Neal stood with his back pressed against a tree, hidden out of sight. The morning air was crisp, the sun shining down through the greenery above. He had stopped by Rumplestiltskin's castle to pick up his messenger bag with the storybook and it was slung over his shoulder, a comfortable weight. That was how he knew where Charming and Snow would be. According to the storybook, Charming had caught Snow in a net and was trying to get his ring back. Neal listened to their back and forth with slight amusement.
"I don't have your ring." Snow said.
"Then why don't I believe you?" Charming replied.
Neal saw an opportunity to interrupt. He stepped around the tree and into the clearing. "You should. She's telling the truth."
Charming's hand flew to the hilt of his sword, drawing the blade out a little. He threw a questioning look in Neal's direction, trying to match the face to a name, to decide if he was dealing with a friend or a foe.
"Prince Clyde." Neal introduced himself, remembering the fake names he and Emma had given at the ball. "Lovely ball the other night. Snow White doesn't have your ring." His gaze flicked up to Snow in the net and then to Charming. "My Princess Bonnie does."
Charming slid the sword back into its sheath. His tense posture relaxed. "She has my ring? Where is she?"
"That's the problem." Neal answered. "The queen's castle."
"Actually that's not a problem at all." Snow's voice was almost taunting as she proposed a solution that satisfied them all.
Charming's blade was unsheathed in a flash and he sliced through the rope of the net. Snow fell, the hood of her cloak sliding off and revealing her dark hair in a spill.
Snow's knowledge of the castle would help them get into the castle. Neal would get Emma back. Charming would get his ring back. Neal wasn't sure how the story would unfold after that but he decided to take it one step at a time.
x
They acquired horses and a cart from a nearby village. Charming paid for it in gold and then they were on their way to the queen's castle. Neal sat up front, reins in hand, as the horses rode forward.
Snow and Charming sat in the cart. As they rolled along towards the queen's castle, Neal listened to Snow and Charming talking. It didn't sound like there was much love between them but he knew that would change. He remembered them in Storybrooke, how in love they were. Love so strong it created the saviour. It made Neal think about his father, his conviction that true love was the most powerful magic.
When he dragged his attention away from his own thoughts and back to their conversation, he heard Snow talking about dark fairy dust. Neal was familiar with dark magic and how it worked. He had no doubt Snow was right about the dust turning the most fearsome adversaries into a form that was easily squashed.
They emerged into a clearing just outside the queen's castle. Neal tightened his grip on the reins and the horses slowed to a halt. Snow hopped out of the cart. They agreed it would be best to enter the castle at night. After explaining her plan, Snow ran off towards the castle.
Neal and Charming built a fire as the sun started to set. They both sat next to it, quietly warming themselves. Neal had built the fire by sparking stones together - one of the many skills he picked up in Neverland - while Charming had gathered the firewood. They were sitting on logs opposite each other with the fire in between. It was odd being strangers with someone he actually knew.
Then Neal decided to speak. "Are you excited about your wedding?"
Charming smiled but it was practiced, formal. "I'm marrying Midas's daughter. What's not to be excited about?"
Neal shrugged, choosing his words carefully. He didn't want to say something too specific. Even the smallest changes could have consequences. "Weddings between royals often don't involve much love." It seemed vague enough.
"I always thought I would marry for love." Charming laughed - there was sadness in it - and shook his head. "Now I'm not sure there even is such a thing as true love."
Neal watched the flames of the fire blazing, bright amid the darkness. He lifted his gaze to Charming. "True love is real. It's not easy, but it must be fought for." He wasn't sure why he said it exactly. It just seemed right, familiar, like something he had read in Henry's storybook. The messenger bag lay at his feet and he fidgeted with the strap.
He thought of Neverland, Emma's secret, and his own. I have a secret, too, Emma. I'm never going to stop fighting for you. Never. Jumping through the portal with her had been his way of following through on that promise.
The prince's face glowed with the light of the fire. "You're in love." His lips curved into a smile, a genuine smile. "With your Princess Bonnie."
Neal nodded, his gaze dropping back to the fire. He had never imagined having this conversation with Emma's father.
Charming adjusted on the log, stretching his legs. "And she loves you?"
Surprised by the question, Neal responded after a delayed moment. "She used to." His voice shook as he said it. He was about to leave it at that but something about Charming's concerned expression made him feel like he could be honest and the words spilled from his lips. "Before things got complicated. I don't know if she can truly forgive me. I never forgave myself."
"Maybe she will. You seem like a good man, Clyde. I'm sure you two would be very happy together." Charming's tone was sincere, genuinely caring about someone he had just met.
