"Well, what is it?" a voice sounded, its owner leaning over the newborn baby with a frown. Another scruffy face joined in, and another, and before long the six of them were huddled round her. She blinked up at them, cocking her little head curiously.

"It says here it's an 'Emma,'" said Slightly, who could read. He traced his finger along the embroidery of her baby blanket confidently.

"What's an 'Emma'?" Curly said, nose scrunched up.

"I think it's a type of sandwich," piped in Nibs.

"It's a baby," a voice filtered in from across the room. The boys straightened, glancing over at its source. He kicked off from the wall he'd been leaning on, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. "Emma is a name."

"A baby?" Curly echoed. "What's the fun in being a baby?"

"You were a baby once, you know," the boy said again, shaking his brown hair out of his face.

"Does that mean we get to call ya Bae-by now, eh, Baelfire?" Felix called from his seat at the end of the table. He had his pinky finger in his mouth, digging at a piece of food in his teeth, his eyebrows raised amusedly.

"Very funny," Bae said over his shoulder. He glanced back at the newborn, his mouth twisted into a frown. "I don't know what you were thinking, Felix," he said finally, "because there's no way the lot of us can raise a whole person."

"I know that," Felix snapped. "And it's not that I wasn' thinkin', I was just following orders."

"Don't know why you listen to him," Bae mumbled, lowering his eyes. "For all the ill you speak of him, you still always do what he says."

Felix's eyes narrowed sharply as he sat up straight in his chair, raising a threatening eyebrow. Feeling as though he was being challenged, Bae quickly added, "I just think…I don't know. Maybe she should go to the pirates. They're grown ups, and if it was the captain's idea, anyway, it should be his responsibility."

Relaxing, Felix leaned back, flicking his eyes between Baelfire and the newborn, Emma. "S'pose," he mused, his tone still veering on annoyed. He wasn't convinced, though; No, he thought it best to wait until Hook signaled him.

The moment he came to that conclusion, however, baby Emma opened her tiny little mouth and let out a wail that seemed unfathomably loud, given its source. Several of the boys leapt back, most of them regarding Emma as though she might explode at any moment.

"I agree with Bae! Take her to Hook!" Curly hollered from behind a chair, followed by a few other shouts of agreement from various hiding spots across the room. Bae shot Felix a pointed look, who rolled his eyes.

"Alright, alright," he sneered, scooping up the screaming baby and holding her at arms length. She continued to wail, possibly even louder, if it were possible. "Maybe you'll stop yer hollering for the captain."

The moment he touched down on the ship, Emma quieted. Felix bewilderedly glared down at her, half appreciative for the silence—that had felt like the longest flight of his life—and half ready to chuck her overboard. He glanced around the deck; most of the crew looked mighty pleased to be back in Neverland, their hats off, heads turned up to the warming sun. It was around 3 p.m., which meant springtime was just about due.

He spotted the captain at the helm of the ship, having a heated discussion with the first mate, and flew up towards them, cradling the baby Emma in his arms. "Yer baby, Cap'n," Felix interrupted, shoving the baby into Hook's arms.

Hook stared down at baby Emma, who smiled back up at him. He blinked, frozen, and then quickly passed the baby back to Felix. "Not my baby, lad," he chuckled, almost giving away his nerves.

"I think she is," Felix shot back, returning Emma.

"You'll find that she's not," Hook glowered, visibly growing impatient as Emma changed hands again.

"You made me bring 'er here! I did it as a favor! She's yours!" He plopped Emma back into Hook's arms before crossing his own, burying his hands in his armpits so that he couldn't take her back.

Hook sighed, noting Felix may have a point. He turned his eyes out to sea, just now recognizing that he didn't quite think his plan all the way through before carrying it out. But, he didn't regret it; if he hadn't acted, who knew where he'd be now. Wherever that curse took them, it sounded bloody terrible.

"The lost boys can't keep a baby," Felix added, in a softer voice.

"Neither can pirates," Hook replied, sparing a derisive glance to his crew. He didn't gauge the maturity of his men to be worth much over that of a group of boys, really. Neither can I, he also admitted to himself. He was no father, and he certainly didn't want to be one to a stranger's child.

