Oh reader Kou Shun'u, you crack me up! Yes, everyone was very busy getting drowned, because I'm just evil like that. But, of course, we have so much more story to tell (I'm thinking this one might well be fifty chapters, folks...) so I'd better get everyone rescued, now, hadn't I? I'm getting hit by a blizzard again tonight (EFF WINTER. SERIOUSLY.) so don't be surprised if you get a burst of updates.

And now, back to our story...

Emma heard her name being called, over and over, and was conscious of being rolled to her side. She took in a deep, gasping breath and coughed an enormous amount of water out of her lungs, continuing until her throat was raw.

"That's it, love," Hook's voice came to her. "Get it out. Then try to breathe slowly."

"Meriel..." She croaked.

"She's here."

Emma opened her eyes slowly, realizing that she was laying across Hook's lap on the deck of The Jolly Roger and somehow, still alive. She looked up at him.

"How...?"

"That's a very good question," He said, sitting her up slowly.

"Meriel," Emma gasped again. "She's hurt."

"She's all right. She must've been knocked out when you hit the water," Hook replied. "How high up were you when you jumped?"

"Pretty high." Emma rubbed her head and gave a sigh when she felt Hook's hand kneading the back of her neck. "I'm guessing you managed to avoid certain death with your usual skill."

He gave her a crooked grin, moving his fingers around to stroke her face gently. "Something like that."

"Kai?" Meriel's voice carried from a few feet away, where she was laying. "Where is he?"

"You can thank the instigator of this foolhardy plan for our timely rescue." Hook ran a hand through his wet hair, pushing it off his forehead. "He didn't pull us out himself. He appears to have called on his relations as reinforcements. They got all of us out of the water, and back onto the ship."

"The Naiads?" Emma asked.

"Nereids," Meriel corrected. "Naiads are found in freshwater."

Emma pushed herself up to her feet. "All I know is if it lives in the water, I'm good and done with it."

"Where's Kai?" Meriel asked again, glancing around. Hook had gained his feet and reached down to assist her to hers.

"He told us he'd find us later. He's got to get rid of the crown first."

"He took the crown?" Meriel exclaimed. "When I heard it was gone, I assumed you'd gotten to it somehow."

Hook looked affronted. "I'm a pirate, love, not a thief." He straightened his coat. "Well, at least not all the time." He stared down at himself in dismay. "There are few things in the world more irritating than wet leather, but I'm going to have to wait to change." He headed up to the wheel deck. "The Nereids were good enough to push us clear, but we need to get the wind at our backs before Triton decides I might have something to do with this."

"I can do it," Meriel volunteered. He looked at her like she was crazy and it made her laugh. "Really. My father spent his life on the sea. I was turning the wheel before I could walk."

"Very well," Hook replied. "Let me watch you round her out to port. There's a - "

"A sandbar. I see it."

Emma glanced out across the water. "How do you even see that? It's dark out here."

"Look at the waves," Meriel said, pointing. "See how they break suddenly, off to the one side?"

Emma looked out again. "Yeah...yeah, I see it now." She started to lean her arm on the wheel, but Meriel was turning it, adjusting the course.

"The wind's coming out from the west," Meriel said, by way of explanation. "If I pull her round and then adjust again, it'll push us right past." She glanced up at the sky. "Then we head toward that star hanging low in the northeast, just there." She pointed off into the distance.

Hook had been leaning against the rail with his arms crossed, but pushed off to step closer to her. "Apologies, lass. You're obviously well-schooled."

Meriel couldn't help but smile. "By the best," She added. "Go ahead and get changed. I can man the wheel for awhile."

"I won't be long," Hook replied. He took Emma's hand and led her down the stairs. "I may have a dry shirt you can borrow. You'll just have to go without pants, I suppose."

###

Meriel looked up with a start as she felt the blanket drop over her shoulders.

"You should try to sleep," Emma said. "Get some rest."

She shook her head. "I couldn't possibly."

Emma sat down, settling herself on the bunk next to Meriel. "He said he'd find us."

"It's been hours," Meriel pointed out. "And I can't even use the talisman to find him - if he's hiding it'll lead Triton right to him."

"You're just going to have to sit tight." Emma advised. "He can find the ship easy enough, right?"

Meriel nodded. She pulled her knees up and folded her arms on top of them. "This was all my fault," She confessed. "Kai wanted us to stay at the inn and I wanted to go into town. That's how Triton found me."

"You couldn't have known," Emma reasoned. "And if he'd have thought for a minute Triton had a good chance of nabbing you, he wouldn't have taken you anywhere."

"I should have listened to him."

"Well, you didn't.," Emma pointed out. "And there's no changing that so you might as well keep going."

"She's right, love," Hook offered, from his vantage point on the stairs. "You can't spend your time second-guessing past mistakes. Besides, we have an adventure to complete."

"Thank you," Meriel said, looking over at him. "For coming after me. You put yourselves in a lot of danger and you didn't have to."

"'Course we did," Hook said, easing himself down next to her on the other side. "Emma would have never let me hear the end of it if we hadn't."

Emma gave an answering smirk over the top of Meriel's head.

"He'll be along," Hook reassured. "He's left before and he came back, didn't he?"

Meriel looked a little startled. "Hold on. This is going to seem crazy, but..." She took a breath and called out, "Kai! Show yourself!"

Silence.

Meriel put her head back down on her arms. "I was hoping..." She shook her head. "Nevermind."

Her slender shoulders began to shake as the terror and stress of the last hours finally caught up to her. She let go with great, heaving sobs, unleashing a storm of tears. Emma looked across at Hook, then she reached over, taking Meriel's hand and she held it tightly. Hook met Emma's eyes, and put his hand on Meriel's back.

They sat like that, until the storm passed, and Meriel felt like she could breathe again.

And in the morning, she woke in the bunk alone. Her mother was sleeping in the bunk across from her, and she found her father at the wheel.

Kai was nowhere to be seen, and the approaching shores of home gave her no welcome. She wrapped her arms around herself, and tried to fight the feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her parents were right. She had to keep going.

Her fingers brushed the talisman, resting on it lightly.

"Come back to me, Kai," She whispered. "I'll be waiting."