Apologies for the several typos within the earlier chapters. I'm getting lazy with my writing after the several academic assignments I have had to endure (ironic right?!) and I did not edit, despite having proofread my drafts before submitting them to fanfiction.
To the few readers I have: I hope you continue to read and enjoy. No lie, this was originally just meant to be a brainstorm and a oneshot tension builder but I just loved getting into these characters and I have been obsessed with the season finale drama all summer so…yeah!
Charming
I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth or with any grand design for my life. At least, I never thought so until I found out that not only did I have a brother but he had been my twin, I had never known him, and I was to take his place amongst royalty. As burdened as I felt with my new destiny and as stripped of my former life as I felt it was this turn in events that drew me to something far greater than myself but something that makes me more me than anything else I could have possibly had as a shepherd. My family.
III. The Spirit is Willing
It seemed as though David was in a hurry as he swung the diaper bag from left to right shoulder for the third time in ten minutes.
"David?"
"…" He opened his mouth but then shook his head and continued walking.
Mary Margaret and David walked home in uneasy silence until they entered the loft they shared with their adult daughter and grandson on occasion.
"I never saw fatherhood being like this."
"Well, who does?"
David gave a long, sideways glance. He simply smiled at his wife's quick wit.
"I am in baby mode while on the alert for Hook like the father of a teenage girl."
"I know it isn't easy, David, but Emma is an adult and she can handle herself. We just need to support her."
"Even if she's making poor choices?"
"Especially if she is making poor choices. I know you don't like Hook but-"
David cut Mary Margaret off as he paced the floor, throwing one hand in the air as the other found a secure resting spot on his hip out of habit.
"No, actually, he isn't the problem."
"He isn't?"
"No, at least not how I'm thinking."
"And…how are you thinking?"
"Hook is being very honest here. Laying everything out on the table. It's Emma who is floundering."
"You can't blame her David. She's not use-"
"I know, I know. Her experience with Neal has thwarted a lot of her belief in love and it's not easy to have faith in true love but if Henry can see it, as the true believer, it's evidently potent almost a sure thing."
"But David you-"
"Yes, it's early, but look at us! We took so long to confess our feelings but they were there nonetheless. The moment you put that ring on your finger."
David's eyes met his wife's and they softened with the sincerity of his love for her and his reverence of their lives together and the struggles they endured.
"I know, David and can you please let me finish?"
Mary Margaret grinned as he flushed with embarrassment at his rashness.
"As much as we want to interfere we can't. Emma has to discover such things on her own. However, it doesn't mean we can't make ourselves available if she needs us."
Mary Margaret took her newborn son from his car seat and cradled him in her arms as she walked across the living room floor to the couch. Her gentle humming putting the young prince to sleep and reigniting the initial feeling 'Charming' felt all those years ago upon meeting her, awe and determination.
"You're right."
"Mmm, thank you for saying so."
"I can make myself available to help."
"That's all we can do."
"But she needs to know that nothing is too big, too small for her to come to us for."
"She will."
"Yes, she will."
David strutted back to the door and swung it open with newfound purpose.
"Wait, David! CHARMING!"
Mary Margaret rushed to the door as best as her new mom having-just-given-birth-recently waddle would allow before stopping in the hall blowing her bangs from her eyes. She knew her True Love well enough to understand that when her husband was set on something he was on a mission and beyond determined to succeed.
Hook
I knew what I had signed on for when I chose the black banner for my vessel. I captained the Jolly Roger with the same meticulousness as my brother but with far greater purpose. A pirate's life meant freedom, living by one's own creed but that did not mean doing whatever one wishes but rather choosing the responsibilities one takes on. I made choices for my men I thought best not those adjusted to follow a distance figure. Choices, partnerships, as advantageous as they were initially were not as much later. It was a pirate's life for me and "drink up me hearties, yo ho!"
IV. But the Flesh is Weak
"What are you doing?"
Emma worked to keep up with Hook despite his seemingly easy pace. He was sauntering up the sidewalk like it was his job and luckily for her, hers had been tracking people.
"Leaving, love. I figured you would understand that given you're familiar with it."
