I would have Red Riding Hood (Meghan Ory) stay for the second half of Season 2, all of Season 3 and the rest of the series starting with Season 5 Episode 18. She would officially become a main character just as much as Emma, Mary Margaret and Regina.
Instead of staying in Oz, Dorothy and Toto go with Red to stay with her friends in Storybrooke.
Season Six has no wish realm and instead introduces characters from The Emperor’s New Groove. Also it has Ruby and Dorothy taking over the diner and renaming it “Double Red Diner”
No Evil Author arc in Season 4.
Season 6 instead ends with Henry and Granny leaving Storybrooke for the Enchanted Forest since there’s no wish realm
No Musical Episode.
We would be introduced to Goldilocks as Ruby’s rival from the Enchanted Forest.
Season 7 instead focuses on the Real Cast. Also we would have Gothel’s main plan to bring back previous villains such as Peter Pan, Cora and Fiona.
Winnie the Pooh and the 100 Acre Woods would also be introduced in the new Season 7
Just wondering. What is the relationship like between Eva, Argent and Amelia. Do they see eachother as siblings even though Eva is the aunt?
Haven't seen them in a while and I am starting to miss them.
Hello! Sorry I wanted to do some art for this but I’ve been so busy, but here’s some chibis I did of them!
They are all pretty much siblings due to their ages/closeness. The kids do refer to her as their unit when speaking to others but she’s definitely their big sister all but name
Chapters: 5/?
Fandom: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Prince Charming | David Nolan/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard, Daniel Colter/Evil Queen | Regina Mills, Lacey/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold
Characters: Emma Swan, Henry Mills (Once Upon a Time), Evil Queen | Regina Mills, Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard, Prince Charming | David Nolan, Huntsman | Sheriff Graham, Red Riding Hood | Ruby, Widow Lucas | Granny, Grumpy | Leroy, Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Geppetto | Marco (Once Upon a Time), Belle (Once Upon a Time), Lacey (Once Upon a Time), Abigail | Kathryn Nolan
Additional Tags: so many characters - Freeform, just everyone in the show I guess, Alternate Universe - Once Upon a Time Fusion, Inspired by Once Upon a Time (TV), The Dark One (Once Upon a Time), Angst, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Not Canon Compliant
Series: Part 1 of Once Upon A Time: This Story was Told Once Before
Summary:
This story was told once before and will be repeated with different endings, different beginnings, and different characters.
It is up to you to open this book and read from its chapters, for no one can force you. However, as I've said, this story has been told before and will be told again, so whether you read this one or not, you already know what lies within.
(In another Authors book, Once Upon A Time played out differently but it mirrors the one you know)
FINALLY AFTER ABOUT A YEAR I GIVE TO YOU CHAPTER FIVE OF MY OUAT REWRITE. Dang this was the worst time of my life sorry pookies!! i hope you enjoy it!!!!!!
pairing: henry mills x oc
a/n: we're back, baby! did not think it had been a full year since the last update, oops. sorry. this is a really good one, though! i love it.
warnings: a little angst, one mention of sex, mary margaret being a prude.
wordcount: 1378
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“Baelfire is Henry’s dad?!”
With Emma and Henry gone to Manhattan, Killian currently being M.I.A, and no apparent crisis on their hands, Mary Margaret and David had invited Max over to play board games to pass the time. They had been in the middle of an intense game of Ludo when Mary Margaret had gotten a call from Emma and excused herself. A couple minutes later, she’d come back with the shocking news that Rumpelstiltskin’s son was Henry’s father.
Mary Margaret nodded. “Yes.”
Max let out a really long sigh and leaned back in her chair. “Well, that complicates things.” She just sat there for a long time, thinking, as David and Mary Margaret continued to discuss it.
“So Rumpelstiltskin is Henry’s grandfather?”
“Apparently.”
“But I’m his grandfather.”
“You can have more than one.”
David stammered a little before sighing. “So, his step-grandmother is Regina. The Evil Queen.”
“Actually, his step-great-grandmother,” said Mary Margaret. “And she’s also his adoptive mother.”
David leaned back in his chair just like Max. “It’s a good thing we don’t have Thanksgiving in our land, cause that dinner would suck.”
Mary Margaret chuckled. “Or… maybe this will mellow everyone out!”
Max chuckled. Then, just as she’d quieted down, she started laughing again, and soon she was laughing so hard that the two adults were giving her matching concerned looks. “Can you…” she forced her laughter down so she could get her words out. “Can you imagine Gold’s reaction? Finding out that Emma’s had sex with his son?”
Mary Margret gasped. “Max.”
Max rolled her eyes. “Oh, come off it. I’m fourteen, not five. Also, what’d you expect? I was raised by Hook.”
“Yeah, great environment to raise a kid in,” mumbled David.
Max tossed him a glare that, ironically, was not well-suited for a child.
