AN: Sorry this is a few days late. I had family things to do all weekend and after I saw that promo last night I forgot how to function properly. If I tried to write it would consist of the random letters that are my emotions.
If I haven't made it clear in the story, this is to let you know that Belle is Belle and not Lacey. I could not STAND Lacey! I spent a few episodes crying for my sanity because I really wanted my Belle back.
I haven't put this on any of the other chapters and I don't know if I really have to, but I don't own Once Upon a Time. If I did, I can guarantee you that I would not be writing fan fiction (because it would we real!) and the show would probably be on HBO. Because really.
Emma: "Why the hell do you mean we are not in the Enchanted Forest, Hook." Emma heard David growl. She looked over and saw that he had already lost his cool and would run over to Hook and beat the crap out of him if only Mary Margret wasn't holding him back with all her might. Their little group had begun to let go of the stray ropes and railings that they had used for balance while traversing through the portal and start to form a tight circle around Hook. If Regina or Gold knew how to sail a pirate ship, she was positive they had a mutiny on their hands.
"Aye, I haven't the slightest idea why we ended up here. I can't say that I've thrown enough magic beans in my life to know exactly how they work," Hook spat. Emma could tell that he was very nervous even though his voice did not waver even slightly and he still had his signature smug grin plastered on his face. I guess I'm not the only one who can be read like and open book around here, she thought.
She glanced around the ship. Nobody was taking this this situation any better than she was. Both of the other men on board were just about ready to rip Hook to shreds. Her father had one hand on his gun and the other was being held by her Mary Margret while she tried to convince her husband that killing the pirate was not the best course of action. Mr. Gold was staring daggers at Hook while protectively wrapping the arm that was not holding his cane around Belle, who was also telling her love that he was above murder. Emma looked over to Regina. She had inched closer to her and Henry, magic in the form of fire skipping between her fingertips.
Everybody was waiting for somebody else to make the next move. She saw it in their eyes; they all needed Hook to escort them through this land safely. He must have wanted this, the smug bastard. He is the one who got us here and the only one who can keep us safe until we get out.
Emma couldn't help but blame herself. She is the one who trusted him; accepted his deal without a second thought. Let him throw the bean. Trusted him, she thought. He had once told her to trust him and she refused. She didn't want to get hurt. This time, she trusted him with not only her safety, but also that of her entire family and look where it got her.
Well, my entire family except for Neal. No, she couldn't think of Neal right now. This was not a time to show the grief that had consumed her only yesterday. She was going to be safe with her family. Just not the family she wanted twelve years before with Neal. Neal may be gone, but she could still have a family that would make him proud. But first, they had to get out of Neverland and back to Fairytale Land. She was the one that got them into this mess and if she couldn't get them out of it, she would sure as hell try.
"Ok, we get it. You fucked up big time." She took care to cover Henry's ears when she cursed that time. This was not the situation to show that she was a bad mother to the kid, no matter what the circumstances. "And because of that, you are going to tell us all right here, right now how you plan to fix it."
Mr. Gold cleared his throat before Hook had the chance to respond. "There is no way to transcend worlds without a bean, a hat," he paused a second before sending a knowing look towards Regina, "or a curse."
"Oh, no. You are not going to put us under another curse," Mary Margret almost yelled. She had only seen her mother like this a few times before. While she usually solved problems by respectably talking them out, this was the tone she used when the safety of her family was on the line.
"Even if I wanted to, I don't know if I could. Magic is different here. More reserved, like it's hidden. Or controlled by only one person," Regina stated as if this was either supposed to make everyone feel better about the possibility of being cursed again or worse because they could not hide behind her and Gold's magic while they were in this land.
"What about how we got out of the Enchanted Forest?" Emma added as she looked towards Mary Margret. "Do you think there are any magic wardrobe ashes or magic restoration water or anything like that here?"
Hook began to pipe up with a suggestion when Gold cut him off. "I don't think we should be trusting this scum with anything else on this little detour. I believe that we would be better off swimming to shore and fending for ourselves," the man spat at Hook.
His arm was still around Belle, who looked like she was ready to fight Hook herself with no help from Gold at all. She hadn't ever had a real conversation with the girl, but rumor was that Regina had locked her up underground as her curse punishment. Seeing the sweet girl she couldn't help but think that the punishment wasn't meant for her, but rather the man who was standing next to her; as protective as someone with the title of Dark One could be.
