A/N: Whoa, it's been a while. Been trying to finish up my other WIP, but my muse is being difficult. She insisted that this be done first, since it seems that Mary Margaret seems to be nudging Emma towards Neal, and it would make sense to me that she would do that if she didn't know the truth about how they broke up. Also, was done at 3am beta-less so sorry for any and all mistakes.
Disclaimer: No…No I really don't own Once upon a time or any of its plots or characters. They are owned by the villainous geniuses Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowits as well as the ABC Network.
"It's near sundown, and this is a decent place to make camp," announced Hook as they came to a small clearing. "We'll leave for Tink's cave at first light."
"Great!" exclaimed Mary Margaret excitedly, though the tension in her jaw and tone spoke to the fact that her exuberance wasn't sincere. "We should get settled in for the night. David, go fill our canteens. Hook, if you could get us some firewood that would be appreciated. I'll go get us some fruits and Neal, if you could help Emma set up the bedrolls and set up a place for the fire I'd be grateful."
Hook and Charming were about to do as they were asked, but Emma saw through her mother's plans. And quite frankly she was irritated by them.
"Why don't I go with you to get the fruits?" offered Emma knowingly. "It'll go quicker if there are two of us, and it doesn't take that long to set up the beds. Neal can do it on his own, right Neal?"
Neal, clueless as to what was happening between the two women, yet sensing the tension tentatively nodded.
"Yeah, it's not a problem." Neal agreed, eyes flicking back and forth between mother and daughter, hoping that he didn't say the wrong thing.
"Emma, you should fill him in on what's been going on, so he's up to speed." Mary Margaret pressed.
"David or Hook can do that." Emma challenged.
"Well, if you're looking for busy work Swan you can come with me to gather firewood. You know what they say, two hands are better than one, but since I've only got the one..." Hook teased, without the slightest hint of innuendo, though it was obvious that he was also trying to diffuse whatever was going on between Emma and her mother.
"Alright, let's go get some firewood." Emma agreed gratefully, heading in Hook's direction before her mother clamped down a hand on her wrist.
"I'm sure that you're fully capable of gathering firewood on your own Hook." Mary Margaret replied, trying and failing to conceal her irritation.
"Yes, and your daughter is fully capable of deciding which task she would like to complete." shrugged Hook, giving Emma a look that told her that he knew what was going on as well, and could see that she needed to get away from her parents and Neal. And she was hit with a sudden wave of gratitude at having one person there that seemed to understand her far more than her parents or former love did.
"On second thought, maybe it would be better if I had help gathering our food." Mary Margaret declared tightly, dragging her daughter along with her.
When they were out of earshot, Emma yanked her hand back, livid from her mother's awkward attempts to get Emma and Neal to spend time together. She didn't have the time or patience for this dammit! She and David don't get to come into her life 28 years later and try to control her life out of a misguided attempt at parenting.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Emma hissed, clenching her fists and trying really, really hard not to hit her mother.
"What the hell am I doing? What are you doing Emma?" Mary Margaret sighed, shaking her head. "You need to stop pushing Neal away sweetheart. Don't you see, finding your true love is rare as it is, but for you to get a second chance at it? Honey, that's a downright miracle you can't just throw away because you're dazzled by a smoking hot bad boy."
Emma was about to make an argument about the things concerning her personal life being her decision and not her mother's when the last few words that Mary Margaret spoke caught her attention.
"I'm sorry, did you just refer to Hook as a 'smoking hot bad boy'?" asked Emma, shocked at the uncharacteristic brazenness of her mother's description of the pirate.
"I'm married Emma, I'm not blind," Mary Margaret scoffed, took one look at her amused daughter and the two of them broke out in laughter. Once the laughter subsided to giggles, and then faded to light chuckles, Mary Margaret brought them back to the point she was trying to make.
"I won't deny that I can see why you're attracted to Hook," Mary Margaret continued. "But you shouldn't let that attraction get in the way of something real and lasting. Something you can have with your true love-and Emma, that is what I want so badly for you. I want you to have the kind of happiness I have with your father."
"Wait, you think Neal is my true love?" asked Emma incredulously. "You're kidding, right?"
"Emma, your father and I are kind of experts on the subject." Mary Margaret pointed out.
"Well, in this case you're wrong," Emma growled, grabbing the basket and turning towards a nearby bush and viciously yanking at some low lying mangos from a nearby tree and tossing them into the basket. "Very, very wrong."
