"EMMA! NO!" screamed Snow White.

Hearing her name, Killian Jones avoided yet another attack and whipped around to see what had happened. Snow White was running towards her fallen daughter, who lay disturbingly still, as her husband struggled to get up and follow from where he himself had been knocked down. Killian's eyes widened as a memory ran through his mind of another fallen woman…

Fending off another attack, the pirate turned towards the family and raced to their sides. Snow was desperately cupping her daughter's face in her hands and asking her to open her eyes. As Charming stumbled over to his wife and daughter, he grasped Emma's hand and watched for any sign of movement, his gaze going from one to the other to gauge the situation.

Standing over the three, Killian kept an alert eye on the enemy, intent on defending them since they weren't able to. At the same time, he kept his ears open to keep track of what was going on beside him. The enemy had ambushed them as they'd been searching, then quickly disappeared. When they'd disappeared, they had been replaced by disposable minions who had been given magical abilities of their own, though not nearly as strong as their master's. But combined with their fighting abilities and numbers, they were quite an obstacle. Emma, Charming, Snow, and Hook had tried to stay close to each other as they fought off the minions, but it had only been for a short time. In quick order, they had been separated from each other, though still in view. However, in the split second that each of them had turned away from each other to defend themselves, a flash had brightened the clearing. Having been focused on fighting his own opponents, Hook hadn't paid any attention, assuming that whatever had been thrown had missed since each of his companions were relatively competent fighters. Until Snow had screamed…

Watching the minions, Hook noticed that they had stopped attacking…in fact…it seemed that they were moving away from the quartet…and as he watched them retreating, a disturbing thought entered his mind. He recalled the fight's details and as the pieces came together, he swore under his breath. They had been aiming at EMMA, he realized as the minions dispersed. They'd purposely separated the group so that she would be a clear target. Blinded by rage, Killian prepared to pursue the minions…but the sound of heartbroken sobs reached him first.

Acknowledging that the enemy had left them…for NOW…Killian quickly knelt across from Snow and Charming. Taking in their devastated faces, his heart, the damn organ that had turned to stone when Milah had died, sank, then began beating erratically. He checked Emma's pulse…and his heart plummeted further.

"No," he whispered. Bringing his gaze back up to Snow and Charming, and once again taking note of their faces, he confirmed his discovery. As he did so, Snow noted the stark shock in his eyes and the wheels in her head began turning. An idea quickly came to mind, and with it, a hope that not all was lost just yet.

Swiping the tears from her cheeks with the end of the sleeve of her sweater, Snow stared back resolutely at the pirate. "Kiss her Hook."

"WHAT?!" the two men echoed, Charming's face changing from grief to horror in a split second as he turned to look at her. Killian's eye widened even further and he stared back at her steady gaze, not sure what he was hearing.

"KISS…HER," Snow enunciated.

"Why?" the pirate asked, still not believing his ears.

"Yeah, why?" Charming repeated, eyeing Hook suspiciously.

"True love's kiss," the dark-haired woman stated matter-of-factly. Her husband's eyes narrowed even further while Hook continued to look like a deer-in-headlights…much like he had when that car hit him…

"That only works for true love," Charming said slowly as he assessed the other man and his reactions.

"Exactly."

"Snow," the blond man warned, "I think one of those blasts must have hit you harder than we thought."

"No, they didn't. Do I look injured?"

"No, you don't. But you have no idea what you're saying!"

"I know exactly what I'm saying. Hook needs to kiss Emma. NOW."

"But I'm not—" Killian answered before quickly being cut off by a slice of Snow's hand.

"Don't lie to us. I can tell. I'm somewhat of an expert on the topic. And even if you're not and I'm wrong, it's worth a try."

"But what about Emma's feelings? She can't be in love with this cad of a pirate!" Charming shouted. Hook shot an icy glare at the description, but the prince ignored it.

"She could be. She told me she was falling for him."

"When did this happen?" her husband demanded, instantly braced to strangle the man in leather.

"That doesn't matter. KISS HER, Hook. It's our only chance. We're wasting time!"

Killian looked from Charming's threatening face to Snow's determined one. Then he glanced at Emma. A pain stabbed his chest as he considered the possibility that this really was the end…and that he'd failed YET AGAIN to protect a woman…who he cared about. Yes, he cared about her, BLAST IT. And the possibility that he would never again get to tease her and see her roll her eyes at his advances, that he would never see her smug grin and full-fledged smile at his comments, that he would never get to see her face light up when she talked about her friends and family again, had him leaning forward. Not hearing the choked swear that Charming uttered at his actions, or noticing Snow's calming hand on her husband's arm, he continued leaning forward until he was able to carefully press his lips to Emma's.

After a few seconds of contact, Killian leaned back and waited. In the distance, he heard strangled screams which could only have come from the minions as they were hit by a wave of magic which tore them apart. However, he kept his gaze fixed on Emma's face, Snow and Charming holding their breaths and each other. Seconds passed and their hearts began to sink even further when they noticed a furrow cross the blonde woman's brow. Her chest rose and fell. Then slowly…agonizingly slowly, her eyelids opened. Snow shrieked in joy as Charming shouted and Killian let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Smiling broadly, he watched as her parents embraced her. Meanwhile, Emma's confused gaze caught his.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You were out cold, lass. Your parents were worried for a few minutes there," Killian answered. He had a feeling he shouldn't tell her what had actually happened…at least not yet. Else he had a feeling that Charming would beat him into oblivion…