AN: You guys actually stuck through those first two depressing chapters so I'm trying my best to put some humor and happy moments into this chapter.

. UPON. A. TIME. -

"I knew I felt something unnatural in that building." Rumplestiltskin sighed and somehow, he looked straight at Killian making her almost think he could see him. However, if he could, he probably would have responded to the finger that Killian threw up at him. No matter what the two of them went through together, there seemed to always be tension and agitation between the two of them because of their pasts. "You've been unnaturally cold when he's around Miss Swan? If you ever need to know where he is, just feel for the cold draft."

"Oh good, and here I thought we'd have to fight an ice queen next." Emma responded dryly, as if she'd ever need to know where Killian was. He never hid from her, not once. "However, if I start getting any cold showers..." She shoots Killian a warning glance. Killian however, perks up as if Emma had just given him the best idea of his life. She can't help but compare him to a puppy that had just been asked if it wanted to go for a walk.

Rumplestiltskin makes a face at the both of them, clearly not wanting to be a part of their conversation as he idly walks around his store, carefully looking here and there for something. "If the two of you are done..."

"Right." Emma crosses her arms across her chest. "So you've got an idea what's going on then?"

"An idea, dearie? Or an idea you want to hear?" A sly grin was across Rumplestiltskin's lips as if this was a game and Emma almost didn't want to play.

"An idea I want to hear?"

"Nope. Can't help you then." Rumplestiltskin turned to walk away but Emma called out to him.

"Wait! Just an idea then. I don't care what." Her body stiffens, dreading what he's about to say.

That grin is still plastered across his lips and she doesn't like the way he looks at Killian, well, where Killian is. He turns back around and leans back against the counter.

"It's no low level magic that can tether a soul to this world. Trust me. If it were, my son would still be here one way or another." Rumplestiltskin's grin fades as pain floods through his brown eyes over his loss but he sighs and continues. "Unfortunately, Bae was my SON. Not my Soul Mate. I may have had true love for him, but it's not the same as this."

Emma's jaw drops and Killian lets out a loud "HA!" and she doesn't need to turn to know there's a giant goofy grin plastered across his face.

"Soul... mate...?" She feels lightheaded and wishes there was a chair she could collapse into.

"Soul mate." Rumplestiltskin responded. "Sure, sure, there's true love," His hand flicks through the air like he's teasing her, "but true love can be for anyone. Lovers. Sons. Sisters. Parents. It can happen more than once as you know from Regina. But Soul mates are one. Only one. When your magic burst from you in that barn, it was your soul grabbing it's other half- your pirate- and tethering it here with you. You kept him here. Only you can put his soul back where it belongs. Just think of it as...ah, a sleeping curse of sorts. Except without the soul, he's empty little husk and can't wake up. People need their souls, you do know. Quite important things."

"Soul mate." Emma repeated again and almost whimpered. She knew Killian loved her. She knew she'd been falling for him. But soul mates? She wasn't ready for that bomb to be dropped and she knew she'd never hear the end of it from him. "Great. So what do I do then? How do I put his damn ghosty form back into his body?"

Rumplestiltskin's expression was something of amusement at her distress over having to face the fact that her and Hook were indeed destined to be together. "You need an amulet or a talisman of sorts." He glanced around his shop again. "However, I have nothing here that would be symbolic of neither you nor him. It HAS to be symbolic. Something that could be wearable because once you put it on him you can never take it off. If he does, whooosh off goes his soul again and I doubt you'd be able to tether it back in time twice. Find something that means something to the both of you and come back to see me."

Sighing, she nods her head. Not too hard so far, but there were few things that the both of them shared. There was his jacket of course but he'd eventually need to take it off to shower or change clothes or to avoid heat stroke in the heavy leather... and Emma didn't like the way Rumple put emphasis on Killian never being able to take it off. She had to make sure it was something that wouldn't and couldn't come off. She looked to Killian who looked lost in thought as well, looking down at his rings and necklace but none of them held any significant meaning to Emma just as her necklace meant nothing to him other than the fact that it hung around the slender neck he wanted to kiss.

Just when she turns to leave, Rumplestiltskin's voice rang out again. "Oh, and Miss Swan? I'd hurry if I were you. There's only so long before the others notice that there's a soul that's avoided walking into the light. Trust me. You don't want them to notice."

"Others?" She spun back around the look at him. "Who are the others?"

His impish grin is nowhere in sight as he responds. "That my dear... Is a mystery even to me."

