Chapter 3: Fireballs and Freaky People (The time she didn't trust him with a good game plan)
If this was becoming a habit, Emma didn't like it.
She raced over the grassy roots of the forest surrounding Storybrooke, over stones and hills and through mud. Once again, she didn't care about her shoes, the pain in her side or the scrape on her arm where she did fall. She only cared about Henry. The grip on her father's sword tightened as she slid down a leaf-covered knoll and kept running. She vaguely wondered if there was ever a peaceful day in Storybrooke.
Two hours ago:
"Emma, are you ever going to tell me about Henry's father?"
She nearly swallowed the spoon from her cereal whole. "What?" She coughed.
Mary-Margaret bit her lip, gingerly twisting her mug in her white hands. "Well, do you know who he is, first of all?"
Emma, in all her time spent in jail and being a thief and running into multiple accounts of unexplainable situations, had never prayed so hard that the ground would open up and swallow her whole as she did now. She dropped the spoon into the bowl.
"Yes, I—I—I do, and I loved him very much, but um, things didn't really work out between us—,"
"Does he know about Henry?"
Emma leapt up from her mother's counter, pushing the chair in front of her. "Okay, whoa, we're going to take this conversation to a screeching, fire-hazardous halt. Where did this come from and why do you want to talk about it now?"
Mary-Margret went a gentle shade of pink before shrugging into her tea. "We used to talk about this stuff all the time. Why can't we do it some more? Is it because I'm your mother and it's weird? Is this weird?"
"Oh my god, yes, this is weird! This is cursed-magical-one-night-stand talk with David all over again!"
"Hey! That was a curse! I had no idea I was cheating on my husband!" Mary-Margaret cried indignantly. She set her mug down and put her hand on her hip, giving a startling accurate "Mom's put out with you" face. Then her tiny hands flew to her mouth. "Oh my God, Emma, was he married?"
"No! He wasn't married! He was—," Emma frowned, unable to confess to her fairytale princess mother that her grandson's father was a notorious car thief. "He was— well, not Prince Charming. Let's put it that way."
Mary-Margaret looked honestly hurt. She looked away. "I don't judge you, Emma. I never would. I would just like to know."
For someone so alone, you really have a home for two here.
Emma sighed, rubbing her forehead. "His name was Neil. And he was a car thief. And he made me one too. And I went to jail for something he nicked in Arizona. In prison, that's when I found out I was pregnant. Not much of a fairytale if you ask me."
Mary-Margaret watched her with sad eyes. Without a word, she set down her mug and went around and hugged her daughter. "I would never judge you for finding love and the decisions you made. It's not your fault."
Emma swallowed the sharp prick in her throat and stepped back.
"So, seriously, what brought on the decision to torture me?"
Mary-Margaret's face twitched from sadness to a mask of nonchalance. She moved back around to pick up her mug, her ears pink
"Oh, it's nothing. It's a stupid idea anyway."
Emma sighed. "Mo— Mary-Margaret, what is it?"
"Look, now that I know, I would never ask this of you, but with Henry's birthday coming up, I just figured it would be nice to meet his father after all these years—," Emma groaned and leaned against the counter, "but, honestly, Emma, I would never, ever ask you that. It's too much right now."
Believe me, I am truly in pain.
Emma internally shook her head, desperate to clear out any voices that might be flitting around there— voices that hadn't been quiet since the previous day. "I'm sorry. I really am. Let me get over the fact that my parents are Prince and Princess Charming and then we'll move on to digging up some very restless ghosts of my past, okay?"
Mary-Margaret took her by the hands, looking at her imploringly. "I just want you to be happy. You are happy, right?"
