Chapter 17

Hook's Curse...And Neal's

Emma looked at the instructions and read them out "take screws E with washers D through bar C with wrench F, which is not provided". With a tired sigh Emma added "Neal probably has one, you could wait for him to get back from the store with the kids. When he and I got the pieces for Tally's crib he told me to wait a day before putting it together. When I woke up the next morning he'd put it all together by himself in the night so he could surprise me".

Mary-Margaret said "or we could get Marco, he's really good at this sort of thing". David and Emma gave out cried of rejection so she asked "should we even by doing this. Ever since the showdown between Regina and the wicked witch with haven't seen Zelena or Gold, shouldn't we be focusing on her next move".

Emma said "we are, we can't just stop living".

David said "this crib is a statement, we're not going to lose another baby".

Regina came in and said "and thanks to me you won't, I'm finished".

David said "so, did it work? Were you were able to put up a new protection spell"?

Regina said "yes, one that can't be undone by blood magic which means Zelena won't be able her hands on that baby".

Mary-Margaret asked "any idea why she would want to"?

Regina said "the amount of spells involving baby parts would surprise you, this Greenie is clearly one twisted witch, but as long as we're in here we're safe".

Emma said "useless, we have to stop playing defence and take the fight to her".

Regina replied "did you not see how I barely outwitted her yesterday, she has magic, powerful magic".

"I have magic too" Emma reminded her. "You've seen me use it, I just can't always control it, But if we teamed up, if you trained me".

Regina asked "now where did I hear that before"?

Emma said "I'm ready this time".

Closing her box of potions Regina replied "fine, but if we do this, we'll do it my way, this isn't drinking stale coffee at a stakeout", she put a hand on her box "this is a way of life. You have to fully commit to this".

Emma said "no problem".

Regina said "meet me in my vault in one hour".

Neal had just gotten back from the store, Emma said "you're back, good. I suggested to David you could help him put the baby's crib together. He's having trouble following the instructions and I remember when we got the pieces for Tally's crib you put the whole thing together by yourself in the night to surprise me".

Neal rubbed his neck said "yeah, and I remember you not being exactly grateful".

"I was pregnant, going though mood swings, blame the hormones. By the way I'm meeting up with Regina to develop my magic to go up against Zelena".

"I may not like magic, but that probably is the best plan, and you should embrace your powers. But if you're training with Regina and you want me to help David put the crib together, who's taking care of the kids"?

"I'm not embracing anything, I just need magic to defeat Zelena and the kids are with Hook".

"Hook"?

"He's good with them, and they like him".

"He could have taken them to a bar".

Emma folded her arms and said "like you did with Henry when we took a day off to spend time with them. But I did suggest to Hook to take them to Granny's diner" Neal sighed and gave in.

In Granny's Hook was showing them something wrong. He threw the dice Henry said "every time".

Hook asked "do you know what the secret to winning is"?

Henry suggested "practice".

Tally added "after all practice makes perfect".

"No" Hook said "loaded dice".

Henry argued "that's cheating".

Tally asked "how is it cheating"?

Henry explaining said "to manipulate the weight of a dice so it will always land on what you want"?

Tally cried "that's naughty".

Hook said "only if you get caught".

Henry said "that still counts as cheating".

Hook replied "the point is you win".

Tally mentioned "Mommy and Daddy say winning is not important as long as you try your best".

Hook said "Charming".

Speaking of the devil at that moment David came in and kept the door open, Hook gave the dice to Henry to practice with and walked over. Mary-Margaret came in with a red haired woman Hook recognised, Ariel. Tally watched what happened and wondered who the red haired woman was.

"What are you doing"? Henry asked without stop playing with the dice.

"Killian's talking to Mary-Margaret and David and someone else. I'm wondering what they're talking about" Tally answered.

Henry said "if they wanted us to know, they'd tell us".

The kids weren't too happy when Killian told them he had to go and help Mary-Margaret and David's friend so they offered to take care of them. Henry asked "so back to the loft then"?

David said "no, actually we thought we could have a fun day out".

Tally asked "what kind of fun"?

Mary-Margaret answered "well I heard Hoo...Killian taught you knot-tying and navigating using the stars. I thought we could take a walk in the forest and if I take my bow I can teach you some archery skills".

Surprised Henry asked "you do archery"?

Mary-Margaret answered "I love archery and I'm very good at it".

Tally said "that could be fun".

