Chapter Seventy-Four—"An Apple Red as Blood"
Henry was waiting when Emma walked through the door, a shiny red apple clutched in his hand. That made the sheriff stop, blinking, and stare at the son she'd given up so many years ago—and had come to love more than anything in the world.
"Hi," Henry said, and right off the bat, Emma could tell something was wrong.
"What's up, kid?" she asked, trying to sound casual and failing. Mary Margaret stood not far away, looking concerned but confused, so whatever had happened, it wasn't her doing. Henry, however, was pale and miserable looking, as if he hadn't slept a wink. "You okay?"
"Not really," he answered bluntly, swallowing hard and looking down at the apple in his hand. "Grandma paid me a visit last night."
Something cold stole its way up Emma's spine. "What'd she do?" she demanded, already itching to get her hands on Cora. Punching the mayor would feel really good right now, particularly when Henry looked back up at her, his face contorted miserably. "Henry?"
"I'm okay," her son said quietly, glancing back down at the apple as if he couldn't look away from it for long. "But Grandma said…she said she has Mom under a sleeping curse, and if I don't eat this apple, she'll kill her."
That news slammed hard into Emma, rocking her back on her heels with shock and a sudden surge of terror. Several moments passed before she could find her voice, and then the words came out incredulously: "Cora has Regina under a sleeping curse?"
"Yeah," Henry whispered, and no wonder why he looked so miserable!
Then Emma's mind caught up with the rest of what he had said.
"Give me the apple, Henry," she said quickly, reaching a hand out.
"I can't."
"Henry—"
"I can't. She'll kill Mom, and probably Dad, too! She has Dad's heart, and if Mom's under a sleeping curse, she can't fight back!" Henry cried, backing away as Emma moved towards him. "Grandma wanted me to tell you that the only way to cure me will be to take me out of town, but that isn't the only way. True Love's kiss will—"
"Cure you?" Emma gaped, her heart racing madly. "What do you mean cure you?"
"Aren't you listening?" Henry snapped impatiently, and for once, Emma couldn't find it in her to chastise him for that. "I have to eat the apple, and there's a Nightmare Curse in it. Just like the Evil Queen once did to Grandma Snow." He nodded at Mary Margaret. "But you don't have to take me out of town to cure me. True Love's kiss can break any curse, and there's magic here. You can break the curse on me and break the curse on Storybrooke at the same time! All you have to do is believe."
"Henry…"
"I believe in you," her son said, and bit into the apple.
"Henry!" Emma cried, lunging forward.
She didn't make it in time. The affect was immediate; Henry's eyes started to roll back, and a look of sheer horror crossed his face. The color went out of his features even as he started to fall, his legs collapsing out from under him like they'd been cut away by a scythe. Emma tried desperately to catch him, but her hands had barely brushed his arm before he was gone. Henry never even hit the floor; he simply vanished.
Emma fell hard to her knees where her son should have been, her hands grasping uselessly at thin air and finding nothing. Mary Margaret stepped up next to her to put a hand on her shoulder, but Emma hardly noticed. Henry was gone. Henry was cursed and alone and she didn't know where he was.
All she knew was that Cora was to blame, and Emma was done playing her games.
Rumplestiltskin could feel it in the air. The curse was a like a rubber band, stretched to the breaking point and ready to snap back at any moment. The change had been abrupt, and had come shortly after he stopped his Cadillac in front of Modern Fashions, making him nearly miss a step as he climbed out of the car.
Today, he realized. It's going to happen today.
That changed everything. Rumplestiltskin had planned on returning home after his little errand, but now he knew that he had to head to the shop as soon as possible. His visions were unreliable in this land, even with magic, but Rumplestiltskin could sense the storm clouds gathering, could feel possible futures gathering at the edge of his consciousness. But he had no time to examine those futures now; he had a heart to return and then a Savior to shepherd through breaking the curse. Because wherever Regina was, Rumplestiltskin had a feeling that Cora had already removed her from play. You're clever, dear, he thought, pushing open the door to Modern Fashions and ignoring the 'closed' sign, but not clever enough.
