DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS. THEY BELONG TO THE OUAT (ONCE UPON A TIME) CREATORS.

I DO, HOWEVER, OWN SOME OF THE SMALL THINGS, LIKE THE PLOT-LINE OR THE INSPIRED THEORIES/DESIGNS THAT I INCORPORATED IN HERE :)

**I did watch the last episode and was blown away by the sheer awesomeness of where they're taking these characters. I was also happy that my ideas (for this tale) weren't used, lol.

This is my first Fanfiction! Please be nice, lol! :] Hope you enjoy it!

Comments are greatly appreciated!

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**UPDATE: Major editorial changes. I reorganized, added, removed, replaced and revamped this Chapter on 8/15/2014.

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Chapter One: Practice Makes Perfect

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"Emma, you need to work on your focus and concentration."

"I am concentrating!" Emma snapped at Regina through closed eyes. She had been training the whole day, nonstop, and wished that she could have some time to herself or to just have a small break from all this magic BUT her "teacher" won't allow that. Something about "evil doesn't sleep" or "the whole world is counting on us" or "taking breaks will make her lazy" and/or her personal favorite: "Rumple would never have (fill in the blank)". The fact of the matter was that Regina was DEFINITELY shredding her patience and working on her already frayed nerves.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to block out her thoughts so that she could regain her posture, which she was sure looked totally ridiculous. She was standing in the middle of the loft's living room with both of her arms outstretched, yet slightly bent at the elbows, while both of her palms faced the ceiling. Her fingers were also curved upwards, as if she was holding something precious in the middle of them, and the reason for all this, why she was standing there looking like a praying mantis, was because it'll apparently give her the balance she'll need in order to achieve "spiritual enlightenment", but none of the "magical essences", she was supposed to be sensing, would dare approach her with her looking like—in her opinion—a complete imbecile.

Shaking her head, she tried to clear the negativity she had been feeling all day so she could accomplish at least one thing correctly and after a few moments, surprisingly, she could actually feel herself starting to relax. Her body was completely still, but at the same time, something began to rise from deep inside of her, making her fingers hum and her heart pump wildly. Trying to expand the sensation, she squeezed her eyes tightly and placed extra tension in her hands and fingers, but instead of enhancing the humming impression, she could feel herself losing the battle as everything inside of her started to wind down. She shook her head fervently, trying to bring it back, but as soon as she started to feel the effects bubbling and growing inside of her once again, she then heard a voice...and it wasn't one of those nice voices one usually hears or should hear during a stressful time such as this. Oh no, this one had a sort of nagging tone to it.

"If you were concentrating, you wouldn't have felt the need to talk back to me; hence the focusing part, and you wouldn't have tensed your body just now when you tried to recall back whatever you were feeling…"

"Ugghh!" Emma screamed as she dropped her stance, losing what little of the humming she had left as it suddenly vanished from every part of her body, making her wonder if it was there in the first place. She turned around to face Regina, who was leaning against a faraway wall, twirling a red apple in her fingers while looking at her student intently. Boldly making a move towards her, Emma growled. "Well, if you didn't feel the need to talk constantly, I probably would've gotten it by now!"

"Ha!" Regina laughed, a sarcastic smile playing across her lips. "Emma, please, now isn't the time to joke. We are supposed to be training you in magic which I know you are fully capable of doing…well, when you are being threatened anyway…"

Emma narrowed her eyes and folded her arms. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Regina sighed and pushed herself off of the wall, taking a couple of steps towards her but not enough to close the gap between them. "I'm saying that you have all this great power but you lack experience and that's not your fault or your problem. Your problem is that in order for you to tap into it, you need some sort of push. Some sort of drama to get the ball rolling and that has got to stop." Her face then became serious when she met Emma's challenging gaze. "Magic is about emotion, as I'm sure you've heard Rumple say many times, and that seems to be the main problem for you. You need to sort out your feelings, Emma, in order to connect to the magic that is inside of you before you even think about learning or attempting the physical act of transportation—especially, if you still plan on confronting Zelena." And without another word, Regina gave her a final look before walking past her to the door, the opening sound of it filling every empty corner of the room with its creaking noise.