Henry wondered then said "well, I guess it could interesting to try and might even turn out to be enjoyable".

The kids liked learning archery, shooting arrows at trees and David got the idea to teach Henry how to drive his truck while Mary-Margaret watched from the side with Tally.

Hook arrived back at the loft after learning his actions in the past year might have killed an innocent man. When Neal saw him from a half finished crib he said "hey, where are the kids"?

Hook replied "with their grandparents. David and Mary-Margaret had a friend who needed my help so they took the kids. I had assumed they'd brought them back here".

"I'm thinking Emma thought the same since she asked if I could help David put together this crib but without him here I've been doing it all by myself. It's not as easy as Tally's crib but doable".

"Am I good man"? Hook asked unsure of himself.

Neal raised an eyebrow "depends, what did you do"?

"I promised a woman I would help her get back her prince but when it came down to him or my ship I chose my ship. I met that same woman again today, when we used a locator potion in his cloak it led us to the ocean. I couldn't tell her she had a chance once to find him and I took it away from her".

"No, you're not a good man. There is only one thing you can do to almost redeem yourself".

"What is it"?

"You said you couldn't tell her, when in reality it was you wouldn't tell her. You've got to tell her truth and ask, or may I even suggest beg for forgiveness".

They walked around for a bit and found Ariel at the docks. "Ariel" Hook called running up to her.

"Killian" she said then looked at Neal "and you are"?

"Neal Swan-Cassidy".

Hook said "Ariel, I have a confession. I haven't been completely truthful with you, with myself. You and I met before, our paths crossed during our missing year".

"What"? Ariel asked.

"Your prince had been kidnapped by the pirate Blackbeard" Hook told her. "You asked me to find him".

Ariel replied "I don't understand, why didn't you say anything earlier"?

Hook took a deep breath and admitted "because I was too ashamed. I sacrificed your prince for my ship. I am so sorry Ariel".

Ariel slapped him and yelled "you're a coward!, and a monster!"

"I agree" said Neal. "When he told me I couldn't believe he was capable of something so selfish".

Ariel said to Hook "you let a man die, for your ship, what kind of a man does that"?

Hook replied "the kind that's empty, that thought that a ship could help fill a void left by a broken heart".

Neal stared at him hoping he was wrong about who it was who broke his heart. Ariel yelled "and that makes it okay"?

"No, it doesn't" replied Hook. "I would give anything to take it back, to make things right".

Ariel asked "anything"?

Hook repeated "anything".

Ariel asked "this woman who broke your heart, do you still love her"?

"Yes" said Hook

She asked "what's her name"?

With a guilty glance at Neal Hook said "Emma".

"Seriously" said Neal. "I thought you said you weren't going to go after her".

"I never said anything of the sort" Hook said "and I haven't been. I can't just not love her".

Ariel asked "wait, you're both in love with the same woman"?

Neal said "she's my wife".

Ariel said "can the both of say you love her, say you love Emma".

They both said at the same time "I love Emma".

Ariel said "thank you, that's exactly what I needed to hear" she held out her hand and both their lips glowed green. In a cloud of green smoke Ariel turned into Zelena.

"Zelena? Where's Ariel"? ordered Hook.

Zelena replied "relax, she was never really here. After she left you on your beloved ship she found where Blackbeard had been keeping her prince".

Hook asked "she found him... how do you know that"?

Zelena answered "my spies are always circling, through every realm Captain, always circling. She found him on Hangman's island which was outside the force of the curse and they've been living happily ever after since, Don't you love a good twist"?

Hook asked "I don't understand, why pretend to be her".

Zelena answered "To corrupt your love, as I said I've known about your dirty little secret for a quite some time now. The guilt over what you did that day, I knew it haunted you and I knew I could use it, involving Emma's husband was just a stroke of luck".

Neal asked "what are you talking about"?

Zelena gloated "when you both invoked the name of your love I cursed you or more specifically your kiss, so the next time either of your lips touch Emma's all her magic will be taken, everything that makes her special, that makes her a threat will be gone. And now if Hook's honour gets the better of him I have a much more likely source".

Hook said "I won't do it".

Neal said "neither will I".

Hook said "I'll tell her, then she'll defeat you".

Zelena said "them I'll send the dark one to kill her before you can".

Hook replied "no, you won't, if you could've you'd have done it already".

"That right" Neal said "that's why you tried to send us somewhere far away, that's why you sent a monkey into our lives in New York".

