A/N: Here's chapter one! Thank you so much for your lovely reviews and I hope you like this chapter. Do let me know if you have any idea of what's going to happen next - I promise it'll be a journey full of surprises!


Chapter One


Pick a star on the dark horizon and follow the light
You'll come back when it's over,
No need to say goodbye


"Open up the portal. I'm ready to go."

"Na-ah. Not so fast, dearie." Gold said, making a show of waving his index finger inches away from Emma's nose. "You should probably know where to start looking for the Sorcerer."

"Right. That would be helpful."

"In my castle you'll find a map to his hiding place." Gold explained somewhat impatiently. "It's in a wooden cabinet in the dining room. You'll recognise it by my collection of swords and daggers that you'll be able to spot through the glass doors. I sealed it with magic so only you would have the power to unlock it."

"Wait a minute. If you went there to put this enchantment on the cabinet, then why can't you go and get me the map yourself? We all want to speed things up, don't we?"

"I haven't been in the Enchanted Forest ever since Baelfire brought me back from the dead... only to get caught in Zelena's trap afterwards." He cleared his throat after his voice faltered slightly at the name that always brought painful memories to both of them.

"Miss Swan, I spent centuries looking for a way to get my hands on the Sorcerer's hat, but I knew there was no point in going after him myself. When I learned there was to be a Saviour, the very product of true love, and that Regina would send me to the town you would eventually arrive at, I knew you might be my only chance of getting through to the Sorcerer and retrieve the hat I had lost to Ingrid so long ago."

"You planned on blackmailing me so I would go after the Sorcerer for you all this time?" Emma asked, her fists clenched on her sides to keep her magic from spiralling out of control as she felt anger boiling up inside of her.

"Oh, believe me, I did think my plan to cleave myself of the dagger by crushing your beloved pirate's heart would work." He said, his scowl only serving to make Emma want to punch him even harder as she recalled the torturing moments when she felt utterly helpless having to watch Killian nearly die right in front of her eyes. "Unfortunately, seeing as that didn't work, I had no choice but to recur to my original plan."

Emma glared at him and made a mental reminder to not waste a minute before making him feel the full power of the Saviour's rage once all of this was over and done with.

"As you mentioned yourself, darling, we all want to speed things up." Cruella intervened before Emma could retort to the Dark One. "We would appreciate it immensely if you could bring us the book as fast as you can."

"Trust me, I'll do my best to come back and break this curse so I can punch every single one of you in the face as soon as possible." Emma snorted.

Maleficent cocked an eyebrow at her, seemingly enjoying her show of self confidence, and looked over at Gold, who took it as his cue to act.

"While we certainly believe you, dearie," he said, making his way over to where Killian was lying on the street quicker than Emma could register where he was heading to, "we thought you could use a little extra incentive."

He then thrust his hand quite violently into Killian's chest and brought it back out with a bright, glowing red heart held tight in his grip. Emma stretched her arms out towards him and held her hands up, feeling the familiar prickle of her magic thrumming along her skin all the way to her fingertips.

"Put it back right now!" Emma said through gritted teeth. "You know you can't crush his heart, Gold. If you do there's no way I can break the curse, and you can be sure I won't hand over the book to you if I can't save my family anymore."

"Once again, you're right." Gold replied with his best cynical smirk on. "But you're the one who assured me the pirate is your true love. You chose him, and the consequences of that decision."

Before she could even try to put together the meaning behind his words, Gold started to squeeze Killian's heart causing his body to wince in pain, his chest jerking forward from the ground, and Emma could see the muscles in his jaw clenching as a deep frown marred his formerly peaceful, sleeping countenance.

"You see," he continued, the cold smile on his face nothing short of diabolic given how thoroughly he seemed to enjoy hurting someone, "he might be asleep, but as long as I hold his heart in my hand I still have the power to inflict as much pain on my dear old friend here as I please."

Gold raised his hand with Killian's heart in a clearly challenging way before squeezing it harder. Emma could see his body jolting again out of the corner of her eye, her gaze never leaving the pumping heart in the crocodile's hands, and while her gut warned her against biting the bait so quickly, she couldn't not listen to an even stronger urge to save the man she loved from being in so much pain.

Emma let her emotions take over her mind and within a millisecond she was knocking Gold down to the floor with a blast of white magic coming from her left hand, as her right one made softer silver rays of light cover Killian's heart and keep it from falling down. She focused her mind on soothing thoughts, willing her love for him to use her powers as a channel to alleviate his pain, her magic making it float in the air while she hoped she was giving him some sort of relief. She finally looked at him and saw his features softening with the faintest of smiles forming on his lips.

