I do not own Once Upon a Time nor any of its many fantastic characters. I am but a mere servant to its characters whims for which I write about.

As always, a big thank you to my favoriters, followers, and reviewers to this story. It warms the very cockles of my heart to know you enjoy it as much as I do and you inspire me to write on.

Without any further ado…on with the show…

—Y&M—

Captain Hook felt like a fish out of water, he mused to himself, as he leaned against the wall in a dark corner of Emma Swan's room. He had carried the princess the entire journey to the safety of the castle, not letting her once out of his arms, much to the chagrin of her supposed father, Prince David. As much as Emma tried to reassure him before passing out again entirely, Hook didn't trust the lot of them. The last 48 hours he had come to suspect that nothing in his world was true anymore and that he would have to get to the bottom of this spell of trickery that he had found himself under. The only thing he did know that was truth was that he was worried. Captain Hook was beside himself, in fact, with worry for the beautiful Princess Emma whom had yet to regain consciousness now that she was safe within the castle walls.

He wasn't the only one though that was worried about her. Her parents, Snow White and Prince David, had never left her side since she was first brought here. The doctor, Whale, whom Hook was slightly amused was named after a creature of the sea, had reassured them that she was merely exhausted at this point from her partially healed injuries and that her body had needed the rest. To Hook's surprise, he'd also learned that Emma had a son named Henry whom also had not left her side since she had been brought here in his arms.

At least Henry was the appropriate age to be her son, he surmised with a grin as his mind was spinning at this point with the odd age differences that presented themselves on this night. To further his confusion, it appeared the boy also called none other than the Evil Queen "Mom" as well. While she seemed to treat the boy warmly and with the utmost love, the reception he received from the woman was less than warm at that. He felt her eyes upon him as if she was attempting to bore into his very soul since he'd arrived and it was revealed his memory had been tampered with. Apparently everyone here knew him and respected him even, a fact that he found both humbling and also disturbing at the same time.

The most difficult thing he'd encountered this night though was after he'd laid the princess down upon her bed for the doctor to examine her, Captain Hook suddenly found himself almost knocked down by the boy, Henry, running up and embracing him. When his grandfather, David, pulled Henry awkwardly away, explaining that the Captain had lost his memories, the boy almost looked like his heart broke in front of his very eyes, a fact that should not have made the ferocious Captain Hook feel as if his heart was going to break as well. He found it odd that he felt himself reacting in that manner towards the boy that he had no memory of, but it would make a sort of sense as he had some of that same reaction and level of emotion when it came to Emma.

He knew the boy, of that he was certain, but for the life of him couldn't remember how.

Hook rubbed his chest for the umpteenth time this night. He wasn't sure what he'd done, but it seemed to ache as if he'd had the wind knocked out of him from a punch to the chest. Something was wrong, he thought to himself as he caught the Queen watching him, once again, from another corner of the room. He needed to figure it out soon otherwise he feared certain doom was on the horizon.

Suddenly, a rather frantic Mister Smee burst into the room, his hat within his hands as he scanned the room's inhabitants until he laid eyes on his captain, "Captain!"

The entire group within the room shushed the exuberant man whom apologized quietly before making his way over to Hook whom still leaned against the wall in the darkness.

"Captain, I thought we'd lost you for sure," he said with the biggest smile he'd ever seen Smee grant another before the man had the audacity to hug him.

Captain Hook stiffened beneath his embrace and Smee quickly stepped away from the man, granting him an unsure gaze.

"Finally, a face I'm familiar with," Hook stated flatly as Smee continued to eye the captain suspiciously in his odd behavior. "Tell me Smee, is the Jolly prepped and ready to sail?"

Hook felt the pit of cold return to his stomach when he watched Mister Smee's reaction to his question, "I-I don't understand. Captain, whatever do you mean is the Jolly ready?"

"Mister Smee," Snow White said injecting herself into the conversation she'd been eavesdropping upon from where she had been seated near Emma. "I don't believe you've been brought up to speed on the recent events. It seems our dear Captain has a certain amount of amnesia."

"Amnesia?" Smee asked as he wrung his hat in his hands. "So he doesn't—I mean he hasn't the memory of-?"

"I'm afraid not," Snow said as she patted the nervous man on the shoulder.

Captain Hook had had enough, "Will someone please tell me what the bloody hell is going on here? If it's not the witch it's you and even my first mate being dodgy about the whereabouts of my Jolly Roger. Now I've had just about enough of this and demand that one of you tell me where my ship is!"

The entire room was now staring at the three of them as Hook's voice had become louder in his frustration.

"Hook—" David warned as his wife cut him off, not breaking eye contact with Captain Hook the entire time.

