A/N: Hey all! I am finally back with another chapter of Lost Souls, and after my last cliff-hanger I am sure you all have some questions in need of answers. It's been so long you might have to go back and remind yourself of what happened, don't worry I won't judge. But hopefully I will be giving you some of those answers we are needing in this installment, though there are still lots of things yet to be fully explained. I also just want to warn you all this chapter is a difficult one. We don't have a flashback per se, but there is talk of David's past and one of the parts of his past is that his brother died when they were kids, as you will recall. This is obviously pretty sad subject area so if some of you want to skip and check in with me about what we've learned that's totally fine. Just want to give you fair warning that there are some sadder moments here (even if there is still CS fluff!). Anyway excited to see what you all think and thanks so much for continuing with me on this 'Lost Souls' adventure!

Despite the fact that Killian had closed himself off emotionally for years, he'd always considered himself an open-minded person.

Growing up as a shifter in a human world left a person with a certain sense that more was possible. Magic had been a part of the lore of his life since he was born, and so too had strange happenings of fate. For Killian those twists and turns had mostly been bad, but then he found Emma and he thought his luck had certifiably turned. But in the past few days, things had been interesting, for lack of a better word. Truly, Killian could not conceive of a time when there'd been more surprise or unexpected happenings, but right now, at Emma's parents house, He was completely and totally stunned yet again. So stunned that he had to ask Emma to repeat herself.

"I'm sorry, what did you say love?"

"I said I think she's my grandmother."

There were roughly one billion other things Emma could have said that would make more sense to Killian in that moment, because truth be told there was no way that this woman, this young, maybe thirty year old woman, could be Emma's grandparent. She was younger than David and Mary Margaret, easily closer to his and Emma's age than either of them, but from the way the woman had flung herself into Emma's father's arms and was currently clinging to David, Killian knew she had to be someone who loved him. At the very least she was relieved to see the man, and then Emma's father spoke, and the claim his mate had put before them all was proved true.

"Mom? But how… you're…" David's voice cracked, something Killian had never heard from the man before. Emma's father was a collected and put together person, but right now he was clearly struggling to comprehended all that stood before him.

"Dead," Mary Margaret finished in a whisper as she came to stand by her husband, and though Emma's mother was usually the embodiment of kindness and enthusiastic greetings, she seemed shocked and somewhat aghast when their new guest pulled her into a hug too.

"Oh David, look what a fine job you did. She's beautiful. I always knew you'd have a lovely wife someday. A real soul mate, like you deserve. I used to dream of how it would be, ever since I knew that I was pregnant. I just thought I'd be there for all those other milestones too. You were just a baby, and now here you are, a man, a husband, a father."

For a few more moments everyone continued to look on with fascination and complete disbelief. It was as if all of them were frozen, and the only one who wasn't beholden to this state of complete bewilderment was the newest arrival. David's possible mother – Mrs. Nolan? Ruth? Killian didn't know what to call her really – looked positively elated, and she was standing there taking everything in about the man she claimed was her son. While she did that, Killian moved his attention to Emma. Her green eyes were filled with wonder and she was spellbound by the sight of her parents and the woman claiming to be their kin. Then she shook her head, as if trying to clear her thoughts and her eyes found Killian's.

"I can't believe this is happening," Emma whispered, low enough that only he could hear her. "My father has a picture of her holding him when he was just born, and she looks the exact same. But how could that happen? How can she be here and how can she look like this?"

"I don't know, love," Killian responded, pulling her closer to his side. "But we'll figure it out together."

"How is this possible?"

As David asked the question, Emma looked back to the doorway. Meanwhile, Killian looked over to Ruby for guidance. She should have seen something about this, right? At the very least her gift should give her some intuitive glimpses now. But when he glanced his cousin's way she shook her head. She had nothing to offer and her face spoke to her disappointment and confusion at not being able to read the situation. This grew stranger and stranger by the second and that made Killian nervous. Maybe this woman wasn't who she said she was. Maybe they had to be more cautious than the original shock to the system would allow.

"It's okay, Killian," Anna said, calmly from across the room. He had stiffened considerably without realizing it, and he was about to rise up, putting himself in the direct way between Emma and this stranger when Anna spoke. Killian, along with everyone else, looked to her quizzically. "She is who she says she is, right Els?"

"Yes," Elsa agreed quickly. "But I don't know how it's possible."

