She turned to hug him, but Killian was gone.

Chapter 1: The Defeated Hero

You couldn't even recognize her anymore. Emma Swan's iconic red leather jacket represented how she felt both inside and out.

The jacket was barely being held together. There were slashes, scratches, gashes, burn marks, and just about every other form of destruction done to this jacket. Yet, it was holding together. Emma was no different. She was covered from head to toe in dirt. Her once beautiful long blonde hair, was now short, and terribly cut. She had a giant cut on the side of her face, just deep enough that a few drops of blood had dried further down her cheek. Emma walked with a limp, using her father's sword as a makeshift cane. While it has only been two months since she arrived in the Enchanted Forest, her battle to save her family and the land her family calls home has aged her. The bags under her eyes and the frown lines were visible under the dirt and blood. Her eyes were blood shot and dry, from all the tears she cried.

Emma walked through a forest. East, she hoped. It wasn't until she heard "MOM!" did she know she was headed in the right direction.

Henry, her son, started running up to her, but as he got closer, he slowed down, seeing the damage the battle had done.

"Hey Henry." Emma tried to squat down to his height, but winced out of the pain. She opened her arms up for a hug which had been so desperately craved.

Reluctantly Henry walked into her arms and gently hugged her; afraid that any pressure would cause his mother to break. "I missed you Mom."

"I missed you too Henry. I am just glad you're safe." Emma kissed Henry on the top of his head as she stood up. She looked up and there he was.

There were dried tears on Killian's face, and a smile that went from ear to ear. "Swan." He said so sweetly and quietly. "I hope the other guy looks worse, love."

Emma tried to smile, while she was happy to see Killian, she had been on such an emotional rollercoaster she didn't know how to feel.

"I would say she looks worse, but something about water makes her melt, so she doesn't exist anymore." Emma said trying to make a joke out of it. She limped up to Killian and whispered in his ear, "thank you for keeping Henry safe."

"Anything for you love." Killian didn't want to let go. This was the first time in a long time she had hugged him. Even after she remembered him, Emma was forced into Savior mode, and didn't show any emotions what so ever to Killian. "Come on Swan, let's get you back to the cabin and cleaned up. We will head back to the castle after a good night's sleep."

The three of them turned towards the tiny cabin not much further into the woods. Henry did most of the talking, filling Emma in on all the adventures Killian and him had while Emma was away. Killian stood behind Emma and Henry just watching, glad to have his Swan back.

Now that they were in a time of no electricity or running water, it took a bit for Emma to warm up water for a bath. It took her awhile to clean off all the dried blood and dirt off her body. This was the first time she was able to see how bad her left leg was. There was a large opening on the front of her leg. I didn't feel like her leg was broken, but she definitely sprained her ankle in addition to the open wound. After her shower she found some bandages and wrapped her leg and other battle wounds as best as she could. She was so used to being alone, she didn't want to ask Killian for help. Nor did she want him to see how vulnerable she was. She went in the Savior, and came out of that battle, a defeated hero. She lost more than she would admit in that battle. The scars were more than just skin deep. Emma was just too numb to know how extensive the damage was at this point in time.

Henry didn't seem to notice something was up with Emma. He continued to be his happy self until it was way past his bed time. Emma put him to bed and kissed him on the forehead and decided it was time for her to do the same.

"I'll take the couch love, I already changed the sheets while you were in the bath." Killian said slightly louder than a whisper.

"Thank you Killian." That was all Emma said as she went to bed and closed the door behind her.

Killian had finally fell asleep on the couch when he heard screaming come from Emma's bedroom. He got up as quickly as he could and ran in. There was no one in the bedroom, just Emma, who was thrashing around on the bed, screaming as loud as she could.

"Swan. Emma. Love." Killian said as he gently rubbed her hair. "It's ok. It's just a dream."

Emma woke up abruptly. She looked at Killian. He was taken aback by the fact he was just wearing pants and that his chest was exposed. Now, Killian Jones was not modest fellow, but when it came to Emma Swan, things were different. When things were different he would have made a suggestive comment: 'Do you like what you see Swan?' or 'Feel free to admire the view.' But not today. Killian did have all right to be slightly boastful. His chest was chiseled with muscle and there was the right amount of hair to make him manly without looking like a bear. Unfortunately, with Emma not being herself, he didn't want to scare her away. Killian took a step back. "I am sorry, I heard screaming and I came running." He said, afraid of what was running through her mind.

Emma just sat in silence, not sure what to say. "I can't remember the last night I slept, let alone slept without any nightmares. Probably when I was in New York." Emma said with no life what so ever in her voice. "I am sorry I woke you."

"Do you want to talk about your nightmares?" Killian asked, more so out of offering Emma a person to talk to rather than out of curiosity. There was a long pause from Emma before she responded. "No thank you. I am going to try to get some rest. You should do the same." Emma grabbed the blanket and rolled over to go back to sleep.

Quietly he walked out of her bedroom, and closed the door and headed back to the couch. But no matter how hard Killian tried, he was not able to fall back asleep.