Author's note: Hi everybody! If you have read my other various ONCE stories, you will know that I am a Swanfire shipper, and I am sure I am not the only one to object to how 'Quiet Minds' ended.

I know Michael Raymond James posted that Eddie and Adam were simply making a 'bold storytelling' move, but in my view it was rather pointless. I mean, they could have allowed Archie to really die in Season 2, by Cora's hand, but allowed him to live. They had Charming survive the deadliest poison on the show- dream shade- with surprisingly little effort, and they even brought Rumplestiltskin back from the dead! And they allow Neal to survive being shot by Tamara and falling through a portal in the beginning of the season only to have him die in the second half? How difficult would it have been for the writer's to find a way to save Neal? To quote Snow: 'We'll find another way. There's always another way.'

There was so much potential in Neal as a character in this story, and I'm not just talking as a Swanfifre shipper though, I admit, there is that...Neal was the reason the Dark Curse was created and cast in the first place, and now Henry doesn't have a father, Rumple no longer has his son and Emma and Neal don't have the chance anymore to see what their relationship would be like without a curse or portal or thieving puppet separating them every time they try!

Okay, (takes a deep breath) I'm calmer now, thanks for letting me rant. Now, this is how episode 15: 'Quiet Minds' should have ended...hope you like it!

~..~..~..~..

"Neal!" Emma screamed as he collapsed on the ground.

"Aahh!" Neal moaned in pain and Emma gaped as his face appeared to morph into Gold's for a moment.

"I think," Emma tried to stay focused, "I think Gold is inside you. I think that's how you're still alive."

"I can hear my father's voice in my head," Neal gasped. "He's in there! He's in me!"

"He said there was no room," Emma joined the dots in her mind. "He meant you."

Neal grasped Emma's shoulder desperately.

"I need you to help me, Emma."

Emma tilted her head slightly in confusion. How could she help? Help with what?

"Use your Magic," Neal panted. "Separate me and my father."

"Are you kidding?" Emma asked. "Then you'll die."

"Emma," Neal gasped. "You need my dad more than me."

"Neal," Emma began to object.

"To find out who the witch is," Neal continued. "To save the town." His eyes were serious as he looked at the woman he loved. "You need to do this."

"I've never done anything like that before," Emma objected. "Not that big."

"Do it," Neal repeated. "To save you, and Henry." His breathing became more ragged as he fought to stay focused.

"Do it." He repeated. "Please."

Reluctantly, Emma took hold of Neal's hands. Slowly, she closed her eyes and focused on the magic that flowed within her.

Concentrating, Emma felt her magic flowing out of her and into Neal's body, and strangely, she could actually feel the two separate energies that resided in there, both Neal and Gold's, struggling to co-exist. But it was like trying to mix oil and water. Two minds could not exist in one body.

Emma focused on helping Neal to free himself, and in moment, a blast of magic split the two energies apart.

Opening her eyes, Emma found herself staring at Gold's shocked expression, whereas Neal was lying on the ground behind him.

"Neal!" Emma cried out, rushing to his side. "Neal, are you okay?"

"What have you done?" Gold demanded, fearful for his son's life.

Together, they helped Neal to sit up.

"It's okay...Papa," Neal panted. "I told her to."

"But why?" Gold asked, surely his son didn't want to die?

"So you could tell her... who the witch is." Neal answered. "So you can defeat her."

Rumple felt his lips curl in distaste as he spat out the name of the woman responsible for his son suffering before him.

"Zelena," he spat.

Emma whipped her head around in shock.

"What?" She asked.

"Zelena," Rumple repeated.

"She's the witch?" Emma confirmed. "What does she want?"

Rumple could feel the emotion welling within him as he gazed at his son, dying in the arms of the woman he loved. Dying so that Emma could find a way to defeat Zelena.

"What she doesn't have," he whispered. 'Love in her life, a family, a second chance,' he thought. And now his son was losing the chance to be with the woman he loved, without a curse or magic keeping them apart. And he was losing a second chance to be with his son, and redeem himself in the eyes of the one who he had crossed worlds for.

Emma studied Gold's face as she watched the emotion in his eyes.

"There has to be some way you can save him, right?" She asked.

Slowly, Gold got to his feet.

"It's too late Emma," He whispered sadly. "We don't have time."

Emma's mind was racing as she fought the grief already beginning to overwhelm her.

"Emma," Neal's voice had dropped to a whisper.

Emma held him closer.

"Neal, just hang in there, please." She pleaded. "You never even got a chance to see Henry, for him to remember you."

"It's okay," Neal whispered. "He doesn't need to. He just needs to know that- in the end, I was a good father."

Rumple turned to view his son at that last comment. Is that how his son viewed him?

Slowly, Neal reached into his pocket.

