First off, I don't own Once Upon A Time. If I did, I'd be a very rich person. But I'm not. In any case, it struck me that Hook doesn't need to kiss her lips for true love's kiss to work. And so I wrote this.
Emma stormed up the stairs of Granny's and banged harshly on the door of a certain pirate. When nobody answered she banged on it again. "Hook! I know you're in there so open up!" She paused for a moment and when she didn't hear movement from the other side of the door she raised her hand to bang on it again.
"Hook I swear I'll break this door down if you – " She was cut off by the door suddenly swinging open. Killian Jones stood there, in all his leather clad glory, a forced smile gracing his lips.
"Swan. What can I do for you?" The indifference of his tone irritated Emma and she folded her arms over her chest, glaring up at the pirate.
"How about you tell me why the hell you're avoiding me?"
Hook's tongue traced his bottom teeth as he hesitated a moment, his eyes meeting hers only briefly before darting away again. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said at last and Emma scoffed disbelievingly.
"You're lying. And what's more you're…" She trailed off as she caught sight of the room half hidden behind his form. "Are you packing?" She asked incredulously. Hook closed his eyes, as if he was in pain and Emma took the chance to duck around him and into the room before he could stop her.
As soon as she was in the room she could tell that she had been correct. The few personal possessions that Hook had were packed inside a few cardboard boxes around the room. Emma spun back round to face Hook, her heart heavy with fear and betrayal. "Are you leaving?" She had meant for it to come out as a demand but it was barely a whisper.
Hook definitely looked like he was in pain now as he took a few steps towards her, like he wanted to comfort her but was holding himself back. "Emma…I…It's for the best."
"What?" Her voice was back in full force now and she was glad; at least this way she could maintain some kind of illusion that her heart wasn't breaking. "How the hell is this what's best?" She demanded hotly, "You're just going to run out on everyone when we need you? Zelena's not going to give up, Hook! I thought you cared about what happened to Henry! I thought you cared about me!" She stopped abruptly as she realised what she'd said and Killian's gaze finally settled on her.
"You know what, it doesn't matter." She muttered, cheeks hot with embarrassment and eyes hot with tears that she refused to shed in front of him. She strode back across the room, meaning to storm back out but Hook caught her upper arm and stopped her.
"Swan…Emma." He drew her back so he could trap her eyes with his blue ones. "I'm doing this to protect you; to protect your family. Now you can hate me for that if you want, but at least know the truth: I do care about you." His eyes darted down to her lips briefly before locking with hers again. "More than you know."
Emma stared up at him, caught between anger at his leaving and happiness at his confession. She didn't realise she was leaning in until he suddenly jerked away, stumbling back and taking half her heart with him. The embarrassment was back in full force but this time it was overpowered by anger.
"What the hell, Hook? You can't do things like that! Either you care about me or you don't…Wait…" A thought struck her. A thought that she wished she hadn't conjured as soon as she did so but one she couldn't ignore. "Are you using me?"
"No. Never. I couldn't do that. My feelings are genuine, Emma, but this is for the best." The cracked tone of his voice and the sadness in her eyes softened her a little, not much, but enough. Enough to keep her believing that this, he, was something she needed to fight for.
"That's not a decision you get to make on your own." Her voice was calmer now, but insistent. "If this is about me, about my family, then I have a right to know. Hook, what's going on?"
He sighed and buried his face in his hand, "Don't you think I would tell you if I could, love? It's not that simple." He looked up again, his face deadly serious. "If I tell you then she'll…people are going to start dying and I won't let that happen. You've already lost too much, Swan, I won't let you lose anything else because of me." His jaw was set in a way that Emma knew meant he had made a decision and wasn't likely to change it, and yet…
Emma's eyes narrowed, "She? Is Zelena behind this?" She demanded and quickly cut Hook off as he started to deny it. "Don't even think about lying. You tell me what's going on and you tell me now. You do not keep secrets from me, not when my son's life is at stake."
Hook stared at her for a long moment before nodding. "Alright. She cursed me. She cursed me so that the next time my lips touch yours, your power will be taken away."
"And if you don't?" Even as she asked it, Emma already knew the answer to the question.
"If I don't then she'll kill your family." He replied solemnly. Emma took a deep breath and then slowly let it out again. She knew what she had to do; what they had to do.
"You have to kiss me."
Hook's eyebrows shot up to his hairline as Emma stepped towards him. He quickly held up his hand to halt her movements. "Look, not that I don't want to kiss you but without your powers the witch will destroy all of Storybrooke anyway because there'll be nobody to stop her."
"And how will you leaving help? She'll just find you and kill you and then find some other way to get rid of my powers."
"I have to try!" Hook cried. "I won't just sit back and let you lose the people you love, Emma!"
"And what about you?" Emma shot back, taking another, tentative step towards him, "What makes you think losing you wouldn't hurt me?" Hook gave her a look and she remembered all the times she had shut him down, walked away or turned him down. The times burned a path through her chest, ripping it apart as she faced the idea that now, when she was finally ready to let him in, he was shutting her out. Worse than that, he was shutting her out because he loved her.
