I am sooooo sorry I have not written an one shot in so long. Things have been crazy and I have been focusing on my story, In the Midst. This is an idea I have had for a while though and I wanted to get it in before the Spring premiere. Hope you enjoy it!

Brother

Maybe splitting up was not their best idea. Emma blames the adrenaline and lack of sleep for her faulty judgement, but she had to find Killian and this had seemed like the best way to go about it. More eyes in more spots would get the job done faster, right?

Wrong.

What felt like years had passed since they entered the Underworld in search of Killian. Shortly after their arrival, the group of heros decided to break up, all of them going in separate directions. She could only guess who and what the others had run into by now.

They already knew Cruella was here, but who else from their past might be in this place? Names and faces of the dead ran through Emma's mind. Pan, The Snow Queen, Neal, Graham, Cora, her uncle James, , Walsh, Merlin, the list went on. Emma had no idea how many encounters they would all have. Some of them more be harder than others.

"Excuse me, lass, but what are you doing with my ring around your neck?" A accented voice pulled her daze. She looked up, optimistically, too much hope in her eyes. Her hope sank as fast as it had risen. The face that greeted her was not that of her dashing pirate, but instead a tall man with dark curly hair, bearing a resemblance to Killian.

"I'm sorry, what?" Emma turned to face the man, confusion written all over her face. They were standing on the sidewalk near what should have been her parents loft. It all looked so familiar yet seemed so foreign.

"My ring." He pointed towards Emma's chest where the necklace dangled. "It's around your neck. How did you get it?"

His ring? Killian had told her the ring belonged to his brother, in a moment of hurt and desperation to get her to change. He gave her the ring to remember that he loved her. That he was waiting for her.

"You're Liam?" Emma whispered, clutching the ring in her hand.

"Aye." He took a good look at her, taking a step back. "And who might you be?"

She swallowed hard. "Emma Swan."

"I don't believe we've met before, Emma."

"We haven't" This would sure be fun explaining to him. The whole thing was hard to get through her own head and she was living it.

"You still haven't answered my question. Why are you wearing my ring?"

"You're brother gave it to me."

Liam's eyes lit up. "My brother? You knew Killian? How?"

"It's a bit of a complicated story. But we know each other. Well."

"You two in love?" Liam spoke the words that had been playing in Emma's mind. "He wouldn't give anyone my ring unless they were important."

"Yes." Emma said more confidently than she expected. "He gave me the ring as a reminder that he loved me."

"You two married?" Emma just shook her head at the question, remembering the conversation she had with Killian when he gave her the ring.

"What happened to him?"

Her last moments with Killian replayed through her head. He did not die-she had killed him. He had asked her to kill him. He was in this place, this awful terrible place, because of her. She had done this too him.

"He died."

"When?"

Emma internally thanked him that he did not ask how. "Yesterday." Emma was not really sure how accurate that was, since she had no clue how long they had been down in the Underworld. Time felt slower here.

Liam raised his eyebrow. It must have been a family trait. "My brother was born over three hundred years ago. How in the world did he just die yesterday."

"He spend some time in Neverland-and then there was this curse for twenty-eight years." Emma tried to explain. "I told you it's kinda complicated."

Liam turned around, running his hands through his hair. When he turned back to Emma, she was met with an angry face. "You're lying. My brother would never go back to Neverland."

"He was there for a long time." Emma tried to convince him. "He needed time so he went there."

"Time for what?" Liam gritted under his breath.

Emma hesitated. Killian should be the one to tell him everything, not her. "Look, your brother lived a long life. And he made some mistakes after you died that he regrets. But he is a good man."

That did not satisfy him. "I don't know what you are-a witch, or a pirate or what, but you did not know my brother." With a final shout, Liam started to walk away.

Emma racked her brain for what would convince him. "You're father abandoned you as a child." That got his turned around slowly to face her.

"You were all on a ship and he left in the middle of the night. There had been a thunderstorm the night he left. The storm scared Killian and your father calmed him down-that was their last conversation before he left."

"How do you know that?" Liam whispered.

Emma took a step forward. "You died from nightshade in Neverland. Your king told you and Killian to go and get it. Peter Pan told you it was poison, but you did not believe him so you used it on yourself. Killian revived you with the water, but it stopped working once you left the island."

"How do you know that?"He repeated, angrier this time.

"Killian told me. He's told me everything. Everything from his childhood to his days on the Jewel of the Realm."

"You really knew him?" Liam tendered a bit. Emma nodded.

"And he truly loved you?"

"Yes. We are in love."

"So, why are you here? When did you die? Shortly after my brother? Is he here?" Liam was filled with questions.

"I never died. I came here because I think he might be here. I want to bring him back."

"That's not how this works, Emma." Liam warned her.

"He died unjustly. And I have this figured out. No one has to die to take his place." Emma explained without giving too much away.

"My brother is lucky. He's got someone who loves him so much they would follow him to the Underworld."

Emma blushed. "He would have come for you if he had known more about magic."

Liam's eyes widened. "You have magic? Seriously? If I was not dead, I would be convinced I was dreaming."

"Welcome to my world." Emma said under her breath.

"Did you come down here alone or-?

"Group." Emma cut him off. "Six of us. We split up though."

Liam chuckled. "Whose great idea was it to split up and walk aimlessly through the land of the dead."

"It was not one of my finer calls." Emma defended.

Liam just laughed. "Well, if what you say is true, I would love to help reunite my little brother to his love."

"We would love the help." Emma smiled at him.

"Well, then, my lady, let us go find my brother."