"I can help with the particulars," the woman said, making it perfectly clear that she could hear everything going on inside despite their attempts to keep quiet. "But it's a complicated story, one that merits a little more than a quick recount in the doorway."

After silently exchanging a look that spoke to the easy connection of long time true loves, David and Mary Margaret let the woman inside. Killian watched the way Emma's mother stood by her husband's side as this familiar stranger entered their home. Mary Margaret was trying to protect David, and Killian could feel Emma's want to do the same though she stayed rooted where she was. She squeezed Killian's hand lightly, and he knew that she was staying put for his benefit. He would worry if Emma wasn't right here beside him, and he was so grateful that Emma understood that about him. Too many bad things had happened in his life for him to trust easy, and despite everyone's attempt at making him comfortable, he wasn't going to find comfort, not until they knew everything and had absolutely checked out this woman's story as the truth.

Killian's eyes tracked their movements back into the living room closely, seeing the way David and Mary Margaret were still stiff and a bit unsteady. Meanwhile Emma's grandmother was radiating joy, and then she turned to Emma and her eyes went wide again. In a split second she looked just as happy at seeing his mate as she had at seeing David, which made no sense. If Killian was understanding this correctly, David's mother had died, or left as it were, when David was only an infant. She should have had no encounters with Emma on any level at any point. Yet the recognition in her gaze was instant, and as impossible as this whole situation was, this was an added layer of abnormality.

"Emma! Oh my goodness, look at you," she said, rushing forward and only stopping when she was just about to touch Emma. She seemed to remember that the happiness of their meeting was not a given on both sides, and she kept herself from grasping for Emma even though her look of joy remained. "You're exactly as I dreamed you would be, honey. So beautiful and all grown up now."

"You've dreamed of me?" Emma asked, clearly shaken by the thought and the woman nodded even as she looked unsure of how to proceed.

"Why don't I start at the beginning, yeah?"

"That's usually a good place to begin," Killian stated, and he noticed the way this woman - supposedly Emma's grandmother - smiled at him. She gazed upon him and Emma with the same satisfied look that Emma's mother was prone to using, and he could sense her genuine delight at seeing them together.

"Before you do though, maybe we should leave?" Elsa asked, not wanting to intrude. It was very telling that her good manners remained even in a time of upheaval, but though Killian knew she meant what she said, he could see Anna's despair at the thought. Clearly the younger sister was incredibly intrigued and she had no want to leave the scene before them. "You all could use the privacy."

"I think it's probably best that you stay actually," David said, coming to take a seat after seeing his mother had found a comfortable spot in a chair just beside him. "Whatever is happening here, it's clearly not normal, and given the way things are right now, I think we should all be aware of everything out of the ordinary. Besides, we're family, all of us."

The words packed a powerful punch for Killian and he had to wonder if they were the product of David's true feelings or if he was simply overwhelmed by it all. It was one thing to say that Anna and Elsa were members of the family: these girls had grown up with Emma and been very close to the Nolan's for years. But he and Ruby and Granny were far newer additions, and though Killian knew he would forever be a permanent fixture in Emma's life as her mate, he was still honored to have that be recognized. When David nodded at Killian he knew that Emma's father had meant what he said, and Killian's slight feeling of discomfort shifted back to curiosity and protectiveness towards Emma.

"Well, I guess I should start with the basics. My name is Ruth Nolan. I was born in a small town in Washington State, well outside of Seattle -,"

"When?" Anna interrupted, clearly thinking the same thing everyone else was – how had this woman not aged from the time she had David?

"The summer of 1950. But we'll get to how that's possible soon enough," Ruth said offering a sad attempt at a smile as she pressed on. "The family I grew up in was…unique you could say. It was my parents and I and my older brother George. I had cousins as well, a big extended family on the whole, but beyond them I knew very little of the world and very few people. We stayed rather insulated in the woods where we lived because… well because…"

"Because they were hunters," David filled in, saying the words his mother had been afraid to say in mixed company. "Everyone here knows about the shifter world. Actually wait, did you guys hear about hunters?"

The question was aimed to Elsa and Anna, and Killian could see the softness of a father's love extended to Emma's friends from David. It was clear that he saw them as extensions of his children too, and his ability to be mindful of them and where they were in knowing things spoke to his love for them.

"We did. Well we caught the basics anyway," Elsa clarified. "Enough to know we want nothing to do with them."

