Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or its characters, but I love making them do whatever I want.
This was really happening.
The town that Jones called "Storybrooke" had appeared out of thin air, its buildings towering in the distance. Small lights glimmered in the dark blanket of twilight, like fireflies on a summer evening.
Instead, it was the two figures standing just on the edge of the border that first caught her attention, one of them who Emma saw was hooded.
Jones was telling the truth. There had been a hidden town all along and they just passed through an invisible barrier hiding it from their sight. All of her doubt had gone up in a haze of purple mist.
None of this made absolutely any sense, but he had been honest with them. Everything he had said was real.
This was real.
Either that or I'm dreaming again.
She was just about to ask Jones who the two figures were, when a woman poked her head through the window on the passenger side.
"It's about time you got here, Hook. It's freezing outside."
Emma was more startled by the woman's features then her sudden appearance in the window. Her hair was short, jet-black, and she had large, bright eyes that shone even in the dimly-lit vehicle. Emma realized, almost immediately, that she had seen this woman in her dreams before. The details of her face had been blurred then, but Emma was sure she recognized her.
"Settle yourself, Regina. I bloody got them here, didn't I?"
The woman Emma now knew to be "Regina," shot Jones a look of disdain before she noticed Emma staring at her. She didn't smile, but gave a polite nod and brief acknowledgement.
"Miss Swan."
Jones opened the door, forcing Regina out of his way. Refocusing her attention on Regina, Emma noticed the expression on the woman's face and it made Emma stop in her tracks.
She was looking into the backseat of the car at Henry, her face lit up in jubilation as she moved to open his door.
"Oh, Henry…"
Suddenly, Emma realized that Regina was also the woman known as the Evil Queen, and that she was responsible for breaking up her family. Emma was out of the driver's side in an instant, and made her way around to the backseat.
"Stay back!" Emma grabbed Henry and pulled him out from the backseat, her heart still thumping in her chest at the recent events. In her peripheral vision, she could see Jones moving toward her with his hand outstretched.
"Easy, luv. Regina means you no harm. I've explained to you that she is a changed woman. She won't hurt you or your lad."
There was brief look of offense on Regina's face, but it ebbed quickly into one of mild frustration. Placing her hands on her hips, she frowned and looked at Jones.
"So I'm guessing the kiss didn't work, then?"
Jones glanced down, apparently embarrassed at her question. Emma was baffled by her words and his odd reaction, but just tightened her grip around Henry. Emma could feel him shaking beneath her, and she wasn't sure if it was from excitement or fear, but knew he had to feel as overwhelmed as she did.
"No, sadly it did not. Neither of them have regained their memories as of yet."
Emma was almost sure she had heard him mutter "or so she claims" under his breath, but kept her focus on Regina, who was now looking directly into Henry's face.
"You don't remember me at all, Henry?"
Emma did her best not to feel bad for the woman, but the look of desperation and hurt made it nearly impossible not to feel a small twinge of pity for her.
She could feel Henry shake his head slightly, and Regina's smile faded. She looked up at Emma and put on a stoic face.
"Your memories will return in time. It's different for every person," she said looking back to Henry again with an encouraging smile.
Emma noticed Jones grasping hands with the other person she now noticed was a man, as he had lowered his hood. Jones caught Emma's eye, and pulled the man closer toward them. She saw a glimpse of something that looked like a bow strapped to his back, and Emma stiffened in defense.
"Emma, Henry, this is Robin. He's a close friend as well."
Henry pulled himself from her grasp before Emma could react.
"So that's why you're wearing a hood," Henry said, finally finding his voice since they crossed over. Robin watched as Henry approached him slowly, seemingly surprised by the boy's reaction.
"Henry…" Emma moved to pull him back, but Jones held out his arm gently and smiled.
"It's alright, lass, I promise."
