The ocean lapped at Emma's bare feet as she stepped out toward the sea. She stared out toward the empty horizon. No boats, no sails, no Jolly Roger. Just an endless sea. Every day she came out here looking for them to appear, every day the same thing. Nothing. Emma felt a tug at her chest as she gripped the bottle in her hand. She took the letter out of her pocket and gave it a small kiss before slipping it into the bottle and capping it.
"Find us," she whispered to the bottle before releasing it into the ocean. She watched it bob through the waves as it went farther and farther out, hoping to see it get pulled under the waves.
"Emma, I have to stay," Hook explained as he urged her toward the swirling portal. David was carrying an unconscious Mary-Margaret to Neal and passing her gently into his arms. She had been hit by an arrow, fortunately without dream shade, but with a poison that knocked her out. Gold had the antidote in his shop, but they had to move fast.
"Hook, no," Emma pleaded.
"Emma, your father can't leave Neverland. I know your mother wanted to stay with him, but since that can't happen, I must. I can't leave someone to fend for themselves in Neverland again," Hook explained as he cupped her cheek, trying to soothe her quivering lip. "This isn't goodbye. I'll find a way to bring him back. I'll find a way back to you."
"Killian…" She was cut off by his lips crashing to hers.
"I love you, Emma," he said before running back toward fighting off the swarm of lost boys with David, keeping them back from the portal before it closed.
"Mom," Henry yelled from behind her, pulling her toward the portal. Emma kept her eyes on Hook and David until the swirling green portal enveloped her into a flash of light.
A soft gurgling distracted her from her memories. As she peered down into the moby wrap that was draped around her, a pair of tiny blue eyes gazed back up at her. Those eyes, they always had a way to make her feel warm and break her heart at the same time. Liam had his father's eyes. She patted her newborn to soothe him, but at that moment, she wasn't sure who needed the soothing more- him or her. Liam snuggled more into his mother and closed his eyes once more.
That night, the night of danger, truth and passion, the night their son was formed. Emma knew they shouldn't. They were in Neverland for goodness sake! Hook and Emma had been broken off from the group by an ambush of Lost Boys, trapped in the very Echo Caves where Hook had confessed his love for her. As she banged on the thick walls of the sealed cave, Emma's resolve to keep her own walls up broke. She told him everything, how her heart was conflicted, how she couldn't stop thinking of his kiss on her lips. The fact that Neal was back made her heart pain with guilt, and it was only Hook's loving presence that helped that burden lift. He had been her strength, her anchor, her greatest ally in finding her son, and how she couldn't imagine her life now without him. In that moment of pure honesty, he kissed her, and for one night, it was just the two of them. They couldn't understand why the next morning it was so easy to leave the Echo Caves when they had been hopelessly trapped the night before. Neither of them said a word of what happened, because once they stepped outside they both knew- they had to find Henry and get home. Just before they reached the camp, Hook gently took her hand and kissed it, telling her once more that he loved her, promising her he would never leave her side, and that he wouldn't rest until she was reunited with her son. Three weeks after they got home from Neverland, she found out she was pregnant. Emma Swan was carrying the child of Captain Hook.
Emma's eyes once more drifted back to the bottle. Ariel had been a great help in calling mermaids to take messages to Hook and Charming, but she could never be certain they'd reach him. Even Ariel warned- mermaids were not to be trusted. There were collectors, sirens and even killers among them. You never knew what kind of mermaid they were until it was too late. However, when Emma would see a bottle being pulled down into the sea, she would get a flicker of hope that somehow, the bottle would reach Killian. This bottle was now a faint dot on the horizon, well past the border of the cloaking spell. It had, unfortunately, like so many others destined to get lost at sea. Emma looked down and patted Liam.
"He knows, buddy," she said softly. "He knows we love him." Liam started snoring as he curled into his mother. It was a soft, breathy snore and it made Emma's heart leap. Even at only two weeks, Emma was discovering all these little noises and movements that Liam would make. She wanted to capture ever single one of them for Hook, but a part of her held back thinking he'll enjoy discovering them himself when he comes home. The sensible part of her said this was purely wishful thinking, but her heart felt like she was just being honest with herself. Emma sighed as she started picking up her flip flops in one hand and trying to reach for her diaper bag with the other hand. She stumbled a bit as she suddenly became unbalanced between reaching for the two things while having an infant strapped to her.
"I got it, Mom!" she heard Henry say as he ran toward her from across the beach. He scooped up the the large bag of toys from the sand and dusted it off before throwing the bag over his shoulder.
"Nice timing. Thanks, kid," Emma said appreciatively. Henry had been a marvel of a big brother. He had originally been sad when it had been clear that his parents were not getting back together, but the knowledge that he was going to be a big brother gave him a renewed sense of responsibility. He had been there with Emma for everything. He'd even tell Liam stories about Killian every night at bedtime, even though he only knew a few from experience and from his book. He made sure that Liam knew that Captain Hook was the good guy and Peter Pan was the villain. Even though Emma knew it was too early for it, Liam would seem to smile at Henry when he would scrunch up his face at the mention of Peter Pan. Emma loved watching her sons together. It simply took her breath away.