Neal smiled, remembering something his father used to say after he become the dark one. When you see the future, there is irony everywhere.
With the help of Snow's friend, Neal and Charming managed to enter the castle. They crept along a stony corridor, Charming with his sword drawn and Neal with his hand on the hilt of his sword. A few braziers burned, lighting the path to the cells where the queen kept her prisoners.
They ran into one of the queen's knights, who charged at them. Slashing with expert skill, Charming knocked the sword out of the knight's hand and then pushed him to the ground.
They continued along the corridor and a row of cells came into view. Neal started running towards it, then slowed as he got closer, his hand firm on the hilt of his sword. Charming had stayed back as a lookout. He was admittedly better at sword-fighting and Neal had more skill with lock-picking.
Braziers lit the collection of cells. He spotted Emma instantly. She was crouched at the back of a cell, her head bent forward looking down at the ground.
Neal threw a quick look around. Realising that there were no guards, probably thanks to Snow and her friend, Neal rushed to Emma's cell. He kneeled down and put his hands around the bars. "Emma." His desperate whisper echoed, interrupting the stillness in the air.
Emma crawled forward until she was kneeling right in front of him. "Neal." She whispered back, placing her hand next to his on the bars. Now that she was out of the shadows and illuminated by the braziers, he could see that she had changed into a simple white dress and blue cloak - courtesy of the queen. Her up-do had come undone and blonde curls fell around her shoulders.
Neal moved to clasp her cold hand in between the bars. His eyes narrowed on the keyhole of the lock. Then he pulled away from Emma and started to feel around his clothing for something that could be used as a lock pick - a pin, a cufflink, anything with a thin pointy end.
"Neal. There's something I have to tell you." Emma's eyes were wide, the light of the braziers flickering in them.
They didn't have much time, but something about Emma's voice - how small and hesitant it was - made him stop fidgeting with his clothes and focus on her completely.
Somehow he knew what she was about to tell him. All their talking about family and home had been leading to that moment.
In Neverland, their positions had been reversed. Neal in a cage and Emma helping him get out of it. I love you. I probably always will. Now it was his turn to be honest.
"There's something I have to tell you first." She started to interrupt him but Neal pushed on. "Please. I have to say it."
Her parted lips pressed together in a firm line, listening. Their gazes locked. Neal tried not to look away, tried not to avert his gaze because it hurt to look at her, knowing what he was about to say. "I understand if you want to live in New York with Henry. This world is so complicated, Peter Pan, Zelena, curses, time travel…" He trailed off, taking a moment to look down at their hands side by side on the bars. Then he lifted his gaze back to Emma's. "Maybe you would both be happier away from it all. Maybe New York will be your home." He was breathless and flushed as if from exertion, but he took a deep breath and finished what he needed to say, the most important part. "I want you to be happy, Emma, even if it's without me." He breathed out a relieved sigh.
Emma's eyes shimmered with tears as she reached her hand through the bars to touch his arm. She was about to say something when Charming's voice echoed towards them, urgent and impatient. "I don't know how much time we have."
Emma drew back a little. After wiping a hand over her face, she blinked and looked over Neal's shoulder. "Is that - "
"Charming."
"How did you get in the castle?" Her expression had changed. There was no hint of the emotion from moments before, only determination. Whatever she had wanted to say seemed forgotten.
Neal was almost relieved. He didn't want to think about everything he had just said. It had seemed like the opposite of his promise in Neverland but he didn't regret it. He was fighting for Emma, for her happiness, even if it wasn't with him.
"Snow." He answered. Some of the urgency of the situation was returning to him.
"And you have a way out of it?"
Neal nodded, firmly. "You never break in somewhere unless you know the way out."
Emma quirked a small smile and whispered. "I remember." Then her smile faded. Her eyebrows furrowed, realisation dawning on her face.
Without saying anything, she scurried to the shadowy part of the cell. Neal confusedly muttered her name, watching her fumble around in the shadows. Then she hurried towards the bars with two wooden spoons and a piece of wire in her hands.
In the glow of the braziers, Neal watched as she twined the wire around the two spoons. Her expression was twisted in a grimace, concentrating.
It struck Neal at once. He knew what she was doing. It was something he had taught her.
Emma jiggled the makeshift lock-pick in the keyhole.
Neal leaned against the bars excitedly. "It's all about the - "
"Tumblers." She finished before he could.