Emma narrowed her eyes at Jones, but moved back slightly. She watched Henry, who circled the man known as "Robin" slowly and lightly touched his bow in awe. She was surprised to see that the man wasn't annoyed, but mildly amused.
"That must mean you're Robin Hood." Henry's eyes were wide and shining brightly in the moonlight.
This hadn't occurred to her, more than likely because of all the excitement during their arrival. Emma still couldn't believe any of this was actually happening, but Jones hadn't mentioned Robin at all. She assumed there would be more surprises like this one and didn't look forward to any of them.
Robin chuckled and offered his hand to Henry in greeting. "Everyone just calls me 'Robin,' son, but you can call me whatever you'd like."
Emma allowed herself to relax slightly, glancing over at Regina. She was surprised to see that the woman had a sad smile on her face, watching Henry's every move.
Why did she seem so attached to him? Jones didn't say anything about Henry being particularly close to anyone, except his so-called grandparents.
"Well, as lovely as this reunion has been, I assume we aren't planning to sleep out here tonight?" Jones walked to the car and opened the door to the backseat, motioning for everyone to get in as he continued, this time speaking to Regina and Robin.
"The three of us have had a long journey, and I'm sure Emma and Henry need their rest."
Emma finally allowed the last five minutes sink in and came to her senses, asking the question that had burned in her mind from the beginning.
"Where's Neal?"
Everyone snapped their heads up at that, including Henry, and Emma saw Regina give Robin a grave look. She felt her breath catch a moment, and peered at Jones who seemed to be awaiting a response as much as she was.
It was Regina who finally spoke up, and this time she looked directly at Emma, her voice low.
"You had better come with us to the hospital. We can explain everything there."
The drive to town hadn't exactly been a joyride. The first fifteen minutes, which seemed to Emma like it took longer than the drive to Maine, was filled with complete and awkward silence.
Jones had requested that Henry sit in the front, probably since he knew he'd want to get a better look at the town. It had certainly made Emma feel better, as she wasn't sure what was going on with this Regina woman.
Emma spent most of the ride glancing at the ex-Evil Queen in the rearview mirror and caught her staring at Henry almost the entire time. Apparently there was even more Jones had kept from them than Emma had originally thought.
The rest of her thoughts were focused on Neal. Obviously there was something wrong with him that they didn't want to worry her or Henry about until their arrival.
She couldn't honestly tell herself that she wanted Neal to be dead, and her reaction back at the border had been proof that she didn't wish him any physical harm.
At least no fatal, physical harm, anyway.
Her real worry was that Henry would be devastated to find out something had taken his father from him before they ever got to meet. Emma had spent a large portion of the drive from New York deciding that she wasn't going to keep Henry from Neal anymore; just protect him as best as she could.
The town itself was nothing like she would have thought. To any outsider, the physical appearance of Storybrooke seemed like any other small, quaint town in Maine. The buildings were mainly row houses, some of them small businesses, others homes of residents. It had a school house, a church, a town hall, even a recreational center.
Besides the visions and the purple haze they had gone through at the border, Emma still hadn't seen anything to convince her that this was a town that housed magical, fairytale characters.
The town of Storybrooke screamed Green Acres, not Grimm's Fairy Tales.
Emma had glanced up at the clock tower, at which she noticed Henry had stopped chattering for and stared. He almost seemed in a trance, but shook his head and glanced over at her with a shrug.
"That clock needs fixed, because there's no way it's 8:15."
The exterior of the hospital looked as normal as the rest of the town. Ambulances lined the emergency lanes, with personnel and patients walking in and out of the building.
"You can park right over there, Miss Swan," Regina told Emma as she pointed to an empty handicap space.
"That's marked handicapped," Emma protested. She glanced in the rearview to catch Regina scowling at her.
"This town currently doesn't have a sheriff, so I think we'll be fine."
Everyone shuffled out of the car, but before Henry could open his door, Emma stopped him.
"Hey, Kiddo. Look, I know that this has been a hectic night. It might be best if I go and check on Neal quickly, and then we can just come back tomorrow after a decent sleep."
