Forever and a Day

Captain Swan. When Zelena takes away all Hook's memories of Emma, the saviour is forced to confront just how much the pirate means to her. [Set during season 3b. AU. Eventual TLK]

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David finds her kneeling beside him, his good hand clutched in both of hers, her grip iron strong. She doesn't notice her father, her eyes focusing only on the unconscious pirate in front of her. When David kneels across from her to check that Hook is breathing, she doesn't notice. She's still there, reliving that moment – the witch's taunt ("It seems that true love can't be stopped – or can it?"), the spell she cast (a cloud of glittering green dust), his decision to place himself in front of her (sword brandished at the ready) and the furious coughing that had resulted in his falling unconscious. If chivalry is dead it's because the pirate practicing it might be.

Her first instinct is to be mad at him.

How dare he suffer for something meant for her!

Her next one is to feel upset.

How dare he suffer for something meant for her!

Then all that's left is the shock.

How dare he suffer for something meant for her!

That's how her father finds her, having tracked her phone to this tiny cottage in the woods that smells not unlike fresh porridge. It's hard to believe that just minutes ago Hook had been confused at her loudly exclaimed, "You've got to be kidding me!" and now he's lying on the ground in front of her.

It's only when David breathes a sigh of relief that she registers his presence in front of her. He gives her a gentle smile and a confirming nod. But that's all she needs.

"I'm the saviour," she tells him, informing him of the only plan she has at the moment. That's when she realises she'd been holding her breath this entire time. Looking down at his unconscious form she thinks she might never catch it again.

When the ambulance comes, she insists on going with him. He's never been one to leave her side – unless she asked. Now it's her turn to return the favour. Her father nods understandingly as he makes his way to his truck, no doubt follow them back to the hospital. Emma is nothing but grateful. She's a currently a ship without an anchor, and she needs her pirate back.

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"Whatever's wrong with him, it's not medical. He's actually in perfect shape…" Doctor Whale confirms, having run a series of tests. "Well, except for his hand."

She simply responds with a pointed stare, that slowly fades into a more dazed one. It's the kind of joke he would have made. Her eyes quickly glance at the hook that lies on the nightstand behind her father who is stationed on the opposite side of the bed, arms crossed. Her hands have once again found their way to his.

"I'm sorry, that's all I can do," Whale says with an apologetic look. "It's clearly magical."

The second he exits David turns to Emma. "I told Regina to meet me here. Let me check where she is."

She doesn't answer as he leaves the room. Instead she squeezes Hook's hand in the hopes of siphoning her own energy into him. Sadly he remains the same.

A moment later there's a knock at the door, followed by the clicking of heels. Emma looks up to find that it's Belle.

The brunette makes her way towards her, a sad smile on her face and a book clutched in her hand.

"I brought him something to read in case they have to keep him here overnight," she says, gesturing to the book in her hand. "It's on the evolution of sailing technology… Thought that might appeal to him."

"Thank you," Emma says with a smile, grateful for her thoughtfulness. This is the sort of thing that would never occur to her. To think this far ahead is a sign of hope – the kind found in her parents, and Henry, and now, Belle.

She takes the book and places it on the nightstand closest to her, one hand still in his. It occurs to her, as she glances at the book's cover that she has no idea what he would enjoy in terms of reading material. She makes a note to ask him when he wakes up. For a second – and just for a second – she hears a quiet voice whisper "Swan…"

She looks down expecting a groggy pirate with a pleased smile. Instead she finds that his condition hasn't changed. She brings her other hand back to his and squeezes. She'd never needed a security blanket as a child. So she's surprised to discover that she needs one as an adult – and Hook has been playing that role for weeks now.

When Whale had entered her restless eyes had unconsciously sought him out over her shoulder, only to be reminded that he was the one lying in bed.

David enters a few minutes later, followed by Regina.

"So what exactly happened?" She asks, taking her leather gloves off and flexing her fingers.

