I am finally able to start posting this story! I've been writing it for the last two months and so far it has 16 chapters and more than 55k words! I am planning on writing four more chapters and then be done with it. I love this story and I hope you will at least like it because it's my little monster (as I like to call it) and I put my everything in it.

Many many thank to Cathy (ultraluckycatnd on Tumblr) for her help in betaing this story!

More notes at the end!

Storybrooke

The people of Storybrooke watched the portal closing in the middle of the sea. Their Savior, their Prince and Princess, together with three of the worst villains Storybrooke had ever seen were disappearing as the portal became smaller and smaller. On the docks, Ruby, Granny, Belle, Archie, and the dwarves were waiting. For what? Even they didn't know.

"Now what?" Ruby asked, still staring at the water.

"Rumple gave me this," Belle said, turning to face them and showing the scroll of paper she was holding with both of her hands.

"What is that?" Ruby asked her new friend.

"It's a spell. Rumple said others will try to come to the city now that Greg and Tamara are gone, and this spell won't let them," Belle explained.

"Should we trust any spell that comes from the Dark One?" Grumpy asked them with a frown; his eyebrows were down and close together and his lips were set in a straight line.

"We shouldn't, but right now this spell is our only protection against anyone who might come into the city with bad intentions," Archie tried to explain not just to Grumpy, but to all of them.

"But who could enact it?" Belle asked him. "The only people who use magic are gone now."

"There are the fairies. They can help!" Happy said out of nowhere.

Everyone agreed that right now the fairies, especially Blue, would be their best chance to enact the spell. Together, they started to walk towards the convent without another look at the sea that was calm again. Almost as if a portal hadn't opened there just a few minutes ago.

While the protection spell was covering Storybrooke bit by bit, no one knew that exactly at that same moment, on the other side of the town, a black Mustang was crossing the town line and was entering Storybrooke.

The car didn't stop when it passed by the 'Welcome to Storybrooke' sign, nor when the magic touched the town line, making the town invisible for anyone who wasn't from Storybrooke. The car continued on its way to the center of town, passed by the library and stopped in front of Granny's. If someone saw the new car in town, they all decided to ignore it.

When the car's door opened, a woman stepped out. She was tall and her step was gentle when she started to walk toward the entrance of Granny's Bed and Breakfast. She stepped inside and the first person she saw was Ruby, who was at the front office.

"Hello," the woman started to talk to her.

Ruby raised her head from the book she was reading and looked at the person who spoke to her. She was stunned to see a new face in Storybrooke and, at the same time, she was frightened. They enacted the protection spell less than thirty minutes ago; there was no way someone already found a way back into town.

"Hello?" Ruby said with an eyebrow raised. "May I help you?"

"Yes," the woman took off her sunglasses and looked straight at Ruby with big, bright, and brown eyes. "I am looking for a room."

"We have a few here. Are you new in town?"

"Oh yes, I just arrived," the woman said, smiling at her.

"Okay," Ruby said suspiciously. "I can help you with a room. I just need to know how long you will be here." Ruby took out the notebook they were using to keep track of the occupants of the rooms.

"I-I don't really know that. I am looking for a person, so I guess I'll stay til I find him. Is that a problem? The fact that I can't tell you for how long I'll be here?" the woman asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh no, I just need to know how long I need to save the room for."

"I guess a few weeks should be enough."

"Okay," Ruby wrote down the information. "Oh, and I will also need your name."

"It's Milah Spinner," the woman, Milah, said smiling at Ruby.

"Here is your room key," Ruby said, giving Milah a key. "Enjoy your stay!" Ruby said with a fake smile. She watched Milah leave when she realised that she had to find out one more important thing.

"Hey!" Ruby yelled after Milah. When she turned to face her, Ruby started to talk. "Do you, by any chance, know Greg Mendell or his girlfriend, Tamara?"

"Uh, no. Never heard of them."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I have a really good memory. I think I would remember one of them."

Ruby wasn't as good as Emma when it come to spotting a lie. She didn't have any superpower, but she could tell when a person was lying and Milah was not lying. She told Ruby the truth. She didn't know Greg or Tamara and for the moment, that was a relief.

"Okay, thanks."

Milah left with a smile on her face while Ruby was still wondering about her. She was curious about how this woman came into the city. Who was she, what did she want, and most importantly, who was she looking for? Ruby had questions and she needed answers to those questions. Emma, Snow, and Charming were counting on her, on them, the ones who were left in Storybrooke, to keep the town safe, with or without the protection spell. And if no one was going to help her, then she would do everything by herself.