–––
It was a few hours later — during which the trio had eaten lunch and switched to playing Monopoly — that Mary Margret got another phone call from Emma. She seemed relieved at the excuse for a respite from the game, quickly excusing herself to the bedroom. Max couldn’t really blame her. She was pretty much the only one having fun at this point. She’d been in the lead the entire game and had watched as David grew more and more frustrated with how poorly he was doing. Mary Margret was doing way better, but she clearly wasn’t a fan of the competitive animosity this brought out of Max and her husband.
What neither of them knew, though, was that Max had been cheating the whole time by constantly grabbing way more money from the bank than she was supposed to.
When Mary Margret came back, Max got her answer to where Killian had disappeared to. He’d sailed the Jolly Roger to Manhattan to finally make his attempt on the Dark One’s life when he was no longer protected by magic. It had worked, and Rumpelstiltskin was currently dying of a magic poison.
Mary Margret had clearly been given the job to break the news to Max about how they’d been forced to leave Killian behind and steal his ship in order to save the Dark One’s life — which was apparently high priority all of a sudden; probably Baelfire’s doing — and Max was forced to reassure her several times that she understood. Which wasn’t a lie. Killian was unharmed except for a knock to the head, and finding his way from New York to Storybrooke would definitely be easier than his journey from the Enchanted Forest. That didn’t mean she had to like it, though.
But the good news, according to Mary Margret, was that this meant that Neal — which was apparently Baelfire’s new name — would be coming along and spending some time in Storybrooke. It seemed like, however this Rumpelstiltskin dying thing would work out, things were really falling into place for Henry.
“That’s great,” Max said, rolling the dice as an excuse for avoiding eye-contact and moving her piece, the thimble, forward two spaces.
Henry had always been everything she had loved about the land. He was welcoming and cozy and grounded. He was a place where one could find shelter. Find a home. She envied his roots. His large family tree.
Max was nothing like that. She was merely a length of seaweed, at the mercy of the tides and of fate, being tossed around from place to place, with no power to change her future. Even when she was launched into a place she actually liked, she knew it would be torn away from her, eventually. That was just how it was.
A sad smile pulled on her lips, trying not to let the bitterness show as she said, “...Henry’s getting a dad.”
David and Mary Margaret froze at that, exchanging looks of concern, and for the first time, David seriously considered how little he knew about Max’s upbringing. The only information he had was that she lived at Storybrooke Orphanage, that no one had come to claim her after the curse was broken, and that, somehow, during her entire life, the closest thing Max had found to family was Captain Hook. Which, somehow, despite it all, made some sense.
Despite his hatred for the man, David couldn’t deny just how well he and Max… fit together. They matched. You could tell they were family just by looking at them. Whether it was the black leather, their easy banter, matching smirks, or just that very pirate-like tendency for mischief and rule-breaking that Max had always possessed. They were a set — just as much as him and Mary Margaret.
There was just one thing he didn’t understand.
“Why do you trust Hook so much?” he asked, hoping he wasn’t stepping over a line.
Max studied him with a little surprise and some apprehension. “Because he saved my life,” she said simply. “At great risk of his own. And not just stopping me from falling off a cliff or saving me from an attack, anyone could’ve done that. No, he saved my soul. I wouldn’t be here without him.”
There was a finality to her last sentence that told David and Mary Margaret not to push her further on the subject.
–––
Max hung back by David’s truck as he and Mary Margret rushed towards the docs, David helping Neal with a limping Rumpelstiltskin while Mary Margret checked up on Emma. Henry followed the three men as they made their way towards the car, exchanging words that Max couldn’t hear. She tried swallowing down the lump in her throat, eyes fixed on Neal the whole time.
Soon, Henry spotted her and his face lit up. “Max!” he shouted, running up and wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug which Max feverishly returned, though she didn’t remove her gaze from his father.
Neal’s eyebrows had furrowed the slightest bit when Henry had shouted her name, and when he’d helped Rumpelstiltskin gain purchase on the truck, his eyes landed on her and widened, mouth falling open.
Max pretended not to notice this, instead extending her hand for him to shake.
“Hi, I’m Max. It’s nice to meet you.”
Neal shook himself out of his shock, clearing his throat and taking Max’s hand.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” he mumbled.
“Max is my best friend!” Henry clarified.
Neal raised his eyebrow. “Oh, is she now?”
Max gave him a tightlipped smile, nodding once.
“Okay, kid,” Emma saved the situation by stepping up behind Neal. “Time for Max to take you home.”
Max was relieved at finally having something to do as she went to pick up the bike Mary Margaret had lent her from the back of the truck, though she could feel Neal’s eyes on her the entire time.
“Come on, kiddo,” she said to Henry as she put the bike down and got on it.
Henry mistook Neal’s weird behavior for concern, saying, “Don’t worry,” as he seated himself on the luggage carrier and held onto Max’s waist, “I’ll be safe with Max.”
“Uh, okay,” his dad said.