He flicked his eyes back down to Emma, the child suddenly feeling so heavy in his arms. Belatedly, he realized he'd never truly held a baby before. There was something about her presence that was at once unsettling and still natural; he simultaneously wanted to keep her at arms length yet protect her.

Even stronger still was the nagging in his gut telling him he, inexplicably, did not want to raise this child.

He wished he had somewhere appropriate to set her down, or hand her back to Felix, but his arms remained sorely crossed. He even considered passing her off to Smee, still rocking on his heels behind him, nearly forgotten, but he would hardly even trust the bumbling first mate with a bottle of good rum, let alone a baby.

Felix shook his head. "So you gonna tell me what's really going on here? Cap'n, if you didn't want the damn thing why'd ya nab her?"

"She's the savior," Hook sighed, turning his eyes back down to Emma, who had seemingly fallen asleep in his arms. Felix opened his mouth, a question on his lips, his nose wrinkled, but Hook plowed on. "The short of it…one very scorned witch decided to cast a terrible curse, one which ripped many from their homes, from their happiness. It took them to a new land, a place without magic. As it would be, this child was prophesied to break the curse. I need to get to that land, but I can only do that if this one does her job."

Felix snorted disbelievingly as he pictured the baby, swaddled in her white blanket, brandishing a sword. "That thing? It's not much bigger than a pixie."

"Well, I don't expect it any time soon," Hook snapped, rolling his eyes. Snow White's last message pierced his thoughts. Twenty-eight, her voice reminded. The memory was already somewhat dulled, and he'd only been in Neverland a mere number of hours. He always underestimated the way time moved around the island; it preyed on the mind, and always consumed the most important.

He'd learned that the hard way.

Twenty-eight, he told himself again, and then made a mental note to write that down somewhere safe. He couldn't risk losing that vital piece of information. Emma hiccuped in her sleep, bringing Hook's eyes back down to her resting form. He couldn't even begin to picture this tiny thing aging into a girl, let alone a woman.

Hook sighed, shifting Emma in his arms as a thought crossed his mind. "Lad, it is of the utmost importance that Emma has no knowledge of her destiny. At least, not until she's ready. No child deserves to be burdened with a responsibility of such severity."

Felix swallowed his amusement, sobering. "Understood, Cap'n." He licked his lips, looking as though he wanted to add something, but held back. Instead, he said, "Well if you ain't raising her and I ain't raising her, what's the plan?"

"If I may, Captain," Smee called from the edge of the helm. Felix had certainly forgotten his presence, jumping into the air at the sound of his voice, but Hook knew he had been listening all along. "I have an idea, though I don't know how much you're gonna like it…"

"The things I do for vengeance," he spat to himself, thrashing his sword indiscriminately at the thicket before him. He hated the bloody Neverland forest, almost as much as it seemed to hate him.

Granted, it wasn't as…vindictive as the local flora of Wonderland had proven to be, but Neverland's wood nonetheless never resisted an opportunity to trip him or send a leaf the size of a small child barreling into his jaw. He supposed it was still angry with him.

"I am not alone, if you hadn't noticed," he hissed to nothing in particular, as if the fern on his right planned to charge. He adjusted the makeshift sling that cradled the still, sleeping Emma - he'd been under the impression babies were more interesting than this, but all she seemed to wish to do was nap - tightening the strap over his back.

He walked up to a tree, closing his eyes and placing his hand on the bark, holding it there for a moment as if waiting for it to speak. Unsurprisingly, the jungle remained quiet. He shook his head, feeling silly and glad that he was alone, and then rounded the tree in search of the side which moss grew. There. North. The opposite direction he'd going.

He would've liked to say that he still hadn't forgotten his way through the forest, but it seemed the pirate's ego would take yet another hit today. Mumbling angrily to himself, he turned on his heel and tromped through the brush, back the way he'd come.

Hook recalculated his route. The first time, he must've swung so wide around Pixie Hollow, desperate to avoid that horrid place at all costs, that he walked right past Piccaninny territory unscathed. Fifty years ago, the scouts, who surely saw him or at least heard him slashing blindly through the forest, would've killed him on sight - or would've tried to, at least.

He couldn't help but brighten a little at the thought. If they hadn't shot him down the moment he got within two hundred feet of their land, it was a good sign. Perhaps it even meant they'd finally let go of whatever they were mad about. He knew it was something big, something that had to do with a betrayal, but for the life of him, he couldn't ever remember what it was. However, what likelier saved his skin was the sleeping baby he carried on his back.