If there had been any doubt in Emma's mind whether Henry was frightened or excited, his expression at that moment had laid it to rest. Henry looked determined and was shaking his head at her before she even got all of the words out.
"Mom, we've come too far to rest now. We're so close to finding him, and since we're at a hospital, my guess is that he's not in the best shape."
Emma's eyebrows rose in surprise and she placed her hand on Henry's cheek, giving him one last chance to back out, but he continued with a sigh.
"I'm not scared that he's going to hurt me, so you shouldn't be either. This is where we belong."
He patted her hand in response before he turned to the door and stepped out of the car. Emma watched Henry walk over to Jones and let him put his good hand around his shoulder.
As Emma got out of the driver's side and made her way over to the group entering the hospital, she suddenly realized that her decision to let Henry make his own choices regarding Neal was the right one. Not only did her son deserve the chance to meet his father, he was mature enough to handle the consequences.
This filled Emma with a great deal of pride.
The automatic doors swung open, and Regina waved them inside. Jones stayed back and waited for Emma, his arm still around Henry.
"You alright there, luv?" His voice was just low enough that she could hear and she gave him a small nod in return.
As hard as she had been on Jones initially, Emma felt comfortable enough around him now. She was certain that this would be much more difficult if she and Henry didn't have him there.
Emma glanced over and noticed that they just entered the Intensive Care Ward and something gripped her throat. Perhaps it was as serious as Regina and Robin's faces had indicated.
She could hear a doctor being paged over the intercom, along with the soft beeping of medical machines nearby and Emma wondered whether they ran on electricity or pixie dust.
Suddenly a young doctor approached them, wearing a polite smile and extending his hand in greeting.
"Emma, Henry. Welcome back. You may not remember me, but I'm Dr. Whale."
Emma clasped his hand, smiling slightly, and gave the doctor a twice over to be sure she didn't recognize him. She glanced at Regina, who nodded to him quickly, apparently looking to skip any further pleasantries.
"Which fairytale character are you, then?"
Henry hadn't hesitated in grasping the doctor's hand in a shake, and Emma had to stifle her laugh. Jones made no attempt to do the same with his, however.
Regina smiled patted his back. "Not now, Henry. We need to follow Dr. Whale."
"Right this way," Whale said over his shoulder, as he turned and led them toward the other rooms.
She saw Regina put her hand on Henry's shoulder, leading him further down the hall and something inside of Emma snapped.
"Hey! Hands off my son, lady."
Emma pushed passed Robin and grabbed Henry away from Regina, who had a shocked expression on her face.
"I know that Jones trusts you and that you've turned your life around, but Henry and I don't know who you are. No offense, but you're getting a little too personal, so please just give my son some space."
Robin appeared slightly taken back and she could feel Jones' hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. Emma noticed a few of the patients had stopped and were watching the scene unfold.
"Your son?"
Regina's look of surprise turned into an appalled expression and she swerved to face Jones, apparently livid.
"You didn't tell them?!"
Frowning, Emma peeked at Jones in order to gauge his reaction. He was looking down at the ground, clearly ashamed. Gently pushing Henry to the side, Emma inched towards him.
"Tell me, what, Jones?"
Pursing his lips, he looked back to Regina and kept his voice quiet.
"I didn't want them to hear it from me, Regina. This is between you and Emma."
She could feel her head pounding, the breath catching in her lungs, and Emma grabbed the lapels on Jones' jacket to force him to look back at her. She had known all along that there were things he hadn't told them and now he was forcing her hand.
"I swear to God… You had better start talking or so help me, I'll-"
"Dad!" Henry's voice echoed through the halls and it pulled Emma from her state of fury.
During the altercation, she hadn't noticed Henry moving further away from them. Pulling her attention from Jones, Emma saw Henry's hands and face pressed up against the glass, his eyes wide in amazement. She only had a few seconds to process everything and her son was moving to enter the room.
