"Emma, what exactly did your mother say?" Asked a worried Killian, looking in the rear-view mirror to check on Leia, who was happily eating her goldfish snacks, and quickly turned his attention back to the road. They had decided to take the SUV, since the bug hardly had enough space for any of Leia's belongings; neither of them were aware of how serious the issue actually was and just wanted to be ready in case their stay in Storybrooke had to be extended. Henry's first day of his third year in college was tomorrow, so he had made his parents promise that they would keep him updated on everything, and they made a plan for him to meet them in Storybrooke in a few days.

Emma leaned her head back on the seat, sighing, "She didn't say much - just that Belle had found something in the library," she looked out the car window, not wanting Killian to see her teary eyes, "And that she thinks Leia's in danger because of it."

Killian grabbed the steering wheel with his prosthetic hand, reaching over and holding Emma's hand with his free one. Ever since they had left for Boston, Killian wore a prosthetic attachment for his hand. He never failed to complain about it at least once every time he used it, but having a hook did not seem like something that would be easily accepted outside of Storybrooke, so he knew that he had no other choice. Although at home, he would often sport the hook, which Leia loved as it gave her the chance to play pretend with the real life Captain Hook himself.

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze causing her to turn her head to face him, a single tear ran down her cheek, "I'm scared," she whispered.

They came up to a red light, so Killian took advantage of the opportunity and leaned over, kissing the tear away, then planted a soft peck on her lips, enough to make Emma smile for the first time in the last three and a half hour car ride.

To their relief, this had been the first time that they had not needed to stop multiple times for Leia to use the restroom. Back when she was in diapers, long car rides like this were simple, but now that she was potty-trained, everything had become twice as complicated; it also did not help that Leia had apparently inherited her grandmother's small bladder - you could not drive anywhere more than an hour away with Snow without needing to stop at least a handful of times, an annoying habit that usually irritated everyone around her. After stopping for the first and only time at a gas station in a nearby, barely even populated town, Emma and Killian were relieved to finally be less than fifteen minutes away from Storybrooke.

Coming back home always brought on bittersweet emotions. Storybrooke had been the place where Emma first connected with her son, where both Killian and Emma had found their family, where they had many of their "firsts," where they promised to love each other for eternity, and where their daughter had been born. But, it was also the place where they lost numerous loved ones, where Killian had to watch as the darkness consumed the love of his life, the place where Emma had to be the one to take Killian's life, as he sacrificed himself for the entire town. They tried to not dwell too much on the bad memories, but they seeped in from time to time, making them glad they had decided to move to Boston for a fresh start.

Years ago, Killian had said something that had stuck with Emma ever since - he had reminded her that there was always a crisis when it came to their family, which was all the more reason to enjoy the quiet moments. That was exactly what Emma planned to do. She knew that this situation with Leia was only going to become worse with each passing day, so she just wanted to enjoy this quiet moment in the car with two of the people she loved most in the world. As they drove towards Snow and David's house, Emma peered out the window at all the familiar surroundings. The small town had not changed much in the past few years, besides a couple of new businesses, including a charming coffee shop and a pet store that had been built after Regina found some wiggle room in the budget. They passed Granny's and Emma pointed to it, turning back to look at Leia with a massive grin on her face, "Look baby, that's where they make the best grilled cheese in the entire universe," she exclaimed. Emma had eaten so many grilled cheese sandwiches during her pregnancy with Leia, that it was no wonder it had become their daughter's favorite food as well. Often times, Emma and Leia would join forces against Killian and would not stop their whining until he drove across town to Roxy's, a local grilled cheese truck, and brought them back home a few sandwiches. Roxy's was amazing, but nothing beat Granny's, making it one of their Storybrooke trip highlights every time they were back in town. They had visited Storybrooke several times since their big move, but the last time they had come, Leia was hardly two and a half years old. Since then, she had added a couple dozen words to her vocabulary and comprehending ideas had become much easier, so Emma and Killian were hoping that this time around, even amidst all the chaos, they perhaps could take Leia on some exploring adventures.

"Gwilled cheese!" Leia squealed, clapping her hands together and giggling.

Killian smiled through the rear-view mirror, "We'll make sure to get you one before we leave. How's that sound, princess?" Leia nodded her head enthusiastically and shoved another goldfish cracker in her mouth.