They were both quiet, listening for the same thing. The lock clicked and fell open. Emma pushed the door to the side and dashed out. Neal felt her hand on his sleeve, gripping the material, and then they were both running. When they reached Charming, he started running too. They weaved around the knights that were sprawled on the ground, defeated by Charming. Their thudding footsteps and breathless pants filled the corridor as they ran.
x
Charming slowed and stopped. There was a fresh cut on his chin, a bright red slash. "We have to find Snow."
Emma and Neal stopped beside him. They nodded in agreement. It was obvious where Snow had gone. Following Charming's lead, they turned and went back the way they had come. They turned into a corridor that they had passed before. At the end of it, a stony staircase lead upwards to the royal bedchambers - according to Charming. They climbed the stairs one after the other - Charming in front with his sword drawn, Emma in the middle, Neal in the back.
Emma watched Charming with fascination. Light from the sparse braziers along the staircase glinted off his sword. Everything about him was familiar but he didn't recognise her at all. To him, she was just Princess Bonnie, a stranger who had given him his ring back. Lost in thought, Emma slipped on a stair and wobbled. Neal's hands were on her without a moment of hesitation. She glanced down at him over her shoulder. His face was calm and determined, except for the crease in his forehead, which eased as Emma regained her balance and steadied herself. As she started moving forward again, she realised that she was glad Neal had come through the portal with her.
They emerged onto the landing. The hallway was sombrely-decorated - black and grey stone, mirrors that flickered with mist. Candles in spikily-ornamented holders lit the way, casting large shadows as they crept along. Charming strode ahead towards the end of the hallway that opened out into a bedroom. Emma was about to follow him but paused when she realised that Neal had stopped behind them. She turned to join him at one of the windows looking out onto the courtyard below. "Did you find Snow?"
He nodded, peering out the round window with a worried expression. Emma stood next to him, her shoulder brushing his. Below, Snow White stood on a platform, tied to a stake, while Regina stood a distance away, facing her. Snow met Regina's gaze with a calm, resolute expression.
Charming had come back down the hallway. From where he was standing behind Emma and Neal, he looked over the space where their shoulders met to watch the scene unfolding below.
Regina extended a hand and flame - bright orange and white, stark against the black of her ballgown - appeared in her palm. Emma gasped when she realised what was about to happen.
Neal took a step away from the window, pulling Emma into his arms. Her hands fisted the material of his coat. She couldn't see the expression on Regina's face but she could imagine what it looked like - victorious.
Then the ball of flame flew from Regina's hand towards Snow White in a blur. There was a burst of flame - bright against the darkness of the night - expanding and spreading, the only thing Emma could see. She leaned into Neal's arms, burrowing her head against his chest and letting the tears fall.
Charming had paled. His expression sagged into something that didn't suit him - defeat and despair, as if he had been hoping for a different outcome right up until the last moment.
x
They walked back to the forest in tense silence. Neal built a fire and Charming went out to gather more firewood. Emma sat next to Neal on a log beside the fire. Her cheeks were sticky with dried tears. Her eyes burned as she gazed into the fire. All she could think about was Snow.
Neal offered words of comfort. His gentle voice filled the air as he talked, but Emma's attention was divided. It was only when he mentioned his mother that she really started to listen. She shifted on the log, angling herself towards him.
"My father told me she had died. Then on Hook's ship, I discovered that she had actually abandoned me. I'm still not sure which version hurts more." He sighed, pausing as if to stop himself before he shared too much. "It's best not to dwell on things past but focus on the present."
"The present." Emma straightened. "I'm still here. How's that possible?" She pulled the hood of her cloak tighter over her head, remembering what had happened at the castle. "We saw her die, which means I would never be born."
Neal's forehead creased as he considered it. "You should have faded from existence. Maybe…"
Emma stood up from the log. "She's still alive." She said excitedly, looking down at Neal. "If Snow's out there, we have to find her."
Neal rose to his feet, flexing his gloved hands. "Maybe we should go back to the castle. It could have been a trick by Regina or - " He twisted around, batting his hand in the air.
There was a high-pitched, chittering noise coming from a tiny bug flying around his head.
"That doesn't seem like Regina." Emma flinched as the bug buzzed around her head and then settled on her shoulder.
Neal tip-toed closer to her, his hand raised to flick the bug off her cloak. His hand paused in the air as Charming emerged from the woods, yelling. "Wait! Don't harm that thing." He ran over to them. Emma and Neal looked at him in confusion. "When we were coming to rescue you, Snow told me what her dark fairy dust would do to the queen. She said it would turn her into a form that could be easily squashed." He lifted the chittering bug from her cloak and peered at it.
"You think Snow turned herself into that?" Emma asked, doubtfully.
