The Thief Who Stole her Heart

2

Neal's POV

I got us there just like I said I would. It was awkward though to say the least. I had no idea who any of these people were and it didn't help that the introductions were rushed. Everyone's main concern was saving my Father's life. I just stood there, trying not to get in the way.

Emma's POV

So I had to save Gold, seriously. I had to save Gold. I saved the town, but apparently that wasn't enough. Apparently the savior still had saving to do. We managed to get back to Storybrooke and bring Gold back to his home.

He needed magic in order to live, but was too weak to heal himself. With Regina not willing to help, I was the only option. Time also wasn't on our side considering she was on the hunt for his dagger. My parents, Mary Margaret and David were out looking for it too. So that left me, Henry, Neal and a dying Mr. Gold. Fearing for the worst, Gold pointed me to a spell book he had. It had a spell for everything, seriously, everything! I just had to gather up the ingredients and enact it. Piece of cake right?

"Here," Henry said as he passed me the last item needed for the spell.

"Thanks Kid," I said and tried to give him a brave, confident smile. It was the complete opposite of how I felt though. I was scared and had zero confidence in myself. And if this went bottom's up, I would personally be responsible for Henry losing one of his Grandfathers and Neal losing his dad. But, no pressure right?

"You can do this mom." Henry said reassuringly.

"Thanks." I said and smiled genuinely at him this time. I could always count on him to believe in me, even when I didn't believe in myself.

"Is there anything I can do?" Neal asked softly. He had been silent while Henry and I gathered everything. The anger that I felt earlier had simmered down and was replaced with sadness for him. I knew that they hadn't had the best relationship, but they were still family. I couldn't imagine losing my parents and how I'd move on afterwards, even if we did just recently find one another.

"No, everything is all set." I replied. "He's going to make it; he's too tough not to." I said with a small smile.

"That he is," Were Neal's only words.

It was now or never. Henry and I brought the materials back to Gold's room and I glanced over the spell, trying to get the words right and calm my nerves.

"You can do this, Emma." Henry said as he stood beside me. I nodded my head at him. Gold laid on his bed, his eyes struggling to stay open. Neal stood beside him, holding onto his hand. They didn't speak, but I could sense that act alone was comforting enough for Gold.

I arranged the items according to the spell and stood in front of Gold. With a deep breath, I began to recite the spell and could feel the magic filling my body. It was a rush, sort of like a high and I hoped that meant I wasn't screwing things up.

I closed my eyes as I continued to speak and mentally crossed my fingers, hoping that this was working. I spoke the last word and heard Gold gasp.

His skin didn't look as pale as before and the gaping stab wound was closing. It worked, I did it! I saved Gold I thought to myself. However, his eyes still looked weak. I guess he wasn't completely out of the woods yet.

"Gold?" I called out to him.

"Yes, it worked." He informed me. I could hear Neal let out a breath of relief and Henry was smiling.

"So what's wrong?" I asked.

"I need to rest, and you all need to find my dagger. You can't let Regina get it. I'm still too weak...any attack at this point and the spell won't be able to save me again." He instructed us hoarsely.

"Just rest, Papa. We'll find it." Neal told him. Gold looked up at him; the doubt from his face was washing away.

"Bae..." He said with a small smile. Neal nodded and again told him to rest. He reluctantly gave in to his tired body and fell asleep. We all left the room.

"Henry, we need to get you somewhere safe. I'll call Ruby." I told him. He started to protest, but I waved it off. Who knows if Regina had the dagger already? If she did I knew exactly what she would do with Gold's power and I couldn't risk Henry being in the crossfires.

"He can stay with me." Neal spoke up.

"You have to stay with Gold, and even that isn't safe." I told him as I waited for Ruby to pick up. She did and was on her way to get Henry.

"I can protect him." Neal said firmly when I hung up.

"Neal, this isn't about you. I don't have time to fully explain." I told him. One crisis was down, but this was far from over.

"I know what'll happen if Regina gets the dagger. She'll kill my Father, but I won't let that happen. I can protect him and Henry." Neal spoke. I let out a sad sigh. I knew he truly believed that, but he had no idea what type of person Regina was. He was no match for her.

"Neal I know you mean well, but she's dangerous. Henry will be safe with Ruby. My parents and I will find a way to stop Regina when, if, it comes down to it." I tried to reassure him.

"And I'm just supposed to sit here? He's my father, Emma!" Neal argued. There was no use in going back and forth with him. Henry was going with Ruby whether he liked it or not, it was for his best interest and that was the most important thing to me.

I heard the door open and thought it was Ruby. I was wrong. It was David and Mary Margaret and they didn't have the dagger with them. They informed us that Regina had got to it first. Even worse was Cora was in town. Shit was definitely about to hit the fan, and I had no idea how we were going to stop it.