Hours had passed since the duo left the castle. The sun was very high in the sky, and Emma assumed that it was close to five in the evening. They needed to find a place to make camp soon to rest, but first, they needed to get away from the cursed portion of the Enchanted Forest. If only she didn't need rest, she would have returned to Storybrooke by now to see Henry's smiling face. The curse would be broken thanks to the potion that was inside the egg. Afterwards, both she and Henry could continue to live their lives together in Boston. Emma cradled the egg closer to her body at the thought.
"So, what's next?" Killian's soft voice broke her from her thoughts.
Emma almost forgot about him. After they left the castle, he was oddly quiet. She couldn't feel his emotions either. When she first saw him, she made sure that she did everything in her power to make her situation less complicated as possible. By blocking him out like she had done in the past, she couldn't get an idea of what was going through his mind. She frowned, thinking of his question. After they made camp, they would need to find a place to summon that goddess impersonator. She assumed that she could only be summoned near water.
"We just need to find an ocean or a large body of water," Emma said, not missing the look of confusion on the pirate's face.
He probably thought their next course of action was odd. First, she asked to go to a cell, find a vial, and now find an ocean. Surprisingly, he didn't ask anymore questions. She could probably wet the ink near the ocean or perhaps at camp when Killian wasn't looking.
"I think there's one a few days journey from here," he mused.
His statement caused Emma to breathe a sigh of relief. Their journey was almost over. Killian wasn't who she was expecting. He was very patient with her and still the gentleman she remembered. She debated to just come clean in camp and have a long talk with him. A long talk was necessary, if he was ever going to see Henry.
"I thought this task would've been a lot harder than expected. Not that I am complaining. When I first ventured to this land, I wasn't sure what I was going to expect," she admitted with a smile but crashed into Killian's outstretched arm.
She looked at him in confusion as he placed an index finger to his lips telling her to be quiet. That's when Emma heard it. A deep rumbling that came from a lion's throat then an unmistakable sound of a bleat from a sheep or goat.
She followed Killian's footsteps as he silently walked across the brush of the forest. He probably didn't want to alert the creature that was making the weird noises. They were making good progress until he muttered a curse under his breath. Her eyes widened when she took in the monstrosity before them.
The creature had a head and front legs of a lion, a head and hind legs of a goat, and a tail with the head of a snake. It easily was almost nine feet tall. Emma made a mental note to never speak so soon ever again. The lion portion was pawing at the grass whereas the snake was tasting the air with its tongue.
"What's that?" Emma blurted out in a scared whisper.
"That's a chimera," he answered, his expression anxious.
Rumpelstiltskin served her chimera once, but she didn't know it would look something like that. No wonder she couldn't assign a flavor to it. Maybe this creature in front of them came back for revenge against the fallen cousin she had eaten.
"What is it doing awake?" She questioned, straining her head to look at the beast.
It didn't make any sense. Everything that had life was frozen. What gave this creature the capabilities to remain awake?
"Chimeras are dark creatures. They have an inherent resistance to dark magic," he informed, not taking his eyes off the creature. His hand reached for the grip of his sword absently.
"It can cast spells you mean," She reasoned, trying to have an idea which head was the spell caster.
The lion wasn't likely because of its maw and claws. The snake possibly could and could strike at close range. The goat's head was stuck in the middle and Emma couldn't tell what it could do.
"Aye." He grimaced, clenching his jaw. His eyes were deep in thought, deciding their next course of action.
The creature was probably in their way. Could they even take a creature of that size on their own?
"Should we kill it?" She suggested. This was the perfect time to strike when the creature was unaware.
"Maybe killing isn't necessary. We can sneak passed it," he noted, making his way forward on a new path
Emma followed his example and they were almost passed the creature's awareness until her foot stepped on a twig. Killian and Emma froze as soon as they heard the snap, causing both of their breaths to hitch. The forest became eerily quiet and Emma's heart began to race. Suddenly, the lion's head roared and the chimera started running towards their direction.
