SwanFire

SwanFire is the het ship between Emma and Baelfire from the Once Upon A Time fandom.

Season 2
TALLAHASSEE

Neal and Emma meet in Portland when they both try to steal the same car. They quickly fall in love and begin traveling the country together, all the while running scams to make money. Planning to retire from their life of crime, they decide to build a life together in Tallahassee, but Neal gives Emma the bad news - he is currently wanted for stolen watches that are now hidden in a train station. Emma retrieves the watches and they decide to meet at a specific location after Neal finds someone to buy the watches. While there, Neal is confronted by August, who claims that Emma is meant to do something greater than live a life of thievery. He shows his knowledge of Neal's past life by opening a typewriter with the words "I know you're Baelfire" written on it. August then tells Neal about Emma's magical history and convinces him to turn her in to the police so she can fulfill her destiny.

Eventually, Emma is arrested, and Neal flees to Canada, where he sells the watches. He asks August to send all the money and their car to Emma, and asks August to let him know if she ever fulfills her duty by sending him a postcard. Unbeknownst to him, Emma is pregnant with his son, whom Emma wants to give up for adoption. This son, Henry, is also the truest believer.

MANHATTAN

Eleven years later, Emma is reunited with Neal when Mr. Gold asks Emma for a favor in which they must try to find this son. However, Emma had no idea at the time that it was Neal. As part of her obligation to do Mr. Gold a favor, Emma goes with him to Manhattan to find Baelfire. She brings Henry with her because she does not trust her son to be in Storybrooke while Cora is at large. They take a cab to Manhattan and arrive in front of an apartment complex, entering the building to find a locked gate with a call box listing all the residents and their room numbers on the wall. Scanning the list, Mr. Gold recognizes none as a possible name for Baelfire. Emma approaches the call box and selects apartment room 407, which she notices has no name on it, and suspecting it is a person who does not want to be found. She pretends to be delivering a UPS package to room 407, but there is no buzzer to open the apartment complex door.

They hear someone coming down the fire escape and rush outside in time to see a hooded person jump down and run out of the building. Mr. Gold tells Emma that he is sure the person is his son, and that she needs to get him to talk because of the favor she owes him, which he is now using. After chasing the hooded figure through the streets, Emma finally tackles him to the ground. They both get up at the same time, and she is shocked to see that it was Neal all along.

Neal, not wanting to have a confrontation in the middle of the street, begs Emma and him to go somewhere private so he can explain what is going on. He manages to get Emma into a nearby bar where he reveals that he is, in fact, Baelfire and they discuss their past. Neal notices of that she is still wearing the necklace he gave her, but Emma just takes it off and hands it back to him. He suggests that they go their separate ways and that she tell Mr. Gold that she has lost him.

Although Emma agrees, Neal decides to go back to his apartment, knowing what his father does to people who break deals with him. He stops Mr. Gold from threatening Emma and orders him to leave, but is confused when he sees Henry, whom he does not recognize. When Emma explains that Henry is her son, Neal insistently demands to know how old he is. Henry shouts back that he is eleven years old, which is the exact number of years that he and Emma have been together. He realizes that the boy is his son. Mr. Gold blackmails Neal into talking to him as the only way to fulfill Emma's deal. Neal tells Mr. Gold that since he never got closure as an abandoned boy, neither will his father. Emma allows Neal to meet Henry, but warns him not to break his heart.

THE QUEEN IS DEAD

In New York City, Neal and Henry walk around and stop at Neal's favorite pizza place while Emma and Mr. Gold wait outside. After some small talk, Mr. Gold tries to get Emma to convince Neal to return to Storybrooke. Emma reminds him that she was only in his debt for one favor and nothing more. He presents her with the alternative scenario of Henry running off to New York to stay with Neal, which will be problematic. Emma admits to lying to Henry about his father, but stubbornly insists that she did it to protect him, to which Mr. Gold compares her to Regina. Speechless, Emma is unable to respond and the conversation is interrupted by the reappearance of Neal and Henry coming out of the pizza shop. Henry asks Emma if they can go back to Neal's apartment to get a camera and take pictures in a museum. She agrees to his request, and asks him if he likes his pizza. Bluntly, Henry says it's "delicious, cheesy, and doesn't lie," showing that he still hasn't forgiven Emma for not telling him about Neal.

Awkwardly, Emma and Neal walk down the street side by side. She tells him that they have to go back to their home and that he should come with them. Neal has something important to tell her, but Henry interrupts the conversation by asking if they can get the camera now. When the group returns to Neal's apartment, he and Henry go back to the apartment room to get the camera while Mr. Gold and Emma wait for them in the lobby. Mr. Gold asks if Neal is coming to Storybrooke with them, and Emma replies that he might need some time. From behind, the apartment complex door bursts open, and before either of them can react, Hook runs into the lobby and stabs Mr. Gold in the chest with his hook.

As Hook raises his hook to deliver the final blow, Emma grabs a garbage can and smashes it over his head, knocking him out. Neal hears the commotion and runs down from his apartment. He sees Hook and notices the blood pouring from his father's chest. They take Mr. Gold into the apartment room to try to stop the bleeding from the chest wound. Emma mentions locking Hook in a storage room until further notice. After finding Hook's map, they realize that he sailed his invisibility cloaked ship to New York. When Henry approaches Mr. Gold, he expresses his concern for the older man. However, Mr. Gold blames Henry for bringing them to New York and pushes him away. Confused, Henry backs away and is then tasked by Emma to find a charger. Neal and Emma notice blood oozing from Mr. Gold's chest, as well as something else, which Mr. Gold himself says is poison. The only way to save him is to get back to Storybrooke as soon as possible, and the fastest way is on Hook's ship. Neal agrees to captain it, much to the surprise of Mr. Gold and Emma.

In New York, Neal and Emma walk quickly through the streets, and she asks him about helping Mr. Gold. He is not willing to stand by and watch his father die. When they find a car, Emma thinks he is going to hotwire it, but he grabs the keys. He says it belongs to a friend who happens to run up to greet him. She introduces herself to Emma as Tamara, and Neal tells Emma that he is engaged to her.

THE MILLER'S DAUGHTER

In this episode, Neal jokes with Emma about not knowing she could use magic. Emma replies that not only did he not tell her about Tamara, he never mentioned that he was the son of Rumpelestiltskin.

Children
Henry Daniels Mills is the biological son of Emma Swan and Neal Cassidy. Emma gave Henry up for adoption, where he was adopted by Regina Mills, the Evil Queen. When Henry was ten, he tracked down Emma and brought her to Stoorybrooke. Emma stayed and helped him break the curse on the town. Later, she tracked down Neal when he found out about Henry, who he did not know existed. Neal came back to Stoorybrooke with the two, where they bonded until Henry was kidnapped by Peter Pan. Emma and Neal went to rescue him together, but Henry and Emma separated when another curse was placed on the town.

Fanon
SwanFire is a very popular ship in the Once Upon a Time fandom. It's rival ships are Swan Queen and Captain Swan.

On AO3, SwanFire is the third most written ship for Emma, the most written ship for Neal, and the seventh most written ship in the Once Upon a Time (TV) tag.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Neal/Emma tag on FanFiction.net
 * Neal/Emma tag on FanFiction.net

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