AN: I do NOT own any of the characters. They rightfully belong to Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz and the ABC channel.
This was it. The moment she had been waiting for her entire life. She was home. Watching her parents smiling at her was home. Watching Henry playing with his uncle and her brother's little finger was home.
It had taken her two long and painful years and an eventful adventure in the past for her to acknowledge Storybrooke was her home, but she was finally here.
Gently caressing her brother's cheek, Emma couldn't help but smile at the little boy's cuteness. Back in the Enchanted Forest she had wondered if she would ever see him again and that thought had eaten her heart. The moment she realized she had interrupted her parents' meeting, desperation kicked in. She had put everyone at risk, her mother had almost died because of her. A shiver went down her spine when a flood of those painstaking images ran through her mind, she didn't want to think about any of that anymore. Thankfully, Hook had been with her and had helped her fix the timeline.
Hook.
Killian.
If it hadn't been for him, she wouldn't be here right now. He had gone all the way to New York to bring her back. He had willingly gone after her through the time portal so that she wouldn't be alone, trapped in the past. He had called on her bullshit of being too scared to stay. He had brought her home. She had found her place in the world, because of him. And suddenly she realized the one person responsible for all of that wasn't there. As she turned around to look outside through one of the windows, sadness took over her expression when she spotted him sitting outside, all by himself. Her heart broke at the thought that he may have stayed outside because he didn't feel like he belonged. He didn't feel welcome blending with them. Unlike her, he wasn't home.
But no. She couldn't stand the fact that he was probably feeling excluded and an unfamiliar feeling started stirring in her body. She wouldn't leave him alone on her special night. She needed him to know that he was now one of them. That all the celebration and all the applause weren't the same without him by her side. He had to be there. She wanted him there.
And then a sudden wave of realization hit her. She wanted him. She missed him. Just the slightest thought of him would leave tickling butterflies in her stomach. The feeling scared her, but she couldn't help but let out a spontaneous sigh, followed by a genuine shy smile. Henry's voice broke her out of her thoughts, inquiring her if everything was alright. Emma affectionately brushed his hair with her hand, before standing up.
"I need to go somewhere, kid". She then turned her gaze to her parents, her mother smiling at her and her father giving her a quick nod. With her heart pounding wildly in her chest, Emma turned around and her hand automatically went to her hair, attempting to fix potential unkempt blonde locks.
When she finally stepped outside, she could now see him more clearly. He seemed to be deep in thought as he toyed with his rum flask. It was only when she approached him that he became aware of her presence, flashing her a perky smile as she sat on the chair beside him.
"So… Do you think Rumplestiltskin is right? I'm in the book now." At that, she couldn't help but notice the small but happy smile that formed on his lips. He was genuinely happy that she had finally been able to experience and witness the world she had come from. "He said everything besides our little adventure would go back to normal. Do you think that it is?"
"He's right", he said almost immediately. "Otherwise I'd remember that damn bar wench that I kissed". His right eyebrow was now suggestively raised up and the butterflies in her stomach were now full steam ahead. She had been denying for some time now how much she loved his eyebrows and how they seemed to have a life of their own. Whenever he flirted with her, which thankfully was quite frequent, they would always seem uncontrolled, making her feel things that she tried to brush off as much as she could. But not tonight. Tonight she's done fighting. She's done running away, from him, from home.
"How would that prove anything?", she asks him, sending him a roguish smile in return.
At her question, he stopped rubbing the cap of the flask and lifted up his gaze to her, his deep blue eyes looking intently into her green ones.
"I know how you kiss. I'd have gone after her". And there it was again. That giddy feeling that made her feel a strange warmth in her heart. Having him fully admit to her that even in a different realm he would have looked for her made her sigh heavily as her long lasting inner battle against her feelings for him crumbled by the second. No matter how, when or where, any version of him would go after every version of her. "But I didn't. My life went on exactly the same as before", he continued and she couldn't fight the urge to subtly glance at the exposed skin on his chest, a timid smile adorning her face.
"Yeah, it must have been the rum". Her eyes were now back on his, but the ever present foolish grin still on her lips.
"Everything's back to normal. You're a bloody hero, Swan". She wasn't sure if she was blushing, but his encouraging words made her feel safe. They had always had that effect on her. One of the things she appreciated the most about him was the way he always supported her when she needed it the most, Neverland coming to her mind. 'Excellent show of patience, love'. 'I have yet to see you fail'. He had never doubted she would be able to save Henry, not even once. And then he went to New York to save her, because, once again, he had faith in her. He believed she would be capable of escaping the curse Regina had subjected her to and go back to Storybrooke to save her family.
"So are you". She gently tilted her head to her right, hints of pride beaming in her voice, but the polite smile that appeared on his features let her know that he was doubting her words. He didn't believe how truly a hero he had been. He was completely oblivious, too trapped in his insecurities of the past to see just how honorable his actions had been.
"I wanted to thank you, Killian". She felt the need to call him by his name to let him know that she was serious. She meant it. He was a hero. He hadn't given up on her and willingly went to a whole new and different world just to find her. He had believed in her even when she hadn't believed in herself. "For going back for me in the first place in New York. If you hadn't…"
"It was the right thing to do", he muttered, not letting her finish. They remained silent for a few seconds, staring attentively at each other. Emma could almost feel his piercing blue eyes drawing holes on her skin by the way he was taking her in, making her heart beat slightly faster.
