Disclaimer: I am only playing with them I swear. I make no monies off the use of these characters, so please, please don't sue. I promise that I will put them back in their containers none the worse for wear when I'm all done with them too!

A/N: I really have no idea what this is. Speculation, hopes, I don't even know. it was just something that found a space in my brain and wouldn't go away. They are no where near this kind of a tale in Bring Me To Life so it had to go somewhere because it had to be written... So here it is!

Enjoy!

There wasn't one single moment that she could pinpoint when it had really happened. It hadn't really been slow, no once he had started to make those walls crumble around her to dust it had been quick and rushing and all consuming. Well, not all consuming, but it had wrapped her up and seeped in to every formerly cracked piece of her all too bruised heart.

If she had wanted to really admit when it may have happened, it would have to be the moment at the top of the beanstalk as he'd bandaged her wounded palm. His breath hot and tingling on the tender flesh, and it was in that moment that she realized this could be more than just some fleeting lust for an attractive bad boy dressed in leather. Lord, a pirate captain, Captain Hook! Of all people the Saviour – the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming – could have chosen as her one true love, it had to be him! There was, even from the first moment she had found him under that pile of bodies that she felt there was something more to him and something that was trustworthy in the mix. Once she'd learned what he was truly like, a hero who knew when to bend the rules and when to use alternative measures to get the job done, well… Those feelings she was hiding had only strengthened.

Her pirate was a romantic at heart, and he loved playing in to the romanticism of their story every time he told it. Most of the time, it was the moment she kissed him in Neverland that was the moment he knew he truly loved her, but there were moments, quiet moments with Henry that he plainly admitted that he knew she was the one for him the moment she had pressed her knife to his throat. Pretty much, at first sight…

But, love at first sight wasn't real, was it?

I don't pillage and plunder on the first date…

No, no it hadn't been the first date. Not by his estimation of the time they had spent together being dates. First being a snow monster that in the end had been no more than a fluffy protective marshmallow, pun completely intended, created by her beautiful frosty friend Elsa. The second, again, a giant ice bucket without champagne in the form of the ice barrier formed across the town – the day she'd linked their fingers and wanted to never let go as he'd stayed by her side desperate for the warmth to return to her body. Hell, it wasn't even the third or fourth, but it had been worth the wait.

Their relationship had been a collage of quiet, stolen moments in their otherwise hectic and unpredictable town's life. Nothing as elaborate or fancy as their first true, proper date but every moment adding to their collective pile of moments that were for each other and only them so when the moment arrived that they would tumble in to bed together, it had been nothing short of magical.

He had always been attentive, and this moment had been no different. That it had followed on the heels of a moment when she had been so certain that she was about to lose him forever… What was it they said about relationships forged in the heat of battle?

She cupped his face with her hands. The tears she had been trying so hard to prevent streaming down her face as she looked in to his eyes.

"Hey, I'm the Saviour right? Everything's going to be ok. I promise you, I will make it alright," Emma's throat constricted on the words that she so desperately wanted to say in this moment, but she wasn't sure if she should. She was starting to feel like the weight of this spell was going to kill her as the people she loved and had only just found were going to turn on themselves like puppets in the Snow Queen's wicked game.

"I love you," the softly accented lilt hoarse with emotion as Killian laid his feelings bare. This was his last chance to let her know, he had to let her know, she just had to know…

Emma crushed her lips to his, not caring that her parents, her little brother, Elsa, EVERYONE was witness to what should have been something so private shared between them. He loved her. HE LOVED HER. Of course she'd known it, she always had, but hearing it was something else entirely. She didn't know if she could say it back right now, she didn't know if saying the words would make the feelings any less real but she didn't know if she could, so she let her lips do the talking for her in that moment.

"I know," she said, barely a whisper against his lips, their foreheads still touching. Her damned stubborn pirate! This wasn't the end. It wouldn't be the end… Not if she had anything to say about it.

The heat of battle had prompted him to reveal to her just how deeply he cared for her. The heat of battle, and the pain of a stolen heart held in the hands of the imp. Things had not gone as she had originally planned. Things had not gone how Killian had planned either, it seemed. He had thought that he would be dead come the end of the spell of Shattered Sight, not once again whole. For a moment she had thought that lack of faith had been in her. She hadn't known, he knew she didn't know because he hadn't told her. But then, he couldn't have told her even though she knew he had desperately wanted to.