Emma's demeanor immediately changed from anger to somberness as she considered the words that were practically thrown at her. 'Sort out my feelings'? What the hell does that mean? I'm just tired…

She then rubbed at her temples as if to block out what Regina had said but she ultimately knew that she was right. She knew that she was having trouble connecting to them because of what had happened to her in the 29½ years she has spent on this planet. Being left alone, in another realm, by her family so she could be spared from the effects of the first dark curse had a major impact on her life; the majority of which she considered to be, well, horrible. Growing up in an unforgiving foster system with no steady support, being betrayed by her first love, getting pregnant in jail, being introduced into what was supposed to be a fairy tale lifestyle (by her son) in which she played the part of "the savior" whose job entailed constant fights against villains that were stronger than her, etc., etc., etc.…

All of that was just a small taste of the inner struggles she's still going through, which often makes it difficult for her to deal with the reality of her life, especially with the whole ordeal of her getting her memories back from a certain pirate-slash-reinvented hero…who just happens to also be in love with her.

As if her plate wasn't heavy enough.

Exasperated and emotionally drained from the internal movie reel that had just played out her life, she shut her eyes for a brief moment while, simultaneously, turning to face the door, fully intent on exploiting this rare opportunity to, hopefully, take a nap in her own apartment before her parents came back with here Henry. But when she did, she was suddenly stunned by the figure of Regina, upon reopening her eyes, who was still standing inside the loft with one of her hands resting comfortably upon the open door's knob. Obviously, she had thought it more interesting to watch her silent struggles instead of leaving, but before Emma could shout out her building frustrations at her, Regina's free hand abruptly reeled back, launching something directly at her, the image blurred by the sheer velocity of the throw.

"Whoa!" Emma cried out as she turned her head away, her hands quickly snapping up to defend her face and neck from the unknown object. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

There was a pause before Regina replied back. "Emma, look at what you're doing."

Confused, Emma slowly turned to look at her teacher, who was smiling at her widely, and noticed that floating midway between the empty spaces of her hands was the red apple Regina had been holding and playing with earlier. The fruit was bobbing effortlessly in the soft magic she was exuding and her mouth dropped open.

"I'm...the apple...why did you…? I…"

Regina looked at her pointedly before pushing the door fully open, slipping half of her body into the hallway. "Clear your mind. Find your control, Emma, and..." she paused, a smirk now plastered on her face before she officially left the residence. "…enjoy the apple."

...

It had been more than a few hours since Regina had left her alone with a floating piece of fruit lodged between her hands, thanks to her own magical abilities, and Emma was still at the loft, bubbling with newfound excitement and happiness. She was fully engrossed in what she was doing and was actually enjoying herself…for once!

Poised with determination and, with a huge smile on her face, she stood once again in the middle of the room, facing a pile of stacked dishes on the kitchen island. She exhaled loudly and raised one hand, summoning her powers, armed exclusively with sheer will and complete determination. The familiar humming had been a frequent visitor of her body for the last two hundred minutes or so and they seemed to be growing quite accustomed to one other since it wasn't coming and going as it had been earlier with Regina. Maybe this was something I had to do on my own. Connect with my magical essences without someone watching over me or bossing me around all the time, she thought reasonably.

And instantly, as if sparked from her positive thoughts, the top plate separated from the others and shakily hovered in the air, easily defying the concept of gravity.

"Yes! Score!" she cried out, gleefully. Emma then rotated her hand, the palm now facing her, before sharply stretching her whole arm out to one side with a pointed finger. The plate immediately obeyed her movements, first flipping over, revealing the bottom half of the two sides, before flying directly into the targeted wall, smashing into tiny pieces upon impact. She was about to repeat her actions when she heard a light knock at the door and with an unfamiliar bounce in her step, she hurried over and pulled it open, revealing a sullen looking individual on the other side. "Hook? What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you about something, love. May I come in?"

Some of her happiness dwindled when she looked him over. He looked terrible, as if he hadn't slept in a while. The dark circles under his eyes confirmed as much, plus his annoying-slash-charming smile was, once again, absent—not that she was counting on seeing it every time she saw him or anything, but since she has been noticing his round-the-clock depressive behavior, she was definitely becoming worried about him, and that notion was beginning to scare her; in more ways than one. The fact that he was affecting her to this extent, absolutely meant that he was becoming an essential part of her life, but did she want that? Especially since she was aware of how he felt about her? I guess the question I've got to figure out is...how do I feel about him?

But before she could mentally compartmentalized their history with one another, Hook's voice interrupted her. Saved by the bell, she thought, wearily.

