"Killian, why won't you just tell me what's been bothering you? I thought once we were back here we could move on with our future but you just keep pushing me away!"

"Emma, I just can't deal with this anymore. I need to get some air." I stormed out of her house and made my way to the docks. I know she got that house for us but ever since she first showed up as the Dark Swan, I could only see it as the place where I discovered what she did to me and her family. I don't know how I can get past this. There was a time not too long ago when I wanted nothing more than to marry my Swan and expand our family. But now all I see is the darkness that had enveloped both of us.

I walked aboard the Jolly Roger and went straight to the Captain's Quarters. On my old bed, there was one of Emma's leather jackets that she must have left here while I was in Hell. She said she went to the Jolly a lot while I was dead. I held the jacket in my arms before laying down on my cot to think about what to do next regarding my relationship with my Swan.

I had missed the lull of the ocean's waves while aboard the Jolly. I had forgotten how soothing they were. Before I could think too hard about how to talk to Emma, the sweet darkness of slumber took me.

I felt like there was a particularly hard rock of the boat that had startled me awake. I looked around the room frantically, noticing a figure standing near my desk. Bae.

"Bae? I mean...Neal...what are you doing here? You're...you're dead..."

"Hello, Hook. I'm not happy I'm here either. But apparently you need me."

"What do I need you for?" I must be dreaming. This isn't possible.

"I'm here because I am from both your and Emma's pasts. Consider me the ghost of the past. I am here to remind you of the trouble you and Emma have been through. By the end of the night, you will know if you are taking the right path by pushing Emma away. You will be visited by two other ghosts. One of the present and one of the future." This is bloody ridiculous.

The cabin around me blurred until I saw I was in another hull of a ship. Sitting in front of me was a younger Killian Jones. Before I joined the Navy. Before Liam died. Before I became Captain Hook. There was also a face I haven't seen in years. Brennan Jones. My father. I watched as this man made promises to the young boy while his older brother was sleeping in the next cot. He talked of always being there for me. The world flashed a bright white before I saw a man telling the young boy that his father left. I felt the same pain in my chest that I felt when I was that ten year old boy.

The world blurred once more as I remembered Neal was still beside me, holding my arm, guiding me through these hurtful memories. I found myself in Neverland. There I was in my twenties dressed as a lieutenant walking behind my brother. I didn't have to watch to know what was going to happen. "Why are you showing me these?! I thought you were going to show me my past with Emma. Not make me relive every horrible moment of my life!"

"These are the moments that shaped you into who you are," Neal explained calmly. "It's these moments that led you to Emma. If Liam never died, you never would have become a pirate. You never would have fallen in love and lost Milah. You never would have been out for revenge which means you never would have gone to Storybrooke for revenge on my father which means you never would have met Emma. This is what shaped you. Now let's see what shaped her."

The world came into focus once more and I noticed that we were in a more modern house. It was in a bedroom filled with bunk beds. On one of the bottom bunks, there was a blonde girl with tears coming down her pale cheeks. Her green eyes sparkled with more unshed tears. "Is that...?" But I didn't need to finish the question. One look at those emerald eyes and I knew that this was my future love. "Emma. Why is she crying?" Neal remained silent.

"Swan," a man began approaching her. "Clean up the kitchen. Everyone's done eating."

"But Mr. Dawson, I didn't have anything to eat," she said in a weak voice. My heart ached for this little girl.

"When was the last time you ate, Swan?"

"Two days ago. I had a piece of bread that was sitting on the counter with a glass of water."

"Then you're fine for now."

"Why won't they feed her?! Look how skinny she is! She looks sick! Why won't they do anything?!" I yelled.

"In this world, many foster families only care about the money they get for sheltering these kids," Neal explained.

"Maybe if you stop pissing me and the wife off, you wouldn't be grounded while the rest of us are eating."

"I told you, Mr. Dawson. I didn't steal that money from Mrs. Dawson's purse! It was Frankie!"

"I told you to stop lying, Swan!" the man screamed before backhanding her across the face. Tears welled in my eyes as I jumped in shock. I knew she hated her childhood but I didn't think her foster families were this cruel to her.

"Get me out of here," I told Neal, my voice cracking.

The scene flashed to an older girl, behind bars. With a round belly that looked like she was eight months along. "You did that to her."

"And I regret it. But I can't change the past. If I knew she was pregnant, I never would have left."

There was one more flash and I found myself in the Enchanted Forest. I watched as a dagger was held to the blacksmith's throat by the lovely Swan. This was the moment that I knew Emma was different. She was the only one who ever called me out on a lie. This was when I knew there was a connection between us. I didn't know it then, but this is the moment when I fell in love with her. Neal must have noticed what I was thinking because he just stood silent by my side.

I suddenly found myself in my Captain's Quarters alone, without Neal. I sat on my bed and sighed resting my head in my hands. "I love what you've done with the place." My head snapped up at that voice. Standing before me was my older brother who died centuries ago.

"Liam?"

"Hello, little brother. I suppose this is the part where I'm supposed to tell you why I'm here. Well, here it goes. I am the ghost of the present. Why me? Well I am the one that you miss most in the present. I am the only past soul you still think about all the time."

I still couldn't believe my older brother was standing right in front of me. I was scared to touch him, fearing I would just pass right through him. He must have known how I was feeling because he walked up to me and pulled me into an embrace I thought I would never feel again. "Sadly, my visit is going to be the shortest since I only have one thing to show you. But first, I must ask how you truly feel about your future with this woman."

"I love her, Liam. She's my true love. I know I want to marry her but I can't help but push her away. Something always comes between us. And I feel that if we take that step, something is going to push us five steps back." I went to my safe, detached my hook and used the other end as a key. I reached in and took out a ring. "This was our mother's. You told me to give it to my true love. I had thought about giving it to Milah, but something always held me back. Now I know, I've always been saving it for Emma."

