Chapter 3
Emma stood still and quiet next to the mass of the ship, her hands holding the shrouds. She twisted the ropes in her hands for a moment before she began her work of wrapping the rope around a hold. She was mellow for the moment, but only because she was focused on something. Everyone on the ship was busy with something, but she paid no mind to them. They had all gotten their rest the night before and had taken sail early in the morning. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits except for Emma. Considering how her behavior had been since the incident with the necklace, she was eerily quiet.
Mulan watched Emma for a moment, finding it scary to see her so…distant. After a moment, she approached the blonde, laying a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Emma, are you alright?"
Emma was quiet for a moment, continuing her work with the rope. After a silent minute, her head turned to Mulan. "I want you to promise me something." She began, eyes locking with Mulan's intensely.
"Sure. What do you need?" Mulan questioned, already concerned by Emma's removed tone.
"If things go wrong. If…if something bad happens. I want you to promise you'll leave me with Regina."
Mulan's dark eyes widened and she took a step back. "Why would I do that?" She asked, anger starting to rise in her chest. It sounded like Emma was just giving up.
"Because I can't stand this. I can't stand the feeling in the pit of my stomach that has been there since we sailed away. It's too much to bare." Emma's eyes looked worn and sad, and her head turned back to watch her own hands work the rope.
"Emma, I cannot promise that. I will not leave you with the Siren Queen. It's an absurd promise to make and I will not leave you behind with some evil….witch." Mulan growled the last word, lip curling into a sneer.
Emma shook her head and patted Mulan on the back. "You have to leave me behind if things get bad or even worse. If I sail away from her again it will only make my mind that much more crazy. I do not wish to live a life where I cannot act as I always have. This persona, or whatever is wrong with me, it's not me. I am not of sound mind and if I am not of sound mind, then I prefer to be left with Regina. I need to be near her." Her last words took on a desperate tone, making Mulan fear the worst.
"We can save you. We will not leave you behind. I will not…"
Emma cut Mulan off, giving her the smallest of smiles. "There is no saving me now that Regina has my heart. I would rather be left behind than act this crazy for the rest of my life. And I cannot guarantee that if you don't leave me behind I will not try something absolutely ridiculous to relieve myself of this burden." The blonde's green eyes became intense then, telling Mulan that she was serious.
After a long moment of gritting her teeth and internally cursing, Mulan gave a short nod. "Fine. If things go wrong then we will leave you behind. But things will not go wrong!"
Emma looked Mulan over. The other woman was a great person, and she told her this. "You're wonderful," was all she said. In the grand scheme of things, Mulan didn't know her, but she was loyal to her. Emma pledged her own loyalty to the woman, which was why she was so willing to work under Mulan's captaincy. She had saved her, and she had put up with her. Emma wasn't sure if, were their roles reversed, she would do the same. "Did I ever tell you thank you or saving my life? For... For being here for me now? Of all the plunders in my life, of all the treasures I have sought, I don't think there is anything more precious than the person that you are."
"Stop it," Mulan said, turning away from her. There was a hint of pink in her cheeks.
Emma watched her every now and again from her tasks, while Mulan's gaze went over to the people on the ship. "So we've got... Grumpy there as boatswain, though I don't know if he should be allowed near my- er, OUR rum. Belle, up in the crows nest- reading, no doubt. Why can't we get a book away from that one?"
"Ah, as long as she does the rest of her job, I don't care what she is doing up there," Mulan replied. She looked over to August and Peter, who were going over some of the things that needed to be repaired but could wait, and David was hauling a large box of goods from one side of the ship into the cabin. "We need a cook."
"Sneezy volunteered."
"You're going to allow someone named Sneezy to cook food?"
"It's your call, love, but there were no other hands raised," Emma said. "And you wouldn't want me or Peter near the food."
"Alright," Mulan said with a sigh. She turned to Emma again. "We don't have a plan."
"No, I suppose we don't."
"We don't have a plan, and we are already an unlucky ship. Emma-"
"WHOA!" came a shout. "Intruder!" It was a word that put both Emma and Mulan into action. In a couple of swift movements, both women were next to David, who was looking inside a barrel. "Come out of there." David said, though he sounded less severe than the look upon Mulan's face.
Slowly, a sandy blonde head popped up, looking somewhat guilty when his eyes landed on Emma.
