Killian stared at her in stunned silence. Not quite believing what he was hearing. "Human? I don't understand love. Who did this to you? And why?"

Emma looked away, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes. "He was, or I thought he was someone who cared about me," she paused to gather herself before recounting the events of that terrible day.

Enchanted forest: Some time ago

Emma looked around at her surroundings nervously. "I don't like this. What if we get caught?" she said to the man walking beside her.

"Come on, Emma. Where's your sense of adventure?" he asked with a grin.

Emma gave him an anxious smile. "I hope you have that same enthusiasm if my parents find us."

"Don't be so negative, Emma. I'll have you home before they even wake up. Now come on, I promise you, this is going to be something that you will never forget. Trust me," he said

Emma nodded her head at him tentatively. "Alright, Neal."

As Emma followed Neal through the woods, she continued to grow more uneasy. Something about this wasn't right and she didn't know what had possessed her to sneak out of the castle and go with him. Maybe it was infatuation or loneliness or both, but all she knew was that he had been a good friend (and she hoped maybe more), and she didn't want to lose that.

She had met Neal a few months ago when he had been brought in as a new stable hand. From the very beginning, whenever she went to ride her horse, he had always stopped to talk to her and actually treated her like a person and not just the princess. Since then they had only gotten closer, stealing little moments here and there when no one was looking. Other than her parents and a few of her attendants, Emma didn't have many people she could really talk to, and sometimes it got lonely.

Don't get her wrong, she loved her parents and her life (most of the time), and she knows they loved her but they could get a bit overprotective at times. Growing up she was never allowed to go anywhere beyond the palace walls without them and she never understood why until she was 10 years old. She had been arguing with them because they wouldn't let her go with Granny to see Aunt Ruby and Uncle Graham's new baby. Both were busy that day and couldn't go with her. Emma just remembered thinking how unfair it was, everyone else had gotten to see the baby but her, and she had felt so angry that she let out a scream, when all of a sudden a fire erupted out of the fireplace seemingly from nowhere.

Everyone in the room had jumped and all eyes turned to Emma who stood there in shock, lips starting to quiver. Her parents had rushed to her side and held her as she started to cry, not knowing what had happened, only that she was the one who had caused it. Some time later, a small ball of light came out of nowhere and floated through the room, until right before her eyes a beautiful fairy appeared. Her parents had quickly risen from where they had been sitting to greet their guest, and began to hold a hushed conversation, occasionally looking over at Emma until they came back over and proceeded to tell her everything.

She learned all about her parents' past with the Evil Queen and how they had finally banished her from the kingdom for good a few months after Emma was born. How they shared true love, and because of that she now possessed true love magic. Emma had at first been scared and uncertain about her new found powers but over time, with the help of the Blue fairy, she had learned to embrace them. Her parents, while not against her powers, thought it would be best if she only used them in extreme circumstances, saying the kingdom had been through alot under Regina's rule and many might be wary of a magical princess. They decided to give her lessons in archery and sword fighting in case she ever found herself in a situation where using her magic wasn't feasible.

Emma could understand why her parents might feel that way given everything that they had been through and she knew they were just trying to keep her safe, but she would be lying if she didn't feel a little bit hurt. But she loved them, so she focused more on her weapon skills and less on her magic. Emma thought as she got older her parents might ease up and let her venture out into the kingdom by herself but they never did. Explaining that there could still be people loyal to Regina or another enemy out there waiting for the first chance to strike.

So when she met Neal it was like a breath of fresh air. She talked to him about everything, from her frustrations with her parents, to her continued feelings of insolation, and about her inability to freely use her magic when she wanted to. Emma had been nervous to tell him about her powers but Neal had been wonderful about it, agreeing to keep it a secret for her. She had come to care about him so much, she thinks she might even begin to...

"We're here." Neal's voice brought her back to the present. Looking around Emma saw that they had come to some sort of circular clearing with trees bordering all around it.

"Where are we?" Emma asked as she turned to face him. That uneasy feeling that had dissipated slightly during her musings of the past came back in full force.

"Somewhere quiet," he said, walking over to Emma and taking her hands in his. "Isn't that what you wanted? To get away from it all? From your overprotective parents? From the isolation?"

Something about the tone in his voice sent chills down her spine. He sounded cold and unfeeling, not at all how he usually spoke to her. Emma suddenly felt like she was being watched, her eyes started to dart around the clearing feeling as if the trees were about to close in on her. "I want to leave. Please, take me back to the castle," she pleaded with him.