"Gold, you can go ahead and swim to shore, but as far as I know, Hook is the only one of us has ever been to this land before and I believe that we should all stop arguing and let him give his suggestions." Emma glared at Hook.
She knew that he was the only one on the ship that could get them out seeing that the two top magic users on the ship had no ideas. She was going to have to trust him again to get them out of the hole he dug for them, but at that moment all she wanted were answers.
Hook looked at Emma nervously. She could tell that he didn't have very good news. "Last time I left this realm, I exited through a portal that only appears every thousand years. Its purpose is to send away Lost Ones that are too much of a burden to take care of as well as to rid the land of unwanted pirates," he gestured to the group.
I guess we're all considered pirates now, Emma thought. She remembered how Hook had once told her that she would make one hell of a pirate. I cannot let him be right about that. I can't trust him. She knew, deep, deep down, that she was going to have to constantly remind herself about not trusting him. She didn't want to trust him and it scared her to death that she knew that the only way to get back home was through trust.
"Sadly," he continued, "I left Neverland not more than forty ago and our friends in the Enchanted Forest would be long dead by the time we get back using that method. And besides, the portal takes one back to their land of origin, meaning that this lad here would be all alone." Emma sighed as he gestured to Henry who was still right by her side. She would just have to accept that she was going to be living for all eternity. There was no way that she was going to do anything that would put Henry in danger, especially if that meant leaving him alone without her once again.
"What the hell do you suggest we do then? By what you're saying we are going to be stuck here for the rest of our lives," Emma replied. She was still holding on that bit of hope she had during the madness that occurred earlier with the town imploding; the hope that she was going to live the rest of her days safe and with her family the way she was supposed to. Even with this unexpected change of plans, her subconscious still thought she was going to be in Fairytale Land any second.
"I don't know of any other way of getting out of Neverland, but I may know someone who does," Hook responded. Why the hell is he being so damn cryptic? Emma mused. She didn't have all day to wait for an answer. Well, I actually do. We could debate this for a lifetime and we wouldn't age a day. Nothing she thought made her feel any better.
"Spit it out, Hook," Emma prompted. She was not going to wait for Hook to get a reaction from each sentence like he was some comedian.
"If anybody can help us, it's an old friend of mine from the mainland. Granted, we did not part on good terms, but she is the only one who would have the resources to help us if she wants to."
"So you're telling me that last time you were here you made enemies and that is what is going to hold us back from the only person who can get us back to our home safely and together?" Emma didn't think she had ever heard Mary Margret this livid. And she had thought she got her temper from her dad.
"What I did last time I was in this realm is not the only thing holding us back from getting back to the Enchanted Forest. There is also the fact that my friend cannot travel between realms. She is simply the most powerful person on the island. If she can't help us, nobody can."
As she lay in bed unable to sleep, Emma came to terms with a few things. The first was that she was going to be occupying this terribly uncomfortable bed for quite some time. Hook had said that they would make land in seven days, but she doubted that they were going to find anything useful on land. And that would mean that they would be right back on this very ship because this bed was better than none. It was actually strange how many rooms with actual beds the Jolly Roger had. Compared to the pirate ships she was used to seeing in movies that contained one room with hammocks, the ship had enough rooms for everyone on the ship to double up. Except Regina and Hook who both got their own rooms.
She looked over to the bed next to hers to see Henry soundly asleep. She smiled realizing that at least he was safe and they both were together. Emma didn't know what she would do if she had left Henry with Granny or Ruby or Archie or Leroy earlier and have been separated from him. At least she had her son and her parents. All she needed now was a permanent place she could call home for once in her life.
She laid her head back down on her pillow when she felt it. Shit. Now I know why I have stayed away from boats my entire life. Besides the fact that I could never afford one. Emma sent one last look over at Henry to make sure he was asleep and bee lined out of the room.
As soon as she made it to the deck, she leaned over the side of the ship. At least nobody is up to see me puking my guts-
"Aye, I see you haven't got you sea legs quite yet, love." Oh, god. Please let me be dreaming. Please let me be dreaming.
