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I’m really looking forward to Emma discovering all these additional things about Neal’s life. She loved him before, felt connected to him before, and now she’s gonna learn about all the trials he’s been through, and how he was alone like she was, and she’ll have a new understanding of exactly what she’d meant to him, and what family means to him, and why he had to let her go to find her own family. I can only imagine that learning these things will give her a whole new understanding of and respect for the person he is, and how strong his heart and spirit are, and she’ll fall in love with him all over again.
Exactly, there is a lot of dismantling of misconceptions to be done. Yet, the connection that Emma and Neal share is undeniable and doesn’t have to be forced. I thought it was interesting that as hard as Hook has been trying to “bond” with Emma over the loss of Neal and loss of hope etc….Even if Neal being alive frightens Emma because of dealing with feelings, Neal’s return also signals a return of hope to Emma. If it’s possible for Neal to still be alive, then maybe it’s possible for her and Neal to save their son together. Neal is the one who will get them home. As Neal said, she doesn’t need the sword Hook gave her, because now Emma has Neal. 😀
@MsKt86 – Is there anyway you could make a video with the song At Arms’ Length by Plumb from the vantage point of Emma? The lyrics have SF written all over them![adrotate group="5"]"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
And Wednesday dinners at Rumple and Belle’s! And Friday night slumber parties with Snowing.
That would be so adorable! It would also be especially cute if Henry were to babysit Snowing’s new kid, his little uncle or aunt, who would be about 12 years younger than him. And then he’d have to start a babysitting business once Grumple and Belle settled down and had a bunch of kids.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
I wonder if Henry has already named his operation for getting his parents back together. Watching The Evil Queen, I wondered how anyone could not root for that little family.
Haha! Henry’s secret mission in the second part of S3 will be called “Operation Parent Trap”. Let’s not forget Henry’s dream would be for him, Emma and Neal to all get a castle to live in together in the EF. I suppose he’d spend every other weekend at Regina and Robin Hood’s neighboring castle and would then go fishing on Uncle Killian’s boat whenever he sailed into town. 😀
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
Not only were they sitting side by side but she even looked at him and said, “you and I are on shadow duty.” She is fine just *being* with him. No awkwardness, no hesitation. He’s still her Neal.
*Sniff* That was just so beautifully put. No matter how many years have passed, how many misconceptions Emma had, or how many painful memories, Neal will always be her Neal. He’s not about to move on from her and Henry. As far as Neal is concerned, from his perspective, his heart is spoken for by Emma. His heart belongs to her, even though he knows he can’t claim Emma as his own at present.
I have a feeling that even *if* Emma chose to date Hook, Neal would never really move on from Emma or the dream of their Tallahassee. Sure, he could learn to accept a co-parenting arrangement over Henry and be cordial to Emma and Hook, but secretly, he would always carry a torch for the mother of his child. While he might learn to accept the status quo and would maintain a healthy boundary so as not to make Emma uncomfortable, Neal himself would find it downright impossible to find another woman who captures his heart as Emma does. Neal knows now what a huge mistake Tamara was, and she was his excuse for not going after Emma, which turned out to be the biggest regret of his life. I think Neal would end up spending his days alone rather than try to find a second-place substitute for Emma.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
It’s a slow warm up but it’s happening. They are so on the same page.
And Emma will realize what a heroic brother figure/family man Neal really is when she hears from Wendy what he did for the Darling children, even though he was only 14 himself. Emma is going to notice patterns of Neal’s behavior which demonstrate he’s actually a self-sacrificing, long-suffering man who puts others ahead of himself. She is going to realize her own views of him were really just misconceptions as she realizes Neal has a history of risking his own well-being and doing the brave thing:
- Being willing to fight in the Ogre War
- Trying to save Rumple from himself by going to A Land Without Magic
- Sacrificing himself for the Darling family
- Fighting not to become acclimated as a Lost Boy in NL
- Making a personal sacrifice for Emma to get home to SB to save her family
- Returning to face his demons with his father to save Emma in Manhattan
- Risking his life against Cora/Regina to save his father’s life
- Sacrificing himself by falling through the portal so that Henry wouldn’t have to grow up without Emma
Hook, by contrast, has a history of doing the selfish thing:
- seducing another man’s wife and then challenging a cripple to a duel
- leaving a little boy without a mother,
- general pirating,
- using Baelfire to learn how to kill his father,
- not fighting harder to keep Bae aboard his ship, b
- being an employee of Peter Pan,
- trying to repeatedly kill/wound Belle to get revenge on Rumple
- working for Regina in an effort to get revenge on Rumple
- working for Cora in an effort to get revenge on Rumple
- leaving Emma, Snow, Mulan and Aurora for dead to get revenge on Rumple
- erasing Belle’s memories to get revenge on Rumple
- nearly killing Neal’s dad to enact revenge on him for killing Milha
- nearly getting the town blown up, along with Emma and her family, which resulted in Henry getting kidnapped
- Helping to save Charming, Neal and Henry, but really just so that he can coerce kisses from Emma
- Making a play for the love of Neal’s life, despite Neal supposedly being a “good friend” and son-figure
While people can change their patterns, I’m hoping that Emma will figure out for herself which man has the better track record of putting others first and would lay down his life for Henry without question. Even if Hook is reforming from his swashbuckling ways, Neal is the true hero of our tale,
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
RumplesGirl wrote: I wonder if Wendy and Emma will have a talk without Neal. I think I’d like that. Also, does Hook know Wendy? We know that in 310 when they all get back to SB, Wendy is wearing Bae’s robe and the last time we saw it, the robe was on the JR with Bae.
I know a lot of people don’t want to consider this theory, but what if the “dirty work” that Pan had Hook do was capturing the Darling children? I know it sounds drastic, and that Hook is too heroic to do this….but it’s still in the realm of possibility. What would Hook do while in PP’s employee? I feel like this is going to be a big bombshell when we finally find out. They’ve been building up Hook as a “hero” who doesn’t use tricks….and yet, I can’t help feel they might be building him only to throw a wrench into Hook’s pursuit of Emma. This would put a very stark divide between Hook and Neal since Bae tried so hard to save them.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
The story of Neal’s life so far:
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
@RG – Thanks for sharing that personal insight. I am sorry you had to experience that kind of emotional manipulation. In a perfect world, no person would have to give what s/he wasn’t willing to do in order to be loved. In an ideal world, all people would be honored and cherished for who they are as people, and not as prizes to be won. That is one of the biggest reasons I’m rooting for Neal and Emma, because even though they didn’t grow up in a perfect world, they are managing to create their own version of a fairytale.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
