A/N: This is the last part! Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. I hope to be writing more OUAT stories in the future. There are so many talented people in this fandom and I'm just happy to be a part of it. So thank you for paying my story any attention!

The wonder in Emma's eyes was the most exhilarating feeling Snow had ever experienced. While Charming told their daughter who she was and who they were she just watched them. Her beautiful little daughter accepted the story that sounded like a fairy tale as her personal truth. A grown up Emma had been doubtful up to the last moment. And she had been angry with them for leaving her alone. This girl wasn't. No matter how long she looked at her, she couldn't comprehend that this was going to be their life from now on. They would get to raise her. There were so many complications that Snow didn't even want to think about. But maybe this was Emma's second chance; she had saved all of them so that they could resume their lives. Maybe this was her reward.

"So, do you understand?" Charming asked, finishing his story. Their story. Emma seemed to think about it for a moment and then nodded.

"You're my daddy," He nodded with difficulty, "and you're mommy." Her soft hand touched Snow's. The eyes that looked so much like her own were filled with love and trust. This is going to work, Snow told herself desperately, as her heart spilled over with love for her daughter.

"I am." She said her voice barely above a whisper. But she realized this wasn't the first time Emma acknowledged them as her parents. Just before they had lost Henry, Emma had called them 'mom' and 'dad'. The feeling of that first time hadn't left her. It was still present everywhere, but mostly in her heart. This girl, who was still Emma somewhere deep down, gave her love so readily. Who would Emma be when she grew up – again?

"I'm hungry now." Little Emma said and looked at both her parents. She smiled sheepishly. She had probably been hungry all the time, but she had waited for something. Maybe for this. It no longer mattered. This was the first day of their new life together. The first day of being the family they should have always been.

Both Snow and Charming felt protective when they saw Regina and Gold on the deck of the ship. Obviously, they were curious to see baby Emma. As Charming took her hand in his, Snow realized that protecting her from all of this was going to be hard. Especially once they got to Neverland. They needed the help of their newly extended family.

"Emma, I want you to meet Regina and –" Charming stared at the man with the many names and personalities. If it were up to him, his daughter wouldn't have to get to know him. However, he was with them on this ship and he was Henry's grandfather. He was family.

"Mr. Gold." With a crooked smile he extended his hand and Emma took it with a broad smile. She liked being the center of attention, which was still unusual.

"Have you met mommy and daddy?" Emma asked Regina and Mr. Gold. Snow was as surprised as she was touched upon seeing Regina's expression. The last time she'd seen the woman like that must have been when she was still a child herself. There was no evilness to be found on her face. Rather she seemed to be trying to reach out to Emma. To make sure the girl was real. Then it occurred to Snow: maybe she saw something in her daughter that reminded her of Henry. The son she had lost.

"We have, honey." The endearment slipped as easily off Regina's lips as it had off Snow's earlier.

"I'm hungry," Emma turned to her father, apparently bored with talking to the adults.

"Let's go find something to eat." Charming eyed them warily and took his daughter's hand to lead her away. Emma waved at them before she started chatting about something that included dragons and princesses. For a moment, Snow couldn't move. She tried to accept this situation as their new reality, but somehow she couldn't. All of this still felt like a dream. A very strange dream. This isn't right, her mind told her again and again. She just couldn't shake it off.

"For what it's worth, I couldn't do it either," Regina suddenly said and brought Snow back to reality.

"Huh?"

"Stab her. She's- she's a child. She's…" Regina and Snow shared a look. They hadn't felt this close to each other in so, so long. If only they could have bonded over something else, Snow thought. But it always had to be heartbreak. Always something that shattered one of them.

"It's not her." Gold said. With a pensive expression on his face he wandered off. Much to Snow's surprise, he seemed to follow Charming and Emma. A weird feeling spread through her that felt eerily like fear. There was no way Charming would let Gold hurt their daughter. Not again, but she suddenly felt a strong need to be with her.

"I have no idea how to… how we can do this."

"And yet you always find a way to work it out." Regina said with the slightest hint of annoyance. Just for once Snow hoped she was right.

