Hey there! Sorry this took a little longer – I had writer's block :P The plot moves forward in this one so I hope you like it :)
Alas, I do not own OUAT.
Against her will, David had dragged her by the wrist out the room right when Emma had unleashed eleven years' worth of buried feelings onto Neal. One minute she looked to be holding it together, hearing him out and telling her side of the story in, what could be said, a rather civil way, and the next she was roaring and wailing and letting the tears just fall. Teardrop after teardrop, memory after memory, heartache after heartache. One yelp from her and Snow's heart ripped in two, the longing to wrap her arms around her little girl and hold her tight until everything was okay again almost unbearable. To be with Emma at such a crucial point in her life was something that Snow could cherish in but being completely helpless while her daughter battled her demons? That was hell.
Neal was lucky that all her daughter threw at him was a tea towel; if it was up her, it would have been something far more sinister. But before she could get involved herself, her husband's strong hand latched onto hers and ushered her out of the room. No amount of resistance deterred him; he pulled her away as if she weighed nothing but a feather. Stupid Charming.
The real tragedy of that part of Emma's life, Snow learned, was not that Neal had left her alone, wallowing in prison – though Snow was non-too pleased with that particular aspect either – but that Emma had to give up something she had wanted. Though they had never really discussed it as friends or as family, Snow always saw that glint in her daughter's eyes whenever she spoke about her disarming son. What that glint symbolised was a love that had sparked eleven years ago. A love for a child that she couldn't raise. And that kind of love was incredibly difficult to deny. Even when Snow was stuck in that haze for twenty-eight years, whenever she came across a mother and child on the street or in the shop, she felt the strangest twinge of sadness in the pit of her stomach; a feeling that never went away, but more so intensified when Emma came rolling into town. Now she understood what it was: the longing to be with her child.
She often wondered if Emma felt the same way when she carried on with her life after Henry. She'd wanted to ask, but the blonde had a way of making you feel like you're overstepping a boundary, crossing into unmarked territory. Those walls were built mighty high.
Escaping her husband's clutch, Snow rushed to the wall, positioning herself against the locker and leaning in with her ear to it, closing her eyes in concentration and trying to listen with the utmost intent.
Suddenly Charming's voice was in her ear, his breath hot on her face. "What are you doing, Snow?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" she snapped quietly, opening her eyes to glare at the man. But he wore that smile; the one he sported the very first day they had met.
So her glaring wasn't top-notch.
"It looks like you're trying to spy on your daughter," he said candidly. "And looking ridiculous while you do it."
She narrowed her eyes but continued to push against the wall, hearing the faint murmurs of young love on the other side. Figuring out the words was a tall task but it sounded as though the yelling had stopped for the moment. "Well I wouldn't have to spy on my own daughter if my husband would have just let me stay in the room."
He crossed his arms over his chest, his head shaking disapprovingly. "It wasn't our place to be in there. They have stuff they've got to figure out for themselves."
Snow shoved herself away from the wall, almost knocking over the china ornaments she had on the locker in the process, and caught herself before she catapulted into her husband. "We're her parents," she argued, flicking hair off her face and instinctively lowering her voice. "We have every right to be in there! Especially when it's to do with something as serious as Henry's birth father."
Charming always had this air about him, this royal aura that he just embodied so effortlessly that it bounded off him in waves. Sometimes it was easy to forget that he was a shepherd long before he was a Prince, but his own demeanour cried out for something so much more important than herding sheep. He was destined for greatness and she always loved him for that.
But now as he looked at her with those sifting eyes that looked down on her as if she was a child or a lowly peasant, her fondness waned. She hated when he talked to her like a royal. In case he forgot, she was a royal too.
"Emma is a grown woman, Snow. I realize how difficult this situation is for her but we can't swoop in and take over; that's not our job to do. Our job is to support her in any way that we can and in any way that she allows us to. She's not a child."
She's not a child. That was a truth Snow knew all too well.
