I'm soooooo sorry for not being able to update yesterday. Therefore you get two chapter today.
And also apologies because there are some type of scenarios I just can't write properly. (NO IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK OMG)
"Emma", Killian whispers. She turns to her other side and pulls her right leg up. "Emma, wake up. Come on darling, rise and shine", he keeps saying, trying to wake her up. They've been up until three, but she was so tired by that time she almost fell asleep standing. He just put her in his arms and carried her upstairs. She didn't tell him what she wanted to say and he didn't force. He'll ask her again, when she remembers.
She turns again and opens her eyes, then closes them, and blinks a few more times.
The moment she focuses on his face she's fully awake. She jumps up in horror and crawls away a bit, like a scared animal. "What are you doing here?" she yells.
He raises his hands. "It's okay, Emma, everything's fine."
"How did you escape?" she asks, then looks around. "How did I escape? We were –"
"Emma!" her mother shouts in the doorway and runs to her. "Emma, what happened?"
"How did we get home?" Emma asks her mother. "We were in the Forest, right, the Enchanted Forest!"
Her father arrives in the meantime and starts, "Emma, you need to calm down –"
Emma covers her face with her hands. "What the hell happened?!"
"Where's the note?" Snow asks. "Honey, you wrote yourself a note to read every morning, and –"
"A note? What, like I have some freaking amnesia?"
"Alright, everybody calm down", Hook says, raising his hands. "Go, find the note", he tells her parents. "I got this."
Emma throws a pillow at him. "Don't come near me!"
But he doesn't really give a damn, he kneels next to the bed where she sits and grabs her hands.
She looks like she's about to scream but luckily, she doesn't.
"Where's my son?" she says. It sounds like a command.
"He's completely fine."
"I don't believe you."
"Well, you should."
Emma hakes her head. "What happened?" she whispers, not looking at him.
"What is the last thing you remember?"
"So I'm cursed? That sounds actually really stupid."
And it does. Hell, it really does.
"Emma, look at me."
Have I told you a lie?
She looks at him.
"Emma, I know it sounds weird, but you trust me. You tell that to me everyday, even if you forget about it, you should feel it."
"I left you up a the beanstalk", she whispers. "That was yesterday."
"That was weeks ago", he says. "And a lot of things happened since then."
She shakes her head.
"Use your ability, Emma. You said you can tell when I'm lying, so look at me and say it, am I lying?"
Emma takes a breath and looks him right in the eye, first time that morning.
"No", she says finally. "You're not. I believe you."
"Come on then", he says. "We'll tell you the whole story."
He hates to think about it, but she was right. She slowly forgets about him, then about everyone else. And they are far from a solution.
Or they thought so.
"I did it!" Regina says, bursting in the door. She drops her coat to the hanger and runs to the kitchen.
"This is really weird", Emma says, pointing at her.
"Sorry about that", Regina responds with an apologizing smile, "but yesterday got me thinking."
David and Snow stop the dishwashing they were doing since half an hour and stare at her. Killian steps next to Emma to hear the other woman's words.
"We stayed up long yesterday, right?" Emma says, and Killian nods. He told her about what happened in the previous days, but tried to leave out their conversations. He doesn't fail to notice how he's the one she stands the closest to all the time, but everything she says to him sounds different. She has her walls up again, and breaking them down will be harder and harder everyday.
"I figured the forgetting progress might have to do something with your sleeping", Regina says, taking off her gloves and putting them in her pocket. Then, she pulls out a small bottle. It's filled with something that looks like a potion.
"This", she says, holding it to Emma, "will help you stay up. Take a sip every evening and you'll be up all night. It will spare the explaining, and we can practice on your magic, too."
"My magic?" she asks in confusion, and takes the bottle from Regina slowly.
"Well, the point of this curse is to forget who you really are and prevent you from doing magic. Gold and I think, that in two weeks, you will already forget about Henry, and that's when they come back."
"They didn't count you in then, I guess", Emma says. "I mean, you'd rip everyone who tries to harm Henry in pieces."
"Yes I would", she answers. "But that doesn't break your curse."
Emma's mouth opens slowly as she doesn't know what to say. Killian strikes her elbow from behind to give her confidence, and it seems to work.
Emma gasps. "Thank you", she says finally. "Seriously, thanks a lot."
Regina smiles at her. "We'll do the best we can. However, that potion is only enough for a week. I should propably go and make more. Oh, and Henry's okay. He spends a lot of time with Belle lately, they seem to have fun."
"Did you work on this all night?" Emma asks, holding up the potion. Regina slowly nods.
"You should get some sleep, really", she tells her. "We have time, especially now that I won't keep forgetting about stuff."
"Alright."
Regina grabs her coat and is ready to leave. The moment the doors closes behind her, Killian cleans his throat.
"I'll be back in a moment", he tells them and goes after her. Snow and David just nod and keep glancing at the bottle, trying to figure out the potion in it.
Emma looks at him for a brief second, "Wait, where are you going?"
"It's okay, lass. I'll be right back."
He reaches Regina on the street. He doesn't quite know how to call her though. But he doesn't have to figure it out, because she stops and turns to face him.
"Can I help you?"
He takes a deep breath. "Aye. How much time does it take to make that potion?"
She shrugs. "Few hours should be enough, why?"
"Maybe you could make me another one."
"And why would I? I agreed to help Emma, not you. As I heard, you were willing to let me die in order for you to escape."
He looks away. This really isn't going well. He's not going to threaten her, he knew that the moment he decided to come after her.
"It's your lucky day, Hook", she says, quoting herself from a week ago. "I'll make that potion for you, it'll be done by tonight."
"Why?" he asks.
She takes a breath and looks away. "The same reason you're not threatening me to make it. I guess we both are making a good progress."
