Hello shipmates,

I couldn't stop myself. I have a five chapter arc set out for this little tale and will update when life permits, but hopefully won't go longer than a week between updates :) I just want to thank you all for taking the time to read the first chapter and I hope you like what I do with the rest of the fic!

These will be five consecutive snippets from Neverland, but they won't all flow from one chapter to the next. Any amount of time could pass between them.

Come play on Tumblr (wonder24) and enjoy!

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Together

Part Two

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Emma's breath catches in her throat as she tries to scream out to her parents who are rapidly disappearing behind a wall of vines and leaves. Adjusting to Neverland's living landscape has been difficult to say the least. The island is alive with every fibre of its being, constantly trying to drive the intruders away, wanting its land to be free of the people that walk its treacherous ground.

She abruptly changes direction, running full pelt back at the wall, slamming into it as the vines thicken and threaten to take her with them into the depths of green. She leans back, just allowing her hands to push against it, hoping that the magic within her will do the rest. Concentrating on the tingling feeling coursing through her, she presses a little more solidly on the leaves, letting a sob break free of her when nothing happens. Nothing moves, nothing appears and her parents are gone from her once more.

It has been days – weeks? She can't tell – since she last saw Henry disappear through that portal and she is having the hardest time staying strong. She just wants her son back in her arms and this damn island is playing games of hide and seek with her. She punches a fist against the wall, collapsing under the pain she is experiencing. Her skin burns with the clinging heat of this world and her eyes sting with the tears she can't stop pouring from her.

She doesn't even flinch this time when the vines try to tangle their way around her.

Or when those vines become arms pulling her free.

"Come on, love. We'll find another way around."

Despite the sweat dripping off her by the gallon, she feels pleasantly warm against Hook's side, his solid form offering her comfort from the perils of this realm. She doesn't speak, just continues to let the tears fall and she realises that she hasn't allowed herself this luxury whilst being here on the search for her son. She hasn't allowed herself to appear weak, but right now she couldn't care less what she looks like to the pirate, she just needs to mourn.

They walk for what feels like hours and the sun is setting once more on a day she's not quite sure has been long enough to call productive. But the days are different here and she is sure that the sun will rise again within only two hours only to set again three hours after that. As her feet carry her evermore towards another part of the forest, she hears the sound of water running and realises with a lurch of her stomach and a stabbing pain in her head that she is ridiculously thirsty.

"Can we find water?" she speaks quietly, but Hook still jumps when he hears her voice.

He subtly moves them to the right a little, following a path he knows will lead them to the water they so desperately seek, "Ah, she speaks."

Despite her outlook on the world right now, she still manages to roll her eyes at him, "I'm thirsty."

"I gathered."

He leads them further down a trail that almost seems to be marked out for them, following the sounds of the water running downstream to the Neverland ocean. Emma rushes forwards as the river comes into view, kneeling on the bank and reaching out. But before her fingertips can feel the water, she is being pulled back once more by Hook.

"What the hell?" she exclaims, facing the pirate with a piercing glare.

He lets go of her wrist as she shakes away from him, "I don't think it's safe, Emma."

She registers the seriousness of his tone, but ignores it as she argues with him, "I can't even tell how long it has been since either one of us has just stopped to have a break and you suddenly don't think this is safe?" She knows her anger is being brought on by missing Henry and her annoyance at the sticky hot air, but it feels good to feel something at this point in time, so she continues to yell at him, "Take me to safe water then, Hook!"

And the band sort of breaks for the pirate then, because he has done everything in his power to be the right kind of person for this woman. He has tried to show her his true self and to help her find her son and he has practically given her his ship, the only thing he has left that is truly his. So when she tests him, he bites, "I am not your tour guide, Swan. You find it yourself."

Emma steps up to him them, defiance flashing across her features. They're both beyond exhausted and in desperate need of rest and she knows that's the only reason they're picking a stupid fight over something she knows he would be right about. But she will not let him see her weakness, "I say this water is fine, Hook."

He raises his eyebrows, gesturing towards the river with his hook. "Then by all means, drink up," he says, turning away from the water and beginning to walk back to the forest.

She shakes her head at him, taking a tentative step towards the water and reaching out to skim her hand across the top, relishing in the cool slide of the liquid across her simmering skin. She dips her hand just below the surface, scooping the water and leaning forward to sip.

And that's when she sees it. She sees the mop of brown hair, the flash of pale skin smudged with dirt and dried blood, her son. She sees Henry.

The thirst that has been driving her mad for hours disappears in an instant and she scrambles to her feet, running in the direction of her son. Her voice sounds strained when she calls out to him and she realises that there are tears streaming down her face. "Henry!" she tries, again and again, crying until her throat is dry once more, "Henry, slow down."

She begins to fear that something is dreadfully wrong when the sun rises in the sky. She can't have been running that long. Could she? But the more she thinks about it, the more she realises how fatigued she is feeling. This place is the stuff of fantasy and children's tales and yet it truly is the most horrifying land she has ventured through. Hook wasn't joking when he had told them all about their bodies becoming their worst enemy because right now she can feel hers failing her.

Her heart pounds in her chest as she falls slowly, her awareness racing back to her. She's suspended in the river, the pale hands of a mermaid pulling her gently under the surface. She kicks and thrashes, trying to call out, but her voice only escaping her into bubbles of water. The feelings of complete helplessness wash over her and she lets herself succumb to them, no longer trying to hold her breath.

But just as she gives up, a hand wraps around her wrist and pulls. Her eyes lock onto the jewelled fingers and she knows who is trying to save her and that's enough for her to remember Henry and why she has to fight with everything she's got. With renewed strength she kicks against the hands dragging her down and thrusts herself upwards, breaking the surface of the water and gasping in lungfuls of air.

Hook drags her to the grassy bank and pulls her completely out of the water. "Emma," he whispers, his voice like a spell washing over her, the curve of his hook sliding up and down her torso, making her tingle with the anticipation of a promise not yet made.

"I'm sorry," she splutters, water spilling from her lungs still.

His hand combs through her hair, trying to calm her, "You weren't to know." She takes another few shuddering breaths, "Although it's high time you began trusting me, love."

She nods, not even questioning it. "What was that?" she asks looking over her shoulder at the river.

"The mermaids," Hook answers, "They practiced a dark hypnotic magic and were sentenced to life evermore in the water." His eyes wander to the river where bubbles are still rising to the surface from the bitter turmoil he knows will be going on deep in the water. The mermaids will not be impressed with losing prey.

"I saw Henry."

He nods, knowing she had, "You were calling for him." He says it simply enough but she's beginning to understand the nuances of his speech and knows that he is expressing a deep concern. Her throat feels like sandpaper so she can only deduce that she has been screaming for her son and she feels beyond horrible that she made Hook go through watching her almost die like that just to prove a point.

Before she can find the right words to express how sorry she is, he pulls her to her feet, "Come on, Swan. We have much ground to cover before next nightfall."

She follows behind him, watching as he deftly steps over rocks and tree roots without one stumble. This man, he keeps coming back for her and she's not quite sure what to do with that knowledge. She's not sure how to behave around someone who returns and actually wants to be around her.

"Hook," she calls out gently.

He turns around, only a few steps ahead, "Aye?"

She reaches out, taking his hand in hers, "I do trust you."

He sort of smiles at her, one of those sly half smiles like he know something no one else does. No words pass from his lips as he turns back to the path, taking another step, Emma's hand still safely tucked in his.

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