Her Crumbling Walls
A/N: So it has been a one month hiatus and all we got were 6 seconds of Hook?! Gosh, my feels are killing me! I mean I loved all the Rumbelle but the lack of Captain Swan and Hook scenes nearly killed me! So I sat down and wrote this little fluff... Hope you guys like my trip to Neverland.
It has been the second to the right and straight on till morning. The sunbeams had pointed them their way to the island of dreams. But Neverland isn't a place for dreamers. Neverland is... Well honestly Neverland is dangerous, sometimes even scary. During the day it is beautiful, full of colors so bright and dazzling that they seem surreal. But during the night... Everything changes during the night. The pixies and their golden lights are gone, the mermaid lagoon isn't full of laughter and teasing mermaids. It is quiet. Ominously quiet. But tonight there is shouting and screaming. Hook walks right behind Emma and forces her on board the Jolly Roger.
"Why did you do that?!" she shouts.
"I've bloody saved your life! You should be thanking me!" he shouts back and pushes her on board with so much dash that she stumbles against the railing. She spins around and looks at him furiously.
"She was going to tell me something about Henry!" she yells, tears burn in her eyes. Hook looks up at the starlit sky and then back at her, apparently annoyed.
"It was going to eat you!" Now Emma tilts her head back in annoyance and she doesn't look back at him. Instead she looks up at the stars and wonders where on earth Henry is. It hurts Emma so much that Henry is missing here on Neverland and she doesn't find him that her walls crumble all the time and it is easier and easier for Killian to look behind her tough mask.
"She was a fucking fairy!" she says trying to sound calm, but her voice trembles. She suppresses the tears that are about to stream down her cheeks.
"It was not," Killian says, grabs her shoulders with his hand and hook and forces her to look into his sea blue eyes.
"What else would she have been, huh?! I saw her wings and-" The pirate interrupts her.
"You thought you saw a fairy! But it was not. What you saw was a ghost light which imitated a fairy. I've told you Neverland is no safe place, not by day and especially not by night. You could have died!" Hook has been worried about her but instead of letting the worry show in his voice he sounds nothing but reproachful and he sees in Emma's eyes that he has adopted the wrong tone.
"Well then, thank you for saving my life!" she replies stroppy her voice is dripping with sarcasm and anger.
"Could you say this one more time without the hatred in your voice?" Killian asks taking a step back and crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"No! Because I fucking do hate you!" she cries and Killian raises one of his eyebrows.
"Why can't you just admit that you like me?" he yells at her and Emma freezes, her hands shake, her whole body trembles. She can't simply admit that she likes him. Not to herself, let alone to him. So she does what she always does when someone almost breaks down her walls, she becomes offending.
"Because the only woman who truly liked you was Milah!" she yells back and she sees his walls break right in front of her. She has hit his Achilles' heel, his one weak point. She has broken him. The memories of Milah are precious to him because she has loved Killian Jones. And he knows that no one could love Captain Hook. But her words have hurt him more than he wants to admit. Right now the only thing that is on his mind to yell at her is "I hate you". But those words don't pass his lips. Because that is not how he feels. He is still hurt because she abandoned him up on that beanstalk but... He can't help it. So instead of "I hate you" his mouth forms different words.
"I know," he simply says and takes a step closer to the railing and places his hand and hook on the wood. He stares down at the deep blue ocean, not trying to hide that he is hurt.
Emma is taken aback by his reaction. She has expected everything but this. She has expected anger, hate, but no approval. All of her anger disappears because she sees him. The man in front of her with the broken blue eyes isn't Captain Hook. In front of her stands Killian Jones, the man she met up the beanstalk, the broken man.
"I didn't mean it," she murmurs and Killian looks at her in surprise as she joins him at the railing. He knows she isn't the type of woman who apologizes to someone, but her "I didn't mean it" almost touches an apology.
"You didn't?" Emma throws him a bittersweet smile and leans forward mirroring his posture.
"No. You are not the ruthless pirate you pretend to be. Women like you for your charm and women like men who are vulnerable sometimes - I mean when they don't act like a prick all the time." Killian chuckles lightly.
"So you really like me?" Emma's first instinct is to roll her eyes and say something like "of course not" but the way he has asked her if she did like him stops her from doing so. He didn't say it smugly, he said is as if he truly cared about her answer. Emma looks at him with her blue-green eyes and watches him for a brief moment curiously.
"I know I shouldn't," she states and she sees the almost disappointed look in his face as he looks over the railing and down at the ocean. "But I like this pirate anyway." A genuine smile spreads on his lips and he leans closer to her tentatively, giving her all the time she would need if she would want to draw back. But she doesn't, she lets him enter her personal space. He looks down at the ocean again.
"Well... You know, I know this princess. Stubborn as hell, lots of temper and a whole load of trust issues. She hides herself behind those walls and she tries to let no one in. But I know behind those walls, she is a girl worth fighting for." Killian lifts his gaze and meets her eyes which look at him curiously. He is surprised that those eyes reflect both, the stars and the night and he is sure that he has never seen something more beautiful. Emma looks at him, blinking a few times and her cheeks are covered by a soft pink tone. "And if she would let me I would fight for her." The blonde swallows hard and closes her eyes briefly, just to open them again, her gaze more intensive than before.
"So this princess is a girl you could fall in love with?" she asks. She wonders how this fight has been able to get so out of control that they ended up here, confessing feelings for each other they denied having themselves only a few minutes ago. But they are here anyway. None of them would back down now. Killian shakes his head and takes a step back from the railing. Emma's heart beats painfully in her chest but he gives her no time to be hurt and hide herself behind her walls again because he lifts his hand and cups her cheek with it gently, taking a step closer and pulling her away from the railing tenderly. She doesn't even notice that she also takes a step forward to him and that he places his hook on her back softly.
"I already am," he murmurs and pulls her closer. Her breath brushes over his lips and he leans forward, into her till their lips are only a few inches apart. His eyes are still open and locked with hers. He exhales and she closes her eyes, raises herself on tiptoes and presses her lips against his softly. He returns her soft pressure with his own lips. A prickling sensation rushes over both of them, a feeling that spreads from their lips all over their bodies and beyond. Emma wraps her arms around his neck, his hand wanders from her cheek to her hair and he buries his fingers into her blonde strands softly. His tongue strokes over her bottom lip and she parts her lips willingly, allowing him to enter her mouth and taste her. As their tongues meet they both know one thing. This feels right. They rock right and left in time with the rhythm of the ocean and suddenly they both know one thing. This is meant to be. Maybe the circumstances aren't perfect, maybe they are both a mess. But together they are not. Together they are complete. One of Emma's hands slide from his neck to his chest and stops right above his heart. It beats in perfect harmony with hers.
So in the end her father has been right. The land without magic has been nothing but cruel to her but he had been wrong in one point. The Enchanted Forest is not the place she finds her happy ending in. It is Neverland. Second to the right and straight on till morning. This is where she let him in. And she is not going to let him out ever again.
The End.