Once again, Aurelia found herself waking up alone. She was on the dock, drenched in water. She looked round, but there was no one to be seen. Looking at the floor, she saw scuff marks. She sat up, and then fell still, confused. The gratitude of being alive had been slightly soured by the fact she couldn't see Killian or anyone else. Standing to her feet, she started jogging back to the main centre of Storybrooke. That when she saw Emma.
"Emma!" she called "What's going on, what happened?"
Emma was panicked, her face pale and worried.
"I'm sorry Aurelia, once we saved you and realised you were okay I had to leave- Henry's gone. They've taken him. I have to get him back" she said, her face worried.
Mary Margaret and David came running up with blankets and food.
"We were just coming to find you Aurelia" Mary Margaret explained. "Look, come to ours. There's much to discuss"
After explaining what happened, Aurelia had a lot of questions.
"They've taken Henry where?" she said.
"Neverland. We need to wait for Killian to get better so he can fix the ship and take us there"
"Get better? Where is he? Is he okay?" Aurelia asked, her voice going higher.
"He's stable now, but he had a lot of water in his lungs and multiple injuries"
"I have to go check on him. But he'll agree. We were going to neverland anyway- I guess that doesn't matter now I'm mortal- but we'll help anyway. I want Henry safe, too"
"I know. Thank you, it means so much, Aurelia" Emma said "I'm not ready to lose him again"
"It's fine. Look, give us a day or too and we'll make the arrangements. As his grandfather, I expect Rumplestiltskin will be coming?" Aurelia asked.
The others looked uncomfortable. "Yes… and Regina. Henrys her son too"
"What?! NO" Aurelia shouted, standing up "Like hell. She tried to kill me- she doesn't give a damn about her son. She's pure evil, all she wants is revenge. She'll kill us all if we let her come with us. She needs to be put behind bars or something. I can't go with her. Not that woman. I want to save Henry more than anything, but I refuse to be on a boat with the same woman who tried to murder me in cold blood"
"Aurelia, I know it's hard, and she's being punished with Henry gone. Look, she's hurt me before in the past, but I don't believe she's pure evil. I think she had a moment of desperation. She knows she's losing Henry, and she's lashing out" Emma said.
"We'll go talk to her know" David said.
"No. Killian and I won't go- not with her" Aurelia said. "I'm sorry, but she's caused us too much pain"
She stormed out angrily. Making her way to the hospital, she wiped tears away as she caught sight of herself in the mirror. She looked furious, her hair a bright orange, lips drawn in a thin tight line, her eyebrows low. She continued, until she asked a nurse where Killian was.
Entering the clean hospital room, she saw Killian unconscious on the bed. His breathing was slow and deep, and he looked peaceful. She sat beside him, stroking his hair with her hand, putting her head on his chest and just sitting with him.
She looked at his chart, the long list of the injuries, becoming more and more furious with Regina. The hospital also cleaned her wounds and she had to make up a long, detailed story as to why their injuries were so suspicious.
Three hours later, she sat, staring at the blank wall, unmoving, as Killian stirred.
"Hey" he said, looking up at her. She kissed him, and held his hand tight.
"How're you feeling, love?"
"Fine. Better. I'm so glad you're okay Aurelia, what happened?"
"Rumplestiltskin helped Emma and everyone find us. But Henry was taken to Neverland"
After giving him some water, she recounted everything that had happened since they last saw each other.
"No way are we helping Regina" she said coldly.
"I know you're angry love, but we're good people. Well- you are, I'm trying. But the point is there's a child at stake here. I think we should help. I should start fixing the ship" he said, struggling to get up.
"NO!" she said, pushing him down. "You're too weak. Give it a couple of days for rest and to heal. Besides, maybe we shouldn't. I love Henry, but he's got two mothers and grandparents to look after him. We might not even be able to help- just endangering our lives. And I'm going to kill Regina, not help her"
Killian looked at her. "I sincerely hope you're joking. Aurelia, after everything you've taught me, you can't possibly say that we're not going to help. You and I know Neverland better than anyone. Listen to me; it's the right thing to do. Don't lose hope in goodness now, look we're alive, she hasn't won"
"Damn right she hasn't won!" Aurelia spat "I'm going to murder her Killian, if it' the last thing I do"
They stared at each other.
"You've had a shock" he said slowly "We've been through a lot- especially you- but you can't let this affect you, Aurelia. You can't change. You have a good heart, and you need to rise above it"
"No, Killian. Look, I can't talk about this anymore. I need to think. I'll come check on you later this evening, okay?" she stood up, and he grabbed her hand.