Emma narrowed her green eyes and frowned, grabbing the boy from under the arms and lifting him from the barrel. "What in Davey Jones' name do you think you're doing, boy?" She questioned, setting the kid down on his feet, but keeping a grip on his shirt.
"I told you I wanted to sail with you." Henry challenged, trying to stand up straight and move away from Emma's grip.
Emma only held on tighter. "And I told you that you couldn't come. You're too young, boy. Do you wanna die here at sea?" Her tone was harsh and she bit down on her tongue. What were they going to do with this boy?
Henry shook his head at her question, but continued anyway. "I have nowhere else to go. I don't have any family, so no one back there would miss me. I want to have an adventure too, so I just hid here." Henry's words came out rushed, jumbling together most of the time. The look in Emma's eyes was scaring him.
The boy's words hit home for Emma, and Mulan could see that by the way her face fell from harsh to sad in an instant. She was quiet then, letting go of the boy's shirt. Henry fell backwards a bit but caught himself. Mulan stepped up next to Emma, eyes darting from her to the boy and back. "What are going to do?" She asked, trying to look Emma in the eye.
Emma seemed to snap out of something and she smiled deliriously at Mulan. "We're gonna let him stay. You said we had an unlucky ship right? Well, with this boy on ship we have fourteen instead of thirteen. So, unlucky we are not! Wonderful!" She clapped Mulan on the back and then turned to Henry. "Welcome aboard, boy. But watch yourself around these men. One of them might want to throw you overboard." With that, she winked and then walked off towards the ropes she had been messing with earlier
Mulan and Henry both watched Emma; a scared look was on Henry's face while Mulan looked concerned. She wasn't sure having Henry on the boat with them was such a good idea, but her superstition got the best of her. With fourteen on their ship, they would no longer be unlucky. Begrudgingly Mulan allowed it, turning to Henry and staring down at him.
"Make one wrong move or try to steal something again and I will throw you overboard. Unlucky number be damned. Make no mistakes about that. Now go swab the deck."
Henry nodded and took off at a run, clearly taking Mulan very seriously. A wise move indeed.
And so the ship got off to the right start, other than the fact that Sneezy's cooking wasn't the best in the world, but Emma seemed to enjoy it. Or at least, she was able to fake it better than the rest. Belle let the man borrow one of her books that had sections on cooking, and she tended to Mulan, who got the most upset from the food. Emma took up being captain for two days, but refused to let the title leave the front of her name afterwards. Mulan didn't bother arguing for very long, and made it known that she may keep the title as long as the final order still came from her. This earned her a salute. The final day was a busy one for Emma, Mulan and Belle, who had shouted their destination was near. The three women went to work tying up the men, including Henry just in case, and then when they were all secure, Emma leaned back next to David so that Mulan could tie her up as well. The two women shared a look, and Emma winked at her.
The rocks drew nearer, and Mulan could hear the soft sound of the Sirens. Emma recognized Ruby's voice, and so could Peter if his sudden shouting said anything. The other men weren't as loud, but they were determined to go towards the rock. If they hadn't been headed in that direction, there was no telling just what the men would have said to her. Emma after a while let her head lean back. "Regina. My queen, my heart..." she said softly. Sadly, Mulan realized this was as sane as Emma had been since her curse began. She moved wildly about the boat, shouting orders and directing Belle, and then she squinted off into the distance when she noticed that the Sirens had gone quiet. The men had as well. All was still, save the splashing water and the wind at their sails.
"Captain..." Belle asked softly.
Mulan shook her head. She didn't know either. As they got closer, she noticed a lone figure on the rocks. The Sirens were now gone. The figure waved madly at them. "Belle. Go down to the cabin and grab my telescope."
"I have this one, if you need it," she offered, taking the small one that was at her hip, tied with her belt. She handed it to Mulan when the woman held out her hand, and watched as her captain glanced into it.
"He's waving us in. I recognize him. He was on the shore when Emma jumped in the water and swam to the ship the last time we were here." Mulan watched as the man pointed over towards what appeared to be a dock. "Alright, we have a place to go. I assume he was the one to reign the Sirens in, but I am still unsure about this." She walked over to Emma and spoke to her now, even as the blonde's head was dropped onto her shoulder. "The Siren Queen gave you that necklace to protect you. She wouldn't harm you, but we should still take you with me. Belle, you watch over the men, and have that man stay on the ship."