That was an awful thing to say and he knew it but for once he didn't flinch. He did stop however when she did. She had been taken back by the venom in his tone and given what her son had just said she figured he would have been more….what….sensitive? How sensitive did the guy have to get before she gave in a little? Well, jokes on him because it wasn't about her giving in. It was about them being truly in love and understanding everything about each other.
"You're mad at what Henry said? I would have thought you'd be thrilled. My son is on your side with this."
If he was going to fight, if he wanted to spar. Fine. She would spar.
"Do you truly believe that is all I want? To say I have won and leave it at that? This isn't easy for me either Emma."
There it was, the sensitivity. It was miraculous how in seconds he was able to drop the pirate hardness but remain himself. He was a pirate when he fell for her and remaining in love with her he still is but everything was so new and with a moment's time to "relax" in Storybrooke there was much they needed to deal with.
"It looks like we did bring something back."
Emma crossed her arms as she walked up closer to face him and tilted her head to the side.
"Issues."
"Ah, love don't kid yourself. The issues were always there. It's what kept us hesitant yes?"
Hook finally smiled but just looked down at his feet then glanced at his hook as both a part of himself but also the harsh reminder that it is.
"Hook."
"Now now, Swan. I am more than full of whatever this is today."
Emma was about to push it when David appeared. He was out of breath and about to say something when Grumpy came sprinting from the other direction with the other dwarves. Apparently the Queen was not 'fairing well.'
Regina
Daniel, Father, Henry, Robin, and Roland. Men I have loved and lost. Yes, the circumstances vary and I have never claimed perfection but know that love is a powerful thing. If True Love is the most powerful magic it is also the most powerful factor of influence in a person's life. I look at those around me and see what I very much want. I see so many parallels between my life and the Charmings. Snow's connections to my own family aside I see myself in the tales of David and his brother, the man who wanted nothing more than to be a simple farmer and marry for love. I see myself in the tales of the dwarves where I was once hopeful and young, in love but thwarted beyond imagining. I see myself in Emma, never a part of anything but when I chose to take my role. I am most often compared to my comrades in villainy but am most mirrored in those on the other side.
V. Dealings with the Devil (Part 1)
The chaos surrounding the mayor's home was a ball of purple, black, and green froth with sparks of light that turned red and dispelled all other colors once the house was enveloped. Regina stepped back from her desk, glaring at the lamp that sat upon it. She had recently come into possession of a mystic lamp when Rumplestiltskin mentioned a deal. The deal? Regina aided him in an elaborate glamor spell (the falso dark dagger) and he once again provided means for her happy ending.
The smoke dissipated as a figure came appeared. Tall, dark, and a sense of vengeance even Regina aspired to in her darkest days, the genie stood before her in rolling robes and jewels. His dark hair long and sleek while his large brown eyes stared fixedly on Regina's face. She stood there, assessing her new "accomplice" with delight, tapping a finger along her cheek as she stepped to the side.
"The Evil Queen I presume?"
His voice was like dark chocolate, sweet and bitter in its depth.
"Regina and you are?"
"Jafar."
He adjusted the rings on his right hand as he addressed her, refusing to bow or show any other sign of submission. He was to grant her wishes but he was not a slave. He was a wielder of magic as she was.
Emma, Hook, David, and the dwarves arrived shortly after, having followed the strange smoke to its ground zero. They stood at the ready when Regina marched out with a 'new friend' at her side. He looked like something straight out of…a storybook.
"Regina?!"
"Miss Swan, how nice of you to come by….unannounced…as always."
"Does everyone in this land have such poor manners?"
"You have no idea."
VI. Gensis
Three hundred years is a long time to chase after a single end. Hook spent years working for Pan and striving for a way back to his land only to later partner with Cora and wait another twenty-eight years to the curse's end for his revenge. Cohabiting space with those such as Cora and Pan, villainy came easily just to survive. The ends justify the means as they say. However, in those three hundred odd years there were other colleagues in evilness.
Years ago in the realm of the Enchanted Forest….
"Ah! Where's my rum?!"
Hook came into the tavern with boisterous applause and guffaws. His men at his back, he took to the bar to grab a large decanter and found a table in the back where another man already sitting.
"Good day, at a pub with no drink? That's rather good form of you…or bad form. Not really sure but it is an odd thing, that."
He took the seat across from the figure shaded in the contrast of the dim lighting. The other man's voice came before his countenance as he tapped his staff on the floor, silencing the room but not by presence but by magic influence.
