"Come home
Come home
Cause I've been waiting for you
For so long
For so long
Right now there's a war between the vanities
But all I see is you and me
The fight for you is all I've ever known
Ever known
So come home
Oh"
You never know the pain of truly missing someone until they are gone. You can never know how painful it is to wake up and realize every time they are gone. Sometimes forever. It can tear you apart.
Snow remembered trees with fragrant blossoms and birds that flew and sung in their branches. So alive and thrumming with an almost musical energy. It made her want to sing and dance forgetting all her troubles. The palace garden was Emma and her special place.
This was the only place where they could find clarity. Here they had realized their similarities, it had brought them together. Making an unbreakable bond. But now she felt as if she had taken all their time together for granted, unaware that it was limited, the ground had been pulled from under her feet and she wasn't ready for the fall. Oh Emma, please come home.
It had always been free and alive. Innocent and untouched by the world. But somehow the innocent never lasted. It made her want to cry and scream, but instead she stood quietly, watching how dark her world had become. The branches of the trees hung low and wilted like the shoulders of a grieving widow. The cold air had a harshness to it that stung her face, she pulled her cloak tighter. It didn't make a difference.
She couldn't imagine it the same now. How could a place be so happy and alive when her life was so painful and dark? Their flowers were stripped, crushed underfoot, blown to the winds. No birds sang, no bees hummed. It was silent. Save for the wind. Ice clung to the carpet of their leaves was sparkling with the same silvery frost. The whole place seemed to be without colour, just a mass of grey crawling into the white sky.
That was what her life had become, a colorless blur. Without meaning. She had nothing to hold onto. She was starting to forget what Emma looked like. Her face seemed to blur as she struggled to remember. It brought tears to Snow's eyes. Would she ever see her again?
Snow walked slowly through the cold gardens, her cloak hugged tightly around her. Belle had went home and Regina was staying with her aunt. She missed them all so much, but none so much as Emma. She tried not to think of what might have become of her. David hardly spoke, he was so busy trying to prevent a war. But she knew he was hurting. They all were.
Snow smiled slightly as she noticed a small pink and white bud clinging to a branch. Its delicate petals were unfurling to brave the world ahead. A pale leaf curled protectively around the bud, holding it safe. She brushed her finger gently over the top of the flower, it reached out its petals and seemed to take a breath of the cold air. It was like a newborn child unaware of the pain and suffering of the world. The first blossom in a long and cruel winter. She smiled, maybe Emma would come home? Maybe their was hope. If this little blossom could bloom in this icy dark world. Then the least she could do was believe in Emma. She deserved that much.
"Snow, we have found him."
She smiled. David was leaning against the wooden archway. "The man who killed Phillip?"
"Yes, he ran straight into some of my men." David smiled grimly. "They are on their way as we speak."
"Was Emma with him?" She dreaded the answer.
"No."
Snow didn't know whether to be relieved or scared. If she had been with him, that would put her on trial and she could be hung. But if she wasn't with him who knows what had become of her? "Well at least we got him." That monster, Snow couldn't understand how he could pretend to be Phillip's friend and then just kill him without a second thought. It was inhumane. He deserved what was coming.
"I hope this is enough to say we weren't involved in the killing." David looked so tired, he seemed to have aged years. "But we will never be on good terms with them again, they will hate us for letting him die on our land." David sounded angry now.
"David, would you not react in a similar way if one of our daughters had died on their land?"
He smiled at her. "I would, I am sorry Snow. I cannot think too long about these matters or they become me. I am very fortunate to have you."
"I miss her so much." Snow's voice quivered. "Do you think we will ever see her again?"
David just stepped forward and wrapped her in his arms. That was enough of an answer. He didn't think they ever would. Their daughter was gone forever. What made it so much worse was that they had no idea why she was gone.
"Don't try anything." One of the guards spat. They had his hand tied with a gag in his mouth. They were leading him behind their horse. "Evil bastard." The man gave the rope a sharp tug, it tightened on his painful raw skin.
After his father had sent him away, he had landed on his ship with Graham. They had spoke and realized that it was extremely unlikely that Charon would ever let Emma go. And Hook knew what Charon really wanted. He wanted his heir, a successor. But that wasn't a life. The power would overtake him. He would rather die than kill and ruin peoples lives without a single hint of mercy.
He would gladly sacrifice his life to save the kingdoms from war. Did Charon not see this? Charon was smart. Inexplicably smart. But he never understood the human mind. He never understood the raw painful emotions. The willingness to make sacrifices to save the one you love. Hook pitied him in a way.
Graham had understood why Hook wanted this. He had helped the guards find and capture him. Hook hadn't fought them, he didn't care anymore. Everything he cared about was gone. Emma, his mother and Phillip. What was the point without them? He would always hate himself for not being there a second earlier to stop Emma from condemning herself to a life in the underworld.
He could never admit to himself how much he cared about her. He was a coward.
"I have nothing but respect for you Hook."
Graham and him could not be described as friends, but Hook liked him. Graham had went to the castle ahead of the men who had Hook. He would deliver the news to the king and queen. Hook believed that this would be enough to stop the war. Phillip's kingdom would take his death and accept that Emma had not killed Phillip. Well he prayed that would happen. Graham had promised that he would do everything in his power to make them believe he had committed the crime. It should be enough.