"I'm sorry if I am intruding, lass, but I—what the bloody hell happened in here, Swan?!" he bellowed as she continued to close the door behind him. She turned around to see him staring at her in concern and he had a just cause to be. He was referring to the hundreds upon thousands of littered shards that had once belonged to plates, cups, vases, and bowls; along with a small amount of utensils scattered here and there upon the floor. She had willingly subjected them to her violent yet productive practices in order to expand her powers, but from the look on his face, she could tell that he wanted a good explanation for her actions.

Emma shrugged her shoulders and made her way over to his side, biting back some of the amusement she got from his expression. "What do you mean? I'm practicing magic. Oh, watch where you step!"

At the last bit of her words, she instinctively grabbed ahold his arm and pulled him to her, concerned that he would step heavily upon a huge, upright piece of glass that lay out in front of him, inches away from his boot. At the personal contact, Hook swallowed hard and tried to ignore the warm, comforting feeling he was getting from her touch. Just knowing that her hand was on him, set his being on fire with incredible longing, which unfortunately for him, compromised his chosen decision. He knew that he had to tell her but with her so close, it was throwing him off, and he needed to be able to focus if he was going to get through this, so, he unwillingly brushed her hand away and walked over to the kitchen island where he made sure that he didn't step on anything with a quick stroke of his foot.

Emma's eyes widened at his sudden gesture and she couldn't help the stab of hurt that radiated from deep within her chest. It took all that she had inside not to react in a series of angry questions or unfounded accusations, like she would do with Regina or even to her parents. He was different and somehow, she didn't want to damage whatever type of relationship they had without having any real evidence. Plus, he was the one that wanted to talk to her; he came to the loft to see her; he was the one having an issue being around her...not the other way around, so, she'll leave that touchy subject alone...for now, anyway.

With a raised eyebrow that only Captain Hook could deliver, he turned back to look at her and spoke with a sort of flatness to his voice. "Regina has you practicing on the cutlery?"

"No, she normally doesn't and, if you couldn't already tell, she's not here…" she started, trying to regain her former mood before he came by and threatened her emotional state. "This was actually my idea. I'm trying to control my magic and I didn't feel like going anywhere else after Regina left me alone."

"So, you decided to essentially trash your parent's dwelling?"

"…Yes…?"

"How thoughtful of you," he commented with a wink; his voice unnaturally low and husky.

Her cheeks flushed at the unexpected gesture. "Ah, yeah...um," she paused, deliberately thinking of something articulate to say. "Well, uh, how did you know that I was here, alone, by myself, anyway?"

It was his turn to be embarrassed. He opened his mouth before subsequently closing it, trying to come up with something that didn't make him sound like a stalker. "Your, um, father informed me of today's plans two days ago—about them looking after Henry...and such, while Regina trained you here...so, I, uh...waited for you..."

"You 'waited' for me?"

"Yes...I was outside, um, anticipating your departure so we could talk..."

"But...I never left," she said, slowly, crossing her arms over her chest as she carefully inspected him. Under her curious gaze, he shuffled his weight from one foot to the other in a "cool" manner, as if he was attempting to rid himself of the anxiety he was (most likely) feeling because of her questions, but the overwhelming pressure appeared to be winning since he couldn't seem to stop. Finding it both adorable and creepy, she continued on with a playful smile. "How long were you out there...'waiting' exactly?"

After a moment of consideration, Hook ultimately decided to lie, which he knew was pointless because of her superpower, but he didn't want her to know that he had practically camped out there, conspicuously, for more than five hours. "...Not long, love..."

Holding back the uncontrollable laughter she felt building up in her throat, she gave him a knowing look, one that told him that even though she knew he was being deceitful, she wasn't going to say anything to him about it. Instead, liking how their interaction was going, she kept the ball rolling. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Uh," he started, barely able to recover from what had just happened. "First, lass," he said, looking about the room with an unreadable expression. "Shouldn't you do something about the mess you made in here?"

Emma could feel her face falling at his sudden change of attitude. What the hell just happened? she thought. Weren't we just getting along? Not only had he just ruined the moment between them, he kinda made her feel bad about using her gifts, which wasn't something she would've expected from him. Wasn't he the person who always encouraged me to use my abilities? Clearing her throat, she spoke with forced enthusiasm, trying to act as if nothing had happened. "Then, I'll clean it up!"