It had taken some work, the Snow Queen letting it slip that Gold was truly in possession of his heart being the first thing. Belle tracking her down to tell her that Rumpelstiltskin was up to his old ticks again through tearful eyes was the next, and not a moment too soon.

"I told you, I couldn't lose you too. Didn't you know I would find a way?"

His heart, pure and bright red beating in her hands as she stood before him. His head tipped to the floor, his tears flowing freely as he dropped to his knees before her. She'd never seen him so overcome with emotion; it hurt her heart to see the shame on his face at the secret he had been forced to keep from her.

It wasn't his fault.

"I - I wanted to… I wanted to tell you, but –"

"I know," she sank to her knees right before him, his heart in one hand the other caressing his cheek and lifting his face to hers. Her right thumb tenderly brushing a tear from his cheek as she smiled through her own. "Hey, look at me, I told you… I made everything alright. Just like I promised I would."

Her lips curved in to a smile as she raised his heart to her lips placing a tender kiss to it. It was the most brilliant shade of red! Vibrant and pulsating, with not a spec of darkness to it. She had never done this before, put a heart back in to a body. How was she to do this?

"I don't deserve you," his voice choked with the strength of the emotion that was flooding his body.

He could feel this, she knew he could. Those who lost their hearts could feel, the sensations muted but still there. But true love is the most powerful magic of all, isn't it?

"No, Killian, you do. You deserve happiness, just like I deserve you."

She glanced over her shoulder, searching the gathering crowd for the one person who might be able to help her figure out what to do here. She didn't want to hurt him, she didn't want to do anything that would leave him in any physical pain. Her eyes caught Regina's, Robin tending gently to a cut on her face from her battle with her mother earlier at the station, and she made a pushing motion in front of her chest. It was as easy as that, it seemed. Just push it back in.

"I – Sorry this may hurt a little," she turned back to him, a soft smile playing at the corners of her mouth as she placed her hand in front of his chest.

Sucking in a breath, Emma pushed his heart back inside his chest and he winced a little. His arms came around her as she began to pull back, tugging her in and crushing her against him, burying his face in the crook of her neck. He was whole again, he was hers and he was whole and she was never going to let him slip from her grasp again.

"Thank you, Emma, Gods! Thank you!"

She used it as an excuse to hold tighter to him as the last barrier in her crumbled to dust. She loved him, she knew it, she was absolutely sure of that. There was no denying it; he was for her as much as she was for him. There was no one else that made her feel like this.

"I love you," she whispered against his shoulder, her eyes closed trying to stop the steady freefall of emotion. She had almost lost him today. She had almost lost everything today, but the thought of losing him was too painful to bear.

"Say it again, love."

"I love you, you damned stupid stubborn pirate."

There was no way she would have let him out of her sight at that moment, no evil magical villain that possibly could. They'd checked on everyone, fingers entwined and refusing to part. Well wishes from her family, declaring that they would keep Henry safe for the night with them (although a little begrudgingly on David's part) so that they could digest what had occurred between them this evening. There was no spark of magic professing their love "true" but Emma didn't need that. It was true, magic or not.

They'd made their way back to his room at Granny's, idly commenting on the aftermath of the spell and Did you see the way Grumpy was looking at David? and What about Whale and Ruby? and I thought Marian was going to shoot daggers from her eyes the way she was looking at Regina! Anything but what they both desperately wanted to talk about, because even though the walls were thin, it was better than talking about this in the middle of Main Street.

The door had barely closed when Emma pressed him against it, her lips claiming his in the first moment that they had been truly alone in days. His hooked arm snaking around her midriff while his hand sought out refuge in her golden tresses. She had almost lost him, and no matter how angry she was that he hadn't told her anything of his story…

(She knew of the deal he'd made from Gold's taunting. She knew that he needed his heart to cleave himself of the dagger. She knew that he had wanted to entrap her in some magical hat that would strip her of her powers but take her life away. She knew he'd been controlled and without a heart for much longer than she cared to remember. She knew he was compelled not to tell her.)

