Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author Note: Set after episode 3x22 'There's No Place Like Home' so big spoilers for that.

THE RIGHT THING

Hook found her watching the water. Emma didn't say anything, she didn't even tense up when he slowed to a stop beside her, his shoulder pressing against hers. Truthfully she was glad of the warmth and the touch, it was particularly cold out for some reason. Silently she accepted the flask of rum he held out to her. She took a long swallow before handing it back.

There weren't any lights out on the water. Emma still looked though, it was better than going over what had happened, again.

Eventually, Hook broke the silence. "You saved a life today, Swan."

"Yeah? It feels more like I ruined one."

He didn't take offense at her sharp tone. Her parents hadn't either when they'd told her that she had no reason to feel ashamed of her actions. They would have done the exact same thing in her place, so would Henry. Still Emma reached for the rum again and Hook let her.

Robin, Marian and Roland had been pretty wrapped up in each other after their initial reunion and Regina had looked completely lost and devastated even when angry at Emma. Everybody within earshot had looked pitying which Emma knew was the last thing Regina needed. It was Henry who'd known what to do; he'd told Emma that he'd see her in a few days because his Mom needed him right now. Emma had hugged him quickly, pride battling with guilt as she'd watched him take Regina's hand and walk her quickly out of the diner. Robin hadn't appeared to notice.

Emma sighed. "The most resilient, that's what Regina's heart is supposed to be but it's not indestructible."

Hook shook his head and took the flask off her to take a sip himself. "And yet the archer and the queen are apparently destined to find true love together."

Tinkerbelle had told them that, she'd been pretty white-faced as she'd quietly offered an explanation that had included pixie dust and how the reluctance of a heartbroken young woman had had turned into an older queen's leap of faith. It'd made Emma feel even worse.

She shook her head. "Maybe once Marian was gone but now? I don't know what the rules are."

"It seems to me that this town makes its own rules."

Storybrooke – where the dead didn't stay dead and hearts could always be broken one more time. Of course Roland got his mom back and Robin got to reunite with the woman that he'd thought he'd lost forever, but for the person he'd been moving on with, this wasn't a happy ending.

God, how was he going to explain all of this to Marian? Would he say anything at all? How exactly did you start a conversation about the fact that the person who'd ordered your no-longer-dead wife's execution was now the woman that you were in love with? Yeah, another horribly unique Storybrooke situation.

She leaned into Hook, an instinctive urge that still made her skin prickle because it made her feel way more vulnerable than she was comfortable with. But things had changed and while a large part of her still wanted to run, to get away from all of the pain and guilt, an equally strong part of her also wanted to be right where she was, with Hook. Maybe it was because of how raw she was feeling, or maybe it was because he let her set the pace, yes, he pushed her sometimes but somehow he also knew what she needed – company, not platitudes or pity or claustrophobic affection.

She knew how he felt about her, that particular conversation felt like it was burned into her brain forever. But he'd backed off after that, because of...because of Neal. Emma swallowed and willed herself immovable. She'd shed enough tears recently. Lost loves coming back from the dead, throwing a grenade of awkward devastation amongst the people they'd left behind. Yeah, she knew the feeling.

So did Hook. He'd watched Emma and Neal as Regina now had to watch Robin and Marian. Once both Hook and Regina would have taken what they wanted regardless of who ended up as collateral damage. Emma was almost sure that history wasn't going to repeat itself in this instance. A lot had changed since then.

There was the creak of leather as Hook – Killian – slowly wrapped an arm around her waist. He didn't draw her close, he just curled an arm around her, his ringed fingers resting at her hip. That was another difference, he wasn't just Hook anymore, he was Killian too. Captain Hook was who he'd had to be to survive the loss of first his brother and then Milah, Killian Jones was who had been protected by that hard swaggering shell for so long. He'd been kept hidden from almost everyone, except Neal, and Emma.

Emma and Killian both knew what it was like to lose people and how easy it then was to not let anybody else in. But here they were, standing close together, sharing a flask of rum. Neither of them were running.

"From what your mother told me, the Queen's broken heart led to a lot of the trouble that this town faced before?"

Hook was trying to go somewhere with this, but all Emma heard were more reminders of how screwed Regina had been by Emma's family.

"Yeah, like mother like daughter, my mom thought she was doing the right thing and Regina was one who suffered."

Admittedly that had also been caused by Regina's mother, the woman that Snow had later killed, another example of Regina hurting thanks to Emma's family. Hook's hand on her hip became firmer and he offered her the rum again.

"As I understand it, there's a difference this time. The Queen is not the woman she once was."