"Henry, wait-"
She was running down the hallway, Regina and Robin just reaching the door. By the time Emma got there, Henry was already hunched over the patient lying in bed. Looking up to the man's face, she realized immediately that her son was right, and her stomach dropped.
Neal had, what looked like burn marks, on a majority of his forehead and hands. The blisters appeared raw as if they were recent, but he seemed to be in a deep sleep with no other obvious signs of pain.
Finally finding her breath, Emma stepped closer to the bed, her eyes now finding Henry. He was crying, and it suddenly occurred to her that he shouldn't have recognized Neal on his own. She had never even showed him a picture of his father.
That could only mean one thing…
"Henry?" Emma moved her arm to touch him on the shoulder, but Henry looked up at her before she could continue. She had never seen such a look on her son's face before.
"I remember."
You could hear a pin drop in the room, and besides Regina's soft gasp, Emma only acknowledged the pounding of a heartbeat in her own ears.
"You remember? You remember Neal?" Emma's words sounded muddled in her own head.
Henry nodded his head and he suddenly broke into a wide grin.
"I remember everything."
Emma could feel the beads of sweat running down the sides of her face and she felt light headed. Having not slept for two days would be too much for anyone, but the adrenaline was keeping her upright. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words.
"I remember going to Boston to find you- my birth mom," Henry said, standing up before continuing. "And then I brought you back to Storybrooke. I remember Operation Cobra and me eating that apple turnover to save you. I remember you breaking the curse and waking up everyone, and that you and Mr. Gold took me to New York where we found my dad."
Henry glanced down at Neal again, this time with a loving smile. "I remember Neverland and you guys coming to save me before Peter Pan stole my body."
He looked up at Emma, and she saw sadness in his eyes that scared her more than anything else had so far.
"I remember you and I leaving everyone else behind to get sent back home and finding out that you and I would have new memories."
She hadn't said anything to Henry about Mr. Gold and some of what her son had said, she didn't remember Jones telling them in the car. The room began to spin slightly and Emma held on to Neal's bed to balance herself.
Behind her, she heard a chocked sob, and knew immediately who the sound came from and why.
This was what Jones didn't want Emma to know. This was why Regina had a lock of his hair, and why she couldn't keep her eyes off of him since they arrived.
This was what Emma had already known, deep down inside, but didn't want to accept.
"Henry?"
Regina's voice had broken the deafening silence in the room, but it was Henry's response that broke Emma's heart.
"Mom!"
He was running over to Regina, not Emma, and Henry wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace.
Emma felt herself start to fall back, a dizziness taking over and she barely felt the strong pair of arms holding her from behind, the smell of leather enveloping her.
After a few moments, she somehow found a way to stand on her own.
"Are you ok?" Henry was beside her seconds later, grabbing her hand, and Emma regained her senses slightly.
Glancing over at Regina, who was wiping the tears from her cheeks, Emma did her best to remain calm for Henry's sake. Squeezing his hand in response, she somehow found the words.
"Henry, I just need to step out for some air, ok? You stay here with Neal."
Her son nodded and seemed to understand, making his way over to the side of the bed where he had been before.
Emma's legs were like jelly, but she moved out of the room quickly and into the hallway. She heard Whale's voice behind her, asking if any of them needed rooms. Emma was half aware of Jones being the one to respond to him, before she headed for the nearest EXIT sign.
She could hear someone following her, but kept walking anyway, desperate to reach the door. Emma had just pushed it open and let the gust of air hit her face, when she heard someone speak.
"I'm sorry you had to find out that way."
Despite having little fight left in her, Emma swung around toward Regina in anger.
"So Jones was telling the truth then? None of our memories before last year are real. You gave us new ones?"
Regina's face was impassive, apparently expecting this kind of reaction from her. She moved closer to Emma and lowered her voice.
