It was quiet on the Jolly Roger without all the men on deck. Emma lied very still looking at each streak of the wood planks above her. The soft rock of the boat almost lulled her to sleep many times, but she always would awake suddenly remembering what has just happened. Her mind was racing. She couldn't decide if what she did was wrong, or not. At the moment it had felt completely right, it even felt amazing. Emma wasn't one to judge kissing as she had only kissed one other man, but that was the best one she's ever had. Her thoughts began to quiet down, and the rocking of the ship became more prominent, she eventually fell asleep, happy.
~
"Swan, wake up. Smee found a bean. You should hold onto something when we go through the portal." Hook said shaking Emma gently, waking her from her sleep. She blinked, eyelids still heavy and yawned.
"Why so early?" She asked, her voice cracking.
"It's not as early as you think, love. You can stay here or come on deck just be ready." He said smiling before exiting her room. Emma sat there running a hand through her hair. She didn't want to go above deck but the only thing calling her to go up there was her empty stomach. She stood up straightened out her hair and clothing, then walked to the creaky wooden stairs that led to the deck. Emma was almost blinded by the bright sunlight, but her focus was quickly brought to the crew, who were running in every direction, carrying supplies to safety and lifting the sails.
"Good morning, Miss Swan." An older voice said from behind her. Emma turned around to find Smee. He had walked away from his duties of moving food barrels into the dining quarters to greet her.
"Please, it's Emma," She said smiling, "and good morning to you to Smee." Smee was quite an odd fellow, but he was always respectable and hardworking, although he could get quite annoying.
"Of course, miss Emma. Here I brought you something to eat, you must be hungry." He said holding out a bright red apple. Emma was taken aback by his kindness but hesitated to look down at the shining blood-red fruit.
"Thank you very much Smee, but I cannot accept, I appreciate your offering but I do not like apples," Emma replied. She never wanted to eat an apple after hearing the story of what had happened to her mother long ago. She didn't want the same thing to happen to her, even though it was highly unlikely. The Evil Queen and her supporters hadn't been seen for many years.
"Who doesn't like apples?" Smee asked surprised.
"It's a family thing." Emma simply answered.
"Very well, I'll find something else for you when we land."
"Thank you, Smee. That's very kind of you. If I ever need to find my own food let me know," Emma chuckled as he walked away.
"Get ready crew!" Hook yelled from the helm. Emma looked up to Hook, to find that his eyes were very clearly watching her. She almost became distracted. Everyone quickly grabbed onto something, the closest thing to her was the railing to the stairs that led to the helm. She grabbed ahold and waited, she wasn't quite ready to go back to Neverland yet. As soon as Emma clung to the railing Hook threw the magic bean into the water, opening a portal. He slowly guided the ship through the center. As the ship began to fall through, Emma held on for dear life, but only seconds later she opened her eyes to see the one place she never wanted to see again.
Although it was barely dawn, it was pitch dark and cold, just like she remembered. You could feel the magic surrounding you, it was thick, it almost made it hard to breathe. Emma started to panic, every memory of Baelfire coming back to her. All she could think about was being alone, she hated being alone. The feeling of solitude rushed over her and she almost lost herself within it.
"Swan?" A voice questioned from behind her.
"I'm fine." She said, coming back to reality and shrugged it off. "Let's just quickly get what we came here for."
"As you wish m'lady." He replied. Emma needed a moment to herself. She took a deep breath and headed down the stairs to her room. As soon as she stepped foot through the door she felt another presence there, waiting for fo her.
"Hello, Emma." A boy with a thick accent said. The person who you most likely want to avoid when coming to Neverland was standing in front of her, Peter Pan.
"Pan, what a pleasure." Emma said sarcastically, "can I help you?" she gave a hint of a sardonic grin.
"I see that you haven't changed much," he smirked. "In fact Emma, you can. You see, your captain shouldn't be here. When I let him go he should have stayed far, far away. This time it won't be so easy getting off the island." He told her pacing around the room.
"What are you saying, Pan?" Emma asked just wanting to get to the point, there was always a reason for a visit from Peter.
"You, being the product of true love have a great potential for light, but also a potential for darkness." Fear was starting to come over Emma. She felt shivers go down her spine, darkness? "You have magic Emma, you are just too afraid to embrace who you really are. When you embrace who you are, you will discover your powers. You can be the greatest sorcerer, or the darkest, your choice."
"And what does this have to do with the captain exactly?" Emma asked stubbornly.
Pan smirked, "Well I was just getting to that part. I want you to embrace who you really are 'Swan'." When he said Hook's nickname for her, it made her skin crawl. "When you do, I grant everyone on this ship a safe passage home. But after finding out the truth about your abilities, who knows if they will let you tag along. You just have to make sure your captain never returns to Neverland."
