Captain Swan: Protection

Chapter 5

Natalie's POV

I can't tell them who I am.  They might see me differently.  I'm not an enemy's kid, quite the opposite actually.

In the original timeline, my father had already been killed, but I stopped the Snow Queen, so he's alive.

I grew up without a father, so seeing him here is awkward and kinda scary.  I really don't know him at all, other than what people tell me.  Meeting him is definitely the most awkward moment of my life.

It's so hard calling Mom by her first name, I'll just have avoid calling her anything for a while.

We got to Snow and David's apartment, and I saw Regina, a teenage Henry, Snow, a baby, which I assume is Neal, and a woman in a long blue dress with a braid over her shoulder who I think is Elsa.  They looked surprised but smiled happily to greet me.

"Hi.  Who's this?"  Snow asked David.

"This is Natalie, the girl who saved Hook a few days ago.  And you'll never believe this, but she's actually from the future."  David said.

"The future?  That's impossible."  Regina frowned.

"Actually it's not.  A second time portal was created, and I used it to come here."  I said.

"Well I think introductions are in order."  Snow said.  "I'm Snow, that's my husband David."  She pointed to him and then looked at the baby.  "That's our son Neal.  And that's our daughter Emma," she looked at Emma and then Henry, "and that's our grandson Henry.  This is Regina."  She gestured to her and then the other woman.  "And this is Elsa."  I was right, Elsa.

"Mom, she's from 16 years into the future and says she knows us already."  Emma said and Snow looked shocked and a bit embarrassed.

"You're from the future?  Can you tell me what happened to my sister, Anna?"  Elsa asked as she came over to me, hopeful.

"I can't tell you much, but I can tell you that you found her and you both returned to Arendelle."  I smiled and she looked relieved.

"That's wonderful."  Snow said with a happy smile.

"Thank you."  Elsa said thrilled.

"Ok, I have a question.  Why did you come back in time?"  Regina asked.

We all sat down and Emma and David told everyone what I told them at the station.  "So you're here to protect Killian from the Snow Queen?"  Henry confirmed and I nodded.

"Wait, Hook said you used a fire wall to block the Snow Queen's attacks, and then you turned the wall into fireballs and shot them at her.  That sounds a lot like my magic and the magic I'm trying to teach Emma."  Regina said.

"Yeah, well, you're the one who taught me."  Everyone looked shocked.

"Why would she do that?"  Emma asked.

"I can't really answer that.  I just know that one day when I was 2 my mother saw me using magic, and a few days later she took me to Regina's house and Regina's been teaching me ever since."  I left out the fact that Regina and my mom were best friends and that Regina had always adored me.  And the fact that she's my godmother.

"And you don't know why?  Who's your mother?"  Elsa asked.

I shook my head.  "No.  I was warned not to tell anyone who my parents are under any circumstances.  That could have disastrous effects on the timeline."

"What kind of effects?"  Henry asked.  It's so weird seeing him as a teenager.

"I'm not sure but I'm not taking chances."  I don't care how much he pesters me, I'm not telling.

"Different topic here, you said you had help with the time portal.  Who helped you?"  Snow asked one of the things I wanted to avoid.

"Um, well, the thing is, he sort of came to me and asked for my help with it."  They are gonna be so mad.

"But who was it?"  David asked.

I took a deep breath and went for it.  "The Snow Queen killed my father before mom knew about me.  The person who helped me asked me if I was interested in going back in time to save my father.  He said that he couldn't go back in time because of a problem with the spell and something about a pure heart.  Anyway, the person, um, well.  It was Mr. Gold."  I looked down when I said his name.

"WHAT!?"  Everyone yelled.  I flinched.

"Why would that crocodile want to help you get your father back?"  Killian asked, clearly upset and confused.

"I asked the same thing but he wouldn't tell me, so I refused.  I know that trusting him is dangerous, and as much as I wanted my father, it was too risky not knowing his motives.  A few days later Mr. Gold told me that the Snow Queen killed someone he cared about and that he used some kind of magic ball to see what would have had to have happened for that person to live.  He saw that Killian had to live, and that my father would be alive too.  He told me that if someone was to go back in time and stop Killian from dying, then the person he cared would be alive.  And protecting Killian would also keep my father alive.  I was hesitant but he told me to think about it.  I did some research on the Snow Queen and anyone she killed and put a lot of thought into it before I agreed."

"The only people Gold cares about are himself, Belle, and Henry."  David said concerned.

"Please tell me that witch doesn't kill Henry."  Regina begged.

"No, Henry is fine.  The Snow Queen doesn't harm him."  Regina visibly relaxed but then Snow spoke.  "So she kills Belle."

"She won't as long Killian doesn't die.  Like I said, he's the first domino."  I said.

"I don't like it.  How do you know he was telling the truth?"  Killian asked me.

"I did research and found out that Mr. Gold's wife, Belle, was in fact killed by the Snow Queen.  Which makes sense because I never met anyone named Belle in Storybrooke growing up."

"And your mother just let you work with the Dark One?"  Emma asked shocked.

"Um, well.  Not-Not exactly."  I hesitated.

"She didn't know, did she?"  Emma asked.

"If she would have she would have locked me in the house."  My mother may have even locked me in the jail if it meant stopping me from working with Mr. Gold.

"That's understandable!  And how did you hide it from her?"  Emma asked.

"She'd been stressed out lately, so my grandparents told her to take a vacation.  I stayed with them, and was able to convince them that I was hanging out with friends."

"They must have been pretty gullible."  Emma muttered.  If only you knew...

"I don't want to argue, and it's already been done.  Can we please drop the subject?"  I begged.

Emma wasn't happy, but it would have been worse if she knew who's daughter I am.  She did drop it, but she might bring it up again at some point.