Hey, guys!

This chapter isn't quite as long as the last one, but it's pretty dramatic, gives you a teensy little glimpse at Emerlyn's mother (another OC - I'm not good enough at this to find someone that already existed in the show to make her mom from two-hundred years ago XD), and let's you know how good of friends Emer and Neal were while he was on Neverland

I hope you enjoy! And feel free to let me know what you think.

Ariel

Emerlyn watched as Regina tried to coach the Savior into using her magic to help them fight Pan. It wasn't a bad idea, the only thing Emer had ever seen bring Pan to her knees was one of her magical screams, so the more magic, the better. It was the bickering between the two she couldn't stand.

Regina huffed at Emma, rolling her eyes. "You're a pathetic waste of ability."

"And you're a monster," Emma shot back.

Regina turned to look at her before a slow smile grew across her lips. "Smell that?"

Emer looked down and saw small flickers of flame appear in the campfire.

"What?" the Savior asked with a frown.

Regina smirked. "Smoke."

Emerlyn was starting to think that Regina's magic was their biggest help, outside of her father and herself knowing Neverland so well. Sometimes it took a monster to slay a monster, and Pan was the biggest monster around.

Killian appeared back into the campsite, kissing his daughter on top of the head before turning to David. "We need to talk." He knelt beside Prince Charming and Snow White.

Emer slid a little closer to him on the log beside them.

"Pan paid me a visit," he said slowly, glancing back at his daughter to make sure she didn't panic.

The Lost Girl's blood ran cold. He had to be talking about a second one, about the deal he didn't take.

Killian continued, his tone still low. "He, uh… He told me that Neal is alive. That he's on this very island."

Mary Margaret shook her head quickly in disbelief. "Emma saw him. He was shot. He fell through a portal. No one can survive that."

"Well, he did," Killian assured. "And now he's here. He said he took him from this very camp while we were off in his cave."

"According to Pan," Mary Margarent reminded. "If he's telling the truth."

"Why would he tell you?" David wondered softly. "What does he hope to gain?"

"Maybe to distract us from Henry," Emer suggested quietly, shaking her head a little. She knew him best, maybe she could hazard a guess to what his motivations were. "We need Neal to read his map, which means we have to save him to get off of this island. That turns our attention away from Henry."

"Aye," Killian said softly, turning back to make sure his daughter was doing alright. "I'd say that's a pretty good guess, Em."

"He's telling the truth," Mary Margaret said suddenly, jumping to her feet to look at something on the edge of the jungle.

David and Killian both followed to see it, Emer only a couple steps behind.

Mary Margaret stopped to look at broken foliage, and kicked up dirt with multiple sets of footprints. "Tracks. And a scuffle. Someone was here while we were gone. We have to tell her."

"No, no, no," David insisted, holding out his hands to stop his wife from rushing toward their daughter. "She already lost Neal once. If this is a game we can't put her through losing him again."

"He's right," Killian agreed softly. "Either way, telling her is what Pan wants. Which is why we shouldn't do it."

Mary Margaret looked at Emer like she would offer some assistance on her point.

The teen didn't say a word.

Mary Margaret just appeared even more confused. "You want to find him without letting her know?"

"Why hurt her unnecessarily?" Hook asked, tone still quiet.

The Lost Girl honestly wasn't sure how Emma hadn't asked them what was going on over there yet. They weren't exactly being subtle.

Mary Margaret's shoulders sank a little. "I've never lied to her before."

"You're not lying," Killian assured. "You're just keeping a secret until confirmation."

Snow White sighed a little, looking uneasy. "Secrets always seem to keep us from the people we really care about."

"And sometimes secrets protect the people we love," David reminded softly.

Emer bit her tongue. He would know.

Her father glanced down at her with a subtle agreeing look. He knew exactly what she was thinking. He was thinking it too.

Emer wasn't sure she should share yet, but she had a pretty good idea as to where Baelfire, or Neal or whatever he felt like calling himself, was being kept.

Emer waited patiently as the adults packed what they'd need for the journey.

"If we're gonna hide this, we need a good cover story," Mary Margaret pointed out softly.

"Done," David assured with a nod.

"Not a problem," Killian agreed.

Emer noticed that the two hadn't actually talked over their excuse. This could get interesting.

"Where are you guys going?" Emma asked as she and Regina walked toward them.

