#while mulan and aurora just give each other the side eye like 'are you hearing this too?'

[invisible-pink-toast]

what if 2x01 ended a little differently...

Regina’s an idiot. 

Generally she’d say she was smart. Calculating. A strategist. She’s able to play people and think twelve steps ahead. And she never lets any arduous emotions get in the way. 

Well. 

Usually. 

There are a few people that she struggles to keep those emotions in check with. She managed it with her parents, both their deaths on her hands, but they were necessary. But then there was Snow White. As much as Regina hated it, the pesky, plucky little princess had a way of getting under her skin, and there were moments where her revenge had blinded her. And then Henry. She loved her son, she’d do almost anything for him. And she’s spent so many months so desperately afraid that she would lose him. First to his own hatred of her, then later to his ridiculous, meddlesome birth mother. And in the last twenty four hours, Regina had felt a terror she’d never known, watching her baby boy lying motionless on a hospital bed. Yes, despite the rumours, Regina was not heartless. There were times she acted against her best interest, when there was something her emotions deemed more important. 

Emma Swan is not one of those more important things. 

Emma Swan has been a thorn in her side since the moment she showed up in Storybrooke. She was an annoying, immature, nosy, frustrating, self-righteous, callous bitch. And apparently a Charming too. No wonder Regina hated her (aside from the girl’s stupid decision to give up the most wonderful person Regina’s ever known only to show up ten years later to claim him like she has any right - what a completely self-centred, inexperienced, interfering hag-) 

Anyway. Regina does not care about Emma Swan. She’d actually tried to kill her yesterday. And her life would be so much simpler if she’d just made the woman eat that apple turnover in her kitchen. 

Only now is Emma Swan not only not dead but she’s the Saviour and has broken the curse. And Regina is powerless in a town full of people baying for her blood, and her son hates her, and she’s been marked for a fate worse than death. 

Regina might be the Evil Queen, but she’s never sucked anyone’s soul out. There have to be some lines. 

Her only hope to survive the wraith relied on two things: 1) Henry wanting to protect her (which means more to her then anything) and 2) a charming trio of idiots. Emma Swan in particular. Because she was the one who promised Henry she’d protect Regina. Regina, the Evil Queen, is being protected by the very Saviour whose curse-breaking is the reason she needs protection! And Regina’s magic isn’t working and she needs this stupid hat to open a portal and her arch-nemesis’ - Prince Charming and everyone’s beloved princess Snow White - were fighting off the wraith with fire. And brooms. Because Regina’s fate is only getting more ridiculous and she’s probably about to have her soul sucked out. 

But then Emma Swan grabs her arm. And Regina feels a spark. A flow of energy, of magic, right as she spins the hat. And maybe her fate isn’t over yet, because the portal opens. 

Regina can feel her own magic flowing through her, so familiar and entrancing. But her magic was blocked and the hat wasn’t working so that can only mean… 

Emma Swan is beside her, looking down at her own hands with a stunned expression. So she felt it too. 

Only when the Saviour glances up, her expression shifts to one of terror, and Regina can feel death behind her, the wraith closing in. And she’s never made up with Henry. 

In her final moment, this is what she regrets the most. Not her failed revenge plans, not the dark path her life took, but that the last time she saw her son he looked at her with disappointment and distrust and fear. She wishes she’d been a better mother. 

But there’s no cold clutch of the wraith’s claws, the pull of its powers as it sucks out a soul and drains a life. No, there’s only Emma Swan, her hands shoving Regina out of the way as the wraith flies past, a second too late, before it’s dragged into the portal. Into oblivion. Good riddance. 

(And that’s three times today the Saviour’s saved Regina’s life. Three times today Henry’s promise kept her alive.) 

The wraith wails as it’s pulled down, but then a tendril of magic flies back up. The damned creature having one final act of vengeance. Only it doesn’t grab Regina. It latches onto Emma.

Emma Swan, who is standing closest to the portal. Emma Swan, who is only standing closest to the portal because she pushed Regina out of the way and saved her life. Again. Third time today. Emma Swan, who is haughty and intrusive and broke Regina’s curse. Emma Swan, who loves Henry so deeply and purely that her true love’s kiss saved his life this very morning. Emma Swan, who doesn’t look much like a Saviour with her frightened scream as the wraith drags her down. 

And Regina does have a heart. She must, because her head was certainly not working in this moment. 

The moment where she reached out to grab Emma Swan’s hand, to try to save her. For all the good it did. 

So, yes. Regina is an idiot. The only thing it achieved was causing Regina to be sucked into the portal too.

[pixie-skull]

AU Disney Heroines # 2: A causal Day with your Cutie (no worries dates will happen)

Before I go, yes I am going to attempt to make this open to anyone, but this creator wants more LGBTQ+ AUs, so this one just if you and x character went and the character’s thoughts. Please share your thoughts if this good or not in my ask box? :D Here are the rules too.

P.s. Like mentioned in the first AU on Disney Heroines, I can not promise all featured like in the first one, but I try to list the ones that are fan favorites and please feel free to give kindly worded feedback. Lastly, I do edits with (non)Disney hand-drawn characters, so feel free to request. :D I kinda did the “what family thinks of you” here too. XD So two in one. I am aware some of these are borderline dates, but I do hope for date AU just list the character’s respected dream date.

Snow White (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs): 

*When hanging out, Snowy likes to learn how to cook a few things together. She not a perfectionist, but if you do tease her and try flavors without asking, she would be nervous. (kinda like Jenna Marbles with her cutie, I swear them cooking together is so cute).

*If not cooking then (very inspired 500 Days of Summer, down below) run around a houseware store and act like a married couple already, even though she acts bashful about it at first.

*At first a Grumpy (it is not you, it is him), Sneezy (you accidentally brought flowers once to Snow, that he was allergic too), and Sleepy (he felt you hanging out once with her, that laughing too much woke him) were not sure of you, but luckily Dopey, Doc, Happy, Bashful all liked you.

Cinderella (Cinderella):

*Cinderella favorite thing to hear your favorite little pins, designs, etc on various sites and saves up to make you something and even teach how to do a few sown tips. You act like you do not care, but you secretly make tiny projects.

*You give her letters that her animal friends (like her dog Bruno fetches it and gives to her) to the other and explaining how much you look forward to meeting “the secret admirer” who wrote this. Her (step*)sisters kinda like you, but her (step)mother does not, but you still happy to see your strawberry^^ blonde cutie.

Aurora (Sleeping Beauty):

*Aurora favorite thing to dance together, like walking down the street she hears a nearby song and dance a bit to it, but be she shy about it.

* She loves to go in tiny shops on healing stones and thinks of her aunts.

* Aurora enjoys the evening or sunset walks, the only downside she gets sleepy.

*Her aunts and parents all like you, especially when being aware she gets tired easily and take her home instead drag on the hangout.

Jessica Rabbit (Who Framed Roger Rabbit):

*Jessica likes to dance like a dork, nothing sexy because she feels so comfortable with you. 

*Just get away the public eye and be just with you, so you both wear outrageous outfits. Her favorite when you wore a pair of rabbit ears and a colorful bowtie combo.

Ariel (The Little Mermaid):

*Swimming or even (yes an ex I had was like this, the first point here) run in sprinklers, while you stand watching and smile. The downside is holding her hand it is so wet and the respect side of your gets a bit wet too, and you try to not feel concerned about her catching a cold.

* Ariel loves more than anything to hold her breath in and see how it feels when inhaling.

* On clear days after rain, she loves to comment how clear it feels in the air.

*Her sisters' all different feelings of you, but secretly they all notice a trait about you that is complimentary. Attina felt you have a “good crown” or brain for how witty you are. Alama tries to socialize, yet a bit shy yet does say how romantic Ariel acts around you makes her happy. Aquata tries to make up for Alama and interact with you and encourages everyone to talk to you, while oddly enough by accident embarrasses everyone. Arista likes how much you think of Ariel and even her family, for when Ariel taking forever or late to an event (sadly common) she shows off her music skills. Adelle feels so touched you include, even not make mean (sibling teasing) on her weight. Andrina clearly being close to youngest goes through a lot of questioning and even has a girlfriend, she not ready to introduce to the family, but you overhear Ariel give words of comfort. **

*Ariel’s dad seems a bit standoff, like say little to nothing.

Belle (Beauty and the Beast): 

*Belle likes to find books on your passions and if not that, then a book she feels like you would enjoy. This, of course, includes comics, graphic novels, and more.

*She may not be a huge talker, but if you talk about what she loves or her recent book, she is happy to fill your time in her enthusiasm on either.

*Sometimes you ride her horse, Philippe and whoever in front, likes to hold the other closely. You have a soft spot when she in front, for how much she reads her horse’s mini responses so well.

*Her dad likes to be playful with you, but if drunk, be ready for him to list of all facts he knows relating to a machine and try to arm wrestle you while laughing a lot.

Jasmine (Aladdin):

*Jasmine is outgoing, yet she is an ambivert, so after a nice walk around the market, she wants to relax in her home.

*Her cat loves you, but will play off as if hates you, but if you rub the right spot, this huge kitty is purring for you.

*Jasmine’s dad wants to get to know your family and traditions too.

Pocahontas (Pocahontas):

*Besides walks and talking (what can I say her love language is quality time and words of affirmation) she likes to go to dog parks and see all the different animals.

* She looks up what flowers are in the season and always plays with the idea of creating a garden or not.

* Her best friend Nakoma sometimes hangs out with you two, because of thanks to Nakoma you met Pocahontas and of Pocahontas’ exes (John Smith and John Rolfe, and even her semi-ex Kocoum), Nakoma thinks you are the most wonderful. 

*Pocahontas’ dad appreciates your consideration and respect to his child.

Esmeralda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame): 

*Esmeralda’s friends and you all hang out together and you quickly get along with Quasimodo and you joke one of his three dogs, Hugo, (the gargoyles) are cute with her dog, Djali (her goat^* and yes I am aware in the first AU I misspelled XD) and are couple and older happy men (I am sorry, not clear in the first AU). You even jokingly make a wedding for the two, while Victor the best man and Laverne the maid-of-honor.

*With her, Phoebus, and you all play sword fighting, while Quasi’s cheer on whoever currently loosing, typically you sorry to say, but hey underdog you do make Esmeralda play easier when just you two because how much Esmeralda’s find you cute.

*Sometimes you go to Church events with Esmeralda and not she pushes you to convert to her faith. However, if you are Christian, she respects that she likes you for so much more then just that. 

Megara (Hercules): 

*She may not have the most friends, but the ones she cares about, she is loyal to, as much she denies she cares about anything. So when hanging out she may at first seem distant, but gradually she opens up.

*A tip you get from friends is complimenting her and she does like to be a flirty tease, but this fun game of seeing who can out cute the other. Once you both jokingly teased of how each of you can name 97 cute things of each other to see who would win but got so each other face, you almost ended up kissing, Phil though put you on blast of you two to stop.

*She though likes showing up to your place of work or something and make you flustered as she gives you “the look”. Oh yes, that is your Achilles’ heel. 

Mulan (Mulan):

*She likes to just relax, her family can have plans back to back, so do not feel her literal eyebrows be pulled it nice just hang out, drink tea and catch up.

*Sometimes her friends give you a hard time, especially when asking you do you like Mulan when more feminine, natural, or masculine. You do not know till later inside joke how one of Mulan’s friends was a former significant other, but luckily both are on good terms.

*Funny enough for a such a friend group of guys, all enjoy a good tear-jerking movie, while Mulan offers them all hugs.

*Mulan and you enjoy walking her dog, Little Brother and you jokingly call him all types of words like Dude, Kind Sir, etc.

*Her family, at first find you bit odd, but seeing you like Mulan, they warm up to you, especially her grandmother who loves to embarrass you both.

Jane Porter (Tarzan):

*You and her love to find little cute spots, like a turtle pond, and she draws away.

*When extra flirty and alone, you joke and pose and she too gigglingly to focus.

*Sometimes she brings a book full of haikus and it shocks you how such simple words strung together make such beautiful writing, that or you love hearing her British accented voice speak.

*Jane does get busy sometimes, so you have to visit her when she waits for her. Her father a professor, so when she waits for him you chat a bit.

Kida (Atlantis: The Lost Empire):

*You both hangout often at this cute little good well store, where she finds all types of goodies. Her favorite finding something and giving a fake history to it.

*Kida may act immature, but she seems so beyond her and your age.

*She loves to teach you self defense, even though sometimes she overpowers you even.

*If you have (sun)glasses she likes to take them and wear them to show off.

*She oddly can find any animal cute, even spiders she jokes are beautiful for their ability to make tapestries.

Audrey (Atlantis: The Lost Empire): 

*Audrey may joke her dad wanted sons for boxing and wrestling, but she knows a fair share of both; her recent passion is rollaring derby.

*Every once in a while when looking around her home town, you are shocked how much she can recognize about cars by just looking at certain types. She even offers to help with any car related trouble you have or friends and/or family.

Helga (Atlantis: The Lost Empire):

*Helga takes you back when you realize this femme fatal loves to go fashion.

*She is oddly though careful with her purchases to not waste money all at once.

*However when a good deal, she buys beautiful dresses, that either compliment her shoulders and slender neck, that sexy leg slit, or both. She also has a huge collection of racerback tank tops and a few designs too.

Nani (Lilo and Stich):

*Outside of being busy with work, Lilo, and even the once in a while Stich, you two go to the beach. She tries to teach you how to surf, but not much luck, but oddly body surfing you grow to love. The feeling of being pushed gently over a wave to shore is fun.

*If she does have Lilo with her, plus their dog Stich, you all enjoy hanging out at a dog park and have a picnic.

*You love hearing the stories of Stich, for you joke he is more Alien then dog.

Tiana (The Princess and the Frog): 

*When hanging out she excited make you try her new meals and even you learn a thing or two and she gives you feedback.

*Her few pets are frogs and she thanks you actually because you feel like a pet would be a cute surprise for her when hanging out by a pond.

*Her mother finds you so respectful and even already jokes how much hear the wedding bells.

Charlotte or Lottie (The Princess and the Frog): 

*Lottie first favorite thing to go shopping and does not mind spoiling herself and loved ones.

*Her favorite place to go outside shopping malls, is seeing puppies and kittens. She would tell you about her “Big Daddy” give her pets.

*Speaking of “Big Daddy” you try to not laugh at his nickname from her, luckily he takes it well, and already happy someone makes Lottie so that is his approval.

Rapunzel (Tangled):

*Rapunzel favorite hang out just hang out in your place or hers, yet she sometimes does like to go out. Bonus if a good clear and cool she draws with chalk, yet if not then paint inside to the rain.

*She can be hesitant at first if a fun new drive, yet after a bit of encouragement she has so much fun.

*Her parents she was unsure how they react meeting you, yes her parents were missing her for 18 years and clearly show a type of love that kept their bond intact for so long, but she still understandable not too sure. However, her mother was excited to meet you, while the father was distant yet in an “I have respect for you and over time like you” view.

Merida (Brave): 

*If the hangout has a competition or competitive element Merida is happy.

*Her own brothers, help her win and sometimes shock you in how they help you. However, you enjoy letting the triplets winning and do a dog or should I say, bear pile on you. They are still young kids, so not too heavy.

*Her mother took time to give her approval for you but seeing how much a positive effect you on Merida helped her warm up to you. The father was so happy to someone who takes his jabs and sure awkward smiles ensue, Merida secretly appreciates you go with it.

Anna (Frozen):

*If it involves new foods, especially sweets, Anna so excited.

*She also appreciates you asking her on if tiny things are alright like it can hold her hand, hug, and more. You are aware you could just do it, but her various smiles are so adorable you can not help but ask, it is like each tiny thing is a tiny gift for her. She also asks you too and the most adorable one is when there one piece of food left and she asks in a tiny voice if can have, you typically say yes.

*Actually anything new and bonus can do with Elsa sometimes just as to the two alone, she is more excited. Or in other words, likes you find events or ideas for the two siblings to bond over.

*Speaking of Elsa, she actually did not like you at first. She worries Anna see too much good in people and not enough bad to be realistic. However the fact you would check on things that could be so simple, she wished someone did for her, but to see you care for Anna like this, makes Elsa happy.

*She loves the daytime for walks, seems more energetic by it.

Elsa (Frozen): 

*Very distant, she mistook your awkwardness as bad and luckily Anna helped her see good in you.

*You two just do tiny night walks (for some reason Elsa feels her powers more and therefore can show off).

*However she did struggle to open that side of herself to you, but when noticing things, she asked Anna to actually makeshift break up with you. Luckily when confused Anna said “it is not you, it is her” and accidentally implied too much. However luckily seeing you did not react poorly, with tiny steps to Elsa she opened up.

*Even though these hangouts are not quite dates, she does like how much you stayed by her side, even though she knows she can be hard to work with. No worries keyword above, makeshift, she does want to date you but gives it some time.

Moana (Moana):

*Swimming, dancing, singing, are her top three hangout ideas.

*However she loves adventure, so if you can suggest something new, she almost every time says yes.

*So much her family, minus grandmother, were getting worried but saw you always had each other back and were safe.

*Her grandmother actually loved how much you two would plan something impulsively, well Moana would do a tiny bit of research, but enough she understood what to pack.

*Your favorite aspect of Moana how much she loved her pets, yes simple, but she has such respect for the pig and rooster, you smile as they walk to you excited each time you visit.

*Her friend, Māui, he bit in competition to “prove yourself”, yet after a simple “quest” of certain rocks, leaves, and more to give him, he gives his approval. His quest was a leaf with you writing on why you like Moana, which after blushing, he liked what you wrote.

*=I have older step-siblings and I do not like how stepfamily is seen as evil, I may be lucky, but I love them as siblings. ^_^

^^=Yes, in the animated movie Cinderella, had strawberry blonde hair.

**= Heavily inspired by these two artists and please look at their amazing work. :D 

(^ an idea of Snow White and you cooking)

[lovecanbesostrange]

I blame @konako for putting Red Beauty feels inside my dusted heart again. And also @myfawnwy because reasons. So, how about a nice re-telling of Ladyhawke with those two?

It starts in Regina’s kingdom. The Evil Queen rules with an iron fist and lots of fear (just how we like her). Red is the captain of her guard. Strong, loyal, good at intimidation. Also Regina has a thing for her. Red really doesn’t mind all the special favors she gets. It’s a good life. All she needs to do is turn a blind eye toward all the suffering she causes. Oops.

So there is a soft side within her and then Belle drops into her life. Red is out on duty, she needs to collect taxes from an orphanage (the Evil Queen is actually evil, you know). Belle is there and disgusted when one of the soldiers threatens a child. She throws an apple it him. It’s not really efficient, but it makes Red laugh and they end up talking. Well, they banter.

Red is amused and also intrigued and when Belle offers up money (which isn’t enough, but it’s a good amount), Red can’t take it. She looks at the way the children and the nun running the orphanage look at Belle, and something pulls on her heartstrings. Red has money. She can actually pay the debt owed. She never needs her money for anything, because Regina gives her all she needs (sugar mommy, nice). But oh no, so Red learns about herself that there is something Regina can’t offer...

Among Red’s soldiers there is Mulan. Sorry to say, but she is miserable heartbroken rather dishonorable Mulan. Aurora broker her heart so bad, she drinks way too much and is very rude (if you know the film Ladyhawke, you know what role she plays in this, and sorry, but somebody has to). Still Red talks to her. And in the next few days Red manages to super accidentally run into Belle (girl knows how to track, *cough*stalker*cough*). And they just talk.

Belle is seen a lot of the world, she’s traveling ever since her father wanted to push her into a loveless arranged marriage. Yikes. She has met a lot of people and learned that most just want to live in peace, be happy and have the compacity to be good. Belle is an optimistic. She likes nudging people towards change for the better. And oh, does Red enjoy the nudging.

Red grew up in a tiny village, lost her parents early in life and she wanted more. It was a series of weird events that brought her to Regina and the attention, the power, the sudden sorta carefree egocentric life - morals be damned. But deep down Red remembers that she wanted to do better one day. She just told herself to compromise a little bit, to get into a better position and well, here she is now. But Belle tells her it’s not too late for that.

Regina feels that Red is slipping from her grasp. There is something going on and she will find out. Red knows to hide herself from the mirror’s watchful eyes. Regina has other methods though and Mulan - with no bad intention - lets it slip where Red and Belle are meeting up.

Regina finds the two and she is rage incarnate. What a betrayal and omg feelings, really, love only ever hurts people (she has issues). Red is super protective and tries to shield Belle, which only makes Regina laugh with madness. If she wanted to kill them they’d be dead in a second. Instead she throws a curse at them. It’s a bit on the spot, so she isn’t sure about it all, but gets a good laugh.

It’s night and while Regina retreats Belle looks around only to find Red is gone. Instead there is a wolf. A huge wolf. With her. In a tiny room. But before the panic boils over she can see that the wolf is distressed as well and not at all hostile towards her. Okay, so that wolf is Red. Well. Damn. What now? Belle talks to her, unsure if she talks to a human or an animal or like both. But they end up huddled in a corner.

The next morning changes the situation dramatically. Red wakes up and for a moment she is all “thank god, what a shitass dream that was”. Two arms, two legs, all human. But where is Belle? There is just this hawk sitting on the back of a chair. Looking a bit wobbly. And Red just knows, this is the curse. Only one of them can be human.

Then the hunters come. Regina wants to see them run for their lives and so they do. Only at sunrise and sundown, for a precious few seconds, can they see each other as human. When they transform. It’s never enough time to say anything. But they protect each other nonetheless.

Red has revenge on her mind and she talks about it to the hawk (who does enjoy learning how to fly, it’s a perk). But during the night Belle tells her why killing people rarely leads to good results. And she’d rather have a wolf by her side than nobody at all.

Red finds out what happened and she confronts Mulan, who has left the guard in shame. She is trying to get sober and when Red has her literally by her throat all she can do is offer up her own life. It’s no fun killing people who are ready to die and okay, so maybe Belle has an effect on Red in many ways. She just tells Mulan that one day she will collect what’s owed.

They live this way for a few months. Red using her skills by day to help people against bandits and Regina’s men, always looking out for hunters. And wow, since when are so many people out here bird hunting? It’s not easy being a hawk.

Then they hear about something outrageous - a woman escaped the Evil Queen’s most infamous dungeon. That castle is impenetrable. Not even Red knows how she could get in without being detected. Which is the other reason she’s putting revenge on the backburner.

The hawk scouts the land and it’s actually not hard finding the girl fleeing from guards. Just the general direction of where things are happening. So Red helps. A few well placed arrows, a sharp sword, a pointy dagger and the girl is safe. Her name is Snow. Oh wow, this one girl Regina always talked about and who she is really pissed at.

Red is all “I saved you, now you do something for me” and Snow is just “sounds good, but no thanks”. She has been imprisoned for some time, Regina keeping her a secret prisoner and now she has places to be. The hawk screeches at her and damn those talons are no joke.

Red offers to train Snow, because that girl is fast and tiny and stealthy, but she can’t take care of herself. What a shame. So she gets Snow to talk to her, tell her about the cells she has seen, the tunnels she found and the secret passageways connected to the city sewer and all. But Red knows she needs a guide right there. They argue a lot.

Snow is really irritated when Red vanishes and this other woman comes to her at night. Smirking “oh, I know you, Red told me all about you”. When Snow thinks this might be her chance to flee there is suddenly a wolf standing in her way. What’s with all the animals? Since when are they against her?!

Snow confides in Belle how Regina is actually supposed to be her stepmother, but there was this incident where a man Regina loved died tragically and the marriage with the King didn’t make Regina happy. Here Belle can suddenly empathize a tiny bit with Regina and once again she wishes she could just guide everybody to the side of good and sunshine and rainbows.

Turns out Snow is a princess and she should be in the spotlight, but it all was taken from her and she doesn’t have anywhere to go. “You have us now.” Beggers can’t be choosers it seems. What a weird new family. Snow slowly gets suspicious about never seeing Red and Belle together, yet they talk about each other like a married couple. Wtf.

They are so focused on training Snow and gaining her trust so she will help, they forget the hunters and one day the unthinkable happens. The hawk is shot down. Red gets mad. Berserker rage mad. Still she wraps up the bird in her cloak, gives it over to Snow and instructs her where to go. It would be so easy to leave the animal, but Snow has a feeling... and she runs. Red covering her. The hunters becoming the hunted. An endangered species actually. It’s a bloodbath. Turns out Red still has some wolf left in her by day.

Snow reaches the cottage that was described and a sober yet annoyed Mulan opens the door, to only smash it in her face again. “Red sent me.” That opens the door very wide and Mulan doesn’t even ask another question when she sees what is inside that cloak she knows so well. Luckily she knows how to help. She has stitched up so many wounds, pulled out arrows etc, she can handle this. Especially because night falls soon and there is a woman lying on her kitchen table now. (Snow on the side makes a small fist “knew it”.)

It’s after midnight, Belle has survived the worst of it and sleeps it off, when there is a howl. Mulan lets the wolf in, telling her it all will be fine. Red doesn’t leave Belle’s side for the next three days, no matter the body. Mulan tries to talk to her, but Red is angry. “Your debt might be paid, but that doesn’t mean I have forgiven you.”

So Mulan turns to Snow and explains how she tried to research this curse. And there is this eclipse coming up. There will be a day without sun and then Red and Belle can be together and break this curse. But they need to face Regina. Yeah, okay, so Snow how that meeting can be arranged and with a long sigh she caves. She will help.

Red doesn’t want to hear anything about the curse. Killing Regina is goal enough at this point, so they can be free. One way or another. Belle feels the guilt and misery radiating from Red. It’s all her fault they ended up like this. If only she hadn’t stalked... tracked her.

Mulan and Snow believe there is a chance to break the curse and they try their best to talk to Red and Belle. Coming up with a plan within the plan to see this through. They delay the journey a bit, so the eclipse can work its magic so to speak.

Snow leads the others through the tunnels underneath the castle. Or course today is the anniversary of Regina’s coronation, because it would be too easy with fewer people around. They get disguises, Snow being the one carrying the hawk. She does not like being stuffed in a bag and then shoved into a trolley table. Red gets a guard’s uniform with a closed helmet, so in the end there can be a dramatic reveal (including shaking that hair).