"Emma…" Mary Margaret huffed, and Emma couldn't believe how badly she wished she was with Hook gathering wood. It was kinda scary how well he knew her, but at that moment it would have been nice if her mother understood her even a fifth of the way that Hook just got her. How she didn't have to explain everything that she was thinking, every little thing she was feeling. He knew, he just knew.
"We're supposed to be gathering food, right?" growled Emma, wanting this little conversation to be over, like now. "That's what I'm doing, I'm gathering food so we can eat, then sleep, then get to Tinkerbelle so we have an exit plan when we find Henry. Everything else can wait."
"Are you going to wait until something happens to keep you and Neal apart again before you realize you should have taken the time to let him know how you feel?"
"He knows how I feel," she said quietly, remembering the secret she revealed to him in the cave, the pain of it still fresh and raw.
"Then you should go to him Emma," Mary Margaret advised. "Go and spend as much time with him that you can, make as many memories as you can because you never know what could happen in this godforsaken realm."
Emma knew what her mother was referring to, and that she was projecting her own fear of having to be apart from David again. She instantly felt bad upon realizing where her mother was coming from, but that didn't mean that she was going to go running into Neal's arms. She meant it when she said that she mourned the relationship she had with Neal long ago. There was just too much pain that was inextricably bound to her relationship with Neal that the bad times overshadowed the good. The one good thing that came out of her time with Neal was Henry, and their son was the only thing that they would ever share again. She would always love the man, but she could never again be the girl who was in love with Neal.
"And to be completely honest, it isn't fair of you to use Hook to push Neal away," admonished Mary Margaret. "I admit that I might have been wrong about the man-"
"Might have been?" interrupted Emma, a fire inside her blindsiding her as she found herself defending the pirate. "Oh come on! If it weren't for him we wouldn't have an ice cube's chance in the ninth circle of hell even getting here let alone surviving. I mean, yeah he did take off with the bean, but he made a clean getaway. By the time we realized we didn't have it, he could have used the bean and sailed off to Tortuga or wherever the hell Pirates like to go. Instead, he turned around and came back."
"But honey, if he didn't take the bean we could have opened a vortex, dropped the trigger in and we would still be in Storybrooke with Henry safe and sound." Mary Margaret reasoned.
"Because our plans always work so perfectly?" Emma reminded her, rolling her eyes. "There are countless ways it could have gone wrong. It was a stab in the dark to try and find a way to save Regina, even though she was willing to sacrifice herself to save the town, since the whole thing was her fault anyway. But no matter how many lives she's ruined, no matter how many times she's tried to kill you, you have this never-ending well of forgiveness for her. Remember the last time we tried to save her life? We ended up sucked into a magical hat and ended up in the enchanted forest, where we met mother of the year Cora."
"Who Hook was working for." Mary Margaret shot back.
"Yeah, that might be kinda my fault," Emma grimaced. "Well, even though he started out working for Cora, from the moment he started being honest with us, he hadn't stopped."
"Then why did you leave him in Anton's castle?" asked Mary Margaret curiously. She'd always wondered about what happened between her daughter and Hook, but every time she asked Emma, she would change the subject or say it didn't matter.
"He risked his life a couple of times to help me get the compass," she admitted. "And…I….he scared the shit out of me. He sees past my walls like they were glass. He doesn't just look at me, he looks into me and the last time that happened I got burned big time. I couldn't take the chance that I was wrong about him. Turns out I actually was right, and I've regretted leaving him behind ever since."
"But, when we were in Rumplestiltskin's cave….." muttered Mary Margaret, suddenly getting a better picture of the complicated relationship between Emma and the Captain.
"And he gave that really vicious speech about the bean?" sighed Emma with a wince. "The same bean he shoved in my face is the one he ended up using to get to Storybrooke with Cora. I have a feeling that he made the speech as memorable as he did so I'd remember the dried up bean, in case he left it behind along the shores of Lake Nostos where it could be restored. And we wouldn't have needed a compass to use it."
"How do you know that's what he intended?" she asked doubtfully.
"Same as I know he threw the fight at the lake," Emma shrugged. "I know I probably have some natural talent with a sword, considering who my father is and I have managed to slay a dragon, but he's fricken Captain Hook. He has over 300 years of experience fighting and I'm guessing winning sword fights since he has that reputation of being a bad ass swordsman, over my few weeks of handling a sword and some dumb luck against a dragon. Common sense tells me there is no way I would have won that fight if he hadn't let me. And now that I've had some actual sword fighting lessons with Hook and David, it's so obvious that he threw the fight. Hell, watching him fight the lost boys here just confirms it. If he fought me like he fought them, I'd have been dead.