"Good," David said sternly before looking back at his mother. "Because we aren't hunters and we never will be."

"Oh thank God," Ruth exclaimed, closing her eyes and looking relieved. "That life was all I ever knew growing up, and I didn't see it as evil or wicked when I was young. When you're raised on stories of danger and monsters in the dark, you don't question it. You're taught to trust your parents and to heed their counsel. So I listened to them and I carried their teachings, but it was still very abstract to me. I always thought of myself as an ordinary girl, even if we didn't have an ordinary life, and then, when I was sixteen my parents were gone, killed by a clan they'd been hunting for a few months."

Killian could sense the surprise that everyone was feeling, including Emma. The only one's who weren't taken aback by the words were David and Mary Margaret. Killian knew that would have changed eventually. After speaking with her father and learning the first pieces of her family's legacy, she was bound to find out more. But time hadn't been on their side. So many things had happened between now and then, and as Ruth proceeded, Killian knew she was going to bring far more with her.

"Well actually, tormenting is a better word for what my family did to that pack. My father and his brothers were as merciless and they were clinical, with very few rules and absolutely no empathy at all. They were not above torture, and half of their joy came from stalking a party before the hunt. Women and children didn't register as being any different. Shifters were shifters and they had to be eradicated."

Killian's anger at the very notion was difficult to contain. He had heard talk of hunters before, but it still filled him with rage to think that there were men and women out there in the world who lived solely to harm his kind. Didn't they understand that shifters were just like everyone else? Having the ability to shift into an animal and some added bonuses of increased healing or faster reflexes and increased strength didn't make him someone who lacked humanity. He was still a person, and he and his fellow shifters were worth more than brutal slaughter based solely on their gifts. True, there were good and bad shifters, just like there were people, but for the most part, all shifters wanted was to go about their lives and live in peace away from the dangers of the world.

"I didn't understand that fierceness of feeling," Ruth confessed, drawing Killian's attention back to her story. "I could never seem to muster the hatred it took or the coldness one had to have to kill without feeling. Girls weren't trained like boys were back then, not typically. We were more supporting figures –running house, creating supplies, helping raise the next generation of shifters - but when my parents died and George took over as the head of our family, he let me into the true world of hunters. He thought that the anger and rage he felt at my parent's death would be mirrored in me. He thought if I knew the realities of the world in which we lived I'd come to hate shifters as much as he did. But he showed me too much without realizing that I myself had experience and a sense of what was right and what was wrong. I knew the world wasn't really as he said it was because I saw the destruction he was causing first hand. No being deserved the kind of cruelty my brother saved for shifters and I knew all shifters couldn't be monsters. It just wasn't possible, and then, one day I met Robert and it all changed."

"Who is Robert?" Mary Margaret asked and Ruth gave a soft, somber smile.

"Robert is David's father."

"My father? But who was he? What happened to him?" David asked, clearly dying to know. It was the first time that David had seemed unsure of a part of the story. "George said he was a fellow hunter from an old family, but I never believed that. If he were, then why wouldn't he and his family be raising us? Why would he leave heirs to his family's legacy?"

"Ha! A hunter? No, quite the opposite. Robert wasn't a hunter, he was a shifter. A wolf to be exact."

There would have been complete silence in the room at that wildly unexpected announcement if not for Ruby's instinctual response of, "Oh. My. GOD! I knew you guys weren't totally human!" The looks she drew from Ruth, David, and everyone else reminded Ruby that this was a moment that wasn't strictly appropriate and she demurred. "Sorry, my bad."

"It's quite alright, dear, and you're correct…" Ruth said, looking to get his cousin's name and showing a lot of patience when others might not have.

"Ruby."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ruby. And as you've noted, my sons were not fully human. David and James were born hybrids, and as far as I could tell they were the first of their kind."

"Wait, you had cubs with a shifter? So were you mated?" Emma asked, her voice curious even as it sounded a bit hoarse from the shock she was still feeling. The implications of her father being a hybrid shifter – if that was even possible – were astounding, and it would no doubt have a deep and real impact on Emma.

"We were," Ruth said, a sad smile spreading on her face. "Humans and shifters aren't usually mates as I am sure you know, but I found out later that we could be because of old hunter practice. When women are pregnant in hunter clans they drink shifter blood for strength. It's believed that blood makes for stronger hunters, and the only way to kill shifters is with added strength."