"To get water," David said at the same time as Killian said, "To get firewood."

The Lost Girl bit back a laugh. That was smooth.

Emma looked between them suspiciously. "Guys, what's going on?"

"Neal's alive," Mary Margaret blurted.

Emerlyn covered her face with her calloused hands, sighing heavily as she ran them down over her freckled cheeks."I guess we should've taken a cue from Regina on how well she keeps secrets," the Lost Girl mumbled. Regina had informed her of it all after Emer had asked about the whole… Evil Queen thing.

Killian had to fight not to laugh at his daughter's exasperation.

Emma's expression was one of disbelief, that slowly changed into one of hope. "Neal is… alive?"

"Maybe," Mary Margaret corrected.

Emerlyn couldn't stop her eye roll. Snow White needed to think before she spoke sometimes. This was one of those times.

"Sorry," Mary Margaret told the adult men and the teen. "She deserved to know."

"This is a waste of time," Regina told them simply. "He's toying with us."

"Which is why we were going to go make sure before we told Emma," Emerlyn grumbled. "But someone wrecked that idea like a cannonball."

Of course, no one heard her. They hardly ever did.

"I don't think so," Mary Margaret said, stepping toward Regina as she answered the Evil Queen. She turned to show them the scuffled tracks she found earlier. "Look. More scuffling. Someone was definitely resisting."

"How do we know that means Neal?" Emma asked, her tone almost defensive.

"Well, I mean, someone was fighting for his life," Mary Margaret said quickly.

"Are you really going to fall for this?" Regina asked Emma, her expression full of disbelief, and almost disgusted at the effort. After a moment of Emma only looking at Regina, the Evil Queen huffed, "Fine. You want to follow the evil munchkin's dirt road, be my guest."

Regina turned to walk the opposite direction.

"Wait," Emma asked quickly. "Where are you going?"

"To save our son," Regina informed her quickly.

"We need to stick together," Emma protested.

"No we don't," Regina said with a small laugh. Her tone sobered quickly to a sharp one. "You may be prepared to risk Henry's life over some heartbroken fool's errand, but I'm not. I'm tired of waiting around."

No one said anything to her as the queen turned and walked away.

"What if she's right?" Emma asked her mother. "Pan could be lying."

Mary Margaret looked at her daughter with a soft expression. "Just because it seems too good to be true, doesn't mean it is. Don't give up. You owe it to Henry to find out if his father's still alive. And you owe it to yourself."

Emerlyn walked in between David and her father again as Mary Margaret led the way, following whatever tracks she could find. The Lost Girl had an idea as to where Neal had been taken, but she was sure Pan had moved him since then. The tracks were too easy to follow, especially for Mary Margaret.

Pan never let his games be so easy.

Emer knew which way they were headed as they passed where Neal must've been held originally, with the other cage, and continued on.

They were headed toward the Echo Cave.

"Papa," she said softly as Mary Margaret continued to march them forward. "You know where this leads, don't you?"

"Aye," he whispered, hand on her shoulder again to comfort her. "I do. Pan's done even worse than I expected."

"I was hoping we didn't make it here," she whispered, shaking her head. "I thought Mary Margaret might get lost. I hate this place."

Killian squeezed her shoulder softly as they pushed out of the brush and stopped at the mouth of the Echo Cave. He made sure Emer didn't go any closer than absolutely necessary.

"The tracks lead directly into that cave," Snow White informed them as she lowered her lantern. "This must be where Pan's keeping Neal."

David looked at it, a little bumfuzzled. "If the cave is supposed to be some sort of prison, then why aren't there any guards posted to stop us?"

Killian slipped forward slowly, making sure Emerlyn was in front of David before stepping forward himself. He didn't want any surprises trying to steal her away with no one noticing. "Because this prison doesn't require guards." He sighed heavily as he looked down the mouth. "Echo Cave."

"You know it?" Mary Margaret asked.

"All too well," Killian replied. "I lost half my crew inside those rock walls once, trying to save Emer. The only way to rescue someone from inside is to reveal a secret."

"A secret?" Mary Margaret asked. "That's all?"

"Your darkest secret," Emer clarified, almost taking a step toward her father before she thought better of it. Pan had trapped her in the Echo Cave once, after trying to escape with her father. She wasn't sure how long she was in there, but when he finally came to let her out, it was her secret that got revealed. And Pan had used it against her ever since.

