Thanks for the reviews and follows! Here's chapter 7 :)
Emma looked over to her son at this point and she saw Henry was nodding off. It was late and she was fairly certain that Snow and David were asleep. She kissed Henry on his forehead and pulled the covers up above his shoulders.
As she left his room, she knew she wasn't ready for sleep. Thinking about Neverland flooded her mind with memories. She needed a smoke. Grabbing her jacket, she tiptoed toward the door and opened it slowly.
The night air was cool and refreshing. She lit a cigarette and watched the smoke linger above her. Without thinking much, Emma began to walk the streets of Storybrooke. She had no destination in mind, but somehow found herself looking at Granny's. She smiled as she stood below the strung lights in the courtyard and remembered the night of the party celebrating her and Snow's return. It was the first time Regina had said she was sorry. It was the first time that Emma saw her as just Regina.
At the thought of the brunette, Emma dug in her pocket to reach for her phone. She opened up a blank text message.
'I miss you'
She began entering in the contact information. Without hesitation, she began typing Regina's name. But when she got to the fifth letter, she thought better of her impulse. She slowly deleted Regina's name and replaced it with Kate's, not pausing before she hit send.
Emma's thoughts were disrupted when she heard Ruby's howl. She'd be back from her night run shortly. Not finding herself in the mood for small talk, Emma headed back to the apartment.
The morning light protruded through the curtains just as it seemed Emma had fallen asleep. But she woke without trouble. She was never able to get sleep when her mind was rushing. She grabbed her phone on the nightstand to see a message from Kate.
'I miss you too, babe. How's Storybrooke?'
Emma put her phone back down, feeling no need to respond. Instead, she slid on some pants and headed downstairs toward the sounds of a rustling Henry.
"Emma, you're up!" Snow greeted her with enthusiasm. "We were just about to make some breakfast."
"Sounds good," Emma said, as she reached for a mug and poured some coffee.
"Yeah, and after breakfast, you can continue telling me how you and Mom stopped Peter Pan from taking my soul!" Henry cried out.
Emma laughed as she stirred in the milk and sugar. "He was after your shadow, kid, not your soul."
"Right," Henry nodded, sipping his hot chocolate. "Why was that again?"
Snow sighed as she cracked the eggs in a bowl. "If you separate a shadow from its owner, the person won't age," she said and then proceeded to whisk the eggs. "The prophecy that said you would be 'the Dark one's undoing' never explicitly defined Gold as the dark one."
"Yeah, that's right," Emma jumped in, "Pan thought there was a chance that the 'dark one' may have been referring to him, as he's known as the Shadow."
"Right…?" Henry said, as he followed the explanation.
"So, if he separated you from your shadow and stopped you from aging, he could prevent you from reaching the age that you would become when you fulfilled the prophecy."
"That sounds stupid!" Henry let out.
Snow nodded. "That's what you get when you're dealing with the logic of someone who wants to be a child forever."
Emma laughed. "Pan's logic is not his forte. After all, he has his lair in a cave that's easily noticed…you know…because it looks like a giant skull."
Nightfall was steadily approaching by the time they reached the top of the mountain. It was a trek through more jungles up and over to the other side of the island. Aside from dodging a few lost boys, the hike was clear cut, just long. They were all exhausted, but knew their journey would be over soon.
They all stopped near a large log, some distance from the entrance of the cave. It was the last remaining coverage before nearing the cliff top. Snow momentarily set down her bow and arrows for a rest while David drew his sword in case anyone came.
"So what do we do from here?" Regina asked Hook, as Emma took a sip of the water she was carrying.
"I'll distract Pan. Ask him for a duel or something," Hook smiled. "His ego will never refuse. Then, you and Emma locate his shadow, use your magic to put it back in his body."
"Sounds simple enough," Emma muttered, sarcastically, only to be elbowed by Regina.
"And us?" David asked.
"Right—Charmings are on Henry recovery duty," Hook answered. "Do not get caught!"
The five of them edged carefully up the cliff toward the mouth of the cave. Hook led the way, ready to make his grand appearance. He turned back toward the rest, giving them a light nod, signaling his move. Without further hesitation, he withdrew his sword and walked in the cave.
"Peter!" they heard the echoes of his hollering. "Oh Peter! Where are you, boy? It's me—your old mate Hook."
They heard no response to Hook's beckoning. As he continued to shout, Emma noticed a high rock formation on the right side of the entrance. She poked Regina and bobbed her head toward the covering, suggesting they enter from that angle.
"Come on, Pete! I've come all this way to see you. I figured we could show off our swordsmanship!"
There was still no answer as Emma and Regina crept their way further into the cave. Between the cracks and gaps in the rocks, they could see Hook standing overtly in the center of the cave. He stood lazily by a fire that had been lit. As it was going strong, whoever made it was close by.
"Emma! Up there!"
Regina had tapped Emma on her shoulder to draw her attention. She looked up to where the brunette was pointing. High up above Hook, near the top of the cave, floated a shadow of a man. The shadow seemed to be watching over Hook, keeping track of his every move.
