Chapter 6

I left the loft for the third time in one hour (only this time rather more calmly), to find the boy. I would expect that he woke up in Regina's house, since that was his literal home. Henry seemed like the kind of person who would choose his actual home, not some flowery, romanticized place (or person). I neared the gates of the great house, carefully looking around to check for any signs of the boy.

The painfully white doors were left unlocked, giving me easy access to the unnecessarily clean house. "Henry! Henry!" I endlessly cried out as I searched every nook and cranny of the place, which was not a quick task, I if I dare say. I climbed up the steps to see only one door open in the large corridor, the rest were closed. I headed straight for the open door, of which when I entered, I could tell that this open room belonged to Henry. The bedsheets were particularly dishevelled, yet I could imagine them always being immaculate, what with Regina running the household. Gone were his backpack and coat, I could tell from the bare hook that protruded from wall. Henry had clearly been here and left, thankfully. I now knew precisely where the boy would've gone, since his mother was missing and he hadn't turned up in the loft. He must have gone to the Jolly Roger to find me.

I ran down to the harbour, slightly weary – you can't blame me; I spent the whole bloody day running around, looking for people. The refreshing smell of the ocean soon came upon me as I neared the docks. I couldn't help but beam as I saw her again, my ship. It had been so long since I had been on her, due to the seemingly endless battering of evil and dark magic that this town received.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I stepped onto the ship, seeing Henry standing on the opposite end of her, looking out across the expanse of water. "Henry?" I called out to him, hoping that it would truly be the lad and not some hallucination or whatever else he could be.

"Killian! You're back, when did you get here? I have searched the whole ship for you." He said, walking slightly awkwardly over to me (I'm afraid the lad had quite got his sea legs yet).

"I've been here for around an hour and a half, as has your mother. She is in the loft with the Blue Fairy."

"Oh, I only just woke up. When I figured that mom wasn't around, I came here to find you, thinking that your home was here." He replied, slightly confused.

"No, my boy. My home is wherever Emma is, so we appeared right where I died, since she, I expect, didn't have the choice where to land. I took her up to your grandparent's loft, hoping to find them there, but alas, they are nowhere to be found too. Come on, lad, how about we head back up to your mother and Blue. I am afraid we have a lot of thinking to do, as we are stuck with a rather troubling dilemma."

"So is it strange to be alive again and back to normal, after, you know, the whole Dark One thing?" He asked as we made our way back.

"Aye lad, it is rather strange being back here again, after believing I'd never see the light of day again. But I must say, I have had some quite amusing looks while walking around and when I went down to find people in Granny's. It appears that people don't take so well to a pirate who went to Camelot for six weeks, came back as the Dark One, attempted to kill everyone, was killed by his love, then came back from Hell with a seemingly dead saviour." We both laughed, the feeling was so welcome, after so long stuck in a realm which drains all the happiness and joy out of you.

"What was your brother like? Mom told me that he was there too, but left."

"My brother was called Liam, and he was once a noble sailor like me. He was the Captain of the ship you now know as the Jolly, but he knew her as the 'Jewel of the Realm', and I was his Lieutenant, many, many years ago. Before the whole pirate business. I remember us sailing out to Neverland, to collect Dreamshade for the King. He told us that the bloody stuff would heal any wound, and you know that is a lie. Liam, with all his faith in the King foolishly cut himself with a thorn to prove that is wasn't poison. I saved him by giving him water from the Neverland Spring, just as I did with your grandfather. Only once we had got on the boat and then left the Neverland waters, did my brother die, since he was then tied to the island. My brother was always a better man than I, braver, kinder and endlessly selfless. I aspired to be the man that Liam always was, but I don't think I could ever be nearly as good as he was." I swallowed down my emotions once more, stilled pained by my elder brother's loss. I looked down at the ground, reminding myself of the man I had become, and the shame that came with it.

"Hey, Killian, do you really think that my mom would love you as much as she does without believing you are a good man too? And you are pretty selfless if you ask me, like, come on! You died for all of us." Henry said softly, placing his hand on my arm, lifting my gaze up to him.

By that point we had reached the loft where Swan lay, and I hesitated before opening the door, "just to warn you, Henry, your mother is technically dead, so she will look the part. However, I know she will not stay as she is for long." He only nodded quickly, gulping as he did so. I swung the door open, to see Blue still sitting beside Emma, she quickly stood up on seeing the lad come in with me.

"Henry! I'm so glad you are back and safe." The fairy smiled warmly, "Hook came running to Granny's looking like a lost puppy when he came back from the Underworld. I decided to put aside my personal issues," she shot an accusing look at me, "and help him for Emma's and her family's sake."

"So where is everyone else?" Henry asked

"It appears that the others who followed you to the Underworld ended up in the Enchanted forest, in their respective palaces. Unfortunately, there is no one in Storybrooke who would have the ability to rip out a heart, for I only wield good magic, as with the other fairies, and if we summoned Rumplestiltskin, well I doubt he'd be particularly compliant, especially with Hook."

"Can't we even speak to mom and Robin, or even my grandparents?"

"You're bloody brilliant, lad! How could we have not thought of that already?" I said to the boy.

"I do have a spell that can help with that, I just need a mirror."

"There's one just over there, I'll go and get it for you." Henry walked off, and quickly came back, struggling to drag the bloody thing over. I quickly went over and helped the lad with it, and placed it down in front of the fairy.

She waved her wand over it, and the image of the mirror rippled like a pond, and then Regina appeared, who was pacing around an oddly familiar looking room. She was startled as she looked at us, I suppose an image of us showing on one of the numerous mirrors in her castle.

"Hook?"

"Well, I doubt you've seen many other one handed, incredibly dashing, handsome, black-clad pirates," I said to her, raising an eyebrow

"Nice to see you too. You look like you are back in Storybrooke which is good, at least one of us is."

"Actually, two." Henry said, stepping in front of the mirror.

"Oh, Henry, I am so glad you are back safe. Are you okay? Have you got hurt or anything?"

"Mom, I'm fine."

"Enough happy family reunions, Emma is back here with us, but she needs a heart – or at least half of one – yet you are on holiday in the bloody Enchanted forest." I cut in.

"I know what you can do."