Emma nodded, lying openly to her good-hearted mother. She wasn't happy. Granted, she was much better off and much happier than she had been for the past twenty-eight years. But fighting every decision, every question about vulnerability— well, that got tiring after a while. But with Henry, and her family, she couldn't just quit or run away if things got hard. She wanted connection, real connection, and this is was how she got it. But these walls— these walls that choked her in the middle of the night with nightmares of an abandoned child on the side of the road— they kept her from reaching the end of the line. She couldn't touch them, her family, or anyone. She knew they would chase her to the end of the earth, but at some point, she had to step forward, she had to close the line. And this was why she wasn't happy. And she didn't see how to finally close the circuit. So would she ever be happy?
If I were happy with myself, I'd still be in my apartment with Hook right now.
She blinked, rocked by a sudden tidal wave of morality— and worry that her brain had made that connection. That freakin' pirate: he was a whole other story. Yes— no— maybe so? This was a game Emma could never, ever win. She took her mother's hands her own, forcing a connection, one Mary-Margret was eager to give, and gave so easily at that.
"Mary-Margaret, what was it like meeting David for the first time? You know, back in the Enchanted Forest? What did it feel like?"
Mary-Margaret broke out into a smile as if she were remembering the greatest day of her life. "Well—,"
The living room exploded.
Emma was thrown back, her head knocking against something hard. She felt her fingers go limp. Dust and rubble went into the air, furniture shattering like glass and fragments embedded themselves in the ceiling and walls. Plates fell from their place on the shelves and the rug was torn to shreds.
Emma coughed, trying to clear her head when a voice boomed above them.
"You think you can banish me?" It roared. "You think you can finish me, delay me from my quest? How dare you!"
Emma looked up through the haze and saw a bright purple orb floating in the center of the destruction. Cora's irate face glared back at her through the orb.
"I am a Queen! I wield the magics! You and your pirate think you can deceive me— how wrong you are! When I find that wretched man, I will peel the skin from him limb-by-limb, inch-by-inch! But I will deal with you first— by taking the one thing you love most!"
A raging red fireball rocked from the small orb and blasted passed Emma. It blew through the door, ripping the door from its hinges as it went.
"Now, run, little Swan, run to save your child! Run while you still can!"
Emma inhaled all the dust in the air, her throat suddenly dry. The orb flickered and faded, dragging Cora's laughing with it. It died completely and Emma took one look at her mother.
"Go," Mary-Margret gasped. She was trying to right herself against the counter wall. "His sword is underneath the table."
Emma leapt to her feet, ignoring the cool trail of blood running down her arm, and bounded to the overturned table. David's sword was taped to the bottom of it. Her palms sweaty, Emma ripped it free and without a second glance back.
Now:
She leapt over puddles and through mud, grime and filth splashing up onto her legs. The sword was in hindrance in her fear, making her movements bulky and slow— much too slow. But it was her only weapon to protect herself from whatever was coming after her son.
It was a Wednesday and every Wednesday, Archie and Henry went on a walk. Henry obviously didn't psychiatric therapy any more, as his "delusions" all appeared to be true. But they walked as friends through the forest and today was no different. It was only a matter of time before she found them— but would it be too late?
Her panic mounting, Emma pushed deeper into the forest, her cheeks cold from the fall air, but her back was wet from the run. But she went along any way, ignoring the pain until she found her son.
What she saw instead was a white streak in the trees ahead and the sound of a dog barking.
"Pongo?" Emma gasped and stumbled to a halt. She put her hands on her knees. "Pongo! Where are you?"
The animated Dalmatian tumbled into the clearing, panting and barking, clearly looking for help.
"Where are they, boy? Take me to Archie."
The dog gave her a reproachful glance, as Emma was much more out of breath than he was. But he turned and darted off into the forest. Desperately gasping in clean pockets of air as fast as she could, Emma took off after the dog, her knees cracking as she climbed up a soggy mount of branches.
They went over two hills, then three, and then Emma saw Archie's bright red hair from amongst some bramble. Pongo was barking frantically next to his master's side.
