Emma brushed her fingers over Henry's hair, smoothing it back over his forehead, watching the steady movement of his chest. She fought the urge to lay her hand over his heart again, to verify for the hundredth time it was in his chest.
"Hey." Neal's voice came from behind her, startling her. "How's our son?"
"Still sleeping." Emma gave in and placed her hand on Henry's chest, the reassuring thumps telling her he would be all right.
"When was the last time you slept?"
More than a few hours? Since she left Storybrooke. How many days ago? Or was it weeks? They all blurred into a single long day of Neverland twilight. "A while."
"Go get some rest. I'll stay with him."
Emma checked Henry's chest again. Thump thump. Thump hump. "I can't leave him."
"You're not. You're just getting sleep." Neal placed his hands on her shoulder, turning her toward the door. "I'll find you if he wakes up." He gave her a gentle push. "Go."
Emma was too tired to fight him. She left the room, her feet echoing on the wooden planks as she walked down the narrow hallway to the berth where everyone else slept. A soft snore reached through the door, begging her to enter and join the others in sleep.
She leaned against the door, the wood cool against her forehead as she closed her eyes.
Henry. His heart in his hand. "I love you too. But I have to save magic. I'm sorry." Placing his heart into Pan's chest.
The image refused to leave. Sleep would remain elusive until it did.
If it ever did.
Emma stumbled back to the small room where Henry slept, pausing outside the door as she took in Neal, his hand placed on top of Henry's chest. A small smile painted on Neal's face told her the truth.
Safe. Henry was safe.
Relief slammed into her, battering her, a tsunami of emotion she was helpless against.
She fled, careful to not draw Neal's attention. The ship was familiar to her now and even in the dark she had little difficulty maneuvering through the walkways. Tears threatened to spill as she found the door to Hook's cabin. She didn't bother knocking—Hook was busy steering the ship—as she entered the room and closed the door behind her.
The darkness was complete inside and Emma sank against the door while full body sobs wracked her body so hard she fought for breath.
The stress of being strong as the leader of their group. The lack of sleep. Mourning Neal. Finding out Neal still lived. Her parents willing to leave her again. Watching Hook and Neal almost have their shadows ripped from their bodies. Finding Henry only to have him give his heart away and collapse into a lifeless shell. The relief of feeling Henry's heart beat again.
Too much. It was all too much.
A creak whispered across the room and instinct kicked in. She froze, her cries silent, and crouched into fighting position.
"Emma?" Hook's voice was deeper than usual, his unmistakable lilt coated in sleep. "That you, love?"
She thanked the darkness for hiding the embarrassment flooding her face and stood up. "I thought you were at the helm." She fumbled in the dark, searching for the doorknob and escape. "Sorry for waking you."
"Your father offered to take a turn." Somehow he had crossed the room in record time, his silhouette next to hers. "Did something happen?"
"N-no." Leftover tears hovered at the edge of her control, searching for freedom.
"Are you alright?"
His question, filled with concern and worry, tipped the scales and the floodgate broke, her careful control washed away.
He wrapped her in his arms immediately, her head against his shoulder and arms returning the hug, his heat surrounding her. "Let it out, love."
It might have been seconds. Or minutes. But gradually her sobs subsided and she realized why he was so warm.
Hook was completely naked.
The revelation proved the perfect cure for drying lingering tears as awareness pooled in her belly. Everywhere his skin touched hers fire danced as his heat seeped through the tank top and pants she still wore.
Hook's body tensed around her, sensing the change. "Emma?"
It's just a hug, she tried to tell herself, even as she became very aware of the growing hardness pressing into her body. She closed her eyes, to steel herself and pull away, and the images bombarded her.
Hook's mouth on her body, licking a trail down to her thighs. Her hands twisted in his hair as she moaned at his attention. His words of love just before he sent her spiraling out of control.
Her Neverland dream—another thief stealing sleep from her nights before the moment at skull rock—came rolling back.
And while once unwelcomed and feared, it chased away the haunting picture of her lifeless son—the first time since that day. The lesser of two evils.
An unbidden thought raced through her mind: If a dream was powerful enough to scare the nightmare away, would the reality remove it for good?
She would do anything to have it gone.
She loosened her grip, allowing her fingers to traces the lines on Hook's back, noting multiple ridges marring his smooth flesh, and finally resting her hands on his hips. She heard his breath catch as she pulled him closer, digging his arousal into her body.
"Emma, what are you doing?" His voice shook, catching Emma off guard as the moments she'd locked away to save Henry broke free from their prison.
His secret in the cave.
"I never thought I could be capable of letting go of my first love, my Milah. To believe that I could find someone else. That is until I met you."
His words afterwards.
"So when I win your heart, Emma—and I will win it—it will not because of any trickery. It will be because you want me."
And she did want him, but she wasn't ready to love someone again, to trust someone not to hurt her, especially a pirate.
Though he was more than that now.
He'd come to Neverland for Henry, the sole person not related to him, to rescue him.
He'd saved David from dreamshade and somehow befriended him.
He'd told them about Neal when it would've been easier to keep silent.
He'd gone first in the cave, when the rest of them hadn't believed and feared sharing the truth.
Somehow through it all, he'd become her friend, the first person she could talk to since Mary-Margaret had become "mom".
She owed him honesty.
She released her grip on Hook, nudging him away until he broke contact. A chill surrounded her, her body lamenting his loss as she took a deep breath. "We need to talk."
TBC...
My first fanfic, likely to be a few chapters as I wait for the newer episodes.
Reviews?
Concrit appreciated.