Three months earlier.

It was no secret now that Regina had pretty much openly declared war on Emma Swan. She had slowly but surely lost the faith to recover her love, her Robin… and while the man was torn in two, he was a complete gentleman; Marian was, after all, the mother of his little boy and all that had transpired had not been her fault. He missed Regina… but he could not, in good conscience, leave Marian now.

And Regina was much like a lion… most dangerous when wounded.

Emma had truly not meant to hurt her; she was a friend by now, a mentor, the woman who had pretty much put magic into her hands and taught her how to use it. During the horror reign of the wicked witch, Regina had stirred her into Killian's direction, pointing out that it was ridiculous to continue denying their mutual crush. Regina had been the one to fully uncap Emma's magical potential.

So it was actually kind of painful for the blonde savior to see it all go to hell in a hand basket.

Henry was another matter; as much as he loved both his moms, he was a natural-born little hero and no soon had Regina started to take the darker paths, he began to estrange himself from her, hoping that perhaps, with a little distance, she would once again gain perspective and try to see things in a different light.

Alas… he had failed. And the boy mourned for his mom… all the while still hoping she would, one day, see the light again.

As always, the truest believer.

This night, however… this night was one of those nights where nobody would have ever guessed things would ever take a u-turn into hell. This was a perfect night.

She and Killian had been making love since earlier that evening and hadn't stopped until two in the morning when they had fallen into a blissful sleep in each other's arms. While in her experience most first times are kind of awkward in the sense that she had always had a feeling of inadequacy whenever she first displayed herself naked to her sexual partner, with Killian it had just fallen into place; the comfort, the intimacy and the entire sensual feel of it were almost perfect.

More and more she believed they had been meant to be since the day they had both been born, in spite of the somewhat extreme generation gap. It all just felt natural with Killian. Natural and beautiful. The feeling of closeness when he had been inside of her, touching her, kisisng her, crying out her name as she shuddered beneath him, over him, beside him, the sheer love in his eyes as he smiled after he had made her damn near touch the stars…

Where had he been all her life? Was this even her life?

One month into her relationship with Killian and she had pretty much figured out he was her one, her very True Love. How he had always dwelled under her nose and she hadn't taken that possibility into account was beyond her.

Actually, it wasn't.

Not at all.

They'd been in a relationship long before either of them were actually willing to admit. She was just an expert at denying the truth to herself. And she had fooled herself into believing 'he was a pirate, a cheater, a murderer and a villain, a man who could never, ever be trusted'. Bull. All just words… intended to convince herself. And she had failed miserably. Two years of trying, or one, considering the year where he had gone back to the Enchanted Forest with Pan's curse to dwell miserably while she enjoyed the oblivion of her life in Storybrooke and lived a mellow, mundane existence in New York, had proven to be her biggest failure and most futile effort to not let the man conquer her very soul.

The pirate had won, the smart, sassy bastard!

Suddenly, here she was, a month after that kiss at Granny's during a rainy night, looking at the water outside the window of her new apartment at it slid down, forming patterns on the glass, all the while wrapped in a comfy human cloak called Killian.

She leaned against his chest and sort of felt like a child, rising and falling to the rhythm of his slow breathing as he slept. He was delightfully naked. The man was beautiful, from head to toes. It was something she never would have imagined; his leathers had become such a trademark she had almost started to believe they were his actual skin. But in all truth, the man beneath the pirate garb was extraordinarily ordinary… and he was missing a hand, together with the wrist. For real. So, there really was a stump beneath that hook brace…

He never really talked much about that but did seem not to mind showing the stump to her; being Captain Hook had given him an edge over most other pirates in his realm and he had even once stated that, given a choice, he would probably not want his hand back. He also had a few more tattoos. There was the heart with the name Milah on his right forearm; on his upper right arm was a chain of thorns; on his left shoulder blade the words "Revenge or Death" wrapped around a hook much like his own, a rather tragic souvenir of his past mission to obliterate The Dark One; Just below his left shoulder, a very pirate-like Skull and Crossbones, with a ribbon emblazoned with Jolly Roger underneath; there was also a mermaid kissing a skull on his right calf. And just beneath his right arm, on his ribs, was a Celtic knot with the name 'Liam Jones' underneath.

