Once Upon a Time 1. The Start of a Journey

**AN: This is an AU that takes place a few hours after 2X21. The Charmings have gotten their hands on two magic beans from Greg and Tamara after they activated the trigger. Nothing (including flashbacks) from 2X22 ever happened except the trigger being activated. That means that Bae never left Hook's ship and ****the Lost Boys don't (very creepily) have a picture of Henry. **

**I hope you all enjoy my first shot at writing FanFiction!**

* * *

**Emma: **If asked to stop for a second and recite everything that had happened in the hour that had just passed, she would probably fail. Not for lack of thinking the situation over and over again in her head, but because she was running on pure adrenaline that day instead of her usual coffee or hot chocolate and nothing would be able to calm her down in the foreseeable future. She was running, faster than she had ran in a long time, one of her hands warming in her pocket, the other holding on to that of her son's as she pulled him along the roads of Storybrooke; encouraging him to run just a little bit faster.

"Where are we going?" Henry asked. Emma had a bad habit of not telling anybody her plans until they were needed in a direct way. It was just another one of the side effects of growing up without anybody to tell your plans to.

"The docks. It's too dangerous to make a portal in the middle of town. We don't want a tree to land on us somewhere in between worlds," Emma responded, surprisingly able to spit out a string of something intelligible about fairy tale realms. Even more surprising, though, was the fact that she could talk without being out of breath despite all of the running.

"What about everyone else in the town? Where are they going to go?" her son asked her. He sure was out of breath. His words came out in between taking in great gulps of the frigid Maine air and all she wanted to do besides survive was to let him rest for a moment. She wished that she could carry him so that he didn't have to run, but his days of being carried were long gone and a pang of regret formed in her burning body when remembered that she wan't there for any of them.

Emma looked back and saw that the only people running in the same direction she was were Henry, both of her parents, Regina, Mr. Gold and Belle. "Leroy has a bean. He'll make sure everyone gets through."

_I hope,_ she thought. All she could do now is hope that everything that was not directly in her control was being handled the way she would want it to, even though nothing seemed to be in her control at the moment. Henry would be crushed if everybody in the community he grew up in, everybody that he helped save from their cursed selves, died in the destruction on Storybrooke. His father that he had only met a few weeks ago had just died at the hand of his almost step-mother for crying out loud. He couldn't, _wouldn't_, lose anybody else if she could do anything about it.

They kept running towards the ocean, the only magic bean they had burning a hole in her coat pocket. No matter how fast they ran the forest line that was consuming Storybrooke kept getting closer and closer to the docks that they were running to.

_Certainly the ocean was here before the curse. It's has to be safer than crossing the line at least. _

Emma had no idea why she was the one leading everybody to the docks. She had no idea what she was doing for the most part. She hadn't felt like she was in complete control since Henry knocked on her door on her 28th birthday. What she did know that she was doing, though, was following her instincts and not hesitating about anything. She knew that if there was one thing that they did not have, it was time. So she continued to do what she had always done: go with the first logical plan that came across her mind. It had gotten her this far…

The group reached the docks and a pregnant silence hung in the cold, strangely magicless air that the activating of the trigger left in their wake. All they had to do to escape their inevitable death was for Emma to throw the bean, jump and trust that it would take them where they wanted to go. Trusting that the bean would take them to the Enchanted Forest was going to be the hard part. _It seems that I have as much of a problem trusting magical items as I do trusting people, _Emma thought.

She let go of Henry's hand and picked the bean out of one of the inside pockets of her coat. She looked behind her and her mother gave her one of those looks that she had first seen a few months ago and only rarely since then. It was a look that you gave your child when they are just about to do something that is going to change the course of the rest of their lives. With all of the things swirling around in her mind at that particular moment, Emma realized why she had gotten into so much trouble before Henry dragged her to Storybrooke. All she had needed was that particular look to tell her that she was going to make the right choice no matter what. All she needed to do to be safe with her family was to throw the bean and jump.

Emma rolled the bean around in her gloved hand once and brought her arm back and over her head. _Do I have to throw it or toss it? If I drop it will it still create a portal? _She was over thinking it like she had been doing everything in her life recently and she knew it. How hard could throwing a bean be? How could she possibly mess this up? She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and decided to throw it. Then she heard someone yelling her name.

"SWAN! Stop! Don't throw it yet!" she heard coming from farther down the pier. She quickly brought her hand down to see Hook running down the docks, long coat catching in the wind.

"What do you want Hook?" Emma droned, throwing her head back. It wasn't even a second later that she realized why he didn't want her to throw the bean just yet. He wanted to be safe and sound in the Enchanted Forest just like the rest of them.

"Funny question to ask when the Queen's diamond just began to regrow a forest in the middle of town and you are holding the only key to safety," Hook responded, a scared but still serious tone mixed in with his usual sarcastic one.

Suddenly, Hook's form was frozen mid-step is a glowing bubble of purple magic. Emma snapped around to see whose hand the bubble was connected to. If given time to place bets, she would have had her life's savings on Gold. What better way to kill your arch nemesis than to force him to be consumed by a forest and then torn away from existence?

To her surprise, Regina was the one making sure that the pirate couldn't restate their dire situation once more.

"He's working for Greg and Tamara. He was the one who brought me to them and gave me the cuff that counteracted my magic," Regina spat, malice in her voice. Gold already had his cane raised and ready to beat Hook to death; Belle was already holding him back.

"Let him speak," Emma snapped, trying to regain control of the conversation before they all, well, all but Henry, were consumed into nothingness by the ever growing forest. The way things were looking at the moment, they were all going to kill each other before the trigger had its chance to.

Regina gave a huff as she changed the spell to only paralyze the lower half of his body and giving Hook the ability to explain his situation. "Thank you, your majesty," he spat, the venom in his words taking the place of the magic that was making the air drier and drier. Emma barely had time to wonder if that last comment was directed to Regina for unparalyzing only half of his body or to her for convincing Regina to let him speak.

"To make a long story short, seeing that we don't have much time, Greg and Tamara are bloody fools that expect me to die for my revenge. And seeing that all of us are about to die without accomplishing the thing that we most want in life, I am offering to put my revenge to the side to save all of us, the Crocodile included." He finished his little speech with a pleased tone in his voice as if they did not already have a way to get out of this situation.