"Don't do anything stupid, love" he said "For your sake"
She walked out. Her mind was blazing with different thoughts, emotions swirling like the ocean in a storm. She was outside grannies when she saw her.
Emma, Mary Margaret and David were standing, talking to her. Regina. Aurelia didn't think, just started walking. The library had been getting renovations; she didn't notice her hand grabbing a pipe as she walked over. The four people were in such a deep conversation they didn't notice the fuming woman walking over to them.
"I can try. She won't accept my apology" Regina was saying. "Even I can admit I was out of control. It's just, with Henry slipping away and the whole world against me-"
"Hey, bitch" Aurelia said from behind Regina. Regina turned round, and Aurelia swung the pipe at her face, which cracked with a satisfying and toe-curling sound. She threw the pipe to the floor, livid, and leapt on top on Regina, who was yelling on the floor. She swung her fist into her face and neck with no sound, as Regina gave a small scream and a groan, trying to protect herself but with the shock, no magic appeared.
"AURELIA STOP" Mary Margaret yelled, as David grabbed her under the arms, pulling her away whilst trying not to get caught. With one last kick in the stomach, making Regina double up, Aurelia allowed herself to be wrenched away, her eyes lit up with an almost insane outrage.
"What are you doing?" You almost killed her" Mary Margaret said.
"Can't blame her" Emma said casually, watching from the side.
Making almost animal-like sounds, Regina dragged herself onto her hands and knees, standing up. Her face was almost matching Aurelia's with anger.
"How dare you attack me" she said slowly.
"Bit hypocritical" Aurelia said, giving a mock sad face. Regina raised her hands.
"Don't even think about it" Emma said. "Look, everyone just calm the hell down and think about this"
"LOOK AT MY FACE" Regina screamed. There were instants bruises from the punches, and a small train of blood emerging from her hair from the metal pipe.
"To quote you, Regina- I think I can safely say now that to sum it up, I'm winning" Aurelia said, satisfied.
"Oh you brat. I'm going to enjoy hurting you"
"Regina, I swear to God if you touch Aurelia we will kill you. We've spared your life before, and to be honest you've had this coming. Aurelia, this isn't like you. I know what she's done wasn't fair, but you've got revenge. You've hurt her. Now please, for all of our sakes, calm down" Mary Margaret panted.
David loosened his hold as Aurelia stopped struggling.
"Fine, we're even. But next time- you hurt me, Killian or anyone I love ever again, and I swear to God instead of that pipe, it'll be your brains on the ground" Aurelia said without emotion.
"Message received" Regina said.
"Look. We need to sort this out. Henry needs us. Without Aurelia, we won't have a ship or her expertise. We need her help. Aurelia, this is just a mother, looking for her son. So you need to get over this pettiness, stop trying to kill each other and work together"
"If you help me find my son, I won't kill you" Regina said.
"You must be desperate. Fine. I won't hurt you. I'll help you find Henry- because I love him, and Emma, and Mary Margaret and David. I'm not doing this for you" Aurelia said.
Emma looked at the two women. "Now, I don't mean to take sides, but I trust Aurelia with my life. Regina, you need to keep your end of this bargain"
"I will" Regina said. Then she looked down, her eyes tearing up. "I know it was wrong of me to try to kill you. But do you know how hard it is to be surrounded by people that are happy and loved, when you're on your own and everything you've known is gone? I'm never happy. I never win. I thought if I hurt people, they'd understand my misery. I know I was wrong now. And yes, I am still extremely angry by what you've done to me Aurelia, but I promise I will not hurt you. But please, I'm begging you now, help me find my son"
"Well that's out of character" Aurelia murmured. "This better not be a trick. Fine. I'll help. I'm going to go talk to Killian. He'll need a couple of days to rest though. Get the dwarves to start working on the ship; I'll meet you all in Grannies at 9:00 on Friday, okay?"
"Done. See you later. I'll come by yours tonight to talk" Emma said, Aurelia nodding at her before walking home.
All the anger, the sadness, the exhaustion has disappeared. Aurelia felt so empty. She went home, taking a shower and getting changed into fresh clothes. She ate some food, tidied the place up a bit, and then grabbed some food and clothes for Killian, walking to the hospital.
"What happened?" he asked, worried "I've been going out of my mind and the nurses wouldn't let me leave this damn bed"
"Nothing" She lied "You were right all along, we should help"
"I'm glad you came to your senses he said, relieved "And at east no-one got hurt" as he started opening his meal, not noticing the guilty look in Aurelia's eyes as she closes the blinds, her back to him. She sighed, and sat next to him, stroking his hair softly.
"Yeah, I guess so"