Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time

AN: This is just a little story I've been toying with. It will only be a couple of chapters long.

Part I

Just about the time the shadows call

I undress my mind and dare you to follow

Paint a portrait of my mystery

Only close my eyes and you are here with me

A nameless face to think I see

To sit and watch the waves with me till they're gone

A heart I'd swear I'd recognize is made out of my own devices

Could I be wrong?

The time that I've taken, I pray it's not wasted

Have I already tasted my piece of one sweet love

"One Sweet Love" Sara Bareilles

Present Day, The Enchanted Forest

"Where exactly are we going?" Twenty-eight year old Emma Swan asked with a grunt as she watched her footing as she trekked through the unknown forest.

Mulan turned and stared at her for a moment. There was an uneasy trust formed between Emma and the female warrior. "To a camp that we've kept safe from the ogres."

"A camp like the one Cora led after she killed Lancelot?" Snow asked with a snap in her voice Emma had never heard from the soft-spoken Mary Margaret who'd been her best friend.

"Well hopefully Cora is controlling this camp too." Mulan spat back.

"Look, there's no need to argue." Aurora softly spoke up, "We just need to focus on getting there in one piece." She reminded the three women.

Emma rolled her eyes at the princess who was so unlike herself. A princess, I'm a fucking princess. Who knew? "I know, Aurora, we'll get there fine." Emma knew she was potentially lying to the poor girl, who knew what dangers lurked around the next corner, or where Cora was, or where the next ogre was?

In all of Emma's years on the street she'd never had to prepare herself to fight against ogres. Or evil, magic bearing, displaced queens. When they stopped for a moment's rest, for Aurora, Emma took a minute to really analyze her companions. It had been a long time since she'd had a team.

Even in Storybrooke over the past near year, Emma hadn't really had a team behind her. Sure she had a kid (still so weird) and friends (who wind up being her mother, even weirder still), but she hadn't had a team. She hadn't had a team since she woke up that morning and found the note from him saying his brother found him to take him home, but he would see her again. Seven years later she knew for certain she would never lay eyes on him again. And he probably hadn't found his brother. He probably didn't have a brother. And really whatever twisted game he'd been playing at for the six months he spent with her got old and he moved on to the next woman.

She frowned. Emma hadn't thought about him in years. She racked her mind briefly to remember where he said he was from. Her eyes widened. He said he was from the Enchanted Forest. How had she not put two and two together when Henry showed up with that stupid book? "Well, shit." She muttered.

"What?" Snow asked quickly, her hand already on her bow.

"Nothing, I just remembered something from so long ago," Emma shook her head, "I must be remembering it wrong." She stood up and brushed off her pants, "Come on, we need to find high ground before nightfall."

OUAT

Seven Years Ago, New York City

Twenty-one year old Emma Swan let out a frustrated grunt as she slowed from her run and put her hands on her hips. "Fuck." She muttered under her breath. Of course this guy would get away. Of course the first big payday she'd ever seen would just slip right through her fingers right in the middle of Central Park. "Fuck." She muttered again. Deciding to spend just a few more minutes looking around (although she figured it was hopeless at this point), she strolled as inconspicuously through Central Park as she could.

A small commotion behind a clump of bushes caught her attention, "My apologies, I was just," she paused at the sight of a man with an Irish accent with long hair tied back by a ribbon and what looked like a halloween costume one apologizing to her guy.

"Score."

Stepping out of the bushes, she grinned when she made eye contact with the guy and he tried to take off running again, only to run head first into the stranger, "Stop him!" Emma yelled.

The stranger looked at her and then at the guy, easily grabbing onto the collar of his t-shirt. It looked like something out of a Looney Tunes Cartoon, where Bugs was still trying to run even though the hunter had him by the scruff of his neck. She chuckled, "Thanks." And pulled a pair of cuffs from her bag.

"Of course, milady." The man bowed slightly, though his grip never slackened, "And who exactly is this miscreant?" He asked.

Emma shrugged and cuffed the guy, "Bail jumper. Beat the shit out of his wife." She grinned at him, "And now we get to take a little trip downtown and I get paid."

The stranger frowned at her, "Bail jumper?" He repeated.

Emma stared at him blankly, "Yeah, you know missed his court date and shit like that." She paused, "Are you okay?"

The man flushed and Emma found it adorable as she finally took a moment to really look at him. He was, by far, the most attractive person she'd ever laid eyes on with his dark hair, just the slightest hint of scruff covering his strong jaw, bright blue eyes and clearly muscled, yet lean build.

He flushed even more under her critical assessment, "I appear to be rather lost. You see, I was aboard ship with my brother and now I am here, wherever here is."

Emma eyed him warily, "Well, maybe the cops can help you too." The thought that he was quite possibly an insane person escaped from an institution crossed her mind, "Might as well come along with us." She shrugged and shoved the guy forward. "I'm Emma, by the way." She introduced herself.

"Don't trust her man, she's a bail bondsman."

Emma rolled her eyes and shoved him forward even more, "Bail bondsperson." She corrected adamantly. "And if you weren't scum you wouldn't have to worry about me." She glanced at the man who fell in step next to her, "What's your name?"

The man flushed again, "Forgive me, milady." He paused and bowed, "Lieutenant Killian Jones, of King George's Royal Navy."

Emma frowned, she was fairly certain that was not what Naval uniforms looked like and she was fairly certain that even over in Britain their military officers were required to have short hair. Shrugging she sent him a lazy smile, "Nice to meet you, Lieutenant." No reason she couldn't play along.

"You as well, Miss Emma."

"Please, Emma is fine." She nudged the guy forward, "Keep walking, the station is just down the block."