"Ok, two questions. One: What is your grand plan that is going to save us all that is better than the one we already have and two: why should any of us trust you?" David questioned. As far as she knew, David was the only one in the group besides Henry that Hook had not personally pissed off at one point or another. But then again, David was Prince Charming and he may have had to deal with this certain pirate at some point or another before the curse.

"Well, traveling through portals is dangerous with a group of people. Wouldn't want any of your lovely faces to be crushed when falling through," he explained with the sarcastic tone that Emma was used to from him while he winked at her. _Oh my gosh, we don't have time for any this _she thought. "So I offer you my ship as well as myself to sail it. The _Jolly Roger _is made out of enchanted wood and has been through a portal or two in her day. It is the only guaranteed way to get your little family home safely." He paused, a smug look on his face because nobody had interrupted him and nobody was objecting his plan so far.

"As to your second question, I don't think any of us want that little boy to live the rest of his life an orphan after having two very protective mothers and the greatest example of true love in all of the realms for grandparents," he explained nodding at Henry.

"Deal," Emma snapped without any second thought. She didn't know why she said it. Probably because he brought Henry's well being into the equation instead of his own, which he could have easily, and predictably, done. She didn't want Henry to grow up in the world she did in the way she did and he knew that. It could have also because she didn't detect a lie had just rolled off of his tongue. She knew that her emotions had gotten in the way recently of her superpower, but even a faulty super power was better than none.

A chorus of complaints followed her decision, none unexpected. Gold calling Hook a devil. Mary-Margret and David saying that he couldn't be trusted. Regina restating her point about him working with Greg and Tamara as well as telling her that he should not be around Henry. Belle bringing up the whole 'he shot me so I crossed over the town line' incident.

"It's fine. We can trust him. About this, at least," Emma said to silence them. "This is the best offer we've got. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to die while we are on our way to a safe place. Well, safer." All of the destruction that she experienced on her last journey to the Enchanted Forest came to mind along with all of the ogres and zombies that they had to face. At least Cora wouldn't be a problem any longer.

"Excellent decision, m'lady. Now if you would let me lead you all to my ship," he spoke while looking solely at Regina. She retracted the magic barrier that was holding him in place and he immediately turned on his heal toward the end of the docks he had first come from.

"Emma, are you sure about this?" Mary-Margret whispered, loud enough for everyone in their little group to hear but soft enough that Hook couldn't.

"Yeah. He's not lying. He really wants to help us," Emma explained in a similar tone as she began walking, bean still in one hand; Henry's hand again in the other.

When nobody objected her decision and began to follow her, she broke out into a jog that was only slightly slower than her earlier run. When they all reached the spot where the _Jolly Roger _was docked they were held up by Hook blocking their way up the gangplank. There was a smile plastered on his face as if he knew a particularly juicy secret that he had been keeping from the rest of them.

"I forgot to tell you all my one condition for using my ship to go through the portal," he grinned. "I get to throw the bean."

"Let us all get on the ship and I'll give it to you!" Emma nearly screamed from frustration. If she didn't need this pirate to guarantee her family's safety she was sure that she would strangle him. If she had time to strangle him. The tree line was already consuming the few shops along the pier.

He moved away and Emma was the first to run onto the deck. After making sure that everybody she wanted to be on the ship were on, she placed the glowing bean in Hook's outstretched hand. "I'm trying something new here. Don't make me regret it."

"Wouldn't dream of it, love," he breathed. He was a little bit too close to her for comfort but she wasn't going to be the first to move away. She was sure he was thinking the same thing until they both heard Belle's cry of, "We haven't got all day you know!" to snap them out of their trance. Hook stepped back and made his way to the helm. He brought his arm back behind his head and turned to his passengers. "It would be best to hold on to something. Bumpy seas ahead!" He brought down his arm without hesitation. Emma saw the gleam of the bean flying through the air before it found its place in the water. There was a second when nothing happened and she swore that she saw a few scenes from her past flash in her line of vision before the wind suddenly started to pick up as the water began to funnel in their intended path. She made her way to one of the ropes hanging down from a sail near Henry.

When the ship sailed into the swirling green whirlpool that was the portal, Emma's stomach dropped like she was on a roller coaster. The falling was the only thing she remembered from the trip one of her classes had taken in school. But this time, the falling felt good because she was falling closer to being safe with her family, the only thing she had ever truly wanted.

When the ship landed with a splash, Emma first checked to see that everyone was alright. Nobody looked too shaken up. As a matter of fact, Henry was grinning ear to ear like he really had just been on a roller coaster. Or maybe he was just happy that he was going home to the land that he had read so much about in his book. Just thinking about Henry learning to ride a horse or David teaching him how to hold a sword melted her heart. With these thoughts she began to smile too, until she looked out at the sea in front of the ship. Instead of any of the skylines that appeared in Henry's book, an island with a mountain stood tall in front of them. And the air. It contained magic, but not the same magic that she remember from the Enchanted Forest.

"Hook, where are we?" she shouted a litter louder than necessary. A little more worry than anger was in her voice. She didn't want to sound worried. She wanted more than anything to sound strong.

"It appears that we did not end up where I intended," Hook stated, the far away look in his eyes the only indication that he was worried about this change of events.

"Well, where the hell are we then?" Emma screamed, already stomping her way towards Hook. He was _not _going to mess up_ her_ happy ending with _her_ family.

"It appears that we have landed in another land that I know very well," he smiled sadly. She knew that he knew that being in whatever unfamiliar land this was gave him the advantage over them. But she was not going to let him win whatever game he was playing.

"Spit it out. Where the hell did you take us?" she spat nanoseconds before it hit her. Captain Hook. What could possibly be the other land he knew so well if it wasn't…

"Neverland," he stated, grin faltering for a second so short that she didn't know if it happened or not before he added, "We are in for a real adventure."