"Now to find Pan," Regina said.
And at that moment, they heard the pronounced footsteps. Regina pushed Emma's head down to duck, even though they were covered. They looked through a tiny gap in the rock to see a youthful man emerge from the shadows of the cave. He whistled as he walked, clearly not in need of concealing his arrival.
"A duel is what you want, Hook?" Pan said with a chuckle. "Clearly you're not a fan of your good hand."
"Maybe I just want to even the score," Hook said, while he laughed nervously.
Emma looked to Regina for answers. But Regina was focused on something else. She looked back and forth several times between Pan and his shadow. Finally, she spoke softly.
"Okay Emma," she began, "on my count, I want you to focus with me on Pan's shadow. Imagine holding it with your energy. Once we have control, we'll slowly hover it over him and drop it back into his body. Clear?"
"Sure," Emma said without taking her eyes off Pan, "if you say so."
And so they did. They both stared at the shadow until they could feel their control. As they began to move it in unison, Emma caught a snag of the conversation between Pan and Hook.
"It's hard to imagine why you would come back here, Hook," Pan said. "After all, I know I'm not your biggest target anymore..."
Emma and Regina had the shadow right above him. They were focusing on trying to align it for the perfect drop. Out of the corner of her eye, Emma saw Snow and Charming tiptoeing with Henry toward the exit of the cave. She sighed in relief knowing her boy was safe.
"…Unless I'm not your target…," Pan said, "I'm someone else's."
It all happened too quickly to prevent. As Regina saw Pan turn toward them, she cried to Emma to release the shadow. But they were too late. Emma tried to regain control of the shadow, but Regina pushed her to the ground. Lying on her back, she looked up. She saw it. But there was nothing she could do. The dagger flew straight to her chest and knocked her back.
"Regina!"
By the end of the story, Snow, Emma and Henry finished breakfast. Snow had taken her last bite of eggs as Emma recanted seeing Regina get stabbed by Pan, and she nearly choked. Henry, on the other hand, had a strange grin on his face. As he took a sip from his cup, orange juice dribbled down his chin, as his wide smile failed competed with his ability to keep the liquid in his mouth.
"What's so funny?" Emma asked.
"Mom," he finally let out, "she saved you, Emma."
"No," Emma said, but found herself pausing shortly after. She had never thought of it that way. She'd seen it as Regina pushing her out of the way to prevent her from continuing to control Pan's shadow. Had Regina taken the wound for her? "Kid, it all happened so quickly."
"She totally saved you!"
She sneered at him as she and Snow picked up their plates. "Anyway, you think you can remember all of that for your report tomorrow?"
"I think so," Henry said as he brought his cup into the kitchen.
"Henry, why don't you make a poster to go along with your presentation?" Snow suggested, putting the dishes in the dishwasher. "We can go pick up some materials."
The boy looked depressed. "Do we have to?" he groaned.
Emma shook her head at him. "Henry, your grandmother and teacher just suggested you do something for your class." When she looked at him and saw he still wasn't getting it, she huffed. "Yes! You have to! Now go get dressed!"
Henry marched up to the loft as Snow chuckled.
"Don't laugh!" Emma said, chuckling herself. "Imagine how difficult he'll be in high school. Jeez, I just hope he's not the one getting high under the bleachers."
"Well, at least you won't have to deal with it."
The statement took Emma by surprise. "What do you mean I won't have to deal with it?"
Snow sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Emma. You're in Boston most of the time. You don't have to be the disciplinarian. You just get to stay the fun parent."
Emma hadn't thought of her parenting role that way. Yes, she knew she was the fun parent. But that was because Regina was the Evil Queen. How could she not be the fun one? But Snow had a point. Not being in Storybrooke meant Henry was always happy to see her. It meant she didn't have to give the talk about slipping grades, tell him to eat his vegetables, and say no, he can't go over his friend's house when no adults are home. She got to take him to lunch or the museum. She got to hear about the exciting things that happened in the month, without the drabbles of everyday life. Regina didn't have that luxury.
Just as she fixed herself a second cup of coffee to mull this over, her phone began to ring. She pulled it out of the pocket of her pants to see Regina's name flash across the screen.
"What's up, Regina?" she answered.
"Emma. Hi. Listen, I'm really sorry to do this," her voice was drowned out a bit by background noise. She must have been driving. "But can you stay an extra day? I'm not going to be able to make it back tonight."
Emma quickly checked her calendar to be sure there were no meetings at the precinct tomorrow. "Yeah, I think I can manage," she finally said. "Is everything okay?"
There was a short pause that Emma took to be a result of the poor reception through Regina's car synced Bluetooth. "Yes, fine. I just needed to reschedule my appoi….," she paused, "…meeting for a later time today."
"Alright," Emma said as she paced the kitchen. "We'll see you tomorrow then?"
"Yes, I should be home by 5."
"Great. I'll see you then, Regina."
Click. She hung up quickly yet again. Emma forgave it, as she was probably in traffic. Snow looked over to her with an inquisitive look.
"Looks like we got the kid for another day."