"Archie!" Emma yelped and slid down next to the doctor. She shook his shoulder and saw a brilliant long cut on his face. His shoulder was bruised. "Archie! Wake up!"
His green eyes flickered open. "What? What's wrong?"
"Where's Henry? Did something take him?"
The doctor blinked furiously as the memories rushed back to him. He nodded vigorously. He tried to stand but he swayed too far. Emma helped him steady.
"Something came out of nowhere and knocked me out. The last thing I saw was Henry being carried off."
Emma forced her brain forward, desperate to ignore the tightening of her heart. "Was it flying or running or—,"
"It was running, but it had wings, Emma, big wings! And— and three heads—a goat, a lion and a lizard— it was horrible!"
"Which way did it go, Archie?"
Archie's eyes turned sour with horror. "No, no, Emma, you can't go alone! It's too dangerous."
She took him by the shoulders. "It has my son. There is no way in hell I'm not going after it."
Archie sighed, searching her before finally shaking his head. "You Charming family . . . it ran off in that direction." He pointed to the far left. "Emma, please be careful."
"I will. Get word to David, if Mary-Margret already hasn't. Then make sure she's alright."
"Alright? Emma, what happened?"
"I'll tell you later." Emma took off in the direction he pointed. "It'll make for a great story."
She was deep in the forest now. She had no idea the town line went this far. She began to wonder if she had fallen into some sort of trap Cora had created— a maze of forest that she could never escape— but it didn't matter. She had to find Henry. And she knew he was close. Just out of reach, out of sight, so—
There came a terrible screech and out of instinct, Emma threw herself to the ground. It came from just on the other side of the ridge she was climbing. She heard a crack and a thump, like trees falling over. Quietly, Emma crawled to the top of the ridge and looked down. In a small, bowl-like clearing, a giant monster with three heads circled her son. He was crouched down, clutching his storybook to his chest in fear. The monster roared again, its massive tail knocking down several trees in its path. It flexed its massive black wings, Henry's hair flying back. It hissed and he shuddered. It patrolled the circle around him, sniffing, scratching and pushing rocks out of the way with its goat head. This was the creature Cora summoned to kill her son and it looked like it was making itself at home.
Emma rolled onto her back, her mind spinning at a million miles per hour. The ogre, you had to stab it through the eye to kill it; that was the only way. Did this thing have a special "self-destruct" button too? As childish as it sounded, Emma really wished her mother were here.
Carefully, she poked her head out over the ridge again. It appeared to have all of its motor functions working: all six eyes surveying the land for intruders; all three noses were wet, twitching, cold, and black; and all four paws were armed with razor sharp claws. Emma had seen Hercules enough times to know that cutting off the head would probably only cause more trouble. So that leaves the heart— Emma thought with determination. And if there was any justice in the world, the heart would be located where a heart was supposed to be located. With that "reassuring" plan in her mind, Emma crawled to her feet and stumbled down the ridge.
Henry looked on the verge of tears as she got closer. She hid behind a tree and waited. Don't worry, kid, I'm coming.
She picked up a particularly large rock and, praying that luck had decided to be on her side that day, stepped into the clearing and hurled it straight at the goat head.
The creature roared vigorously, the scream so unearthly it sent shivers down her spine.
"Yeah, yeah, you big ugly, cry all you want." Emma scoffed, twirling the sword in her hands in such a manner that would have made her father proud. Henry looked up, his eyes wide in fear and relief as they fell on Emma. The monster turned and snapped at her, its thick tail lashing about. "You may be one big mother, but I'm coming to take my son. And you can't stop me."
The lion head hissed, its fangs whiter than ivory. The goat brayed like the devil and the dragon snapped its jaws. Emma smirked.
"Promise this will only take a minute."
One massive claw swung for her. Emma easily ducked. The other claw came down and she rolled out of the way. The creature shrieked and its giant tail smashed the ground. The dragon head lunged forward but Emma sliced it away with a slash of her sword. Another claw, another dive.