That was definitely true, Emma and Hook's little trip to the past had revealed just how much Regina had changed, mostly because of Henry. Thank God, because Emma had been all-too-clearly reminded of the Regina that she had first met in Storybrooke. Those hadn't been exactly pleasant times for anybody. Emma had almost gotten used to the Regina that she knew now, the woman who helped out when someone or something was threatening Storybrooke. Thank God for Henry.

Hook continued as though he'd heard her thoughts. "And she isn't facing this heart wound alone."

Right, Henry was with her; determined to look after her. And there was Tinkerbelle too who was probably Regina's closest friend in Storybrooke and Mary-Margaret who from how she'd reacted at Granny's was not going to let Regina isolate herself in heartbreak. It wasn't exactly a friendship but Mary-Margaret and Regina were mostly cordial to each other now, barring occasional barbs. They were family.

Emma let out a sigh. "There's that."

"There is." Hook's tone became playfully smug, shedding Killian to briefly become Hook again. "And I believe you're admitting that I'm right."

Emma arched an eyebrow at him. "Another 'I told you so?'"

Hook smiled, more of Killian again, and took the flask from her. Emma gazed out at the water, this was supposed to be a night of celebration, the portal had closed, she'd fixed what she'd screwed up between her parents only to rain more problems down just as close to home. Regina was right, Emma hadn't thought about consequences when she'd freed Marian from that cell. She'd thought about saving someone who missed their family, who didn't deserve to die for doing the right thing.

Yeah, and Regina didn't deserve to have her heart broken again, especially not when she'd only just recently begun trusting someone with it for the first time in a long time.

Overwhelmed, Emma shook her head and then touched it to Hook's shoulder, he tightened his arm around her and they stayed silent for a good few minutes. Nobody disturbed them.

Then Mary-Margaret started calling her phone. Emma texted to say that she'd be back later. She still buzzed a little with irritation – people were checking up on her, not giving her space – but that trip back to the past had settled something in Emma. She'd hated the look on Snow White's face when Emma had hugged her, Snow had looked taken-aback and bewildered, no affection on her face at all. That'd hurt a lot and Emma did that to her parents almost every day. It was time to reduce that distance and it was time to stop running.

She'd come to the same decision about Hook. He'd traded his ship, his home, for the chance to retrieve her from New York so that she could help break another Storybrooke curse. She and Hook were both people of actions rather than words and that particular action said a lot. Hook had done that for her because it'd been the right thing to do and because her family had needed her and he'd known that she and Henry would want to help them. She'd been dating someone but Hook hadn't run, he'd stuck with her and had then stayed in Storybrooke where more than a few people hadn't trusted him, where she and Neal had maybe thought about trying again together. He'd stopped running before her, he'd stayed even though she hadn't given him any hope.

Emma shifted and pulled Hook into a sudden kiss, needing the solidity and the drowning. He gladly reciprocated, his hook curving around her back, his hand traveling up to cup her face. Emma drank him in, actions rather than words again. He was here, he'd come back for her more than once and he'd stayed. For a moment, his kisses blotted out her guilt.

His smile was soft when they parted, it was the same smile that he'd worn outside Granny's, Killian's smile. He hadn't said anything then and he didn't say anything now, because he didn't need to, neither of them did. Emma knew that she was smiling as well, something small and secret that she was letting Hook see. The guilt was still there, still eating away at her, but Hook was still there too. Regina had Henry and Tinkerbelle and Mary-Margaret and yes, she had Emma, as strange as it sometimes still was to comprehend. Regina was still hurt though, hurt at a level that Emma knew all too well. If Regina lashed out now, it'd be understandable.

Emma really wanted a chance to rest, to settle her spinning head, to get used to how things had changed again, to get to know her new brother, to spend time with her parents and with Hook. He was important, she couldn't push that thought away any longer. No more running. He'd followed her into the time portal, he'd come for her in New York, he'd traded his ship for her. She couldn't tell him that though, the thought of voicing thoughts that she'd only recently come to accept and linger over made her heart clench painfully. She really was a work in progress, she accepted that now too; that progress had actually happened and that there was even more to come. It seemed scarily inevitable now. She was never going to get used to that.

Hook brushed a strand of hair behind her ear with his hook and looked more than a little knowing. Apparently he could still easily read her, which was still annoying and made her briefly tense but it also meant that she didn't need to say anything. And she could still read him just as well - he wasn't going anywhere.

There was too much to do anyway, there was never much time for rest in Storybrooke. Emma didn't know how she was going to help this time, but she was supposed to be the savior, not the one who made things worse. It was something else that had to change, somehow.

She intertwined her hand with Hook's and headed away from the water.

-the end