* * *

**I hope you all enjoy the editions that I made to the crew of the _Jolly Roger! _I couldn't stand to break up Rumbelle! **

**The next chapter is told by Selene, the other princess that we will meet and should be up sometime next week. Thanks for reading! **


	2. The Start of a War

**AN: Here is the next chapter! It is told by Selene, a character that I added to the Once Upon a Time world. I hope you enjoy reading her as much as I enjoy writing her!**

* * *

**Selene: **"Your majesty, a new ship has appeared in the Northwestern Sea."

"Is it any ship that we have had contact with in the past?" Selene questioned nobody in particular, as if a new ship landing in Neverland waters was something that happened every day. She knew that she could easily look at the model of the land and the immediately surrounding ocean that was right in front of her and easily place the mysterious ship to any of the twenty-some ones that had been in her realm in the last two thousand years, but the seven boys before her were being trained for the very elite post of watching over the island. Guardian, they had come to call it. And if a boy can't identify a ship, especially if it is known to carry pirates, they were not fit to be a Guardian.

"It appears to be the _Jolly Roger, _your majesty," Luke responded before anybody else could regain their composure after witnessing the monumental event of a ship appearing in Neverland from another realm, let alone being able to get a good look at the small replica. _He is definitely going, wait, _Selene thought. _What the hell is the Jolly Roger doing back in Neverland waters? Shit. _

"No," she gasped, pushing herself in between two of the Guardian hopefuls and placing her fingers on the edge of the display. The lukewarm water didn't do anything to cool down her suddenly heated mood or prevent the chill that took over the room and left small bumps on her arms. She let out a held in breath and smiled at the boys to assure them that nothing was wrong. Of course the _Jolly Roger _being back in Neverland was a huge problem. But they absolutely did not need to know that. Pirates were a vile species that she had learned to deal with brillianty in her lifetime. But she couldn't help but remember that the only crew of pirates that she had ever had a problem with resided on the _Jolly Roger. _

_Shit, _she thought again, trying to think of something to tell these boys reassure them that she was in complete and total control of the situation at hand, just like she always was, or at least appeared to be.

"How many days are they away from reaching land safely?" Selene questioned the boys, making it look like she had willed the ship to appear in the realm just so she could test the skills they were learning to be given this new rank.

"Three days if they are aware of the mermaids that live near the Northwest Shore and change course right away so that they land on the Western Shore. And, if you don't mind me asking, what makes you think that it is the crew's intention is to reach land?" Luke questioned before she could even run he had just given her through her head.

_I may just take this kid out of the Guardian running and promote him to a Personal. This is the kind of kid I want protecting me at all times. _

She took a deep breath and began to answer his quickly spoken question. "To start, the _Jolly Roger _is the only ship that has ever threatened the crown more than once and lived long enough to tell the tale. And as I recall, they spent the latter half of the three hundred years in this realm trying to find a way out; beginning a devastating war in the process. I don't think they would come back just to aimlessly sail around without making any trouble."

"What are we going to do," a timid boy, Mason she believed, spoke with worry.

"_We_ are going to do nothing._ I_, on the other hand am going to wait until they set foot on land and arrest their captain," she replied confidently. The boys around her looked slightly less scared than they had a second before. They had confidence in her. She had never done anything since they had been here to make them think any differently.

"Well, I will turn you back over to Artie to finish your lesson. I'm sure that you will all have much more interesting things to talk about now than what you usually would have. Good luck to all of you," she said with a smile.

She was heading out the door to organize her thoughts and maybe come up with a better plan of action than what she had just shared when she passed Artie, the first boy to come to the island after she herself had arrived. "Keep a weather eye on that ship and let me know if anything unexpected happens," she whispered close to his ear so the trainees couldn't hear. They did not need to know that she may not be in total control of the situation. She knew that Artie already knew that something big was going to happen and he had complete confidence in her especially after her last encounter with the _Jolly Roger_'s captain_. _

"Will do, m'lady," he said; a reassuring smile stretched across his still young face.

She kept walking and then stopped suddenly and turned around on her heel. "Hey, Artie," she said innocently.

"Wha-," he started, unable to finish because at that instant Selene flicked her fingers, still wet from gripping the edge of the three dimensional map, in Artie's direction and catching him completely by surprise.

He quickly recovered, and, with a smug look on his face, said, "I don't know if I've told you boys before, but rule number one of the Guardian Room is no touching the ocean water. That means definitely no splashing or flicking said water. The consequence of breaking this rule is being banned from the Guardian Room forever." He looked quite pleased with himself after he finished, a few boys snickering in the background.

"Well, I don't recall if I told you, Artie, but rule number one of this kingdom is that I get to do whatever I want." Selene grinned as she forgot completely about the state of emergency that they were going to be slaves to over the next few days and walked over to Artie.

She ruffled his red hair that he liked to keep two inches longer than regulation. "I think you need a haircut, boy."

"If I cut it you won't have as much fun running your fingers through it every time you see me." He grinned knowing that there was no way that she was going to disagree with him. She had made him cut his hair to regulation length once the entire time he had been on the island and he knew she quickly regretted the decision.

"Maybe if you tell me how you get it so soft, I would be able to touch my own hair instead of yours," she smirked as she instinctively brought her hand up to touch her own hair that was only a few inches longer than Artie's.

"It's a secret, m'lady. And who told you that I didn't like you touching my hair. Massages my scalp," he finished with a playful wink.

The boys who had just moments before been trying to stifle their snickers in fear of being punished burst out in laughter. It felt good to laugh. Even though she was the only girl on an island full of boys that never grew up, she felt that she didn't get enough opportunities to laugh and feel young like this. At least this is what she believed that feeling young felt like. Even when she was just learning to walk, she had been expected to be presentable and had been taught politics even before she could understand them. She never had a spare second to laugh.

Her laughter began to trail off at these thoughts and when she gazed over to the small boat bobbing up and down in the mock ocean she was reminded of the real reason she was on the island. That reason was not to mess around with the boys.

"Ok, boys, time to get back to your lesson. Be glad that you guys all get to train for the Guardian position now, because it seems that this room may get very interesting foreseeable future." She nodded to Artie in complete seriousness. They both knew that they would be seeing each other very soon. With the stakes this high, taking up permanent residence in the room simply to keep up to date on the situation began to sound like a good idea, even if the boat would simply be bobbing up and down in place for the next few hours.

