Fifteen minutes.

They were walking for fifteen minutes on relatively even ground and Emma was already fighting for breath. Cursing under her breath, she stumbled after Hook, who, apparently, had no intention of speaking to her. He just kept walking in front of her, eyes set on one spot ahead, as his feet carried him with long, forceful strides. She knew what he was doing. He had to know she was still kind of weak and fatigue from her fever, yet he kept his fast pace, as if he was punishing, or at least mocking her.

Half an hour later, she couldn't take it anymore. Her lungs and throat were burning, making her eyes water slightly. She swallowed something that felt awfully like pride, and stopped dead in her tracks. He passed twenty or so feet before he realized he couldn't hear her steps behind him, and pulled to a stop himself. Emma waited for him to turn around or say something, but he stayed silent and she kept staring at his back, making her see he was being a stubborn pain in her ass.

She licked her lips, which suddenly felt very, very dry. "I'm sorry," she said, barely managing to push the words out, "for what I said."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, his voice even.

She snorted in a very unladylike like way as a laugh bubbled from her lips. "Right, and I'm a ballerina," she said, rolling her eyes. "Cut the crap. I'm trying to be a decent person here, can't you make it a little easier on me?" she asked. No answer. Emma nodded, "Guess you can't. You're gonna make me work for this, are you?"

"That was the plan," came his reply, making Emma's lips twitch.

"What do you want me to say? I was angry, I thought you weren't going to help me find this woman. I'm sorry, okay? There's nothing more I can give you but that."

He finally turned to face her, his eyes seemingly glowing for the first time since Emma landed on that deck. It was a glow she used to frequently see in Neverland, when he would talk about something he was fond of, tease anyone in their rescue team, or make innuendos at Emma. At first she found it annoying, but as time passed, she actually grew fond of the damn sparkle, since it always meant things weren't as dark and lost as they seemed. And the fact she was seeing it again was only making Emma hope, which was a bad thing, since her hopes usually got crushed into dust.

"You could crawl a little," he pointed out.

Emma was quick to fire back, her mind working on its own because of this very familiar way of bickering with him. "I could throw a rock at you, too. How 'bout that?"

He shook his head, "Not as good as crawling, no."

She caught up to him, fighting a smirk that threatened to appear on her face, as he started to walk, this time, in a slower pace. Silence settled between them as they made their way through the town, heading for the forest. He wasn't exactly chatting with her, but at least he stopped being a bitch. She would have to make the best of that.

Emma wasn't a pushy, nosy person, but at that moment, as they were leaving the guarded town behind, she found herself wanting to press on the subject of Milah's death a lot more than she ever did before. Emma couldn't help herself, the woman was dead but still heavily involved in her life, which sometimes bothered her a little. Back in Neverland, she didn't dare ask Hook about her, she found it weird, but maybe now was as good as time as any. There was nothing she could lose anyway, since she doubted he'd leave her in the middle of nowhere.

"Hey Hook?"

He didn't say anything, but his jaw ticked, which Emma took as a sign to continue. "Why don't we play a little game?" she couldn't believe the words coming out of her mouth, but she doubted he'd answer any of her questions any other way.

"What?" he asked, his voice slightly disbelieving. He gave her a sideways look, and she clutched her fists at her sides, fighting to keep her resolve up.

"Oh, come on. You a coward?" she teased, cocking an eyebrow.

"I do not care for games, Swan."

She recognized her own grouchy behavior in him, and frowned. Was she this hard to get along with as well? If she was, she'd have to do something about that, because he was seriously getting on her nerves with his attitude. How in the hell was she supposed to get through to him, when she felt like she was going against a brick wall with a toothpick?

"I'm not talking about hide and seek, it's something more... tame. How about twenty questions?"

"No," he said before she even got to finish her sentence. "No questions."

"Wow captain, you sure have a lot to hide," she remarked, knowing she'd have to resort to low blows if she wanted to get some information.

He stopped, and she ran into his back while not paying attention. Letting out an 'mmph', she rubbed her nose. "A warning next time, maybe?"

He ignored her, spinning around to face her. "I know what you're doing," he stated, his lips stretching in a smirk. "You're resorting to the same kind of manipulation I find very dear, but love, it doesn't work on me. I admire the effort, though. Good form you have there."

His words startled her, and she started at him, her stand only steeling as seconds ticked by. "Twenty questions, Hook. Not the end of the world."

"Five."

"Fifteen." She couldn't believe she had to bargain with him.

"Ten."

"Fifteen," she pressed on, fully knowing ten was enough, but it was fun making him squirm.

"Eleven."

"Twelve."

"Oh, come on now, are we really going to haggle over a petty question?"

"Twelve," she repeated through gritted teeth. The fun was over, she just wanted to get down to business.