She had been on a roll with her abilities and didn't want to stop now, even though this new task would be considerably more difficult than what she has been doing. So, she once again closed her eyes, not caring about any sort of reaction he might have towards her lovely stance, and thought about the best way to clean it all up. Instantly, two possible scenarios popped into her head. She could either try to piece them back together, which would be the best option to do, but would also be the most boring, or she could do the more advanced choice: making them disappear into thin air.

Welcoming the idea of a new challenge, she decided upon the latter and fluidly got into her posture of raised arms and forward facing palms; her breaths becoming deep and even. She turned the volume down on all of her thoughts so she would be able to concentrate, which meant blocking out her general duties here in Storybrooke, the memory loss situation, her magic, Henry and a certain individual...who shall remain nameless—specifically the other person in the room. Regina's words served as her anchor:

Clear your mind...Focus…Magic is about emotion…Connect, Emma…

Within a matter of moments, Emma could feel her magic bubbling and moving deep inside of her, like she had previously, and when she felt the room around her start to fill up with a certain level of tension, allowing her magical essences to flow in, she tried to suppress her smile.

Hook watched her silently, his thoughts consuming him. He really wished he knew how she was going to handle what he planned on telling her, but he didn't. His Swan was a wild card, which intimidated him a bit, but he did know one thing…she wasn't going to be happy with him keeping this information to himself. He knew that he should've shared it earlier when he came to the loft that night, right after his lips were cursed, but when he saw her practicing her magic with Regina, the words disappeared in his throat and his heart squeezed in agony. She was just starting to come into her own and accept, not to mention like, her magical gifts and here he was...about to tell her that she had a choice to make: give them up or suffer another loss, namely Henry.

He scratched his chin as if to distract himself from his ominous inner thoughts but he would have to do more than just irritating his skin to accomplish that. He felt like he was her own dark and personal reminder that her life was always going to be difficult and he was tired of it.

Maybe, he thought, I should just leave. It would save everybody the trouble and I could go back to how I was before…He then rolled his eyes. Right, Killian, as if we didn't do just that during our return to the Enchanted Forest. Plus…there's no way of going back…my ship is—

Suddenly, the air around him changed. It felt different, more stifled than usual, and that was enough to effectively pull him out of his reverie. He tore his eyes away from Emma, who he was unconsciously starring at, to speculate this new difference but what he found was truly unexpected and he couldn't help the sound of awe that emerged from his throat as all of the broken miscellaneous items on the ground started to slide or shake in various directions. He took a step to the side as if to avoid a possible onslaught of "death by sharp razors" but stopped when he realized that they were literally everywhere in the room, and the slightest of movements, even to seek shelter, had the possibility to cause him serious harm. He was about to call out to her, to gain her attention, when the second most interesting and amazing thing occurred—easily topping what had just happened—the shards starting to disappear! One by one, they were shimmering into nothingness as if they had never existed in the first place! He watched with a dropped jaw as little "pops" filled the air, signaling that another one had obeyed her commandment by simply vanishing.

The magical act continued for a little bit longer before it officially stopped, leaving the remaining pieces lying on the ground motionless and untouched by Emma's magic.

Hook raised his eyebrows as soon as the air around him began to clear. He was extremely proud of her. She had accomplished so much in her short period of learning and was obviously growing from her lessons if she didn't need a mentor around to guide her every move. Then, as if getting the sense that nothing was happening, she began to lower her stance, gracefully bringing her arms down so they could rest at each respectable side, all the while maintaining her closed lid expression. Captured by the sight, Hook's breath caught in his throat and he selfishly allowed himself the luxury of his greedily roaming his eyes over her form, gliding them down and in every soft, feminine curve till he couldn't take the wild pumping of his heart anymore. Not only was he completely and utterly under her spell, he was mesmerized by her and God only knew how he has been able to live this long without being with her. Bloody hell, my affections are going to make this more difficult...

Turning his head away to think properly, he released a breath he didn't know that he was holding. Damnyou, Zelena, he then thought, darkly. You planned this from the very beginning.

"Did it work? Are they gone?" her voice eagerly called out to him.

He cleared his throat before responding back, his voice cracking with emotion. "Aye, love. It worked. Well, most of it anyway, you still have plenty more leftover."

Emma opened her eyes and looked about her. She had managed to clear some of the space around them but he was right, there was more on the floor than not. She pouted and walked over to him, feeling the need to be near him. "I was hoping for more…"

"You did great, Swan." He said, as he tried to ignore the beating of his heart at her unexpected closeness. "But perhaps a more practical solution is in order."

