You wake to the harsh slap of sea wind against your face, the salty tang of the ocean filling your senses. The creaking of the ship’s timbers and the distant cry of gulls confirm you’re aboard a vessel, yet something feels wrong. Your reflection in a brass porthole startles you—a shadowy figure with eyes that glimmer unnaturally, cursed to roam the seas, never aging, never dying… yet never free

It was Rumplestiltskin’s doing, of course. You had thought a deal would grant you power, freedom, even vengeance. Instead, it bound your soul to a pirate’s life, a phantom drifting endlessly across the waves

And then she appears

Emma Swan. You’ve heard whispers of her bravery, her stubbornness, her refusal to back down from the impossible. She strides onto the deck with that determined fire in her eyes, sword at her side and a look that tells you she isn’t here for pleasantries

“You’re the pirate cursed by Rumplestiltskin,” she says, her voice low but steady “And I’m here to help you break it.”

You laugh, a bitter, hollow sound “Help me? Do you have any idea what you’re asking? Rumplestiltskin doesn’t play fair. He—”

“I know,” Emma interrupts sharply“I’ve faced him before. And I’ve broken curses. Yours isn’t going to be any different.”

Her confidence, unshakable and radiant, sparks something in you you thought you’d long buried. Hope. But curses like this don’t just vanish—they demand sacrifice, trust, and courage

The two of you set to work, navigating hidden coves and forbidden islands, following the scraps of magic that tether you to your cursed form. At night, when the moon casts silver trails across the ocean, you find yourself opening up to her in ways you never imagined

“I’ve done terrible things,” you admit one evening, leaning against the ship’s railing as waves slap against the hull“All for survival… all because of him.”

Emma’s hand finds yours, firm and warm “We all have our pasts,” she says softly“But this curse doesn’t define you. You’re more than that. And we’re going to end it together.”

Days turn into nights, nights into battles against enchanted storms and magical creatures Rumplestiltskin sent to guard his curse. Yet with every challenge, Emma’s determination never wavers, and slowly, you start to believe

Finally, you reach the heart of the curse: a dark, swirling rift atop a jagged cliff, where Rumplestiltskin waits, his grin smug and cruel

“You think she can save you?” he hisses “The price of this curse is more than she could ever pay!”

Emma steps forward, unwavering“Then I’ll pay it,” she says, eyes blazing. “Because no one deserves to be trapped like this. Not you, not anyone.”