Okay, so I'm really satisfied with how this fic went and as attached as I am to it, I feel like now's a good time to end it, with them returning to the Enchanted Forest and everything. Sooo this will be the ending to the fic for good. Thanks for reading it!

Epilogue

"Where's Wendy?"

Snow and Charming both looked at each other, slightly panicked.

"Mom," Emma said. "Dad. Where is my daughter?"

"Well . . ." Snow hesitated. "We're not exactly sure-"

"You lost our five-year-old daughter?" Emma tried not to raise her voice.

"Em," Will said, cautiously taking hold of her hand. "Calm down."

"How did you . . ." Emma didn't quite know how to express her frustration. She and Will had only been gone visiting another kingdom for two days, enjoying a much-needed vacation. Emma loved their daughter, obviously, and she'd grown to enjoy her responsibilities as almost being Queen. But it was exhausting. Wendy seemed to have taken after her father's restlessness and Emma's occasional recklessness, and whenever they lost track of her, she could usually be found in the weapons room trying to lift a too-big sword off the wall or by the stables struggling to get on top of a horse to ride.

As crazy as she was, though, Emma loved her more than anything.

And she'd thought that she could trust her with her parents for a couple days.

"We're all looking for her now," Snow said quickly. "She can't have gone far!"

"You know how sneaky she is," Charming added.

Emma couldn't argue with any of this.

"Come on," Will said, "Let's go find her."

"We'll meet back here in an hour," Snow said. "We'll look in the palace."

"Wait," Will said suddenly. "I might know where she is."

Emma turned to him, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

"We'll be back!" He called over his shoulder, and started dragging Emma down the corridor.

"Where do you think she is?" Emma asked.

"Before we left, she had quite a bit of questions to ask me about being a pirate," Will said. "So I can assume that she could be pretending to be a pirate right now. And if she wanted to do that . . ."

"Will!" Emma cried. "She doesn't even know how to swim!"

"Which is why," he said, practically running now; she panted, trying to keep up with him, "We should hurry."

They ran through the winding halls of the palace until they reached one that took them outside, by the docks. The sun was setting, painting the sky an orangish-pinkish color. The people of the Enchanted Forest didn't really keep track of months anymore, but Emma guessed it was almost October. There was a brisk chill in the air, but it was still refreshing to be outside after being trapped in a carriage for days traveling back home to the palace.

She squinted out at the row of ships at the docks. "I don't see her," she said, trying not to panic. "Do you?"

He pointed. "The Jolly Roger."

Emma groaned. "Making Hook her godfather may have been a mistake."

She could just barely make out the little figure of five-year-old Wendy on the ship, by the steering wheel, with Hook. She had tangles of golden blonde curls framing her face, and her father's icy blue eyes. She hated the dresses that Emma tried to get her to wear, and she resisted all her lessons in being royalty that Snow tried to give her. But Emma didn't push her too hard; she knew how she felt, and honestly, she was glad her daughter hadn't completely conformed to this world yet. There was still a piece of her old life in Wendy.

Will had been the one who'd suggested the name, and Emma agreed. She wanted her name to have some kind of importance, some kind of meaning, and the name "Wendy" did, according to Will. He'd told her the story about how he had met Wendy around the time he met Baelfire, and how she had really been the one to convince him to come rescue Emma. How he'd kept her prisoner for years in Neverland before he'd begun having doubts about his actions, and how she'd been the one to tell him that what he was doing was wrong; that not only should he let her go, but that he should help the people from the Enchanted Forest trapped in Storybrooke. She had given him the book.

He'd had no idea how she'd acquired it, but she said it was her favorite book of stories from when she was younger. He'd flown all the way back to London to get it, and to bring her home. He hadn't been able to get in touch with her again after that, but she was important to him, Emma could tell. And therefore, naming Wendy after her seemed the right choice.

They approached the ship. The Jolly Roger wasn't the biggest ship in the docks, but it was still formidable, and it was so strange to see little Wendy up there in her Snow-approved blue silk dress pretending to steer the ship, with Hook standing right behind her. Her face was partially obscured by his pirate's hat, which he kept below deck and only brought out for her.

"Mommy! Daddy!" She called. "I'm a pirate!"

Emma wanted to chastise her for running away without Snow or Charming, but she looked so excited, and so happy, and she couldn't bear to shatter that.

"Wow!" She called up instead. "You are!"

"She's got quite a knack for boating," Hook said. "Good form, you could say."

"Wendy, sweetie, why don't you come on down?" Will said. "I'm sure Uncle Hook is very busy."

Wendy hugged him goodbye. "Can I be a pirate tomorrow too?" She asked hopefully.

"Sure," said Hook, "If you want to."

Wendy handed him back the pirate's hat.

Hook waved to Emma as Will went to help Wendy down from the ship.

Wendy stood perched on the edge of the deck, hesitantly. The only thing she seemed to be afraid of was heights, even though it wasn't too far to the dock.

"Come on, I'll catch you," Will called up to her, extending his arms.

"You have to promise, Daddy," Wendy said.

Will smiled. "I promise, Wendy. I'll catch you."

She jumped. Will caught her, and she threw her arms around his neck.

"I missed you, Daddy!" She said.

"We missed you too, darling." He and Emma waved to Hook, and started back towards the palace.

"Did you have fun?" Wendy asked.

Will glanced at Emma, who grinned.

"We had a lot of fun, sweetie," Emma told her. "What about you?"

"So much fun!" Wendy said excitedly. "Grandpa let me use a sword! And I was a pirate, and I met a mermaid, and Grandma let me try on her crown." She yawned, and rested her head against Will's shoulder. "I'm tired."

Emma laughed. "I think we could all use some rest," she said.

They returned to the palace, and brought Wendy to her bedroom, where she curled up with a crowd of stuffed animals and slept. They ran into Snow and Charming in the corridor walking to their own room.

"Did you find her?" Snow asked anxiously. "We looked everywhere in the palace, and no one's seen her-"

"It's fine," Emma said. "We found her."

"Oh, good," said Charming. "Wouldn't want our family to lose our reputation."

"Of finding things?"

"Exactly."

"See you for dinner later," Emma waved, and she and Will headed to their room, and shut the door.

"It feels good to be back home, doesn't it?" She said.

"Very," Will agreed. "Although, I did enjoy having so much time alone with you."

Emma grinned. "Wendy will probably be asleep for an hour or two. We have some time."

Will took her waist in his hands and pulled her close. His voice tickled her ear. "We'd better make the most of it, then."

She smiled as he brought his lips down to hers. She'd spent so long not loving anyone or being loved by anyone, and now she couldn't imagine that. No matter how silly it sounded, she was living a fairytale now, and she wondered if it would end up in some book someday. Maybe she would write it.