Alright, since we have reached the end of Part 1, this story has to go on the back burner for a few days so I can catch up with my other stories. Writing this reminded me of why I am careful not to have so many people with different personalities in one chapter. Anyway, thanks for hanging around for Part 1! See you all very soon for Part 2!

Kieran toyed with the letter in her hand. She found it shortly after they landed and talked herself out of opening it until she had no more excuses to give herself. Brainy refused to tell anyone how he owned an abandoned estate in Colorado, complete with an airfield, and he dodged questions about the equipment already stored in the garage. All he said was that he knew it would come in handy one day. Kieran sat on the bench wrapped in a blanket and unfolded the letter.

Princess,

I couldn't say any of this to you in person. It would've made it harder to let you go. I hate that…. Well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore, does it? You're going to be leaving soon, and I'll be here. I just want you to know that I'm never going to find someone like you again. I know Disney, so I figured everyone is chasing their happily ever after where you came from. If you find yours, make sure you tell them that you have a superpowered alien that'll do about anything to see you smile for the rest of your life.

-Your Hero

Later that night, Kieran stretched out in the yard. The backdoor opened, and she tilted her head back to find Brainy walking across the grass. He sat beside her cross-legged, eyes uncharacteristically serious.

"I find myself at a crossroads," he confessed. "I sense this is more than returning home for you."

Kieran snorted out a laugh and covered her nose. It wasn't funny, but her emotions were all over the place. She turned away from him and looked at the sky, enjoying the stars already visible in the fading daylight. Kieran questioned why Fate would give her such amazing people in a world far from her own.

"My mother is dying," she said eventually. "And I am running out of time to save her life."

Brainy reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder. She looked at him, and he said, "Tomorrow morning, we shall use the journal to create a link between you and your mother's magic. I can amplify it enough for my systems to narrow our search. I will do everything in my power to get you home before the sun sets tomorrow evening."

"Brainy-

"You misunderstand," he interrupted. "This is not a rush or an inconvenience for me. I know what it feels like to be millions of miles away from home but unable to go back for whatever reason. It will be an honor to do something for you that I cannot do for myself."

Kieran grabbed the hand on her shoulder and asked, "Why would Fate take me from my family, only to give me a new one that I cannot stay with?"

"I would like to think that until you were able to return to them, the universe blessed you with one who loved you just as much."

Kieran didn't know how to respond to that. Thankfully, Brainy understood her silence and went back inside. Kieran closed her eyes and slipped into a nearly forgotten memory.

"Hey, Gelu?"

Kieran glanced over at her sister, who seemed nervous.

"Yes?"

"I think I might- I believe I find- I think-

"Hey," Kieran touched Isabella's arm, giving her something to focus on. "I'm right here," she said. "Breathe through it and try again."

Isabella took several deep breaths before she said, "I think I am attracted to women in the way that mother wishes for me to be attracted to men."

Kieran chewed on her bottom lip and said, "Are you sure?"

Even under the moonlight, Isabella's blush took over her entire face as she nodded. Kieran hummed and rolled over, keeping her hand firmly on her sister's arm. She waited until Isabella looked at her before asking-

"Does this have anything to do with Abigail from the kitchens?"

"No!" Kieran arched an eyebrow, and Isabella sighed. "Was I that obvious?" she murmured.

"So much so that," Kieran paused, "that Mom assumed you would ask to court her by the full moon."

"Wait, Mommy knows?"

"I think the entire family does?"

"What! How?"

"After your lunch with Pocahontas. We all thought you two were more than friends."

"Pocahontas is five years older than me and interested in John," Isabella scoffed.

"Oh, please. That will never last," Kieran huffed.

"That is what I told her, but she wants to give him a chance. And why did no one tell me?"

"How do you expect us to tell you what you prefer, Ignis?"

Isabella groaned and erected a wall of grass around her.

"You are being ridiculous," Kieran giggled. "It is not that bad!"

"Shut up. You can barely dress, let alone give me love advice."

"Who said anything about love?" Kieran teased. "And I'll have you know I can dress just fine!"

"You are wearing mismatched stockings."

Kieran scowled and pressed a finger into the dirt, freezing the ground near Isabella. Her sister yelped and jumped up, glaring at Kieran as she laughed. Isabella cocked her head, and the grass under Kieran curled around her body until she was nearly buried in the Earth.