Killian nodded in agreement. "The Echo Cave derives its name from an old saying—the deeper the lie, the more truth in its echo. The cave demands that you reveal a truth about yourself. A secret that you would never admit to anyone."

"This is ridiculous," Emma huffed.

"Don't kill the messenger, luv," Killian replied.

"Even if we spill our guts, how do we know Neal is still alive in there?" She demanded.

"Because this is what Pan wants," Emerlyn said, speaking up so she knew the Savior heard her. "He wants us to rescue him."

"Why?" David asked.

"Because he wants us to reveal our secrets," Emer replied with a sigh. "He wants our secrets to destroy us."

The group of heroes made their way into the Echo Cave, Emer nervously following her father and Emma through. She didn't want to go in, but waiting outside alone was stupid, an easy way for Pan to snatch her up again. So inside she went.

They looked out into the center of the dark cave, where, resting on top of a large stalagmite, was Baefire's cage.

Emer wondered if she'd have to give up a secret of her own. She was terrified she would, and she wasn't looking forward to it. She knew her secret would only make the adults pity her, and it would break her father's heart. But she came inside, so she had little choice.

Now was the time to be brave.

Baelfire noticed them there, and immediately sat up in his cage. "Emma!" He shouted across, like he was desperate for her to know it was really him. His voice reverberated off the walls, the sound almost too strong not to be painful in their ears.

Emma stumbled back a step in shock. "Neal."

"It must be a hundred feet across," Mar Margaret said softly, brow furrowing in concern.

"Even if we fashion some sort of rope, there's nothing to attach it to," David said, clearly thinking over their options. "No way to swing over."

"You weren't listening outside," Emer said simply to the adults, her tone slightly scolding. "That's not how the Echo Cave works."

The Savior frowned at the teen. "So what do we do?"

"I told you what needs to be done," Killian said simply. "Consider this the moment of truth. Literally. Now—" He turned to face the others, Emerlyn included. "—who wants to kick things off?"

"So what?" Emma asked, still frowning. "Someone tells their secret and they sprout wings?"

"I don't know the particulars," Killian retorted. "Only what I've been told."

"Then how do you know it'll work?" David asked, leaning on his sword like it was a cane.

The pirate sighed and turned around, taking a deep breath. He looked down, like he was thinking over exactly what he was going to say, before looking back up. "There's only one way to find out, I suppose."

He looked at Neal for a long moment before sighing again and turning back around with his admittance. "I kissed Emma."

Emer couldn't hide her disgusted expression.

"You did what?!" David demanded, starting to step forward like he would defend his adult daughter's honor.

"David," Mary Margaret said quickly, "now is not the time."

Emma rolled her eyes. "I already told Mary Margaret, so technically it's not a secret. And it was just a kiss. How's that your darkest secret?"

"It's what the kiss exposed," Hook continued, his tone almost soft.

Emer wasn't sure she liked where this was going.

"My secret is," Hook continued, only looking at Emma, "I never thought I'd be capable of letting go of my first love, Layla—Em's mother—and then I did. After I lost Emer, I fell in love again, but I lost her too, my Milah. After that I was sure I'd never be able to let go, to love another person that wasn't my little girl, to believe I could find someone else. That is until I met you."

Emer felt her stomach burn with emotions—anger and sadness and betrayal. Not only had he fallen in love with two other women since her mother had died giving birth to her, but in the process, he'd abandoned his search for her on Neverland to… what? To forget he'd lost her? To forget she was being tortured and used and broken by a demon that was never going to let her go? To move on and try to make a new family? Try to replace her?

Pan was right. All those years, and she hadn't believed him until right then, when she was standing only inches from her father and he admitted that he had left her to find love and start over.

She was near tears when the rocks beneath their feet began to rumble, and they all turned to look, watching the beginnings of a rock bridge sprout from the stalagmite Baelfire was sitting on.

"O-Okay," Emma said slowly. "Who's next? Emer, you look like you have something to say."

"You're not gonna like it, none of you," Emer said, her voice gone cold. The frigid tone seemed to make the temperature of the cave drop ten degrees. "But, yeah, I've got something."

"Go ahead, Em," Killian said, looking at her with blue eyes full of concern as a chill ran down his spine, and the other adults shifted in a way that showed they felt it, too.