"As for the whole bean stealing incident, I get why he did it," Emma said quietly. "I've had 28 years of self preservation instincts that I constantly have to fight, remembering that I have family now, and friends, and a town to protect. Hook had centuries of looking out for no one but himself. And we just expected him to risk his neck to save a town full of people who probably wouldn't spit on him if he were on fire. He didn't have to warn us, he didn't have to help us, and with that ship of his he could have gotten the hell out of dodge before the first tremor. But he did help, and then we expected him to wholeheartedly embrace the idea of risking his life to save a woman who has tried to kill him instead of letting her die a hero like she was willing to do?"
"Yeah, but….okay, when you put it that way it does sound like we might have been slightly unfair to him." Mary Margaret conceded.
"He may have temporarily given into his self preservation instincts, but in the end he came back. He came back," Emma repeated in a whisper, pausing in whatever she was about to say as she recalled the moment she was struggling to hold on to hope, trying to figure out a way to rescue her son and finding nothing. Not even Regina knew how to open a portal at random, and even if she did, they had no idea where Henry was taken. Hope was quickly slipping through her fingers until she saw his ship in the distance sailing towards her-them.
"Other than Henry, no one has ever come back for me before," Emma continued. "Hook did. He came back, and without asking for anything in return he offered his ship to take us to wherever Henry was, and his services. Turns out, even if we found a way to get to Neverland on our own, we wouldn't have survived long. He's been keeping us safe, he's even saved David even though David has made it pretty damn obvious how much he can't stand Hook. He didn't have to tell us about Neal, and as for the thing that happened in the caves…."
"Ah yes, the caves." Mary Margaret chuckled mirthlessly.
"I kissed him not the other way around," Emma admitted. "We were all sort of on a high. We got to talk to Henry and reassure him that we were going to rescue him, Hook managed to save David and David actually gave him credit for it. And yeah, I know now that it didn't actually happen the way they said it did, but at the time I was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I know that Hook was a big reason for it. So I grabbed him, kissed him, and…"
"And?" asked Mary Margaret curiously as she gingerly plucked at the berries from the bush in front of her.
"And," Emma hedged, unable to keep the blush from creeping across her cheeks. "And it was a one time thing like I said."
"Do you have feelings for Hook?"
"Yes," she winced, knowing that it wasn't what her mother wanted to hear but she had to be honest. "I don't know what kind of feelings or how deep they go, and I'll have time to figure that out after we get Henry back, figure out a way to fix things with David so he could come home with us, and we all get back to Storybrooke."
"But what about Neal? You said you still loved him," Mary Margaret persisted.
"I'll probably always love him," Emma confessed. "Doesn't mean that I'm in love with him or that we're meant to be together."
"He loves you, even when he was with Tamara, I knew that he was still in love with you," Mary Margaret admitted. "And we did have a talk about you two before that whole thing with him falling into a vortex happened. He was very sorry for leaving you, but he really believed he was doing the right thing. He did what he had to do for you to fulfill your destiny and break the curse so we could be a family again."
"He told you he left me?" Emma asked, her eyes narrowing in anger. "Yeah, I guess in a manner of speaking he left me-in jail."
"What?" gasped Mary Margaret, her eyes widening in surprise and then narrowing. "What do you mean he left you in jail?"
"Guess he left that little detail out didn't he?" Emma grunted as she jumped up to grab some of the higher seated mangos from the tree she was attacking. "Yeah, He had stashed a bunch of watches that he stole in a locker at a bus stop. His face was plastered on some wanted posters, so he couldn't get to them, but I could. So I went, because the twenty grand we could get from fencing the watches would go a long way to getting us to Tallahassee. That was supposed to be where we were supposed to settle down, where he promised me we would have a home by the beach overlooking the ocean. We were supposed to meet the next day, only a policeman was there instead of Neal, and instead of us going to Tallahassee I went to jail for 11 months. There I had Henry, and gave him away. When I got out, I went to Tallahassee hoping that Neal would be there with an explanation. He wasn't. I spent 2 years using up any free time I had searching for him, but he was good, covered his tracks well. It wasn't until I looked at the calendar one day, and realized that it was my baby's second birthday, that I had missed out on 2 years of his life and that Neal had no clue he even existed that it finally hit me. He didn't want to be found. I was spending every free moment I had searching for someone who I thought didn't love me, so I let him go. I picked up the pieces of my life that were left, and I made myself stronger."
