A/N: Welcome to the Book Two of the Fallen and Wanting series – Dark of Heart. (If you haven't, make sure you read FALLEN AND WANTING first, or this won't make sense) I'm so excited to continue Emma and Hook's journey with all of you. There is a lot on the horizon for this story, and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much I love sharing it!

The skies were as thick as pitch and speckled with stars, flickering and slipping from view like phantoms caught in the pull and wash of the blackness that rolled over them. Though the sun had been burning high only moments earlier, the ship and all aboard fell into that place where shadows cast were as alive as the blackness stretching above them and the impenetrable sea below. Water surged against the hull and lapped impatiently across the deck before retreating as the Jolly settled, the men slackening their grip on the rigging as the world sunk back into a pensive stillness once more.

"We'll wait until daylight returns to head ashore," Hook called over their heads, relief etched onto all their faces, none of them eager to brave a journey to the island when the skies were dark and the sea waking, and all caught between were like a moth skimming the web of a spider. "Drop anchor and get what sleep you may while you're able – we're on Pan's time here."

The unchanging silhouette of the island rose from the sea beside them, its spine bowed beneath the stars and shimmering with the movement of shadows unknown to man or beast. Emma released her hold on the ratlines and wandered to the rail, the sensuous appeal of the place still lingering in her mind, but far less potent than the first time she'd looked upon it's shores. It was beautiful in the way one sees truth in the eyes of death, only when it's too late.

"If you think I'm waiting another second to get to my boy, you're mistaken, pirate," Gold hissed, his lips pulling back in a sneer as he eyed Hook venomously.

"You may be the Dark One, but this island falls to the bidding of a different monster, Crocodile, and we'll wait until dawn if you want even a ghost of a chance at seeing your boy again."

"I have no fear of Pan," Gold dismissed, shifting on his feet and staring intently toward the island, "and you can't stop me, though perhaps it would be worth the entertainment to see you try."

"That's enough," Emma interrupted, drawing her eyes away from the island and the feeling that had been creeping at the edge of her mind, forming itself into a vision – a young boy running along the beach away from her, the surf lapping across his feet as he knelt to retrieve a shell – "You may not care to, but you need to listen to us. Hook knows this island and its tricks better than anyone other than Pan, and he knows the boys who are trapped here. There's no need to make this more difficult, or more dangerous for your son, than it needs to be. When they see the ship anchored, they'll come tomorrow, and Baelfire will be there with the rest. It's a far wiser bet than magicking yourself all over the island – if Pan would even allow it."

The Dark One sighed, his eyes scanning the stretch of sea that seemed to loom between the ship and the yawning shadow of the island as it breathed beneath the stars like a living thing.

"Fine," he finally relented, "but we try this your way one time. It doesn't work, and I'll do as I please – Pan or no Pan."

"He could very well prevent us from leaving," Hook warned, his outward appearance showing nothing more than apathy despite the concern rolling in his gut over what such a thing would mean for Emma and their growing child, "so unless you plan on enjoying Neverland's hospitality for the foreseeable future, I suggest you play nicely."

Gold merely pressed his lips into a thin line and leaned against the rail, staring at the island as if he could somehow ferret out exactly where his son was in the tangle of jungle and shadows, but whatever he sensed did little to stir the air of bitterness that rolled from him.

Relieved that the Crocodile seemed placated and content to wait until sunrise, Hook turned to Emma, raising an eyebrow in question and dipping his head toward their cabin. She nodded, striding past the last of the crew as they finished their tasks and following Hook into the space that was their own, eager to put even a barrier as mundane as a door between herself and the presence of the monster they'd welcomed aboard the ship. Perhaps it was due to being numb to magic during her time in Storybrooke, but returning to Neverland alongside the Dark One felt like being plunged into icy water that clawed its way into each pore, chilling her blood as it went, both the wild shadows of Neverland and the creeping slickness of the Dark One's powers sliding across her skin like the brush of something unseen from the deep.

