Freedom [open]

Neal had nothing to do for his day, so he'd gone down to the docks to rent a small boat that he could take out. He had always tried to hate boats, given his childhood past with pirates, but he could never manage to get himself to dislike the wind against his fast when he was sailing through the water. It was pleasant and very calming. If nothing else, it was good for releasing some of his tension. Maybe one day he would actually get a boat for himself, thought it would be kind of inconvenient considering he planned to go back to New York after his work in Storybrooke was all taken care of.

When he approached the dock in which his rental boat was anchored on the side of, he noticed a figure in the distance. The closer he got, the more he realized that it was a woman, dipping her feet in the water. When he was near the end, he keeled down by the edge of his boat and started to pile in his bags. For a moment, he looked back at the back of the woman's head and smiled. "It's a nice day out, isn't it?" Neal spoke. "I bet the water feels great."

He wondered what his father did on days like this with that woman. There was no way their relationship was as peachy as it seemed. Something just felt completely off there, and he was willing to bet Rumple was manipulating her in some way. This wasn't helping to set his mood for relaxation, but he always found himself coming back to these same thoughts lately.

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The woman turned around, and Neal couldn't help but to pause what he was doing for a moment. She looked very, very familiar. He was sure he had to of known her from somewhere, but it seemed silly considering he hadn't been in town for very long. It also wasn't like he could have known her from the enchanted forest. The timing just didn't seem at all right. He tried to act more natural as he continued loading the rest of his things into the boat. He didn't want her to think he was strange with his intense staring.

She spoke, and even her voice sounded familiar. Maybe he was just imagining it. Neal nodded at her. "Yeah, I am, just rented her. I figure I have to do something other than lay around in front of the television on a day like today." He smirked, knowing that if he was at home, that probably wouldn't have been what he was doing. He would have been working on a plan to get his father's dagger. It was something he hadn't really thought much about until he saw him last.

Realizing that the silence was probably going to give him too much time to dwell on his thoughts after having such an encounter not very many days ago, Neal got an odd idea. He stopped re-arrange the things in his boat and looked over at the woman once more. "Hey, uh, this may sound crazy, but would you maybe like to head out with me?" He meant onto the water, in the boat, but he doubted he needed to clarify that.

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Her giggle brought a smile to his face, assuring him that he wasn't all that wrong to have asked her that. This wasn't the normal reaction he would get for things like this, but he was willing to take it. There was something so familiar about the way she giggled too. It was driving him crazy, and he really wished he could place this. Her looks, her voice. Both seemed so similar to something. His smile grew a little wider when she agreed to come along.

Neal took her hand in his and gave it a gentle, firm shake. "Nice to meet you, Miss Johnson. I'm Neal Cassidy." When he let go of her hand, he turned toward the boat once more and started to make room for an extra person. "Ever been out on the water before?" He stood up, and stepped inside. The boat swayed back and forth a few times, and he held out a hand to help her in.

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He gave her a large smile. "Well then, I think you're really going to enjoy this." And if she didn't, he supposed he shouldn't be all that worried. Boating wasn't for everyone. Hell, it wouldn't have been for him if he didn't have such unfortunate events as a child. His mind kept going back to Killian, a man he hated almost as much as his father. He had stolen away his mother. Killian was the reason he grew up with only his crazy father. When he was younger, he was led to believe that she died. Then, he'd found out from Killian that wasn't exactly the case. She was dead, but there was more to that story. The pirate said she intended to go back for him, but he was old enough now to know what a lie that was. Still, for as much as he hated Captain Hook, he had felt like more of a father to him for that time being then his own. Regardless, Neal still felt he was better off without either of them.

Noticing her worried look, Neal just gave her another smile. "Don't worry. It's safe. Cross my heart." He highly doubted they were going to sink, and even if they did, Neal was a strong swimmer. He'd been dropped into water a few times, and he learned how to battle it. He put a hand on her waist to steady her. "A number of times." Still hanging onto her hand, he attempted to lore her to her seat before taking his own across from her. He sat near the edge of the boat. "I've been dealing with boats since I was a child."

He reached a hand over to start the motor, but stopped when he found himself starring at her once more. "Have we met before? There's something about you that seems very familiar." He wasn't even sure why he was bothering to ask her. He had already sorted out how that couldn't have been possible in his head. There was just something about that giggle... That cheek bone structure... "Wen-" He started to whisper but then immediately stopped himself. There was no way. Wendy was still in Neverland, stuck with Pan. Besides, Wendy was just a girl. What was in front of him was a grown woman.

