I didn't proof this because I wanted to get it posted tonight. Over the next couple of days I am going to back through the entire story and fix the errors. I most likely won't have another update until sometime next week. As you read this chapter, I just wanted to say that I had Lily outlined into the story before the actual script title reveal last week. I have no idea which way they are going to go with her, but I wrote this chapter with my theories in mind. If by some miracle of a chance the show goes this way it will be completely coincidental. By the way, enjoy the premiere of Season 4B tomorrow, I for one, cannot wait.

Again, a huge shout out to all those who have review, followed, and just plain like my story. You are all AWESOME! And please review the heck out of my story...It keeps me going!

Chapter 11 – Princess Emma

I tossed my phone charger and earbuds into the front pocket of my travel bag, I gave one more look around the hotel room making sure that I had packed all of my belongings. It never seemed to fail, though; every time that I had stayed in a hotel room I had always lost or left something behind. I checked the bathroom counter, dresser drawers, and even under the bed. It seemed that I actually had everything, which was a first. I pulled a $20 out of my wallet and laid on the dresser next to the TV for the service staff. Yeah, it was probably a little too much, but I could remember a time when I barely had enough money to stay in a hotel, let alone tip the service staff.

I turned off all of the lights and slung the strap of my travel bag over my shoulder. I jumped back a half of step when I opened the door and saw her leaning against the wall with two coffee shop cups in her hand. "Lily…what the hell are you doing here?"

She held one of the cups out in my direction. "I was hoping that we could go for a walk and talk for a bit before you headed for home." The look on her face was full of hope. Hope that I would take her up on her offer. I looked her up and down; she was wearing a pair of dark jeans with a long sleeve T-shirt and a pair of tennis shoes. Judging by her simple attire I was assuming that she was off duty for the morning. "I brought you a hot chocolate…with cinnamon…JC said that was the way that you like it."

I could hear the trepidation in her voice. Other than the five minutes that we had in the hallway outside of the loft, we hadn't had any time alone to just talk. I am certain that she was afraid that I would shut her out again. And believe me, I thought about it. A big part of me just wanted to tell her to go to the hell. But I regretted it the last time I did that, why would this time be any different. I accepted the hot chocolate with a small smile, "JC's right."

I took a careful sip of the hot drink, it was still very steamy which gave me a good indication that she hadn't been waiting there too long. "How did you know that I would be leaving at this time?" It was kind of a weird question, but damn it, I wanted to know. Was she stalking me?

"I took a guess. JC said that you were going back today, I figured it was about a 2 hour drive and if you're anything like me, you would want to get out on the road as early as possible." Well I guess she was right about that.

We walk together in awkward silence to the front desk where I checked out of my room and handed my bag to the concierge to hold while Lily and I had our little social walk. It was an abnormally warm day for the time year. The sun was shining bright and it seemed that spring was making an early appearance. We walked across the street to a small park and sat on the bench the near the playground. Some local mothers were taking full advantage of the warm weather by bringing their toddlers out to play on the playground while it was free from the older kids who were in school. On the way there we chit chatted about how she met JC and she told me the story of their first date. It was a cute little romantic first date complete with flowers and dancing in the moonlight. I had to laugh because that certainly is not something that I would have expected from JC. I reciprocated with telling her a few 'normal world' tidbits of my relationship with Killian.

I looked over to one mother who had spread a blanket out on the ground and was unpacking a picnic lunch for her and her young daughter. It was the sandwiches that she laid out on the plates that reminded me of the day that Lily and I met. When we sat on the grass overlooking the wealthy summer homes eating sandwiches that we made from the food we purchased with her dad's credit card.

The scene must have reminded her of that as well. I wasn't expecting what came next. "Do you remember what I told you that night before you left with the social worker?"

"Um…what?" Did she really have some unfinished business about that night? I thought that we had put that behind us the night that we had dinner at the loft.

"Remember, when you walked away from me, do you remember what I told you?"

I tried to control the anger that was beginning to build. I really did not want to rehash this, but she was going there. So I decided to engage as calmly as I could. "You said a lot of things that night. So to which are you referring? Um…let's see…is it where you said that you hated your home and that you felt invisible there…or maybe that you were an orphan? Or maybe…that you were just like me?"

She looked away for a brief minute. I could tell that she was trying to hold back the tears that were stinging her eyes as she remembered that night. "Yeah, well. I guess you made your point."

"Sorry," I really didn't mean for contempt to make its way into our conversation.

"So you've been to the Island? Not quite what you expected huh?" She changed the subject.

I furrowed my brow as I looked at her in utter confusion. "Ah…what the hell are you talking about?" Her cryptic way of talking was really starting to piss me off. If I didn't know better, I would have said that she was taking lessons from Mr. Gold. "Lily, if you have something to say to me, then just…say it already! You are talking in riddles that I don't understand, and I'm just getting…pissed."

"The island, you've been to the island." She said again.

I was done with this conversation that was going absolutely nowhere. I stood up tossed what was left of my hot chocolate in the garbage can nearby. "That's it, I've had enough of this…when you decided that your going to actually spit out whatever it is that you want to say, then call me. You have my number now." I called over my shoulder as I began to walk away.

"I'm just like you, I am…" she called out to me using the same words that she used that night. I continued walking "…Princess Emma." I stopped walking. She knew. Oh my god, she knew. But how? My first reaction was fear. My second reaction was to look around that the mothers and toddlers that were in the park. Did they just hear her call me Princess Emma? Was their attention now drawn to me? I felt a touch of relief when none of the mothers were looking in my direction.