It took her no time at all to shed her outer layers, sighing in relief as she pulled both her unbuckled waistcoat and shirt over her tangled mane of curls, freeing her stomach that was beginning to feel restricted in her normally fitted clothing. She would be in need of either a larger waistcoat or something entirely different soon, but it would need to wait until they had returned to the Enchanted Forest, safely free from the grip of her deal with the Crocodile. She kicked off her boots and pants, climbing into the soft nest of blankets on their bed, basking in the sense of calm and comfort that was settling over her.

Having removed the burden of his own clothing, and having relocated Emma's trail of garments to his places of preference, Hook joined her on the bed, sitting heavily on the edge of the berth and running his fingers blindly along the warmth of her leg. Emma could see the weight in his shoulders, the tension that lined his back as he distracted himself with exploring the rise and fall of her body.

"Come here," she finally sighed when he made no motion to relax beside her. The straps of his brace were still taut around his shoulder and pressing into his skin as he sat with his back bowed, small weals of redness emerging where the stitched edges rubbed at his skin. "Let me take this off."

"Not tonight, love," he demurred. "I'm fine."

"Killian..."

"I can't," he rasped, the edge of his voice broken, his hand knotted and trembling where it dug into his thigh, "not while he's aboard."

Emma swallowed, fighting back the hatred and anger that swelled in her chest, her magic and love for Killian bearing it forward and urging it to wrap around the Dark One and smother the life from his eyes – but the monster who'd done this to her love was as near to invincible as ever, no matter how she wished she could simply vanish him from existence.

"Okay," she whispered, "but at least let me help?"

He offered no resistance as she placed her palms on his skin and let the bright heat of her magic push through the darkness still writhing in her chest, flowing from her hands and sinking into him like the warmth of the sun. The inflammation he'd earned from wearing his brace without respite was soothed, the redness and irritation disappearing entirely. Her frown disappeared as relief slowly softened Hook's face, his jaw relaxing and lips parting slightly. She lifted the weight of his arm in her own and cupped the heavy weight of the brace itself, focusing on loosening and soothing the bunched muscles and nerves below.

"Better?"

"You've no idea, Swan," he smiled, shifting so he could stretch himself along the bed and urging her back down to join him, basking in the warmth of her curves pressed against and over him, his body stirring as it always did when they were alone and wrapped in one another. Though for the first time he could recall, he knew there would be nothing more intimate transpiring between them than chaste touches and words, the presence of the Crocodile aboard too unsettling to allow for their more amorous activities.

Emma nuzzled further into his side, bare skin sated and thrumming wherever they touched, her leg draped across his thigh and her fingers playing idly among the soft hair of his chest. The lantern swung rhythmically from its hook, the cabin flickering in its warm glow as she followed the path of his body, the lines of scars she'd never been able to heal. He softened further into her touch, the tension slowly draining from him as she rested her palm against his skin, feeling the flutter of blood racing hotly beneath and the distant tremor of his breath. Reaching across him, her fingers wrapped around his hook, drawing it between them to press against the slight roundness of her stomach, saying without words how happy she was to be right there with him, with both of them.

How desperate she was to fall into the easy conversations they'd enjoyed the past few days about their little love – pondering how they would manage, or where they would go, what the babe would look like and who they'd favor – but both of them understood it was wiser to keep their words where they couldn't be overheard now that they traveled in the company of the Dark One. She only hoped he could see in her eyes as they gazed lovingly at one another, his hook warming against her skin, that their child would be lucky to have him exactly as he was – that to her, he was perfect and whole and everything she needed.

LOLOLOLOL

"There's something you're not telling us," Emma accused, sensing the lie crawling beneath his scaly exterior even though he hadn't said anything, had only surveyed the jungle with black dislike from the moment they'd set foot ashore.

Her frown deepened as the Crocodile merely grinned, his lips pulling slowly apart over teeth that were as decrepit and pitted as the skin he wore, holding whatever secrets he knew close to his chest.

