Fic: What True Love Creates Part 3
Summary: Emma has to sneak out of the house, and gets help from someone unexpected... She and Rumpelstiltskin finally meet up...
Chapter 3
Emma found herself walking on tip-toe as she made her way past her parents’ room. Absurdly she felt like a teenager sneaking out of the house to meet a boyfriend.
She crept down the stairs as quietly as she could, barely reaching the bottom before one of the faeries came into the hall.
Emma looked around desperately for a hiding place, when a hand suddenly closed around her arm and yanked her into a closet.
James put a finger to his lips, eyes twinkling with amusement in the dim light.
“Front and back exits are being guarded. Our best bet is to go out the window in the dinning room,” he whispered.
Emma nodded, and once all was quiet in the hall, the two of them made for the dinning room.
They worked together, distracting the “guards” and getting to the dining room window, as if they’d been doing it for years. Logically, Emma knew that this man was her father, but the more time she spent around him the more her heart began to believe it.
The drop from window to ground was a little farther than Emma had expected, but James had anticipated her fall, and caught her with ease.
“C’mon! We have to get away before they realize the window is open,” he whispered, grabbing her hand.
The two sprinted off down the street, putting a few blocks between them and the mayor’s mansion before stopping to catch their breath.
James was laughing.
“I can’t remember the last time I’ve had this much fun,” he confessed, smiling at her.
Emma grinned back and shook her head at him.
“And just where is King James headed this evening?”she asked, arching a brow.
He shrugged.
“Nowhere, really. Reminders of Regina are all over that house…Snow is finally getting some sleep and I wanted to take a walk to clear my head, but the damn fairies didn’t think that would be a good idea. So I did it anyway. Much more fun with an accomplice…” he gave her a sly look.
She smiled and looked down.
“So where is Princess Emma headed?”
Emma groaned at the title, but looked up at him searchingly.
Their lives had been dominated by so many lies over the last 28 years, that Emma just didn’t have it in her to do so now.
She sighed.
“I’m going to talk to Rumpelstiltskin.”
He didn’t say anything, just folded his arms across his chest, tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. Translation: he wanted an explanation.
Emma sighed again.
“Look, I get it. You think he’s evil, and I’m not saying that I don’t agree, but I have to know all the sides to this story before I can figure out how to proceed.”
James remained quiet.
“He’s never tried to hurt me, and he has actually helped me out a few times. I owe it to him, to at least listen to what he has to say. He’s the one who brought the magic here, maybe he knows the secret to stabilizing it.”
It was James’s turn to sigh.
“I should go with you…but I’m afraid my presence may not help things. He’s always had a way of making me lose control. I don’t know that we’ve had a conversation without me pulling a sword on him…”
Emma smiled at the image his words conjured.
“Come on, my truck’s around the corner. I’ll drop you off a block away from his house. You have thirty minutes to get back before I go in after you,” he warned.
She shook her head as she followed him.
“Give me an hour. I have a feeling that this is going to be a long conversation.
“Okay, one hour.”
--
Rumpelstiltskin opened the front door just as Emma lifted her hand to knock. She took one look at him and was barely able to stifle a scream.
“Oh my god! What happened to your face?”
It looked almost scaly, and was a greenish gray color.
He glared at her and held a finger to his lips, showing her that it wasn’t just the skin of his face that had been changed.
Emma shuddered but followed him into the house obediently when he beckoned. He walked without a cane or a limp.
She had been there once before, but was still distracted by the myriad of odd collections he had. Stuff like what you’d see in his shop covered every available surface. In 28 years he had certainly accumulated a lot of junk.
When she stopped to study a golden lamp, he impatiently grabbed her arm before she could touch it, and pulled her into a study.
The lighting was dim, but she was shocked to see more and more of the changes he had gone through. The most unsettling was his eyes-they were huge!
“All right then, I have used magic to protect this room. We can speak freely without fear of being overheard,” he said, squeakily. His hands and arms made exaggerated motions as he spoke.
Emma blinked and shook her head.
“Sorry, not used to you being so…theatrical. Wait, who would overhear us?”
His freakishly large eyes darted up to the ceiling then back to her.
“No one you should concern yourself with,” he snapped.
Emma frowned.
“Is this guest of yours the reason you needed the magic I had to slay a dragon for?”
He shook his head and gestured for her to take a seat in one of the chairs in front of a cold dark fireplace while he took the other.
“No, I just needed it before you broke the curse. Otherwise everyone would have returned to the other world when it broke and I’m not ready to go back just yet,” he explained, looking pensive.
Emma gathered her anger around her in an effort to push away the confusion and fear of her situation, but before she could speak, he did.
“Don’t say something you’re going to regret, Dearie. Henry is fine, and was never in any real danger. Yes, I misled you and Regina to get what I needed, but no one got hurt, and I think our fine little town is better off.”
Emma deflated a little. She would not have had the slightest interest in slaying that dragon if she’d known it had nothing to do with Henry. But if she had broken the curse before Rumpelstiltskin had retrieved the magic, they could all be in a strange world now.
She shuddered and her companion laughed.