He wished he could of said goodbye to Emma. He had never truly understood her. But that's what amazed him. She was a mystery.
"I could never love him."
Her words had hurt him, but he could not understand why. He already knew she would never share his feelings. She had loved Phillip. And even though she knew Hook had not killed him, she would always associate him with his death.
The ropes were slowly tearing at his skin, his feet hurt and the sun painfully burnt his skin. The walk to his death seemed to take forever.
He realized that after all his attempts to be brave and make this sacrifice.
He was afraid. He afraid of what was to come.
He didn't want to die.
Emma had hated Charon for so long.
Every day in this place with only him as company, it was living hell. But as the weeks slowly turned into months. She began to talk to him. He gave her charcoals and thin pencils after five months. And everyday after that she drew, she drew her mother. She drew Belle and Graham. She drew what her child might look like, she drew Phillip and she drew Hook. Because she was so afraid that her memories would fade. Then she would truly lose them.
She found herself drawing a lot of pictures of Hook. Because she was around Charon so much it made it easy. But she still remembered the little differences. Hook's eyes sparkled with the brightest blue. While Charon's were always a cold steely grey.
Emma didn't know Hook's real name. She didn't even know that. It was a small thing and she had never found the time to learn it. She wished that she had the chance to say goodbye. He had probably moved on by now, everyone wold have accepted that she was gone. Three years was a long time, they would remember her. But they would move on. Today was her twenty second birthday. It felt so strange because the last three years were a blur, all her days were the same so they all seemed to merge into nothing.
Charon often invited her to dine with him. Surprisingly enough he actually made very interesting conversation. He reminded her of Hook so much. She liked that, it was all she could hold onto. So she found herself looking forward to his company. Emma still missed everybody at home. But after three years in this place. She had accepted that Charon would never let her leave. She had to think of this place as her new home. It was the only thing she could do.
Charon had told her that this was the underworld. The place where souls passed to the next life. He was the keeper of this world. There was a balance that had to be maintained. He was that balance. He had also explained to her that all his games had just been him trying to get his son to come home. Emma did not understand what he really meant. But she didn't really care.
She picked up the small mirror that had always sat by her bed. It was murky and had pearls encrusted on the edges. Emma turned it slightly, so she could see her face. The Emma that looked back at her was not the same girl she had once known. Three years had changed her. The face that looked back was not that of a youthful girl. It was that of a woman. She thought back to before she came here it seemed like a lifetime ago. She was a lot calmer now. All her emotions seemed to be dulled.
Emma screamed suddenly, the reflection changed. A familiar face. Oh gods, it was Phillip.
"Emma, don't be scared." He sounded the same as she remembered. "Don't drop the mirror, your mind is the only thing holding me here. You need to listen to me." His face looked so youthful. It seemed to be erased of all its weariness or pain. "Its time to leave this place, you have spent long enough here."
"What do you mean? What would be the point in going home? Everyone would have moved on by now."
He smiled in the mirror. "No Emma, this place is not the same world you know. In your world it has only been about half a day."
Her heart leaped. She was filled with hope. "What? Why should I believe you?"
"We are in the underworld Emma, I am just a soul. I am here only to help you."
Tears stung her eyes. "I love you."
"I know Emma. But that's exactly what you have to let go of. Its time to say goodbye to me. Save the man that is about to die for you."
"What?" Panic filled her.
"Hook is going to hang for murder."
No, no, no. She couldn't hold back the tears. "How can I leave?" Her voice shook. "Charon will never let me."
He laughed. "Oh Emma, have you ever asked him?"
"Do you think he will let me leave?"
Phillip nodded. "He will, he has no reason to keep you here. You could of left the day you arrived."
Stupid, stupid. How could she have been so blind? "Only half a day has passed?"
"Yes Emma. But time is running out you must leave."
Oh gods. She could see her parents again. She could see Belle's baby. "I will."
"Its time to say goodbye now, Emma"
She pressed her hand to the glass. "Goodbye, my dearest Phillip. I will always love you."
"Goodbye Emma. I will rest with you in my heart." He smiled and pressed a hand to the glass. "Never forget me little one."
"Never." Emma brushed away tears defiantly. She felt a great weight lift off her. Her heart was free. She could finally breath. It was time to let Phillip go. She blinked again and the mirror was back to its normal murky self. Goodbye Phillip, goodbye forever.
Now it was time to find Charon. Because she was going home. Finally.
She left her room with new determination and hope in her heart.
A/N: I had a tear when I wrote this..:'( Please let me know what you thought. And as usual reviews mean so much to me. If you could find a few moment to let me know if you liked it, it would make me so happy. If you haven't noticed yet, this story is slowly coming to its conclusion. It makes me so proud and happy,that I have stuck with this story for so long. I normally give up on them in the very early stages. :D
Hello world
Hope you're listening
Forgive me if I'm young
For speaking out of turn
There's someone I've been missing
I think that they could be
The better half of me
They're in the wrong place trying to make it right
But I'm tired of justifying
So I say to you..
Come home
Come home