"There's a great many things that are none of your business, dearie, and this is one of them."

Her magic was far closer to the surface these days, more eager to pour through her veins and slip from her palms. It tingled along her skin like electric when her emotions were riled, and perhaps it was why she suddenly knew there was something the Dark One wasn't telling them – something he was privy to about Neverland that they were not – and that was unsettling, because Hook had spent lifetimes in this place, and the only thing still shrouded in mystery to him was Peter Pan himself.

The sound of the crew heaving the last of the barrels from the rowboat and cracking the lids distracted her momentarily from the Crocodile as he waited, scanning the tree line with eager eyes. She and Hook had fulfilled their end of the bargain, had ferried him to his son, and once Baelfire had been retrieved, they would return to the jungle and part ways, as long as whatever secret he held about Pan was not one that would interfere in those plans. It did not escape Emma's thoughts that they'd brought together two of the most dangerous and ruthless magic users in all the realms, and one with a penchant for making deals.

"Let's just hope your little secret doesn't get in the way of getting your son back," Emma shrugged, forcing her unease into the back of her mind. Honestly, she cared little about the things years of darkness and life had revealed to the Crocodile, so long as she and Hook were permitted to sail untouched from this ordeal once his son had been found.

"In the way, I doubt it," Gold muttered. "In fact, it just may be of use. Now, how long will this take," he gestured, sweeping his hand across the beach where the crew had finished setting out the food for the Lost Boys, "for the boys to arrive? I may be immortal, but I don't have all day."

"Not long," Hook cut in, his greatcoat draped heavily around him despite the heat as he strode over to Emma's side and raised his hand above his brow, shielding his eyes from the sun as he studied the jungle. "They're always watching. I suggest you be prepared to deal with Pan, Crocodile. He and I have standing business that he's generally quite eager to discuss, and he's never far behind his Lost Boys."

"I've said before that I'm not worried about Pan."

"Indeed, but he'll hardly be pleased to find you want one of them returned, and undoubtedly, he'll require something of you."

"Pan won't stand in my way. He wants me gone from this island as quickly as possible, I can assure you."

"Be that as it may, he still won't hand the boy over. I can promise you that – he'll want a deal."

Gold chuckled lowly, a strange look coming over his face as he stared into the shadowed jungle, his body suddenly very still, as if he'd slipped into another time and place, forgetting both of them and where he stood.

"It's a good thing I'm the Dark One then, making deals, is what I do."

"They're coming," Emma muttered, feeling as if she were aboard the Jolly watching a rogue wave approach, helpless as they turned swiftly into it, awaiting the wash of icy water that they would either break through or fall beneath, dragged and spinning into the unfathomable deep.

She felt the weight of Hook's namesake against her knuckles and she wrapped a single finger around it. Whatever was coming for them, she wasn't alone.

The Dark One had moved closer to the array of cargo Hook had purchased for the boys, but all of their eyes were watching the jungle as the low foliage and creeping vines began to shift, boys clad in scraps of leather and fur slowly appearing from within like they'd peeled themselves from the bark of the trees, advancing with eager, yet skittish, steps toward the barrels set out for them. The last grouping of them finally crept form the brush, scurrying to join the others as they ate straight from the barrels – they all appeared half starved and wary, years of bearing the brunt of Pan's moods leaving them broken and shadowed versions of the boys who'd once arrived here.

"Bae, my boy!"

Suddenly the Dark One leapt forward from where he stood and made for the edge of the jungle, a familiar brown mop of curls belonging to the boy Emma knew was Baelfire finally slipping from the trees to join the rest, his cheeks and arms thinner than the last time she'd seen him, sharpened by hunger.

"Papa?" The word fell uncertainly from the child's lips, like a half-forgotten thing murmured just before waking, unsure if he was truly seeing his father, or perhaps a vision Pan had conjured to toy with him. "Is that you, Papa? You really came for me?"

