Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time does not belong to me nor do the characters. However, I do own any original characters (OC's) that come along in this story.

"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light."
-Taylor Benson

First Day on Sea

The sparkling blue water was a wondrous sight from aboard the ship. Eva leaned against the railing gently; the ocean breeze blew against her hair and face as she stared at the small towns a distance away. Dock, his friend Cube, and the others were working around the large ship. The captain, however, was still in his cabin - suspiciously, too, it almost seemed. The crew didn't care much about the given topic though, saying that it was supposedly his normal behavior. But normal behavior, was certainly not that.

"Hey, Dock, you got that feelin' again?" said one of the crew members, Brim, whom Eva met earlier courtesy of Dock.

"You mean that happy one? I feel that all the time..." Dock sighed contently. He was currently repairing a broken piece in the ship's mast. Brim and Cube were on the deck examining the tattered sails. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew were doing their own jobs leaving Eva to wander around the entire vessel, careful not to interrupt the captain and whatever he was doing.

"No," Brim shouted impatiently. "Feelin' like captain's up to his no goods again." The sturdy man carried a dangle of tight rope around his right shoulder.

Dock paused his work. "Captain Hook wouldn't do that. His past should stay in the past, Brim."

Without warning, the captain himself emerged out of his private quarters and stepped onto the dark wooden panels of the floor. His aged black boots sounded as he walked. It was quite easy to recognize him as the head of the ship, but one had to be a fool to not notice the captain's grim expression on his face, although all the serious, carefully placed emotions were quickly gone as soon as Hook glanced over to Eva; his face expressed an endearing smile at her before he directed his attention to the staff aboard the large vessel.

"Everyone," He began. "Set sail for the Queen's castle. We'll be paying her another visit." The last line had a sense of bitterness to it. But who is the Queen that he mentioned about?

"Who is the Queen?"

The entire crew stood in shock. Captain Hook furrowed his eyebrows in question, relaxing only enough to answer her question calmly. "The Queen is the cause of all the misery within these lands. " Fantastic answer.

"Then, how do we manage to visit her?"

"My dear, " He said, chuckling while at it. "There are many ways to visit someone. Ours just happens to be the best."

The tall towers of a castle soon came into view. Enormous trees surrounded the domain, illuminating the dark castle's sinister aura even more. Beside the main doors in the front, there were glass windows spread around the exterior trimmed with a peculiar black kind of crystal. The seemingly endless stairway edged in a curve around the castle itself, but the main attraction was yet to come. I can't imagine who would want to live in a place like this - with a lucid view of the lands too.

"Anchor's down, Cap'n," Cube said, giving Hook a mixture of a wave and possible salute. "Shall we go in?"

"By all means. Her majesty would certainly not mind our sudden intrusion, would she now?"

Only Eva, Captain, Dock, and Cube headed down off of the ship carefully, and in the direction of the Queen's castle. The rest of the crew stayed behind to keep the ship in hand. The four strolled softly on the dirt path. Then, before them, were two large doors. Both had the letter 'R' engraved into them. Whatever they meant was probably something significant in a unique way.

"Regina." The Captain said sternly, and the doors began to open, letting loose a loud creak. Everyone took a step forward, eventually meeting the beautiful face of the Queen, herself. Her dark hair was twisted up into a complicated hairstyle, adorned by tiny sparkling stones and the dress she wore was rather...fat. But it still didn't bring any sense of ease to the obscure smile upon her face. One could only ponder in their mind questioningly if the woman had actually expected them to arrive at her fine castle. A fine castle, indeed.

"Captain Hook, I see you have acquired a new companion with you," She flicked her eyes onto Eva. "Lovely."

"You know why I'm here."

"On the contrary, Hook. No, I do not. Perhaps you are here to see me, I presume." The Queen answered, walking up to him. The sound of her heels clicked as she walked on the tile floor. The smile, however, was still plastered onto her face. It matched exquisitely with her brilliant features.

"Please, I am fully aware that you still remember our deal from earlier — about the boy?" Captain Hook leaned against a pillar within the room, looking around distastefully at the interior design.