"Then why haven't you given it to her?"

"I'm scared. I'm afraid she'll say no. I'm afraid that if I take that step, she'll pull away like she did at the beginning."

"Let's go. There's something you need to see." He grasped my shoulder and in a blur, I was inside Emma's house. The house I still haven't called mine. "This is what is happening at this exact moment but she can't hear or see you."

Emma was sitting on the couch with her mother's hand resting on her knee. Emma was crying. "Mom, what if we can't get past this? Am I supposed to raise this child on my own?" Child? She's pregnant?! "I love Killian. But I feel like he's just been really distant and I don't know what to do. I don't want this to be the end."

"Emma, look at me." She does. "This can't be the end. You love Killian and he loves you. You're having a child together. And I'm sure he'll be thrilled once you tell him. You two have true love. You share a heart for God's sake! Nothing can come between that."

"I'm scared," she whispers, broken. As her heart breaks, so does mine. Literally. We share a heart now. "I want to marry him more than anything, but I don't think it's what he wants."

But it is what I want! I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and scream it at her but then I remembered she wouldn't be able to hear me. "I must go, Killian," Liam said. He hugged me once more and I closed my eyes tightly trying to make it last before I stepped away. I didn't have to open my eyes to know I was back in my cabin.

I opened my eyes to see Milah standing in front of me. I thought that if I ever saw her again in any life, I would be overcome with emotion but I was surprised to feel indifferent to her presence. Does that mean I'm completely moved on from her? "Hello, Killian."

"Let me guess. You're the ghost of the future because I once believed we had a future together?" This clearly wasn't the reaction she was expecting but she nodded nonetheless.

"I will show you two futures. One with Emma and one without. Let's begin."

Things were different this time. I wasn't watching the scene. I was living it. I woke up in a soft bed, sunlight pouring through the lace curtains. I opened my eyes and looked to my left to see a beautiful smiling Emma. "Hey, sleepyhead."

"Good morning, love." I heard my voice say the words but I had no control over my voice or movements. I was just a passenger. "Did the little one keep you up?" I asked, rubbing her slightly round belly, feeling something nudge against my palm. "Is Liam up yet?"

"Yes, he went downstairs to request the cooks to make something special for our anniversary."

"Wow. Ten years. And I can't believe it took us this long to get back to the Enchanted Forest." I leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"I know. But our family is together and that's all that matters."

I didn't want to leave this reality but once I saw Milah standing in the corner, I knew it was time to move onto another vision. This time I came to in Storybrooke which was deserted. I was just a bystander once again. It looked like everyone had made it safely to the Enchanted Forest except for the Charming family and that August fellow. I didn't know where this future me was supposed to be. A young boy ran up to Emma and she smiled at him fondly saying, "Liam, go through the portal with Henry and we'll be there soon." I watched as my future son disappeared into the portal. Emma turned to her parents and wrapped an arm around August's waist. I felt a pang of jealousy stab at my heart. "I can't believe we're actually leaving this place. Goodbye, Storybrooke," she said as August kissed her temple and they walked through the portal, her parents following. The portal closed.

I turned to Milah. "Where am I? What happened to me in this future?" She takes my hand and we are suddenly in a different place.

"In this future, you never proposed to Emma. You let your fears control you. You weren't there for the birth of your son. But August was. They got closer during her pregnancy and they fell in love even though they knew it wouldn't be as strong as her love for you. A year after today, you found out they were engaged. And instead of fighting for her, you went to the docks and started drinking. You were depressed and you jumped into the ocean." She made a gesture for me to turn around. I spun around to see a headstone that read:

Killian B. Jones

?-2017

I die? If I don't end up with Emma I die within the next year?! "No! This can't be true! I could never give up on Emma like that! I love her! I want to spend the rest of my life with her, Henry, and our future children."

Darkness descended on me until I jumped up and glanced around the cabin quickly. No ghosts. Just me. Was that all a dream? I slowly walked to the desk where my mother's ring lay. But I kept it in the safe for centuries. The last time I touched it...was to show it to Liam. Did all of that really happen?

Emma! I snatched up the ring and bolted toward the docks, running as fast as I could to go to Emma's –no, our– house. I didn't bother knocking because hey, it's my house too. "Emma!" I found her in the living room with her mother just like in my "dream."

"I'll leave you two to talk," Snow said quietly, exiting the house.

"Killian, look, I know you're scared, but so am I. But we have to believe that from now on, any obstacles that come in our way, we can deal with them. Together."

"Emma, I'm not scared anymore. I just spent the past two hours thinking about what my life would be like without you. And it's not a future I could live in. I love you, Swan. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to expand our family with you." This was never how I pictured this moment but I slowly went down on one knee. "Emma Swan, will you marry me?"

Tears raced down her cheeks as she nodded frantically. I slipped my mother's ring on her finger, stood up and wrapped my arms around her waist kissing her deeply. "Killian, there's something you should know." She looked scared as if what she was about to say would shatter this happy moment. She took a deep breath and whispered, "I'm pregnant."

A grin widened on my face, thankful that what had happened wasn't a dream. "And I couldn't be more thrilled, Swan." She smiled once more pressing her lips against mine.

Emma and Killian got married a couple months later before Emma started showing. A decade later, everyone decided to move back to the Enchanted Forest. Not long after, little Liam got a baby sister named Hope. Killian's life was exactly where he needed it to be.

...And they all lived happily ever after...

It has been forever since I've posted anything on here but I've had this idea for a long time. I hope you enjoyed it. Please don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you think.