Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or its characters or plot ideas. The only things I own in this story are my own ideas and my own characters.

~ Chapter Six ~

The welcome back party at Granny's is in full swing, everyone smiling and drinking as we listen to Emma and Mary Margaret tell us about their time back in the Enchanted Forest. David had just finished making a speech when the door opens, revealing Regina holding a casserole dish full of lasagna. "Sorry I'm late." She says as she walks in and notices that everyone is staring at her with dumbfounded expressions.

"What's she doing here?" Leroy grumbles and grabs a knife off of the counter. Immediately I take it from him and shoot him a dirty look before I take that knife and the rest of them and push them out of Leroy's drunken hands.

"I invited her." Emma replies, giving Leroy a look that says she also doesn't appreciate him grabbing a knife to threaten Regina.

Emma's parents pull her aside to talk while everyone else starts to mingle again, only this time they do so more awkwardly. The laughter has gone down a lot and everyone seems uncomfortable with having Regina here. Personally, I find it hilarious that they are so willing to accept me amongst their group, because although I may not be as bad as Regina I am certainly no hero. However, they want to banish Regina from everything they do. Clearly they have no idea who I really was before the curse hit, otherwise I feel like their reactions would be a lot different.

On that note, I decide to walk over to Regina and welcome her because I've never had a problem with her and quite frankly I kind of like her. She does care about Henry and she is a lot like me, someone who became evil because of situations in their past. Unfortunately, you can't always help that. Sometimes you are a victim to your own destiny.

"Hey, you brought your famous lasagna?" I smile at her and then at Henry who smiles back at me, taking a piece of his mother's lasagna.

"Yes, would you like a piece?" She asks, already putting it on a plate, eager to give some away.

"Oh you know me; I never turn down food, especially lasagna." She smiles and hands me the plate, happy that someone is willing to try some. That's when Leroy walks up and starts taking some other food, but pointedly ignores Regina's lasagna. "Hey Leroy, why don't you try some lasagna? It's really good." I wave the plate in front of his face as if that'll prove my point.

"Yea? What's the secret ingredient? Poison?" Leroy grumbles, still angry with me for taking his knife away. I roll my eyes at his antics.

"Actually the secret ingredient is red pepper flakes, it gives it some kick." Regina gives him the nastiest smile she dares as she hands the plate to him. He takes it and sniffs it before carrying it off with the rest of his food.

"I'm glad you came." Henry tells his mom and she smiles down at him, pleased.

"So am I." She says and then looks up at me and smiles at me as well. I decide to give her some time with her son so I walk off and start to talk to Ruby, while I join the rest of the party.

It isn't until later that I see Regina sitting at the table alone, no one to talk to. She looks around at everybody, looking a little lost. I head over to her table and sit down across from her. "They'll come around eventually."

"I'm sorry?" She asks, looking surprised.

"Mary Margaret, David, the dwarves… Everybody else. They'll all come to accept you eventually. Right now they're all a little shocked, but they can at least see you're trying to change. After all those years of being on opposite sides of the war it's a little hard for them to believe… But Henry believes in you, so does Emma and so do I. Eventually, they will start to believe in you as well."

"Thank you. I'm doing this for Henry, so I hope that he does see how hard I am trying." Regina replies.

"He does! And you know, I think he understands why you became the villain." Regina raises an eyebrow at this. "You're a lot like me, you had situations you couldn't control the made your heart go cold, but now you're trying to make it better. To be honest, that takes a lot of courage to step up and admit it, and say that you are trying to change."

"Who were you back in our land?" She asks me, staring at me suspiciously.

I grin because this is the first time anyone has asked me that. I think everyone just assumed I was a good guy. "You mean you don't know? Majesty who created the curse? I figured you knew who everyone was that you brought here."

