Chapter two
Emma and David sat talking until the movie ended. Eva now had a ton of energy from the movie. She never was scared of it. She was now running around the house with a fake sword, pretending to fight with other pirates.
Running into the kitchen she shouted, "ARRRGGG! Ahoy mateys!"
"Hey slow down!" Emma laughed. "Are you ready for some food?"
"Yesss!" Eva said with a huge grin.
"Here. Let me whip you up something." Emma said, grabbing her, and putting her into her highchair. "She watches all these pirate shows. And she's caught onto some of the lingo." Emma explained to David.
David laughed, "Well, Killian will be proud of her."
Emma's smile faltered a little before replying, "Yeah. I hope so."
Before David could answer, the door opened, and Henry came in saying, "I couldn't really find anything today. Although I have to say, the library in Storybrooke would probably be more…" Stopping when he saw David, his face broke out into a huge grin. "Grandpa? What are you doing here?"
David stood up to give Henry a hug. Emma noticed they were almost the same height now.
"Wow. You've grown." David exclaimed.
"Yeah. How did you find us?" Henry asked.
"It wasn't so hard once I found out you hadn't even left the state. Once I found you were right here in Augusta, I drove straight here." David said.
"We wanted to stay as close as possible."
"Henny!" Eva exclaimed from her highchair.
"Hey Eva!" Henry leaned over to kiss her on the head, as Emma put some soup in front of her.
"So did you find a way to help Mom?" Henry asked David.
"Close. We found out that the only magic strong enough to defeat it is love. We just don't know how, seeing as true love's kiss didn't work with you or Hook." David stated.
"Well then we'll have to find something else." Henry said, getting himself some food and sitting down at the table. "Any ideas?"
"Not really." David admitted.
"Well we'll try to think of things, and you can try at home. And we'll come when we do." Henry said.
"Well I was hoping you guys would come home with me now." David suggested.
Henry looked at Emma for confirmation. "You want to go back?"
"Maybe it would be easier to find a solution there than here." Emma said.
"But Mom. That's dangerous. What about Eva?" Henry was looking back and forth between David and Emma. "You don't want her to see you go through that. You could get out of control. She would be scared of you. She's too young to understand."
"I would never hurt her, or you." Emma whispered more to herself than anyone else.
"I know. But that's the reason we didn't go back before now right? That's what you said."
"But it shouldn't be long now. We'll figure it out soon." David said reassuringly.
"Maybe you can go ahead Mom. Just for a few days. Then I could bring her. That way you would have more of an idea what it will take." Henry suggested.
David looked at Emma. She turned around looking at Eva making a mess of her food.
"I don't want to just leave her…" Emma started.
"Just for a few days. Just as a trial to see how you feel once your back. I can handle things here. Its summer so there's no school. I can take care of her. I'm capable." Henry said.
"I know you are. I just feel uneasy leaving her." Emma said softly.
"Emma, the faster we get rid of this curse, the sooner we can all be together. As a family." David said gently.
"Okay. But only a few days."
Emma finished packing her suitcase, and headed back to the kitchen. David was taking with Eva, asking her all kinds of questions, which she was answering quite rambunctiously.
"Well, she warmed up to you fast." Emma noted.
"Well what can I say? Your Mom calls me Charming for a reason." David said proudly. Emma rolled her eyes.
"Here's my bag. You can take it down to your truck. I'll be right there." David took it from her. After saying a quick goodbye to Henry, he left out the door.
"Okay Henry. You call me if you want me to come home. Or if you feel like you want to come to Storybrooke. Here are the keys to the bug. It's only a two hour drive. So if you feel overwhelmed or anything…"
"Mom we'll be fine." Henry rolled his eyes at her.
"I know. See you in few days." Emma said hugging him.
"We'll facetime you every night." Henry promised.
"You better." Getting down on her knees, she held Eva's arm, and then stroked her face softly. "Be a good girl for Henry, okay?"
"Kay." Eva sniffed.
"I'll see you in a couple days."
"Couple days." Eva repeated.
"Yep. I love you." Emma said getting up. Henry picked Eva up. Kissing Henry's head then Eva's, Emma turned around and walked to the door, waving at them as she opened it. "I'll call you when we get there, okay?"
"Okay. Love you Mom." Henry answered.
"Love you Mamma." Eva echoed.
Emma walked out, and headed down. When she got outside, David parked right by the front door of her building. Emma got in the car, and looked back at the building.
