Disclaimer: The characters of this story belong to the producers and writers of Once Upon a Time. This story begins with the end of episode 11 of season 3. All quotes belong to those creators until you reach the line break. It only serves as an introduction to the story itself.
Summary: What will happen to Emma and Hook after she has forgotten everything? Will things finally work out for the both of them? Or will things only get worse? Will everyone finally get their happy endings? Captain Swan. Mid-season 3 finale compliant.
A/N: Although quotations leading up to the line break belong to the developers of Once Upon a Time, please note that the actual descriptions and thoughts are my own. That being said, this story will be updated on a weekly basis. Enjoy!
Introduction
"I cast a curse out of vengeance and I'm a villain. You heard Mr. Gold, villain's don't get happy endings." Regina sadly glanced at her young son standing before her.
Without skipping a beat, Henry looked straight into her eyes and said: "You're not a villain." He reached out his right hand and lightly clasped her shoulder, "You're my Mom." Regina felt the tears pricking her eyes as her son (for even if they were not related by blood, he was her son) wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged. It was the last hug she would ever get from him, she was sure.
Emma slowly walked up to the father of her child, a look of sincere sadness on her pale face. "Neil, I'm sorry."
Baelfire leaned forward, "Don't be," he said, "you gotta get our boy the hell outta here." He reached over and patted his son on the shoulder as Henry walked towards his father and his mother.
"And you have to go back there." Her mouth frowned slightly.
"Yeah, I do." Baelfire looked back at Emma and she quickly pulled him into a hug. Despite everything they had been through, she knew she would miss him. The two pulled apart and Baelfire said, "Hey, this isn't over. I'll see both of you again." The trio sadly stood for a moment before Emma pulled away and walked towards her car.
Hook quickly walked towards her. Emma stopped and turned towards the man she could see herself falling for. "That's quite the vessel you captain there Swan." Emma sniffed slightly, finally giving into the overwhelming emotions she had been trying to contain during this short goodbye. "There's not a day will go by that I don't think of you."
Emma stared into his eyes, tears slowly filling hers. She calmly stated: "Good." Hook's mouth curved up quickly before the smile disappeared completely. A silent promise spread between the two of them and he pulled back, walking towards the others who would also be returning home.
In the background, Charming hugged his grandson close, kissing the top of his head while his wife stood beside the two. They felt extreme grief within their hearts. They had finally found their little girl, had reunited with their family only to be parted once again. The curse had ruined, then healed, and now tortured.
Regina walked towards Emma as she turned from Hook back towards her car. "Emma," she said. "I have something I haven't told you."
Emma sighed. "What now?" She asked in a weary voice. Her eyes were tearing up and she wanted to leave the pain and the memories behind with her son.
"When the curse washes over us," Regina replied slowly, "It will send us all back. Nothing will be left behind – including your memories." A look of disbelief crossed over Emma's face. "It's just what the curse does." Emma slowly looked downward, pain mixing in with the disbelief, before looking back up at Regina's face as she continued, "Storybrook will no longer exist. It won't ever have existed. So these last years will be gone from both your memories." The realization of the implication this meant began to sink in and Emma felt a hint of despair. She had finally found her parents, discovered the truth of what had happened to her, and now she was going to be a Lost Girl again. A Lost Girl with a son that she technically didn't get to keep when she put him up for adoption. "We would all just go back to being stories again."
Emma glanced towards her parents, to Neil, to Hook, and to her son before looking back at the Evil Queen, "What will happen to us?"
Regina lifted her shoulders slightly in a shrug, "I don't know," she replied, honestly.
"That doesn't sound like much of a happy ending."
"It's not," Regina said with a bitter laugh and an angry smile. "But I can give you one."
Hope surged through Emma, "You can preserve our memories?"
Regina looked down, "No, I can do what I did to everyone else in this town." She looked back up at Emma, Henry's other mom. She smiled sadly, "I can give you new ones."
"You cursed them and they were miserable."
Regina shook her head slightly, "They didn't have to be." Understanding crossed Emma's features. She shifted slightly and Regina took Emma's hand in her own before she continued, "My gift to you is good memories. A good life for you," Regina turned toward Henry, reaching out her hand. Henry stepped forward and grabbed a hold of it. Regina turned back toward Emma, tears making her voice catch, "and Henry. You'll have never given him up." Emma sobbed slightly. "You'll have always been together," Regina's voice hitched and tears pooled in her eyes.