"Fine, but I get twelve questions as well."

Damn it. That option wasn't supposed to cross his mind. She bit the inside of her cheek, mulling it through in her head. What would he ask her anyway? She told him the most vital parts of her story - she told him about Henry, her parents and the curse. The end. There was nothing more about Emma Swan anyone would want to know, at least that was what she thought.

"Deal," she said finally.

"I get to go first."

"What? Why?"

"This was your ridiculous idea, that's why. You get to pay the price first," he said. "Now start walking, or we'll run out of daylight before we even make it a third of the way," he motioned for her to follow him, and she sighed, eyeing her sword. Maybe she could press it against his back and force him to stop, let her rest her feet for a bit.

It took him twenty minutes before he spoke. "My first question is, have me met before?" he asked, completely throwing Emma off. Her voice hitched in her throat, and for a horrible second she though he might actually be on to something, before she quickly dismissed the idea. There was no way he could know, was there?

"Of course we haven't-"

"Do not take me for a fool," he cut in, "I am not talking about the present time. The things you say, the way you would look at me sometimes, it is as if you know me a lot better than you're letting on. So I repeat my question, do we know each other in a time where you come from?"

Nobody said she had to tell the truth.

"No, we-" she started, about to lie her tongue off, but the look in his eyes made the words die on her lips. The single syllable, no, made something crack in there. She sighed, feeling the weight of the truth press on her chest. "Yeah, we've met before," she admitted. "By a string of really crazy events, we wound up... running into each other in the Enchanted forest after I fell through a magic hat that took me there." She decided it would be best to leave the whole 'beanstalk, compass, her punching him out cold' thing out. He didn't need to know that.

"You fall through a lot of portals, don't you?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Buddy, you have no idea."

"But that's..." he took a deep breath, "three hundred years in the future. How did I-"

"No, don't ask me that. If I tell you, you might do something crazy and end up changing things. I can't risk anything going differently, because many lives are at stake," her voice rang with finality, and she stood her ground, not leaving any place to argue. He didn't say anything and she took it as a sign that he would let go of the subject. "Okay, my turn. Why did you let me stay on your ship?"

"If my memory serves me, and it does, you insisted."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh please. Like you couldn't throw me overboard if you wanted to."

"You're right, I could. Bloody shame I didn't."

Emma gave him a weary look, before punching him in the shoulder. "What was that for?" he asked, shooting daggers at her while he rubbed his shoulder.

"You're dodging the question."

"Fine. Smee made a point that you would be a good source of... entertainment for my crew."

It was her turn to stop. "Oh my God," her eyes widened when she realized the meaning behind his words. "If we make it out of this forest alive, I'm going to kill him," she stated, "Shoot him. Stab him. Fire him out of a damn cannon!"

"You can stop spitting fire, Swan, it's obvious nobody tried to make advances at you."

"That's not the point! You let me stay because you thought I would... Oh my God," she repeated. "Forget Smee, I'm gonna kill you."

He raised his hands in defense, a grin spilling over his face. "It was an honest mistake, love. Had I known you were such a wild, stubborn, strenuous thing I would have thrown you off my ship, I give you my word."

"You are not helping your case," she muttered darkly, fighting the urge to harm him. Then a thought occurred to her and she forgot about everything else. "But, why would you want "entertainment"? Aren't you still pinning after Mil..." her jaw dropped at her own words. "That came out wrong," she tried to fix the situation, but he was already saying, "How do you know that?"

She swallowed, averting her eyes. "You have pretty bad nightmares. I can hear you at night." His shoulders tensed, and she wished she had something to say that would make him feel better. She knew what it felt like to feel exposed when someone knew your secrets. "I don't blame you," she quickly added. "I mean, I've had a lot of bad ones myself."

"About what?" he asked so quietly, that Emma wondered if he said anything at all.

It took her a few minutes to answer, and she wondered where to start. Taking a deep breath, she said, "When I was little, they were usually about my... foster parents. Some were pretty bad ones. They'd... scream at me and hit me, sometimes leave me hungry for days. Others were about my real parents. I didn't know who they were and I'd dream of faceless people who would leave me next to that road, and laughter would just... echo as they did. And then when the guy I loved left me to rot in jail, I dreamed about my kid and having to leave him. Now... my nightmares are about Henry staying or dying on that island."

"That's a great burden to bear Emma," he said, and she realized it was the first time she'd heard him use her name. Not Swan, love or any other nickname he came up with, but her real name. She'd count that as a small victory.

She shrugged, "I don't have anyone to carry it with me, so I manage."

"She died in my arms," he said, making it sound like a confession, "but you probably know that."

