"Stolen hearts," Aurora marveled as she looked at the massive library of drawers that surrounded her, reaching what she had to guess was several dozen feet about her head. "All of these are stolen hearts."

"Aye," Hook confirmed.

"Cora just… takes people's hearts and then keeps them here," she continued, talking mostly to herself. "There are so many. So many people without their hearts."

Hook looked at her and he could tell she was trying to think of some way that they could to take all of the hearts with them, some way to return them to their owner.

"We can't do anything about it, Princess. There's no way we can take all of these. And even if there was, there's no way we could even being to figure out who they belong to."

"I know," Aurora said, turning away from him. He could hear the thickness of her voice, knew that there were tears in her eyes without having to see them. "It's just so sad. So many people without their hearts. I hate that we can't do anything for them." She looked around her at the massiveness of the room and the seemingly endless collection of hearts. "How can one person be so evil?"

Hook looked down, still trying to deal with the shame he felt for working with Cora in the first place. It was his own fault that they were here, trying to find Aurora's heart. He was the one who had taken it. He was the one who had given it to Cora.

And yet Aurora had placed her trust in him, however tentatively at first. She knew that Hook was the only lead she had, the only person who could help her find her heart, so originally she hadn't had much of a choice. As they had traveled, though, they had grown closed. Saved each other on more than one occasion. She genuinely trusted him now.

And he more than trusted her.

That was his own problem, he reasoned. The princess may have forgiven him and freely given him her trust, but that didn't mean he deserved anything more from her. Besides, what could he offer her? He'd spent so long being a certain type of person, he really didn't know what he was going to do once they were done with the quest to find Aurora's heart. He knew he couldn't give her the life she deserved.

But he could give her this.

"We should hurry," Hook said, shaking himself out of his reverie. "We probably don't have much more time."

"But there are so many of them!" Aurora cried. "How do we knew which one is mine?"

Hook reached into his satchel and pulled out a small bottle. "A potion from the alchemist. Just drink the whole thing and your heart will come to you."

The speed with which Aurora took the bottle from him and drank it astounded him. He still couldn't believe how much trust she was willing to place in him.

When she finished the potion, Aurora waited for a long moment and then blinked. "Nothing's happening. Should I feel something?"

"Give it a moment," Hook said, masking his worry. Aurora may have trusted him, but that didn't mine that either of them could trust the alchemist.

Just as Hook was about to give up hope, a box floated out from the wall, situating itself right in front of Aurora before opening itself to reveal her heart. Gasping back tears, she reached out with trembling fingers to lift the heart from the box.

Hook wanted to give her moment, but he knew there wasn't time. Instead, he simply held the satchel open for her. "We have to go. Now."

Aurora nodded and gingerly placed the heart in the bag, and they fled.

"Are you ready?" Hook asked, gently holding Aurora's heart in his hand.

"I think so," Aurora responded, her voice shaking slightly.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded, but he could still see the uncertainty in her eyes. "Do you think it will hurt?"

Hook carefully placed the heart back the satchel before using his hand to cup her cheek. "I will be as gentle as I possibly can be. I promise. Do you trust me?"

"Yes," Aurora replied without hesitation. She turned her face into his palm slightly. "Thank you."

The feeling her trust and her thanks filled Hook with overwhelmed him so much that he couldn't bring himself to say anything in response. Instead, he stroked her cheek slightly before taking the heart out of the satchel again, holding it up in front of her chest, preparing to push it back into her rightful place.

"Are you ready?"

She nodded, her eyes on his.

He pushed.

THE END