By the time she reached the loft her legs were on fire, but that was the last thing on her mind. The first was Killian. Was he dead? Was he alive? Magic worked in so many ways, would it still be real in that alternate world? Her heart clenched painfully when her mind briefly flashed back to the horrific scene of David, well other reality David, stabbing Killian in the back. It felt like a dream to her during that moment while she was watching the light fade from Killian's eyes as he slumped to the ground, scared to death that she might never see him again. She had experience with that look, on the edge of death, until they were gone. First it was with Graham and then it was Neal.

As soon as she reached the building, she ignored the pain in her legs and rushed up the stairs, praying to the gods that the door was unlocked. Relief washed over her when the door opened and the first thing that she noticed was David with his arms wrapped around Mary Margaret. He was whispering something to her, but it was too quiet for her to hear, but she could see the panic on Mary Margaret's face.

Emma slammed the door, alerting them of her presence, "Where is he? Where's Hook?" She glanced around the empty apartment and noticed Henry's backpack opened on the counter and books spread out across the floor. Her heart was pounding in her throat. He isn't here.

"He was there," She turned to see that David was pointing to the pile of books that were scattered on the ground, she noticed one of them being Henry's storybook, "right before we got dragged away."

But he wasn't there. Killian should be right here, but he wasn't.

"Everyone reappeared where they were before this whole mess started," Emma slowly took a few steps towards the book, hoping he would magically appear in front of him. She couldn't say that would be surprising, but after a few seconds nothing happened, "No…"

With her eyes wide, Emma kept scanning the room. Panic was flooding her body and she felt as though she were going to start hyperventilating. It wasn't until she heard his voice that she came back to her senses, her head whipping up towards the sound.

"Yeah, sorry about the mess. I really needed to find that book and I'm usually a bit tidier," When she glanced at his face he was grinning down at her, with one of his eyebrows raised. Killian was casually resting his body against the railing and at that moment Emma couldn't figure out if she wanted to punch him or kiss him for scaring her like that.

Kiss him, she definitely wanted to kiss him.

Pushing through the pain of her legs from running earlier, she felt like she was flying as she climbed up the stairs to her bedroom. It reminded her of the moment when she fled up the clock tower steps to him. With a smile wide on her face, and his as well, she flung herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around him tightly, "Killian!"

They both kept their arms wrapped around one another and she felt like her heart was about to beat out of her chest. Emma took the moment to nudge Killian backwards without untangling their bodies from one another and they ended up falling back on the bed and for the first time, in what felt like forever, she , Emma Swan, giggled. He just made her so happy and to have him back in her arms was the best feeling. This is what love feels like.

Emma pushed herself up and ran her hand up his arm, intertwining her fingers with his good hand while pinning it above his head. She kept some distance between them, looking into his eyes that were full of life despite what she had seen in the other reality and she felt his hook resting on her hip. They were pressed tightly together and it just felt right. Downstairs she heard the door close, figuring that her parents decided to head out.

"How many times do I have to tell you love? I'm a survivor." Emma couldn't keep her heart from clenching painfully when he said that even though she knew he meant it lightly. She would have to thank Henry a thousands times over for his quick thinking and being able to reverse the author's writing. But right now she didn't want to think about the next complication that would most definitely arise in the quaint town.

As he continued to speak, she kept her eyes fixed on him, terrified that he would disappear if she looked away, "Look I didn't mean to cause any panic. I woke moments before your parents and came up here looking for your boy."

"He's fine, Henry's fine. I'm just...glad you are too," 'Glad' was an understatement. She also couldn't ignore how worried he was about Henry. It would have never crossed her mind when she first encountered the fearsome Captain Hook, that he had a soft spot for children.

"What is it?" Both of his eyebrows were raised and he had a concerned look on his face. Taking a deep breath she let go on his hand and grabbed the lapels of his jacket until he was sitting upright, with her sitting on his lap. He kept his hooked arm on her waist while he caressed her cheek with his other hand.

"When I...watched you die. I was afraid I was never gonna get a chance to tell you something," Emma thought back to the conversation that she had with Regina in the cave, telling her how her biggest regret was not telling Killian she loved him and how Regina needed to tell Robin how she felt. But she had the chance now, she was given a second chance and as hard as it was, she wasn't going to miss this one. She just had to say those three words.

"Tell me what?" He now wore a smirk on his face, one of his eyebrows raised. She loved the way he looked at her like that. The smug bastard.

"That I...love you." She couldn't help the smiled that grew on her face. Saying those words to him just felt right. Even with Walsh, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off when she said them. But with Killian, it was perfect.

"I'm sorry, love. I didn't hear you. Say again?" He teased, cupping his hand to his ear, smirk still in place. She swatted his chest playfully and he captured both of her hands in his.

"For 300 years old, I think you're hearing is finally going," She teased back, "What I said was, I love you." It has been so long since Emma had said that to a man and actually meant it. She also knew for a fact that he felt the same way too.

"I love you too, Swan," Killian let go of her hands and threaded his hand through the hair on the back of her neck and pulled her in so he could press a soft kiss to her lips.

"And you were right," She murmured into his neck after she pulled away, sighing contently.

He pulled back a bit to look at her, "About what, love?"

"That you won my heart," She smiled and grabbed his good hand to place it over his heart. He could feel it beating fast in her chest.

"Aye. And I promise to protect it with my life." They both leaned forward to rest their foreheads against one another, lost in their thoughts and able to put their problems to the side for a while.

This was right.