Okay, so this used to be just a couple of one-shots, but I got waaay too attached to this universe. I've taken this down from I just needed to see you and made this a separate fic now. It's probably still gonna be a series of one-shots, but it will all be in the same universe.
6 months.
It's been 6 months and 11 days since he went missing. 6 months and 11 days since she last saw him.
And 11 days since they stopped searching for him.
-/-
All had been quiet in Storybrooke for the past four years. Everyone was happy and together. Emma and Killian were married with a three year old, Daliah. Neal was growing up fast. And Regina and Robin were married and happy together.
All had been well. And the town got restless. The Dwarfs brought up going to the Enchanted Forest at every town meeting. The one little spark became an uproar and soon all of them were demanding a portal back home. Unable to deny them, and wanting to return themselves, Mary Margret and Regina tried to find a counter-curse to transport them all back to their land.
And they found one. In a far off island. And who else was better for the job than the resident pirate?
Killian had volunteered and Emma, protested. She didn't want to let him go alone, and she couldn't leave Daliah either. He managed to curb her fears, reassuring her of his quick return. He left her with a kiss and a wink. And now all she was left with was the memory of them- his dimpled laugh, his tousled hair, his ocean eyes sparkling with delight- all only a memory now.
-/-
6 months and 11 days. And every day she woke up with her face wet with tears and a small body snuggled to her. She started to sleep on his side since the first month, when there were hopes still of finding him. Soon one month turned to two and two to three…Before she knew it his side was hers now. And his scent was all but gone.
But not his presence, no. Never.
He was with her when she made pancakes. He was with her when she kissed all of Daliah's bruises. He was with her when she did laundry. And he was with her when she cried. He was with her always.
But he wasn't.
-/-
Emma scrambled to Daliah's room, her socked feet skidding on the wood floor in her hurry, her daughter's panicked sobs making her heart jump out of her chest.
She rushed into the room and scooped up the crying child, carding through her hair and bouncing her gently. "Shh, baby. What happened?" she asked, wiping away Daliah's tears.
Daliah buried her tear-stained face in the crook of Emma's neck, softly sobbing into it. Emma worriedly rubbed her back, looking around the room for any sign of mishap.
That's when her eyes fell on pieces of wood. To be more precise, piece of wood that used to make up the model of The Jolly Roger that Killian carved by himself, for Daliah when she was born. And it was broken. Now, she understood what made her daughter upset.
"I-I broke da-daddy's ship!" she sobbed, her tiny arms going around her neck. Emma's heart broke to hear her hiccoughing sobs. "Shh, honey. It's okay. Mommy will fix it. It's okay."
"I-I-I want daddy!" her sobs intensified, making Emma's own eyes fill up with tears.
She buried her face in her hair (his hair) and whispered, "I know, baby. So do I."
She tried to console her but it was fruitless. "Daliah, honey, please," she pleaded, rocking her crying daughter back and forth, "You're going to get sick. Don't cry, please. Please, please, please," she mumbled into her hair, her own tears streaming down her face.
"I want daddy!" she shrieked, wriggling in her hold. "I want daddy," she whimpered. "Mommy."
Emma nodded wordlessly, "Okay. Okay, we will find daddy, okay? We will. Shhh."
"Mom?" Henry was standing at the door way, his expression hesitant.
"Henry," she breathed, quickly wiping away her tears. "Here, hold your sister. I'll-I'll go get her sippycup," she rushed, handing a now slightly complacent Daliah over to her brother.
Henry's worried gaze followed her all the way to the kitchen before he sighed and attempted to get his sister to sleep.
Emma leaned against the counter, her fist pressed to her mouth to quell in the sobs that threatened to break free. She couldn't do this; she couldn't go on without him.
She struggled to wake up every day, to just survive every day, with no knowledge of what happened to him. Her breathes came out in harsh pants and she slid down the counter, hugging her knees to her chest as she struggled to breathe.
She couldn't go on with blind hope anymore. He was the best at that, not her.
And despite her best efforts, she let a sob escape through her fist.