Regina actually enjoys the festivities. Everybody says so many nice things about her. Yes, they like her, they really do like her. So good. She always wanted to be a good leader. Yes, yes. (She has issues.) Mulan manages to create a small diversion, leads different guards out of the room to disable them. (Do you know how many unconscious bodies fit into one broom closet?)

The final confrontation is here. Right when Regina is giving a speech Red makes her presence known. It all starts with “You know that people whisper behind your back and call you the Evil Queen”. It kinda gets to Regina actually, she hates that name. She is strict and likes to punish, but if everybody would just do what they are told...

Red’s reflexes are faster now, she is more agile, the fireballs don’t seem to be able to hit her. A few guards want to help the Queen, but a few more remember Red being their Captain. O Captain, my Captain runs deep with them.

The eclipse starts, wonderful spectacle through the hugh windows. And Belle turns human again. Red has Regina almost on the floor, but the sight makes her lose focus. Belle is here. She never had the chance to tell her in person how much she loves her and that she’s sorry for this mess.

Regina wants to use this moment, but Snow comes forth. She yells a rather simple “mother, don’t” and it’s like a spell is cast. All Snow wanted was a mother, not the throne, not to destroy young love or use Regina. People recognize the princess now, who was rumoured to maybe be dead, or kidnapped to a strange land or fleed because of a crime (lots of conflicting stories, which Regina always enjoyed).

“You can choose to let the hate go.” It’s all very sappy. The way Red and Belle hold hands and Snow holds a speech while Regina holds her breath and Mulan holds a crossbow just in case...

Regina says she can’t lift the curse, even if she wanted to, because only true love’s kiss (TM) can. Which was the bittersweet revenge part, because the time was always too short for the two humans (furry rights not found). Belle grabs Red’s face and they kiss. *boom* ~Happy Ending Unlocked~

Mulan will later muse about this. “So, we never had to put ourselves in danger, because the eclipse was bound to happen and you two are so ridiculously in love, you would’ve kissed anyway........” (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

[enixamyram]

Alice and Robin making their mission to find a girlfriend for Mulan.

  “The first thing we need to do is make a list.” Robin said, pulling the back cap off the marker and leaning over the sheet of paper spread out in front of them. It took up almost the whole table but they girls were optimistic they could fill it up before they were done. “Every girl we can think of.”

   “Okay then, let’s see...” Alice mumbled thoughtfully from where she was sitting closely squished to her love’s side. “Anastasia from the music shop definitely.”

   “Goldilocks, too.” Robin nodded, scribbling down the two names one above the other in a formal row.

   “I’m not sure if Goldie is her type though,” Alice noted. “She’s pretty vain about her looks, especially her hair, and Mulan’s really down to earth.”

   Robin waved her off. “We’re just thinking of everyone for now. We can start narrowing it down and cancelling out the people who aren’t fit once we have everyone we can possibly think of.”

   “Okay... So, Anastasia, Goldilocks... Oh! Odette!” Alice said quickly.

   Robin frowned and pursed her lips to the side but otherwise said nothing more about the girl who had been Tilly’s ex from before the curse. It was dumb being jealous considering they never had any real time spent together. It was all fake memories put into their heads and Robin wasn’t even sure if the girls had seen each other since waking but just hearing the name still made Robin want to throw something. However, knowing what they were trying to do, somehow made it easier for Robin to jot the name down. And she only drew devil horns on one ‘e’.

   “Who else...” Alice mused, not noticing Robin’s obvious frustration, too busy staring into space and running through all the women she knew.

   “Hey. What you guys up to?”

   The girls glanced up and saw Henry smiling down at them. Jacinda and Lucy weren’t around, but that was probably due to the fact that he was meeting them here at Granny’s like he normally did when he was finished with work. Since returning, Granny’s had become an official meeting spot for the Mills family, especially on days when Lucy had her ballet or other activities.

   Without waiting for an invitation, Henry pulled out a chair and took a seat opposite the two girls, frowning down at the page taking up all the space between them. It really was large but at the moment it only held three names on its clear sheet in the top corner. He briefly wondered why one of the e’s in Odette had two extra ears sticking along the top while the rest of it was exceptionally neat.

   “We’re just thinking up all the names of the local lesbian and bisexual girls in town.” Robin said casually, shrugging like it was something she and Alice did every morning during breakfast.

   “Oh! Ivy!” Alice said suddenly, clapping her hands excitedly.

   “Yes!” Robin said with equal enthusiasm, adding Drizella’s name to their list.

   “Uh, Ivy’s not gay.” Henry said, vividly remembering the kiss she had given him back during the curse when she had wanted comfort after her mothers death.

   “Lesbian and bisexual girls, Henry.” Robin repeated, raising an eyebrow at him like he was being purposely stupid.

   “Ivy’s bi?” Henry blinked.

   “Well, we don’t know for sure but I always got a pretty serious vibe off her.” Alice noted. “Especially when she tricked me by offering to help give papa a cure back in Wonderland. She was a little too friendly with me and very touchy feely, if you get what I’m saying.”

   Robin looked at her sharply before scowling and adding a slight triangle point to the end of Ivy’s ‘Y’. She ignored the slight smirk on Henry’s lips and instead patiently nodded her head to a spot over his shoulder.

   When he turned around he saw Mulan sitting in the corner booth of the diner with Philip, Aurora and Junior. Junior was on her lap and she was bouncing and tickling him until her little godson laughed up at her. Then Aurora said something and Mulan looked up, replying before laughing and looking back down at Junior, tickling him again.

   “We went out for drinks with Red and Dorothy last night.” Robin explained. “Red told us all about Mulan’s story. It’s so tragic...”

   “So now!” Alice said cheerfully. “We’re going to set her up!”

   “You’re setting Mulan up?” Henry said, dumbfounded by the idea for some reason.

   “Yeah. Why not? I mean, everyone deserves a happy ending.” Alice said firmly. “And it’s about time Mulan got hers.” She paused, raising an eyebrow at him. “Hey, do you know if Ashley’s other evil step sister is interested in girls?”

   Henry opened his mouth but found himself speechless. In the end, he blinked and shrugged his shoulders. “Um. No idea.”

   Alice nudged Robin. “Include her, but put a question mark by her name.”

   Nodding in agreement, Robin quickly wrote ‘Tisbe’ with the others, adding a delicate question mark on the right by her name before looking back up and glancing around the diner like she might see someone she forgot sitting just two tables over. Alice, meanwhile, continued to stare off into space, resting her chin in her hand and her eyes glazing over slightly as she ran through the memories of the people she had met since coming to Storybrooke. There were a lot of them, and Alice had a very keen gay-dar that helped her spot all the lesbian and gay people in town. (Magic... may be heavily involved in that little skill).

   “You two...” Henry began, shaking his head.

   “Henry!” Jacinda appeared, greeting her husband with a soft kiss and sweet smile before forcing herself to look towards the others. “Hi, Alice, Robin. What were you guys all talking about?”

   “They’re trying to find a girl to set Mulan up with.” Henry said, a little smile on his lips that Robin wasn’t sure came from the amusement at the girls antics of the kiss he had just received from his beautiful wife.

   “What?” Jacinda said, doing a double take between the girls and Henry.

   “Everyone deserves a happy ending.” Alice said again with the same firm confidence like she was an expert on the matter. “And we decided to take it upon ourselves to-”

   “Uh, you girls do know Mulan is already seeing someone. Right?” Jacinda asked.

   Robin nearly dropped her pen. “She is?!”

   “Yeah.” Jacinda looked up and nodded her head. “Rapunzel.”

   The girls did their own double take. But rather than seeing a Victoria Belfrey back from the dead, they saw a beautiful young woman instead. She was around the same age as Mulan with dark brown skin and midnight black hair that fell all the way behind her in a single long braid along her spine. She smiled as she walked from the backroom where she had been staying over towards the groups table. She paused long enough to lean down and kiss Mulan softly before taking her seat opposite her. Immediately Rapunzel moved to rest her leg closely against Mulan’s and smiled at her playfully when Mulan reached over to take her hand.

   “Rapunzel?” Alice frowned. “I don’t understand...”

   “She’s this realms Rapunzel.” Jacinda grinned. “I met her the other day. She’s such a sweet girl. Perfect for Mulan, don’t you think?”

   “Oh yeah, my grandpa met her once before she came to Storybrooke.” Henry looked back at the girls. “Well what do you know. She got her happy ending after all.” He paused, watching their expressions. “Are you guys pouting?”

   “No,” Robin pouted.

   “A little.” Alice admitted, looking truly let down. “I wanted a go to play match maker.”

   “Well, you’ll have to play it with someone else, I’m afraid. Come on, Henry. Lucy’s waiting for us outside.” Jacinda grinned, taking his hand and pulling him onto his feet. They waved at them as they left the girls to watch Mulan and her girlfriend in disappointed silence. Well, not disappointed. After all, they were happy for her.

   They just wished they could have been the reason for that happiness.

   “Well... Guess we could always set up Goldie and Odette.” Alice noted, resting her head back into her hand again.

   “I think Goldie would be better paired with Anastasia.” Robin said immediately, not liking the idea of Alice being anywhere near her to play matchmaker.

   Alice nodded slowly, still not noticing the way Robin was gritting her teeth. “Maybe. But then poor Odette’s still single, waiting for her happy ending.”

   “On second though, Goldie would make a great girlfriend for Odette.” Robin said quickly. “That girl deserves to be paired up already.”

[overlordofthelollipopguild]

Finding Home - Chapter 5

And here’s another fic update. The muse smiled on me for one day only lol. 

AO3  link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14270103/chapters/34420386

FF.net link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12482617/5/Finding-Home

Chapter 5: Support

Without the map of the Neverwood, David found himself lost. If he could just get back to the center of the island, he could use his part of the map to navigate this damn island. All night he travelled, and nothing was familiar to him. He hadn’t found any sign of Snow or Regina either. He heard water nearby and felt relief. His canteen was empty, so it would be nice to refill it.

Breaking through the trees, David found a lagoon. He groaned seeing the ocean lying beyond it. Salt water was not a viable option. It would be good for a swim though, and with the Neverland heat, David wouldn’t mind cooling off.

He walked over to the edge of the water, kneeling down in the sand. He cupped his hands and splashed the cool water onto his face, then patting some behind his neck.

The cool water felt incredible against his heated skin.

There was a quiet splashing sound to his right, but David was making his own splashes, not hearing anything else.

A shadow was under the water, moving closer to the unsuspecting prince.

“Look out!” Ariel shouted, pulling David back by the collar of his shirt.

David stumbled backwards on his ass as Ariel pulled him away from the shore where another mermaid was snarling at them.

The mermaid hissed again, before going back under the water.

David looked at the mermaid-turned-human. “What was that?”

“That was a Neverland mermaid.” Ariel huffed. “They’re uncivilized killers. The story goes that centuries ago they were gentle and kind, but I think that’s a myth. Anyway, if they catch you, well, you’d be dead.”

“Thanks I guess.” David stood and dusted the sand from his pants. “Why would you help me?”

“Working for Pan didn’t seem like a hard choice.” There was clear remorse on her face. “He was going to help me reunite with Eric. Then I met you and you didn’t deserve to be duped by Pan. He thinks I betrayed him now, so I’m stuck here forever.”

Despite her working for Pan, David couldn’t help but feel for Ariel. She only wanted to be reunited with her love. If it had been Snow, David might’ve done the same. “No, you’re not. I promised you we would help you and I’m going to keep that promise.”

Ariel’s expression became confused. “Why would you help me? I tried to lead you into a trap.”

David shrugged. “You’re not evil. You just wanted to find Eric. Plus, since Pan won’t help you anymore, you might as well try and stick it to him.”

“Stick it to him?”

“Uh, think of it as giving him a well deserved slap to the face.” David explained.

Ariel smiled a bit at that. “I’d like that.”

David returned her smile and stood up. “Then let’s go get him.”

He couldn’t wait to heal any longer. Every moment here was another moment away from Henry and Emma, and Neal wanted to get back. He had to help them stop Tamara. If only he had known how crazy she was. Were there any signs he missed? She seemed so normal; she was perfect for him, but it turned out he didn’t know her at all. Was Tamara even her real name?

Did it even matter?

Not anymore. She betrayed him and lied to him. There was also the whole attempted murder thing. Definitely a quick way to end a relationship.

What mattered now was getting back to Storybrooke and stopping her. He’d prove to Emma that he had changed and that he would be there for Henry.

He pushed himself up off of the bed slowly, his side still aching from his wound. According to Mulan, nothing important was damaged and the bullet removed. He had had a fever the other day and the wound had taken its time to stop bleeding. With the fever broken, it was time to leave.

There weren’t any sounds coming from the hallway, so Neal chanced it and carefully swung his legs over he side of the bed. His side ached in protest, but Neal ignored it, searching the room for his shoes.

He shuffled over to where his shoes were, taking more time than he would’ve liked getting them on. As soon as he finished, he hobbled over to the door, clutching at his side. Slowly, he opened the door, peaking out into the hall. No one was around. This was his chance.

Neal left the room as quickly as he could without aggravating the wound more.

The castle seemed deserted for all that he could see. Or, at least this part of it. He kept his footsteps quiet and his movements slow. While he wanted to get out of here quickly, he had to be smart about this. It was already a risk going alone, but he didn’t trust that Mulan woman. She looked like she’d kill him over helping him.

As he reached another corner, he stopped and peaked around.

The coast was still clear.

Something caught in his peripheral. He glanced down; there was the blade of a sword at his throat.

“Give me a reason.” Mulan growled from behind him.

Neal slowly turned around, careful to keep his neck away from the blade. “I was just leaving.”

“Why?” Mulan glared. “You’re to heal, and then I am to guide you.”

“You hated that idea.” Neal said.

“It what my princess asked of me.” Mulan said. “I don’t like you, I doubt I’ll trust you any time soon, but Aurora has asked me to guide you, and I shall.”

“Then do it.” Neal snapped. “I’m more healed than I was yesterday, but I’m not going to wait around here any longer. I need to get back home.”

Mulan studied him for a moment, her eyes filled with suspicion. “Fine.” She relented. “We go, but first, travel provisions. I might not like you, but I can’t let you die. So we’re not going without food, water, and bandages.”

Neal rolled his eyes. “Fine, let’s hurry up then.”

Mulan looked tempted to decapitate him, but lowered her sword instead. “Fine.”

Regina was sick and tired of traveling, and managed to convince Snow to stop and set up camp. They discussed Regina using magic to find Henry, but the only locator spells she knew how to perform required something that belonged to Henry. Thanks to Rumple’s globe, no one had had the foresight to bring a belonging of Henry’s with them. It’s not like any of them knew that Henry would be kidnapped and they’d all be in this situation.

Resting her feet out in front of her, Regina thought about what they should do next. They had no clue where Henry was, and there was no telling if Pan and his little demons would show up.

Snow was picking berries, muttering to herself Hook’s warnings of which were safe and which were not. “Black is safe, blue is not.”

Regina looked around and saw some red berries. “What did Hook say about red?”

“I don’t think he did.” Snow said. She walked over to the red berries. “I don’t think these are edible.” It was strange though that the berries seemed attached to a thick vine-like stem instead of a bush. Her curiosity got the better of her and she picked one.

It happened so fast. The stem flew at her, wrapping around her arm, pulling her to the ground.

Snow was dragged quickly away from camp.

“Snow!” Regina jumped up, running after her.

The vine was pulling Snow into the bushes. Snow frantically grabbed at her push dagger with her free hand. She stabbed the vine, but it only wrapped tighter around her arm. “Shit!” Another wack at the vine with her dagger didn’t manage to land, her blade bouncing off the side of it.

Regina jumped on the back of Snow’s legs, hoping her added body weight would stop the vine from pulling Snow further. It worked a little, the added weight too much for the vine to pull as fast as it had, slowing down.

It was then that Snow looked up and saw where the vine was leading just as the giant plant opened up its maw. “Oh crap! Regina!”

Regina saw the plant too, and raised her hand, conjuring a fire ball, still trying to keep her weight on Snow. Launching a few fire balls at the plant, they heard it screech and wail.

Snow’s arm was released and she pushed herself away; Regina clumsily pulled Snow back.

The plant’s maw closed.

Both women panted, trying to catch their breaths.

“I think that was one of the man-eating plants Hook warned us about.” Snow finally spoke as they stood, walking away from the plant, careful to keep their eyes on it.

“Yeah.” Regina agreed. “Let’s not do that again.”

Snow nodded. “We should get back to camp.”

As they walked back to camp, wary of their surroundings, Snow kept glancing at Regina. Snow couldn’t believe it. Regina had come after her; Regina had saved her life. Regina saved her without hesitation. Why would she do that? Didn’t Regina hate her?

“Regina, wait.” Snow stopped.

Regina rolled her eyes and turned to face Snow. “What?”

“You saved my life.” Snow said. “Why would you do that?”

That stopped Regina completely. It hadn’t even crossed her mind to let Snow die. Saving Snow had been an instinct; one that Regina had buried decades ago, one that Henry had helped bring back. What could she say to Snow? She wasn’t sure, but it was then that’s when it hit her.

She didn’t want Snow dead. Not because of Henry, no. All Regina knew was when that vine grabbed Snow, she saw that ten year old girl on a runaway horse, and she jumped into action. “I just did. Hook said we all needed each other.” Regina turned away and started walking. “Besides, if I let you die, then I’d never hear the end of it from Charming and the Savior.”

Snow didn’t fully accept that answer, but from Regina’s tone, she wouldn’t push. Something was changing; Snow wasn’t sure what was going on with Regina, but she was definitely going to keep and eye on her.

They weren’t talking and Emma wasn’t quite sure as to why. Ever since she woke up, the first time, Killian had hovered over her, but somehow she felt that there was distance between them. It was as though he were the one pushing her away this time. But why?

Was he mad at her? Was it because of the incident with the siren yesterday?

She should’ve been more careful; he had warned them all of the dangers of this place. But it had been Henry’s voice, and the mother in her took over; she just wanted her little boy back. Her desperation to find him had almost gotten her killed and it put Killian in danger too.

Emma didn’t know if it was luck or skill, but if Killian hadn’t caught up to her and killed that siren…then she would’ve died. She never would’ve seen Henry or her parents ever again, and she would’ve never been able to tell them how much she loved them.  It was a terrible thing that could’ve destroyed her family, and it would’ve been her fault.

Killian would’ve had to live with her death on his hands, and she had no idea what that might do to him, or even if he cared.

He does care. A voice in her head whispered. Why else would he have saved you?

There could be a number of reasons. She futilely argued with herself. Her memories of the attack were a bit foggy, but she remembered what happened after. Killian looked scared when she had come back to the land of the living, and he had been gentle with her. So very gentle. Speaking softly to her; holding her close and protecting her.

Today, it was so very different.

They were still at the beach; Killian’s reasoning being that she needed to recover.

While she was restless and wanted to hurry and find Henry, she was physically exhausted. She had dozed off a few times, her dreams of Henry hurt, of being ripped under the water, drowning. It was too much for her to rest well. It got even worse when she started dreaming of actually being dead and seeing her parents and Henry grieving for her. Those were the worst of the haunting nightmares.

When she wasn’t resting, she was watching Killian.

He was tense, stiff, as though he was holding back from a fight. His jaw clenched every time she looked at him, and he refused to look at her. When they talked, his tone was clipped and his words short.

She wasn’t sure how to confront him about it.

At the moment, they were sitting in silence, Emma watching him, his eyes staring out at the sea.

She chewed at her bottom lip. Emma took a deep breath before speaking. “Killian?”

His turned to her sharply, his brow already furrowing, concern clear on his face as well as that tenseness that had weighed him down all morning. “Yes, Swan?”

Her voice caught in her throat. She didn’t really know where to start; what to say. “I…I just…” Words had never been her strong suit. She had always been a quiet kid. It was something every foster kid learned early on; stay quiet and out of the way. It stuck with her as she grew up and as people continued to abandon her. Even now, she wasn’t a talkative person. When it mattered though, Emma knew what to say and how to say it. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Killian asked.

“Saving my life.” Emma said.

His jaw ticked. “Aye.” His eyes flicked down to the embers in their fire. Clearly, he didn’t want thanks, or at the very least, he didn’t want the incident mentioned.

Emma sighed. “Okay, what’s up?”

Killian glared at her. “What ever do you mean?”

“I mean you’ve put this wall up between us and I want to know why.” Emma snapped, pushing herself up, matching his glare.

“If anyone put walls between us, it was you.” He growled, standing up. He walked away from her, heading for the shoreline.

Emma gaped at his retreating form before standing on shaky, weak legs and following him. As she got closer to the water, she ignored the fear it sparked in her as flashes of being dragged under the current went through her mind. Pushing the images away, she stopped at Killian’s side. “What the hell is up with you?”

“You need to go rest.” He told her, his tone slightly more gentle, but he refused to look at her.

That only irked Emma more. “I’ve rested plenty. Are you pissed at me about yesterday? I’m sorry, okay?” Emma sounded harsher than she meant too. “I did a stupid thing, all right? I know it and you know it, so can we please just forget about it?”

Killian turned to her, a spark of anger in his eyes. “I can’t just forget about it.” He stepped closer, looking down at her, his blue eyes intense. “You died, Emma. You weren’t breathing and it was terrifying. Do you have any idea what that would’ve done to your parents? To Henry?” Killian continued. He needed to get this off of his chest. “They don’t deserve your death. W...they need you Emma, more than you know.”

“I know all right!”  Emma snapped, turning away from him. “I’ve been going over it in my head all day! It was stupid and reckless, but I thought…” She shook her head before speaking quietly. “I just wanted my son back.”

Killian sighed. “I know.” He gently grabbed Emma’s shoulder and turned her back to face him. “I know, Emma. Neverland and Pan know that too. The siren won’t be the last time that it’s used against you.”

Emma knew that he was right and that she needed to be more careful. “I really am sorry that I scared you.” She didn’t want to overanalyze what her death made him feel; now wasn’t the time for that. Not when Henry was still out there somewhere. There was a connection between her and Killian, ever since they met, but it couldn’t be explored. She was too damaged, he probably was too. Henry was their mission and Henry needed to be their focus.

“I’m just glad you’re alive.” His words were quiet and his eyes sincere.

There was something happening between them as they looked into each other’s eyes. Something that crackled underneath their skin.

Fearing it, Emma stepped back and looked away.

Killian held back a sigh of disappointment.  

“We need to keep looking for Henry.” Emma said after a moment.

Killian knew that she was still physically weak and not likely to lean on him for support, but he knew that she was right. “Aye, but first, to Pixie Hollow.”

“Then let’s go.” Emma said. “The sooner we get our way home, the sooner we get Henry.”

“And the sooner we get off this bloody island.” Killian agreed.

They walked back to their little camp and packed everything up.

As Emma gathered her things, she watched Killian put out the fire, before shaking her head. I have to protect my heart.

Nothing could ever happen between them.

“I don’t know if this is a good idea.” Aurora said as she and Mulan headed out the front gate.

Neal was waiting impatiently on the other side.

“I can protect myself.” Mulan said. “Besides, I am just guiding him. As soon as he’s at the Dark One’s castle, I’m coming back.”

Aurora gave her a strained smile. “I hope so. I don’t know what we’d do without you, Mulan.”

Mulan felt a flutter in her heart at Aurora’s words, despite the platonic nature of them. She knew that Aurora and Phillip were True Love. Her own feelings didn’t matter as long as she could remain in service to Aurora. “I shall return before you know it.”

“Hey, we have to go.” Neal called back.

Mulan glared at him, before giving Aurora a small smile. The warrior walked away from the princess and headed for Neal. “If we’re going to be traveling together, I suggest you find your patience, or you’ll find yourself on the pointed end of my sword, again.”

Neal rolled his eyes at the threat. “Well, quit wasting time and maybe I will.”

It took some restraint not to knock him out and just drag him the rest of the way, and their journey had barely begun.

Mulan called upon her ancestors for patience with this fool she was traveling with.

He had to give it to Pan; the cage wasn’t easy to escape. Henry had shaken all of the bars, looking for weak spots. The bamboo bars were tightly held together by some kind of twine that wasn’t giving way.

There were rocks around the cage, but none were quite in his reach, and only a few looked sharp enough to cut through the twine.

Henry had stretched his arm out as much as he could to try and get a sharp rock, but his reach was just too short.

When his thoughts weren’t on trying to escape, they were on his mom and what Pan wanted with her magic. Why would he want Emma’s magic? What did Captain Hook have to do with it? Was Hook working with Pan? Was Hook going to hurt his mom?

He had to get out of here and warn his mom before Pan got to her. The problem was how could he? He already tried; it didn’t help that the Lost Ones were on patrol. Every now and then, they would come and check on him; sometimes one brought his food.

A lightbulb went off. One boy would bring him food, usually a younger one. Usually they would have a knife on them and they had to come close to the cage to give Henry his food. If he could get close enough, maybe he could swipe a knife. He had to be careful though; it could depend on the lost boy. His escape would depend on a gullible Lost One; he’d have to wait for one.

A plan in his head, Henry sat back and waited.

Rumplestiltskin finally reached the base of the mountain. Pan’s cuff was doing it’s job, preventing Rumple from accessing magic; he wanted Rumple exhausted, likely to hinder him from continuing the search for Henry.

He had no idea where to start looking for his allies, who were probably father ahead in their search. If only he could remove the cuff; he tried many times to no avail; cutting the cuff hand’t worked either as it mended itself faster than Rumple could cut it. It was likely that only Pan himself could remove it.

With a sigh, Rumple rested on a boulder. He needed to come up with a plan, but what could he do without his magic? He had no weapons either. It had been foolish not to gather weapons from Hook’s stores, but Rumple had thought that his magic would serve him well in Neverland. He didn’t think that Pan had a means of preventing his magic from working. He should’ve known better, but he’d only dealt with Pan once before when Bae had been in danger, and Pan had been in the Enchanted Forest, Rumple’s territory, and he had been the Dark One.

Hating to admit it, Rumple realized that he should’ve taken Hook’s experience in this realm more seriously.

All he could do now was rest, eat, and think. Then he would have to be on his way and search for the others. While it was likely that only Pan could remove the cuff, there was still a chance that someone else could. Regina and Emma both had their magic, at least Rumple hoped that they did, and one of them could try and remove it.

Until then, he had to do what he could to catch up to the others, and hopefully figure out how to take Pan down.