"We can't outrun it. We must fight," he instructed, standing in front of her defensively. He was going to take the full frontal attack of the lion's blow.
"Damn," she muttered under her breath and walked in front of him. She didn't want to use magic, but it looked like she had no choice. Killian was better at a sword than she was. She would get in the way otherwise.
"What are you doing?!" She could hear the frustration and shock in his voice.
"I'm not really sure, but I'm providing you with an opening," she said pulling her hand back.
"Are you crazy? You don't even have your sword out!" He grabbed her shoulder, trying to push her behind him.
"Lucky for you, I have magic. Now I'm going to distract it, and you focus on killing it," she strategized.
As soon as she spoke, they had to take cover behind a nearby tree to avoid the poison that was spewed their way. The snake hissed as it closed its mouth. The snake definitely had to go first.
"I maybe a simple pirate and no expert in the magical arts, but I am pretty sure you would have reigned fire by now." Killian panted, leaning against the trunk of a tree. "Please, quit this charade, and let's come up with a plan to end this as quickly as possible."
Killian looked at her annoyed as she still had her hand up. She must have looked very stupid because she said she could perform magic, yet nothing was happening.
Boom. The tree in front of them shook. Boom. Cracks could be heard from above. Looking up, the tree was on fire by being pelted with fireballs. The stupid goat could cast magic. At the third fireball, the tree fell causing Emma and Killian to dodge in separate directions.
Almost immediately, the lion's wild eyes honed in on her when she was out in the open. It began to stalk in her direction, assessing her. Emma took hesitant steps back. Seeing that she was a threat, the lion broke out into a run. She knew she could use magic before. Rumple put her in situations to train her to use magic in any event. Taking a deep breath, Emma closed her eyes and focused on the emotion she wanted. Magic was about emotions and currently her emotions were all over the place, preventing her casting. She thought about her need to protect her and Killian and to return to Henry. She prayed that these emotions would be enough to fuel love-the source of all light magic.
She felt a familiar warmth on her hands. Looking down she smiled at the familiar glow.
"You know. I needed an extra coat and jacket. It looks like I'm skinning a chimera today," she taunted, throwing a ball of light magic in front of the charging lion's face. As soon as the magic hit, the chimera tripped and skidded into a nearby tree.
Killian wasted no time killing the snake with a swing of his cutlass. Seconds later, the chimera scrambled to its feet and angrily swiped at Killian with its claws, but the pirate was agile enough to dodge them. Electricity filled the air and Emma could hear the crackle, causing the hairs of her arm to stand up. She quickly moved and the spot she was standing seconds before was struck by lightning.
Emma started throwing fireballs at the goat's head. The chimera started taking hesitant steps back by the relentless fireballs that made contact. Emma's eyes widened when the chimera started to buck. The crazy pirate managed to climb on top of it. She watched and threw a ball of magic at the lion's paw before it made contact with the ground. As soon as the magic made contact, the chimera lost its balanced. Killian noticed what was happening and managed to jump off before it stumbled into the ground.
The chimera made a feeble attempt to get up. Conserving his energy, Killian calmly walked to the struggling creature and brought his sword down killing the lion before turning his attention to the goat.
With the threat disposed, Emma leaned against a nearby tree. Her eyes closed to catch her breath. Even though she knew that the danger had passed, her body seemed to think otherwise.
She opened her eyes when Killian approached. His hair was even more disheveled with leaves sticking out in random places. His leather duster had a huge tear from either getting caught on a stick or the lion's claw. His face was covered with sweat from the exertion.
"For a second there, Leia, I thought you were lying about the magic, but I am glad to have been proven wrong. You are bloody brilliant and amazing. I don't mean to frighten you, but we make quite the team." He smiled at her, his voice was almost breathless.
Emma's voice hitched at his statement. What would have happened if she never ran into him in the forest? She would have faced the chimera by herself and died. She was glad to have faced it with him.
"We do, don't we?" She answered with a small smile, leaning close to him.