"Henry said he had to be with you today," Neal said from behind her as he walked down the dunes with his hands shoved in his pockets. "He said he thinks today is the day." Liam opened his eyes and stuck his tongue out at Neal, who in turn reached out his finger for Liam's tiny hands to grab. "Hey there, little sailor."
Neal scrubbed his face hard with his hand as Emma watched him from across the table. She could already feel the rejection in the air. Neal leaned into his hand and drummed his fingers on the table with his other hand.
"Wow," Neal said. "I wasn't expecting….that...when you said we needed to talk."
"I just thought you ought to know," Emma said.
"And of course it's not… it would be impossible….because we haven't," Neal said, stumbling to get the words out.
"No," Emma said softly.
"Hook."
"Yeah," Emma breathed out. "Neal, I just need to know…"
"Are you asking me to raise the child of Captain Hook," Neal asked, cutting her off.
"No! No, Neal, I just," Emma started to get out before the tears started flowing. Neal slid over to her side and wrapped his arms around her. Despite all the hurt, all the pain, they still had a connection. She knew he would always be there for her if she asked. "I just don't know how I can do this alone."
"You're not alone," Neal said. "You've got David and Snow, you have Henry. We're all here for you, Emma."
"I know," Emma sniffled softly. "But just so we're clear, we're..."
"Yeah," Neal said. "Just friends." Neal was true to his word. He would come in the morning to help Henry get ready for school so Emma could focus on getting her morning nausea under control. He would pick Henry up from school and meet Emma at the doctors when she had ultrasound appointments, but Neal would always wait in the lobby. When Emma went into labor at 2am, he came over and stayed with Henry, bringing him to the hospital first thing in the morning. He was there for her, but also kept a respectful distance when it came to the baby. Because, deep down, it killed him that her baby wasn't his, and it was clear her heart was still in Neverland. His focus now was Henry and keeping on good terms with Emma so she'd stay in his life, and that was all he could ask for.
"Well, there's still time before you have to go see Archie," Emma said. "How about the three of us go to Granny's."
"Sounds great," Neal said. "What do you say, pal?"
"We need to wait another minute," Henry said, looking out toward the water. Neal and Emma sighed as they watched their son. Ever since Neverland, Henry seemed to age rapidly before their eyes. He seemed wiser beyond his years, even though he already was a brilliant boy before. Henry seemed to be more in tune with the rhythm of what little magic there was in Storybrooke. It worried both Neal and Emma a bit because of how much it reminded them of how Peter Pan could feel Neverland, but it was Henry. He had been through so much already, they didn't want to push him to look deeper into what might be happening to him. Instead, they just let him do what he needed to do when he became focused like this, which was usually resulted in being the best call to make.
"Mom, look," Henry said as he pointed out toward the water. Emma still stood frozen, not wanting to turn around, not wanting all her hope to be dashed if she turned around to see open water. Henry started running back toward the shore line. "He did it!" Emma turned around slowly, clutching Liam as she turned. There, moving grandly through the waters, was the sails of the Jolly Roger. Even from a distance, they could see David waving from the mast as Killian sailed the ship straight toward them.
"Emma! Henry!" David was waving his arms fiercely, looking as healthy as the day they left for Neverland. As the ship grew closer, David and Killian ran around the ship to slow it down and prepared to lower the anchor. Killian's eyes never left hers, even from across the sea. He moved about the ship he had memorized and was solely focused on her and the bundle in her arms. His smile could not have been wider.
"I'll call Snow," Neal said as he whipped out his cell phone and abruptly walked back toward his car. He knew a reunion was coming, and he wanted to give Emma some space. She had to admit, she was relieved he knew to let them have this moment. Killian didn't take time to pull the Jolly to the harbor, which was about another mile down the coast. Instead, he and David dropped anchor by the beach and lowered the dinghy, both of them paddling fiercely to the shore. Henry ran toward his Grandfather, who scooped him up and spun him around.
"Gramps! You did it!"
"Yeah, we did," David said, ruffling his hair. As happy as Emma was to have her father back, she was frozen in place as Hook stepped out of the dinghy. His hair was longer, his scruff now more resembled a full beard, and his face and arms had a few more scars than she remembered. But he was here, only a few feet away. He stood still, probably just as much in disbelief as she was that his feet were planted on Storybrooke's shores, but as she took a single step toward him, he ran at her in a full sprint.
A/N: I'm back! Season 3 has been so intense and when I do get an idea for a story, I start to get ideas for several stories to the point I can't figure out what to focus on. I thought I'd at least share this one.
This is a two-parter. This one focused on Emma, the next one focused on Killian. Feel free to follow/favorite. Hope you enjoy it!