Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even my soul. I've sold it to multiple people
A/N: This takes place in season 3. Let's pretend somehow they got Henry back and defeated Pan. Also shout out to Sam (emmaswaan on tumblr) for proof reading this for me.
Emma watched Henry sleeping, glad to finally have him back. The poor kid was exhausted and had fallen asleep almost immediately after they had set up camp for the night. Emma had offered to take first watch and no one had argued. Now Emma sort of wished she hadn't volunteered but at the same time was glad she had. Though she was exhausted she knew the moment she fell asleep the dreams would come back. Ever since Neal had fallen through the portal she had been having dreams about it. With Henry missing she had been able to distract herself from it but now that she had him back she couldn't stop thinking about Neal. If she was honest with herself all she wanted to do was lie down and cry. But she wouldn't do that. She was Emma Swan. Emma Swan didn't cry over boys. She'd been through too much to bother with that before. But now it was different. In the last year so much had changed for her and she was still adjusting. Before she couldn't have been a mother and now she was one. Before she was alone, she didn't have a family or anyone who cared about her. Now she had her parents, who were the same age as her but they still loved her. And Neal had come back into her life in a way that she had never imagined before. But now some cruel twist of fate had decided she didn't deserve true love. Maybe it was punishment for giving Henry up all those years ago. Or maybe for all the illegal things she had done. But he was gone and there was not a damn thing she could do about it. She wanted to sob right now. Losing two people she had loved so recently. First Graham and now Neal. But as much as she wanted to give up right now she couldn't. She needed to focus on getting Henry back home. They might have gotten him away from Pan but they still needed a way back to Storybrooke. Who would have though Peter Pan would turn out to be evil. They sure never mentioned that in any version of the story Emma had read. Of course a lot of things had been left out she mused.
A sudden sound of a crash startled Emma and her hand immediately went to her sword. Pulling it out she headed in the direction the sound had come from. She tip toed towards it, trying to be as quiet as possible. Hearing groans, she realized whatever it was sounded somewhat human.
"Whoever's there, you better come out before I hurt you!" She called out into the night, wondering who the hell it was.
Coughing and groaning was heard then. "Emma?" A familiar voice called out. Emma squinted, trying to see better through the night. She was soon able to see the outline of a figure lying on the ground. No… That couldn't be who she thought it was. She was going crazy. It was the god damn Island playing tricks on her mind.
"Look, I don't know what you are but you aren't fooling me." She announced, not sure if she was trying to convince herself or whatever was out there. As her eyes adjusted to the lack of light she could see the person more clearly. She inhaled sharply as she saw him. It couldn't be him. It just couldn't "Neal is dead," Emma reminded herself "The Island is playing tricks on you. That's all this is." The man began to slowly sit up, coughing and groaning. Emma held her sword towards him, glaring at him. He looked so real but it couldn't be possible. Or could it? Weirder things had happened to her in the last few months.
"I hate portals," The man grumbled, standing up and dusting himself off. He groaned in pain and then looked towards Emma. Seeing her with her sword pointed towards him and the fierceness in her eyes he immediately held his hands up in surrender. "Whoa Em. It's me, I'm not going to hurt you."
Emma shook her head. "No… It can't be you. You fell through the portal. You were shot. How could you have survived…?"
"Aurora and Mulan found me. They were able to save my life and Mulan helped me find a way here." Neal explained "Speaking of which, what the hell are you doing here Emma? Why the hell are you in Neverland?"
"Henry… He got kidnapped by Greg and Tamara. Apparently Peter Pan wanted him so we followed him." Emma explained, slowly lowering her sword and placing it back in its place at her hip "Are you really you?" She whispered, praying this wasn't a cruel trick.
"It's really me Emma." He replied stepping towards her. Grabbing her hands in his, he placed them on his face. "See? One hundred percent real." He assured her, looking into her eyes.
Emma began to let a smile creep onto her face. He was really here. He was alive. Suddenly she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him closely, burying her face into his neck. Neal stumbled a bit, surprised but wrapped his arms around her tightly. He buried his face against her, enjoying the feeling of holding her again. Then something about what she had said dawned on him.
"Wait Tamara and Greg kidnapped Henry?! Why? Is he okay? Did you find him yet?" Neal asked, instantly worried about their son.
"He's fine. We found him and got him back. Peter Pan wanted him." Seeing the fear appear in Neal's eyes at the mention of Peter Pan's name, she decided that he needed to see with his own eyes his son was okay. Reluctantly she let go of him and grabbed his hand. "C'mon, I'll show you." Emma tugged at their hands and began to lead the way back to camp.
As they arrived back at the camp, Emma pointed with her free hand to wear Henry lay sleeping, curled up beside Regina. "See? He's okay. He's safe." she said, not sure who she was reassuring more, herself or Neal.
Neal nodded and looked around at the other sleeping figures. Upon seeing the odd assortment of fairy tale characters he raised his eyebrows at Emma. "Quite the group I see."
Emma laughed softly "Ya who would have thought that the evil queen, Captain Hook, Rumpelstiltskin, Snow White and Prince Charming could work as a team"
Neal looked surprised "My dad's here?"
"Yup. Well not here here, he said he had to go do something and that he'll meet us back at the ship." Emma explained with a yawn.
"Emma you're exhausted!" Neal exclaimed softly, looking at her face. He could tell just how tired she was. "Have you gotten any sleep at all?" He asked concerned.
Emma shrugged "A little here and there. I've got to stay up and keep watch though."
Neal shook his head "No, I'll stay up and keep watch. You sleep."
"I-I don't know if I can…" Emma admitted softly, hoping Neal would get her hint.
Neal's face flashed with understanding. "Ah. But you should still try Emma."
"I can't. Every time I close my eyes I keep seeing either you or Henry falling through a portal. And I can't do anything to stop it" Emma whispered, sounding terrified.
"Oh Em," Neal sighed, stroking her hand with his thumb, "It's not your fault."
"Yes it is! How can it not be?" Emma began to argue back at him. How could he not see it was all her fault? She should have been able to stop this all from happening. She was the savior for freaks sake! Why couldn't she have stopped it?
"Shhh. We can argue in the morning. For now let's just sleep." Neal said, pulling Emma towards the empty blanket that he assumed was hers.
"One of us should be keeping watch." She whispered. "You should sleep. You were just shot, you need it more than me."
"It's only a couple more hours till the sun comes up. We'll be fine. Let's get some sleep while we can." He insisted, lying down. Emma nodded somewhat reluctantly and lay down beside him, curling towards him. Neal wrapped his arm around her, pulling her against him. He kissed the top of her head softly before pulling the blanket onto them.
"Night Emma."
"Night Neal."
"I love you." Neal whispered softly, not sure if she would reply or not. He felt her take a deep breath and wondered for a sec if he shouldn't have said that. He should have waited. He literally just got back to her. Only a couple minutes before now she had thought he was dead. Who knew if she had moved on, maybe her and Hook had a thing now.
Emma gulped and took a breath before making her decision on what to say next.
"I love you too." Emma replied quietly and she could almost feel Neal's smile. She would have teased him if she wasn't smiling like an idiot as well. "Go to sleep Neal" Emma said embarrassed.
Neal smirked and closed his eyes. Soon they were both sleeping soundly, their breathing identical. Neither of them knew what the next day would bring or what exactly this relationship they had was. But at least they were back together and Henry was safe. And for now, that was enough.