Aside from the other tattoos peppered across his body, he also bore quite a few scars from blades, arrows and bullets, the results of 300 years of waging battles against diverse enemies. Emma's fingers were grazing a particular one right next to his navel when he spoke.

"Long John Silver…"

She rose her face to his. "What? I thought you were asleep…"

"I was… but you're quite the loud thinker, Swan and I know you're not about to give in till you know the story behind each of these scars and tattoos…"

"Busted…" she smiled and kissed his shoulder. "So… this one?"

"That scar." He sighed. "Nearly took me, that one. Only three times in my life have I stared death in the face like that." He turned to her and Emma leaned on the pillow, losing herself in the immensity of his eyes. "silver and I, we waged war together… against Blackbeard. That man never followed the pirate code, so we joined forces, plotted to kill Edward Teach, take his ship and split the bounty in equal shares. But…" He swallowed with a sigh. "…Blackbeard got to him first and gave him a handsome sum to kill me."

"I take it he found you…" She sneered as she caressed the scar with her index.

"Aye… he and his blade. I still found enough strength in me to beat him and introduce him to the Jolly Roger's lovely plank before I fell. It wasn't till I woke three weeks later when I realized I was still alive."

"I find it hard to believe you liked that kind of living…"

Killian chuckled and played with a strand of Emma's hair. "So do I."

She grinned back at him, simply relishing in the intimacy of the moment, staring at his face as he continued regaling her with stories behind his scars and tattoos.

They remained silent for a few minutes, his good hand drawing circles on her back while she rested her head on his shoulder, breathing into his neck. She had never felt such a sense of comfort, ease and intimacy in her life.

"So…" He kissed her forehead, breaking the silence. "Did you like it?"

She furrowed her brow, startled. "Hmm? Did I like what?"

Killian shrugged and looked down before returning his eyes to her, eyebrow up and sexy grin smirking up sideways. "You know…"

"Oh, that!" she chuckled and reached out to touch his face, his ear, his sideburn and his hair. "Yeah. A lot."

He grinned, the sound of the rain outside worsening, melting the ice that had come as a result of dealing with what Emma called the "Elsa issue". She still had a hard time believing just how many of these characters were actually real; She and Henry had gone to see that movie while in New York and had even bought a DVD copy upon its release. Still surreal... But Elsa had quieted down and Storybrooke had started to 'defrost'.

However, the ice of Storybrooke wasn't the only thing melting away.

"Killian…" She spoke softly.

"Yes, m'love?"

She sighed hard and tucked her head beneath his jaw, kissing the underneath of his chin. "You won't ever leave, will you?"

Killian huffed through his nose. "Are you daft? Why would I go?" He giggled. "WHERE would I go?"

"You're a handsome guy… I'm sure someone would take you in."

"Hm. I am a handsome devil, love, but that doesn't mean I'd be interested in anyone else…"

"You say that now. But what will you say when I'm a saggy old lady and just suffering from the effects of gravity all around?"

"Gravity?" he looked back at her with a furrowed brow.

"Oh… yeah... " She shook her head. "I'll get you a book on basic physics tomorrow… anyway, I won't look like a spring chicken my whole life you know, one day I'll be old and prunny and…"

"As will I, Swan; I fail to see the problem."

"Are you kidding me? You're over three hundred years old, Killian, and you look like thirty five."

He shook his head. "Neverland waters love. Those surplus years don't count. It's all quite illusory. I am roughly the age you say and since I've chosen this mundane life with you, I will, as you say, become…'prunny' myself at the same pace…"

Emma giggled playfully. "You're older than the devil." She bit his shoulder.

"That I am…" He smiled back and suddenly rolled over, pinning her down on the bed beneath him as she laughed. "And, like the devil, I have learned quite a few tricks in this abnormally long life of mine…"

"Yeah, I can attest to that." She nodded with a wide smile.

He smiled and leaned on his elbows over her, simply staring at her face with a completely dumbstruck, adoring grin on his face, his right hand fingers tangled in her hair as he caressed her ear and her jaw.

Emma returned the silent gaze with an equally pleased grin. It was that moment. She knew it. They both knew it.

But being Killian Jones and knowing just how much of a gentleman he had always been with her, always allowing her to take the initiative, she knew she had to be the one to say it first… to break that now incredibly thin but still existent layer of ice.

