The only sane way to combat assignments? CS fic time!

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There had only been smooth waters. For what felt like hours there had nothing been smooth waters and no wind. Emma Swan's mind was still trying to grapple with what had happened before they'd reached this endless stretch of ocean.

They were sailing along normally, and then, as if they fell of the side of the earth, they literally fell off the side of the earth. There was a bright green light, and then they'd landed in clouds that Emma had expected to sink through like an aeroplane did. It didn't happen that way.

They floated on the clouds for a while, Emma not letting go of Henry's hand, and him squeezing back just as hard. Finally the clouds met the ocean, and they were in this completely flat endless stretch of water.

"How cool was that!" Henry had exclaimed, ripping his hand from Emma's and sprinting to the edge of the quarter deck and leaning over the rail. Emma heard Neal laugh, and Tamara followed suit not long after. Emma left the couple by the wheel, and moved to Henry, her motherly instinct made her want to pull him back off the railing in fear of him falling.

She didn't however. She just leant over it with him, smiling at her son.

"Mom, how long until we get there?"

"I don't actually know kid. I've never been there," Emma said with a shrug.

"But you've been to the Enchanted Forest," Henry reminded her, like she needed reminding.

"You but all I remember of getting there was trying to grab Regina and then a falling feeling and then getting woken up by Mulan," Emma said off-handedly as if being woken up by the central character from an Ancient Chinese myth was a completely normal thing.

Henry looked at his mother, his eyes shining in the same way they did at Neal. Emma smiled at him. She looked back at the path they'd taken, and could see nothing but ocean. If she was honest, she was afraid, or at least, uneasy.

She had no idea what stood ahead of her, she only had Neal's word to go on that all would be safe, and the last time she trusted Neal's word, she was locked up in Arizona. The boy beside her was the only reason she was trusting him to take Henry away from all the danger back home.

Still, what if she never got back to Storybrooke? What if she never saw Mary-Margaret or David? That same cold feeling coursed through her body as she thought of someone else she might not see again.

"Mom?" Henry asked, snapping her from her thoughts.

"Yeah kid," Emma responded looking from the back of the boat to him.

"Are you afraid?" Henry asked, and far from thinking Henry was reading her thoughts, she knew that he was afraid.

"Of course," she said slowly. "It's normal to be afraid when you're in a new place, but you're with me and your dad, we'll look after you."

He smiled at her again.

"So you really think we'll be safe here?"

"We'll be safer than we were back home," Emma told him, thinking of all those strange things that had occurred back home, those odd deaths.

"What about your mom and dad?" Henry asked, and Emma felt a pang of guilt.

"Ah," Emma started, scratching her head. "Well, they're a King and Queen, aren't they? They can take care of themselves."

"Prince and Princess technically," Henry corrected her and Emma smiled, hiding the guilt.

"I wonder what Neverland will be like without pirates," Henry said after a long pause with the two of them watching still water go by.

Emma didn't say anything, she just stood on the deck watching the water, and thinking of him. She didn't know what it was about Hook than incensed her. Mary Margaret had ideas, but they were crazy. Perhaps it was just how overtly himself he was.

Not to mention the whole trying to kill Mr Gold thing. Yet, she just couldn't shake that strange feeling whenever he was near. She'd felt it ever since they'd climbed that beanstalk. There was something in him that she recognised, or sympathised with or something. She didn't even know why. She grew up in the real world, and he... well, she had no idea where he grew up, but it was part of world that to her mind didn't exist in anything but a child's imagination and fairy tales.

"LAND HO!" Came Neal's yell, and both Emma and Henry spun around to look at him. He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I couldn't resist."

Henry ran down the stairs to the main deck, and right up to the bow, obviously to get a better look. Emma moved back toward Neal and Tamara. In the distance she could see what looked like a tiny chain of Islands with a much larger one in the centre. The boat began rocking as well, and her attention was drawn back to the water, which was certainly not still anymore.

