A/N: Rating is for future chapters. Please let me know what you think!

There were millions of places all over the world that were more dangerous than Storybrooke and Killian Jones wished that he was driving into any of them. It had been a dozen years since he had driven this same road in the opposite direction, ready to start his life outside of the small town that he grew up in. Like so many of his classmates, he had vowed to leave, desperate for a future that would set him free from small town life. His ticket out came in the form of acceptance to the Naval Academy in Annapolis. There, he had focused on his training and graduated with honors, his mother flying down to see him graduate. Immediately after his graduation, he was assigned and shipped out, rising through the ranks quickly enough that he was considered one of the Navy's brightest young officers.

Killian slowed his rental car as he reached Main St, turning at the clock tower above the library to head to his mother's house. A glimpse of gold out of the corner of his sunglasses had him slowing even further, trying to see if it was golden hair that he had seen. It wasn't, just a flag gently wafting in a garden in front of a house. He returned his eyes to the road and sped up a little, focusing on the street ahead and pushing thoughts of his last week in Storybrooke to the back of his mind.

Adelaide Jones had kept her home well in the years that Killian had been gone. The paint of the house was a lively sea foam green and there were well-tended flowers lining the walk up to the front door. Killian parked the car on the street and took a deep breath as he looked up at the house that held more than enough memories. He pushed his sunglasses up on his head and started up the front walk, the scent of the flowers mingling with the slightly salty smell of the nearby bay.

Home, he thought as he reached the front door. His mother had replaced the old wooden door for one of those trendy doors with all of the glasswork that looked like crystal. He pressed the bell, pushing the hand into his jeans pocket as he waited. A dozen years and he was finally back. He held his breath as he waited. The sound of footsteps drew closer to the front door and the door opened in a flourish. A petite woman with graying dark hair grinned up at him, her smile wide and welcoming as she threw her arms around him. "Killy!" she practically squealed, laughing and smiling and loving him in an instant.

"Mom," he breathed, wrapping his arms tightly around the older woman, breathing in her scent. He felt tears prickle at the corners of his eyes. God how he missed her. He held her tight. Leaving his mother so suddenly and not visiting her when she asked was something that he regretted over the years. He'd written her as much as he could, but he'd never agreed to come home for a visit. Instead, he told her that he was busy, which was true, he'd avoided all of his superiors requests that he take leave for more than just a handful of days.

Adelaide pulled back and grinned up at her son. She held onto his arms and studied his face. "You look well." Her eyes drifted over his face and down the rest of him, making sure that all of her son was in one piece. "You've grown so much…" Her eyes welled with tears and she threw her arms around her son again, burying her face in his t-shirt. He swallowed and hugged his mother, the lump in his throat growing.

He knew coming home for the first time was going to be hard. He'd seen his mother when he'd graduated from the Naval Academy, but there were friends and family that he hadn't seen in years. Some of them would not be as welcoming as his mother, he knew. Knowing Adelaide, she had kept everyone updated if they asked about him. She was proud of her son and had always said as much in the letters that she wrote to him.

Squeezing him once, Adelaide sniffled and stepped back. She kept her hands on Killian's arms. Her smile was brilliant again, transforming her face despite the salty tracks that her tears had left on her cheeks. "Your cousin is going to be so happy that you've come to visit. She was hoping you would walk her down the aisle next week." She turned and motioned to him to follow her to the kitchen. "You will be here for the wedding? How long are you staying?"

Killian followed his mother into the sunlit kitchen, the large picture windows letting in enough light to cast the kitchen into a warm afternoon glow. "I'll be here for the wedding." He slid onto one of the stools at the island counter to watch his mother bustle about the kitchen. Memories of her with less gray in her hair moving around the kitchen to try to keep up with the appetite of a teenage boy warmed him. He smiled at her.

"Good. You can stay in your old room." She stopped and made a face, remembering. "Or not… Well, you could stay on the sofa in the sitting room, if you want." She went for her tea kettle, filling it and then setting it on the stove to heat. Turning around, she leaned back on the counter next to the sink to face her son.

"It's alright, Mom. I'll stay at Granny's." In one of her letters, Adelaide had mentioned converting his bedroom into a work space and boxing up his things. He hadn't minded. It had taken her around two years to bring it up and it wasn't like he was planning on visiting any time soon.

Adelaide smiled at him, folding her arms. "Such a good boy," she murmured and watched her son look away shyly. "You really are, you know. Even after everything, you are a good son." She studied him as if she were memorizing every part of him, noting what had changed and what had not. "Liam would be proud of you." A brief note of sadness touched her words before she smiled at Killian again.