-ONCE. UPON. A. TIME. -

Emma and Killian arrive back at the apartment at the same time that Snow and Charming pull up. Her mothers eyes meet Emmas and then flicker around the empty space around them and Emma know instantly what she's trying to ask without saying the words out loud. Is Killian there? Emma nods and tilts her head to the left where Killian stands to her side and Snow's emerald eyes follow, giving an awkward wave to what looks like thin air to her. David however, still looks dumbfounded as if he's been hit by a truck and somehow managed to walk away in a daze.

Killian however, doesn't look at either of them and Emma shoots him a look. He shoots her one right back.

"What? It's not like they can see or hear me anyways. Just pretending I'm chatting about the weather over here." He shrugs as he switches to Emma's right side instead just to throw off Snow's awkward waving and if he had a physical form, Emma might have elbowed him in the ribs for it.

As soon as they enter the apartment, they're greeted by an overly relieved Ruby, her long dark hair askew and a mess, holding the baby prince in a bundle with a clear look in her eyes that she was in over her head when it came to babysitting. "Oh thank God you guys are back. You both know I'd do anything to help you but... You know my nose is extra sensitive, right? I don't think I can handle changing another diaper." Her smile is wide and joking but drops as soon as she sees Emma. "Oh...Emma... How are you?"

"I'm not crazy." Emma repeats automatically for what seems like the hundredth time today. She looks around the apartment for where she'd thrown Killian's jacket the night before, feeling guilty now and sees it folded up neatly on the kitchen counter with his flask back on top. And that box that had been on the table the day before has moved with it, still unopened.

As her parents try to talk to Ruby, Emma crosses the room to the kitchen to it. The box had been with Killian's possessions, something that everyone had obviously thought that Emma should have but she dreaded opening the box. Every time something had to remind her that even though he's right behind her, his body is cold in a morgue somewhere; another part of her heart breaks off and if this continues she's not sure if she'll be able to put all the broken pieces back together again.

Her hand runs over the worn wood of the box, looking too new to actually be Killians but old enough that someone made effort of finding something appropriate for his memory. The small brass handle lifts easily enough and it's like opening a mini treasure chest of her pirate. His rings and necklace sit inside, covering his long, silver, gleaming hook that laid at the bottom.

She wishes she hadn't opened the box. The second that she sees the hook, she whirls around, needing to see him there and remind herself that he's not truly gone. Not if she can help it. But his form flickers like a candle going out as he grimaces, clearly disliking whatever it was that caused that as the necklace, rings and hook vanish from his body. Emma has to take a step back to take in his new appearance and what it meant. Every time that she finds something of his, it vanishes from his body. When she'd worn his jacket, he was suddenly without it. But now he looked practically naked without the obscene jewels on his hand or the heavy chain around his neck. His chest hair still peeked up from his tunic and she vaguely wondered what would happen if one of the nurses at the hospital tried to hand her the rest of his clothes.

Emma and Killian's eyes meet and then both look down at his hookless hand together. She had often wondered if he'd even want his hand back if given the opportunity since his hook had become so much a part of him over the long years. Sometimes it seemed like he genuinely enjoyed using it and she lay be able to tell when someone is lying but she couldn't tell if he was really getting enjoyment or just making the best of the situation that he'd gotten used to. He sighs, looking as if he's trying to concentrate and reminding Emma that they know nothing about this curse or whatever he's under but he clearly can't control parts of it because no matter how hard he concentrates, he can't manage to make his hook reappear on him now that Emma's seen it in the box. Little by little, she's unknowingly stripping away bits and pieces of him and she knows she has to hurry. What happens if she sees his body? Would he vanish entirely without an option anymore? Maybe the key to saving him was in fact denial and refusing to believe that he was gone? Every piece of evidence only seemed to erase more and more of him.

She slams the box lid shut and sighs as Ruby leaves with a quiet, "Good night," and the door clicks shut behind her. David, who is still at a loss of what to do, is the one to take Neal back to his crib as Mary Margret walks back over to Emma and places her hand over her daughters.

"What can we do to help?" Is all she says and Emma is floored by the love and trust that her parents have. They could have called her crazy. They could have had her locked away in a mental institute or went to Regina for a potion of some sort to help with hallucinations but they were here believing in her word and belief and trying to help. If Emma wasn't already so emotionally drained, she just may have burst into tears again.