Emma took a deep breath, as the islands got closer. Neal was going between watching the water, and watching the look on Emma's face, and occasionally Tamara's.

As they got closer and closer to the land, Emma's eyes needed to expand just to take it all in. It was like being in a Disney movie, but she did have to remind herself that she kind of was. There was a huge rainbow that spread across the biggest island, the only one was actually an island. What she'd mistaken as an smaller islands were in fact rocks, and weirdly shaped ones at that.

The Island was lush and green, and the beaches perfect and white. It was suddenly quite warm, which led her to shrug off her long black coat. She could see a huge mountain, which had tiny tufts of smoke coming from behind it. It was as if there was some kind of glow around the whole place.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Neal asked, leaning his head towards Emma.

She looked over at him, her mouth agape.

"I'm waiting for the moment I wake up back in Storybrooke and this is all some dream," Emma said, smiling at him.

The sound of quick footsteps alerted them both that Henry was coming.

"Dad! I think I saw a mermaid, or a dolphin. Are there fairies? Is Tinkerbell here? What about Peter? I read about him. Can we go find him? Where do the pirates live? What about the Indians?"

"Whoah whoah whoah, slow down little man," Neal said, putting his hand of Henry's shoulder, who was jumping up and down between Emma and Neal.

"It'd be a dolphin, the Mermaids don't leave their lagoon often. As for the fairies, of course there are, this is where they're born," Neal explained giving all his attention to Henry, which made Emma smile in a strange way. Tamara didn't miss this. "As for Tink, well, it's been a while since I was here, so I don't know. Same goes for Peter. And see that smoke over there behind Neverpeak Mountain?"

Emma turned to look at it.

"They're the smoke signals from the Redskins. So they're definitely still here," he explained, and Henry's face split in awe. It was as if he didn't have enough senses to take in what was in front of him.

"Neverpeak Mountain?" Emma muttered sceptically from the side of her mouth, an eyebrow raised as she looked at Neal.

"You've never heard of it?" Neal asked in his husky voice, smirking at her.

"Yeah I have, it was just in a Disney movie," she said sarcastically.

"Well, you're looking at it Emma. The place I grew up, or I guess, didn't grow up," he explained with a shrug, looking to Tamara briefly, who was still staring at the island with an odd expression.

"So who exactly were – "

But before Emma could finish her sentence, the boat glided into the beach, and Henry had grabbed her hand, tugging her away. She followed him, climbing down the ships ladder first, and jumping off onto the white sand, before letting Henry follow.

She watched Henry come down, and once he landed, his jaw dropped.

"We're actually here! From the book! Like right here," Henry exclaimed, getting as excited as before.

It was as if he didn't know where to go to first, he kept spinning in circles, and Emma was just about to grab him and hold him still, when he seemed to stop dead, pointing in the distance, all the colour draining from his face. Emma began to turn, but just as she had, and arrow flew right past her nose, landing with a loud thud in the hull of the ship.

"What in the bloody hell was the point of bringing you if you couldn't harvest one bean Giant?" Hook roared, standing over the giant as he sat at a booth in Granny's diner.

"Don't yell at me!" Anton muttered back, his voice was muffled as if he was trying to keep his temper under wraps.

"Then get me some beans," Hook shot at him, knowing that the whole room full of diners had their eyes on this pair, as Charming and Snow hovered by the doorway, Snow looking very impatient.

"I can't. They're not ready," Anton said back, not looking at Hook.

"Now, see here Giant," Hook said threateningly, shaking his coat further back so his Hook was visible.

"Stop it!" Came Snow's voice, and she strode across the Diner, shoving Hook away, which saw him land squarely on the floor.

Killian looked back up at her, raising one eyebrow at the fury in her face. Charming had grabbed her, but not before her face could soften completely, her eyes revealing her fear at her actions. Well, at least now he knew what she was holding back.

"Anton," Charming said quickly, his voice calmer than Snow or Hook's had been. "Are there any beans we can use? It's for Emma."

At the sound of her name, Anton lifted his head, looking concerned.

