Summary: A series of 100-500 word drabbles to accompany my rewatch of season 3 of Once Upon a Time. There will be a drabble–either a deleted scene, a “fix it” fic or a character musing for each episode of the season. Focus will be on Emma, Henry, the Charmings and Killian–with an emphasis on Captain Swan’s epic love story.
Note: I know it’s been….forever…since I updated. Christmas projects and other real life things got in the way. I’m hoping to get caught up to 3x7, where the rewatch group is currently, as soon as possible, so with any luck, I’ll be able to post daily (or at least every other day) until that happens!
Emma stormed away praying that this time her parents didn’t follow. They tried but sometimes their love was almost…suffocating.
Particularly in this instance.
They were the perfect, ideal true love couple. Yes, they’d faced their obstacles, but they had been obstacles from the outside, forces trying to drive them apart. Their love and trust in each other had never faltered.
And that was great. Really. Emma was happy for them, but some people weren’t that lucky.
Waves of pain, guilt and insecurity washed over her as she thought about Neal. He’d folded at the first sign of conflict, preferring to run, to send her to jail, rather than fight for their love. Suddenly she was back there, sitting on her prison cot as the truth of it all crashed down around her. She wasn’t enough. She wasn’t worth fighting for.
And when she was later forced to give up her son….it was a wonder she even survived the agony of it.
She’d worked hard to put him, put the whole situation, from her mind, to learn from her mistakes and come back stronger and wiser. She’d built a fortress around her heart.
But then Henry had found her and brought her home, and for a short time things had been, if not good, as close to good as she’d gotten in a long time.
It all crashed down on her again when she found Neal in New York and came to realize just how entwined her story and Neal’s had been, just how deep his betrayal had been.
The moment she’d seen him, all the pain, all the misplaced hope, all the love of an unloved teenager for the one person who’d briefly treated her like she was worth a damn came rushing back and it was too much. Way too much.
Emma wished she had Hook’s flask. She needed the burning, numbing power of his rum to dull this ache.
For the briefest glimmer of time, Emma had thought maybe there could be a way to make peace with the past, to forgive Neal and move forward, and then he’d left her again. He’d died, and yes, she’d felt grief, but, God help her, she’d also felt relief. Relief that it was over. That he couldn’t disrupt her life again.
And then Henry had been taken from her, and she was once again alone. She’d returned to Neverland, found Neal’s cave, found his map…and then discovered it was useless with him dead.
Damn him! Damn Neal, and Pan and Neverland and this whole situation! She couldn’t take much more. If they didn’t find Henry, if he was too far gone once they found him….
Emma took a deep breath, holding back the tears through sheer strength of will. If she started to cry, she’d never stop.In the distance, she heard the murmur of her parents’ voices, Hook and Regina bickering in Bae’s cave, and a spark of renewed hope struck in her. No matter how much she might feel it, she wasn’t alone. Not anymore. She had parents and friends and even the tentative cooperation of the Dark One. There would be time to process all the emotions later. For now, it was time to fight. She would get her son back or die trying!
When I originally wrote this little one shot after Season 5′s premiere episode (5x01), I remember being both excited and anxious for what was to come for Emma and those who love her most. I couldn’t help wanting to write a bit of sweet fluff for them, in the midst of all the angst that I’m now sure is on the way. (Boy, we couldn’t have even guessed at how angsty Season 5 would really get, could we?) I loved that little Emma in the flashback was seeing The Sword in the Stone, and the title of this is from that movie’s song Merlin sings while showing Wart how to pack magically.
Also available on A03 or ff.net (As part of my One Shot Collection “Of Swans and Swords and Hopeful Hearts) if you prefer to read on one of those platforms.
Summary: Canon Divergent 5a Missing Moment /// Sometime in what I hope is the near future, a simple family movie night after Emma has defeated the Darkness…
The little yellow cottage by the water seems lit from within on this chilly autumn evening as night begins to fall over Storybrooke, Maine. Though it hasn’t been home for long, Emma Swan’s first place of her own – that isn’t a tiny apartment in some huge, bustling city – is already exactly the cozy sanctuary she envisioned. It hasn’t been more than a couple of weeks since she moved her things in, settled into the space, and she is only now starting to feel that she really will be alright. She will be able to stay here in this little town, and she won’t have to fear hurting the ones she loves, because the darkness is finally, completely gone from inside her.