Emma sighed out, "You would do that?"
"When I stopped Pan's curse, and you crossed that town line, you will have the life you have always wanted."
Emma moved her head back and forth once, before saying, "But it won't be real."
Regina nodded, "Well, your past won't, but your future will." Regina drew in a breath before placing her hand gently on Henry's arm, Emma's moving to his shoulder opposite. "Now go," she said firmly, moving her hand up to her son's shoulder and looking him directly in the eyes for the last time, "there isn't much time left." She looked quickly over at Emma and then back at Henry, "The curse will be here any minute."
Henry moved forwards into Regina's embrace, with Emma watching with sad eyes. Regina placed a chaste kiss on her son's forehead and he moved back to his biological mother's side.
Emma sobbed once more and Snow quickly walked towards the three. Regina stepped back, allowing Snow the chance to say goodbye to her daughter for the second time. Snow reached towards her daughter and clasped her face in her hands. They stared at each other, saying nothing but understanding everything. Snow pulled her down towards her and kissed her softly on the forehead. Before walking away, Snow smiled at her daughter while Emma stood there, crying. A single tear traversed the length of her cheek towards her chin.
Taking a deep breath, Emma quickly turned from all she had called family and quickly walked towards her car. Henry did the same; neither looked back as each stepped into the car and prepared to cross the Town Line. Hook watched with ever growing sadness, despair etched into his ruggedly handsome features. Charming nodded a quick farewell into their direction, Snow stared steadfastly ahead, Baelfire set his mouth in a grim line and Regina looked down as she unravelled the spell. She silently sobbed as she crumpled the troublesome curse in her hands; she had finally found happiness through something so destructive and was losing it again to a life of solitude. With her hands glowing purple, she turned towards the emerald green rolling clouds of Pan's curse and raised her hands towards it. Streams of purple light spread from her fingers, shooting across the space between the group of Storybrook citizens and the mass of clouds that was the curse; the clouds turned to purple and surrounded them. The small yellow car pulled away; pulled away from the last two and half years of memory and crossed the town line. It crossed into the future.
Henry had watched for a final time, before turning towards the front of the car. He couldn't remember what he had been looking at behind them. Emma glanced towards him, an unspoken question in the air.
Behind them, Regina stared after the car as Storybrook was erased. She stared until she, like everything else in Storybrook, ceased to exist in this world.
Henry looked over at his mom and smiled brightly. She looked ahead at the road, a brightness surrounding her. She was remembering the day she had given birth to her little boy. She had been planning to put him up for adoption but something about him had made her want to hold him close and never let him go. She stopped trying to refuse his existence and instead turned to the doctor and asked to hold him. She remembered smiling down into his chubby red face, feeling like everything had finally connected through him; like something had clicked and he was just this perfect bundle of newborn human and he was all hers. He was perfect. His small face had made her fall for him and she had changed her mind; she could not give up something so precious.
And now, here they were, driving towards a new city and a new life. She glanced over at him again, and that same joy from that first day bubbled in her chest.
One Year Later
Sirens blared outside Emma's apartment window. It was a usual occurrence and she and her son had learned to ignore it. She only groaned awake when her alarm went off at 8:15 a.m., signalling to her it was time to literally wake up and smell the coffee. She crawled out of bed, and sleepily walked towards the private washroom adjacent to her room. She stripped out of her pyjamas and stepped under the shower head, turning it on to as hot as she could bear it. She quickly washed herself before jumping out of the shower. She wrapped a towel around her hair and another around her body before making her way back into her room. She quickly stepped toward the door and hollered at Henry to see if he'd woken up on time.
"Yeah, mom, I'm up." Henry muttered, stepping out into the hall and rubbing his eyes. He walked towards the bathroom and Emma closed the door to her room again, satisfied to see he was up.
She pulled on a plaid top and a pair of pants before walking out into the open concept kitchen to make breakfast. Henry walked in a couple of minutes later, dressed in a red shirt and plaid pyjama bottoms. He grabbed the watering can, filled it, and started his chore of watering the plants before breakfast. Emma cracked an egg on the side of the bowl, briefly glanced in his direction and smiled, before turning back to making breakfast. It was scrambled eggs and pancakes, their Saturday morning tradition. She placed the two plates on the table and walked towards the kitchen counter, grabbing the hot chocolate topped with whipped cream she had made for Henry.
