"Talk to me, distract me. Anything." Emma whispered in a somewhat worried tone as their group continued to walk through the jungle. Snow, Odette, and Emma taking up the lead as they followed after their best tracker while David and Killian hung back a little.
"Oh, uh. We can, we can talk about..." Snow stammered, searching for a topic but blanking when put on the spot. She shared a look with Odette, looking to see if she had any ideas. And seeing the glance, the blonde heaved out a sigh.
"I almost kissed Killian." She announced.
"What!?" Both mother and daughter froze in their spots as they whisper yelled, eyes wide with surprise.
"Keep walking." Odette scolded them, pushing on their shoulders and making them continue following the trail that led from their camp. "And it's not a big deal." She added with a shake of her head.
"Almost? Why didn't you?" Snow couldn't help but ask. She glanced back for a moment, not only sending Odette a curious look, but also making sure that the man who was the main topic of their conversation couldn't overhear them. And her husband with him, considering she doubted David would enjoy being a part of it.
"I don't know. It wouldn't have meant anything, so what's the point?" Odette shrugged her shoulders carelessly, making both women glance at her again with dubious looks in their eyes.
"From the moment I've met you, I've never seen you express an interest in someone. And now you're nearly kissing? Maybe it would have meant more than you think." Snow suggested making an unamused look appear in Odette's eyes.
"Did you ever even kiss someone before? Is it fear or something?" Emma couldn't help but ask, making her godmother send her a pointed glare.
"I've kissed people before, Emma. I didn't spend all my life in captivity or cursed." She pointed out in a dry voice, the blonde shifting in a way that made it clear she had to ask and didn't really feel guilty about it. "And I'm not showing an interest in Killian. It was just a happy moment with rum and flirting. I got carried away."
"I don't know. If I was cursed and the solution was a kiss. I'd be kissing anyone who wanted to kiss me." Emma joked, making Snow too let out a small chuckle while Odette felt the need to correct the statement.
"It's not just any kiss. It's true love's kiss. And well, Killian..." Odette trailed off, trying to find a way to explain her thoughts without giving Snow and Emma more ammunition to keep teasing her or theorising about it further. "Well, he wouldn't be that."
"Why, because he's a pirate?" Snow questioned.
"Of course not, you know I don't care about that." Odette frowned as she quickly denied that. It felt wrong, to continue calling him a pirate as if it were something bad and hold it against him, when all he'd done during their time in Neverland is continue to help them. "He wouldn't be that because I don't love him. Simple."
"But you do have feelings for him?" Emma asked, pointing out the less than subtle wording choices that made Odette sigh again.
"I didn't say that."
"But you could?" Snow followed up.
"God, I should've just kept my mouth shut." She grumbled out making the mother and daughter laugh in amusement as they shared a knowing look.
"If there's something there, you should give it a shot. What's the worst that could happen?" Emma questioned, not realizing the slew of worst-case scenarios that passed through Odette's mind as a result. And one of them the one she feared most of all.
"Why do I have a feeling you won't let this go any time soon?" The blonde couldn't help but question, starting to think more and more she should have kept the incident to herself.
"Because. We know you've found good things in your life, things that bring you joy, but you haven't found your happy ending yet. Not really." Snow said simply as she came to a stop, wanting Odette to really take the time to listen to her. "And you deserve one."
"Everything alright?" David's voice cut off their conversation as he and Killian caught up with the three of them, sending them questioning looks as they wondered about the reason for the stop. And the one behind the looks on their faces.
"Yes, yes. We were just letting you catch up." Snow quickly dismissed the question before turning back to the trail. "Come on, the tracks lead this way." She announced, putting her lantern up into the air again as they continued walking. Although only minutes separated them from when they stopped again. "The tracks lead directly into that cave. This must be where Pan is keeping Neal." She announced.
The entrance to the cave spread out in front of them, blocking their path and making it clear that was the destination they'd been searching for. "If the cave is some sort of prison, why aren't there any guards posted to stop us?" David asked, stepping forward as his eyes evaluated the surrounding jungle, thinking he might spot someone hiding as they waited.
"Because this prison doesn't require guards." Killian announced, stepping forward his eyes focused entirely on the cave with a dark look of recognition sparking within them. "Echo cave." He muttered out its name.
"You know it?" Snow asked.
"All too well. I lost half my crew inside those rock walls." Killian's words made the group share worried looks between themselves, fearful of what they may be walking into. "The only way to rescue someone from inside is to reveal a secret."
"A secret? That's all?" Snow asked again, a sceptical look on her face. That didn't really sound that terrible or dangerous.
"Your darkest secret." Killian corrected. "Echo cave derives its name from an old saying... "the deeper the lie, the more truth in its echo." The cave demands that you reveal a truth about yourself. A secret you would never admit to anyone."
At this, unlike before, no one looked to each other, but rather avoided catching each other's eyes. They all knew they had secrets. Secrets which they'd never told no matter how much they claimed to share everything. The idea of having to say them now. It didn't sit well with many of them.
"This is ridiculous." Emma grumbled out in an annoyed tone.
"Don't kill the messenger." Killian retorted.
"Even if we spill our guts, how do we know Neal's still alive in there?" She questioned. There was no way of knowing if doing this would even be worth it in the end.
"Because this is what Pan wants. He wants us to rescue him." Killian pointed out in a knowing tone, and while others struggled to catch on Odette didn't. Finally, she started to understand the goal behind all of this.
"Why?" David questioned in a confused tone.
"To divide us." Odette answered, a knowing look spreading over her face as she glanced to the entrance of the caves. "We spill our secrets, and they change everything. I don't say what he told me, and he reveals I knew at the most inopportune time. Either way, this is what every step of his plan was leading him to. He wants to tear us apart."