Chapter 23
Happy ONCE Day! I am so excited and nervous and sad about the season finale but I'm willing to give Eddy and Adam a chance. I have loved this show since episode 1 and I will be there till it comes to an official end. I will miss Charming, Snow and Emma who were my favorite characters but at least they can live on though FF!
Sorry it has been so long since I had an update. Long story short but I have been battling illness for the last 6.5 months and was at Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN getting more testing done. It all makes me feel super dragged out and tired. It makes it hard to write FF but hopefully they will have answers and will have more energy!
Please as always, let me know what you think and what you want to see as the story progresses.
Enjoy!
As the little family made their way home, Killian and Charming were on high alert watching for any signs of anyone watching them. They had never planned to leave the house because they were worried that one of Stult's men would recognize David and Mary and put two and two together and come after Zoe, Emma and Killian. Thankfully they didn't see anything or anyone that brought on suspicion but both men were feeling a huge sense of relief as they all entered the house unscathed.
Killian immediately went and armed the security system. He wasn't going to repeat the same mistake again. Emma than guided Zoe into the living room and she and Mary took a seat on either side of her while Killian and David sat across from them.
"Alright kid, we have to talk" Emma said braking the awkward silence
"Mom, do we have to?"
"We'll be talking about your little stunt later. Right now…we need to talk about, the trail" Emma was so hesitant to let the words pass her lips, but she knew that it had to be done.
"Oh"
"I know this won't be easy Zoe but, we promise that all of us are here for you" Mary spoke up placing a gentle hand on her arm.
"Zoe, the trail is important because it's the only way we can guarantee your safety, permanently" David jumped in to further explain. "Once we know Stult's is in jail, you and Killian and Emma can start to have a real life, without so much fear of what might happen"
"I understand. What do you need me to do?" Zoe said in a low voice. She wasn't thrilled about this, but she also knew that she had a job to do, and that came first.
"We need you to tell us exactly what happened. Just like the night it happened when we took your statement at the police station in Storybrooke" Mary explained.
"Okay, I can do that"
"Would you mind walking us through it here? Just once so we can make sure that you didn't forget any details" David jumped in
"Um…sure…I, I was walking to my car…"
"Where were you walking from?" David jumped in. He needed her to remember every little detail. The more detail she could give the better
"Dad!"
"Sorry. Zoe, it's just…the more detail we have, the less questions they will need to ask you. Does that make sense?" David asked sounding a bit desperate.
"No, it's fine. I was walking to my car from the diner. I had stopped in there to grab a to-go order. When I was walking to my car I heard a sound from behind the building."
"What was the sound sweetheart" Mary asked gently while stroking her hair
"It was someone crying, they sounded like they were in pain. I went around the back of the building and I saw one of the waitresses from the restaurant being held up against the wall by a man."
"How was he holding her up against the wall?" David asked
"He had his hand around her throat"
"and how did you know she was one of the waitresses?" Mary added
"She had on her uniform"
"You're doing great love" Killian encouraged her. He could tell that reliving all of this for the first time was taking a toll on her.
"I just stood there for a minute before I yelled at the guy"
"What did you say?" Emma asked. She had read the briefing from her parents but hadn't actually heard Zoe talk about it.
"I just yelled 'HEY!'. That's when he turned and looked at me. I would know that face anywhere now, it's burned in my brain" Zoe said shaking her head as if trying to clear it from the image that she spoke of.
"So if they showed you the courtroom, you could point him out?" David asked gently
"Yea, I could"
"You're doing great! What happened after you yelled at him?" Killian asked leaning toward her and placing a gentle hand on her knee
"The man staired at me for a minute before he ran off. The girl dropped to the ground and I called 911. I never saw him again until the line up at the police station"
"Good job kid" Emma said putting an arm around her daughter and pulling her to herself. She then kissed her head as she ran her hand up and down her arm. "You did so good! You are a trooper!" Zoe simply nodded into Emma's chest as she held back the tears.
"You're mom's right Zoe. You did a great job remembering all the details about that night. I know this wasn't easy but you only have to do this one more time. After that, you won't have to ever talk about this night again" David said smiling at his granddaughter. He knew that if she could say it like that during the trail, there would be no reason that they wouldn't be putting Stult's away for good.
"Can I go to my room?" Zoe asked
"Of course love, we'll let you know when food is ready" Killian said with a sad smile as Zoe exited the room. He hated seeing her like this. They had come so far in the few short weeks she had been with them, but this felt like a huge step backwards.
Once Zoe was out of ear shot, the four adults sat in silence for a few moments. No one knew what to say. They were asking a young girl to relive one of the scariest moments of her life in order to save the rest of her life. It all seemed so contradictory.