His blue eyes were staring at her earnestly. They were so close she could feel his breath on her face. Reservations be damned, she thought about how easily it would be to pull him from the lapels of his coat and kiss him. To her disappointment, he must have felt the tension as well because he cleared his throat, breaking the spell.
"We need to get out of this cursed area and make camp," he informed.
She went to move but she staggered and fell. Before she made contact with the ground, he caught her. "I guess it took a lot out of me than expected," she muttered, her head resting on the crook of his neck.
"I got you," he whispered, readjusting her body to easily support her weight over his shoulder to help her walk. With those words, he began walking them away safely from the cursed part of the forest.
Her eyes fluttered awake to see the pitch, black starry sky. She thought she woke up to gentle caresses on her face. She lifted her head and saw Killian sitting on a log with a fire separating them. His distance from her meant that such thoughts were ridiculous. Her imaginations had been running wild lately, and she couldn't tell if it was because she was in the Enchanted Forest, or she missed a man's touch and needed to be laid. Where did that come from? She groaned at the thought.
"Are you alright?" Killian asked, his blue eyes were looking at her in concern.
He must have noticed her moving. She rubbed the spot between her eyes, trying to soothe the headache she had woken up with. It was probably a result of overexertion.
"I feel like I got ran over by a chimera," Emma admitted, earning a laugh from the pirate. She got up and sat on a log across from him. Emma watched the flames dance and the embers burning on the wood as they both sat in comfortable silence. Eventually, she got bored and turned her attention to the man in front of her.
Killian seemed deep in thought, staring into the campfire. His fingers were twirling an object hanging on a chain around his neck. Emma became a little entranced, watching his movements. She couldn't help but wonder what made him so perturbed.
"You seem anxious," she observed, picking up a random stick from the ground and absently poked at the fire.
At first, he didn't answer her. Emma thought that he didn't hear her. If that was the case, it was best to leave him to his thoughts. Emma readied herself to get up from the log she was sitting on. After the day's excitement, she wanted to make sure that they weren't going to get attacked by anymore chimeras. Her movement caught his attention and he smiled at her wearily.
"I want to quickly make it to your land so I can get my revenge," he said, his voice low. He sounded like a broken record repeating the same line hundreds of times, but to her, it sounded like a lie. His words caused her to remain in place on the log.
If he was lying to her or himself, she couldn't tell. When they talked earlier, he wasn't lying when he said he wanted revenge, but why would he be lying now? His words didn't make any sense. If he spent all that time plotting for three hundred years, a couple of extra days wouldn't kill him. That seemed almost out of character for someone obsessed with revenge.
"I think there is more to your revenge. If it was revenge, you can wait to bide your time. I supposed you stayed in Neverland. That's why you never grew old," she reasoned, her brow furrowing in thought.
She never considered him going to Neverland as she spoke. The words just came out. It made perfect sense why he hadn't aged since she last saw him. She told him about the land once, and literally, he took it into consideration when planning his revenge.
"How do you know of Neverland?" He questioned, his eyes were looking at her in interest.
"In my stories, there was a story of Captain Hook and Peter Pan. I know it's a land where no one grows old."
"It's true. That's where I bided my time. So who am I in these stories?" He asked, curiosity laced in his tone.
"A villain," she said, her voice low.
Her sweet lieutenant had turned into a very dark man-a villian. She couldn't believe that she watched the beginnings of his transformation into Captain Hook. Hell, she couldn't believe she married a freaking fairytale character. She wondered if she tried hard enough could she have changed things, and would she have lived happily with him in the past? No, she couldn't. She would have been forced to break the curse. These thoughts were making her depressed.
"Aye, I won't deny the villain part, but Pan is no saint either. He is a bloody Demon," he said darkly, his tone was filled with self-loathing. His hook was rubbing a spot on his arm. Emma hadn't realized that he took the leather duster off. His arms were now bare, and his chest was sporting a black vest.
Dark red on his arm caught her eye. From her distance, she could easily see an outline of a heart and dagger piercing through the middle, breaking it in two. The point went through a name, titling her head Emma could barely make out the words. Wait, was that Milah's name? Squinting her eyes, she could see the name Milah on his arm.
