I haven't ever written any fanfic stories but Season 3 of Once Upon A Time has inspired me thus far so I decided to try my hand at it. So as I'm learning the swing of things bear with me please!

Hook lay with his head resting against his palms, his back pressed against the cushy moss of the jungle floor. Neverland stars blinked back at him from parts of the night sky that were exposed through the surrounding foliage. He had never thought he would be on this wretched island again and yet, here he was. Not only was he back but he was also fighting on the side of good.

If he didn't know any better he'd say he was going soft. The thought was somewhat unsettling. For the gods' sake he was a bloody pirate; he spent his days as lord of the seas, pillaging, treasure hunting, and killing for what he wanted. He wasn't a man of just heroics, a fact that not only him but everyone else in the search party was completely aware of. So why had he offered his services, putting a halt to the blood thirsty revenge he had sought for the last 300 years?

He closed his heart and mind off, not willing to explore the source of his pansy reasoning.

The noise of snapping twigs caused his ears to perk up and the sound of shuffling feet around the campfire several feet away caused him to sit up rather quickly. He drew his hook in front of him as his eyes focused. A slim figure stoking the fire put his worry to rest. Swan.

He let out the long breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding.

Why is she still awake? It's bloody late.

Pushing himself off of the ground, he quietly strode to her side, not willing to wake anyone else at this hour. She seemed unaware of his presence, lost in thoughts that appeared rather deep. The fact that her guard wasn't up was slightly concerning considering he wasn't the most dangerous creature in the wild.

"Can't sleep, love?"

She slowly looked up at him, her face warm from the glow of the fire, a startling contrast to the dull exhaustion in her eyes. The stick she was using to stoke the fire paused in its menial wanderings through the coals for a moment before she returned her gaze back to the flame.

"I think I'm the only one who can hear them."

"Ah, the cries of those who have been given up and are lost; in short, the orphaned."

The stick paused again and she looked at him once again, her eyes focused on his face rather intently

"You can hear them?"

"Aye, lass, that I do. It's not a curse I would wish on anyone."

"Curse?"

"Yes, curse. Only those abandoned can hear it."

She nodded in understanding, biting her lip in thought. It was in that moment that Hook realized how she had been able to reveal the map that Pan had given her. She had finally acknowledged what he had known her to be all along: a Lost Girl. It made sense that Pan would want her to embrace her identity as an orphan just as he, the little demon himself, was. It was all part of his game as well as an attempt to get inside her head.

"So I was right then, when we were on that beanstalk."

It was more of a musing statement than a question. He didn't even realize he had said his thought out loud any sooner than Emma had jumped to her feet, wiping the dirt from her knees.

"Well, I think that's enough for tonight. You already know more than I would like for you to know."

Without a backward glance in his direction, she turned on her heel fully intent on making her escape but his hook encircling her arm turned her to stand toe to toe with the pirate. His blue eyes didn't scan her face but seemed to look right through her, and she felt the feeling of exposure bloom in her chest, an altogether uncomfortable feeling considering their close proximity.

"I thought I told you long ago…open book, love. I already knew."

"Well, if we're going to stand here not sleeping I think we're done talking about me. Yeah, why don't we talk about you? I mean, who made you just as cursed as I am?"

Hook suddenly wished he had let her go. The look in his eyes must have betrayed his thoughts because she crossed her arms, a reflection of his own smirk crossing her face.

"What? You can interrogate me but I can't interrogate you? That makes sense in a way. I mean, you are a pirate and 'fair' isn't exactly the first word in your vocabulary."

She turned around once again and Hook could only watch her stride away into the darkness where Snow and David were resting.

Bloody hell.

"What has you in a mood today?"

Emma swung her leg over a fallen tree with Mary-Margaret trailing behind her.

"What mood? I'm not in a mood," Emma grit out as she held out her hand to help Mary-Margaret. Mary-Margaret took it willingly but as soon as both her feet were steadily planted on the ground she shot Emma a look that Emma only knew too well. It was that look only a mother could give and the only thing she could think was how weird it felt to be on the receiving end.

