Emma was really, really ready for a holiday break. She knew she wouldn't really get one—just Christmas and New Year's—but damn, work was getting stressful. She was a little relieved that Leo and Regina were going on a cruise for Christmas so she wouldn't have to go all the way up to Maine on her own this year. But it also meant that she might get called in on Christmas Day, and given how much of a trainwreck her caseload was, two days before Christmas, there was a decent chance it would happen.

And it was very important that she didn't have to work on Christmas because she had plans. Sort of.

She and the Captain had made plans, not to meet, but to be around all day to engage in some together-but-separate activities. Specifically, they were going to both watch Home Alone on Christmas Eve while drinking wine, they were both going to make pancakes Christmas morning, they were going to exchange gifts in the afternoon, and they were going to watch It's a Wonderful Life in the evening while drinking Old Fashioneds. And, of course, they'd be exchanging notes throughout the day, and there would probably be some erotic messages in the mix.

She did wonder whether or not he might be planning to surprise her by asking to meet. It seemed a little silly to be watching the same movie in separate apartments in the same building, and would make one hell of a Christmas gift. But she didn't want to get her hopes up again.

Things had just been going so well between them, ever since they'd officially labeled what they had together as a relationship. Not much had changed, but knowing that she was getting letters from her boyfriend felt a lot different than when she was just getting letters from her secret admirer. And while she noticed he was still careful about avoiding topics that might give away his identity, she still felt like she knew him. Although she did avoid giving up the same sort of information as well; she informed him early on that if she didn't get to know exactly what he did for a living, he didn't get to know what she did either.

Her Christmas plans with him were supposed to be a secret, but of course, given how badly everyone kept secrets, they weren't. Tink insisted that she'd tried not to tell anyone about Emma turning down Hot Guy because of the Captain, but that Mary Margaret had weaseled it out of her ("She's like a conversational wizard!"). And then, of course, Victor found out from David, and Ruby found out from Victor (that was a little weird; usually Ruby found stuff out from Mary Margaret).

To her immense surprise, though, they were all supportive of her unconventional relationship. They never commented on his reluctance to meet in person, and they just treated her as though everything was totally normal; she might as well have been in a long-distance relationship. They referred to him as Emma's boyfriend, and asked after him just like they'd asked after Walsh (although she was much happier to talk about the Captain).

It helped that he sent her to brunch at Stephanie's again, this time insisting that she take all her friends with her. She had informed the Captain that both Ruby and David had announced they were considering competing with Emma for his affections, and she'd also passed along a photo of the Bloody Mary Victor had ordered (with eight different garnishes).

She found that she was able to talk about the Captain without feeling ashamed or embarrassed, and even found herself telling him about her friends (not by name; how many Tinker Bells or Victor Whales could there possibly be?). He reciprocated, recounting some of his exploits with his three best friends (a detective, a librarian, and … well, he wasn't clear what the third friend did, but he ran some sort of retail business). It was clear from his letters that his friends knew about her, and (while it sounded like one of them was giving him a good ribbing about the situation) were just as supportive as hers.

She just hoped everyone would still be supportive when they finally met.

But when she finally got home from work that day, two days before Christmas, and the doorman stopped her on her way to the elevator, she knew something was wrong. "Apartment three-eleven?" he asked her from behind the desk.

"Um, yeah," she said cautiously. "Is there a problem?"

He shrugged. "I was asked to give these to you." He handed her two thick yellow padded shipping envelopes; one was simply labeled, "Swan: 311 #1," and the other clearly had another address on it initially, but the shipping address had been entirely defaced and, "#2" had been written on it.

She rushed upstairs. There was no note under the doormat.

When she opened the first package, she found several envelopes with dates on them; fanning them out, she confirmed they were in order, starting with the current date. While she was reminding herself that she liked letters from the Captain, and these were clearly just that, she had a feeling she wasn't about to like what was going on. She opened the first letter.