"No, I was able to bring specific people, but the curse mostly brought everyone who lived in the Enchanted Forest. You're not even in Henry's book; I don't even think he had any theories as to who you were before the curse broke." She keeps her voice low and I suspect she's doing so because she doesn't want anyone else to know who I really am either.

"I was many things… A pirate, an orphan… A murderer and a villain." I look up at her to see her staring at me in surprise. "I was no saint and I'm sure if you pulled my heart out right now and looked at it, there wouldn't be much light left in it."

"And yet you don't act like a villain here." She says, her tone calculating as she inspects me.

"Well I'm like you, trying to do better. Although I don't have anyone to be better for, so maybe I'm just doing it in hopes that all my past sins won't catch up with me." I smile sadly at her and notice the acceptance in her eyes. It's at that moment that I know Regina and I have formed a friendship that will last for a very long time. We understand each other better than anyone can hope to.

"Thank you, Karina." She smiles and I grab onto her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Any time." I get up and head over to talk to Henry when Regina also gets up and heads to the door. Emma quickly follows her out and I manage to convince Henry to help me with the cake. Not that he needed much convincing, especially if he can get the first slice for helping.

Once the party starts to wind down I decide to head home. I have an early shift at Granny's in the morning and figured I should get some sleep. I say goodbye to everyone and give Henry a big hug before I walk out the door and start my way down the street to my apartment. I hate the silence when walking so I pull out my iPod and start listening to music, dancing my way down the street.

I'm softly singing along to it as I get to the apartment's main door. I pull out my many keys and start searching for the right one. It doesn't take me long to find them and get inside when I feel like someone is watching me. I turn around and peer through the glass door, out into the darkness. I don't see anyone but that creepy feeling doesn't go away. Quickly I head to my apartment, eager to hide in its safety.

…...

I'm working at Granny's the next day when we hear a dog barking outside the door. Ruby runs out and I follow her, surprised by her change in attitude. "Emma! Something's wrong." She tells the blonde sheriff who is standing outside with her son.

"How do you know… Oh, right, the wolf thing." Emma mutters as Ruby grabs onto the Dalmatian's face and inspects him very closely.

Pongo rushes off across the street so Emma and Ruby chase him. "That's cool, I'll cover you… Again." I call after Ruby. I roll my eyes and head back into the diner.

Ruby comes back after a couple minutes, looking sick to her stomach. Immediately I go over to her, looking at her questioningly. "Archie's dead." She whispers, tears in her eyes.

"W-What? That's… No. What?" I stutter, completely shocked.

"Regina killed him." She crosses her arms over her chest, her face hard.

"Why would she? She's been trying to change for Henry. This would just ruin all her progress. It has to be something else." I notice one of our regular customers waving his empty coffee cup in the air at me, an annoyed look on his face. I ignore him and turn back to Ruby.

"I saw her go in last night, and earlier they had a fight on the pier. She had every motive; I bet she just didn't think she would get caught." Ruby mutters, the customer behind her is still waving his coffee cup, now clearing his throat as well. I wave my hand at him and give him a dirty look.

"No, it's way too easy, if she did kill Archie she wouldn't have been caught. There's no way she'd risk her relationship with Henry like that." I try to think of who else could possibly want Archie dead. Unfortunately this town doesn't have a lot of villains capable of murder. "Maybe it was Gold? Or some other super bad, super scary villain we don't know about?" It sure as hell wasn't me.

"It had to be Regina." Ruby argues, her lips pursed indicating to me that there will be no changing her mind.

"Excuse me!" The man says angrily, glaring at me with his cup still in the air.

Before I can help myself my anger gets the best of me, "Oh would you shut it you stupid old man! You'll get your damn coffee right away when I force it down your throat!" Ruby and the rest of the diners stare at me with wide eyed shock. No one has seen me lose my cool like that yet, but I've kind of been having a bad week.

"Karina!" Granny scolds and I wince as I turn to look at her. If there's one person in this town who can make me feel bad about myself, it's Granny. She's such a sweet woman, but when she's disappointed in you it hurts really badly. "Why don't you take the rest of the day off?"

