Welcome to Storybrooke (AU)

Neal Cassidy

𝘌𝘮𝘮𝘢. Her name made him feel anxious. Anytime he heard her name regardless of the context, emotions of regret and guilt over took him. He had been horrible to her and she must think of him as a horrible guy when that is not who he is, at all. He loved her truly! He cared about her! He had to let her go, whether he really wanted to or not to give her her best chance. Of all the girls in the world that he could have possibly fallen in love with, he fell in love with the savior, the one who would break the curse, and save everybody. Curses were his father's speciality. Nothing could be simple, you couldn't just leave the Enchanted forest, it seemed. It would always come back to you. She was the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. It still shocked him as she seemed as normal and un-magical as any ordinary person could be. Well the thing is she doesn't know. They were both from there and they had never known it. August had explained everything to him after he left her. On her 28th birthday, she will go to Storybrooke where the final battle can begin.

He had a dream about her. Which meant he was thinking about her a little more today than usual. He hated himself for leaving her in the way that he did. He often thought about her. Today was her birthday. Her twenty eight birthday. Why did that sound familiar? It was an insane concept to grasp how fast time went by. It felt like yesterday when they were sneaking around and thieving. Portraying their Bonny and Clyde act. Nearly ten years have gone by. He eventually gave up on his life of crime when he got his life together in that time. It was a long road but he got there. Eventually. He just hoped she found a way out too. They looked out for each other when they dated but he broke that promise. Something that he has regretted every day since and probably will for the rest of his life.

They were about to settle down before that awful day came. Tallahassee. Whenever he thinks of there, his mind automatically shifts to Emma. That is where they should both be right now. Now, she could be in Tallahassee with somebody else. Living the life that they had once wanted to live together. They never found Tallahassee and that is just another one of Neal's many regrets when it came to Emma.

There was something about that relationship that he would always carry with him. She may have been his first love as he was hers but it was true love whether he realised it at the time. He could never stop loving her. Even when he had started seeing someone new. He had been engaged to a woman he met in New York named Tamara. He broke it off last week as he just wasn't happy and as long as he carries his torch for Emma, how can he move on? He has done everything he can to get over her but he just couldn't..

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a blackbird knocking on his window. He opened the window and there the bird was holding a little postcard. On one side, it said " 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘛𝘰 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦" and on the other was a Boston address.

Curiosity got to the better of him and then it hit him. This was it. He needed to be the one to get Emma to Storybrooke.  Unless it was a complete coincidence. He didn't think so. Today was her birthday.  The final battle starts today. He had mixed feelings about the whole thing. He wanted to live away from all that magic nonsense but again this was a once off chance to see Emma again and it gave him an opportunity to apologise. Something that had been weighing him down for the last ten years.

He opened his dresser in his bedroom to get ready and underneath one of his shirts that he reserves for work, he found a book. One he had never seen before. He examined the cover. He was certain that hadn't been there when he last cleaned his dresser..... whenever that was. He opened the book and went through the pages until his eyes feel down onto a particular story. In the picture there was a familiar little boy who resembled a younger Neal. 𝘖𝘳 𝘉𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦.  He moved his attention to the older man accompanying him in the illustration. 𝘙𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯. In other words,  his power obsessed father. His father who had abandoned his own and only son in order to keep his capability.  It hurt back then and it still does now. Thinking about it, he realised he had done the same thing to Emma except his reasoning was different. Like they say; if you love them as much as you say you do then you must love them enough to let them go. Losing her was painful but she had been alone. Longing for her parents, setting her free was the only way that she could find them. Even if she hadn't yet...

August told Neal that his relationship with Emma would jeopardise her fulfilling her destiny as the savior. If they needed him to be the one to bring her to Storybrooke than why did he have to leave her? They could've stayed together and been a family. Neal let out a sigh. He was angry but there was no point in dwelling on the past, even as powerful as his father was. No amount of magic could change what happened in the past. This was something that Neal just had to live with. He was a son of villain. His father had done terrible, unspeakable things to many innocent people. It was like his father's actions followed him to this day. No wonder he didn't get to live happily with his true love. Villains don't get to live happily ever after. He wouldn't call himself a villain but he was definitely no hero.

He had mixed feelings about this all. If he went and it was her apartment. He knew without even knowing that she wouldn't want to see him. She'd probably slam the door in his face and call the police. He wanted to see her. He just needed her to hear him out and listen to what he wants to say. He's not asking her to take him back ( even if he longs for her to be back in his life ). There is also his family situation. He wasn't prepared to see his father again after being abandoned and left to fend for himself in an unfamiliar place in a different world which he had spent many years learning to adapt to. He didn't know did he actually want to see him or not. Only time would tell.

With that, he grabbed what he needed stuffed it all into an old suitcase he had used on one if his business trips and took his car keys. He took one long last glance at his apartment. He had no idea when or if he would ever be back. He took the postcard and slipped it into his shirt pocket and off he was on the long drive to Boston.