"I know that David. Don't say it like I don't know it." Her voice was quiet, chilling. She twirled her ring aggressively, keeping her emotion at bay. "You act as if I'm blind to the fact that Emma is more than capable of taking care of herself. I don't need you to remind me of that; I see that every second of every day. I'm reminded of that every time she walks into a room. Every time she speaks. Every time I see Henry running into the house. I know that. That doesn't mean that we can't help; that we're not needed. We're always needed and as parents, we're supposed to be available to her for whatever she needs us for." She sniffed and wiped away two stray tears that escaped from her ducts, angry at a lot of things. Angry at the truth of their lives, angry at herself for letting it get to her again, and angry at Neal for abandoning her baby. "Maybe we can't swoop in and save the day like we could if she was a child, but that doesn't mean that we have to sit back and watch her struggle on her own."
"I understand that but there's a difference in trying to help and smothering her," he rationalized, his hands patting the air.
The brunette's nostrils flared. "Smothering her?! You think I'm smothering her?"
"No, I – that was a bad choice of word. I didn't mean-"
"You didn't mean to what, Charming?" she sneered. "What are you trying to say?"
He rushed over to rest his hands on her shoulders, dropping his head so that their faces were at the same level. "I'm sorry," he breathed. "I didn't mean for it to come out that way."
Snow said nothing, her jaw set.
David bowed his head and sighed. "It's just that...since the accident you've been…hovering."
"Hovering," she repeated.
"You're watching her like a hawk, Snow. I know you're worried and you want her to take those lessons with Regina – I do, too – but I don't think pressuring her is the way to do it. I think we've all just been on edge these past few months and I think you've just been a little overprotective, that's all."
"That accident, David, nearly killed our daughter – do you remember that? She could have died! She could have been ripped from us again! Of course I'm worried about her; of course I've been protective." She crossed her arms, keeping eye contact. Her chin quivered but she refused to let it stop her from saying what she had to say.
Her husband looked pained. "Do we really have to have this discussion now?"
"If we don't have it now, David, when will we have it? We've been dancing around the subject since we brought her home from the hospital. I mean sometimes we mention it but it's never an actual conversation and I really feel like it's one we have to have. We can't just hide from it." She moved away from him, his hands left grasping the air. "Tell me that all this stuff now won't have an effect on her magic? Tell me, David! It's connected to her emotions and Neal's reappearance is pulling emotional extremes out of her. I can see she's trying to hold back but what if bottling it is just as bad as letting it out? We don't know how to deal with this and I'm afraid. That's why I'm so worried. That's why I'm so protective. I can't and I won't lose her. And I need to be there for her – we both do." His forehead creased, his lips drooping downward as he let her words sink in. "We have to be the parents that we were supposed to be. We have to step up. We have to help. I'm not smothering her, Charming. I'm doing everything I can to make sure she stays alive."
David took a step forward but Snow took an involuntary one back, not really interested in anything else he had to say. She was too upset to get any further into it.
Just then Emma appeared behind her from the kitchen, breaking up the tension.
"Hey…?" she started, looking at each of them individually with suspicion.
"Hey," David said, clearing his throat and plastering on his best smile. His eyes lit up whenever he looked at her.
"I wanted to talk to you guys but if it's a bad time…?"
"No, no Emma it's fine," Snow assured hastily. "It's never a bad time to talk to us, okay?"
She arched an eyebrow but nodded. "Okay."
Snow could feel her husband's eyes boring into the back of her head but she didn't turn around to face him. Instead she kept her eyes firmly planted on her daughter.
Armed with a bag of strange-looking clothing, Hook descended down the stairs, not exactly happy with his new form of attire. Cora insisted he needed to change out of his pirate gear so as to fit in with the residents of the sleepy town and for the most part he agreed; he just didn't think he would look so…un-pirate-y. He had this rather boring shirt on that clung tight to the arms rather than fitting loosely. He rather missed how the sleeves flowed with him as he moved. Tight clothing with the buttons running all the way up to a sort-of collar didn't appeal to him in the slightest. And apparently leather slacks were not commonly worn either so he was stuck with this heavy navy material that made his legs look fatter than what they were.