She touched his nose with her fingertip and ran it up over his left eyebrow.

"That's it…" she felt herself whisper, giving in and finally taking a nosedive, freefalling into the feeling she had so hard try to suppress and deny. He simply stared at her expectantly, waiting for the words he had so achingly longed to hear for the past two years leave her lips. She grinned and felt highly emotional as a single tear slid down her temple. "I … love you."

The tenderness in his gaze brought even more tears to her eyes as he gently touched her temples with his thumb. He smiled, leaned in and kissed her, deeply, beautifully… when he rose, he too had tears in his eyes. "Swan… my Swan…" he whispered. "And I, you… Emma… so much…"

She didn't see it coming, but no sooner had he said this and he was once again inside of her. It made her smile, feeling him, all of him, a completeness she had never before imagined was even possible to experience.

With each thrust she felt one piece of Wall collapse, more and more each time as it slowly became easier to not just say the words, but feel them, mean them, show them. "Say it, love…" he panted in her ear as he moved inside her walls. "Say it, love... say that you love me…"

"I love you…" she gasped, harder each time. "I… love you…"

"Again…"

"I love you… Killian…"

"Emma… Emma… I love you…"

It was hopeless… as they both spiraled downwards (first her and then a few minutes later, him) into a deep abyss of abandonment, Emma had safely assured herself that never in her life had she felt so loved, so whole… so completely and overwhelmingly happy. She had lost the battle... and by losing the battle, won the war.

Today

It was a dreadfully silent walk. Emma paced woefully down the docked area, dreading… fearing…

Flanked by her mother and father on each side, she soon caught sight of her son. Henry ran to her and held her tight, silent and observant of his mom's grief. He remembered well enough; when his father had died, it had been Killian who had taken him out for a sail, taught him how to read and map the stars, make some interesting knots and told him about his father and their friendship. In truth, Killian was just an all around really cool guy… and when he remembered, after the curse was broken, he put two and two together: The pirate had been another casualty of his mother's rescue missions, one not even herself had actually planned.

Emma Swan was the savior… and she had saved the dreaded Captain Hook from himself.

Trying to keep herself from completely falling onto an emotional disarray, Emma refused to look as they reached the park by the bay. Practically the whole town had showed up for the late Captain's funeral. An array of chairs had been arranged in a circle, and in the middle, atop an impromptu altar draped with a white sheath that would later be used to wrap the captain for his final journey into Davy Jones' Locker, was Killian Jones, the former Lieutenant of the Royal Navy. To his side stood seven sailors, the loyal remains of his crew, with Mr. William Smee, his First mate, at the very end. They may have been a gang of pirates… but they damn well knew how to form a decent line and stand guard. And Emma did a double take when Smee removed his red hat, clutched it to his chest... and actually wept for his Captain. Hook might have been a harsh Captain, running a tight ship and often recurring to threats as a way of maintaining his position of authority... but he had pretty much saved Smee's life, an act of heroism even then and unbeknownst to the then fierce Captain Hook. Smee would forever be grateful to him for it.

All fears Emma had had about how she'd lose herself upon seeing him dissipated as she cast her eyes on him and only him. He wore the blue overcoat she had found and he looked every bit the dashing sea Captain he had started out in life wanting to become. One hand lay atop his stomach and the other arm with the hook lay gently on the side. The wind flicked his hair and Emma could have sworn that any minute he would turn his head to her and wink with a lecherous lick of his lips. 'At least he's at peace...', she thought as she sat down between her mother and her son, holding on to Snow's arm and leaning on her shoulder.

Even in death… he was still devilishly handsome. It made her grin.

How on earth had she come to love someone to that extent? To the point of feeling so damn numb, so unable to even cry any longer because her heart had all but frozen still?

Once everyone had settled, Archie Hopper stood up and walked to a podium set beside Killian's feet.

"Good afternoon…" He spoke somberly but with a still kind grin on his always friendly face. "People of Storybrooke… we come here today, to remember someone who over the course of time, surprised us all. A man who started of a dark, beaten path... but turned around to find the road to heroism." He tucked his glasses up with one hand, and turned to David. "I'd like to start this service by... asking our readers to deliver their eulogy, please... Prince Charming?"