She made her way to the door and turned around once again. "I don't believe that I need to remind you all that knowledge of everything that happens in this room is given out on a need to know basis. At the moment, nobody else needs to know," Selene explained with a stern expression and she left the room only when she heard as chorus of "Yes, your majesty"s and the sound of Artie beginning to hammer the boys with questions about the _Jolly Roger _and her crew. These boys were about to witness history first hand. She desperately hoped they were ready for it.

_I hope I'm ready for it, _she silently thought as she walked through the halls towards and towards her room.

"Your majesty," Felix said with a bow as she approached.

"Felix, I'm going to need you to tell a few of the best Sneakers to get a bag ready and come to see me immediately. We are expecting company in a few days and I want them to be personally escorted to the castle the second they make land."

* * *

"Ugh!" Selene screamed into her pillow as she flopped onto her bed. After a few thousand years she had gotten really good jumping from the foot of her bed and landing face first into the stack of pillows at the front. She figured out quickly that it took a combination of the right diving angle and the slightest amount of hovering to get her all the way across the bed without getting her feet caught on the foot board. Just another one of the perks of being able to fly.

The _Jolly Roger _being back in Neverland waters and being the sole person who has to deal with the problem was definitely not one of the perks of her job. Hence the muffled scream.

The ship wasn't going to make land for another three days at least and then who knows where the crew was planning to go. _It doesn't matter where they want to go, _Selene thought. _I'll have some of my boys take care of them before they have a chance to pull out their swords. _

Selene knew that she wasn't going to be able to scoff at their misfortune in front of them for at least a week. A long week at that. In retrospect, a week wouldn't be a long time at all. She had been on the island for centuries; living longer than her people thought the gods had. She would have despaired long ago that everyone she had ever loved would be dead by this point if everyone she had ever love hadn't died before she first arrived on Neverland.

She lifted her head from her pillow to gaze at the sundial on her bed table. She had two more hours until dinner. She had at least fifteen minutes until Felix would be back with Sneakers to be briefed. Fifteen minutes to stop moping around and come up with something to tell the Sneakers when they arrived.

Selene flipped over off of her bed and headed towards the model castle on a pedestal in the center of the room. Just like the island in the Guardian room showed where people were on other parts of the island, the miniature castle showed where all of her boys were on the grounds. She peered into the Guardian room and saw that Artie was still teaching the GITs (Apparently git was some sort of funny word in another realm. A few of the boys started using it and it stuck.).He was flailing his arms this way and that to emphasize the point he was trying to make; looking completely ridiculous in the process.

While she thought that she had only gazed at the sight for a few moments, she must have been mistaken as she heard a curt knock on her door. Sure enough, as she glanced over to the other side of the castle she saw that Felix had found himself five Sneakers to help prevent a war between the crown and the pirates of the _Jolly Roger _and they had arrived at her door sooner than she thought they would.

"I wasn't expecting you guys so soon!" She opened the door and greeted the boys, realizing that she must have been lying on her face feeling sorry for herself longer than she thought she had. She waved the group in and towards the chairs to the side of her bed. The room intended for formal meetings such as this was never given the chance to fulfill its purpose, so occasions when she had to sit down with only a few boys privately always seemed more relaxed than they should have been. Once they had sat down she took her place on her bed facing them.

"Felix, what are you doing standing?" Selene implored. She knew the answer as well as she knew that he would not sit down no matter how much she begged.

"Can't, your majesty. You know the rules," Felix said. Even through all of his seriousness, she could see a smile behind his words. She had asked him a hundred and one times to sit when he was in her presence and her refused a hundred and one times.

"Felix, I have been on this island for almost two and a half centuries and nothing bad has ever happened because someone sat in my presence. You don't need to be ready to defend me against assassins in every waking moment. " Felix looked down at his feet to hide his smile. "No one has ever been punished for smiling either. Keep that in mind," she winked and switched back into seriousness in less than a second.

"Ok boys, we have a situation on our hands. Before I go any further into detail, can you confirm that you are the best Sneakers in the force, pledge that you will not disclose the information I am about to give you about this mission to anybody and vow to successfully complete the mission at all costs?" she asked without taking a breath and adding a smile. She learned that adding a smile almost always gets you what you want.

"Yes, your majesty," all five of the Sneakers replied in unison. Sneaking was one of the most popular occupations for boys newer to the island. It was one of the few jobs that was advertised as adventurous instead prestigious like Guardians and Personals were even though the training was even more physically and mentally demanding. A Sneaker had to be able to outsmart as well as out battle an enemy as necessary. There were a fair number of Sneakers, but only a few _really _good ones. If Felix had picked these five boys, she knew that they were telling the truth.

"All right then. Your mission will be to fly to where the Western and Northwestern regions meet at the sea. In about three days, a ship will make land and dock. You are to follow the crew for as long as you can while making sure that they are headed towards the castle. Listen to their conversations and learn as much about them as you can about them. You are not to make yourselves known until you are a half days walk from here. Then you will escort them the rest of the way here. You can expect that they will not go without a fight, but try not to be hostile unless you have to. Savvy?" _I hope this is a good plan, _she thought. It was very hard giving orders to boys for a mission when you were not completely sure what the situation was yourself.

The boys nodded, still comprehending the orders that had been given to them. "Bennet, as you are the senior in this group, you are to be leading the mission. I expect regular reports. You are to take a messenger hawk with you when you depart, which will be right after dinner. Don't get too comfortable in your camp because your orders may change at any time depending on which way the ship moves. The West/Northwest border is the best estimate we have at the moment. I do not know of the number of men on the Jolly Roger, so I would be prepared for a fight when you do reveal yourselves."

"The _Jolly Roger?" _one of the boys, Javier gasped. He had come to the island near the end of the conflict with the infamous pirates. Of course they would seem like the most gruesome people in all of the realms when the crown had not been in a conflict since.

"Yes, the _Jolly Roger _is back in Neverland waters. One of the reasons that this mission is classified is to not bring panic to the rest of the kingdom. If anybody is to ask you about this mission before you leave tonight, you are to tell them that it is a practice exercise. The only other people on the island that know about this situation are the Guardians and a few GITs. I trust that you can get this done swiftly and quietly as to keep the war fever to a minimum," Selene replied.

She could tell that she did not quench the boy's fears as planned. She needed these boys to be afraid of their mission in some capacity. It had been proved many times in her many years in Neverland that fear made her boys preform much better than when they were not. It kept them from losing their heads in faux confidence and made them even more determined to succeed in the task at hand.