"Ew!" Anna exclaimed at the same time that Emma and Elsa winced. Killian had heard rumors of that ritual and it disgusted him to his core, but to find out it was real was galling. What a twisted way of living these hunters had.

"Yes, it's hardly a sound or logical choice. But that little bit of blood seemed enough to allow Robert and I to be fated mates. I don't know the particulars, but I do know he was mine and I was his," Ruth said, her eyes going glassy with the memories of her mate. Killian wondered where this Robert was, but he had a sense of foreboding that it wasn't anywhere good before Ruth confided the truth. "But our time was over far too soon. We were going to leave, run away together and start a family in a place without the baggage of his clan or my family. But before we could, Robert was killed. Murdered by my brother."

"I'm so sorry," Mary Margaret said, and Killian didn't know if she meant it more for Ruth or for her husband, but both of them seemed to take comfort in her words and soothing touch.

"It was a long time ago, though to be fair, not so long ago to me. Five years give or take."

"Which brings us to the ultimate question," David said gruffly. "How is it possible that you've barely aged? So many years have gone by, but you're still exactly the same."

"When I lost your father I was devastated," Ruth said, her breathing little shaky as she recounted the emotion. "It was the worst kind of pain I had ever known up to then, but I couldn't even begin to show my sadness. I couldn't grieve for risk of giving everything away. If I had, your Uncle would have known what we were to each other. I can't even imagine what he would have done if he knew I mated a shifter. Sister or not it wouldn't have mattered. I'd be the enemy because of who I loved. The only reason I'm alive now is because he never found out. But I couldn't hide the truth forever."

"Because you were pregnant," Anna whispered and Ruth nodded.

"There's no way to describe how I felt when I found out. At first I was elated. I always wanted children, and I loved you and your brother from the start, David. But then I was so sad, sad that your father would never get the chance to know you and that you boys would never know him. It was cruel and unspeakable, and then, to make matters worse, the fear set in. How would I ever explain that I was pregnant? My brother knew everyone in my life except for Robert. But even more than that there was a danger of how I could ever find a way to hide your true nature from everyone."

"But I thought shifter children weren't detectable," Emma said, voicing a confusion a few of them shared.

"They aren't, not usually, but given that the babies were both were a mix of human and shifter I just couldn't be sure. All I knew was I had to protect them. I thought about running, but I didn't trust that I could go off the grid enough to elude my brother and that we'd ever be safe. So I made a decision. I told my brother I was going on a solo trek. I claimed that I wanted to be like the other hunters in our family so I would go for six months alone into the wilderness and identify another pack that was vulnerable. He agreed, but instead of finding other shifters I tracked down a male witch, supposedly the most powerful in a thousand miles. He went by the name of Gold."

"Oh God no," Granny said aloud and though no one else knew why she said it, Ruth agreed.

"Oh no is right. That man – that monster - told me that he would help me. He said he would block David and James' true natures so they would never be discovered. I was so relieved that there might be an answer that I barely noted his warning: 'magic always comes with a price.'"

"That's bull shit!" Ruby said angrily. "Magic is freely given if a witch is good. There's no price that comes with it."

"And so it is, at least it's supposed to be, but with Gold there was a transaction required, and I didn't know what it would be. I didn't imagine it would be some huge sacrifice, and I had inherited money from my parents. I assumed it would be some sort of goods that he wanted, and I only found out after I had the boys what was actually expected of me. I was in the hospital, holding them both, thankful they were both well and healthy after fighting so hard to get them here. I had no one with me, so the nurses took some pictures. I thought they would just be snapshots – one moment of so many - but then he came. He came and he told me that it was time to pay, and it turned out the payment he had in mind was me."

"You?" Mary Margaret asked, her dismay ringing out clear as day.

"Me," Ruth said grimly, and Killian could sense she wasn't past the trauma such an exchange would have caused. "He came to the hospital and he told me that the spell he'd created had built in fail safes. He could undo the spell at any time, and doing so wouldn't just expose the boys. This was a magic that had never been used so there was no telling what would happen. I was devastated. I begged him not to undo anything. I begged for your life David, your life and James' and he said the only way he would leave things be was if I left right then and there.