Emma chuckled. She still found it slightly unusual to hear someone actually be called that name. But then again, she was pregnant with the child of the famous Captain Hook. Surreal was the name of her life now.

David sighed and stood, walking to the podium and placing a hand on Archie's shoulder. "Thanks buddy..." He whispered as he turned to speak. He looked at the Captain's face and pressed his lips tight, sighed and looked up.

"A year ago, if anyone had ever told me Killian Jones would be a hero, I would have laughed in his face. Those of us who met him, who knew him then, can attest to the fact of just how wretched he used to be... he was set on a path of destruction, of death..." His eyes looked up to Mr. Gold, who had actually shown up and sat at the back to make his peace with the man who had once been his only true foe. "Hook was... how can I say this?" He smiled and chuckled at the memory. "Well, he was a self-centered, sociopathic, lascivious pirate who cared about nothing but his desire to kill someone. It was a fuel that kept him alive through countless years..." He shook his head. chuckled. "Not the kind of guy one wants his daughter to be seeing..." People chuckled and Emma grinned at her father. "Then one day... for some reason I've yet to understand, he turned around. He had left us to die... but came back to help us all live. The day Captain Hook turned the wheel of the helm to return to Storybrooke was the day he stirred the wheel of the helm of his life." He cleared his throat and sighed. "It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was after... or who." He raised his eyes to his daughter. "So he led us to Neverland aboard the Jolly Roger. So many things happened, it's almost impossible to enumerate them all, but I can say this: I tried, with all my might, to continue hating Hook. I hated the idea of him being after my daughter... I was blinded by my love for her... too blinded to see how her light, her brightness... the power that we all now know and love in her..." She smiled at him as he spoke. "...had stirred the course of the Captain's heart. I was too blinded to see it, even after he was the one to tie a rope around me to stop me from drowning, when I had to fish her out of the water... It was he who warned us all of the dangers of Dreamshade, who led us through each path and road, who fought shoulder to shoulder with us against Pan... and even when he led me atop a hill to save me from Dreamshade poisoning, I took a swing at his face. But then..." He chuckled. "...then he handed me a canteen filled with healing waters... and I survived. He didn't have to do it... God knows it would have been easier for him if I had died, but, he did the right thing." He sighed. "I saw him in a different light after that... and I saw something I was baffled not to have noticed before: A man. Plain and simple, a man with all his flaws, looking for a place in life, looking for a way out of the darkness... Much like all of us." He shook his head. "From that moment, I was amazed at his efforts, his relentlessness, his constant permanence at Emma's side. He was there all the time, invading our breathing space a lot of the times..." He giggled and everyone giggled in remembrance; indeed, Killian Jones had never been one to respect people's personal space. "Once again, he joined Emma as she fell through a time portal. And while there, he and Emma managed to change the course of history. Minor changes, really... except for... well. Let's not get into that now. While there, I once sat with him by a fire." He smiled at the memory. "He looked different: Taller, older... the result of a cloaking glamour spell... and he said some things that kind of... stuck with me through the years. Not only did he give me hope to fight for the woman I love..." he looked at Snow and grinned as his wife held their now older son in her arms. "...but to be accepting of those who fight for love. He said he'd go to the ends of the world and time for Emma. Now that..." He nodded. "...is devotion." He sighed and looked at his friend. "I'm here to pay my respects, not just to the guy who loved my daughter... but to a friend, " His voice began to crack. "... and a hero. A man who gave up his quest for revenge... gave up his own safety... his home... and finally, his own heart, to save the woman he loved." He cleaned a tear from his eye. "That is the definition of true love... that is the definition of a Hero. Killian..." He looked at his dead friend. "Not a day will go by when we all won't think of you."

He stepped back and received a mild applause as Emma stood and held him.

Archie re-took the podium. "Thank you, David. I'm sure we all agree with that final statement. So... is there anyone else who would like to... say something?"

"I'd like to say a few words..." Came a voice from the end of the passage.

People were stunned... and Emma saw red.

"I WILL KILL YOU!" She shouted as she tried to plunge herself towards the woman at the end of the red-carpeted hall. David held her back and the blond Savior started to struggle.

Regina.

"And I would definitely deserve it if you did, Miss Swan..." Regina spoke back, her eyes reddened. "But I do believe that you want to hear what I have to say..."