"Did you get it?" Jefferson all but gasped, rushing around from behind a rack of oddly colored dresses. The Hatter looked more nervous than Rumplestiltskin had ever seen him, pale and shaken, and like he hardly dared to hope. Under some circumstances, Rumplestiltskin might have given in to his inner demon, might have decided to mock the other man a little bit and have a bit of fun. But not today. Not with Jefferson's daughter at stake.
After all, Rumplestiltskin had a little girl, too. And even if he had a reputation to uphold, even if he needed to remain the town monster, this was not a time when he was prepared to indulge the darkness. Not like this. So, a slight smile creased his face, and he nodded without any preamble.
"I did," the Dark One replied, extending the box holding Grace's heart. "Here."
"Do I…how do I put it back in?" Jefferson stuttered, his eyes wide.
"Just line it up and push."
"Is that all?"
"That's all," Rumplestiltskin assured him, continuing to hold out the box. "Now, if you don't take this soon, Jefferson, I'm going to begin to wonder about you."
"That's it? No strings attached?" was the hesitant question, but Jefferson did reach out to snatch the box out of his hands.
"You know me better than that," he pointed out. "We made a deal, and this is my end of the bargain."
"I think I'm getting the better end of it," Jefferson admitted, and Rumplestiltskin chuckled darkly.
"Don't be too sure about that, dearie," he answered, turning to walk out. But Rumplestiltskin paused in the doorway, turning to look back over his shoulder. "A, uh, word of advice. Keep your girl home today. It's going to be…interesting."
"I will," was the immediate response. Jefferson didn't even ask why. "Thanks."
With one last nod, Rumplestiltskin let himself out of Modern Fashions and headed back to his own shop. He had work to do.
"Hi, you've reached Regina Nolan. Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can." Beep. Scowling at her phone, Emma hung up without leaving another voicemail. What was it that Henry had said about Regina? He'd said something about a sleeping curse, but what was that? Was that the curse that was in Disney's Sleeping Beauty movie? Something about a sleep like death?
Emma wasn't sure, but she figured that, whatever had happened, Regina wasn't going to be able to help. She also knew that confronting Cora would do her no good. Henry had already told her that Cora was behind whatever curse or poison he had eaten with that apple, and appealing to Cora's better nature was out of the question. Cora didn't have a better nature, and Emma had long since figured out that Cora didn't care about her adopted grandson. Killian was right. She won't hesitate to kill Henry, Emma thought brokenly. And Regina was right all along, too, even going back to the library fire. Emma hadn't wanted to believe it then, hadn't wanted to believe any of it, but Cora really was a bloodthirsty maniac with horrible magic in her hands.
And because of her, Henry was gone. Emma was so angry that she thought she could feel the wind whipping around her; it felt like she was in the middle of a raging tornado. It must have been her imagination, but windows on stone fronts seemed to rattle as she stalked down Main Street, focused on reaching the one person who might be able to help her, to help Henry. Believing might have taken her a long time, but Emma knew the truth, now. And she was ready to do whatever it took to save Henry.
Henry was all that mattered.
"Swan!" a voice called, but at first it didn't make its way through Emma's fury. "Emma!"
Finally, she stopped, spinning around to face Killian O'Malley. "What?" she barked. "I don't really have time for this. Henry is—"
"I know what happened to him, lass," the marina owner replied, bringing Emma up short.
"How the hell do you know that?"
Only Mary Margaret knew; Emma hadn't told anyone, and she knew that Mary Margaret had gone to see David, just to make sure he was all right. They both understood that David couldn't be told anything, not if Regina had been right about Cora being able to control him, but Mary Margaret was worried about him. However, that meant there was no way for anyone else to know about what had happened, so Emma's hostility quickly became suspicion as she stared at Killian with narrowed eyes.
"That doesn't matter now, love. What I do know is that your boy's in trouble, and I know you have to save him," the handsome man said quickly. "But don't go to Gold. Whatever deal you make with him, he'll make you pay for it in blood. He's the last one you want to go to."
"Why is that?" she demanded impatiently.
"Gold is… It's got to be a trap. He might be in league with Cora, Emma. You don't know him—"
"And you do?"
A shadow crossed his face. "Better than you can imagine."