"Oh I'm afraid you're not going anywhere," a menacing voice said from behind her.

Emma whirled around, eyes widening with shock at the figure standing in front of her on the edge of the clearing. Appearing to be human, they wore a dark hooded cloak that hid their face from view, yet she could sense this was no ordinary person. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice wavering in fear.

"I've gone by many names over the years, but you can call me-" the figure gave a dramatic bow, then stepped into the clearing and threw back their hood, "-The Dark One."

Emma stumbled back at the reveal of the reptilian face. Her parents had told her stories of The Dark One, terrible stories of deals gone bad and the horrible prices people had to pay. But he hadn't been seen or heard from since before she was born, and many thought that he had either been captured or left the realm. The feeling of a hand being placed upon her shoulder snapped Emma back into reality and she remembered who was also in the clearing with her. "Hold on, Neal," she said, raising her arms to whisk them away to safety, but nothing happened.

"What?" she whispered in confusion.

The Dark One laughed at her maniacally. "My dear princess, didn't your parents ever teach you to be aware of your surroundings?" he asked mockingly as he snapped his fingers to reveal a ring of glowing red light encircling her.

"What is this?" she cried out in panic.

"Honestly, didn't that annoying fairy teach you anything? It's so you can't use your magic," he taunted. Then his gaze shifted, peering behind her, causing even more panic and fear to grip her. "Come here, boy," he demanded as he beckoned Neal forward.

Emma watched as Neal stepped away from her and began walking toward The Dark One. "No!" she yelled, reaching out for him only to be stopped by an invisible barrier. She realized then that the light encircling her not only prevented her from using her powers, it also kept her trapped within the circle. "Neal, please come back," she pleaded. "He has you under some sort of sp…" The words died on her lips. She watched in shock as Neal and The Dark One embraced one another.

"Oh, my boy. It's so good to see you," she heard The Dark One say to Neal.

"It's good to see you too, Papa," Neal responded back to him affectionately.

Emma felt as if the ground had been yanked out from underneath her as she watched the scene before her. The man she thought she had been falling in love with knew this demon.

"Papa?" she asked in horror

Both men turned to her with confusion, almost as if they had forgotten she was there during their reunion. The Dark One looked at her with an unnerving gleam in his eyes. "You did wonderfully, Baelfire, I knew you could do it," he said to his son.

Emma looked over at Neal with tears in her eyes. "What is he talking about? Why did he call you that?" she frantically asked while her mind desperately tried to make sense of everything.

"Because that's my name, Emma. It's Baelfire not Neal," he told her with annoyance in his voice.

Emma could feel her whole body start to tremble with anger. "And The Dark One is your father?" she spat out. "You told me that you didn't have any parents. That you were an orphan. You lied to me."

He walked forward and stopped right in front of her. "And it was all too easy, too. All I had to do was give you the tiniest bit of attention and tell you the sad, sob story of poor orphaned Neal and I had you eating out of the palm of my hand. It was really quite pathetic," he said cruelly while peering down at her.

In a blind rage, Emma forgot about the force field and lunged for the man in front of her only to be knocked back to the ground. She heard laughter and lifted her head to see Balefire crouch down in front of her with a sneering smile on his face.

"Bastard!" She screamed at him as tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"That's enough, Bae!" The Dark One called out in exasperation. "There's no need to kick her while she's down. Now come here. It's time."

Emma watched as Balefire stood and made his way back over to his father. A new feeling of terror rushed through her as she saw them whispering to each other. "Time for what?" She asked, rising to her feet.

As The Dark One walked towards her, he pulled out what appeared to be a crystal from his pocket. "Why, it is time for me to take possession of something I have always greatly desired."

"And what's that?" she inquired. Although Emma was pretty sure she already knew.

The Dark One looked down at her with a sinister grin. "True loves' magic," he answered, before thrusting his hand, and the crystal it held, forward.

As soon as the crystal touched her, Emma felt like she was being torn apart. She screamed and watched in horror as white light poured out of her and into the crystal. In that moment she knew that her magic was being taken from her, and there wasn't anything she could do to stop it from happening.

Emma felt the last of her magic leave her, and she crumbled to the ground. She lay there staring up at the starless sky, unable to move, until a pair of hands grabbed her and lifted her up onto her knees. She tried to struggle but in her weakened state it was no use. Emma looked up at The Dark One in defiance, determined not to show an ounce of fear. "Well go ahead then. Get it over with, kill me."