Occupying Emma on a ship turned out to be a fairly difficult affair. Except for Hook's small toy Emma didn't have anything to play with and while Charming told her story after story, the girl could hardly sit still. And they seemed to be under constant observation. Neither of the other passengers bothered them, but neither of them could stop staring at the girl either. Snow didn't want to know what they were thinking and she knew that Charming felt the same. He had actually suggested keeping her inside, but their daughter was way too energetic.

"She would have had so much fun in the Enchanted Forest." Charming told Snow when the sun was about to set. Emma was staring at the sunset in wonderment. She clutched Hook's small figure and yelled something at the Captain on the other side of the ship that was incomprehensible. It was obvious that she had taken a liking to the man. Not that her parents could understand why.

"Maybe we should really go back once all of this over." They had discussed it before, but the adult version of Emma had seemed reluctant to go. After all, this world was the only one she'd ever known. Somehow Snow felt like going back now would be like disregarding her daughter's wishes.

"I could teach her how to sword fight," Charming mused, "You'd teach her how to ride. We're going to be a family." Despite seeing this imagined life clearly, Snow didn't join in. Everything Charming said had been her dream – once. It all made sense; this was their second chance. Good was winning, wasn't it? By chance, she saw Hook looking at Emma. While she couldn't understand why he was so affected by her change, she felt for him. Twenty-eight years ago they had sent a baby away to give her a better life. A life she never got to know. The Emma she knew however – would she have chosen to do it all again? Could they decide for her again and again? There was a way to undo this. A terrible, heart-wrenching way that could return them their Emma if only…

"What are you thinking about? I thought we decided that… there's nothing we can do."

"I know, I know. It's just – I miss her. I miss Emma." When the words were finally out, Snow felt relieved as well as guilty.

"We'll make new memories," Charming told her. Looking into his eyes she realized he was thinking of his grown-up daughter as well, "We'll get the life we always wanted." Snow wished she could tell him that she no longer knew what she wanted.

"Magic always comes with a price," she told him instead, "I'm not sure… I'm not sure I'll be able to pay it."

"Mom! Dad!" Emma came running towards them. She threw herself at Charming and he caught her without even thinking about it. He couldn't help but laugh at her.

"Can I help Hook sail? He said I so could!"

"It's almost time for bed, princess."

"But before bed! Now. Just a moment. Please, daddy? Mommy?" She was good at this, Snow realized. And she already had Charming wrapped around her little finger. Everything was just the way it was supposed to be. Except that it wasn't – and no matter how beautiful this was, she couldn't accept it.

"I'm not sure." It was a trust issue; to Charming Hook was a shady character that couldn't be trusted. Particularly with his daughter.

"Pleeeeease." Emma turned to Snow, hoping to have more success. Suddenly there was a feeling in her chest that reminded her of that moment when Regina had ripped her heart out. The same agony, the same emptiness.

"Go ahead." She told her daughter. They had to let go of her at some point. Charming glanced at her, but if she looked at him she'd just change her mind. Snow wasn't sure he even knew what this meant. But she did. At least she thought she did – and she hated the Captain for it.

"Thanks!" Emma quickly hugged her mother and when she wanted to run off, she held her a moment longer. The girl didn't struggle and put her head on her mother's shoulder. Snow closed her eyes, desperately trying to hang on to this feeling. A memory she would be forever thankful for and she stored it away, locked it deep inside her heart.

"I love you," she told the little girl, trying not to choke up, "Go hug daddy, too, ok?" Emma did as she was told. As his daughter put her small arms around his neck, he saw his wife's expression. He was either in denial or still clueless. In the end it didn't matter, because it wouldn't change anything. Together they watched their daughter jump around happily in clothes that didn't fit her and never would.

"What… what did just happen?" Charming asked and when Snow didn't reply, he finally seemed to understand. He tried to follow Emma, but Snow stopped him.

"No." He whispered. Before Snow finally gave into her tears, she thought he might have sounded relieved.

"Who teach you to sail?" Emma asked when Hook helped her steer the ship. His heart beat crazily. He hadn't thought that her parents would actually let her out of their sight. And from over here he couldn't even see them. More importantly, they couldn't see him either.