"Ignis!" Kieran shouted.

"Nope. Apologize."

"I will do no such thing- oh, for crying out loud."

Kieran concentrated and melted into a body of water. She slid away from the grass and solidified in front of Isabella, who stared at her in awe. Kieran brushed the dirt off her dress and plucked grass out of her hair. Isabella squealed and wrapped her in a hug.

"You finally did it!" she exclaimed. "Oh, this is so exciting! You have to show mother tomorrow."

"It wasn't that hard," Kieran muttered, turning red from the praise.

"Of course not, never for you." Isabella cupped her face and kissed her forehead. "I am blessed by every deity in creation to have you as my sister," she said.

"Iz, stop it," Kieran whined.

"One day, you will accept the praise given to you by others."

"Whatever."

"You know that I love you forever, right?"

"And ever?"

"Until time ceases to exist."

Kieran yawned as she came downstairs in her pajamas. She was the last one awake, a rare occurrence, and she entered the dining room to find everyone already there.

"Good morning, your Highness," Sam teased.

"Shut up."

"Mommy says shut up is a bad word," Ruby said.

"Your mother eats your fruit snacks when you fall asleep," Kieran grumbled.

Ruby gasped, and Sam stammered out a response. Jess shook her head and poured Kieran a cup of coffee, which made Kieran groan.

"Jess, you aren't my assistant anymore," she said.

"No, but you can barely open your eyes, and I'd rather not have hot liquid poured on the tablecloth."

"I am capable of taking care of myself."

"You're wearing mismatched pajamas," Sam pointed out dryly.

"Ruby, your mother eats all the cookies and blames it on Jess."

"Sam!"

"Mom!"

"I hate you so much right now," Sam hissed.

"Yes, well-

Kieran stopped and frowned. Red sparks jumped from her fingertips, and she glanced around in suspicion.

"What's-

Kieran shushed Sam, pushing Ruby closer to her mother, and Jess stepped closer to Sam. Brainy stood, prepared for an unseen threat, and Kieran looked up at the ceiling. Her magic reacted before anyone else, and she swiped everything off the table with a flick of her wrist. A portal opened above them, dropping a body on the table, and Sam scrambled back with Ruby already in her arms. Jess picked up a knife, pointing it at the offender, and Brainy took a defensive stance. Kieran cocked her head as she stared at the man. He looked familiar, but she couldn't figure out why. The man groaned and rose on his elbows, staring at the group.

"Sorry about the interruption, but by chance, are any of you named Kieran Mills?" he asked.

Kieran raised her hand. The man sighed in relief and slumped down. He turned his head to look her in the eyes and gave a tired grin.

"Name's Captain Hook, love. I'm a friend of your mother's, and I'm here to get you home."

That's why she knew him.

"Your face used to be on a lot of wanted posters," she said.

"Different life."

"How in the world did you end up friends with my mother?"

"That is a long story." Killian stretched out his neck and sat upright. "And that was not how I expected to get here," he said.

"Okay, pause. You're the actual Captain Hook?" Sam asked.

"Aye."

"That's so cool," Sam breathed out.

"If I may," Brainy began, "Where did you come from?"

"Better yet, how did you get here?" Kieran added.

"I came from Storybrooke, and I got here through a portal using a bean, some fairy water, and a dragon's eye."

"Are we talking a literal dragon's eye or…." Sam trailed off. "Also, when you say fairy water-

"Water that's been taken from the home of the fairies," Killian and Kieran said in unison.

"It's hard to come by," Kieran added. "So is a dragon's eye, which is a stone blessed by the tears of a dragon. Do I even want to know how you, of all people, have one?"

"Maleficent owed me a favor."

"So you stole it."

"Hold on, am I the only one blown out of my mind?" Sam exclaimed. "Like Captain Hook is sitting on the dining room table after falling from the ceiling, and he's talking to my best friend about Maleficent, fairies, and magic beans."

"Is it too early for a drink?" Jess asked.

"Not at all, love. I am a firm believer that drinking- ow!"

Kieran glared at him, pointing at Ruby, and Killian pursed his lips.

"I mean, drinking is bad," he said.

"Nice save," Sam scoffed. "And don't call my girlfriend love."