She took a breath, and chanced a look at her mother, whose eyes held a mixture of sadness, pain and anger at what her daughter was forced to endure.
"Why didn't you ever tell us sweetheart?" asked Mary Margaret quietly. "Did you think we would judge you? Be disappointed in you because you have to know that would never happen."
"At first, I didn't say anything because I didn't like talking about that time of my life. I had to bury that pain, the hurt that I thought would never go away," she explained, hating how her voice sounded thicker at that moment. "And then, when we found Neal again, and he wanted to be a part of Henry's life, I didn't say anything because I really wanted Henry to have a father, and I didn't want you and David to go all Snow White and Prince Charming on his ass."
"Damn right we would have!" smiled Mary Margaret smugly. "But we also would have respected your wishes if you told us you really didn't want us to interfere. Even if I really want to hit him for what he did to my daughter."
"I won't lie, Neal is a big reason why I built walls around myself, so that no one would get close enough to ever hurt me again. But you were right, the walls kept people out, but they also kept me alone. Until Henry. Until you and David, and Storybrooke."
"And Hook?" Mary Margaret ventured, sounding just a little defeated.
"Ok, I get that he's a pirate and you'd probably imagine me getting together with a prince or something. Not that I'm getting together with Hook or anything," She quickly corrected.
"Sure. Whatever you say sweetheart." her mother grinned knowingly.
"I'm just saying that, despite his reputation he doesn't seem to be as bad a guy as we all thought he was, and maybe we should give him a break." Emma shrugged.
"Maybe you're right," agreed Mary Margaret with a smile. "And you also right about me pushing you towards Neal. It should be your decision. Just know whomever you choose, your father and I will support you."
"Even if it isn't Neal?" Emma hedged.
"Now that I know more about the past you shared with him, yeah." Promised Mary Margaret. "We truly, truly just want you to be happy Emma."
"Alright," Emma nodded, not really sure what to say to her mother after such a revealing conversation. "Thanks."
"Of course sweetheart," Mary Margaret grinned, reaching out for Emma's hand and giving it a quick squeeze. "I think we have enough fruits here. We should get back."
"Okay." sighed Emma, feeling a little lighter now that she's really started to let go of her past by sharing it with her mother. She grabbed their basket and followed her mother back to the camp where Neal had already rolled out their pallets, Hook had the campfire going and was chatting lightly with David. Once he saw Emma, Hook gave her an inquiring look. She gave a small smile and a nod to let him know everything was alright. He returned her smile, relieved that things were okay between her and her mother. Emma's gaze shifted downward and she blushed at his concern. He waggled his eyebrows at her, and she answered with a roll of her eyes and a slight chuckle. This wordless conversation didn't escape the notice of David and Mary Margaret.
With a slight lull in the conversation due to Hook's attention being elsewhere, David gave a look to his wife, who gave him a small grin, and her eyes flitted from Emma to Hook and back. David raised his eyebrows, Mary Margaret tilted her head and gave him a slightly amused look. David sighed and shook his head before meeting his wife's eyes again. This time, there was a steeliness in them before she shifted her gaze towards Neal. David tilted his head and she pursed her lips.
"Emma, you and your mother did a great job on the berries and mangoes, but maybe we should get some coconuts, you know, for variety." David suggested. "Wanna help your dear old dad climb a tree?"
"You mean, you want me to climb a tree so you can have a few coconuts?" she joked.
"Well, you're just so good at it!" David teased as they headed away from the campsite.
"No need for flattery, I'm developing a taste for coconuts too." Emma smirked, glancing at Hook.
"Aye, they go really well with Rum." agreed Hook following a laughing Emma and David.
David looked back at Mary Margaret once more and nodded before disappearing with his daughter and Hook past the tree line.
Mary Margaret reached into her quiver and nocked her bow silently as Neal grabbed a mango. He tossed it into the air and waited for it to drop into his hand when he felt a quick and sharp breeze zing by him. He looked to his left and saw an arrow imbedded into the tree beside him along with the mango.
"What the hell?" he muttered, yanking the arrow out along with the mango out of the tree.
"Neal, you and I need to have a little chat about what happened between you and Emma…."