"I need a talisman...something To anchor his soul back to his body that's sentimental to the both of us as-" She cuts off her sentence and stutters for a second, avoiding looking at Killian and not ready to tell her parents about the soul mates bit. "As..as..a couple... true love..." She mumbles and feels her mother's hand rubbing soft circles on her shoulder.

"I knew I never should have let you go up that beanstalk with him. I should have seen this coming ever since the two of you skipped off together up that thing." Snow wants to be happy for her daughter finding true love, but she bites down her words and saves them for another day, after Killian is safe and back with them.

"Yep. What can I say? Love at first beanstalk." Sarcasm drips in her words, and now isn't the time to sit back and try to figure out just when Killian had fallen in love with her. She glances over to him, figuring he would have piped up with some ridiculous comment about this conversation by now.

Killian's watching Emma quietly after giving up on his hook. She can't tell if that's disappointment in her or himself in his eyes and she doesn't like not being able to read him the way that he can read her so easily. She can't tell if he's hurt or not by the way she's avoiding telling them the entire truth but that's just one more thing to deal with once all this gets settled once and for all.

She turns her attention back to Snow, hating the words that she has to say. "Did you guys... get it taken care of at the hospital? I mean, is he...?"

"Safe?" Her mother smiles softly. "Yes. I should have known it was some sort of sleeping curse. I WAS in one after all. And David. And Henry..." She trails off. "I guess we need to start a club, or at the very least a support group with Aurora."

Her lips press together as she gets lost in thought, possibly actually trying to plan a little group in a circle to talk about their nightmares of not being able to wake up. Emma clears her throat and jerks the Queen back into reality. "Oh! But we got him moved up to a hospital room with Whales help. Some of the nurses are a bit..." She bites her bottom lip, searching for the right, delicate word. "Nervous. I mean, they thought he was dead for the past week and there's always those zombie movies all over the TV. But I mean, really. How did David not recognize a sleeping curse? When he found me and woke me up, the dwarves all thought I was dead too."

"Because hopefully, David didn't try to kiss him to wake him up?" Emma lifts an eyebrow, pleased to hear her mother's laugh even if she also hears an obscenities from Killian. She's still not entirely sure on the specifics, on if Killian really was dead or just cursed. Zelena's spellwork mixed with Emmas magic had explosive results and the only one with an inkling of what was going on what Rumplestiltskin. And even he hadn't had all the answers. That alone made Emma nervous enough. What could be so dark that even the Dark One himself was clueless on the details?

ONCE. UPON. A. TIME. -

Several cups of coffee and an unsuccessful brainstorming mission later, her exhausted parents went to get some sleep before Neal would undoubtedly wake them up in a few hours for a feeding or diaper change. Emma headed back to her room at Granny's Inn well past midnight, grateful for both everyone else in the Inn being asleep and for Regina taking Henry for the night after a phone call from Snow about the situation.

Killian would be there tonight. She couldn't allow herself to sleep. She couldn't allow herself to let him out of her sight. Not now that there was a fear taking root deep in her that some mysterious things only known as "The Others" might try and take Killian away from her. And as much as she loved Henry, and she knew Killian did too, she wasn't sure if she was up for her son to overhear half the conversations that he'd overhear tonight. Neither did she want to look like she was sitting alone all night talking to herself the way that she knew she had been lately.

Everyone in the town had been walking on thin ice around her, and was that why? Did they see her walking around town with Killian, but to them it looked like she was talking to herself? Were they confused as to how she could smile after losing her pirate? Everyone including Regina could see the blooming romance between the two of them no matter how hard Emma had tried to deny it. How many hushed whispers were there whenever she called out his name in public while everyone around her thought he was dead? She swore that as soon as she gets him back she's plastering a giant "EMMA SWAN IS NOT CRAZY" sign on his back as she drags him around the town for everyone to see. How would he take to the idea of her duct taping that sign onto his leather jacket?

She wants to be grateful now that over the past week he stayed away from her while she was around people or steered her away from crowds when they were together. Hopefully, for the sake of her keeping up appearances but possibly to keep anyone from accidentally walking through him in front of her. That sure would have been a shock. But most of all, she just wants to grab him and shake him, and demand to know why he hadn't tried to talk to her about this himself before it got so out of hand with the entire town whispering behind her back.

