The first time he'd gone to Neverland, he'd been a human child of seven, maybe eight or nine. It was so long ago the memories were difficult to drag up, and he'd been so scared that what he did remember of the transition was vague. He remembered a tunnel. He remembered holding his father's hand. He remembered getting an odd sense that time was not working the way he wanted it to work, the way he was used to it. There was wind and a peculiar smell, color, and then a sudden stop as he'd been spit out on a beach in the middle of nowhere.

This time he was going to Neverland not as a human child but as an adult and the Dark One, no less. He was experienced in traveling between worlds. His heart was heavy with grief and darkness. He was different now, far more than he'd ever been the last time he'd done this, yet the experience was eerily similar; only the details made it different.

The wind still whipped, but now it felt cool and oddly refreshing, nothing like the tornado effect it had been the last time, slamming against his body, leaving him scared and gripping his father's hand with an iron fist. The tunnel that spun around him was a deep beautiful blue and ocean green that swirled around the ship he was on, giving him the feeling that they were only caught up in a colossal wave curling around them. The only indication that there was something magically remarkable about this phenomenon was the tiny sparks of yellow, orange, and red. Magic flared through the portal, sensing their presence, keeping the passage open across realms.

There was a burst of yellow behind him, a smell he recognized from his childhood that his grown mind now knew was the smell of magic. It was the portal closing, sealing them off from the Land Without Magic, away from Storybrooke, away from Belle. Ahead of them, a dark night loomed. Neverland at night. That was a sight he'd never gotten to behold. Now it was coming clearer into sight with every moment, every second.

The world shifted very suddenly. The feeling of falling was replaced with a lurch in his stomach that made him feel like he was being shot at high speed upward out of a canon, even though they never changed direction. He held on tight to the rope rigging before him, gripping until he was sure the stiff frayed fibers would cut into his skin, and then…it was over.

They did not drop out of the sky but rather emerged from the water just as they had left Storybrooke. The ship bobbed on the sea, trying to find her stability as he took deep breaths of salty air and tried to get his bearings. The world was dark. The portal was gone, closed behind them. The roaring and the wind died down until they were almost non-existent, and all that remained was a gentle breeze and a mist of salt water. That, and a lone spit of land dead ahead. He let go of the rope and looked it over. It was dark, but he would never forget the shape of that island. Not for as long as he lived.

"Is that it?!" Emma shouted from where she stood on the main deck.

"Aye," Hook growled from the helm. "Neverland."

The very word struck dread and fear into his heart. He conjured a picture of Baelfire and Henry playing with their wooden swords back in Storybrooke. It was a happier time. If he didn't focus on memories like that, he would likely forget who he was and why he was doing this.

Regina swept past him and stepped down onto the ship's main deck with Emma and her parents. Each of them stared down the island with something different; Mary Margaret with trepidation, David with caution, Regina with suspicion, and Emma with determination. Little did they know that none of them were correct in their feelings. The only two people on the ship who knew what truly lay ahead were standing on this deck, constantly at odds and yet in a brief moment of truce.

"You know we can't approach this so obviously," he muttered, turning to Hook. "He'll see us coming a mile away after that. No one comes in or out of Neverland without him knowing."

"Aye, I remember well. But I was hoping that perhaps the stir that Greg or Tamara worked up in bringing Henry might shield us a bit."

"That much magic?" he sneered at his presumption. "He'll have felt it." Three people coming through a relatively small portal versus the six of them plus the Jolly Roger on the open water…not a chance. If Pan knew as much as he suspected he did, then he'd be prepared for people to brave hell and high water to come after Henry. He'd know. However…

"Whether or not he'll consider us a priority, on the other hand…that's a safer bet to take. He'll secure Henry first."

"And send that cursed Shadow of his out after us as soon as he possibly can."

Yes. He hadn't truly thought of the Shadow in years, yet he'd been thinking of him all this time. The one being that could have gone back and forth to Neverland and Storybrooke without a portal, that might have conveyed information to him, that might have been able to help him recruit people like Greg and Tamara from afar…it could be no one else other than that Shadow. And Hook was right, as much as it pained him to admit it. At any point, he could send the Shadow out after them. He had some decisions to make. Quickly.