"It broke my heart in every way to say good bye to you, but I clung to two little lights in my new sea of darkness – one, you both had each other. You would never be alone," Ruth said, her voice breaking as she cried, no doubt for the son she had lost. Emma hadn't been super detailed, but Killian knew that David's brother had passed of a childhood illness, the same illness that her brother Neal had suffered from years back. As Ruth allowed herself to give in to some of her grief, David enveloped her in his arms, and Killian saw the tears Emma's father let free at the same time. Still, Ruth pushed forward, adamant that her story must be told. "But more than that, I also believed you were free. Free of the Nolan burden. I used a totally different name. I left no contact for the hospital, and though I was terrified of what leaving you to the system would mean, I had to believe it was better than my brother."

"But we still ended up with him," David said, pushing through the emotion that clung to him.

"It was Gold. That heartless bastard. He decided to test his magic. He was as proud as he was terrible, and he wanted to prove to himself and to everyone that his magic would be smart enough to outwit one of the greatest hunting families in the Americas. He told your Uncle I'd been found and had given birth. And though I don't know what else he offered as explanation, I do know Gold still believes that George had no idea."

"So he took you. And then what happened?" Emma asked, trying to push her grandmother towards resolution so this pain and agony would subside.

"I was put under a sleeping curse. It froze me essentially, and while I was frozen Gold ran these magical tests, so to speak. He was consumed with the possibility of humans and shifters being together. He thought it could mean a whole new world order. And he didn't like the idea of that world."

"No, I can't imagine he would have," Granny said, reminding everyone that she had heard of the man in question before. "Anything that gets in the way of Gold and praise and power is something he'd detest."

"Exactly right," Ruth said, the two women sharing a look that spoke to a mutual understanding. Meanwhile Killian was struck at the fact that these women were actually similar ages. It was crazy though that time had essentially stopped for one of them.

"So how did you get out then?" David inquired. "How did you escape him?"

"It was the strangest thing. I was asleep for decades, aware to some degree, but not really. Enough to know I was an occasional magical test subject but nothing more, and soon I was essentially forgotten, left in a room he had filled with other enchanted objects. Then one day I woke up. I woke up and all I knew was I had to get out. That was five years ago now."

"Five years?!" The questioned was asked aloud by multiple people in the room, but no doubt thought by all of them. Five years? Killian assumed that she'd awoken only recently. Honestly he thought maybe this was another effect of his and Emma's mating. But five years ago?

"What happened five years ago?" Anna asked and Ruth shook her head, shrugging.

"I was honestly hoping you all might know. It wasn't Gold. He's still alive, and you can imagine very angry that I managed to slip away. But for whatever reason his magic doesn't seem to have any more effect. I'm free of him and there's no real reason I can guess as to why. So I assumed it must have something to do with you all."

"I don't know what it could have been," Mary Margaret replied. "Five years ago we were in Boston. We were just praying and hoping Neal would be all right. It became our whole life, and then, by some miracle he got better."

"All I know is I woke up on October eleventh. Does that date ring a bell for anyone?"

"The eleventh?" Emma asked, her eyes finding Elsa's and Killian watched as the friends looked curious.

"Wasn't that the day I came to see you all?" Elsa asked and Emma and her parents nodded.

"It was also the day Neal finally took a turn for the better,' Mary Margaret said. "The first day of the end of his illness. The treatment he was on… we didn't think it would work but the doctor's called it a miracle."

"Unless it wasn't," Emma whispered, low enough that Killian believed he was likely the only one to hear her. Then her voice grew louder as she started to fit the pieces of this mystery together. "What if it wasn't the medicine that made Neal better? What if it was Elsa?"

"Me?" Elsa asked and Emma nodded.

"I left you two for a few minutes, remember? I went back to the alley to look for signs of the attack and when I came back you were passed out. You said you were just tired but what if you weren't? What if something happened… something magical?"

"Neal was expecting me," Elsa said, as if the memory was more foreign to her than Emma, but they all watched as she started to recall whatever part of the story she'd forgotten in the past. "And it was the strangest thing because I woke up in the morning and I knew I had to get to you guys. But usually when I feel like that my dreams are vivid. They tell me everything I need to know. But not that night. I just remembered going to the hospital. I took Neal's hand and then he said it was time. I was so freaked out, I thought he meant it was time for him to go. He was so sick, but he was also so happy still. The next thing I knew I was warm. I was burning up with his hand in mind and the room… it was filled with light… I don't."

