Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time

AN: First, I want to thank everyone for their patience in waiting for this update. Updates for Lost Souls will now be regular! Also, a big thank you to GranddaughterOfCaskettAndTivia for all her help. You're the best beta ever! Enjoy ~ XOXO MAF

Chapter Twenty-Five

Emma stared blankly at the "map" in her hands. There was nothing on it, though.

Admit who you truly are, Emma.

Her head spun at the lilting voice. It sounded as though the boy, Peter Pan he'd called himself, was right beside her, but she was alone. Alone with her worries and the cries of the lost boys in her head. She wondered for a moment if Henry was one of those boys, crying because he felt abandoned by her.

OUAT

"Henry, do you want to play a game?" Henry looked up at Peter Pan. The boy who was apparently his great-grandfather.

"No, it's late, it's time for bed." Carefully, he ignored the boys playing and chanting around him. Instead he laid out his cloak and rested his head on it. Pan wanted him to be a lost boy, but Henry wasn't lost. His family was here. He could feel their presence on the island. Soon he'd be home on the Jolly Roger with his mom and Killian. Soon all would be right in the world. Until then, though, Henry was quite determined to be a bloody terrible lost boy. If he could, he may even start a mutiny and make Killian very proud of him. Proud enough to be his new father.

OUAT

"Emma? Emma!" Killian's worried voice slashed through the haze of tears and worry Emma was wallowing in. When he finally spotted Emma seated on a boulder, staring at a blank piece of parchment paper he felt his heart rate gradually slow down. "Bloody hell, love, I woke up and you were gone. I was terrified something had happened to you." He knelt down at her feet. "Love, what happened? Why are you awake?"

Emma finally looked down at him. "I couldn't sleep. Their crying won't stop. They sound so sad, so alone. . . so lost."

Killian rested his hand and hook on her knees. "Emma, my love, who?"

Her eyes finally caught his. "The children," she answered. "They cry for their parents, but they're never going home. They'll be here forever."

Killian shivered at her words. Her voice was so thin, almost as if she wasn't really in her body, but actually somewhere else entirely. "Darling, are you telling me that you hear children cry?"

"Every time I close my eyes."

Moving to sit next to her, Killian wrapped Emma in his arms. "Oh, Emma, it's going to be alright. We'll find Henry. He shan't be lost for long." He paused, just rubbing his hand up and down her spine in a singular soothing motion. "Where did the parchment come from?"

"Peter," She answered simply.

"Ah, alright. Who is Peter?" Killian asked.

"He's just a boy," Emma whispered. "He has challenged us to find Henry. He has Henry. This will help us find him."

Carefully, Killian took the parchment from Emma. "It's blank, love."

"I have to accept who I am." Snapping out of her trance, she stared over at him and quietly asked, "Who am I, Killian?"

Killian felt his heart shatter in his chest at her question. Emma was always so strong. At times Killian forgot that she was very much a lost orphaned girl herself. Tilting her head up, Killian answered her certainly. "You're a strong, beautiful, independent woman. You're a princess. You're an incredible mother. And you're the love of my life."

Emma glanced down at the still blank piece of parchment. "That was sweet, Killian, but ultimately useless." She nodded down at the paper.

Pressing a kiss to her temple, Killian murmured, "Perhaps at the moment," he relented. "The problem isn't that I know who you are, it's that you don't believe what I've told you." Rising, he pulled Emma to her feet. "Come, love, we should wake the others."

OUAT

Emma sat cross-legged on the ground, her eyes all but burning a hole in the parchment.

"I'm certain I could make the map appear," Elsa murmured. "Emma just needs to hand it over. At the very least it could get us some answers."

Aladdin shook his head. "I'm not sure. Shouldn't Emma try to make it appear on her own first?"

"That's a waste of time," Elsa snapped.

Genie nodded. "Elsa is correct. We need to move as quickly as possible and if we had the map that would help greatly."

Jasmine shook her head. "You'll never get Emma to hand the parchment over and Killian will stand by her." The young princess glanced over to where Emma and Killian were speaking in hushed tones. "Besides, you may consider giving her the benefit of the doubt. Emma is strong. She'll figure it out."