"Look, I know this is a great deal to take in all at once-"
"So are you his mother or am I? Henry said I am his birth mom, but…"
Emma trailed off, putting the pieces together slowly in her mind.
Jones had said that they left out on their own a year ago and all of her and Henry's memories had been created by Regina's magic. Henry mentioned coming to Boston to get her and bringing Emma back to Storybrooke; which meant that he was from Storybrooke.
Finally meeting Regina's eyes directly, Emma's words came out in a near whisper.
"I really did give him up twelve years ago. You're the one who actually raised him. Henry's your son."
For the first time, Regina reached out and made contact with her, placing a hand on the lower part of Emma's arm and speaking quietly.
"Our son."
Shaking her head in disbelief, Emma back pedaled and leaned her head against a nearby wall. She took a deep breath and tried to maintain her composure, as the sound of ambulance sirens wailed in the distance.
"Emma, I gave you and Henry those memories so you could be happy. At the time, I wasn't certain I was ever going to see him again."
She could feel, rather than see, Regina standing in front of her and trying to make eye contact.
"Now he has memories of both of us. Now you and I can each have moments with him to cherish."
Darting her head back down to meet Regina's gaze, Emma quickly stood up, forcing Regina to do the same.
"Yeah, only mine are fake. I've been living a lie this entire time , and so has Henry."
Emma paced back and forth on the side walk, glancing around as if to find the answers to all of her questions hiding behind a parked car or nearby bush.
I don't know what's real and what isn't anymore.
Regina's voice seemed to pull her out of a trance, her tone being much less sympathetic this time.
"I know this is the last thing you want to hear right now, but I need your help."
She stopped pacing and looked over at Regina in disbelief.
Was this bitch serious?
"Why should I help you with anything? You took my family from me, tried to kill us on more than one occasion, and fed my brain a load of crap so I'd think I was living a life that wasn't even mine."
Regina's softness was completely gone and her features became hard and determined.
"Yes, we're all a long way from happily ever after. I made my share of mistakes, but I need you now. If you want to protect Henry and all of the people he loves, you'll help me defeat the evil that's coming."
Oh yeah. Jones had told them about some witch, who Henry believed was the Wicked Witch, by the sounds of it. Jones hadn't told her what the witch was planning, but Emma couldn't see how she was going to help stop any of it.
"If you have magic, why can't you just kill the witch yourself?"
The words came out of her mouth, but they seemed so foreign to Emma, like a sound bite from some fantasy film.
This all had to be one big, crazy, nightmare.
Regina let out a humorless laugh and threw her hands in the air.
"Yes, well if only it were that simple. My abilities are very limited here. My magic doesn't work: that's why the witch sent me back here in the first place."
Emma's head was spinning. Nothing Regina had just said was clear to her and Emma realized that if she didn't find a bed soon, they would have to wheel her back in on a gurney.
"I'm going to sleep," she murmured over her shoulder before Regina could react, and walked back into the hospital.
She nearly ran into him, as he must have been standing there the entire time. Jones had a look on his face like he was waiting for her to slug him.
Emma would certainly like to, but right now she'd probably miss and accidentally hit a nearby patient, so she decided to walk right past and ignore him completely.
"Darling, wait."
Jones caught up and walked beside her. Emma trudged down the hallway, making her way to where Neal and Henry were, but he caught her arm and led her into an empty room.
She began to protest, but he cut her off.
"Dr. Whale says you can rest here for the night, as there aren't many patients here nowadays. Henry has opted to remain with his father in the next room. He'll be safe, luv."
He went to cup her face, but Emma jerked her head away, coming to her senses for the moment.
She made a feeble attempt to push him away, but his arms were taught around her. He pushed Emma gently backwards until her legs hit the bed and they buckled, as she fell onto the mattress.
As much as she wanted to yell at him, the bed felt so amazing underneath her. She allowed the exhaustion to begin its work as she noticed Jones disappear around the corner.