"This is the only way, Emma. Come on now, your boy needs you." He said, nodding his head towards the door and turning away from her.
"Wait!" Emma cried, running to block his path. "What about true love's kiss?"
Hook sighed, "Weren't you listening lass? True love's kiss requires a kiss."He made to move past her and her hand shot out to his chest to push him back.
"Exactly: just a kiss." Emma insisted. "Who said anything about your lips touching mine?" Hook blinked at her for a moment before raising his eyebrow.
"Love, you seem to be confused about the nature of true love's kiss." Hook's voice was patronising but it slipped right past Emma as she realised that she could save him. "It requires two people's lips to touch."
"No, it doesn't. When I broke the curse, the first one, it was by kissing Henry."
"Well that's lovely, Swan, but how does it help us?" He gestured between the two of them with his hook.
"Because I didn't kiss his lips: I kissed his forehead. If I kiss you, it'll break your curse." A flicker of hope appeared in his eyes before it was obscured again, like someone pulling the curtains over a window.
"You're assuming that what we have is true love and, if I remember New York correctly, I think it proved to both of us that what we have isn't true love." He tried to move past her again and again she pushed him back.
"What if it is?" Hook rolled his eyes and began to interrupt but she cut him off. "My father once tried true love's kiss on my mother after her memories were erased and it doesn't work. You have to know each other for it to work."
"That doesn't mean it's going to work this time." Even as he said it Emma could tell he only half meant it and she inched toward him, bringing her other hand up to join the first on his chest.
"Maybe not," She looked up at him and could see his resolve waning, "but I have to try. And if it doesn't work then..." She trailed off, her heart contracting painfully at the consequences of it not working, "If it doesn't work we've lost nothing: I've still got my powers." She stretched up towards him but he leant away from her and his hand and hook gently held her back.
"And what about your family, Emma? What about your parents; your boy? This isn't just about us, Zelena will come after them if I don't kiss you, you know she will."
"And she won't if you leave? Hook…Killian, running away isn't the answer." She slid her hands up his arms and cupped his face in her hands. "My parents can take care of themselves and Henry has half the town protecting him, even if he doesn't realise it. Whatever Zelena throws at us, we'll face it together. I'm not about to let you go. Not without a fight." She stretched up towards him again and this time he let her. Both of their eyes fluttered closed as her lips met his stubbled cheek.
A pulse of magic erupted from them and Killian pulled away, his eyes searching Emma's. "Was that true love's kiss working or the curse taking away your magic?"
"Only one way to find out." Before he could stop her she had grabbed hold of his lapels just like she had in Neverland and pulled him down into the kiss that both of them were craving. His hand came up to tangle in her hair while his hooked arm pulled her closer. His lips prised hers open and she melted into his chest, her knees growing weak and her grip on his coat going lax as his hot breath invaded her mouth.
Suddenly he pulled away, only to rest his forehead against hers. "Bloody hell, Swan." He breathed and she wondered if he was talking about the kiss or the recklessness of her act. "Magic still intact?" He asked slightly breathlessly and Emma felt a surge of pride that she could make him as breathless as he made her.
She took a step back, closed her eyes and reached inside herself, finding the ebb and flow of her magic. She held out her palm and opened her eyes again to show Killian the fireball in her palm. A grin spread across Killian's face and Emma felt one appear on her own to match it.
"We did it." She smiled and let the fireball die so she could reach out and twine her fingers with Killian's.
"You did it, Emma." He said, tugging her closer so he could embrace her.
"I couldn't lose you." She murmured, burying her head in the crook of his neck.
"That's right, you've finally admitted you've fallen for a devilishly handsome pirate." He teased and Emma pulled away.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, Hook, I never said you were devilishly handsome." Emma smirked and her stomach did summersaults when he answered with a smirk of his own.
"Alas, perhaps not," he yanked her closer again, drawing a line along her jaw with his nose and pressing a kiss to her neck, "but I bet I could make you say it."
"I'd like to see you try, Hook." She murmured breathlessly as he sucked lightly on her neck.
"Killian, Emma. My name is Killian." He whispered, his lips brushing her ear and sending shivers down her spine.
"Killian." She repeated softly, wrapping her arms around him and pulling back just enough that she could see into his eyes as she said, "I love you."
Killian smirked, "I know." Emma was about to swear at him when he cut her off with a kiss. It wasn't like their other kisses, which had been hot and heavy, this kiss was soft, sweet and passionate. He pulled away slowly and murmured, "I love you too." They stayed like that for a long moment before the inevitable smirk crept back onto Killian's face.
"Now, what do you say we make up for lost time, eh Swan?" He pressed his lips to hers again and she smiled into the kiss. Her happily ever after was right here, with a leather-wearing, rum drinking pirate, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
So. That's it :D What did you think? If you leave me a review I'll be super happy and super grateful Love Kristen – The fallen angel's hope.