This displeased him.
And since Cora had taken the liberty to purchase these items without his approval, the trousers were about two sizes too big and the shirt was just a big snug across his chest. Luckily she didn't mind too much about his shoes…not that he was going to let her change them.
But he supposed flying under the radar and dressing like the common folk was a small price to pay for his vengeance and if he had to get rid of the crocodile while wearing verily unflattering fabrics, then so be it.
"Alright ladies," he announced. He held up the bags and smirked. "Time to suit up." Flinging the bags onto the space in front of them, he winked at a glaring Aurora. She really didn't seem to like him.
"What's in them?" she inquired. "And why are you wearing…that?"
He glanced down at his outfit. "What, don't you like it? Thought I'd try something new. And Cora thought you two might try the same. Can't traipse around this realm looking like that-" he gestured to the princess's long, flowing dress and then to the warrior's suit of armour, "- you'll stand out like a sore thumb."
Mulan fixed her stare on him, her eyes so severe he wasn't even sure if she was looking at him or not. That woman could be scary when she wanted to be.
Cora had a load on her hands with those two; they weren't exactly easily moved.
"Well, then chop, chop!" he exclaimed happily with a clap of his hands. "I'll be waiting to see the transformation. I'm sure it'll be quite enjoyable."
More steely glares. But at least now he expected it. In fact, he had grown rather fond of the predictability of their tumultuous relationship; he could have used two strong-willed lasses like them in his crew. Lord knows they would have been much better than the riff-raff he used to have travel with them.
Instead of leaving them struggle, he snatched at his blade that lay against the far wall and cut their ties. If they were surprised, they didn't show it. Without a parting word, he sauntered up to his cabin, giving them privacy to change.
Henry fled down the stairs with his scarf hanging down too long on one side, trailing the ground as he moved, and one shoe on his foot while he held the other one.
"Henry Mills you are going to trip up and hurt yourself," Regina scolded at the bottom of the steps. "What's the rush?"
The boy stopped on the third step from the bottom, using the bannister to keep him steady as he put his other shoe on. "We can't afford to waste any time; we gotta tell my mom about that Neal guy."
Regina rolled her eyes. "And we will tell her about him, but I'm not about to go speeding over to their charming little home. First you have to get properly cleaned up; you're not going outside looking like that."
As well as the askew scarf, there was a giant lasagna stain in the centre of his grey sweater that there was no hiding. He groaned and ripped the scarf off him, stomping back up the stairs the only way a sulking young boy could. Regina couldn't help but smile at the sight.
She missed moments like that.
"You have ten minutes," she called up after him.
"Well then ladies, let us have a look."
Hook and Cora waited for the girls to appear on deck.
Cora too was sporting a new image and Hook was sure it was the first time he had seen a woman of her status wearing trousers. Any royals he had come across on his travels were very vocal on what was deemed appropriate attire for their families and though many women he had encountered preferred the feel of leather, royals would rather have been executed than caught in such frivolous clothing. Though it would seem that this particular woman had no qualms with wearing some kind of matching black outfit. The choice of clothes really was disconcerting here.
"What do you suggest I do about my hook?" he asked, turning to the woman. "I mean, I'm all for trying to mask our true identities but something tells me that the hook might be a bit of giveaway."
She looked at him as if he was stupid. "My dear you ask such futile questions. I purchased you a long coat with pockets that will easily hide that imperfection."
"Imperfection? My hand was taken fro-"
She raised a hand and shushed him as her attention turned to the arrival of two very unhappy, very fierce women. They skulked toward them, their body language rigid and uninviting. But they looked…good. They both wore trousers similar to his but these ones hugged them perfectly, and had some kind of short sleeved light material on top that left nothing to the imagination.