"I'm sorry?" His question stopped her from observing the rest of the tattoo.
She stared at him opened mouth. The tattoo was forgotten when she realized she said the woman's name out loud.
"She's written on your arm. Who was she?" She asked, her lips pursed.
This is when she would find out how much Milah meant to him, and she would hopefully get a straight answer from him. Since he didn't know who she was, he wouldn't lie to her.
He looked almost wistful as he considered his words carefully. "Someone from a long time ago. She's gone now." He moved away to look at her with a raised eyebrow. "By the sound of your question, it sounds like you are jealous." He deflected with humor, staring at her knowingly.
Emma glared at him because of his statement. She wanted to slap the amused grin off his face.
"Please, why do I have to be jealous over a dead woman?" She scoffed, crossing her arms.
That was an insensitive thing to say, but she wasn't jealous. Well, maybe she was a little. Killian found happiness while she was forced to move on and raise their son who never knew his father. She couldn't really fault him, but she just hated the fact that Milah's death change him. Emma was too insignificant that she didn't leave a mark in his heart.
"Don't make fun of her memory. She was a dear friend of mine," he scolded. All trace of humor was gone from his voice.
Emma huffed at his statement. They were more than friends as she remembered what happened, and there was a tattoo of Milah on his arm.
"That dagger is the Dark One's dagger. You want to kill him because he took away the woman you loved." She changed the subject because she had a feeling Milah was a touchy subject for him.
"Aye, he also took my brother," he admitted, his hand clenching at his side.
"Your brother," she said, looking at him shock.
That couldn't be right. She and Killian watched Liam die as he fell down a cliff. She watched how devastated Killian was after his death. His death was what threw Killian into his descent into darkness. She saw how Killian acted when Liam died the first time. Seeing him die a second time probably turned him into a different kind of beast. Her heart broke a little and she shuddered at the thought. Her eyes furrowed even further when she remembered that Rumple seemed surprised when she mentioned Neverland. Did he indeed kill Liam? She needed to confront Rumple in Storybrooke. Killian's voice broke her from her thoughts.
"Yes," he said, turning his hard gaze to hers. "My brother was in Neverland trying to survive. Then the Dark One came and pulled my brother's heart out of his chest, crushing his heart in front of me. That was the second person I had to watch dying like that in my arms," he recounted, his voice was filled with hate and anger.
Emma flinched when she saw the dangerous gleam in his eye and could see his fury as he continued to talk.
"The Dark One will pay for what he has done to me," he promised darkly.
"I think three hundred years is an awfully long time to hold a grudge," she admitted, her voice sad, but she didn't miss the hard clenching of his jaw.
They sat in uncomfortable silence for what seemed like hours. Emma assumed that he was still reliving Liam's death in his mind as he thought of many ways to try and kill Rumpelstiltskin. She might as well leave the camp for a while and wait until Killian cooled off, stopped brooding, or finished whatever he did when his mind took a dark turn. With a sigh, Emma moved to get up, but Killian's voice stopped her.
"Tell me. Have you ever been in love?" He asked, his tone hard. He crossed his arms, his eyes never leaving hers.
Emma frowned, not knowing how to take this sudden change in conversation. The conversation went from revenge to love. Since she was speaking to Killian, she might as well tell him the truth.
"I was a fool in love once. I will never make that mistake again." After Emma's admission, Killian laughed, but humor wasn't in his tone.
"What's so funny?" Emma glared at the man. She basically told him the truth and he laughed at her. There was something seriously wrong with this man.
"You would feel the same way as me if the person you loved was taken away from you in an instant." He justified his emotions.
Emma still stared at him warily, not understanding where he was taking the conversation. She still didn't understand why he laughed.
"Even if someone was taken from me, I know there are other things in life than revenge. I just learn from the experience and move on. I never once look back," she said, her gaze serious.
She wanted to knock some sense into him that revenge wasn't the answer. She reminded him once before that Liam wouldn't have wanted him to live for revenge. There was always something in life to look forward to. If she didn't have Henry, she would have been in a dark bubble.