The Charmings' home, located on Storybrooke's farthest end, had gone through quite a few alterations since Killian and Emma had moved away. They had re-painted the entire house a light beige color, making it seem even larger than it already was, and had invested on a bigger barn, allowing them to fit seven horses, instead of the previous four they owned. Snow had always been big into horse-riding, and now that they owned enough property where they could go on extensive rides, she had insisted for David to let her get a horse for each family member so now everyone, even Leia although she was still too young to ride, had their own steed. Every so often, they would all go on hour long rides, something Henry and Neal enjoyed almost more than Snow did, which was saying a lot. Apart from the horses, the Charmings also owned numerous goats, sheep, that were entirely David's idea, and roosters, which were the vain of Emma's existence since they woke them all up ridiculously early every time they stayed over and Leia was not at all an early morning person, much like her mother.

When they arrived, David and Snow were already waiting outside by the front gate that lead to the rest of their property. The expression on Snow's face was indisputably overcome with distress, causing both Emma and Killian's stomachs to churn. Emma turned back to check on Leia who was beginning to become fussy due to missing her afternoon nap. She locked gazes with Killian, simply wallowing in each other's presence for a mere second, and they took a deep breath before getting out of the car; Emma quickly rushed over to Snow's side, while Killian unstrapped Leia out of her booster seat and placed her in David's eager arms.

"Oh my," David exclaimed, raising the toddler up in the air and playfully shaking her, "There's no way this is my same little Leia," he brought her back down and tickled her side, making Leia giggle, "Look how big you've gotten, princess!"

Snow smiled sweetly at David and Leia interacting. Leia's grandparents were utterly enamored by her, wholeheartedly wrapped around her cute little finger. Although they got to raise Neal, Leia was Emma's spitting image, so seeing and spending time with their granddaughter at this young age, much like they could not with Emma herself, somewhat eased the pain of having abandoned her so many years ago.

"Mom?" Emma asked as Killian joined her side, wrapping his arm around her waist and offering Snow a greeting smile, which she contentedly returned.

"C'mon, let's go inside first," Snow ushered them towards the house, David following behind with Leia still in his arms.


Belle was already waiting inside for them; she was sitting in the dining room, with half a dozen leather bound books sprawled over the entirety of the table. She did not smile when she looked up and saw Emma heading towards her, but instead, moved some of the books out of the way so there was room for others to sit around the table as well.

"Hey Belle," Emma muttered, earning a smile from her in response.

"Hi," She replied, and nodded towards Killian when he sat down next to Emma. David stayed standing a bit a ways from everyone else, bouncing Leia in his arms, and Snow got them all drinks since she knew what everyone liked: a shot of rum for Killian, iced tea for Emma and Belle, a glass of iced water for herself, and a beer for David, which she sat on the counter for whenever he felt like drinking it.

Emma took a sip of her drink, "Where's Neal?"

Snow walked over to the table, balancing Killian's drink on one hand and her's on the other, "Ashley took him and Alexandra to the lake for the day. He's excited to come home and see you guys though."

"Oh, no, thank you," said Killian when Snow handed him the rum, an unhealthy obsession Emma had been pestering him to cut back on.

"Trust me, you'll need it," sighed Snow, taking a seat on Belle's other side.

Killian looked over to Emma, who gave him a small smile and a nod of the head in approval, "Go for it, babe, I don't mind," she placed one hand on Killian's lap and turned to Belle, then her mom, "Okay, so tell us everything."

Belle took a deep breath, "I was looking for a project to do with Gideon for the summer since he's no longer being occupied with school. I've been meaning to re-organize the library for some time but Rumple hasn't been able to help because he's been busy with the shop lately, so I thought it'd be the perfect opportunity. Gideon might only be five but he's completely engrossed by books. I guess he gets that from me," she laughed, "But that's besides the point. Yesterday, as we were clearing up one of the last sections, a book fell on the floor, but I didn't pay much attention to it. Gideon, on the other hand, was drawn to it, and about an hour later, I found him sitting at the front desk reading it without even bothering to look up for a single second."

Leia started to fuss again, "Mommy!" She whined.

Emma stood up and walked over to David, taking her daughter from his arms, "Come on, baby girl. She's just sleepy, dad," she reassured David, who had begun to think perhaps Leia was no longer comfortable with him anymore, given the fact that they had not seen her in a few months and that tends to happen with young children. David took the seat next to Snow, and Emma followed back to where she was sitting, cuddling Leia close to her.

"Anyway," Belle continued, "I took a closer look at it last night and found something extremely weird," she opened one of the older looking hardback books, and slid it closer to where Killian and Emma could see it more easily. The page Belle had opened to was fully covered in intricate designs - symbols like the ones Henry had subconsciously drawn before the final battle over five years ago. Every symbol was not just drawn on the page though, they were engraved so well that when Killian ran his hand over them, he could feel where the mark of whatever tool was used to make the symbols had touched the page. A sensation of unease and discomfort quickly took over Emma; she wrapped her hands tighter around Leia's small body.