"It's possible. I've seen it before." Neal's expression was a mixture of emotion - hopeful and wretched at once. "My father used dark magic to turn people into bugs."
Charming's gaze drifted from Neal back to the bug perched on his gloved hand. "If she timed it right, she could have escaped that fireball, faked her death, and flown away." He narrowed his eyes at the bug and smiled as if he could see Snow. "We just need to find a way to bring her back."
Emma, who had been skeptical before, was now starting to consider it. Stepping closer to Charming, she dipped her head to listen to the chittering sound coming from the bug. "She's saying something."
A glowing blue light appeared from the night sky above them. As it got closer, Emma saw the bauble of light transform into a tiny fairy. "She's calling for me." The fairy's voice was tinny and musical, like the tinkling of wind chimes.
"Blue." Emma exhaled, happy to see the familiar face. It was out before she remembered that she wasn't supposed to know the fairy.
"That's right, and you are?" Beating her blue wings, she fluttered closer to them and smiled at Emma with a curious expression.
Emma hesitated for a moment, remembering to use the fake name. "Bonnie." An inside joke between her and Neal, from the time when they were living out of the yellow bug.
Blue's smile widened, almost playful. "No, that's not it, but your secrets can be yours. I sense it's better that way."
Charming glanced at Emma, inquiringly, then lifted his eyes back to Blue. "Can you bring Snow White back?"
"Dark magic did this." Blue nodded, raising her hands. "Light magic can undo it."
A glowing blue light appeared where the bug rested on Charming's hand. He and Emma stepped backwards, reeling away from it as it expanded.
Then the light faded. Emma had shielded her gaze from the brilliant light but now she blinked her eyes open. When she saw Snow White standing there, she gasped, relief and joy flooding through her.
Beside her, Charming laughed - a warm-hearted, affectionate laugh that made Emma laugh too. "You're alive!" She threw herself at Snow and wrapped her arms around her. Overwhelmed by emotion, her eyes squeezed shut and everything else faded away.
Emma hugged Snow the same way she always did - head leaning against hers, chin propped on her shoulder, almost melting into her - but something felt different.
Snow's posture was stiff, body rigid against hers. They pulled apart and Snow's expression was uncomfortable. "Oh, it appears so." Her eyes were cold, unaffectionate. "Thank you." She said uncertainly before turning away from Emma. Then she and Charming started walking off into the woods.
Snow didn't recognise her. She was nothing more than a stranger. The happy feeling that had been coursing through Emma withered away, leaving her feeling empty.
Neal, who had been quiet since Blue appeared, picked up his messenger bag from where it rested against a log and walked over to Emma. She wondered if he had some kind of history with the blue fairy.
"Looks like we're back on track." He said softly, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
She managed to return his smile. "Yeah."
x
They spent the night at the campsite, the four of them arranged around the fire in a circle while they slept. In the morning, everything seemed more hopeful. Emma and Neal sat next to each other on a log beside the fire that had been snuffed out.
Snow and Charming were standing on the opposite side of the campsite but close enough for their conversation to be overheard.
"I suppose I should thank you. You saved me." Snow said, stepping closer to him.
Charming sipped water from a canteen and then wiped his mouth with his hand. "Well, it seemed like the honourable thing to do."
"I'm going to the stream to get some water." Snow's gaze flicked between his cheerful face and the canteen in his hand. "I can fill your canteen, if you'd like."
"Thanks." The scar on Charming's chin seemed to stretch as he smiled and handed the canteen to her.
Emma watched Snow walk off into the woods, leaving Charming still standing there, smiling to himself. She turned to Neal beside her. "They're warming up to each other. This is good. This'll work."
Neal smiled, but he still looked a little worried, his forehead creased.
"Did you know the blue fairy before? Like when you lived here as a boy?" Emma asked hesitantly. Neal didn't like talking about his father anymore than Emma liked talking about foster care. She wouldn't push the subject if he didn't answer.
Shifting on the log, Neal gazed out at the trees in the woods as if he were watching the memory replay in front of him. "Seeing Blue just reminds me of the time I was abandoned. She gave me the magic bean that opened a portal to a land without magic. My father was supposed to come with me. He backed out at the last minute and I fell through without him." His voice was steady as always, but when he turned to look at her, Emma saw the pain in his expression. "Thinking about it used to make me angry but I realised if I hadn't gone through the portal, I wouldn't have met you and we wouldn't have Henry, and that would suck."
Emma's gaze dropped from his face. She busied her hands with picking grime and dirt from her dress. "Do you ever think about what it would have been like if we had stayed together?"