The Queen paled before returning to her previous state.

"I'll speak to you about Peter later. Instead, why don't you introduce me to your fellow friend? I don't recall her being here in our last visit..." She waltzed casually around the floor, eying Eva warily. Fortunately though, Cube was able to give her a look, to which the woman replied back with a smile on her face - a fake one at least.

"Her name," Hook began. "is Eva. And I'd prefer you to keep her out of this."

Dock shifted uncomfortably next to Cube; his face dazed in confusion and worry. He whisper tentatively into his friend's ear, attempting to back away further from the malignant ruler in front of him. "She's kind of scary, don't you think?" Scary isn't the correct word, gruesome is more like it.

"We're not here to look at her! The sooner Captain's done, the sooner we leave." Cube replied sharply, forcibly pushing Dock forward even closer to the woman he was trying to get awayfrom.

"Protective, are we? I must admit Captain, it is quite interesting to see you so attached to this little comrade of yours. Have you softened already? A shame, really. You don't want the same thing happening to poor, poor Eva like it did to that other girl, do you? Now what was her name again...Wanda? Wendy? I'd suggest you be more careful on what you do Captain, or else you'll find yourself in that same repeating cycle of never-ending loops."

"What about Daniel, then?'' Regina frowned, the sudden line capturing her utmost attention.

"Leave."

"You crossed the line, Regina." The Captain said; his face lost of all potential emotions he felt at the time.

"Oh, but you're wrong, Hook. I crossed that line a long time ago."

The sudden disruption of Brim barging into the room freed the present tension, causing Captain Hook to turn around with Regina staring at the unexpected guest through the corners of her dark eyes. Everyone stared at the crew-member in queer question, awaiting to what the intruder had to say. Yet Eva could tell by the unhappy expression on Brim's face that things were not going well back on the ship. What could have possibly happened while we were gone? A sea monster? Sea monsters though weren't very likely around the area, especially not at that one particular place where the ship was. Bandits, however, were quite common among the lands. Nevertheless, then there was still the idea that Eva was on a ship with pirates - skilled pirates at that. Instead, the bandits or any other robbers may as well be the victims.

"Rumpelstiltskin is here!"

Even worse.

After gasping - no - yelling, Brim bent down to his knees for extra support as well as coughing along the way. In a moment, Dock and Cube were beside him trying to help the poor man catch his vanished breath.

"It appears that you have matters to attend to," Regina finally said, returning to her normal self; the tainted smile from before making its reappearance again.

"Don't let me keep you from going."

Captain Hook swiveled his eyes over to the Queen for a moment. His features darkened slightly until he reinstated himself, gesturing for Eva to follow him out of the corrupted fortress. Somehow, the other three were already gone, assumed to be waiting for the pair outside of the castle. He couldn't blame them though, the domain was enough to give anyone the chills.

"We'll continue with this later." He spoke.

"And that we shall." The ruler said, repositioning herself so that she was nearby Eva who was skeptical about the sudden act. She backed away a bit, pushing the heavy door behind her and letting the bright sunshine hit the room.

"Have fun." Regina asserted.

"And why do you say that?" Eva questioned. She was still partially inside the castle, wondering about what the Queen meant by her confusing statement. Captain Hook stood outside on the steps, urging her hurriedly to finish whatever she was doing as soon as possible.

The Evil Queen bent over enough to stare at Eva face to face. The same signature smile that she had come to grown used to was smacked right on her yet the current situation was far from amusing. Quietly, the Queen began to whisper into her ear. "Because when you're with him, you won't last for too long." And the doors shut ostensibly in front of her.

"Hey, Eva! C'mon, we still have the beast to tend to." Brim called. Beast, as in Rumpelstiltskin?

"Eva," Captain Hook interrupted. "Did she something to you? You can tell me, you know." He gently spun her around to face him, both of his strong hands were set on her shoulders putting her in place.

"No. I'm fine." She answered, trying to sound confident - and she failed miserably at it. Eva could sense that Hook seemed to noticed the small detail in her voice as he searched her eyes looking for anymore clues, but he didn't comment about it. It was a subject to be resolved later.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Eva replied with a pleasant smile on her lips. The short conversation was becoming quite insinuating, and she had wanted it to end soon. Besides, there was a 'beast' on the ship just waiting to be seen.

