Author's Note: *waves* Me again. These two idiots just give me SO many feels, I can't take it. Thank you for the reviews/follows/favorites. You are all my Jolly Roger.
"There may be hope for you yet, pirate."
Killian Jones turned to the voice of Regina behind him. "Beg your pardon?" he asked, eyebrows raised. Regina walked towards him and leaned on the railing that overlooked the setting sun. "I need your help with Emma and her magic." she said, tilting her head.
Killian's brows furrowed. "What makes you think I'd be of any assistance?"
Regina sighed. "I had to go to great lengths yesterday just to get her to use her magic. But you come strolling into the apartment and suddenly she's a lot more willing to participate and she's able to do something even I can't. For whatever reason, when you're around, she's able and wanting to do more. I need that from her right now. We need to be at our best against Zelena."
At the sound of her name, Killian cringed, his eyes hardening, and he turned away. "My apologies, but I'm unable to fill your request at the moment. Besides, I highly doubt my presence is needed." A pause. "She doesn't need me." He shakes his head. "Best I keep my distance." He mumbles, and closes his eyes rubbing a hand over his face, exhaustion setting in.
A look of confusion appeared on Regina's face. "Since when are you so eager to keep yourself away from her?" she asked, curious. "You practically follow her every move. You're like a puppy." she said, noticing the look of irritation on his face.
Killian sighed and started to walk away from her. "Best of luck with your training." he said, taking out his bottle of rum from his coat pocket. As he did so, something else fell out. Hearing the thud, he turned quickly to retrieve it, but Regina got to it first.
Looking up to the sky, he inwardly cursed his luck as Regina looked at the small item in her hand then at him, curious. "A book about curses? I never took you for the reading type, Captain." she said, suspicion in her tone.
Trying to take it back from her, she moved out of his way, continuing to look it over, specifically where he bookmarked it. "Just doing a bit of light reading." he said, scratching his ear, trying yet again to retrieve the book from her.
Regina shook her head. "I don't think so." Looking over the page he bookmarked, she read over the types of different curses on various body parts. Seeing he had circled the section "lips", she looked up at him. She noticed him instinctively bite the inside of his lip and look away.
"Tell me, Captain. Why would you be so intrigued by curses on lips?" she asked, tilting her head, holding the book firm in her hand.
Closing his eyes, Killian arched his head back and gave a long, deep sigh. "She cursed me. Zelena." Regina's eyes widened as he continued. "She disguised herself as Ariel. Devised a plan to get me to admit how I…."he paused. …"truly feel about Emma. Once I said her name, she cursed my lips. The moment Emma's lips touch mine, her powers, her magic, will be taken away."
Regina let out a long breath. "That's why you didn't want to help. You're trying to keep your distance, to protect her." she said.
Killian shook his head. "Not just her, her family. Here are the options given to me. Kiss Emma and take away her powers or The Wicked Witch will hurt her loved ones, and that includes Henry."
Regina's eyes hardened, her jaw tightening as her hand curled into a fist.
Killian looked at her as she handed the book back to him. "Do you see my problem?" he asked. "I thought I could find some answers as to how this can be removed but I have yet to find anything close to an answer." he said, swallowing.
Regina began to pace back and forth, her thoughts moving a mile a minute. She cursed him. Him. Hmmm.
"Curious." She said, looking at Killian, scrutinizing him.
Impatient, Killian tilted his head and sighed. "What?" he asked.
Crossing her arms, she spoke. "She cursed you."
Killian looked confused as she continued. "She wouldn't have placed a curse on your lips if she didn't think Emma would want to end up there." she said, chewing her lips as she thought.
As Killian began to speak, she raised her hand. "Sh! I'm thinking." she said.
Irritated, yet knowing Regina could be his only hope, he remained silent as she continued to pace back and forth, mumbling something that sounded like "clever" and "break any curse."
After just a few moments, Regina stopped suddenly and looked at Killian again as he leaned against the railing to the docks, his arms crossed.
She sighed. "Emma has feelings for you. Whatever spies the Wicked Witch has around, she can tell that much or else there'd be no reason to curse you."
Killian said nothing and looked down, his brows furrowed. Regina continued.
"Now, I'll admit, what I'm thinking may seem unlikely but…" she paused a second and decided to just say what she was thinking. "True Love's Kiss." she blurted out.
Killian raised his eyebrows. "What of it?" he asked.
Regina explained. "I'm sure you know that True Love's Kiss has the power to break any curse. It's the most powerful thing of all, actually. If we had True Love on our side, there's no way Zelena would be able to defeat us." she said.
Killian shook his head. "I don't understand. The Charmings are True Love, so we already have that on our side."