Studying Killian critically, Emma could sense a lie somewhere in the impassioned plea. Oh, she didn't doubt that Gold was dangerous, particularly after she and Henry had figured out who he was. But she preferred to believe Henry's assessment over Killian's, particularly because she was smart enough to know that Killian had to have some sort of ulterior motive. Last they'd talked, he'd tried to convince her to leave Storybrooke. And that's exactly what Cora told Henry to tell me. She said the only way of curing him is to take him out of town, Emma remembered. The parallel between those two was inescapable, and that only riled her worry and her temper up further.
"I can imagine a lot," Emma snarled. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to save my son."
Moving forward as if to follow her, Killian started: "I can help—"
"Help who? If we're going to talk about someone being in Cora's pocket, you might want to look in the mirror," she shot back, spinning to plant a hand in the middle of his chest and stop him. "Henry is my son, and my responsibility. And you can just get the hell out of my way."
"Emma…"
"No." Shoving him back, Emma stepped away. "I'm gonna go do what I need to to save my son, and you're not going to follow me. Got it?"
"I understand." His shoulders slumped. "Good luck."
She stormed into the pawnshop like an avenging angel, magic sweeping around her like a tornado only a sorcerer could see. Until that moment, Rumplestiltskin hadn't realized that the Savior did indeed have magic; the odds of her being magical were always high, child of True Love that she was, but proof hadn't yet manifested itself. Now, however, he could see power swirling around her, and watching that made him smile. Emma, however, did not seem amused.
"What the hell are you smiling about, Gold?" she demanded, stalking up to the counter like she wanted to kill him.
"I'm smiling because Cora is well and truly screwed," he replied honestly, deciding that now as not the time to tell Emma that she had magic. She could not master it soon enough to matter, and knowing would only prove a distraction.
His smug response seemed to mollify her somewhat. "Are you saying that because you heard what happened?"
"Regina's not here with you and you're in a fury, so I suspect Cora's done something to her," Rumplestiltskin guessed.
"What? No," Emma said, blinking. "I mean, Henry said something about Regina being under a sleeping curse, but that's not the problem right now. Henry's gone."
"He is?" he found himself asking stupidly before her words sank in. Oh, damn. Of course she'd go after a child. Why am I surprised? Rumplestiltskin shook himself, pushing down his instinctive spurt of anger towards a woman who would dare harm a child…and his worry for Regina. "Tell me what happened."
"He bit into the apple and disappeared. I don't know where he is, but I know Cora has him somewhere," Emma snarled, and he could see the purpose gleaming in her green eyes. "She told him to tell me that the only way to save him is to take him out of town."
"An apple," Rumplestiltskin repeated, thinking it over. "A Nightmare Curse?"
Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How'd you know?"
"I know Cora."
"Okay, fine, you know Cora. Can you help me, or is Killian right, and I've come to the wrong place?" she demanded, crossing her arms.
"Of course I can. As Regina may have told you, I am on your side, not Cora's. Do you have anything of the boy's?" he asked, ignoring her reference to the pirate. He would deal with Hook later.
Emma looked startled. "Not with me, no. I can—"
"No matter. I can guess where he is. A locator spell would have only confirmed that," Rumplestiltskin waved a hand to brush the point aside. "No matter. What matters is your boy, and you're very right that he's in danger. You have to get to him, but not to take him out of town—you need to break the curse on him, because you're the only one who can."
"What do I have to do?" Emma asked, and even if her eyes were wide, she was focused and strong. "How do I break it?"
"True Love's kiss, of course," he told her. Let's not talk about the Dark Curse right now; she'll break both, but Emma doesn't want to hear that. She wants to save her boy, and I can't blame her on that front. "You need to fight past whatever monsters Cora has put in place, and give him True Love's kiss. If you don't, his nightmares will eventually consume him."
"What happens then?" she whispered.
"You don't want to know," Rumplestiltskin said gently. He and Emma Swan might never see eye to eye, but he could understand being a parent whose child was in danger. And what little of his heart remained his went out to her, for just a moment.
"I need to know," Emma retorted, her voice strong and demanding again.