The next day, Ruby was at the diner behind the counter when Milah entered. No one noticed her, even though it was obvious to everyone with two eyes that she hadn't been in the town from the beginning.

"These people were smarter in the Enchanted Forest before they discovered technology" Ruby thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

"Back to work Ruby!" Granny said behind her.

"Granny! Just the person I needed!" Ruby said turning to her grandma.

"Oh?"

"Come here." Ruby signaled to her to come closer. "That woman is new in town," she said, pointing her head towards Milah.

"How?"

"I don't know, but we need to find out."

"You have her name?"

"Yes, she's staying at the inn. Her name is Milah Spinner and she said that she's looking for a man. She doesn't know Greg or Tamara though. I asked her."

"Let me," Granny said, putting her apron on the counter.

Ruby watched as her granny walked towards Milah.

"Hello, honey." Granny started with a sweet smile.

"Hello?"

"I'm Granny Lucas, the owner of both this diner and the inn. You might also call me the welcoming committee of the town," Ruby heard Granny saying.

"Oh, hi! My name is Milah."

"Welcome to town Milah. I heard from my grand-daughter, Ruby, that you are looking for a man. I was wondering if I can help you since I know everyone from this town."

"Oh, that would be amazing." Ruby watched as a smile spread on Milah's face. "I am looking for Killian Jones. He is tall, dark hair, blue eyes. It's been… a while since I've seen him, but I know for sure that he is here. Or he should be here."

"Oh, I'm sorry darling, but I don't know anyone with that name… Maybe you are in the wrong town."

"No, I'm sure I'm in the right town. He should be here. Maybe you just missed him. He's good at… hiding."

"For 28 years? Sure, darling," Ruby said to herself, rolling her eyes again.

Even she didn't know anyone by that name, and she knew every man in Storybrooke.

"Well, maybe you just have to search harder." Granny said without any trace of a smile. "Enjoy your meal, Milah."

Granny came back behind the counter and made a sign to Ruby to follow her to the kitchen.

"So?" Ruby asked when she entered the kitchen.

"You heard what she said. Do you know that person?"

"I don't. There are many people that are tall with black hair and blue eyes in Storybrooke, but I don't know anyone with that name."

"Then we have to find him before she does. God knows who he is and who he was in the Enchanted Forest."

"I wish Emma, Snow, and Charming were here."

"I wish that too, but there is nothing we can do about that. They have to find Henry. Hopefully they won't kill each other in the meantime."

"Why would they?"

"Don't forget, Regina is there with them. And from what I understand, Gold and Hook aren't on good terms, either."

"Hook shot Belle after all." Ruby agreed with Granny.

"Before that. They hated each other in the Enchanted Forest. They hated each other here, and I am sure they hate each other where they are right now."

"Where do you think they are?"

"I don't know, but we have other problems here to take care of," Granny said, looking at Milah again.

Neverland

Somewhere in Neverland, in the middle of the sea there was a ship. In the sky, the clouds of a storm were starting to disappear while on the ship everyone was worried for the life of Emma Swan, who almost drowned that night.

Below deck in his room, Killian Jones was in shock after Emma Swan almost gave up her life on his ship. He didn't know what shocked him the most; the fact that Emma was so insane that she actually jumped off of the ship in the middle of a storm just to make them stop fighting, or that she almost died in front of him. After a few more minutes of thinking and more rum, he realized what shocked him the most: the idea of Emma dying, right there and then in the middle of the deck, on the same spot another woman that was important to him gave her life, so many years ago.

Hook's mind flew to another time, a time where he was another person. There was a woman he loved, a woman who loved him back and he was known to the world as Captain Killian Jones, not Captain Hook. The idea of Emma almost dying there reminded him of the moment Milah died on his ship. Another thing that scared him even more were the feelings he had in that moment. Because the feelings Killian Jones had when Emma Swan almost died were the same feelings he had when Milah died and he didn't know what that could mean. And if he was completely honest with himself, he was afraid to know.

Okay, so this is the first chapter. I feel like I need to say that this is and will be a Captain Swan story! Milah being alive will not intervene in their relationship in any way! You will find out more about her in the future chapters and also Emma and Killian will appear more in the next one!

I am also NOT rewriting the Neverland arc in any way! I'd like to believe this is an original story and I did not seen something like this in the fandom so far.

So yes... That's it. Please let me know what you believe? It would mean the world to me.