Chapter One

Spoken and Silenced

Once everyone boarded the ship and entered the portal, the storm calmed and the ship was able to sail more peacefully across the waters. Now there was only the occasional gust of wind and light rain, but tonight the sky looked like it was going to send down a few heavy showers for everyone on board to experience.

Regina stood alone on deck as she listened to the waves collide gently against the side of the ship, staring at the dark waters below her. She had been through a lot lately, and the effects of that included thinking more and speaking less. Everyone noticed more or less so, but she had only been asked about it a few times by Snow and once by Emma. Both women had approached her awkwardly, quickly asked her about it, and hurried away afterwards. Nobody spoke of it from that point on.

Regina wrapped the jacket around her tighter. A few specific topics had been swimming around her mind lately, and it was impossible to get rid of. She absentmindedly tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear and stared at the darkness surrounding her.

"The Evil Queen, all alone," came the Captain's tantalizing voice.

Regina spun around slowly, startled, and glared at Hook, but turned back around seconds later. She listened to his footsteps approach her in slow, agonizing steps.

"What is the Queen thinking about on this cold, windy night?" asked Hook, taking a place beside her. Regina saw him raise his hook up towards what was left of the moonlight out of the corner of her eye.

"It does not regard you, Captain," she said curtly.

Hook chuckled. "On my ship, everything is and will be of my concern." When he received no reply, he turned to looked at Regina. "So I will ask once more. What has been on this royal's mind?"

Seconds of silence passed before Regina replied. "If the people you love most is not by your side, how would you feel?" She turned to face him.

More silence. "Well," Hook said, obviously taken by surprise, "it'd be as if you were plagued by a curse. The absence of a loved one is the loneliest curse, after all. Right?"

Regina was caught off guard. An answer to that depth was the least expected reaction from him. Her surprise was backed up even further by the fact that he was a pirate–no, a captain. A long silence stretched between them. As Regina wondered what could have triggered such an answer, Hook swept his eyes across the boat a few times, just to quench the awkwardness. On the third sweep, he noticed a dark figure standing next to the stairs leading down to the cabins. "Hey, look, the bastard's here," Hook muttered under his breath, his mood instantly changing.

Regina whipped around to face Hook. "Excuse me?"

Hook didn't seem to hear her. "You can come out now, Dark One," he called out towards the figure.

Regina and Hook could hear Gold chuckle quietly from where they were standing. Gold took a step towards the pair. "If you don't mind, pirate, I'm going to talk to Your Majesty for a moment." Regina and Hook could clearly hear the distaste in his voice.

Hook shot right back at him. "I am the captain of this ship, so I would appreciate it if you show some manners on board my ground."

Gold glared at Hook. He was about to retaliate when Regina interrupted them. "Men," she said coldly, "do you have to play such childish games?"

Both men turned to scowl at Regina, but she turned to speak to Hook before any of them could talk back. "Thank you for your concern about my well-being, Captain, but I think I will be fine now."

Hook took this small chance to send one last glare towards Gold before saying to Regina, "See you in the morning, Your Majesty."

He rudely pushed past Gold as he went by, but Gold only pushed down his anger and took Hook's place beside Regina.

"That pirate is very troublesome," said Gold, sighing. He stared out towards the direction of Neverland. From what Regina could see, he seemed to be deep in thought. "We need to form a plan." He leaned his cane on a crate beside him.

"What are you talking about?"

"We're going to be up against magic in a land filled with magic, and, mind you, dealings are how they do business in Neverland." Gold gave a sidelong glance towards Regina to see if she was getting the gist of what he was saying. "To save Henry, we'll need to sacrifice someone so that-"

"Why sacrifices?" said Regina almost immediately. "There's a lot more solutions to that than sacrificing."

Gold let out a laugh. "What do we have with us? We have nothing of value to them except me and you, and what do we have in common? Magic. If we are to save Henry, one of us will have to go, and I will be willing to sacrifice my life for his safety."

"You're willing to do it?" asked Regina, taken aback.

Gold turned to her. "I've been alive for two hundred years," he said wearily. "My son is gone."

Regina studied Gold silently, making sure he wasn't joking. "Don't be too sure about the dealings," she said after a while. "I'm sure you know that things don't go as we think it should."

If Gold heard, he didn't answer. "We should rest for tomorrow," he said suddenly. He grabbed his cane, and without another word, began walking to the steps that led to their cabins. Regina stared at his back for a moment before doing the same. Both barely exchanged words as they approached their cabins, but said their goodnights with a polite nod. Regina's door closed with a small thud and she sat on her bed, exhausted. She had been thinking far too much today, and her headache didn't make anything better. She massaged her temples in hopes that the pain will subside just a little bit.

After massaging her temples with no success, Regina laid down on her mattress. It wasn't the most comfortable mattress she'd slept on; it was made out of cheap materials, and any sudden movements made it creak under her weight. It would have to do for the night, though.

Regina was still thinking, and she felt guilty for thinking the way she was, but one thought overpowered her fear of where Henry could be and whether he was still alive or not. The man she was thinking about could be dead or alive, but the possibility of his existence was so slim Regina feared to even consider it. He was kidnapped as a child, she knew, and brought to Neverland, so her feelings were a mix of hope, fear, anticipation, and dread. Nevertheless, she allowed herself to recall the memories she had with him, and that was just enough for sleep to engulf her that night.

Even in her sleep, the same memory remained in her dreams. It was of the man that was supposed to protect her. After all, isn't that what brothers are for?

A/N: Hey guys! This is a rewritten story of A Parted Family, and if you followed the first version of it, you've probably noticed that we changed a lot of things in it. This story is written and edited by Skye–the lead writer in the story–and Café–the idea provider.

Café's ideas fuel this story, so this story wouldn't have been created if it weren't for her wonderful ideas. Skye simply puts it in words on a computer, so yeah.

Please review and tell us what you thought of the story. :)

-Café and Skye