Sighing, Rumplestiltskin contemplated lying to her, and then thought of how he would have felt in her place. If this had been Bae or Gabi… Shaking the thought away, he answered carefully: "People under a nightmare curse often kill themselves. That is…usually the best outcome. Those that do not eventually injure themselves enough that they bleed out, and they often kill those who try to rescue them. They go insane long before that, though."
Her voice went small again. "How long does that take?"
"It depends on the curse. Knowing Cora, it will take quite some time."
Emma swallowed hard, and Rumplestiltskin could see the fear flashing through her eyes. He wasn't used to feeling pity, wasn't used to giving a damn about anyone outside of his family, but he really did feel bad for her. Not that his pity would help her at all; what she needed was his power and his knowledge, so Rumplestiltskin pushed aside any foolish desire to say comforting words and focused on that, brushing a cloth over the black case on the counter between them.
"Feel that fear all you like, dear, but once you walk outside this door, push it aside. The creature Cora has guarding Henry will feed on that fear and devour you if you let it out," he told her calmly. "If you want to save your boy, you have to believe in yourself—and in your love for him."
"How do I do that?"
"You start with this," Rumplestiltskin replied, opening the case. Inside was a sword that he knew quite well, a broadsword with a golden colored hilt.
Emma looked at the sword like it was a poisonous snake. "What the hell is that?"
"Your father's sword."
"My father's sword?" she repeated incredulously. "What would…oh, crap. What does Cora have guarding Henry?"
"A creature who can read your darkest fears and bring them to the surface," Rumplestiltskin answered honestly. "Almost like a walking nightmare curse. Among others."
"Okay, where is he?" Emma asked, squaring her shoulders. "I can ask you questions all day, but I really should just go get this done, shouldn't I?" Looking down at the sword, she seemed to make a decision. "It's kind of one of those Savior things, isn't it?"
"Now you're talking, dearie."
"Oh, don't start with that." She rolled her eyes and hefted the sword, holding it more or less correctly, though not with any experience. "I know who you are, you know. Why should I trust you?"
Well, that was unexpected. "Because I've never lied to you, Miss Swan. And I want this curse broken as badly as you do—if not more," he said bluntly. "So long as Cora is in power, my family is in danger. As is yours. So, you can listen to me, and we can both get what we want, or you can ignore me and let your son die. Which will it be?"
Emma gave him a steady look. "Just tell me where Henry is, and I'll do the rest."
Cora had prepared for this moment carefully, placing multiple cameras in the caverns underneath the library and setting her creatures into place long before Henry appeared in a glass coffin reminiscent of the one his blood grandmother had once occupied. The boy was already crying and twitching: he might have been brave enough to eat the apple, but no one was brave enough to endure a nightmare curse, and watching him was enough to make Cora smile. She had put up an extra monitor in her office solely for this occasion, which allowed her and Zelena to keep an eye on Henry while choosing whichever camera view was appropriate on the other monitor, the one reserved to watch Emma Swan.
She didn't really want kill her, or course, which meant that the creatures Cora had chosen to delay her were ones that she was fairly sure the Savior could kill. Oh, Cora would cry no tears if Emma were to accidentally die, even if that would shatter the curse. She was ready for that to happen, although keeping the curse intact was certainly preferable to allowing it to break. But, no. She preferred Emma Swan to be a husk of nothing but fears and emptiness, which was exactly what the Jabberwocky would turn her into, in the end. The other creatures were simply distractions, there to delay Emma and make her think that she was winning. Henry was merely bait, designed to bring Emma to where Cora wanted her. Nothing more.
"There she is!" Zelena pointed at the monitor, but Cora did not bother to be annoyed. This was her moment, her victory, and she would not allow Zelena's odd manners to ruin that. Because Emma had indeed just stepped out of the elevator that brought her down into the basement of the library, a sword in one hand and looking so very out of place despite the gun she also carried. Zelena clearly noticed the sword, too. "Where did she get that?"
"Rumple, I presume," Cora replied serenely, folding her hands neatly. "He always does love to be the wildcard."
Zelena's eyes flashed angrily. "That won't last for long. Not once you have the dagger."
"Oh, no. It won't." That thought made even Cora smile, as did the knowledge that she held the one person whom he would sacrifice anything for. And Rumple had no idea.
