He'd wanted her for so long that he couldn't even remember when that desire had turned into a need, and he definitely couldn't remember when that need had turned into a simple I love her, and I want her to love me.
Emotions were far more complicated when such sentiments were involved, he'd thought. Then, it had all turned into a battle of conscience, a conflict only he could resolve, seeing the doubt and longing struggle for dominance in her stare as he tried relentlessly to persuade her that he was, in fact, a changed man. And oh, how she had changed him. Emma had taken a wayward pirate and transformed him into an honorable man, and he at least owed her for that.
But now, looking back, Hook could do nothing more than smile as he thought of where he'd been and where he was now, from Milah and heartache and revenge to Emma and hope and love, and that thought replenished his light when it was just barely alive, and was enough to do so for lifetimes.
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