"Emma, we need to talk about us." Baelfire, Neal, insisted once again since he joined our camp. He reached out for Swan's arm, attempting to place his palm upon it. Though it was not to be, for Swan moved quickly out of his reach.
"For the last time, Neal, not now." she states, again, it has to be almost the eighth time she's told him 'No' since only a few nights ago when we rescued him.
Neal threw his arms in the air, when I saw a slight flinch from Swan I felt the need to move closer, but held back. I shouldn't get involved. "Then when, Emma?" he sounded exasperated, didn't he know not to pressure Swan?
"Oh, I don't know, Neal. How about once we have our son home?" I can tell, from experience, that the glare she sent him was not a pleasant one.
I turned away from their forms, I'd been watching too long. I move toward the trees, giving them more privacy than their volume truly allowed them. I needed to separate myself from her, she wouldn't want me listening in on their conversation anyway.
I begin to walk on a narrow path I created from the very recent, constant trips away from camp. I don't enjoy being at the site with my pent up emotions. I don't want to be close in case I remind Emma of her mistake in kissing me. The last thing she needs is my presence with her True Love Neal there as well.
I've worked hard to keep myself separate from Emma, I've actually impressed myself with how well I've done. I make sure to stay several people away from her during our treks, I keep myself consistently across the camp from her, I pair up with David, and request his presence when needing it as well. I've made it my goal to give Emma all the space she needs, all that I can without leaving the group completely.
As I continue out to where my path has ended I take a seat on my log and pull out my flask. My rum is gone now, so I fill it with fresh water from a nearby lake. The liquid is refreshing, cooling me from the inside, keeping me sane through my silent getaways.
"Swan." I don't say her given name, if I do it will hurt. I'm hurting plenty without that extra little sting. Nothing positive has come out of Neal's return. Everyone's on edge, with his and Swan's constant bickering. True Love, huh? Interesting, never thought that would be how it worked. How are they so different from the legend themselves? I mean, her mother and father are a well-oiled machine in comparison to Bael- Neal and her. I guess stuff will balance out eventually.
"So, this is where you disappear to." her voice breaks to silence. The air becomes thick, tense, defensive really.
I turn and give her a bored look, "Oh, so you've found my hideout, Swan."
She gives me a severely painful glare, I feel as though I've been stabbed in the chest. "What's wrong with you? You haven't been telling us where you've been going, we're all waiting around at the camp thinking you have abandoned us."
"Don't give me that, Swan. They don't give a hoot where I am or what I'm doing."
"Another thing, you just come out to drink to your heart's content? Rum is not that good, Hook." she says as she makes her way over to me, then she steals it from my grasp.
"It's not rum, Lass, it's only water." She looks at me, disbelieving, then sniffs the open bottle. She looks at it again, then, after giving me a weak glare, she takes a swig. "Told you."
She hands back my flask, "Fine, but you shouldn't be going off on your own and leaving the rest of us."
"Why not? They don't need me there, Neal knows just as much as I do about Neverland." I reply honestly, they don't need me any longer. I stand up, turn and give her a fake grin.
She cocks her head to the side, "That's not true, you know it-"
"Oh no, Lass, it is the truth. My services are no longer needed to any of you." I begin to move around her, headed back to camp.
"Hook, stop it. I'm telling we still need you. We need you just as much as we did before." Why does she want to fight me on this? I peer back at her, she's staring at me, like she's losing something. No, like she's lost.
"Look Swan-"
"No, that's not my name." she says, her eyes begin to lose their light.
I place my hand on the back of my head, "Lass, what's-"
"That's not my name either." she almost looks hurt, like this is important to her.
I move my head to my face, pressing my forehead into it, "So, what is your point?"
"Why are you doing this?" she asks, she takes steps closer to me. I can't stand this, so I move farther away. "No!" she rushes forward, sending us spiralling to the ground.
My normal reaction speed triples, as soon as I realize we're falling I wrap my arms around her protectively, just to be sure she doesn't randomly land elsewhere, besides my chest.
"Omfph!"
I keep my arms wrapped around her frame as I try to quickly figure out what just happened to cause her to take such action. I figure nothing out by the time she begins to shake. Swan's face is still hidden in my chest. "Are you okay, Love?" I ask gently. I hear a mumble, "What was that?" Could she have gotten injured somehow?
"You're leaving too." I hear finally. I try to understand the statement in it's own right.
"Leaving...too?" I question, "What are you meaning, Swan?"
She turns her face to her right, but with her long hair in the way I can't see her face. She continues trembling, clinging to me, "Just like everyone else, leaving me." "... leaving the rest of us."
Oh no, she thinks I'm- She thinks I'm abandoning her? Why would she think that? I think back to the past days, and nights. I guess I hadn't realized how far I'd gone.
She hiccups, "No, Love, I'm not leaving you." I reply, sincerely. I wrap my arms more securely around her. "I'm not leaving you, Emma." She takes in a sudden gasp of air, tightens her grip on my shirt, then begins sitting up, I follow her, I keep my hand on her back. As we rise it ends up in her hair.
"I need you." "I'm telling we still need you." I look into her blue eyes, my hand moving to push her hair out of her face. I being to wipe away her tears. "We need you just as much as we did before."
"I'm sorry, Love. I thought I was doing the right thing." I lean my forehead against her, her relaxes against me.
"Why, why would you think that?" she asks quietly, she pulls her body a little closer to mine.
"Neal is back now, Henry's father, your...True Love. I thought you'd want to be with him. I thought I'd be in the way." I breathe out a sigh. Having her close to me again, no distance keeping us apart. I missed this feeling, missed feeling complete.
"Hoo- Killian," I lifted my head from hers, my name. She said my true name. Her eyes met mine, "Killian, I don't want to be with Neal."
I don't know how to react to her words, "But, he's Henry's father."
"But, he's not you." she whispers back instantly. "And I love you."
In one, swift movement I catch her mouth with my own. Our lips move in sync as I release all of my emotion for her to take in. The moment is fleeting, but feels as though it was eternity, love melding together. When we pull apart she gives me a smile that warms my heart.
"I love you too, Emma."
Oh my gosh, this is the longest OUaT story I've actually done. Woah!
I personally feel the end got a little too cheesy for Emma/Killian, but it's worth it.
This could [maybe] be considered a continuation to my other story, Just A Pirate, but it's not intended to be, so it obviously doesn't have to be read, but you could totally do that if you wanted ;)