"Captain Hook," Rumpelstiltskin bounced happily, much to the annoyance of the other crew-members who were there to make sure that the unexpected visitor didn't break anything fragile. Rumpelstiltskin rambled deliberately up to the Captain. His trinkets jingled as he walked in jolly. "and his new companion, I take it?"

Eva grimaced at the account. Really, it seems like I've become a title now, 'companion' —what have you.

"You take it correctly," The Captain replied, relaxed. "Why are you here, Rumpelstiltskin?"

"I can't visit anyone these days without them having to ask the same question over and over again." The notorious being giggled. He bounced over to Eva in a springy action. Half of the entire deck gazed at him suspiciously, with the exception of Dock who was reminiscing with his eyes closed. Annoyed, Brim elbowed him in the stomach bringing the fellow back to reality. He whispered something inaudible to Dock. Eva could've sworn it sounded like 'Wake up'.

"If I'm not mistaken, dearie, your name should be Eva. Am I correct?" Rumpelstiltskin asked, taking a small strand of her hair and rubbing it in between his thumb and index finger.

"Yes, you are. How did you know about my name?" Eva asked, moving toward him, her voice was full of curiosity.

"I know everything and everyone, dearie..." Rumpelstiltskin mumbled in a low tone, trailing off. "You remind me of Belle." He turned his head wistfully away from her, wavy hair covered part of his face so that Eva couldn't see his features distinctly enough. In a short moment though, he recovered quickly from his blunt recollection, grinning cheerfully back at the Captain.

"What—"

"I should probably take a leave now!" He said, never giving Eva the chance to finish her sentence.

"Do so then." Hook said, entering the conversation for the second time. He fiddled with the black coat of his attire with disinterest. The Captain's defiantly a help now. She thought bitterly as she stared at him.

Honest to what he said, Rumpelstiltskin disappeared in a matter of minutes off of the ship. The crew looked around bewildered, trying to find any leftover trace of the abominable merchant. However, there was none. But still, the question, along with many other questions, lingered in Eva's mind - why had Rumpelstiltskin come to the ship? Did Captain Hook have anything to do with this? She didn't know, but she would hopefully find out sooner or later. Sighing, Eva took a seat on a thick cargo crate filled with who knows what. There was a time and place for everything, but her mind needed some rest. She closed her eyes and listened to the soothing sound of the ocean.

Too bad the peace didn't last for long. Eva opened her eyes, wincing at the light for a brief moment.

"Where are we going now?"

Dock took the opportunity to answer her gladly. "We're going to visit that village over there. The Captain wants to do some business with the others before we head off again." He pointed to the location with his finger. Surprisingly, the place didn't seem so far away and the ship neared the beach in an instant. The racket of the anchor dropping into the sea with a splash was accompanied by birds chirping away as they flew in the air. The vessel parked crookedly on the gritty beach-like area, and half of the full crew, including Captain Hook, climbed down from the ship. Eva followed shortly after, careful not to injure herself.

"You all can run amongst yourselves within the town. I'll be inside the bar over there temporarily." The Captain later vanished into a large house, and the door closed softly behind him.

"Hey Eva, come join me and Cube," Dock expressed, delighted with nothing or no one in particular. "It's getting dark soon. We're going to get some dinner. Brim, Snob, and the others are looking for souvenirs."

What Dock said was true. Nightfall was quickly approaching, and several villagers were beginning to lit their lanterns in preparation for the cold evening. Eva walked closely behind Dock. He was apparently humming a tune of a song she had heard once or twice in her life, but Eva just couldn't put her finger on the song's name. That tune...It sounds so familiar! Where have I heard it before?

"Over here." Cube called. He was waving frantically at the pair.