My beloved Princess,

This morning, I received a call from a family member imploring me to return home for the holidays. I will be forthright: my selfish bastard of an estranged father is on his deathbed, and the remaining members of my extended family are certain that he will not survive much longer. As I write this letter to you, I am in the process of booking transportation home; I am his next of kin.

It's bad enough that I am leaving you, even temporarily (I'm not leaving you—you know that). It's bad enough that I'm leaving at Christmas. It's bad enough that I'm ruining our plans. I feel terrible. I cannot abandon you.

So I've done all that I can do on such short notice. I've enclosed a letter for each day that I am forcibly parted from you. Because of this unexpected turn of events, I had not had a chance to properly prepare your gift; please excuse the incredibly unattractive packaging.

As it stands now, I am due to return on January 1st. Obviously, the circumstances I'm in are not so clear-cut; I've no way to know when (it has been made very clear to me that this is a "when, not if" situation) my father will pass, and if I will have to stay longer. But the thought of beginning the new year without you is unsavory at best, and unbearable at worst; if I plan to be home by then, then perhaps fortune will see fit to show me favor.

This turn of events has made one thing crystal clear to me: I can't wait any longer. When I do return home, love, do not expect a note under your doormat. Expect me, standing atop it, begging your forgiveness for asking you to wait this long, and for having to leave in the first place.

Already counting the days till our reunion,
Your Captain

She picked up her cell phone and immediately called Mary Margaret. "What's wrong, honey?"

"He's gone."

"What?"

"The Captain."

"What? What do you mean, gone?"

"He had to go home."

"Oh, no. Sweetie, I'm so sorry. How long is he gone for?"

"January," she replied glumly. "Add in the fact that I might have to work Christmas, this is the suckiest holiday season ever."

"Well, are you busy tonight? I know we're leaving super early tomorrow, and Tink's on her way home already, but it's worth calling around."

"That might not be a bad idea. Can you come out to my neck of the woods? This whole situation is making me feel like shit."

"No problem. I think it'll just be me, though; David had the worst commute home today and I don't think he's up for leaving the apartment. Where do you want to go?"

"Sunset? Seven o'clock? I'll call Victor and Ruby."

"Okay, see you at seven."

Ruby was unusually slow to answer her cell. "Hey, Ruby, Sunset at seven?"

"Um, okay. Is everyone else coming?"

"Me and Mary Margaret, and I'm going to call Victor. That okay?"

"Yeah, definitely. All right, I'll see you soon." It was a shockingly quick conversation, given Ruby's propensity for gossip. Why hadn't she wanted to know why Emma wanted to go out for drinks? She shrugged and called Victor.

"Hey, you up for going out tonight?"

"Yeah, sure. See you soon."

"Um, don't you want to know where? Or when?" She frowned. "You haven't started drinking already, have you?"

"No, no! Sorry, it's just been a long day." The phone was momentarily muffed, and then he asked, "So, where and when?"

"Sunset, at seven o'clock."

"All right, I'll see you there." And he hung up. That had been weird.

At the bar, Emma was regretting her decision. Her friends just kept staring at her. "Guys, stop it," she said. "You're supposed to be distracting me."

"Sorry," Victor said apologetically. "I'll order you another drink."

"She has to work tomorrow," Ruby reminded him.

"She can work with a hangover," he replied firmly. "We've all done it. It's part of adulthood."

"Guys, distract me," Emma said, the first two drinks in her system leaving her to complain childishly.

"Um, okay," Ruby said. "Do you want to watch a movie tonight?"

"This late?" Mary Margaret asked.

"You don't have to work tomorrow."

"Yeah, but I do, and since my apartment's the closest, I'd be hosting," Emma reminded her. "And clearly, I'm not in the mood."

"His dad is dying?" Victor asked; Ruby swatted his arm and gave him a warning look.