Hook continued "and why you didn't kill when she came to town, for some reason you can't kill her, you need her powers removed".

Zelena indifferently replied "it no longer matters because one of you is going to take away her magic. I may not be able to hurt Emma but I can hurt those around her; Her parents, her friends" glancing wickedly at Neal she added "her children". Neal tried to lunge at her but she simply teleported behind Hook and they turned around. Hook said "don't you go near them".

Zelena smugly said "oh yes, that's right, you've grown quite fond of the kiddiewinks haven't you"? Looking at Neal behind Hook added "and they're the most precious reality of your love for Emma. I will enjoy turning the boy into a monkey's breakfast, and wouldn't it be entertaining to see your Sugar Plum fairy killed by dear Grandpa Gold".

Hook seethed "I'll stop you".

Zelena half laughing "no you won't. That pointy little hook of yours can scratch a mere mortal, but me? While she had been talking Neal had been walking up and the moment she stopped he tried to grab the dagger but Zelena threw him back before he could touch it. Up till now her face had a smug expression on her face but now it turned to one of annoyance. "How did the clever dark one have such stupid son? The two of you are out of your dept. Now, the choice is yours. One, or both of you kiss Emma and remove her power or everyone she loves dies, and don't think that doesn't involve the two of you".

As they went back to the loft Neal asked "so what do we do"?

Hook replied "don't ask me"

Neal said "how can anyone choose between betraying the woman they love or risking the life of their children who they also love".

Hook say "I may not be a father but I love those kids enough to share your predicament".

As Neal opened the door they saw Emma and Regina were there. Emma said "Hook, what are you doing here, where's Henry and Tally"?

Hook replied "they're fine, they're with their grandparents. I thought they were back here".

Emma asked "if you're not with the kids, what have you been doing all day"?

Hook replied "I was enlisted to help Ariel find her lost prince".

Regina said "really? That fish is in Storybrooke"?

Neal said "she was, she just left, we found out he was on Hangman's island and was out just now telling her".

Hook said "yes, we found that out in Gold's shop. She wanted me to say goodbye to Mary-Margaret for her".

Regina mentioned "at the rate Mermaids swim she's probably already there. In fact let's find out".

Neal said "maybe, too bad we can't see their joyful reunion".

Regina started walking towards the mirror Emma said "I thought you couldn't use mirror magic to look between realms".

Regina said "I can't, but seeing the raw power you possess I'm thinking you can".

Hook said "I wouldn't, its bad form to spy on such a private affair".

Ignoring him Emma asked "how do I do it"?

Regina explained "you focus, you let all your emotions awaken your power, then you look inward".

In the mirror they saw Ariel and Eric in each other's arm Emma smiled at Hook and Neal "you did this, you brought them together".

Hook said "it was Ariel, she never stopped believing".

"Modesty" said Emma. "You're just fell of surprises". She turned to Neal "so how'd the crib assembling go"?

Neal replied "difficult but doable".

Emma put her arms around him and tried to kiss him but he pulled away. She asked "Neal, is something wrong"?

At that point David and Mary-Margaret came in, Neal said "hey Henry, Sugar Plum, have a good day"?

Tally gleefully said "it was great Mary-Margaret taught us how to shoot arrows".

Henry added "it was the best day ever, David let me drive his truck".

Regina said "you let him what"? When Henry looked at her she said "oh, as mayor I can't let an unlicensed, under aged, driver on the street".

David said "as mayor you may want to put a little money to road repair".

Regina asked "what"?

"Nothing" David said as Henry suppressed a laugh.

Tally mentioned "Henry's not good at it".

Neal said "did anyone get hurt"?

Mary-Margaret said "only if you count a mailbox".

David said "what can I say, I have a reckless, carefree fun side".

"Killian" Mary-Margaret asked "where's our friend"?

He answered "it turns out her lost husband was back home after all".

Emma said "we just checked up on them, on Skype".

Killian added "she sends her regards, but she was too excited to wait".

Mary-Margaret confirmed "a happy ending. Well maybe our lucks about to change".

Emma decided to ask Neal what she asked before they came in "Neal"?

Knowing what she was going to ask he said "how about we celebrate a good day at Grannys".

Tally said "oh yay".

Henry asked "can I drive"?

They all said "no".

Neal added "you can ask again in four or preferably five years".

Killian said "I'll leave you to it then".

Emma asked "don't you want to join us"?

Killian replied "another time perhaps".

"Okay then, if you change your mind you'll know where to find us".