Chapter Eleven
Resurrection
"The Dark One used his magic and brought me back! I don't know how," the disguise of Emma explained to Henry, "and I don't know how long I can be here. All I know is that I died in Camelot! I don't remember... how... and now, I'm here! And even though it feels like it was just a blink of an eye between then and now- I know I missed you."
"I missed you too Mom!" Henry said, and he welled up with tears. They hugged in the car and Henry let go of all suspicions.
"So tell me about your friend…" Emma prodded. "What is she into? And, I guess more urgently, what is her horse into? If we can find her horse and bring them back then- she'll have every reason to go to the fair with you! Right?"
Henry said, "Well, yeah, we have been talking... about horses! She said Nicodemus is really smart, kind of an escape artist... He likes apples. And pumpkins, actually."
Emma nodded and drove to Peter Pumpkin Eater's pumpkin patch, a little nursery & garden shop that was just outside of town. "I noticed this was here after the second Curse of Storybrooke," she said. "Had to come out here because of a domestic between Peter and his wife. You know... It looks like no one's around. No one except maybe horse with a taste for pumpkin!" She pointed out past the gravel parking lot towards a chestnut brown horse in the field. They got out of the car and Henry was able to lead Nicodemus back towards the road with a smashed bit of pumpkin. They laughed together -it was like their adventures they'd had together, their codenamed missions from when the two had just met!
Next to the corporeal vision of Emma the Savior was the ethereal vision of Emma the Dark One, who sighed and smiled and repaid the host, Killian, with kisses.
"It is such, such a beautiful lie," she said to him.
Henry led Nicodemus by the bridle back to the stables, and with the other hand he answered his cell phone. "I'm on Road 17- with Emma!"
His mother, grandmother and grandfather were floored. They had to see with their own eyes. They raced towards Road 17 and 110th street in Regina's town car, as Robin watched the napping children. Regina parked on one side of the road and Emma's bug followed behind Henry and the horse, on the other side. Snow and Charming ran through the cloud of gravel dust, in between-the cloud parted and- seeing was believing! The family embraced. Killian felt their tears of joy through the image of Emma. Regina had her former rival and friend back, her stepdaughter's daughter, her co-parent. Snow and Charming had their daughter back! They made sure she would be at the royals' booth at the fair and carnival that evening. A miracle had happened, such a needed miracle that no one questioned it.
The fair was both jovial and eerie, like the melody Doc played on his accordion. Citizens and newcomers crowded the unbelievable image of Emma, a real live resurrected person, as children ran about the booths with sparklers. There were plenty of odd human tricks that the resident fairy tale folk were happy to show off, like a wandering circus sideshow, with pink wisps of cotton candy floating about on the wind. And at the end of the cordoned off part of Main Street, like a forbidden gypsy caravan, was a heated trailer where Regina and Robin Hood were handing out individualized enchanted dream catchers. A long line led up to the trailer-everyone seeking their memories of the past, with the help of a witch, rather than their futures from a fortune teller.
Belle drank a pint with the dwarves on the patio outside the Rabbit Hole to drum up her courage.
"Here's to the past!" toasted Happy. He played with the small braided hoop that had held his memories of Camelot.
"To adventure!" said Dopey, and they all clinked their steins and glasses and drank another deep gulp. They seemed satisfied with what they had recovered.
"R-Regina helped you-use those?" Belle asked Grumpy, gesturing towards his black, oval dream catcher with her glass, half full of Leinenkugels.
"Yep. I found out I danced with Queen Guinevere-" he confided.
" -And I danced with a lady in waiting, at a royal ball in Camelot!" interrupted Dopey.
"Wow. What was I doing...? Are any of your memories...about me?" Belle asked.
"Aahh... uh... I think you were watching little prince Neal a lot of the time..." The dwarves looked into their drinks and shrugged. They offered anecdotes about times when Belle had taken Roland, Henry and baby Neal on walks around a moat, and played hide and seek with them in Arthur's castle.
Belle nodded. "Oh I see. You know, the Blue Fairy had convinced me to go on that little adventure with you all, she said I was resourceful and helpful... for our quest to help the new Dark One... But I guess, what she meant was I'd be a good royal babysitter." Everyone paused. She drained her glass. "But why did all of our memories get sucked up into these... dream catchers? And why did we have to get back here by way of a curse... the East Storybrooke Curse...? And who died to make such a Curse happen?"
