I do not own Once Upon a Time.

Back to the story and it's time for family.

Robin's embrace faded and Tara was gently being woken up in her chair of the private jet.

"Tara, wake up, you're having a bad dream.

She opened her eyes and saw her brother, just not the one she really wanted at the moment.

Killian stood over her, concern clearly written on his face. He had a pretty good idea what his sister had been dreaming about but was not ready to ask for details. "Your makeup is running." He brought a hand up to wipe the mascara.

"Thanks, I am used to that by now. Killian… he loved you. Those were Liam's last words." Tara told him.

Killian Jones wanted to believe his sister's words but he couldn't bring himself to do so. He just nodded in response.

They all existed the plane and Tara looked around confused. Where was Neal? He was supposed to meet them here.

Her question was half answered when she heard her name yelled across the tarmac. Before Tara could say a word, a red haired woman flung herself into Tara's arms.

"I wish the circumstances were better for my visit." Elizabeth told her.

Tara nodded and hugged the woman tight. Elizabeth was Tara's best friend from across the pond. They had known each other for years, ever since the Jones family's first trip to Ireland.

Elizabeth broke the hug first. "Darling, you're crying…" She took out a tissue and attempted to fix Tara's make up.

"Did not think I had any tears left at this point." Tara gave a strangled laugh. "It's good to see you."

"You really think I would let my best friend go through something this tragic alone?"

"I'm not really alone…" Tara said, turning to see Killian still standing a few feet away.

Elizabeth looked shocked but pleasantly surprised to see the missing Jones sibling slowly walking towards her. There were a million things she could have said but smartly decided against it. "It's good to good you, Killian."

"Likewise, it's been too long." Killian said, instantly regretting that.

Elizabeth bit back the "And whose fault is that?". The gravity of the situation got the best of her and she hugged him.

Regina walked up to the group, all their bags were on a wagon being dragged by an airport worker. Her face lit up when she saw who else was standing there.

Robin Loxley was the head of the security team and one of the bravest men she knew. She walked right up to him and embraced him.

Killian stared at them shocked and his eyes brows shot up to his hairline when they began kissing.

Robin did pull back eventually and turned to Killian. "Glad to have you back, mate." His hand was out to shake.

"Nice to see you too." Killian somehow managed to say, his eyes darted to Tara. What was going on here? Regina was never the friendliest and most open person, so this seemed so out of the ordinary.

"Well, you have been gone for three years. A lot has happened." Tara informed him as they all began to walk to the waiting car. "Oh new development on the home front, no more Gaelic in front of Roxanne. She understands it now and will answer back."

"As long as Regina didn't learn, we are good." Years ago, when the siblings were not on good terms with Regina, they would be able to talk about her in Gaelic and she would never know. "Remember when we taught Graham dirty words?"

"Dad grounded all three of us for a month."

Once they were all seated and buckled, Tara turned to Elizabeth. "I thought Neal was meeting us here."

"Sophia has a small cold, Neal stayed home with her."

Tara instantly became worried. Neal hadn't said anything when she had called earlier that day.

"If you want to go right home, that's fine. Robin and I will go to the office." Regina offered. The Jewel was closed for another week, while the investigation was going on. Both Robin and Regina needed to be there to oversee things.

Home, that's where Tara needed to be.

Sophia was in bed with a red nose and a small empty medicine cup. Tara made sure she kissed her husband before going in to see her daughter.

No fever, must just be a runny nose, nothing to worry about. Tara placed a soft kiss on her daughter's head.

"Mommy?" Nothing seemed to get past Sophia.

"Yes, baby?"

"Did you bring Uncle Killian home?" It had been so long since Sophia asked about her uncle.

"Yes I did."

"Can I see him?"

"Not right now, you need rest."

"But what if he leaves again?"

That broke Tara's heart. "I will make sure he doesn't leave again."

"Ok." Sophia snuggled under the blankets.

Tara left the room and walked to the living room. Killian was sitting there with Neal and Elizabeth. It was uncomfortable. Why was it uncomfortable? Things had never been uncomfortable before, their family had always loud and fun.

"So the prodigal son returns home." Neal was saying. There were so many other things he wanted to say. He kind of wanted to punch Killian, for walking out on all of them and leaving the running of the company to Liam and Tara. But mostly for having Tara deal with Liam's murder alone.

"Yes, this wasn't how I pictured my return though." Killian said coolly.

"So you were planning on coming home?" Neal sounded shocked.

Elizabeth braced herself for punches but Tara spoke up first.

"I don't need this right now; I really don't need this from either of you. We are dealing with a tragedy and we need have each other's backs. What happened happened, move on. Do I make myself clear?" Her blue eyes bounced between her brother and her husband.

"Yes." Killian was the first to answer.

"Yes." Neal said. He didn't like when the family fought either.

"Good. Alright, I'm ordering take out. Then we all need sleep. We are meeting with the funeral director and Father Brian in the morning."

Hours later, there was finally some normalcy. Sophia woke up and joined them. She was over the moon to have her uncle back. She filled him in on everything, what she was leaning in school, the play and the sports she was trying out for. He hung to her every word. Why had he let his anger get the best of him and how did he leave all this behind?

There were laughs and jokes, almost like nothing had changed.

They stayed at Tara and Neal's apartment all day. Eventually Sophia had to go back to bed and Elizabeth had to head back to her hotel.

Dishes were cleaned and put away, good bye were said. Which left an unsure Killian. Where was he staying?

Tara understood and handed a key over to him. He recognized it instantly. It was the key to his apartment.

"It's just the way you left it. I will see you in the morning." Tara told him.

"Thank you. See the two of you tomorrow." Killian said to both Tara and Neal.

"Killian I'm sorry I got bent out of shape. I'm glad you're back." Neal told him. He was Neal's only brother in law now, there was no room for disagreements between them.

"Good night." Killian hugged Neal and kissed his sister before leaving the apartment to go home. How was he supposed to feel about going back there?

Neal watched him go and turned to Tara. "It's still a miracle you got him to come back."

"He did put up a little fight, but I was able to convince him."

"You are very good at that. Have I told you that I love you?" Neal pulled her into his arms.

Tara grinned up at him. "Not today."

"Well, I love you." And he kissed her.

She did love him, her husband, her true love. And she loved their story…

I think this chapter has the most heartbreaking line and it's from Sophia. "What if he leaves again?"

Aww, Regina is with Robin and happy.

Reviews?