"Mom! Be careful!"
Emma rolled again, tumbling into a crouch. The monster snarled again, having clearly forgotten Henry.
"Henry, I want you to run in a second," Emma said, not taking her eyes away from the dragon's golden slits. "When I say go, I want you to go back to town. Keep running and don't look back."
"I'm not leaving you!"
"You're gonna do what I say, because I'm your mother, got it?"
The lion roared and another claw launched towards her again. Emma dodged and stabbed right through it with her sword. The scream the monster made was hideous.
"Henry! Go now!" Emma yelled. She wrenched the sword free just as Henry darted towards the bottom of the ridge.
The goat brayed again and the tail as thick as a tree slammed down into the ground in front of him. Earth flew everywhere and Henry tumbled back.
"Henry!" Emma lunged forward, but the monster jerked back, blocking her out. It moved surprisingly fast, arching itself in front of the ridge's wall and Emma. The dragon's throat grumbled greedily as if laughing at her.
"Okay," Emma growled, her eyes sliding into frustrated slits, "today is really not the day to piss me off."
The massive tail thumped, its black wings flexing and the lion roared. Emma raised her sword to charge and—
The goat head turned, bayed hideously and blew a gulp of fire straight at her face.
Emma tried to slow down— her feet slid on the wet, earthen floor— the blaze was coming too close too fast— she felt the heat on her cheeks—
Something knocked her to the side, just as the fire blew by her. A second body collided with hers and the two rolled through the clearing and down behind an over-turned, moss-covered tree.
She had never been so happy to see David in her life.
"Oh my God, I was really running out of ideas back there! I am so glad to—,"
But the voice that answered was most certainly not her father's. Hook glared down at her, almost out of breath.
"Alright, first of all," he held up a single finger, panting slightly, "did you really try to have a conversation with a chimera?" A second, dirt smattered finger went up. "And two . . . by the look on your face, I'm guessing you didn't know they breath fire . . . which brings me to my third point, why the hell did you think you could kill one by yourself?"
Emma gaped. He was still breathing heavy. His voice sounded like his mouth was dry. Honestly, out of all the people she expected to find in this clearing, it was definitely not him. She half-expected Regina to be behind this somehow. Hook, for the first time since the previous day, had been out of her head the moment Henry's life was endanger. And now . . . now, he looked a little put out that she hadn't waited for him.
"What are you doing here?" That was a sentence, a reasonable sentence to ask. And that was pretty much all Emma could muster. The weight of him rested heavily on her hips and it was doing things— odd things— to her brain. Fortunately he didn't seem to notice.
"Clearly being a better Charming than his daughter," Hook scowled and climbed off of her. Air rushed back into her lungs, clearing her head. She sat up and listened to the monster roar in anguish. "I'm saving the bloody princess, aren't I?"
"I do not need saving." Emma snapped. Hook rolled his eyes, but carefully leaned against the fallen tree. He watched the chimera snap and hiss. He searched for the little boy. Emma's Henry was still unconscious. "I'm serious, Hook, don't think this means anything."
Emma was furious. For not knowing that a "chimera", or whatever it is, breathed fire. For failing to get to Henry in time.
For needing freakin' Hook to save her.
For being grateful that Hook saved her.
She shook her head and moved to stand up, but with a well-placed push from her savior, she fell right back down again.
"Please tell me you have a better plan of attack then running right at the beast." Hook muttered, still watching the chimera thrash in its great wake.
"And please tell me you have something better to do than wait around until you think I need saving." Emma glared at the spot below his earlobe. She was caught off-guard when he turned and she was suddenly swallowed by those blue eyes.
"Do you want to save your son or not? I'm not here to hurt you, Emma, and I'm not trying to hurt Henry either. We can sit here and discuss why I saved you or you can close that pretty little mouth of yours, be grateful, and prevent your son from being flambéed. Your choice."