"My father." He answered simply. The small dagger he had hidden suddenly felt heavy. He didn't think he could go through with it. This was a child. A child he actually liked. Many men, and even a few women, had died at his hand (or hook). Never a child. I'm not going to kill her, he told himself, I'll just remind her who she is. If it didn't work… then he wouldn't live long enough to feel the unbearable guilt. Back in Storybrooke Emma had pleaded with him to go along with their crazy plan because Henry couldn't lose another parent. Little did she know that she would be the mother he came close to losing.

"Is he a prince like my daddy?" She asked with pride.

"No. Stop asking so many questions."

"Why?" She turned to him and looking into her innocent eyes Hook knew he wouldn't be able to do this.

"You have no idea who you are, do you?"

"I'm Emma," the girl said and furrowed her brows, "a princess." She finished with a big grin.

"Ok, Swan I'm doing this for you. For your kid." Emma stared at him as he fumbled with the dagger still uncertain whether he could actually go through with it. A hint of fear appeared in her eyes and he hesitated. No one came to stop him.

"Hook?" He closed his eyes painfully, "You want your toy back?" She held it out to him with a questioning look. He would miss this about her; this trust that could only be found in children. Such a vulnerable quality. The dagger was in his hand and he smiled at her. A forced smile, but she couldn't tell the difference yet.

"You keep it." He told her and in one swift motion he put the dagger right through her heart. Her eyes grew wide, but there was no sound. Betrayal was the only thing stronger than this magic. Broken promises and broken trust.

"Thank me later, Swan." He said as the child fell into his arms. Moments passed and Hook felt the impact of what he'd just done. There was no blood as he held the small, lifeless body. The breath went out of her and he thought he was going to pass out from the sudden nausea. A strange, salty breeze hit him and distracted him for a moment so that he hardly noticed how the weight in his arms grew heavier and heavier.

"What the-" Her voice sounded strange, yet heavenly in his ears.

"Hook, what are you doing?" A fully grown Emma asked with a voice that sounded like she'd just woken up after a night of heavy drinking.

"You're back!" His cheerfulness irritated Emma. She tried to free herself from his grip as she noticed her strange attire. Luckily the clothes had been too big for little Emma, so that they at least covered some of her body. But they didn't cover nearly enough to be in Hook's arms.

"Let go of me."

"No can do, Swan. I gotta take you back to your parents." He picked her up easily enough and while Emma kicked and yelled insults at him, he could only smile.

"Good to have you back." He mumbled and she heard it.

"What are you talking about?"

Hook wasn't surprised to see all of them emerging from different parts of the ship. Emma had been rather vocal ever since she had returned to her old self.

"Emma?" When she heard her mother's voice Emma suddenly grew silent. It was the way she said her name; as if she'd been gone a while and only just returned. She didn't know how close that was to the truth. Finally Hook let go of her and Emma almost stumbled, because her knees seemed unusually weak. Both her parents were with her in an instant. She felt a coat being put over her shoulders and wondered why the situation seemed so familiar.

"Why is everyone staring at me? What happened?" Emma looked around and the unreadable smile on Gold's face and Regina's relieved expression freaked her out. Then there were her parents. Torn between happiness and a sense of regret, they stared at her as.

"Nothing, honey. Everything is going to be ok now." Snow told her. She smiled through her tears. Happy tears, mostly. Some of them were for the daughter she briefly got to know and who she could have loved as well. Fate had chosen a different path for them: this one. One day she would thank Hook for what he had done. One day soon they would tell Emma about all of this. They had so much time now.

"You don't look ok." Emma said, rattled by their behavior. Both of them laughed and took her into their arms. This time as she held her, Snow knew this was the way it was supposed to be. They might have missed many years, many memories that never would be. There would always a sense of regret, of longing for what might have been. What could have been. But this was their story.

"But we will be." Charming answered for all of them and Snow knew he was right, because after all they were a family. A sometimes strange, sometimes screwed up form of family – but the best one there ever was.

END