It hurt strangely, to think that there were now so many people in the town that thought she could so quickly and easily get over his death. They had no idea. If Emma had left that barn that night thinking that he was dead, it wouldn't have been on her own two feet. It would have been kicking and screaming as someone would have had to drag her away from his body. She never would have left his side if she had known the truth of what it had cost to defeat Zelena. All magic came with a price, even defeating magic it seemed, but she refused to let that cost be another life. She was tired of magic being paid for in the blood of the people she loved.

Looking at him, it's the only thing that's been holding her together all day. Just the fact that she can still see him and there was still hope.

"I gather that this is where we part ways for the night then?" Killian's leaning against the wall next to her door looking a bit grim, and he has every right to have that look on his face. The past few days he'd kept this secret from her, a worse secret than the curse on his lips and she can't believe that he'd managed to hide it from her for so long. Or had her heart been refusing to see the signs that became so obvious after learning the truth?

"Actually... No." She looks up at him as she pushes open the door and there's no use in hiding the fear in her eyes. "Henry's with Regina for the night and..." Their eyes meet and her heart screams the truth even if she can't entirely say it out loud. The truth that she's afraid that if he leaves her sight, she'll run out of time to fix this and never see him again. "And you heard Mr. Gold. There are others or whatever...And No one else can see you so you'd better just keep haunting me, OK?"

"Not. Haunting. We both bloody well know what it is now Swan. Tethered. Consider that your soul is a leash on mine." He seemed so offended by the idea of haunting that she couldn't help but smile just a tiny bit.

"Right. Whatever it is, keep on doing it." She walks into her room with her arms full of his belongings and he's already inside in the small kitchen area with his arms crossed and a smirk.

"If I recall, you seemed quite upset about the stalking in New York." He gives her a bit of a pout and she can't believe that during all this, he can still manage to be light-hearted and make jokes until she looks into his eyes and sees the pain. He's not taking this casually, he's forcing the words and grins to make this easier on her and damn it, just how much can her heart hurt in one week before it withers up and stops beating? How much could he give her? He'd already sacrificed his life for her and even in the afterlife everything he does seems to be for her.

"It WAS stalking in New York. This is different." She wants to reach out and touch him, give him back some of the comfort that he's trying to offer her but she knows it's impossible and clings to his jacket in her arms instead. "How long have you known anyways? That you were...?"

"Your soul mate?" That grin is back and he wiggles his eyebrows, and her heart finally flutters happily instead of being stabbed as she sees a flash of joy and adoration through those blue eyes as he says the words out loud.

"No. You know what." Dead. But she won't say it out loud.

Her words do however, crush the fleeting joy that she'd seen in his eyes as he nods. He had apparently been hoping to change the subject.

"I didn't at first, love, I truly didn't. I woke up and saw you there...your gorgeous green eyes full of tears and all I could think was thank the Gods you were safe. Thank the Gods I woke up and I wasn't another one to leave you like that. " He takes a deep breath, meeting those eyes that he's talking about and she's glad that they at least shared that tiny, fleeting moment of happiness where they'd been able to look at each other in the barn and at least think that everything was going to be OK.

"But I reached out to you, Swan. You'd stood up and was going to walk away and I tried to grab your hand to make you wait and I..." He pauses, looking away and having to admit these things to himself just as Emma had in Archie's office. "I thought that I'd simply missed. I thought it was impossible to have had my hand go straight through yours."

Emma's throat tightens, wondering if she had paused to wait for him then in the barn if she would have seen both his soul and body separately.

"You were far up ahead with David and the babe so... I left you be. Tried talking to Rumple a bit but I assumed he was just ignoring me. Wouldn't entirely be a surprise there. Overheard some weird bits from Regina and Robin but didn't think much of it. Didn't really put any of the pieces together until we got to the hospital and your doctor fellow walked straight through me." Killian shivered at the phantom memory. "Not a feeling you get used to, love. Wasn't too hard to figure out after that."

The urge to touch him and comfort him somehow, in any way she could was killing Emma and he hand lifts to try and touch his hand only to have her fingers go right through and feel absolutely nothing. Killian however, shivers again.

"Didn't I just say that I can't get used to that?" But his tone is light and he's trying to joke again for her but when she looks up at him, she can see tears in his eyes too and knows how unfair and painful this is for him. He's been fighting for her for so long, impossibly in love with her and only when he finds out that they're supposed to be together no matter what, they can't be together. They can't even touch.