"Well, dear, let me think about what mood you could possibly be in. You've been silent but aggressively assertive, more hostile toward Regina than usual and you give Hook the evil eye any moment you can. Last night, when we were talking it felt like your walls were finally…" she drifted off, her lips silently moving before casting her eyes down the path where the others marched ahead.

She breathed in a deep breath and before Emma could respond, a soft smile touched her lips and she laid a hand on Emma's arm.

"Listen, I know what you're going through is hard but that's what I'm here for. We're family. We do things together. So if you want to talk later, I'm here."

"That's it? That's all you're going to say"

Snow closed her eyes and gave a short nod in the affirmative before answering.

"That's it."

Leaving Emma standing there to mull over what she'd said, Snow stepped past her to catch up to the others only to find that the three of them had paused a short distance ahead. Hook and David looked to be shooting ideas back and forth while Regina's condescending tone kept interrupting with her own options.

That more than likely consist of magic, Snow couldn't help thinking to herself as she marched toward the group.

Emma was at her side by the time she approached the group, shoulder checking Regina out of the way. The dark glare sent her way was a familiar one that Snow was well associated with and one that was promptly ignored by Emma.

Emma looked between David and Hook, noticing the sense of dread betrayed in Hook's eyes and the soft worry showing in David's.

"What's going on? Is the map okay?"

"The map is fine, lass, it's just…well."

"Well, what?" Emma snapped.

"I'll tell you what," Regina jumped in, her arms crossed tightly against her chest. "These two idiots are scared of a couple of mermaids."

"Mermaids?"

"Well, love," Hook rounded on her, effectively blocking David with half of his body so he could face her directly. "There's a lagoon ahead at the foot of Feather Falls. It separates this part of the island from the Eastern part and is filled with the bloody sirens. The reason we're hesitant is, well, I don't know if you remember our little voyage, but they're not the friendliest of creatures."

What he was insinuating wasn't lost on her. The journey across the lagoon was fully hazardous, 100 percent dangerous and if they didn't make it to the East side of the island Henry was forever lost to the island.

"So what are the options?"

Hook stepped aside and David took a step forward, spreading the map in the middle of their 5 man circle. Hook pointed with his good hand at the place where they currently stood to start.

"From here we would traverse up Feather Heights till we reached the top of Feather Falls. The land there is guarded by an Indian tribe under the hand of Chief Tiger Lily whom I have a history with." Hook caught the look of disgust on Emma's face and smiled to himself. "Not that kind of history, love."

"Whatever. So what then? How do we cross the river?"

"Hook says there's a bridge," David started but was immediately cut off by Hook.

"Well, a sort of bridge. It's a bit rackety I must admit."

"Does it involve rope?"

Hook raised his hand flat and shifted it from right to left in a so-so gesture. "It's better than trying to make it through bloody siren hell. I assure you."

"So basically, the choice is either march through a bunch of sirens who would love to drown us or hike to the top of a mountain and cross a stick and rope bridge that's probably literally held together by bubble gum and paperclips. Sounds great, just great."

"I don't remember mentioning this, bubble gum. Or paperclips?" Hook replied quietly struggling to hide his slight confusion. Emma looked between both him and David, ignoring Hook's statement because David looked like he had more to say.

"Wait. What else is there? What are you not saying?"

"What these 'idiots' aren't saying is that if we go up the falls a day will be added to our time. Isn't that right, boys?" Regina clipped in a tone that belied a bit of the frustration Emma was feeling.

"That's true," David affirmed.

"But the chances of us making it across the bridge are amazingly large compared to that of the sirens," Hook added.

Emma let out a frustrated huff of air, turning her back on the group as the gravity of the situation set its weight on her shoulders. She could almost feel the heat of Regina's glare against her back. She knew that despite Regina's thirst of enjoying the misery of others, she was just as anxious to get to Henry as she was. The urge to hold Henry as soon as possible was tugging at her desperately but she knew that realistically they just might not make it out alive. Then what would become of Henry?