"I would call this a success," Cora exclaimed happily, clearly delighted with herself. "Wouldn't you say so, Hook?"
"Aye. Who knew Mulan could look so good?"
The warrior scoffed and crossed her arms. Aurora, on the other hand, was too busy fixing her top to notice the exchange.
"How do you feel, my love?" Cora posed.
She hesitated as if deliberating whether to answer or not. "I like it," she offered meekly.
"I find this fabric much more comfortable than ours back home. I may have to get some more. The collection here is quite fabulous."
Hook used his hook to scratch the back of his neck. "How did you get the clothes?"
Her grin garnered a chill up his spine, making him shift a little further away from her. "A great master never reveals her secrets but you know I have somewhat alternative ways of getting what I need."
"Indeed I do."
Abruptly, she flicked her wrist and Mulan, as if possessed, began to walk over to the bow, her body looking as though it was a puppet on strings.
"Mulan!" Aurora screamed, running after her.
Another flick of the wrist and she was stopped in her tracks, an indifferent expression pinching her face. She began toying with the hem of her shirt, not a care in the world.
Hook, flustered and confused, whirled around to find Mulan attempting to climb over the edge. "What are you doing?!" he bellowed, racing over to the woman and grabbing her just as she was about to fling herself overboard. "Stop it! Whatever it is, stop it!"
A cackle filled the air, slicing through the eerie silence as Hook used all of his power to haul Mulan back onto the deck. She thrust her arms into the air and suddenly Mulan shook as if wakening from a dream. Aurora, too, snapped out of the daze, shaking her limbs as if testing them to be true.
"What did you do?" the princess demanded, running over to Hook and Mulan who was now getting back to her feet, her eyes wide with fright.
"I was merely demonstrating how I get things done. I'm a little rusty but it's all coming back now." Her conversational tone clashed with her withering yet malicious manner that made his stomach lurch.
What had he got himself into?
"I think we're ready to set my plans in motion," she declared, flexing her wrists.
A bitter wind swept over them, a dark cloud looming above.
Emma couldn't put a finger on it but there was something, a tension –maybe? – lurking around her parents. Usually completely in sync, dancing to the same rhythm, breathing at the same tempo, they moved with hesitancy and uncertainty. Emma could fit her whole person in the space between them. But she said nothing, figuring they wouldn't actually tell her even if she pressed and pushed and begged. They were definitely parents in that sense; hiding the truth so that it wouldn't affect her was second nature to them.
She followed them into the lounge, her hands stuffed into the back pockets of her jeans. Trying to focus on anything else other than Neal standing in the other room ended up with her focusing on focusing which ended up with a headache which irritated her earlier acquired head wound…
Which was caused by Neal. God, even when she was trying not to think about him he had a way of creeping back into her thoughts. Would he ever just give her space?
"Where's Neal?" Mary Margaret asked.
"I left him in the kitchen."
David scoffed. "Do you think we can trust him with all our stuff in there?"
"He doesn't do that anymore," she assured, believing him when he told her got a steady job. He always wanted out of that life. When you're young and excited and…in love everything was an adventure; stealing and running were full of risk and danger, giving them a thrill for a little while, but it was also difficult and it trapped them in this bubble of barely getting by. "He's different now."
She didn't mean for it to sound sad but that's how it came out. Mary Margaret's ears piqued at the tone.
"Is that a bad thing?"
Emma shook her head. They weren't going to talk about this. There were other things that required her attention. "Look, he wants to meet Henry and I need your advice at what to do."
Her mother and father exchanged an odd look.
"Henry doesn't know," her father broached carefully.
"I know."
"Well are you planning on telling him before he meets him? You can't take him out to lunch and have Neal drop it on him like a bombshell. No amount of chocolate milkshakes or fries will help you there."