“Why do we have to make camp?” Emma asked. They were so close to Pixie Hollow, and getting a way home. While the trek had left her exhausted, she was impatient to get the dust and return their focus to rescuing Henry.

“The pixies are most active around this time.” Killian said as he sat on a fallen log. “We’ll have to wait until late into the night when they’re resting. If they catch us, they’ll attack without reservation.”

Emma paced the narrow path.

“We won’t be able to make a fire either.” Killian continued. “If they see it, especially this close to their territory, they’ll get defensive.”

“So all we can do is wait?” Emma asked, clearly unhappy with the prospect.

“Unfortunately.” Killian said. “I would save your energy too. If the pixies catch us, we’re going to have to run for it.”

Reluctantly ceasing her pacing, Emma joined Killian on the log. “I’m not good at waiting.”

Killian chuckled. “I see that.”

Emma rolled her eyes and shoved her shoulder gently into his.

“Oi.” He gently shoved her back, making her chuckle a bit.

They sat in relatively companionable silence as the sun slowly set.

Emma chanced a look at him. There were so many things that she wanted to ask him. She wanted to know more about his past, of course, but that might lead to her opening up to him about her own past, and she wasn’t ready for that. Still, what was his connection to Neverland? What was his brother like? What happened to his parents? Figuring those were dangerous, she asked the other question that was nagging at her. “Why did you save me?”

The question startled Killian, who had been lost in his own thoughts, thoughts that regarded Emma. “What?”

“Why did you save me from the siren?” She asked again, staring him down.

Killian wasn’t sure how to answer that. “Why wouldn’t I save you? We’re on the same side after all. Saving Henry is your mission.” He found that he was reluctant to tell her why; that it was instinct, that he was terrified, that he couldn’t live without her. She’d run away from him if she ever heard those answers.

It wasn’t a lie, but Emma could tell that he was holding something back. Was whatever he wasn’t saying something that she wanted to hear? Emma decided that it wasn’t; she could see it in his eyes that she wasn’t ready to hear it, or ready for the implications. Then why did she even ask the question? Did she want to know his feelings? Did she want to hear it to have an excuse to run? Emma wasn’t even really sure. What she did know was that the longer they were on this island, the more she liked Killian’s presence. His steady support and belief in her helped her more than anything. He made her feel like she could do anything; that she could succeed and get Henry back.

There were feelings there; saving her, pushing her away as he did, protecting both their hearts, he certainly felt something for her. Emma wanted to deny it, but evidence was there. Her feelings were another matter entirely. Ever since the beanstalk, when she knew that she could trust him, when she first felt connected to him, she’d run from her feelings and his. Sometimes she wondered how different things would’ve been had she trusted her instincts and him and hadn’t left him chained up on the beanstalk.

A chill spread through the air with the sun down, sending goosebumps along her arms. There was a shifting beside her and she watched Killian removing his coat. “What are you doing?”

“You’re cold.” He said, wrapping the heavy coat around her shoulders.

“What about you?” Emma couldn’t help but be concerned about him.

“I’ve spent three hundred years at sea.” He chuckled. “I can handle a chill.”

Still, she wasn’t keen on the idea of him freezing, especially since they couldn’t start a fire. Emma shrugged the coat off and stood. “Sit on the ground.”

Curious, Killian moved so that he was leaning against the log, his legs propped up.

Emma pushed his legs apart and crawled between them, pressing her back to his chest as she threw the coat over them like a blanket.

Killian’s arms went around her middle as she shifted more to ensure the coat covered them both.

“There.” Emma finally stopped moving, trying not to focus on the heat radiating off of Killian, trying to ignore his breath fanning over her neck. “Better for us both to stay warm.”

Killian just nodded, making a noise of agreement, trying to ignore how good Emma felt in his arms. They were just trying to stay warm; there was no need to make things awkward by thinking about how she felt against him, how right it felt, imagining other scenarios that involved her so close to him. He shook his head lightly, banishing those thoughts.

Even as Emma was trying to do the same, she couldn’t help but relax into him, resting her head on his shoulder. It was nice to be in his arms; it felt good to be in his arms. She wondered if it would always feel like this, but that meant thinking about the future; a future that she wasn’t sure that she would ever have.

“Better?” He finally asked, quietly.

Emma nodded. “Better. You?”

“Aye.” Killian said. “We should get some sleep while we can. I’ll take first watch.”

Emma wasn’t sure sleep was possible with his proximity, but she closed her eyes and tried to calm her thoughts, even as Killian’s hand twitched, causing her heart rate to quicken. Sleep would have to come quick, because her skin was buzzing and being so close to him was tempting, too tempting.

Killian stared up at the sky, trying to count the stars through the foliage, anything to keep his mind off of Emma. It had been so long since he had seen the constellations of Neverland; he wasn’t sure if he could remember the names that he had given them all those years ago.

Sleep wasn’t coming to her, and Emma sighed, catching Killian’s attention.

“Trouble sleeping?”

“Yeah.” She said. “I can’t get my brain to shut up.”

Killian chuckled at that. “Perhaps a story is in order?”

“A story?” Emma scoffed. “I don’t think that will help.”

“You never know.” Killian said.

Emma relented. “Okay, a story.”

Killian shifted them a bit. “Look up.”

Emma did as he asked.

“See that star over to the left.” He couldn’t really point it out, not wanting to move the coat too much, reluctant to let her go. “It’s got a little cluster of smaller stars around it.”

“I see it.” Emma said. She hadn’t seen stars like that before.

“Let me tell you about how those stars came to be.” Killian began his tale. It was a story that he had made up a long time ago, one for Bran when he hadn’t been able to sleep, and it surprised him that he could recall most of the details.

As his voice spoke, soft and steady, Emma found herself relaxing against him. Her eyes slowly began to drift closed.

Pan watched Hook and the Savior from the shadows. His blood boiled as Hook told her stories of Neverland. Those weren’t stories for her.

How could Hook just tell her them? Why was she so important to him? Apparently Hook had fallen in love again, and again came to Neverland for another woman. He never came back for Pan.

No, for Hook, Pan was just a bad memory. It was the pirate’s own fault. If he hadn’t wanted to leave, Bran would still be alive, they all would’ve been together and happy. But no, Hook had wanted to grow up and live his life.

Pan had warned him that nothing good came from growing up.

Look what growing up had done to Hook. It made him a pirate, lost him his hand and love, and made him a villain.

Did he think loving again would redeem him?

Pan would make sure it wouldn’t; Hook would know only more pain. Hook would regret ever returning to this island.

[justanoutlawfic]

Where The Heart Is: Chapt. 13

Story Summary: The sequel to "I Won't Let Go". 22-year-old Emma is back home in Storybrooke. Just when she thinks she has things all figured out, she gets a very unexpected surprise. Mary and David are still by her side, trying to help their little girl deal with the real world.

Chapter Summary: It’s time for Emma’s baby shower! She’s receiving some very thoughtful gifts and is reminded just how loved she is. An unexpected guest, however, will throw things for a loop.

Also on AO3

Life since Bae had returned was…tricky.

 Mary hadn’t expected things to go back to normal, but she didn’t think life would be quite so awkward. Emma and Bae were working so hard to just focus on the baby, that they were ignoring the budding feelings between the two. She understood why, he had to come first. Even so, a part of her was excited for the two to get back to where they had once been.

 Even so, Emma seemed happier again. She was more excited for the baby to come, to have more help. Bae assisted them with setting up the nursery, as did Belle and Gold. Things between Emma and Gold were better, clearly the misunderstanding was far behind them. As for Gideon and Neal, they just seemed happy to becoming uncles soon.

 The day of Emma’s baby shower was a busy one. The Nolan’s backyard had been home to many functions over the years, but this was possibly their biggest for Emma’s considering she didn’t like celebrating her birthday. Mary knew a part of the reason she had agreed to the baby shower was for the baby, she knew that Emma wanted more for him. Deep down, Mary was ultimately doing it for her daughter. She had been through so much in life and yet remained so strong.

 Mary knew that Emma looked up to her, but in many ways, she looked up to Emma. She couldn’t imagine going through all the pain she had throughout her life, yet stay standing. How she managed to keep a smile on her face. Yet, Emma did it all. Her little girl was truly amazing.

 “Mama,” her daughter’s voice broke her out of her trance. “Am I doing this right?”

Mary looked down and found Emma trying to frost the cake, a tiny giggle escaping her lips. Despite 10 years of her trying to teach her daughter, it was seemingly a lost cause. “Why don’t you let me do it, sweets?”

Emma scoffed, handing the piping bag to her, taking in the bug shaped cake. “I still can’t believe you made this.”

“It wasn’t that hard.”

“Mom.” She gave her a look.

“When you’re a mom, you do these things for your babies. You’ll find that out soon enough.” Emma matched her smile and reached over to grab a cupcake, only to get her hand smacked away. “Those are for the shower.”

“Which is for the baby and he wants some cupcakes,” Emma said, flashing her a charming smile.

Mary rolled her eyes. “My grandson can wait. Speaking of which…does he have a name yet?”

“Well, you know we talked about the middle.”

She beamed, they had and she couldn’t wait. They just had to be careful, curious ears were all around the house. “Yes, but what about the first?”

“Bae showed me this book, The Gift of Magi. Belle gave him the book when they first met and it’s his favorite. He wants to name the baby after the author.”

“And you?”

“I think Henry is a perfect name.”

“Henry,” Mary grinned. “Henry Gold. That certainly sounds perfect.”

“And it goes with…” Emma trailed off when she saw her father coming in the kitchen. “Hey Dad.”

“Hey, Princess. Ooo…cupcakes.”

Emma giggled when David’s hand also got smacked away. “She says we can’t have any until the shower.”

“Surely my grandson…”

“Can wait until the party,” Mary interrupted, shaking her head. “You and our daughter are far too much alike.”

“What can I say? I was a good influence,” David said, wrapping an arm around Emma and kissing the top of her head.

 When Mary had her back turned to get more icing, he quickly grabbed two cupcakes off the tray and handed one to Emma, winking. Emma stifled a laugh, it had been something they had done ever since she first arrived at their house. He’d sneak bake goods that Mary insisted they wait on and they’d enjoy them together. As they walked out of the room, they could hear her calling after them.

 “You know I know every time you do that!”

“And yet you do nothing about it,” David called back.

Emma chuckled, unwrapping the paper from around the bottom. “How’s the backyard looking?”

“Like yellow threw up.”

“Appetizing,” Emma said, making a face before biting into her cupcake.

“Seriously, everything’s going to go amazingly.”

“I hope so. This is our first party as a family, with everyone.”

“We’ve had the Golds at our parties before.”

“Still, we’re forever connected now,” she rested her hand on top of her baby bump which had grown a lot and winced. “By this karate star, it would seem.”

“Can I feel?”

Emma laughed, he was one of the few that asked permission. “Go for it.”

 David allowed her to adjust his hand so he’d be able to feel the brunt of the baby’s kicks. It still felt so surreal sometimes. He had never gotten to experience it with Mary and it had never bothered him. Becoming a parent through adoption was a gift and he wouldn’t trade it for any of the traditional moments. Even so, it was amazing to get to experience it as a grandfather.

 It was a reminder that his little girl was pregnant, she was going to be bringing another life into the world. He knew she could do it, she was going to be the second best mother in the world (the first title went to his wife). Yet, it was still hard to look at her and not see the same little girl that had hesitantly sat by his side to watch football.

 Speaking of which…

 “I know you’re going to get a lot of gifts today…”

“The baby’s getting a lot of gifts,” Emma corrected. It was the only reason she had agreed to this thing.

David playfully rolled his eyes. “And I’m sure your mother has signed my name to whatever she bought you…”

“Which isn’t necessary because you guys have bought me way too much.”

“Would you stop interrupting me?” He asked, faking sternness.

She giggled. “Sorry.”

“Anyway, I wanted to give you…or my grandson, whatever…the first gift. This is just from me.”

 He settled his half-eaten cupcake onto the table in the hall and grabbed a bag from the closet. Emma’s eyes widened as she pulled out two onesies. One was red and said “My Crib is Patriots Territory” and the other was blue and had the team’s name with the mascot, faded. Underneath both was a pennant.

 “Dad, these are so awesome.”

“He’s a Patriots fan, that’s mandatory,” he said with a smile. “He can watch his first game with us.”

“Definitely.” She looked up at him, not sure why tears were brimming in her eyes. “I can’t believe you remembered how important this was to me.”

“It was the first time we ever really bonded.” He shrugged. “How could I forget.”

 Emma put the stuff back in the bag and wrapped her arms around his neck, letting out a content sigh. She could still remember how nervous she had felt that day when she sat down, yet by the end of the game she was relaxed. It became a tradition, the two watching games every weekend. When she went to college, she’d watch them in the common area and then face time in the final seconds.

“I love you, Daddy,” she whispered.

“I love you too, Princess.” He kissed the top of her head. “We better finish setting up, before your mom chews us out for stealing the cupcakes.”

Emma laughed in spite of her tears and quickly wiped them away. “You’re probably right.”

If Emma ever had any doubt that she was loved, she had to look no further than her baby shower. It seemed as though everyone had shown up. There were of course the Golds and Regina (who had brought Robin and Roland), Lily and Ruby. Archie had also shown up as had Mal, Robert and Granny (the latter two had gotten very cozy and it seemed Robert was coming into town more and more to spend time with the family…yet would always stop by the loft later). Ashley, Thomas, Aurora, Phillip and Mulan were also among those in attendance, the crowd was so big and almost a little overwhelming for Emma.

 Yet, every time she felt herself getting panicked, someone seemed to swoop in. David and Mary would lead her off to get something to eat or Bae would rub her back, easily calming her down. The anxiety raged in her chest, yet it would fade as soon as someone she loved was present. Even Neal was helpful, showing her a new dance he had learned at school.

 Presents was a whole other shebang. She and Bae were set up in chaises decorated with yellow balloons and streamers. Most people had gotten wind of the theme and wrapped their gifts to match. There were the standard presents, such as clothes and bottle warmers. Possibly the biggest gift came from Lily and Regina, who left the party to go to their cars and returned with a stroller with an oversized plush swan inside. Emma’s mouth dropped open.

 “You two have got to be kidding me.”

“We were at Marco’s buying the stroller and the swan was in the window,” Lily said with a shrug. “We decided to get it.”

“I talked them out of the matching duck,” Robin piped up as he tried to get Roland to not rip open the rest of Emma’s presents.

“Don’t you know swans are my thing for Emma?” Bae teased.

Lily rolled her eyes. “You don’t own swans, Gold.”

Emma shook her head, getting up to hug each of her friends. “It’s too much, but what else should I expect from you two?”

“Very true,” Regina agreed with a grin before plopping down next to Robin and putting Roland on her lap.

 Emma couldn’t help but smile at the group. She knew it had been hard for Regina to enter into a relationship. Losing Daniel during their college years had been a difficult thing to go through. Yet, she was incredibly happy with Robin and Roland. They made her smile again. It gave Emma hope. If she could find happiness and love with Robin after all she had been through, Emma could find it again with Bae when they were ready.

 Belle had practically set up her grandson-to-be with an entire library, while Gold had purchased Henry’s first bookshelf. It was beautifully crafted (also from Marco’s) and Emma knew it’d fit in just great with the rest of the nursery. She was leafing through The Ugly Duckling (which had been her favorite story as a kid) as the party went on, smiling as the “duckling” found his way to his real family. As it turned out, the duckling was always a cygnet, meant to be a swan.

 Emma’s life had worked similarly. She had always been a Swan, she always would be. It just took time to find her actual family. She looked up at Mary and David, who were chatting with Archie, oblivious to her thoughts. Neal chased around Roland, Phillip and Gideon, clearly happy as well. He was still in therapy, working out his emotions over Ed. She knew in time thoughts of his birth mother would come up. There was a chance one day he’d want to find her and he’d have support in that.

 She wasn’t a bad person, she was just a young girl who knew she couldn’t give him what he needed. So, she allowed him to be adopted by a family who loved him more than anything.

 Sometimes, Emma wondered what would’ve happened if she had kept him. Would she ever know he had existed? She just couldn’t picture her life without her baby brother. He hadn’t been planned, but then again, what about her life had been? She had gone from an orphan, facing the world alone, to having more family than she knew what to do with. It just kept growing by the minute and soon, they’d be getting one more addition.

 All she wanted, was to do right by Henry. She wanted to give him a good childhood from the start, just like the one that Neal had. Emma never wanted him to feel the way that she had and he never would. That was part of the magic of having a child with someone like Baelfire. He knew what Emma had gone through, because he had partially lived it himself. He was lucky to have a father like Ralph to help him through it. Yet, he had grown up with a mother that had done nothing but abuse then abandon him.

 They would be better to Henry. They would follow in the example of Belle and Ralph, of Mary Margaret and David.

 “Sorry I’m late.”

 Emma’s head whipped around and she felt her stomach sink. She had only ever seen one picture of Milah, it was hidden in Bae’s baby box. She had been holding him with a smile on her face. Emma once asked Bae why he kept it, he said he could never bring himself to throw it out.

 Yet, despite 24 years of aging, Milah didn’t look too much different from her picture. Emma looked over at Bae, who was frozen in spot, unsure of what to do. Emma pushed herself up and put a hand on his arm. Gold’s hand stiffened on his cane, Belle’s arm looping through his arm. Mary looked from her daughter to the woman.

 “Emma…who is this?” She asked.

“Milah,” Emma said, causing Bae to stiffen more.

Mary’s eyes narrowed and she stepped in front of the crowd. “You need to leave, now.”

Milah ignored her and walked closer to them. “I heard about this little family reunion. Bae, how do you even know that this baby is yours?”

“First you break the mother of my child’s heart and then you come here, trying to ruin her shower?” Bae whispered, his voice dripping with venom.

“I was trying to do what was best for you, Baelfire.”

“Regina, bring the kids inside.” When his friend hesitated, he gave her a look and she gathered them up with the help of Robin, leading them inside despite Gideon and Neal’s confusion over what was going on. “What was best for me?”

“Yes.”

“How the hell would you know what is best for me? I’ve seen you, what? Twice in the past 19 years?”

“I have been a shitty mother…”

“You haven’t been one at all,” Emma cut in. “Trust me.”

“This doesn’t concern you.”

“You tried to make me raise my son alone, I’d say it is.”

“Listen, I made a mistake when I had Baelfire. I thought I could be a mother and it turned out to be the worst mistake of my life. I’m just trying to stop him from making the same mistake! Every parent wants what’s best for their child!”

“You’re right,” Belle said, speaking up for the first time since Milah had walked in. All eyes went to her, surprised. Even Ralph didn’t know where she was going with agreeing with his ex-wife. “So, as Baelfire’s real mother, this is what’s best for him.”

 Calmly, along with all the grace and poise Belle French-Gold possessed, she strutted over to Milah. The latter had a good few feet above her, but that didn’t seem to matter. Belle’s fist raised and she punched Milah square in the jaw.

 A gasp escaped everyone’s lips and Baelfire’s eyes widened. “Mama!”

Belle shook out her fist, shaking her head. “I’ve been wanting to do that for 9 years.” She looked over at Mary. “Do you have any ice?”

Still stunned, Mary nodded. “Yes, come with me.” She lead her off, squeezing her good hand and congratulating her as they walked over to the drinks table.

Milah was holding her jaw, clearly a mixture of shocked and pissed. “Call the cops! I’ve been assaulted.”

“You’re looking at them,” David said, pointing between himself and his daughter. “And I think if I called for backup, it’d be to report you for breaking and entering into Baelfire’s apartment. Besides, you walked into my yard uninvited.”

 Milah glared at the people in front of her and Robin came back outside, leading her out of the gate. Emma rubbed Baelfire’s back, looking up at him.

 “Are you okay?”

“Yeah…I just…I can’t believe Mama punched her.”

Emma laughed. “I’ve never seen Belle that pissed.”

“I have,” Ralph said. “Only once before, when I told her about what she did to you, to us.”

“Are you okay, Mr. Gold?”

“I’m fine, I just can’t believe she had the nerve to actually show up here.”

Belle walked over, holding some ice wrapped in a paper towel to her fist. “I’m sorry Emma, I didn’t mean to ruin your shower…”

“You didn’t,” Emma assured her. “You just made it ten times more awesome.”

“I didn’t know you could punch like that,” Bae added, putting an arm around her.

Belle shrugged. “No one messes with my boys.”

 The shower slowly resumed, though it wasn’t exactly the same after that turn of events. Later that night, Emma bopped around the nursery, trying to put away all the presents. Mary walked into the room, giving her a soft smile.

 “It’s getting late, sweets.”

“I just want to get all this organized. He’ll be here before you know it.”

“Yes and until then, you still need all your rest.”

Emma rolled her eyes, shutting the drawers. Her eyes went above the crib, which had Bae’s old license plate collection. “I can’t believe Milah showed up.”

“I have a feeling she never will again after what Belle did.”

“Sometimes I’d like to forget where Bae and I came from…before we got our good moms.”

“I know,” Mary squeezed her shoulder. “Belle and I definitely wish we could’ve been your first mothers.”

“Do you think I’d be the same?”

“I don’t know. I like to think so.” Mary pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “When I struggled getting pregnant, Archie told me about the serenity prayer.”

“Isn’t that for alcoholics anonymous?”

“It works for a lot of situations. It says to focus on the things you can change and accept the things you can’t. But there’s a part a lot of people don’t know. Living one day at a time;  enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.” She put a hand on Emma’s cheek. “Your hardships were terrible Emma and I wish more than anything that you didn’t have to go through them…”

“But they did lead me on the path to peace,” Emma whispered. “I never thought I’d be this happy.”

“It’s hard to focus on the now, I get that. Just know we’re still here for you, always have been, always will.”

“I know.” She smiled. “I love you, Mama.”

“I love you too, sweets.”

[jenna-harberts-blog]

Coming Home - Jenna and Kyu

Jenna tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear as she stepped off the plane. It had been a long trip back from Johannesburg. The trip had been exhausting, if exhilarating, bringing her through 5 countries in Southern Africa in three months. She was ready to go home and collapse in bed, then wake up and eat all the British food she hadn’t thought she would miss.

Following the signs directing her to the baggage claim, she couldn’t help but smile. In a few minutes, she would see Kyu again. She had missed him terribly, having grown used to having him by her side. They had lived together for years, and this was the first time they had been separated for a significant amount of time. Her job promised that this would be a common occurrence, but she couldn’t help but miss him. She had tried to hold herself back, keeping the calls to once a week so he wouldn’t worry about her too much. Kyu, ever the writer, had sent her long letters through the post that she read again and again whenever she got too homesick. Her replies hadn’t been nearly as eloquent, but she had tried to put just as much love into them.

Looking back up as she approached the baggage carousel, she cast her eyes around.

“Kyu!” she exclaimed, spotting him standing closer to the exit. A large smile spread across her face as she hurried towards him. He met her halfway and she threw her arms around him.

“Kyu,” she said again, not quite believing she was back yet. She buried her face in his neck and felt herself relax, even as tears reached her eyes.

“I missed you,” she told him quietly, keeping her face hidden in his shoulder. She felt him run a hand through her hair and smiled again.

“I missed you too,” he replied, and Jenna looked up to take in his face. A few tears were on her face and he frowned when he noticed.

“Sorry,” she said, wiping her eyes. “Happy crying.” She sniffed and pulled herself together, reluctantly detaching herself from him, realizing this wasn’t the place. She smiled again and heading over to claim her bags, confident he was following her.

“How was your flight? I always hated flying.” he asked lowly as she heaved one of her bags into the back of their car. Kyu grabbed the other and tossed it in the trunk behind the first. Their car wasn’t much to look at, but they could both drive it, something some wizarding couples couldn’t claim to be able to do.

“It was long,” she admitted. “I tried to sleep some, but it was just too cramped. They did have some in flight movies though! I got to rewatch Mulan and Hercules again.”

“So that’s what, the millionth time?” He smiled briefly, “To be fair, I liked both of those.” Kyu was well aware of her love for Disney movies, given how many times she had made him sit down and watch them.

She walked around the car, getting into the passenger side. She was surprised at the level of energy she was feeling now, given she had been ready to fall over when she got off the plane. She supposed being reunited with Kyu had given her a second wind.

Kyu closed the trunk and walked around to the driver’s side as she continued. “It was so exciting though. I was a little sad at first that I was going on this excursion instead of the Lethifold one, but the Streelers we found were gorgeous.” She knew Kyu had secretly been happy she wasn’t researching one of the most dangerous creatures in the world, but a relatively easy one instead. Still, he had listened to her talk about the pros and cons of each one and let her talk through it, nodding and asking questions every once in a while to let her know he was still listening.

“I didn’t have much time to draw, but I did get a few sketches of them that I want to expand on.” She only had about ten or so pages of her sketchbook filled up, which was a bit disappointing. She had been so busy with the numbers and interactive part of the trip, she hadn’t been able to capture the perfect likeness of the Streelers.

“You’ll have to show me when they get home.” Kyu said, turning the wheel to get off of the highway, “I’ve been deprived of your artwork for too long. The ones on our walls can only hold me over for so long.”

“They were so beautiful, the way it changes color. It always found a way to be a complimenting color to the landscape, which is very strange. Most color changing species try to blend in, but the Streelers stood out in every background.” She paused, realizing she was repeating herself, knowing she had told him most of this before. She glanced over at him to see if he was bored by this, but continued as he glanced over at her sudden silence. “We’re going to analyze the data and see what the numbers say, but we’re fairly certain it chooses the colors on purpose, and not randomly like previously thought.” She was less excited at the prospect of being stuck at a desk running numbers and analyzing data, but knew that the trip more than made up for it.

“While that sounds like it may bore you, it sounds like a great trip to keep your mind occupied while you struggle through number crunching. Tell me more about the Streelers.”

“It was great,” she said, leaning back in her seat and smiling wistfully. “They were so beautiful, but death followed them everywhere. The trail of dead grass behind them was such a sharp contrast to the glimmering shells. It was almost poetic. A warning: beautiful things are the most deadly.” She looked back over to Kyu, finding him attentive but still focusing on the road.

“You know,” she started. “I had a little accident with the venom.”

That got a physical and verbal response. “What?” Kyu said, taking his eyes off the road and looking over to her sharply.

“Yup. A Streeler ran right over my face. Had to get plastic surgery to reconstruct it.”

