For as long as she could remember it was the same thing. The dream started with her wandering through a forest, a beautiful forest that was perpetually bright without a cloud in the sky. She wasn't running from anything and she wasn't running to anything. It was refreshing, unlike the constant abandonment in her real life, the feeling like she always had somewhere to be but never quite knew where, never fitting in anywhere she ended up.

The first time was right after the Swans, the family she thought was going to be her family, found out they were having a baby of their own. Her new dad - or well... not anymore - told her that she was going to be returning to the home she had come from and she had cried herself to sleep after the initial shock wore off.

In her dream she visited the forest for the first time and was stricken with a sense of comfort she had never before experienced. She had the urge to climb every tree but knew that she didn't have the time... or at least she didn't think she had the time. So she picked the tallest one and began the climb, had made it halfway up before a voice from below called to her.

"What are you doing up there little lass?" the voice asked and she tried to peer through the branches to make out the face of the man below. He looked to be about the same age as Mr. Swan, and he had dark hair that trailed down his face in a scruffy sprinkling that reached his neck. He was wearing all black leather and she thought - no that couldn't be right. She inched her way back down the tree so she was sitting on the lowest branch, feet dangling off and she was just about eye level with the man when she discovered that she'd seen right, he was missing a hand.

What surprised her was how like just being in the forest, she was also extremely comforted by this man's presence, though she didn't know who he was.

"Um, why are you in my dream?" she asked him in a small voice and his eyebrow raised in amusement.

"Well, darling, I live here." he said simply, shrugging easily, as if it was the most obvious fact in the world. He smiled even more broadly when she rolled her eyes at him.

"The name is Killian," he said, bowing dramatically and she couldn't help but giggle.

"I'm Emma!" she returned the introduction, hopping off the tree branch to land next to him, and followed his movements by offering a deep bow.

"Ah, Emma, a lovely name," he said, still smiling and then frowned slightly. "Do your parents know you're here?"

She hesitated, looking down at her feet and feeling awkward for the first time since entering the forest.

"What is this place?" she asked without answering his question and he raised an eyebrow again, not pushing the subject.

"Why the Enchanted Forest, of course." he said gesturing around himself and again acting like this was the most obvious conclusion.

Emma looked around at the forest, still feeling that eerie calm from the location and company. She started walking, exploring her surroundings and feeling for the first time as if she belonged somewhere. She looked up to Killian and he was studying her, but letting her answer his questions in her own time. She frowned at him.

"I... don't really have parents." she said quietly and he just nodded at her, understanding and not giving her the sad smile other adults did when they found out.

"Ah, yes, I know your kind well, lass... you're a lost girl." he said matter-of-factly and she felt like she should be sad about that but she wasn't.

"Actually, Killian... I don't feel lost when I'm here." she told him with a small smile.

He just stared at her for a moment before returning the smile and they walked in silence until morning.