She had barely finished before he replied defensively. "Emma, I didn't have a choice. You know that. When August told me who you were - "
"I know that now." Emma interrupted quickly. It didn't really make up for everything but she understood. She tried to rephrase it, not wanting to guilt him, only asking out of genuine curiosity. "What I meant is, what if we had raised Henry together?"
He looked out into the distance again, as if imagining it. "Like if we continued the Bonnie and Clyde act, with Henry in the backseat of the bug." He turned to her and smiled, pleased by the thought. Then his expression became more serious. He flicked his gaze to Charming and then back to her. "If I learned one thing from this whole experience, it's that things don't always work out the way you want them to but if two people are meant to be together, they find a way back to each other."
Emma didn't say anything, considering what he had said, and what he hadn't said. It wasn't just Snow and Charming he was talking about.
The silence between them was broken by Charming, who walked towards them, frowning slightly. "Have you seen Snow? She went to the stream but she hasn't - " He patted his shirt, feeling for something in his pocket. "The ring. She took it."
Emma stood up from the log and moved closer to him. "Really? Do you know where she might be headed?" A moment later, Neal shot to his feet, grabbing the messenger bag and slinging it over his shoulder.
"She was seeking passage on a pirate ship. There's only one way to get to the harbour from here. The Troll Bridge." Charming's jaw clenched, determined. Without hesitation, he turned and ran into the woods.
"Oh, no." Emma started to go after him.
Neal put a hand on her arm. "Emma, wait. The bridge. Isn't that where you want them to be? Isn't that where Snow saved your father from the trolls?"
Emma thought of them all in Granny's diner, talking about the story. It had seemed so far away, so unreal then. "Yes, but the only reason she was able to do that was because she had a weapon. The dust."
Neal wiped a hand over his face. "Which she's already used on herself."
"Come on. They're gonna need help." She started to go after Charming again, and Neal followed behind her.
x
Gathering her dress in her hands, Emma followed Charming's direction and ran towards the Troll Bridge. Her cloak dragged in the dusty ground behind her and Neal's swift strides followed behind it. She should have let him lead the way. He knew the Enchanted Forest better, but Emma had this intuitive feeling of where her parents were and she trusted it.
As they got closer, they drifted into the woods, away from the road. They weaved in between the trees. Then Neal stopped and parted leafy branches to reveal Charming in the middle of the road. "Wait."
Emma slowed and stopped next to him, following his gaze.
Charming's voice was soft and distant, barely over a whisper. "So, you probably want this."
Neal pushed a bundle of leaves down so Snow White came into view. She was standing opposite Charming on the road.
"Right, the gold." Snow said as he handed her a pouch. "You can't get married without this. " She added, handing him the satchel she had stolen from him.
Charming opened the satchel, sliding the green-jewelled ring out of it and onto his palm. "I know, not your style, right?"
"There's only one way to find out." Taking the ring from his palm, Snow slipped it on her finger and then held her hand up in between them to look at it more closely. The expression on Charming's face changed when he saw the ring on Snow's finger. Their eyes met for a moment. Then Snow looked away, back down at the ring. "Yeah, not me at all. I'm sure your fiancée will love it." She hurriedly slipped the ring off her finger and handed it back to him.
Emma felt tears trail down her cheeks. Filled with relief and happiness, she made a sound between a laugh and a sob.
Neal turned to look at her. "It's okay, Emma. Not everyone gets a chance to watch their parents fall in love."
Emma couldn't stop smiling. It was so familiar. Before, all the fairytales in the book had seemed so faraway, but now she was a part of it herself. She remembered the conversation between Snow and Charming from the book. It played out exactly the same right in front of her, like a fairytale come true.
"Well, wherever you're going, be careful. If you need anything - "
"You'll find me."
"Always."
"I almost believe that."
Neal tensed as Snow and Charming started to walk away from each other in opposite directions. "They're heading away from each other."
"No, it's okay." Emma assured him. "That's how it happened the first time. My parents' love story isn't exactly conventional. The first time they met was when she stole something from him."
"Why does that sound familiar?" Neal's tone was teasing, reminding her of their first meeting.
Emma reached into his messenger bag. She pulled out the storybook and flipped through it until she reached a page with a picture of Snow and Charming in they wedding clothes. "Look. We did it."
x
Back at Rumplestiltskin's castle, Emma and Neal prepared for the journey home. Rumplestiltskin's glamour had worn off so when they looked in a mirror, they looked like themselves again. He flicked his hand and they were dressed in their regular clothes again. Emma in jeans, boots, and leather jacket. Neal in jeans, a hooded sweatshirt, and black coat. He patted the pocket of his jeans, as if checking for something, and then breathed out in relief.