Max tried her best to give him a reassuring nod before she rode away back to the apartment, hoping this new development wouldn't make her tenuous structure of white lies fall apart.
Cannon divergent oneshot based in 3A when everyone is back from Neverland. CS-centric, and involves Emma coming to grips with her feelings for Hook much earlier. Available on FF Here and AO3 Here.
A/N: Hey everyone! In this chapter, we are taking things back to season 3 and we are rewriting it. I know, I know, you’re all shocked. Me – a devoted follower of fluff and hope – is going to rewrite a storyline where Emma and Henry left everyone behind and forgot them? Yup. Absolutely. Would write this fic a hundred times in a hundred different ways if I could. In this divergent little drabble, we made it through Neverland and got rid of Pan without any more curses or nonsense. Everyone knows what could have happened, but they avoided it, and now Emma is grappling with the fact that something more than a ‘one-time thing’ is happening between her and Hook. Inspired by the song ‘Vulnerable’ by Selena Gomez.
The irony was not lost on Emma that sleep was eluding her.
After what felt like an eternity fighting to get Henry back from the clutches of Pan and from the brink of danger, they were finally home. They’d staved off another curse, circumvented another terrible twist that would have ripped them all apart once more, and, most importantly, her kid was safe, sleeping in his bed and on the road to healing from this terrible adventure.
Over the past week, Emma had barely closed her eyes. Leading them through Neverland and navigating the wickedness of Gold and his father was a constant struggle. The physical toil and the emotional pain had been profound. She was exhausted and weary, but still, sleep would not come.
Here in the loft, the air was quiet, and the mood was peaceful. The moonlight trickled through the glass pane of her window, and the curtains caught in the breeze filtering in from outside. The temperature was perfect, cool and refreshing, but warm under the covers. The bad guys had been beaten, Storybrooke was safe, and the calm seemed stable, at least enough to last through the night. But it didn’t matter. Despite her best efforts, Emma could not sleep. She’d tried everything, but none of it would work.
It’s never going to work, she said to herself dejectedly. Not until you face this.
“Yeah, that’s not happening,” she muttered aloud, shutting down the part of her that wanted to work things out instead of always avoiding.
She heaved out a sigh of defeat and tossed the rumpled sheets off of her. Climbing out of bed and tiptoeing to the kitchen, Emma made sure to avoid all the noisiest parts of this apartment. She didn’t want to disturb Henry or her parents, but she couldn’t handle being cooped up in that bed. It was getting her nowhere. In fact, it was making things worse. Lying there in the dark, she was bombarded by memories and what ifs. It all was overwhelming, and enough to drive her mad.
Wordlessly she moved to the kitchen and found herself reaching for the ingredients needed for a calming cup of cocoa. Despite the lateness of the hour, she knew it would be a small token of comfort in a long, unrelenting night. The motions of preparing the sweat treat were soothing. This was a ritual she had grown accustomed to, and was mindless enough to lose herself in. But this late-night activity, which usually saw her through the worst of days, didn’t yield the desired effect. Her thoughts still wandered, circling back to a particular pirate who perplexed and provoked her.
I don’t understand his motives, she said to herself, knowing this was her cynicism taking the lead. Why is he still helping? Why take the risk? What is he after?
Why does he have to be ‘after’ anything? The reasonable part of her brain replied. Why can’t you just accept that he cares about you?
Because it can’t happen.
It already has. The kiss, in Neverland…
It was a one-time thing.
It doesn’t have to be.
It does.
It doesn’t.
It does.
You’re scared.
Of course, I’m scared! He’s Captain freaking Hook!
He’s just Killian.
“He’s not just anything,” Emma murmured as she mixed in the chocolate, watching the warmed milk turn to a rich, silky chestnut color. Here was the kernel of truth she was terrified to admit. To Emma, Hook wasn’t just a villain or a pirate. He was more, intricate and messy and moving and intriguing.
During their time in Neverland, Hook had awakened something in her. It started with the kiss, that sinful encounter that drove her to distraction, but also struck her heart, piercing armor she had been building up for years. Okay, maybe it started before that. There were plenty of heated glances, and barbed bits of repartee between them that almost felt like foreplay, but the kiss lit a fuse she didn’t realize existed. It was meant to be a power move, a strategic plan to shut him up, maybe the vent some of her frustrations out, but the consequences lingered, and they were ones that Emma never saw coming.
She could still taste him even now, the ghost of that embrace tracing touches on her skin. Pressed up against him, the roughness of leather and metal, the scrape of his beard, the taut lines of his body… She’d given into him in that moment and lingered in the pleasure. When they kissed, Emma allowed herself a minute just to feel and to live. For a fleeting blip of time, the world wasn’t crumbling around her. She was restored and she was hopeful, but it had to be just once. She wasn’t meant to want any more than that. She certainly shouldn’t still be thinking of it now, but here she was. And she was thinking of more too, thinking of the ways he’d risked himself, the ways he’d supported her, the way he’d saved her father. She acknowledged in the silence of her self-dialogue that she had grown to count on him, and that she felt drawn to him, even when his obvious role had come to an end. She should have been eager for him to go, now that the task of defeating Pan was over, but the thought of him leaving left an aching, empty feeling in her chest.
