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I can't exactly describe how I feel, but it's not quite right. And it leaves me cold ― F. Scott Fitzgerald
"What do you mean It's the Jolly Roger?" – Robin said, rising from the sand.
Killian's attention was entirely on the ship that was approaching the beach, his ship. He was so focused on what he thought he would never see again that he didn't listen the amount of questions that Robin was asking about the ship.
"It's impossible …" – he murmured to himself – "This isn't real. It can't be…"
He couldn't exactly tell what he was feeling in that moment. It was a mix of emotions. He should be happy for seeing the ship again but now, seeing it approaching him, somehow it didn't feel right. It was like he was seeing himself in a mirror; an old mirror reflecting his past – the pirate obsessed with vengeance – the man he used to be; the man before Emma.
He always thought that the Jolly Roger would always be his home but now, looking at it, the only thing he could see was a ship, a beautiful ship, but not a home. A ship with too many painful memories. A ship with the story of his life without Emma.
"Can you two stop looking at the ship and explain to me what is going on?" – Robin exclaimed – "Didn't you trade your ship for a magic bean?" – he asked. Killian just nodded – "So why is the ship here? Isn't it supposed to be in another realm?" – Robin asked confused – "Wait, are we in another realm? What if are us that are in another realm? Is that possible?"
"Robin, your babbling is not helping, at all" – David said – "Killian to whom did you sell your ship?"
"Some old man who said that his captain always liked the Jolly and couldn't be happier to know that I was selling it" – Killian said, turning his attention to David.
"And what's the name of this captain?" – David asked.
"I don't know" – Killian simply said, turning his attention back to the ship.
"You didn't ask?" – David exclaimed, not wanting to believe that they didn't have a clue what kind of people was in the ship – "We need to know who we are going to deal with, Killian!"
"Knowing the name of the bloody captain was the least of my concerns" – he said – "I just wanted the magic bean" – I just wanted Emma, he thought.
"So you don't know the name of the owner of the Jolly" – David said. It wasn't a question.
"No, I don't know the name of the captain" – Killian softly said.
The men remained in silence for a few seconds but then Robin spoke:
"What does a white flag means?" – he asked
"No harm" – Killian immediately said, seeing the white flag that Robin was talking about.
"It seems you sold your ship to decent people and not thieves or pirates, shocking" – David said, ignoring Robin's complains about the thieves' part.
Killian looked at the sea thinking that maybe the ship that was once his could be his way back home.
"I lied to him" – Regina said as soon as Emma entered in her place – "I never lied to him and now I did"
"It's for the best Regina" – Emma said, entering in the living room. She immediately noticed the amount of books scattered all over the room – "He's just a kid … and technically you didn't lie, we don't know the truth so …"
"I told him that they were late because they lost track of the time fishing" – Regina said, remembering the exact moment when Roland woke up and asked her where was Robin and when would he come back. She had fallen asleep in an armchair next to him, after she put him to bed, no wanting to leave him alone – "That's a lie" – she sadly added – "How did it go your talk with Henry?"
"He knows" – Emma said, looking at a nervous Regina – "I had to tell him, he jumped out of the window and went to the docks and –"
"He saw the remains of the boat" – Regina interrupted her – "Did you tell him about the locator spells?" – she asked, running her fingers through her hair.
"More less" – Emma said – "He knows the locator spells didn't work but doesn't know the reason why they don't work"
"Neither do we" – Rumpelstiltskin suddenly said, appearing in the middle of the living room. In another time Regina would complain about the way he entered in her house but not this time; they needed all the help they could get.
"Did you find something?" – she suddenly asked, rising from the couch.
"I believe I did" – he calmly said as he sat next to Emma.
"Spell it out" – Regina nervously said – "Do you know where they are?"
"No, all the locator spells that I tried didn't work" – Rumpelstiltskin said – "But I found an old spell that is able to tell us if they are alive or not" – he explained, looking at the two nervous women next to him.
After a few minutes of silence Emma spoke:
"Mary Margaret and David share a heart if he was dead she would have felt it" – she said with a trembling voice – "How does this spell help us finding them?"
"The thing is, Miss Swan, we used your blood to perform the locator spell because David is your father but it failed" – he started to say – "Blood attracts blood as life attracts life, the spell should have worked. We need real proof. We need to know why all the locator spells don't work otherwise we're just wasting our time"
"What do you need to perform the spell?" – Regina asked after looking at Emma and seeing her nodding.
