Silent Tears

A/N I don't own anything to do with ONCE, I'm just addicted to these two fools...so very addicted and this fic idea wouldn't leave me alone

The Neverland air hung humid through-out the cabin. The gentle rocking of the ship and the sound of the Never Sea lapping up against the hull of the Roger did nothing to calm down her racing mind, or quash her fears. She was sure her mind had not given her a moment of rest or peace since they had emerged from portal. Hell, she was no longer even sure how long they'd been here in the God forsaken hellhole, she only knew why, HENRY.

This place played tricks on your mind making you question everything from who you were to how long you had even been here, its beauty luring you in only to then come face to face with immense danger. Time seemed to no longer exist in any orderly fashion and like a stray animal it seemed to come and go as it pleased. It was also making her question him; he had this way of surprising her consistently almost as if by spite. Every single damn time she thought she had him pegged he did something that completely caught her off guard; it was starting to make her question her sanity, her emotions and her feelings. She found it funny how on nights like this, when she tried to focus on their mission here, and she had to confess there were a lot of them; she found her mind turning towards him.

Those hauntingly bright blue eyes, how they always seemed to seek her out almost as if they had a mind of their own away from their master's. She would catch him staring at her unaware that he even was, mouth slightly opened as if in awe of something. In those moments she felt a stirring of butterflies pooling in her belly and as much as she tried to force it down a reddened blush would creep up her neck and splash her cheeks.

She couldn't deny that something between them had changed, that whenever he was around the air seemed to shift. She tried to play it off as another trick of Neverland, or as residual effect of the amount of times he had saved her and she him, to logic her way out of it.

She knew better though, whatever there was between them was always there. It was resting just under the surface now like a geyser being suppressed and she doubted no matter how hard she tried she would be able to keep up the pretense much longer, the one she was denying to everyone including herself, the one that was yelling at her from the back of her sub-conscious, that taunted her with words like love, lust and trust. Yes Emma Swan was ready to explode.

Somewhere during this journey, trekking the Tikki forest, almost drowning at Marooners rock, saving him from the curse of those treacherous mermaids, practicing her sword skills and dealing with the various dangers that Neverland had to offer in search of her boy, she had done the most dangerous thing of all, she had fallen in love.

She let out a soft sigh, as her feet hit the floor boards, her body was seeking him out and she was far too tired to put up much of a fight, longing to join him for one of their late night casual meetings. The first time had happened by accident, she just needed some air. Then it was every couple of nights, then every other night...and now it was every night. They would sit, sometimes in silence, sometimes he would tell her endless tales of his adventures, and sometimes she would open that one door at her walls and give him glimpses of her past and into her heart. Usually there was rum involved. It was late now and he had probably given up waiting for her, if he was even ever waiting...for her.

Perhaps, fresh air would put a stop to the trickles that were starting to seep out or maybe just maybe he'd still be there. She wasn't sure if she wanted the solitude of the night or for her heart to be right...he was waiting ...always waiting for her...for her to be ready.

She made her way quietly toward the hatch to the upper deck, careful not to wake the people sleeping behind the closed cabin doors.

Just as her head popped out of the hold, her breath hitched as her eyes caught sight of him. He was standing with his back to her at the stern the moon light playing off the dark curves of his outline. There was no denying that he was beautiful... tragic...but so very hauntingly beautiful. He was even starting to make her feel beautiful; all his compliments and even his innuendos, however inappropriate around her parents, never set off her lie detector, but her mother said that didn't work when her emotions were involved, and she didn't think her emotions had ever been more involved.

Maybe he didn't feel the way she did but he was aggressively fighting the fact that he lusted after her, the air around them almost hummed with molten desire and she saw how his eyes lingered on her lips then trailed down her body. Sometimes she wondered if he knew she was staring at him as much as he was at her. She only had to assume that like her he was fighting not to act, to give in, desire wasn't supposed to be a part of this mission. Emma was so caught-up in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice the chill that blew through the air and suddenly he was no longer alone.

There beside him now stood one of those boys, the ones that had Henry. Her heart dropped in her chest, had she been wrong to put her trust in him? Confide her fears? In-trust him with the one thing she had never trusted anyone with, her story?

A quick memory of the previous night flashed before her, was it too much rum and the stars that had forced her to completely open up about her childhood, the fear, the foster homes, Neal and his deceptions? They had almost kissed before she had made a quick sputtering exit, last night was the reason she had hesitated coming out tonight, and now she feared she was right.

As quickly as the moments of the night flashed through her mind they were gone and she gave her head a quick shake... she had to listen, she craned her neck and tried to not make a sound but her heart was jack hammering in her chest so hard she was sure it would wake up the entire ship.

What were they saying? She made out the words, him, betray, them, Skull Rock, the end of The Dark One in return, he could save her if he wanted. Had she not been looking for it she would have never even noticed the small hesitation that his body betrayed as she heard him ask after Henry. The boy replied that he would not be a part of the deal. She heard him clear then as he spoke-up his voiced laced with anger and threat "If he thinks that I'll betray HER in anyway then he's a bigger fool then I suspected and now I know that he's worried and thus he should be, because nothing will stop me from returning her boy to her...NOTHING...now be gone before I decide to gut you with my hook" "Oh and tell him that he won't win, this time he will fail, no matter the cost to myself." And with that the hooded rat was gone leaving him alone at the helm again, this time she watched as his shoulders dropped heavily and she heard a loud audible sigh leave his mouth.

HER...he had said her, not them but her. She wondered when it had started to rain as she brushed droplets off her cheek, it was then when she noticed that it wasn't rain but silent tears were pooling in her eyes and making their escape down her face.

She knew he was telling the truth that he wouldn't abandon her, ever, for any reason, and it was in that moment that idea of hope, that he felt about her, what she felt for him made its way down from her mind exploded into her heart, forcing her walls to crumble in an instant.

That geyser that she had been trying to suppress finally burst free and flooded her being with so much emotion she felt like she herself would explode. So much was going on inside her that she didn't even realize she had made her way behind him. He turned then as if sensing her presence and she saw it then, there was absolutely no masking the truth anymore, his eyes gave him away...he loved her too.

"Bloody hell Swan..."

She didn't let him finish though as the soft whisper of his real name escaped her mouth and she closed the remaining gap between them with her hands, her body and her lips.