Beyond The Hook
She couldn't breathe. And it wasn't just because the kiss in the hallway made her lose all of the air in her lungs. It was because the man, who told her that he was a survivor, almost didn't keep his promise.
With all of the strength she could muster at that moment, she pushed gently on his chest. The silent plea for him to stop was reluctantly accepted.
"Slow down there, tiger. I think you and I need to have a little chat."
As much as it pained him to admit, she was right. "Aye, I'd say this conversation is long overdue."
"I want you to start at the beginning."
Killian laughed nervously, "That could take a while, love."
"As you told me once before, I have all the time in the world."
And so he finally told her everything. From the deal with Gold for his hand, and then the counter-deal with Gold for his hook back. From his heart being taken, to everything Gold made him do whilst in possession of his heart.
She listened. No judgments; no reactions. She simply just listened to him, even though on the inside, she was livid. Livid at the fact that he felt he had to resort to going to the one person in the two different worlds that Killian hated the most in order for him to, in his own words, "be a better man" for her.
As his tale wound down to the part she knew, the events in the tower, she made him pause.
"Why did you ever feel that you needed to be a better man for me? Do you think me that shallow that I wouldn't accept you for who are?"
That statement made Killian's heart stop; a feeling he didn't know he missed until Emma put it back into his chest not 10 minutes prior.
"Until I met you, Swan, all I ever was to anyone I encountered was the fearsome Captain Hook. If there was anything I ever wished for with my entire being, is that you would be the first person to see the man behind the name; behind the hook."
This man, Emma thought to herself. For all of the confidence he showed on the outside, he was just as lost and as broken as she was.
"Killian, look at me." Emma took Killian's chin in her right hand and lifted his down-turned face to her. Cobalt blue met emerald green, and for the first time in a very long time, she felt at peace at with herself and her feeling toward this impossible man.
She moved her hand from his chin to his scruffy cheek, and as she did so, he lifted his hook to her hand, and used it to press the hand against his face.
She spoke softly, "Killian Jones. You are the best thing to happen to me in a very long time. And I truly mean that, even though you can annoy the crap out of me."
"When have I ever annoyed you, love?" he asked while giving the patented Killian Jones cheeky smile and raised eyebrow.
"You mean ever? Or just in the last minute?"
"Swan, you offend me!"
"You'll get over it," she said, as she dropped her hand from his face, but grabbed his hook as he removed it from her hand.
"This. This curved piece of metal does not define you. It is your actions that define you. Going back to what had happened: you may have done what you did because you thought it's what I wanted, and it may have not gone as planned. But, there's no way I can be angry with you for what you did without your heart, because it was not you doing it. You were the vessel that Gold needed. And have said told me that you regret what you did, and I believe you."
Killian took the hand that clutched his hook and lifted to his lips to place a chaste kiss on each and every one of her knuckles. It was her heart this time that stopped. "Emma…"
"Yes, Killian?" she asked, in a soft whisper.
It was on the tip of his tongue, the words that he wanted to say. But he wasn't sure if this was the right moment to say it. He felt it might be rushed, considering he was so close to death. He wanted it to be perfect when he finally told her how much she meant to him using only three words. So for now, he waited.
"You aren't just THE Savior, love. You are my savior."
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