Emma picks up another heavy book and puts it on the table. "Let's see then", she murmurs. She's in the backside, the others are all in the front. She wonders why Hook – or should she say Killian? – hadn't check on her already. He never seems to keep his eyes off her.
The book is full with magical animals, like dragons, or something called the Yaoguai.
"Dude, you're ugly", she says, looking at the picture of the beast. She closes the book and puts it back to it's place.
"Emma!" her mom calls. "Your phone!"
She makes her way to the shop and sees her whole family, plus Killian, staring at her. Her mother holds her phone in her hands.
"What is it?" she asks. No one seems to answer her, so she grabs the phone and puts it to her ear. "Who's this?"
"Emma?"
"Yeah, it's me, but who's there?"
"Where are you?"
The voice is really familiar, but it can't be. She hadn't heard that voice in ten years, and besides, everyone told her he was dead…
"I'm at the shop", she says finally, "Gold's shop."
"We'll be there in five."
"We?" she asks back but he hangs up.
She stares at the phone.
"It was Neal, right?" her mother asks, looking at her like she wants to make sure she's not crazy for hearing a dead person's voice. Though for Emma it's weird enough that Snow would recognize his voice.
"It was him", Emma says. Then the door opens and there he is, with a knight, a princess and a warrior behind him.
"Aurora? Mulan?" Snow asks in surprise. She hugs them tight and starts asking questions while Emma keeps staring at Neal.
He hasn't changed a bit.
"Neal", she says.
"Emma", he answers.
She hates him for what he did and why he did it – because her parents told her the story with August – and she doesn't want to see him at all. But he was dead, and now he's back, and all she can do is jump into his arms.
Killian clenches his fists. The man standing there, hugging Emma doesn't really remind him of Baelfire. And he propably doesn't really want to see him at all. After all, he stole her mother away, and so on. He's the pirate, the villain.
"Hook", says Bae – Neal – after he lets go of Emma. "It's odd to see you in the same room as my father."
They only notice the look Gold gives his son, it's very similar to Emma's, but clearer. He steps to his only son, his Baelfire. Neal gives him an agreeing smile and they hug.
Everybody's damn hugging.
David walks over to him as the others are telling their stories. Emma seems a bit lost, but her mother's hand finds hers and they share a smile as they listen to the knight – Philip.
"This is what she meant, you know", David says.
"What do you mean?" he asks back, still keeping his eyes on Emma.
"When Emma said you could be a part of something. This is what she meant. We're one big family after all."
"The most bloody complicated family I've ever seen, I assure you", he replies.
"Yeah. But you know what, mate? Either way, you're part of it."
And he leaves to join his wife before Killian could say anything.
He's just about to go to Emma when Neal steps to her. It's like they are standing in the middle of a circle, and slowly, every eye focuses on them.
"Emma", Neal starts. "I was hoping we could talk."
"Yeah, sure", she says, but doesn't move an inch. Killian can't help it but grin. That's his Swan.
"Right here? Okay", Neal replies, gasping. "So, about what happened at the portal –"
"Portal?" she asks back with a surprised expression.
"Yeah, you know, when I was shot, and fell through a portal?"
She shakes her head. "Oh, about that. That's how you… died, I guess. Well, I don't exactly… remember."
It partially sounds like a question.
"You don't remember?"
"She's under a curse your fiancé put on her", Snow says suddenly. "She keeps going back in time."
"But we'll figure it out", Emma adds with a half smile. Like she says, eh, just a curse, no big deal.
"A curse?" Neal asks. Emma nods slowly.
"Then we need to break it", he says and gives her a smile. Emma looks like she's about to ask something but she's cut off by him.
Neal holds her chin and gives her a kiss.
And that is when Killian leaves the shop.
"No, Neal, just don't, okay?" Emma says, pulling away. She really doesn't feel comfortable with his hand on her chin. He looks confused. "I don't know what happened at the portal, but don't do this."
"You said you loved me, that's what happened", he says.
Emma bites her lip. She can imagine that pretty well. If he was dying.
"I do love you", she says. "But not like this."
He lets go of her and steps back. "Alright", he says finally. "Though I figured that when the curse didn't break."
"I'm really sorry", she says. "Henry needs his father, okay? And your dad needs you. But you and I… just doesn't seem right."
He puts a hand behind his head, "Well, that's a bit awkward."
She takes a deep breath a looks around, just to see everyone staring at them. "You should go see Henry. He's at Granny's with Belle and Ruby, he misses you like hell."
He nods slowly and turns to go, but turns back after a moment and looks at his father.
"Would you like to come with me?"
Gold seems unsure.
"Come on, Papa, we have a lot of catching up to do", Neal tells him and makes a gesture with his hand.
Aurora, Mulan and Philip look a bit lost after the two of them leave.
"We should propably visit Belle, too", Mulan says after a few moments. "I haven't seen her in ages."
"It's been twenty-eight years", Philip adds. "Come, my love, let me introduce you to the very person who saved me from Maleficent."
Aurora nods and looks at Emma and Snow. "Would you like to come with us?"
"I'll take a look at these books", Snow says, but David grabs her hand.
"We've had enough for today. Right, Emma?"
Emma nods. "Seems like we found a way to slow down the curse. We can keep going later. Well, at least I have all night."
"We'll be honored to help you any way we can", Aurora smiles. Emma had almost forgotten how much she missed them around.
"Where's Hook? He was here a few minutes ago", Mulan says, looking around.
Panic runs through Emma's veins and she doesn't even know why.
"He propably went home", she says. She looks at her mom and they share a look.
"We have to find him."
Tell me what you think!
I'll post chapter sevenin the afternoon, but I fear you have to wait a week until the very last chapter. Let's see if you can survive:)