He tried to reason with her and explain why he thought it best at the time to hide his death sentence, but the further he tried to explain that it why it was better he be stuck on this island than dead, the further away Snow drifted from him. His motives had been honorable. He would do whatever it took to reunite his family.

By the time Emma and Neal had caught up with them, Snow opening welcomed the opportunity to start a conversation with anyone but him.

"Neal, how exactly did you survive the trip through the portal and how did you get here? ", Snow inquired. As he began to relay his journey, Snow slowed down and gave him her undivided attention. Charming noticed that the more engrossed Snow got in to Neal's tale, Emma increased her stride and was now setting a bristling pace.

Charming stepped in to sync with his daughter and they walked in a comfortable silence. Giving her a side-glance, he saw the storm raging behind her eyes. He was sadden by what he saw there. She really was a lost girl. Given up at birth because of the curse, abandoned and alone. All the while left feeling unwanted and unloved. And Henry. She had to give him up. Suddenly Charming realized that he knew very little about all that Emma had been though in her 28 years in the world.

"Emma, we wanted to give you everything. I am sorry that we never got that chance. Curse or no curse, I have not been the best father to you. I feel like we have never really gotten the chance to know one another and I want that. You and I may be the same age, but I am still your father. If something is hurting you, I want to ease your pain. "

"Why did you lie, to Mary Margret and to me about the dream shade? And how did Hook know about a cure? "

Emma's eyes were so intently focused on him and Charming found himself stumbling over his words at first, "I…Um….Hook lost his brother to dream shade. He briefly told me about his brother who was a Captain for the Royal Navy and about being charged with retrieving a healing plant for their king. However, Pan warned them about what it really was and his brother doubted his warning. There is a spring with healing properties that cured the poison, but once they left the island his brother died instantly upon leaving this realm."

Charming continued, "I …..I didn't want to be a burden to you all and take the focus away from saving Henry. And I did not want to admit that the truth to myself. Your mother and I have survived so much, that this was not how I pictured our story ending. It broke my heart to think about leaving her and the pain that it would cause her. "

To his surprise, Emma replied. "You have survived worse. Arranged marriages, dragons, sleeping curses, the Evil Queen. Are you forgetting who you are? At the end of the day, you are still Prince Charming and Snow White, the eternal optimists. You are True Love. "

Spurred by Emma's encouraging words, Charming suddenly had an epiphany. Emma was right. They were going to save Henry and all get of this island alive. Good always defeated evil. They were going to win this

Feeling lighter and in a mocking manner Charming replied, "Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while. "

Emma paused briefly, "Did you just quote The Princess Bride? "She asked with a small smile. Charming nodded and noticed a small blush creep to her face.

He had seen his daughter with Hook and with Neal. And he knew enough that Emma felt broken around Neal. That much was evident after the journey in to Echo Cave. As Charming thought about the cave of secrets, his thoughts trailed to Hook. He genuinely cared for his daughter. After all, Charming was no fool and saw the way Hook had been looking at Emma. At first he thought it was just more of a pirate conquest thing. But between saving his life and how he exposed himself in Echo Cave, he now knew he could not have been more wrong. Hook was in love with her and would sacrifice his life for her if it meant she would be safe and happy.

"Great book and movie. Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles." Charming replied. Emma nodded in agreement, "It was my favorite growing up. I always imagined that I was Buttercup. "

Charming smiled at her and they continued down the path, "And Westley? "He asked as they continued down the path, he saw Hook leaning against a boulder. Emma side-stepped his question and declared that she had needed to stop and get some water and that he should continue without her.

Watching his daughter steal a glance at the man leaning against the boulder, he could not help but feel a mix of anger and happiness. It was time to have a chat with the lovelorn, sad sailor. And he needed a drink, because he was pretty sure that his daughter was falling for Captain Hook