She could stop him at any time, she knew. All it would take was one little phone call and a touch of proof—easy enough to do with a few drops of blood, and Cora intended to spill far more than a few drops—and Rumple would do whatever she wanted. He'd spent centuries searching for his beloved Baelfire, and Cora had gotten to him first. All because a terrified puppet lacked the courage to protect someone he called a friend. Oh, I can't wait to see Rumple's face when he learns of this, she thought victoriously. It will almost make the curse being broken worth it.
"Do you think the goblins can harm her, Mother?" Zelena asked next, breaking into Cora's smug thoughts.
"Perhaps a little," she shrugged. "They're merely there to slow her down, though."
Zelena grinned. "And to make her grow overconfident before she meets the Jabberwocky," she observed astutely. Oh, she was gloating, and it was terribly annoying but at least Zelena was right.
"Indeed," she replied, and would have said more had another woman not stalked into her office.
"What have you done?" Ingrid demanded.
Blinking, Cora turned to look at the so-called Snow Queen, whose heart she knew she had safely tucked away in her vault. "I beg your pardon?"
"That's Emma!" the blonde woman gasped, and Zelena giggled.
"You have a masterful command of the obvious," Zelena drawled, making Ingrid flinch.
"You can't do this," Ingrid pleaded. "Please, you can't hurt her. She's everything to me, she's—"
"Oh, do stop groveling," Cora cut her off, sick of it already. "I don't care what our little Savior means to you, dear, and you can't do a thing to save her. So, stop wasting my time and go back to your precious little ice cream shoppe."
"Don't test me, Cora," the ice sorceress snarled, but Zelena had already teleported out, so Cora simply lounged back in her chair.
"And why should I not?"
Ingrid drew herself up, and Cora could feel magic gathering. "I can make you regret it."
"And I could kill you right now," Zelena said, reappearing with Ingrid's heart in her hand. Cora simply smiled complacently, admiring her daughter's loyalty. Perhaps she had been wrong not to reach out and bring Zelena fully into her confidence long ago. Oh, Zelena's instability could be terribly irritating, but she was utterly devoted to her mother. Even now she was ushering Ingrid out, allowing Cora to return her attention to Emma Swan as she killed the second of four goblins barring her path to her beloved little brat.
"Do you think she'll make it?" Belle asked quietly, coming out from the back to stand beside Rumplestiltskin. He'd had Emma call her roommate/mother to operate the (recently reconstructed) elevator while Emma went beneath the library, not offering to help beyond giving her information. That was what was expected of him as the Dark One, of course, but doubt still lurked at the edges of his mind.
"She's certainly brave enough," he replied slowly, trying not to wince. I didn't plan for this wrinkle, Rumplestiltskin thought irritably, staring contemplatively at the door Emma had strode out not too many minutes earlier.
Belle cocked her head at him. "I hear a 'but' in that sentence."
"It takes more than bravery to make it past the Jabberwocky," Rumplestiltskin sighed, not liking the conclusion he was coming to, even in the privacy of his own mind.
"What happens if she doesn't?"
"At worst, the Jabberwocky drains her bravery and her strength until she's nothing but an empty shell of herself. Or, under slightly better circumstances, she'll simply transform our Savior into a broken ball of terror." He snorted. "Neither of which is useful to our cause."
"Or kind to Emma," his wife reminded him sternly. "She deserves better. We have to help."
"Sweetheart…" That remark made him turn to look at Belle, but Rumplestiltskin's objection died on his lips due to the look on her face. He knew what she was going to say before she said it, and his heart started sinking immediately.
"I could distract the Jabberwocky," Belle volunteered. "If it can't go after Emma—"
"Oh, Belle," Rumplestiltskin breathed, reaching out to touch his brave, foolish, wife's cheek. His innards were already a mess of tension and jitters from the mere thought of what had to be done, but that didn't keep him from telling her the truth. "You know that you'd never be bait enough to pull the Jabberwocky away from Miss Swan. The Jabberwocky feeds on fears, and you're far too brave."
"I feel fear as much as any other, Rumple," she objected.
"Not as much as a mother whose child is now in danger, you don't," he countered, and Belle grimaced. "No, if we're going to draw the Jabberwocky away, we need far better bait than you."