"Yes, Bae, of course!" Gold assured, so close he could see the smile break upon his son's face, his bare feet taking a tentative step toward his father, but before he could take another, before Gold could wrap his fingers around his wrist and pull him close – his son was gone.

"Papa?"

This time the word came from behind Gold, the voice cold and mocking, laced with derision as the Dark One spun around, hatred and rage contorting his features into something entirely reptilian as he came face to face with the demon of the island.

"Pan," he hissed between gritted teeth. "I was wondering if you'd show your face, or if you'd find some quiet corner to slink off to until I'd left."

"And miss this touching reunion of father and son," Pan teased, his boyish cheeks lifting in a grin as he gestured sweepingly between the Dark One and where his son once stood, a dark glimmer in his eye. "I think not, Rumple."

"You've taken something that belongs to me," the Dark One snarled, stepping toward Pan menacingly.

Hook's arm passed in front of Emma as he shifted on his feet, moving to angle his body in front of hers. Unlikely though it might be for either the Crocodile or Pan to resort to tossing magic when poisonous barbs and trickery were their preferred weapons, he certainly didn't want Emma to be in the path of any stray magic that was let loose.

"Did I though?" Pan questioned, a single finger rising to tap against his cheek as he tilted his head thoughtfully. "You see, like you, Dark One, I collect things – the things no one else wants, the things they throw away...the things they abandon."

"His place is with me."

"With the father that threw him away?"

"You're one to talk," Gold growled, closing the gap between himself and Pan, his finger steady as he pointed it at Pan's chest and hissed his next words. "I came back for him."

"I've been his family far longer than you have, Rumple, and I don't let just anyone leave my island," Pan shrugged, raising his hands in the air as it this fact were beyond his control.

"Really, because you couldn't wait to get rid of me."

"True, but you had nothing to offer me then – you were just a weight tied around my neck, keeping me from my true potential."

"And now things are different?"

"Now you're the Dark One, a name far more impressive than Rumplestiltskin. All these years and you've finally made something of yourself, Rumple – now, what is the Dark One willing to trade for his son?"

"I'm no stranger to deals," Gold admitted, "but you already know that, which means you've got something in mind, so what is it? Don't waste my time."

"Trust me, Rumple, that's the last thing I want to do – I want you to help me with this." Pan reached into the breast of his jerkin and pulled free a rolled piece of parchment, handing it over to the Crocodile.

Hook's eyes widened in recognition as the familiar paper changed hands, though he already knew what the Crocodile would see when he unrolled it to study what Pan had given him – nothing.

Gold held its edges gingerly as he drew it open and eyed the clear, unblemished surface.

"There's nothing here," he said, letting it snap shut and handing it back over to Pan. "I thought I told you not to waste my time."

"But there was," Pan insisted, agitation lacing his words as his fingers tightened around the parchment, the sky above darkening slightly. "This parchment once held the image of a boy that I needed – the Truest Believer – but now it's empty. I need you to tell me why, and where I can find another."

"So it's another boy you're after, and none of your own good enough, I suppose."

"Unfortunately, no – I've tried, but only the Truest Believer will do." Pan's voice dropped as he spoke his next words, moving close to Gold and nearly whispering in his ear, the words lost to Emma and Hook as they listened with interest. "I need the heart of this boy to stay alive, Rumple, to stay young forever – and you of all people should know how far I'll go to get what I want, so I would think very carefully before you turn down my offer. If you can tell me of the boy I need, I'll let you leave here with your own. Defy me, and I'll make certain that you never see your son again – at least not in pieces you'll recognize."

Gold was still as he listened to the words whispered beside him by a man he'd once called father, a slow, dangerous smile creeping across his skin as Pan finished his threat and retreated, his hands tucked behind his back as he took several light-footed steps across the sand and waited for a response.

"You've got your deal," Gold spat, "the paper?"