Emma ground her teeth together, sending every ounce of loathing she could through her eyes, before sliding next to him to get a better look at the chimera.
"Well, do you have any bright ideas?" She mumbled. She felt him laugh next to her.
"Thought you'd never ask, love." He rolled until they both faced forward, eyes poking out over the tree. "Now let me give you a little lesson in bestiary—,"
Emma felt her ears turn scarlet. She whipped around to face him. Hook rolled his eyes.
"The study of animals, specifically mythical ones, love. Even peasant children in my land know about chimeras."
Her ears still flaming, she turned back around. She felt his eyes on her butt again. "So what's so special about these freakin' . . . 'chalupas'?"
"Chimeras, darling, chimeras." Hook shifted, this time closer to her. She felt his arm press against her shoulder. He pointed over the fallen trunk. "See that ruddy tale of his? Notice how there are four spikes when there are five holes?"
Emma nodded. She smelled sea salt again.
"Chimeras only have five shots of fire in them. After each one, a spike falls out and it can't breath fire again until they regrow. Now, I don't know about you, but somehow I feel our odds of survival are higher if that beast can't roast us alive, savvy?"
Emma nodded again. "And how do you plan on making it use up all of its fire?"
"By doing what I do best," Hook stood up, clearing himself of dirt and looking outrageously pleased, "being an annoyingly handsome blighter. I'll distract the beast and you kill it."
Emma frowned, her eyes narrowing. "This sounds suspiciously like the last time we teamed up."
"Oh, and do remind me who ended up chained and abandoned at the top of a bloody beanstalk?" His eyes flashed darkly.
Emma swallowed and looked away.
"If this is a repeat of our previous adventures, then you've got nothing to loose, love. You've only got me to hurt." He extended his good hand. Emma watched it reproachfully, her stare traveling from his calloused hand, up his long arm and into the eyes that saw right through her every vice. "Come on, we'll make a hero out of you yet."
She took his hand and pulled her to her feet. There was the forming of a smile across his weather-beaten lips but he gave her a gentle push towards the clearing. "Now, go, your boy is waking up and he needs his mother. I'll be there in a moment."
Her hip felt warm where his hand had been moments ago. Her brain flopped and she vigorously shook it to force it to work again.
The chimera raised its three heads as Emma entered into the clearing again. The dragon glared at her with a teasing snarl that asked, "Ready for round two?"
"You betcha your scaly ass I'm ready for round two." Emma grumbled, to no one in particular. Behind her, Hook had vanished and she wondered vaguely if he had abandoned her just to teach her a lesson.
"Mom?" Henry called. He was sitting up, rubbing his head. His face was cut. Emma's heart contracted and all other thoughts melted away. She stepped forward with purpose.
"Mom's coming, Henry." She raised the sword. The chimera shuffled to face her—
And a spear-like branch grazed the goat head. The creature roared, its massive body hurling to face its new attacker. Hook grinned from one of the trees that surrounded the clearing.
"I'm not much for small talk." He spun another spear in his hands before hurling it at the beast again. This one pierced one of the wings. The chimera screeched and beat its tail. The goat head's nostrils began to smoke. "My name's Killian and I'll be killing you today."
The dragon head lunged forward, snapping with its massive jaws but Hook was way beyond its reach. Hook shook his head sadly.
"Oh, not even close, darling, how embarrassing."
Its black claws jittered on the ground, all six eyes trained on Hook as if for revenge. Without warning, the chimera spun, its wide tail blasting through the air like a wrecking ball. It blew through the tree where Hook sat moments ago. However, he was on a new tree, on a new level, moving faster than a blink of an eye.
"Up here, that's it, stretch!"
The three heads howled in fury and out came the massive black wings, but because of the spear, it screamed again, only this time in pain. Emma's eyebrows rose in amazement: Hook had grounded the chimera. Wish I had thought of that.