"My apologies. I meant no disrespect."

"What's in the bag?" Brainy asked.

"Some polar pictures," he said.

"He means polaroid pictures," Kieran said.

"I thought I had that one right." Killian pulled out a stack of pictures. "Anyway, I brought these to prove my case."

Kieran took the images and pointed to the chair, silently telling him to sit down. Killian huffed and sat where she told him to. Kieran walked over to Sam, Jess, and Ruby, and Brainy joined them. The first picture was of Killian lying on a ship deck with Regina. Regina wore a hat and sunglasses in a plain, black bikini, and she smiled brightly at the camera. Killian's face was too close, but it was a decent shot.

"That's my Mom," Kieran said, tapping Regina's face.

"No way that is your mother," Sam exclaimed. "She's way too..."

Sam trailed off when Jess and Kieran arched their eyebrows at her.

"Never mind."

Kieran shook her head and moved to the next image of Killian with Ruby and Granny in some kind of apartment. Ruby flipped off the camera behind Granny's back. Killian was again too close to the camera, but it was better than the first one.

"And that is my cousin, Ruby, and that's Granny," Kieran explained.

"Hey, she has my name," Ruby said.

"We might need to call the other one Red from now on," Killian said.

Kieran nodded in agreement and continued through the pictures. One by one, they watched Killian grow more comfortable in front of the camera. In every single image, they all wore big smiles. Her mother, especially. But Kieran couldn't shake that something was off about Killian's arrival. She handed the pictures to Sam, and she turned to Killian.

"What is the real reason you are here?" Kieran asked.

Killian cleared his throat and stood.

"It might be best if we spoke in private," he said.

Kieran led Killian out to the balcony and shut the door. Before she could ask again, Killian removed one last picture. She took it from him, and her breath caught in her throat. It was her mother on her bed with her eyes closed. It didn't take much to figure out what had happened. Kieran sat down on the bench and handed the picture back to Killian.

"Regina never told anyone. We had no idea until it was too late. Rumple believed there would be enough time for him to find a way to get you and your siblings back to Storybrooke, but your phone call came through two days after you made it. And Regina left her phone in the car that night."

"So she never heard my voicemail," Kieran guessed.

"I'm afraid not." Killian hesitated before sitting next to her. "When Rumple revealed that he had a second bean for your sister, we were able to open a portal to Isabella's location. We arranged for someone to go in and get her."

"And did you find her?"

"Yes. I heard from our Ruby that Isabella is safe and sound. Rumple revealed your bean could be unstable, so we had to find a different way to you," Killian paused, "But Regina truly is my best friend. I knew that if there was a small chance your bean would work, I would take it."

"Tell me about this Storybrooke. How did you all end up there?"

"Shortly after the Snow White incident, things got a bit dodgy. I was on the sea during most of it, but when I returned to stock up on supplies, I heard the announcement that Snow White was expecting a child. There was an issue with my ship, which delayed me several months. Then on the day my men and I were due to leave, this dark cloud enveloped the forest. We watched from the boat as people disappeared one by one until they were all gone. I later discovered that Regina cursed the entire forest and stole everyone's happy endings. She sent everyone to the Land Without Magic and put them in a town of her creation which is Storybrooke. She and Rumple were the only ones who had their memories, and everyone there was frozen in time for decades until the curse was broken."

"How is that possible?" Kieran asked. "She didn't even have magic when I was there."

"The theory is that losing you, Isabella, and Emmett triggered a dormant power that she either forgot about or never knew about. Her explanation has changed so much that I stopped asking."

"What happened for her to cast the curse? It surely went beyond losing us?"

"That is not a happy story," he said.

"I do not need it to be happy," she snapped. "I need to know why my mother's heart broke so much that it stopped working!"

Killian ran a hand through his hair and sat back. He said, "When the portals closed, the battle for the White kingdom came down to whose story sounded best. Unfortunately for your mother, Snow White's version of events swayed more people than Regina's. Your mother tried so hard for them, but once she became Rumpelstiltskin's protégé, once she started using magic more and more, the kingdom turned their back on her. Snow White became the hero, and so began the reign of the Evil Queen."

