"What is it?" she asked anxiously. It was small and golden with a miniature hourglass in the center.
"This, dearie, is a time turner." Rumpelstiltskin extended his arm, offering her the time turner. Just as she was about to grab it, he jerked his arm back and left her grasping for air. "Ah, Ah! You must know how to use it, first. Turn the dial to go backward or forward, but beware, changing the past will affect the future, and changing the future will… well, let's just say it isn't advisable."
"How do you get it to take me to where I want to be?" After all, she did not want to be stuck where she was going forever or end up in the wrong place.
"That depends on you. Hold onto the desired moment in your mind. Concentrate. Think about it until it fills you, and, only then, you turn the dial three times."
She nodded her understanding. "How does it work?" she asked to keep the nauseous feeling in her stomach at bay.
"Magic, and all magic comes with a price. Remember that," he said, placing the time turner in her hand along with a piece of paper, and smiled. "Don't forget our deal, dearie. I'll see you in the future." He disappeared in a puff of smoke, and she was left alone to figure it out.
This whole thing was her fault, and this was the only way to fix it. She had been angry with her father and challenged him to take their family out on an adventure. She had heard all about the ones they had before she was born. Trips to Neverland, rescue missions, witches, evil minions, and so much more before she was born. Things were different before she was born. Her father had been a "scoundrel," as he liked to put it, before she was born. Her mother had been the "savior" before she was born. Her brother was the beginning of the end of a curse before she was born.
Well, she had been really sick of hearing about it and put it to her father to prove it to her. Her father did not like the challenge one bit. He took a great deal of offense from being questioned by his daughter. She did not know why he was so testy about it, though. She took after him, after all. She had his dark hair, blue eyes, and mischievous attitude. Her mother often said that if it was not for her high cheekbones and chin, nobody would believe that she was her daughter.
Sometimes, she really disliked being in her family. Emma Swan and Captain Hook were the ultimate dream time of heroics. Even her brother was the truest believer and had his fair share of excitement. But not her, the baby of the family. No, the most exciting thing she had witnessed was watching storms roll by in the crow's nest of her father's ship.
And so, her father had decided to take them out to visit Storybrooke. She still thought that the strange town in the middle of the Enchanted Forest was the oddest looking thing she had ever seen, but things that came from other lands often did confuse her. She did not think that it was going to be anything special after already seeing it numerous times, but, boy, was she wrong.
Tears sprang from her eyes as she remembered what had happened. They were walking near Bald Mountain at dusk when a dark shadow was cast over all of them. She looked up to the top of the mountain, and what she saw flummoxed her. The top of the mountain was separating from the rest of it. A massive, black demon suddenly sprang winds and took flight in the sky straight toward them.
Fear knotted through her chest as she watched the embodiment of death come for them. Her father pushed her toward her mother and brother and yelled for them to run.
"Go! Get them out of here!" he yelled in a panic and began running toward the demon.
She looked into her mother's face and saw pure terror in it. "Hook!" she yelled to his back.
He stopped and turned his head toward her. "I love you, Emma. I love all of you. Now, GO!"
The rest was a blur as her mother grabbed her hand and pulled her away. Henry ran on the opposite side of her and grabbed her other hand. Together, they lifted her up and carried her away, leaving her father behind. She tried turning her head to see, but it was difficult. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the demon grab her father and fly back toward the mountain.
That was four years ago. Now, at the age of fifteen, she was finally old enough to do something about it. She escaped from her grandparent's palace and made her way back to Storybrooke against all her fear. The demon had continued to terrorize the town in the dark of the night, but the people had learned that it had no power during the day. Nobody had been able to stop it despite the numerous attempts.
It took a while to accept, but she finally understood that it was her journey to take. She had to defeat the demon to get her father back, and she finally had the means to do it. She was going to go back in time to the old Storybrooke.
Time was ticking, though. She could not delay any longer, or else she was sure her family would send someone to retrieve her. She closed her eyes and did what Rumpelstiltskin told her to do. She pictured Storybrooke as it was and imagined herself there sixteen years in the past. Her hand grasped the time turner, and she turned the dial three times.
She waited to feel something, any kind of indication that it had worked, but nothing happened. Unsure of what to do, she opened one eye and looked out. She had not moved an inch. Everything was exactly the same. The tears that threatened to brim over did, and all of her hope came crashing down. The time turner had not worked. Her head dropped forward into her hands, and she felt her heart breaking into pieces.
"Are you okay?" a familiar voice asked her.
She looked up suddenly and wiped her tears away. "Grumpy. Look, I had to try something," she said as a means of explanation.
He scrunched his nose in a very Grumpy-like fashion. "Do I know you?" he asked suspiciously.
Her eyes widened in amazement, and she took a closer look at Grumpy. He appeared to be younger and slightly less round along the belly. "You don't recognize me," she stated to clarify.
"Look, I don't know what you're trying to pull here, but I'm calling the sheriff," he threatened.
"Oh, no!" she rushed out, "I can't go to the sheriff's. I need to see R- Mr. Gold ," she told him.
"Uh, huh. Sure," he answered, but he did not seem convinced. "I'll walk you to his shop."
They made their way to Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop in silence, but Grumpy used the time to glance over at her constantly, trying to figure out if he indeed knew her. As they approached the shop, she saw a sign on the door indicating that the store was closed.
"It's closed," she said.
"I can read," Grumpy said.
"Well, when is he going to be back? This is important." She could not afford to lose any more time waiting for him to return.
Grumpy shrugged and glanced across the street. "Jiminy! Do you know where Gold went?"
Jiminy crossed the street with his dog, Pongo, and tipped his hat to her. "Good afternoon! Yes, Grumpy. He said he was leaving, and he wouldn't be back for a while."
"'A while?'" she repeated. "What does that mean? An hour? A day? A year?"
"I'm not sure, Miss," Jiminy answered.
"Great. This is just great." She inhaled a deep breath to keep from snapping and thanked them for their help.
"Wait!" Grumpy called as she began to walk away. "Who are you?"
She turned around and began walking backward away from them. "I'm nobody," she said, extending her arms out and smiling.
As she rounded the corner, she looked up into the distance at Bald Mountain. She needed to find a place to stay before the sun went down. She did not want to be spotted by any more townspeople, so she decided to hide by the pier on one of the ships in the harbor. She passed few more people on her way to the docks, but luckily it was nobody with which she was close.
She walked down the pier and almost did not notice that she was standing next to her father's ship. Her stomach dropped, and she swore she could almost see him there. The temptation was too strong for her, and before she knew it, she was boarding the ship. Her hands ran over the banister of the ship. She found the spot where she had carved her name when she was five, but the spot was bare. In this time, she did not exist. She was not even a thought. There was no memory of her and would not be after she left.
It was too much for her to handle. She could not let her thoughts cloud her mind. She was here to save her father, and she would not veer from that path.
She turned to leave and the cold, hard edge of a sword pressed against her throat.
"Where do you think you're going, lass?" her father said to her.
A/N: Some answers to questions that I know you have:
1) Yes, Captain Swan's daughter has a name. I'm not using it yet (because it's part of the plot), so don't worry.
2) The "demon" thing is Chernabog (google it) and he's from Fantasia. He's the winged demon monster that takes all the souls and makes them dance. If you're not familiar with it, eghh not a big deal, but he's actually my favorite Disney villain.
3) No, I don't know how long this is going to be. Not that many chapters because I cannot start another epic story at this point.
4) "She" was 11 when Hook was taken. Henry was 13 when she was born, making him 24 when Hook was taken.
5) Yes, this IS a Captain Swan fic... I'm getting there!