Kyu sighed and gave her an aggravated look, realizing she was messing with him. “Not the right time to be joking, Jen.” He gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter as she laughed, but she could see a small spark of amusement in his eyes, even as they rolled in their sockets.

She fell silent, looking at him for a moment.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, seeing the tension in his shoulders and the way he hadn’t been talking much.

“It’s nothing, just a case.” He said. “A difficult one.”

“Anything I could do to help?”

“No,” he said softly, pausing before continuing. “Sorry. I am glad you are home.”

“I never doubted that,” she replied. Maybe a few years ago she would have wondered, but she liked to think she had moved past those insecurities about their relationship. She knew him better than anyone, the same way he knew her, and she knew he wouldn’t stay around if he wasn’t fully committed.

“I’m sure whatever it is will work out,” she said, giving him a small, sad smile, and placing her hand over his. Even now, she checked his body language to make sure he was comfortable with the touch, though he hadn’t shrugged her off in years.

He nodded, though didn’t seem convinced, but he grasped her hand anyways.

“Do you want to hear about the food?” she asked, ready to talk for the rest of the drive home. That was their dynamic a lot of the times, she talk and he listened. Kyu was a very good listener, though, often bringing up small details of previous conversations out of the blue. The two pulled up to their house, Kyu parking the car.

She grinned as she entered their house for the first time in three months. There was a new ward Kyu had set up while she was gone that she had to be keyed into, but everything else was the same. She took in the tan walls, decorated with photos and some of her artwork. The curtains next to the TV were still covered in cat hair, and books and papers were spread out on the coffee table in the living room.

Kyu brought in the heavier of her two suitcases, heading to the bedroom to place them on the floor. She lingered in the living room, glancing around for a flash of fur. “Ariel? Shiro? Shadow? I’m home,” she announced, pulling the curtains back to find one of the aforementioned cats.

“Hi Ariel,” she said, reaching out to scratch between her ginger ears. “Did you miss me?” she asked her. “You didn’t harass Aurora while I was gone, did you?”

“She did,” Kyu said, approaching Jenna from behind.

Jenna sighed, used to Ariel messing with the owl. “Don’t hurt each other, okay?” she told her. “I don’t want either of you injured.” Ariel simply looked up at her smugly and Jenna smiled. Kyu laughed at both of them and crossed to the opposite side of the room, pulling the curtains open.

“Where are Shiro and Shadow?” she asked.

“Shadow was on the bed a moment ago, I haven’t seen Shiro.”

Jenna headed towards the bedroom, seeing that the black cat was indeed on the bed, though he hopped off to come rub against her leg when he saw her.

“Hi Shadow,” she said, crouching down so she could pet him too. She laughed quietly, seeing that she had been home a few minutes and was already covered in cat hair. From her spot on the ground, she spotted a white tail under the bed.

“Come here Shiro,” she said, reaching out a hand, only for him to disappear further into his hiding spot. Shadow, affronted that she was no longer petting him, went to rub against Kyu’s leg who had appeared in the doorway. Jenna giggled as Kyu relented, rolling his eyes again as he reached down to pet him. “Fine, you win. I’ll shower you with attention for a minute or so. Greedy cat…”

She smiled as she headed into the bathroom, grinning to herself as she changed into her pajamas. She paused in the mirror, examining the length of her black roots, having no opportunity to bleach it in the last few months. She wondered what Kyu would think if she just let her natural color grow back in. Bleach was getting expensive.

She exited the bathroom to find Kyu already changed and getting into bed.

“I thought I was the tired one, but you beat me into bed.”

Kyu paused, looking slightly grumpy, but explained in slight embarrassment. “I know you like to cuddle.”

She melted. How was it that after so many years he still had this affect on her? She walked over to the bed, pulling back the covers and sliding in, curling up at his side. She sat silently for a few moments, enjoying this.

“I missed you,” she told him again.

He nuzzled in a bit closer, “I missed you too.”

“I’m glad I’m home. Nothing is better than this.” She shifted upwards, leaning over to kiss him. It was a soft and sweet moment. She lingered above him, and breathed. “I love you.”

A moment, and then: “I love you too.”

She smiled as she reached over to turn off the lights, and curled up again, resting her head on his chest. Kyu placed his hand on the nape of her neck and rest his head against the pillow.

“Goodnight, Kyu.”

“Sleep well, Jen.”

[mystical-flute]

Dark Fire Chapter 4

"Gold? Where are you?" Regina called as she rushed into the pawn shop. "We need to talk. Now."

She could hear the heavy sigh as he came out from the back room, Belle following close behind. "What do you want, Regina?"

 "It's about your son. He brought back Maleficent," she replied, the not-quite completely healed scar visible to his eye. "And used my blood to do it. But that's not what I'm here to tell you."

 "Good, because Maleficent has already come by here. What are you here to tell me?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

 She looked nervously over her shoulder and leaned in to them. "I think he's being controlled by someone. I asked him what his end game was – you know, like yours was to get back to him… and he asked me why I thought he was totally in control of his actions. You should have seen his face. He looked almost scared."

 Rumplestiltskin frowned, fear and anger on his face. "Someone is controlling my son?"

 Regina nodded slowly. "I believe so."

 A growl escaped the former Dark One. "Then I need to find out who did it and why."

 He said nothing more as he turned, heading back into the back room, leaving she and Belle alone.

 "Is there anyone that you can think of that hates both of you that would be willing to control Neal like that?" Belle asked. "It might help Rumple pin down whoever did this."

 Biting her lip, Regina closed her eyes, trying to think. "I'm sure there are many people that he and I had met throughout the years that we have wronged. People who would want to be against both of us. But that's the problem – Neal isn't just targeting me. He's threatened the secrets of every villain in this town, so whoever it is has to be someone who hates villains."

 "Well, that's completely unhelpful."

 She barely concealed the urge to roll her eyes. "I don't know who could do such a thing. Who close to us would know about Neal or want to control him? And why would they want to do such a thing if they knew it would hurt Henry?"

 Belle closed her eyes, thinking. "Maybe it's not someone we know. Maybe it's someone else that came in with the second curse. Like Zelena, Aurora, Philip and Mulan did. Someone who has been biding their time since then."

 "But why strike now?" Regina questioned.

 "That's what we have to figure out. I'll call Will and Anastasia and Snow and David and have them meet us at the library. You should call Emma. Let her know what's going on with Neal."

 Regina nodded, quickly pulling out her cell phone as she and Belle rushed out of the shop. God, she thought when her sister was defeated that life would finally calm down. But it didn't seem like that would ever be the case.

 "Okay. So what do we do?" Anastasia asked, leaning against one of the library tables. "What are we looking for?"

 "When we came back here after the second curse, Snow had everyone that was new fill out forms so we knew what was going on and who was in town. Granny also gave me a list of residents in the bed and breakfast. If we go through them, maybe we can find a name that could link up with a potential villain who could have an issue with the Dark One. I know it could take a while… which is why Belle asked all of you here," Regina said with a sigh. "The more hands and eyes the better."

 Snow exhaled, bouncing little Leo in her arms as he began to fuss, sensing the tension in the room. "I hope this works, Regina. We need to stop this before it gets worse. People are starting to talk. I'm afraid they're going to start going after each other – or the villains in town – without provocation."

 Regina understood immediately that she meant there was a chance she could be in the danger zone, and she wasn't exactly surprised to hear it. Though things had, for the most part, calmed down in terms of people viewing her as the Evil Queen, with the second round of the curse meant more people that she'd hurt in the past. More people that could be angry with her.

 More people that could want to hurt her.

 Anastasia shivered. "That's a fair point."

 With that bit of worry in the room, the group sat down and began combing through the records.

 The amount of silence in the room was unbearable, and so when someone finally spoke up, relief flooded the mayor.

"Princess Jasmine? Agrabah had Jafar, didn't they?" Belle suggested as she pointed to a name on the registry.

 "Unless Jafar managed to get out of the genie lamp in Wonderland, I don't it's him controlling Neal," Will said. "He came to Wonderland after he was stopped in Agrabah. Alice managed to outwit him."

 Anastasia nodded, shivering a little."It wouldn't be possible for him to escape. Not with Nyx guarding his lamp."

 Regina couldn't help but wonder what the story behind that was.

 "Okay… let's keep looking then," Snow said with a sigh, before grimacing as Leo began to fuss. "Oh – as soon as I change someone."

 "Hey," Will joked as Snow stood to head to the bathroom. "Better him than you."

 "Will, that's disgusting," Anastasia replied as she wrinkled her nose, pulling out a new file to look at.

 A knock on the door startled the small group from their thoughts, and without warning, Mulan and Ruby came stumbling through, breathing heavily with wide eyes. Mulan had her sword pointed at the closed doors, tense.

 "Ruby, Mulan! What's the matter?" Belle gasped, shooting out of her seat.

 "Take a look out the window," the warrior replied. "We've never seen anything like it."

 Everyone jumped out of their seats and ran to the window, staring out at the thing that was hanging over the town.

 "Oh Neal, what did you do?" David whispered.

 -----

 She didn't know where Neal was. The small group of their closest friends and family that had scattered around the town in an attempt to find him had come back with nothing. Emma wasn't sure what she and Regina would be able to tell Henry. She glanced wearily at the clock, noting the three o'clock hour. Henry would be getting out of school soon, and he'd been hoping that she would have news about Neal, but she didn't.

The phone ringing was a relief, really, giving her a distraction from her thoughts.

 "Sheriff's office," Emma greeted, lifting the phone to her ear. She could hear the tell-tale sound of chaos in the background and sighed, hoping it didn't mean Neal was out causing trouble.

 "S-sheriff Swan… t-this is Mr. Krzyszkowski. Please help me. There's a crazy woman here trying to break into my files! Sh-she's got magic. Please hurry!"

 The line went dead as Emma reached for her car keys. She swiftly hung up the phone and ran out of the station, speeding to the offices. She didn't see an signs of damage outside – that was a good thing. Hand on her gun, she slowly made her way inside.

 "Police! Put your hands up!" she shouted when she spotted the scattered papers and broken furniture in the wake of the woman that was in the room. She must have been the reason Emma had been called.

 Instead, the woman whirled, staring at her with an intensity Emma had never seen on anyone. "Not until I find my daughter."

 "Okay – it's okay… just calm down. I can help you find her. Who are you? What is her name?" Not that Emma didn't have a feeling she knew who the woman was.

 "I am Maleficent. Her name is Lily. Now help me find her, since you are the one that killed me in that mine."

 Of course.

 Emma nodded. "Yeah… sorry about that. I needed to save my son and I thought that egg would help me. But let me make it up to you and help you find your daughter."

 "Very well."

 With a wave of her hand, Maleficent set everything that had been broken straight again, and made her way outside.

 Emma looked over at the office manager that had called the station. "Mr. Krzyszkowski, are you okay?"

 The man, still looking shaken, nodded. "Yes. Thank you Sheriff Swan. You'd better go before she destroys your car… or something else."

 Emma nodded and hurried out the door, going over to the dragon who was standing by her car. "Okay Maleficent. Tell me what you know about your daughter. Does she have any identifying marks? I know the last time you saw her she was an infant but – "

 "Her wrist. She has a star birthmark on her wrist. She was born under the first clear night of Spring. The birthmark reflects that."

 Her grip tightened against her keys as she opened the passenger door for Maleficent to get in. It was the same Lily.

 She took a deep breath as she walked around to the other side of the car and got in. "A star? Maleficent… I know exactly who your daughter is."

 Maleficent's eyes widened. "You do? Where is she? Is she here in this town?"

 Emma shook her head. "I… I haven't seen her since I was sixteen. But I'd recognize her if I saw a picture of her. Maybe she's in a newspaper somewhere. I'll take you back to the sheriff's station so I can look on my computer."

 "I don't know what any of that means. But I appreciate your help," Maleficent said, wincing as they went over a pot hole. "Although I'm not so sure I like this carriage."

 "Sorry. Regina will have to get that hole fixed," Emma replied, pulling up to the station and getting out of the car. "Come on. The computer is inside."

 She sat down with a heavy sigh, pulling up some of the websites she'd used for her old job.

 "So I'll just type in the information we know about her and… here we go. Looks like she's living in Massachusetts," Emma said, turning to Maleficent with a smile.

 But instead of the dragon smiling, she found the woman standing at the window with a look of alarm on her face as she gazed outside.

 "Sheriff Swan… is that normal in this world?" she asked.

 Emma quickly joined her, feeling the color drain from her face.

 "No," Emma said, already reaching for her phone, although she was certain her parents had already seen the massive thing in the sky.

 A giant airship was slowly making its way through the air, heading toward the woods.

 "You want to help me figure this out?" she asked the dragon.

 "I can do you better. I'll fly up there and see who's inside it," Maleficent said, already making her way out the door.

 "Uh – okay," Emma said, looking up into the sky as she put the phone to her ear as it rang. "Regina? Yeah I see it. It's going toward the woods in the direction of your sister's old farmhouse. Maleficent is going to see who's inside it. No – tell my mom to go home with the baby. We have Maleficent to help find them. I'll meet you there."

 "You're leaving town, huh?" a voice said from behind her.

 She could only exhale as she turned to face Neal.

 "I am tomorrow. I'm going to find Maleficent's daughter," she said. "I presume the giant ship in the sky is your doing?"

 "That's good. You'll be reuniting a mother and daughter that were unfairly ripped apart… like your family was," Neal said, following her gaze into the sky and sighing. "Yeah. That was my magic."

 "Who's in it?"

 "I can't say. I'm bound not to say anything about it," Neal replied. Emma could see the desperation in his face. She knew he wouldn't keep this secret. Not from her.

 "What is your endgame here?" she asked. "All this is doing is hurting Henry."

 "I don't want to hurt Henry. But he doesn't care about Henry so I have to do these things. Please Emma. I don't know how much more I can take of this. Find the dagger. When you do it'll be a start… but I know you can save me."

 With that, he vanished before she could stop him.

 "Neal…" she whispered into the Storybrooke streets as a crowd gathered to gossip about the sky ship. "I'll find you. I'll always find you."

 She looked up into the sky and spotted Maleficent slowly circling around an area. The ship must have landed. Letting out a sigh, Emma ran off in the direction of the dragon.

 "Let's see what hell the Dark One has wrought this time," she murmured to herself.

 She could hear the panic before she saw anything. The cries of scared children, the shouts of angry men, and a chorus of nervous voices.

 "HEY! EVERYONE PLEASE CALM DOWN!" she shouted. She couldn't exactly see how many people were there, but it seemed like a lot. "IS ANYONE HURT?!"

 A hand went up immediately. "Please help! It's my daughter! She's badly injured!" a man called as Emma ran over to the pair, spotting the injured woman laying in the man's arms.

 She looked awful, cuts and scrapes on all areas of her body, including a nasty looking gash on her head.

 "What's her name? I'll get her to the hospital," Emma asked.

 "Your car will take too long," Regina replied, running up behind her. "I'll take her. You take her father."

 Emma nodded, realizing just how bad the woman was injured, and stepped aside as Regina gently took the woman into her arms and vanished with her.

 "What's your daughter's name?" Emma asked. "Where are you people from?"

 "Her name is Mary – Mary Lydgate. We're from a realm called the Land of Untold Stories."

[overlordofthelollipopguild]

Taking That Second Chance - Chapter 2

And on this wonderful day, another fic, another installment!

Emma’s struggling with her new situation.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14281503/chapters/32988873

Fanfiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12482329/3/Taking-That-Second-Chance

Chapter 2

One must not let oneself be overwhelmed by sadness. - Jackie Kennedy

The fact that Killian was alive and walking next to her was all that really kept Emma from regretting her decision to change things. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder about the consequences of her time traveling. It’s not like she had thought this through. How could she? One second she was in Storybrooke with Killian’s cold body and the next she was transported to the past, either by her magic or…something. She wasn’t even sure herself. The question remained, would she keep changing things, or keep things the same? Or was it too late to go back to what originally happened?

She glanced at Hook. With him here, and Marian for that matter, Emma knew that she changed too much already. Her path was chosen and now she had to live with it and the consequences of choosing Killian. That she could do. She loved him after all. She’d change everything if that meant keeping him alive.

Hook watched the Swan girl with intrigue. She was a tough lass to be sure, and she made him feel something. For the first time in three hundred years; there was more going on in his heart than just anger and the thirst for revenge. That only served to make him even more curious about her. “So, just who are you, Swan?”

Emma stumbled a bit at his words.

Hook caught her arm to steady her.

“You already know that.” Emma tried to shake off hearing those familiar words again.

“I know your name, Swan.” He told her, letting go of her arm. “But people are more than just their names.”

Emma scoffed, trying to play the part of uninterested stranger. “Why would you care?”

“You intrigue me.” Hook admitted.

“Oh, and why is that?” Emma ignored her fluttering heart. She loved him, but he was still on that precarious line between villainy and heroism. She had to tread carefully with him.

Hook seemed to contemplate his answer. Why he was curious about her, well, he didn’t quite know himself. There was just something about her. Something that drew him in. “A pirate can’t just be curious?”

Emma really looked at him then, wondering what he was getting at, but he appeared sincere. He was always genuine when it came to her. Perhaps, giving him a little bit of something wasn’t a bad idea. “You know the Dark Curse, right?”

“Aye.”

“Well, I’m the one who broke it.” Emma shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “I’m the Savior.”

The Savior? Hook paused. So this was who he was waiting for for twenty-eight years? The one who finally broke the curse, allowing him to get his revenge on the crocodile. That also explained why Swan and her mother were the same age. The Savior had escaped the curse, thus escaping it’s age freezing aspects. “The Savior? What does that mean, exactly?”

“Trust me, I’m still trying to figure that out.” Emma sighed.

Interestingly, she seemed more put out to be the Savior than anything. Hook’s curiosity grew. Just who was this woman?

“So who do you want revenge on?” She asked, eyeing him. Truth be told, Emma was curious if Hook would dance around her question or tell her the truth. This wasn’t the beanstalk after all.

“Why do you want to know?” Hook asked warily.

“You get to know something about me.” Emma shrugged. “Tit for tat and all that.”

Her smirk made his heart tingle. Captain Hook’s heart did not tingle. “If it helps, I’m after another villain.”

“Helps what?” Emma asked. “Your cause?”

Truthfully, he found himself wanting to justify himself to her. He didn’t want her to look at him as if he was a villain, despite the fact that he was one. It made him uncomfortable that he wanted her to see him as something more than what he was. “Do you know of the Dark One?”

Emma hesitated. She couldn’t very well lie to him, but should she start trying to convince him that revenge wasn’t the answer? “He’s the one that took your hand.”

Hook knew he shouldn’t be surprised, she was a perceptive lass, but he still was nonetheless. “He took more than that.”

Her eyes held sympathy when she looked at him.

“He took someone from you, didn’t he?” Emma asked. It was weird to have knowledge of the future and knowledge of Killian’s past, when here he was, completely unaware of what they would one day mean to each other, his heart still set on avenging his first love.

Hook stiffened, staring at Emma as if he was searching for something.

His probing eyes made Emma curse at herself. She wasn’t being too obvious, was she?

“Aye.” He said quietly. “He murdered someone I loved.”

Emma looked away from him. “I’m sorry, Hook.”

“The only one who’ll be sorry is the crocodile.” Hook snarled, glaring off into the horizon ahead of them.

Emma winced.

How was she ever going to convince him that his revenge wasn’t worth his life?

When the curse broke, young Liam Jones thought that his life would be different. He thought that his father would find him and that he would no longer be living on the streets with no one to care for him or love him, all the while hiding his plight from his teachers and fellow classmates.

Liam should’ve known better by now. Wishing for something and actually getting it were two different things, and more often than not wishes were futile. Still, he hoped that maybe his father would come back for him. He still hoped that they could be a family again.

Yet, here it was that his pessimism was proven right. The curse was broken and his father was nowhere to be found.

It was still early. The curse hadn’t even been broken that long, but the fact that his father wasn’t anywhere to be found still hurt.

He had to keep looking though, especially before the schools opened back up. Then how could he hide his predicament? How could he hide the fact that he was nothing more than a homeless orphan?

He needed to find his father.

With his jaw set with determination, Liam pressed on, intent on searching all of Storybrooke until his father was found.

Emma cricked her neck, stretching her limbs while they were taking a rest. It was still a long walk until they reached the castle, and Mulan decided a fifteen minute rest was in order. Emma wouldn’t have minded a longer rest, but they had to get to the wardrobe before Cora. She couldn’t let that witch get the ashes again.

She just needed to figure out what to do with Cora. If they left her here in the Enchanted Forest, Cora could still find another portal, and she might kill countless people. If she did come over to Storybrooke with them, she’d still be dangerous. There had to be a way to rid her of her magic. So long as Cora had that, she was a threat. Emma sighed, poking at the dirt under her feet. Mulan had dragged Hook off to find fresh water, not trusting the pirate to get it himself, and her mother scouting ahead to be sure that they were on the right path towards the castle, not that much of the terrain had changed. Marian had had experience with scouting as well, so Snow took her along for an extra set of eyes.

That left Emma alone at their meeting spot. Her thoughts were all over the place. If only she had a time travel manual to help her. Or a spell book that would help her figure out how to bind Cora’s magic. That was the key. If she could make Cora powerless, then things would be so much easier.

So lost in her thoughts, Emma didn’t hear someone coming up behind her.

Aurora pulled Emma back by her hair and held a dagger to her throat. “You killed my Phillip, and now you’re going to pay.”

Emma rolled her eyes. Of course she forgot that Aurora wanted revenge. Though considering what had happened to her in the past twelve hours, she wasn’t surprised that something slipped her mind.

Before Aurora could carry out her threat, Emma grabbed Aurora by the arms and flipped her over, slamming the princess into the ground.

Aurora lost her breath and her grip on the dagger, which Emma quickly swiped.

Holding the dagger out, ready for the princess if she attacked again, Emma glared. “Next time take on someone you can handle in a fight.”

There was some movement in the trees and the rest of the group joined them.

“What happened?” Mulan snapped, rushing to Aurora’s side. She glared up at Emma. “What did you do to her?”

Emma’s temper flared. “Hey, I was defending myself. Your friend here attacked me from behind. Tell her if she wants revenge for Phillip, then she should go find a wraith.”

Hook looked over Emma for any injuries, surprised at the protective feeling that rose up inside of him so fiercely. He stepped over to her side, trying not to make it obvious that he was backing her up in case Aurora was out for more blood.

Emma tried to ignore his presence as to seem as though he were still a new acquaintance, but she couldn’t help but appreciate his silent support.

Mulan helped the winded Aurora up and practically dragged her away. “We need to talk.”

Once they were out of sight, Marian and Snow joined Emma and Hook.

“Are you all right?” Her mother asked, concern in her eyes.

“I’m fine.” Emma huffed. “I can take care of myself.” Truth be told, Emma still wasn’t used to Mary Margaret’s mothering. They only had had a few months to try and get used to the change that the curse brought to their relationship; it didn’t help that Emma had once again been separated from both her parents for a year, and that when she was with them it was one crisis after another. It had only been since Rumplestiltskin’s banishment that Emma and her parents started bonding more, and now Emma’s accidental time traveling had her back at square one.

Snow looked disappointed by her words.

Emma sighed. “Let’s go see if they’re done talking. We need to get moving.”

Even though his grandfather had assured him that Emma and Snow would find their way back home, Henry still worried. They had no idea where Emma and Snow were, or even if they were safe or alive.

No, he couldn’t think like that. They were alive, and they would come home. Still, Henry wished that there was something that he could do to help.

He looked around the park, seeing lots of people walking around.

The curse breaking had left everyone disoriented in their daily lives.

Henry wondered if businesses, other than Granny’s which hadn’t closed at all, would open back up soon. School was closed indefinitely. There was absolutely nothing for him to do other than stay at Granny’s diner all day under Granny’s watchful eye reading or writing, or playing in the park under Granny’s watchful eye. It was very frustrating.

Movement near him caught his eye, and he turned.

A boy his age was sitting on a bench by himself, looking around as though he were looking for someone.

Henry got up and walked over to the boy, feeling Granny’s eyes on him.

The boy seemed to sense Henry’s approach and looked at him warily.

Henry slowed to a stop before the boy. “Hi, I’m Henry.”

The boy said nothing at first, instead pushing his shaggy brown hair out of his face, revealing dark brown eyes. It struck Henry that he had seen this boy in class before, but he never spoke, and the teachers never called on him, so Henry didn’t even know his name.

“You looked like you were waiting for someone.” Henry said. “Did the curse take someone from you?”

The boy still didn’t speak.

Undeterred, Henry sat next to the boy. “I can help you if you want.”

“I don’t need help.” The boy finally spoke. “I’m fine on my own.”

Henry arched a brow. “You sound like my mom.”

That earned him a glare. “Yeah, comparing me to the Evil Queen just makes my day.”

Henry’s eyes widened. “Oh no, I meant my real mom. Emma Swan.”

“The sheriff, right?” The boy looked intrigued. “She broke the curse?”

“Yeah.” Henry told him. “She’s the Savior.”

“That’s cool.” The boy said. A sad look crossed his face before he forced a smile. “I’m Liam, by the way. Liam Jones.”

Henry smiled. A name was definitely progress. “So, you were looking for someone?”

Liam’s face fell. “That doesn’t matter. Want to go hang out somewhere warmer? I’m freezing my butt off.”

Henry agreed and led Liam over to Granny, knowing that he’d need his chaperone to shadow them. Liam didn’t seem to mind, and Henry felt as though he had already made a new friend.

Aurora had held them up too long it seemed, and night was upon them, forcing them to make camp for the night.

Mulan seemed the surliest of them all over the matter, and Aurora had remained quiet, obviously having been properly chastised for her actions. Neither spoke as they sat next to each other roasting rabbits.

Emma sat next to Hook as they munched on some berries and rabbits that the group managed to capture; she tried not to pay too much attention to him as it was clear that Snow, who was sitting with Marian and chatting amicably, kept glancing over at Emma and Hook suspiciously. She hoped that her mother was just wary of Hook, and not scrutinizing Emma’s behavior around him.

Emma zoned them out, staring into the fire, her thoughts all over the place again. It had been quite a day, and she was exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally. She had freaking time travelled! How had that even happen? Was it her magic? Did her grief over Killian’s death cause her magic to do this? Or had it been a villain that they hadn’t known about? But why would a villain send her back in time?