When they arrived, Emma easily handed the cuffed man over to the cops, who were eyeing Killian warily. "I have no idea who he is." Emma whispered, "He said his name is Lieutenant Killian Jones of King George's Royal Navy."

The officer cleared his throat, "I thought it was the Queen's Royal Navy? And isn't her husband named Philip? And is he even king?"

Emma shrugged, "No idea, I'm not sure what to do with him."

The officer glanced over at Killian, who was staring around in wide-eyed wonderment. "He looks like he's never seen the inside of a police station before."

"Great, so if he's a criminal he's one who's never been caught." Emma sighed. "Look, I can't afford to take care of him, can you find a place for him? And maybe normal clothes?"

The officer nodded absently, "Mr. Jones!" He called out, prompting Killian to walk over.

Emma smiled and felt a small pang of regret at what she was about to do, "Well, Killian, it was nice to meet you. Officer Gregg Harris here is going to help you out." She paused and looked at the officer she'd gotten to know well since her career change, "Gregg can get in touch with me if you need anything." She whispered, her hand coming to rest on his arm, "Take care, Killian."

Killian took her hand, bowed and kissed the back of it lightly, "You as well, Emma."

OUAT

Two Weeks Later

Emma wasn't quite sure what she was doing at the soup kitchen, or why she had asked Gregg about Killian, all she knew was that he was not adapting well. He didn't seem to know about or understand about anything in this land. And that both intrigued and concerned her.

Walking inside, she wove her way through the crowd of people who were clamoring over their hot meals before she finally spotted Killian. He was sitting in a corner alone. Her heart immediately ached for him as the guilt of walking away from him washed over her.

Kneeling in front of him she whispered, "Hey."

He looked up and his blue eyes brightened, "Emma." He whispered.

Emma sighed and stood, reaching out her hand, "Come on, get up."

He grasped her hand and pulled himself into a standing position, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm taking you home." She laced her hand with his and tugged him out of the building.

He frowned at her as they walked down the busy street, "Excuse me, Emma," He pulled her to a stop, "I don't know how to get home. That's the problem."

Emma shook her head with a sad smile, "No, I'm taking you to my home." She pulled him further along and stopped in front of her yellow bug, "Hop in." She directed, opening the door for him.

He stared at the open door, "What is this contraption?"

Emma's mouth gaped open, "Um, a car?" He stared at her blankly, "You know you drive it to get from one place to another?"

A light entered his eyes, "A carriage?"

She frowned slightly, "Um yeah, sure a carriage with a motor."

"A motor?" He questioned.

"You know what, why don't you get in and once we're back at my place we can talk about it more?" She suggested gently as she nudged him forward. What have I gotten myself into?

OUAT

"Sorry about how small it is." She murmured as she unlocked the door of her small apartment.

"I'm not sure what you're apologizing for, Emma." Killian admitted.

"Take a seat, I'll fix us something to eat." She smiled softly at him and gravitated towards the kitchen. Instead of sitting he followed her. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as she grabbed two cans of soup and filled a pot with water. He was in awe of everything around him, like he'd never seen any modern technology before. "Where are you from?" She finally blurted out.

He nodded his head at her question, "It's another realm."

"You mean a different country?"

"I'm not sure I know what a country is. I know what the country is. Never fancied it myself, I always preferred to live by the sea in a port town." Killian explained as if that answered everything.

"Okay, another realm, what is this realm called?" Emma decided she might as well play along if she was going to try to help him.

"The Enchanted Forest." He grinned at her. "It's a beautiful land, though not where I've been recently. My brother, who is the Captain of our ship, and I are to be slated for a new journey by King George. I'm not quite sure of the details of it and we won't venture there for some months now, but I expect, as always, it to be quite thrilling and satisfying."

"You're from a land called the Enchanted Forest." Emma asked, her hand stilling over the pot, "You really expect me to believe that?" He looked at her quizzically and she sighed, "Look, Killian, there's not a lot I'm good at, but there is one thing I do really well, we'll call it a super power,"

"You have magic?" Killian interjected.

Emma stared at him blankly, "No, how about we call it a skill," she paused, "I know when people are lying."

Killian's face fell, "You think I'd lie to you?" He stepped back, "Milady, I assure you, I do not lie, it would be bad form to lie at all, particularly to lie to a beautiful woman who is so kindly helping me traverse this new land."

Emma stared at him for thirty solid seconds, "Just because you believe something to be true does not make it true."

"Actually, that's exactly what makes it true." Killian told her honestly, "And I'm not lying, please, just let me tell you a few stories about my land, then you'll come to understand who I am." Emma nodded reluctantly.

A few stories soon turned into dozens and, despite herself, Emma almost found herself believing the outlandish tales that were versions of the very fairytales she'd grown up with. As the night continued, she learned less about the Enchanted Forest and more about his family (or lack thereof), and Emma found herself sharing pieces of her own past. She told him about her time in the foster system, about being abandoned on the side of a highway (she had to explain what a highway was), and about Neal.

That shocked her the most.

She volunteered the information so willingly. She told him about how she stole a stolen car and how he left her to take his prison sentence over stolen watches and how she gave up a baby. Their baby.

When she finished the story she expected him to drop whatever insane ruse he was playing at and just walk away.

Instead he pulled her into his arms and just held her. "He's a bloody fool. Any man unwilling to fight for what he wants gets what he deserves."

Emma pulled back and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, "Tomorrow we should get you a haircut." She mused. "And some clothes."

"Does that mean you believe me?" He asked.

Her head fell to the side and she whispered, "For now."

OUAT

XOXO

MAS