As expected, the celebration at Granny's was raucous and loud. Far too many people were packed in - Emma was sure that they must be violating some health and safety regulation - and the sound was spilling out into the empty streets, but no one seemed to care. Even Emma, who was normally unnerved by tight quarters and loud noises, felt remarkably relaxed and safe with her family.

Slowly, she reached over for Henry's book, temporarily abandoned as he ran off to talk to someone. She picked it up, feeling the worn cover beneath her fingers as she traced the gold lettering on the cover. She hadn't had the opportunity to get much of a look at the pages in the past, so she opened the book, flipping through it until the illustration of Zelena's time portal caught her eye.

She stopped, glancing down at the words and reading. Much of it was familiar - the fight at Granny's, her conversation with Hook, their approach of the time portal - but she slowed as she reached the point where they fell in. Something had been bothering her since they first landed in the past, but she hadn't spent much time dwelling on it in the past and hadn't quite figured out what it was. Now, however, looking at the image, she felt that same feeling steal over her, a sense of "I'm missing something" that she'd learned not to ignore.

She focused her gaze on the image, scrutinizing it carefully. She recognized it almost immediately as the moment in which she fell through the time portal, and she couldn't help but admire the skills of the artist. She leaned in closer, eyeing the figures inked there, noting the detail. She could see the silver curve of his hook trapped in the soil, the tear of his sleeve where she'd lost her grip, the look of panic etched on her own face…

Hang on… She stopped admiring the image, leaning closer and examining it even closer. Logistically, it didn't make sense that he'd get pulled in after her. His hook had clearly wedged into the ground securely enough to hold their combined weight, so it shouldn't have given way once she fell through and half the strain was removed. Plus, the hook had come through still attached, so it hadn't broken, and the hook was metal, so it wouldn't give out like a human hand would.

A frown of concentration seized her lips as she turned to the text, searching for some kind of explanation. She found a paragraph pertaining to the scene and read through it. Then, she read it again. It wasn't until her third read-through that she finally accepted what she was reading. Something about the excerpt - "As Emma disappeared from sight, the pirate ripped his hook from its anchorage in the ground, sending him plunging into the portal just as it began to close." - seemed unbelievable. Surely it was wrong, right? No one would willingly follow anyone into a portal to an unknown time and place without an assured way to go back, much less willingly follow her… Right?

Something slammed into her side and she looked up with a start, finding Henry sitting there, having slid into the booth beside her. Emma smiled, sliding over further until she was leaning against the corner. Henry readjusted to take a little more of the space as her parents approached, Mary Margaret sitting across from them with her child in hand and David standing behind her.

"Hey, Mom! Looking at the book? I wanna see!" Henry reached for the book, but she snatched it away, keeping the page by pinning her finger inside.

"Uh uh, not so fast. Things have been busy and I didn't think we were staying around here, so I haven't done this yet, but now you're in for it." Henry gulped audibly. "I know you were cursed, but still… you need to hear this. I've raised you with a lot of leniency, but you should know better than trying to run away, especially with someone you barely know."

Henry looked over at her with a confused expression on his face. "Wait, what do you mean?"

"While we were cursed, when Hook told you you had to leave with him, you went with him. I know that these were extraordinary circumstances, but it's dangerous to just… trust the word of acquaintances. He didn't have the right to try and take you away."

Emma stopped as Henry began shaking his head. "Wait, mom, that's not what happened." She twisted her lips into a questioning smirk, waiting on him to continue. "It's true I left with him, but it's not his fault. He found me as I was trying to steal the bug. Remember you gave me your keys? Anyway, he stopped me from trying to drive to the bus station because it was dangerous and said he could keep me safe on his boat."

Emma recoiled slightly in surprise, feeling her head bump the wall behind her, watching as similar expressions were mirrored on her parents' faces. "You were trying to run away on your own?"

"Yeah. You'd yelled at me and lied to me, so I got sick of it. I wanted to go back to New York." Henry looked down sheepishly. "Of course, knowing what I know now, who knows what would have happened if Hook hadn't stopped me. I'd be a monkey!" He smiled then, slightly happy with the thought before remembering that he was supposed to be in trouble.

Slightly at a loss for words, Emma nodded, keeping her face stern. "Well, then… Don't run away again, understood? I can't keep you safe if you do."