Over the past few days, Hook had luckily shown no real signs of setting outward. He was still sarcastic and cocky and cutting. He was practically gleeful every time he got to torment David, and his actions towards Neal and towards Gold were downright frosty still, but there was honor underneath it all and a respect he gave the others and this town that spoke to a more gentlemanlike nature. She had seen him when they located Henry, and observed a genuine relief when she was reunited with her son. She noticed the way he minded the others, helping far more than he hurt, and how he bit back the bullshit bad guy act when they just couldn’t take it. He could read a room, and he often did, though he hid behind the swagger and the accent. And more than once there was something that colored his gaze, swimming in the blue depths of his eyes. When he looked at her, he hid nothing, and let the weight of his affection flow between them. He may not say the words aloud, but he laid it all out there, showing a vulnerability she never imagined but desperately craved. He wanted her, and Emma… well Emma wanted -
“Couldn’t sleep?”
Emma jumped, her hand moving towards her chest and making contact with the speedy pacing of her heartbeat. Adrenaline spiked in her system, but she immediately relaxed when she saw it was only Mary Margaret. Emma worried for a moment that the conversations playing in her head may have been whispered out loud, but her mother (God that was still so weird to say), showed no awareness. Seeing as Mary Margaret was incapable of keeping secrets, Emma knew her own were safe. At least for now.
“No. You?”
“I wish,” Her mother said, reaching into the cupboard and coming out with cinnamon, bringing a small smile to Emma’s lips. “I never can after these escapades. But your father? Out like a light the moment the bad things pass. It’s almost like it never happened.”
“Lucky guy,” Emma joked, and her mother chuckled, a thoughtful expression coloring her face.
“We are all lucky tonight. It was almost so much worse.” Snow’s words had the lilt of unshed tears hanging on the end. Emma could see the mistiness in her mother’s eyes, and felt the weight of her worry. “We almost lost you again, Emma.”
“I know, but you didn’t,” Emma said, placing a hand on her mother’s shoulder. Snow placed her own hand over it and took a deep breath, nodding. She wiped two stray tears away quickly but collected herself.
“Everything that’s happened… well it’s put things in perspective for me.”
“Like what?”
“I was wrong, Emma. In Neverland, when I practically interrogated you about Hook.”
To say that this was unexpected was an understatement. Emma was shocked at the acknowledgement, even though she appreciated the words.
“It’s fine.”
“It isn’t,” her mother emphasized, and Emma stayed quiet. Snow was right after all. It wasn’t great. It had caused more pain in a series of painful events, but Emma planned to just move past it and leave the discomfort behind them. “I didn’t understand what you had been through. Even worse I jumped to my own conclusions. I was pushing you towards Neal, thinking Hook was the bad guy, but in the end, looking at the full picture, that’s not really the story, is it?”
“No, it isn’t,” Emma agreed. “Honestly, I can’t really follow the story anymore. I feel…”
“Lost?” her mother asked. Emma nodded.
“Yeah. Crazy right? We leave Neverland, and somehow I’m more lost back home than I was there.”
“Maybe,” her mother mused, as Emma poured two glasses of cocoa. She handed them to Snow for added cinnamon, but she was curious as to her mother’s hesitation.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, are you really lost, Emma? Or are you scared of facing what it is that you want?”
The words were a swift punch to the gut, but Emma sustained them, taking a sip of her cocoa and braving up to respond honestly. “The second one. But it’s insane. How is it possible? A few weeks ago, I’d never even met this man. He’s a pirate – a villain from a story that I read as a kid. Things are moving so quickly, and yet their standing still. I don’t know what to do.”
“Do you trust him?”
“As much as I trust anyone,” she admitted, the truth coming out for the first time since meeting him.
“Do you care for him?”
Emma nodded, not daring to say that part just yet. Her mother’s eyes softened, a look of love despite the strangeness of this suitor.
“Does it have potential?”
“I don’t know,” Emma whispered, but the feeling in her chest that had been there for a while now was blooming something fierce. This may not be her gut, per se, but it was something adjacent, an instinct and an emotion screaming out that there was more than meets the eye here. This was different. This was special.
“If you think about the future, is he there?”
“I think I want him to be,” Emma said, knowing there wasn’t much thinking to be done. That was what she wanted, and now, she’d finally confessed it.
“Then you have your answer. It’s just a matter of facing it and doing what you need to do.”
Her mother’s observation hung between them and Emma realized Snow had immediate expectations. “You mean now? But it’s late.”
“So? He’s a pirate. I don’t know much about them, but I’ll hazard a guess that they don’t keep normal hours.”
