I couldn't stop looking at the sleeping child in front of me. His dark blond hair ruffled over his closed eyes. Tucked in tight under several blankets, which were probably unneeded but neither Regina nor I could resist tucking in every corner whenever his windmill-sleep state caused one to come loose.

We got him back. I still can't believe it. I had this image of Peter Pan like that Dragon under the library. Big, evil, and intent on killing me, but instead, when the Lost Boys escorted us to met Pan, all we found was a 12-year old locked in an iron cage. Long ago, long before anyone could tell us at least, a powerful witch had come to this land. She had gotten angry at Tinkerbell for something the little fairy couldn't even remember doing. The Witch had lured Tink into a trap. Peter Pan, being Tink's inseparable companion, was with her. When the trap sprung, Pan and Tink were locked in the cage. Unable to get out, since iron apparently is immune to fairy magic, Pan had sent his shadow out for help. Through magic they discovered that Henry would be the key to opening the cage, but they had only his picture. For longer than many of the Lost Boys could remember they had been searching for that face that would release Pan and Tink.

How Greg and Tamara's Homeoffice found out about Henry, I have no clue, but the Pan's shadow had made a deal with the Homeoffice that if they ever brought Henry to them, once released, Peter Pan and Tink would seal the portal from Neverland to Earth. As soon as Greg and Tamara brought Henry to the Lost Boys, they left. Seems for all their bravado, portal hopping was traumatic for the magichaters and the Shadow took them back to wherever they were from.

It seems disjointed even in my head, but trying to get a straight answer from a group of pre-pubescent boys, was not easy. I'm not even sure I succeeded.

I'll never forget the look on Henry's face when he saw us. He had been staring seriously at Pan's cage as if it was a puzzle he couldn't get. I could see he was frustrated, but I recognized that look of determination. I'd been seeing it in the mirror at lot lately. As soon as he spotted me, his face light up. He came at us in a dead run, with arms wide open. "Mom, Mom, I knew you would come for me!" He cried out, grabbing both me and Regina in his embrace, he held us both close is a shockingly strong grip. We both burst into tears of relief that he was safe and wanted us both. I've never been good at sharing, but I knew from that moment that I would never mind having to share Henry as long as he loved me like that.

"WOW! This ship is amazing! Did it really travel through the portal like I did?"

Henry's voice brought me out of my musings. The physical Henry was still in bed sleeping after his long ordeal, but I could hear the ship replaying Henry's first moment on board.

"Are you OK staying with him?" I asked Regina quietly.

She nodded in the affirmative. Never taking her eyes off him. All my doubts about Regina's love for Henry had vanished. She may have taken longer to come around, but Henry had a way of grabbing your heart and keeping it. I should know.

Right now, I wanted to see the replay, if it was running. God I loved this ship sometimes. Having your life's best moments on instant replay was getting pretty cool.

"How tall are the sails? Can I go up to the lookout? How fast can she go? Can I be a real pirate now?"

The vision Henry ran from one point of the ship to the other. Exploring her with awe in his voice as he asked question after question, never waiting for an answer. Visions David and Snow were watching with amusement from opposite sides of the deck with the images of Regina and me trying to get him under control. Vision me, finally gave up with a sigh and eye roll and plopped down on the stairs to just watch. Vision Regina continued to scurry around following his every move. Telling him to get off the cannon, not to lean over the side, etc. She did the mother hen act very well, and even though she was voicing what I wanted to say, it was freeing having someone else say it. I didn't have to carry it all.

I looked up to see Hook at the wheel. He had the goofiest grin watching Henry scamper about. I knocked my cutlass against a barrel to make some noise to let him know he wasn't alone. The smile didn't fade at all when he looked at me as I climbed up to join him.

"The lad's sleeping then?" He asked.

"Yup. Out like a light." I replied. "That's six by the way."

"Still counting then I see." He said with a laugh.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

"And how did I shame you, lass?"

"Shame's probably too strong of a word, but it's an old saying back where I come from. It basically means that if I'm taken in once, I can forgive myself but twice, well let's say it would be harder to forgive."

"That's why you keep the wall up against the people around you, isn't it love?" Hook's smile faded to a serious expression while he forced me to make eye contact.

"Everyone lets you down eventually. Until I met Henry, everyone had left me behind or sent me away. After a string of foster homes, to Neal, to Graham…"

"Who is Graham?" Hook interrupted my trail of thought. I hadn't even noticed I said that name.

"Graham?" Hook didn't speak but dipped his head so that he could look as me as I tried to hide behind my hair.

"Well you know about Neal, right?" I was so not ready for this conversation, but at the same time, I felt the need to tell someone of the hurt no one else seemed to understand.

"Baelfire. Yes, Henry's father. Also, David shared with me that he left you to pay for his mess before he knew you were pregnant."

"Yeah, well… Graham was the Sherriff in Storybrooke when I first got there. He was also known in the Enchanted Forest as the Huntsman. He was the first man I ever trusted after Neal. Graham, encouraged me to stay in Storybrooke at a time when all I wanted to do was run away."

I needed to sit down for this next part. Right there at the base of the wheel, I sat down, legs crossed in front of me, staring at the deck. Hook knelt next to me, his face showing open concern.

"He was the first man I had let in, even a little, after Neal. We became friends, and then he kissed me and it all went strange. No one in Storybrooke could remember their life in the Enchanted Forest, but when Graham kissed me, he started to remember being the Huntsman. He started acting all weird, talking about his heart being missing and that he had to find it. I didn't believe in magic back then and thought he was sick or something. I tried to help him and finally, when it seemed to be working, he kissed me again and then when I kissed him back, he crumbled. Literally crumbled and died right in front of me. I'm still not sure what happened, but I think someone crushed his heart before the curse could be broken."

There. It was out. I didn't cry this time, although I had shed more than one tear for Graham.

Hook took my hands in his, pulling them up to his lips, he gently kissed my knuckles. "I know how it feels to loose someone. Have them crumble in front of you and know there is nothing you could have done to save them. To feel powerless as they leave you."

I looked into his eyes and I knew he understood. Others could say they understood but that was because they thought they could imagine what it was like, but their imaginations could never come close. Hook, he wasn't imagining or sympathizing, he knew.

I gently pulled one of my hands from his. I used it to trace the serious lines of his chin. He was unmasked in front of me, while I likewise allowed him to truly see me. He kept perfectly still, but as I tracked his jaw line with my fingers, his eyes fell closed and he leaned into my touch just that little bit that let me know it was involuntary.

"Captain Hook. Captain Hook. Permission to come aboard." Pan's voice sounded over the water.