An arrogant smirk twisting his boyish face into something darker, Pan handed the parchment over once more, watching as the Dark One held it loosely in one hand while hovering the other over it, his eyes rolling shut as his fingers twitched across the empty paper, like one in a deep dream. With a jolt his eyes opened and he shook the last of the visions from his mind, dropping the parchment back in Pan's waiting hand.

"There's nothing here," Pan scowled, irritation darkening his features as he studied the still empty stretch of paper. "What did you do?"

"I did as you asked," Gold shrugged, "but whatever image was on that paper – it's not coming back. Whoever that boy was, he's ceased to exist. His timeline was broken, and he's as gone as something that never was."

"That can't be," Pan fumed, the parchment crinkling in his fist as he clenched his fist. "The Seer promised me that – "

"Never can trust a Seer, dearie," the Dark One cackled, his fingers playing against his palms as he watched Pan brood, "but I do know a bit more...if you'd like to hear it."

"Don't waste my time, Rumplestiltskin. I've precious little left, and as it ticks away, so does my patience."

"There's another," he whispered, leaning closer to Pan as he spoke. "A boy named...Leopold, though I'm afraid I'm not much of an artist – so the name's all I've got."

"Looks like you've turned out to be useful after all, Rumple. Captain!" Pan called, beckoning Hook closer. "It turns out we've a name for the boy I need you to fetch."

"Indeed? Well, what is it then?" Hook drawled, running his fingers along the back of his hook as he eyed Pan with a raised brow, waiting.

"Leopold. Find him – any boy with the name, all of them – and bring them back to me."

Hook nodded his agreement, swallowing back down the bile that rose in his throat at the thought of bringing one child back to this place, let alone any that were unlucky enough to share the fate of the one Pan actually desired, but now was not the time for dissent, nor even the hint of it...not until they made it off this bloody island in one piece. He backed away, ducking his head and returning to Emma's side, his mouth set in a grim line as he waited for the Crocodile to finish his business.

"Now it's your turn to uphold your end of the deal." Gold nodded toward the place where Baelfire had been standing before he disappeared. "My boy?"

Pan merely smiled and raised a hand, Baelfire suddenly dropping from thin air and falling to his knees on the sandy ground, his eyes large and wild before he realized where he'd been returned to.

"Papa!" he shouted, scrambling to his feet and running toward the man he knew as his father, his thin arms wrapping tightly and clinging to his waist – though for the briefest of moments, his eyes flickered thoughtfully to where Hook and Emma stood, perhaps wondering why the pirate who had betrayed him to Pan had gone to the trouble of escorting his father here. "How did you find me, Papa?"

"I've been searching for you for a long time, son," Gold assured him, wrapping his arms somewhat stiffly around the child at his waist, having forgotten long ago what it was to hold one, to love one. "Now it's time to get you back where you belong."

"You're free to leave, Rumple – and Captain, don't disappoint me. None of your carousing or drunken revelry until I have the boy I need."

"I'm not the one with the bloody disappearing picture, mate, but don't worry, finding this Leopold will be our top priority."

"See that it is," Pan growled before turning on his heel and disappearing into the air.

"Where are we going?" Baelfire asked, already edging away from the looming dark of the jungle and toward where the Jolly Roger was moored.

"Back to my castle, Bae, don't worry. You'll be safe there."

"Let's heave off, men," Hook called out to the crew still waiting near the rowboat, all of them having kept silent and out of range of anyone's ire. "We have our heading now."

"No, no no," Gold interrupted, tucking Bae against his side. "I can manage that far quicker than you."

Before either Hook or Emma could protest, the Crocodile had flourished his wrist, and in a burst of red smoke they all found themselves standing aboard the Jolly Roger once more, the crew stumbling to find their footing and the rowboat tucked in its place just as if they'd never lowered it to the sea. Emma shuddered at the feel of his magic as it slid from her skin, but she couldn't deny she was happy to be saved time in leaving the island. The farther she took her child from Pan, and soon the Dark One, the safer she would feel, and despite the look of distaste on his features, she could tell Hook felt the same, already motioning for the crew to prepare to portal home.