She needed to take this moment for herself, but also for him. He needed to feel how much he was wanted. How much he was needed in her world. She knew he could feel things without his heart, muted as the feelings may be, but she also knew that he would melt from any affection that she gave him now because he would truly feel it. But there were things that needed to be said, things they both needed to hear, and the low groan that came from her body as he ended the kiss betrayed every ounce of her own mercilessly tested restraint.

(Because she knew she needed to get her own place. She'd wanted him for longer than she cared to remember, wanted to give over to those more primal desires and this was a prime opportunity if ever there was one. But, there was still the matter of talking to get out of the way.)

"No matter how much I would love this to continue, love – "

"We need to… talk first, right?"

"Aye, that would probably be best," Killian's voice a hoarse whisper against her lips.

Hours spent talking past. I'm sorry and I failed you leaving his lips far too many times as he recounted a tale of feeling less than worthy of her affections by not being "whole" of body that he thought would be worthy of playing games with the Crocodile. He thought he could beat him at his own game, and rather than admit his failings he had kept it from her. She thought that pained him most of all, that he had kept it from her.

"If you had told me, Hook, you could have saved us both a good deal of trouble!"

"I know, and for that I am truly sorry. Gods, Emma how can you forgive me for this?"

It caught her breath, that he thought still – after all they had been through this day – that he was unworthy, that he thought so little of himself. He had made a mistake. She had made plenty of her own in her time.

"You made a mistake," her voice cracking as she caressed his cheek, "You are human and you made a mistake. We all do, and we all deserve forgiveness for our mistakes. I've made some spectacular ones myself, in case you hadn't noticed." They both smiled, tears stinging her eyes as she stared at her pirate. He needed to know…

"You are one of the bravest, honourable men that I have ever met. I held your heart in my hands today, Killian. Your heart – and it was the most brilliant, pure red that I have ever seen. It wasn't covered in blackness from all these past misdeeds of a life of pillaging and plundering on the high seas. Killian, it was pure. It was true. You have the heart of a hero, because everything you have done – no matter how misguided as centuries of plotting revenge against Rumpelstiltskin of all people! – was done out of love. It wasn't done with malice for the sole purpose of being evil. You are a hero, and whether I'd like to admit it or not, you've saved me time and time again. I love you Captain Killian 'Hook' Jones, the one handed pirate hero who brought me home at last and fought like hell to make me stay when everything in me wanted to run. I. Love. You. All of you. Just as you are."

She had thought they had conquered the spell of Shattered Sight. She had thought that it had ended, that the reunion of Anna and Elsa had sealed that deal (because the true love magic that shot forth from them had made the rest of the town stop trying to kill each other and became rather more like a love-in). What happened next ended all words between them for the rest of the night. He had thought he was undeserving, he thought so little of himself. It shouldn't have surprised her when she pressed her lips to his that she felt the fire of magic blast out around them, but it did. The kiss was tender, open and pure. It was true love, and no one was dying or suffering from a sleeping curse to prove it.

That they woke the next morning a tangle of limbs and sheets, clothes strewn all about the room was not a surprise. That she'd had to call her mother to bring her another shirt because hers had been shredded with a hook was entirely another surprise indeed…

Yes, her pirate was a romantic at heart, it was true. He, like David, would regale anyone who would listen as to how they'd fallen at first sight over the beautiful blonde Princess who had found him under a pile of bodies and proceeded to hold her knife to his throat. Henry always got a kick out of his step-father's tale.

Charming seemed a little too proud of his daughter for her skill with a knife, though begrudgingly agreed that Killian was a perfect addition to their rag tag little family.

Little Neal as well always admired the pirates tales, and unlike his Nephew was more likely to be a pirate captain than a knight like his father.

Emma still wasn't sold on the idea. She knew that their love had grown from a lusty attraction to the undying passion that it was today. Others had seen it, long before either had wanted to admit it to themselves let alone the other, but she still couldn't believe that love at first sight could possibly exist until…

Until the day they placed a beautiful babe in her arms, moments after she had been born. There was such a thing as love at first sight, because the moment she had seen Ava with her own eyes she'd known. She was completely in love, and that was a feeling that would never fade away.