"But I…" I trail off when I notice by the look on her face that it will be pointless to argue. I close my eyes and turn on my heels to walk out the door; I notice that customer is smiling smugly at me. He's always been a rude old man, never says please or thank you, super picky about his food and never leaves a tip. Ruby and I have always hated him.

A thought comes to mind, one that could very easily get me fired if Granny doesn't decide to do it already. And yet, the idea of showing this man a little karma is a compelling thought. With my mind made up I walk over to him and pick up the syrup that is sitting on the table and pour it into his lap.

Quiet gasps fill the room as the man stares at me in shock and anger. "You… You… You!" His face goes red as he stutters over his words and tries to find the right thing to say.

"Yea, yea, I know, I'm a bitch!" Sighing heavily I walk out of Granny's and storm down the street. My plan is to go home and change out of this ridiculous red and white uniform, then I am going to get my sword and go into the woods so I can start hacking up some poor defenseless trees.

Shortly after leaving Granny's in a rage I arrive at the woods with my sword in hand. I unsheathe the sword and throw the sheath onto the ground; I swing the sword a few times back and forth to get the feel of the weight. It's been a while since I had to fight with a sword, twenty-eight years to be exact. I'm afraid I might be a little rusty.

Never one to let anything stop me I swing the sword and it hits the tree once. I reach back and hit it again and again and again until the tree is mutilated and my sword is ruined. I release a long heavy sigh as I stick the sword in the ground, disappointed in myself for letting my anger get the best of me and therefore ruining my sword.

"Karina!" A voice calling my name startles me from my thoughts. I spin around to see Ruby running towards me. "It's a good thing I'm a werewolf or I don't think I ever would have found you… What on earth happened to that poor tree?"

"Me." I mutter, eyeing the tree and my sword distastefully. "Are you here to tell me I'm fired?"

"No, quite the opposite, actually. Granny isn't mad; she actually thought it was funny. The only reason she told you to go home was to keep up a good appearance. She doesn't want to start losing business because people think she lets her staff get away with attacking the customers." Ruby smirks devilishly as she moves around me to inspect the tree. "You like to attack things when you get angry, huh?"

"I did not attack that man! This tree, yes, maybe. But the man was asking for it." I grumble and cross my arms over me chest. "I just taught him a very good lesson as to why you shouldn't be rude to people."

"Uh huh, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night!" Ruby sings. "If it's worth anything, I would've done the exact same thing, but you beat me to it."

"And this is why we're friends." I laugh. "We're too much alike, though I think that might not be a good thing for other people."

"Nah, only if they're rude people." Ruby waves her hand and makes a funny face causing me to laugh. "Anyways, besides coming here to tell you that Granny isn't mad, which by the way she expects you there for your next shift… Mary Margaret just told me there's going to be a funeral for Archie tomorrow morning. You'll come right?"

"Of course I'll come… But uh, my next shift is tomorrow so…" I give Ruby a pleading look, biting my lip and raising my arms in a "what are you going to do?" gesture.

She laughs. "I'll talk to Granny, get her to give it to someone else." She starts to walk backwards, back towards town. "Have fun hacking up more trees!"

"Oh, I will!"

….

"Some of us knew him as Archie, others, as Jiminy. And although he may be gone he will always live on inside of us, reminding us to be our best selves and to do the right thing and to fight for what we believe in. So we shouldn't think of today as goodbye, just as a way of saying 'Archie, we'll be listening.'" Mary Margaret finishes her speech and everyone starts to hug. Marco heads over to the tombstone and puts down Archie's umbrella before saying a few of his own words to his fallen friend.

Afterwards, the funeral starts to wrap up and everyone slowly heads back to their cars. Granny walks up to me and hugs me tightly. "I'm sorry about yesterday." She whispers in my ear.