I spun on my heel. "What did you just call me?" My words were harsh. "How do you…" I stopped myself as I let logic take over for a minute. "JC…what the hell did he tell you?" I yelled.

Her only response was to sit there in silence while I continued my rant, "What all has JC told you? I want to know, damn it! What are you planning? Huh! What do you two want out of me? Money? Because…sorry sister, I don't have any!"

"Let's just say that Peter was tracking you long before Greg and Tamara came into the picture." Ok. Those were two names that completely took my by surprise.

"Peter? Pan?" I yelled. But I probably shouldn't have. I didn't look to see that the other parents were now watching me intently until I saw Lily wince. "Shit."

Lily quickly closed the gap between us. "Let's take this someplace else," she grabbed my arm and pulled me through the park. I guess was in too much shock to fight her off. It wasn't until we got to the street that I yanked my arm free from her grasp. But it was morbid curiosity that made me follow her to the coffee shop that was in the lobby of my hotel. I'm certain that she picked that place because there were enough people around that I would keep myself from making a scene.

"I told you that I'm just like you." She said sitting down at a table that was in the corner away from the main hustle and bustle of the shop. She sat strategically so that she could see every area of the coffee shop. With her back to the wall there would be no surprises if someone came near us. "I'm Tiger Lily, Princess of the Piccaninny Tribe of Neverland. I was left by the pirates on Marooners' Rock…"

"Yeah, Yeah. I know the story." I rudely interrupted. I needed her to skip to the chase. "How did you get here?"

"Pan brought me here." She paused. I sat back and crossed my arms in an attempt to brace myself for the explanation that Lily was about to give me. She let go of a heavy sigh before she continued. "When Pan saved me from Marooners' Rock, he didn't take me back to my family. Instead he brought me here. He told me that he had a job for me to do and that if I failed he would kill my father, Great Big Little Panther. I had no reason to not believe him. Pan is ruthless."

"Was," I corrected. My demeanor was calmer. "Was Ruthless, he was killed by his son Rumplestiltskin."

She smiled a thankful smile at the news; although I was a little shocked that she did not bulk at my announcement that Peter Pan had a son. "Anyway, my job was to befriend you. He knew that you were the savior and you were destined to bring back the happy endings. And his motives were completely selfish. He only wanted to save himself. But he could only do that with…"

"The heart of the truest believer…" I finished for her. "Henry." I was having a hard time wrapping my head around any of this. Which was saying something considering my lineage and all that I had come to learn in the past 3 ½ years. I put my head down and rubbed my face with my hands. My eyes were still closed when I lifted my head up, "He knew when I was 14 years old." My eyes widened with revelation, "you knew when I was 14 years old! You knew who I was…who my parents were? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Oh my God, really?" She instantly shrieked back at me. "Do you remember how pissed you were because I lied to you about my family? There was no way in hell that you have believed that story. No, I had to wait until you broke the curse to say anything." I couldn't disagree with her. There was no way that I would have believed her story. It would have just pushed me away sooner. "Anyway, I failed. I found you and lost you in the same day. And it took me over a decade to find you again."

"What about your father?" Thinking of my own father and his brush with death in Neverland, I had to ask. "The chief, I mean."

"I'm assuming that Pan killed him. But I don't know for sure. Pan never came back for me. I never saw him or Neverland again."

I saw the single tear that she shed as she thought about her father. I felt for her, I really did. There was a time when I thought that I was going to lose my father to Peter Pan and Neverland. But I never gave up hope and he was able to return to Storybrooke with us after we saved Henry and the lost boys. "I'm sorry," I whispered. I curled my fingers around her hand in comfort.

"I held on to the hope that if I found you, you would be able to help me get back to Neverland. Maybe bring back my happy ending…"

"I…"

"But by the time I found you…" she continued to talk before I could respond. "You had already been there and back. Greg and Tamara beat me. I don't know how, but if I had to guess, Pan led them. I had failed to become your friend, so he just abandoned me." She quickly wiped the tears that were staining her face.

"Oh Lily…I made a promise to bring back the happy endings. And I know that is different for everyone, and I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to do it. But you are included in that promise." I gave her a soft smile. Any anger and resentment that I felt toward her was gone. It was time to move passed the past, and look to the future with hope.

"My story is over, Emma. This is where I am destined to be. And somehow, I am to make this world my happy ending."

"No, I don't believe that…" I pulled my hand back from hers, "you can't just give in to Pan. If you want to go back to Neverland and that will make you happy, then I will figure out how to get you there." My anger for Pan was now fueling my motivation. I refused to let him win. "He is dead now, maybe you need to go back and take back your kingdom. And who knows, your father might still be alive and waiting for you."

"Emma, I appreciate what you are doing…" The look in Lily's eyes changed as she began to talk again, "but you have a new job now."

"I'm sorry…what?"

She closed her eyes and took in some air. She pursed her lips to side with a wince; I could tell that she was mentally kicking herself. She knew something and she had just said a little too much to me. "What do you mean…I have a new job?"

"Emma…"

"Tell me, Lily."

"Emma, I don't know exactly." I studied her, now was not the time for my superpower to fail me. "All that I can tell you is that you need to look within yourself and your family. When you do that, it will all be revealed."

She wasn't lying. But I was really starting to get uncomfortable. I suddenly had a lot to think about. I looked at my phone, "I've got to go." We both stood and I leaned in for a hug, "I'll see you soon, ok?" she nodded. I turned and walked away to collect my bag and leave for home, but her words were ringing loudly in my ears. Was it a coincidence that she had just told me the same that Gold at told me at the grocery store at four in the morning? For the second time today, I was left wondering what the hell that was supposed to mean.