There was no way Emma could actually know this, though something in her chest gave her the feeling that he'd never in his life felt as peaceful as now, when his heart was surrounded and healed by her love in every possible way.

"Then I guess I'm taking it with me as a guarantee that you won't hurt him while I'm gone." Emma said proudly.

"I didn't think you'd actually fall for that one, dearie, but what do you know." Gold snorted.

Before she could even think of a reply Maleficent reached out both her arms, her left one lifting Emma from the floor and pulling her closer to where the witch was standing, while her right one enveloped both Killian's heart and the magical shield Emma had made around it with the same purple fumes that had trapped him in the bubble.

She started to wonder whether that bubble had another purpose other than simply holding Killian in place, but she didn't have time to finish that thought. Maleficent quickly pushed her arm into Emma's chest and wrapped her fingers firmly around her heart. Her chest felt as if it was starting to burn, as if the witch's fingers were scorching their way through to the very core of her heart - which was precisely what they were doing.

Suddenly she understood why her heart hadn't knocked Maleficent out with a blast of magic like it did with Cora; and the thought that there was something even worse than having your heart ripped out of your chest was not as frightening to her as the fact that the witch still had Killian's heart under her control.

"The Saviour's heart cannot be taken, as I'm sure you are well aware of." Maleficent said, her left hand still around Emma's heart. "But that doesn't mean it's not subjected to the vulnerability true love brings. Haven't you heard, darling? Love is weakness."

The burning sensation stopped when Emma felt Maleficent's fingers reaching what felt like the very centre of her being. The latter proceeded to wave her right hand between Killian's heart and Emma's chest, her dark magic creating a translucent tunnel that connected their hearts in a way that felt surprisingly - shockingly - nice.

Emma started to feel giddy and bubbly out of nowhere as she was filled with an inexplicable sudden happiness. Her whole body felt so much lighter that she had to look down to check if she wasn't actually flying off of the ground. She absolutely lacked the strength to hold back the giggling fit that took possession of her, and when she looked over at Killian, she assumed he was having a most delightful dream judging by the toothy grin lightening up his entire face.

Maleficent smirked in a self-satisfactory way that made Emma stop laughing and be instantly taken aback by worry. Much like it had appeared, the tunnel vanished in the blink of an eye, and Killian's heart was haphazardly tossed over to Gold. He gave it a powerful, white-knuckle squeeze and Emma dropped to her knees howling, clutching her own chest where it was making her nearly suffocate with a pain she had never felt before.

"There's a lot to be said about the many ways you can exploit two hearts linked by true love, one of them being the Duo Cor spell, which I just cast upon you and your sleeping beauty over there." Maleficent explained smiling. "You will feel everything he feels as if you had his very heart beating inside of your chest, and vice versa."

"Now you'll know better than to try any tricks on us or stall for time over there." Ursula continued, gazing at Emma rendered helpless on the ground and flashing her ally an approving smile. "You'll know when we've grown tired of waiting around for you to grace us with your presence again."

Rumplestiltskin finally loosened his grip on Killian's heart and Emma immediately felt a relief in her chest. She tried to will her heartbeat into slowing down when she saw Gold put the heart back in its rightful place, failing miserably when a particularly horrible thought assaulted her mind.

"I suppose if you suddenly decided you don't need me in this quest anymore," she managed to say through her heavy breathing, "you could- you could crush his heart and we'd both-"

"Die? Exactly." Cruella cut her off. "Isn't it a brilliant spell?"

Emma took a few deep breaths before standing up and looking at the four faces that were clearly enjoying themselves far too much by threatening her and everyone she loved.

"Can I go now then, or do you still have any more spells to cast on me?"

"Don't worry, we're quite done cursing you now." Ursula said, both her and Cruella chuckling conspicuously.

"I do think you'll find this useful, though, dearie." Gold waved his hand and Charming's sword materialised right in front of Emma.

She took it, ran her fingers affectionately over the beautifully crafted basked which curled around where her hand was meant to go, and prayed to all the gods above that she'd have her half of father's courage for the journey awaiting her.

"Alright. Now we're ready to open up the portal." Maleficent said, producing a magic bean from a hidden pocket between the folds of her skirts.