He folded his hands together and leaned forward, his elbows resting on the cool marble top of the island. His thoughts drifted to his brother and he shook his head. He tried hard to live up to Liam's legacy and he wasn't always sure he measured up. "So… Tell me about the wedding. Or Robin. Or…" his voice trailed off and he met his mother's eyes, shrugging his shoulders and trying to keep a light smile on his face. He silently wondered if she had left Storybrooke, but even after a dozen years, he didn't want to come right out and ask his mother about the girl he had been in love with, was still in love with.

"Well, your cousin is marrying a doctor. He apparently went to school with someone from Storybrooke. He did his residency at the hospital and that was where he met your cousin. She fell out of a tree." Adelaide covered her mouth to hide her laughter.

"What was she doing in a tree?"

"A cat, a kitten really, had gone up in the tree and Jefferson's daughter, Grace, was crying because it was crying so she climbed the tree to get the kitten down. She fell out of the tree, the kitten was safe, Grace stopped crying, and your cousin ended up in the ER with a bone bruise."

"Wait, Jefferson has a daughter?" Killian stared at his mother, surprised at Jefferson more than he was at his cousin falling out of the tree. She always was clumsy when they were growing up. Jefferson, on the other hand, had been a self professed ladies man last time he had seen him. He'd gone off to college before Killian had graduated high school.

Adelaide nodded. "She's 11 and the most adorable little girl I have ever seen. Jefferson worships the ground she walks on. I have never seen a man more enamored with their daughter. I'm sure she gets everything she could dream of."

Killian laughed, nodding. It sounded like Jefferson to be totally devoted to his loved ones. "So, he's married?"

"He was… Grace's mother passed away when she was born. Jefferson was devastated. She had been his world and then there was only him and Grace." The kettle whistled softly and she went to pull two mugs down out of the cabinet and take the kettle off the stove. "He would do anything for his daughter," she said softly.

It struck him that he had missed a lot. Jefferson, one of his childhood friends, had loved and lost and was now a father. His cousin was getting married. "Robin?" he asked, anxious to know if his best friend had changed.

Adelaide finished pouring the water into the mugs, dropping a tea ball into each, and turned to place one in front of her son. She smirked. "As long as he is free tonight, you'll see him. He asked me to let him know when you showed up." She turned to pick up her phone and tapped carefully on the screen, hitting send. "He made me promise."

Killian sighed, not sure if he wanted everyone to know he was back in town, but if Robin hadn't changed, the whole town would know he was back. He picked at the chain on the tea ball, playing with it in the hot water as he wondered if Robin would hug him or punch him for how he left. "Any other surprises?" he asked, looking up at his mother through long lashes.

She pulled the tea ball out of her own tea and took a sip. "She asked about you the other day."

He stiffened, pulling the tea ball out and setting it on a napkin he took out of the nearby basket. "Who?" he tried to ask lightly, knowing instantly who his mother was talking about.

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. "You know who. The girl that you have been in love with since she moved into town when you were twelve." She raised her hand to stop his protest before he could make a sound. "I'm your mother, remember? Anyway, Emma asked how you were the other day when I saw her in Granny's."

Emma. Killian closed his eyes and the memories of the days leading up to his graduation played in his mind. Seeing Emma smiling, laughing, promising to meet him. Sneaking out to meet their friends. Hearing her words to her best friend. Fearing rejection, that he never had a chance. Confronting her in the moonlight. Her rejection. Killian had decided to take off for the Academy as soon as he could, his future being his salvation.

He shook his head to clear the memories from his mind and opened his eyes to see a concerned look on his mother's face. "What did you tell her?" he asked quietly.

Adelaide didn't say anything right away, just studied her son's face. "I always knew something happened between you two before you left. You know you can always tell me."

"Mom, what did you tell her?" he asked again, brushing off her words. He'd kept it to himself all these years and wasn't about to share now.

She sighed. "Just that you were doing well and still in the Navy." She sipped her tea.

"Nothing about me coming in for the wedding?" He was hopeful that Emma didn't know that he was coming into town, let alone actually coming early. As much as he wanted to see her, he didn't want to see her at the same time. After his graduation ceremony, he'd walked right past Emma, her words still stinging his heart.

Adelaide shook her head. "No. I only told Robin and Marco and I made both of them promise not to say anything. I wanted this to be your surprise for your cousin."

Nodding his thanks, he took a sip of tea and then stopped. "Marco? As in August's father Marco?"

A blush spread across her cheeks and she tried to hide her face behind her mug. "Yes."

Killian studied his mother for a moment, taking in the blush and the way her body language changed. She seemed younger, more playful. "Are you seeing him?" he asked slowly.

Adelaide nodded slowly, her blush growing darker. "It's only been a few months…"

"My mother is dating Marco Booth." He chuckled softly, at once feeling slightly weird and happy for his mother. Killian was sure more had changed in Storybrooke since he had left and he hoped that there were more good things than bad. Emma and Robin were still here, though, but he wondered what had changed about them. Maybe Emma wouldn't still hold his heart in her hands like she had all those years ago. Or maybe she still did.