juliet •peter pan•

FOURTY-EIGHT

On the Jolly Roger, Juliet was shaking. Her breath was quickening. She kept flashing back to her last trip on the Jolly Roger.

Henry was walking past when he noticed her. "You okay?" Juliet was fighting back tears. "No." Henry sat down next to her. "Is it because we're on the ship that took you away from Neverland?" Juliet nodded. Henry sighed. "Do you want to go up to the deck?" Juliet thought about it, then shrugged. "Sure." They stood up.

Once they got to the top deck, Juliet felt better. Before she knew it, they were back in Storybrooke.

At the dock, Snow and Charming were waiting for them. Juliet immediately ran towards town. Anything to get off the ship. She headed towards the middle of town.

In Gold's shop, Juliet went looking through the artifacts while the rest of the group prepared for "battle". Emma was drawing a line by the door with invisible chalk. Neal stood by a lamp, leaning over the counter. "Missed a spot." Emma looked up at him and Juliet chuckled. "You're hilarious."

"I didn't know you were magical. I mean, I knew about Juliet, but not you." Emma tilted her head. "So, how long did you two know each other?" Juliet looked from Emma to Neal, and then shrugged. "We met a little while after I landed on Neverland. He was like the brother I never had." Emma nodded. "And Neal, you're not allowed to have surprises, Mr. Son of Rumplestiltskin."

Neal sighed. "I didn't mean for Tamara to be a surprise." Emma shook her head. "You think I care that a guy I dated a decade ago is engaged?" Neal was speechless. Juliet folded her arms. In walked Charming. "We're all cleared outside." He noticed the tension in the room. "Everything okay?" Emma nodded.
Emma and Juliet walked into the back room to talk to Gold. "I drew the invisible line... I think." Juliet noticed the pained expression on Gold's face and Snow's. "What is happening?" Emma ignored the teenager. "What now? You cast a protection spell?" Gold shook his head. "No, no." He pointed to Emma. "You're gonna do that for me."

Emma's eyes widened. Gold smirked. "I'm relying on you." Emma frowned. "Why me? Why not Juliet?" Gold shook his head. "Because it needs to be you." Emma folded her arms.

"I can't cast a spell. I can spell 'spell'" Gold laid back down on the cot. "You can. It's in you." Emma shook her head. "How? Here? Like, from my brain?" Juliet chuckled, and both Gold and Emma looked at her. "Sorry."
Gold strained. "Try." Emma sighed and closed her eyes. Gold was frustrated. "Stop thinking! Conjuring magic is not an intellectual endeavor. It's emotion. You must ask yourself 'why am I doing this? Who am I protecting?' Feel it."

Emma turned around and closed her eyes. A low rumbling echoed through the shop. Juliet smiled. She knew that the spell was working. And Gold knew it too.

"You feel it?" Emma smiled. "Yeah. I think I did." Juliet nodded. "Congratulations, Emma. You did it."