"Are you one hundred percent sure you want to do this?" – Rumpelstiltskin asked – "Sometimes the truth is crueler than the lies"
"What do you need?" – Regina said again.
"I need something to connect with them, more specifically, I need a bond of blood" – Rumpelstiltskin said – "I'm going to use the blood of a relative to do the connection, just like I did with the locator spell but this time –"
"Wait, again the blood thing?" – Emma asked – "If we use my blood the only person we're going to know that is alive is my dad"
"Roland has Robin's blood running in his veins" – Rumpelstiltskin stated. Regina was about to protest but he spoke again – "The spell only requires a drop of blood"
"I don't think we should involve him in this mess" – Regina softly said –"Magic always comes with a price"
"A drop of blood in exchange of certainty" – Rumpelstiltskin said – "I think is a good price"
"What about Killian?" – Emma suddenly asked – "How do we do to know if he …" – she bit her lower lip.
"I'm afraid we won't be able to know if the pirate is alive or not" – he said – "The spell only works if we use the blood of a relative"
"But –" – Emma tried to say.
"We'll find a way, Emma" – Regina interrupted her trying to calm her down. She mouthed don't worry and Emma immediately realized that she was referring to the stress and the baby combination, so she took a deep breath and tried not to think about the possibility of never seeing Killian again.
"Shall we begin?" – Rumpelstiltskin asked, rising from the couch.
"No, Roland is at school. We'll do it later" – Regina said – "I still have to figure it out a way to get a drop of his blood"
"I'll come back at midnight then" – he said before disappearing.
Emma and Regina remained in silence looking at the place where the Dark One had been moments later.
"It's been hours since we saw movement in the ship" – Robin said, standing up from the sand – "Why didn't anyone approach us?"
The men had lost count of the time they were looking at the ship. It was night when they saw the ship appearing right in from of their eyes and the sky was now starting to turn black again and nothing new happened.
Every type of questions was starting to invade their minds. Who was the captain of the Jolly Roger? What kind of people were aboard of the ship. Would they going to help them? Could they trust them?
"Do you think they saw us?" – Robin asked again – "Do you think they know there's someone stuck on this island?"
"Obviously" – David said before Robin started to panic – "Otherwise they wouldn't put that flag on the mast" – he added.
"Right …" – Robin said, sitting down on the sand again – "Still, don't you think that something isn't right? Nothing happened since the ship appeared" – he asked.
"We are stuck on an island!" – David stated – "None of this seems right to me, Robin"
"I agree with Robin" – Killian spoke for the first time – "Something isn't right. The appearance of the Jolly can't be a coincidence" – he couldn't quite explain it but he couldn't shake the feeling that something big was about to happen. Good or bad, he didn't know.
"This can be our only chance to go home, guys" – David said, trying to remain positive.
"What if it is a trap?" – Robin asked.
"What if it isn't?" – David insisted. Robin opened his mouth to speak again but David was faster than him – "We need to get out of this island and right now our only chance is that ship over there" – he said pointing at the ship – "We can't let this opportunity slip through our fingers. We need to believe guys, and if we have to fight, we'll fight"
As soon as David stopped talking a small boat with three men aboard left the Jolly Roger and started to move towards the beach.
Suddenly, Killian's mind started to work at the speed of light. They had lost hours looking at the ship and totally forgot to elaborate a plan in case things didn't go as they hope.
They would need to think quickly. Surely, they were outnumbered but all they needed were some weapons and the odds could quickly be on their favor. The only thing they would have to worry about was the way they would manage to get the weapons. The men aboard were certainly pirates and pirates have weapons. Killian, David and Robin were all good fighters so if they managed to steal the right weapons they could have a chance.
"Dave, fill your pockets with as many sand as you can" – Killian started to say – "Robin, grab some of the wood and make at least three torches"
The men looked at him with a confused look on their faces but quickly understood his plan.
The sand could help them during an attack if they throw it into the men's eyes. That would give them time to steal their weapons and knock them down.
The torches would be used as soon as the boat arrived at the beach. They couldn't confront the men without some kind of weapon.
Killian was searching for some stones and filling his pockets with sand.
Robin gave David and Killian a torch in the precise moment that the boat arrived. They approached the boat slowly.
"We were sent to lead you to the ship" – one of the men spoke.
Killian noticed he was the oldest of the three men on the boat. He also noticed that they didn't look dangerous. They were definitely pirates but there was something about them that didn't quite fit in the pirate model.