She glanced over her shoulder at Mary-Margaret who had remained quiet the entire time with a look of contemplation on her face.

"You," Emma said in a low, steady voice pointing at Mary-Margaret with an unsteady hand. "Mary-Margaret, you're a mother. You've been in combat, you know more than I do. You choose."

"Rainbow kisses here we come," Regina muttered under her breath, pacing away in irritation.

"Me? I'm hardly a mother. I missed 28 years of your life unless you've forgotten. No, I think…I think we might have to take a vote."

"That's actually a brilliant idea," Hook agreed. "My vote's for the bridge."

"What so you could revive your history with Tiger Lily?" Regina spat. "I'd much rather take my chances with the mermaids."

"I'm with Hook."

Hook glanced over at David with a spark of appreciation on his face. "Thank you, mate. Is it just me or do you find it somewhat strange that we keep agreeing with each other?"

David shot him a look before resting his gaze on Mary-Margaret. Emma was still amazed at how David's expression could immediately soften whenever she was his focus. "Snow?"

She looked back at him, at Hook then finally back to Emma.

"I trust my husband. I vote for the bridge."

"Are you freakin' kidding me? Seriously. Be a little less biased, Snow," Regina hissed.

"What? And trust you?" Mary-Margaret threw back.

"No, you know what. Emma and I are the mothers therefore what we say goes," Regina declared a bit too regally for Emma's liking; anyone's really. Emma watched David and Mary-Margaret settle their faces into passive expressions while Hook gave an expression she had never seen before. Once again all eyes were on her. Regina wanted the mermaids, the other three voted for the bridge and Emma had a desperate need to see Henry safe as soon as possible.

"When do we have to have a final decision?" she finally asked.

"You can decide in about a 30 minute hike, lass. The fork in the road is up a ways so to say."

"Okay. Hook, you lead the way."

Regina gave her a scalding look before falling into step behind both Hook and David while Mary-Margaret fell behind with Emma.

"Why did you choose the bridge?"

"It's simple really," Snow slowly started to reply before looking into Emma's eyes. "I trust David who right now at the moment is agreeing with Hook and Hook knows this island better than anyone else. He's kind of our key to survival."

Emma hated to admit that the irritating pirate indeed played a major role in getting Henry back, but she'd be stupid to deny it.

"That makes sense."

"Also, if these Indians really are friends like Hook says, we could use some allies as well as updated information about the island. For all we know maybe they've heard about Henry, possibly seen him."

Emma nodded thoughtfully. Even with time ticking away, she could see it was a solid plan. Five minutes passed with her fighting the pros and cons in her head before she made up her mind.

"Hook!"

At the calling of his name the pirate turned around, a smirk tugging at his lips.

"Am I on your mind, love?"

She automatically ignored the flirtation. "Take us to the bridge."

He nodded and continued forward, slashing at the foliage. Regina shot her a dirty look, pausing to let both Mary-Margaret and Emma fall into step with her.

"Are you stupid?"

"No, I'm not stupid. There are more pros to going to the top of the mountain than cutting across the lagoon. The most important reason being we'll actually make it alive. I think that reason alone is pretty darn important if we plan on saving Henry."

"I could just use my magic. I'm sure there's a curse I could use."

"Regina, I really don't think it wise to use your magic on magical creatures. Look at what happened last time. Things only got worse," Mary-Margaret mentioned in a warning tone.

Regina threw a dirty look at Mary-Margaret before marching on ahead of them at a longer stride.

"Just know that if you're wrong, you've wasted a day we could have spent on the other side of the river getting closer to Henry," she called over her shoulder. Emma's step faltered at the idea and Mary-Margaret's hand was immediately resting on her arm.

"Don't worry, Emma. We'll find him. If there's anything about this family that I for sure know, it's that we always find each other," Mary-Margaret whispered.

"That's good," Emma whispered back as she threw a rock at a nearby tree trunk. "Because that's kind of what I'm depending on right now."

Reviews would be nice! Let me know what you think :)