Emma woke up in the middle of the forest. It was not the forest near Storybrooke or any other forest she knew. The trees were really high and the air wasn't humid. She even could get rid of her cardigan since the sun was shining really bright on the sky and it was starting to get a little too hot for wool.
She walked for almost half an hour and didn't find anything except for more trees and a small river. Until, surprisingly, she saw a road. A large and bustling road, so she decided to follow it, because, as a river always ends up in the sea, a road always ends up in a city. After some time walking by the road, Emma saw a road sign, and it read "Tallahassee". Her heart stopped and breathing suddenly became more difficult. How could she be in Florida? Most of all, how could she be specifically there?
A little bit more down the road there was a bifurcation, and two other road signs. One read "Welcome to Tallahassee" and the other one read something she didn't care about. She turned left and kept going, as if she'd been waiting her whole life to do that. The city was stunning, and the bright sun apparently made everything look even better. She was admiring the view when a car parked right beside her.
"Emma?" A man said from inside. "What are you doing here?"
When Emma looked at the man's face, she gasped. It was Neal.
"Neal?!" She said in a high tone.
"What's wrong? Were you going home?"
"Home?"
"Yes, home. Our home."
"Oh. I guess." She answered, not sure about what she was doing.
"Get in, then."
Emma had no idea of what was going on. She was in a car, with Neal, at Tallahassee. It was almost as if time hadn't passed and all of those horrible things that had happened to her had been automatically erased.
Neal turned right on the main road and kept going for around twenty minutes when they got there. The main road was no longer on sight and there was only one house a few meters from where she was, surrounded by trees and a lake. The house was white and had blue windows. There was a garden fulfilled with daisies and she could feel the breeze on her hair.
"Home, sweet home." Neal said when they got off the car. "Come in, we're having pizza for dinner tonight."
Emma instinctively followed him, and her body acted like it was used to doing those movements; arriving home, following Neal, having dinner. But why did everything feel so out of place?
In the inside the house was even more adorable. The living room was just as she wanted it to be. Blue sofas, light yellow walls, a TV and a tiny table where there was a pizza and two plates ready for them.
"Only two?" Emma asked.
"Are you waiting for someone?" Neal asked, in a tone of surprise.
"No. I don't think I am."
She spent a whole week, maybe a whole month on that place; living a normal life with the man she loved. Going to work, coming back home, watching movies, going to restaurants. Finally, she thought, things were starting to settle down.
But one day, while she was going to the gym, Emma saw a man. He had blue eyes and was missing a hand. He looked at her and she felt like she knew him from a dream. The man came in her direction, but she blinked and he was gone. During that whole day she couldn't forget the man's face, the way he came to her. He seemed desperate for some reason.
On that night Emma dreamed about him. She was falling into a very deep hole and he was trying to catch her, but as he tried to pull her back, he fell into the hole too, and both of them ended up trapped in some kind of different world.
On the next day the man appeared again when Emma was on her way to work. He was covered in dust and stopped in front of her, facing her with deep blue eyes. It seemed that he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Emma." He smiled.
For some reason, Emma felt some sort of connection with that man. He touched her hand and his soft skin made her body shiver.
"Hook…" She said, more to herself than to him, and suddenly she remembered. "Hook!" She screamed.
"I've been looking for you everywhere. It's been almost a day."
"A day? What do you mean 'a day'?" Emma asked, confused. "I've been here for almost a month now and… Henry!" Things were starting to make sense now. Emma always felt like there was something missing all the time she'd been there, but she never could figure out what. Henry, Snow White, Storybrooke, Hook… She always felt like those things were all memories from dreams she had had but now Hook was standing in front of her, touching her. It was as real as it could be.
"Emma, this," He said, showing the scenery around them, "all of this is an illusion. Don't you remember what happened?"
"You… kissed me. You kissed me and then it all turned to black. I could hear you but I couldn't talk to- No!"
"What?"
"No, this can't be! This is a dream! You, Henry, Storybrooke! You're all parts of these weird non-sense dreams I've been having!"
"Emma, please, believe me."
"No! This is real." She took some land with her hand. "See? This is reality!"
She started to walk in her home's direction, in a desperate and unsettled way. Hook followed her, uncertain about what he was about to see.
When they got to Emma's house, there was nothing. It was just a large piece of land covered with sand.
"It's not possible!" Emma shouted. "It was here! I just left!" Tears were streaming down her face, and Hook came closer. "I just left…" She repeated in a low, weak voice. Killian had never seen her so vulnerable. He approached her and she hugged him, sobbing loudly and allowing herself to be the weak one at least this time.
"All this time that I've been here it felt like something was missing. Something was wrong, I knew it. I just didn't know what."
They had walked into the woods, trying to get as far as possible from the city, and didn't even know that if they went back, there would be no city. Just a large piece of land covered with sand, just like Emma's house. It was almost night when they decided to sit down and make a bonfire, and as the night came, the weather changed from comfortable warm to sharp cold.
"How did you find me?" Emma asked.
"I don't mean to quote your parents but… I will always find you."
"I'm sorry about the scene you had to witness earlier. I wasn't being me."
"I think, for the first time, you were being you."
"I'm not much of a crier, you know?"
"We all cry when it's necessary."
"How did you end up here, anyway?"
"Changing subjects, are we?"
"No, just sincerely curious."
"Regina helped me."
"Regina?"
And then Hook told her the story about Cora, Henry and how he had got there. He didn't mention the part in which they would have to jump off a cliff, though.
"The book is wrong."
"Why?"
"You don't have to face your biggest fears here, that's not what happens. You get to live your deepest wishes and then you're obliged to see them disappear. This is one of the worst things one can live through."
"So I can deduce that your deepest wish is to live a life with Neal."
Emma chuckled. "It's not that simple, Killian." Saying his name was a way to remind her of reality. "Living a life with Neal wasn't my deepest wish, but living this normal life, without curses, evil witches and filthy pirates."
They shared a look for some time and Hook approached her. He put his arm on her shoulders.
"It's cold, isn't it?" He said with a smirk, looking into her eyes. "I missed you."
"It's only been one day."
"When I saw you unconscious in my arms, I felt the exact same thing you felt when you saw that your house was no longer there. Everything was gone."
She kissed his cheek and passed her fingers through his hair. "I didn't know I missed you."
He touched her face with his hook and wondered where that came from. Emma curled up next to him and looked at the stars. They stayed in that position for almost an hour when Emma said, "We should try to get some sleep."
"Probably." He answered.
She looked at him and kissed his lips. When they touched, it felt like they'd been apart for ages. She missed everything about him. He kissed back, wanting her even more. After losing her, he realized he couldn't afford to live through that ever again. They layed on the ground, trying to find some comfort between the leaves. If someone would read their deepest wishes now, they'd both be hoping that that night never got to an end.