“This is crazy.”
“Affairs of the heart usually are, Emma. You’ll recall I once bashed your father in the head with a rock, and yet the thought of going one more day without him by my side…” Emma’s pulse skipped a beat at the mention of her heart. Another sign that deep down she had known for quite a while what she wanted. “You’ll never sleep until it’s settled, honey. Believe me, I know. You take after your mother, just as I took after mine.”
Emma didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry at her mother’s joke, but she found herself hugging Snow close and thanking her. From there, things got a bit hazy. She was working off of adrenaline, moving to her room and changing out of her pajamas before heading into the Storybrooke night. It was just after midnight, not tremendously late, but by small town standards it was as quiet as quiet could get. Everything was closed now, the diner, the inn. Even the bar was locked up tight, and that was as late-night as Storybrooke ever got. There was no one around, just Emma and the pounding of her heart. Still, she kept moving, following the advice of her mother and the sense of what-if that had nagged at her all evening.
Soon enough she was at the docks, following the lamp light, and headed in the direction of the Jolly Roger. It wouldn’t be difficult to spot, as the only Enchanted Forest vessel in the harbor, but still Emma worried. What if he’d left in the dark of the night? What if he believed her when she said this didn’t matter? What if she was too late?
When the ship came into view, she exhaled a sigh of relief, but it was quiet. The lights were out. There were no signs of movement anywhere. And then she heard it. Singing, feint at first, but louder as she approached the boat. The voice was deep, but ruggedly refined. She knew it was Hook, but she’d never actually considered what he’d sound like in a song. His voice was beautiful and a little haunting, the seafaring shanty being one of heartache and loss. It was somber and serene, but despite its content, it was also a little bit hopeful. At least to Emma. Because if Killian was up signing instead of sleeping in his quarters after all they’d faced in the past few weeks, maybe that meant he was thinking thoughts like the ones that she’d been plagued with.
On their voyage to and from Neverland, Emma came to know this ship intimately, and the wooden planks called out to her. They were familiar and welcoming, two things she never believed she would ever say. It would be so easy to come aboard and just announce herself. But instinctively she knew it wasn’t okay to board this ship without permission. Insecurities crept in at the realization. She was intruding. This wasn’t right.
This was stupid, she reasoned to herself. I should have waited until morning. I should have –
“Swan?”
The voice she most wanted to hear played strange tricks on her now, sending a shiver of anticipation through her system and a tiny bit of terror as well. She looked to the deck but didn’t see him, then she realized the voice had sounded out from a higher locale. Her eyes climbed the great mast of the Jolly and there he was, perched atop the crow’s nest. With a coordination and grace reserved for the movies, he swung down from the great height with a rope from above. The action only tensed the hard lines of his muscles even more, and Emma took each movement in, unable to look away.
Hook was still dressed in a way she was used to seeing, but now he was missing his jacket and his vest. His hair was tousled, and his beard a touch darker, or perhaps that was a trick of the moonlight. She’d never seen him like this before. He was somehow even sexier than usual, and it overwhelmed her. He descended from the ship at a hurried clip, moving towards her with purpose and precision. He closed the distance between them, until they were mere inches away from one another. When he was near enough, his eyes searched her whole being for signs of trouble, and his hand came out to reach for hers in a show of comfort. She extended hers in kind, and her body came alive at the contact. Her breathing caught as her eyes met his cerulean gaze, brimming with intensity and earnestness.
“Emma, love, are you all right? Is it Henry? Has something happened?”
The worry in his tone was evident, and the honesty she felt flowing off of him broke the last fragments of her will power. She couldn’t take it anymore. She was in this, and it was damn well time that she act like it.
She practically leapt into his arms, pulling him down by the v of his somewhat unbuttoned shirt and kissing him as she’d wanted to ever since walking away back in Neverland. The instant delight that came was heady and addictive, and this time Emma knew that she could savor it. There was nothing looming on the horizon – nothing poised to stop them or intrude on this big moment – and for the first time in a long time, Emma felt free. Free to feel and free to want something only for herself.
Hook needed only the briefest moment to respond. He practically purred out his approval, the growl he let loose buzzing through her and setting her ablaze. His expert use of hand and hook left her shaking. He pulled her even closer, closing the remaining space between them, and enveloping her in every part of him. Emma stopped knowing where she ended and he began. God, this was perfect. Easily the best kiss she’d ever had. How could anything possibly feel this good? His hard body had her squirming in his grasp, seeking any semblance of friction and relief. She’d been carrying desire for this man for too long, but compartmentalizing and hiding it away. Now it flowed freely, surrounding her, engulfing her, and leaving her breathless.