After Killian told Kieran the entire story, they made their way to the garage to find Sam, Ruby, and Jess with Brainy while he worked. No one commented on Kieran's bloodshot eyes or the exhaustion written on Killian's face. Instead, Ruby hopped down from her seat and walked up to Killian. Sam and Jess tensed, but Kieran gave them a reassuring smile.

"Was there ice cream in the Enchanted Forest?" she asked.

Killian gave a wry grin and said, "Yes, but we called it gelato."

"Oh, okay. Thanks."

Ruby ran back to her seat and wrote something down. Sam shook her head and leaned back on the table.

"Question. In this Storybrooke of yours, who all lives there?"

"The former inhabits of the Enchanted Forest."

"I'm sorry?"

Killian looked at Kieran, confused, and she said, "She's asking who from the Enchanted Forest lives in Storybrooke. Remember, in this realm, our world is considered a fairytale."

"Ah, yes. Emma told me the whole fairytale thing."

"Emma?" Jess asked.

"Long story," Kieran grumbled.

Killian grinned at the look on her face, and he asked, "Still not on board with her yet?"

"My mother has a proven weakness for pretty blondes, so I cannot trust her judgment on this."

"Now, why does that sound so familiar?" Sam asked, tapping her chin. "Jess, babe, who else do we know that has a weakness for pretty blondes?"

"Moving on," Kieran gritted out. "I think you were asking Killian to name individuals in Storybrooke?"

"Sure, if it's not like an issue of privacy or something."

"Oh. Um, I had lunch with Prince Eric the other day because he's getting a divorce from Princess Ariel? Snow White, Prince Charming, Red Riding Hood, Pocahontas is around somewhere, and Princess Tiana-"

"The entire Disney catalog. Thanks," Sam interrupted.

"Pocahontas is there?" Ruby asked excitedly.

"Yes, but I should probably mention that she and Tiana are the only princesses worth talking to. The rest can be," he scratched his neck, "difficult."

"Noted," Sam said. "Keep Ruby away from the princesses. Kieran and her sister included."

"Hey!"

Brainy cleared his throat to get everyone's attention and said, "The timing of your arrival has been helpful. It keeps me from using any of Kieran's energy and magic to locate her mother. I can use information you have provided to narrow down from the realms previously discovered after the last century or so."

"What?"

"He's going to ask you a bunch of questions about the Land Without Magic so he can find it," Kieran explained.

"Got it."

Brainy spun around to his computer, and Killian tried to touch a nearby screen, but Kieran smacked his hand down.

"First, would you say Storybrooke has a large concentration of magic in a world that does not have it?"

Killian glanced at Kieran, who nodded, and Killian said, "Yes."

Brainy hummed and erased something from the screen. Thousands of tiny dots appeared on the computer, and Brainy pressed a single key. Several of those dots disappeared, but there were still too many to count. Ruby climbed onto the table and latched herself onto Jess' back.

"What else can you tell me about your world?" Brainy asked.

"I know it's the year 2016."

"Never thought I'd add time travel to my list of experiences," Sam muttered.

Brainy typed something else into the system, and the number of dots dropped drastically from about a hundred to ten.

"What else?" Brainy asked.

"I'm not sure what else to give you."

"Who's the president?" Jess asked.

All eyes turned to her, and she shrugged.

"I have to assume it isn't the same in every place," she said.

"That is a fair question," Brainy mused.

"Emma mentioned some woman named Clinton a few months ago."

"Hillary Clinton became president? What a fucking world," Sam said.

"Mom."

"Sorry, baby."

Brainy added that detail, and surprisingly enough, three dots remained.

"Okay." Brainy leaned back in his chair. "Here we have the only three realms with magic where it shouldn't be, Clinton as president, and currently in the year 2016. The best way-

"Oh! Emma said that there were two big wars in our realm," Killian interrupted. "One and Two?"

"I think everyone had the World Wars, dude," Sam said.

Brainy pursed his lips and typed something else, and one realm was erased. Sam sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Do you know anything else? It can be the most obscure fact that you recall," Brainy said.

"No. That's all I have, mate," Killian sighed.

Kieran stepped up to Brainy, focusing on the screens, and she frowned.

"Why can't you just look for a spike in the magic from when Killian opened his portal?"

"I- oh. I did not consider that. Thank you."