OUAT

Emma glanced up at Killian. "Elsa and Genie want this." She waved the parchment around.

Shaking his head, Killian murmured, "The boy gave it to you, Emma. Now, let's try this, shall we love? Tell me, who do you think you are?"

Straightening her shoulders, Emma held out the map in front of her with determination and Killian saw a brief glimpse of the woman who asked him to ferret her away from her life in the Enchanted Forest. "My name is Emma. I'm from the Enchanted Forest. I'm married to Baelfire." Killian winced at her words, but said nothing. "I'm the daughter of Snow White and Charming. I'm the mother of Henry. I'm a princess." She glanced up and Killian and locked eyes with him. "I'm in love with Killian Jones."

His breath hitched at her words and he rocked up to plant a hard kiss on her lips. When he pulled back, they both looked down to find the parchment still blank.

"Oh," was all Emma could muster in response to their failure.

"It's alright, darling. You'll get it." His faith in her was unwavering and brought tears to Emma's eyes.

"Enough of this." Elsa's usually soft voice was hard. "We won't get Henry back if we're dawdling and playing imaginary games with children." She held out her hand impatiently for the map.

Rising, Killian challenged the young queen. "The map was given to Emma, your majesty. You best remember that she's the only one who it will work for."

"Killian." Emma rested a hand on his knee. "Don't. Not now." She turned her green eyes up at Elsa. "What will you do with it?"

"Nothing." Elsa gently pried the parchment from Emma's hands. Once Emma reluctantly handed the small scrap of paper over, Elsa continued. "It's a locating spell," she explained. "It'll track down the boy who passed the map off to you." When Emma gave her nod of consent, Elsa focused her powers on the parchment until it almost came to life, floating ahead of them.

OUAT

Emma moved to walk next to Elsa as their group trekked through the jungles of Neverland. "Thank you, Elsa."

"No need to thank me, Emma. We all want Henry back safely," the blonde queen murmured.

Emma hummed her acknowledgement at Elsa's words. "Nonetheless, it means the world to me."

Killian and Aladdin, both of whom were leading the group, came to a screeching halt in a clearing. There, with his back facing them, stood a boy with dark brown hair wearing Henry's cloak. "Something's not right," Aladdin observed quietly.

The area was still.

Too still.

"Henry!" Emma's loud call broke the stillness as she pushed past Killian and Aladdin when she saw the boy.

"Emma, wait!" Killian tugged at her arm just as the boy turned around.

With a self-assured smirk in place, Peter Pan ever so calmly stated. "Don't you know, Emma? Cheaters never win." The moment he spoke the floating parchment fell to the ground at the feet of its owner.

Emma charged at Pan without thinking, just barely stopping short when he dodged her, only for a group of boys armed with homemade spears, bows, arrows and darts to surround them.

"Bloody hell," Killian muttered as they circled up.

"I'm inclined to agree," Aladdin murmured.

A shrill scream let loose in the air and the boys all attacked. "We can't hurt them," Jasmine managed to bite out just barely dodging an arrow she would bet their palace on was dipped in poison. "They're just children."

It was a defensive scuffle. The small group wasn't going anywhere until the boys retreated.

If they retreated.

When one of the boys made a dive for the map, Emma tackled him to the ground, rolling until she hovered above him, her sword pressed to his throat. "Where is he? Where is my son?"

The boy didn't even respond, he just blinked up at her. Emma pulled back, hastily grabbing the map. Stunned, the boy stared over at her until another whistle sounded and all of the boys retreated.

"Emma? Love, what happened? Did the lad say something about Henry?" Killian rattled off the questions quickly as he looked for signs of injury on her body.

"That look in his eyes, Killian. He was so lost. He was. . ." she swallowed hard, "he was like me. An orphan."

Glancing down, Elsa noted the parchment resting on the ground next to Emma was glowing. "And you now know who you are." She nodded to the paper. "We have a map."

Quietly the group rose and Emma gladly handed the map to Aladdin, allowing him to take the lead. "Just so you know, Emma, you're not alone any longer," Killian whispered to her softly. "You have a family. You'll always have Henry." He paused. "And me."

Leaning into him for strength she whispered back, "I know."

OUAT

XOXO

MAF