Emma sat on deck, trying to read, but mostly watching the Captain as he shouted orders at his crew. Watching him amongst his men did nothing to help alleviate her growing feelings. His men were absolutely loyal, and she knew by watching that he had not gained their loyalty out of fear. They would follow him to the ends of the Earth out of respect, and that he treated them with respect in turn. He put on the facade of the pirate captain, but asked nothing more than for his ship to be run as smoothly as it would in the Navy, and that he was willing to harder than any other man sailing with him.

As she tried to turn her eyes back to her book, they all heard a cry from the Crow's Nest.

"Captain, ship approaching from the south. Flying the flags of the Enchanted Forest."

The Captain's eyes immediately flew to Emma's face. They had picked her up there, and he knew she was running from something.

His thoughts were disrupted by Smee at his side.

"Enchanted Forest, Captain. You remember the warning. We've been told that the Evil Queen has been sailing with the same flags as a disguise. We can't trust it.

The Captain knew better than to trust anyone. He turned to their passenger.

"Anything I should know, princess?"

"If it's the Evil Queen, you should give me a sword. I'm quite skilled with a sword."

"As I'm well aware, love," he said with a smirk. "But your sword skills will be kept for me alone." She shook her head and started to protest. Even with approaching danger he had time for innuendo. Before she could argue her case for staying above deck, he cut her off. "Smee, please take her down to our cabin and lock the door. You will remain outside the door, and she will remain inside. Do you understand?" Smee nodded assent and went to take the passenger's arm.

Before Smee could lead her away she overheard him ask one of the men, "Did someone think to fetch my hook?" and immediately saw him start to strap a leather brace to his arm, covering up his left hand entirely. She broke free from Smee's grasp and turned back to the Captain.

"Wait, you're Captain Hook?"

"I see my reputation preceds me." He smiled and bowed to the passenger. "Yes, Lieutenant Killian Jones died the day my brother died in service of King George. Captain Hook is all that remains. But that, love, is a story for another day. Smee, our guest. Take her below please." Before she left, the Captain grabbed her hand and Emma briefly expected that he was going to kiss her right in front of his crew. She wouldn't have minded. In fact she would have been touched at the gesture; proof that she wasn't the only one developing feelings. Instead, the captain slid the ring she had offered him for her passage off her finger, slid it on to his pinkie, and winked at her.

As quickly as he had taken the ring, he turned and brought his spyglass to his eye, all attention focused on the quickly approaching ship. He quickly determined is was too late to try to outrun them, and it would look suspicious if they did. At present they did not have any illicit goods on board, and other than not knowing the identity of their guest their manifest was clean. He decided it was best to cooperate, and hope that the crew were really members of the Royal Navy, not the Dark Knights of the Evil Queen's guard. When they were near enough, he gave assent for a small rowboat of their crew to come across and board the smaller pirate ship.

Upon their arrival, he was happy to see that not only were they from the Enchanted Forest, their captain had boarded, along with his lieutenant. If things were go amiss, he at least had two high level hostages right in front of him.

"To what do we owe this surprise inspection, Captain. I can't say that we are committing any felony, at least at this time." He smirked to the other captain. Both men knew that Hook's typical operations were never above board.

"We're looking for this woman. Have you seen her?" Hook looked at the simple drawing that was being held out and knew who he was going to see before his eyes could focus. What he was not expecting was to see the face he had come to know reflected with such a peaceful expression, so beautiful and serene. It was different from the woman hiding in his cabin at the current moment.

Hook decided on his course of action.

"Yes, we took her aboard about four or five weeks ago. She sailed with us for just a week. We unexpectedly had to put in at a port city to the south as one of our crew members grew quite ill, and she opted to get off at that time. I believe the port was called Era. Shame, I would have enjoyed her company further. Can't say I made a good bargain though. She traded this ring for her passage. With the amount of trouble it took to keep my men from her I should have asked for more. My men aren't used to having women aboard, but no women shares a man's company without her permission on my ship."

The other ship's captain decided not to comment on the actions of Hook's crew, and instead eyed the ring in question, trying to size up whether he knew it to be one of the princess'.

"You say that was her ring? She didn't ask for it back after she decided to cut her journey short?"

"No, I got the impression she had many such treasures on her person and could provide well for her trip. Who might she be if you don't mind me asking? Either someone important or someone in trouble, if the Royal Navy has been tasked with finding her."

"She's the Princess Emma, Queen Snow and King David's daughter."

Trying to hide his shock, Hook laughed and let out a whistle. "Definitely should have asked for more. Didn't realize we were ferrying a princess." He turned to put on a show for his crew, knowing and trusting in their loyalty. Not a man on his ship would sell out the princess' presence. "Boys, didn't know you were sharing your mealtimes with royalty, did you? Would have minded your manners a bit more had you known you were dining with your future queen. Well, for those of you who will acknowledge any allegiance and that's not many of you."

Trying to cut the spectacle short, the Naval Captain interrupted. "When you let the princess off did she say where she planned on going?"

"Well, Captain, It may not come as much of a surprise to you, but the princess did not much take to me, and could not wait to be off my ship. She wasn't exactly keen to share her plans with me. Your guess would most likely be better than mine. Any idea why she's running from her parents?"

"That's not really any of your concern. We will tell you there's a large reward for her return, so if you do cross paths with her again, it is in your best interests to bring her home. It's not just her parents who are looking for her, and we're anxious to find her before any other parties do. I would like to offer you some gold in exchange for that ring. Her parents would most likely want me to retrieve her property, and like it as proof that I've been able to trace her this far."

Hook had no interest in the ring, and was sure it held no value to Emma. What he was interested in was the drawing.

"Well Captain, I'm not exactly hurting for gold. I have no attachment to this ring and would have traded it at the next port. What I do want is that little drawing you have there. My crew and I might like it as a reminder of the time we carried a member of the royal family. What do you say; this gold ring with a nice big stone for that little piece of paper?"

The naval captain wasn't quite sure. On one hand, they had several drawings of Emma to use on their journey, but he did not feel right leaving the image of the Princess with this pirate. "Captain, I can see you thinking it over. You have nothing else to offer me. If you want the ring, I'll take the drawing. Otherwise, you'd best be on your way. My crew and I are growing hungry and our lunch is getting cold."

The Naval Captain nodded his agreement and his Lieutenant came over to Captain Hook with the drawing. Hook held out his hand for the other man to remove the ring. The man looked at him, not understanding, until Hook waved his namesake appendage in the air. "It's not like I can do it myself. You want the ring you're going to need to take it off my finger yourself."

After watching the men board their dingy and return to their ship, he carefully folded the drawing and put it in his vest. Turning to his crew, he indicated for one of the other men to take the helm.

"Men, please continue on our set course. I need to go have a word with our guest."