"Oh my God you reversed the block," Ruby murmured aloud, her eyes glazed over in the way Killian knew meant she was having a vision of her own. No doubt she'd accessed Elsa's memories and she was witnessing it all first hand. "I don't know how – I didn't even know witches could undo the spells of another – but you settled him. He was sick because his shifter soul was restless, soaking up all of his energy and life force because it was rejecting being split from the part of him that was human. To block their powers Gold separated the pieces and Elsa put them back again."

"That must have been what woke me up!" Ruth exclaimed. "The deal was that my family would be blocked from recognition. Those words turned out to be so fatally important in the end. I meant to say that they would be safe, but clearly that wasn't the case for James. I stole away some of Gold's old journals filled with the notes about my case. James rejected the spell in the end. That was what took him from us. But when you shifted the block entirely, the deal was broken and Gold's magical hold of me had to break, right?"

"Yes," Ruby said. "Transactional magic is absolute, and once it's broken it's broken for good."

The conversation from there was still involved, and there were more revelations and details pieced together. Ruby, Anna, and Elsa began to try and figure out how Elsa's magic could be capable of overriding the magic of another. At the same time Emma's parents continued to ask more questions about where Ruth had been for all of these years and about the logistics of tracking them down. It stood to reason that her ability to act would be substantially halted given the situation: she had been put to sleep decades ago, well before the internet or modern digital world. Everything she knew was different and she no longer had anyone she could consider a friend to help her. She had to start from basically nothing, her only saving grace being that Gold had no need for money. She'd taken enough originally to start a life for her and her sons, and she eventually used it to get away and to try and track down what had happened to them without notifying her brother. That turned out to be an incredibly complex task because David's Uncle had done everything he could to keep them off the grid, and when James had died he moved David to a new hunter circle hundreds of miles away.

While all of this was happening, and Ruth was trying to track down her long lost family, the dreams had begun to crop up more and more. They were particularly noticeable in the first year since she'd woken up, and over the years the dreams decreased, not cropping up as much as usual. Most nights Ruth didn't remember them the next morning, but the one's she did remember always had Emma in them. In the beginning she didn't know who Emma was. Ruth was confused and befuddled, but then, when she'd finally managed to track down David, who also had taken every care to not be so easily discovered, she saw a picture of their family. It was from the last inauguration for Mary Margaret as mayor, just a few months before, and immediately she knew that this was a sign. She believed it was residual magic from being tested on by Gold somehow at work, but Killian knew it wasn't. These dreams involved Emma because Emma was special, and though not all of her abilities had been explained or fully articulated tonight, it had become very clear that she was more than she always imagined.

Despite everyone's want to get to the answers tonight, Killian knew that would never happen so quickly, and eventually a time came when Killian had to put the good of his mate over her continued curiosity. Emma could have likely stayed for hours more, asking questions and trying to make sense of the huge changes that had just come hurtling at them, but Killian reminded her of how long of a day they had had. She'd risen early, worried about Elsa and Anna, gone on an emotional journey with her best friends and family, and then discovered all sorts of new parts about herself in a little more than twelve hours. That was too much for the mind to bear peacefully, and more answers could wait until tomorrow, but right now what his mate needed was rest and a bit of reprieve.

Luckily as they were gearing up to depart for the night it was decided that Ruby and Granny would stay with Elsa and Anna. Emma's friends had the room at their house, and as much as Emma and her family had to deal with, Elsa and Anna truly had just as much to come to terms with. That process would no doubt be helped by being close to Ruby. And despite the fact that he loved Ruby and Granny, Killian was glad for the solitude. He needed to be alone with Emma now, to make sure she was truly okay, and to help her get through this moment of substantial upheaval.

"Do you think it's always going to be like this?" Emma asked, when the front door was closed behind them, and they were back safely inside his cabin once again. She looked so beautiful across the room even though he could see that she was tired and uncertain. "Do you think there's always going to be another big surprise coming down the pike? Or do you think we'll ever be…"

"Normal?" Killian offered and Emma nodded as she exhaled a sigh, glad for his understanding. He closed the space between them and pulled Emma into his arms, feeling every bit a champion when she leaned into his embrace and held on just as tight as he did. "I doubt normal in the traditional sense will ever be a descriptor for us, love. But I also know that eventually this will all pass. We'll find our version of normal, and it won't always be like this. This was just one day. Tomorrow is another."