"Wait." Emma nearly shouted. "Can I take a pen and a notepad with me? I'll go insane if I don't keep track of how long it's been and the things I've done."

Gold let out an almost childish snort at that. "A diary, miss Swan, really? That's your request?"

"Fine." Maleficent cut him off before he could stall Emma's departure any longer with his pointless mocking. "You'll have it on you once you arrive there. We'll also give you a different attire, one that's far more suited to your new surroundings and might just save your life when you're hiding from danger."

"You can thank us upon your return, dearie." Of course Rumplestiltskin would not miss the chance of making fun of a situation this dreadful.

"Oh, you bet I will." Emma replied, cocking her head to the side and flashing him a sarcastic smile that perfectly mirrored his own.

"Right then, off you go." Maleficent said before throwing the bean to the floor, the asphalt immediately starting to swirl as the ground opened, showing a dark hole Emma was supposed to jump into. "Best of luck on the journey ahead, darling."

"We'll be eagerly awaiting your return." Gold said, waving her goodbye with a flourish of his hand.

Emma paid no attention to their words, turning her back to the portal to look at her family and the rest of Storybrooke lying fast asleep on main street.

"I'll come back to you as soon as I can. I promise." She whispered to herself, blinking back the tears that rapidly swelled in her eyes as she conjured up her happiest memories with Henry, her parents, and Killian, using them to summon the courage to proceed.

Without allowing herself to feel too afraid she might never see them again that she wouldn't be able to do what she must, Emma abruptly turned to face the portal again and ran straight to it, jumping into the vortex before the ground stopped swirling and closed the passage.

All looked still and quiet, as though nothing huge had taken place there. Only it had, and this was just the beginning.

"I have a question now." Ursula said, coming to stand between Maleficent and Cruella as Rumplestilltskin was too absorbed in his own musings to join them - he was looking over the townsfolk spread on the ground, one particular Beauty catching his eye before he made his way over to her sleeping form.

"How shall we entertain ourselves until the Saviour comes back?" She asked, the three ladies sharing dangerously cunning glances.


Emma landed face first on the leafy floor of the same forest she arrived at once upon a time with Killian, their time travelling adventure seeming too far back in the past now. Before too many memories of their companionship, their shared secrets, and the undeniable attraction between them that they just couldn't seem to ignore, she stood up and was brushing away the dirt off her jeans when she realised she wasn't wearing those anymore.

She took a moment to inspect her new clothes and take in the pair of beige leather trousers that fitted her legs so comfortably, the light brown vest with an additional layer of fur close to her neck, and what looked like the same brown cloak she had taken from someone when she last came to the Enchanted Forest.

It was probably just a random coincidence, she thought. Still, it was good to have something even vaguely familiar with her, and she couldn't shake off the unsettling feeling that the rest of her garments also felt well-known, yet strange to her at the same time.

Such thoughts were interrupted by a louder one, which got her patting her vest and cloak looking for where her pockets might be, until she located one on the inner side of her vest. She reached into it and produced a small, brown, leather bound notebook with a strap tying it closed and holding an ink pen to it. She smiled at the thought that for the first time in her life she would actually keep a journal, and quickly put them back in her pocket.

Then, she felt her boots for the wand that was her only guarantee of a way back home, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw the magical object safely tucked in there. She absent-mindedly placed her hand over her father's sword, which was sheathed in a scabbard hanging from her belt, as she started to worry thinking of where to go from there.

Emma looked around, inspecting her surroundings in search of a sign of which path would lead her to Rumplestiltskin's castle. Finding nothing to aid her currently non-existent sense of direction, she realised she hadn't fully appreciated having Killian as her guide (and protector, though she would never admit it to him) when they last found themselves here. She had felt lost, and scared, and on the verge of a full panic attack, and she'd never thanked him properly for keeping a calm posture all the time - which had more to do with calming her fears than his knowledge of where exactly they were, or how they'd go back to Storybrooke.

She was used to tracking down bail skippers and all sorts of perps easily and efficiently through the winding roads of Boston and New York, but it turned out concrete jungles were nothing compared to the thick woods of the Enchanted Forest.

"Okay." She sighed. "Let's just try to not get killed on the first day." Emma cheered herself onward and walked straight into the woods, making her way amongst branches sticking out of trees and jumping over protuberant roots rising from the ground, her pace quickly picking up until she was running for her life - where to, she had not the slightest idea.


End of chapter one


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