The brunette piped up, catching hold of Emma's forlorn expression. Emma used to be so good at keeping a poker-face. Now she might as well have her feelings written all over her face in permanent marker. "What your father means is that it would probably be in Henry's best interest to hear it from you instead of bringing Neal into the mix right away." She brushed hair off her face. "It's going to be a lot for him to take, Emma. You know that, right?"
Of course she knew it. It twisted a knot in her stomach, making her uneasy, every time the thought crossed her mind.
"I know and I don't know what to do," the blonde said, flinging back her head and casting her glance skyward. "I mean, Neal's already met Henry and he thinks that it won't be so bad if he happens to be there when I tell him. But then again he doesn't know that I lied to Henry. Why did I lie to Henry?!"
"You were trying to protect him," her mother soothed softly, reaching out to take her hand. "And he will understand that. But he still needs to find out from you and you alone. He has the right to know who his father is, honey, and you owe it to him to do it the least painful way. Ambushing him with a stranger won't go down well."
She knew that too. Of course she did. "Yeah, yeah, You're right. You're absolutely right. Thanks." Her smile was small but it was enough to bring one to her mother's face. She swung their hands assuredly.
"I don't suppose you guys are going to tell me what's going on between the two of you," she said, eying her father, mentally trying to get him to talk. He dropped his gaze to his feet, a sigh escaping his lips as he heaved his shoulders.
"It's nothing we can't handle," Mary Margaret guaranteed shakily. "Now, you should get back to Neal and sort all this out."
Emma pumped her hand once more and headed back for the kitchen, hoping. Hoping Neal would understand, hoping Henry would understand, hoping her parents sorted out whatever was going on between them.
Always hoping.
"I think we're ready," Cora asserted gladly as she clasped her hands together and rested her chin atop of them.
"Are you sure they're okay?" Not that he cared too much about their fate, but Hook couldn't be sure what Cora planned to really do with them. He had an inkling and generally an inkling was all he needed but there was something so sinister about the method that she was applying that didn't sit right with him. As a pirate he had done, what some may say, truly terrible things but Cora's form of manipulation struck at the centre, straight to the heart and mind. The whole body was possessed.
Magic had never unnerved him much; he had seen some petrifying things in Neverland – things one should never see – and yet Cora's power, wielded with such ferocity and malevolence, was another level altogether.
"Oh rest assured my Captain. These women will be perfectly fine." Rubbing her hands together greedily, she took deliberate steps over to them, her shoes clacking ominously as they collided with the wooden boards. "Now, do we remember what we must do?" she posed to them.
Their eyes were filmed over, their eyeline swaying as if unable to focus. Mulan's shoulders were back and her chin was raised high like she was the line of combat, ready to die for her people. Aurora was pensive, her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white.
"Yes," the princess answered in her usual disgruntled tone. "We must go to see Snow and Emma."
"And bring them back to you," the other woman finished.
"Excellent, my dears. I know you'll do me proud," Cora purred.
Hook took the extra steps to align with them. "How do they sound so normal?"
"Because they are. I merely just planted the ideas in their heads that this was the right thing to do. That's them talking and that's them moving." He gave her a blank look. "It's a very advanced spell that took me a long time to perfect, but I think it's time I tried it, don't you?"
"I hope you know what you're doing," he muttered, gazing into each of the girls' eyes.
"What's wrong, Hook?" Aurora asked sweetly. A little too sweetly. The type of tone she used at him when she was trying to rile him up.
"Nothing," he spat, moving away.
Cora swirled around and grabbed a hold of his arm. "I wanted to thank you again for allowing us the use of your ship – you're quite the ally. I must remember that in the future. You never know when we might need one another."
"All ties are severed. Sound familiar? That was our deal and one I intend to keep. You have a family to tear apart."
"And you have a crocodile to skin." She backed away and bowed. "Until next time, my dear Hook. I hope to be seeing you around town."
He refused to give her the satisfaction of a reply but instead watched them intently as they disembarked the ship, feeling a churn develop in the base of his stomach.
