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Emma turns back around to find Daniel standing behind her, a far away look in his eyes. Her concerns about Jax are momentarily set aside.
“Are you okay?” she asks as he steps out of the tub of slime.
“Yeah,” he says, though he stumbles a bit as he continues. “It’s all just kind of rushing back kind of fast.”
Worry etches across Emma’s features as she waits for Daniel to face her again. Finally, he turns around. But when he looks at her, his expression hardens more and more by the second.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“I just remembered everything.” Daniel says, his voice taking on a hollow tone.
“That’s great!” Emma smiles, letting out a sigh of relief.
It’s over. The continuum break is finally over. Daniel’s back and now everything can go back to normal. I did it, she thinks happily.
But her brief moment of joy is instantly demolished at Daniel’s next words.
“I remembered how I ended up in my other life.”
The smile immediately melts off Emma’s face. Her stomach begins to sink like an anchor as she anticipates his next words, dreading them.
“You chose Jax over me.”
Emma can hear the accusation in his voice, and it’s like a punch to the heart. She had been so focused on getting Daniel’s memories back that she hadn’t even thought about the inevitable confrontation the two of them would have once he remembered everything that happened.
“I was gonna walk you home.” he continues, hurt evident in his voice. “I reached out and I thought you were gonna take my hand but you took Jax’s. And then all of a sudden I was just… Bam! In the Everglades.”
“That’s not exactly how it happened!” Emma stammers, trying in vain to make a terrible situation better. “I waited a long time before I took Jax’s hand.”
It was a weak attempt at consolation and she knew it. But what else can I say?
“Why?” Daniel asks. “Why did you pick him?”
An unbearable silence passes over them. When Emma can’t bring herself to answer, Daniel asks her again, more insistent, “Why did you pick Jax over me? Is it because he’s a wizard and I’m just a human?”
The way he says it —just a human — feels like another punch to the heart.
How can he think that? After everything we’ve been through together? All the times I went against the council for him, risked losing my powers for him, defended him, stood by him, literally fought to be with him? How can he think this has anything to do with me being a witch and him being a human?
She thinks it, but she doesn’t say it. What good would it do anyway? So instead Emma settles on asking, “Would it make it easier if I said yes?”
“I don’t know.” Daniel shrugs, taking a seat on the couch. “I just want a reason so I can understand.”
A reason? He wants to know the reason? How can he NOT know the reason?
Despite herself, Emma can’t help but feel angry at how blissfully unaware Daniel is of all the heartache he’d caused her over the last two years.
Even before Mia showed up at the Beachside 7, he had always made her feel insecure about her magic. She thought about the summer before sophomore year, all the months she spent hiding her powers just so Daniel wouldn’t find out. She remembered the thoughtless things he’d said to her about being a witch.
“We need to go—leave town. We gotta get away from the witches—“
“I just get so worried that your powers are gonna come back and ruin everything.”
Careless comments like that were precisely why Emma had been so afraid to tell Daniel she’d gotten her powers back. She thought about their first breakup, how unwilling he was to let her explain why she’d kept the truth from him.
“You were so happy that I was normal—“
“So this is my fault?!”
“No, it’s my fault.”
Back then, Emma had completely blamed herself for their breakup. Only now does she realize that Daniel bared just as much responsibility as she did. Maybe even more. She had only hidden the truth about her powers because Daniel always made her feel like being a witch was something to be ashamed of. And for the longest time, she’d believed it was.
It was Jax who helped her realize that she should be proud of her powers and the amazing things they can do. Like bringing Philip to life.
And it was Jax who had been there for her every step of the way during the Daniel Darko fiasco. Emma would never forget the Neverending summer party. She remembered it like it was yesterday; Daniel walking back from the beach holding Mia’s hand, dumping her in front of everyone, slut shaming her by insinuating that Jax was her ‘other boyfriend waiting in the wings’, singing the song he’d written for her to Mia before pulling her up on stage and kissing her for all of Miami to see.
It all happened so fast, and the pain and humiliation was too much. Emma remembered running away to the shoreline, trying to get away from the cheering, away from him.
Well, there is something I wanna get away from. You!