"All is forgiven. Seriously, don't worry about it." I smile at her reassuringly, though she still appears to be a little bit worried that I am angry. "I'm just glad I still have a job."

She laughs quietly, "Always, Karina. You know that. You've become like a second grandchild to me." She cups my face for a moment, smiling warmly as she hooks her arm with mine and we walk off together towards the car. Everyone had decided we would go to Mary Margaret's apartment to have the reception so we can all sit and remember Archie.

When we're there Leroy brings up a good point, "Ladies, the dwarves have been thinking and we have to ask… When do we go back?" He looks uncomfortable to even bring up this question as he shoves his hands in his pockets.

"Back? Where?" Emma asks and shares a confused look with her mother.

"The Enchanted Forest."

"You want to go back?" Mary Margaret remarks.

"We fought really hard to get here…" Emma says.

"Yea, but with what Regina did to Archie, Storybrooke ain't as safe as we thought. And you know, it's not just her either, the curse is broken. There's a whole world beyond the town line that don't know who or what we are, ever think what would happen if someone were to come pay us a visit?" Leroy's tone gets darker by the end of his little rant. Everyone starts to shoot worried looks at one another.

"He's right." Ruby speaks up. "What if they see magic? Like a girl turning into a wolf for example… Folks weren't exactly accepting of that back in our world."

"Ok, let's not worry about 'what if's', no one is here." Emma tries her best to comfort everyone, using a voice that is filled with authority and confidence.

"Yet." Leroy grumbles. "Maybe they come, maybe they don't. But that doesn't change the fact that while we might enjoy things like penicillin, we're a bit homesick." His words catch everyone's attention, even Henry who had been sitting his room away from everyone.

With those words resting heavily on everyone I decide it's time for me to leave. I whisper to Ruby that I'm going to get going and although she seems disappointed she lets me go without any protest. I hug Granny and quickly say goodbye to Henry before I leave, waving at everyone else.

As I'm walking home I run into Belle who seems frazzled. "Whoa, Belle, are you ok?"

"Yea, you're actually the person I was looking for." She says and I raise an eyebrow as I wait for her to continue. "Rumple mentioned to me that you were a pirate in your old life. That means you can fight really well, right?"

"Um, I've been in my fair share of fights, yea. Why?" Now my interest is piqued. I cross my arms over my chest and notice she is holding a special knot of rope in her hand. "That's a monkey's fist knot; it's especially used on large ships. Why on earth do you have one of those?"

Belle grins triumphantly. "I need your help. I'm going to go look for something in a very dangerous place and I could use the extra protection. Will you come with me?"

"Of course I'll come with you." I'm not about to allow Belle to walk off into a potentially dangerous situation and not go with her, especially since she is here and asking me for my help. I couldn't possibly say no and run the risk of her getting hurt.

"Great, let's go. I figured we could start at the docks. I have a feeling we'll be looking for a ship." As she says this my stomach starts to feel empty and my heart starts to pound in my chest. I can feel my palms are starting to sweat and I know that whatever comes next won't be good.

…

It doesn't take long to arrive at the docks, perks of living in a very small town. When we get there we don't see any large ships, there are plenty of small boats tied to the docks, but nothing that could hide whatever Belle is looking for.

"Where could it be? Ships don't just disappear." Belle says, looking disappointed.

That's when I hear a sound, like wood creaking. "Sh." I say when I notice she's about to say something else. I tap my ear to tell her to listen. When she also hears it she raises an eyebrow. "Here." I say and grab sand out of one of the boxes sitting on the dock. I throw it down and it reveals a walkway. "A giant ship hidden by magic, clever." Belle smiles and starts to walk up the boardwalk. "Belle, how did you know about this?"

"A man, he attacked me, Rumple told me who he was." Belle explains as I follow her up the boardwalk. I'm tempted to ask who the man is, but a screaming suspicion tells me I already know, and moments later when I step on the ship and I look around, I am proven right.