"Aye, captain," Belle replied.
Mulan went to work untying Emma, who began to squirm slightly. "Stop it," she ordered the blonde. "We will be with Regina in a moment, but I need to make sure this isn't a trap."
The mentioning of Regina's name made Emma stop squirming. She stood as still as possible and let Mulan untie her. When she was free, Emma took off running, leaving Mulan behind. Mulan sighed and took off at a run as well, catching up with Emma quickly. She grabbed the blonde by her arm and stopped her, jerking her back. Emma swung at her, yelling obscenities. Mulan ducked the hit and then grabbed Emma by her shoulders.
"Stop it! Stop it right now. Snap out of it. You will see her, just wait." Mulan yelled, squeezing Emma's shoulders hard.
Emma winced and sighed, sagging visibly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just…I can feel her. She's so close and I need to see her it. It hurts not to see her."
Mulan closed her eyes for a moment, unable to see Emma this broken. "I know it does, but we need to talk to him first." Mulan pointed towards the man standing at the dock. "We have to talk to him and save your family."
Emma nodded and Mulan mimicked the action, turning Emma around and walking calmly with her off the ship and onto the dock. Meeting Graham at the end of the dock, Mulan gave him a nod, but noticed that he looked rather worried. She let go of Emma and took another step towards Graham, leaning forward to whisper to him.
"There's something wrong with her. It needs to be fixed." She said, looking up at Graham with narrowed eyes.
"She isn't the only one who has something wrong with her." Graham began, eyes cutting to Emma now and then. He leaned further towards Mulan, voice dropping almost below a whisper. "Regina, she is not herself. There is something very wrong and it needs to be fixed." Graham gave nothing else, no details, no more explaining. Mulan narrowed her eyes even further as she clenched her jaw.
"There's something you aren't telling me."
"It is not my place to be telling you every detail. All you need to know is that Regina needs help and Emma may be the only one who can do it."
Emma's head snapped up at the sound of Regina's name. She turned to the talking pair, catching the end of Graham's sentence. Her eyes went completely wide, breath catching in her throat. "What's wrong with Regina? What is wrong with her?" Emma's voice was loud and shaky as she approached Graham, grabbing the collar of his shirt and gripping tightly. "What. Is. Wrong…with Regina?"
Graham was going to answer, but Emma gave him no time. Instead of standing there and waiting, she turned and took off at a sprint. Mulan and Graham watched her as she took the steps up the hill to the castle two at a time. Graham turned to Mulan, a questioning look on his face.
"She hasn't been right since we sailed away." Mulan sighed, rubbing her face with her hands. There was a moment of silence before Mulan cut to the chase. "We want her family back. And my men."
Graham nodded, but looked guilty as his eyes moved to the ground. "Her family is safe, but there are very few men left from your ship." Looking up at Mulan, an apologetic look took over his features. "I'm sorry."
Mulan clenched her fists and ground her teeth together. She said nothing else as they both turned to watch Emma continue her run towards the castle.
Emma was breathing heavily, trying hard to keep her aching legs to continue. It was hard running up all of those steps, but whatever got her to Regina as fast as possible, she would do it. It felt like a million years before she finally reached the castle. She threw courtesy out the window and burst through the front doors. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she looked around the empty room. Regina was close, she could feel it. It didn't matter that she didn't know where Regina was, she would find her. The connection between them told her she would.
It took her but another second to continue her run. Her legs felt shaky and she could barely breath, but she continued anyway. Emma skidded around a corner and down a hall, following the way her heart told her to. She lost count of just how many turns and corridors she took, but it felt like too many. Emma almost passed some very ornate double doors, but she halted just as she ran past them. Slowly she turned around, blood rushing in her ears as she took a few steps towards them. 'She's in here!' Her mind yelled at her, making her heart stop completely.
Slowly she reached for the doors, swinging them open a second later. Her green eyes searched the room and stopped when they fell on the figure standing at the large open window. Emma breath caught in her throat as she recognized the Siren Queen, her Queen. She took a few steps forward, her hand stretching out almost involuntarily. "Regina." She whispered, nearly crying at the sight of Regina standing bathed in the sunlight pouring through the window. "Regina." Emma whispered one more time, gaining the smallest of turns from the other woman. It was as their eyes met that Emma felt relief wash through her.