"Worry not, Dark One," Hook assured him with a rough voice as he gently notched the wheel over a bit. "I know a back way in. It might buy us some more time before we're discovered."

"But it won't hold him off indefinitely…" he muttered to himself as he looked at his shipmates on the deck below. He needed information. With a bit of struggle that registered as something that would slow him down on the island, he made his way down to where the women and David were. Regina and Snow were chatting, Emma was staring at the island ahead with piercing eyes that would have no effect on Pan. And David was staring at the three of them as if he could see the bomb between the women that was ready to explode just as easily as he did. He'd rather not be here when that happened. But to facilitate that…

"I need a word," he muttered to David, who glanced at him and then back to the women before following him across the deck for some privacy. "I'd like some information."

"About?"

"Greg and Tamara, about what happened in Storybrooke while-"

"You were babysitting your girlfriend."

The words stung even though he was sure that David hadn't meant them to. And he knew why…it was because they were true. "For lack of better terms…yes."

"She's normal again, isn't she? Belle, she's…she's not Lacey anymore."

He cast a sidewards glance at David and raised his eyebrow. He suspected back in Storybrooke that he'd been able to tell she wasn't Lacey anymore. Now he knew that it was true. Though he was curious…how had David picked up on that?

David sighed. "I saw the way you looked at her, the way she kissed you on the dock, even the tone of her voice was back to Belle's. Leroy said that Blue made up a second dose for her. It wasn't hard to connect the dots. You gave her the potion."

He nodded. "I did."

"Congratulations, Leroy didn't think you had it in you."

"Congratulations is a bit of a funny thing to say to a man who's just lost his only son."

David offered another sigh and hung his head a bit as if in shame. Oh how easily they'd forgotten what he never would. "You're right. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Your words are of little comfort."

"Just as yours were when we told you the town was being destroyed and needed your help."

"You mean two seconds after you told me my son had died? When you expected me to rally from the worst kind of trauma a person could experience to save your asses."

"It wasn't like that."

"How would you have done, I wonder, if it was Emma and you were in my place. What was it you said before we left for New York? You'd be devastated if anything happened to your family? Well, here I am, no family left to speak of and devastated is an understatement, so forgive me if I wasn't in the mood then to carry on and live with that."

"You're right. I'm sorry. It was careless and cruel to expect it of you then. And it was useless since Regina and Emma figured it out in the end. And…you are here now."

"Indeed, which brings us to this very moment. I'm here now and willing to let bygones be bygones, but I need information."

"About…"

"All you just said. I need to know what happened while I was keeping Belle safe. I need to know about what happened with Greg and Tamara, what they did, how Emma and Regina reversed it, all of it. Because Neverland is not the place that David Nolan heard tales of and I'm gonna need every last little detail to get Henry back."

Hi! For those of you that are just checking out this fiction, welcome! For those of you who are a fan of the Chronicles of the Dark One, welcome back! I hope you'll enjoy this fiction. It's the 8th in the Chronicles, a series that is an attempt at an accurate portrayal of Rumple's perspective during the Once Upon a Time series. This fiction features everything that happened in Neverland and Storybrooke in season 3A; from the moment that Rumple and the Heroes show up in Neverland in "The Heart of the Truest Believer" up to the moment that Rumple dies in "Going Home". It is currently only "in progress" and will be updated every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday through Saturday.

The Dark One Chronicles is meant to be a companion series with The Moments Series, which explores Once Upon a Time from Belle's perspective. This means that everything you read in the Chronicles where Belle is concerned will show up in Moments as well. It is just told from a different point of view. If you'd like to see Belle's chapters from her perspective, Moments Shared and Unshared is the companion story to The Chronicles of the Dark One: Fathers and Sons! You can find The Moments Series by checking out my profile.

If you enjoy this fiction, please review! I always enjoy those wonderful gems waiting for me in my inbox and I love writing back to thank you personally for reading! It helps me know that I'm doing a decent job! Peace and Happy Reading!