A/N: Hello Lovely Readers. Sorry for the delay on this chapter. Things start out serious and then get sweet towards the end. I hope you enjoy. There is more to come and we are closing in on a conclusion soon. I LOVE to hear your feedback on my stories. Stop by my ask box anytime, leave me comments, reviews, notes, or questions. Thank you so much for taking your time to read my story.

Ch.31

Neal lay in torture as the memories came flooding back into his mind. He had a mixture of good, bad and indifference swirling around. The scenes played out in different ways, he wasn't sure what was real and what was false. The deal he made with the witch was the clearest to come forward first. He could see it as if he were living it all over again.

He eyed her closely taking in the indentations and age spots in her face. She was merely a poor beggar woman and he was starting to believe he was duped into coming to her.

"I know of what you seek and you are in the right place." She crowed.

"Can you read minds witch? How did you know I was skeptical of you?" He eyed her cautiously.

She touched her pointed finger to her chin."Of course I can, what kind of witch would I be if I were not able to read even the simplest of minds."

He scowled at her biting words."Fine, since you've proven you can do this I need you to help restore my memories of my mother. Now!"

She cackled and licked her lips."My my you dare make demands of me? Clearly you don't know who you are dealing with boy. There's a matter of a deal that must be struck before I agree to help you."

"Fine! Whatever it is, I can pay you. Just tell me what I need to know about my mother. Is it true? Is my father lying?"

She waved her hand in the air and produced a contract."Sign here and I will tell you. Your payment will be collected in the future and I will tell you what I want at that time. Refuse me now and you will never know the real truth."

He swayed in his place, still drunk from his earlier excursion at the tavern. He eyed her carefully and nodded. She waved her hand once more producing a pen. He held out his hand to grab it from her and she stabbed his finger drawing out enough blood to fill the inkwell on the pen.

He jumped pulling back his finger."What the hell was that!"

She raised her eyebrow and handed him the pen. "You must seal this deal in blood."

He sucked on his finger to stop the bleeding and signed the contract. He looked at the woman bearing a smug expression on her face."Alright, I've signed now give me the memories!"

She walked towards him slowly and cupped his face with her hands. He looked into her brown eyes and he saw a glimmering twinkle. She closed her eyes and mumbled something. Suddenly he was forced back against the wall and images came flooding forward in front of his eyes.

His mother smiled sweetly as she looked at him with wonder. She was kind and thoughtful of her little boy. She let him climb on her lap as she rocked him to sleep. He held her skirts and hid behind her when he was afraid. She picked him up and joyfully spun him around in her arms. He felt a tear slip down his cheek as he was flooded with all of the love that his mother showered on him.

The next images crossing his eyes were from behind hidden doors, he could see her through the crack, crying to herself. He saw her begging his father to leave and find solace in another place. He refused her and forced her to remain. He heard the word pariah and her tears were flowing. His father was menacing and ignorant of her pleas. He allowed her to stay miserable when he could have helped.

Slowly his mother's smiles and kindness were reserved only for him. She kept to herself and when she thought he wasn't watching she was crying. Her skirts bore the stains from her tears.

The final image was through a window. He was supposed to be at school but that day he came home to get his lunch. He'd forgotten it in the morning and received permission to run home to retrieve it. As he approached their cottage he heard arguing. He recognized both of his parent's voices as they carried through the air.

He ran to the window and peered inside. He saw his father hovering over his mother. She was pushing back but he wouldn't budge. His appearance was different too. He seemed an odd color and his clothes we unusual.

His mother was in the tavern when his Papa found her. He'd dragged her out of the tavern and brought her home. He was saying awful things to her, she was no good as wife, a horrible mother, and would never be good enough for him or his son.

He saw his mother charge at him pounding her fists against his chest. She was begging him not to take her son away. He saw a look on his father's face change to something evil. He accused his mother of cheating with the tavern owner. She begged and pleaded with him, telling him he was wrong but he wouldn't listen. There was rage in his eyes and the words coming from his lips.

The last thing he witnessed was his Papa reaching into his mother's chest and pulling out her heart. She begged for her life and but his Papa crushed it. She fell to the ground and he went running into the house. He covered her body with his own. He could feel the tears running down his cheeks as he felt the memory hit him hard and then it disappeared.

He closed his eyes and wiped furiously at his face. "Witch, are those memories true?"

"Oh, yes they certainly are true. Now I must make my leave." She placed her hands on his cheeks and stole them away again. She cackled loudly and disappeared in the wind.