"But even with tomorrow, there's still more coming. Liam is heading here. Elsa and Anna have to essentially go to magic school with Ruby. My parents have to figure out where my grandmother fits in our lives. She's closer to my age than she is to theirs, Killian, I mean that's just crazy. How are we ever going to manage that? Then we still have to tell Neal everything because he's off at camp completely clueless, but his souls are blended again. Because people can apparently have more than one and they can be meddled with. And meanwhile I…"

Emma tried to find the words to explain her feelings and thought it was difficult Killian patiently waited for her to complete her own thought, not wanting to speak for her when this sentiment was so important. It was undoubtedly the biggest reveal of the night, that Emma and her father and brother had wolf shifter lineage, but it was something Emma had to come to terms with even more than he did. Yes it had tremendous impact on Killian, and he found that he was amazed, awed, and excited at the prospect of Emma being like him, but he didn't want to project those feelings to her. Whatever Emma felt, it was her right to feel as such, but he could only hope that she was going to be okay with all of this.

"I always knew something was off. You know what it was like for me, I told you about how things were a few years back, but I truly believed it was just nightmares. I thought it was all in my head, and then you came into my life and I found out about shifters and everything and I assumed this was another part of my bond to you. I was fated to be yours and this was just that link manifesting. I never imagined that I was a shifter, just a human with a shifter mate, but it's so obvious now. Those dreams had you in them, yes, but they also had me. Or my wolf I guess. I knew it deep down, but I could never quite accept it. All this time there was another part of me just waiting to get out, and it might not be as restless as Neal's was, thank God, but it was never truly settled either, not until you got here."

Killian pressed a kiss to Emma's temple as she hugged him tight and he was so glad that he had been a soothing balm for her. God knew that her presence had revived him. He had never been so happy, and never truly known peace, but now he had that with his mate. She lit up his world and gave him an anchor and a home at last. To know that he'd eased any of her burden or calmed the anxieties of her mind was enough for him. He just knew that whatever may come he'd do whatever it took to keep being such a force for good in her life.

"And we know those dreams she was having totally had to do with me. I mean am I projecting something? Is my lack of soul cohesion making me some sort of beacon? I don't know because I don't know how any of this works and the reality is no one does! We don't have any answers and that terrifies me, because all I want to know is that we're going to be okay and we'll get past this."

The fervor of her words made Emma's breathing irregular. She seemed winded, not from exertion but from the intensity of unknown that lurked all around them. There were tears in her eyes, and that mistiness tore at his heart, but while Emma was worried, Killian was calm, at least in one regard. This was a storm for sure, but like any other storm in life this would eventually pass. He knew that deep in his bones, but he wanted her to know it too, and he thought of how to say that to her as he reached out to brush a wayward strand of hair from her face. His fingertips brushed lightly against her ear and then his hand cupped her cheek. She leaned into the touch, her eyes closing briefly, and then she looked back at him and Killian could see she already knew the truth he was going to speak. She only needed to be reminded.

"We will absolutely get past this, Emma," Killian vowed. "And I swear to you that I will keep you and your loved ones safe no matter what. There's upset in our world right now, but not with us. We are constant. We are solid. There's no debate or doubt when it comes to us. You are mine as I am yours and we will be more than okay. I promise."

"I want to believe that so badly," Emma whispered, the sound of unshed tears spilling into her soft tone. "I do believe you. I just… I don't want to deal with this tonight, you know?"

"Aye, love, I do. So I have a proposal," he said and Emma's brows immediately rose as her eyes grew big. He could see shock and a bit of panic at his poor choice of words and so he backtracked. "Not that kind of proposal. Not yet. I was going to say we can pick up where we left off earlier."

"You mean back in my room? When we were pretending?" Emma asked, her cheeks flushing a beautiful shade of pink as she recalled how they'd been back at the house just hours before. It felt like ages ago, but also like mere moments. Instantly they were both at that same level of wanting, and now they hadn't any need to wait. Thank God for that, because Killian didn't think he could take it. After a day like this he needed his mate, needed reminding of how right the world could be when they brought things back to the foundations of the two of them together.

"None of it was fake or forged on my end, Emma. The story might not be entirely ours but everything that matters was real."

"I know," Emma agreed, holding him tighter and pulling him towards the bedroom. "And I want that again. Make me forget, just for tonight."

"As you wish."

And with that, Killian brought his mate back to their bed, intent on ending this trying day with the best kind of medicine either of them could acquire. They made love until exhaustion set in, losing count of all the peaks they climbed together, but his last thought as he slipped of to bed was surprisingly certain and assured: everything really was going to be okay, and somehow, someway they were going to get through this together.

