Neal/Emma reunion - requested by an anon on Tumblr. It leaves off where I could continue it, so if enough people want me to, I will. Hope you like it :) I own nothing but my words.
"Neal," Emma whispered, looking up into the sky of Neverland. It was dark and the cool breeze carried the cries of the lost boys throughout the island. Emma stood alone, reaching up to grab onto her swan necklace, which was no longer around her neck.
"I don't know if this is stupid, I don't know what I really believe anymore, but…I need you. I- I," she stuttered, trying to find words for what she was trying to say, "Your son needs you. Tamara and Greg…they- they took him from me. Tamara took both of you away from me."
Tears were falling from Emma's eyes and she could barely speak.
"I need you to protect him. Protect Henry because I can't right now. He needs both of us and I don't know what to do. Just please watch out for him. I refuse to let him become one of the lost boys, I refuse to let him grow up alone. Protect him. Help me protect him. Our son needs his father, Neal, wherever you are."
The sound of chirping birds woke Emma up from an uncomfortable sleep. The sun was barely rising over the water and the day was just beginning in Neverland.
Today was the day. The day Emma would fight to bring her son home. She would get him back.
She sat on the shore waiting for what seemed like an eternity waiting for the others to wake up. All she wanted was Henry. She wanted him to be safe in her arms more than anything.
She thought about how "mommy" she sounded. She wondered when she had gotten to that point but realized it was always there. She had wanted to be a mom and loved her son from the second she found out he was growing inside of her. Henry saved her. He was her miracle, the one who made her part of what she had always wanted; a family.
The day was soon fully upon them and everyone was awake and anxious to find Henry. They decided to split up for the search; Emma and her parents would search together while Rumple, Regina, and Hook formed the second search party.
"Em, we're going to find him. I promise. Family always finds each other," Charming reassured his daughter as they walked through the humid Neverland forest.
Emma smiled at her father, attempting to hide her fear, and answered, "I know. We have to."
Charming had spent the entire journey in dad mode. He did everything from reassuring her that they would bring Henry home to knocking Hook out when he tried to flirt with his daughter. She had to admit, although having a dad was new to her, she couldn't have asked for a better father than Charming.
Hours passed and they hadn't made much progress. The sky was begging to grow dark and light no longer appeared between the small openings in between the trees.
"I think we should head back to camp. Maybe meet up with the others and compare notes?" Snow suggested, looking at her daughter.
"I'm not giving up until I have Henry back," Emma said, continuing to wonder ahead.
"We're not saying 'give up' Emma," Charming butted in, "We're saying rest up until the morning. You never know what's lurking in this forest and before long it'll be night."
"I can't. I'm not going back. You two can but I'm not going back without my son."
"Honey…we just want you to be safe. If something happens to you, you won't be any help to He-" Snow began, only to be interrupted Emma.
"No. If you want to go back, go. I have to find me son. I can take care of myself." She walked ahead, completely ignoring her parents; she didn't even pay enough attention to know if they'd followed her.
Before she knew it, bright morning light was shining through the trees. Had she really been searching all night? How did that happen? She knew her parents were worried about her. She could feel it.
She had reached a more rocky area of the island and the climb was beginning to steepen. She slowly and carefully scaled each rock, but it was still difficult to keep her footing.
Emma climbed steadily, keeping her balance on the side of an unstable cliff-like rock. The sun was hot on her back but her only focus was finding Henry. Her mind was spinning with possibilities of what was happening to her son at that very moment. Was he still with Greg and Tamara? Had they given him up to Pan? What was he planning to do with her child?
The sound of a twig snapping and movement in the trees ripped her away from her thoughts. Emma turned her head quickly, trying to see between the trees. Her fast movement caused her foot to slip and before she knew it she was falling quickly towards the ground.
As Emma hit the ground and began to lose consciousness, she heard a voice she knew all too well calling her name.
"Emma?!"
Her head throbbed and she could barely see straight. The sun was hot on her face and she could feel someone's presence next to her. She figured it was her parents, but moving her head to look hurt too much.
She lay there, trying not to panic, but also trying to divert an odd thought from her head. It must have been her imagination, but when she hit the ground, she swore she had heard—
"Emma," the same voice she had heard when she fells sighed in relief.
It couldn't be, could it? She thought.
She attempted to sit up and she felt his hands on her back. The feeling of him so close to her was all too familiar. She didn't want to believe it. There was no way this was real, she must be hallucinating.
Turning her head as much as she could, the voice was confirmed. He was there. He was sitting next to her, holding her up. It didn't feel real, how could it be?
"Neal?" Emma cried. She looked into his eyes, which stared back at her with so much love and so much fear. He ran his hand through her hair, pushing it out of her face.
"Emma," Neal breathed. He smiled at her for a minute, until his face turned serious, "What are you doing out here alone?"
He was so worried about her. She looked at him, trying to hide her fear, and said, "It's Henry—he uh-"
Neal cut her off, "I know. I know about Henry. That's why I'm here."
"Neal, this can't be real. You got shot, you died. There's no way you're really here. I mean, I talked to you when I first got here. I asked you to protect Henry."
"Emma, look at me," he replied, "This is real. I promise you. It's real. I'm here. I'm not a hallucination, I promise you that."
She could see the honesty in his eyes. She knew he wasn't lying to her. She could tell. Even without her "super power", she could tell he was telling the truth. Emma wasn't hallucinating. Neal was really there, sitting next to her.
"How…" Emma whispered, looking him straight in the face.
"How did I get here? That's a long story."
"Neal, I thought I lost you," tears began to well up in Emma's eyes. She hadn't cried in front of many people, but seeing the man who, up until a few minutes ago, she thought she had lost, the person who was partially responsible for her miracle of a son's existence.
"I know. I know, and I'm so sorry. You and Henry were all I thought about when I gained consciousness after all that crap happened, believe me."
"I believe you," Emma said, looking straight at him, "I know that you would do anything for your family."
Neal nodded, "Speaking of that—"
"—we need to find our son," Emma said, finishing his sentence.
Neal helped her up and made sure her balance was steady. He checked her head wound, which wasn't too bad. There wasn't much blood at all, just a small bump and she seemed to be doing okay. He knew she wouldn't rest until she found Henry, so he didn't even try to make her stay put until he knew for sure she was fine. He would just have to keep an eye on her.
As they began to move, the sound of voices were carried through the trees. They weren't familiar to Emma, none of them were her parents, Regina's, Rumple's, or Hook's. She turned her head to look at Neal, and saw panic in his eyes.
"The lost boys," he said, answering the question she hadn't asked. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the trees, "I haven't been here in years but I can still tell you exactly whose voices those are."
He couldn't hide the pain of his years spent in Neverland. It was all over his face. The last thing he wanted was for his son to be experience any of that.
Neal took Emma's hand in his. She didn't attempt to pull away. In that moment, they needed to take care of each other like they had promised to do more than a decade earlier.
"They're moving further away," Neal whispered.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," he looked into her eyes like the eleven years they had spent apart had never happened, "Do you trust me?"
Emma looked down, shyly, and then looked back up into his eyes, "Of course I trust you. Even after everything, I still do."
Neal nodded, squeezing her hand even tighter. He gave her that look, the look he had given her every time they were about to make a run for it during their thieving days and together, they took off, hand-in-hand, to find their son.