-/-
It's been two months since. Two months and still no luck. Emma had persuaded her father to send out another search party. She's relentlessly searched every spell book to find a locator spell that worked. None of the usual ones even helped. And she refused to believe that he was gone. No, she could feel it.
She could feel it in her very soul that he was still alive. He was lost, but alive and she would not- could not- rest until she found him.
She had her nose buried in yet another tome from Regina's vault when she heard a sharp knock on the door. She almost fell in her hurry to answer it, her heart in her throat and her eyes wide because it could be-
"Elsa?" she felt the disappointment set in, but it was quickly replaced up curiosity. "What are you doing here?" she asked, welcoming the hug from the other blonde.
"What? I can't visit?" she joked, pulling away and moving inside the house.
Emma huffed, smiling slightly. "Of course you can. It's just-I-"
"I know, Emma," Elsa smiled sadly. "Your mother managed to contact me. The portal-door seemed to still be functional now. I'm here to help."
Emma felt the warmth rush to her heart, her smile for once genuine. "But what about your kingdom?"
"Anna can manage without me for sometime," she shrugged, taking a place at the table Emma'd just abandoned. "Now, what'd you need me to do?"
Emma hesitated at the doorway, too speechless to react before she smiled gratefully at her friend, moving to sit opposite her as she explained what they were doing.
-/-
Some days were worse than others. Much worse.
It had been 11 months since Killian's disappearance. Almost a year and Emma was nowhere near finding him. All her trails ran cold, everything she found led to a dead end.
Some days it was too much to handle and she couldn't even stay in the same house. It was one of those days when Henry found her in the mines, hiding in a dark corner.
"Mom!" he rushed to her, hugging her tight. Pulling back, he demanded, "What're you doing here? We've been searching everywhere for you!"
"I-I just needed to get away from that house. Everywhere I go, I see him, Henry. This is the only place I've never been with him. This is the only place where I'm not-not haunted by him."
"Mom," Henry exhaled loudly. "Snap out of it." Seems like he got the Charming family tact too. "He is not dead. He is not a ghost to haunt you. He is alive. And he will come back."
Emma looked up at him, disbelief evident in her expression. "Ho-how can you say that with such conviction? I-I struggle every day to find the strength to hold on to the hope that I will find him. How are you so sure?" she looked so hopelessly lost, Henry's heart broke for her.
"Because you of all people deserve your happy ending. And this isn't it. I don't believe that this is how your story ends, I refuse to. So whenever you feel like you can't find that strength, I'll be there to remind you. Okay?"
Emma was silent for a long while, just staring at him. Henry held her gaze, never wavering. And she finally nodded.
-/-
"Mommy, what are we doing here?" Daliah asked, kicking her legs back and forth as she sat next to her mother on the bench.
Emma swallowed thickly. It's been a year. A whole year. She needed to be alone today. No, actually. She needed to be with Killian and the docks were the closest thing that she had.
"We-" she clears her throat. "We're here to spend some mommy-daughter time together. Does that sound like fun?"
Daliah tapped her chin, thinking, her fae scrunched adorably. "What do we do during mommy-daughter time?"
"Hmmm, anything you want!" Emma smiled, picking her up and placing her on her lap.
"Caaaaan you tell me a story?" she asked finally.
"Of course, baby. What story would you like to hear?" she smiled down at her, brushed her hair away from her face.
"'Bout how you and daddy met," she sang, turning to face her fully.
Emma felt the tears prick her eyes as she nodded, beginning the story she's told and re-told a hundred times.
-/-
"And you and daddy really climbed a beanstalk?" Daliah asked, eyes wide, as if she's never heard the story before.
Emma nodded, "All the way up into the sky," she answered. She was about to go on when something on the horizon caught her eye.
Something that was rapidly growing bigger and bigger. Something shaped a lot like The Jolly Roger.
Emma's heart raced and tears of joy sprang in her eyes. She stood abruptly, Daliah balanced on her hip. A wide grin stretched across her face even as tears spilled down her cheeks. Her daughter's incessant tugging on her hair dragged her attention back to her.
"Baby, guess what?" she asked, her voice breaking. She looked up at the ship which almost reached shore. "Daddy's home."