Just noticed a few grammatical errors in the last chapter - sorry about that! Writing at 2 AM does a number on the brain. I'll admit that that chapter came out of nowhere - I just started writing and it finished itself. Hoping I can do the same with this one. Thank you for the reviews and reads, as always. I appreciate your time and energy to read what I've written. Thanks - Susy


Emma paced anxiously in the courtyard in front of Granny's, her hands stuffed in the back pockets of her jeans. She was chewing her bottom lip and was only vaguely aware of the metallic taste of blood in her mouth. Killian had bolted from the apartment in a flurry of black leather and silver leaving Emma standing stunned in the bedroom. She knew he'd gone down to the docks to greet whatever foe was returning his ship.

His ship - the one he'd been so quick to part with in order to save her life - was returning. The implications of that return and the advent of whoever was captaining the ship had Emma's brain working overtime.

"Emma?" a quiet voice called. Emma spun around and found her mother staring at her as she stood under the archway entrance to Granny's patio.

"What?" Emma asked, suddenly alarmed at the thought that her mother's appearance could be a warning of grave danger.

"What are you doing?" Snow asked, eying her.

"Is everything okay?" Emma replied quickly. Snow walked towards her daughter and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, everything's fine," she said gently, "Are you okay? Where's Killian?"

"Down at the docks," Emma replied, running a nervous hand through her hair, "His ship is back,"

"Back?" Snow echoed curiously.

"Smee came by this morning to tell him," Emma replied. She realized that her legs ached from the constant movement and her lip felt numb.

"Who is captaining the ship?" Snow asked.

"I don't know," Emma replied. The feeling of helplessness and nerves made her even more uncomfortable. She felt the sting of tears in her eyes and was suddenly embarrassed.

"Emma, oh, Emma!" Snow said gently. She pulled her daughter over to a table and sat her down, clutching her hands in her own. "It's okay. What's wrong? What are you worried about?"

"What if he leaves?" Emma blurted. The intense honesty of her words burned in her throat. She didn't realize how much she feared Killian's departure. She'd opened herself to him, told him secrets she'd kept so close to her heart, and to think of him leaving, abandoning her just as so many had done before him, gave her more than a simple pause.

"Leaves? Emma, he loves you," her mother said, "He wouldn't walk away from you,"

Emma felt intensely self-conscious, even under the kind gaze of her own mother.

"Everyone leaves," she said faintly, "I guess, unconsciously, I've been waiting for him to do it, too,"

"He won't leave, Emma," Snow said resolutely, "He loves you and you don't abandon the people you love,"


Killian stood at the dock with his spyglass pressed to his eye. Out in the water he could see the outline of her and his heart filled with a strange emotion. It was pleasure and pride and fury and weariness. It was his ship and she was returning to him. It was just a matter of question as to who was at her helm.

"It is The Jolly Roger, isn't it, sir?" Smee asked excitedly.

"Aye, Mr. Smee," Hook replied, collapsing the spyglass and pocketing it, "She has returned,"

"Can you see who is captaining her?" Smee asked, standing on his tip-toes in an attempt to see better.

"Not yet," replied Hook as he stared at the water line.


Ruby brought another cup of tea out to the small table where Snow and Emma were sitting.

"Anything else?" she asked.

"No, thanks Ruby," Snow replied with her soft smile, "Thanks,"

The waitress disappeared back into the cafe and Snow looked at her daughter. They'd been sitting in relative silence for a while, once Snow had been able to calm Emma down, and enjoying a cup of tea while watching the comings and goings of the people in Storybrook. Snow could tell that her daughter's mind was at the docks, waiting for news.

"Do you want to go down there?" she asked. Emma shook her head.

"No," she replied, "I'm okay. I'll wait,"

Snow checked her watch. It was nearly eleven and she'd promised Charming she'd only be gone a moment down to Granny's to pick up coffee and come back. That was over an hour ago.

"Oh! David! The baby!" Emma said, realizing.

"They're fine, they're fine," Snow reassured her, "Emma, it's going to be okay,"

Hearing her mother's words, spoken to resolutely and with such conviction, settled Emma's heart even just a little. Relaxing a bit, she picked up her cup of tea with both hands, relishing in its warmth. The wind had picked up and there was a chilly edge to the air. The tea was like a warm blanket.

The cup slipped from Emma's hands to the table top and splattered everywhere.

"Emma!" Snow said, jumping up from her seat.

"The wind," her daughter said with wide-eyes.

"What?' Snow asked, looking around for a cue. Unconsciously, she pulled her sweater tighter and then realization washed over her. "The Snow Queen,"

"Henry," Emma whispered before setting off at a running pace towards Regina's house. Rounding the corner with her mother right behind her, they collided with Regina and Henry in a comical thud.

They all spoke at once until Regina put up both of her hands to stop them all.

"What is going on?" she asked sharply, glaring at Emma.

"I don't know," she replied, "The weather just turned. I don't know why or how,"

"Is it the Snow Queen?" Henry asked.

"I don't know, sweetheart," Regina said, putting an arm around him.

"What can we do?" Snow asked. Regina glanced up at the sky. The bright blue hue had shifted to a pale white-grey and swirls of purple and black danced through the clouds.

"Get Henry to David. There's still a protection spell on the loft," Emma directed, "And then we need find the Snow Queen,"


"I'm not staying here while you go out and fight god-knows-what!" David cried, throwing his hands up in protest of his wife and daughter.

"You don't get a choice," Regina snapped, obviously annoyed with this petty family squabbling.

"David, someone has to stay here to protect Neal and Henry," Mary Margaret plead, holding her husband's hands in her own.

"You don't know what lays out there!" David retorted angrily.

"You are the only person I trust to protect my son," Emma interjected, looking at him directly, "I know you would do anything to keep him safe. I trust you. Please, just do this for me,"

David let out a deep breath through his nose and looked at his daughter. There was so much of her mother in her eyes - strength, fortitude, loyalty, and honor. There was also a fiercely stubborn streak in her, though that may have been his own making.

"Fine," he grunted, "Two hours. If you're not back, I'm going after you,"

"Deal," Emma agreed.

"Where are you going first?" David asked.

"The docks," Emma replied, "Hook was going there because his ship was returning. There's got to be a connection between The Snow Queen and a magical pirate ship coming back into town, right?"

"If history has taught us anything, yes," Snow replied.

After quick goodbyes and a lingering hug for her son, Emma set off with her mother and Regina towards the docks to meet whatever enemy lay before them.