“Quite a day, eh Swan?” Hook whispered next to her, startling her out of her thoughts.

She glanced at him, seeing a smirk on his features. “Quite.” She tried to sound terse. Though the longer she was around Killian, the harder it was to remember that they were supposed to have just met when all Emma wanted to do was kiss him, or hold him tight and never let go, or just be able to smile at him.

He eyed her like she was a challenge that he was excited to undertake. “You know,” He leaned in closer. “You may be afraid to talk and reveal yourself, but I do quite like a challenge.”

Emma’s heart thudded hard against her ribs. Those words again. She gave him a frosty look, or at least attempted it. “Is that what I am? Just another challenge for the great Captain Hook to conquer?”

Hook met her eyes with an intensity that startled her. It was as though he was searching her soul for the answer himself. “Perhaps I’m not sure yet.” He admitted softly.

“Well, I have news for you buddy.” She leaned in, her eyes narrowed. “It’s going to take a lot more than a pretty face and charm to win me over.”

Hook smirked. “Of that, I have no doubt.”

It was then that Emma realized how close they were, so she leaned away, glancing around to see if anyone else had noticed. Her mother had, and she was looking very suspicious again. Emma silently cursed. She was trying her best not to be obvious about her feelings towards Hook, but maybe she wasn’t hiding it well enough. Maybe it was better to try and distance herself from Hook until she could get more control over herself and her head was clearer.

Hook’s eyes were still on her, so she chanced a look in his direction. His expression was serious, his brow crinkling as though he were trying to figure her out.

Emma turned away, hoping that she could figure out how to keep him at arm’s length without letting him go. Though she doubted she’d figure it out any time soon. With a sigh, Emma returned to her food, not that she was very hungry.

After a few moments of pretending to eat, Emma turned back to Hook. She might as well use her future knowledge to get him to talk. “So, what can you tell me about Cora?”

Hook arched a brow. “Other than having magic, she has every intention of reaching the Land Without Magic.”

Emma was surprised that Hook actually told the truth, but then again he was on her side now, and betraying Cora meant that he had to cover his ass, even if he had to use his newest allies to do it. She needed to find a way to reach the good man within. “Why does she want to go to the Land Without Magic?”

“Her daughter.” Hook said.

“Regina.” Emma nodded. “What kind of family reunion are we in for?”

“Not a pleasant one.” Hook grimaced.

Emma remembered that reunion all too well. She couldn’t risk Cora coming to the Land Without Magic this time around. For Henry’s sake more than anything since it was a guarantee that Cora would use him to get to Regina. “If Cora wants to get to the Land Without Magic so badly, does she have her own plan? Does she know where a portal is?”

Hook looked away from her. “Not as far as I know.”

It stung that he lied to her, but she should’ve expected it. Like her, Hook was very much closed off, preferring to keep his cards close to the vest.

“I doubt that.” Emma scoffed. She pushed herself up, catching everyone’s attention. “I’m going to get some sleep. Wake me when it’s my watch.” She turned away quickly, heading over to a makeshift pallet.

Hook’s eyes were on her the whole time, but she refused to acknowledge ledge him, letting the exhaustion in her bones take over.

Henry smiled to himself as David led him up he stairs to the loft. He and Liam had hung out at Granny’s for most of the afternoon and even after dinner. It was only when David arrived after eight o’clock that they realized the time and reluctantly parted ways.

“Sorry I was late picking you up.” David said again as they entered the loft. “Did you have a good day?”

“Yeah.” Henry replied as he set his backpack on the table. “Liam and I talked a lot. He’s looking for his dad.”

David listened, curious to know more about Henry’s new friend. “Does he know what happened to him?”

Henry shook his head. “He disappeared before the curse.”

“What about his mother?” David asked as he shrugged out of his jacket and kicked off his boots. It was good to be home after a long day of throwing out metaphorical fires. Ruby had volunteered to help man the station, but David couldn’t wait until Emma and Snow came home. If they came home. No, he needed to stay optimistic. They would come home. As soon as he could track down Jefferson and get him to make the hat work. As it was, the man was very elusive.

“He didn’t mention her.” Henry said, bringing David back out of his thoughts.

David wondered about that but Henry seemed very happy to have a new friend. “It’s good that you have a new friend.”

Henry beamed at him. “Liam wants to hang out again tomorrow, is that okay?”

“Sure it is.” David said. “Granny shouldn’t mind that at all.” A clock chimed. “Looks like it’s time for bed.”

Henry tensed a bit, not wanting to go back and relive his nightmare of the burning room. David had promised that if it happened again, they would figure something out. Besides, maybe it wouldn’t happen again? Maybe it was just a one time thing? He hoped that it was, because he really didn’t like the idea of being stuck in a burning room every time he closed his eyes.

David watched his grandson go upstairs with concern. He remembered Snow having nightmares of a burning room after he broke her sleeping curse, but eventually the nightmares had subsided. He wanted to make them go away for Henry’s sake, but he wasn’t sure what all he could do. For now, all he could do was watch over Henry, and if the nightmares grew worse, then he would do whatever he could to help Henry get through them.

He just felt so helpless. He had no real solution for helping Henry with his nightmares, and then there was the matter of getting Emma and Snow home. He hoped that he could find Jefferson soon. The more he learned about the hat, the better. If he could use it to get his family back, then he had to know how to work it.

If the hat didn’t work…then he had no idea what else to do.

He wished that Snow was here. They usually talked through things together, and then they figured it out.

Sighing heavily, he went to the bedroom, figuring that he might as well go to bed. He needed sleep after all. Maybe his worries would leave him if he slept, and tomorrow he could be in a better state of mind.

Jefferson would be his target, and he would find a way to bring his wife and daughter home.

After all, tomorrow was a new day.

It was nearly midnight and Regina couldn’t sleep. So much had happened in the last few days since her curse broke. She lost her son and her job and her magic wasn’t working properly. It pissed her the hell off.

This curse was supposed to be her happy ending. She was supposed to be the one in charge here, and everyone else was supposed to be miserable. They were all supposed to be under her thumb without any awareness that their lives were not their own and that they were helpless to her whims.

The Savior. Regina could just kill the woman. This was all her fault. The curse never would’ve broken if Miss Swan had just let Henry go and gotten her ass out of Regina’s town and back to Boston. If she ever saw Miss Swan again, she was going to get her revenge.

Her only consolation was that the Savior and Snow White were either dead or in another realm, which meant that they were no longer thorns in her side.

With the curse broken now, however, the entire town, especially Prince Charming, was a whole bushel of thorns. He took her son from her. Regina couldn’t very well let him get away with that. He would not keep her son from her. Henry was everything to her.

She might not have been the best mother, but she loved Henry. Everything that she did was for his own good.

Emma had waltzed into town and turned Regina’s little prince against her.

Regina was going to have to do something about that. She would get her son back, and she would make Henry love her again.

Emma woke with a start, her breaths heaving. She looked around wildly until she remembered where she was.

The Enchanted Forest. In the past.

Killian was alive.

It was just a bad memory that haunted her.

Killian was alive.

Emma laid back down, trying to calm her breathing. You’re okay. She calmly told herself. Killian’s alive. Everything will be fine.

Her breathing finally evened out, but her mind was branded by the images of Killian’s body in her arms. She pushed her hands against her eyes as if she could push the images out of her head.

When that failed, Emma pushed herself up, needing to get away and gather her thoughts. Careful of twigs and leaves, not wanting to alert anyone or wake anyone, Emma walked away from the camp. Once she was alone, hidden from sight of the camp, she was able to relax some. She found a tree to lean against and closed her eyes.

What was she even doing? Time travel? Really? She’d been through this shit before, and in changing things she almost erased herself from existence. Which only meant that she almost erased Henry too. She might not’ve travelled back that far in time, but it was enough that she could change too much. While some crappy things did happen, a lot of good things happened too. Pan’s curse separated her from her loved ones, but it gave her a normal life with Henry for a time. Time traveling almost changed her entire future, but then they brought Elsa to Storybrooke. Regina became one of the good guys, Belle had become a good friend, and Emma was finally able to open her heart up, not just to Killian, but to her family too.

It was too much pressure. Should she keep changing things, or should she set everything back on course? But with Killian and Marian here, how could she correct what she had done? Was it too late?

There was a rustling near her.

Emma opened her eyes, finding Hook walking slowly towards her. “Did I wake you?” She asked softly.

He shook his head. “It was my watch. Are you all right?”

Boy, oh boy, was that ever the loaded question. “It’s just been a day.”

Hook nodded. “Aye, that it has.” He was closer now, not even a foot away.

It was sudden when her emotions overwhelmed her. It was too much to handle. Killian’s death, time travel, reliving her life again. All she wanted was to be in Killian’s arms and have him comfort her, but she couldn’t have that because the Killian in front of her wasn’t her Killian yet. He was still revenge driven Hook.

His blue eyes were sad, and Emma didn’t understand why until his hand cupped her face and his thumb wiped away her tears.

She hadn’t even realized she was crying.

“It’s going to be all right, Emma.” His voice was gentle. “We’ll get you back to your boy. I promise.”

When he looked at her like that, and spoke in that voice, Emma could see the man she was meant to fall in love with. Her Killian. The Killian that had been buried deep under Hook’s pain for so long.

Her hands grabbed at his jacket collar, pulling him closer. She needed him so badly that it made her chest ache and her lungs burn.

His forehead gently pressed against hers as their eyes locked. “Emma.”

She was’t sure if it was a warning or a prayer as she pulled him in. Her eyes fluttered shut when his lips were only a hairsbreadth away from her own.

A twig snapped, shocking them both apart.

Emma looked over Hook’s shoulder and saw her mother looking more surprised than Emma felt.

“Sorry.” Snow said, though she was too shocked to mean it. “I’ll just go find somewhere else to…yeah, I’m leaving.” Her fair skin flamed red under the moonlight as she left them.

Emma looked back at Hook, who was studying her very carefully. His coat collar was still in her hands, so she released it. Looking away, silently berating herself for almost giving in like that when it wasn’t fair to Hook, Emma stepped away for him. “I’ll take over your watch. You should get some sleep.”

As she walked away, she heard him say three words that made her heart skip a beat.

“As you wish.”

[overlordofthelollipopguild]

Broken Souls Mend Hearts - Chapter 83

I actually posted it on fanfiction.net a while back and I was going to post it on the BSMH blog, but it will take too long to catch up on the blog. 

So I hope you guys enjoy. I will also try to post on AO3 within the next months or weeks. Idk, lol.

Link to ff.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9905481/86/Broken-Souls-Mend-Hearts

Chapter 83: Not A Merry Christmas

They were being watched, Mulan could feel it. She paused, listening for any odd sounds, while Aurora, none the wiser to Mulan’s stopping, continued walking through the forest.

The ground was covered in snow, but Aurora had insisted on scouting out a spot for a new village for the refugees, and Mulan hadn’t wanted her to go alone. If they were being watched, and Mulan wasn’t just imagining it, then she was right not to let the princess travel out here on her own. There was a Wicked Witch around after all, not that they’d ever seen any sign of her.

“Mulan?” Aurora stopped, now a good distance away from Mulan. “What’s wrong?”

Mulan looked around at the too quiet trees. “Nothing. I thought…"

“What?” Aurora asked.

The flutter of wings had Mulan drawing her sword, only to see a pair of redwings flying off.

Aurora chuckled from behind her. “I’m certain those redwings were going to attack. They were quite fierce looking.”

Mulan glanced over her shoulder, giving Aurora a wry look, even as her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Aurora’s smile. She turned away to sheath her sword and catch her breath. Why did Aurora always make her feel so off balance? Why did her stomach flutter at the sight of Aurora? Mulan shook her head lightly. Of course, she knew why, but there was no way that she could acknowledge what she felt for Aurora. Aurora was a princess, one who had not so long ago had and lost True Love.

Mulan could see that these past months of grieving for Phillip and being pregnant in a dangerous Enchanted Forest had worn on Aurora. Though Aurora was happy to have Diana, and happy to help anyone that she could, Mulan noticed how tired she was and she had heard Aurora cry enough for one lifetime.

The hair on the back of her neck prickled. They were still being watched. Mulan had let herself get distracted too much; she needed to get Aurora back to safety. “I think that it’s best that we return to the castle now.”

“We still haven’t found a spot to start…” Aurora began, but another flap of wings cut her off.

A flying monkey shot out of the trees towards the princess.

“Aurora!” Mulan shouted, running towards the princess.

Aurora ducked in time to avoid the swipe of the monkey’s claw.

As the monkey swung back around, Mulan reached Aurora, swinging her sword at the monkey, cutting it’s side.

The monkey let out an anguished shriek and swiped at them, forcing Mulan to drop her sword and push Aurora to the ground. The monkey hissed at them, favoring it’s side where Mulan cut it, before flying off.

Mulan watched the monkey’s movements, and once she determined that it wasn’t coming back, she turned her head towards Aurora, startled to find her face so close. That was when Mulan realized that their bodies were flushed against each other.

Aurora stared up at her with wide eyes and flushed cheeks.

As Mulan swallowed the lump in her throat, she vaguely thought that she should get off of Aurora. However, she couldn’t stop staring into Aurora’s eyes. Had they always been so blue?

Aurora’s breathing was shallow, from Mulan pressing down on her or from the attack, she didn’t know for certain, but she did know that she was going to do something very stupid if Mulan didn’t get off of her. Still, Aurora couldn’t stop her eyes from flicking to Mulan’s mouth.

When Mulan realized Aurora was staring at her mouth with heat in her blue eyes, she finally pushed herself off of the princess, clearing her throat. “Are you hurt?”

Aurora sat up next to Mulan. “I’m fine. You?”

“Fine.” Mulan stood up and held a hand out to help Aurora up. It took a lot of self control not to pull Aurora in for a kiss. “We really should head back now.”

Aurora nodded.

Mulan led the way, trying to convince herself that she imagined what happened between them, and berating herself for ever getting into such a compromising position.

The princess, for her part, was trying to ignore the disappointment she felt when Mulan didn’t kiss her. She didn’t have feelings for Mulan; she couldn’t have feelings for her, so there was no way she could be disappointed that there was no kiss, right?

His hideaway was no longer a secret, he mused as Tink came and stood next to him.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding every day.” Tink looked out at the view of the castle grounds.

“Not every day.” Blackbeard said.

“Maybe not, but it’s a place to hide out when you’re avoiding me and Killian.” Tink huffed.

“Isn’t it only avoiding if the person you’re avoiding is aware of it?” Blackbeard asked. “Because I’m certain that Killian couldn’t care less what I’m up to, let alone be aware of my avoidance.”

“Well I'm certainly aware of it!” Tink gave him a quelling look.

Blackbeard cowed slightly. “I am sorry.” He said sincerely.

Tink’s expression softened. “I’ll forgive you.” She told him. “I just have one condition.”

He had a feeling that whatever her condition was, that he was not going to like it. Bracing himself, he nodded at her to continue. “What is it?”

Tink took a steadying breath. “Killian plans to leave the castle. He’s going to search for a portal back to Emma and Henry. He’s also taking Liam, and he’s asked Alice, Will, and myself to join him.”

Honestly, Blackbeard wasn’t surprised to hear that Killian was going to leave. Family had always been everything to Killian, and he wasn’t the kind of man to simply let his True Love and his child go. Especially not when Killian’s defining trait, other than loyalty, was determination. “That’s not surprising. It’s a very Killian thing to do.” Blackbeard sighed. “So you’re going with him then?” He already knew the answer. Of course Tink would go. Killian needed her help and she was big on helping people in need. It was a fairy thing after all. But Blackbeard wanted her to stay with him; maybe not here at the castle, but somewhere. He wanted to start a new life and he wanted Tink by his side when he did so. Though ever since Neverland, he certainly hadn’t been acting like he wanted her. He’d been so worried about Killian and Will finding out who he was that he’d all but pushed Tink away.

“I am.” Tink said. “Come with us, please. Killian’s already agreed to you coming along, and I think it would be good for you.” She chewed at her lip before adding. “I want…I really want you to come with us.”

Blackbeard gave her a tentative smile. “You do?”

“Yes, I do.” Tink said. “Even if you can be an ass.” Her green eyes looked up into his blue ones. She breathed deep, and made her confession. “I do happen to like you a lot, you know?”

His expression became serious, his eyes surprised. Blackbeard knew that there were feelings between them, but neither had ever made such a confession. They had kept their relationship at the level of friends with benefits, neither willing to get too involved, both afraid to get burned. But now Tink had admitted that she liked him; but did that mean as friends or as more? He needed to find out. “Like me a lot, huh? In what way?”

Tink’s lips twitched. “You haven’t figured that out yet?”

Blackbeard moved closer, bending slightly forward due to their height difference. “Perhaps you should enlighten me?”

Tink licked her lips nervously, before moving close enough that their bodies were touching. They had been intimate before, but not like this. This was something more than just physical affection and sexual attraction. It was both of those with meaning behind them; with feelings igniting them. “If you want to be enlightened, all you have to do is kiss me.”

He moved swiftly, his lips on hers just as she finished speaking. His arms wrapped tightly around her, pulling her flush against him, kissing her with passionate intent.

Tink could barely keep up with his vigorous kiss, reaching up to anchor her hands in his hair, determined to give as good as she was getting from him. She prodded his lips with her tongue, demanding entry, which he gave with a deep groan.

Blackbeard saw stars as Tink took control of the kiss, shoving him against the brick wall. He hadn’t lied in Neverland; he loved her being commanding, but this was really the first time she had been so dominant without hesitation. It made his blood shoot straight down to his cock, leaving him breathless and dizzy.

Tink pulled away to catch her breath, eliciting a desperate moan from Blackbeard. “Now, you never gave me an answer.”

It took a second for the lustful fog to clear from his brain.

He was certain of his answer, but there would be repercussions. If he did go with them, Blackbeard would be constantly interacting with Killian, and of all of the things that Killian had been, stupid never had been one of them. Despite the three hundred year separation and Blackbeard’s unkempt and dirty appearance, eventually Killian was going to figure out who Blackbeard was, and he wasn’t sure he could face the confrontation that was sure to come.

Oh, and once Killian outed him, then he’d be forced to face Will as well. While he’d been a disappointment of a father to his son, Blackbeard knew that any reaction from Will, indifferent or otherwise, would hurt him as much as he knew Killian’s reaction would.

But he was certain about Tink and he wanted to be with her, in any capacity, even if that meant facing down his beloved brother's anger and disappointment and his son's hurt or apathy.

“I will.”

“You will give me an answer, or you will come with us?” Tink asked.

“I will go with you.” Blackbeard told her.

“Really?” Tink brightened, tightening her hold on him.

“Only for you.” Blackbeard’s lips brushed against hers. “For you, love, I’d do anything.”

His words had Tink’s heart fluttering as his lips reclaimed hers.

It was still morning when Snow plopped down on a settee exhausted from running around the castle since before dawn in order to ensure that the Christmas preparations were complete, or close to it. They still had nearly three full days before Christmas Eve, but it was their first Christmas back in the Enchanted Forest and it was meant to uplift the spirits of their people; Snow wanted it to be perfect. Even if she was obsessing over it in order to avoid David. That was why she usually left their bedroom before the sun rose anyway.

Wanting desperately to ignore the guilt of her relationship problems, and how they were her fault, Snow began to mentally compile a list of things that still needed to be done before the holiday. Unfortunately, everything seemed to be taken care of so far; apparently using a holiday and the subsequent preparations for it in order to avoid her husband only gave her so much to do.

She knew that she couldn’t avoid David forever, though. They did need to talk about everything, but Snow wasn’t sure she could face David. They weren’t on the same page anymore. He had been content with where their family had been at, with Emma, Henry, Killian, and Liam. Snow had never been content; she loved her daughter and grandsons greatly, and Killian was one of her closest friends, but there had always been something missing, and the longer Emma’s pregnancy went on, the more Snow realized that she wanted another baby and another chance at being a mother.

Of course her life being her life meant that every single obstacle possible was in the way of her happiness. Was it karma from a past life? Or was her family truly cursed? Even if they could get everything back to some semblance of normalcy, she still might never have a chance at a family. Especially if she and David couldn’t even be in the same room as each other, and while that was more her fault than his, they’d both been busy as of late.

The door opened revealing Ruby with two mugs. “There you are. Granny found a stash of the really high quality chocolate and made some cocoa. I figured you could use a cup.”

Snow smiled gratefully as Ruby walked over. “That would be amazing.” Snow gripped the mug close, letting the warmth of the mug and the sweet smell sooth her.

Ruby sat next to her friend, noticing the dark circles under sad, hopeless eyes. “I’d ask what’s wrong, but I don’t think the cocoa is strong enough for that conversation.”

That earned a chuckle from Snow. “You’re probably right.” Taking a sip of her cocoa, Snow debated about whether or not to talk to Ruby. They used to be able to talk about everything, but since the curse broke they still hadn’t managed to get their friendship back to what it was. Maybe talking about her problems would not only help her, but help their friendship as well. “I’ve…been avoiding David.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” Ruby winced.

“Just you?” Snow asked, hoping her avoidance wasn’t too obvious.

Ruby’s answering grimace told her otherwise. “No, but I’m the only one David talks to about it.”

“David talked to you?” Snow wondered what he had to say.

“He’s been worried about you.” Ruby told her. “You were wallowing before, and now you’ve let Christmas take over your time. He thinks that you both need to have a talk about things.”

Snow sighed. “I know we do. I’m just scared.”

“Scared?” Ruby tilted her head. “Of what?”

“David and I aren’t on the same page anymore.” Snow sighed. “I’m scared of what that might mean for us. I’m scared that my family will never be safe.” Tears started to fall from Snow’s eyes “I’m scared that the Wicked Witch will show up with a curse or that Regina will go all Evil Queen again. I’m scared that something will happen to my grandson, because he is all that I have left of my daughter. I’m scared that my family will never be happy, and that I’ll never get my happy ending.”

Ruby’s heart broke for her best friend, pulling the tearful woman into her arms. “Oh, Snow.”

“I just wish that my family was safe and happy.” Snow cried. “That’s all I want. I want Emma and Henry back. I want to see Emma and Killian’s wedding day. I want to have more kids and grandkids. I want to see Henry grow up. I want villains to leave us alone. Is that really too much to ask for?”

“No, it’s not.” Ruby said softly. “After everything that you’ve been through, you deserve happiness.”

“Sometimes I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore.” Snow sniffed.

“No one does, believe me.” Ruby sighed. “You know, I think that if you talk to David, really talk to him, then you might be able to get back on the same page.”

A ghost of a smile appeared on Snow’s face. “Is that how you and Jefferson make it work?”

Ruby grimaced. “Um, it’s….a work in progress.”

Snow’s brow furrowed, concern on her face. “Is everything all right?”

Ruby knew that if she got into her relationship troubles, then she’d have to reveal that she and Jefferson were engaged. Firstly, she didn’t feel like it was the right time, and secondly, she didn’t want Snow excited and using the engagement as an excuse to avoid David more. “Everything’s fine. It’s just been so crazy and we’ve all been busy.”

The look on Snow’s face said that she didn’t buy Ruby’s words at all, but the door opening interrupted them.

Belle poked her head in. “There you two are. Granny sent me. Apparently the dwarves and some former knights are having a turf war over the courtyard.”

Ruby and Snow shared disbelieving looks.

“They’re what, over what, now?” Snow asked.

Belle sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know, but Leroy seemed especially incensed.”

“Sounds like it’s time for us women to put men in their place.” Ruby joked.

Belle snorted as she left the room.

Ruby made to stand but Snow stopped her.

“We’re finishing this conversation later.” Snow promised. “I’m still your friend, Ruby. If something is going on, then let me help.”

Ruby gave her a reassuring smile. “Everything’s fine, Snow.”

Snow didn’t believe her, but they had more pressing issues to attend to at the moment.

Belle looked around at the dusty library. Between all of the odd jobs that she’d gotten upon her return, she hadn’t had a moment to herself, let alone a moment to check out Regina’s library.

Her return had been met with demands of her, which she was grateful for, as it kept her mind off of Neal and her guilt over leaving him in such a state. She’d been debating about going back to Rumple’s castle and stopping Neal, but she was struggling. She felt like she was needed here, but her guilt prevented her from taking any action. He was Rumple’s son, and she had just abandoned him because she was too weak with grief to even try to fight him, to convince him not to go through with resurrecting his father. Belle prayed he hadn’t yet found a way to bring Rumple back to life. There was no telling what repercussions would occur from it.

At the same time, she felt guilty for letting Rumple go so easily. She wasn’t over him; not at all, but his sacrifice, it was the first time that Belle actually saw the man she believed was deep inside of Rumple. She had had glimpses of the good man, the loving man, but the Dark One had tainted them, and Rumple had been set into his ways. His sacrifice was done out of love, purely and utterly, and if Neal ever brought Rumple back….if it was at all possible, then would Rumple be as he was before? As the Dark One and Rumple, together as one. Or would the Dark One have complete control? She was afraid to find out, and even more afraid to lose Rumple to darkness forever. Losing him to death was easier, even if it was just as painful.

She wished that she could talk to someone about this situation and get their advice on the matter, but the two people she was closest to were Ruby and Killian. Ruby was even busier than Belle, what with being David’s de facto second in command, and pulling double duty between overseeing the refugees and the Christmas celebration preparations. As for Killian, he was still mourning his own loss and he had an infant child that needed his entire focus right now. Belle didn’t want to burden Ruby, but she especially didn’t want to add to Killian’s worry. She knew that, despite hard feelings over Emma and Henry and Milah, Killian still cared for Neal on some level, because a part of Neal was still that boy that Killian had cared for so long ago.

Even if there was someone that she was comfortable talking to about this, she didn’t think it would be a good idea to try. Everyone had a lot on their plates right now, and it would be selfish of Belle to dump her problems on anyone, when everyone had their own or bigger problems to deal with.

“Oh good, I hoped to find you here.” Regina’s voice startled Belle.

Belle smiled. “I heard a rumor that you were returning hearts and apologizing.”

“Not a rumor.” Regina told her, though the former Evil Queen seemed almost bashful talking about it. Regina straightened, her face becoming a mask of stoicism.

A defense mechanism, likely.