He remembered standing in the shack and couldn't recall how he'd gotten there. He just knew he was angry and needed to see his Papa.

He sat up and felt a twinge of pain in his heart. His mother did love him and his Papa killed her. He felt sick; he got up and retched into the bucket beside his makeshift bed. He was quickly forced back when the next round of memories hit him.

He'd gone home after that excursion to his mother's town. He confronted his Papa about the tavern owner's words. He listened as his Papa claimed his mother was an adulterous, that he'd always been a rich king who'd fallen in love with a poor woman. He tried to find out if she would be a worthy queen but she had an affair with the tavern owner while he was away on business.

He told his young son that his mother left them and never returned. He now knew the truth, his father was the Dark One and he'd killed his mother. His bargain with the witch cost him the ability to love another. He'd made too many mistakes and now his life had nothing to show for it but a reputation as a gambler and a whore chaser.

He lay back on the mattress letting the pain wash over him. He didn't know if he could make up for what he'd done in this life but he would have to try. He was half his mother too; surely he had to have her goodness inside of him. He closed his eyes thinking of her sweet smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~E&K~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``

Emma rustled around in her sleep. She couldn't find peace and she was feeling incredibly frustrated knowing that Neal was on the ship. She huffed out a puff of air and opened her eyes. She looked over at the handsome man sleeping beside her. He was doing everything he could to ensure her happiness, quite the opposite of the other man. She lightly caressed the side of his face tracing over the scruff. She smiled as she looked over him thoughtfully. She'd turned his life and the crew's life upside down. She felt as if she owed them something for the trouble she'd caused. She'd made them the healing stones but she wanted to do more.

She'd also burdened Nairobi and Greta. She felt awful about what happened to Greta. She hoped that Neal would repent during his stay in the brig. The man caused so much pain in his short life to the people around him. She was uncertain what part of it was due to Regina, Rumple, or just his innate nature.

She decided that perhaps she should try rum. Killian drank rum when he wanted to relax and she couldn't do what she really wanted to do to relax in the current situation, so she decided rum would have to do.

She carefully pulled back the blanket and went over to the desk where Killian's jacket hung on the back of a chair. She reached into the pocket and pulled out his flask. She popped the cork and took a swig. She coughed as the heat hit her throat. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and licked her lips.

She put the flask to her lips and took a long drag. Surely the more she drank the better it would taste. She breathed out a huff after swallowing the spicy liquid. She walked to the window and took another swig. It was a quiet night with lots of stars in a half moon sky. The waters in Tortuga were surprisingly calm.

She felt good about what she said to Neal. He treated her poorly for so long. She finally had the power to stand up on her own. "Bastard." She giggled and covered her mouth when she realized she said that a little too loud. She took another swig of the rum and quickly looked over to her darling sleepy man.

He was gorgeous and he was her true love. She spun around once and fell into the window seat with a sigh. She couldn't help giggling again. The rum was certainly smoothing things out for her. She took a long swig emptying out the flask. She burped following it with a giggle as she tried to cover her mouth to keep quiet.

He sat up in bed and noticed his lovely princess was no longer beside him. He looked over to see her giggling hysterically in the window. "Love, what's so funny?" he said his voice thick with sleep.

"Hello Darling! You're awake!" she shouted as she hopped out of the window, ran and jumped onto the bed with a soft thud. She rolled over in a fit of giggles.

He raised his eyebrow and smiled. She was in quite a different mood than when she went to bed. "Love, what's going on?" he asked, his lilt was very strong.

She rolled onto her stomach and put her face in her hands as she leaned up on her elbows. She blinked her eyes rapidly."Whatever do you mean my Darling? I've feeling quite well now." She hiccupped followed by a fit of giggles.

He looked for something to light the candle. "I'll take care of that Darling." She waved her hand and lit the candles in the room. He squinted his eyes as he looked her over, finally noticing the empty flask in her hand. He smiled raising his eyebrows wide and licked his lips."Love, I see you've decided to have a party without me. Are you celebrating?"

She rolled on her back. "Darling, I couldn't sleep. I know you sometimes drink rum when you are tense." He moved closer and she rolled over placing her head onto his lap. He ran his fingers through her hair and scratched lightly at her scalp. She shut her eyes reveling in the feeling."That feels so good." She was practically purring.