Regina waved his statement away. "Yes, but they're not Emma. If Emma, the Savior, had her own True Love by her side, her magic would be that much more powerful, giving us the ability to defeat the Witch!" she exclaimed.
Seeing the confusion still etched on his face, Regina sighed and threw her hands up in the air. "Do I have to spell it out for you? You and Emma. True Love. If I'm right, and she kisses you, then the curse that's upon you will be broken AND she will still have her powers, only heightened because she has True Love."
Killian thought back to New York.
"I know you don't remember me….but I can make you."
It didn't work then. It wouldn't work now. He was not Emma's True Love, however much she was his.
Looking away, his heart ached to come to grips with that fact and he took a breath. "I'm not her True Love."
Regina crossed her arms. "How do you know?" she questioned.
Killian let out a breath. "When I found her in New York, I kissed her, thinking that would bring back her memories. True Love is powerful, is it not? It didn't work. She still didn't remember." He looked down. "I'm not her True Love."
A small smile tugged at the corner of Regina's lips. "Well of course it didn't work. True Love's Kiss doesn't work when trying to restore memories."
Killian's head snapped up. His heart began to race at a faster rate. "Are you certain?" he asked her. Please let her be certain. He couldn't bear to get his hopes up at the possibility that he and his Swan may actually be True Love, only to have that possibility taken away from him.
"Pft. What am I, an amateur? Of course I'm certain." said Regina.
Killian was the one that was pacing back and forth now. "What if you're wrong?" he asked. "If you're wrong, and Emma kisses me, she loses everything."
Regina tapped her foot. "IF I'm wrong…we won't know until we try, but I have a pretty good feeling. Do you have any idea the kind of power True Love can bring? If this works, and you and Emma ARE True Love, then we have a pretty good chance of winning and everyone will be safe, including Emma and Henry." she said.
Killian's nostrils flared, his breathing becoming labored. "No. I won't do it. I won't risk Emma because of your feeling." he said.
Regina tilted her head. "Fine. You leave me no choice but to test this theory on my own." she said. As she waved her hand, Killian suddenly became limp. Leaning against the railing, he slowly fell to the floor.
Regina took out her phone and dialed.
"Emma." she said. "You'd better get to the docks. It's Killian. He's in trouble."
Emma slammed the car door and began running, her parents following behind her. She could see a figure on the floor, Regina crouching over him. Killian.
She ran to his side. "What happened?" she yelled. Cradling his head into her lap, she could see he was still breathing. She checked for injuries as Regina informed them that she was walking along the docks when she saw one of Zelena's monkeys pour some type of powder on Killian and fly away before she could catch up to them.
"Killian." she whispered.
David crouched to Killian's other side. "Do you know anything about the type of powder it was?" he asked Regina.
Regina shook her head. "No, I wasn't close enough." She looked at Emma closely.
"Huh." David said.
Mary Margaret glanced at David. "What?" she asked.
David's brows furrowed. "He looks like he's sleeping. Kind of like you did when I found you and kissed you to wake you up from the curse…." he said, trailing off as he looked at Mary Margaret.
It seemed as if an unspoken conversation was happening between the two of them as Emma continued to caress Killian's face, willing him to wake up, her head down as tears threatened to spill.
She looked up at Regina. "Fix this." she demanded, panic rising within her. Regina shrugged. "I can't. This could be cause of any number of things."
Emma was yelling now. 'I don't care! Use your magic, fix him!" she yelled.
Mary Margaret slowly reached for Emma's hand. "Emma." she paused, casting a glance at David, who looked at Emma with concern and something else she couldn't quite place.
Mary Margaret continued. "Why don't you try….kissing him?" she suggested.
Emma looked taken aback. "Kissing him? What will that do?" she asked. As her parents looked at each other again, it hit her.
Her mouth open, her eyes blinking about fifty times a minute, Emma was speechless. True Love's Kiss. They were suggesting True Love's Kiss. The most powerful magic of all that can break any curse.
Emma looked down at Killian, who really did look like he was sleeping peacefully. His eyes were closed, his breathing deep yet steady.
IF this worked, if she kissed him and he woke up, then that would mean that Killian Jones is her True Love. That they are True Love. Could she handle this?
She thought back to all that Killian had done for her, how she felt when she was around him. How he believed in her, how he never ever stopped fighting for her, how he cared for her and was by her side through it all.
She closed her eyes and slowly leaned down. (Did she really need to have an audience?) As she pressed her lips to Killian's, a single tear escaped and fell on his cheek.
She pulled away and swallowed. What if this didn't work? Could she handle that?
Slowly, Killian opened his eyes, seeing nothing but Emma just inches away from his face.
"Emma." he said, love evident in his voice.
Behind them, Regina smirked. "Ding, Dong. The Witch is dead."
End.