"Any other questions about your mission?" she asked to no reply. "Ok, then. Pack your bags and make any other arrangements that you need to before you leave. Keep me updated with any new developments. We will be monitoring your progress from the Guardian room. May the gods look after you on your journey."

They all five stood and bowed before they exited the room. Sometimes Selene wished that there was not a protocol for how she was supposed to interact with the boys when there was business to attend to. If it was not frowned upon, she would hug them all and wave to them as they left the castle. Alas, she was a ruler and not a mother to the boys even though on occasion she wished it was the opposite.

* * *

**How do you guys like Selene? Who do you think she is (if she's anyone at all)? But most importantly, what happened years ago with the captain of the _Jolly Roger? _I wonder...**

**Thanks for reading and following! I hope you all like this jumble of emotions that I can't seem to stop coming out of my fingertips as much as I like seeing that people are actually reading said jumbled emotions. :0)**


	3. Seasickness

**AN: Sorry this is a few days late. I had family things to do all weekend and after I saw that promo last night I forgot how to function properly. If I tried to write it would consist of the random letters that are my emotions. **

**If I haven't made it clear in the story, this is to let you know that Belle is Belle and not Lacey. I could not STAND Lacey! I spent a few episodes crying for my sanity because I really wanted my Belle back. **

**I haven't put this on any of the other chapters and I don't know if I really have to, but I don't own Once Upon a Time. If I did, I can guarantee you that I would not be writing fan fiction (because it would we real!) and the show would probably be on HBO. Because really.**

* * *

**Emma: "**Why the hell do you mean we are not in the Enchanted Forest, Hook." Emma heard David growl. She looked over and saw that he had already lost his cool and would run over to Hook and beat the crap out of him if only Mary Margret wasn't holding him back with all her might. Their little group had begun to let go of the stray ropes and railings that they had used for balance while traversing through the portal and start to form a tight circle around Hook. If Regina or Gold knew how to sail a pirate ship, she was positive they had a mutiny on their hands.

"Aye, I haven't the slightest idea why we ended up here. I can't say that I've thrown enough magic beans in my life to know exactly how they work," Hook spat. Emma could tell that he was very nervous even though his voice did not waver even slightly and he still had his signature smug grin plastered on his face. _I guess I'm not the only one who can be read like and open book around here, _she thought.

She glanced around the ship. Nobody was taking this this situation any better than she was. Both of the other men on board were just about ready to rip Hook to shreds. Her father had one hand on his gun and the other was being held by her Mary Margret while she tried to convince her husband that killing the pirate was not the best course of action. Mr. Gold was staring daggers at Hook while protectively wrapping the arm that was not holding his cane around Belle, who was also telling her love that he was above murder. Emma looked over to Regina. She had inched closer to her and Henry, magic in the form of fire skipping between her fingertips.

Everybody was waiting for somebody else to make the next move. She saw it in their eyes; they all needed Hook to escort them through this land safely. _He must have wanted this, the smug bastard. He is the one who got us here and the only one who can keep us safe until we get out. _

Emma couldn't help but blame herself. She is the one who trusted him; accepted his deal without a second thought. Let him throw the bean. _Trusted him, _she thought. He had once told her to trust him and she refused. She didn't want to get hurt. This time, she trusted him with not only her safety, but also that of her entire family and look where it got her.

_Well, my entire family except for Neal. _No, she couldn't think of Neal right now. This was not a time to show the grief that had consumed her only yesterday. She _was _going to be safe with her family. Just not the family she wanted twelve years before with Neal. Neal may be gone, but she could still have a family that would make him proud. But first, they had to get out of Neverland and back to Fairytale Land. She was the one that got them into this mess and if she couldn't get them out of it, she would sure as hell try.

"Ok, we get it. You fucked up big time." She took care to cover Henry's ears when she cursed that time. This was not the situation to show that she was a bad mother to the kid, no matter what the circumstances. "And because of that, you are going to tell us all right here, right now how you plan to fix it."

Mr. Gold cleared his throat before Hook had the chance to respond. "There is no way to transcend worlds without a bean, a hat," he paused a second before sending a knowing look towards Regina, "or a curse."

"Oh, no. You are not going to put us under another curse," Mary Margret almost yelled. She had only seen her mother like this a few times before. While she usually solved problems by respectably talking them out, this was the tone she used when the safety of her family was on the line.

"Even if I wanted to, I don't know if I could. Magic is different here. More reserved, like it's hidden. Or controlled by only one person," Regina stated as if this was either supposed to make everyone feel better about the possibility of being cursed again or worse because they could not hide behind her and Gold's magic while they were in this land.

"What about how we got out of the Enchanted Forest?" Emma added as she looked towards Mary Margret. "Do you think there are any magic wardrobe ashes or magic restoration water or anything like that here?"

Hook began to pipe up with a suggestion when Gold cut him off. "I don't think we should be trusting this scum with anything else on this little detour. I believe that we would be better off swimming to shore and fending for ourselves," the man spat at Hook.

His arm was still around Belle, who looked like she was ready to fight Hook herself with no help from Gold at all. She hadn't ever had a real conversation with the girl, but rumor was that Regina had locked her up underground as her curse punishment. Seeing the sweet girl she couldn't help but think that the punishment wasn't meant for her, but rather the man who was standing next to her; as protective as someone with the title of Dark One could be.

"Gold, you can go ahead and swim to shore, but as far as I know, Hook is the only one of us has ever been to this land before and I believe that we should all stop arguing and let him give his suggestions." Emma glared at Hook.

She knew that he was the only one on the ship that could get them out seeing that the two top magic users on the ship had no ideas. She was going to have to trust him again to get them out of the hole he dug for them, but at that moment all she wanted were answers.

Hook looked at Emma nervously. She could tell that he didn't have very good news. "Last time I left this realm, I exited through a portal that only appears every thousand years. Its purpose is to send away Lost Ones that are too much of a burden to take care of as well as to rid the land of unwanted pirates," he gestured to the group.