"They'll be fine." David said gently, putting his hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently.
"I know." Emma said. David started driving. "I'm nervous about more than them."
"We're going to get rid of this soon. Then things can get back to how they were. You can be happy." David stated.
"Hmm. I'm not unhappy."
"Of course not. But we'll get things back to the way they should be. And then you won't have to deal with this weight anymore."
I doubt that, Emma thought to herself. There was always something. Even being the savior had its own weight.
The two hour drive was quite pleasant, but the looming dread Emma felt as they got closer to Storybrooke stopped her from saying too much. David rambled on about Neal on the way, talking about how much he's grown. Emma could tell that David was proud of his boy. She understood where he was coming from, feeling the same way about Eva. She was grateful that they both got second chances at being parents. She had missed out on raising Henry as a baby, and David had missed out on raising her.
Finally they reached the town line. Or at least where it should've been. David stopped the car, and reached into the glove compartment. He pulled a scroll out that Emma recognized as Ingrid's.
"I had to steal this from Regina." David laughed.
"Oh I'll bet she'll have something to say to you." Emma said sarcastically.
"Well, I just mean I had to sneak it because I didn't tell anyone I was leaving." David explained.
"Speaking of which. Where does Mom think you are? It's eight pm. You've been gone all day."
"I didn't say anything. So she's probably sending out the search parties as we speak." David assumed.
"Oh she's not going to be happy with you." Emma laughed.
"Well I'm hoping having you here will help her forgive me faster." David admitted.
Emma laughed softly. David looked down at the scroll reading it quickly. Then he handed it to Emma while he put the car back in drive and started pulling over the line.
"Stop!" Emma exclaimed. David looked at her. "I'm going to get out. You drive over first. I'm going to walk over."
"Why?" David asked.
"The last time… when it first happened… The light magic started rejecting the darkness instantly." Emma said apprehensively. "If it happens that way again, I don't think it would be safe for me to be in a car."
"Okay. I'll be right here for you… to help you through it."
Emma nodded, and got out of the truck. David drove over the line, Emma watched the truck disappear. Swallowing nervously, she looked at the scroll in her hand and read it hurriedly. Looking up she saw that her dad had parked the truck and was getting out.
Walking forward until she was right by the line, she looked up at David. He walked over to her, barely a foot away. "It's okay. I'm right here for you."
Emma held her breath and took the last step. Instantly she felt it. Her head felt like it was about to split in two, like there were two sides of her battling for control, trying to snuff the otherside out.
Crying in pain she fell forward onto the pavement. David was right there, catching her and setting her down softly. She shoved him away from her. One side not wanting him near, and the other side worried what she would do.
When he came back and tried to help her up, she shoved him back with her magic, hard. He flew back and landed hard on the side of the road. Emma looked up and saw him stirring. Stumbling up onto her knees, she tried crawling after him, trying to call for him, but her head started pounding harder.
Throwing her face into her hands she started to scream in pain. The war was raging again. She tried to think back on how she handled it before, but she couldn't think straight. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and harshly grabbed it. Looking up she saw that it was David.
"I didn't mean…" She tried to start again, but the pain worsened as she tried to speak. "You need to… stay… away from me."
"Shhh. Emma. Just listen." He was kneeling by her. He grabbed her by her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "It's going to be fine. Just push the darkness down again. Try to get control over it like you did last time."
"I…I can't…"
"Last time you were by yourself, but you said you got control by thinking about the people you loved. Remember?" David said soothingly.
"I don't… It won't stop."
"Emma, think about Henry. Think about Eva. Think about how much you love them. Push the darkness down." David sat there with Emma. First she sat there shaking her head softly, but then she started taking deep breaths until her breathing got steadier. Letting go of David finally, she started rubbing her temple.
"The headache is just as bad as I remember." She said softly.
"It will get easier. Just think about things that you love. Don't think about the darkness."
"It's always there."
"But you don't have to let it win."
Emma looked at him. He could see her eyes had darkened. They weren't the soft green anymore; the light was almost gone from them. It was how she looked last time. Proof of the Dark One taking root inside her.
"Where's the dagger?" She asked softly.
"It's still in your drawer. Where you left it last time. We haven't touched it. We just keep watch over it." David said reassuringly.
"I need it back." Emma whispered.
"Of course."
Emma nodded, and stood up. David stood up with her pulling her into a hug. Cradling her head he whispered, "It will all be over soon."
"I'm not so sure, but we'll see." Emma uttered.