Killian and Emma bonding and talking and maybe even more, set a while after leaving in ASOTM. In my opinion it's actually like a hundred times better than the previous one. And well I obviously like going on and on about Henry, and yeah I love the little 'pick up that hook' thing. Enjoy!
Emma turned to her other side. She should be sleeping by now. It was a tiring, long day, and they still haven't found anything. Her every thought was him, his dark hair, his bright smile, the way he used to talk to her, when he was worried or when he was mad at her, but mostly when he said he loved her, when he called her 'mom' for the very first time. Will it always be like this? Will she ever be able to stay with him for good? Or everyone in the damned Fairytale Land shared the same fate – losing their loved ones over and over again until they couldn't find them anymore?
She punched the wooden wall and hissed as her fist started to ache. Her parents were in the next room with Regina, figuring out some kind of plan. Hell knows where Gold was, propably in some corner of the ship trying not to kill Hook in a painful way, while the pirate himself was at the helm. And they all agreed that she should go to her damn room and get some damn sleep.
And that was ridiculous.
Sure she was freaked out since they got nothing in the last week, but it was her child that was missing, Henry, her Henry, her only priority. She suffered from insomnia since the moment they started searching for him, and it wouldn't go away until she had him safely in her arms. Emma was very well aware of that.
She whipped off the tears she hadn't realized were there and stood up. That wall was really asking for another punch, she'd better get some air before she brakes her wrist.
It was dawn, the cold air brushed her skin and Emma shivered. The sky was yellow and red above her. Sure Neverland was beautiful, but to her it was terrifying. She crossed her arms to warm herself up, her coat was in her cabin and she's not going back there for a while, no way in hell.
She hadn't noticed the pair of blue eyes that were watching over her until she heard the voice that belonged to them.
"Can't sleep, Swan?" he asked from behind. Emma turned just to see him a few feet further, with a warm smile on his face. Not hearing his spicy innuendos nor seeing his grins all the time almost made her feel like he wasn't even there. There were only a few times before the start of their journey when Emma could see Killian Jones behind Hook's mask, and it was a new thing to have him around.
She couldn't help but smile, even if it was a sad one. "No. Not until I have my son."
Killian's face changed a bit at the word 'son' and she couldn't tell the exact difference, but it was there. He joined her at the port – that was the name of the ship's left side as far as she knew – and starred at the infinity of Neverland's ocean around them.
"We'll find your lad, Swan. He's a tough one, lot like his mother, he'll be fine."
"Doesn't change the fact that he's eleven", she replied. "Who knows what they want from him."
"Greg and Tamara? Well, they sure don't want to kill him, unless they wouldn't have taken him."
Emma glanced at him. "You sure?"
A blink and a laugh was an answer. "I'm not sure about anything, Emma. But I know they are not stupid."
She let out a hiss full of hate at the last sentence. "Of course they aren't. That bitch was so damn smart she even fooled Neal." The thought almost brought the tears up again, tears of sadness and anger.
"He was supposed to marry her, right?" Killian asked softly.
"Yeah", she said, raising her eyebrows. "But sadly the wedding was canceled. That's what happens when the bride shoots her fiancé, you know?"
She knew she shouldn't talk like this, she shouldn't talk about this at all. It's not like she didn't trust Killian, for heaven's sake he came back for them and the moment he offered his ship to help find Henry she just wanted to jump in his arms and kiss him. Best and worst way of saying thank you, considering… everything.
"Bae was shot?" She heard Killian's voice. It was strange, hearing him call Neal 'Bae', like he was still a young boy in the pirate's head, somewhat at Henry's age. Didn't fit with the picture she had of him in her mind.
"What? Oh, yeah. In the chest." She took a deep breath. "And then he fell through a portal."
"That doesn't necessarily mean he died", he replied immediately. His voice, it was so full of hope! She wanted to believe him so much. Maybe he was still out there somewhere.
And he was propably thinking of their goodbye.
"Oh God", she whispered. "I really, really hope you are right. Henry needs his father."
Assuming we find him, she added in her mind.
"And you?"
Emma bit her lip. "I don't… I don't know."
"Well, you know… If I ever had a chance to see Milah again, just for a brief second, I'd tell her I loved her."
Emma couldn't help but smile at that thought. Hook was so much different than this man standing by her side. It was almost impossible to imagine he could love… until one looked at his face.
"I'm sure she knew it", she said, placing a hand on his arm.
"Maybe she did. That doesn't change the fact that I've never said it."
"You didn't?"
And that surprised her a lot more that it should have.
Killian shook his head. "Even when… when she was dying in my arms, whispering those words, I was still too scared to say it. Like I wasn't ready to give my heart away."
Emma gasped. It's been 300 years for him and he still remembered every detail about her, she was sure about that. But the way he said he didn't give his heart away…
"I said it", she told him before realizing her words. "I told Neal I loved him, and I can imagine how this sounds, but I wish I could take it back."
She took another deep breath before crossing her arms again. This time he didn't let her finish the movement, he held her hand into his own and asked, "Why? I thought true love isn't something you just take back when you want to."
"That wasn't true love", she whispered. Tears fell from her eyes and ran down her cheeks. "That was a lost, desperate, pregnant teenage girl calling out from jail."
"Jail", he repeated with confusion.
"Prison", she corrected herself, smiling, when she remembered he was from another land. "I was in prison when Henry was born. Neal got me there. I've been missing him ever since, but right from the moment I met him again, I wanted to get rid of him. And everyone thought I was jealous of Tamara when I clearly saw she was lying to me, and I was just mad and desperate and… I don't know. Lost. That makes you say bad things I guess."
He raised his hook to put her hair behind her ear. However, the concentrating look on his face, trying not to harm her with the sharp iron made her laugh – for real, for the first time since they've been on the ship.
And she realized it was the first time he'd seen her laugh. And it made him smile.
"See?" he asked. "All better. We can't let the Hope lose all her hope, can we?"
Hope, right? Well, she was the Savior after all. And if a damn Savior can save an entire town filled with fairytale characters, then how the hell couldn't she be able to save her own son?
Killian was still holding her hand. His hook was at her shoulder, and her other hand found a way to his back. How did that get there? And when? She had no idea. But she had no intense in removing it. His smile slowly faded to give space to another expressions, something she was sure she had on her face as well. Emma glanced at his lips for a second, before looking up again and letting herself getting lost in his sea-blue glance. He used his good hand to pull her closer, inch by inch. She felt his breath on her skin, and their noses were already touching as she leant closer and closer, and they both closed their eyes.
And the very second his lips met hers, a door sprung open behind them. "Emma!"
She jumped back, and looked up at him in horror. All she saw was vulnerable Killian Jones stepping away from her, turning back to Captain Hook.
Emma turned to her mother, who was approaching them. Maybe she didn't see anything.
But Snow White's face told it all, as her eyes looked at Hook, then at her daughter, and then at Hook again. Finally, she slowly turned to Emma and tried to gather her thoughts from seconds earlier. "We figured something out. I thought maybe you could come…" here she glanced over Hook for one last time, "…and check it out."
"Okay", Emma nodded. Right, focus. Let's find Henry. Henry.
She tried not to look back, but she couldn't help it. Hook's eyes took a glimpse at her mouth before winking at her. "Another time, lass."
But he failed to fool her this time. Once you drop the hook, it's hard to pick it up.
She followed her mother to her parents cabin, and shook her head before entering. Henry was her priority. Everything else comes later.