Henry nodded, silence descending across the table for a second before he perked up. "May I see the book now?" She sighed indulgently, setting the book onto the table and opening it to the page she'd been on. Henry reached over, sliding the book closer to himself and starting to read through it.

Emma smiled at the grin on his face as he devoured the story, but it faded from her face as she leaned further into her corner, thinking back to the events of the past days. Had she really been so wrong about Hook? Surely not… After all, her parents' realization that they hadn't sent the memory potion had been pretty damning... right? Unbidden, memories of conversation snippets came to mind - his statement of "I assumed you did." when asked about the potion, seconded by David's "A message via bird… That does sound like you." - and she began to doubt herself. He never actually said he had confirmation that they'd sent it, saying from the beginning that it was an assumption.

And now that she knew that Henry had already been trying to run away - something not even she had been able to stop in the past - and Hook had tried to ensure that he'd at least do it safely, she felt a twinge of guilt. The harsh words she'd flung at him rang in her ears, combining with the image of his face as they'd turned on him and the fact that he'd still tried to help her after all that. She frowned, the intensification of her guilt gnawing at her.

Emma was spared from her thoughts when Henry stopped reading, letting out an excited "Cool!"

Mary Margaret smiled. "So… What happened?"

Henry looked over at Emma, but she nodded. "You tell 'em, kid. I'm curious about what the book said."

With a grin, he nodded, reaching for the book and summarizing bits and pieces. She listened, but not particularly closely, allowing herself to drift in her memories as each sentence brought a new one to mind. Henry flipped the page, displaying an illustration of her dancing with Hook, still prattling on about the story, and Emma couldn't help but smile, remembering her first ball.

"So, then, one of Regina's archers tried to kill grandma, but Emma made him miss." Almost unconsciously, Snow raised a hand to her neck, a slight gulp issuing forth as she thought back to her new memories. "Emma and Hook split up because she realized that Snow had dropped the ring and Hook had to deal with the five Black Knights that showed up…"

Emma sighed, smiling as she allowed herself to tune out again. Henry was sweet, but he definitely needed to learn that not every detail needed to be included. Instead, she thought back to the unfamiliar versions of the people she knew… Of Rumple with his Dark-One look (suddenly, the name "Crocodile" made a lot more sense), of Evil Queen Regina (whose stare was still lingering in her memory and making her blood run slightly colder), of Captain Hook (whose eyes still held that fury, that desire for revenge, that they'd held when she first met him).

"Wait… You're Princess Leia?"

Henry smirked as he piped up. "Nice alias."

Emma glanced down in slight embarrassment, chuckling lightly at the teasing tone to Henry's voice. "I was in a pinch."

David gave her a warm smile. "Well, there you go… you're officially one of us."

Mary Margaret smiled as well, her tone playful as she added, "A fairy-tale princess at last!"

Emma leaned forward, setting her elbows on the table. As comfortable as she was with her family, she still didn't like being the center of attention, and this was a perfect way to change the subject. "And as my first princess-y request… I want to know the name of the baby."

David looked up at the ceiling, blinking a few times. "Right, that…" He turned to Mary Margaret, who smiled as he kissed her temple. "Ready?" He picked up his beer and raised his voice, turning to face the rest of the diner. "Excuse me. If I could have everyone's attention just for a moment. This coronation ceremony is something we looked forward to for a very long time. The arrival of our new son has been a cause of great joy for our family. And we hope you can share in it as we name him for a hero. Someone who saved every one of us. We loved him and he loved back."

He turned to Snow again, who was still smiling up at him. She looked out again,

"People of Storybrooke, it's our great joy to introduce you to our son: Prince Neal."

The second she heard the name, Emma felt herself tear up slightly. She wasn't quite sure where she and Neal stood when he died, but she was touched nonetheless. Yes, he'd hurt her, and yes, she didn't feel like she was in love with him any longer, but she did love him, he was Henry's father, and he'd sacrificed himself to save them all. She smiled over at her mother, pulling herself forward on her elbows and allowing the baby to grab her finger with one pudgy hand.

"It's nice to meet you… Neal." She pulled back, still smiling. It was only then that she noticed that someone was absent. There was no tall, leather-clad figure leaning against the walls or seated at the bar, no pirate laughing uproariously with the drinking dwarves or chatting quietly with Belle. She twisted, looking around again before turning to her parents. "Where's Hook?"