"She threw some kind of emerald at us," Emma explains, leaving out her comment. "Hook tried to hit it away with his sword, but it turned into some kind of green dust and he just started coughing... until he passed out."

Regina holds out her hands, attempting to sense the nature of the spell.

"Is it a sleeping curse?" David asks, breaking the silence.

"I'm not sure… I'm not familiar with this kind of magic… It's from Oz." She spits out the last word, clearly not a fan of the Wicked Witch. But she considers his question anyway. "Though it could be. Sleeping curses may be my thing. But as we've seen, my big sister likes to take what isn't hers."

She puts her hands down a moment later. "I can't tell you any more. Rumplestiltskin didn't exactly feel the need to go over magic from other realms."

"Then how do we wake him?" Emma asks, her brow furrowed as she slips into saviour trouble-shooter mode.

"You're kidding right?" Regina asks, turning to her as she puts on her gloves. "How do any of you people break a curse? Kiss him!"

She says the last part as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. However judging by Emma's expression it's clear that that was the last thing on her mind. "K-kiss him?"

The mention of the act immediately takes her back to that night in Neverland – the way they'd locked lips, their foreheads pressed up against each other, her hands on his collar and his in her hair. She still remembers the way he tasted ever so faintly of coconuts and rum. It was much different from his attempt in New York. This time he'd initiated the action, hope shining bright in his eyes.

Suddenly Emma's blood runs cold, a panicked chill running up her spine. He'd meant it as a True Love's Kiss. He hadn't really said the words out loud, but there was no mistaking his intent. That could only mean one thing.

"It won't work," she whispers, first looking at her father, then turning to Regina.

"What do you mean it won't work?" Regina asks, incredulous that Emma might suggest otherwise. "Don't you dare say you don't love each other because we've all noticed all the searching glances and complete lack of personal space."

Regina shakes her head. "You're almost as bad as your parents."

But Emma doesn't register what Regina is saying. Her mind keeps replaying that memory – him pulling her lips closer, her initial surprise followed by her immediate reaction. She can still hear his anguished plea.

"I was hoping you felt as I did…"

Emma thinks she does… but that would mean she's wrong. Otherwise she and Henry would have arrived in town a whole day sooner.

"It won't work," Emma insists. "Hook already tried, in New York."

She lets the information settle over the room.

"Hook kissed you again!" David exclaims, fatherly concern creeping into his voice.

Regina ignores him. "What do you mean it didn't work?"

"It just didn't," Emma replies. "The curse, it didn't break. Henry and I still didn't remember."

The whole exchange had felt like a dream. Putting it into words makes it real. And somehow that makes it all the worse.

"We need to find another way." Emma insists, her fear driving her to find some other cure. She can't lose another person. That would break her. No, something inside her whispers, losing himwould break her. "There has to be something we can do."

"I'm going to go see if there's anything in my books," Belle says, speaking up.

Emma nods at her, and she turns to leave the room.

"I suppose I can see if there's a potion I can whip up," Regina says with a sigh, turning to leave also.

When she's gone, David walks over to Emma's side and gives her a side hug, squeezing her against his side. He gently places a kiss on her temple. A few minutes later, Emma leans on his shoulder.

"When I saw your mother lying in that coffin, I felt like I'd lost a piece of myself." David explains softly. "I didn't know what I would do next, without her next to me. All I knew is that it felt like I had lost something big."

But Emma isn't focused on his words right now. Her mind is away, ransacking her memories for anything that might work. She wishes Henry had his memories, surely he would know what to do in this situation, fairy tale knowledge being his forte. Unfortunately that avenue isn't available to her.

She's taken out of it when she feels David pulling away.

"Mary Margaret called," he tells her apologetically. "I should check in with her. Let her know you're alright."

Emma nods, giving him a small sad smile. David returns it with a smile and a nod of his own, turning to leave the room.

However before he does, he turns back to her and says, "He'll be fine."