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She had still seemed to be smiling despite the fact that he'd just led her into his boat and was about to take her out to the water. That was good. Thinking about the situation in his mind, he really felt like quite the freak. He couldn't believe she was going along with this, and he wondered if this had been anyone other than the woman in front of him if they would have called the police. He was only trying to be nice, but he supposed from another point of view, this might have looked pretty bad.

Then she asked him a question that gave him a feeling sick to his stomach. "No... My father... I don't really have one, let's just put it that way." His smile disappeared for a moment, but he forced it back onto his face. "It was a family friend." Technically, he wasn't lying. It had been the man his mother abandoned him for. He had one screwed up family.

"Yeah.... I guess I do...." But she looks so much like her... "Sorry about that." He pulled on the engine, and the sound of the motor went off and died. He pulled it twice more before it finally stayed alive. He turned to look at her again. "Are you ready to go?" He really just wanted to make sure she was sure about this.

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Neal felt himself cringing on the inside when she mentioned that his family friend must have been nice. Nice was not the word he'd ever use to describe that shallow, selfish pirate. He was only ever nice to him, because he was in love with his mother. The two of them deserved each other, and even if she was gone, he really wished Killian would have left him out of the entire thing. Just because he had his mother at one point never gave him the right to play daddy. He tried to shake away the thoughts. He was sitting in front of a pretty woman about to go on a relaxing boat ride. Who cared about the pain Killian caused him? That was so far in the past now. "Yeah. He had his moments." He wasn't sure what else to say without getting himself worked up again, so he figured he should just leave it at that.

"Never?" He asked her, thinking it was a little strange. Just what kind of fake history did this fairy tale character have? He assumed it was a sad one given the fact that Regina didn't seem to be allowing anyone to really be happy in this made up land of hers. "That's too bad. I'm glad I get the pleasure to take you on your very first ride then." He gave her his most gentlemanly smile.

He still felt bad about bringing it up, but he just nodded. He pulled in the anchor and set it in the boat, almost forgetting about it. And then they were off. The boat was a little old, so it rocked back and forth just slightly as they started to move. "Wave goodbye to the land. We're off, sailor." He smiled at her, sort of excited about getting to give someone their first experience on a boat. Hopefully, she wasn't going to be bored to death.

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Now Neal was beginning to suspect there might be a little something wrong. She didn't suspect any of the subtle hints on why that wasn't exactly a good idea. He was wondering if this was a bad idea. She reminded him just a little bit of Witt from Neverland. "Him. And I don't really think that's a very good idea... He's not very... um, nice." You know who else had a lot of similarities to Witt? Wendy after years of being captured by Peter Pan. He had warped her mind into something that it wasn't when he met her. Before Pan had her, she had listening issues. Then she turned into this obedient, naive drone. He really wished she would have never went after him... If she hadn't, she might still be around. Neal assumed Pan had done away with her at this point. Something inside of him cracked every time he had that thought. One day, if he ever found a way, he would go back for it. It just was very hard to do anything against Pan without magic, and magic wasn't something Neal was going to search out. He hated the stuff. There was always another way, this one was just particularly hard to find.

Locked up? Neal had already started the boat, and they were off. Yet that thought was still in his mind. He hadn't responded to her yet, because he was trying to wrap his head around those words. He was definitely seeing something wrong now. "Aria," he spoke to her while she was holding out her arms. "What do you mean you've been locked up?" He gave her a curious look.

Hold on. This whole thing was really sounding entirely too similar. The way she laughed. Those cheekbones. Those eyebrows. The entire thing about being locked up. A lot of people in Storybrooke who were already without a happy ending were given similar false lives in this town. Neal stared at her face even longer. This is impossible... Was it? Could Wendy have gotten out without his knowing? Could she have some how been thrown into Storybrooke with all the rest of the folk here?

The more he stared at her, the more sure of it he was. It had to be. She looked way too much like her. She spoke way too much like her. Her voice might have been a little more mature, but it was the same in a way. "Wendy..." This time he said her name fully out loud. He turned off the boat in the middle of the water. They hadn't gotten very far, but they were far enough out that he was sure no one would really notice them.

His heart felt like it was beating faster as all of the emotions built up around that one girl started to pour in. He had failed her. He didn't get her out, and he'd ended up leaving without her. He knew what it was like to be abandoned, yet he still left. He had planned on going back for her, but he really hadn't intended on getting stuck in the Land Without Magic, despite it being his original destination. "Wendy!" He dropped off his seat, unto his knees so he was closer to her. His arms flung around her waist, and he held on tight. "I'm really sorry... I'm so sorry I couldn't save you!"

Now he probably seemed like the insane one, and he realized that to a point. He was just so flooded with past emotions that he couldn't stop himself. His eyes were trembling, and he had to force himself to keep from shaking.

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