So after watching the first episode I saw the sneak and the euphoria of all the Hook and Emma moments must've have warped by mind. Cause I saw a little something something between Peter and Emma in the sneak and felt kind of dirty. Cause you know, Peter Pan is supposed to be a kid! And looking at everything through the Hook and Emma shipper goggles I decided that this way was the only way to reconcile it in my head.
It was another time, another place, another tree, another knife, but it was the same arm that was scorching his cold lifeless skin again. Awakening it from centuries of slumber and darkness. In Neverland, a timeless place, he could feel every second cutting into his soul, in her absence. Just seeing the fiery glare of her brilliant eyes again was almost enough to tempt him into a gleeful dance that would make the silly Dark One envious. He swallowed down the desire to stroke her cheeks in comfort and promise that everything would be ok soon.
"You're Emma." To her it came out mocking and harsh. But to his own ears, he could hear the need and desire lacing the utterance of her name. He wanted to shout it to the heavens above a million times in triumph. He would have to be careful from this point forward. She was always his weakness and it was his weakness that made him lose her in the first place. But not this time. Not again.
"You've got fire. I like fire." He saw her eyes flicker briefly in confusion and a sense of familiarity before purposefully shoving it away. Ahh his little swan. Still completely an open book to him. He knew she wouldn't think of it again. Her sole focus was on Henry and Henry alone. That would be her downfall in this treacherous place. She would willfully ignore all the pieces that didn't fit and discard them without a second glance. He almost felt sorry for her. Because as clever and passionate as she was, the deck was stacked against her without her knowledge. He had the advantage of knowing her better than she was willing to know herself at this point and the advantage of knowing the future events. He would carefully move all the pieces to circumvent that very future. For a brief second he allowed regret to creep in. One of the things he loved about her was her fighting nature and her ability to be his equal. Or if he was to be completely honest, she could best him if it was a level playing field. It would've been fun but this was no game. He would cheat, lie and kill and do everything in his power to ensure the outcome he wanted.
She glared at the blank map. She would never be able to read it because this wasn't about Henry like she believed. She was the real prize. He needed Henry here because it was the only thing, the only person that tied her to that time and universe. Without Henry, he would be able to crush that universe out of existence. That universe that dictated she die in his arms. Henry would never exist in the first place but she would live. That's all he cared about. He would make it up to her in some way. He would spend eternity making it up to her.
He gave one last longing glance at her dejected posture. He could feel her loneliness as acutely as ever in this place. As he flew away, he saw his other self, coming up behind her. He was the lone wrench in the plan. He couldn't allow them to fall in love, not here in this place and time. She had given her heart and life to Killian Jones to allow him to live. But she didn't know that without her, life wasn't worth living.
It was his weakness for her that made him leave Neverland the first time. He didn't know however that leaving Neverland would make him grow up and lose his memories. Lose his way. He had forgotten about her, forgotten about his own self really. Made him become Killian Jones. Then Hook. If anything was a testament to the inevitability that their lives and hearts would always be linked, it was that he had found her even as Killian. But it was as if the story had been written wrongly that didn't allow Emma and Killian to live happily ever after. It was supposed to be Peter and Emma and he would make sure this time that it would be. Her magic and his combined would be enough to turn back the time, to annihilate that other time and world so that it no longer existed. This time he would have her heart to anchor him to his memories of her and Neverland. This time he would retrieve her before Henry existed. Before life and pain had disillusioned her so much. Before Killian Jones and Hook existed. He hardened his heart against her pain. This time he would win the war against fate. This time he was playing for keeps.