the art of loving.
short stories and imagines of your favorite once upon a time (2011) characters.
[ requests are open! dm me or comment the idea and character and it will be published shortly <3 ]
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Originally, Emma, Mary Margaret, David, Regina, Gold, Hook and Esme had gone to Neverland to rescue Henry. Having finally succeeded, the group tried to decide what they were going to do now: they were stuck in the island, and there was a demon on the loose - a demon that fed on love, of all things.
"We need to trap the demon somewhere" Regina suggested.
After Pan had released the demon, the usually harmonious group came face to face with everyone's darkest, and unloving sides. Eventually, they had to do something, before they ended up killing each other.
"Great, we still have Pandora's box so let's trap it in there. Hand it over, Gold"
"Not so fast, Emma. The demon has grown considerably, it's stronger than ever. I'm afraid a box, or anything of the sort, won't do. You see, it has been feeding on love, so the only way to weaken it would be to put it in a vessel that can tolerate its power" Regina paused. "A human body"
Silence filled the cave. Everyone looked at each other, trying to come out with another plan. They couldn't simply put one of them in danger, risking being eaten up by a demon. There had to be another way. Besides, who could it be?
"Well, we certainly aren't the best people for this" Henry tried to joke.
"Let's put the demon in Hook" said David, glaring at the man. "It's not like that pirate has much love in him, so what's the difference?"
"I'm sorry, mate. I have my great love for Milah, and I'm not letting anyone take that away from me"
"What about Rumple? He doesn't even love the woman he made a vow to" Regina raised an eyebrow and Rumpelstiltskin glared at her, preparing to talk back.
"It won't work" Esme raised her voice. "Rumple may not love Belle properly, but he loves his power, the dagger, being the Dark One. Even if it's not love for a human, his love will end up being his undoing"
"Bloody hell. Does anyone have a better idea?"
"I do" Esme spoke again. "You're going to trap the demon in me"
The statement clearly baffled everyone, all eyes fearfully fixed on Esme.
"What?"
"Unlike all of you, I've never felt love. I don't know what it's like, how it feels. I've never loved nor been loved. Putting the demon in me is the safest option, hell, it may be the only we've got"
"But even if you don't have love for people, don't you, like Rumple, love other stuff?" Snow asked, trying to find something to save Esme, everyone having doubts about using their friend as a vessel for a deadly demon.
"I have my pride, yes, and I have my strength. But no, never love"
"It would be temporary" Emma remarked.
"Yes, you would only be keeping it under control until we find out a way to destroy it" Regina helped Emma, trying to make the situation a little bit more convincing to Esme, but they didn't even need to try, she had already made up her mind.
"It's fine, honestly. It'll be the same to me"
Regina and Emma looked at each other one last time, doubt coloring their faces. They smiled at Esme, a smile that showed how grateful they were, but also how scared. Esme smiled back at them, being pretty at ease herself. She didn't have fear, because she had nothing to lose.
~•~
After Regina and Emma successfully trapped the demon inside Esme, they left the Skull Rock, and made their way into the jungle.
Everyone kept asking Esme how she felt, and they were sure she was making light of it: but she genuinely didn't feel anything at all. Sure, she had felt the blow when a supernatural, evil demon was filling up her body, but after that, she was the same woman.
"Esme!" someone shouted from behind her, catching her attention.
"Killian" she stopped and smiled, waiting for him to get to her side.
"How are you feeling?"
"Seriously, you don't have to keep asking me that, any of you. I feel exactly the same way as I always do"
"Alright, just checking" they chuckled.
Killian stared intently at her, as if trying to find any sign of the demon in the sweet features of the woman. He looked down, and then back at Esme, and she could sense he wanted to add something else.
"Look, I just wanted to say you were really brave, doing that for all of us. Not anyone would do something like that. And I'm sorry that you never felt love. I'm sure it won't stay like that forever"
Esme wanted to roll her eyes at the mention of the L word, she couldn't keep count of the times the heroes had told her she would find true love eventually. She didn't yearn for love, she was pretty sure she didn't even need it. Never had and never would. And she was about to say all those things to Killian, but the way he smiled at her stopped her. He was smiling in a way that didn't display any signs of pity or compassion. He looked hopeful, like he truly believed what he had said. And for the first time, even if for a brief second, Esme believed too.
"Thank you, Killian"
"And let me know how you're feeling, okay? I know you're strong, but just in case, we still don't know everything about this demon"
She nodded, and with a last smile and a friendly squeeze on her shoulder, Killian walked away. Esme couldn't look away from his back, walking ahead of her. The feeling of his touch lingered in the air, and not even Neverland's sultry wind managed to make it fade away. Suddenly, Esme felt a sharp pang on her chest. She was quick to unbutton her shirt to make sure she hadn't accidentally grazed anything, especially something laced with Dreamshade.
But after looking thoroughly, she couldn't find any visible mark on her chest at all.
...
hi everyone !! i'm venus, this is the first part of a short story i'll be posting. i hope you enjoy it <3
feel free to request an imagine or short story, just dm me or comment the idea and character and i will write it asap !!
