Hi guys! Sorry for such a long wait, we'll try to post more chapters sooner next time! :) Hope you like this chapter! It's not from Sophie's POV this time, but it will be next time! Thank you so much for reading and any reviews are very appreciated!

Emma's POV

A sharp pounding resonated in my head. My out-of-focus mind tried not to think about it as I kept my eyes tightly shut. Nausea and dizziness swept over me as I came more and more into consciousness.

"Try not to move too much, love," a raspy voice echoed from above. "You took a nasty fall."

I lifted two fingers to my temple to try and put a stop to this throbbing pain in my head when they touched something thick and sticky. Bringing my fingers back down to eyesight, my eyes fluttered open to see dark red paint all over my hand. Paint? I thought. I wasn't redoing my room or anyth-Blood.

My eyes snapped shut and my head lolled back into unconsciousness.

The next time I opened my eyes I was swaying back and forth while lying down, the pain not as evident as before. I took a deep breath and tried to regain my eyesight. My surroundings were blurry, but with every breath I took, the prominent objects became clearer and clearer.

My legs were resting on comfortable rope woven into a hammock, which explained the swaying. The wooden walls were slanted, and treasure chests were scattered about the floor. I steeled my nerves and dizziness to stand up, holding onto my head to prevent falling over. The floor unexpectedly began to rock, and I grew confused, I had just gotten off the hammock.

When my brain finally began to have some sense of bearing, my first logical thought was a ship. Obviously. How could I not realize this? The salty sea breeze smell, combined with the stink of an unshowered crew. This concussion must have really taken an effect on me.

Oh, and when I said "logical thought" before, I really meant completely insane because how the hell would I have gotten onto a ship in the first place? I couldn't decide whether to panic and hide in a corner, or let my curious, adventurous side take over and open the hatch on the ceiling.

All of the bedtime stories, all of the countless numbers of hours adventure movies I had seen and novels I had read were leading me to this moment. Who was I to deny what could potentially be the greatest plot of my existence?

I blocked out the pounding, and reached up to the handle, pulling it forward and swinging down a foldable, wooden staircase. A woosh of fresh air blasted upon my face, and I reveled in in after being in a cramped storage.

Adjusting to the newly found light, the first thing I saw was an endless expanse of blue waves. I smiled at the sight, as it was one familiar to me. The crowing of the various sea birds, the crash of the waves against the side of the ship, the soothing bobbing up and down, and up and-

"See you've finally awoken, love."

A man emerged in front of me in a long leather coat with various pockets. His dark, short hair matched his scruffy beard, yet he appeared to be wearing eyeliner to further define his bright, crystal blue eyes.

Alright, a man wearing makeup. Who am I to judge?

Extending whatever courtesy I had been raised with, I raised an eyebrow, and tried not to interrogate this figure when I asked "And who are you?"

"Ah," the man responded. "I suppose the real question is, who might you be?"

"I asked you first," I retorted.
"I asked you second."

"This isn't helping either of us."

"I realize this, so why do we continue to contradict each other?" The man chuckled at me, sweeping his hand and bowing before formally introducing himself: "The name's Killian Jones. But most call me Captain Hook." He raised his metal appendage with a half-smile, tongue peeking out of the corner.

I took a step back, not wanting to be impaled any time soon, and furrowed my brow.

"And these men?" I asked, gesturing to the bundle of people behind him. Some were dressed in half-shirts, striped and ragged. Others had bandannas around their noggins, while some were wielding weapons such as swords and gunpowder. One even had an eyepatch.

Stereotypical pira-PIRATES.

"You're-you're all pirates, aren't you?" I questioned.

"Clever, love," Hook complimented, before turning around to face his crew. "You see, this is a smart one. I wouldn't reckon with her."

The rest of the crew guffawed mockingly, pointing at me. I wondered why I shouldn't be seen as terrifying and clever, until I looked down and realized I was wearing only a ragged t-shirt, short athletic shorts, and mismatched socks with dolphins and cherries.

