The first thing Emma was aware of as she returned to consciousness was the quiet. She opened her mouth to call out for Henry, but found herself retching instead, bringing up what felt like a gallon of seawater out of her lungs.

"Henry!" She managed to croak out.

"I've got him, love."

She turned her head at the sound of Hook's voice. He was laying on the deck not far from her, and his arm was wrapped around a coughing Henry.

Relief flooded her, followed closely by anger.

"What the hell was that! You almost killed us!" She pushed herself up to her knees and crawled over to her son.

"Henry? Are you okay?" He was taking big, gulping breaths now and he looked up at her, nodding his head.

"That was awesome!" He said to Hook with a huge grin. Hook laid back against the side of the ship, panting and spent after keeping the ship from capsizing and then diving to grab Henry before the wave pulled him overboard.

"Are we there?" Henry asked, excitedly. "Did we make it?"

Hook pushed himself to his feet and looked around.

"We're here, along the eastern shoreline, from the looks of it. The castle is a day's sail from here."

"Yes!" Henry pumped his fist in the air. "I'm finally going to live in a castle!"

Emma stood in the middle of the deck, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. Before they ran into the storm - or whatever it was - they were in open water and Boston was fading behind them. There was nothing else around that looked like this.

"What the hell is going on?" She turned to Hook. "Take us home."

"But that's what he's doing, Mom." Henry said. "Hook's taking us home."

"Hook? As in 'Captain Hook?'" Emma put a hand to her forehead as a strong wave of deja vu hit her again. "None of this is making any sense." She said, sounding more than a little lost.

Henry had moved over to take her hand, but she shook him off, moving closer to Hook.

"What's going on, here? Tell me the truth."

Hook's eyes softened, and he reached out to stroke her trembling jaw. He wanted to pull her in and hold her, but he'd likely get punched for that.

"Emma, listen to me, and to Henry. Most of what you remember about your life is a lie. A year ago, your memories were stripped from the both of you. The book I gave you was supposed to trigger those memories. It worked for Henry, but not for you...yet. But you remember. It's in there, love. I can see it cross your face sometimes, like just now when you heard my name."

Emma started to shake her head no, but he put a finger over her lips before she could say anything.

"Emma, look at me. Use your superpower - and yes, I know that about you as well. Am I lying to you, love?"

She stared at him, still shaking her head no as her eyes began to well with tears. "I'm going crazy. What's happening to me?"

He couldn't stand it. He pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. "You're not going crazy, love. I swear, you're not. I did everything I could to spare you this."

Emma pushed him off her. "You! You're the cause of all this! We were fine! We were happy! Then you showed up and the world went to hell!"

"Mom." Henry's voice came from behind her and she turned to look at him. "Come down to the cabin with me. You know you can trust me. Come down to the cabin, and look through the book with me. I'll try to bring you up to speed."

"This is crazy," She whispered, as she took Henry's hand. Hook watched as Henry led her away, wishing he could do something to trigger her into remembering. She must feel like she was going mad, and that was a terrifying feeling. He felt helpless.

He hated feeling helpless. He'd felt that way for the better part of a year, sailing every body of water he could find in search of a way to get her back. There were a lot of nights spent in despair, or drowning himself in rum just to try to push the memories away, because they tortured him so badly. Especially when he knew she carried no such memory of him.

He gave a sigh and made his way along the rail toward the wheel deck, when something caught his eye. The tail flipped first, and he could make out her face just below the water line, right at the side of the ship.

Hook looked over his shoulder to make sure he was alone. The last thing Emma needed to see in her current state of mind was a mermaid.

"We haven't reached land yet." He called down. "I have to get her and the boy to safety."

The mermaid surfaced, showing her face.

"Oh, it's you again," He said. "Did you hear me?"

"I heard you," she said. "And I still think you're foolish. Pretty, but foolish."

"It had to be done. You know what kind of evil the world is facing."

"Your world, human." She said, sourly. "Not ours."

Hook glared at her. "What affects them, eventually affects you, and you know it."

The mermaid gave an indifferent shrug. "That's for the future to decide, and I'll remind you that you don't have much to worry about. Your future is certain."

His jaw tightened. "I know that."

"So pretty," She said with a sigh. "Courting the curse of the mermaids to save someone who doesn't even know you anymore. Such a shame." She laughed. "Well, for her, anyway." Then she disappeared beneath the waves.

Hook took a deep breath, then stepped up to the wheel deck and pointed the ship toward home.

###

It was nearly midnight when Emma stepped out on the deck. She and Henry had been ensconced in the cabin for hours, and he'd enthusiastically told her his story, pouring over the book and filling in everything to the minutest detail. At first she'd indulged him, then it just started getting stupid.