Mary Margaret shrugged. "I haven't seen him. He normally spends his time at the bar right about now, so maybe he vacated for the party?" She shrugged again, unconcerned. "Eh, he'll show up at some point."

Emma found herself bristling slightly at the complete apathy in her mother's tone, but she ignored it and stood, picking her way out of the booth and glancing around again. This time, her gaze landed on the diner's front windows, seeing through the transparent glass and catching sight of the dark figure sprawled on one of the outdoor chairs, flask in hand. The Granny's sign and fairy lights adorning the patio illuminated the area well, allowing her to watch as he fiddled with his flask, his eyes downcast, a tinge of melancholy surrounding him.

Emma took a deep breath and walked towards the door, not sure quite what she was going to do but not worrying much about it either. He looked up as she approached, giving her a half-hearted smile as she sat down, continuing to fiddle with his flask. She smiled back, setting her hands on her knees and using it to lean it a little closer.

"So, do you think Rumplestiltskin was right? I'm in the book now." He chuckled, looking away from her again as she continued. "He said everything, besides our little adventure, would go back to normal. Do you think that it is?"

"He's right. Otherwise, I'd remember that damn bar wench I kissed." He gave another half-hearted approximation of his flirty smirk, but it once again fell flat.

She chuckled anyway. "How would that prove anything?"

He smirked again. "I know how you kiss." Again, his features turned serious. "I'd have gone after her. But I didn't. My life went on exactly the same as before." He gave a bitter smile at that, stopping and waiting for her to speak instead of carrying on.

Emma smiled, turning her tone teasing as she said, "Yeah, must have been the rum."

The same small half-smile flitted momentarily across his features, strengthening slightly as he spoke. "Everything's back to normal. You're a bloody hero, Swan."

The guilt that still lay dormant in her heart roiled slightly at that, her mind telling her to reject the title. Instead, she smiled and turned it around. "So are you." He scoffed at that, looking away from her again. She almost winced at the self-deprecating gesture but she stopped herself. "I wanted to thank you… Killian." It wasn't lost on her that he didn't meet her eyes until she used his real name, but she brushed it aside temporarily. "For going back for me in the first place. In New York. If you hadn't-"

He interrupted quickly, maintaining the eye contact from earlier. "It was the right thing to do." He tilted his head as he spoke, almost as though he were daring her to disagree, but even it felt slightly false.

Emma stared at him for a bit longer, taking in the melancholy in his features. She thought back though her memories, skimming through the events of the last few days, searching for anything he had said to give an indication of how he'd crossed the realms. She came up empty. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "How did you do it? How did you get to me?"

The second she started her question, a look of disappointment passed across his face, almost as though he had hoped she wouldn't ask, and he looked down, avoiding eye contact again. She watched as he took a breath before starting, noting the almost imperceptible ways in which he put together an air of nonchalance. "Well, the curse was coming. I ditched my crew and took the Jolly Roger as fast and as far as I possibly could to outrun it."

Emma couldn't help the look of incredulity on her face, the hint of surprise in her tone, as she asked, "You outran a curse?"

He tilted his head, smiling. "I'm a hell of a captain." She couldn't help but chuckle at that, listening closely as he continued, his smile fading. When he spoke again, his words took on the air of someone approaching the gallows, most of the merriment fading away. "Once I was outside the curse's purview, I knew that the walls were down. Transport between the realms was possible again." The nonchalance returned as he added, "All I needed was a magic bean."

She ignored the air of finality he added to those words, still allowing the teasing tone to hold over. "Those are not easy to come by."

He winced slightly, dropping his voice and his eyes. "They are if you've got something of value to…" He slowed down as he approached the final word. "...trade."

Still smiling, she asked, "And what was that?" She could almost envision him handing over some hideously tacky jewelled chalice or sack of gold for a bean, and she almost hoped her imagination was wrong.

He forced a smile, then, but she could see that it didn't reach his eyes. "Why, the Jolly Roger, of course."

She felt all of her breath leave her in a silent rush, the smile falling from her face. Was he joking? "You traded your ship for me?"

He nodded once, looking almost anxious about how she'd respond. "Aye."

She looked closer, watching for any hint of dishonesty, but none came. The significance was not lost on her; the Jolly Roger was his home. It had been his home for centuries, through the loss of Liam, of Milah, through 300 years in Neverland. It had been everything he had, and he'd traded it… for her. She exhaled lightly before leaning forward, his hand tangling in her hair as she kissed him.