"No, David. It's okay. He needs to know this," she began with a sad smile as she placed her hand upon the captain's forearm before she began her tale.

"Killian," she said and watched his reaction as his ever expressive eyebrows shot up into his hairline at being called his given name by the woman before him, "once upon a time, there was a pirate whom believed that he could never be anything but a villain and sought only revenge for the loss of the woman he loved. For hundreds of years he let his revenge consume him until one day, as fate would have it, he met a beautiful princess that he found he was unable to fool. He helped her climb a beanstalk in order to acquire a magical object to get to her home, only to find that she was unable to trust him, as she had been hurt so many times by so many people throughout her life—"

Captain Hook watched the woman before him suppress a sob and wipe a tear from her eyes before waving her husband away from comforting her before she continued her story, "The princess left the pirate there, for what she thought was the last time she'd see him, but he chased her down, he found her over and over again, in this realm and in her own. He put aside his own revenge with a Crocodile that had taken the life of his once-love, so he could help her save her son from the clutches of Peter Pan in Neverland. While on the island, the pirate was slowly realizing that he maybe wasn't the villain he'd believed himself to be all these years…that he too, had the heart of a hero. He also realized something else. The pirate had believed he could never love again since the loss of his love, but yet he found that it was possible, for he found himself realizing he was in love with the beautiful princess after all that they'd been through together. He understood her unlike anyone else had ever been able to. Better than her own parents."

Snow smiled a watery smile at the man before her as she placed her hand on the side of his face, remembering the conversation she'd had a couple months ago on the docks with him as he watched his beloved ship be torn apart, "You see, Killian, the princess was torn, along with her son, once again from her family and those she loved, unable to ever see them again. She and her son were trapped in one realm while the rest of her family were trapped in another, her memories of them all stripped from her."

Unbeknownst to those in the room, as Snow told her story, Emma Swan had opened her eyes. She listened to the story, their story, and had a sudden realization as she heard her mother tell their tale. Emma Swan had never connected with her family truly, for they were the stuff of fairy tales filled with heroes, princes and princesses, magic, and True Love. In hearing her mother tell her tale, she finally realized that she had been one of them all along. This was her story. Her fairy tale where once upon a time a princess fell in love with a pirate. Tears brimmed in her eyes as she listened to her mother finish out the tale.

"Of all of them, though, the pirate captain knew deep in his heart that this was not the end. He refused to give up, so much so that he tore his own ship apart in order to use its wood to fashion a magical wardrobe to travel to the realm the princess had been banished to. In what I believe could have only been an act of True Love, he was able to restore her memories and bring her home," Snow stated her last words with conviction as she again wiped tears from her eyes.

Captain Hook stood stunned by the tale the raven-haired woman before him told him. He knew it was supposed to be about the princess Emma and himself. He had torn apart his beloved ship…for her. Hook knew he wouldn't have done that for just anyone. He looked across the room to find Emma to be awake, tears falling from her eyes as she had a smile upon her face as she gazed at him. Hook felt the ache return to his chest as he clutched at it, believing it to be from being overwhelmed within this moment. He felt Snow White's hand placed over his own as he looked into green eyes that he suddenly realized were exactly like her daughter's. What they had told him was truth…all of it…and that truth was suddenly altogether overwhelming.

"I know you love my daughter, Killian Jones. I know it within my very heart and soul. Even though you cannot remember us in this moment, I promise you, we will find a way to get your memories back. We will restore your memory and we will defeat this witch."

Captain Hook took in a deep breath and stepped backwards from Snow, slight confusion upon her face. He felt like he couldn't breathe, he felt as if his mind was beginning to play tricks on him for in one second, when he looked upon Emma, he thought he suddenly remembered seeing her in a forest in the snow, laughing at him, and then it was gone. He then thought he remembered climbing a beanstalk and her smiling over at him as she climbed beside him.

Hook shook his head that was drowning in these visions as he suddenly stepped forward and pushed Snow White and Mister Smee out of the way, "I—I'm sorry. I just—I can't."

Captain Hook suddenly ran from the room, leaving its inhabitants in stunned confusion.

"Killian," Emma breathed out his name sadly as her mother turned to her and walked towards her bed.

"He'll be okay, Emma. David will go and find him and we'll see if Regina can conjure a potion to help him remember. He'll be okay, he's just-OH!" Snow suddenly stopped in mid-stride and clutched at her swollen belly as she grabbed the back of a nearby chair.

David was instantly at her side as he held onto her, checking to see if she was okay, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I just think it was a-OH!" she started again and crouched over in pain as she took in several deep breaths. "David, it's the baby. It's coming."