“Anyway, I came here to ask you a favor.” Regina began. “My own knowledge of magic isn’t as extensive as I’d like it to be, but if I’m going to keep returning hearts, I don’t have time to read any of my books and get a refresher course.” She gestured at the library around her. “I was hoping that you could take on the job. Read everything about magic that I have. That way, when the Wicked Witch attacks, or ogres happen upon us, or another villain comes out of the woodwork, then we’d be ready.”

“But I don’t have any magic.” Belle said. “I don’t see how that could help.”

“You have a brain.” Regina said. “A very good one, and absorbing knowledge is your gift. You remember information about everything. If you get a jump on things and read everything, then it will cut down any research time that we might have in the future.”

“But, Regina, I…”

“Belle.” Regina’s tone was stern. “You are arguably the smartest person here, and with everyone else trying to do all of the physical labors, we need someone who’s a quick study, so that we won’t be caught off guard. We need you Belle.”

Realizing how serious Regina was, and even more how worried she looked, Belle knew that she couldn’t say no, especially since it meant being helpful and working to protect her friends and the refugees. Who knew what the Wicked Witch was planning? If Belle stayed, then she might certainly be able to find out, and if the Wicked Witch showed up again, Belle could help stop her. “All right, where should I start?”

Regina gave her a genuine smile. “Anywhere, the library is all yours.”

“We need more winter clothes.” Tink stated, going through a pile of clothes that had been sorted for the residences of the castle.

Will scoffed. “We need a bloody car. With heat an’ a roof.”

Tink tisked. “Unfortunately, the Enchanted Forest is behind on the times. Though, we could steal one of Regina’s carriages.” If only they did have a car; it would certainly make things easier, but a carriage would have to do. So would a team of horses. They’d need that as well.

“That I can do.” Will agreed. “Think Killian will agree?”

“It would benefit Liam.” Tink said, nodding. Liam’s safety and comfort had to be as much of a priory as finding a portal would be. “But I still think winter clothes and blankets are good to stockpile on. Who knows how cold it will get, and if we take the carriage, it might end up damaged. Or if we’d have to camp out…”

Will nodded. “True that.” He picked up a fur lined cloak and added it to the pile Tink was creating for them to pack for their journey. “Do you think he’s going to ask anyone else to come with us?”

“No.” Tink shook her head. “It think he wants to keep this group small. Plus, everyone who’d want to go needs to stay here. There’s so much that’s going on and no one else needs to come with us.”

“So just us, Alice, and Blackbeard are joining him?” Will asked.

Neither were aware that Snow had paused outside the room. She had been about to enter, looking for David. Ruby was right when she said that Snow and David really needed to talk, but when she heard Will and Tink talking, she couldn’t help but be curious. Were they leaving the castle? With who and why?

“I think so.” Tink said. “It would be easier to keep it small. Less of a chance of more people finding out and easier for us to leave without drawing attention.”

“Killian never did like attention.” Will chuckled.

Snow tilted her head to listen better. What did Killian have to do with this?

“Okay, that’s all that I see that could be useful for us.” Tink sighed, adding one last thing to their pile. “I hope Killian knows what he’s doing. We don’t know how long the search for a portal will take.”

Snow froze. Killian was…what? Leading a group to find a portal? Why….it hit her suddenly. Emma and Henry. Despite Regina’s claim that no more portals to the Land Without Magic existed, Killian was going to search for one anyway. How could he be so foolish? There was no way back to Emma and Henry. Even if Snow wasn't Regina’s biggest fan right now, she knew that Regina, and Rumplestiltskin for that matter, knew magic. They had both said there was no way back to Emma and Henry. Why was Killian even trying? And how could he just abandon Liam like this? Unless he was taking the baby, but that was even more foolish. It would only endanger Liam.

Screw talking to David. Snow had to find Killian and talk him out of this futile quest. 


Killian jumped back in surprise as August appeared in front of him.

Liam sent a flash of irritation at his father, clearly not happy about being disturbed from his dozing state.

“So, you want to tell me what you said to Papa that has him so upset?” August asked with a glare.

Was that why August looked ready to punch him? Killian’s brow furrowed at the thought of his father. He hadn’t meant to upset Marco so, but he thought his father understood why he was doing this. It seemed though that Marco hadn’t told August what Killian had told him. “It’s really not your business, August.”

“Maybe not, but Papa wants us to be brothers, and whether you like it or not, brothers show concern about the other’s well being.” August growled. “Something is going on, and I swear Killian, if you’re planning to do something stupid….”

“It’s not stupid.” Killian said, getting defensive. His harsh tone caused Liam to wake up fully and whine. Wincing, Killian gently bounced the baby, shushing him.

“So you are planning something?” August questioned.

Killian sighed. August wasn’t going to let this go, and Killian doubted the man would believe any lie Killian told him. Part of Killian was touched though too; August was expressing brotherly concern, and it was nice to have a brother again. Not that David and Jefferson weren’t very much like brothers to him, but he and August shared a father. Sighing, Killian hoped that trusting this information to August wouldn’t blow up in his face. “I made a promise to Emma to find a way back to her and Henry. I already scoured the library, and it wasn’t helpful, so the only way to keep searching for a portal is to leave. I’m taking Liam and a few others with me.”

August was floored for a moment, but he knew that Killian would do anything to reunite his family. “So you’re leaving? That’s what you told Papa.”

“Aye.” Killian said. “We talked about it and he encouraged me to leave, and to keep my promise.”

That seemed to surprise August even more, before a look of understanding came into his eyes. “Okay, then.”

“What?” Killian arched a brow.

“Okay, you go keep your promise and you get Emma and Henry back.” August said. “I’m assuming that you already have enough help, so I could stay here and keep an eye on things for you, and keep an eye on Papa.”

“Just like that?” Killian was stunned that August accepted this so easily and wasn’t fighting him on this.

August shrugged. “Isn’t that what brothers are for?”

A rush of gratitude filled Killian. “Thank you.”

Embarrassed by the sincerity in Killian’s tone, August just shrugged. “Yeah well, Emma and Henry are family, you know? We need all of our family together. Just be careful. None of us would ever forgive you if something happened to you, or Liam, or whoever else is going with you.”

Killian nodded. “We’ll all be careful, I promise. And I’d die before I’d let anything happen to my son.”

“I know.” August said. “So are you and your comrades all good to go, or do you need help with anything?”

“I think we have everything.” Killian said. “But thank you.”

“No problem.” August nodded before turning away. However, he stopped a final time and looked back at his brother. “And Killian, you have my word that I won’t tell anyone about this.”

Killian gave another grateful nod before August walked off. He looked down at his now sleeping son. “Well, that was unexpected.”

There was no response from the baby, not that Killian much expected one. He looked around the hall that was full of Christmas cheer, a pang of longing shooting through him at the realization that Liam’s first Christmas would be without his mother and brother.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way, but then, that’s exactly why Killian was going to fix this.

Alice found Jefferson decorating one of the smaller rooms for Christmas. She knew that she wasn’t leaving until after the holidays, but a gut feeling had her seeking Jefferson out, needing to get a goodbye with her father figure in before she left. “Jefferson.”

He paused, surprised to find her there. “Hey, Alice.”

“Hey.” Alice stepped into the room, closing the door behind her.

“What’s up?” He asked, stepping off of the chair that he had been using to put up some of the hanging decorations.

“I…” Alice paused, not sure about how much she should tell him. “I’m leaving soon, and I can’t tell you why, but it’s for a good cause.”

Jefferson arched a brow, processing the information. “Okay, can I ask why you’re leaving?”

Alice chewed her lip. “Um, well, a friend made a promise and he’s trying to keep it. He needs help, so I decided to go with him.”

“Will?” Jefferson asked.

“No.” Alice said. “But Will is coming with us.”

Jefferson nodded. “Will it be dangerous?” He didn’t like the idea of Alice going off into danger, even if Will and others were there to help her.

“I don’t know.” Alice admitted. “But you’re not going to stop me. If you knew what was going on, you’d drop everything to help too.”

So it was someone close to Jefferson that needed the help. That certainly sparked his interest, but he took in the determined look in Alice’s eyes, and he had a feeling that he wouldn’t be able to question her further.

He stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. “Just be careful, okay? And promise me that you’ll write to me and let me know how things are going?”

Surprised that he accepted this so easily, Alice returned the hug. “I will…Papa.”

Jefferson’s heart warmed at Alice’s calling him “Papa,” but at the same time it only served to remind him of Grace’s distance. He sighed and pulled away. “I’m proud of you for putting someone else’s needs above your own, you know?”

She smiled, but she saw sadness in Jefferson’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Another sigh escaped the hatter. “It’s…Grace. She’s been distant since we returned.”

Immediately Alice felt a swell of concern for the younger girl, who she’d begun to see as a sister over these last months. “Do you want me to talk to her?”

Jefferson shook his head. “You should focus on what you’re doing. I’m the father here, it’s my job to worry about Grace.”

“That doesn’t mean that I can’t help.” Alice said. “We aren’t leaving until after the holidays. Maybe I can try to talk to her before then. And even after I leave, I’ll write to her too.”

“I think she’d like that.” Jefferson said. “I think she misses her friends. She needs someone to talk to and she won’t talk to me. Ruby’s been so busy too…”

“And she might be more honest with a sister than a parent.” Alice added. “I’ll talk to her.”

“Thank you.” Jefferson hugged her again. “You know, you’re the only good thing that ever came out of my time in Wonderland.”

Alice smiled. “It’s nice to know something good happened in that place.”

Jefferson chuckled. “Yeah, it is. It’s also nice to know that Grace does have you to look out for her.”

“That’s what sisters are for.” Alice shrugged. “So do you need help with the decorations?”

Jefferson glanced at the box that had been given to him for this room. “Sure, why not?”

Alice smiled warmly, and the two set to work.

Henry was excited to be getting a tree for their apartment, and his excitement was absolutely infectious.

Emma hadn’t thought either of them would be excited for the holidays after everything that happened, but apparently looking for a Christmas tree was magical like that.

Henry kept bouncing from tree to tree; he’d say it was perfect before finding a flaw. He insisted that their tree this year needed to be perfect.

As long as he was happy tree hunting and as long as he was happy with whatever tree he found, then Emma was happy. It had been a long while since either of them had been happy. She watched Henry scrutinizing a tree and suddenly she wished that her family was here to enjoy Henry’s enthusiasm with her.

Where had that come from? She thought. What family did she suddenly want here? Henry was her only family after all. He was all she had. A sharp pain struck her heart at the memory of her baby. This would’ve been the baby’s first Christmas. The first Christmas that wouldn't have just been Emma and Henry.

With that thought, any happiness and excitement left Emma. She wanted to be happy and in a Christmas mood, at the very least for Henry’s sake, but what was there to be happy about when her baby was supposed to be here with them? Swallowing the lump in her throat, Emma put on a fake smile just as Henry turned around to ask her what she thought of the tree.

As he waited for her answer, Henry seemed to read the emotions in her eyes, and Emma could see his excitement waning.

“I think it’s perfect, kid.” Emma’s forced her tone to sound happy. “You did good. You should pick out the tree every year.”

“I do pick out the tree ever year.” Henry joked, but his expression was serious.

Emma cursed herself for being so obvious around Henry. She was the mother here; she was supposed to be the strong one, but she was always so weak lately. So stuck in her grief. She wanted nothing more than to curl up into strong arms that smelled of leather, spice, and sea and cry.

Emma started at that unusual thought. This was ridiculous. She was Emma Swan, a single mom, a bailbonds-person, and a survivor of the foster care system. She didn’t need to rely on anyone, and she wasn’t weak. It was time to move on no matter how much losing her baby hurt her. She had to get better for Henry’s sake and for her sanity.

David had gathered Snow, Killian, Regina, Ruby, Jefferson, Granny, Marco, August, Belle, Robin, Will, Alice, Tink, and even Blackbeard, though it was more that Blackbeard came along with Tink, to discuss the situation with the refugees. They had more room now that half of the refugees had gone on to Aurora’s castle to live until they could start building villages in the spring.

David was talking about the need to begin designing villages, while most everyone else didn’t listen.

Snow kept glancing at Killian, ready to confront him about what she had heard, while Killian was more concerned with the mental list in his head, going over it to be sure that his group was ready to leave in a few days.

Neither Will nor Alice were much concerned with listening to the meeting either as both of them would likely not be here in the spring.

Blackbeard was too busy looking between Snow and Killian, worried about the glares Snow was sending his brother’s way.

Jefferson was thinking about what to say to Ruby once the meeting ended since they still hadn’t talked.

Tink was quietly cooing over Liam, as Killian often gave his son to her since Tink had bonded to the boy so strongly.

Belle was trying to focus on David’s words, but still felt the sting of guilt when the thought of Neal came to her. No one had really asked about him, and Belle was grateful for that, but she couldn’t help but wonder what was happening with him.

David stopped talking when he realized half the people weren’t listening. “I know this isn’t the most interesting subject, but you guys could try to act like you’re listening.”

Those that hadn’t been listening started with surprise before mumbling apologies.

Snow couldn’t wait any longer and stood. “Killian, can we talk?”

Now everyone was surprised.

Killian remained seated. “About?”

She hadn’t wanted to confront him in front of everyone, but if he wasn’t going to come talk in private, then she had to talk here. Though maybe talking in front of everyone might get people on her side, and together they might convince Killian to stay. “You’re planning to leave the castle.”

Killian stiffened.

Again the group gathered was surprised. Those that knew of Killian’s imminent departure were surprised that Snow knew, and those that were unaware were surprised at the news.

Killian met her glare with fire in his eyes. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“The hell you don’t.” Snow snapped. “I overheard Tink and Will. You’re going to find a portal. You’re trying to get back to Emma and Henry.”

“I already said there were no portals.” Regina said, but only earned a glare from both Snow and Killian.

“Just because Regina thinks that there isn’t a way, that doesn’t mean there isn’t one.” Killian growled. “I promised I would find them, and I will.”

“You didn’t have the right…” Snow started.

Killian stood quickly, his chair banging to the ground. “The hell I didn’t! They’re my family. I’m not going to give up. Just because you’re so ready to, doesn’t mean the rest of us should.”

“It’s not giving up when there’s no hope!” Snow argued.

“Is there really no hope or are you just glad Emma’s gone so you don’t have to feel guilty about wanting another child?” Killian snapped.

Will whistled lowly.

“How dare you!” Snow hissed. “Emma is my daughter.”

“But she’s not the daughter you want.” Killian growled back, his hackles raised. “You admitted as much in Neverland.”

“Snow, Kil.” David spoke up, hoping to diffuse the situation, but neither Snow nor Killian seemed keen on listening.

“Emma and Henry are happy where they are!” Snow continued. “They have new memories now!”

“They aren’t happy!” Killian was determined to fight back it seemed.

“How would you know?” Snow yelled.

“Because Emma and I are connected!” Killian said. “True Love means knowing when your partner is in pain or unhappy, or are you so wrapped up in yourself that you don’t even know David anymore?”

“I’m not the selfish one here.” Snow moved closer to Killian, but David grabbed her, pulling her back. “You are being the selfish one! Admit it, you’re only going on this futile quest because you’re worthless without Emma!”

Killian looked like he’d been slapped, pain clouding his eyes.

“That’s enough!” David stepped between them. “Enough!”

But a hurt Killian was a Killian that attacked back, just like any wounded animal would. “If anyone’s worthless her, your majesty, it’s you. You think Christmas will help around here? Why don’t you actually try to act like a leader instead of putting the burden on David? How about act like the queen your supposed to be instead of wallowing around here like a child?”

“Oh I’m the child?” Snow snapped, trying to get around David, who held firm. “How about you, huh? What kind of man abandons his own son?”

Oh the fire in Killian’s eyes practically gave the blue a red gleam. Hook was ready to strike. “Liam’s coming with me.” His voice was dangerously low.

Everyone felt chilled by the tone knowing that this was not a Killian to mess with.

Snow ignored the stab of fear, and continued her attack. “You are not taking my grandchild from me!”

“You don’t get to make that decision.” Killian’s tone was still a warning for all to back off. His fist was at his side, clenched so tightly it was white enough to show the blue of his veins, and his hook was tucked behind him.

“And you have no right to put a baby in danger!” Snow shouted. “You’re pathetic selfishness is only going to get that baby killed!”

It seemed to take all of Killian’s strength and self-control to take a few steps back away from David and Snow.

No one had ever seen Killian look so murderous.

“I’m not leaving my child.” Killian insisted, trying to make an effort to calm himself down.

“You’re not taking him!” Snow finally got around David, but the second she made a step towards Killian, Liam disappeared from Tink’s arms in a cloud of white, only to reappear in front of Killian, his white shield coming up, preventing Snow from coming closer.

It seemed that the baby was siding with his father in this fight.

Taking deep breaths to calm himself, Killian picked Liam up, causing the forcefield to drop, and hurried out of the room with his son.

The room was filled with a tense silence, no one sure what to say, everyone shocked at the fight that had occurred. There was nothing any of them could say now that would smooth over the fight; nothing that anyone could do to make this better. However, it was clear that Snow and Killian’s friendship was now irrevocably damaged.

Regina still had trouble sleeping and had taken to walking through the castle at night until she was tired enough to attempt sleep again. She hadn’t expected to turn the corner and find a brooding David looking out one of the windows that overlooked the courtyard.

She knew that, despite their camaraderie after Neverland, Snow and David still had their issues with her, and perhaps they even still hated her, but David looked like he needed to talk to someone.

“Do you really think Killian will leave?” She asked softly, approaching him from the side.

David was startled. He blinked a couple of times before seeming to register who was speaking and what she’d asked. “Uh, yeah, I think he will. He’s determined to find them.”

“Nothing’s going to stop him, then?”

David shook his head. “Not likely. Honestly, I don’t want to stop him.”

She was surprised by David’s admission. “Why not?”

“Because what if he is right?” David said. “What if you are wrong and that there is a portal back?”

Regina considered his words. She and Rumplestiltskin knew how the Dark Curse worked, and they had both been so sure that there was no way to return to the Land Without Magic, but if there was a chance that they had been wrong after all, then someone needed to find out, right? And no one was better motivated or more determined than Killian Jones. “I guess you’re right.”

“Do you think you’re wrong?” David asked her, genuinely curious.

“Honestly?” Regina shrugged. “I hope I am. I know I’m still the Evil Queen to all of you. The woman who ruined all your lives, but I do feel. I have emotions, and I do love Henry. If Killian can find them, then he can bring them home. Emma to you and Snow, and Henry to me, even if I’m not going to be his mother anymore.”

Her words surprised David. He’d never thought that he’d hear Regina say that she didn’t have to be Henry’s mother. Somehow he knew it was a big step for her. “Killian said Emma and Henry weren’t happy.” David said, segueing into the other subject that had been nagging at him since Snow and Killian’s fight. “Didn’t you give them happy memories?”

“As far as I knew, I did.” Regina told him. “But the human mind is a very tricky thing. I gave them the basic memories. Their personalities and experiences would be the ones to fully shape those memories.”

David nodded. It made sense as far as he could figure. Magic wasn’t exactly a subject that he was well versed in after all.

After a moment of silence, Regina spoke again. “You know, I made a promise to Henry before the curse brought us back.”

A curious David turned to face her.

“I promised him that I would stay good.” Regina said. “That I would continue to redeem myself.”

“You’ve been doing that.” David admitted. He might still have his own problems with Regina, but he had seen first hand her returning the hearts of her victims. That had been quite the shock.

“What I’m trying to say…I understand keeping a promise.” Regina told him. “I understand why Killian wants so badly to keep his, just as I understand why he wants to be reunited with his family so much.”

“That I get.” David said. “If I wasn’t needed here, I’d be going with him. Emma and Henry are my family too. I miss them, and I want them back.”

Regina’s look was sympathetic and understanding.

A noise caught both of their attentions and they watched as a group led a carriage, pulled by four horses, as quietly as possible through the courtyard.

“Do you supposed that’s them leaving now?” Regina whispered.

David nodded. “Let’s go say goodbye.”

The two hurried down the hall, hoping that they could catch the group in time.

“I think we’re all set.” Blackbeard said, stepping away from the packed carriage.

Killian nodded, agreeing with Blackbeard’s assessment. He turned to see Marco and August sharing goodbyes with Alice, Tink, and Will. Marco was holding Liam, telling the baby to be a good boy, and giving the baby a kiss on his little head. It tugged at Killian’s heart to leave his father behind. Hell, he was leaving many loved ones behind, but they were needed here. Killian couldn’t ask them to come.

Snow’s words still rang fresh in his mind, and his jaw clenched. Perhaps he was being selfish, but at least he was being selfish for the right reasons.

He walked over to Marco and August as the others walked towards the carriage, giving the father and brothers their time to say their goodbyes.

“You be careful, yes?” Marco asked, his expression serious.

“I will be, Pop.” Killian nodded. “I promise.”

Marco seemed satisfied with that answer and put Liam into his father’s arms, before pulling Killian and the baby into a hug. “I love you, my boy.”

“Love you too, Pop.” Killian fought the sting of tears, blinking rapidly before pulling away. He turned to August. “You watch this one, aye? He can be a handful.”

August chuckled. “That he can be, but I’m sure I can handle him.”

Marco snorted, earning a look of faux hurt from August, before the younger man smiled.

Killian stepped away from them, ready to head for the carriage.

“No goodbye for us then?”

David’s voice startled the group, who all turned to see him and Regina walk through the gates of the courtyard.

Killian hesitated at first. “David…”

David just gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay. We’re not here to stop you. Just let me say goodbye to my best friend and grandson, okay?”

Relief filled Killian at David’s words, grateful that David seemed to understand, and was willing to let them go. Killian stepped towards his friend, carefully and only slightly wary, handing Liam over to the man.

David smiled at the bundled up baby. “You have a great dad, you know? He’s going to protect you and he’s going to bring your mom and brother home. So, you be good for him, okay? He’s going to need you to be on your best behavior.”

Liam gurgled in agreement.

Killian was touched by David’s words. After Snow’s cruel ones earlier, David’s kind ones were very much needed.

David looked up at Killian. “I wish I could go with you.”

“I know.” Killian nodded, and he did. David and Emma were close, and David, like Killian, would do anything to keep their family together; even if it meant letting Killian go now, so that they all could be reunited again.

“Just be careful, Kil.” David said softly, his brow crinkled with worry. “Take as long as you need to try and find a portal, but at the same time, please don’t be a stranger. I’d like to see my grandson once in a while.”

Killian chuckled. “I’ll try, and I will write. Have to keep you updated.”

David nodded his thanks.

“Well, none of you will last long with all of this.” Regina said stepping towards the carriage. She made a few hand motions, causing the packs inside the carriage, the carriage itself, and the clothes they were wearing to glow.

“What did you do?” Alice asked curiously.

“I cast warming spells on all of your tents, blankets, clothes, and the carriage.” Regina explained. “Your canteens and packs are also enchanted to never run out of water or food. The carriage also is spelled to prevent it from damage or from being stolen.”

“Thank you, Regina.” Killian said earnestly.

Regina shrugged. “Well, I couldn’t let any of you just go out and freeze or starve to death.” Regina stepped towards Killian, her eyes flicking down to Liam. “Especially not my little nephew.”

Killian’s mouth quirked. He had thought for a long time that Regina wasn’t capable of a soft side. Apparently, she was keen to prove him wrong.

“You should get going.” David told the group. “The longer you guys dally, the more of a chance Snow might find out, and she would try and stop you.”

The group agreed, Tink and Alice climbing into the carriage with Will and Blackbeard’s help.

Killian nodded a final time towards those they were leaving behind. He passed Liam off to Tink before getting into the carriage himself.

Blackbeard insisted that he drive first, practically shoving Will into the carriage.

Will grudgingly complied.

With Blackbeard at the reins, the carriage was off and soon enough the occupants of the carriage, save Killian, were asleep.

“I will find you, Swan, I swear it.”

“I will find you, Swan, I swear it.”

Emma shot up in bed, hearing a man’s voice, almost as if he was right beside her. She turned on her bedside lamp, looking around her bedroom for any possible source for the voice. No one was in her room except her, and as she quieted her breathing, she could only hear silence in her apartment.

It must’ve been her dream then. That’s where she heard the voice. But why was it so vivid? Not just his voice, but her entire dream.

There were people standing outside of a castle. A freaking castle. Then there was him. That handsome rogue with blue eyes and carrying that precious baby boy. The memory of them made her heart ache. Why? They were just a part of her dreams; just a fantasy.

Yet, there was more there. There was something about those people, and that man and his baby boy.

“I will find you, Swan, I swear it.”

As the words played in her head, Emma’s heart felt lighter. She had a sense of hopefulness that she hadn’t had in a very long time, least of all these past weeks.

This was ridiculous. Why would such a dream give her hope?

Those people weren’t real.

He wasn’t real.

It was all something her head had conjured up. Shaking her head, she checked the time, and seeing that it was way too late to be up and way too early to officially be morning, Emma resolved to go back to sleep.

She tossed and turned, trying to ignore the hope in her heart, closing her eyes, and trying not to picture the handsome man in her dreams smiling at her with tender words on his lips and love in his eyes.

It wasn’t yet dawn when Snow knocked on the door to Killian’s room. She hadn’t slept at all last night, guilt over their fight eating at her. How could she have said such horrible things to one of her best friends? The man who’d been like a brother to her for decades and who was the father of her grandchildren. It was unfair of her to lash out as she did. She should’ve talked to Killian, not yell at him as she did.

She needed to apologize to him, and they needed to sort this out. He had to known that his quest was impossible, and that Liam and him were better off, and safer, here at the castle. Even if Regina was still around and there was a Wicked Witch lying in wait for them. At least they’d all be together.

Snow knocked again, a little louder this time, wondering if Killian was still asleep, instantly feeling bad about waking him. He had a newborn after all; the man needed all of the sleep that he could get.

When the door still remained unanswered, Snow grew concerned. Even with little sleep, Killian was a very light sleeper, even more so nowadays. He wouldn’t have slept through the first knock let alone another one. Quietly, Snow opened the door, peeking inside of the chambers. The bed hadn’t been slept in last night from the looks of it, and she didn’t see Killian or Liam anywhere.

Maybe he had slept somewhere else to avoid her.

“Snow?” David’s voice startled her.

“David.” Her greeting was stilted.

“What are you doing here?” David asked, eyeing her carefully.

Snow sighed. David had always been protective of Killian as if he were truly David’s little brother, despite Killian being older by a few centuries…and physically older by a couple of years. “I was looking for Killian. I wanted to apologize for our fight yesterday. I was harsh, and it was unfair.”