I rolled my eyes, thinking this must be a dream, and I had nothing to lose, so I fought back. "Hey, I may be girlish in figure, but I can tear your limbs in half and shoot two of you with one arrow. Don't mess with me, I can raise hell on you." I stood back, and squared my shoulders, feeling pretty proud of myself until the crew of pirates laughed even harder than before.

Captain Hook's laughter faded away, and he turned, amused, to me after wiping away a nonexistent, laughter-induced tear.

"Oh, you're feisty. What is your name, darling?"

"Why would you want to know? You don't even consider me a worthy opponent."

"Considering you fell out of the sky with no weapons, no chances of escaping in the middle of nowhere in this realm, surrounded by a malicious crew, I wouldn't consider you an opponent at all," Hook drawled in his English-Scottish?-accent. "In fact, you would make quite the female ally we need on this ship."

He winked, glancing seductively in my direction.

I rolled my eyes, but one of the phrases he mentioned stuck in my mind.

"Wait," I raised one finger. "What do you mean, I fell out of the sky?"

Hook stepped closer, and I could smell the sea on him as he leveled his face to mine. I stood my ground, but became increasingly wary as he raised his hook and pushed a lock that fell out of my braid behind my ears.

"Love, I've told you a handful already about this crew, and now I do believe it's my turn for some answers," he said in a hushed tone. "What's your name?"

I glared at him, and sighed. "Emma."

He lifted his head up sharply, his eyes wide with surprise, wonder, and-was that a bit of fear? Hook stumbled back, running his un-hooked hand through his hair as he appeared to be mumbling to himself. I only caught snippets such as "Emma...can't be…Neverland."

"Excuse me," I interrupted his mind process. "I've only been alive for about fifteen years. What possible influence could my name have on a group of pirates?"

He glanced angrily at me before pursing his lips and grabbing my shoulders tightly, continuing his interrogation.

"Did you ever-ever-know of a woman named Emma Swan?"

I squinted at his figure, confused at how he could possibly know this name.

"That...that's my grandmother. I was named after her."

Hook released me, eyes twinkling in surprise. He staggered backwards, while the rest of the crew stared at me in disbelief and wonder. Their countenances quickly turned towards their leader, who seemed to be going through the mental process of accepting information. His mood appeared to change from playful to deadly serious in a matter of seconds.

"You must be lying," he growled, wincing and not facing my direction.

"Why would I lie about my own grandmother?" I retorted, throwing out my hands in disbelief.

"It just...she can't have moved on," Hook mumbled, a pained expression in his appearance.

"Well, she must hav-wait," I paused, growing confused. "You knew my grandmother?"

Hook chuckled, a deep throaty laugh with more sarcasm than humor. "Let's just say your grandmother and I were quite familiar with each other."

I stood, shell-shocked. I could definitely read the intonations implied with his statement. What I didn't understand was how I could be standing here, next to a pirate who appeared to be in his mid-twenties and claimed to be my grandma's lover. A flurry of questions reeled through my mind. A wave of emotion flew across me, and I sat down, overwhelmed by everything that had happened in so little time. It was unbelievable.

"Obviously, we both have a long discussion ahead of us, don't we Captain?" I remarked, with a deep sigh.

"Aye, indeed we do, miss. Why don't we head down to the captain's quarters and we can chat over some rum," Hook said in a surprisingly gentle tone, guiding me off the deck. By this time, the crew were quietly whispering to each other, the beginnings of rumors forming on the tips of their filthy tongues.

"Back to work with ye!" Hook demanded of his crew. "We need to repair parts of the ship, so no lollygagging and FIND SOME LAND!"

I opened the hatch once again and clumped downstairs, stepping aside so Hook could lead the way to his quarters. Each wobble of his seemed pained, as if he had recently suffered a leg injury. Although I was still wary and slightly angry at the pirate, I couldn't help but feel slightly bad as he owned no cane and surely must have been pained. We reached the end of the hall, where a large steering wheel carved with intricate designs of mermaids and sea creatures rested upon a mahogany door.

