Emma breathed out a long sigh of confusion. The crazy leather clad man that had just tried to stick his tongue down her throat had left her with an uneasy feeling that would not stop. She brushes back her hair and sits down across from Henry, eating but not really enjoying her food. Something about that man leaves her almost longing; hungry for something she's not even aware of needing. Shaking her head free of her thoughts she diverts her attention back to Henry.
"Are you going to drive me to school today, or am I taking the bus?" Henry looks at her with a raised eyebrow, stuffing another forkful of food into his mouth.
Emma looks up and smiles, "Might as well take the bug for a spin, she needs the attention I have been depriving her of lately."
"Good, I like when you take me. It makes me feel safer."
Emma gives him an odd look but does not say anything to her son. Lately, he has been saying stuff like that and she can't help the feeling that she is missing something. Sighing she gets up, taking her plate with her, "Ok, go get dressed now."
Henry gets up, handing her his plate and cup before running to his room. There is a bang and a muffled, "I'm ok!" followed by a, "Hey Mom, what's this?"
Placing down the dishes, she ventures into his room to find him holding a very worn looking book entitled, Once Upon a Time. Grabbing it from her son's hands, she feels an electric shock travel up her arm. A flicker of recognition flies through her head, "It must be mine. I don't remember buying it though." She shrugs and hands it back to her son, "You can have it."
Henry smiles slightly, all attention going to the book, like it's a lifeline now, "Thanks mom!"
Walking away to the kitchen, Emma leaves him to get ready, humming her favorite childhood songs while doing the dishes. It is only then that she realizes her mind has wandered back to the stranger. She laughs singing out loud, "And really bad eggs, drink up me harties yo ho!" She giggles softly but cannot stop herself from thinking of the feel of his lips against hers, as if they had been there before. Slowly, the feeling of falling down a hole creeps into her system like she's going to faint.
"Mom?" Henry looks confusedly at her his gaze filled with overwhelming concern, "Are you alright? You look pale, maybe I should take the bus."
Emma goes to object but is suddenly overwhelmed with the need to sleep, as if she had not slept in weeks, months even. She nods her head and heads into her room. She sits on the edge of her bed and looks out the window. "You'll be alright, Henry?" She notices a cloud that looks like a pirate ship and laughs to herself as it glides past her slight-line.
Her boy comes in the room and smiles, "Yes, I will be fine. Here," He hands her the book, "Maybe this will help you somehow. I feel like I was meant to give it to you." He kisses her head and leaves.
The blonde listens to the sound of her son shutting the front door of their apartment before turning to the book he gave her. She glances at the clock to see she has two hours before her editor calls her for a conference call. Grabbing the book she randomly opens the pages and focuses on one picture of a woman and a baby. Her glaze goes to the bottom of the drawing and gasps. There, on the blanket, the one Emma knows is in the front hall closet in a box, is her name. The book slips from her lap and falls to the ground. The words the stranger told her coming back full force; her family was in danger. Emma's eyes travel back to the book and find a new page has been opened. A man in a leather coat stares back at her, the look in his eyes that speaks of loss and hatred that consumes him. The breath leaves her lungs as the realization that this character, this Hook, was the man at her door. Her head falls forward suddenly dizzy and she feels a tear fall down her face followed by another and another. Scooping up the book, she turns back to the woman and the child and begins reading.
After about an hour and a half, Emma closes the book, her mind so confused with longing to know the truth of who she is. She now knows one thing though, she is not who she thinks she is and the only one who can help her has disappeared because of her. As she read, she had turned to the stranger's story: Killian Jones, the navy officer, turned pirate, turned vengeance machine. Her heart longed to talk to him again. The way he had looked at her was in no way like a man with the need for vengeance and Emma wanted to know why he had looked at her with such love in his eyes. What she wanted to know more than anything was why he thought she was his true love. Yes, she had read about True Love's Kiss in the old book, but the connection she had to that story had her almost believing what she read and thinking about what he did to her at the door.
The phone rings behind her and on instinct she answers it thinking it's work. "Hello, this is Emma Swan. Who is this?"
There is a pause followed by a man on the other line, "Miss Swan sorry to disturb you but there is a man down at the station who was arrested for disturbing the peace. He seems mentally unstable, but he keeps saying to call for you. His name, even though it's not in the system, is Killian Jones. Do you know him?"
Emma sucks in air and smiled slightly, "Yes I know him, he's a family friend."
"Ok well, we're going to let him go soon, since no charges were pressed. We were wondering if you could come pick him up. He seems like he's on some sort of acid trip even though no drugs were found in his system. We do not want him on the streets by himself at the moment."
Emma rolls her eyes, "Yes, I'll be there in a few minutes. What's the address?" The man rattles off the precinct's address and Emma hangs up.
Her dizziness had ended and for once this weight that has been on her chest seems to have lifted slightly. Grabbing a coat, she turns the door handle, just as her phone rings again. She stands there torn on the pull to what she knows, and the connection to what may actually be her life. Gripping the handle she turns her back on the phone and leaves, another weight seeming to lift off of her.
She runs without meaning to all the way to the station, just to see the leather clad man walking out the front doors. Her breath catches and she stops, staring at him.
Feeling eyes on him, Killian gazes down the stairs and spots his Swan. Her hair ruffled from the wind with an odd look in her eyes, "Swan!" He shouts smiling widely and makes his way towards her.
Emma continues to stare, with each step he takes, she feels like another part of her is being put back. It confuses her how a man who she doesn't even know, can do this to her. Her eyes meet his and her heart skips a beat before quickening at an alarming rate. "Ok, I'll listen to you buddy, for ten minutes." Emma spat out quickly.
"As you wish," Killian replied and smirked before handing her a small vial he produced from his coat. "You lost your memories because of some…. circumstances. I'm here to get you to remember."
"What's this?" Emma stares at the bottle with caution.
"Something to help you remember everything you were meant to forget, love," Hook steps closer heat radiating off his body.
"Why give this to me? When you can just kidnap me?" Emma's breathing is getting harder and harder.
"Because I will not use this as some sort of gain into your heart. I will win your heart by your choosing with no help from outside ways. Helping you regain yourself is the way to regain the pieces missing from my heart." The last line in said in a whisper directly in her ear.
Emma shivers at the air blow on her ear and steps back. The feeling of being forced to do something hardly there in her mind, "How do I know this is not some ploy to gain my trust?"
Hook smiles and looks into her eyes, "Because, love, there was not one day, one minute I did not think of you and getting back to you to tell you one very important thing." He pauses and stares into her now wide eyes, licks his lips and continues, "You, love, are my forever and always because you are my true love, the one I will always love now until my last breath in these godforsaken realms."
Emma gasps and in doing so drops the bottle on the ground shattering it and spilling the contents. Image after image fills her mind and before anything else comes out of her mouth, she whispers, "Good."
Hook's head whips up from looking down at the bottle, eyes wide with love and hope, "Lass?"
Emma grins, grabs his lapels and mashes her lips against his. Laughter meshes with their lips and before she realizes it, Killian has picked her up and is twirling her around lighthearted laughter hitting her ears.
"Emma!" He sets her down and kisses her long and hard pouring every inch of love into his kiss.
She smiles at him, "Killian, you found me."
"A compass always finds north, love"
She wraps her arms around her pirate and thinks to the days ahead: finding a way back to the Enchanted Forest, saving her family, and starting a new one and for once, the world doesn't seem that far out of reach.