Thinking she caught a break, Emma took off her jacket and boots and leaned back into the pillow. The last time she was this exhausted, she had spent her first three days in prison and was afraid to go to sleep.
This time, a part of Emma told her that she'd probably rather just not wake back up this time.
Her lids began to close, Emma's body giving into the exhaustion at last, but the slam of a door jolted her awake.
"What the hell, Jones?"
He was carrying her and Henry's bags in the crook of his left arm and her car keys in his good hand. Emma glanced over at her jacket and took a second to wonder how he had obtained them.
"Why do you have my keys?"
Placing both bags on the ground, Jones pulled a chair up close to her bed and sat down.
"I took the liberty of fetching you and your boy's belongings. You'll need them, I presume, since you're staying here."
Emma frowned and elected not to respond just now, reaching into her bag for a set of night clothes. The only reason she was agreeing to sleep here was because she didn't trust herself to drive to a hotel in this state. Emma would think about what to do in the morning, when she had a clear head.
She reached the bathroom door and turned to Jones, who was still sitting in a chair looking at her expectantly.
"Why are you still here? I don't need a body guard, I don't want to talk, and you sure as hell aren't staying in here with me overnight."
Jones quirked his eyebrow and leaned back in his seat, crossing his one leg over the other.
"Sweetheart, why on earth would I waste my talents on you when you're far too tired to even appreciate them?"
Emma didn't even have the strength to scold him or think of a witty comeback, so she just moved into the bathroom and slipped on a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top. Brushing her teeth, Emma tried to think of a way to remove the damn pirate from her room without wasting any more energy.
Where does he get off coming in here like this after what he did?
Everything he went through to get them to Storybrooke and Jones elected to keep something this important from her? Maybe he hadn't lied, but this was almost as bad.
A part of her understood that he didn't want to be the one to tell Henry, but Jones could have explained this part to her in the pub. Of course, she probably wouldn't have believed him and certainly wouldn't have agreed to bring Henry to Storybrooke under these pretenses.
But then Henry wouldn't have remembered and they would still be living a lie in New York.
Emma spit out her toothpaste foam and rinsed her face. The warm water had a faint smell of chemicals that she assumed the hospital used to sanitize it with. Grabbing for a towel, Emma patted her face dry, the stiff threads of the cotton feeling grainy against her face.
Maybe she was being a bit too harsh on Jones. After all, it wasn't his fault any of this had happened. If Emma was being honest with herself, she was more hurt than angry. She had trusted him to tell her everything, and the fact that he let her find out that way had wounded her more than she cared to admit.
She clicked off the bathroom light, and stepped back into the room, which she was surprised to find almost completely dark. With just the light from the street lamps shining through the window shades from outside, she could barely make out his outline.
"Jones, what-"
"Shhh, quiet luv. Come and sit down."
He patted the bed next to him with his gloved hand, and she cautiously moved to lie down on the opposite side.
"If this is what I think it is, I told you it's not going to happen."
Emma heard his soft chuckle and saw him pull out something in a wrapper. He struggled to open it at first, but used his teeth and good hand to pry it free.
Squinting in the darkness, Emma could see that it was one of those snack cakes people bought at a convenience store. Reaching into his other pocket, Emma saw him pull out what she recognized to be a single candle and he placed it on the serving table between them.
He reached into his jacket a third time; and she saw that he held a gold pocket watch. Upon looking at it, he frowned and pursed his lips in mild frustration.
"Hmm, I'm a few minutes off lass, so you'll have to pardon me."
He turned his hand toward her, the street light shining on the watch's face so that she could read the time.
12:04
Emma gasped in realization.
Surely not…but how did he know?
Jones seemed to understand that she had caught on and smiled.
"Happy Birthday, Emma."
She was speechless.
Not only had it slipped her mind in the past few hours, but she was baffled as to how he knew. Even more to the point, she couldn't understand how he found out about her strange tradition.
