Chapter 23: Happy Moments
Belle had been watching Rumple all morning. He paced. He brooded. Something was not right. She asked a few times if something was bothering him, but each time he abruptly answered that there was nothing wrong. Late in the afternoon, she tossed her wrap over her shoulders and walked up to him. With a hand placed reassuringly on his arm, she said, "I know it's hard for you. I know you're still angry at Hook after all of these years."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Gold asked.
"Well, even if you don't want to wish Hook and Emma luck…you should at least say goodbye to your only grandson."
Gold looked up, sort of stunned by her words, and said, "Goodbye? To Henry? What on earth for?"
"Haven't you heard? Henry's going with them. Since Emma and Regina are both—"
He interrupted Belle as he abruptly stood, dashing behind the counter as quickly as he could and gathering a few things he had locked up. "When are they leaving?" he asked hurriedly.
"Shortly. I was going to the docks to wish them all well. What are you doing?"
"Henry shouldn't be going with them. It's not safe! Come on," Gold said, picking up the last of his things and magically transporting the pair of them to the docks.
A small crowd had gathered to wish the heroes well. Gold cut through, going straight to Emma and saying, "You can't possibly be considering taking the boy!"
"I don't think that's your decision," Emma calmly answered. "Regina and I discussed it, and we think we're doing what's best. Facilier's reach is pretty impressive. Henry isn't necessarily safer from him here. That monster could show up here as soon as we're gone."
"I'll protect him. Leave him in my care."
"No offense, but Facilier has overpowered you before."
"I wasn't prepared when he showed up. Now I am."
Emma rationalized, "I know Henry's the last real connection you have to Neal, and I know that's—"
"Don't make this about my son," Gold blurted out. "You want to take the son that you claim to love so much right into that monster's lair?"
"Facilier can get to him just as easily here," Regina said, coming in closer. We're all in danger if we don't stop him. You know that as well as I do…if he succeeds, he's coming here next. He's blinded by his lust for power. And I think you know just how powerful that desire can be."
"Leave the boy here with me. I can protect him," Gold argued.
"Our decision has been made," Emma answered. "Henry is coming with us."
Exasperated, Gold turned to Henry, "You don't actually want to go along. Do you?"
"Of course I do," Henry responded.
"Remember what your desire for heroics got you in Neverland?" Gold cautioned.
"I learned a lot in Neverland," Henry somberly answered.
Gold guided Henry to the side as the older man sat on a bench. Reaching inside his coat, Gold grabbed a small sword, not much bigger than his dagger, and held it out to Henry. "If you insist on going…take this," Gold offered. "Don't go chasing danger but if it comes to you, this will protect you. It's enchanted. Like the one Hook has. If Facilier sees you have it, it may be enough to convince him to back down."
"Where'd you get that?" Regina asked.
"It's a little something I've picked up since Facilier threatened me. I wanted to be prepared should he return."
"Do you have anything else like that?" Emma asked.
"I'm not about to leave myself defenseless," Gold strategically replied.
Disappointedly, Emma nodded, slinging an arm over Henry's shoulders as they turned toward the ship. "Wait," Gold called after them. He handed Emma a burlap sack that contained a few vials that hung from simple twine necklaces.
"What are these?" she asked.
"If you find the spirits under his control are overwhelming you, throw one on the ground and break it. It will repel those weaker spirits, but only for a short while. It likely won't have any effect on Facilier, he's much too powerful, but it will help with those other pests."
"Thank you," Emma sincerely replied, "Thank you for helping us."
"I'm helping myself, dearie," he responded. "You have no idea how much I'm depending on you all to succeed."
"Is there something you aren't telling us?" Regina asked. She'd known him for a very long time, and she knew when he was preoccupied.
Gold pressed his lips together in a thin line as he thought and finally answered, "If Facilier gets ahold of my dagger and absorbs all of its power, or worse, becomes the next Dark One…there isn't a power in any world that will be able to stop him. He'll walk through this town, soaking up your powers, Emma's powers, anything you may have in that vault…once he has my dagger, the dominoes will all quickly fall. Stop him before that happens. Or you might as well give up all hope."
