His eyes were blue. The same tone of deep blue that – as much as she tried to deny – haunted her dreams and warmed her insides in the extremely rare occasions she allowed her guard down. But they were cold. She had never seen them so cold, frigid, as if he had no shred of humanity left, not even when she betrayed him on top of the beanstalk. And for the first time she actually feared him. Because it may be the same face, but this… this was a completely different man. A true villain. And her heart clenched. You never realize how much you depend on someone until you lose them. And until confronted with the loss of his warmth, of his undying love for her, Emma had been doing her best to ignore that part of her that reciprocated. That loved him back. That needed him because he was the embodiment of hope. And now that part was free, taking over her heart and mind.
"I asked you" the old and unimproved version of Captain Hook said "what are you doing in my ship. In my cabin." Emma looked around frantically, looking for a way out. He was every bit as devilishly handsome, a dashing rapscallion, but he wasn't her Killian. He wasn't the man she would sacrifice everything to save. His hook glinted in the candlelight. "Oh, well, if you won't talk… I have no other use for you."
"Really?" she asked, trying to stall "You have no use for a defenseless woman in your bedchambers?"
He raised his eyebrow in the sarcastic move she was so well acquainted with. It only made her hate him more. "I have never, in all my life, taken a woman who wasn't willing to give herself to me. You being defenseless makes absolutely no difference. I will not take you. Now you can tell me what you were after, and I might consider letting you go. Or you can be stubborn and I'll have you walk the plank."
Emma's breathing quickened. You can't change anything. Rumplestiltskin voice echoed in her mind. She needed to succeed. She needed to go back to Henry. But she also needed to be alive for that. "I came… it's complicated. I'm not from here."
He looked her over, backing off a step "That is quite clear."
"No, you don't… I'm not from this timeline."
He raised his eyebrow again. "When I heard that magical beans can travel through time and space I did not think it was quite that literal."
"Well, I didn't come with a bean. But the fact is I did. And I… I was…"
"You know me. In the future."
She looked into his eyes again, shivering at their coldness. "I don't. Not… not this you. I know Killian" shock crossed his features. Obviously no one had used tat name in a while "I know a man who is capable of goodness. I know a hero. You're not that man. Not yet."
He blinked for a moment, stunned. But before he could reply there was a noise behind him and Emma gasped. Blue eyes met hers. Warm, worried, hopeful, relieved blue eyes. And she felt like she could finally breathe again. Killian punched his past self, who fell to the floor unconscious.
They stared at each other, green versus blue, and Emma was too tired of fighting. Physically and emotionally exhausted of keeping her walls up. "You came back." she whispered, afraid speaking any louder would break the moment, destroy the magic of their encounter.
"When will you learn, Swan, I'll always come back to you and for you." he looked down at his past self "You said you were afraid to hope. Because every time you did, it backfired on you." he stared deep into her eyes again "So was I. Well, so was him. But you give me hope Emma. That's why can't let you go. Because you make me want to be the best version of myself."
She smiled and a few moments went by in silence. Apparently Killian shook himself from the spell because he started to turn around. Emma decided to be true to her decision from a few days ago and reached out her arm, turning him back around to her. He faced her with a questioning look. "Killian. Whatever you're not telling me, whatever happened in the past year, I don't care." he smiled now, understanding flooding his features "I'm tired of living in the past."
"I know the feeling." he said, and she decided to throw the towel. She went up on her toes and jerked his lapels against her again, joining their lips. The stubborn and scared part of her wished it wasn't as good as she remembered. And it wasn't. It was so, so, so much better. Freer. Liberating. The familiar gust of wind and flash of white light made them break apart, gasping, a smirk automatically forming on his lips while Emma felt a lazy smile spread on her when she felt her magic flooding back in.
But the magic had apparently revived the previously unconscious captain, because he started groaning and moving. Not wanting to push their luck, the couple rushed out of the cabin, disappearing quickly down the docks.