David’s expression softened, but there was guilt in his eyes. “He’s not here.”

“I can see that.” Snow motioned to the bedroom around them. “Have you seen him this morning?”

David winced. “I mean, he’s not here. He…he left, Snow. Late last night.”

Snow jolted, feeling as though a bucket of ice water had been dumped on her. “What? Killian’s gone?”

“He is.” David nodded. “He, Liam, Tink, Alice, Will, Blackbeard. They all left. Took a carriage and supplies.”

“Wait, how…how do you know all of this?” Snow asked, her face pinched. “Did someone see them leave?”

Silence answered her.

“David, did you see them leave?” Snow questioned, her tone turning harsh.

“He needs to do this.” David spoke up in his and Killian’s defense. “He needs to find Emma. I wasn’t going to stand in his way.”

“David, there aren’t anymore portals.” Snow snapped. “He’s risking his life, his son’s life, for nothing!”

“You don’t know that.” David argued. “Regina’s word isn’t law when it comes to magic.”

Snow wanted to scream. How could David let their family fall apart like this? Her fists clenched at her sides. “How could you let them go?”

“It was the right thing to do.” David said.

“For who?” Snow’s shout echoed in the empty hall. “Do you really think Killian was in the right frame of mind when he made this decision? He’s grieving, David.”

“He’s not crazy, Snow.” David growled. “In fact, I think he’s doing the sanest thing.”

“Sane would be staying here, where it’s safe, and trying to build a life for him and Liam!” Snow argued, her face flushing red with anger. “It is not sane to go on some desperate and futile mission that will only hurt him and Liam.”

“Obviously, I disagree.” David hissed. “True Love means always being able to find each other. I believe that Killian will succeed.”

“What if he doesn’t?” Snow glared. “What then, David?” She shook her head. “This is only going to fail. You never should have let them leave.”

Before David could say anything more, Snow hurried away, anger rolling off of her.

David sighed. “He will succeed. He has to.”

The end of the year brought colder temperatures, which weren’t friendly to travel in, yet Aurora stood her ground, staring Mulan down. “We’re going to the Yule celebration.”

Mulan wasn’t use to Aurora’s demanding tone (and no it didn’t turn her on that Aurora was so commanding), but she was used to Aurora’s stubbornness. “It’s too cold for Diana to travel, and we don’t know what dangers are awaiting us.”

“One flying monkey, which you protected me from, doesn’t make the forest unsafe.” Aurora argued. “Not to mention, Diana and I will be bundled up in the carriage.”

“I can’t protect you and drive the carriage.” Mulan disagreed.

“We’re not the only ones going.” Aurora huffed. “The Merry Men and the refugees we have taken in are all traveling to the celebration.”

“Then that’s just more people for me to protect.” Mulan said. “We don’t know how many monkeys are around, or if the Wicked Witch will attack…”

“We don’t know if they will attack at all.” Aurora interrupted. “Honestly Mulan, we will be fine.”

Mulan pressed her lips together.

Aurora fought the urge to kiss Mulan’s frown away as she stepped towards the warrior. “Please, Mulan.”

Mulan swallowed, using all of her self control to stay rooted to the floor, her arms crossed over her chest, anything to keep herself from pulling Aurora into her arms and kiss the hell out of her. She clenched her teeth together, forcing her eyes to meet Aurora's rather than stare at the woman’s lush lips. “It’s too dangerous.”

The princess could’ve sworn that for a moment there Mulan was going to kiss her. It had to have been her own imagination playing tricks on her, but what if? No, Aurora pushed away that thought. How many times did she have to berate herself over this? She could not have feelings for Mulan. Not only was it a betrayal to Philip’s memory, but it was wrong. Oh, she’d heard of women being with women and men being with men from the servants, but it was scandalous to them; in the social classes of nobles and royals, it was a taboo subject that no one would ever acknowledge. That’s just how it was in the Enchanted Forest.

As much as Mulan made Aurora’s heart flutter, she could never be with her, and she wasn’t willing to ruin their friendship over something that couldn’t be real. “It’s not dangerous. We’re going, Mulan. Now, you can stay here at the castle, while the rest of us go, or you can come and protect us.”

“Of course I’m coming with you.” Mulan sighed, resigned to follow her stubborn princess’s wishes.

Aurora gave her a winning smile. “Wonderful. I’ll write to Snow and let her know.” Unable to help herself, Aurora pulled Mulan into a fierce hug. “Thank you.”

Flustered, Mulan stuttered out, “You’re welcome.” The women pulled a part, only to gaze into each other’s eyes.

Finally, Aurora broke eye contact and stepped back. “I should get started on that letter.” She scurried off before Mulan could say anything more, trying to calm her racing heart, and hating that even hugging Mulan brought up feelings that Aurora resolved to refuse to acknowledge anymore.

After tucking Grace into bed, Jefferson couldn’t get her distance out of his head. She’d withdrawn from everyone and he wasn’t sure how he could help her, and Ruby was always so busy and focused on other things. He felt like he was losing his family and he needed to bring his family back together.

He entered the bedroom that he shared with Ruby, finding her getting ready for bed.

“Hey you.” Ruby smiled upon seeing him.

“Hey.” Jefferson returned, not quite sure what to say.

“How was Grace?” Ruby asked, knowing that Jefferson had been to tuck the girl into bed.

Jefferson hesitated. “She was fine. Sleepy.”

Ruby nodded. “It’s been a busy day.”

Jefferson made a noncommittal noise, but Ruby could sense that there was something that he needed to say.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, concern on her face.

Where could he even begin? Grace’s distance or Ruby’s? They didn’t write manuals on how to confront your fiancee about these things. Well, at least not in the Enchanted Forest. “We need to talk.”

Ruby became even more worried. “Okay, you know that sentence never leads to anything good.”

Jefferson chuckled nervously. He wasn’t off to a great start, and he knew things were about to get worse, but they needed to talk, really talk, and this was his one chance to do it. “Did you know that since we’ve been back, you’ve barely talked to me, and you haven’t talked to Grace once?”

“That’s not true.” Ruby said. “I talk to you both.”

“Ruby, the last time we had a conversation, a real conversation, was back at Granny’s when the curse was coming.” Jefferson corrected. “You’ve been avoiding having a real conversation with me, and I’d like to know why. I mean, do you regret agreeing to marry me? Or do you think that because we’re back in the Enchanted Forest, our lives are supposed to be different? I’m at a loss here, Ruby, and I don’t know what to do. It’s not just you that’s been distant either. Grace is pulling away from everyone and isolating herself, and I’ve tried to talk to her, and she just won’t…I feel like I’m losing both of you and helpless to stop it.” He hadn’t meant to say so much but it was like a dam broke and it all just came pouring out.

Ruby was stunned to say the least. Had she really been so caught up in helping the refugees and working towards making a home here, that she pushed her own family aside? Had they really thought that they were being ignored? That she was neglecting them?

“I just…I want to be a family again.” Jefferson said. “I’m tired of awkward and stilted conversations with you. I want to come to you for help with Grace. I want to work things out together. I never see you anymore, Ruby.”

“Jeff, I really had no idea…”

“How could you not know?” Jefferson snapped. “You’re the one who’s been avoiding me, and don’t say you haven’t or that you’ve been too busy.”  He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, pushing back tears. “I feel like you don’t want to be with me anymore. If that’s it, then just say it. Spare me the wait in limbo for my sentencing, because I don’t think I can keep trying to keep our relationship when you’re not in it anymore. I have a daughter to worry about and I need to know where we stand.”

The sting of tears pricked at her eyes. Ruby had no idea what to say to any of that. Of course she wanted to be with him, but there had been so much going on. She wanted to tell him that, but the words were lodged in her throat.

Uncertain of how to take her silence, Jefferson shook his head. “Fine, whatever.” He left before Ruby could process it, and the silence that she was left with broke her heart.

For the first time in years, Ruby cried herself to sleep.

The morning of Christmas Eve had David sitting up in bed watching the sun rise. He hadn’t slept much last night or the night before, and he was exhausted. There had been much going on these last few days, and Snow had been ignoring him, again, angry that he had let Killian leave.

Snow stirred beside him, but he kept his eyes on the window. It was too early to start a fight.

As Snow woke up, she realized that David was awake, and glanced over at him. She took in the way his brow was drawn tight; his eyes glaring at the window as if it held the solutions to his problems. They had to stop this fighting. Oh it was mostly her fault, and she knew it; she was the one who kept pushing and she was the one who kept taking her anger out on David. But it was Christmas and a new year would soon be upon them. It was time to reconcile, and talk; it was time for them to get on the same page.

She sat up against the headboard.

David tensed, but said nothing to acknowledge her.

Snow chewed at her lip, before diving right on in. “I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting.”

That surprised David, who turned to look at her.

“I…I really have just been caught up in myself.” Snow sighed. “How I felt seemed more important, you know?” She shook her head. “I was being ridiculous, and I took a lot of my emotions out on you when you didn’t deserve it.”

“You weren’t being ridiculous, Snow.” David said. “You had legitimate concerns and reasons.”

“I know, but I shouldn’t have let them get in the way of us.” Snow said. “I should’ve talked with you. Really talked. About having more kids, about how I feel towards Regina, about how losing Emma and Henry and now Killian and Liam all feels. But I pushed you away instead. I wanted someone to blame, and you were an easy target.”

David could understand that; he had wanted someone to blame too, but could only find it in him to blame himself. That didn’t help anyone, nor did being at odds with Snow. She was trying to apologize, and he needed to meet her halfway. “Then from now on, we need to talk. We need to work through things together.”

“Honesty always worked for us before.” Snow said. “I really am sorry, David.”

“I am too.” David spoke with sincerity. “You weren’t the only one who did wrong here. I didn’t even try to reach out, or well, I didn’t try hard enough. I gave up too easily, and I’m sorry for that.”

“So are we forgiven?” Snow asked with a shy smile.

“We are.” David returned her smile. “Merry Christmas, Snow.”

Snow pulled him to her kissing him deeply. “Merry Christmas, Charming.”

David lowered them on the mattress, both beginning their celebration with each other and their bed.

The festivities were in full swing as those from Aurora’s castle entered the ballroom at Regina’s castle.

People were mingling, drinking, singing, and dancing; all of them in good cheer. In fact, as early as it was, the sun just setting, people were already very drunk. There was raucous revelry everywhere.

The Merry Men sought out Robin and Roland, greeting their leader enthusiastically, and each passing little Roland around, causing the boy to laugh.

Mulan remained at the edge of the door frame still wary of dangers.

Aurora shook her head and took Mulan’s hand, surprising her. “Relax, Mulan. It’s a celebration. Drink and be merry.” The princess dragged her friend towards the alcohol, making a stop at Granny Lucas’ table, where Aurora left her daughter in Granny’s and Marco’s capable hands.

Though Granny’s attention was partially on a tense Ruby and a halfway drunk Jefferson, both of whom were speaking in hushed yet harsh tones.

Belle passed Aurora and Mulan their drinks. “Happy Christmas. We’re all so glad that you could make it.”

“We’re happy to be here.” Aurora smiled, taking a hefty sip of her drink.

Mulan eyed her with concern, taking a small and careful sip of her own drink. She refused to get drunk when anything could happen. Aurora and Diana needed to be protected. Though Aurora’s keenness to drink was worrisome. Why did she feel the need to drink so?

The princess grabbed another drink as Belle left them to it, taking a drink to Regina, who had taken up residence in a corner of the room away from the crowds, obviously on edge with so many people here.

“Perhaps you should slow down.” Mulan commented as Aurora practically drained her second drink.

“I think you need to relax.” Aurora giggled. She slung an arm around Mulan. “Drink and take a night off.”

That wasn't Mulan’s intention tonight. Perhaps she could relax, but she was going to stay sober doing it.

As Aurora walked over to the Merry Men to greet Robin as well, Mulan looked over the crowd, hoping that the holiday celebrations would remain merry and no Wicked Witches would arrive unannounced.

Blackbeard entered his and Tink’s tent, much warmer than biting winter outside thanks to Regina’s charms, and sat across from the fairy, who was feeding little Liam a bottle.

“Is the other tent pitched?” Tink asked, her eyes flicking up to Blackbeard.

“Almost.” Blackbeard said. “Will and Killian do like to argue about nonsense.”

There were slightly raised voices heard outside.

Tink chuckled. “They do seem alike.”

“Aye.” Blackbeard smiled wistfully. “I don’t know how they come about some of their mannerisms. I certainly don’t argue over nonsense.”

“Ha.” Tink scoffed. “I remember many an argument in Neverland over nonsense.”

Blackbeard chuckled. “All right then, perhaps they get it from me. The stubbornness certainly doesn’t help. That they get from my mother.”

Tink was surprised to hear that. “You never speak of her. Nor of your father.”

He shrugged, not having meant to speak of his mother at all. It had just slipped out before he realized it.

“Being around them has made you open up.” Tink told him. “They make you feel almost human again, don’t they?”

Choosing not to comment, Blackbeard dug through his rucksack, pulling out a yeast roll and some dried meat. Regina’s magic did work it’s wonders.

“They will figure it out, you know.” Tink sighed. “You might as well tell them.”

Blackbeard bit into the roll to avoid telling her that he knew she was right. He had seen the looks Killian had shot his way over the past few days of traveling, and he had hoped that Killian simply didn’t trust him; that the man was wary of Blackbeard around his family, but the looks were suspicious but in a curious way more so than a distrustful one. There was even a hint of confusion in Killian’s eyes from time to time when Blackbeard said or did anything that was too Liam Jones.

Tink said nothing more to Blackbeard’s lack of responses, choosing instead to coo over Liam.

Neither realized the argument between Killian and Will escalated until Alice poked her head in. “Tink, a little help, please.”

Before Blackbeard could protest, his nephew was deposited into his arms, and both women left the tent. Stunned, Blackbeard could only stare down at the baby, who stared back with wide, blue eyes. Suddenly, Blackbeard was ten years old again with a baby brother that depended on him and no parents to help him. It didn’t help that the almost one month old was beginning to look more and more like Killian ever day.

Liam scrunched up his little nose when Blackbeard simply continued to look at him.

“Well, don’t look at me like that. I haven’t done this in centuries.” Blackbeard grumbled.

Liam gurgled, sounding annoyed.

Blackbeard chuckled. “All right. You’ve been fed, so you’re probably tired. Would you like a story?”

The baby didn’t like the sound of that.

“Fine, singing then?” Blackbeard asked. “I know your papa sings you to sleep.”

Liam seemed more agreeable to that idea.

“All right, let’s see.” Blackbeard muttered. “How about the song I used to sing to your papa when he was a babe?” Blackbeard cleared his throat and began to sing quietly. “A life on the ocean wave, a home on the rolling deep, where the scattered waters rave, and the winds their revels keep…” He kept singing as the baby slowly drifted off, adding in a gentle bouncing motion to help sooth Liam to sleep. After the first couple of verses, Liam’s eyes were closed, but Blackbeard kept singing, remembering how Killian used to fuss if a song sang to him was never finished. “The land is no longer in view, the clouds have begun to frown. But with a stout vessel and crew, we’ll say let the storm come down, and the song of our heart shall be while the winds and waters lave, a life on the heaving sea, a home on the bounding wave.”

So lost in his song, he hadn't realized that Killian was right outside of the opening of the tent.

Killian had only caught the last verse, but that song…he knew it. It was a song his brother had sung to him for most of his childhood to help Killian sleep. What’s more…Blackbeard’s singing voice…no, it couldn’t be. He just sounded similar to Liam; he had since Killian met him, but there was no way that the pirate could be Killian’s dead brother.

There were other things though. Blackbeard’s voice wasn’t the only hint that prickled at Killian’s brain. There was also the fact that he too was over three hundred years old, that he’d worked for Pan longer than Killian had, and Pan’s keeping them from meeting was highly suspicious. There was Blackbeard’s apologies and worries, and ever since they left Regina’s castle, he’d been too helpful.

But there was no way that he could be Liam, there just wasn’t. If Liam had lived all these centuries, he would’ve found Killian. He would never have just left him and leave him believing him dead…would he?

“There, there.” Blackbeard whispered to the sleeping baby.

Killian shook his head. No, he couldn’t be Liam. Ducking into the tent to retrieve his son, Killian scrutinized the startled pirate.

“Tink gave him to me.” Blackbeard said softly. “I wasn’t quite sure what to do.”

Killian looked at his sleeping son, and nodded. “You seem to have done well.” He glanced back at the pirate and couldn’t shake the familiarity of Blackbeard’s blue eyes. Even as denial set in, his heart was already full of hope and anger at the man in front of him. “I’ll take him now.”

Blackbeard carefully handed the baby over.

With one last look at Blackbeard, holding on desperately to his denial, Killian left the tent, making his way over to his own, smaller tent.

Blackbeard watched his brother and nephew leave with a heavy heart.

Tink entered the tent not too long after. “So you got Liam to sleep?”

“Aye.” Blackbeard nodded. “I sang to him. I used to sing to Killian when he was little.”

Tink smiled. “That’s sweet.” She watched him for a moment, studying the longing look on his face, his eyes indicating that he was lost in his thoughts. “Are you all right?”

He met her eyes. “You’re right.” Blackbeard whispered.

“Oh?” Tink’s brow quirked.

“I’m going to tell Killian and Will who I am.” Blackbeard told her, his tone resolute. “After the new year though. I don’t want to ruin their Christmas tonight.”

Tink nodded. “Okay. I can live with that.”

Blackbeard only hoped that Killian and Will wouldn’t be too angry with him.

Emma shut the oven after checking on the ham. She was cooking Christmas dinner while Henry flipped through the holiday movies on Netflix. It hadn't always been like this for Christmas, and Emma was thankful that the last few years had been better financially.

No more Ramen noodles for dinner and Little Debbie’s Christmas cookies for dessert. She could afford food now, and she was determined to keep Christmas better. Which was why, even though it was just the two of them, they had a feast. Ham, mac and cheese, green bean casserole, yams with marshmallows, and black forest cake. They had leftovers for days, and ate all of it.

Better than that, no more dollar store gifts and wrapping paper. Henry actually got gifts that all the other kids got, and it made him happy, and that made Emma happy. Though she still loved getting homemade gifts from Henry. However, he was growing up, and Emma wondered if soon enough that tradition would stop.

He was growing up so fast. In a few months he’d be twelve, and in less than seven years, he’d be off to college and living his life. Not that Emma didn’t want him too. It was good for him to grow up and have a life outside of his mom. Henry deserved friends and she hoped that when he started school, friends would come easy to him. She never had friends, really good friends that is, and she didn’t want Henry to be lonely like she had been. He needed every kind of support system, not just her.

As much as she did want that for Henry though, she wondered where that would leave her. Would she still be alone? She had thought that her baby would change things. Sure, she’d still be a single mom, but she wouldn’t be alone once Henry was off to college. Losing her baby reinforced the idea that she should be alone. Emma hadn’t deserved Henry and changing her mind about giving him up for adoption…she was glad that she did it, but what would Henry’s life be like if she had? Would he have had better Christmas’ and birthdays growing up? Would he have had more friends? Would he have two parents that loved him and could’ve provided for him in ways that Emma hadn’t been able to?

She loved Henry more than anything in the world, but keeping him…had she given him his best chance, or had she just been selfish?

Glancing at Henry, who picked The Santa Clause, Emma smiled. He was a good kid, he did well in school, and he was practically a saint compared to her, so maybe she did do something right. She couldn’t have screwed him up too badly with a poor childhood and no father figure if he was this good a kid. Even with a little as they had, Henry seemed to be forgiving and compassionate and kind. Maybe the childhood that he had had prepared him for life.

Henry was strong, probably stronger than her, and that meant he was going to be okay.

That left her.

When he grew up and made friends, spending less time out home and more time building his own life, where did that leave her?

She had her job, but how long could she be able to do bail bonds? Eventually, she wouldn’t be able to catch her skips. Maybe she could open up her own bail bonds business, but a life behind a desk wasn’t for her…

And what about friends? It’s not like she was close to anyone at work, and all she did was go to work and then come home and take care of Henry. Did she need friends? Or even want them? She never felt like she could trust people and when she did, it went up in flames. Her closest thing to a best friend was Lily, and she betrayed and manipulated Emma. Friends were never an option after that.

Then there was her romantic entanglements.

She tried to trust Neal, and that was even worse. The only good thing that came from that train wreck was Henry. Her heart had been so closed off after that, and her focus shifted to Henry and raising him. When Henry was a little older, she had one night stands, and only one night stands. She had never been willing to open her heart again, and she especially didn’t want to expose Henry to any man that came along and get his hopes of having a dad up. His heart was even more important to protect.

But when he was out of the house…would it be worth it to find companionship?

“Mom, you’re missing the movie.” Henry cut into her thoughts.

“I’m cooking a feast over here.” Emma chuckled. “I can see it from here.”

“What just happened then?” Henry asked.

Emma glanced at the screen and saw Scott Calvin and his son at dinner in a restaurant. “Um, he burnt the turkey?”

“Yeah, like three minutes ago.” Henry chuckled.

Emma shook her head. “Well, if you don’t want to spend Christmas at a Chinese restaurant, let me cook and hopefully nothing will get burned.”

Henry raised his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, I’m sorry. Need any help?”

“Nah, I got it.” Emma reassured him. “You just watch your movie.”

Henry noticed that something was off in his mother’s tone. “Are you okay, mom?”

“I’m fine.” Emma said. “Why wouldn’t I be? I’m celebrating Christmas with my favorite person in the whole world.”

Still Henry could sense that something was wrong. Was it because this would’ve been the baby’s first Christmas? Was she be upset over that? Or was there something else? Surely it had to be something along those lines. But how could he approach her with this? He couldn’t very well ask if it was about the baby, at least, not directly. Maybe he should try the vague and indirect approach? “Hey, mom?”

“Hmm?” Emma had her attention on mixing cake batter.

“You know how you tell me that I can talk to you about anything?”

Emma’s eyes widened as she ceased her baking activity. Her first thought was that Henry finally had his first crush and now was going to ask her about dating and she was not ready for it, but Henry hadn’t been in school yet, and he didn’t really have any friends back in Boston, so maybe it was something else? God, Emma really hoped that it was something else. “Yeah?” Her tone was cautious.

“Well, if I can talk to you about anything, you know you can talk to me too, right?” Henry told her. “I mean, I know I’m still a kid, but you’re my mom. It’s always been the two of us, so now that I am getting older, I don’t think you should have to hide things from me. I mean, you’re a mom, but you’re still just a person too.”

Emma was relieved that it wasn’t time for the dating talk, which inevitably lead to the sex talk, as she wasn’t ready for that, but she was surprised that Henry was offering to be an ear for her to talk to. He was her baby, and she sometimes forgot that he was growing up. Still, she didn’t think she could talk to him about her fears of being alone once he grew up. He didn’t deserve to have that burden placed on him, ever. Even the fact that he knew that something was wrong meant that she wasn’t very good at hiding her emotions, and she hated that he saw that. She wanted her son to just be a normal kid. He shouldn’t have to worry about her or her well being. It was her job to take care of him, not the other way around. “Hey, kid, I’m the mom. I’m supposed to help you with your problems, not the other way around."

“I know, but I also know that your sad.” Henry said. “I just want you to be happy, and if I can help, then I want to.”

Emma walked over to Henry and hugged him. “You do not have to worry about my happiness. You just be happy, okay? Be a kid, go to school, make good grades, make friends, get new hobbies, but you just worry about you, okay? I’m fine. Anything thing that I need to deal with, I will.”

“I don’t think you're fine.” Henry said. “I think you’re just saying that.”

“Then, how about, I will be fine.” Emma pulled away and ruffled his hair. “You want to help me finish making the cake?”

“Can I eat the leftover batter?” Henry asked.

“What kind of mom would I be if I didn’t let my kid become at risk for salmonella?” Emma joked, earning a chuckled from Henry. But as mother and son moved to finish the cake, Emma only became more resolved to shut off her emotions. Henry didn’t need a mother who was broken.

He was surprised that getting a bird to send his letters to David and Marco actually worked. Killian figured it was just a Snow White thing, but perhaps Enchanted Forest birds were more…understanding of humans than birds from the Land Without Magic. When he broke through the clearing where they had set up camp though, he was even more surprised to see a feast of food and drink set up and everyone around the fire. “What’s all this then?”

“Alice figured out that Regina’s spells on our packs and canteens means that we can think of whatever we want for food or drink and we can get it.” A flushed Will spoke proudly, throwing his arm around Alice.

Well, someone was already tipsy.

Killian grinned. “I supposed this is a Christmas feast then?”

“Of course it is.” Tink smiled. “Can’t not celebrate it, you know. Especially since it’s this little one’s first Christmas.” She cooed at little Liam, tickling his tummy, making the baby giggle.

That reminder only broke Killian’s heart a little. Tink was right. This was Liam’s first Christmas, and instead of it being celebrated in a warm house in Storybrooke with his entire family surrounding him, especially his mother and his brother, here he was all bundled up in the cold, wintry forest with less than half of his family and not a present in sight. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be, but then, their lives never did turn out as hoped or dreamed.

Killian swallowed and forced a smile. It was Christmas and they all needed to try and be happy on this day.

Blackbeard watched his little brother’s face and he knew that this wasn’t the holiday celebration Killian needed or wanted, but there was little that any of them could do about it. Blackbeard wished more than anything that he could fix this and make everything right for their family, but he had a gut feeling no Christmas miracles would be performed tonight. He wished that one would happen though. If only for his little brother and nephew’s sakes.

Killian took baby Liam from Tink’s arms and bounced him, causing the baby to giggle even more. “Happy Christmas, little one.”

“Happy Christmas!” Tipsy Alice and Will shouted, before being reduced to giggles.

Tink couldn’t help but be infected by their mood, despite the fact that she herself hadn’t touched the acquired alcohol. It wasn’t what she expected for Christmas, but it was nice to have her lover, friends, her adorable nephew, and a fire with drink and good food. She couldn’t ask for more than that.