She wasn’t the only one trying to soak in every moment. Hook was just as ravenous, nipping and teasing her with touches designed to seduce and to entrance. He was hot and fierce and alluring, the scent of rum and salt and sea air clinging to him. It felt dangerous and daunting, but also natural and filled with need. Like magnets flung towards impact, two opposites attracting and finding something more. Many parts of this were familiar, but then it changed, sparked fire, and blazed to something past her comprehension.
With the benefit of privacy and time, Hook took control and guided the kiss. He was dominant and demanding in ways Emma never allowed another man to be. It set her soul on fire, and tilted the world into a whole new point of view. This heated embrace stole every shred of sanity Emma had left, but she wouldn’t trade it for anything. Neverland was about her making a statement, and tonight was as well. But Hook would have his say this time, and he showed her so much more through luscious actions than anyone ever had with words. This kiss was a revelation, a seduction any siren would be proud of, and here she was, caught within the storm but finding that she loved it all the same.
Coming up for air was a struggle, mostly because now that she had done this, Emma didn’t want to let go. But after the fervor of first contact, they both knew that they had to talk about this. For Emma, it was time to fess up, and to confess that the fear of taking a chance was overwhelming, but that the fear of losing a chance at this was even more jarring.
“It’s difficult for a man to determine if he’s dreaming when a woman as lovely as you appears like this, Swan.” Killian uttered the words as his fingers traced along her jaw. His hook held her hip in place, the cool metal a source of strange comfort. Emma nuzzled in closer, leaning against his palm and breathing him in as her eyes closed. “But in all my years I’ve never had a dream that compares to you. So it must be real. Please, Gods above, let it be real.”
“It’s real,” she whispered, pressing another soft kiss on his lips. “We’re real. I’ve been scared as hell to say that, but I…”
“I understand, love. It’s wholly unexpected. And I’m not exactly the kind of man a woman like you deserves.”
“Don’t say that,” she pleaded, and the pain in his eyes sent a sharp sting through her heart. Obviously he didn’t see himself the way she saw him. But maybe with time, things would be more clear.
“It’s the truth, Swan.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Aye.”
“Do you want me?” He nodded immediately, his hold on her tightening, whether or not he realized it. Her lips curved up to a small smile at that, and she not so secretly loved how sure and certain he was in this.
“Yes.”
“Would you ever hurt me?” she asked, her voice breaking slightly, and the pain of her past surging up in darkened memories.
“I might, love, but Gods strike me down if I do, because it’s the last thing in the world I’d ever want.”
“And that’s how I know,” she whispered. Looking at him with new conviction, willing him to believe her. “That’s the difference with you, Killian. I see you, I see your heart, and I know you see me. Not the savior, not the sheriff, not the lost little girl or the woman with walls. You see me. Just me.”
“You’re all I see, Swan. Have been for some time.”
She didn’t know who started their next kiss, but she felt the frenzy of it all the same. It was just as magnificent as before, but this time sincerity simmered throughout as well. The understanding they were reaching made it all the better. Knowing they were both going to jump here gave her comfort, but there were still some words to say.
“I don’t really know how to do this,” she admitted, running her hand across his chest as their foreheads touched. She looked down to avoid an embarrassing exchange. Patiently he waited, but when she stayed stock still, he tilted back and brought up his hook. He gently nudged her chin back up, prompting her to see that there was nothing like judgment in his eyes.
‘Neither do I. But we’ll see it through. Together.”
“I’m not good at letting people in.”
This time he grinned, looking like a man who was up for the challenge of scaling her walls. She almost rolled her eyes until he took her hand in his and pressed a gentle kiss upon it. It was an intimate gesture that made her heart soar. Who was this man who could be so roughish and rough one moment and yet gentle and sweet the next?
“That makes two of us.”
“I’m going to fuck this up,” she affirmed, assured of the missteps she would make and wanting him to realize she was so much less than perfect.
Now he looked frustrated, and his voice ground out in a graveled, gruff tone. “Not possible.”
“How do you know?”
‘Because you’re you, Swan,” he murmured, pressing sweet kisses to her face, to her neck and jaw, then her lips once more. “You’re rare and remarkable and real. You can do anything you set your mind to, anything but push me away. I’m in this, Emma. Entirely and completely. It’s soon to admit that, but you deserve the truth, and you’ll always hear it from me.”
“I really want to trust you,” she whispered, clutching onto his shirt and letting this one last worry live between them.
“And someday you will. In the meantime, I can wait. I will wait. As long as it takes.” That was all it took. Peace finally claimed her, and something in her settled.
“Okay,” she murmured, leaning in to hug him and basking in his heat and the gentle thrumming of his heart.
“Okay,” he replied, a lilted whisper in her hair as he held her close.
They remained out there for a while more, but neither needed to say anything for them to realize what must come next. Emma needed to go home, and he would see her there, safe and sound. They walked together, down Main Street in the moonlight, hand in hand, with the closeness of lovers, and the poise of two similar souls seeking comfort in each other. No one was around to see them, but Emma knew they would very soon. She wasn’t going to hide this, and someday they’d walk in the light together, letting everyone know exactly where they stood.