"I saved this for you," he told Emma, "to give to you again." And Emma felt tears trailing down her cheeks as she saw the swan pendant.

"Take it," Neal whispered. "Go find Tallahasse. Even if it's without me."

"Neal," Emma sobbed. "We can save you, we just need more time."

"This isn't Neverland, Emma," Gold told her, as reluctant as he was to admit defeat. "There's no water hear that can save one from Death."

Emma gasped, frozen in shock for a moment. Whirling around, she focused on Gold as hope began to spread across her face.

"Yes there is."

Now she had Rumple's attention.

"What?"

"When we came back from Neverland, David brought a couple of bottles of the water with us." Emma explained in a rush. "But you made the cure so quickly, he didn't use all of it."

Smiling, Emma turned to gaze down at Neal.

"We need time, and we can get it," Emma told him. "You can see Henry, and Gold can make a cure for you. Or Regina could."

Taking action, Rumple waved his hand, and in a swirl of smoke, David appeared amongst them, looking around in confusion.

"Oh my god," David gaped at his daughter cradling a clearly dying Neal in her arms. "What happened?"

"No time!" Emma snapped. Neal's eyes were closing.

"The water you brought back from Neverland," Rumple demanded. "Where is it?"

"In a bottle back at the loft," David supplied, seeing their plan. "But there's no time to get there."

"What does it look like?" Rumple demanded.

"A dark brown water-skin with a shoulder strap," David said quickly.

Rumple made a gesture and the bottle 'poofed' into his hand.

"That's it," David stated.

"Here!" Emma reached for the bottle. "Come on, Neal," she pleaded, lifting the bottle to his lips. "Stay with us."

Trickling the water into his mouth, Emma studied his face for any signs of change, and for what was the longest five seconds of Emma's life, nothing happened.

"Neal?" Emma whimpered. 'He can't be gone,' she thought in a panic. 'Not again. The Neverland water can heal any-'

Suddenly, Neal gasped for breath as his body jerked in her arms.

"Neal?"

Neal's eyes flickered open and he met her gaze with a smile.

"Hey Emma," he whispered.

"You're alive!" Laughing and crying at the same time, Emma pressed her lips against his.

After what felt like all too soon for Neal, their lips parted.

"Well, if this is the afterlife," he commented with a smile, "I like it."

Emma laughed, relief washing away her grief and fear. Suddenly, she punched Neal in the arm.

"Ow!" He objected in surprise.

"I can't believe you just accepted that you were going to die," Emma told him angrily. "Do you have any idea how pissed I am at that?"

"Right," Neal nodded as he sat up, looking at Emma fondly. "I forgot who I was dealing with."

"Yes you did," David commented with a smile, and it was only then that Emma remembered they had company. "Stubbornness runs in our family."

Emma helped Neal to his feet, passing him the water bottle as she tried not to look at the smile on her father's face.

"Son," Rumple stepped forward hesitantly.

"Papa," without hesitation, Neal wrapped his father in a hug.

"So," Emma began, eyeing the canteen in Neal's hand. "How long will it take to make a cure, Gold?"

Rumple stepped back from his son to set eyes on his son as realisation set in. They had brought themselves time, but it would only last as long as the water did.

"There's not much left," he granted. "This will only last for a week, at most."

"Enough to make a cure?" Emma pressed.

"You made my cure for dreamshade in less time," David supplied.

"I doubt Zelena will allow me to work on a cure while she still has my dagger," Rumple admitted before meeting his son's eyes. "But I promise, I will do everything I can."

"Zelena?" David interrupted.

"She's the Wicked Witch," Emma nodded.

"And now she's calling me back," Rumple informed them, his muscles tensing as he tried to resist the summons.

"You'll be okay Papa," Neal told him. "We'll free you."

Rumple nodded, as he continued to resist the summons.

"I'll find a cure for you, Son," he promised. "Just promise to stay alive until then." His eyes shifted to the woman standing behind his son.

"Take care of him Emma," he told her fiercely as his body began engulfed in purple smoke as he gave in to his summons.

As his father disappeared, Neal bowed his head sadly for a moment before turning back to Emma and David.

"So what now?" He asked.

"Now we go after Zelena," David supplied in determination.

"After that," Emma turned to Neal, "Henry gets to meet his father for the first time."

~..~..~..~..

Henry watched as another stone skipped along the water. After he'd got back from fishing with Leroy, his mom had called, asking to meet him here at the park, as she had something important to tell him.

Hearing the sound of footprints behind him, Henry turned to see his mother approaching.

"Hey," she greeted happily. "How was it?"

"It was awesome," he told her. "We should take more fishing trips when we get back home."

Emma smiled. "Sounds like a good idea," she said.