"Now, you're going to have to do a bit better than that." Hook's legs swung from the tree branch and his arm, propping up his jaw, rested coolly on his knee. "Come on, I'm bored already."
The chimera screamed and flapped at the air uselessly. Its entire attention was on Hook. Emma spotted Henry, his eyes wide. He glanced at Hook before motioning towards his mother. She took one more look at the taunting Hook before darting forward.
Hook saw the blonde hair move out of the corner of his eye. He took out one of the small stones from his pocket.
"Here, there's something for your troubles." He launched one of the rocks into the eye of the goat and it bleat and a great wave of flame rushed towards him. He swung to a lower branch. "This is just adorable, really."
The dragon roared and thumped its tail. Emma watched one of the spikes fall. Unfortunately, the ridge was growing weak under the strain of the concussions. Tiny rocks dislodged from the top of the mount and tumbled down the side. Henry gave the ridge a worried glance.
It's not enough time.
Emma threw Henry an apologetic glance before sighing and standing up from behind her boulder.
"Hey! Lizard face!" She ran to the side, waving the sword. "Over here!"
The chimera spun, its tail lashing again. It reached with one of its claws, but she was too far away. Hook nailed it again with a stone.
"Oi! You big git! Bite me!"
The chimera snapped in frustration and the goat blew out a sword of fire, in all directions. Emma threw herself to the ground to avoid being consumed but she swore she recognized the scent of burning hair.
Two to go . . .
Somehow, Hook had landed on the ground. He waved his arms, trying to drag its attention away from Emma.
"What part of 'I distract and you kill' did you miss, lass?" Hook yelled over the creature's shrieks.
"The part where it was taking too long."
The tail beat on the ground again. Larger rocks began to fall. Henry was caught between the trashing tail and the crumbling stones. Emma knew she had to make a decision fast— and it required putting her son's life in Hook's hands.
Maybe not, probably not— she could be fast for the both of them. Hook was still taunting the beast, leading it up the ridge. But it still wouldn't move.
"C'mon, you sad excuse for a bloody dragon, come after me!"
Emma's pistol felt heavy in her hands as she cocked the weapon. Henry was near the edge of the ridge, away from the rocks but closer to Hook— and the approaching chimera.
Emma took a gulp of air, her feet feeling surprisingly light. Here goes nothing . . .
Without warning, Emma charged the beast. She dodged its flailing tail. Hook saw her coming over the chimera's scaly shoulder.
"Emma— stop— what are you doing?"
The beast turned, screaming into the sky. It took a step forward, its chest exposed. Something inside it rattled, as if it was internally heating. The goat screeched, throwing its head back—
Emma unloaded three bullets into its throat. Smoke poured from the holes, the goat screaming. Emma threw the gun aside and dropped to the ground, the sword held in front of her like an iron iceberg. She caught the soft underbelly and ripped through it like butter. Chimera innards that smelled like rancid milk and looked like week old guacamole poured down onto Emma as she slid right under the beast. She flew out the other side and collided with a bolder.
The body shuddered, the heads swaying and knocking about before the great beast cracked beneath its own weight and tumbled to the ground. Emma had just enough time to look up and find Henry's smile— before a landslide broke free and tore down the ridge, right over Henry. She swore she saw a shadow cross over him— perhaps the Angel of death— before the rocks fell.
"HENRY! NO!" Emma screamed.
She heard Hook's laugh. She whipped around and saw him covered in dirt and clutching Henry against his chest. He had grabbed him and rolled out of the way. Henry was ogling at the crushed rock, clearly convinced he was about to die as much as Emma was. But Hook only grinned, aiming his heart-aching smile towards Emma.
"After everything we've been through together, you still doubt me?"
Henry's eyes flickered to his mother. "Mom?"
"Oh my God, Henry . . ."
The boy leapt to his feet and scrambled over to her. Emma sat up immediately, her arms wide but a foot from a hug, Henry stopped. His button nose wrinkled.
