To be honest, this one's bit of a filler, but I like it anyway. There's important stuff going on.

I hope you will like it too!


"Where the hell are you?" Emma whispers to herself. They searched the whole town, the docks, the mines, his ship, everywhere. She sits on the couch in her apartment and stares at the wall. The last time she saw him was when Neal entered the shop. Did he leave because of him? Because he thought she doesn't need him anymore?

She wishes she would know what happened in the last few days. She wishes she remembered when he was at the hospital, or when he helped them. What exactly they talked about. She wishes she could figure him out.

And she wishes he would just walk in the door.

And he does.

She jumps up and runs to him, "Where the hell have you been?" she yells. "We looked everywhere for you!"

Everyone runs to the living room to see what all the yelling is about but Emma doesn't care.

He seems to be okay, no blood, no wounds, his clothes aren't ripped.

"I just needed to take care of something", he says. "And I didn't want to watch cheesy reunions."

Emma shakes her head but no matter how hard she tries to stop it, tears come to her eyes.

"You idiot", she whispers and steps closer to hug him. "I thought you were freaking dead, or kidnapped, or –"

"I'm fine", he says, pulling away. But when he sees her face he frowns. "But as I see, you're not."

"Of course I'm not, I was worried", she says.

"No, I mean you're still cursed."

She sniffs. "You thought you leave for a few hours and the problem is already solved?"

"No, but… Nevermind. I got something", he says.

"Wait", Emma says. "Promise me you won't disappear again."

"Alright, but –"

"No, really. Promise me."

He stares down at her for a moment. "I promise", he says, then pulls out a bottle, filled with the exact same potion that's in Emma's closet.

She feels a smile run across her face.

"Is that yours?" she asks.

He nods. "We don't want you to get bored, do we?"


"You're getting better", Regina says. "A bit of focus is needed on the movements, but it's actually very impressive."

Emma smiles and tries again. Magic fills her every vein and every cell. She only needs to feel it. She feels safe, she feels calm. She thinks about Henry and lets the magic take over.

The wall in front of her starts cracking up, and it's only dust in a few seconds.

She spent the whole night on Killian's ship. He taught her how to steer it, how to handle the sails and everything. She feels safe with him, and safety is exactly what she needs.

Nothing happened between them, he didn't even touch her unless it was necessary, and that's okay.

"Now build it up", Regina says.

Emma lets her thoughts wander about Killian instead of Henry this time, but just this one time. Dust rises from the ground and the wall is back up again in a moment.

"Great", Regina says. "I think it's enough for today. Emma nods and they start walking to Granny's, where they are supposed to meet Henry and Neal.


"Oh my God, it's moving!" Emma says, as she steps on board.

Killian smiles as she raises both her hands like she was trying to keep her balance. Part of him wants to hold her hand and help her, but he doesn't. Instead, he walks to the helm.

"You've travelled with her before", he says, "though you don't remember. It was propably Bae who steered her, or maybe your lad."

"Henry?"

"Well, I can imagine his father showing him how to steer my ship."

Emma puts her hands down and walks up next to him. "Did you teach him? Neal, I mean."

"Aye. It was many years ago though. Haven't seen him since."

He shows her how to hold the helm and they switch places.

"How do we leave the shore?" she asks.

"Just watch."


"Mom?" Henry asks, at least for the third time.

"What?" Emma shakes her head. "Sorry, I thought you were talking to – nevermind, I have to get used to this."

Regina and Henry laugh at her. It was the oddest idea really, to have lunch with the three of them, but none of them could talk Henry out of it. He wanted lunch with his parents.

At least he didn't invite his grandparents.

"So, how long will it take?" Henry asks her.

"I really don't know, kid. Sometimes I feel like the end's really close, but then I realize we don't even know how to break this curse. We have to prepare for Tamara's and Greg's arrival."

"Oh, I'd really like them to come back", Neal says. "I'd like to say a few words to her."

Emma raises her eyebrow. "Thought you were over her."

"That doesn't mean she can threaten my son."

She bites her lip. "Sure. But you have to admit I was right about her."

"You had a good guess."

She wants to snap back, but he's smiling.

"Think you're funny, huh?" she asks.


"So he hates you?" Emma asks, looking back over her shoulder. She's the one to steer the ship, he only tells her what to do, and it feels really good. Though the ship's moving beneath her, she knows she's in control.

"I don't know", he answers, keeping an eye on the horizon instead of her.

"You should talk to him. I mean, aren't you some sort of stepfather to him?"

"Never understood these crazy family member titles you give each other", he says, shaking his head. She laughs and turns back to the front.

"How can you see anything when it's so dark?" she asks. She doesn't really want to change the subject, but Killian clearly doesn't want to talk about Neal, or Gold, and especially not Milah and anything that has something to do with families.

"Look for the stars", he tells her. "They can guide any sailor."

"I'm not really a sailor, so that means I'd rather be looking for, you know, earth and such", she answers.

"We're quite far from earth", he says. "Aren't you tired? It's been three hours since we left shore."

"Three hours? I'm steering this thing since three hours?"

"You're steering her since three hours", he corrects. "Would you like to go back?"

She sighs. "Not really."


Regina agrees to take Henry home, since he has some sword-fight practice to do with David, and that leaves Emma alone with Neal.

He walks her to her apartment and she tries to make a conversation.

"I have… propably asked you this before", she starts, "but, what do you think of him?"

"Who?"

"Well, Henry of course."

Neal smiles. Who else could she mean?

"He's a lot like you. Tough little kid, and he seems to like me. It's really weird to know that I have a son, but he's really great."

Emma smiles too, just like every time someone mentions Henry.

"He needs us to be a family, you know", he adds.

"Yeah. But that doesn't mean –"

"No, Emma, I get it. Really", he says, opening the door for her. "It's just, we need to stick together."

"I know", she says before walking up the stairs. "I know."


"What happened then?" she asks, and she can't stop laughing.

"Well, I pointed my sword at him and said, 'Mate, that's really not what I came here for.'"

Emma almost chokes on her rum. She leans against the wooden wall and pulls her legs up. They are sitting on the floor in his cabin, and he's telling her stories. Stories about what happened to him when he was younger, and she can tell they all happened before he met Milah.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You just did, lass."

"But, another one."

He takes another sip before continuing to scan her with his eyes. She can never exactly tell what color his eyes are, sometimes they look grey like the storm, sometimes blue like the sky, then green like the sea. Maybe all three together. Dangerous storm, endless sky, calming sea.

"Ask away."

Emma takes a deep breath.

"What happened after I left you up at the beanstalk?"

"Well, that's quite a long story, Emma."

"I'd like to hear it anyway. We have all night after all, don't we?"


"Emma!" her mother says as she enters the apartment, pushing her out of her memories. "Hook was looking for you, I told him to look for you at Granny's, didn't you meet?"

"Um, no", she shakes her head. "He must've gone to the docks. I'll go look for him."

"He said something about leaving", Snow says, which makes Emma turn.

"What did he say?"

"Well, I just mentioned that you went to have lunch with Neal and Henry and –"

Of course. She forgot to tell her parents she invited Regina too.

"…and he was gone, just like that."

"Alright, I have to talk to him."

"Emma, wait!" her father calls from the kitchen. "We found your note."

She really doesn't have the time but takes the paper anyway and reads it.

And then reads it again.

How comes she hadn't seen it before?

"Okay, I have to find him", she says and rushes out.

She needs to find him right now.


Alright, mates, there's only one left! I'll be back in a week and you can all read it. I hope you'll be satisfied with the ending.