"I don't trust you," Emerlyn said, looking at her father with icy blue eyes that were brimming with tears. "I don't trust any of you. You stumbled upon me while Pan was trying to torment my father, and I find a way to break away, and you keep me here because I'm useful, not because you want me to get away from Pan after centuries of torture and torment and pain."

"I do," Killian said instantly, taking her hand softly.

"That's the problem, Papa," she said, tears slipping down her cheeks as she tried to stop her lip from quivering, and the temperature of the cave continued to drop until everyone could see their breath. She pulled her hand from her father's. "I don't believe you. You just admitted you left me here for love, and now you fancy the Savior. You're here to help her rescue her son. Not to help me. That was just a happy accident along the way.

"Pan was right. All those years I spent fighting him, being tormented and tortured because I wouldn't give up on you—even when he told me you weren't in Neverland—and I never believed him. Suppose the joke's on me now, because now you're here, with help, and we have a chance to get off this bloody island, and I don't believe you're going to save me. I don't believe in any of you. Because I know none of you care about me."

Killian looked like she'd just stabbed him in the heart with his own hook. "Em…"

"Don't," Emer said, her voice almost a snarl. "Because if you really care about me, you wouldn't have gone on a search hiatus with your Milah."

The rocks rumbled and twisted again as the rock grew. David held on tight to Mary Margaret as the princess shivered in the increasingly cold air. The breaths of all of the adults, Neal included from his cage, puffed out like fog.

"You have what you needed from me." The Lost Girl's tone was as frigid as the temperatures around them as she turned, and climbed toward the mouth of the cave on her bare feet.

Killian's legs gave out beneath him. His daughter, his only family, the person he loved more than anything else in the world, had just told him the worst thing he could've imagined her saying to him on this bloody island. Or maybe anywhere.

"Okay," David said slowly, looking more than shaken as the temperatures began to climb again at Emer's exit. "I-I'm not really sure how to follow up that, but… here goes nothing."

"No, no," Mary Margaret said softly. "Me next. I'll be the one that's confession doesn't quite match up to snuff. Ever since the curse broke, since we found each other, since we found Emma, in all of that happiness, there's something I haven't wanted to admit. Our daughter is a beautiful, smart, amazing woman, whom I love very much, and of whom I could not be more proud. But she's all grown up. And as much as I want to pretend I'm okay with that, I'm not.

"We missed it, David, What we have with her is unique. But it's not what I wanted. We were cheated out of everything. Her first step, her first word, her first smile, we missed it all."

"What are you saying?" David asked slowly.

Mary Margaret took a moment to compose herself before answering. "When we get off this island, and get back to Storybrooke, I want another go at it. I want to have another baby."

The rock bridge moved forward again.

It only needed David's before Emma could cross, but it would need hers to open Neal's cage.

"Nothing would make me happier," David said softly. "And I know, with all my heart, that you would make an amazing mother. But it can never happen. At least, not with me."

Mary Margaret's expression changed quickly into one of shock, confusion, and sadness. "What do you mean?"

David looked down and sighed before meeting his wife's gaze again. "When Hook, Emer, and I went to search for the sextant, they were really taking me to find a cure."

Mary Margaret was starting to look angry. "A cure for what?"

"Dreamshade."

'The Lost Boys, the arrow," Mary Margaret said in realization, "you pushed me out of the way…"

"I wasn't fast enough," David explained. "I was hit. Hook and Emer were able to find a cure, but it comes at a price. I can't leave Neverland. If I do, I'll die."

The rock pushed forward again again, and finished the bridge for Emma to cross.

Killian slowly, almost like he was trudging, pushed back to his feet. He needed to make sure Emerlyn was okay. If she hadn't run off completely. He wouldn't have blamed her, but he felt so close to shattering into a million pieces, he was afraid that if he walked out of the cave and found her gone, he would break until he was non-functional.

Emer was curled up at the edge of the rocks that formed the echo cave, knees pulled up to her chest with her arms crossed over them, and her face buried in her arms as she tried to stifle her tears, but couldn't stop sniffling.

She curled in even tighter on herself when she heard them on their way out.

"Thank you," a new voice said to the others as they exited the Echo Cave, and Emma curled in on herself tighter.

"Don't thank us yet," David replied. "We still have to save Henry."