Blue eyes met brown, and in that moment, he felt as if she could read his mind.
"I'm not letting you do this alone."
Rumplestiltskin laughed shakily. "I do hope not."
The three goblins were dead, two shot to the head and the third run through. Emma had never handled a sword in her life, not unless you counted sticks she play-sword fought with as a kid, but the one Gold insisted belonged to her father was pretty well-balanced. Or, at least it felt good in her hand, anyway. She didn't know jack about how to actually use it, but assuming she could get the pointy end into the bad guys (or evil magical creatures, which were much the same thing), Emma figured she'd be all right. Assuming Gold is right about where Henry is, she thought, squaring her shoulders and striding further into the network of caves. Henry was somewhere down here, and she had to save him.
The next magic beast, however, gave her a little pause. This one was a hulking but stupid troll that Emma thought wanted to drool on her as much as it wanted to kill her, but the damned thing wouldn't get out of the way. And then it turned out to be impervious to bullets, which really made her day. Of course, the troll tried to eat her next, going on about shiny gold hair and the sweet smell of royal blood.
"Are you serious?" Emma demanded, tossing her pistol aside. It was empty and she didn't have a spare magazine with her—one of her stupider moves, honestly—and lugging a handgun around when she wanted to use both hands on the sword hilt was just dumb.
"Royal blood is tasty tasty tasty," the troll rumbled, swiping at her with one huge hand.
"My blood isn't—oh, damn," she breathed. "I guess it is."
Believing in the curse was really different from actually believing that she—a runaway, an orphan, and an all-around misfit who didn't belong anywhere—was a genuine princess. The entire thought was laughable, but here was a troll going on about how good her royal blood would taste. Weird.
"Stand still!" The troll lunged for her again, and Emma dodged.
"Can't we just talk about this?" she asked, not liking the idea of killing a creature that could talk back intelligently.
"No talk. EAT!"
Okay. Make that sort of intelligently.
"Look, I don't want to kill you, okay?" Emma replied, dancing aside as the troll tried to grab her. "I just need to get by you so I can rescue my kid, all right?"
"NO!" Another swipe of a long arm, and jagged claws ripped into Emma's jacket, tearing the red leather. She barely managed to jump back in time to avoid having her stomach ripped open, and an ineffectual swing of her sword barely even made the troll pause. It continued: "Can't eat the boy till I kill YOU!"
Emma's blood ran cold. "Wait a minute. You want to eat Henry?"
"Royal blood," the troll drooled. "Royal tasty."
"No way are you eating my son," she snarled, stepping in close and bringing her sword up once more. Defending herself against a troll who wanted to eat her was one thing, but this monster wanted to eat Henry, too. "No way. Not while I live!"
That made the troll giggle, a giant wheezing laugh that gave her the chills and grated on her ears. It lunged again, and this time Emma did not dodge. She just brought her father's sword up, stepping forward to lend strength to the blow. It wasn't what she wanted to do, but Emma was a mother before she was anything else, and she had to save Henry. She couldn't figure out another way to get past this troll in time, not with Gold's words ringing in her ears. "You need to fight past whatever monsters Cora has put in place, and give him True Love's kiss. If you don't, his nightmares will eventually consume him."
Those words filled her mind as she thrust the sword upwards, straight into the troll's chest. Emma barely managed to jump back and out of the way before the troll collapsed, a loud gurgle filling the cave around them as the creature breathed its last.
"I'm sorry," Emma whispered.
She stared at the troll for a long moment before stepping away. She'd never killed anyone before, and Emma hadn't wanted today to be the first time. But she didn't have time to spare; Henry was in danger and this troll wanted to eat him. To eat both of them. Her heart was still pounding in her chest, and she knew that adrenaline would give way to something like regret later, but for now she had to find her son. Not focus on the fact that trolls were apparently real, and the ate people, too. Henry was more important.
"You're worried you'll be too late," a voice whispered from her right, making Emma's head jerk up.