Henry sprang ahead of her, a bundle of energy.
"Henry, wait up!" Regina followed behind, searching her bag as she moved, almost slipping as she misjudged the height of the curb.
Again he spun around impatiently, his pout out in full force. "Come on!" he whined. He was so childish today.
"I can't find my phone," she said, her head practically in her bag. "I must have left it in the car."
"Well can I go in?"
Regina huffed. "I suppose so. I'll be there in a minute."
"Awesome!" the kid exclaimed, running away from her again.
She strolled back to the car hoping to kill some more time before having to face Emma and the two idiots. Just because they were sort of getting along better didn't mean that she enjoyed meeting up with them. Ugh.
As she put her key in the door, a light-headedness came over her, causing her to stumble slightly. She looked all around her frantically but her vision became blurred.
The last thing she remembered was being engulfed in a blue mist.
Though every time she saw Henry her heart lifted, him showing up now of all times when Neal was there and everything was one big basin of emotion was possibly the worst case scenario. David answered the door – Henry's signature knock was to the tune of Indiana Jones – and immediately called for Emma who was literally about to tell Neal that he would have to meet Henry at a later date. Talk about timing.
It was either a really shocking coincidence or fate was yet again dealing her the worst hand ever.
"Hey kid," she greeted with a squeaky voice, pulling in him for a hug. "I thought you were staying with Regina tonight?"
He hugged her back fiercely and her heart fluttered. Ruffling his hair, she noticed how tall he was getting and then started to feel old about it and then felt weird thinking about herself getting older.
He broke away with a goofy grin. "I am. But I had to see you."
She grinned back. "Where is she anyway? I don't feel her annoying presence," she quipped, keeping a hand on his shoulder and glancing behind her every so often to make sure Neal wasn't hiding in the shadows waiting to spring. Her father had murmured something about taking him to the back room and Emma hoped he had lived up to that plan.
"Just getting something from the car. She'll be here in a minute."
"Great," Emma droned.
"Henry!"
Emma turned around to see Mary Margaret making her way down the stairs, casting furtive glances to the blonde but keeping her enthusiasm in check. What about that for timing.
"Gramms!" The boy ran over to her and hugged her as if he hadn't seen her in months.
It had been three days. Her family had a tendency to get over emotional – but Emma didn't mind.
"I'm just going to check the kitchen," Emma announced to her mother. Henry gazed at her quizzically but said nothing.
Sliding over the floorboards to the room (which she did too often, she should note), she pushed through the door and saw an empty room. David must have stayed true to his idea. Either way, Neal was nowhere in sight.
Her smile firmly planted on her face, she returned to the foyer where her son and mother were now engaged in some kind of exuberant conversation about bows and arrows. There was no way she was letting her kid near those things…not yet anyway.
"Hey, why don't you go into the kitchen and grab yourself a drink and we'll be there in a minute?" she beamed, pushing hair off his face.
"Yeah, okay. I was thirsty anyway."
His coat jangling as he moved, Emma couldn't suppress a snicker at the sight. God she loved that boy.
Her mother took her arm by the elbow to force her to look at her. "Neal?" she whispered.
"Dad must have brought him somewhere," she shrugged. "I'll find him and tell him to leave."
"I think that's for the best."
The sound of the doorbell echoed around the room, startling them slightly.
"Must be Regina," Emma muttered. Her mother groaned. The blonde pushed down the handle and pulled the door toward her, Mary Margaret standing just behind her.
But it wasn't Regina.
"Snow, Emma. It's good to see you again."
"Mulan?" Emma breathed in wonder.
"Aurora?" her mother chimed in the same tone.
The two women, the two friends they had made smiled at them.
But something about the smile unnerved Emma.
Okay so this took me forever to do! I don't know why but I just couldn't figure out to order it. I hope it was okay and I did try to move the story along to more exciting territory! Anywho, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed and please, please, please review and let me know what you thought! :)