A KIND OF MAGIC ↝ Killian Jones

⇒ CHAPTER TWELVE

TO SUMMARIZE, THE journey to Dark Hollow wasn't quite as ideal as hoped for, as Neal and Killian forgot all about dignity and started to bicker like little boys over the same toy. And Wilma refused to be that toy, as they had made it obvious that she was causing this friction between them, with Neal trying to be the heroic brother, and Killian liking Wilma too much to bend under Neal's wishes to leave her alone — therefore, once they were out of the grim place, Wilma smacked the both of them upside their heads, insisting that they were bloody idiots and Henry needed to be saved, instead of fighting over trivial matters, only for both of them to insist that she was anything but trivial.

"I appreciate you looking after me, but whether I decide to be with Killian or not, is up to me. You guys need to stop, and focus on what's important — Henry, not this foolish quarrel", was what Wilma grumpily told them, crossing her arms, as if she could stay mad at them for longer than thirty minutes, tops, but at least it got them to shut up and try to get along with one another.

   However, it hadn't been a complete disaster, as they did manage to catch Pan's shadow, thanks to Emma, and Regina, who had been teaching the Savior some magic. With that magic, they caught the shadow, absorbing it into the magical coconut, that had turned out to be quite handy. So now, they officially had an exit plan, and the only thing missing was Henry himself.

Frankly, things were going quite well. After Charming and Snow had returned from getting Tinker Bell — who Wilma was incredibly delighted to meet again — their group headed into the jungle, towards Pan's compound, and on the way, they came across Mr. Gold and Regina. The sight of the latter nearly made Wilma leap into a hug, but settling for suppressing the enthusiasm in her, the brunette merely smiled at the queen, who returned the happy expression. The victorious feeling in Wilma did die out for a moment there, when Neal revealed that Gold wasn't there to save Henry — he was there to kill him, due to a prophecy that had said he would be Rumplestiltskin's undoing, but eventually, he came to an agreement with his son, after insisting that his only intent was to save his grandson from Pan.

They now also had Pandora's Box, which could be used to trap Pan for all eternity, and it sounded quite lovely in Wilma's opinion — he had only caused them trouble and misery and no doubt there was a lot of people out in the world who had suffered the same fate, and if he really could be put away, she was only going to agree with the idea. On top of that, Gold promised, after some persuading from Neal's behalf, to put together an elixir for David — one that would cure him from the poison altogether, allowing him to leave Neverland and go back home with the rest of them.

It was amazing news, really, and Wilma was happy for good reasons, especially when they managed to successfully sneak into Pan's camp. Regina used magic to make the Lost Boys around the campfire fall asleep, and once they were all down, Gold led them inside the compound, but after some looking around, they came to a horrifying conclusion — Henry wasn't there. Neither was Pan, and concluding from their shared absence, something bad was about to happen, and Wilma didn't like it one bit.

She felt the same way she did in her nightmares — like something was right underneath her nose but she couldn't see it, or out of her reach, impossible to grasp or prevent. Something felt off, and it made Wilma gulp as she looked around — what if this was another dream? What if it was just a very vivid nightmare, and all those people around her, were an illusion?

Closing her eyes, Wilma took Killian's hand, which seemed to surprise the man, who instantly turned to look at her with worry. But instead of meeting the warm brown eyes he always loved to stare into, he found Wilma shaking next to him, her eyes shut and a frown on her face as she tried to figure out what was real, and what was not. However, the tightening grip on her hand felt quite genuine, and so did his warm breath tickling the back of her neck as he neared her to offer more solace, and admittedly, it did feel relieving.