In my Once Upon A Time fanfic, The Memory Keeper, we find ourselves in the middle of season 3, just after Killian arrives in New York, determined to help Emma get her memories back. This story features a very different take on the Wicked Witch, and a very different method for retrieving Emma’s memories – and making  some new ones.

In this scene, Killian cajoles Emma into joining him for a night on the Jolly Roger – where he hopes to break down the walls that she’s so determined to hide behind, and get her memories of her former life back on track.

“Let me guess…” Emma mused, taking a drink of her rum and Coke. “You’re a royal. Not one of the famous ones, maybe somebody with a lesser title. You came into your inheritance and you’re hiding out from the paparazzi.”

What the hell was a paparazzi? Hook had no idea.

“You’re very astute,” he said, in a non-committal way. There. That wasn’t an outright lie. She was astute, and it was going to cause trouble if he didn’t find something else for her to talk about.

“And you’re very cryptic,” She replied, raising a brow. “Did you besmirch some girl’s honor, or something?”

“Many times over, as I recall. But not recently.” He leaned back on one elbow. “And what about you? How is it you haven’t found love yet?”

“It’s complicated.” Emma took another drink. “Being alone is easier.”

“No it’s not,” he said. “It’s safer, to be sure. But I wouldn’t say it’s easier, love.” His eyes softened and she couldn’t seem to look away. She felt warm all over.

“Whew,” she exclaimed, setting down her goblet. “I think I’ve had enough of that. That rum is two-hundred proof or something.”

“All part of my master plan,” he explained, laying back and folding his arms behind his head.

“Oh yeah?”

“Most definitely. Part two of my diabolical machinations begins when you lay down next to me.”

Emma gave him a smirk. “And why would I do that?”

“Because you’ll miss the show, otherwise. There’s a meteor shower tonight, and now that we’re far enough from the bleed of the city light, you’ll get an amazing view.”

Emma was intrigued. “Really? How do you know that?”

“They had another exhibit at the museum about asteroids and meteors, remember? The attendant was kind enough to remind us that there would be an event this evening, and I knew it would look spectacular from the open water.”

She pushed the pizza box off the blanket, and carefully laid down next to Hook.

“Now what?”

“Now we wait.” He reached down next to him, shaking out another blanket and pulling it over them. “We don’t want to get a chill, do we love?”

They didn’t have to wait long. The first few streaks appeared in the sky within minutes, and they were pointing them out to each other with loud exclamations each time. He was right – the view from the open water was amazing. The sky was brilliant and full of stars and streaks of light. And with her head fuzzy from rum and the ship swaying gently beneath her, she didn’t even think of pulling away when he pushed himself up on one elbow and pulled her into his arms . . .

The Memory Keeper is the beginning of the whole Memory Keeper series, and you can find it (along with my other fics) at Fanfiction.net or on Archive of Our Own (AO3).