The Swan Princess

-6-

Three. Three days. Henry scratched the third line into the black stone, sighing. The cell smells of rotten food, food which he refused to eat. He was surprisingly thin, having spent only three days in this pit, and he was weak.

The whole kidnapping was a blur for him. He remembered seeing his mother, seeing Hook. His vision had gone dark the moment he'd seen the woman. He heard his mother scream.

He woke up hours later to a woman cooing. She sat outside his cell, rocking the baby girl and singing her a lullaby in a language he didn't understand.

"You know," the woman whispered to him. "the only way you're going to get out of here is if you work with me."

"What?"

"You can be free. Stop fighting me, and you could have everything. I mean, you're already a prince. How would you like to be a King?"

"I'm not old enough to be a King." That was stupid, Henry thought. Of all the things I could say...

But the woman was already shaking her head. "You have much to learn, sweetie. I'm Zephyra. We're going to be great friends."

"I hope so." Henry nodded. He had to believe that he was going to get out of here.

Three days later, and he hadn't seen Eva or Zephyra since. Every morning when he woke up, the food had already been set out for him. He hadn't touched it, of course, but it was still brought to him every day.

Henry curled up in the corner, going over a million thoughts in his mind. What made Eva so special? Why was he taken too? Why was Zephyra so hellbent on them being friends? Where was his mother? She was supposed to be the Savior, after all.

The last thought lingered in his mind longer than it should have. This is what she wants, he thought. Of course it was. His mother wouldn't just abandon him like this. Would she?

She'd lost both her children. Henry knew how much pain a mother could feel from losing a child. Regina had been heartbroken losing Henry to Emma, when Henry had decided to travel to the Enchanted Forest to find her.

Love is weakness. He had learned that from his mother.

Now all he had was hope.

-----------------------------------------Ten Years Later----------------------------------------------

Emma laced up her riding boots slowly. She groaned quietly; the bruise on her back she had sustained from yet another riding injury had not yet faded away. That didn't stop her, much to the dismay of Killian. Ten years after the kidnapping of her children, Emma Swan was as headstrong as ever.

"Love, give it just one day's rest." her husband begged.

"I can't," was the answer every single time. "I'm gonna find them."

"You always say that. Every single day."

"And every single day I look for them brings us closer to finding them."

Killian would relent after a while, but in the back of his mind, all hope was lost. It had been lost for the last ten years. His wife had grown distant from him recently. He could sense that she knew something was wrong with him. Of course he wanted to help her, but they'd come no closer to finding Henry or Eva in the last ten years. Even if it is the only thing you have, hope can be false.

"I still think you should rest. You're injured." he called out to her as she mounted her white horse, Bug.

"Doesn't matter." Emma rolled her eyes in annoyance. "My kids are out there, and I should be the last of your worries right now."

"Our kids."

"What?"

"They're our kids. Eva's just as much my daughter as she is yours, Swan."

"I know. I'm sorry." Emma's hands tightened on the reigns and Bug whinnied.

"Emma. Stop." Killian yelled as she began to trot away. Her horse slowed, then came to a stop, and Emma sighed. "Look at me." She whipped her head around to face him.

"I really don't have ti—" she began.

"You need to stop and think this through, love. It's been ten years. You don't even know what you're looking for anymore."

The words hit Emma like a blow to the chest. "You don't think I'll recognize my own children? Are you kidding me?!?"

Killian held his hand and hook up in defense as Emma jumped down off of Bug and began walking towards him.

"Eva was just a baby last time we saw her. Who knows what she looks like now? I'm just trying to reason with you. We should think this out rationally."

"It doesn't sound like thinking to me. It sounds like wasted time while my children are out there, probably wanting me."

"Us."

"Whatever! It doesn't even sound like you care much about them anyways!"

Killian's face looked horrified. "How could you say that?"

"I— Killian, I didn't mean it."

"Of course I care about them. But who knows what's happened to them? Emma, Eva won't even remember who we are."

"Don't say that."

"It's the truth. Unless Henry's told her something, Eva's going to have no idea who we are if we bust in trying to rescue her."

Emma refused to believe it. Even having experienced it herself, she couldn't believe her own daughter wouldn't know who she was.

"I'm going to find our children." she said furiously. "If you're not coming with me, I want you gone by the time I get back."

"Don't do this, Swan."

"You're either with me or against me, Hook, and right now, it sounds like you're against me. You made a choice."

And with that, she was back on her horse riding off into the woods.

Killian would later describe the feeling as similar to when his heart was ripped out by Rumpelstiltskin. Only this time, it hurt much worse.