"But then..." He continues and smiles, actually smiles and she loves that real, honest smile that shows off his white teeth and smile lines around his eyes. "But then you turned around in the hospital and looked at me. You walked right up to me and started talking as if nothing was wrong. I always knew there was something special about you Swan, always." He's looking at her now that she's the most amazing treasure that he's ever seen and she almost can't handle it. "But it was when I realized that you were the only one who could see or hear me, I knew you could save me. I just had to wait and have faith in you. As I've said before, I've yet to see you fail."

"Seriously? But why wait? Why didn't you just TELL me?" Despite their coming clean to each other, she can't help feeling a bit angry and betrayed that he hadn't been the one to tell her. She had to go through that therapy with Archie and be told in the worst way possible, by being blindsided like the truth was a train that just slammed into her and left her aching, broken, and gasping for breath.

"Because you were HAPPY!" He sounded angry too and it's rare that he ever raises his voice at her like that. She wanted to argue that she wouldn't have been happy if she'd known the truth but he knows her all too well like the open book he'd once claimed she was and he beats her to her own words. "Zelena was dead and your family was safe and you were home and smiling and... how the bloody hell could I be the one to take away your happiness?"

Because you ARE my happiness, she wants to scream but the words choke in her throat as she finally drops his belongings that she's been holding this entire time and tries to grab him again. She anchors every bit of magic she can muster and believes with all her heart that if she just tries hard enough, she can touch him.

But her hands go right through him and she almost does scream in frustration as he flinches at the sensation.

"We HAVE to fix this. Soon. Sooner than soon. Now." She starts pacing around the room. "We just have to THINK. What do we have in common? The compass that we got on the beanstalk?"

"We don't even know where that compass is." He's dropped the painful subject and moved right along with her, trying to work it out.

"It got me and Mary Margret home so it has to be here somewhere, I just have to find it. What about the scarf? Your scarf that you wrapped my hand with?" Her head feels like it's about to split open as she struggles through their memories. There were so many, both good and bad but they were almost always while something dangerous and horrible was happening so it's not like they'd ever had time to just relax and spend time together. This whole thing would have been made so much easier if they had just had a day off that she could have dragged him out to a store to get him some normal clothes. She rummages through her drawers for aspirin but only finds hospital strength pain killers. Debating if the headache was worth it, she took one anyways and hoped that it'd help her relax if nothing else.

"Rumple said I couldn't take it off. I don't imagine I could keep that scarf on for the rest of my life." Although he sounds a bit sad that he can't.

"I might tie the damn thing on you so tight that you won't have an option." She mutters back as she walks back from the kitchen and he follows, swallowing down some water with the pill and plops down on the bed. Laying down, she stares up at the ceiling. She keeps having this nagging feeling that if she just turns around, if she just looks in a certain direction, what she needs will be there and clear as day but all she can see is the ceiling and holds no answers. "It'd be so much easier if this was just a sleeping curse. Why couldn't you have just eaten a bad apple?"

"Sleeping might not be a bad option for you Swan. You need to rest." Killian's voice comes from beside her and he's sitting on the bed so she rolls over on her side to face him. His hair is in disarray and she has no idea how long it's been like that. Despite being nothing more than a talkative soul at the moment, he still looks drained and worn out himself and souls probably don't have the need to sleep when they're not in a body. What's he been doing at night anyways?

"How can I sleep right now? We don't have any idea how much time I have to fix this." But despite herself, she closes her exhausted eyes and under the effect of the pain killers numbing her body and mind, she's asleep before she has a chance to convince herself to stay awake.

Killian smiles softly as he looks down at his stubborn, sleeping lass as her protests against sleeping quickly turn into soft snores. The fact that they can't touch is killing him every bit as much as it is her. She finally wanted his touch, his affection, and all he wants to do is brush her damn hair out of her face as she sleeps and he can't even manage to move a single strand. He focuses, trying his hardest and spends the night trying to figure out a way to help get himself back to his physical form so he can hang a banner from the clocktower declaring him and Emma soul mates and gather her into his arms so tight that she can't wiggle free to smack him for it.

"But Swan," He sighs wistfully, "You didn't ask me how long I've known we're soul mates."

It's his wishes and daydreams of a happy ending that distracts him from ever noticing the door that appears where there should be nothing but wall.

ONCE. UPON. A. TIME.-

AN: Thanks for sticking in here with me through the angst. This chapter seems a bit short and rushed and I hate that but I was feeling guilty for leaving this fic so hopelessly depressing for so long and wanted to slam a chapter out quickly to try and cheer you all up.