Since Leia had begun nodding off in Emma's arms and because he knew that she should probably get some appropriate rest, Killian whispered, "Here, luv, let me take our little sleeping beauty upstairs."

Emma hesitated, not wanting to let go, "Hey," Killian scooped Leia in his arm, her head resting on his shoulder as she slept peacefully, "She's going to be fine," he cupped Emma's face with his free hand and gently brushed her cheek with his thumb, "I won't let anything happen to her," Emma offered him a weak smile and he kissed her forehead, "Or you."

She waited until Killian disappeared upstairs before turning her attention back to her parents and Belle, "What does this," Emma pointed to the bizarre symbols, "Have to do with my Leia?"

Belle sighed, "It's not the symbols so much as this," she turned the page and Emma's stomach suddenly dropped. The next page was veiled in only one thing: Leia's name written over and over again.

Leia Swan-Jones.

Leia Swan-Jones.

Leia Swan-Jones.

Emma frantically flipped through the book, no longer caring about what she did or did not see. The first half was mostly filled with the same peculiar symbols, a handful of blank pages here and there, and the second half contained hundreds of pages with nothing except Leia's full name written on every inch of every single page. "What the hell is this?" Emma could now feel the anger that she had tried so hard to push down starting to creep in, "What do they want with my daughter?!"

"Honey, let's not get worked up," Snow said calmly.

"Not get worked up?! Really, mom?"

"Your mother's right, Emma, we just need to figure out why this is happening, who's behind it, and what we need to do to fix it. Getting angry won't help."

"But I am angry. Actually, I'm pissed. I couldn't be more pissed. This," she gestured towards the book and then pushed it away from her so that it slid across the table, "This is exactly why Killian and I left Storybrooke! Because I knew something like this would eventually happen and I didn't want that for Leia! But we left and for what?! It's still happening!"

Snow, David, and Belle exchanged looks but stayed quiet, knowing that Emma needed to vent.

Emma stood up and began pacing back and forth, "And now my three year old is still in danger, and it's all because the Savior's job never ends. This crap will never fucking end."

"Emma-," Snow started but was swiftly interrupted.

"I need some air," she muttered before heading straight to the front door, letting it shut loudly behind her.


"Swan?"

Emma had been sitting on the porch steps for a handful of minutes now, trying to calm down. Her head was spinning, becoming more clouded with thoughts by the second. She did not turn around when she heard footsteps walking towards her, but looked back when she realized it was Killian.

"Oh my God, I'm sorry, did I wake her up? I didn't mean to be so loud."

Killian shook his head and sat down beside her, "No, you didn't."

She let out a sigh of relief, "Good."

"Emma, you wanna let me know what's going on in that head of yours?"

She met his gaze and that was enough to break her. Every emotion that she had attempted to block out for the past six hours came rushing out, causing thick tears to endlessly stream down her face. Killian wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close; she hid her face in the crook of his neck and he allowed her to cry.

"Shhh, it's going to be okay," he whispered, brushing his fingers through her wavy, now shoulder length hair.

"How do you," Her soft cries turned into long shuddering sobs, "Know that?"

Killian smiled and kissed the top of her head, pulling her closer, "Because, together, we always manage to overcome anything. This isn't an exception."

After what felt like an eternity of just sitting there in each other's arms, Emma had finally caught her breath long enough to be able to talk, "Killian...this is my fault."

"Hey," he said defensively, lifting her chin up so she could look at him in the eyes, "Why in the world would you say something like that?"

Emma sighed, unable to stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks, "If I wasn't...If I wasn't the Savior...our daughter wouldn't-"

Killian brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "None of this is your fault. The Savior is who you are, luv. It's part of you. It's as much a part of you as those beautiful green eyes that I love so much are."

A faint smile appeared across her lips as she looked up at him through batting eyelashes, "I love you."

He kissed her tenderly, "And I love you. More than you can imagine."

She wiped her tears away, taking a quick pause in order to prepare herself for what she had to ask next, "Who do you think is after Leia?"

Killian bit his bottom lip because thinking about it genuinely made him the most nervous he had ever been. He offered her his hand, "Why don't we go find out?"

YAY! CHAPTER TWO! I'm really, really hoping you are all enjoying this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. It's been so much fun so far! Comments and feedback would be much appreciated :) xx