Chapter 09 – Calming Sea

-Point of View *Emma*-

Emma and Hook quickly got dressed and went to the pharmacy.

"And he really said deer?" Kilian asked.

Emma nodded. "Right after that, Grumpy insisted again that the pharmacy was

was closed."

Before Hook could make any assumptions, his wife parked the car and they got out. Grumpy stood in front of the building that housed the pharmacy on the first floor and a small apartment upstairs.

"It was just there," he greeted her.

"What were you doing there?" asked Emma. Meanwhile,

Hook was shining a flashlight through the large shop window.

"I just wanted to see if everything was all right. Who knows, maybe he's

back," Grumpy muttered, looking down.

Emma resisted the urge to put her hand on his shoulder and turned her attention to the problem at hand. "Did you go in?" she asked, standing next to her husband.

The dwarf shook his head. "No, I was just passing by. When I didn't see any lights

I wanted to cross the street. Then I heard a crash. When I got closer to the window, I saw the deer. It was hiding behind the counter.

"Okay, wait here. We'll take a closer look." Emma broke the seal on the door and motioned to Hook. Together they entered the pharmacy and carefully closed the front door behind them.

They cautiously approached the counter and actually saw the animal Grumpy had mentioned.

It was lying between the wooden paneling of the counter and the wall shelf, its whole body shaking and its ears pricked up.

"How the hell did it get here?" Emma wondered.

"The door was locked and the seal was intact," Hook deduced. "Is there a back door?"

Emma replied in the negative. "We didn't find one when we searched a few days ago."

"Then how did it get here?"

-Change of View *Natalia*-

Like her biological parents, Natalia had not had a peaceful and restful night.

But of course she couldn't have known that. Unlike Emma and Hook, she'd been up all night thinking about James' half-hearted explanations and Henry's theory that everyone in Storybrooke was living in a fairy tale. Natalia had tossed and turned in bed,

tried different sleeping positions, and yet she had not found a way into the land of dreams. Her mind kept circling back to James. Who was James?

Was he lying to her? Why was he doing this? Was he behind the kidnapping of the three missing people? No, that couldn't be true. She couldn't believe it. But there was something about his behavior, his excuses, and especially his attitude toward Holmes that made her doubt him.

And those doubts kept her awake.

Around three in the morning she decided to write down all her thoughts, observations and theories. That would clear her head and maybe she could sleep for a few more hours. So she turned on the light, booted up her laptop, and started writing down everything she knew so far.

As she rubbed her eyes, the letters on the screen became blurred and she interrupted her work with a hearty yawn, she knew it was time for the sleep she longed for. She closed the laptop, placed it next to her on the bed, slid onto the mattress and laid her head on the soft pillow. She closed her eyes and drifted off into the world of dreams.

The next morning she was awakened by the sun. She blinked carefully and looked around. When she saw the laptop, she let out a loud sigh, straightened up, placed the device on her lap and flipped open the screen.

No matter which way she looked at the situations, the conversations, the non-verbal communication, she always came to the same conclusion.

James was not Lestrange the policeman. James was the famous Professor Moriarty, the nemesis of Sherlock Holmes, the legendary villain.

Confused and undecided how to deal with this realization, she closed the laptop, put it aside and stood up. It wouldn't do her any good to spend the whole day in bed, even if she desperately needed to. No, today she would have her suspicions confirmed and seek a clarifying conversation with James.

After all, she owed him that much.

So she took a refreshing shower, put on jeans, a thin sweater and a leather jacket and went downstairs. She had to get some coffee and a bite to eat before she could talk to James. When she entered the diner, she headed for an empty table, but was stopped by a man who stood in her way.

"Well, pretty lady, what's taking you so long?" asked James, grinning his widest.

"I..." Natalia stammered. Damn. She had actually wanted to get there before him to prepare for the conversation. But now she had to change her plans. Adapting. After all, she was very good at that, thanks to her previous jobs.

"I've been looking for you. We need to talk," she said firmly, looking straight at him.

James' smile got smaller, but it didn't disappear. "That sounds serious. Shall we talk over coffee?" He gestured to the empty table.

But Natalia shook her head. "No. Let's take a walk. I need some fresh air."

With a nod of the head, James let the lady out first. Natalia went out the front door and headed down a path. James quickly caught up with her and they walked side by side in silence for a while.

Natalia was still searching for the right words and didn't know how to start. Maybe it was time for an unconventional approach.

"I really like the way we work together," she began. "It's the only thing keeping me from going crazy right now. I mean, being locked in here, next to all these fairy tale characters, and then this magic. It makes me question my sanity all the time, but you seem the most normal of all the crazy people here."