"So," Henry began, "what did you want to tell me?"

"Come here, kid," Emma told him as she led the way to a nearby bench.

"You were right," his mother began. "I was not... completely honest with you about why I came here. About this case...this ...trip."

Emma took a breath. 'Here we go,' she thought.

"The reason I brought us here is because...someone was in trouble... and the person who needed help was not a client. It was your father."

Henry couldn't breathe for a moment.

"This is about...my dad?" He asked.

"Some ...bad people ...wanted to hurt him," his mother explained vaguely.

"Is he okay?" Henry asked. "Did you find him?"

His mum nodded. "I found him."

Henry felt a smile tugging at his mouth.

"I was almost too late," Emma added, closing her eyes for a moment as she realised how close they had come to losing Neal again. And the fact that all they had done was get more time.

"Almost?" Henry confirmed.

His mom nodded again.

"Neal very nearly died, trying to save me" she confirmed, her expression sad for a moment. "And now his father is being held captive by the same person who tried to kill him."

"But you'll find them, right?" Henry said strongly.

"You bet, kid," Emma said in determination before she smiled again. "I told Neal about you," she told him slowly. "He wants to meet you."

Slowly, Henry nodded.

"Okay," he agreed shakily, suddenly anxious. "I want to meet him too."

"Good," Emma whispered as her eyes shifted to something behind him.

Turning, Henry saw a man walking towards them.

Neal had to stop himself from rushing forward to embrace his son. He'd missed him so much!

But he saw no recognition his Henry's eyes as he approached carefully. He and Emma had discussed this: he had to act as if he were meeting his son for the first time.

"Henry?" He asked as he came to stand before his son, something he knew would have been impossible without the water, and for that he was thankful for whatever time he had been given.

"Yeah," Henry answered nervously.

"Look at you," Neal smiled, laughing shakily. "You're so tall!"

Emma laughed slightly at the oddness of the situation as she studied her son's reaction.

"So," Henry stated slowly. "You're my dad."

"Yeah," Neal nodded faintly. "It's nice to finally meet you, Henry." Hesitantly, he reached forward to gently grasp Henry's shoulder, letting out a sigh of relief when his son didn't pull away. "I'm your dad."

Kneeling down, Neal looked into his son's eyes, so much like his own.

"I nearly died today," Neal told Henry.

"Mom mentioned that," Henry commented.

Neal took a deep breath.

"I could've died before I even got to see you," he whispered. "Before you could know me." Unable to hold back any more, Neal wrapped his arms around Henry, hugging his son close.

"My son," he whispered. "My son."

Henry returned the hug. He didn't know where this sudden surge of emotion came from, but he was suddenly aware of the fact that he now had a father and didn't want to let him go.

After a moment, Henry felt a second pair of arms wrapping around them both as Emma joined in the hug. Instantly, both Neal and Henry wrapped one arm around her, and together, the three of them simply held one another for a few moments. And for a change, Henry felt something he hadn't really felt in New York, or even at any point he could remember in his life.

Like his family felt more complete.

~..~..~..~..

Author's note: So, what did you think?

As you probably guessed, I was thinking of the way David survived Dreamshade to help save Neal. The water from Neverland could cure anything, but in order to live beyond Neverland's boarders, you had to continue drinking the water, so they brought some back. When Gold gave David the cure he'd made, David had said something like "You made it already?" Which implied that they hadn't expected a cure to be available so quickly. And as they hadn't appeared to be panicking, it's assumed that they still had enough water to keep David alive for a while longer, so I expected they would have more of the Neverland water left over. I doubt they would simply throw it away as it's water that can heal anything – it would be rather reckless to just pour it down the sink. If could be useful if you had a fatal wound and needed time to get to a hospital to be treated, or, in this case: if you were dying from a curse and needed time for a cure to be found.

Now, Neal can at least spend time with his son, and help defeat Zelena.

(I also think that Neal would have been a better candidate to go with Emma as back her up rather than Hook while Snow was in labour. Seriously- the one guy who has the ability to take your daughter's magic away and you send him with her as back up right when her magic is needed most? What were you thinking, David? That your daughter needed back up, perhaps, but really- Archie would have been a better choice!)

I realise that First Loves are not necessarily your True Love, but Neal and Emma have never really had the chance to find out if they can work, due to said thieving puppets, curses and portals getting in the way, not to mention certain pirates. The connection Emma and Neal have was incredibly clear to see- they were so comfortable with each other and knew each other so well, and the love they had was deep. The fact that the swan pendant survived as long as it did, and that even now, Emma still wears it, is a tribute to how strong their love was.

I wrote this because, I wanted there to be a way for Neal, Emma and Henry to be together as a family, at least in some form.

Please tell me what you think, I am open to feedback.

Celino.