"You smell like garbage cat."
Emma laughed, suddenly realizing she was out of breath. She ran her hands over her face to clear off some of the muck.
"Yeah, it's not like I wanted any thanks for saving your life."
Henry twisted his mouth, as if wondering about the consequences of what he was about to say. "As much as I appreciate the fact that you're all covered in monster gut-goo for my sake, it was actually Hook who saved my life."
He turned to look over his shoulder. Emma, feeling a hot wave rising in her cheeks, followed her son's gaze. Hook was sitting up, a large rip in his sleeve, panting. He felt them looking and waved away their stares.
"Oh, look, gratitude. Coming only from the second Charming family member I saved today."
Henry frowned at her. "He saved you too?"
Hook's eyebrow quirked up at her over Henry's shoulder. Emma sighed and climbed to her feet. "That's debatable. Now let's get you home, I'm sure everyone is frantic. Cora kinda ended our living room."
"Cora! I knew it! She's definitely coming back!"
The expression on Hook's face darkened.
"Do you think that's true, Emma? She's found a way to come here?"
"I think she's got friends in other worlds that will help her to send her enemies a message. That's how the chimera got here. We're certainly not done with her."
"Then we have to go warn David and Mary-Margaret! And the rest of the town!"
"I said she had friends, kid, not favors. I think it'll take her a while to send something like that over here again." She wouldn't meet Hook's eye. "Now go get your book, what you can find of it any way. And grab my sword, if you can find it."
Henry nodded and ran off. Hook watched him go and was taken aback when Emma had suddenly gotten very close.
"You saved my son." It wasn't a question, or thanks. It was a moment of genuine surprise and awe. "Why?"
His eyes lit up as a smile curved his lips. He was filthy from dirt and blood but somehow the look suited him. His black hair hung down over a sweaty forehead, as he glanced to the ground, shrugging.
"Because of a promise I made, to a swan princess." He muttered. " 'No danger can come to them while you're here', don't you remember?"
Emma was totally and utterly floored. "I meant from you— I meant you can't hurt them—,"
He grinned. Slowly he picked a chunk of monster glob out of her hair, chuckling to himself. "My mistake, love. I guess I'm not one to read the fine print. So let's just call this a favor then. You owe me."
"No, no, no, no, I am in no way indebted to you!"
Hook made sure Henry's back was turned before leaning in. "Come on, Emma, darling, it'll be fun. I can already think of a hundred ways to repay me, and I promise you, you'll relish them too—,"
Emma pushed him by the shoulders as hard as she could. He stumbled back, biting his lip as he went. "Henry's right— you do smell like cat sick."
Her ears flaming, Emma whirled around. "Henry— we're leaving . . . now!"
Her son, clutching the drenched sword and his book, nodded and leapt into the same walk. Just as they reached the top of the ridge, Mary-Margaret and David tumbled down into the clearing, dressed to the tee in weapons, both projectile and static.
"We're here! Where's the beast?" David asked heroically.
"Dead." Emma pointed to the base of the ridge. Both her parents' mouths tumbled open.
"And you killed it? All by yourself?" Mary-Margaret asked, astonished.
"No!" Henry said. "Captain Hook helped! He saved my life!"
"WHAT?"
"Yeah! Ask him yourself! He's right—,"
All four heads turned to find the pirate in question, but he was gone.
Later that night, after food and a long shower (not necessarily in that order) and David and Henry had gone to sleep, Emma laid on the couch, her head on Mary-Margaret's lap. Her mother ran her fingers through Emma's blonde hair, mumbling happily. Emma was trying to stay awake to listen to her mother's story, but she couldn't. However, she did catch one sentence before drifting off to sleep:
"When I met your father, it was magical."
Strike three, Captain, Strike three.
*A/N these seem to get longer as the chapters go on. But this one was mostly action packed. So the others probably won't be this long. But seriously, what do you guys think of it? Lemme know!