Fairy tale characters? Snow White and Prince Charming? Peter Pan? Please. She was about to shut him down when he started talking about Neal, and that's when everything took a left turn into seriously crazy.

Maybe Jones gave him some of that information, but there's no way he could have told him all of it. Henry knew that Neal hated mayo on his sandwiches and that he hummed when he brushed his teeth. He knew that she'd given birth to him in jail because she'd been abandoned. He knew that Neal gave her the Bug and he even knew about the keychain, even though it had been discarded years ago.

How? How the hell did he know all that? After hours of talking and explanations and stories, Emma felt like her brain was leaking out of her ears. Henry had finally crashed, his arm around the book, and she needed some air.

Hook was sitting at the bow, with his back against the siderail. One knee was drawn up and he had his arm resting on it. He looked up at her as she approached. She sat down next to him, pulling her knees up and hugging them to her chest.

He looked over at her. "Are you all right?" He said, warily.

"Define 'all right'."

"I know this is a lot to take in, love. But you've had to do it before, believe it or not. You just have to trust us until we find a way to restore your real memories."

She shook her head slowly. "And what if I don't want them back? Did any of you consider that? The memories that Henry and I have are good. No complaints. Maybe we're happy like this. Did that occur to you?"

Hook shifted his gaze away for a moment. "It did. And I tell myself that wakening you is for the greater good, but I'm afraid I'm not that altruistic. I wanted you to remember me."

"According to Henry and his stories, you're a reformed villainous pirate."

Hook smiled. "That I am."

Emma took in a breath. "And there it goes again. I get these waves of deja vu when you say things sometimes. And I can't explain it without admitting that the entire universe is on a train to crazy town."

He looked at her, and even with the moonlight, she could still see the blue of his eyes. "So I suppose the question for you, love, is whether or not you can take a leap of faith."

Emma nodded, taking in a deep breath. "I've decided that this has got to be a dream. One long, crazy-ass dream. I drank my vodka cranberry, I sat down on the couch, and when I wake up, Henry will go to school, I'll go to work, and I'll never drink again."

"A dream?" He said, quirking a brow. "That's what you're going with?"

"Yep. A dream." She shrugged.

He considered that a moment. "You know, that does make things easier. In a dream, you're free to do whatever you want. To 'go with the flow' as it were. Fight fairytale battles and live in castles." He shifted, reaching out to pull a strand of hair that had blown against her mouth. "Indulge in your wildest fantasies without consequence," He said in a rough voice.

"I suppose so," She murmured, and a moment later, she was pulled across his lap and he was kissing as if he were starving for her, deeply and hungrily. She twined her arms around his neck and kissed him back, feeling the strength of his arm at her back and the heat of his hand as it moved from her neck into her hair.

"Was it like this?" She asked, between soft, sucking kisses. "Before, I mean. With us."

He pulled back to look at her, and his thumb lightly stroked her lower lip. "We didn't have a lot of time, you and I. And as wretched as this curse has been, it did give us a chance to start over. I can't be anything but grateful for that." His mouth met hers again, and she felt herself being layed down onto the deck. His hand cupped her head protectively even as he half-covered her with his body.

This might be a dream, she reasoned. But it was one hell of a dream. She arched into him, meeting the slide of his tongue with hers and echoing the motion of his body as he moved against her.

He pulled back again, panting a bit. "There's a boy in my cabin," He said, with a bit of frustration.

"Yeah, I know." Emma pulled him down to kiss him again, but after a moment he leaned back, pulling them both back up into a sitting position.

"Why'd you stop?" She asked, confused.

"Because I swore to myself after our last dalliance that I wasn't going to take you on the deck. When I have you for the first time, there will be a bed. A soft bed."

"I like a firm mattress, myself."

"Ah, love. You'll need it soft. I plan to be on you all night."

"But not tonight?"

He closed his eyes a moment, as if fighting himself. "No love, not tonight. I'm not usually a patient man, but for you, I will make an exception." He reached over, pulling her back across his lap. "I will, however, hold you for the remainder of the evening. You need to get some rest."

Emma settled into his chest. "This is nice. Being held." She yawned. "I don't want to go to sleep. When I wake up, I'll be on the couch again and you'll be gone."

He stroked her hair, tilting his chin down to kiss the top of her head.

"I'll still be here, love. I promise."

He felt her body go limp just a few moments later, as sleep claimed her. She'd had a long day. Hell, they all had. And tomorrow wasn't going to be any easier for her, unfortunately.

Because when they sailed into port, Neal would be waiting.