"Swan! Swan!"

His voice was broken, completely, and utterly broken. Emma stopped.

Should she really be doing this? Leaving a man behind. A man who had risked his own safety to help her?

She'd been left alone enough times to know how awful it felt.

"Emma, please," he said, behind her, so softly that she couldn't be sure that she'd heard it.

Emma turned back and knelt down in front of him, taking his cuffed hand in hers. "If I unchain you, you have to swear that you will help me get back to my son, and I have to believe you."

"You can trust me, Emma," said Killian, his blue eyes searing into hers.

He wasn't lying.

"What about Gold?" she asked, "Er—Rumplestiltskin."

Killian frowned. "I still want my revenge, but I'll keep you out of it. Once we get to Storybrooke, you'll not have to see me again."

Emma stared at him for a long moment. "You intend to die for your revenge," she said softly.

Killian nodded. "The Dark One leaves no survivors."

"What if there was another path?" asked Emma.

"There isn't," said Killian.

"You don't have to be alone. Storybrooke could be a new start for you."

Killian shook his head. "Trust me, darling, as soon as the Dark One learns that I am back in Storybrooke, he will come after me. I intend to put up a good fight, but I will not survive. But none of this should concern you. You'll be back with your son. That's what is important."

Emma bit back a reply. It wouldn't do for him to know that she didn't want him to die. She hated the thought that she might lose someone else. They'd only known each other for a day, and yet he was already beginning to work his way into her heart. It scared the hell out of her.

"So, are you going to unchain me, because if not, we could turn this negative into a positive," he quipped, grinning up at her in an attempt to relieve the tension of the moment. His thumb caressed the back of her hand, sending a shiver down her spine.

"I'll go get Anton," she murmured.

-/-

Emma was trying to keep her concentration on the task at hand, climbing down the beanstalk, but it was a difficult task with the pirate right beside her.

They'd been silent, but she could feel his eyes on her, as if he were trying to learn all her secrets just by looking at her. The scary thing was that he was probably capable of doing so.

"Tell me something, darling," said Killian, "Who abandoned you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Emma quickly.

"The climb would go a lot faster if you opened up, love. I'll be dead in a few days, so you can tell me anything."

"His name was Neal," she said, instantly regretting it. Talking about Neal was the last thing she wanted to be doing.

The beanstalk shook violently. Emma felt a hand reach out for her.

Killian had dug his hook into the stalk and used his hand to steady her.

She could feel the heat of his palm through her thin tank top.

"What the hell was that?" she asked.

"I don't know, but we best hurry and get to the ground. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was Cora trying to cut the stalk down."

Emma's eyes widened. "No. It's Mulan. I told her to cut it down if we weren't back in ten hours."

"That was a rather confident move," said Killian.

"I'm a realist."

The beanstalk shook again, and Killian's grip tightened.

"I'd say he have a good thirty feet," said Killian, "Shall we jump?"

Emma nodded and slipped her hand into his and together they fell.

-/-

"Emma! You're alive! Did you get it?" asked Mary Margaret pulling her daughter into her arms.

"We got it," said Emma.

"I'm sorry, Emma," said Mulan, holding her sword. "I was just doing what you asked of me."

"I know," said Emma. "Let's just get those ashes. Hook is coming with us."

Mary Margaret threw a skeptical glance at the pirate. "Are you sure we can trust him, Emma?"

"He risked his life to help me get the compass. I trust him."

Mary Margaret nodded. If her daughter trusted him, then it was good enough for her.

Emma turned to Killian. "Where to next?"

"Cora will be back at the settlement," said Killian. "She'll have the ashes on her person."

"So how will we get them?" asked Mary Margaret.

"Leave that to me, ladies," said Killian. "I've always been great at improvisation."

-/-

The five of them headed back to the camp, until night began to fall.

"We had better make camp," said Killian. "We'll need our strength to best Cora, and we still do not have a way of defeating her."

"Rumplestiltskin would know of a way," said Mary Margaret.

Killian's expression soured at the mention of his name.

"Well, we can't exactly get in contact with him," said Emma.

"Aurora," said Mary Margaret, "do you think you could get a message to Henry."

"It's possible," said Aurora.

"You don't have to do this," said Mulan.

"I want to," said Aurora.

-/-

Killian paced back and forth waiting for the young princess to fall asleep. "What exactly are we doing?" asked Killian.

Emma leaned against a tree. "My son was under a sleeping curse. So was Aurora. Victims of sleeping curses go to a netherworld when they sleep. They can communicate."

Killian noticed the way her voice faltered when she said her son was under a sleeping curse. "It wasn't your fault, Emma" said Killian.

Emma looked up at him with wide eyes. "It was," said Emma.

Without thinking about it, Killian reached out for her, taking her hand in his. Why the hell did he feel the urge to comfort her? Well, that he didn't know. All he knew was that her skin was warm beneath his, and he wouldn't mid holding her in the future, just as he'd done in the giant's lair.

They waited for Aurora to awaken with news from Henry.

Killian shifted closer and leaned against the tree beside Emma. Their hands were still joined.

Mary Margaret looked up at them with a curious expression on her face.

What had happened up on that beanstalk?

Aurora awakened and said, "We agreed to meet back in an hour. Henry is going to speak to Rumplestiltskin."

"Thank you, Aurora," said Mary Margaret, wrapping her arms around the younger woman, who was still shaking. She knew better than most the horrors of the dream world.

Across the campsite, Killian glanced at Emma, "So, we've an hour. I can think of several ways to pass the time."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I bet you can. "I might try and get some sleep myself," said Emma, dropping to the ground.

Killian sat down beside her and slid his arm around her shoulders.

Emma didn't have it in her to protest. She laid her head on his shoulder, her eyes closing as she drifted off to sleep.

As Killian sat there holding her, he started to think for the first time in centuries that maybe there was more to life than revenge.