"Emma. What happened to her?" The former giant said instantly.

Killian was slowly rising to his feet, but instead of his eyes being upon the one who had shoved him, he zeroed in on Anton. He did not like the way Emma's name had sparked his interest.

"What do you care for Emma?" Hook asked darkly, now on his feet, and moving back toward Anton's table.

"It's none of your business," Anton said, but Snow spoke over the top of him.

"They're friends," she said, not even looking at Hook, just watching Anton hopefully, as if her eyes on him could make a bean grow faster.

Hook scowled. Only Charming had noticed this, but he quickly brought his attention back to Anton. Hook could only stew on whatever was making him not like the way Anton said Emma's name.

"I might have a way, but I'll need your flask," Anton said, shakily pointing at Hook.

No body was supposed to know what was in his flask. Obviously the Giant had overheard something.

"They're nearly ready. Maybe a drop or two will restore it completely and you can go and get, whatever it is you want."

"Emma," Hook answered instantly, without even thinking.

"His ship," Charming said at the same time.

"That too," Hook added as the small group looked at him.
He forced an arrogant smirk onto his face. "What kind of pirate would I be if there wasn't the prospect of a lass as a victory prize to guide me?" He added, using all the charm a pirate was blessed with.

Charming raised himself to full height with a deep breath, but Snow was quick to defuse the situation.

"Just ignore him," she murmured, though Hook did his best to add an extra wink to the girl in question's father.

It didn't take long to find where the beans were being grown, and to locate the best one to use. Just by touching them Anton could tell the difference. Giant's had a way with beans that humans could never understand. Anton held the bean in his hand, and looked at Hook, who stood just behind Charming and Snow. As if they were mentally trying to barricade Anton from Hook.

"Now, we need the water," Anton told him.

Hook furrowed his brows at the Giant, and the other two. He'd kept this water for some emergency, and he supposed this counted. The presence of Charming and Snow could only remind him of what was there, in Neverland, waiting for him. Of course it was his ship, but the image of who would be standing on his ship was the driving force that made him reach into his long leather coat and retrieve the flask, pouring the water in Anton's hand.

"Why do we need his water? Why can't use any water?" Charming asked thickly.

"Because this is special water Prince. It's from Lake Nostos. It has healing properties," Hook explained, enjoying the power he had imparting such knowledge, and that joy was reflected in his tone of voice.

"But I thought it dried up," Charming said to Snow.

"Cora must have done something. When we got there it was overflowing," Snow explained.

The bean, which had previously been a darker green colour, was steadily growing a lighter and brighter green.

"It's ready," Anton said, having not even paid attention to the discussion around him.

"Great," Hook said, striding forwards and taking the bean from Anton without consulting anyone.

He kept walking forwards, towards the beach about fifty feet in front of him.

"Hook!" Charming and Snow shouted, darting forwards to catch up.

"Calm down lass," he said to Snow. "I'm not going anywhere without you."

"Watch it," Charming threatened, but Hook only shook his head with a smirk.

He reached just near the riverbank and tossed the bean into the waters there. Slowly the waters began to move, until a whirlpool broke the surface, despite how shallow the waters should have been. Hook turned to see the green from the portal reflected on the very apprehensive faces beside. His smiled at the notion that these too were afraid and he wasn't. It was somewhat of an ego boost for the pirate.

"Well come on then loves. Tick-tock," he called to them, walking backwards for a moment so they could see him, he let his lips twist into a smirk, joined by the slightly maniacal look in eye at the prospect of another adventure.

He stood on the very edge, and slipped his hand into a satchel that sat on his belt. From it he pulled a compass, the very same one he fought Emma for once. Snow looked at it in shock. Charming meanwhile just had a puzzled expression, as he gripped his wife's hand, preparing for the fall.

"You wouldn't believe the things I had to do to her to get it mate," Hook said to Charming.

Before the man could take a swipe at the pirate, Hook jumped, grabbing Snow's hand and pulling the two of them with him.