Baelfire let his grip on his father falter once they'd been magicked back to the ship, and as he looked around the deck, taking in all that had changed and all that had remained the same since his brief stay aboard all those years ago, Emma wondered if he would ever let that part of his life be known – if the Dark One would come to find out that Hook had offered his son a home here, had wanted to be a father to the the boy that was Milah's, and then handed him over to Pan when the boy declined. Something told her that although he and Hook had not parted on good terms, it was a time he would keep to himself, but if she were wrong, at least they had her bargain with the Dark One to fall back on.

"Bring a trencher of food from the galley," Emma ordered, her eyes catching Maddock's as he passed by, "for the boy. He'll be hungry – and if Ephraim has any sweets tucked away that should have gone ashore, bring them up as well."

Maddock nodded in understanding and changed course to head below. Emma had no idea if the Dark One bothered with food in this realm, or if he was entirely too inhuman for such things, but the sight of the Lost Boys had never once failed to recall her days spent starving and hungry, and she knew the lad would appreciate some food he didn't have to eat while watching over his shoulder.

The sea rocked beneath them and Emma turned to see that Hook had already opened the portal from the bow of the ship, perhaps more inclined to do so while the Crocodile was distracted by the return of his son – his scaled eyes even with his boy's as he knelt and spoke in a low voice that Emma couldn't hear over the sudden roar of wind and sea. She hurried towards Hook as the men found themselves something to hold onto, her fingers looping through the rigging as she tucked herself into his waiting embrace, the vortex pulling them hungrily into its depths.

LOLOLOLOL

"Before you leave, Crocodile, loathe as I am to keep you on my ship a moment longer," Hook muttered, lessening the distance between he and the Dark One as Baelfire peered over the rail toward the port in the distance, "this lad that Pan requires, Leopold, what will become of him once he's been turned over to Pan?"

"And what concern is that of yours, pirate?"

"I realize there's no hatred spared between us, but clearly there's no love lost between yourself and Pan either, and if I'm to take a child from his family and drop him at the feet of that bloody demon," his eyes flickered toward Baelfire, the Crocodile's doing the same, "I'd like to know what his fate would be."

"The boy," Gold sighed, "is the Truest Believer – a very rare thing – and Pan requires his heart."

Hook's jaw clenched as the memory of Milah's heart, red and pulsing, within the Dark One's hand rushed back to him, the way the life had left her eyes as he held her, the way her body had slipped from his grasp only to be pulled into the cold embrace of the mermaids below. It seemed that whatever dark magics Pan and his like were beholden to, they were often tied to the most tragic of losses. Emma's fingers tightened around the rail as she shared a glance with Hook – neither of them keen on the idea of returning a child to Pan simply to be murdered. The sentiment must have been written clearly enough on her face, the Crocodile smiling broadly as he turned to Emma.

"Well, it looks like some of those heroic tendencies did slip through to you, dearie – but worry not! Pan needs the lad's heart to maintain his eternal youth...but he won't get it," Gold whispered in a jubilant tone, a flash of satisfaction brightening his eyes before disappearing.

"How can you be certain? What else do you know of the boy?" Hook prodded.

"Only that the child is not yet born, and by the time he is – Pan's time will have slipped away. He'll be nothing more than a pile of ash."

"You seem quite pleased by that, Gold," Emma observed, her head cocked in interest as she watched the Dark One.

"Let's just say, we have a history, Pan and I – and it's about time he gets what's coming to him. So no matter how many other Leopolds you drop at his feet – he will die. I suppose if you care about the children, you may just want to keep your distance for a while, let nature take it's course and all that."

"We'll keep that in mind," Emma replied. "You should see to your boy."

"Indeed," Gold agreed. "I'd say it's been lovely, but I'd rather we not cross paths again."

"Fair enough, Crocodile."