"Yeah. He called him a selfish bastard, and said they're estranged. This is the first time he's ever mentioned him. So I think this is an all around miserable situation. And here I am whining like a teenager because my boyfriend is out of town for a week."

"A week and a half," Ruby said sympathetically. "And during the holidays. Sorry!" she added quickly, as Mary Margaret shot her a warning glare. "Look, I'm just trying to validate her feelings!"

"Yeah, Emma," Victor jumped in. "You can still feel sad and maybe even a little angry about this."

"Thanks for the permission," she replied sarcastically before taking another sip of her third margarita.

Her phone beeped with a text from Tink. STILL laid over. What happened?

She tapped her reply. Capn had to leave till new years bc dads dying. obvs im not handling it well

Mary Margaret's phone suddenly rang. "Hey, Tink, what's up?" Her eyes widened slightly and she glanced at Emma. "Well, that was Victor's fault. Yeah, okay." She put her phone on speaker.

"Emma, are you okay?" Tink asked, her voice scratchy over the phone's connection.

"Would you be?" she retorted.

"How much have you had to drink?"

"I'm not a freshman, Tink."

"Okay, so that's at least two." Damn her friends for knowing her so well. "Emma, I'm really sorry."

"It's fine," she said, but she couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice. "What's he supposed to do? Stay here with me?"

"I wonder why he didn't just tell you in person," Mary Margaret mused.

"If he had to leave the letters and the package with the doorman, he probably had already left for the airport by the time she got home," Victor pointed out.

"What letters? What package?" Tink was out of the loop.

"He left her a letter for every day that he's going to be gone, and he left her her Christmas present," Ruby explained.

"And he said he's going to finally introduce himself when he gets back," Mary Margaret added.

"Shit," Tink said loudly, and then they could hear her apologize to some passersby at the airport. "That's kind of romantic."

"Yeah, as romantic as sitting on my ass for a week and a half without getting to talk to him," Emma said.

"Well, he wrote you letters," Tink said. "Why don't you reply?"

"Yeah," Ruby said, her eyes brightening a little. "It'll give you something to do, and it'll make you feel like you're still able to talk."

"But he won't get them till he gets back," Emma grumbled. "That's stupid, you guys." But … maybe it wasn't? And it was at least something to do.

"I've gotta run, guys," Tink said. "I think my damn flight is finally boarding. Emma, I love you, sweetie, hang in there."

"Thanks, Tink."

"Have a Merry Christmas, you guys!"

Mercifully, the night wound down after that. Mary Margaret had opted to drive to the bar, so she hadn't been drinking; she drove Emma home and helped her straighten up the apartment to make her feel a little better. Emma appreciated that her sister avoided snooping through the letters from the Captain (both the stack of letters during his absence, and the overflowing drawer of them from the past two months).

When her sister finally left, after hugging her tightly and promising a Skype session on Christmas Day, Emma grabbed her legal pad and wrote her first reply.

My dear Captain,

I am so sorry about your father. Even if he is/was a selfish bastard, that doesn't mean that this isn't a hard time for you. I hope that your trip home is as painless as it can be, and that you're still able to enjoy the holidays. Maybe it's better that our Christmas plans are cancelled, since I might have to work anyway. But it's really not better because it'll probably make me miss you more.

And I already miss you one hell of a lot. I know it's just for a week and a half, but this is already so much worse than Thanksgiving was. And if I'm this disappointed, I can't imagine what you're going through right now.

Look, I know this is really stupid because you're going to get these letters all at once, but screw it. I'm going to reply to every single one of these letters and give them all to you when you get back. I can't think of anything else I can do.

I know I should just be looking forward to seeing you—really, really seeing you—when you get back, and I really am, but this just isn't fair. I want you here now. Nine days is clearly too long.

I'll forgive you for leaving if you'll forgive me for being incredibly sullen and moody like a teenager.

Missing you very much already,
Your Princess

I updated a little earlier than usual as an apology for the length of the last chapter!