"We found your star maps," Killian said, his voice hard in his attempt to keep himself from splitting in two. "The real question is, do you know how to get off this island?"

"If we can find Henry, I can get us home." There was a moment of pause. "Pan said you'd taken Emer with you," the male voice she didn't recognize said. "And I figure that was her magic freezing us out down there while she gave her confession. Where is she?"

"She took off after she told her secret," Emma explained softly, trying to be gentle because of Killian's still-fragile state. "What she said… kinda threw us all for a loop."

Emerlyn let out a sniffle that was louder than she would've liked for it to be, and all of the adults turned to look that way, seeing the mess of tangled dark hair and her dirty bare feet.

"That bad, huh?" Neal asked, almost rhetorically before he slowly moved toward the Lost Girl like she was a frightened deer. He was an old friend, and probably the only one she wasn't angry with in some way, shape, or form. "Emer?"

Emer peeked up from the crook of her elbow to see the stranger walking toward her. It had to be Baelfire, but he looked so different. So… old.

"Bae?" She asked cautiously, her voice hoarse from her tears.

He smiled as he knelt in front of her. "Hey, Emer."

"You didn't age well," she mumbled through her arm.

"Neither did my name," he assured with a small laugh. "Most people call me Neal now."

She nodded slightly. "So I've heard."

When she made no indication of moving or standing, he sat down beside her. "What's wrong?"

"I'm never getting off this island," Emer whispered, so quiet and shaken that Neal almost didn't hear it from right beside her.

Neal looked up and motioned for the others to go. We'll catch up, he mouthed.

Hesitantly, they all agreed, and slipped back into the jungle.

All except Killian. He couldn't make himself leave Emerlyn when she was like this, even if he was the source of the problem. He had to make sure she was okay. Even if she didn't believe it, she was the most important thing in the world to him.

Neal turned back to Emer. "What do you mean you're never getting off this island?"

"Everyone's here for Henry, and only Henry." Emerlyn sniffled again. "They don't care about me."

"That's not true, Emer," Neal said quickly, though his tone was still soft. "Your father came here to help them save Henry, but to also save you."

"No," Emer said simply, sniffling again. "He came here to help Emma."

Killian flinched at the tone he heard from his daughter.

Neal's expression twisted a little, but he knew Emer couldn't see it. "What if it was both?"

"Does it matter?" Emerlyn asked miserably. "He still chose her over me, because the only reason he came back to Neverland at all was to help her."

Killian wanted to take his daughter, force her to look up at him, and swear on his life and all the life in all the seas of all the realms that it wasn't true, but Neal gave him a quick look that told him not to.

Emer had lost faith, and all hope. It took time to rebuild that. She had helped Neal when he was at his lowest. It was time to repay the favor.

"Emer," Neal said softly. "Will you look at me?"

She slowly, shakily managed to look up at him, tear stains across her flushed cheeks, blue eyes puffy from her tears.

The sight made Killian finally let tears of his own slip down his cheeks. He'd done it. He'd broken his daughter's heart.

"I wanna make a deal with you, okay?" Neal said softly. "From now on, it is my mission to make sure that both you and Henry make it back to Storybrooke, safe and sound, alright? But you have to set things right with your dad. Not in this instant, but eventually. Because he really does love you more than anything. He just got a little… distracted, is all. Deal?"

Emer sniffled again, silent for a moment before she nodded slightly. "Okay. Okay, deal."

Neal smiled at her, pulling her close and hugging her. "Man, it's good to see you again."

"I missed you, Bae—I mean, Neal." The name was still foreign on Emer's tongue.

He laughed a little. "It's okay. You okay to walk, or do you need a ride?"

"What?" Emer asked slowly.

"Are you tired?' He asked, smiling a little. "I'll carry you back to camp. Give you a piggyback ride?"

She laughed a little. "I'm too big for that."

Neal scoffed. "You're like a hundred pounds, soaking wet. Come on, climb up." He turned his back toward her in offering. "And we'll get going."

She laughed a little again, around a sniffle, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Once Neal had pushed to his feet, Emer wrapped her legs around his waist, and buried her face in the back of his shoulder before they started off.

Thank you, Killian mouthed to Neal.

Neal nodded slightly. Don't waste it, he mouthed in reply as they slipped into the jungle.