He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Are you feeling better Love?" She opened her eyes and looked up into his glittering blue eyes."You have beautiful eyes Darling." He smiled. His princess was drunk and happy. "Come here my beautiful Love." She smiled and turned around so she could crawl up to him.

She looked at him with seduction in her eyes. He felt himself getting hard with just the look. Her hair was loose and wild around her shoulders. "I missed you so much tonight. All I could think about was the heat of your body on mine and your wonderful fingers touching me in all those naughty places that I love."

Good lord she was talking dirty to him. He was trying to restrain himself. She knew as well as he did that this ship had no filter and with Neal on board there was no way for them to be intimate. "Love, are you trying to kill me?" She touched his face and scratched at his scruff. "You're so handsome. I love you so much." He laughed and caressed her hair.

"I missed you too tonight Love." She puffed out her lip pouting."Let's go somewhere. I want to be with you Darling. I need you." She sat up and rubbed her hand up his thigh and then over his hardening length. He closed his eyes as she stroked him. He put his hand on top of hers to stop her."You don't want me?" she said with sadness that he never wanted to hear again.

He caressed her face."Love, I always want you. I would be happy to take you right now. You aren't making it easy for me to hold back." She gave him that mischievous look and licked her lips. She sat up and wrapped her arms around him. "If we can't be together here then we can go somewhere else."

He cocked his head to the side."Love?" She smiled, closed her eyes and they appeared at the cove. He laughed."You promised we would come back and I can do magic so we are here." She had the strangest grin on her face. He closed his eyes and rubbed his chin. She was busy shedding her clothing and jumping into the warm pool of water."This feels so good." She stood up and beckoned him towards her."Captain, are you going to join me?"

There was no way he was going to ever resist her. He shed his pants and jumped into the pool. He chased her and pulled her close. She was laughing and giggling as he wrapped his arms around her and captured her lips for a soft kiss."You are a very naughty princess." She rubbed her nose against his."I thought you liked when I was naughty."

He growled as she gripped him and stroked her hand up and down his length."I love when you are naughty." She licked across his bottom lip. He could taste the spiciness of rum. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rubbed her soft curves against his body. He let his hands roam down her back and cup her arse. He pulled up her legs and she wrapped them around his waist, pressing her warm core against his hardened length.

One advantage of being in a pool of water was having weightless bodies. He moved her towards the edge of the pool. "This is what you want my naughty princess?" She grinned giving him those mischievous eyes again. He lined up at her entrance and slid into her. They groaned in pleasure together as they joined. "Gods you feel so good." She pulled his bottom lip with her teeth. "I needed you so much. You feel so good." He captured her lips, kissing her sensually as he slowly thrust in and out of her. She was warm and tight against him. She dropped her head back as he quickened his thrusts. She mewled when he filled her, finding that spot that sent her over the edge.

"Right there, that feels so good. Don't stop." Hearing her ask for what she wanted nearly made him lose it. She was so free and wild. He did as she asked picking up the pace. She was moaning loudly and as he increased the pace until she was calling out his name. He could feel her walls fluttering around him; he slowed the pace and let the drag against his hard length pull him to his own release. .

She grabbed him around his neck and pulled his lips to hers kissing him sensually."You are amazing Darling. I think I might be able to sleep now." She put her head on his shoulder and he swam them around in the pool. "The water feels very warm tonight. It's a good think you took us somewhere else. I believe the whole island might have heard you tonight." She laughed."I feel so free when I'm with you."

He kissed her softly."I suspect it may have something to do with the rum."

"I should probably take us back." She said with a groan.

"Aye Love, as much as I'd like to remain in paradise with you we must go back." She pouted and he kissed her softly until she smiled. "Alright, I'll take us back." She wrapped her body around him tight and closed her eyes. "Be sure to put us back in the cabin Love. We don't have our clothing." She laughed before letting the spell take them away.

They appeared back in the bed. "Nice landing Love." She cocked her head to the side."I try." She lay back on the bed. "Darling the room is spinning." He got up and grabbed a glass of water for her. "Drink this Love, the rum tastes good going down but not so good coming up. You will likely have one very bad head ache tomorrow." She groaned and sat up to face him. He handed her the glass and she drank it down.

"Thank you for taking care of me." She felt extremely relaxed and sleepy. He pulled back the blanket and tucked her in. He doused the candles and came back into bed with her. She immediately wrapped her body around him and sighed. He kissed her forehead and closed his eyes. She was a dream come true in every way.