"I guess you have a deal Pan, however, you may be disappointed when you find out that I'm just ordinary. And why not ask this of me last time?" Emma remarked.
"Ah, last time." Pan smiled before disappearing into the darkness.
~
"Why Neverland Baelfire?" The princess asked. "Why come back?"
"Do you trust me, Emma?" He asked and Emma nodded her head, her blonde curls bouncing. "There was something I needed to finish before I left." He answered, but Emma suddenly had a tinge of fear, that he was hiding something.
"What is it?" She asked concerned.
"The less you know, the better it is. Stay here I'll be back soon." He replied sternly before he disappeared into the depths of the thick forest. Emma never even had a chance to stop him. She loved Bae, but she couldn't shake this feeling that he was lying to her. She trusted him, but some part of her didn't. When he returned she would ask him again, hoping that next time he wouldn't lie.
"Don't you wish the lies would stop?" A voice said from behind Emma. She turned around to see a boy of about 15 behind a stump of a tree.
"Who are you?" Emma asked startled.
"No need to be afraid, Emma, or as I should say, Princess Emma." He said coming out from behind the tree so Emma could see him fully. He had a smirk that made her skin crawl, and an accent she had never heard before.
"How do you know that?" She asked.
"I know many things. Some could answer your questions stirring inside."
"Like what?" The boy had now caught her attention.
"Your lover, Baelfire, is never coming back the shadows will get to him before he can escape."
"Shadows?"
"They guard the island, only let people go when I tell them to. He owes a great debt to me, and he needs to repay it. He knew that would be his fate if he ever came back here yet he tried to avoid it." He said shrugging his shoulders like it was nothing. "I also know one more thing."
"And what would that be?"
"You are with child."
"That's a lie!" Emma said raising her voice.
"Is it now? I think you've known for a little while." Emma looked down at her feet, embarrassed, if she would return home like this she would be disgraced. "I am feeling quite generous today, as soon as you realize that Baelfire is never coming back, I'll give you a free ticket off the island."
"Thank you." Emma managed to spit out. "But why let me go without nothing in return?"
"The baby has more importance than you may think." He said stepping away back into the shadows.
"Wait!" Emma called. "What's your name?" Even though he was already gone, she hoped he would hear her. But instead, she got an answer from the air around.
"Peter Pan."
~
Not long after Pan left Hook came down to see if Emma was alright, since she rushed off deck as soon as they got to Neverland. When he saw her at the bottom of the stairs it looked as if she had seen a ghost, which was somewhat true. For so long she had tried to keep the thoughts of Neverland away, but they always came back to haunt her. Her son was of some importance to Pan. She had also given him away because of this fact and not just her family's disgrace. She had hopes that he would live an ordinary life away from Pan. But now, she had magic? There's no way Hook would be okay with this. A man with magic had taken away Milah.
"Love, is something wrong?" Hook asked her. Emma was startled by his sudden appearance, but she quickly faked a smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Is all she said, but Hook could read what was really going on. She was afraid. He brushed it off, not wanting to invade her privacy. Hook valued her trust and would gain it by giving her time and space.
"Very well. We will be setting foot on land soon, be on the lookout for Pan." Emma nodded her head and waited as the captain walked out. She let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding and she quickly collected her thoughts before following Hook.
When she stepped on the wooden deck she saw some of the crew getting the small lifeboats together for when they make the journey towards the shoreline, others were anchoring the Jolly Roger and volunteering to watch over the ship while everyone else was gone. Hook waited by one of the boats for Emma. He waved her over, and she walked over hesitantly.
"You want to come with us on land, love?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm not staying here alone." She said climbing onto one of the boats before he invited her, but he followed sitting right next to her.
"Lower the boats!" Hook yelled to the crew staying on deck. Emma was hoping for a slow drop into the water, but it ended up being rushed, and wet. Emma pulled back her hair that stuck to her cheeks and tied it into a wet rope behind her.
"Sorry about that Swan." Hook apologized for the splash into the water. "My men aren't always so careful." He continued as he began to move the oars in the water.
"I'm fine." Emma lied, again. She had felt as if she had said that all day and she also had this feeling that something was going to happen, like last time. "Hook?" Emma said after a little while. She just wanted to hear one thing before they set foot on the dreaded island.
"Yes, love?" He asked with concern and a tinge of empathy.
"Promise me, you'll never leave my side while we're here." She said, her voice shaking a little, Hook confirmed she was afraid but he couldn't reply any other way.
"Of course." He smiled at her, hoping the reassurance would help.
Emma could feel the kindness in his voice which unlocked new feelings. She didn't know what kind of feelings, but there was obviously something. The kiss from the night before sprang back into her memory, but she didn't want it anything to do with love, not yet. So she ignored his longing looks and buried the sparks deep down inside, looking up to the dark foggy sky she hoped that she would find some sort of answer.