_I guess we're all considered pirates now, _Emma thought. She remembered how Hook had once told her that she would make one hell of a pirate. _ I cannot let him be right about that. I can't trust him. _ She knew, deep, deep down, that she was going to have to constantly remind herself about not trusting him. She didn't want to trust him and it scared her to death that she knew that the only way to get back home was through trust.

"Sadly," he continued, "I left Neverland not more than forty ago and our friends in the Enchanted Forest would be long dead by the time we get back using that method. And besides, the portal takes one back to their land of origin, meaning that this lad here would be all alone." Emma sighed as he gestured to Henry who was still right by her side. She would just have to accept that she was going to be living for all eternity. There was no way that she was going to do anything that would put Henry in danger, especially if that meant leaving him alone without her once again.

"What the hell do you suggest we do then? By what you're saying we are going to be stuck here for the rest of our lives," Emma replied. She was still holding on that bit of hope she had during the madness that occurred earlier with the town imploding; the hope that she was going to live the rest of her days safe and with her family the way she was supposed to. Even with this unexpected change of plans, her subconscious still thought she was going to be in Fairytale Land any second.

"I don't know of any other way of getting out of Neverland, but I may know someone who does," Hook responded. _Why the _hell_ is he being so damn cryptic? _Emma mused. She didn't have all day to wait for an answer. _Well, I actually do. We could debate this for a lifetime and we wouldn't age a day. _Nothing she thought made her feel any better.

"Spit it out, Hook," Emma prompted. She was not going to wait for Hook to get a reaction from each sentence like he was some comedian.

"If anybody can help us, it's an old friend of mine from the mainland. Granted, we did not part on good terms, but she is the only one who would have the resources to help us if she wants to."

"So you're telling me that last time you were here you made enemies and that is what is going to hold us back from the only person who can get us back to our home safely and together?" Emma didn't think she had ever heard Mary Margret this livid. And she had thought she got her temper from her dad.

"What I did last time I was in this realm is not the only thing holding us back from getting back to the Enchanted Forest. There is also the fact that my friend cannot travel between realms. She is simply the most powerful person on the island. If she can't help us, nobody can."

* * *

As she lay in bed unable to sleep, Emma came to terms with a few things. The first was that she was going to be occupying this terribly uncomfortable bed for quite some time. Hook had said that they would make land in seven days, but she doubted that they were going to find anything useful on land. And that would mean that they would be right back on this very ship because this bed was better than none. It was actually strange how many rooms with actual beds the _Jolly Roger _had. Compared to the pirate ships she was used to seeing in movies that contained one room with hammocks, the ship had enough rooms for everyone on the ship to double up. Except Regina and Hook who both got their own rooms.

She looked over to the bed next to hers to see Henry soundly asleep. She smiled realizing that at least he was safe and they both were together. Emma didn't know what she would do if she had left Henry with Granny or Ruby or Archie or Leroy earlier and have been separated from him. At least she had her son and her parents. All she needed now was a permanent place she could call home for once in her life.

She laid her head back down on her pillow when she felt it. _Shit. Now I know why I have stayed away from boats my entire life. Besides the fact that I could never afford one. _Emma sent one last look over at Henry to make sure he was asleep and bee lined out of the room.

As soon as she made it to the deck, she leaned over the side of the ship. _At least nobody is up to see me puking my guts-_

"Aye, I see you haven't got you sea legs quite yet, love." _Oh, god. Please let me be dreaming. Please let me be dreaming._

But, to her displeasure, one did not often throw up in dreams. Emma leaned over the edge of the ship once more. She felt so terrible that she didn't even notice the cool metal that pressed on the back of her neck as her hair was gathered away from her face by a hook as soothing circles were rubbed on her back.

"This will all be over soon enough, love. You'll be running around and ignoring the fact that you actually like me in no time."

_What was _with _this guy? _she thought. But, as much as she wanted to, she couldn't come around to telling him to go away.

When her stomach finally settled Emma sighed and slid to the floor, unintentionally taking Hook down with her.

"Whoa, lass. You could give a man a warning before-"

"Could you please just shut up? Who gave you any right to talk just hours after you took away what was supposed to be my happy ending?" she yelled. At that moment, she didn't care who she woke up. All she cared about was giving Hook a piece of her mind and letting him know how much he hurt her. She had kept her emotions in check all evening even though it felt as if her heart was crushed and she couldn't hold in the anger she felt for the pirate any longer. She didn't even know that she was crying until she tasted the saltiness of a tear on the edge of her lip. "I just want to go home!"

"I do too, love. I do too," he spoke calmly, as if anything could make up for what he did to her family by landing them in Neverland.

"If you wanted to go home so bad, they why the hell did the bean take us here?" Emma sobbed.

"Whenever one throws a bean, they have to think of where they want it to take them. When I threw that last bean, I desperately wanted to go to the Enchanted Forest, but in one corner of my mind I thought about the first time I threw a bean. That was mere hours after the crocodile killed Milah and cut off my hand. Some of that sadness came back when I threw the bean and sadness always leads back to Neverland." He genuinely sounded sad about the situation.

"I lost someone too, once," Emma sighed, not completely sure why she was telling Hook, of all people, this. "His name was Graham. He was one of the first people I met when I came to Storybrooke and I had finally warmed up to the fact that he wasn't going to break my heart when I kissed him and he died right in my arms. Come to find out, Regina had crushed his heart because he began to remember who he really was. Me coming to town and being around him killed him."

She was a sobbing mess by now. Her walls that she kept up to make sure nobody ever knew how she really felt were crumbled around her. She knew that letting someone know how broken she really was inside was a very, very bad idea, especially if that person was Hook.

She hurriedly wiped the back of her hand across her face and started to stand up. "I'm sorry Hook, but I can't do this." She was stopped by a noise barely over a whisper. A word that she couldn't quite make out.

"What?" she questioned suddenly feeling stupid because she probably just imagined Hook saying something.

"Killian," he said a bit louder. "It's my name, love. Killian Jones," he spoke sincerely.

"Well, Killian," the name sounded strange rolling of her tongue, "Will you promise that you'll get us back home?" Emma implored.

"Aye, you have my word that I will do my very best to get us all back to the Enchanted Forest." She turned around to look him in the eyes. Not a lie in sight, but after his stunt earlier, she was not convinced.

"How do I know that I can trust you?" she questioned.