Henry looked disappointedly at the cup before glancing up at his mom, saying, "Mom, you forgot something."
She pointed her finger at the cup and started back at the counter saying, "Right, cinnamon." Grabbing the shaker off the counter she walked back and placed it in front of him. "There you go." He smiled and started sprinkling it on top of the whipped topping. Emma walked around the edge of the kitchen table and took the seat opposite her son. She grabbed a napkin off the table and placed on her lap, smiling at her son as she did so. Picking up their respective cups, they clinked glasses and took a sip of their drinks.
Emma picked up her fork and knife, ready to dig into their Saturday breakfast when she heard a knock at the door to their apartment. She looked across the table at Henry and a made a face while shrugging her shoulders. Who could that be? she wondered, leaning on her elbows.
Henry put down his cup and picked up his fork, looking down at his plate he said: "Someone coming over?"
"No," Emma said softly before removing her elbows from the table and getting ready to eat again. There was a loud banging on the door and she looked back at it, confusion finally settling in for the long haul. She pulled the napkin off of her lap and put on the table, saying, "Henry, wait here," as she got up. She walked back around the edge of the table closest to her seat and furthest from the door, something she observed in the back of her mind as she walked towards the source of their morning disruption. She turned off the music she'd had playing while getting breakfast ready on her way there.
Skipping over the shoes scattered in the front entrance, she rushed towards the door and pulled it open. Standing before her was a man who looked almost desperate. He had a ruggedly handsome, narrow face. Sideburns crawled down the sides of his face, meeting with a few days old stubble which was getting dangerously close to being the start of a beard; a moustache lined his upper lip. Although it would have looked disgusting to her on any other man, on him it defined his roguishly good looks. His blue eyes were outlined with black kohl liner and rested under perfectly sculpted eyebrows. His hair was slightly dishevelled, but not in a way that disturbed her; rather, it intrigued her more. His right ear was pierced and he was dressed in leather – it outlined his fit figure. What really startled her was the absence of a right hand; in fact, it was replaced with a hook. Who does he think he is? Captain Hook? Come on, everyone knows he has a really bad perm, she thought. Something about him, however, struck a chord deep within her; one of knowing, deep down, that he was familiar somehow.
A smile lit up the man's face, relief clearly showing through as he whispered, "Swan." He stepped through the threshold towards her: "At last–"
Emma quickly held out a hand to stop him: "Wait! Do I know you?"
The look of desperation was back. "Look, I need your help. Something's happened, something terrible. Your family is in trouble."
"My family's right here. Who are you?" Her tone was firm as she looked directly in the man's eyes, attraction replaced by something more substantial: fear for the safety of herself and her son. Clearly, this man was certifiably insane.
"An old friend. I know you can't remember me," at this, Emma tilted her head and squinted slightly, not understanding what was going on, "but, I can make you." With that he wrapped his good hand behind her head and pulled her forward.
The kiss was sudden, hot, and thoroughly unexpected. Emma's eyes closed briefly for a second before snapping open. Instinctively, she raised her knee and it connected with his favourite jewel. He grunted and pulled away, which she took advantage of to shove him out of her home. He hit the wall across from the door, still groaning in pain. "What the hell are you doing?" she gasped, momentarily stunned.
Through his gasps of pain, he managed to utter: "It was a long shot. I had to try. I was hoping you felt as I did."
"All I feel is the handcuffs as I call the cops." She said, leaning on the open door for support. She felt something deep within her, stirring. Her head felt light and her heart felt like something was missing for the first time in a very long time. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt this overwhelming sensation.
Pulling through the initial pain, the man stepped forward, his face still red as he said: "No, wait, I know this seems crazy, but you have to listen to me. You have to remem—"
Emma hurriedly slammed the door in his face; subsequently cutting off whatever it was he wanted to say. She locked the door and quickly turned from it, walking back to her son and her breakfast.
Henry turned his head slightly to the side, still keeping his eyes on his food. "Who was that?" he asked.
Emma, flustered, looked around the room. "No idea. Someone must have left the door open downstairs." She turned back to the door slightly, before walking once more towards her son and food, "Come on, let's eat."