…..

I'd rather be running.

Despite the thought that had been plaguing him all night as he sat in the passenger seat of this eighteen-wheeler truck, Liam knew that right now he had to ignore his animal instincts.

It wouldn't be possible to do so for very long. Truth be told, Liam had maybe an hour or two tops before the gnawing in his mind that manifested as a wolf's sharp whining sound would get too much to bear. When it did he'd have the driver stop and let him off and then he'd feel a weight lifting off his shoulders. He hated the confinement of the truck and the caged feeling of driving on the highway versus tracking in the woods. But he had to get to Killian sooner rather than later, and since he wasn't shifting on this journey, he couldn't very well run the whole way coast to coast.

As a compromise Liam was hitchhiking with forested stops in between. He could handle the road in five to six hour increments and then he had to stop. He found food, not for any enjoyment or satisfaction, but to keep his energy up. He needed to be as sharp as he could for what was coming, and he also needed to treat his animal delicately. Even if it made the trip that much longer he had to abide by it. Flying wasn't an option. Short of tranquilizing himself with enough sedative for four horses there wasn't a force that could keep his animal anywhere near calm on such a journey. And trains, though grounded and often surrounded by woods and hills weren't really the same. It still felt too industrial and too man-made. Things of that nature irked his animal now, and since the bite had taken hold of him Liam had to let his wolf win nearly every fight. It was a struggle to stay concealed and in control, so he sacrificed ease and comfort in the hopes of a return down the road.

"You know I meant to say it earlier, but you don't exactly look the hitchhiking type."

The driver of the truck who had let him tag along had been good at not bothering him with questions the past few hours. He would have gotten off the truck if too much talking ensued, and right now he knew he had to shut this conversation down too. He had no interest in discussing how he'd gotten here or what kind of person lived this way. The truck driver had no idea of his life or his choices. He was trying to sketch his likeness but it couldn't be done. All that would happen was Liam would be irritated and the man would be left wondering.

"That probably means you're a runner. Only question is are you running from something or towards something?"

Liam tried to keep from snarling at the comment. He looked over to the man, and though he knew he sent a glare his way that would make any shifter cower, this human seemed unfazed. In fact, he broke out into a smile at Liam's standoffishness.

"Towards something. Definitely towards," the man mused aloud. "I get a lot of runners but not so many with a place in mind. Kind of refreshing actually."

"Glad I can be of service," Liam growled out and now the man laughed.

"Ah so he speaks at last. I was wondering if you'd forgotten how. Still can't believe I picked you up when all you said was 'Chengwatana.' Usually I ask a few more questions, but despite the big scary thing you got going here I can tell you ain't got ill intent."

Liam was relieved when the man stopped talking. He was hoping he was out of the woods with that, so to speak, but unfortunately a few seconds later he started up again, causing Liam to tense noticeably.

"Now don't go getting yourself all worked up. I ain't asking any questions aside from one. We're gonna hit the forest in an hour. It's the middle of the night and you ain't got shit with you. You equipped to handle this? Biggest state park in the state of Minnesota. There's animals out there, and the elements ain't always too friendly."

"I'll be fine," Liam said, looking at the man and hoping to impart that to him. The concern he saw there was well-meant, and Liam knew this man had done him a great service. He had helped a stranger for nothing in return and was making sure he'd be okay hereafter. That was a kind thing to do, but it had been a long time since kindness came naturally to Liam.

"Well all right then. Why don't we go back to silence then? Seems you like it best that way."

And without any more conversation, their drive continued on as Liam watched outside the window at the country that was passing by him. A few more days of this and he'd be where he needed to be. He'd find Killian and he'd do what needed to be done.

Post-Note: Hey all. So there we have it – a pretty busy chapter with a lot of reveals happening. I will say that the next few chapters we kind of move from everyone just talking about stuff to more action and doing so to speak, but that being said, the train stops here. I have not actually written any more chapters, and since school is still in full swing, I might not have the chance to write anything for some time (though my hope is to post again in a month with a new installment). Not to worry though because I have so many plans still for this fic and there is much more to come in this crazy (but somehow still fluffy) story. Hope you guys all enjoyed and would love to hear what you thought. Thank you all so much for reading and for all of your support and I hope you have a great rest of your week!