But, to her displeasure, one did not often throw up in dreams. Emma leaned over the edge of the ship once more. She felt so terrible that she didn't even notice the cool metal that pressed on the back of her neck as her hair was gathered away from her face by a hook as soothing circles were rubbed on her back.
"This will all be over soon enough, love. You'll be running around and ignoring the fact that you actually like me in no time."
What was with this guy? she thought. But, as much as she wanted to, she couldn't come around to telling him to go away.
When her stomach finally settled Emma sighed and slid to the floor, unintentionally taking Hook down with her.
"Whoa, lass. You could give a man a warning before-"
"Could you please just shut up? Who gave you any right to talk just hours after you took away what was supposed to be my happy ending?" she yelled. At that moment, she didn't care who she woke up. All she cared about was giving Hook a piece of her mind and letting him know how much he hurt her. She had kept her emotions in check all evening even though it felt as if her heart was crushed and she couldn't hold in the anger she felt for the pirate any longer. She didn't even know that she was crying until she tasted the saltiness of a tear on the edge of her lip. "I just want to go home!"
"I do too, love. I do too," he spoke calmly, as if anything could make up for what he did to her family by landing them in Neverland.
"If you wanted to go home so bad, they why the hell did the bean take us here?" Emma sobbed.
"Whenever one throws a bean, they have to think of where they want it to take them. When I threw that last bean, I desperately wanted to go to the Enchanted Forest, but in one corner of my mind I thought about the first time I threw a bean. That was mere hours after the crocodile killed Milah and cut off my hand. Some of that sadness came back when I threw the bean and sadness always leads back to Neverland." He genuinely sounded sad about the situation.
"I lost someone too, once," Emma sighed, not completely sure why she was telling Hook, of all people, this. "His name was Graham. He was one of the first people I met when I came to Storybrooke and I had finally warmed up to the fact that he wasn't going to break my heart when I kissed him and he died right in my arms. Come to find out, Regina had crushed his heart because he began to remember who he really was. Me coming to town and being around him killed him."
She was a sobbing mess by now. Her walls that she kept up to make sure nobody ever knew how she really felt were crumbled around her. She knew that letting someone know how broken she really was inside was a very, very bad idea, especially if that person was Hook.
She hurriedly wiped the back of her hand across her face and started to stand up. "I'm sorry Hook, but I can't do this." She was stopped by a noise barely over a whisper. A word that she couldn't quite make out.
"What?" she questioned suddenly feeling stupid because she probably just imagined Hook saying something.
"Killian," he said a bit louder. "It's my name, love. Killian Jones," he spoke sincerely.
"Well, Killian," the name sounded strange rolling of her tongue, "Will you promise that you'll get us back home?" Emma implored.
"Aye, you have my word that I will do my very best to get us all back to the Enchanted Forest." She turned around to look him in the eyes. Not a lie in sight, but after his stunt earlier, she was not convinced.
"How do I know that I can trust you?" she questioned.
"Because if you didn't you would have let the rest of your family throw me overboard." The statement contained no sass or sarcasm. Pure truth.
"Touché. You might want to get some sleep. Don't want you to snap at somebody tomorrow. I don't know how much longer I can keep them from throwing you overboard," Emma said with a smile. It felt good to smile event when the quest to get back home was going to be hell. "Goodnight, Killian."
"Hardly night anymore; there are only two hours until dawn, Princess!" he shouted after her as she walked back to her room.
"Well, I need every bit of beauty sleep I can get, Captain." Every sensor she had in her brain telling her do anything thing besides get along with Hook, Killian, was blinking bright red. But she couldn't undo what was already done, so she simply walked back to her room; ready to sleep and not think about the terrible situation they were all in for a few hours.
I wonder who that friend on the mainland is. I couldn't possibly be a certain princess who is telling the other half of this story, could it?
Anyways, I hope you liked the CS part. I swear that if somebody doesn't get queasy in the actual show I will throw something. Maybe this is just because I get so seasick and I want other people (even if they are on a TV show) to feel the pain. Muahahaha! But I mean, Killian holding Emma's hair back while she throws up. *sigh* Just thinking about it makes my little fangirl heart melt.
I don't know when I will get the next chapter up because I'm getting a new roof and they are going to have to take down the wi-fi receiver. But that does mean that I will not be distracted by the internet while I write. So you all should get a few chapters pretty quickly when the internet gets back up. Thanks for reading!