Every birthday since she could remember, Emma would light a single candle in a cupcake and tell herself "Happy Birthday," making the wish that she wouldn't be alone anymore.
Granted, she hadn't done this since before she met Neal. After they started living together, Emma had decided that she didn't need to wish for a family, as she had him. They had each other. Even as close as they had become, though, she never told Neal about doing this every year.
She had never told anyone about it.
"I'm not an expert on these situations luv, but I believe we need to light the candle, yes?"
Emma was brought out of her stupor at the sound of his voice and found it difficult to speak in that moment.
"Uh, yeah. I guess we need a lighter."
She heard a soft grunt of frustration and she looked up at Jones, trying to read his expression in the darkness, but couldn't.
"Ah, yes. Those blasted lightening sticks. Neal tried to teach me a few months ago, but to no avail."
There was a shuffling and she saw him stick the candle into the snack cake, then turn toward her.
"So, I was hoping you could give me a hand with this, actually- no pun intended."
Emma was almost certain he had winked at her and she sighed.
"If we don't have a lighter then there's no sense in-"
"Use your magic. Like I explained to you in the car, remember?"
Emma snorted, and did her best to try and see Jones in the darkness.
"You were serious about that? I don't have magic, are you kidding?"
She felt his hand grasp hers, his fingers calloused and warm. Although the room temperature was quite comfortable, Emma shivered at his touch in spite of herself.
"Give it a go, Darling."
As tired as she was, Emma felt there was no harm in proving him wrong so he'd let her get some rest. She closed her eyes and imagined a light burning at the end of a candle, allowing the imaginary glow to fill her up. Emma opened her eyes expectantly.
Nothing.
Emma shook her head in frustration, and moved to get out of bed to turn on the lights, but Jones held her there, still grasping her hand.
"You're just tired. Try it one more time for me. Please."
With a heavy sigh, Emma settled back in bed. Taking a deep breath, Emma closed her eyes again and did her best to concentrate.
She could tell there was still no light, even with her eyes closed.
"Come on, Darling, I know you can do this."
Feeling completely drained, Emma began to protest.
"Jones, just leave me alone so I can rest."
She suddenly felt his lips brush the fingers on her hand that he was still holding, and a jolt of heat ran through her body.
Hearing his soft gasp of surprise, Emma opened her eyes to see a small spark igniting at the end of the candle's wick. It flickered and then caught, turning into a bright flame.
For the hundredth time in the last few hours, Emma was stunned. She could hardly believe any of this, but had witnessed it for herself.
"You see? It's inside of you. It always has been; you just need to believe."
Emma gazed up at him in awe, the light flickering across his features, and she smiled in spite of herself.
"I guess you're quite the teacher."
His face broke into a wide grin and he squeezed her hand in response.
"It's not me, lass. You're the product of true love. Your parents have a special bond, and they care for you a great deal."
She wasn't quite sure how to respond to that; knowing how her parents were currently stuck in another land. The part of her that wanted to believe Jones was telling the truth about them was creeping into her heart again. In that moment, Emma felt a trace of hope: as small, but as bright as the flame burning before her.
She felt him release her hand with his good one and move it up to wrap around a lock of her wavy hair. Keeping his eyes on the curl, he absentmindedly broke the silence.
"You have yet to make a wish, luv."
Emma glanced up at him through her lashes, and her smile faded.
"I'm not even sure where to begin."
He sighed, getting up from his chair and made his way over to the doorway. Meeting his gaze, she saw that Jones wore an expression that she'd never seen before, one of complete vulnerability. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft, but determined.
"All great things must begin somewhere, Emma."
As he bid her good night and shut the door behind him, she was surprised to feel so safe, despite everything that had happened, and Emma leaned over to blow out her candle.
She didn't understand what it all meant or how she was going to handle it, but tonight Emma would allow herself to rest knowing she had Jones watching her back.
And that was ok.