Emma tugged at the cuffs of her leather jacket. It felt good to be in comfortable clothes again.
"What's that?" She asked Rumplestiltskin, who was swirling a vial of purple liquid.
"A forgetting potion." He set it down on the dining table. It was bare compared to the feast from before, only a tea set and candelabra decorating it.
Emma stepped closer to him. "Can you open the portal?"
When he flourished his hand in the air, a wand appeared in it. He leaned against the edge of the dining table. "I could not use my magic on the wand. It is enchanted to create portal that will take its wielder home. This is my home and I am already here." He tossed the wand on the table like it was nothing of value. "You're welcome to try yourself, dearie." Then he sat in his chair at the end of the table and sipped a cup of tea.
Emma was hesitant. She hadn't used magic for a whole year when she was in New York and she hadn't used it again since returning to Storybook.
Neal, who had been wandering around the dining room and examining the cabinets full of magical items, walked over to her with a concerned expression on his face.
She must have looked as uneasy as she felt. Picking the wand up, she pulled him aside so they were away from Rumplestiltskin. "I don't know if I can use magic to open the portal. I haven't done it in so long." She whispered to him.
Neal was quiet for a moment, then he shook his head. "You're not worried about your magic not working. You're worried about where the portal will open to. The wand take its wielder home, and you're not sure where that is for you because you've never stayed in one place long enough to find out."
It was true. Neal was looking at her with steady brown eyes and it was like he could see what she was thinking. Overwhelmed, Emma looked down at the wand in her hand. It was delicate and dainty, carved out of dark wood.
She curled her fingers around it more tightly, looking up at Neal. "Yes, I run away. That's how I've always survived, but believe me, I want this to work. I want to go back to Storybrooke. I want to stop running." It was a relief to say it out loud and mean it, even the wand felt lighter in her hand.
That was what she had wanted to tell Neal back at the queen's castle, but he had assumed the opposite before she could say it. He had been willing to make the selfless choice, to support Emma's decision to take Henry to New York.
Now his face brightened at what she said. "What changed your mind?"
Emma knew the exact moment. "Watching Snow die. Thinking she was dead. You saw what happened. I was so relieved when she was okay, and I hugged her, and you know what I saw in her eyes? Nothing. She didn't know who I was." Her voice wobbled, cracking with emotion. Tears splashed her cheeks and she tasted them on her tongue. "That's how I've been treating her since I met her but I have to stop doing that. When Henry brought me to Storybrooke, he told me I was the saviour. I didn't see what he was really doing. He wasn't bringing me back to break a curse. He was bringing me home. You were right." The shakiness of her voice evened out, until it was steady and confident again. "You don't have a home until you just miss it. Being with my parents the last few days, but not really being with them? I've never missed them more. Storybrooke. That's my home."
Neal smiled. It transformed his face, making him look younger, and she wondered if he remembered their first date the same way she did.
Emma followed his gaze to the wand in her hand. The wood glowed bright white, thrumming with magic.
Closing her eyes, Emma held the wand in the air and focused on opening a portal ago Storybrooke.
A whooshing sound slashed through the air. When Emma opened her eyes, she saw a swirling circle of light in front of them - a portal. Wind rushed around them, blowing strands of Emma's hair across her face.
Neal adjusted the strap of his messenger bag and then reached out to clasp Emma's hand. They both prepared to step through the portal but before they could, Rumplestiltskin gripped them both by the arm.
Letting go of each other's hand, Emma and Neal turned to face him.
"My son. What happens when I find him?" He had to yell to be heard over the sound of the portal.
"I thought you wanted to forget." Emma replied, twisting her arm in his grip.
"Before I do, I need to know. Does he forgive me?" His expression changed, the way it always did when he mentioned his son.
Emma looked at Neal and her eyes swelled with tears again. "Yes." She yelled hoarsely.
Rumplestiltskin's eyes shimmered with tears, reflecting the swirling light of the portal.
Neal brushed a hand over his face as the pull of the portal grew stronger. "He forgives you. He loves you." His expression was brittle, pained.
Rumplestiltskin's grip loosened on their arms and he stepped back from the portal.
"You have to drink the potion. You have to forget everything I just told you." Emma said to him.
Then she and Neal turned to the portal again. They clasped hands and stepped through.
x
The portal spit them out right where it had sucked them in. Emma and Neal landed sprawled side by side on the floor of the warehouse. Neal was on his feet first and he offered Emma a hand to pull her up. She dusted her jacket and jeans, blowing strands of hair out of her face.