Everyone was saying their goodbyes, and Killian was the last to board. Just as he was getting on the ship, Gold stopped him. "I'm assuming you have that talisman with you?" Gold asked.
Killian smiled knowingly, "Like I'm going to tell you where it is."
"I don't need to know where it is," Gold sneered, obviously unhappy to be aiding his old enemy even though he depended on Killian's success. "Belle told me you were planning on locating and destroying some of Facilier's lesser sources of power."
"Aye. She said that would momentarily weaken him."
"It would," Gold replied. "Like cutting off an enemy's finger, it would hurt him for a moment, stun him. But the weakened state won't last."
"I'll have to move quickly then."
"But finding these power sources won't be easy. I'm sure he has them all well hidden and protected."
"You have another plan?" Killian cautiously asked.
"If you were to happen to allow him access to a new source of power…he will be momentarily vulnerable while he absorbs its magic. You won't have much time…it doesn't take long. The more powerful the magic he's absorbing, the longer it will take. But understand, once he's done extracting its power, he will be that much more powerful. Of course, that new source of power will also become a new potential weakness, if you can destroy it after he absorbs its power. So you'll have two opportunities."
Killian smiled suspiciously, "So you want me to walk in, hand the talisman to Facilier, and hope that you're telling me the truth?"
"I am telling you the truth. The only way you'd fail is if you fail to destroy him while the opportunity lasts," Gold countered.
"For all I know, you've aligned yourself with him, and this is a trap. Why should I believe you?"
Gold shrugged, "I suspect that if you have to resort to the solution I just gave you, it will be because you have no other choice. You saw what happened that night outside of Granny's? Do you really think I want him to succeed?"
Killian seemed unconvinced and replied, "That depends on what you stand to gain if he does."
Gold sort of smiled, either unable or unwilling to argue the point, but he held out a bracelet, the same one he'd used on Pan and Pan, in turn, had used on him. "Take this. If you can get Facilier to put it on…it may be useful. Although I make no guarantees." Killian reached out for it, but Gold pulled it back, warning, "And if anything happens to Henry, I will have your heart."
"I've already accepted that responsibility," Killian countered, plucking the bracelet from Gold's fingers, "with or without your threats."
The confrontation momentarily fled from Gold's expression. "Don't fail," he stated. Glancing over toward the spot where Emma and Henry waited on the deck of the Jolly Roger, he added, "If you do…there won't be anything I can do to protect them."
The five of them, Killian, Emma, Regina, Robin and Henry, set off on their journey southward. There was an initial air of excitement as they were prepared to defeat this threat. After they had been sailing for about an hour, Regina and Emma realized that their magic no longer worked, and they focused their energies on defenses that didn't require magic. Henry proudly demonstrated and shared what he'd learned about sailing. Robin showed both Emma and Regina how to properly use a bow, and Emma showed them how to load and shoot handguns. This strange band of allies bonded as they sailed toward their destination, hoping that there was a pocket of magic in New Orleans. Emma hadn't even realized how accustomed she'd become to having magic until it was gone, and she felt suddenly vulnerable.
During their whole first day's travel and preparation, Regina had watched Hook and Emma with some fascination. She wasn't sure if it was endearing or irritating that they still stared longingly at each other no matter what they were doing. The couple had been together for months, including the time that they'd been gone, and nothing seemed to dampen their mutual admiration. Regina remembered her mother's belief that having a heart and people to love made a person weaker, but watching Emma and Hook together and their sheer determination to protect their family, Regina couldn't help to wonder if that made them stronger. After all, Regina herself had been driven by her love for Henry time and again, and she was willing to do things for him that she never would have done for anyone else. And even though Robin and Roland were recent additions to her life, she was already feeling the same types of protective urges for them. Perhaps the ways that love made one vulnerable paled in comparison to the ways love made a person stronger.