Hook adjusted himself, his eyes fixing on the magic implement but he took a swig of his rum nonetheless and rested back against his chair.
"I am in need of transport from this realm. I hear you have an enchanted ship for which I may afford passage."
"Aye, but the price is still up for haggle."
"I am sure you will find me more than obliging and capable to pay my way. It is actually you who should be concerned of your worth."
"Is that right….?"
"Jafar."
The man sat forward, dark excitement lighting his eyes. He smirked as he spun his staff in hand, glancing over at it as if as threatening as a sword.
"Oh yes. I seek passage but you seek something more fulfilling yes?"
"What do you know?"
"I have heard stories, my friend. There are many stories, but then there are about the lot of us."
"Us?"
"Villains. Dark souls. Evils. Yes, us."
"And what version of my story have you heard?"
"That you are distinctly determined in two things. The one we agree upon. Revenge."
"No you have my attention, mate. What have you for me?"
"Your realm sees the Dark One as its all-powerful dark sorcerer. I am here to tell you that my land has another."
"So let me get this straight. You want a trip home for helping me kill Rumplestiltskin?"
Hook clenched his teeth on the name, never fearing to speak it but loathing it all the same.
"Do you doubt me? Might I remind you how necessary revenge is? As you need it as do I. Even more so because you see I am only determined in this. I do not have another aspect of myself to balance my fervor."
"I am beginning to see that, mate. Tell me. How is it you will beat one who cannot be killed?"
"By simply out maneuvering him. Has it escaped your attention that this is all a ruse?"
Hook quirked a brow before glancing into his drink. Where he had tasted rich rum a moment before it was nothing but wet, water now.
"This is an illusion."
"Yes, you are still on the Jolly Roger in Neverland. Asleep."
"You're conversing across realms?"
The dark man simply sat back with a widening grin as Hook was left to compose himself. He shrugged his shoulders and shot his drink back, it once again tasting and acting as rum as he accepted it for what it was worth while still enjoying the entertainment. He was still trapped on Neverland, the bloody hell of children.
"In this way you will aid me. There are magics on Neverland I seek. Pan's magic seems self-sustaining but simple. I necessitate such magic for my own revenge. You need to free yourself from the island once you retrieve as I desire and I shall help you with your own vendetta."
"Should have started there mate. No need for the theatrics though I appreciate your commitment to your craft."
Now…
As Hook stood alongside those he was now aligned with he finally saw his former partner in person for the first time. Both men hadn't aged a day. Funny how that worked. They both seemed to note each other with off color interest. Regina was giving some speech about justice and unsettled scores when Jafar moved a hand and slammed her against the pillar of her own home.
"Hook."
"Jafar."
Emma looked at him as if to say "Are you kidding me? Do you know everyone?!" Hook cringed and rolled his shoulders like it would lessen the harsh looks he was receiving.
"It has been ages old friend. You must tell me how your revenge scheme is coming. I myself have struggled as you see. Being a genie does have its perks. While I am bound to the whims of my 'master' Regina never uttered the ever-important phrase so she is not, as it stands technically, my master but more the poor, lovestruck fool who broke the wrong lamp."
David was never so upset as to be without his sword but he was not alone in his anxiety. A few of the dwarves ran over to aid Regina while Jafar walked down the front step and stood on the far end of the house opposite the group.
"So, Hook, how about that deal. I believe you owe me a ride on your ship."
I am now planning on this being a 10 part series. The next will be:
VII. Dealings with the Devil (Part 2)
I am hoping to finish before school starts so if that is an indication the story will probably be crap but if today is any indication it is doable. The sections are small and meant to be deep, emotional insights into individual characters while maintain the larger canon aside from the future season. I actually liked Wonderland and thought it had a lot of promise. I am more than thrilled that Will Scarlet will be making appearances on the main OUAT and I think Jafar is a possible future villain. I loved his characterization in the show. A vengeful son. There is definitely something to be said about a villain that feels real and justified in their path….not that I agree with them but when viewers can understand them it makes their stories more compelling. Ehem….HOOK for example ^_^
Also, I look to delve into the Regina-Robin-Marian saga because that is what initially had me writing this but I needed Regina to provide the villain…this time in a more second degree way than as the primary evil.