"Tis a sad state to see a woman as dashing as you to lose faith in love. That's depressing. How can you turn your back on love, and what happened to make you so jaded?" He asked appalled. His blue eyes were earnest to hear her answer.
Emma's mouth twitched upward slightly at the irony of the situation. If she said "you," that would be an interesting situation.
"It's a tale you wouldn't be able to handle, if I told you," she teased, leaning towards him conspiratorially.
"Try me. You may be surprised," he said seriously. He almost looked hopeful to hear her tale. Emma had to avert her eyes from looking at him.
"I was young and fell in love so deeply. In the end, my heart was crushed. It doesn't matter anymore. I moved on. Blocked off my heart," she answered, hoping he would drop the subject.
"You never opened yourself up afterwards because you never wanted to get hurt," he mused, coming to the conclusion to why she was so guarded.
"Well, congratulations, you finally figured me out," she said sarcastically, getting up from the log. When did the conversation get so loaded and moved onto her?
She couldn't deal with her feelings now, especially in front of him. She wanted control and deal with this on her own terms, but like always, Killian Jones was able to figure her out. She needed some space.
"You're different than me. Revenge isn't important to you, but let me just ask you a different question so you can see things in my perspective. Do you think you could ever find forgiveness in your heart for the person who made you turn your back on love?" He asked, staring at her intently.
She couldn't focus on love now. Her main priority was getting back to Henry. He was clouding her judgment by these endless circular conversations. This was the last time she would try explaining her reasoning to him.
"Forgiveness was never an issue for me. You see it's hard to stay mad at someone when you find something better to live for. It's more like I don't trust my own judgment anymore and a heart can only be broken so many times-"
"If it can be broken then it means that it still works," he interrupted, cutting her off from her rant.
"Maybe you should follow your own advice. Milah seems like a lucky woman if you pined over three hundred years for her and haven't moved on." She said irritation laced in her tone.
What made him qualified to give her relationship advice? He was acting like a hypocrite. She had good reasons to keep her heart guarded, especially with the likes of him.
"Who said I pined after Milah?" He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, looking surprised at her statement.
"The story goes she died in your arms professing her love for you. From what we talked about earlier, Neverland was the perfect place for you to plan your revenge," she reminded.
"I would say they had the stories wrong," he admitted, crossing his arms knowingly.
"What you didn't go to Neverland just for revenge? You just said you were a villain," she said, her tone incredulous.
"Not entirely," he admitted, toying with the object on his chain again.
"If you didn't go solely for revenge, then why else did you go?" She asked, running a hand through her hair in frustration.
He was driving her nuts. The seriousness of his gaze was unsettling. He was trying to make her believe that his reasons for going to Neverland was different than she previously thought. Closing her eyes, she realized that each one of his questions and responses was to get her to look at things from his point of view and try to not villainize him. This whole situation didn't make any sense.
"Ah, that's the question, isn't?" He leaned forward to her as though he was going to tell a secret, mimicking her actions from earlier before. "You seem to have a poor opinion of me already. You wouldn't believe me if I told you because you don't trust me. When you decide to give up your mask, I'll answer your question." He smiled at her sadly.
Emma turned her gaze away from him, removing herself from her seat, and left the camp. The air suddenly became suffocating as the conversations from the camp continued to flood her mind. If he didn't go to Neverland for revenge, why else did he go? It couldn't be because of her. He was playing tricks on her mind to make him seem like he wasn't dangerous. He was saying anything so he could get to Storybrooke to enact his revenge. The conversation about Liam and the tattoo on his arm was a testimony of his current motivations and where his heart truly lied. She closed her eyes realizing that she still allowed Killian Jones to affect her so deeply. He was her first and only love, and she didn't trust her judgment when it came to him. Well, she wasn't going to allow him to fool her again when too much was at stake. She couldn't take a chance that she was wrong about him, nor could he be given a chance to break her heart again.
Next: Justified