"Doesn't matter. I'm still sorry. But all that pent up rage thing you have going on... it's not going to make it any easier. Trust me, I know. I was so angry at my parents that I refused to believe they were real even when I had a guy show me his leg that turned into wood. Couldn't see a damn thing. I was so mad that they were, of all people, a prince and a princess. It would have been much easier to be left by people who were so poor they couldn't raise me, than by people who lived in a castle. But I was wrong - they were giving me my best shot when they put me in that wardrobe. My point is," she looked at him and found he was already looking back at her, "all that anger? It's poison. Letting it go would make you feel a lot better."

"The only thing that could make me feel better is getting my revenge on the Crocodile," he said, persistent.

"We both know that's a load of crap."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, wishing there was a way to just flip a switch inside of him, to make him see the faults in his way of thinking. But she was going out of her way for something that shouldn't, couldn't, happen. He had to look for revenge because that was the only way he'd come across Cora and end up entwined in their lives. So she bit her tongue and stopped the words from getting out, knowing she has already gone too far in the danger zone.

She distracted herself from speaking up by looking around, taking in their surroundings. They were already deep in the woods, and wherever she turned all she saw were trees and scary looking shadows. Emma wasn't scared easily, but the forest made her skin crawl. Hoping she looked nonchalant, she took a step towards Hook, surprising herself when his proximity actually made her feel better.

"So why does this woman live so deep in the forest anyway? Not the most social type, I'm guessing."

"On the contrary. She loves having guests, that is, if she doesn't kill them by the time they're to leave her home."

Oh. That was comforting.

"Why would she kill them?"

"Iridia has a way of seeing into people and their hearts. If a person with a dark, rotten heart asks her for something, she doesn't take it well. She only grants wishes of those who deserve it. That's why when we get to her home, I shall gladly stay outside while you go and sort out your affairs. I have no desire to be skinned alive by that witch."

"Great. That means I'm the one who's going to get skinned. You couldn't have told me this before?"

"Swan, I highly doubt you have sins greater than mine darkening you heart," he drawled. "Still, if she does reach for a knife, I would recommend jumping out a window."

"Any other things I should know about before stepping into her house from hell?" she asked, not even trying to hide the sarcasm in her voice.

"Well, she has episodes where she can read minds, so I'd recommend you think nice things, or count."

Emma felt like she had something lodged in her throat. "She can... read minds? What is it with this woman?"

"Oh, her father was the Dark one in the past, which is who she got the powers from. Obviously took on the wrong side of her family tree. A long time ago she was the single greatest possession in the first Ogre wars, and people fought just to get her on their sides. She sometimes turned on them if she didn't like the way they fought, but nobody's perfect." He paused, his voice taking on a more admiring tone, "The woman's a dragon."

"You don't have to insult her," Emma grumbled.

"No, she really turns into a dragon. Spews fire and everything. I don't suppose you know how to handle a dragon, do you?"

She cocked an eyebrow, slightly annoyed that he so easily thought she couldn't do something, even if it was killing a dragon. And to think that only a few weeks ago in Neverland he was telling her he believed in her, that he knew she'd never fail him. "For your information, you jackass, I managed to kill a dragon, all on my own," she couldn't help but feel smug.

"You did?" his eyebrows shot up, and the surprise in his voice only made Emma roll her eyes.

She nodded, "Yeah, so suck on that."

"I admit, that is quite impressive. And just how in the world did you manage that without getting burned to a crisp or eaten?"

She was stupid enough not to watch where she was going as she trailed behind him, completely caught up in him and his words. Stumbling as her foot caught on a tree root, she reached for anything that would help her keep her balance and ended up grabbing onto Hook's coat, yanking him back. He protested as he went stumbling backwards.

"Swan, I know my exceptionally good looks tend to distract people, but you should really watch your step. If you think the worst thing in this forest is a tree root, you most definitely won't make it out alive," though his words were almost teasing, his tone was sharp, warning even. Emma tried to put out the little flicker of hope inside of her, that seemed to light up at his words. Maybe she could pull this off. Signs of the man waiting for her in Neverland were showing more and more often, each time lifting Emma up higher.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. What were you saying?"

"I asked you how you managed to kill a dragon without getting yourself killed in the process as well. Watch your step," he commanded, jumping over a small patch of wet, hollow ground he'd undoubtedly sink in.

Emma didn't hear him as she tried to get the dirt of her pants. "Right. Well when Henry ate this poisoned apple thing and fell under a sleeping curse, I had to find a true love potion which was guarded by a dragon. Funny thing about that, it was actually another witch being kept captive by Henry's adoptive mother who made her stay a dragon. The story ends with me throwing a sword and nailing it in the neck."

"Did you rescue your son?"

A gentle smile spilled over her lips at the memory, "Yeah, I did. Turns out it was a true love's kiss. I broke the whole curse."

"You care a great deal for him," he said, not as a question, but as a statement.