In fact, he'd been counting on Emma to keep him alive. There were still plenty of those who were angry with him, even angrier than the Piccaninny's and for far worse reasons.

He trudged along, his eyes sharp for any movement in his peripheral vision. If memory served—which he couldn't quite be sure it would—he should just about be entering Piccaninny territory.

Suddenly, a twig snapped behind him, and Hook instantly whirled around, raising his sword. The movement seemed to wake Emma, who gurgled in response. A tall man, his bare chest gleaming, stepped out from behind a tree with an empty smile and a knife in hand. "Hello, Hook," the scout sneered, disdain seeping through his accent.

The pirate returned the smile just as dryly, an eyebrow rising high on his forehead. He knew scouts didn't travel alone. They always worked in pairs. "Where's your friend?" Hook shot back, swiveling his neck from side to side.

"Behind you," another voice hissed, dangerously close. Hook pivoted to see a woman twenty feet off, with a drawn arrow, aimed dead between his eyes.

"Well, it's rude to forgo introductions," Hook quipped lightly, unsure which foe to face. "Unless you plan to skip the formalities of a duel."

"You won't be fighting us," the man laughed humorlessly, rounding in on Hook.

"I doubt that very much," Hook replied between his teeth, his patience dwindling. He had no intention of dying at the hands of the Piccaninny's, not when he was a mere hurdle away from his revenge.

The smile dropped from the scout's face, but not the hand brandishing a weapon. "We have orders not to kill you," he continued, visibly annoyed by that fact. "We are taking you to the chief. But if you struggle, we are allowed to…how was it described?" He looked to his companion for assistance, his mirthless grin returning. "Defend ourselves."

Hook surveyed the two of them, testing the air, before rolling his eyes and returning his sword to its sheath. This was going better than he'd hoped, but he wasn't about to let them see that. He gave his good hand a little twirl in the air. "Lead on, then."

The moon was rising slowly overhead as the scouts guided Hook through the heart of the village. He nodded to sparingly to a few as he passed them, a sarcastic smile plastered firmly across his lips. He knew he should be doing his best to be charming, given what he was about to ask of his enemies, but there was something inexplicable about this part of Neverland that set him on edge.

They reached a giant fire at the center of the village, noticeably devoid of people. The male scout's hands pressed down on Hook's shoulders, driving his knees into the dirt. "We wait here," he ordered gruffly as the woman with the arrows slipped off.

Hook stared into the flames, determined not to show his fear as his heartbeat rose. This plan better work, or everything was for naught. As if sensing his palpitation, Emma's tiny hands gripped his ears and gave a gentle tug, drawing a small laugh from the pirate that couldn't be helped.

The scout glared down, mouth still set in a grim line, urging the pirate to be quiet.

A pair of footsteps rounded the fire. First appeared the female scout, looking just as sober as her cohort, followed by a tall, older woman with long, dark braids and even darker eyes. Her lips were painted blue, upturned dangerously towards him. "Hello, Hook," she said coldly, now standing over him.

His mind raced. He knew those eyes. Why did this woman look so familiar? A name seared into his thoughts, whispered like a forgotten dream. He slowly lifted his gaze up to her, an eyebrow raised. "Hello, Tiger Lily."

Whaaaat? Tiger Lily! Surprised? Hope so.

A little note: I realized I left out a crucial detail, which was Hook knowing how old Emma would be when she broke the curse. So I edited that in to the first chapter. That's what I get for posting this impulsively. I also opted for shorter updates because they'll be more frequent. This chapter was kind of fillery, but I still loved writing it. What about little Baelfire, huh? Curious how he'll factor in? :)

And again...this chapter is shamelessly AU. I'm way too invested of the character of Felix even though I completely made him up, haha. He always steals scenes from me. Another warning: I am really really busy and finals are starting to gear up, so I can't promise consistent updates. :( That's why the chapters will be shorter, so I can get more out. I promise soon we'll get some Hook/Emma banter. This is the last chapter she's a baby...but it was necessary for plot reasons.

Next Up: Emma has a birthday. (but which one?)

Reviews are lovely and will encourage a faster update!