Grumpy kicked her playfully under the table. "Go! Get your dreamcatcher! Soon as we all have memories restored, we can start piecing that together." He leaned in and more softly said, "Yeah, you can trust Regina. She's really changed. Remember... just a couple days ago, she faced that flying she-devil at the park- wasn't she about to sacrifice herself for your friend, Robin Hood?"
"Yeah!" Belle said, still amazed by that turn of events. She stood, banishing from her body any fear of the woman who had imprisoned her, twice, used her, manipulated her, and for whom the ends always justified the means... She found much more anger and judgment in her heart, than fear.
Still, she stood in line behind knights of Camelot, waving away a warm pretzel vendor, ignoring calls of "STEP RIGHT UP!" as the line wound past a dimly lit alley where Dr. Frankenstein was offering to show the newcomers experiments with electricity. She eventually got her delicate willow branch dream catcher with six little glass beads, from Robin, who also gave her a warm smile. Regina waved her hand over the hoop and it glowed, revealing to them the most poignant experiences Belle had had during her six weeks in Camelot.
Later that night, she would fall asleep in her hotel bed with her dream catcher pressed against her heart, full of gratitude. She had met the great sorcerer, Merlin! She had helped him, and had his respect! She had visited a foreign land that none of the others had, and there she had helped Queen Merida of the Isles of Dun'Broch! She had performed magic-real magic- for Merida, and then she got her to fight a critical battle without depending on magic! She had rowed a boat, alone, past the mysterious isle of Avalon and back to the misty shores near Camelot, found her friends, and had researched esoteric questions of great import in the vast libraries of the king!
It was two AM. "The bars have closed, and so should we." Robin was eager to take care of Regina, when she'd let him. "Let's call it a night eh?" he said, rubbing her shoulders. His girlfriend had magic, power, status, money, knowledge and wisdom, not to mention beauty and motherly instincts, but what she didn't have enough of was compassion for herself. That's what he loved to help her with.
Regina sighed. "I'm willing to help people with their memories, by appointment, from now on. But King Arthur- he'll be last."
As she spoke, the knights were stirring, plotting in hushed tones in the restless night, telling their families that Merlin had indeed been freed in the past few weeks, and the fact that he was missing now had something to do with their obsessive king.
The next day brought a steady stream of visitors to town hall and the tiny Storybrooke tourism office. The knights wanted to quietly pledge allegiance to Princess Snow White and get her instructions. As much as Arthur had schmoozed last night, he had not connected with people who had their real memories back. Snow White greeted people at town hall as they came by. She sat contently, in a roomy pale blue blouse and jean skirt, with what appeared to be her cheery daughter and fussy son. She had a lot to teach the resurrected Emma about holding and soothing baby Neal, which was more her focus than any of the knights, asking about her plan.
Killian struggled to burp and rock the child, behind the image of Light Emma- but he persisted, with the promptings of Dark Emma.
"We solve problems as a family," Snow said to visitor after visitor, "and this family has a lot of catching up to do first. For now, everyone is to act like everything's normal with King Arthur. Don't let him know that memories reveal his betrayal..." Snow looked at what she thought was Emma, for an approving nod to this plan. "If Arthur is none the wiser, he will stay on his best behavior. Your sheriffs will protect you, if he doesn't..."
The next week was all about quality time and promises. The image of the savior dodged all tough questions about her death and afterlife, while catching up with her parents, son, Regina, and the many friends and acquaintances that she had helped and saved over the years. She became a better big sister to Neal, and coached him on crawling. She became godmother to Cinderella's little toddler, at an outdoor baptism- an acknowledgement of how Cinderella was the first person Emma had saved from the trappings of the Dark Curse. Now the Savior was expected to mediate disagreements and offer blessings too- all while Killian awkwardly moved about as he thought Emma would, doing and saying the things that her ghost instructed him. Somehow the Sands kept his cover even before the Fairies, even before Pinocchio, who had long guarded against such deceptions.
Concerns were eased for everyone but the truest believer, Henry. His mind still had traces of doubt. "So, how about my memories?" he asked when he dropped by the Charmings' loft apartment. "Mom looked them over, she said I can handle it- but she wanted you to be the one to activate this." He handed his birth mom the blue decorated dream catcher. "I'll bet it was your idea, making these and bringing them with the Curse. Surely you wanted us to have these clues?"