"Are you suggesting that I just leave it like this?"

"No, I'm suggesting that you either get a cleaning instrument to clear this mess, which could take a while, or you could blame this on a localized earthquake or natural disaster."

Emma couldn't believe her ears, even though she could tell that he was trying to find some humor in her self-created situation. "Are you telling me to give up?"

Hook's eyes widened. A flicker of unhappiness lit her eyes before that unreadable façade of hers fell against her beautiful features, making him realize the serious implication of his words, when really, he was just trying to bring in some levity. So, to lessen the blow he had unintentionally created, he responded back to her with a gentleness she hadn't heard from him in a while. "No, love, I just thought that you were tired after that spectacular display of power."

Emma's brows furrowed but she said nothing. She looked at him, analyzing his features to see if he was either telling her the truth or was simply telling her what she expected or wanted to hear from him. When no signs of deceptions stuck out to her, she cleared her throat and shifted her gaze, now trying to avoid those eyes of his…those beautiful and soulful blue eyes that often drew her to him…

Resting her hands against her hips, she bit her bottom lip hard, secretly punishing herself for admitting that small detail before changing the subject. "I could always try something different."

"Such as?"

"I could attempt to put them back together again, but that could be a bit problematic since I did make some of them disappear…Looking back on it, I probaaaaaably shouldn't have done that."

"Well…" Hook trailed off, glancing up at the clock on the wall. "I would do something soon, lass. Your charming parents, no pun intended, and the lad are expected to be back in a couple of minutes, aren't they?"

She then followed his gaze, her eyes snapping up to the ticking clock in one swift motion, and as soon as the inevitable realization of the time set in, a groan escaped from her lips. "Ah, crap. It's that late?!" Her parents had been out babysitting Henry all day, so she could practice, before heading over to Dr. Whale for their scheduled appointment (which had been planned for a considerable amount of weeks) and had told her that they would be back with her son around 6:00 pm.

It was now: 5:58 pm. She had TWO minutes left! Silently praying that they wouldn't be the punctual people she had come to know, she frantically looked around before settling her anxious gaze on the only other person in the room, imploring him with her eyes to give her some quick suggestions.

"Do you need any assistance with the cleaning, lass?" Hook asked, mischievously. "I may lack a hand but I wouldn't mind being of some use if it would spare you the shame of facing your parents in this rather…dirty predicament."

"Shut up, Hook!"

He smiled as he went over to the cabinet that held the broom and dustpan, scarily familiar with her parent's apartment, and as he carefully made sure not to step on anything on his way there, he heard Emma say something that made him freeze inside and out.

"Okay, I have two minutes, no, make that one minute. I don't have enough time to buy more tableware, so, ummmmm, I can piece some of them together with my magic before—"

"Emma…" he started, everything inside of him boiling from her suggestion. He wouldn't be able to handle seeing her practice again. It was getting too much for him, which he knew sounded silly, stupid and strange, but it was true. How was he supposed to tell her what Zelena demanded of him if she kept flaunting them around in his face?

"I can do it, don't worry—" she started, closing her eyes while she stepped into her now familiar, less imbecilic, stance.

"No, Emma, stop! No more!" he bit out, his insides reeling from the projected force he had just used. His back was still facing her but he could feel the air tense around them…and not with her magic. All of his pent up frustration from the curses (both the recent dark spell and his personal one), not being able to deal with being around the woman he loves or her family (which was extensive), and his general angst spilled out from inside of him in spades. He then brought his hook up to his good hand and cradled it, tracing over the haunting steel with the tips of his fingers to serve as a distraction from what had just happened.

He had snapped at her. He had snapped at Emma.

At his tone and force, she had jumped and opened her eyes. She couldn't really explain what she was feeling at that moment since a huge wave of emotions washed over her—shame, fear, sickness and hurt, but there was also a profound need to understand him. The humming she had been growing accustomed to, been trying to control and utilize, succumbed to the seriousness of her emotions; affected by his in-and-out coldness towards her.

It was becoming too much and enough was enough. It was time for some answers and with all of the memories from their last few encounters flooding back to her, specifically his bizarre and sudden uneasiness around her, she asked him a pointed question.

"Does my magic bother you, Hook?"

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Ooohhhh, Hook is in for it now! More to come!

Comments are much appreciated!