The speaker was an odd looking woman. She had stark white hair, and dark patches around her eyes that didn't look like makeup, and was dressed in clothes that definitely weren't of this world. The high, laced and feathered, collar was a dead giveaway on that front, but so were the tight leather stocking-like pants and high boots. She moved like a snake, smoothly slithering forward, with dark eyes fixated on Emma like a predator watching her prey. Her head cocked curiously as she watched Emma, and a violent shiver tore through the Savior.
Instinct made her take a step back, the sword coming up.
"Gold warned me about you," Emma said shakily. "I'm not afraid of you."
But she was. She was terrified, and she didn't know why.
"It isn't me you should be afraid of," the Jabberwocky said with a soft smile. "I'm nothing special. I just see what is already there."
"I'm not afraid," she repeated. She could do this. She had to. For Henry.
"You're afraid for your boy. You're afraid that you'll be too late, that you don't know enough about this 'fairy tale world' to save him. You think the monsters might have slowed you down too much…or that you don't love him enough."
Emma shook her head, desperately trying to tune those words out as she involuntarily backed up another step. "I love him."
"But you're afraid that it's not enough," the Jabberwocky cooed, and something seemed to root Emma to the spot as the creature drifted forwards. Her feet just wouldn't move, much though she wanted to run away, and the sword was drooping, dropping, falling uselessly from her hands. "After all, what kind of mother would give her child up? You didn't want him then, and you know you don't want him now. You want a life free of him, and you're terrified to admit that. You know you aren't enough for him. You aren't Regina, the perfect mother who always knows what to do. Regina would know how to save him."
"I…"
"You aren't enough. Even Henry thinks it, which is why he never calls you 'mom'," the creature whispered, coming up close to speak directly in Emma's right ear as the sword clattered uselessly from her hands. "You know that, which is why you don't really want to save him."
I do, Emma thought helplessly, but the words would not come. She felt like she was trapped in a swirling vortex, in a tornado made wild by the fears she had never even admitted to herself. She would never be enough for Henry; deep down inside, he would always see her as the woman who gave him up. Her reasons didn't matter. She'd still given him up, let him go like the coward she was. Emma had been too afraid to keep him, too afraid of failing the way her parents had failed her. She wanted to save him, she did…but she couldn't. She wasn't some fairytale hero. She wasn't some Savior. She was just an ex-thief turned bail bondsperson, whose parents had stuck her in an enchanted wardrobe instead of raising her themselves.
"You can't save him, anyway. You know that."
You can't save him, the words echoed in her mind over and over again. You aren't enough. You aren't Regina. She wasn't. She couldn't. She was nothing. A small corner of her mind could see the Jabberwocky smiling, but nothing seemed to matter save her own fears. Emma was trapped within them, trapped in darkness.
"But you don't have to take me out of town to cure me," Henry had said, and the memory of his voice broke through the fog. "True Love's kiss can break any curse, and there's magic here. You can break the curse on me and break the curse on Storybrooke at the same time! All you have to do is believe."
"No," Emma whispered hoarsely. Just getting the word out took everything she had. "I can."
For a split second, the Jabberwocky reared back in shock, her eyes going wide as Emma's vision tried to clear. But then a small hand reached out to touch her shoulder, and the dark vortex descended down upon her once more.
"No," the creature said softly. "You can't."
No one wants me. No one ever has. Henry doesn't love me, he just wants me to break the curse so he can go back to his life with Regina and David, she thought brokenly. A small corner of Emma's soul, lightened just a little when she thought of him, but it wasn't enough. Not with her fears cascading down on her like a rapid waterfall. Even my parents didn't want me. They would have sent me away even if there hadn't been some curse, and now they just want me to break. They won't want me.
"You're nothing," the Jabberwocky told her, echoing Emma's thoughts perfectly. "Nothing and no one."
"I…" Emma tried one last time to fight, dredging up strength that her love for Henry gave her, but she felt so weak. She was shaking and crying and she was nothing—
Then a new voice interrupted.
"Why don't you try a tastier meal on for size, dearie?"
A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who left a review on the last chapter! I adore you all.
Stay tuned for Chapter Seventy-Five—"Broken," in which Rumplestiltskin faces off with the Jabberwocky, Emma reaches Henry, and the curse is broken. People begin waking up, bringing about reunions, heartbreak, and sending Cora's Plan B into action.