"Of course I do. I'd do anything for him, even face that dragon-witch woman, if it will get me back to him. It's why I'm putting up with you," she added for a good measure. Hook shot her a dark look under his lashes, before his eyes settled on something at her feet and his face sobered up.

Emma narrowed her eyes at him, wondering what the hell was he up to. "What?"

"You need so stay very calm," he said slowly, reaching out to her.

In Emma's mind, he couldn't have picked worse words than those. She immediately went into panic-mode, adrenaline shooting through her. "What? Why?" her words came out rushed.

"You are standing on hollow ground, and right now, you're sinking."

Mary Margaret, David and Hook all seemed to let out a sigh of relief as they broke out on a small clearing. Their relief was short-lived and soon their faces fell as their eyes darted around the clearing.

Mary Margaret was the first one to speak, her voice slightly trembling as she did, "I... I don't understand. You said it'd be here," she said, directing her words at Hook, who seemed just as pained as the royals as he desperately searched for Pan's hideout. He was completely sure it was there, so sure he'd put his only good fist in fire.

"It's here," he said, "it's just... hidden. By magic, I'm guessing."

"Well how are we supposed to find it? Go around and hope we'll run into it?" David asked sarcastically, making Hook roll his eyes.

"At least now we know who Emma got her... charming personality from," Hook smirked, chuckling at his own joke.

"Don't test me, pirate."

"Why don't we focus that energy of yours on finding Pan's cave, then you can threaten me all you want," he proposed, fighting to keep a smug grin at bay. He was denying it before, but it became impossible by now. Messing with Charming was proving to be too entertaining and Hook rarely missed his window of opportunity to have a go at him. Even asDavid shot daggers at him and probably stabbed him several times in his mind, Hook still felt like he was having fun.

David smirked at him, sheathing his sword. "Don't act like you don't love her... charming personality." The stricken look on Hook's face told the prince everything he needed to know. "I thought so," he hummed as he passed him, searching for anything that might indicate where the hideout was located.

Hook opened his mouth to fight back, but Mary Margaret was quick to jump in, not wanting their little squabble to turn into a full-blown fight, fists included. "Don't!" she barked, making his snap his mouth shut, a disgruntled look settling on his face. Mary Margaret sighed as she watched the two men, "We don't have time for this. Can you two stop acting like children?"

"He started it."

David's head snapped up, "Oh, real mature."

Mary Margaret rubbed her forehead, fighting a headache she could feel coming. "Enough! Just... start looking. The sooner we find Pan's shelter, the better."

"She's right," David admitted, avoiding his wife's eyes. He knew she'd give him that disapproving look and he wasn't very fond of the idea.

After what felt like eternity, when it had only been a few hours, Mary Margaret felt her batteries not only empty out, but die. She sat on a patch of grass, her knees giving out. Angry tears burned her eyes as her shoulder throbbed painfully, but she ignored it, focusing on a single spot ahead of her. She picked up a small pebble of the ground and threw it across the clearing, doing anything to distract herself from the dark, hurtful thoughts that tormented her.

Hook saw her and turned to David, who was also watching the actions of his true love.

"You're not going to... do anything?" he inquired, cocking an eyebrow.

David shook his head, a tortured look making its way across his features as well. "No. She's missing Emma and she's angry because she can't do anything to bring her back. There's nothing I can do to ease that pain."

"Not to mention she's angry with you as well, seeing as there is still no way to get you out of Neverland." Well, Hook knew Emma had an idea, but he wasn't ready to share that just yet. In a way, he didn't want to give them false hopes if the plan didn't pan out. There was a number of things that could go wrong, especially because it was a witch with anger-management issues they were dealing with.

"Wow, thanks."

Hook shrugged, "Just being honest, mate."

They looked around in silence for a few minutes more, before Mary Margaret's cry startled them, snapping them out of their thoughts. They whipped around, their hands already reaching for their swords, only to find Snow with her hands pressed up against air.

"I found it!"

Phew, finally wrote the chapter! I've been writing fragments throughout the week, so this chapter's a little bit longer.

Thank you all so much for your nice wishes and thoughts, they warm my heart up and ease the troubles. I'm counting down the days until school's over and then I swear I'll update more often. Pirate's honest. Oh, and I got a C- in my math test, so I guess that's not as horrible as I thought it would be. Still... Someone asked me what level I'm taking - it's AP math. My life = hell.

I still have four more finals and then I'm done with everything. Hallelujah!

Once again, I want to thank you for all the wonderful reviews. Keep them coming =D

P.S. Oh, oh! I still haven't watched the newest episodes of OUAT, but I have seen the promo for 3x11 and can I just say - holy. crap. that. captain swan. look... had me on my knees. If they don't end up together I'm giving up on life.