When they were back by the loft, Emma stalled, not wanting this to end. She wished she could invite him up for a drink, a drink that would no doubt turn to more, but she couldn’t. Instead, they needed to say goodbye for now, but she found she wasn’t sure how.
Killian took the moment to pull her in, kissing her one last time, and saying again with actions what words could only half describe. This kiss was sweet but insistent, a reminder and a promise of all that he would give and all that they could have if they chose to be together. When they broke apart, Emma was certain in him and in herself. This was happening. This was right.
“Until tomorrow then, love,” he whispered, pressing one last kiss upon her cheek.
“Good night, Killian.”
His eyes lit up and he smiled at her use of his real name. She made a promise to herself that she would use it more often. He waited for her to go inside, and only when she’d done so did he finally walk away. Leaning against the wooden door, Emma sighed in relief and smiled.
This is the start of something good. Something true. Something… happy.
And with those final thoughts, Emma headed back to bed, and found that sleep came swiftly, bringing with it dreams she hoped would come to pass.
……………..
If I gave you every piece of me, I know that you could drop it
Give you the chance, I know that you could take advantage once you got it
If I open up my heart to you, I know that you could lock it
Throw away the key and keep it there forever in your pocket
If I gave the opportunity to you, then would you blow it?
If I was the greatest thing that happened to you, would you know it?
If my love was like a flower, would you plant it, would you grow it?
I might give you all my body, are you strong enough to hold it?
If I show you all my demons
And we dive into the deep end
Would we crash and burn like every time before?
I would tell you all my secrets
Wrap your arms around my weakness
If the only other option's letting go
If I hand you my emotion, would you even want to take it?
If I give you all my trust now, would you fumble it and break it?
If I let you cross my finish line, then would you wanna make it?
I think I'm ready, won't you come and flip the switch and activate it?
If I show you all my demons
And we dive into the deep end
Would we crash and burn like every time before?
I would tell you all my secrets
Wrap your arms around my weakness
If the only other option's letting go
If I show you all my demons
And we dive into the deep end
Would we crash and burn like every time before?
I would tell you all my secrets
Wrap your arms around my weakness
If the only other option's letting go
If I show you all my demons
And we dive into the deep end
Would we crash and burn like every time before? (I'll stay vulnerable)
I would tell you all my secrets
Wrap your arms around my weakness
If the only other option's letting go
(I'll stay vulnerable, yeah)
Post-Note: So, what did you think? Honestly, I had no intentions of writing this chapter right now. I knew the song needed to be in the mixtape, as I love it, and it fits so well with this series of CS love stories, but I have a number of other fics I am working on now that need attending to. Nevertheless, here we are, and luckily, this has proved to be the perfect palate cleanse for my other writing. My multichapter stories will be back soon. I’ve already started writing, and in the meantime, we all get an added little romantic bonus. Hope you enjoyed this dose of fluff, thank you all for reading, and know that I’m wishing you safe, healthy, and well. xE.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9,Part 10,Part 11, Part 12,Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24,Part 25, Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29, Part 30, Part 31,Part 32, Part 33, Part 34, Part 35, Part 36, Part 37, Part 38,Part 39,Part 40, Part 41, Part 42, Part 43, Part 44, Part 45,Part 46,Part 47, Part 48, Part 49, Part 50, Part 51, Part 52, Part 53,Part 54,Part 55, Part 56, Part 57, Part 58, Part 59, Part 60,Part 61,Part 62, Part 63, Part 64, Part 65, Part 66, Part 67, Part 68,Part 69,Part 70, Part 71, Part 72, Part 73, Part 74, Part 75,Part 76,Part 77, Part 78, Part 79, Part 80, Part 81, Part 82, Part 83,Part 84,Part 85, Part 86, Part 87, Part 88, Part 89, Part 90,Part 91,Part 92, Part 93, Part 94, Part 95, Part 96, Part 97, Part 98,Part 99,Part 100, Part 101, Part 102, Part 103,Part 104, Part 105,Part 106, Part 107,Part 108, Part 109, Part 110,Part 111, Part 112,Part 113, Part 114, Part 115,Part 116, Part 117, Part 118,Part 119,Part 120, Part 121, Part 122, Part 123,Part 124, Part 125,Part 126, Part 127, Part 128,Part 129,Part 130, Part 131,Part 132,Part 133, Part 134, Part 135, Part 136, Part 137, Part 138,Part 139,Part 140, Part 141, Part 142, Part 143, Part 144, Part 145,Part 146, Part 147, Part 148,Part 149, Part 150, Part 151,Part 152, Part 153, Part 154, Part 155, Part 156, Part 157, Part 158,Part 159, Part 160, Part 161, Part 162, Part 163, Part 164,Part 165, Part 166, Part 167, Part 168, Part 169, Part 170,Part 171,Part 172, Part 173, Part 174, Part 175, Part 176,Part 177, Part 178, Part 179 , Part 180, Part 181, Part 182, Part 183, Part 184, Part 185, Part 186, Part 187, Part 188, Part 189, Part 190, Part 191, Part 192, Part 193, Part 194, Part 195, Part 196
Thanks to David's wish a house drops on her during a sudden random tornado.
