Hi there,

It's been a while since I wrote a fanfiction (other than the oneshot I posted a few weeks ago) and I don't have the best track record with updating (sorry existing followers) but this time I'm determined! Hopefully my amazing beta JJ will help keep me on track too.

Summary: What would have happened if Emma had never given Henry up? How would August get her to Storybrooke? And when they did get there, what would Emma make of the sticky fingered, one handed waiter at Granny's?

Title: 'Chase the sunset across these seas' (A lyric taken from the song Proof is Better Than a Promise by Speaking in Shadows, check them out on youtube!)

Beta'd by J-J-Sawyer-Phillips, you should all check out her stories - she's kind of a genius

Pairings: Eventual Captain Swan with platonic, friendship/family Wooden Swan and mentions of other canon pairings.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Once Upon A Time, or any of the characters. Alas I cannot pay any claim to the utter sexiness that is Killian Jones/Hook/Colin O'Donoghue :(

Enjoy!

E

I watched this movie once about a girl who got pregnant at fifteen. Right at the end, after her baby was born she said it was hard to care about somebody more than you care about yourself. I figured it must be true. I mean it's human nature to be selfish; I've spent my whole life just looking out for myself, and the one time I trusted someone else to be there for me like I was there for him... well, that didn't end well. Besides, why else would my parents have left me on the side of a road when I was barely a day old? So, that little life lesson made perfect sense to me.

Until I held my son.

He was - is - the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Even in that moment after he was born when he was screaming with bright red cheeks and still covered in goo. I'd decided, months before he was born, that I'd put him up for adoption. I'd had a meeting with a good adoption agency here in Phoenix, made sure that they had a family lined up so he wouldn't end up in the system. When I made that decision I thought it was the hardest choice I ever made. But even though I'd told myself that I wouldn't even look at him, I couldn't let him go without holding him just once. And when I looked down at his chubby red cheeks and his tiny fingers came up to brush against my chin I rethought every option I'd thought about over the last seven months.

Was adoption really the best idea? It was the logical thing to do. I mean what did I have to offer him? When I got out in a few months time I had no home, no money... nothing but a beaten up yellow bug. At least I assumed that's what the car keys were for... and that was stolen anyway, so surely he'd be better off with someone else. But I was adopted, once it became apparent that I wasn't going to be claimed. Three years later I was dropped into the system so my 'parents' could have their own kid. What if that happened to my baby? Seventeen years later and I was still looking for my parents, still hating them for giving me up. So when this little guy is all grown up and comes looking for me -because he will, all orphans do - how will I look him in the eye when I would have subjected him to the same pain that I grew up with? The moment I laid eyes on my baby boy I knew I couldn't do that to him. I didn't have much to offer, but I could love him with everything I have.

The movie was wrong. For a mother, caring about your baby more than yourself is the easiest thing in the world. And choosing to keep him, not knowing what would happen, just that he would change my life completely - for better or for worse... That was far harder than choosing to give him up.

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A

A baby? She went into prison heartbroken and alone and came out with a baby? How the hell did I miss that? This has ruined everything. Emma being alone would make her a stronger saviour and when the time came to go to Storybrooke she'd have nothing holding her back. Now what do I do? Should I call Neal? If she's not going to be alone she might as well have a guy who loves her to help with the kid. And he'd want to know, right? Then he could take her to Storybrooke. No, he wouldn't. The guy's spent over a hundred years running from his father-he'd never take them to him.

I need a new plan. Why did I have to run? If I'd just stayed in that home I'd have had years to build trust between us and this wouldn't be an issue! No matter what, Emma has ties now. Nothing screams 'roots' more than a kid. But raising a kid on her own... I can't think of anything stronger than a single mother, at least that part of the plan worked out... It's just the getting her there...

If I can't make it so she has no reason not to go maybe I can make the kid a reason for her to go...

In case you're wondering, the movie Emma's referring to is 15 and Pregnant

Reviews are inspiration, encouragement and if they include constructive criticism they also make me a better writer, which makes JJ's life easier too! :)

-Ellen.