Running, she and Neal made their way to Granny's diner. It was dark outside, almost midnight according to the town clock as they breezed past it, but their family and friends were still gathered for the baby's christening.
Emma flung the door of the diner open and ran straight towards David and Mary Margaret, who was holding the baby. Throwing her arms around them, Emma hugged them tight and laughed happily.
When she pulled back, she saw that their smiling expressions were a little confused too, so she explained. "I'm glad to be home."
Mary Margaret smiled, rocking the baby in her arms. "Do you mean that you're not leaving?"
Henry stood up from the booth where he was sipping hot cocoa. "We're staying in Storybrooke?"
"Yeah, kid." Emma put her arm around Henry, hugging him. "This is where we belong. This is where our family is. Mom." Her gaze flicked from Mary Margaret to David. "Dad. I missed you." She hugged them again.
Neal had been talking to his father and Belle, but when Emma turned to look at him, he met her eyes and then walked over to her.
With a nod of approval, Mary Margaret drifted to the booth where Henry had been sitting before. David patted Neal's shoulder fondly and then joined Snow.
Henry's smile widened, excited to see his father. Neal returned the smile and then slung the messenger bag off his shoulder, giving it to Henry.
Excitedly, Henry slid into the seat opposite Mary Margaret and placed his storybook on the table. Emma sat down at the table, squeezing next to Henry. Neal beside her, resting his arm over the booth.
Pushing his cocoa aside, Henry flipped the book open onto a page with a picture of Emma and Neal dancing at the ball.
"Operation pumpkin." Emma said, knowing Henry would want their adventure to have a name.
Henry made a mumbling sound, not looking at her. He turned his head towards his father, frowning, and Neal shook his head.
Emma followed their wordless exchange. "What? Pumpkin, like Cinderella. She went to a ball and we went to a ball."
Henry interrupted before she could continue trying to explain. "We'll think of something else."
Neal squeezed her shoulder in a consolatory gesture, his lips quirking like he was trying not to smile. Emma rolled her eyes at him.
David's voice pulled their attention back to the storybook. "You're Prince Clyde?" He was standing next to Mary Margaret, his gaze flicking from the storybook to Neal.
Mary Margaret narrowed her eyes at the picture in the book and then looked at Emma incredulously. "You're Princess Bonnie?"
Henry shifted next to her. "Nice aliases."
David placed a hand on Mary Margaret's shoulder, tenderly. "Well, there you go. You're officially one of us." He said, smiling at Emma.
"A fairytale princess at last." The baby wriggled in Mary Margaret's arms and she nestled him closer to her chest.
Emma looked across the table at her baby brother. "As my first princess-ly request, I would like to know the name of the baby."
Mary Margaret and David looked at each other.
He reached down to take the baby from Mary Margaret. "We went back and forth on it for a while, but eventually we settled on a family name."
"Prince Leo." Mary Margaret said with a hint of pride in her voice. "After my father, Leopold."
David leaned down to place the baby in Emma's arms.
She adjusted her hands around the warm, wriggling bundle and peered down at his chubby little face. "It's nice to meet you, Leo."
x
Emma sat with Leo for a while, clutching him to her chest and rocking him while she told Henry about what happened in the Enchanted Forest. He listened intently and murmured excitedly in between sips of cocoa.
Neal had wandered outside with his father. Emma glanced behind her through the window. She watched Neal and Rumplestiltskin sitting at a table outside, talking with their heads close together. She couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for Neal to see his father as the dark one again. It was good to see them making up for lost time now.
She turned back to Henry who had finished his second hot cocoa. Henry flipped through the book, noting the changes in the story and asking her to explain the details of what happened.
After Emma finished detailing their entire adventure, Henry slumped back in the booth and yawned.
They had been talking for a while but it hadn't felt that way. Emma could have stayed there with him all night and it wouldn't be enough. Time moved differently now. She wondered if Neal felt the same way. Turning to look at him, she saw that he was sitting alone at the table outside.
Leo had fallen asleep in her arms. She carefully handed him to Henry, who cradled him like a natural.
Then Emma joined Neal outside, taking Rumplestiltskin's empty seat. The music and chatter from the diner trickled out. Fairy lights illuminated the arrangement of tiny round tables outside, casting a bright glow around them.
Neal straightened as Emma sat down. There was something in his hands that looked like a box. He flipped it open and shut rhythmically. When Emma looked at it more closely, she realised what it was. A compass.