It's my father's ship. The place I called my home for many years until Rumplestiltskin took me away. Before I can help myself I start to hyperventilate, looking around at the familiar red and yellow painted ship. Memories come flooding back to me from my childhood, faster and stronger than ever before. "Oh God…" I whimper, clutching at my head.

"Hey, are you ok?" Belle asks immediately rushing to my side and placing her hand gently on my shoulder. Her brown eyes are filled with concern as she tries to understand what could be causing me so much grief.

"This… This is my father's ship." I whisper, feeling sick to my stomach.

"Oh… I had no idea! Oh my gosh. Karina, if you want to leave, you can. I'll be careful and look around myself." Before she even finishes her sentence I am shaking my head.

"No, I told you I will help, so I will." I say this more to convince myself than her, but it must work on her too because she nods her head, smiles reassuringly and rubs my arm. "Let's do this." I lead her into the bottom of the ship where all the rooms are. I gesture to the ones in the front. "You look through these ones; I'll look in the ones in the back." She nods and we part ways.

The first room I come across is my old bedroom. I hold my breath before I slowly push open the door and step inside. The room looks like it hadn't been touched once since I last saw it. Tears come to my eyes as I step further inside, I run my fingers along the dusty drawers and pick up my old stuffed bear. I smile at the missing eye and remember when my father had tried to sow it back on for me, though his skills as a tailor were less than to be desired. I remember he had tried so hard I eventually told him to forget it, that I liked the bear better with one eye anyways.

I place the bear back on the bed when I notice all my old drawings strewn out on the desk. I pick them up, inspecting all the horribly done drawings of ships, flowers and birds. I even had tried to draw my father once, though it looked more like a big blob with arms. I laugh quietly at my horrible skills.

Remarkably, my father had managed to keep my room looking the exact same as the last day I was here. The blankets were still thrown across the bed, having chosen not to make my bed that morning. My clothes were still all over the floor and my toys were shoved into a giant treasure chest. Closing my eyes I try to block out the memory of the day I was taken, as well as the memory when I finally gave up on my father rescuing me.

My peaceful moment is shattered and my eyes snap open when I hear a familiar male voice. Immediately I know that my father is back and he's talking to Belle. I drop everything I'm doing and sneak down the hall, my back pressed against the wall. My father is standing in the doorway and I stop in my tracks, shock courses through me to see that he looks the exact same as the last day I saw him, except for the silver hook sitting where his hand used to be.

I shake myself of those thoughts, focusing on the fear in Belle's voice. Thankfully, my father's back is facing the entrance so he doesn't see me behind him. Belle, however, sees me as I press my fingers to my lips, telling her to stay quiet.

"Of course he'd leave out the most important detail of her passing." My father continues on, oblivious to the fact that I'm standing behind him. "He killed her. He ripped out her heart and he crushed it, right in front of me. And as if that wasn't bad enough? He decided to take my daughter from me. He took her to ruin my life more than he already had."

"No." Belle exclaims, horror clear on her face.

"Oh yes. He'll do anything for power. Why do you think anyone who's ever gotten close to him has either run away or been killed?" I hear the click of a gun and see that my father is holding a gun pointed at Belle. I pull one of my daggers out of my boot and slowly creep up to stand just behind him. "Tell me something darling, why would you want to fight for a man like that?"

"Because I still see good in him. Because I believe he's changed. Because his heart is true! And yours? Yours is rotten?" As soon as she says this I take the opportunity to attack.

Using the hilt of the dagger I smash it into the base of his skull, knocking him down. Unfortunately due to the height difference I'm unable to knock him out, but it's enough to get us a head start. "Belle, run!" I scream and she does so, grabbing a brown shoal before she turns and starts running.

