Chapter 1

Three years later

"Hey Mom. I'm heading to the library for a couple hours." Henry said as he passed Emma on his way to the door.

"I don't know what other information on Merlin you think you'll find there." Emma said, glancing up briefly from the hot cocoa she was brewing.

"You know I'm not just looking up Merlin, Mom. I'm looking up any information about real magic in our world. I mean not including Storybrooke, of course." Henry said with a hint of humor in his voice. "I mean you have the occasional magic flare up. There has to be a reason. And if I find a link to Merlin there than that would just be a happy coincidence."

"I can't control those. You know that."

"Not that you try. But still. I'm thinking maybe Merlin was powerful enough to use magic in this realm too. Maybe that's a key somehow." Henry supposed.

"Yeah maybe." Emma shrugged it off. She'd heard it all before. It really did interest her, but she was way too tired to engage.

"Did you email Grandpa the new information from our notebook?" Henry asked, as he put his coat on, and picked up said notebook off the counter.

"Yeah a week ago." Emma replied.

"Did he say how everyone was doing?"

"I didn't really ask for details, but he said they were all doing okay."

"Did he mention if they were closer than we were on finding a solution?"

"He said they were still searching through those notes of the apprentice's. It mentions the origin of the Dark One, but as far as they can tell, the only way to keep in contained is by keeping it tethered." Emma explained. She'd mentioned this all to him before. But he still liked to hear updates, even if they were non updates so to speak.

"Well there is a way. And we will find it." Henry was sixteen now, but he still had that unwavering faith. It always gave Emma just a little bit of hope, even if it was against her will most of the time.

Smiling at him she replied with a, "Yes. We will."

Henry smiled wide, before heading out the door. Emma sighed and headed to the couch. Checking her phone, she saw that it was two o'clock. That gave her an hour of peace. She could either sit and enjoy the quiet by reading through some of hers and Henry's notes again, or taking a nap.

Sighing she grabbed one of their old notebooks and started flipping through pages, thinking maybe some of it would start to make sense to her, and formulate a plan of some sort. They had filled out so many notebooks of information over the years, and Emma had lost count of the times she's read over every bit of information stored in them.

As comfortable as her life had been over the last three years, she was still desperately trying to find a way to get back to her old one. She missed everything about Storybrooke, her home. She missed Granny's in the morning. She missed being the sheriff. She missed her parents. Most of all, she missed him. Killian. She missed their lazy mornings, their talks by the docks. Mostly she just missed his presence, just the reassurance that he wouldn't leave. He was one of the only things that made her feel like herself after she had become the Dark One. But she had just left him.

Being so sleep deprived didn't help her situation at all. As she flipped through each page, the words blurred together from her exhaustion and desperation. Just as she was thinking that maybe a nap would probably be the better thing to do, there was a knock on the door.

Looking at it puzzled, she tried to think of who it could be. Henry had a key to their place, so it wouldn't be him. Besides, he wouldn't be here just yet. She didn't expect him until at least past dinner.

There was another knock, more forceful this time. Standing up, she sat the notebook on the coffee table beside her cocoa. She walked to the door quickly and opened it.

"Emma! Oh Emma!"

Before she knew it, she was being pulled into a tight hug; one that she very hurriedly returned.

"Dad? What…? How did you find me?" Emma managed to stutter through both her shock, and tears that were threatening to spill any moment.

"Our family always finds each other." She could tell he was crying. Hearing his tears made her own fall and she held him tighter

"Oh Emma, I missed you so much." David finally said as his sobs evened a little.

"I missed you too." Emma answered back, finally letting go of her father. She looked into his eyes that were still red with tears. "But how… I was so careful not to give away where we were."

"Yeah I know. That's why it took me so long to track you down. In the end it wasn't that hard to track you down. You didn't even leave the state. I don't know why it took me so long in the first place." David was explaining it all, while Emma led him into the living room. "Where's Henry?"

"The library."

Looking around he smiled sadly, "You seem to have made a nice home without us though."

"No! I mean, it's a comfortable place to stay. But it's not home." Emma said, sitting down on the couch. David sat by her.

After a few moments of silence Emma spoke. "Dad, I can't go back home. I can't until we have a plan of some sort…"

"We do. Of some sort." David cut her off.

"What?" Emma asked.

"It's not so much to go on. But it's a start. Look I didn't tell anyone about our emails like I promised. Nor did I tell anyone that I was coming to get you. Because I don't know if you'll be on board or not, and I didn't want to give anyone false hope of you coming back."

Emma stiffened at his words, "Well, what did you find out?"

"Well in the apprentice's notes, he stated that Merlin couldn't get rid of the Dark One himself. It took a Magic that was more powerful than him."