"She really is going to be fine" David spoke up, breaking the silence.
"Will she?" Emma immediately snapped back
"Em…"
"I know you want us all to just keep talking about how everything is going to be okay but what we are asking of her, it's almost cruelty!"
"Emma, you knew that this was part of the reason that she was coming here. Without here we have no way to put this guy away. Would you rather the man who she witnessed almost kill someone be let loose?" David countered. He knew that Emma was speaking out of her emotions and he needed to bring her back to the reality of the situation
"David, we know that this is necessary, but you can't blame us for being protective" Killian cut in. He knew David was all about facts, but the facts weren't what mattered in this moment.
"Killian, no one is saying you shouldn't be protective. We wouldn't have placed Zoe with you if we thought that you would be anyone but" Mary said in her motherly voice "But part of being a parent, is walking through scary situations with our kids that we know are a necessary evil. Our job is to let them know that we have their back through it all"
Everyone was silent for another moment. Mary was right. They didn't want Zoe to have to do this, but it was a necessary evil and would ultimately end up being the one thing that would keep Zoe safe for the long hull.
"Okay, we can do this" Emma said looking up at Killian
"Aye love. Together" He said reaching out and taking her hand
"You two are really great parents. You're father and I could not be prouder" Mary said with a teary eyed looked.
"Agreed. You are all going to make it through this" David added. "Now how about we get started on the food?" Everyone laughed but nodded in agreement and started moving about to get things done.
XXXX
Zoe sat on her bed and let the tears roll down her cheeks in silence. Talking about that day was making her feel sick to her stomach. All the images were flooding back into her mind. The look on the man's face when he realized she had seen what he was doing. The way the girls body fell limp to the ground when he ran. The feelings she had looking at the line up, it was all opened up like a fresh wound.
The thought of having to sit with a camera in her face and tell the story again with people questioning her made her want to vomit. She honestly didn't know how she was going to be able to do it when the time came. It was all so overwhelming.
These were the moments that she wished she could go back to that beach and let the sound of the waves bring her calm. However, she knew she had already pushed her limits for one day and wouldn't get away with doing it again. She also knew that she wasn't going to be able to tell her parents what had happened on her way to the beach with running into her old foster brother, again.
On top of the trial and having to relive that awful day, she also had run into an awful memory from her past. She just wanted it all to go away. She laid back on her bed and let the heaviness of her eyelids take over before falling into a deep but unrestful sleep.
XXXX
Mary, David, Emma and Killian were all in the kitchen making lunch for everyone when Emma heard a cry coming from Zoe's room. She immediately dropped the spoon she was using to stir the noodles and made a b-line to Zoe's room. She found her daughter thrashing back and forth in her bed.
"Zoe" She said coming over and shaking her shoulders gently. Zoe didn't respond and continued to thrash around. "Zoe, honey, you need to wake up!" Emma said a bit more passionately. She also shook her shoulders a bit harder. This finally caused Zoe to throw her eyes open. She looked panicked as her eyes darted around the room before landing on Emma. She flew up and threw her arms around Emma and squeezed her as hard as she could. Emma immediately placed a hand on the back of Zoe's head and pulled her close while rubbing small circles into Zoe's back.
Killian came in and saw it and gave Emma a questioning look. She simply gave him a look that said she wasn't sure but he came close and placed a gentle hand on Zoe's back.
"Hello Love, want to talk about it?" Killian asked gently
Zoe simply shook her head no over and over again. She was still so scared of whatever had happened in her dream that she hasn't even loosened her grip on Emma.
"That's okay honey. We're here whenever you're ready" Emma said continuing to try and comfort her daughter. She and Killian shared a lost look. They weren't sure what had happened but Zoe had never been this clingy and let them comfort her like this either.
They both sat there for what seemed like an eternity before Zoe finally loosened her grip and leaned back. Emma took her face into her hands and wiped away the few stray tears. "You wanna talk about it?"
"Not really"
"I think it would make you feel better" Emma said moving a piece of hair out of Zoe's face.
"It really was nothing. I'm okay"
"Love, you're not very convincing. It's okay that you are having issues with everything. No one blames you" Killian said. He wanted her to know that they were there for her, in the good and the bad.
"It was just a dream. It wasn't real" Zoe said covering her face with her hair "It's not a big deal. Sorry you guys had to come in here"
"We want to be here for you during times like this. Zoe, we love you so much! Honey, please tell us what happened in your dream. Real or not, we can tell it really affected you" Emma pleaded.
"You promise you won't be mad?"
"We can't hold something against you that you have no control over love" Killian added moving a piece of hair out of her face.
"It has to do with something that happened on my way to the beach" Zoe than immediately had both their attentions.
