Caught by the Dark

Chapter 5

The group was camping in the woods. Aurora was asleep, and Emma was sitting with Snow. Rose was elsewhere, trying to figure herself out. Mulan was... She didn't really know. Rose let Mulan take care of herself.

On one hand, Rose felt bad leaving Killian up on top of the beanstalk, but at the same time, she understood Emma's thoughts. She stood by Emma's decision. She didn't trust Killian, and she took everything he said with a grain of salt. She didn't want him to kill her father... not really.

She was wandering back to camp when she heard Aurora call out for Snow.

Rose found Snow kneeling next to Aurora, comforting her. She didn't pay much attention until she heard Aurora say, "He said his name was Henry."

Emma heard, and she found a photo of her son and was showing it to Aurora. "The boy you saw in your dream – is that him?"

"Yes. That's Henry," Aurora said.

"That's impossible. It was a dream. How could you dream of my son?"

"I have no idea."

"Maybe it wasn't a dream," Snow said.

"What?" Emma asked.

"That room... I've been there," Snow said.

"When I told you about it, you didn't say anything," Aurora said.

"You were terrified. I didn't want to make things worse by telling you I thought it might be real."

"A room in a dream is real?" Mulan asked.

"The sleeping curse. It has to be. I went through it, Aurora went through it..."

"Henry's been through it because I wouldn't believe him," Emma said.

"Emma..."

"What else did you lie about?" Aurora sounded so accusatory.

"I was... I wasn't lying. I was protecting you."

"What did he say – Henry? In the... In the dream?"

"He just said his name. He... And then, I woke up, and... It was over."

"Emma. It's going to be okay," Snow said.

"We are so far from okay," Emma said.

"No. We have a way home now."

"We have a compass," Emma said, "and the wardrobe ashes are still with Cora."

"Any attempt to steal from her would be suicide," Mulan said.

"Not anymore. We can stop her."

"How?"

"I don't know. But I know someone who does..."

"Rumplestiltskin," Rose said. She did her best to hide her hatred of just the name alone.

"He'll know a way," Snow finished, giving Rose a look. She knew by her sister's look that she had failed.

"Henry," Emma realized. "We can talk to him. Now we can communicate."

"Wait, wait," Aurora said. Apparently she just realized what was gonna happen.

"Oh yeah, Princess," Emma said. "You're going back to sleep."

***

The group was trying to find somewhere safer where Aurora could settle and they could talk to Henry.

"How close are we?" Emma asked. "Henry could already be waiting in that Netherworld."

"No, we planned to meet back there in two hours," Aurora said.