She finds his words a little hard to believe but she smiles at him anyway, before turning her head to the unconscious pirate.

Sometimes her parents' positivity is too much for her. She can't have that same faith that everything will be alright. She can't simply look on the bright side when things go wrong.

That's when she catches sight of his hook and she snorts, a familiar line from one of her favourite movies growing up springing to mind.

Think happy thoughts.

Suddenly it doesn't seem like a bad idea. According to Regina her magic is tied to her emotions. Perhaps happy thoughts will bring Hook back. Stranger things have happened since she found out she was the Saviour.

Swallowing nervously she looks down at his hand, stroking it with her thumb, her fingers still entwined in his, his calluses pressed up against her own.

She reaches for a memory of Henry, of the relief she'd felt when he'd woken up from the curse. That leads into one of her cooking him breakfast for the first time since she'd returned from the Enchanted Forest. From there it gets easier, one good memory leads to the next till eventually she finds herself mentally at the town line as Hook promises to never forget about her, her gut confirming that this is in no way a lie.

She looks up at him. But he doesn't open his eyes. She musters up one last mental push.

Come back to me...

She lets go of the energy she'd built up within her. But it doesn't seem to have a reaction on him. He just lies there.

Emma shakes her head. This was a silly idea. Why did she think it would work?

Because that is something he would try. Were their roles reversed, she knows he would never give up. He would go through every option. After all, isn't that what he did trying to convince her in New York?

She smiles as she remembers his exclamation regarding bologna. But it fades when she thinks of her son. If Henry had his memories back and he knew what was happening he would call Hook a hero – because that is the definition of what he's become. All because he had a tiny shred of hope…

Good.

That just means she's going to have to be hopeful for the both of them. So she delves back into her memories, in search of other fond moments from her life, using them as a beacon for him to follow back. And just like that she's atop that beanstalk, his words still ringing in her ears.

Bloody brilliant Swan.

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A few moments later Emma senses movement on the bed. She opens her eyes and looks up to find a very groggy pirate and a wave of relief sweeps through her.

"You're up," she tells him, unable to hide the smile on her face. She's been perched in a chair by his bed for what seems like hours now, thinking happy thoughts in an effort to wake him up.

But as happy as she is to see him up, her gut begins to churn, telling her that something isn't right. When he says nothing she feels like there's a shoe hovering above her head threatening to drop any minute. She tries to file it away as his still being disoriented from waking up, but the longer he stays silent the more worried she becomes.

However a second later he flashes her a big grin, murmuring a playful "Hello Beautiful..."

Until then Emma wasn't sure you could feel relief and concern at the same time. But now she's flooded with both. He's back. Like always, he found her.

Except her gut doesn't believe it. Now it's churning more than ever and the shoe's inching closer towards her.

"Zelena really did a number on you," she informs him, not ready to unpack her reaction to his condition.

Before he can respond David enters the room.

"Hook!" he exclaims, giving them a pleased grin. "So it worked!"

Emma's eyes widen as she realises what David's referring to. But as she shakes her head at him to keep quiet, he says, "So it's True Love."

He notices her a split second later and he drops his smile.

"What are you talking about mate?" Hook asks him. "Did I get Zelena?"

"No she escaped before Emma could stop her," David tells him.

Hook gives him a curious look, his brow furrowing in puzzlement. "Who's Emma?"

And just like that, the shoe drops.

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A/N: This was initially meant to be a one-shot for the lovely and very patient resilient-tophat, but I couldn't stop writing. Then last week's episode happened and I wanted to work some of those things into this. For the most part I'm really glad my reactions were spot on.

I made Belle and Henry a bigger part of the story mostly because I've wanted to see more of them this season, but also because I wanted to see Emma interact with Belle a little more. But yeah, Part 2 should be out Tuesday. (Once I've recovered from the finale obviously).

Till then, if you have any thoughts, comments, questions or concerns, please let me know! If you like this fic, go ahead and check out my other stuff on tumblr, and AO3!