"Who are you and who sent you?" – David demanded to know.
"We are members of the crew of the ship that goes by the name Jolly Roger" – the man said.
David noticed that the man hadn't completely answered the question.
"Who sent you?" – he asked again.
"The Captain of the Jolly Roger" – the man simply said – "We are just following the Captain's orders"
"And are we supposed to believe that you are here to help us?" – Robin asked – "How do we know that this isn't a trap?"
"You don't" – the man said. David was ready to speak but the man spoke again – "The Captain warned us that you could have this reaction, that you could be a little suspicious about us and the rescue thing, so the Captain told us to inform you that the destination of the ship is a land named Storybrooke"
"How do –" – Killian spoke, after being quiet during the conversation, but was interrupted before he could finish the sentence.
"The Captain knows everything, Killian Jones" – he said, answering the question Killian was about to ask (How did they know about Storybrooke?)
"You know who I am" – Killian stated. It wasn't a question.
"As I said: the Captain knows everything" – he said again – "The Captain also informed us about the name of your friends. The illustrious Prince Charming, also known in this realm by the name David Nolan" – he added, turning his attention to the prince –"and the famous thief of the Enchanted Forest, Robin of Locksley, also known as Robin Hood"
"What do you want from us?" – David asked, raising his voice.
"You have nothing to fear from us. The Captain just wants to help you" – the man said.
Killian couldn't hear the word captain again. The man was constantly saying it. It was if this captain was a ghost. It was if the captain's name was a big secret. The captain, the captain, the captain … couldn't he just say the name of the bloody captain?
"May I know the name of the Captain of the Jolly Roger?" – Killian tried to say without showing his annoyance.
Actually, it was kind of ironic because in a small part of his mind he was still the Captain of the Jolly. Killian couldn't quite explain it but the man sounded like he was speaking somebody else's words. He sounded like a puppet.
"We are not allowed to reveal the Captain's name" – the old man said – "The only thing that we can say for sure is that the Captain truly wants you to return to your land"
"So, you're saying that some captain, out of the kindness of his heart, decided to help us?" – Killian said – "Because, let me tell you something, according to my experience, pirates don't do that kind of things"
"You, more than anyone, should know that people have the tendency to surprise you" – he said.
"What is that supposed to me –" – Killian tried to say.
"We'll go" – David said, interrupting Killian, noticing that the men had thrown their swords to the sand – "We'll go with you"
"How did you manage to get that vial with Roland's blood?" – Emma asked looking at the vial.
"I asked Whale for a small favor" – Regina said, sitting on the couch –"I asked him to do Roland a blood test. Of course that first I had to explain to him that the needle was like an arrow, a little bit smaller than the arrows that Robin uses" – she said with a sad voice.
"Did he ask about him again?" – Emma asked.
"Just that he misses him and can't wait for him to come home" – she said remembering Roland's words and the way his eyes shined every time he talked about his father.
Emma wanted to say something to comfort Regina; to make her feel better but she couldn't, comforting people was not one of her qualities and she hated it.
"It's almost midnight, Rumpelstiltskin should be –" – Regina started to say.
"Here!" – Rumpelstiltskin completed Regina's sentence – "I'm always punctual, dearie"
"Let's begin then" – Emma said, approaching him.
"Do you have the boy's blood?" – he asked.
"Yes, what more do you need?" – Regina asked nervously – "I've brought some ingredients from my vault"
"I'm going to need a glass with black sand, three candles, salt and a handful of herbs" – Rumple said – "I've brought the rest of the ingredients … they are rare ingredients I must say: two eyes of a blue dragon and the ashes of a phoenix"
After Regina find all the ingredients, they put it all together and Rumpelstiltskin started to cast the spell. Emma couldn't understand a single word of what he was saying but the yellow smoke that was starting to appear around the ingredients was probably a signal that the spell was working.
"I'm going to need the blood to finish the spell" – Rumpelstiltskin informed them.
Regina immediately grabbed the vial with Roland's blood and let it fall on the ingredients. Emma grabbed a knife and made a small cut on her hand and then she closed it and watched the blood fall from her hand to the ingredients that disappeared and turned into smoke.
Rumpelstiltskin opened a transparent box and the smoke immediately entered in it and became white.
"We should have the results in a few seconds" – he said.
"How? – Emma asked – "How are we going to know if they are alive or not?"