Gold crossed the deck quickly to join Baelfire, his hands wrapping possessively around his shoulders as the boy looked up at him, a reserved smile on his face, and then they were gone, the red smoke dissipating into nothingness.

The entire crew seemed to let out a breath of relief, both Emma and Hook's demeanor visibly relaxing at the Dark One's departure. They'd both feared the ways in which this adventure could veer off course, but somehow, despite the circumstances and the pieces on the board, they'd found themselves in a far better place than they'd been beforehand. If what the Dark One said could be trusted, then their business with Pan might soon find it's own end, and they would no longer be beholden to his whims or tempers. If the Dark One had lied, then Pan would certainly find a way to contact them and make known his displeasure.

"That was unexpected," Emma muttered, unable to stay the relieved smile creeping across her face, and just as unable to keep from letting her body relax into Hook's chest as he took his place at her back, the both of them gazing over the waters toward the strip of land in the distance.

"Aye," he agreed, inhaling the scent of her hair, its strands rubbed with an oil that reminded him of blossoms and crisp fruit. "I don't think either of us ever really expected to come out the other end of this deal better off. To not be beholden to Pan, it's not something I imagined escaping from."

"We just need to stay far from Neverland until he's gone."

"That shouldn't be too difficult, should it love? We've far more things in this land to occupy our time as it is."

"We do," Emma purred, her teeth catching her lip as he pulled her more tightly against his chest, his brace pressed against her chest and wrapped within her hands, his fingers drifting to weigh against her stomach, "and news to share with the crew."

"Aye," Hook grinned, "and a future that needs planning."

"A future," Emma echoed, her hands tightening and pulling his brace more securely against her chest. "I saw something, Killian, on the island – a vision."

Her words were laced with something his Swan did not often feel, perhaps only in those moments when she feared for the life of their child or himself, and the dark taint of fear that shadowed her put him immediately on alert. Whatever she had seen, it had struck her to her core.

"What did you see, Emma?"

"I saw a boy, running along the shore ahead of me," she whispered, recalling perfectly how his hair, nearly as dark as Killian's, blew in the wind as he crouched low and pulled a shell from the damp sand, turning to pridefully show her with blue, glimmering eyes. "A boy that looked like you, like us..."

"A vision of our child does not seem one to inspire the way your trembling, love. There was something else, what was it?"

"I just knew somehow that I was...I was leaving him."

"You'd never leave our child, love," Hook assured her, his palm pressing more firmly against her stomach. "Never. Perhaps it was one of Pan's mind games that he's so fond of?"

"Maybe, I just...it felt so real."

"I know you, Emma, and I know that this babe of ours will be your entire heart, that you'd never leave them. There must be an explanation for it."

"Maybe you're right and it was just the stress of being there with Pan, with the Dark One – the fear of what might happen. Maybe it's nothing."

"Even if it is, we'll face it together – part of that future we've yet to map out."

"An adventure," Emma smiled, remembering the days that felt as if they belonged to somebody else, to some other young girl, cold and hungry, hiding beneath her blankets as she dreamed of adventure sweeping up to her doorstep to take her away, to bring her to her real family.

"So where shall we head, Swan? The hold is full and we've lost our troublesome cargo – port lies to the west, and open waters surround us. Where does our adventure begin?"

"I think we've spent enough time on land," Emma decided, turning them so they looked out across the shimmering sea, the wind stirring at her bidding and filling the sailcloth. "The Jolly needs to stretch her sails, and I want to feel the wind racing over us, the sea rocking us to sleep at night."

"Then we'll look to the horizon, my love."

Neither of them noticed the small bluebird that had alighted on the rigging, it's feathered head twisting and bobbing as it searched the deck with bright, lucid eyes – watching as the Captain called the men and shared the good news with the crew, the burst of revelry startling it momentarily into flight before it calmed its ruffled feathers and returned, landing nearer to the woman it had been sent to find, a small message tied to its leg with a ribbon.