“So bright you are! You have your mother’s mind, my dear, and your father’s passion!”
He snapped his fingers and suddenly a roaring fire appeared in the fireplace in front of them, and a cup of cocoa with a sprinkling of cinnamon manifested in her hands.
Emma stared at the drink, fascinated.
“Can my magic do that?”
The question slipped out without thought.
He gave her a playful look.
“You mean the Big Blue Mosquito hasn’t taught you how to use your magic yet?”
Emma giggled at the nickname and took a sip of her drink.
“She’s tried. I just…I don’t trust her. And to be quite honest, I don’t really want magic.”
“Spoken by someone who has never used magic. Once you use it, you’ll want it,” he said, shrewdly.
Emma just shrugged and took another sip.
“Nothing more to say? Isn’t it your questions about magic that prompted you to call me in the first place?”
Emma was taken aback.
“How did you know that?”
“Oh, come now, Princess! That isn’t what you came to ask me,” he chided.
She glared at him.
“Since you seem to already know what I want to ask, why don’t you just answer?”
“But where’s the fun in that?”
She stubbornly looked away, downing more of her drink.
He let out a dramatic sigh.
“Fine. The magic I preserved is unique in that is was born of your parents’ love, much like yourself. As I was the one who created it, I can easily control it. You should find it even easier to use than I do. As for the fairy pests, they will have quite the time trying to control it. And Regina will find it most unwilling to cooperate should she try to use it.”
“Do you think she’ll try?” Emma asked, worried.
“She isn’t in Storybrooke right now, and therefore cannot access the magic. It will stay within the confines of our town.”
She nodded, only slightly reassured.
He watched her quietly for a moment.
“Our time is running short. King Daddy will be here soon to break up our party…you’d better ask what you came to ask.”
Emma glanced down at her watch, surprised to see how much time had passed.
“At the meeting today, Granny told me about the magic users: Regina, the Blue Fairy, and you. I don’t like or completely trust the Blue Fairy…”
“You could say the same thing about me,” he observed, quietly.
“Why did you do it?” she asked him suddenly.
“Why did I do what?” he asked, but it wasn’t really a question. It was clear that he knew exactly what she was talking about.
“The curse. You are the one who made it, after all. And you said the reason you had to get the magic out of the dragon before I broke the curse was so that all of you wouldn’t return to the other world. What is it? What is your motivation? Why have you done all of this?”
His stare was piercing, but Emma refused to look away or even blink.
“Why would you?” he asked her, finally.
“What do you mean?”
“What is the one thing in all of the worlds that could possibly motivate you to plan, create, destroy, and manipulate as I have?”
A year ago, Emma could have honestly said that nothing was worth all that he had done. But that was before Henry entered her life.
She thought back to the day that Mr. Gold had given her the walkie-talkies for her and Henry to play with. He had warned her then, “That’s the thing about children. Before you know it, you lose them.”
“You’re a father,” she guessed, aloud.
He smiled, revealing dirty crooked teeth. It was not a happy smile.
“I will do anything to be reunited with my son. Anything.”
Emma nodded.
“He’s here isn’t he? In this world?” Emma asked, standing up from the chair and walking over to set her empty cup down on a table.
Rumpelstiltskin nodded and turned to look at the fire. All amusement and playfulness had vanished.
“You owe me a favor, Emma. When the time comes, I will need your help to find him,” he explained quietly.
She walked back over and stood in front of him.
“You know I would’ve agreed to help you, even if I didn’t owe you a favor.”
He didn’t say anything.
She sighed and knelt in front of his chair so that they would be eye-level. Her hand covered his as it rested on his thigh.
“I will help you find your son. That is a promise.”
He met her eyes and placed his other hand on top of hers.
“And I will help you learn how to use your magic.”
Emma smiled and nodded. After all, that was what she had come here to ask.
“Now you must determine how we are to accomplish this.”
He pulled his hands back, and Emma stood up.
“Finding your son? Well, first we can-”
“No. Teaching you will take time and it’s doubtful we could accomplish anything without attracting attention. What will everyone think when the Savior begins spending time with the evil villain? Do you think your parents would allow it?” he asked, mocking.
“Leave them to me,” she said, sounding more confidant than she felt. What was she going to tell Mary and James? And what about the Blue Fairy?
A thump from upstairs made them jump.
Rumpelstiltskin was on his feet in an instant.
“Lovely visit, Princess, but I’m afraid it’s time you were off. Wouldn’t want Daddy to worry, would we?” he asked, ushering her out.
“Um, okay. Well, I’ll call you tomorrow about setting up time for…lessons.”
“Sounds wonderful, Dearie, good night!”
And Emma suddenly found herself on his front porch looking at the closed door in shock. She didn’t remember walking down the hall or through the doorway…did he “magic” her out there? If so, that was so cool…
She pondered all of the different kinds of magic she might be able to do as she walked back to James’s truck. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t see the man holding a gun and walking straight at her until he called her name.
“Emma Swan!”
Seeing the gun aimed at her, she stopped and raised her hands.
“This is all your fault!”
“Jefferson?”
End Chapter 3