I follow after her and start pushing her along when she slows down. I turn to look behind us when Belle screams and stops running. I collide into her back and stumble backwards until I regain my balance. When I look up my father is standing there, staring at me with wide eyes. "Karina…"

"Father." I curl my lip in disgust; all my hatred that has built up over the years comes to the surface. I hear Belle gasp and I know she's looking at me, shocked that I'm the daughter my father told her about.

"H-He's your father?" Belle stutters, looking between the two of us. "But he looks too young… You're too old!"

"Yea, I think both of us are a lot older than we look." I say to her, though I barely spare a glance her way.

"I suggest you give that back to me now." My father completely ignores my obvious hatred for him and Belle's confusion over the whole situation.

"Or what?" A new voice asks and we all look up to see Gold walking over to us, an oddly calm expression on his face.

"You look different in this world, Crocodile. Like the coward I met so long ago, limp and old." My father states, and smirks as he moves to stand in front of his old enemy. I push Belle back until she is standing behind me, far away from the two men.

"And yet, you still can't kill me." Gold begins to close the already small distance between them.

"Let's have at it, Crocodile." My father whispers. The tension in the air is so palpable it almost feels like it is going to ensnare and suffocate me. "What magic are you going to hide behind today?"

"Oh no, not magic." Gold laughs and then draws his cane back and then uses it to strike my father under his chin, sending him falling backwards. Then he proceeds to beat my father mercilessly with that same expensive cane.

"Rumple, Rumple, hey, let's go! Let's go!" Belle runs around me and towards the man she loves, begging him to stop. "This is what you came for; this is what is going to get you back to your son."

"Ah, you're wasting your breath love, he can't resist. He has to prove that he's not a coward!" My father taunts, his face bloody.

"You might want to turn away, Belle." Gold warns. Then he goes back to hitting my father with his cane.

After being beaten for what seems like ages my father snarls, "Do it! Kill me! He has to prove how powerful he is!" He dissolves into manic laughter and my shock grows.

"No, Rumple, this is what he wants. To destroy every piece of good in you." Belle cries beseechingly.

"Rip my heart out; kill me like you did Milah. And then I'll finally be reunited with her." My father says, and moves his clothes to give Gold unobstructed access to his heart. Any bit of sympathy I had towards my father, any bit of human decency that I felt that may have caused me to help my father vanished. He just proved that even when reunited with his child he would rather die so he can see a woman he loved almost two hundred years ago.

"He has to die Belle." Rumple raises his arms and then starts punching my father repeatedly. Belle looks like she is going to be sick.

"No! No he doesn't." Belle cries and I can't help but notice the irony in this situation. Here is Belle, begging for my father's life despite the fact that he's tried to kill her several times. Meanwhile I am standing not too far away from her, watching it all and staying silent. Even though Belle's only reason is to protect Rumple, she is still doing more than me. "There is still good in you. I see it. I've always seen it! Please, please show me I'm not wrong."

I watch with interest as Gold contemplates her words and then, something I thought I would never see happens. Gold let's my father go, he shows him mercy. "You take your little ship and sail until you fall off the edge of the world. I don't ever want to see you again!" To add injury to his insult he slaps my father across the face, gets up and takes Belle's hand, the two of them start to walk away.

I start to follow them when my father calls out to me, "Karina, wait, please…"

I stop in my tracks and clench my fists. My nails dig into my skin and I try desperately to stay calm. Slowly, I turn around and face my father who is watching me with pleading eyes. I take a few steps towards him and lean down until our faces our inches apart. "Go to hell." I curl my lip in disgust as I back away, staring at the pitifully bloody lump I used to love with all my heart.

Without another word I turn and walk away.

A/N: Wow, so that was a really long chapter, mostly because I mixed two episodes together. I didn't really expect it to get as long as it did, but I'm sure you guys don't mind! I'm interested to hear people's thoughts about Karina and Hook finally being reunited. Next chapter will have more of them together, with a very explosive father/daughter confrontation.

Please take a moment to review!