James grinned. "That's nice of you, even if we need to work on your compliments."

"I didn't mean it that way." Natalia searched for the right words. "I just mean that if we had met under different circumstances and under a different star, things would have been different.I like you and I would like to deepen our relationship."

Natalia's voice broke.

James grabbed her arm, held her close and turned her to face him. "I like you too and who's stopping us from spending time together?" He looked at her expectantly.

"You," Natalia whispered, releasing herself from James' gentle grip. She continued walking. "You lie about your past, about who you really are. Don't I deserve better? First I find out that Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter is my mother, that I have a half-brother, and that all the fairy tales I've read about in books for years have somehow come true. I had hoped that you would be honest with me and that there would be no surprises. But then doubts arose in me. Doubts about who you are, what your rivalry with Mr. Holmes is about, and what a fairy tale character you are. I lay awake tonight wondering why you lie, why you don't tell the truth. But most of all, why the famous Sherlock Holmes treats you the way he does. If you were just the policeman Lestrange, he wouldn't pay any attention to you, but there's more between you." Natalia didn't know what to say. She had said everything. Well, almost everything.

There was a long silence between them. Then James spoke. His next words were carefully chosen, one could tell. But Natalia didn't care. She just wanted to know the truth. "Yes, you're right. You deserve to know who I am. But before I do, let me tell you why I lied. Why I couldn't tell you everything." He looked at her expectantly, and when she nodded, he continued.

"I didn't tell you about myself because you were new. You thought of me as a normal, innocent person. Not a bad guy. Here in Storybrooke, character categorization is more rigid than in my London.

And I thought that was impossible. In this small town, there are heroes, evil queens, princes, princesses, and villains. Everyone has a fixed role, and hardly anyone can break out of it. But when you came to town and looked at me with those beautiful eyes, I wasn't a villain or anyone else. I could be who I always wanted to be. You didn't force a role on me, I was free to choose. You awakened something in me, a spark of hope that I could control my own destiny. I wanted to keep that. Even if it meant lying about myself.

"So you're James Moriarty," Natalia concluded, pausing.

"Yes, I am. But I'm also the James you met."

"Didn't you do all those evil things described in the books?" asked Natalia, looking into his eyes for the first time since their walk.

"Bad things? Perhaps I have. If so, only for others. But Sherlock is the real villain," he murmured towards the end.

"Sherlock Holmes, the master detective, is a villain? He's the hero." Natalia didn't understand.

James shook his head. "That's what I meant. In this world, everyone is labeled.

It's all black and white. Good against evil. But you're missing the point."

"And what is the important thing? What am I missing?" asked Natalia. She wanted to believe him, wanted to believe that she had given too much importance to the character in the novel and that she had gotten to know the real James in the last few days. He deserved this chance.

"This ... I'm not allowed to. Not yet. You wouldn't believe me without proof." James reached for her hands. "But please believe me. I'm the James you know. Not the James Moriarty who's in the books. Please give me that chance." He looked at her pleadingly.

Natalia looked back at him. Thoughts swirled in her head and she was torn. Could she believe him? Could she free herself from her prejudices?

"I..." she pulled away from his hands and turned toward the harbor. During their walk, she had lost her orientation and they had probably both wandered aimlessly. Now they stood at the harbor, watching the ships go in and out. "I need time. I need to sort things out," she whispered. A flimsy excuse, one that could be found in books and movies in great abundance. But she couldn't come up with anything better in a hurry. She needed to be alone now and process everything.

"Of course you do. I'll leave you alone."

James kept his promise and without another word, he turned on his heel and headed back to town.

Natalia, on the other hand, wanted to stay by the sea. She loved the sea, its smell, the fresh breeze and the soft sound of the waves. It calmed her. She and the sea had a strange connection. She had never been a good swimmer, let alone someone who always wanted to swim, but every year she had to go to the sea, feel the wind, enjoy the freedom. Just like now. If she had known Storybrooke had a harbor, she would have come sooner.

Among the boats bobbing up and down, she saw Henry on one of the docks. Curious, she ran up to him.

"Hello Henry. What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Natalia. Up so early?" Henry stopped what he was doing, put the rope aside and approached her.

"I wanted to take a walk and ended up here at the marina. I didn't even know you were sailing," she remarked, nodding in the direction of the dinghy he was preparing.

Henry shrugged. "Killian showed me when the second curse hit me and I couldn't remember the past for a while."

