Sooo quick authors note! First time making a fanfic, so please excuse any faults and, of course, ENJOY!


It was a peaceful morning in the Enchanted Forest. The sun had scarcely peaked through the tall mountains in the distance, and a castle that once belonged to King George stood proud and tall. Inside, Emma Swan slept soundly. Until...

"Mom!" Called a little girls voice. "Mom!"

Emma groaned, turning over in her bed, facing away from her bedroom door. 28 years of being woken up bright and early by her mother or father or whatever servants they sent, and she still was no where near being a morning person. But of course, that never stopped her children before, and it certainly didn't stop them now.

Her door burst open, only to reveal one of said children. "Mom! C'mon, get up! Grandma said we're going to the beach today—c'moooon mooooom you promised!" Her daughter whined. Emma sighed and, finally, rose from her slumber. Her daughters bright blue eyes were wide with excitement. "Mary, you couldn't have waited until the sun was actually up?" Emma said, equally as whiney as her daughter. Mary rolled her eyes, "It IS up, mom! Now, c'mon, get up! I wanna get there before noon!"

Getting up, Emma stretched out her tired limbs. "Where's your brother?" Mary shrugged, "Probably already in the carriage." Emma sighed. Yes, she had indeed promised her children she would take them to the beach today, for the first time in their entire lives. Well, the first time with her at least. They've gone to the beach before with their grandparents and occasionally even the dwarves, of course, but never with Emma. It was just too painful.

"Go on ahead downstairs. I'll be out in a minute," Emma tells her daughter. Mary squeals as she rushes out the door. Mary and her brother, Liam, love the beach about as much (if not more) as they love cinnamon with their hot chocolate.


With the sun high in the sky and the hot summer air surrounding the royal family, a dip in the salty ocean water is all the Charmings can think of. All but Emma, who sits on the beach, watching her children splashing water in their grandfathers face.

"Are you alright?" Emma hears her mothers concerned voice above her. Emma's eyes never left the sea, no longer looking at her children, but something far off in the distance, something no one but she can see.

"I'm fine, mom. It's just...I can't. Not right now."

Snow sighed, feeling not pity, but sadness for her daughter. Sadness and desperation, for though it had been ten years, she still cannot seem to calm her daughters sadness towards the sea.

"I understand its hard, Emma, but...you can't hide forever. I think its time you tell them." Snow said, gesturing towards Emma's twins, who were now on the beach, pretending to be pirates. Emma smiled sadly, but still didn't look up. "I know, but...how..."

"Mom!" A sharp cry interrupted her thoughts. "Liam keeps throwing sand in my eyes!"

"Only because you're the pirate, remember?" Liam spits back. Emma cocked an eyebrow, "What are you two doing now?"

"I'm a knight! And Mary is the evil Captain Hook, trying to pillage our kingdom!" Liam says proudly. Emma chuckled, "Captain Hook, eh? I thought he was just a myth."

"Actually," Emma's father, Prince Charming interfered, "There have been rumours of him. People have been talking about seeing his Jolly Roger in the middle of the night, making port in the most isolated of harbors." Snow White rolled her eyes at her husband, "Right. Well, on that note, I think I'm going to go for a swim." Her husband, of course, followed his wife suit into the open sea.

Emma smiled at the sight of her parents enjoying themselves, absentmindedly fiddling around with her necklace.

"Whats that?" Mary asks. Always so curious.

"What? My necklace. You've seen this a thousand times." Emma teased.

"Yeah, but," Liam began, sitting in the hot sand next to his mother, "You never told us where you got it." He watched his mother, his eyes as equally green as his mothers, but not nearly as sad.

His mother looked at him with, and then his sister, and then her green eyes flitted back to the sea, longing for something far beyond her reach. "I got it from your father."

"You never told us about him..." Mary says carefully. For only being ten years old, she and her brother know well that the subject of their father only makes their mother sad, though they never knew why. They slowed their asking when they started to notice how her eyes grew misty-eyed when they did, and stopped completely when they started to notice the sad look in her eyes when she runs her hands through Liam's dark hair, or looks at Mary's sea-blue eyes.

Emma then smiles at her children, deciding that now was a better time to tell them than never. "Would you like to know..?"

Mary and Liam's eyes lit up like the stars at the mention, "Yes!" They said simultaneously. Emma drew a deep breath,

"I was 17 years old..."


Thoughts? Reviews are always well appreciated, I'm sure. :D Next chapter should be up soon! Thank you for reading!