Robin is not real because it was the wish world and doesn't make it through the portal.
Regina realizes her evil half is gone, except for the pleasure she found in crushing Snowing's hearts is a little too real. She’s also upset about unreal Robin not making it back to Storybrooke. She lashes out at Emma and Zelena.
Emma goes back to Archie to deal with her feelings about the wish world, specifically watching her parents die and what her life would have truly been like raised by them. Through therapy Emma deals with some issues regarding her parents.
Zelena, Archie, and Emma go drinking to discuss Regina’s rage. (You can’t convince me they wouldn’t have been better drinking buddies than Regina and Snow.)
Killian helps David with his father’s death. Killian did not kill Robert.
Emma and Killian get engaged. Zelena is delighted. Regina is jealous.
Rumple is seething over the loss of Belle and Gideon being taken away by Blue. He determines to get his son back. Emma and Killian’s engagement is the final straw. He banishes them to another realm on the Nautilus with Nemo and Liam 2.0.
Henry has his author freak out. Regina panics and goes to Isaac and then Rumple for help. Fearing for her son’s life, Regina gets desperate.
Meanwhile, Emma and Killian find their true love sapling and determine it could save her parents. They make contact with Henry and find out about his author problems. Trying to get home they end up in Neverland thanks to a Rumple induced detour. Tiger Lily is able to provide information re Henry and the author issue.
Emma and Killian arrive back in town. Regina has gotten increasingly desperate over Henry. Emma wakes her parents. Emma and Kililan try to explain what they have learned that could help, but Regina won’t listen. She also refuses to listen to Snow and makes vague comments about how she enjoyed killing her in the wish world.
Zelena goes to try and talk to Regina, but before she goes she makes Emma swear that she’ll watch out for Robin. Emma doesn’t think she should go alone, but Zelena poofs off anyway.
Regina has decided magic will save Henry and she steals Zelena’s by siphoning back into Zelena’s old pendant. Zelena is left weak in Regina’s vault.
Rumple, frustrated about his attempts to find Gideon, comes to see Regina and hatches a plan to save Henry and get him his son back.
Henry and Snow convince Emma and Killian to start wedding plans. Emma agrees only because Henry insists. Regina arrives and is irate that they’d be doing something so trivial. Emma asks about Zelena. Regina says she’s fine.
Zelena escapes Regina’s vault and tells them Regina has her magic. Emma wants to confront Regina. Henry convinces her to wait. To let him talk to her, Emma doesn’t want him going alone. Snow says she should go with Henry. Emma reluctantly agrees.
Henry arrives at the vault, while Emma and Killian take Zelena and Robin to their house.
Henry and Snow arrive at the vault. Regina and Rumple have a potion brewing. It’s a dark curse. Regina has decided that the best way to protect Henry is to ensure that the story doesn’t end.
Regina is holding Zelena’s heart which she crushes in her hand. Zelena is reaching for Robin when she falls back dead on the couch in Emma and Killain’s living room.
Snow and Henry race from the vault back to the loft and house, respectively. Leroy sounds the alarm down the street as the curse looms down the street.
Henry is hugging Emma, who has one arm around him and one around Killian, who has Robin in one arm and the other around Emma.
The curse descends on the town.
To be continued...with the Real Final Battle, eventually
This Story Has Been Told Before : My Main series for my Once Upon A Rewrite. It's a retelling of Once Upon A Time with the same characters but they've all been changed. As well as the same storylines (and different ones)
Requiem: A Rumbelle fic set in This Story Has Been Told Before. Showing how both sides are feeling after their "Separation". Also has slight golden lace at the last chapter.
A Story As Ancient As Time Itself: My Swap Au for my Once Upon A Rewrite. Has Dark One Belle and a villainous Snow White.
Darkness Consumes: A one shot (if people want more I'll add more chapters) about Rewrite Belle getting bitten by a creature that changes her from her core. (Vampire! Belle)
Antiquities and Their Cost: Modern Au for My rewrite. Belle French longs to live her life not just survive. She makes a deal with Notorious Roman Gold to open the town library.
When in Storybrooke: One shot fics set during This Story Has Been Told Before. Mostly during the curse and will have the cursed memories.
While all for my rewrite can be read as Once Upon A Time Aus 🙂↕️
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO SKIN DEEP THE BEST EPISODE OF OUAT EVER!!! ITS A CRIME THAT THEY DIDN'T DANCE THAT EPISODE BUT GUESS WHAT I'M A WRITER REWRITING OUAT AND GUESS WHO GETS TO WRITE A DANCE SCENE.