But she also remembered Jax following her without hesitation, coming to make sure she was okay. She remembered the brief, but horrible ache in her chest when she’d thought he was the one responsible for Daniel’s unexpected behavior. For a moment, it felt like a knife had pierced her already shattered heart. If Jax had betrayed her again after everything, after she finally allowed herself to trust him again, that was one heartbreak she would never come back from.
But Emma could see the sincerity in his eyes, could feel his genuine concern for her. And she knew he was telling the truth. But where Jax had proven to be innocent, Daniel proved to be the exact opposite. Maddie had told her once that Mia’s Spider Seal doesn’t change a person, just brings out their innermost thoughts and feelings. So while the Spider Seal had played a key part in the creation of Daniel Darko, there was still a lot more Daniel involved than Emma would’ve liked to admit before.
Not Daniel, she had told Jax once. He would never hurt me.
But he did. Daniel had broken her heart in the worst possible way, and Jax had been there to put the pieces back together. He accepted her fully and wholeheartedly for who she really was, Chosen One and all. She couldn’t say the same for Daniel.
Once again however, Emma holds her tongue. Despite everything, she still cared a great deal about Daniel. Of course she did. Their time together hadn’t been all bad. The last summer they spent together before junior year (minus the Neverending summer party) had been one of the best summers of her life. And she will always cherish those memories. No matter what happened, Daniel Miller would always be her first love. He just wasn’t her true love.
But she couldn’t say that to him. Any of it. He looked so devastated, and Emma can’t bring herself to make things even worse by listing off all the parts he played in letting their relationship fall apart.
“There isn’t a reason,” she lies. “Nothing I can put into words.” Well, at least that much is true. “It was just . . . a feeling.”
“That you want to be with him and not me.” he says bitterly.
Emma sighs, taking a seat at the table. “I care about both of you.” she says. That wasn’t a lie.
“You just care for him more.” He doesn’t say it as a question, more like a statement of fact. And Emma can’t deny that he’s right.
“Yes.” she answers truthfully. She owed him that much.
Daniel stands up, shaking his head in disbelief. “Emma, why did you do this to me?”
“I didn’t know picking Jax would send you away!” she starts.
“Not that.” he cuts her off. “Why did you bring me here? Why couldn’t you just leave me in the Everglades?“
His question stuns her, so much so that she finds herself standing back up too. “Because this is your life!”
“So was that!“ Daniel shoots back. “I was happy. I had everything I wanted. Now it’s gone and I have nothing.”
“That’s not true.” Emma says, taken aback by his outburst. “You’ve got your life back, your family, your friends…”
“I don’t have you.” he says thickly. “I don’t have Mia. I don’t even have Billy. You’ve got to bring back Billy at least!”
“I can’t. He’s not a part of this life—“
“But he was a part of my life!” Daniel exclaims, his voice choked with emotions. “I’ve had him for ten years. Ever since he was a baby. He’s never lived in the wild. He wouldn’t survive out there.”
Emma could feel tears rising in the back of her eyes. What have I done? She had been so wrapped up in bringing Daniel back to his old life that she hadn’t once considered how he’d feel leaving his new one behind. The people he’d leave behind. Or animals in this case. She’d thought she was doing the right thing. But seeing Daniel now, looking so lost and alone, Emma was torn, feeling as though she’d made a huge mistake. She’d never meant to hurt him like this.
“There’s nothing I can do.” she begins. “I’m sorry—“
“I know.” Daniel snaps, mocking her apology. “You’re sorry.”
He turns away from her, unable to meet her eyes any longer. “I think you should go now.” He says it so quietly it’s practically a whisper.
No, I can’t. I won’t leave things like this.
She tries again, “Daniel, come on—“
“Emma, please!” he pleads, brokenly.
She takes a step towards him, trying desperately to think of something to say, any magic words to make that heartbroken look on his face disappear. But it seemed this was one situation where magic got them into a problem, but couldn’t get them out. No spell could ever fix this.
Defeated, Emma turns around and picks up her backpack. Without another word, she walks out the door, simultaneously closing the door on her and Daniel’s relationship forever.