"How did you do it?", she brought herself to ask. After weeks of wondering what had happened to him during the missing year, she finally wanted to know how he had managed to find her. However, the way he quickly turned his head away to look down at the table made her realize that her question caught him off guard. "How did you get to me?", she insisted, trying to ignore the double meaning on the words chosen. She was referring to how he had found her in New York, but deep down she was also wondering what he did to sweep her off her feet and get to her in a way nobody else had. What did he do for her now to be completely enthralled by him? And the way his luscious lips moved gently as he spoke.
"Well, the curse was coming, I ditched my crew and took the Jolly Roger as fast and as far as I possibly could to outrun it". She smiled at his reply.
"You outran a curse?" It's not that she doubted him, she was just impressed at such bold and intelligent move. He certainly knew what he was doing, another one of the reasons she had always been drawn to him. His ability to react to danger and find a way to survive was one of his many traits she could relate to. Life had been hard for the both of them, but they had always found a way to get out of it alive.
"I'm a hell of a captain". His cocky answer had her chuckling, her eyes warmly gazing at him. Ah, his cockiness. Initially, whenever he would make his smug remarks, she didn't know if she should punch him or kiss him, loving and hating it at the same time. But she quickly saw through him and realized that all that self-righteousness was really just a mask, a disguise that protected him from the rest of the world. She did the same thing, although in different ways. "And once I was outside of the curse's purfiew I knew that the walls were down, and transport between the worlds was possible again. All I needed was a magic bean".
"Those are not easy to come by". The both of them knew that better than anyone after their adventure on the beanstalk. Even then he had been able to read her like a book, showing her that he could best her just as she had bested him earlier when they had first met. They had always pushed each other's limits, reading one another in a way nobody else could even try.
"They are if you've got something of value to trade…", his voice trailed off and once again his eyes avoided hers. It almost seemed as if he was hesitant to talk to her about this.
"And what was that?" She was getting more and more intrigued as she genuinely wondered what he could have possibly traded for her.
"Why the Jolly Roger, of course". As soon as the words left his mouth, she couldn't believe it. She was trying to process the information he had just given her, but she still couldn't understand. Not once in her life did anyone put her first. Not once had anyone made any sort of sacrifice for her. No one ever did anything for her.
"You traded your ship for me?" When she was finally able to say something, her words mirrored her sheer confusion. No one ever did anything for Emma Swan. No one loved Emma Swan enough to sacrifice their most valuable possessions for her. That was just something that simply didn't happen. Not to her.
But he wasn't lying. He really had traded his ship for her. His ship. His home. One of his greatest loves. He had given it up just for the possibility of seeing her again. She was finally processing all the information, her heart about to burst in her chest as it hit her: he had put her before himself, he had put her first. She had been first to him and suddenly she was shocked at the realization of how deep his feelings for her truly are. She knew for a while now that he had feelings for her, but she never would have thought they would be strong enough for him to trade his ship for her. She wouldn't be worth it.
"Aye", he timidly replied. He was afraid of her reaction, that much she could tell as her expression slowly turned into awe and admiration as she realized that she had been worth it. After risking his own life by following her into the end of time, she was now learning that someone cared about her enough to just sacrifice himself at least to see her one more time. And as if that had not been enough to prove his love for her, he had never bragged about it, not even after she had insisted multiple times that he told her what he had done to find her in New York. He had kept it to himself, never using his sacrifice as a way of pressuring her.
This man loved her so much that he had given up his home so she could find hers. He loved her. And he was here with her. In that moment, Emma could feel something changing inside of her. Suddenly, all her fears of being rejected and abandoned faded. She would allow herself to be happy and to show the man responsible for it just how much his feelings were reciprocated. No more running away, no more excuses. They were here. He was here.
Following both her head and her heart, Emma leaned in, her astonished eyes glancing fully at his lips. When her lips touched his, she felt both of their bodies shivering, their hands cupping each other's heads as his thumb softly caressed her hair and her cheek simultaneously.
His lips were soft, softer than she'd remembered from their kiss in Neverland. While that had been fueled mainly by sexual tension, this one was bursting with love as their gentle movements proved. Her tongue swiped over his bottom lip in an attempt to taste and tease him at the same time, asking for entrance. He rewarded her with a moan before letting his hand sink in her hair as he deepened the kiss, his tongue meeting her halfway. Her eyes rolled at the back of her head as she felt his tongue fully inside of her mouth, before she tilted their heads as she pushed her tongue inside of his mouth more forcefully, the both of them fighting for dominance.
When they briefly broke apart to breathe, Emma tugged at the collars of his coat, their heads tilting once again as their noses brushed against each other. It all felt like an out of body experience and she would gladly spend the rest of her life kissing him, letting him feel her more loved and cherished than ever before. She couldn't get enough of him, nor of his wickedly talented mouth and tongue, nor the sweet touch of his hand.
She pushed his lips to hers again and she was about to deepen the kiss when he slowly pulled back, leaving her eager for more. She opened her eyes when she didn't feel his lips on hers, as she was expecting. The yearning look she found in his eyes instead went straight to her core. His complete and utter adoration of her was making her feel things she never thought to be possible. His thumb was now resting on her chin and it was as if he was just contemplating her, trying to read her reaction to the moment they had just shared, perhaps wondering if she felt the same way as he did. She gently rested her forehead against his, a blissful smile escaping her lips, giving him permission to kiss her once more. He smiled back, a smile that thawed at her heart, before cupping his cheek and leaning in, his lips enclosing around hers as the tip of her tongue teased the inside of his bottom lip.
As they kept adoring each other, Emma felt her walls crumbling down, allowing herself to just relish in the all too rare happiness taking over her. The happiness he had brought her by loving her, by bringing her home to her family, by showing her that she is important to someone to the point where she has opened her heart to them. To him. She was home thanks to him. He was home. And there was no other place she would rather be.