Eva and Dock headed toward his direction, entering the medium-sized house Cube was standing near. But in fact, the home was actually a small restaurant. Customers were all over the place seated at picnic tables. Waiters and waitresses walked up and down the isles, carrying plates of savory food and drinks of variety. Eva was seated to a table in the corner with Dock and Cube on the opposite side of her. Two candles were placed on the piece of furniture, and they gave off a crispy sweet scent, much like the aroma of maple syrup. Soon, a tall blond woman came around the side of the kitchen to them waiting to take their order.

"Welcome to our restaurant. What would you like to eat?"

Cube looked up at the waitress confidently. "I'll take a leg of chicken, beans, and a glass of water."

"I'll take a cup of tea and a loaf of bread." It didn't matter what she said. Eva was basically starving from hunger after the visit to the Queen and the unexpected guest of Rumpelstiltskin. A meal would be the perfect thing to rejuvenate from.

"And I'll have some mushroom soup." Dock stated happily. Cube, meanwhile, was utterly disgusted by his behavior. He turned his head to the right to stare at a couple sitting next to them while Dock looked out the window, playing with his grey hat.

"You order will be out soon." The waitress smiled at them, and left to go attend to another table.

"Can I ask you something," Eva looked over to Cube. He nodded his head in response. "That girl, Wendy. The Queen talked about her in the castle today. Who is she?"

"I can't tell you much about her, Eva. No one on the ship knows who she is or was besides the Captain. The strange is that Captain Hook never talks about a Wendy. It was probably a long time ago before the crew was formed. And I can't guarantee Cap'n would tell you about her either. He's a man who prefers to keep to himself especially about his past, but everyone's like that nowadays, Eva. The Evil Queen has damaged all in this land."

Before Eva could respond, the waitress from before came back over to give them their food.

"You can leave the payment here, Cube." The woman said gently, leaving to go to another part of the restaurant.

"You know her?"

"We come here all the time." Cube answered and took a large bite of his chicken leg. Dock ate sensibly, taking small spoonfuls of his mushroom soup. It was amazing on how the two differed, but they were so close to each other in general.

Eva stared deeply into her mug of hot tea, the steam hitting her face as she debated with herself on when to actually drink the delectable thing. She played with her silver spoon utensil, swirling it around the ceramic glass. Finally, Eva wrapped both of her hands around the mug, bringing it to her lips. The warm liquid quenched her growing thirst, but the need for food didn't diminish any further. She took her fresh loaf of bread and broke a satisfying piece of it, tossing the chunk into her mouth daringly. Delicious!

"You seem hungry." Cube commented, raising his thick eyebrows in surprise.

"I haven't eaten anything so luxurious as this during my slave years."

Dock and Cube stopped their vigorous eating, twisting their heads aside to look at each other and then to Eva. She noticed the abnormal feeling of the situation and paused her eating as well, returning to her endless mug-staring.

"Captain Hook bought you?" Dock asked lightly.

"Freed is a better term for it. Why does this bother you two so much?"

"It's because Captain Hook never does something," Cube said, tensing. "without having a reason for doing it."

Author's Note: At last, the chapter is done. I hope many of you enjoyed this one and just in case some readers are confused, the story still unfolding and will continue to do so in the following chapters after. Parts of the story may seem strange along the way, but no worries - I'm hoping to explain important details as Lovely Companion develops. Until then, leave a review.

I can't believe the amount of feedback I got last time I wrote an author's note, and I am super happy about it. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, alerted, and favorited this story. It truly means a lot to me, and I would sincerely appreciate it if some of the people who alerted left me a review.

As always though, I hope you all have a nice day.

**Special thanks to blackopalz21 for being my beta**

Bamb: I read about that somewhere online! I'm giving Hook the name 'James' because no one is aware of his real name, which as you said, is Killian. This, is planned to be sorted out in future chapters. ;)

SAOfan: Saccharine will defiantly not be abandoned! You have my word on it. The reason I started this new story is because I had this idea one day and I had the urge to write a story about it.

Clare: Bonjour, Clare. Désolé vous pouvez me faire confondre avec quelqu'un d'autre. En fait, je ne parle pas français du tout, mais je vous remercie de votre beau compliment à mon histoire. Cette réponse a été traduit à partir d'un bon ami à moi donc je apolgise si c'est difficile à lire. Merci pour examen :)