"And what was it."

"Love." David said simply.

"You mean True Love's kiss or something? That didn't work. Remember?" Emma stood up, taking her now cold cocoa to the kitchen and dumping it in the sink.

"I know. But maybe there's an act of true love that is more powerful that a true love's kiss. That's what we have to figure out. And to do that, we need you home." David followed her.

"An act of true love more powerful than a kiss? You mean sex or something? That didn't work either." Emma said, looking away from him.

"What? No… I mean… what do you mean?"

"With Killian. It didn't work. Or maybe he's not my true love, and I should start looking elsewhere." Emma could feel her temper rising up. She had a painful knot in her stomach, and felt on the verge of crying again.

"Emma I didn't mean to insinuate… I didn't know that you two were… I mean that's not what I mean by another act." Emma turned around to face him, her arms folded, hugging herself. "I just meant we needed to find something else. I'm sure you two were… are… I mean I know you truly loved him, I mean love. And I know he feels the same." David was avoiding her eyes. Emma could tell that this was an awkward situation for him.

"How is he?" Emma asked quietly.

"Honestly, not good. I mean he's heartbroken, Emma. You left without saying anything. To him. To any of us."

"I wrote him a note." Emma said, turning around and starting to clean her mug.

"He misses you. We all do." David said softly. Emma nodded. "Why didn't you say goodbye at least. We all would've understood?"

"I knew that if I did, I wouldn't have been able to bring myself to leave." Emma dried the mug and put it away, avoiding David's eye the best she could.

"Was it really that bad?" David asked.

"I felt like I was going crazy." Emma looked at him then. He could see the understanding in his eyes. "Thank you for being so understanding. And helping us out. Keeping contact and everything."

David nodded. Emma smiled. They sat like that for a few moments; then there was a soft cry from down the hall. Emma groaned softly, looking at the clock. It was only two- thirty.

"Why so early, Eva?"

"What's that?" David asked shocked, looking into the direction of the noise.

"It's my… Eva. One second. I'll be right back." Emma walked past him, down the hall and opened up the door to the nursery.

Eva was standing up, rubbing her eyes. "Mamma!" She whined. Her black hair was plastered to her face a neck from sweating in her sleep. Emma picked up her daughter gently, and brushed her hair from her face.

"Why are you awake so early, Lovey?" Emma asked softly.

Eva just grumbled in gibberish. Emma smiled sweetly at her.

"I have someone for you to meet." Emma said, as she walked out of the room.

"Some un a meet?" Eva asked her.

Emma reached the kitchen again, looking at David. He had an unreadable expression on his face.

"Uh Dad, this is Eva. Eva, this is your grandpa." David had tears in his eyes again while he looked at them both. Slowly he reached his hand and gently brushed Eva's face. Stubbornly, she turned her face away, and laid her head on Emma's shoulder. "Sorry. She's a tad bit grouchy when she wakes up."

"She's beautiful Emma."

"Yeah."

"She looks like him."

"Yeah." Emma smiled sadly. "I know."

"You never mentioned…" David trailed off.

"I know. I knew that you'd come looking. Probably tearing through the whole world looking. Both of you. You and Killian." Emma said. Eva lifted her head from Emma's shoulder and started playing with her necklace.

"You've got that right." David said, raising his voice slightly.

"Mamma. Me watch a pirate show?" Eva asked.

"Sure sweaty." Eva scrambled down from Emma's arms, grabbed her hand and pulled her to the living room. Emma quickly turned on the TV, feeling David's look behind her. Quickly turning on Pirates of the Caribbean, she walked back to the kitchen, while Eva settled herself onto the couch, sticking her thumb in her mouth.

"She loves Jack Sparrow." Emma explained, looked back at her daughter fondly.

"Fitting." David said with a smile.

"Henry couldn't help himself. He's gotten her obsessed with anything pirate related."

Emma looked back at him. "Look, I know what you're thinking. I should have told you. I should have let Killian know. But I couldn't. I didn't want to put her in danger too. I know how protective of Neal you and Mom were. I understand it all. It was safer for me to keep her here, where the Dark One is kept at bay. You have to understand that." Emma pleaded.

David stood quietly for a few minutes. They both sat their listening to the movie for a bit. Eva started singing with her thumb in her mouth, "Oh ho. Oh ho. Pirate's life a me!"

"Did you know before you left?" David asked.

Emma shook her head. "I don't think I would've been able to bring myself to leave if I did. I didn't want to make her grow up without her whole family. The whole situation sucks."

"Yeah I agree. Her and Neal will probably get along really well." David said smiling.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I can see a little bit of a resemblance. They both have that dark hair for starters. But her eyes… You can tell where she came from."