Hesitating, the image of Emma in a white T-shirt and perfect makeup held the dream catcher before her. Killian wondered where all the clues would end up leading Henry.
"Thank you Killian," his demons said in tandem, and above the other voices he recognized a low, feminine voice. "Thank you for being there for my family. Thank you for getting their minds off the Dark One. Now concentrate on the center of the hoop… and tell Henry we love him…"
"Whatever you see here, I love you, Henry," Killian said through his assumed voice and image. "Just know that I love you…" He used his magic and hoped no one would mind that its glow was grey. Images sped past-of Henry's attempts to impress Violet. Seeing Robin Hood die- and then be brought back to life. Planning a date with Violet- and Violet telling him that she wanted to be just friends. Then crying as he told his mothers what happened. Seeing his tears complete their spell to free Merlin from a tree!
It stung all over again, for Henry to know he'd been used. He flushed red and held back tears- if they were a spell ingredient, then he would never let himself cry again. "Why didn't you tell me that Violet said those things -under duress?" he asked. "Why didn't you tell me that maybe she did like me? How can I expect her to want to hang around me- she'll always be afraid of my mom!"
Killian could not answer. "Trust the Sands," the voices of his demons said. And indeed, the Sands of Avalon made him appear innocent.
"But I... know that you had a good reason to do it…" Henry seemed to turn a kind of corner in his mind, beyond which he could see anything as alright. The Sands should have affected everyone this way, everyone who'd stepped outside into their wake. Henry could contentedly watch Neal play on the floor with Snow White- but Killian could not stand it anymore. He took off for the Jolly Roger.
There, the fractured parts of him could interact more freely, no longer contained. Dark Emma lounged on the deck, squinting at the horizon; Nimue rolled up her robe sleeves and practiced swordfighting with Zoso; the gold-scaled vision of Rumpelstiltskin looked down at Killian from the crow's nest. Killian peered down into the gentle waves and saw his reflection come and go- the reflection of a conflicted, but glowingly beautiful Emma Swan. If he looked very hard, he could see his own face beneath. The face of a desperately lost man who barely ate and barely slept. He faced Dark Emma.
"I tried to be noble for you, I tried to be a hero who could hold the darkness at bay for you, but I can't BE YOU."
"It's only temporary," she said in a flat tone. "Any time you need a break, just become yourself again. Tell them… tell them that you could only bring me back for a short time. And if my family needs me again… tell them you'll use your magic, to the extent that you can… to bring me back from the dead, for another short time." She shrugged.
"And have you thought about the price of this resurrection?" he asked angrily. "You think you're an exception, to the price of magic?"
The image of Emma could be seen on board the ship, fighting with herself. Leroy 'Grumpy' Jenkins was out at the docks, varnishing his boat, and was undisturbed by what he saw on the Jolly Roger. Nothing could disturb people from seeing what they wanted to see, it seemed.
Guinevere had organized a meeting of the King's Court on the sunny, lush lawn of city hall, looking forward to a future here in this land.
Violet ran into Henry at the stables, later, and after hearing how he had forgiven Emma, she easily forgave her too.
Everyone was still abuzz with the glory of the resurrection- but Maleficent and Rumpelstiltskin. Maleficent watched her daughter's hoop of captured memories again and again, as she brewed up a spell in a locked room in the Sorcerer's Mansion, listening to "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and puzzling over how the Crimson Crown could be activated.
Rumpelstiltskin filled his pawnshop with classical music as he struggled with different spells of protection. The shades were drawn, shutters were closed, and Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Suite sounded loudly from his speakers. He glanced at the town paper's bold headlines about the return of the Savior, and nervously called Belle's cell phone.
"Please come to the shop. We have to talk in person."
She politely agreed and was there in ten minutes.
"There's still some anti-transformation powder-here." He handed her a small silk bag. "I want you to be able to go, Belle. Take the car, see the world like you always wanted! Have your adventures!"
She looked at him worriedly. "Rumpel, what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," he said lightly. "You had said you couldn't leave town while your friends are in danger- well, now they're not," he lied. He pushed the car keys and a roll of bills into her jacket pocket. "I don't want you to put off your dreams… Belle, don't put it off another day! Go now!"