"Because if you didn't you would have let the rest of your family throw me overboard." The statement contained no sass or sarcasm. Pure truth.

"Touché. You might want to get some sleep. Don't want you to snap at somebody tomorrow. I don't know how much longer I can keep them from throwing you overboard," Emma said with a smile. It felt good to smile event when the quest to get back home was going to be hell. "Goodnight, Killian."

"Hardly night anymore; there are only two hours until dawn, Princess!" he shouted after her as she walked back to her room.

"Well, I need every bit of beauty sleep I can get, Captain." Every sensor she had in her brain telling her do anything thing besides get along with Hook, _Killian, _was blinking bright red. But she couldn't undo what was already done, so she simply walked back to her room; ready to sleep and not think about the terrible situation they were all in for a few hours.

* * *

**I wonder who that friend on the mainland is. I couldn't possibly be a certain princess who is telling the other half of this story, could it? **

**Anyways, I hope you liked the CS part. I swear that if somebody doesn't get queasy in the actual show I will throw something. Maybe this is just because I get so seasick and I want other people (even if they are on a TV show) to feel the pain. Muahahaha! But I mean, Killian holding Emma's hair back while she throws up. *sigh* Just thinking about it makes my little fangirl heart melt. **

**I don't know when I will get the next chapter up because I'm getting a new roof and they are going to have to take down the wi-fi receiver. But that does mean that I will not be distracted by the internet while I write. So you all should get a few chapters pretty quickly when the internet gets back up. Thanks for reading!**


	4. Cabin Fever

**AN: Just to let you know, this chapter is a bit shorter than usual. It's main purpose is to get to know Selene a bit more while she waits for the action to come to her. And, as you know already, the action is on it's way...**

* * *

**Selene: **One would think that after living the length of many lifetimes one would gain the virtue of patience. Clearly, Selene was the exception to the rule.

Feeling that she would be unable to be her normal put together self around the mixture of the few boys that knew of the current situation on her hands and the many that did not, she took her dinner alone in her room the night before. When she laid down to sleep, sleep would not come resulting in her staring over her small castle for several lonely hours watching as Guards switched posts, Sneakers did midnight training exercises and Guardians paced their room while intently making sure that the _Jolly Roger _did not move in a course other than that of the one they predicted.

At an hour when her sundial was useless, she heard a whimper from the room that was originally intended for meetings. She walked over and slowly opened the door wider than the cracked state that it was in and peered inside. There, laying in a small, child sized bed was the only person she had ever let herself love since she was taken from her homeland. Laying there was her only daughter, only love in her long life; the only one that she dared let in past her walls of pain and loss.

Seeing that the young girl was rolling around in the middle of a nigh terror, Selene stepped through the door and knelt down at her daughter's bedside. She reached out a hand to brush her girl's brow while whispering, "Ife, love, wake up. It's only a dream. Nothing is wrong, love. You're safe."

At last Ife awoke with a start, her chest heaving from the terror of her dream. She leaped into her mother's welcoming arms with hot tears streaming down her rosy cheeks. "Do you want to tell me what you saw, my dear, so I can tell you that it is not true?" Selene asked soothingly while running her fingers through the tangles that were present in the long, dark hair running down her daughter's back.

"Seelie, there were bad pirates in the castle and they were going through my room looking for my mirror and there was a really bad one who had a hook where he should have a hand who wanted to hurt me and take my mirror away!" the girl cried.

Selene was taken aback for a moment at her daughter's words because they were less of a childish delusion like most nightmares are and more of a memory of something that happened, but not in front of the girl. All she could think about is how Ife was one of the few people in the castle who was truly safe when the pirates had broken their defenses and how Selene had be the one, not her daughter, that had been threatened by the pirate with a hook for a hand, Captain Hook his crew had called him, and how this very same pirate that she had nightmares about was again sailing the seas of Neverland, slowly making his way to infiltrate their very home.

But, she could not tell her this. as She had never lied to her daughter and now was not the time to start. Even though the girl had lived in the land of never growing up as long as her mother had, her mind and body hadn't matured more than a few years in thousands. Even with all of the days she had faced, she could handle nothing more than any small child, smaller by far than any of her boys. She would not be able to return to slumber with the knowledge that the hook handed pirate that haunted her dreams was lurking in the very waters that she splashed in when it got especially warm on the island. She decided on giving the safe answer that was not a lie, not even an untruth, but a promise.

"I won't let the man with the hook anywhere near you or your mirror. Everyone in this castle will do everything in their power to make sure that this pirate stays far, far away from you, love." Selene spoke these words with all of the sincerity that she could. She _would _keep the pirate far away from her daughter. All of the boys _would _do everything, even lay down their own lives, to protect the most innocent one among them all.

As she said this, Ife buried her head farther into her mother's neck and let out a soft, "Thank you, Mommy," before she let go and sat back down on her bed. "Can you tell me a story, Seelie? To help me go back to sleep?" the young girl pleaded.

Not being able to deny her anything, Selene sighed while she tucked her back in and sat down on the edge of the bed, her fingers twirling her daughter's soft hair around her finger.

"Once upon a time," she began, already seeing the feeling of safety and secureness fall back into her daughter's eyes.

* * *

She was up earlier than she would have liked the next morning. Sleep had finally come to her once she was sure that her daughter was soundly asleep. For a moment, she was at peace with the world in only the way that the oblivion of waking up can make you. She felt calm and secure, the way she felt most mornings when she had woken up recently, until she remembered the nightmare that her daughter had had the night before. And she remembered the ship that was sailing ever closer and closer to the castle. And she heard a squawk from her bedside table.

Rolling over, Selene saw a hawk, Pig she remembered was the name given to it by one of the newer boys who had come from her land, perched on the top pillar of her sundial with a scroll tied firmly to its foot. She quickly swung her feet off of the bed and untied the scroll. She was desperate to know if the Sneaker crew she sent out the day before was safe, even though she knew that no real danger had come their way yet.

She quickly read through the note. No information was given besides that Bennet had the boys spread out around the beaches of the coast; eyes on the lookout for any ships that sailed their way. Selene sighed, longing for the next few days to pass quickly. Nothing, not even the ever lurking danger of what is to come, is worse than waiting. _Nothing is going to get better with me just sitting here, _she thought as she stood up and began to get ready for the day. She walked over to her desk and quickly scrawled a note in reply to Bennet telling him that she would send an update as to the _Roger's _location right after she made a visit to the Guardian's room.