So Regina watched while Emma was showing Hook some of the basics of her handgun. He was familiar with the older-style pistols of his own world, but she wanted him to know how to load her gun, use the safety and just become accustomed to the way it worked in case he needed something other than a sword. Regina watched the way the pair stood, the way they flirted even when sharing self-defense tips. Emma leaned closer, whispering something in Hook's ear that made his neck flush and drew a playful smirk on his face. He looked around and the two were plotting something that had nothing to do with defeating a villain.
They were distracted when Robin and Henry called for Emma to join them. After Emma had left Hook's side, Regina saw the way he looked as he watched his love walk away, and one thing was clear as day: Hook was happy. It wasn't elusive, fictional happiness, it was real happiness, happiness that existed even though the world around them was far from perfect. He walked toward the helm to check their course, and Regina approached. "How'd you manage to do it?" she asked.
"Do what?" he wondered.
"Change the rules. I thought villains didn't get happy endings. But here you are…and you look pretty happy to me."
"What makes you think I was a villain," he said, pausing from his surveillance momentarily to smirk at her.
Regina tilted her head disbelievingly and retorted, "Yes…and everyone was just being sarcastic when they called me the Evil Queen."
"I dunno…if evil can be made, then perhaps it can also be unmade. Look at you…I'd hardly consider you villainous now."
"So what are we? Heroes?"
He thought for a moment and answered, "We're just…humans. We got a fresh start here in this world. You know as well as I, the situation is seldom so simple as good or bad. I think we've both done things that can be considered heroic in recent times, in spite of our pasts."
"So do you think you have it? Do you think you've found your happy ending?"
"I'm not worried about that," he answered without hesitation.
"What?" Regina countered, surprised by his answer. "You seem awfully happy for a man who doesn't know if he's found his happy ending."
"Hopefully I've started on that path, but I'm not ready to skip ahead to the end just yet. Endings are great for stories, but not so much for those who are actually living the tales. I don't want to race to that point. I want every single minute between now and then. I want all the little pieces of life, not just the finale. All of the things I've missed out on during these last centuries. I want to see my children make it into this world and see who they are, watch Henry as he becomes his own man. I want dinners and waking in the morning next to the woman I love. I want a hundred more adventures, big and small, with her at my side. If we skip on to the end, well, that means the fun is over."
Regina smiled subtly and said, "So you think we've earned a few happy moments then?"
"Absolutely. Besides, if I'm not mistaken, you've met someone you'd like to share a few happy moments with."
"I don't know what you're talking about…" Regina began, feigning ignorance before she gave up. "Fine. Maybe I have."
"Don't hesitate…we've both seen firsthand how easily happiness can be ripped from our grasp. We might as well take it while we can."
The Jolly Roger was a fast vessel, but the journey still took a few days. When they finally rounded the tip of Florida and sailed through the gulf toward Louisiana, everyone aboard was ready for the confrontation to come. The shore ahead was beautiful, with long bridges extending roads across the water and lights dotting the shores and flickering on the waves in the sea.
"There it is," Emma stated.
"We need to figure out how to hide the ship while we go ashore and try to find Facilier," Killian added. "Or have Henry drop us off and then take her back to sea. Probably not a good idea to leave the lad alone."
"Do you think Facilier can be found under 'Evil Villains' in the yellow pages?" Emma wryly replied.
"This would be so much easier with magic," Regina said, holding out one hand, palm up. And then, much to everyone's surprise, a few sparks of fire grew and began to swirl.
"It's true!" Emma said as she came closer, admiring the fireball Regina had conjured, "They have magic here!"
"So it seems," Regina replied, a smile spreading across her lips.
"So can I come on shore?" Henry asked.
Emma and Regina exchanged glances and both nodded their agreement. "We'll all stick together for now," Emma answered.
Killian looked at Henry and said, "Help me search for a safe place to drop anchor. It's time to ready the ship for our trip ashore."
Regina added, "You find a spot and we'll cloak and protect this thing. There's a voodoo priest who wants our happy moments...and I'm not in the mood for sharing."