Brainy swiped across the screens, focused on his task, and they all watched as the realm on the left side stayed dim when the one on the right grew brighter. It was only for a few seconds, but it was enough for Brainy to lock in on the location of the spike. The realm on the left was eliminated, and Brainy and Kieran tilted their heads in unison.

"It's just a bunch of colors," Ruby whispered to Jess.

Kieran knew it was more than that. What Ruby couldn't see was that the swirling colors were lines that connected a group of people, each one binding one person to another, and so on. Brainy tapped something on his keyboard. The realm disintegrated into tiny particles.

"It will take me around four hours to create a device that will be able to transport you all to this specific realm," he said.

"Holy shit, this is really happening," Sam murmured.

Kieran grimaced and turned to Sam, who shook her head.

"We are not having this conversation again."

"But you're leaving this world for one that you know nothing about!"

"You are too! So it'll be an experience for all of us."

"And Lex might try to kill us here," Jess said pointedly. "We have no choice but to go with you."

"Fine," Kieran sighed.

"Who is Lex, and why is he trying to kill you?" Killian asked.

"Oh, buddy, do I have a story for you," Sam began.

Brainy hid the extra watch in his bag. His only order was to send Kieran home and erase the data. And he would, but he was also taking a chance by creating an extra watch for Kara. He meant what he said to Kieran the night before. There was no way he was letting someone from his family just disappear into another realm without anyone being able to get to her. The garage door opened, and Brainy faced the group. They all had their bags, small things they grabbed in National City, and they seemed excited and wary. Brainy clasped his hands behind his back.

"You are right on time. I finished the portal watch, and it will take you as close as possible to where the Captain jumped from. Kieran, if you would please give me your wrist?"

Kieran stepped forward and held out her arm. He attached the watch to her arm and tapped the symbol on the front. She scrunched her nose as she smiled, and Brainy was proud he chose the right design.

"All you have to do is press the crest to activate it," he instructed softly. "Press it again once you're safe, and it will close. The watch has three full trips in it, so be mindful of how you use it."

"Thank you," she whispered. "For everything."

Brainy hesitated before hugging her, and he whispered back, "We will see each other again."

Kieran nodded and moved away from him. Brainy watched her caress the House of El crest he etched into the metal before she pressed down. The air grew thick with electricity, and a portal opened inches away from where Kieran stood. Brainy waved forward the other. Sam picked up Ruby while Jess took care of the bags. Killian grabbed Kieran's and joined the women near the portal.

"Ruby? You should cover your eyes," Killian suggested. "It can get pretty bright in there."

"Okay."

Ruby covered her eyes, and Sam gave Killian a thankful smile. Kieran reached back and grabbed Jess' hand, and Brainy waved goodbye as they walked through together.

The five of them exited the portal on the deck of the ship. Once everyone was safe, Kieran clicked the crest, and the portal vanished.

"When Emma told me this is where you would end up whenever you got back, I almost thought she was lying to me."

The five turned around to find a brunette chilling on the railing. Kieran stepped forward and narrowed her eyes.

"Isabella?"

"Hey, baby sis. Miss me?"

Kieran grinned and ran across the deck. Isabella met her halfway and swept her off the ground. She spun her in circles, and Kieran let out the most genuine laugh in years.

Sam, Jess, and Ruby stayed downstairs with Killian. Isabella led Kieran upstairs. In the bedroom, Kieran felt like a kid again. But instead of Regina on the bed, it was Liana. Kieran shook her head rapidly, backing away. It was one thing to see it in a picture. To see it for herself was something completely different, and she stepped back further, bumping into the door.

"Hey, trust me," Isabella said, holding out her hand.

Kieran looked from Regina to her sister, back to Regina again. She reached out and grabbed Isabella's hand, letting her sister tug her toward the bed.

"All you have to do is talk to her," Isabella said softly.

"Don't leave," she pleaded.

"Hey, I'm right here, okay? No one is going to take me away from you again. I swear it."

Kieran squeezed her sister's hand in response and looked down at their mother. She shifted back and forth, opening and closing her mouth in a few false starts. Eventually, the words poured from her lips. But she was speaking Latin. Isabella covered her mouth, and Kieran looked at her, confused.

"You should probably try English first," she teased.

Kieran huffed and moved her head away, glaring at her sister.