"The second curse?" Natalia frowned.

"Yes. I told you. When we came back from Neverland and Pan tricked us with a curse. Mom was able to stop him with another curse, but my other mom and I lost our memories."

"Yes, there was something, I remember it vaguely. It's easy to lose track with so many curses."

"Aye, you're right, I've already suggested to Henry that he write it all down." An older man joined them. He wore a black leather jacket, had dark short hair and a dashing smile. But the most striking thing about him was the left hook on his wrist. That had to be Captain Hook. Her father. The day was getting worse. "You're..." Hook cleared his throat as he caught Natalia's gaze. "You must be Natalia. Pleased to meet you. I'm Killian." He held out his hand.

She considered it for a moment, but after a brief hesitation, she took it, shook it briefly, and then let it go quickly.

"I'm Killian Jones. We haven't met. Though Henry's told me a lot about you."

"Yes, we haven't met yet," Natalia confirmed slightly awkwardly, looking down at the floor.

Killian didn't seem to have anything else to say either, so there was an uncomfortable silence between them.

Fortunately, Henry rescued them from this unpleasant situation. "Would you like to come out with us? We want to take a little trip this morning."

"I don't think I can help with the sailing," Natalia declined and turned to leave.

"You don't have to. You can just enjoy the trip. This little dinghy is just work for two anyway. Emma always relaxes when she goes out with us," Killian tries to convince her. Natalia looks out to sea. It wasn't that she didn't want to. She was afraid. Afraid of being alone at sea with a man who was her father. Her supposed father. After all, she hadn't tested him yet. Although she didn't think Emma would lie to her about that.

"I'll keep quiet and say nothing important. The three of us will just enjoy the sea," he added.

Killian was right. The sea was good and he had kept his word, at least so far. The two men sailed and she sat on a small wooden bench, wrapped in a thick blanket Kilian had found below deck, and enjoyed the journey. The ups and downs of the waves, the cool breeze and the freedom. She let go of the tension and the thoughts in her head and relaxed.

She had missed it.

Her features relaxed and a small smile played around her lips. Natalia watched as Henry and Killian practiced combat drills with sabers on the deck. Their loud laughter sweeping across the sea filled the air.

The weather was perfect for this little excursion. The sun peeked out from behind small clouds, warming the deck.

In the early afternoon, the two men stowed the sabers back in the cabin and sailed back to port.

Emma was waiting for her on the dock. When she saw Natalia on deck, her eyes lit up, or so Natalia thought.

"Natalia, you were with them. Did you enjoy it? I hope the boys didn't put you to work," she said after catching the rope Henry had thrown her.

"Uh, yeah. Henry and I ran into each other here this morning and he offered me a ride." Natalia stepped out of the boat and turned to the two men. "Thanks for the ride." Then she turned on her heel and ran away before Emma or Killian could stop her.

Back on land, the harsh reality had returned to her, and Emma's presence had immediately made her aware of the problems she was dealing with. She had neither the desire nor the energy for a clarifying conversation with either of them. Escaping was her only option.

Back in her room at Granny's Bed & Breakfast, she was about to grab her bag and laptop and head to the library when she saw last night's recap. James. She had completely neglected him during her little trip on the boat. Or had she forgotten? She wasn't sure.

After all, he had admitted that he was James Moriarty. But what was she supposed to do with that statement now? There was one thing in his statement she couldn't change. As little as she knew about this town and its inhabitants, she knew that people here liked to divide people into good and bad, and she could understand that James wanted to avoid that. But was that a good enough reason for her?

Her eyes wandered over Henry's storybook, which he had left with her so that she could learn more about his family. Her family. That still wasn't easy for her. The thought alone was difficult to comprehend. But the important thing about this book was that every character got a second chance. The Evil Queen, Rumplestiltskin, Captain Hook and many others. Some others, of course, didn't take advantage of that second chance and were evil to begin with. But at least they had a chance. And didn't they owe James that second chance?

With that last thought, she made her way to the library. A fine mist had settled over the town around noon, making it seem mystical. More mysterious than it already was.

Natalia turned up the collar of her jacket and hurried across the street to the library. A little further down the street, she saw a tall man with a broad cross loading a car. He kept looking over his shoulder to hide his load.

Who was he?

Thanks to Henry, Natalia knew a lot of people in Storybrooke now, but she had never seen him before. Not at the diner, not in town. She quickly took out her phone and snapped a picture. Perhaps Belle or Henry could help her.

She looked at the picture. The fog made it hard to make out the features, and the car's license plate was blurred, but it would have to do for now.