Most of that credit goes to her two True Loves seated right in front of her, part of the gathering in her little home tonight. Her sexy and sweetly devoted Captain, and her precious son who never stopped believing in her, are the ones who kept her fighting even when her battle against the Dark One curse began to feel hopeless – when she might have otherwise lay down in defeat and been subsumed by the horrific and overwhelming power that had coursed through her veins, aching to take her over.
Tonight is not about that though, even if she cannot help ruffling Henry’s hair with such an overflow of affection that it makes momentary tears well in her eyes as she pauses by the back of the sofa where he sits with little Roland Hood, waiting for everyone else to settle in with them to begin movie night. Killian is sitting quietly on Roland’s other side, clearly trying to appear extra calm and still, Emma can tell, because of the little boy in their care. Finally feeling like herself again, Emma had offered to babysit so Roland could join their little party and Regina and Robin could have a much-needed night alone to truly reconnect, talk, and heal. It made her feel even more accepted and restored to normal when Regina didn’t hesitate to accept her offer at all. Still, Roland hasn’t spent much time with any of them except Henry, and Emma finds it insanely adorable how hard her former pirate boyfriend is trying not to spook the child, to the point of keeping his hook shielded from view at his other side. As if sensing her thought, Killian tilts his head up against the back of the couch to look at her hovering over his shoulder.
“You’re thinking quite loudly, Swan,” he quips playfully, though she sees the unasked question in his eyes behind the jest. After all they have been through recently, he is especially attuned not to let her thoughts veer back toward guilt and fear over where she has been or what she has done, not if he can help it.
Emma bends down to kiss his forehead affectionately, happy to bestow any bit of encouragement or sweetness on him after the lengths he went to in order to bring her back and what he endured when she was not fully herself. She doesn’t want to dwell on those memories now, and so she keeps the kiss brief and innocent, standing again swiftly and shaking her head clear of the heavier thoughts. Tonight is meant to be happy – a celebration – and she intends to keep it so.
“How’s the popcorn coming in there?” she calls toward the kitchen where her dad is trying to work the microwave and prepare their snack, while keeping her little brother occupied as well.
“Yes, Dave, need a hand?” Killian quips, the old joke of his only having one to spare familiar and accepted between them.
“Everyone just needs to hold their horses a minute!” David admonishes, no real scold in his eyes though as he strides into the room, one arm holding little Neal balanced on his hip, while carrying two huge bowls of mouth-wateringly scented buttered popcorn, one in each hand. “I’ve got it under control.”
Henry jumps up quickly to take one of the bowls from his grandpa and allow the man a free hand. David settles into the recliner with his young son, digging into the popcorn for his own handful and his eyes widening in pleased delight. “Wow! This is incredible!”
Henry laughs aloud, and Emma shoots her father a knowing look from around the people sitting between them. “See? Didn’t I tell you so?” She nods with playful gratification. “You can’t have a great movie night without buttered popcorn.”
“One point to the modern world,” David acknowledges with a conciliatory nod.
Killian reaches over to the bowl, putting his own handful of the hot, salty treat in his mouth. His eyes widen comically as well, and he nods vigorously in agreement. “Oh, aye, this is something the Enchanted Forest should truly be sorry they are lacking!”
Everybody crams into the cozy, but admittedly small, living room of Emma’s waterfront cottage as Henry pushes play on the DVD player and the movie begins. He’s been going through the Disney classics with little Roland, who is still wide-eyed and amazed by so much in the modern world, but clearly adores both the real world magic of animation and a catchy song as much as any other child. The selection for tonight is The Sword in the Stone, and though both Killian and her father had started to protest, afraid their recent adventures and trials – and how different Arthur, Merlin, and Camelot itself had proven to be from the legend they had known – might be upsetting or painful for Emma and all of them, Emma herself had urged them to let the boys pick. She could see the appeal in comparing the made-up story to a place they had just been able to experience for themselves.
What she didn’t say aloud was that the real ache in her chest came not from remembering Arthur’s machinations and veiled treachery or the danger they had all faced, but from the memories of this movie being the first one she had ever seen in a theater, how she’d had to sit all alone with no one to buy her snacks, laugh along with her, or be sure she was enjoying herself. She remembered all too well having to walk past the popcorn in the theater lobby with no money of her own, and the way she had so easily filched a candy bar from that other theatergoer without thinking twice. Perhaps the Darkness had always been in there with her light, long before she could have possibly understood…
As the cartoon reached the spot where Wart wonders into Merlin’s cottage and the bearded old wizard is magically packing his entire home into a single bag with his “Higitus Figitus” song, Emma can’t help curling in a little closer to Killian from where she has already wedged herself onto the couch between him and the sofa’s arm, leaning her head sadly on his shoulder.