"Why do you always tease me?"

"Because you make it easy." Isabella jerked her head at Regina. "And that is why I told you to just talk to her. She can hear everything we are saying," she said.

Kieran's eyes dropped, and she gasped when she saw the purple receding from Regina's skin. Then she frowned and looked back at Isabella.

"Stop being a jerk," she said.

"Have you always been this sensitive?"

Kieran scrunched her face and asked, "What's with the accent?"

"I lived in London for three years. Long story."

"Are there any other kind in this family?"

"I know, right. Speaking of which, what is that is on your back?" Kieran blushed, and Isabella smiled mischievously. "And are those piercings? I'm counting, what, ten? Eleven?" she asked.

"I had a phase."

"Hold that thought." Isabella tugged her phone out of her pocket and answered, "Hello? No, I don't want to talk to him. Because I'll see him in like two minutes? And I'm still mad at him, which I know he can hear. Yes, I'm mad at her too. Whatever just tell him to hurry and-

Isabella and Kieran turned around when the door opened, and Kieran's eyes widened. Emmett entered the room slowly and closed the door.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Emmett," Kieran said. She cocked her head. "You look different," she added.

Isabella snorted and said, "You have no fucking idea."

"Bella."

"Oh, go fuck yourself. Was that good enough adult communication for you?" Isabella mocked.

Emmett flinched. Kieran glanced between them slowly, but she felt Isabella squeeze her hand in warning, so she let it go. Emmett walked to the opposite side of the bed. He was careful sitting down, using one hand to brush the hair from Regina's face. Isabella felt somewhat for her brother, knowing that the look in his eyes were tears that he would never be able to shed.

"Hey, Mom," he said. "I know this probably sounds like a dream, but I promise we are all here. We have so much we need to say to one another, so much we have to talk about, but we can't do that without you."

"I felt you yesterday," Isabella jumped in, swallowing her emotions. "And you have nothing to be guilty about. None of this was your fault. Our family is stronger than any distance, stronger than any force that tries to keep us apart, and-" she paused and sighed, "stronger than any misunderstanding or mistake. Nothing will break us."

"And nothing has," Emmett said meaningfully.

Kieran sat on the edge of the bed and placed her hand over Regina's heart.

"I know you can hear us. I feel your magic calling out to us, and I know it hurts. But we have so much more life to live together, Momma. You have to wake up for us. We can't do this without you."

"And we don't want to," Emmett added, putting his hand on top of Kieran's.

"There's also some cool people you have to meet," Isabella laughed, placing her hand on top of the pile. "Kieran brought a kid and everything."

"She's my goddaughter," Kieran sighed.

"Yeah, Mom. And Isabella has a girlfriend," Emmett teased.

"You do?" Kieran exclaimed.

"I- we haven't- Emmett's a vampire!"

"Oh, come on!"

"You should also tell Mom how you broke a promise, called me a brat, and insinuated I couldn't have a conversation without my powers!"

"Well, he is not wrong. You are horrible at talking to people," Kieran teased.

Isabella narrowed her eyes and said, "This is payback from earlier, isn't it?"

"What happened earlier?" Emmett asked.

"Iz was making fun of me-

"Because she was so nervous to talk to Mom that she started speaking in Latin," Isabella said.

"You do slip into Latin a lot when you get nervous."

"See!"

"You're supposed to be on my side," Kieran huffed.

"I'm on no one's side when it comes to you two."

All three were too distracted to notice the swirl of gold, orange, and red seeping into Regina's chest. Regina's eyes fluttered open, purple fading to brown. Her eyes landed on her children, and they closed again when she heard them arguing.

"I slept better when you three weren't around," she rasped.

"Tough words for someone giving their best Sleeping Beauty impression."

Isabella.

"You think we should have taken turns kissing her?"

Kieran.

"Why are both of you the way you are?"

Emmett.

Regina tugged at the closest child until they stretched out on top of her. She made a vague motion with her free hand, and she was relieved when she felt the bed dip beside her. Regina was surrounded by warmth on all sides. Instinctively, she knew it was Kieran on her chest. The body curled into her side was Isabella, and there was no doubt in her mind Emmett was stretched out at the base of the bed.

Regina smiled and fell asleep, feeling peace for the first time in years.