Emma knew she should stop and spend these last few hours with her family, but she suddenly had a renewed vigor. She tried to pretend, tried to pass off that she didn't know why she suddenly believed in herself, believed that she could stop the curse, and it was easy with her brain going a thousand miles an hour. Her brain was on overdrive trying to think of ways to keep Pan from ripping her family apart, and it could worry about that why later.
She drove as fast as her Bug could take her, knowing she wasn't exactly made of time at the moment. The sound of her father's truck roaring down the road behind her kept her brain away from the quiet of her own car, away from thoughts surrounding the man in her passenger seat. The physical presence of him alone was surrounding her in the small space, closing in on her. She had to keep reminding herself that she couldn't think of how /nice/ that felt after a day without him. The task at hand needed her full attention.
The Bug came to a stop in front of the old bean fields, still as withered as they were over a week ago when Regina had destroyed them. The idea had come to Emma so suddenly, and no matter how much everyone—everyone but him—discouraged the thought that a bean might be there, she had to go look for herself. She had to exhaust all options before she thought of giving up again.
She was almost out of the car before she even pulled it to a stop, every second counting for two with the impending curse coming upon them. Her feet carried her across the road and plank to the fields faster than her brain could fathom and immediately began searching each and every tiny stalk, hoping and praying to find just one bean. It was the last flame of hope to save everyone she loved from this fate, to save herself from being alone once again. Emma had always thought of herself as a strong woman, but she wasn't sure she could handle having everything ripped away from her again.
"There has to be one here somewhere," she mumbled to herself, lifting wilted leaves out of the way, only to find withered beans that had lost their sparkle, all the magic drained away from them.
She heard her name from behind her, and of course, he would follow her. He always did. They had been in Neverland for only a week, and in that short time, she had become so accustomed to his presence, that she had felt strangely heavy, like she suddenly had to bear the weight of everything. He had done an amazing job of making her feel incredibly light, and she would be lying to herself if she said she hadn't missed it. The feeling of him not being by her side was too all encompassing not to notice.
Every leave had already been turned over once, and she had started to make her way back through, needing to double check. "This can't be it," she said quietly, not trusting her voice to stay steady.
A hand touched her shoulder, and she relaxed into it instantly. "Emma, love, if there were more beans, you would've used them when the town was in danger of being destroyed," Killian said almost sadly, his thumb moving over her shoulder through the fabric of her jacket.
She turned then, looking up at him and for a moment, she could forget curses and demons and losing everything again. It had always been like that, deep down. She could look into his eyes and just forget, and that had scared her at first, but as time passed, it grew on her more and more to the point that she missed it when he wasn't there. "There has to be a way. We can't just give up," she reasoned, that renewed faith in herself coming back again along with that why.
He shook his head, giving her shoulder a squeeze before dropping his hand. "I'm not telling you to give up, because gods, you don't know how to," he said with a small smile. "I'm just telling you that your answer isn't here, but I know that you'll find it."
The sincerity in his eyes used to knock her for a loop, but now, after everything in Neverland, she understood where his unwavering belief in her came from. Having that constant faith and support from someone was something she could get used to, but she realized in that moment that she couldn't get used to it. The curse was looming over them, and he would forget her, forget everything that they were. Whatever that happened to be.
"I believe in you," he said, the words dripping with truth and love from his lips.
Her gaze dropped to them for a moment, remembering with ease just how good they felt against hers, the spark of something then now registered as hope jumped between them in the jungle of Neverland, and all she wanted, more than anything, more than the last few hours with her parents, was to feel that spark again.
She shook her head at him, lifting her eyes slightly to meet his gaze, the tiniest hopeful smile gracing her lips. "I believe in us," she breathed, wondering if he would even be able to hear it.
His eyes grew wide, and she couldn't question if he had or not. His head drew closer to hers, as if he had been reading her mind but stopped short, waiting for her. Always waiting for her. She took a moment to look up at him, taking a deep breath before she closed the distance.
The kiss in the bean field sharply contrasted the kiss in Neverland. Their first kiss had been a heat of the moment, a releasing of the tension that had built up from their first meeting, a challenge being taken up. Standing in the bean field, their kiss was slow, exploratory, trying to commit each other to memory, even if they were doomed to forget one another. She always wanted to feel this way, even if she had pushed it away for so long. She wanted to feel wanted and needed and loved, and he gave her all of that.
It took the prospect of forgetting everything between them for her to realize she would never be the same without the memories of him. Killian had brought something out in her she had long thought was dead, but it was impossible to feel that way with him by her side. Emma never wanted to feel that way again. There was no way she could go back to the completely closed off loner that she once was. She thought she could and would be fine with just the love of her parents and Henry, but standing in his arms, kissing him with everything she had, she couldn't be without him.
Pulling back to breathe, her forehead rested against his, just as it had in Neverland, but she refused to push him away. There was only a limited time left before the curse hit, and she refused to pretend she didn't know the why anymore. Why she believed in herself so suddenly, why she felt light in the midst of all the chaos of the impending curse, why she felt so good in a sea of bad.
"We don't have much time," Killian said, pulling back just enough to look in her eyes. She could see him swallow thickly, as if he was swallowing all the words he wanted to say to her. There was no way she would force him to say anything. She would let whatever happened happen.
"Then we shouldn't be wasting it."
This was it. In the next few hours, everything they had become over their time of knowing one another would be gone. She would go back to feeling unwanted and unloved, and he would be driven by revenge once again. Like the bean fields, this was their last chance to be before the curse took everything that they were, and if she was going to forget, she was going to spend her last few hours doing something worth remembering.