"You killed him! You crushed his heart!" Emma shouted angrily, struggling to free herself from her father's grip.

"I did." Regina replied. "...and for the last two days, I haven't stopped thinking about it. Please..." She sighed. "At least hear me this once. If you don't care for what I offer, you may do with me as you please... I won't fight back."

The whole crowd stared daggers at the Queen... but still, no one dared to even challenge her as she walked down the aisle to were Emma stood nearly smoking out her ears.

But in spite of her desire to make Regina's heart her first rip-out, her whole 'Savior' side screamed a very loud 'DON'T' into her mind with a voice eerily similar to Killian's. Her mind reeled back to the day they buried Neal, as she threw darts fiercely into the bull's- eye.

"Perhaps I should paint a bull's-eye on the wicked witch's back..." He spoke softly into her ear.

"She'll get more than a dart when I find her..." She replied angrily, throwing yet another dart into the board.

Killian sighed. "I know you're hurting, Swan... " He mumbled, his voice as soothing and deep as always. "...but there are better ways to grieve Baelfire's death than to let anger overcome you."

"Let me guess..." She smirked sarcastically. "Rum?"

He grinned and showed her his flask. "It never hurts."

"I'll stick with anger at least until I deal with Zelena." She snapped back.

His eyes pleaded with her, his voice but a near whisper. "Take it from me; vengeance isn't the thing that's going to make you feel better."

He knew a thing or two about that, for sure; His quest for revenge had taken him to places he never imagined, had allowed him to meet incredible people, know different pleasures and see the most amazing things in all the realms... but nothing filled his heart, not while it was still gripped by darkness. So to hear him say these words, he of all people, served as the greatest determent, curving her angst into a focused quest to simply stop the evil in the town as opposed to simply quenching her desire to avenge the dead father of her boy.

Emma simmered down; the memory of Killian's words was more than enough. He was a pirate then and even he had understood the futility of the whole 'eye-for-an-eye' business. And if Regina stood there now, looking so contrite, who the hell was she to take her life?

She pried free from David's grip, her face still dour as Regina approached her.

"You have one minute and you'd better be damn sure I do need to hear what you have to say..." She spat into Regina's face.

The Queen sighed. "I've lost everything, Emma... I have nothing. I lost my love, my son... my own heart." She felt tears sting her eyes, but Emma remained cold and stoic. "When I saw Hook's heart yesterday... I saw it to be red... large... clean. His last words to me were "yours could be that way too, Regina." She sniffed. "But I still crushed it. Out of anger, jealousy... and now..." She raised her eyes back into Emma's "I find myself in my house, alone, with nothing. I deserve nothing... and that man, a pirate, is dead but surrounded by love." Tears finally rolled down her eyes. "That is all I ever wanted, Emma. In spite of all I've done, all the mistakes I've made, you know it to be true. You know I have it in me, you of all people, and Henry, were the ones to have enough faith in me to turn the darkness into light. I want that again... I don't want the burden of the Captain's life in my hands. I want no more death, no more darkness. So I've come to tell you..." She swallowed. "There is still hope..."

"Hope?" Emma frowned. "You crushed his heart, Regina. What hope is there...?"

She gasped as she saw the look of realization on her mother's face: The splitting of her own heart into two shares, based on the premise of being so spiritually united that their hearts literally beat as one.

Regina grinned sadly. "If your love is really as strong... it could work."

"But it's been three days since..."

"There's that... Not to mention the small hitch of none of us being able to perform the feat of ripping out your heart..." Came Mr. Gold's comment as he approached the two women. "Not even I possess enough power for it."

"No!" Snow stood up suddenly. "Not even an option!"

"Why not?" Emma turned suddenly to her mother.

Snow shrugged. "Because you're... well..."

"If I recall correctly Snow, you were very heavily pregnant when you yourself begged me to do this for you." Regina quipped.

Gold turned to Emma and lowered his voice. "Are you with child, miss Swan?"

Emma swallowed tears and nodded.

"Well, isn't that an interesting development..." He grinned and turned to Snow. "What with her having another heart within her, another product of true love... this just might work. If only anyone had the power to help you rip your heart out, Miss Swan... "

David joined in. "All the same, no one can rip Emma's heart, let alone split it in two!"

Regina produced a kind side-grin. "You're wrong... There is one who can..."