She turned to Blackbeard and saw how intently he was watching Killian with baby Liam. Was he going to keep his word and tell Killian and Will the truth after the New Year? Or was he going to tell them sooner? Or was he going to change his mind? From the look on his face, it was hard for Tink to tell. She hoped that he would still tell Killian and Will. They deserved that much, even if it only incurred their anger. Though Tink was certain that their initial anger wouldn’t last long….okay, she wasn’t completely certain, since Killian was the grandmaster grudge-holder and  Will possibly inherited that trait, but she hoped that she was right. It was only fair for the truth to be completely put out there.

Blackbeard could feel Tink watching him and he had a feeling that she was wondering about if he was still going to tell Killian and Will the truth. He was resolved to do just that, but as of right now, he was concerned for Killian’s pain. His little brother could never hide his emotions all that well; his heart had always been on his sleeve, vulnerable for people to grab at and rip it to shreds. That was what often inspired Blackbeard’s overbearing protective instincts when they were children, and even still when they were adults in the Navy. And right now, his brother was in pain, and he had no idea how to fix it.

Killian wasn’t sure his jovial tone was covering up his true emotions as he joked around with Will, but at least Alice and Will were tipsy enough not to notice. He was sure that Blackbeard and Tink weren’t fooled though. Blackbeard, especially. If his suspicions were correct, and Blackbeard was indeed his brother, then it only made sense. Killian had never been able to hide a damn thing from his brother. No matter how hard he tried, Liam just always knew. He often wondered if it was a Liam thing or just a big brother thing, but over his lifetime, he figured out that it was a Liam knew him so well thing. Blackbeard was looking at him with worry filling every line of his face (a face that, despite being hidden by an unkempt and dirty beard and framed by wild curls, was looking more and more familiar the longer that Killian knew Blackbeard), in a way that was so achingly like Liam, Killian wasn’t sure that he could deny it any longer.

But then that begged the question: should he confront Blackbeard about his identity, or should he let Blackbeard come to him?

Would Blackbeard even try to come to him? Would he ever reveal the truth? Or would Killian have to force his hand?

Killian wasn’t sure, and at the moment, it wasn’t something that he wanted to worry about. It was Christmas, and he wanted nothing more than to forget his worries. He wanted to forget that Emma wasn’t by his side, holding their son and talking happily with her parents. He wanted to forget that Henry wasn’t running around with his friends and excited to open up all of his presents. He wanted to forget that this wasn’t how Liam’s first Christmas was supposed to be.

So pushing all thoughts of Blackbeard’s identity, Emma and Henry’s absence, and what should’ve beens out of his head, Killian took a sip from Will’s offered flask and let himself enjoy the company.

Everyone was getting drunk and Ruby wished like hell she was them. Unfortunately, it took a lot more than four glasses of wine to take her to the current state of revelry. She grabbed a fifth glass.

Even Granny was tipsy by this point, and most everyone else was drunk.

It seemed like Belle and Mulan were the only people even attempting to stay sober, with Mulan struggling to keep up with the very exuberantly drunk Aurora, and Belle keeping a slightly tipsy Regina company.

Snow and David weren’t too drunk, likely due to the idea that, as leaders, they needed to set an example, but they were certainly tipsy. At least they weren’t all over each other, yet. It seemed like Snow had taken Ruby’s advice though, as all day, Snow and David had actually been more of a couple than they had since before Neverland.

August and Jefferson were stealing the spotlight of the party though. They were having a drunken sing off with the dwarves that no one was winning, and the bad, off-key screeching they were all attempting only made Ruby want to drink more.

Everyone else was drunk enough to love it or not care.

“Put everyone in a room with alcohol and they all go crazy.” Ruby muttered as she walked over to where Belle and Regina sat.

“Would you mind it if I took away your boyfriend’s voice?” Regina asked as Ruby sat down. “Temporarily, of course. His drunken singing is giving me a headache that has me hankering for a hangover.”

“I’d say be my guest, but that might piss him off.” Ruby said. “He already hates you enough as it is.”

“Not that I don’t deserve it.” Regina added, her tone solemn.

“You’ve been doing real well, though.” Belle reassured. “The heart vault is half empty now.”

“And much less creepy.” Ruby remarked with a biting tone.  

Belle gave her a stern look, while Regina resisted the urge to glare at the she-wolf.

“Since you’re obviously not getting as drunk as you want to be, you might as well tell us what’s going on.” Regina snapped. She might be trying to reform, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to let anyone think they could use her as a punching bag for their own shit.

Ruby huffed, looking over her shoulder at Jefferson, who had moved to table dancing with August while they belted out “Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer.”

“Ah, relationship troubles.” Belle nodded.

Ruby didn’t respond to Belle’s statement, which probably wasn’t the best ides since when she turned back to them, both Belle and Regina were looking at her expectantly. “I’m not in the mood to discuss my relationship issues.” Ruby growled.

“Talking about them always helps.” Belle said.

At Ruby’s glare, Belle amended her statement. “Well, usually helps.”

Taking a hefty sip of her wine, Ruby wondered how she could tell them her problems when she couldn’t even talk to Snow about it. She and Belle were friends, but they hadn’t gotten the chance to become close. As for Regina…well Ruby didn’t think Regina was capable of anything more than a snide comment.

But then maybe they would also be more objective than Snow would be. Besides, it couldn’t hurt to get advice from new sources.

Ruby glanced back at Jefferson before sighing and facing them. “So, something changed between us while Operation Swan Rescue was going on. It was a good change, but then the reverse curse happened, and I…I don’t feel like it’s the right time for change.”

Belle’s brows furrowed. “How did you feel before the curse?”

“I was really happy.” Ruby said.

“That sounds about right.” Regina sighed. “The curse was all about taking away happy endings, and now reversing it seems to have done the same thing.”

“Can you fix it?” Ruby asked wryly.

“Believe me, I would if I could.” Regina said.

“So, the problem is what exactly?” Belle asked. “You were happy with this change, but now you’re not. Is it because we’re back in the Enchanted Forest?”

“I don’t know, maybe?” Ruby shrugged. “I just…the change doesn’t feel right, right now. Storybrooke…it was home and all of our friends and family were all there. The Enchanted Forest…it’s just…it’s like our whole lives were ripped from us again, and now…now we’re just supposed to rebuild lives that aren’t ours anymore?”

Belle and Regina felt sympathetic to Ruby’s words. They had all grown too comfortable in Storybrooke.

“Have you talked to Jefferson about it?”

Ruby winced at Belle’s question. “I’ve…been avoiding him.”

“That’s never the best solution.” Regina said.

“Agreed.” Belle nodded. “You know, the biggest problem in my relationship with…with Rumple was that he was never honest with me, and that he kept secrets. A relationship needs communication and honesty in order to survive.”

“I know.” Ruby sighed. “I just…I don’t want to hurt him.”

“Avoiding him is hurting him.” Regina told her. “Though, to be fair, he should make just as much of an effort. Has he?”

“He’s tried to talk, but I felt like he was pushing for something that I can’t give him right now.” Ruby swirled what little wine was left in her glass, her expression solemn.

“Maybe you should talk to him.” Regina suggested. “But I think you should really analyze your own feelings and figure out what’s best for you.”

Ruby hated the fact that that was actually valid advice and from Regina of all people. “Um, thanks…Regina.”

“You sound surprised that I can actually give sound advice.” Regina seemed a little put out by that, even if she was glaring.

“Well you’re not known for being soft-hearted.” Ruby stated.

Regina’s shoulders slumped. “I know.”

Ruby felt bad for her attitude. “Seriously, thank you.”

The sincerity in Ruby’s tone had Regina sitting up a little straighter.

Belle smiled. “I propose we set aside our worries now. It’s Christmas Eve, and it’s time for us to enjoy ourselves.”

Ruby chuckled. “Here, here. Let’s get drunk and dance.” She and Belle stood ready to do just that, but Ruby stopped when Regina stayed where she was. “Come on, Regina. It’s no fun to be the only sober person.”

Regina cracked a genuine smile. “No it’s not.”

The three women walked together towards the alcohol and liveliness and Christmas Eve was not too terrible anymore.

Emma thought that once they reached their preteens, children were supposed to get bratty, not still use the puppy pout. As it was, Henry was giving her full on puppy dog eyes.

“Please, mom?” Henry begged. “Just one present tonight, please?”

Emma inwardly winced. Man, the kid was not letting up, and how could she say no to her pleading son who had a face like that? “Fine, but just one.” Her tone was as stern as she could muster, which wasn’t very stern at all.

Henry whooped before descending on the tree, digging through the presents, eyeing each one carefully as though he needed to pick the absolute right present to open up early. He couldn’t make the wrong choice after all.

Sitting back on the couch, Emma scrolled through Netflix to find one last movie to watch before she sent Henry off to bed.

As she did that, she didn’t notice Henry pausing his search to look at her with concern. He knew how unhappy his mom had been, no matter how she tried to hide it. A thoughtful look came upon his face. Maybe he shouldn't be the only one to open a present tonight. Quickly, Henry grabbed one of his presents before reaching in the back where he hid one of the presents that he made for his mom.

Emma started when a present dropped in her lap. “What’s this?”

“Your present.” Henry told her, a bit nervous. “I made it.”

“Henry, you didn’t have to get me anything.” Emma said, touched by his kindness.

“It’s Christmas.” Henry shrugged, opening his present. “Everyone deserves a present.”

Emma smiled warmly. How did she ever get so lucky as to have such a great kid? She certainly never had a role model for parenting, but she must’ve done something right with Henry along the way.

Henry finished unwrapping his gift and cheered at the sight of a new video game. “Can I play it tonight?”

Emma looked up from her present to see a much younger boy with blue eyes and raven hair. “Please, mama?” The boy asked, dimples flashing, as if he were trying to charm her, much like his father.

A man’s low laughter reached her ears and she felt warmth in her chest.

She looked to her right where she felt the man’s laughter, but nothing was there.

“Mom?” Henry’s voice broke through her trance.

Emma turned to see Henry again, his face full of worry. Blinking, she nodded. “Um, yeah, kid. But only for one hour. Just one hour.” She actually managed to sound really stern.

“But it’s Christmas…” Henry said.

“And you already suckered me into letting you open up a present early.” Emma told him, amused at his attempts to stay up late. “One hour, then shower, then bed. Got it, kid?”

“Okay, mom.” Henry chuckled. “Your turn.”

Emma gently picked up the rectangular present that seemed to be the size of a journal. “What is it?”

Henry gave her a look. “Come on, mom. You have to open it.”

Shaking her head, Emma pulled the wrapping paper apart. It was a sketchbook, and as Emma opened it up, she found typed up words pasted to illustrations. “What’s this?”

“I’ve been having some weird dreams since we moved.” Henry shrugged. “So I decided to write them down, and then I figured that the stories might cheer you up.”

Emma winced at the confirmation that Henry knew how sad she’d been. She had tried so hard to hide it, but her kid knew her too well. Then she realized what else he said. He’d been having weird dreams ever since they got here. Just as she had. That was odd. Just what had he been dreaming about?
 “Do you like it?” Henry’s tone was nervous again.

Her eyes watered. “Henry, I absolutely love it. It’s the best present I’ve ever gotten.” She pulled him into a tight hug. “Thank you.”

“Merry Christmas, mom.” Henry smiled.

Emma just held him tighter, her flash, or whatever it was, disappeared from her mind. “Merry Christmas, Henry.”

Laughter echoed through the woods as Alice finished telling the group about the time Will got propositioned by The Dormouse.

“In me defense, we were both veeeery drunk.” Will slurred.

“You weren’t that drunk.” Alice chuckled.

Will pouted as more laughter followed Alice’s words. Then his face lit up. “Killian!”

Killian chuckled at Will’s drunkenness, though he tried to contain the rumble in his chest so as not to disturb Liam, who was dozing off despite the noise. “Yes, Will?”

“Ya need taaa siiiing.” Will drew out. “S’not Christmas without music.”

“I think you’re too drunk.” Killian shook his head. “No one wants my singing.”

“S’not fair ya sing to Liam.” Will pouted even more.

“Come on Killy!” Drunk Alice giggled. “Sing!”

Killian rolled his eyes.

“Get into the holiday spirit.” Tink added, amused at the entire exchange.

Blackbeard was amused as well but kept his comments, if he had any, to himself.

“I don’t think so.” Killian shrugged, his face tinged with a bashful pink.

A chorus of  “please” rang out.

Killian sighed. “All right, fine, you children.” He just had to think of what to sing. He wasn’t in the mood for a cheery song, Christmas aside, and he didn’t want to completely drag everyone down by singing Blue Christmas. Still, what was a somber Christmas song? Thinking over it for a moment, Killian figured that one of his favorites would do. Clearing his throat, Killian began to sing. “Have yourself a merry little Christmas….let your heart be light. From now on, our troubled will be out of sight….”

As Killian sung, his tone and expression somber, Blackbeard could only remember their mother. How often had she sung to him and Killian after she had to leave their father behind? He remembered her solemn expression every time. Their father had absolutely loved to hear their mother sing, and her singing was the only thing that ever soothed Killian when he was fussy. She used to say that Killian just missed his papa, but Blackbeard always thought that she missed their father and just said Killian did in order to express her own feelings as she tried to stay strong for her sons.

Even after centuries, Blackbeard still ached with loss over his dear mother. She was one of the strongest, bravest, and fiercest woman he had ever known, and she gave her life to protect her sons. He had often wished that he had hidden Killian and gone back to help his mother. Rationally, he knew that he would’ve ended up dead with their mother and Killian would’ve been alone or even worse, died from exposure, but the little boy who put on a brave face and took his little brother from his mother’s arms, still longed for their mother. He spent many nights with a crying baby brother wishing that their parents were with them. Wishing that they could’ve had a happy family before Calypso took that away from them. Even during his darkest days though, he knew that his mother would’ve wanted him to be strong and brave, for Killian’s sake, and so he forged on and found foster parents for them, and made a life for himself. He did lose Killian along the way, but he never stopped searching for him, and when he found him again, he vowed never to let his brother go again. Then Pan came along with his schemes, and for three hundred years, Blackbeard lost himself to his mask, becoming a person that Liam Robert Jones would not recognize.

Hell, no one had known him better than Killian James Jones, and now, here they sat across from each other as strangers and reluctant allies.

How disappointed would his mother be? How would she feel looking upon her sons now? Killian was at least a hero, but he had three hundred years of piracy under him, and Blackbeard didn’t even know what the truth was having only heard the legends of Captain Hook, Pirate King of the Seven Seas. Their father would certainly be amused at such a title. It was partly why Blackbeard never wanted to come across Captain Hook. Anyone who had such a fierce reputation as he had should've surely not been someone to mess with. Lo and behold, it was his beloved baby brother all this time. Redemption aside, there must be terrible things in Killian’s past that would’ve broken their mother’s heart.

He was no better. He let a psychopathic teenager control his life for just as long a time with nary a protest. He earned the Blackbeard moniker and reputation just as he was sure Killian earned the Hook one.

Though, he did feel like his mother would be amused that both her sons became pirates just as she and Davy had. The Dread Pirate Roberts and Davy Jones, the parents of Blackbeard and Captain Hook. A family of pirates.

And what a family it would’ve been.

Blackbeard returned his attention to the present as Killian closed his song.

Will and Alice were contentedly snuggled together.

Tink was staring at him, but blushed and looked away when he caught her.

Killian was looking down at a sleeping Liam as the last sung word left his lips.

Oh how mother would’ve loved you both. Blackbeard thought. She would’ve adored Emma and Henry as well. He looked up at the stars. I hope that you’re watching over us, mum. And Emma and Henry. I hope you’re also proud of Killian. He may not have been at his best for a long time, but you would be proud of him. I also hope that despite all of the mistakes I’ve made, that you’re still watching over me too. I love you, mum. Merry Christmas.

George watched the festivities from his dark corner, a malicious sneer on his face. Did they really think this celebration was going to raise morale?

Ha. All he saw were a bunch of drunks hellbent on forgetting their sorrows. It was pathetic. They were all pathetic.

It was just another reason for him to be in charge. If he could make a power play now, he would. In their drunken states they wouldn’t fight or die stupidly trying. Unfortunately, David and Snow had all of the allies and could throw him in a cell again, leaving him to rot.  

Fury rolled through his blood.

David was so weak, yet he was in charge. He was king. He was nothing more than a shepherd and here he was herding the sheep into believing that he was a capable leader.

That man was no more capable of leading than George was of herding. David had stolen everything from George, and he was going to pay.

For now, George could sit idly by. He needed to plan carefully, and ensure that he could find a sure way to defeat David and Snow once and for all.

He was going to get his kingdom and his crown back, and he was going to destroy everything David held dear before killing the man himself.

The Dark One’s library had an untold number of tomes on dark magic. Every book a magical being could need was here.

None held Zelena’s attention.

She drifted about the library aimlessly, her thoughts a scattered mess.

Rumple was caged for now and mostly kept to himself. If she entered the room, he would snarl at her and watch her from time to time, but it was mostly muttering that she couldn’t make heads or tails of.

“No room!” He would shout, then going on to mutter things like “All the voices in my head will be quiet when I’m dead.”

Honestly, it scared her. Supposedly Rumple had died, and now…something or someone brought him back, but he wasn’t the Dark One she had known. He was…broken.

A lot like she was. Broken souls do tend to find each other, she supposed. It must be all the tragedies they faced.

Zelena shook herself. It was Yule, she should be happy. Then again, who was ever happy on a holiday when they were alone with no one to love and no one to share it with? Closing her eyes, she lent against a shelf, uncaring that the dust from the books and shelves would get on her clothes and in her hair.

They never celebrated Yule in Oz. Not after her adoptive mother died. Before she died, they always had a small tree and her mother scraped for months in order to afford not one, but two gifts for Zelena. Sometimes both presents would be homemade. One year her mother knitted her the prettiest green and pink scarf and a matching knit cap. Another year her mother had managed to buy enough material for two new dresses. Oh she had cried out of joy over those beautiful dresses her mother made her. Zelena had outgrown them much too soon for her liking.

Then there were the years where one present would be bought from the market. A new pair of shoes or a new cloak. Oh she had been given a dazzling emerald green cloak one year. She wore it long after she outgrew it to the point where it was more a shawl than a cloak.

After her mother died, her father never celebrated anything again. The first Yule season after her mother passed, Zelena made the mistake of asking her father when they would be picking out a tree and he had slapped her. He told her that holidays were for children, not monsters. They never celebrated anything again. She flinched at the memory, her hand going to her cheek almost feeling the slap again, even after all these years.

She very much longed for those happier times when her mother lived. At least then, she had been able to ignore her father’s hatred of her.

Her birthmother gave her up, her adoptive father hated her, her mentor chose her sister over her, the witches chose Dorothy, and her sister, the only family she had left, wanted nothing to do with her.

What was wrong with her? Why was she so hard to love? Was she only born so that people could have something to hate?

Sniffing, Zelena hastily wiped away her tears. Monsters aren’t supposed to cry after all. Monsters are supposed to feel nothing.

Yet, she felt so unloved and unwanted, her legs gave out, and she curled into herself. Her head buried itself in her arms as she sobbed, wracked with loneliness and despair for if a monster feels pain then it feels pain alone where no one can see it, for no one can ever feel sympathy for a monster.

“Okay, into bed we go.” Ruby huffed, trying to gently get the heaping drunk of her fiancé into bed.

Jefferson muttered something unintelligible as he plopped face first into his pillow.

Ruby sighed. “Why did you have to drink so much?”

It was a rhetorical question, but Jefferson rolled over to face her. “I was tryin’ to have fun.” His words slurred together enough that Ruby wasn’t certain what he said, but she nodded anyway.

“Well it’s time for bed.” Ruby said. “Sleep it off. You’ll feel terrible in the morning.”

“I always feel terrible.” His words were clearer this time.

Ruby pulled off his shoes, eyebrows drawn together. “What do you mean?” As soon as the words left her, a feeling of dread settled in her gut.

“You won’t talk to me.” Jefferson mumbled. “Grace won’t talk to me. We aren’t a family anymore.” Tears fell from the corner of his eyes. “You don’t have to marry me anymore if you don’t want to.”

She jerked back as if he slapped her. “What?”

“You don’t have to marry me.” Jefferson was almost asleep.

Ruby sat down next to him. “Jeff, I do want to marry you.”

He didn’t seem to hear her.

Ruby brushed back his wild hair, her own tears falling. “I love you and Grace. We are a family.” She took a deep, shaky breath. “I am so, so sorry. I just…this place isn’t our home anymore. It doesn’t feel right to continue on with our lives as if nothing major happened.”

Wiping at her eyes, Ruby stood, determination in her bones. “I promise, I will make things right.” She bent down and kissed his forehead. “I’m going to go check on Grace, and tomorrow, we will be a family again.”

Jefferson turned over in his sleep.

Ruby left the room with a heavy heart, hoping that he and Grace would forgive her in the morning.

Aurora was a bubbly drunk that couldn’t sit still and Mulan swore that the princess would never be allowed alcohol again. She struggled with the princess numerous times, ending up with carrying Aurora bridal style once she could drag her away from a suit of armor that she swore was her new best friend Percy.

Still Aurora struggled and whined about wanting to stay up later.

Mulan was exhausted. How did alcohol give Aurora so much energy?

Finally, Mulan managed to get them to Aurora’s room. Diana was in the care of some older ladies, led by Granny, who all took care of the children while the adults partied, so the room was empty and quiet.

“I don’t wanna go to bed.” Aurora pouted.

“Trust me, you do.” Mulan sighed.

Aurora wrapped her arms tighter around Mulan’s neck, burying her face against Mulan’s shoulder. “No.”

Mulan stiffened at the contact, a flush rising in her cheeks. “Um, yes?” Shaking herself, Mulan walked over to the bed and gently dropped Aurora, but the princess’s grip on her only pulled the warrior over her. “Aurora, you need to let me go.”

A secret smile played on her lips. “I don’t want to let you go.”

The seriousness of Aurora’s tone had Mulan looking at her confused, before lips pressed against hers. It wasn’t a sloppy kiss expected of a drunk, but the gentle caress of a lover who had been waiting for the right moment to kiss the person they loved.

Aurora kissed her deeply, her hands cupping Mulan’s head, pulling her in for another kiss. Her lips were insistent against Mulan’s, and the warrior weakened in response, returning the kiss gently.

Mulan’s head caught up with her actions, her heart racing in her chest, stomach in knots. She pulled away, pushing Aurora away. “You’re drunk.”

“I wanted to kiss you sober.” Aurora giggled. “I was scared.”

Instead of a verbal response, Mulan stood and walked towards the door.

“Wait.” Aurora called softly, a bit of a whine in her tone. “Stay.”

Mulan realized something in that moment: she wanted to stay, and had Aurora been sober, she would’ve. “Goodnight, Aurora.”

After the door shut, Aurora kept calling for Mulan until she fell asleep.

The tent remained warm even as the tent flap remained open. Killian was impressed with Regina’s little charm. It certainly allowed for him and Liam to enjoy watching the snow falling, the moonlight reflecting against the white, brightening the darkness around them.  

Liam was entranced by the snow, remaining more still and quiet than Killian had ever seen him. His little blue eyes held wonder as the little bits of white fell from the sky.

It was nice to have a quiet moment with his son.

The others had long gone to bed, but Killian couldn’t sleep. He missed Emma and Henry too much, and celebrating Christmas without them was only painful for him. It wasn’t right that Liam’s first Christmas was spent without them either.

Killian sighed, causing the baby to look up at him. “Do you miss your mother and brother as much as I do?”

A whimper escaped Liam just as a feeling of sadness seeped into Killian’s heart.

“Of course, you do.” Killian gently caressed Liam’s head. “I wish they were here. You’re mother would like this moment. The quiet and the snow, you in her arms, her in mine.” He looked up at the sky. The clouds blocked the stars a bit, so Killian couldn’t properly wish upon one.

A tired sound alerted him, and he looked back down at his sleepy son.

“Would you like me to sing?” Killian asked.

Liam gurgled. He always wanted Killian to sing.

A small smile tugged at Killian’s lips. “Have yourself a merry little Christmas…let your heart be light. From now on, our troubled will be out of sight….Have yourself a merry little Christmas…make the Yuletide gay….From now on, our troubles will be miles away…Here we are as in olden days…happy golden days of yore….Faithful friends who are dear to us…gather near to us once more….Through the years we all will be together…if the fates allow….So hang a shining star upon the highest bough…and have yourself a merry little Christmas now…”

As Liam’s eyes closed at the sound of his father’s voice, a realm away, his mother remained awake.

As Emma read through her Christmas present, she realized that Henry’s book was very similar to her dreams. There was a pirate, her True Love, who was none other than Captain Hook. Captain Hook as her True Love? Her son had quite the imagination, but thankfully he lacked the perm and mustache in Henry’s version.

In her dreams, she loved a pirate but she never saw if he had a hook for a hand. She was too captivated by his eyes. They were so blue, sometimes Emma thought they were photoshopped.

Henry’s book also had Snow White and Prince Charming as her parents. She was fairly certain that Disney’s Prince Charming belonged to Cinderella, snorting at the image of animated Snow White and Cinderella having a knock out drag out over him. But still, like her dreams, she had parents in Henry’s little handmade book that had given her up for her best chance. They hadn’t wanted to give her up.

Emma lost count of how many nights in her life that she wished upon a star for those kind of parents. Parents who loved her and wanted her.

There were other fairy tale characters too. Little Red Riding Hood was the Big Bad Wolf, and so was her grandmother.

It was as if Henry took every tale he loved and spun it into something new.

Yet, Emma dreamed of these people too. How could Henry know? She never told him about her dreams, only ever writing them in her journal, but she hid that in the closet, on a shelf Henry couldn’t reach. It was an extreme hideaway, but Emma really didn’t want Henry to know how she was feeling. She worried he would become burdened by the knowledge and try to take care of her. He was the kid, not her, and he was hers to care for and to put first above everything else.

Maybe she could ask him tomorrow morning….

Her thought trailed off as warmth surrounded her, a voice whispering in her ear, like the caress of someone who loved her dearly.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas…let your heart be light….From now on, our troubles will be out of sight….Have yourself a merry little Christmas….Make the Yuletide gay…

It was his voice again. The one that she heard in her dreams, in the flash she had earlier. Why was she always hearing this voice? Was she going crazy?

Yet as he kept singing in her ear, Emma could only lean back into her pillows, more relaxed than she had been in a while, his voice lulling her into sleep. Her arms clutched Henry’s present to her chest as her eyes closed, her dream lover’s voice the last sound she heard before her dreams claimed her.