. I'm sorry for that. That was before I knew how she changed for the little boy Henry you mentioned. Please forgive me!"
Emma gave Ariel a certain look, her face saying how she actually understood where she was coming from. Emma knew that if she were Ariel, she would have thought about that same thing!
The ground shook again and more bridge appeared. Now it looked like just a little bit more was needed to be magically built before someone could run across to the cage to free Regina.
Gold now knew it was his turn and he was the one who really didn't want to tell his secret. Because he knew that his secret would get back to Belle once they were back in Storybrooke. Yet, even as the Dark One, he also knew he had no choice but to play along just so Regina could be rescued. Gold knew that if he didn't participate in this secret thing, Neal would want nothing to do with him.
So, Gold started speaking.
"I didn't want anyone to know this because I was going to give Belle the real dagger once we got back. But truth be told, the dagger I gave Belle was a fake, a replica,because I was too scared to give her the real dagger. Because I was too scared that if someone found it, they'd have complete control over me and I didn't like that thought one bit. But now I realize that I made a mistake. Once we get back home, I promise to tell Belle myself and give her the real dagger!"
Suddenly the ground started shaking again and the bridge was now complete. Although, before Emma walked across the bridge to Regina, Neal had started speaking.
"I will have to come with you when you tell Belle. I know you wouldn't lie to me but you would lie to Belle if needed. So I'm going to be there to make sure you actually tell her the truth; the whole truth. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand and I'll let you come along when I tell Belle everything. I promise!"
Emma looked at Neal and then at her parents for a few moments, before she finally turned her back and ran across the bridge to Regina. And once she finally got to Regina, they just stared at each other for a few moments. Emma bent down to her knees to face the other woman face to face without needing to look down at her or her having to look up at Emma.
Regina had absolutely no idea that Emma had been able to find her with a magic pull guiding her to the cave. She had just found that out from Neal's confession. Yet, everything Neal had said made Regina feel more convinced that Emma really did have feelings for her. After everything that was said, how could she not?
After a few moments, Regina held out her right hand from the cage bars for Emma to hopefully grab, as Regina continued to stare at Emma. Emma looked to Regina's hand outside the cage bars waiting for her hand to join hers and it took Emma but a few seconds to raise her left hand up and grab Regina's hand tightly.
Emma's eyes were now watery. She looked like she was about to cry hysterically. Regina's eyes softened at that,knowing that it hurt her heart when Emma felt sad. She had never seen Emma on the verge of crying before, but now that she was seeing it for the first time, her heart ached for Emma.
After a few moments of Emma and Regina staring at each other and holding tightly onto each other's hands, Emma finally decided to speak.
"Regina, I have never once come to terms with my feelings before. I've only ever done that with Neal and now all these little feelings I keep having are because of you;because you kissed me. Before that kiss, I never thought of you as more than a friend. I only ever thought of you as Henry's other mother. Yet, as soon as your lips touched mine, everything changed. I'm not sure if you feel the same way, but I'm hoping you do, because everyone here is right. I had this magic connection with you somehow, so that must mean something, right?"
A tear now started to shed down Emma's face before she continued.
"So if there is any chance at all that you love me, please tell me because Regina, I'm completely and totally in love with you!"
Before Regina could even respond back, the cage door opened.