"This way," Hook directed, holding the door open with his hook.

I gave him a quick, curious look, then stepped inside, taking in the water-logged, stereotypical surroundings.

"Why do you still come in here if water is leaking in?" I asked.

"A captain's quarters is his place of authority, love," Captain Hook responded with a flick of his eyebrows. "Without this place, what member of the crew would respect my privacy?"

An uncomfortable silence took over for a minute, each of us distracted by our individual thoughts, until a small smile grew on my face, and quickly became a disbelieving laugh.

Hook looked up then, grinning at what rang through his ears. "You have your grandmother's laugh." A warmth appeared in his stare, and I rolled my eyes, despite a small smile remaining on my face as I looked into my lap.

"This can't be real, you know. It just can't, it's too surreal," I laughed.

Hook sighed. "Sorry to disappoint you, love. I'm realer in this realm than any of your memories."

When he mentioned memories, I suddenly had a flashback of the last normal thing I remembered. Sophie's house, our annual sleepover. "Wait a minute, if-and only if-this is real, where is Sophie?"

"If I may ask, who?" Hook lazily lifted an eyebrow.

"Sophie, my best friend, if I'm here, where's she?"

"I wouldn't have the slightest idea love, if she even is in this realm. It could be only you for all you know," he suggested.

I sighed in defeat, supposing he could have a point. At least she wasn't surrounded by pirates, with the entire possibility of being slashed with a crew of swordsmen.

"How did I get here, Hook?" I shook my head.

"You should know this by this age, love. You see the story I was told was I was young, when a princess falls in love with a prince-"

"NO! I'm not talking that far back!" I grimaced. "Honestly, you pirate, how old do you think I am?"

He shrugged before responding. "I don't take appearances into account here. For example, I'm probably 500 years old. You could be anywhere from 5 to 1500 years."

I gave him a weirded-out look before shaking my head again and continuing with my original question.

"No, I meant how did I get here on this ship? Into this different realm, as you called it."

"You should have been more specific then," I rolled my eyes, and he continued. "Like I said before, you just fell out of the sky. Literally. It was in the middle of a thunderstorm, the crew was panicking because one of our sails had just been tossed into the ocean. The ship was being pushed back and forth, and half of them didn't think we'd make it. Then a bolt of lightning blasted the main rod, and with the quick thunder that followed, a hole of light opened out of the clouds. A body flew out of it, and before we could blink, you had appeared on the deck unconscious with a nasty gash on your head."

I listened silently, not remembering the slightest bit of sleeping in the clouds at Sophie's sleepover. Hook coughed, and took my quietness as a sign to continue storytelling.

"We thought it was the work of Pan, but the weather calmed after that. The waves became still, and we knew that if it was Pan, he would have let his anger make the whole ship overturn. The mystery is as great to us as it is to you, dear. Why are you here?"

I let this tumble and process in my muddled mind. I wish I could have formulated an answer to his question, but only a giant blank appeared in my mind whenever I tried to think about the events after falling asleep at Sophie's and before waking up in a hammock. None of this made sense. And why me? I was nobody special, these storybook-like adventures only happened to interesting characters. All weekend, every weekend, I would sit in my room and either read books or watch movies about those type of dynamic characters, letting each of their individual personalities sink into a part of who I was. I was just a jumbled creation of other people's stories.

"You okay there, love?" Hook appeared concerned. "You've been staring at the same spot on the wall for a few minutes now."

I opened my mouth to respond, when a loud banging rang throughout the cabin. The knock completed, and before Hook could affirm or deny entrance, one of the crew members rushed inside, out of breath and sweaty.

"Cap'n, cap'n, he's here," the man with the eyepatch gasped. "We stumbled on the wrong patch of land."

"Who's here?" I asked, letting myself be swept up with the commotion.

"Our worst enemy," Hook answered, twisting his hook tightly. "Come meet the bloody demon, Pan."

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