She also wrote a quick note to tell Ife to go to the kitchens when she awoke. Selene was not going to wake her up to go to breakfast with the boys when she had been up at an unknowable hour with a nightmare.

She tied the small scroll for Bennet to Pig's foot, gave him one of the treats she keeps in her desk and sent him off. She proceeded to get dressed for the surely stressful day ahead and stuck Ife's note on her bed table on her way out.

Knowing that she again wouldn't be able to casually chat with the boys over a meal, she stopped by the kitchens and grabbed a pear on her way to the Guardian room. She knew that if she flew through the halls she would only get to her destination faster, resulting in her having more time to stress out over the lack of information, so she decided to walk all of the way across the castle. Why the Guardian room was set all of the way across the castle from where her room was she had no idea, but it did give her time to think about the situation far too much just like her had the night before when she should have been sleeping.

Not knowing was the only think that every made Selene mad. She could handle any number of diplomatic situations without outwardly showing any impatience, or emotion at all for that matter. She could stand over the graves of ones she cared about without shedding a single tear. But not knowing something; that would be her downfall.

In her time on the island, she had listened to every story that every boy had ever wanted to tell her and wrote it down in multiple volumes that took up nearly an entire bookshelf. She knew everything that a boy would tell her of their native realm, right down to the aspects that only their life had. She could name every star in the Neverland sky and name every creature by the sound they made to attract a mate. Not knowing who was on the _Jolly Roger _and what they wanted was going to drive her insane.

She made it to the Guardian room and burst through the doors without announcement. A few of the boys jumped at the noise her shoes made when she stalked over to the small island in the center of the room. She had been told by a few different people that none of the Guardians ever talked much to each other when they were working, so when she came in to visit their ears had to take a minute to adjust to the volume. Before she got there, though, Artie grabbed her arm.

"The _Roger _has been keeping the course we predicted for it. She sailed for most of the night-"

"You've been here all night!" Selene exclaimed. Suddenly, she didn't care about anything else besides Artie's wellbeing. Just one of the consequences of knowing someone for a few thousand years.

"Calm down, m'lady. I'm fine. And, if you don't mind me asking, did you get any sleep last night yourself?" Artie asked with concern on his face.

"I got enough. You, on the other hand, were here all night working. You need to get some rest. I'm sure you'll be needed much more when the pirates land," she begged. She could see the dark circles that were beginning to form under his green eyes.

"I have a class to teach in," he walked over to the sundial next to the door behind her, requiring him to drop her arm that she had forgotten that he was holding. "An hour and a half," he returned to say; taking his place back in front of her. "I'll retire after that."

"No. You have two choices. You can either cancel your class or let someone else teach it. You are going to sleep, at least for a few hours. That is an order." She really hated to use her status against Artie, who had become more of a friend to her than anyone else she had ever met, but she couldn't let him go about without sleeping.

"I'm fine, your majesty. Trust me. Over the years, I've needed less and less sleep to feel well rested. I'll be able to survive going one night without any. I don't need you to look after me."

Him calling her "your majesty" instead of his usual "m'lady" hurt her more than anything else that he said. He had always used his own name for her, even after he had been instructed over and over again to stop. She had always allowed it and eventually everybody let it go. She wished that boys could be more casual when talking to her, but it simply was against protocol. Artie being able to defy the rules was one of the things that made him special.

"Artie, I just don't want one of our best Guardians sluggish when I have boys out there in the woods that are going to be following these pirates and leading them towards the castle. I just want what's best for you as well as the rest of the kingdom." She tried to put as much genuine understanding into her words, especially the part about wanting what was best for him. She cared about all of her boys, but the fact that Artie had arrived on the island just days after she had, still completely lost as to how she was supposed to act and say, gave him a special place in her heart.

"Fine, m'lady. You win this one. Vince, can you take over my class today?" he quietly shouted across the room. When he got a positive reply he turned back to Selene. "At least let me be the one to fill you in and inform you as to the course and timetable that we expect the _Jolly Roger _to take."

"Start talking then," she replied as they began walking over to the island in the center of the room.

"We are still backing the idea that the ship will make land in two days. What time during the day depends on how long they are going to sail each day. We saw last night that they are definitely not afraid to sail at night. They will most likely be here the morning after next, tomorrow night at the earliest. But keep in mind, they may choose to land on the Southwest coast for a shorter trek to the castle," Artie explained.

"Shit! Do you really think that they may not land on the Northwest coast? I'm going to have to tell Bennet not to get to comfortable where he's stationed. What do you think the pirates are going to do?" she demanded. She hated being wrong, especially with something so small, but important like where a pirate ship was going to make land.

"We don't know. By tonight we should know if they are going to continue sailing South or if they will start sailing East, but I would keep sailing if I were them. It would be much quicker." He said all of this while pointing at possible places the ship could go and waving his arms this way and that to emphasize his point. Artie really loved being a Guardian. He had taken up almost every occupation in the kingdom over his many years, but being a Guardian had always been what he wanted to do. Maps were one of his passions before Neverland and a map that changed with the island was a dream come true for him.

"Great. I guess I'll tell Bennet to be ready to move. Thank you for filling me in, but it looks like it's past your bedtime," she teased as an honest grin spread across his face.

"It was a pleasure speaking with you, m'lady," Artie bowed as he started towards the door. It only took her a split second to start after him.

"I'll walk with you," she quipped, slipping her arm around his. "I might as well as you have just told me everything that the ship is going to do for the rest of the day."

He smiled at her as they exited the Guardian room and down the hall. It was moments like these that she relished, because it wasn't often that she got to be a friend first and princess second.

* * *

**I don't know if you guys have seen all of the pictures from 3X01 yet, but dang. My heart is probably going to explode before the 29th! Ugh, my babies are perfect. :) **

**Anyways, thanks for reading, following and reviewing! In the next chapter you will get Emma trying to avoid Killian, but it not working because honestly, who can stay away from someone as perfectly imperfect as him forever? And maybe another heart to heart? **


End file.