“Alright there, Lass?” he whispers, breath warm and soft on her forehead so as not to disturb their younger viewers.
“Fine,” she answers shortly, knowing she’ll tell him later about how that scene had only served to remind her of all the times she had been packed back up from a foster home and sent away again. For now she only wants to snuggle up to his warmth and be glad he is still here with her, despite what she had almost become.
However, when she gets up later to check on popcorn and drink refills, she simply has to bring the two boys candy bars when she returns, and somehow with their smiles and excited thanks, and the arm of her pirate wrapped around her once again, the void from so many years ago is finally filled.
[ something special for @okkatsudon 's collab event <somebody new> wooooo!!! thank you for organizing!! ><♡ the audacity to post on the last date lmao can u believe this.. hides under a rock , tw implied internal homophobia & manipulation (??) cant believe my first sapphic fic n im making it angst smh , cw cursing ]
tokyo revenger masterlist | main masterlist
"baby! say cheese!!"
you silently watch as emma gently lifts her camera, the tall guy sitting opposite her freezes mid chewing, a sharp glare sent her way as he scowls. "i was eating!!" "but you looked cute!!", and you can sense her pouting despite her back facing you, earning yourself a light chuckle as you watch the couple playfully bicker. those two are something, for sure.
everyone has seen the heart eyes emma throws at draken every time they talk to each other. and how the tips of draken's ears are slightly red at the mere mention of the girl's name. it was inevitable, really. a pair of dense fuckers with the classic cliches of brother's best friend and the "what if it ruins the friendship" trope? you swear you've heard echoes of cheers somewhere when the two publicly went out together for the first time. you even saw it in front of your eyes when pah chin handed over twenty bucks to mikey who, unsprisingly proceeds to finish it all on taiyakis.
sano emma and ryuguji ken is a match made in heaven. what could possibly go wrong with the highschool's sweetheart and the most reliable delinquent?
"oh y/n! you're having a picnic here too?," draken motions his hand over to their spot when he notices your figure. you purse your lips. you know emma doesn't get to hang around with her boyfriend often. it would be a nuisance if you stay around, you conclude, so you politely excuse yourself with a smile. "yeah, i'm actually finished with my lunch." the vice president of tokyo manji gang simply nods while the yellow-greenish eyed girl turns to you to give an excited wave.
everything.
because sano emma hopes that it's enough to convince herself that she doesn't like you that way. not when the lips that she dreams of kissing curves upwards and it makes you so pretty her head spins. and not certainly when you intertwined your hands together in the morning earlier, gushing to her how well this date you've helped her with will go, about how cute of a pair she and draken is. if pushing down her feelings and toying around with a guy is what makes you happy, then so be it.
why is y/n there? for "i wanna see everythg" bff or bcs y/n is actually lowkey jealous?? ill leave the theories up to you, good night 😊
KW’s Microwhump: 1000% Done in 5x03 “Siege Perilous”
Whilst he’s talking with Robin about their complicated love lives, Granny slaps a bag of food in front of him. “I didn’t order anything,” he protests. Of course he didn’t. Emma did. Because things aren’t complicated enough already.
KW’s MicroWhump: Facing Emma in 5x03 “Siege Perilous”
He tries to meet Emma halfway. He tries to talk to her, to get her to open up, to be honest with him... but she’s playing mind games with him and he knows it. He may not know exactly what she’s after (the cutlass he held at Rumple’s throat on their first meeting), but he knows she’s after something. She asks him if he loves her. “I loved you,” he responds, bracing himself for a wrathful response.
When Robin Hood is attacked in Camelot, Killian tries to protect Emma by stopping her from using magic to interfere. When Robin is mortally wounded, Regina asks Emma to use her magic to save his life - and Killian angrily protests this idea, knowing it’s too much for Emma. No one listens.
No whump in this episode, but there’s a few glimpses of angst and some adorable muffin sightings to enjoy. Top row is our first glimpse of Officer Rogers. Isn’t he cute? Second row is him getting sassed by Henry and putting his foot down on that real quick XD Third row is his first glimpses at the book Henry wrote. Fourth row is the cutest peanut in the precinct meeting his new partner after his promotion - look how eager and happy he is! Fifth row is Rogers angstily looking at an illustration of Emma in Henry’s book as the episode closes...
