No Sound Without Silence

Chapter 8

"Once again we have faced our enemies and won over them. We've been together through thick and thin. This town is no longer just a town that was created by a curse. This is our home and we shall defend it over and over again." David said in a loud voice booming in Granny's diner. He raised his glass higher in the air. "Cheers?"

Everyone in the room raised their glasses after him. "Cheers!"

Emma gulped down the red liquid and closed her eyes, waiting for that hot burning sensation travel down her throat and was disappointed when all she got was a light burning at the pit of her stomach. She quickly set her glass down ignoring her disappointment and her craving for something stronger. She promised herself she wouldn't get drunk tonight. Who knew what she could do if she was drunk? She knew she wasn't going to like it when she finds out.

Henry and David was talking about some game that apparently didn't make Mary Margaret very happy, knowing that her 35-year old husband was playing some 11-year old game. Emma knew that they were trying to bring her into the conversation with the occasional "Right, Mom?". But really she couldn't give them anything else but a slight nod of her head or a wave of her hand. Right now they were laughing over something Emma didn't know. Her eyes scanned the room and fell on Belle who was sitting on the bar talking to Ruby and Will Scarlet.

Honestly, it felt really wrong to celebrate about what happened to Gold. She knew that everyone didn't like, if not, hated Gold in some way. The man did do a lot of bad things to a lot of people and he also did introduce the curse to the Evil Queen. But the man was married to Belle and everyone knew how much Belle loved her husband. Belle was a kind woman. Everyone accepted her right away when she was finally free from the clutches of Regina. No one wanted to see her sad and alone. At first, there was no celebration for tonight, everyone agreed to that. It actually Belle who insisted that they all celebrate for the town and for herself as well. Of course, no one would disagree with that.

Emma was proud of the woman. She did the right thing. Telling Gold what she have always wanted to say. Maybe Gold was just doing things for Belle as well. She knew the Dark One also loved his wife but he never changed. Always the same. He might have wanted the best for himself and his family but he never asked what Belle actually wanted. She watched as Belle laughed at a joke Will made and noticed a twinkle in her kind eyes as she looked at Will who was still telling her a story. If Emma didn't know better, she would have said Belle looked absolutely happy. Somehow she wondered, did she look like that when she looked at Killian?

She took in a breath, trying to ease the pain in her chest. Looking around, she waved for Ruby who was serving the dwarfs another round of beer. to hell with her promise to herself not to get drunk because she definitely needed something strong.

"What can I get 'ya?" Ruby said playfully.

"Rum."

The word slipped out of her mouth before she could process what it was. She frowned and blinked away the shock of what she said. She felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and found the worried eyes of her mother. "Emma, are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." she said, almost a whisper.

"No, no rum." David said to Ruby. He wasn't angry, she knew, but she also knew that he wasn't happy with her choice of drink.

Emma frowned at her father and turned to Ruby. "I'll have rum." she said a little louder this time.

"Emma!" David almost shouted her name.

Ruby looked at both of them. "Well, I'll let you guys decide on that for a while." she said before walking away from their table to continue serving people their drinks.