Emma tried to think back to Rumplestiltskin's castle, to remember if she had seen a compass like that in one of his cabinets stacked with various curious items.
Neal placed the compass on the table and clasped his hands together. They hadn't really had a chance to talk since they came back.
Emma clasped her hands together, resting them next to his on the table. "Did you send me that memory potion?"
When Hook showed up in New York with a memory potion, she had been too overwhelmed to question where it had come from. Her first guess was that it was from Snow and Charming, but they said they had nothing to do with it. After seeing Neal in the Enchanted Forest, she had another guess. His knowledge of magic seemed more like instinct than something he had studied.
He nodded. "I sent the potion to Hook. I knew his ship could avoid the curse and he could get it to you." His voice was gravelly, exhausted. He looked down at the candle in the middle of the table, not meeting her gaze, as if the conversation made him uncomfortable.
Emma slid onto the edge of her chair, angling her body towards his. "Why didn't you tell me?"
He unclasped his hands and lifted his eyes to hers. "It's not important who sent the potion to you. All that matters is that you got your memories back."
Her hands drifted closer to his on the table. His skilled hands - adept at sword-fighting and climbing, sailing and lock-picking. Hands that had drawn on the cave walls in Neverland. Hands that had held her while he taught her how to dance.
Slumping back in his seat, he reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a necklace. "I was waiting for the right moment to give this back to you." He offered her the necklace in his open palm. The swan pendant, the keychain he had stolen for her, glinted under the fairy lights. "It survived the curse somehow."
Emma's hand flittered to her chest where the pendant used to rest, her fist closing around empty air. Part of her knew why the necklace had survived. It was born out of true love, like her parents' ring.
Accepting the necklace felt like a symbolic gesture. It meant a second chance with Neal.
Staying in Storybrooke meant letting him into her life again. Her old instincts told her to keep her walls up. That way she wouldn't get hurt again but something had changed in the Enchanted Forest. She had lost him so many times. First because of August, then the portal, then the curse, but she had also found him again, every time.
There are no coincidences. Everything that happens, happens by design, and there's nothing we can do about it. Forces greater than us conspire to make it happen. Fate, destiny, whatever you want to call it. The point is…maybe we met for a reason.
That was when she had given the necklace back to him.
Why do you wear the keychain I got you?
To remind myself never to trust someone again.
It didn't have to mean that anymore.
Emma put her hand out and he dropped the necklace, still warm from his touch, into it. As much as it scared her, she wanted a second chance.
Closing her fist around the necklace, she leaned towards Neal and raised her head. Her lips brushed his forehead in a soft kiss. She pulled away a little to see him smile. The warm breeze stirred her hair. Neal tucked the loose strands behind her ears. His fingers trailed down, gently enough to send little shivers through her, and then cupped her face.
Their eyes met, communicating things they didn't say out loud. When they heard the diner door opening and closing, they broke apart, shifting back in their seats.
Henry had a pleased look on his face.
Maybe something good came from us being together.
Behind him, Mary Margaret - with Leo in her arms - and David were trying to act like they hadn't seen anything but their smiling mouths were revealing. They settled at a nearby table.
"Are those for us?" Emma asked, directing her gaze to the cups of cocoa in Henry's hands.
"Yeah." He answered, placing the cups on the table.
Emma swiped whipped cream - sprinkled with cinnamon - from her cup and then licked it off her finger.
"I brought you a present." Neal picked up the compass and handed it to Henry, whose face brightened as he took it.
"Woah." Henry breathed, flicking the box open, his gaze roving over it excitedly. "Awesome."
"I thought maybe since you're staying in Storybrooke, I could teach you how to sail." Neal cast a quick look at Emma, as if asking for permission.
Emma smiled encouragingly. "That would be fun, huh, kid?"
"Yeah, totally." He replied, distractedly, still focused on the compass in his hands. "Thanks, dad." He said before darting over to Mary Margaret and David to show them his new compass.
Emma watched her family. The necklace was warm in her hand. She placed it on the table, fingers lingering on the familiar swan pendant before reaching for the cup of cocoa.
She turned to Neal beside her. His hair was slightly ruffled, brown eyes tired and happy, hands wrapped around his cup of cocoa.
It reminded her of something. The glow of amusement park lights instead of fairy lights. Coffee instead of cocoa. Neal's voice.
That's how you know you've really got a home. When you leave it, there's this feeling that you can't shake. You just miss it.
He caught her staring and smiled as if he were remembering the same thing. "Tallahassee, baby."
Emma glanced at her family talking and laughing together, at the diner where her friends were still celebrating, then back at Neal beside her.
"Home."