The Dark One gazed down at her with a perplexed expression on his face. "Kill you? Now why would I do that?"

"You got what you wanted. You have my magic. Why would you risk keeping me around?" Emma asked.

"No, my dear I need you alive," The Dark One said as he held up the now white, pulsating crystal. "See, this type of magic is very tricky," he informed her. The only way to keep it stable is for the original host to stay alive."

"So, what are you going to do? Keep me prisoner?" Emma spat at him.

"Something like that," he said, cryptically.

Emma let out a gasp when something was placed around her neck. She reached up to find a collar with a small stone in the middle that wouldn't budge when she pulled on it. "What is this?" Emma asked and a second later she got her answer. A searing pain ripped through her body, starting at her neck then traveling downwards.

Emma collapsed onto the ground once again and watched, stunned, as a green smoke started to engulf her legs. As the smoke continued to swirl around her, Emma could feel a tightening sensation begin in her bones, almost as if they were fusing together. When the smoke began to clear Emma let out a horrified scream, because instead of where her legs should be, there was now a green tail.

"What did you do to me!" she wailed, reaching down to cautiously touch her new appendage.

The Dark One came over and knelt down beside her. "You see, dear, where I'm about to send you, you are going to need that," he said, pointing at her tail.

Before Emma could ask what he meant, The Dark One stood and walked over to Baelfire, who took something from his pocket and handed it over to his father. When he turned back towards her, The Dark One merely said, "Goodbye, Princess." With a flick of his wrist,the object he was holding flew through the air and landed on the ground next to her.

As soon Emma saw what it was she panicked. "No!" she screamed, trying desperately to get away, but it was no use. The ground beneath her started to give way, and right before her eyes a swirling portal began to form. She grabbed for a root as the portal grew larger and larger until she was dangling precariously on the edge of it. Emma tried to hold on, but she could feel herself being pulled in by the force of the portal. When the root slipped from her hands, the last thing she saw was The Dark One and Baelfife watching gleefully as she fell into the unknown.

Killian's whole body was numb as Emma finished recounting her tale. His mind going over everything she said, a million thoughts ran through his head. The Crocodile? How? Milah's Baelfire? She was a Princess? One look into Emma's tear streaked face and all those thoughts didn't seem important right now.

"Oh, Emma. I'm… I'm so sorry, love," he said, reaching out to take her hand in his.

When Emma looked up at Killian and saw the genuine concern on his face, she broke. Heaving sobs racked her body, and she threw her arms around his neck. She felt him hesitate slightly before slowly bringing his arm up around her. They stayed like that until her sobs turned into quiet sniffles.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she pulled away.

"It's alright," Killian said, slightly dazed as he tried to process what just happened. He couldn't remember the last time someone willingly sought comfort from him. Not since Milah, and even then she hadn't always come to him, preferring most of the time to deal with things by herself. It had felt strangely right to hold Emma in his arms, almost as if she had always belonged there. He shook his head clear of those thoughts when she started to speak again.

"When I was falling through the portal, all I kept thinking about was my parents. That this was exactly what they were trying to protect me from," she paused, gazing at her tail in contempt. "I resented them so much," she stopped, shaking her head as tears once again began to fill her eyes. "I was such a fool."

"Hey," Killian said softly, reaching up to gently cup her face with his hand. "You are not a fool. You put your trust in someone, and they betrayed that trust."

Emma brought her hand up to cover his. "I don't even know if they're okay. I have no idea why The Dark One wanted my powers. What if he..." she squeezed her eyes against the intrusive thought. She couldn't think that, she just couldn't.

"Emma. Look at me." She opened her eyes to meet his gaze. "I know what it feels like to think of the what-if's, to wonder if only I had done things differently then none of this would have happened. Don't do that to yourself, love," Killian said as he gently brushed his thumb across her cheek to wipe away a stray tear.

Emma studied Killian silently. She could see the truth behind his words, and knew that he had been through something equally as terrible. She could see the forlorned look in his eyes and some part of her needed to comfort him just as he was comforting her. "Killian," she whispered as she placed her own hand to lay gently on his face.

Time seemed to stop as they gazed into each other's eyes. A multitude of emotions went through them as they silently communicated with one another. Neither one knew who moved first, or maybe they moved at the same time, but before either of them knew their lips were a hair's breadth away from each other's, but just as their lips were about to touch a voice rang out in the dark.

"My, My. What do we have here?"