"The smoke that is now inside the box will divide into two colors: one for Robin and one for David, indicating that both are alive, if not, the color of the smoke will turn black" – Rumpelstiltskin began to explain – "The first color that will appear will be Robin's, since Roland's blood was the first to touch the ingredients"
"So, we just have to wait for the smoke that is now white, to change into two colors?" – Emma asked.
"Precisely" – he said.
The women waited for the results, not taking their eyes from the box. Black was the forbidden color. There had to be two colors inside that box and neither of them could be black.
Suddenly, some of the smoke started to change and a green color invaded not only the box but also Regina's eyes.
"He's alive" – she murmured feeling her eyes fill with tears – "He's alive" – she said again, this time louder. Before Emma could say something, Regina wrapped her in a crushing hug and she couldn't help smiling at the good news.
Regina took a step back, releasing Emma from the embrace and started to clean the tears from her face, focusing once more on the box.
Just as had happened before, the white smoke started to change and a brown color appeared next to the green.
"Oh my God" – Emma said, covering her mouth with her hands – "David is alive. My dad is alive" – she said, turning her attention to a smiling Regina – "They are both alive. We have to tell my mom" – she stated, searching for her phone.
She was searching for her mother's name on the contact list when Rumpelstiltskin's voice caught her attention.
"Very peculiar" – he said, looking at the box.
Fear invaded Emma's heart at the possibility of her happiness turn into sadness.
"What is it? Did something happen with the spell?" – she quickly asked.
"As a matter of fact, yes, something happened with the spell" – he said, not taking his eyes from the box – "The spell is still working"
"Why?" – Regina asked – "We already have the results"
Rumpelstiltskin's attention left the box and his eyes were now on Emma's. Could it be possible? – he asked himself.
"You will be happy to know that the results of the spell were better than we expected" – he said – "According to the spell not only David and Robin are alive but also the pirate" – he added with a weird smile.
"What?" – Emma softly said – "Gold, if this is some kind of joke …"
Rumpelstiltskin moved a little bit to the left, so Emma could see the box that his body was hiding. She almost lost her balance when she saw not two, but three colors inside of it. Green, brown and blue.
How was this possible? The spell was only supposed to reveal if David and Robin were alive. They didn't use any blood bond to know if Killian was alive…
"So, when will it be the big announcement, dearie?" – Rumpelstiltskin asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"I … I don't know, I need to call Mary Margaret, she needs to know" – she said confused. She was still trying to process the news – "The rest of the town I don't know … I don't know if we should tell people now, I mean … we haven't found them yet…"
"No, no, no, dearie" – Rumpelstiltskin interrupted her – "I'm not talking about the news, I'm talking about the big news" – he said, emphasizing the word big and Emma felt his eyes on her belly.
She instinctively covered her abdomen with one of her hands, finally understanding his riddles.
"How did you know?" – she asked
"There's a reason for the spell have revealed not two but three lives … and the answer lies inside of you" – he explained – "You're pregnant" – it wasn't a question – "Technically, because you're carrying his child, your blood is now bond to his"
The three people in the room remained in silence for a few moments.
"Only Mary Margaret and I know" – Regina said, looking at him with her serious look.
"Of course, your secret is safe with me, Miss Swan" – he said, understanding Regina's unspoken words.
Emma nodded – "Thanks"
"Well, my work here is done" – Rumpelstiltskin said, approaching the front door – "Good night to you both, and Emma …" – he said as he opened the door – "congratulations"
As soon as he closed the door, his hand reached for the scarf he had inside the pocket of his jacket. He hadn't mentioned but as soon as Emma cut her hand he felt like someone had opened a bottle full of magic; rare magic, so he cleaned some of her blood that remained on the table when the spell ended.
Finding out that she was pregnant would definitely help in his investigation and that little detail could, in fact, be the key of the whole mystery.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" – Robin asked for the second time since they got aboard of the small boat.
The pirates were on the other edge of the boat speaking so loud that it was like they had forgotten that they were not alone on the boat.
"There's no turning back now, is it?" – Killian said, looking at the Jolly Roger as they approached the ship.
"We should have got more information from them" – Robin murmured so that the other men didn't hear him – "We should have thought of a plan, we should –"
"We should have taken the opportunity and that's what we are doing right now" – David said – "Look, guys, I'm sorry I made the decision without consulting you first but this is our only chance" – he started to explain in a low voice – "When I saw them throwing the weapons to the sand I knew that something wasn't right … it couldn't be that easy …"
"Oh, I'm so much better now, David!" – Robin ironically said – "You decided to accept their help because this is no help at all … it's a trap! Are you out of your mind?"
