Emma had never heard a song so beautiful or so sad.

It rang in her ears, blocking out all other thought. It'd been there for days now. It was haunting her; she was absolutely convinced of it. The melody enthralled and repelled her, and Emma almost wondered what it was, if only the song would stop playing long enough for her to think properly.

And for the third night in a row, Emma could not sleep.

She'd resigned to her fate of sleeplessness hours ago, opting to stay on deck and look out at the stars instead. Her mind vibrated from the tune, feeling completely overwhelmed but desiring more simultaneously. Emma leaned against the ship's railing and rested her head in her hands, willing the music to allow her one moment of peace and quiet.

"Can't get me out of your head, darling?"

Emma groaned.

"Not now, Hook."

"Can't say I blame you," Hook said, coming to lean beside her. "I do have that effect on women." Emma didn't bother to look up, but she was fairly sure he winked.

Propping her head up on one hand, Emma turned to face him. "Look, I'm not in the mood right now."

"Funny. You'd be the first to ever tell me that."

Emma groaned, returning to her previous position against the railing. "Can you not? I've had this freaking song stuck in my head for days now. I haven't slept, I haven't eaten, and I haven't been able to even form a rational thought for God knows how long, and the last thing I need right now is – "

"You hear it, too?"

Completely lifting her head up, Emma studied Hook meticulously. "You mean you hear it?"

"Aye," Hook said, nodding his head slightly. "It's a curse of some sort, I reckon. Must've gotten it from those bloody sirens."

Emma merely blinked at him. They'd been attacked by some sirens a few days prior, but she thought they'd made it out unscathed. "So how do we get rid of it?"

Hook shook his head sadly. "We don't."

Emma stood up fully, seething. "So I'm just going to have this song stuck in my head forever? Well, that's just fantastic."

"It'll be okay, lass," Hook muttered, reaching out his good hand to rub Emma's arm softly. She stiffened at his touch, and Hook laughed softly. "Relax, would you?"

Emma exhaled sharply. Having Hook beside her like this should not make her feel like this, all flustered and warm and –

"Dance with me, love," he whispered.

"What?" Emma questioned, beginning to take a step back.

"Why not?" he countered, pulling her back to him. "We've nothing else to do, and the music's all ready," he murmured into her ear. Emma shuddered, cursing her traitorous body. "Unless, of course, there's another more enjoyable activity you'd like to pursue."

"Don't be an ass," Emma told him sternly, wrapping her hands around his neck and swaying slowly to the rhythm of the quiet song they both knew.

"What're you doing?" he asked, sounding somewhat broken.

"Dancing," she answered simply, feeling his arms go around her waist and pull her closer. Closing her eyes, she buried her face into his neck, inhaling the scent of sea salt and rum. "You can't tell anyone about this," she whispered. "Ever."

"I wouldn't dream of it, lass," Hook said. Emma could feel the rapid beating of his heart hammering against her own chest. She wondered somewhere in the back of her mind if he could feel her heart, too, but the music in her head was too overwhelming for her to fully process it.

Emma set a simple pattern. Forwards, backwards, left, right. Forwards, backwards, left, right.

Hook began to whisper the lyrics already plastered in her mind aloud, and Emma felt her internal melody beginning to sink away until all she could hear was him and his beautiful voice, and God, it was so beautiful. He was so beautiful.

"Hook," Emma started. The pirate stopped his soft singing, looking up into her eyes curiously. The song returned almost instantaneously, sounding much louder and unbearable this time around. "Please, don't stop. Keep singing."

And so Hook did. He sang until his voice was hoarse, the sound nothing above the slightest fraction of a noise, and then until no more sound came out. Emma paused at the brief silence. "Thank you," Emma murmured, the disturbing melody returning to her mind. "I – I'm going to sleep now," she lied, because she knew sleep was going to be impossible after that, beginning to untangle herself from the pirate. But Hook merely shook his head, dragging her even closer to him in retaliation.

"No," he croaked. "You're not." And his lips were on hers, slow and ardent, begging for a reaction. She responded embarrassingly quickly, moving her hand to cup his cheek, the other one fisting into his hair.

Hook suddenly broke away.

"It's stopped," he said as loudly as he could. "It's gone."

Hook was right. The silence rang throughout Emma's ears. She laughed. "Oh, thank God. I thought we were going to have to dance like that forever."

"We might still have to, love," Hook said, eyes sparkling.

Emma eyed him curiously.

"Do you know what this means, Emma?" Hook asked her. "This means that you are my true love."

"Shit."

Hook smirked, and Emma slept better that night than she ever had before.

Thanks a million for reading! Please review, favorite, follow, etc.!

So that was just a quick drabble in preparation for season 3. (ONE MORE WEEK!) I literally can't wait. So please tell me what you think! Any and all thoughts would be greatly appreciated :)