All Magic Comes With a Price:

Page 4: Emma's Not Giving Neal a Chance:

Hook woke up, earlier the next morning, with a headache due to his hangover. He moved a bit when he felt someone hug up to his torso. This was not new for the pirate, but he was slightly shocked when he saw that it was Dream hugging up to him. Hook smirked to himself, trying not to move too much so he did not wake her up.

But he did move, making her stir awake.

"Good mornin', love," Hook smirked, watching her look up at him, rubbing her eyes.

"Oh, hey... Morning..." Dream yawned, half asleep, making Hook chuckle at her. "Wait!" She said, sitting up quickly after a couple of seconds.

"What?" Hook asked when he moved to sit up, wondering what was wrong.

"It's morning? I stayed the night..." Dream sighed, when she got up from the bed, looking really worried. "What's the problem with that, love? We, at least, woke up with our clothes, still intact... unfortunately." Hook smirked, when Dream glared at him, making him smile even more since her serious glare just made him find her more beautiful.

"I have to go." Dream sighed when she moved to grab her bag that she left on one of the cabinets, making Hook sigh to himself, while he watched her leave the ship.

It was a little bit later, and Mary Margaret and David were eating their lunch a breakfast while Dream headed out to find Hook, who was not on his ship. "I never thought Granny's lasagna could taste so good," David said, getting a fork full of lasagna and making Mary Margaret chuckle at him.

"Perhaps you'd like to wash it down with this," Gold said, walking over to set a small bottle down on the table. "An elixir. This will cure your Dreamshade poisoning once and for all." He continued to explain to the couple when the two looked shocked. 

"You really found a cure? Already?" David asked him, really surprised that it only took him a day.

"I am a man of my word," Gold said to him, wanting a better relationship with his children, Belle, and his grandson. He wanted his family back. 

"And I owe you nothing? No price of magic? No--"

"On the house," Gold said when the couple looked shocked by his selfless act. "But we are family now, so I'm sure should I ever need a favor, you'd be more than receptive." Gold continued, smiling at the two when David and Mary Margaret smiled back at him. 

"Thank you." David smiled when Gold nodded his head, walking over to the counter.

"What are you waiting for? Drink it." Mary Margaret said when she watched David pause to look at the bottle for a moment. 

He took off the cork lid before taking a drink of the elixir. "How do you feel?" She asked her husband, who looked uneasy for a moment, breathing heavily before moving his hand to his side. She looked worried, but he looked back at her, smiling before kissing her. "What are you thinking?" Mary Margaret asked, smiling at her husband.

"Well, I'm thinking that maybe we can finally start on that baby." He suggested, smirking at her, when Mary Margaret glanced behind David to Neal, who was sitting a few booths away, sitting alone. "Okay, I didn't mean right now..." David sighed, seeing Mary Margaret sigh when her mood changed. 

"Emma didn't listen to us..." She sighed, making David turn to look at Neal, who was sipping his coffee.

"I've got this," David said, grabbing his jacket when he got up to find his daughter.

"Isn't Granny's that way?" David asked, finally finding Emma by the beach, sitting on an old tree log.

"Did Neal send you?" Emma asked, putting her phone down. 

"No, he has no idea I'm here... But when I saw him sitting at a table alone, I wanted  to make sure you were okay." David sighed when he walked over to stand next to her. "Are you?" David asked her when she sighed, looking away from him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, being short with her dad, before he sighed, sitting down next to her. 

"Emma..."

"It's not Neal. It's Henry." Emma sighed, making sure her father would not lecture her about Neal. "He doesn't seem like himself. He barely recognized his storybook last night." Emma sighed when David shrugged, looking at her.

"He went through a lot in Neverland."

"I know, and he asked to spend the night at Regina's..." Emma said, making David sigh, realizing that Emma was upset about that and not Henry. "Well, you know, she did help save him. And she did raise him until you came into his life...." David went to say to her. 

"I know she did," Emma said, scoffing a bit at her father.

"And he's always been very close with Dream... I mean, she was his big sister for years." David shrugged when Emma continued to look at him. "Look, he probably wants to stay with you tonight. I wouldn't worry about it. You know, we're all recovering." He continued to try and reassure her.

"I know... I just can't shake the feeling something bad is still going to happen, and I need to do everything I can to stop it." Emma sighed when David sighed at her.

"Emma, you can't think like that..."

"Why not? Bad things do keep happening." Emma defended her mindset. 

"And so do good things. But if you think like that, you miss out. There's more to life than just looking for the next fight. You know, you've got to look for the moments." David said, repeating something similar to what he told his wife after they married. 

""Moments?""

"Yes... Life is made up of moments. Good ones, bad ones, but they're all worth living." 

"Well, I seem to be a magnet for the bad ones." Emma sighed, feeling like her life was one bad memory after another. "Well, then, all the more reason to look for the good moments in between the bad ones." David continued to try and comfort her.

"And you think having lunch with Neal would be a good moment?" Emma asked her father, who shrugged.

"I don't know. Does he eat with his mouth open?" David asked, making Emma smile, holding back her laughter. "I'm not sure I'm ready." Emma sighed, knowing deep down that she could not fall back in love with Neal because, deep down, she had feelings for Hook. 

"What's the harm in finding out?" David asked when he moved to stand up from the log. "Come on; I'll give you a lift to Granny's," David said when he extended his arm for Emma to interlock her arm with him. 

"You sure you don't have other reasons for pushing me toward Neal?" 

"Like what?" David asked her.

"I don't know, keeping me away from Hook?" Emma asked him, making him stop to look at her. "You think I'm interested in Hook? Emma, I'm a married man." David joked, making Emma shake her head at him.

~season 3, episode 10: "The New Neverland"~

~1158 words~