"Don't you get it? They know about Storybrooke!" – David murmured – "This Captain is up to something, we can't let them get anywhere near the town"
Robin nodded, understanding David's plan. They couldn't let the ship discover Storybrooke; they had to do something to prevent that from happening. God knows what these pirates were up to … they could be planning to cast a new curse or worse.
"What do you think, Killian?" – David asked, noticing that Killian had barely spoken since they got aboard.
"I think you're right" – he said without taking his eyes from the ship – "We can't trust them. There's something about them … about the way they talk about this Captain … I don't know how to explain it but when the man looked at me there was something that … it was like he knew me"
"He knew all of us" – Davis said – "Our names, our monikers, where we live…"
"No … it's more than that –" – Killian tried to say but before he could finish the sentence the boat stopped and he quickly noticed that they were right in front of the ship that was once his.
The men in the ship had thrown a rope ladder and one of the men that was with them on the boat started to climb it, David was next, then Robin and then Killian and the other two men that remained on the boat.
As soon as Killian stepped into the ship he immediately glanced around. The ship looked well-kept, the deck looked tidy, the wood polished and even at night he could see that it still gleamed like when the ship was his. He also noticed that the crew was not as big as he imagined, perhaps ten or eleven men.
"The Captain told us to escort you to the brig, since the only quarters available are not in the best conditions" – a tall man informed them. Next to him were two men, one of them with a small scar on his face.
As they made their way to the brig, Killian started to try to put the pieces of the puzzle together. He didn't buy the lame excuse about the quarters, not when the ship looked so well-kept. This captain didn't want them in the quarters. The crew with so few men was also a strange thing. Any captain of a ship with a bigger crew could easily take the ship to himself in a blink of an eye. His thoughts were interrupted as soon as they got to the brig.
The brig was a long narrow room, divided into four cells. The four cells were empty. One of the man gestured for them to enter in the cells, each one in a different one. David was the first to enter and he noticed that the crewman left the door unlocked.
"Aren't you going to lock the door?" – David asked with a confused look.
"No, the Captain told us to treat you like guests and not hostages" – the man said.
David sat on the tiny bed next to the wall. Robin was the next to enter in his cell.
Killian took a step forward but one of the crewmen stopped him before he could enter into his cell.
"The Captain asked to see you" – he said.
Killian looked at his friends who were looking at him with a concern look on their faces. He opened his mouth to say something but the crewman spoke again.
"Only you" – he said answering the question Killian hadn't had the time to ask – "The Captain wishes you no harm, only to talk to the former owner of the Jolly" – the man added when he saw Robin and David trying to approach Killian.
"I'll go" – Killian said with a confident voice.
He needed to know who this captain was. They needed all the information they could get about these people.
He was no fool; the unlocked doors meant nothing, just an attempt to gain their trust. They couldn't lose focus.
He looked at David and Robin once more trying to reassure them that he had all under control before he left the brig.
The men led him through the bowels of the ship, like he didn't know the way to the Captain's quarters. A few minutes later they arrived at an open door that would lead him to the cabin.
"The Captain is waiting inside" – the man with a scar on the face informed him. Killian watched them take a few steps back, leaving him alone in front of the open door.
He entered into the room and glanced around the dark cabin. Only a few candles illuminated the cabin and he felt a strange feeling as he entered deeper into the room that had been his.
He recognized the shelves scattered with books, the desk, the maps on the walls, and the bed in the corner of the room. He felt a light breeze sweeping through the open window and that was when he noticed what looked like a shadow next to the window.
He took a step forward and opened his mouth to say a few words to the so famous captain but when his feet started to move, the moonlight lit the person who was looking at the ocean outside the window.
His heart stopped. He couldn't see the person's face, only the back of the body but he didn't need it because in that moment time and space had stopped for him.
Even in the dark he would recognize that long and brown hair, those arms, that thin waist, that body smelling like the ocean.
He had been right. The captain was a ghost. Unconsciously he reached for the ghost, like a moth who is drawn to the light.
He grabbed the person's arm, realizing that it was not a ghost at all. It was real. The person turned its body and suddenly Killian saw himself reflected in the eyes of the last person he thought he would ever see again.
"Milah" – he said, breaking the silence.
I know, I know … I'm a horrible person for leaving you like this but please don't hate me. I promise you that it will all make sense. Next chapter will explain a lot of things … and who doesn't love a good twist? (:
Let me know what you think!