"Is -is this really ok? Will you need an-any-" she stuttered.
"Don't worry about me." He smoothed her shoulders, then gently turned her around to face the door. "I'm actually- thinking about putting my law degree to use, open up a little law practice upstairs!" He leaned in and said with a smirk, "Saving up for a Mercedes."
Belle couldn't believe it. It was too good to be true-but those sort of things were happening lately! She got in the four-door Cadillac and looked through her purse. Did she really have everything she needed to just -take off? And how long could she afford to be gone? She counted the bills- he was prepared for her to be gone a very long time. He was really letting her go, and not expecting her return.
She could go to New York City! Follow in the footsteps of her late stepson, Neal. Try to learn more about his life… Belle started driving slowly down the road, wondering if she should just speed away before she talked herself out of it.
Dark gray clouds filled the sky, as Nimue paced the deck of Killian's ship and sang,
"The wind was a torrent of darkness
Among the gusty trees
The moon was a ghostly galleon
Tossed upon the cloudy seas
The road was a ribbon of moonlight
Over the purple moor
When the highwayman came riding
Riding, riding,
The highwayman came riding..."
The old folk ballad about a highwayman, sung in a chilling and confident voice, reminded Killian Jones of a time when he was separated from his ship. He searched the world to find it, but in the meantime, in that year in the Enchanted Forest after the destruction of Storybrooke, he was a highwayman.
"One kiss my bonny sweetheart
I'm after a prize tonight
But I should be back with the yellow gold
Before the morning light…"
On the Jolly Roger, the Dark Ones ruminated. Killian drank to his reflection and to his girlfriend's ghost. He thought of a time when he had tricked, fooled and robbed people along the wooded highway, just to get by. Once Killian Jones the highwayman was finally reunited with his ship, he could be Captain Jones again- but he gave it all up. He had sold his home for transport to another world-Emma's world!
"After all I've done for you, Swan- you want me to still do more?" He addressed the stiff, bony, expressionless vision of Emma as he paced.
Meanwhile his vision of Korsen Thesh accompanied Nimue, on the violin.
"She drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,
Her musket shattered the moonlight,
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him with her death..."
Nimue sang a tragic tale of a woman's sacrifice, sacrificing her life for her love- who of course dies anyway, in the end.
That's how it goes, all too often, Killian thought.
"Really we should both be dead, Swan!" he yelled at her. "Instead we're hanging on to a life with your family that's just-odd! It's like we're haunting them!"
"Killian, they love you. I love you," Emma said, embracing him. "This future we have together- it's about being a family!"
Nimue broke from her reverie to get between the two. "She's holding you back. Distracting you from your revenge!" she insisted.
Emma suggested, "Maybe this is so hard for you because… you bear the weight of the dagger. When my name was on that dagger … I trusted someone else to hold it, most of the time."
Killian rubbed his brow, hung his head. "If only I could trust you to hold this, if only that would make things better…" He held out the dagger laterally, so Emma could easily take its handle, but her hand passed right through it. She could not hold it in safekeeping. For just an instant, Killian realized he was totally alone on his ship.
Then Nimue was shouting, "She's made you hollow and lovesick! She's made it so no one can see the true you!"
Killian nodded. "Indeed… the Emma Swan I knew, she sought the truth. She understood me…" He took out his little jar of the mysterious Sands of Avalon, and leaned back against the mast, with a look of daring shot at Emma.
"No...no!" Emma said, wide eyed. She grabbed at the little glass cylinder, but he batted her away, and popped the top. She went on, "No, I won't let you ruin this! Without the Sands-too many people know about Excalibur! Too many people will try to change the balance of power! Merlin tried to protect the balance-!"
"Well, blow me down." Killian grumbled, and drew back a mighty breath. He inhaled deep with his lip at the edge of the jar, sucking all the missing contents back from this world. He pulled back the Sands that were all over town on a fast wind, and with his exhale closed the lid. He looked like himself again.
"Trust your power," Nimue said seductively, as she ran her hands over his shoulders, through his hair.
Emma doubled over in her panic and cried, "NO! No, without this distraction, everyone will be out for blood again! Killian, your blood!"
"Let them come," he snarled.