Time seemed to drag on as she sat with the others in the waiting room. But finally Whale told her that Hook should be waking up soon and that she could see him. So she sat on the edge of the bed and waited again. He looked a little better with some of the blood wiped from his face, but not by much. And if the circumstances were different she might laughed at the sight of her leather-wearing pirate in a hospital gown and robe.

Luckily she didn't have to sit there long before he woke up. Whale told her he'd be fine but seeing his blue eyes open made her feel more sure.

"Where's Cora?" She asked him getting straight to the point.

Well, actually the point was to talk him out of his revenge. But she had a feeling he'd get angry with her so she might as well get this out of the way first.

"Told you, you cracked a few ribs." She told him when he admitted that it hurt to move after noticing his right wrist was cuffed to the bed rail. "Where's Cora?"

He told her that he didn't know where she was and then somehow he was able to turn their conversation into one innuendo after another. It took everything she had to keep a straight face.

"You look awfully chipper for a guy who just failed to kill his enemy then got hit by a car." She told him to change to subject and hopefully lead up to what she really wanted to tell him.

"I did some quality damage to my foe." He added after another suggestive comment.

"You hurt Belle." She corrected him, still not believing that he'd actually hurt a woman. Another shred of proof of how much he'd changed.

"I hurt his heart. Belle is just where he keeps it." He said as if trying to justify his actions. "He killed my love, I know the feeling."

'Yeah, you're not the only one.' She thought to herself. Sure, he wasn't dead and Rumpelstiltskin hadn't been the one to take him away from her but the feeling was the same. She had given Killian her heart back then and to be honest he still held most of it. And she also mourned the loss of Milah. She was glad that she had gotten away from her unhappy marriage and she knew there wasn't a better man out there than Killian. But the thought of Rumpelstiltskin the village coward killing his ex-wife was something she never expected and Milah certainly didn't deserve it. And Killian didn't deserve to lose those he loved, even if he didn't remember losing her.

"Keep smiling, buddy. You're chained down. He's on his feet, immortal, has magic, and you hurt his girl. If I were to pick dead guy of the year, I'd pick you." She said finally breaking the silence.

It hurt to say it, but it was true. If he didn't stop this foolish quest, and she knew Milah wouldn't want him to ruin his life over her. And with that she started to walk away, feeling that he wouldn't listen to what she told him right now.

She heard him trying to free himself but to no use before calling after her just as she was about to close the door behind her.

"What, Hook?" She asked pausing in the doorway.

"Time is a precious thing and you don't seem like one to waste it. You do everything for a reason. So why don't you tell me the real point of you coming here to see me." He stated.

"Give up your revenge." She said quietly as she sat back down, knowing he wouldn't take any other answer. "I know you want him dead but you're right. Belle is where he keeps his heart and by making her fall over the line you erased every memory she has of him. The woman he loves has no idea who he is and no longer loves him. And that is a far worse fate."

"You sound as though you speak from experience." He commented, reading her like a book as usual. "What fool managed to forget about you, lass?"

"You did." She replied barely loud enough for him to hear.

"Sorry to disappoint you, love. But I know how you kiss, I'd remember if I was ever in love with you. Besides, Milah is the only one woman I've ever cared for."

"I don't know how to prove it and I'm not even sure how it happened in the first place. But it did happen. You and I knew each other before you became Hook and I knew Milah."

"You're lying!" He hissed at the mention of Milah.

"Come on, Hook, you might not remember but I'm still an open book and you know it." She said a little irritated and rolled her eyes. "Milah was one of the best friends I ever had. You might not have met her if I didn't first. We shared everything together and I know she wouldn't want you to get yourself killed just to avenge her death."

"Still think I'm lying?" She asked him after a few moments of silence.

"No," He admitted. "But I'm still not sure if I believe it. You said so yourself that you don't have any proof."

"Well, how else do you explain that I knew your name before you told us, I probably know the Jolly Roger as well as you, and I know what made you become a pirate."

"If you know the Jolly then you must have spent some time on her. Why isn't there any trace of a woman on my ship other than Milah?" He questioned her.

"I can't answer that for sure. But for the first few months I stayed in your old lieutenants quarters, maybe you put my things back there after I left." She shrugged, hoping he had done that and not gotten rid of everything.

"Suppose that's plausible, I haven't been in there in years because it's just old storage." He sighed and he looked like he might be starting to believe her. "But if we were in love as you say, why did you leave?"

"I didn't want to. One minute I was with you on deck and you were showing me the different constellations and the next I was back in my world as if no time had passed at all. It was like the year I spent with you never happened."

"So you're telling me that I've somehow forgotten a whole year of my life?" He asked with a raised brow and she nodded. "I'll admit there are some childhood memories I no longer remember due to age or blocking out the more painful ones. But I remember everything since becoming a pirate and you're not the type one would forget."

"Hook, you're in a town where everyone has been living with cursed memories for the last twenty-eight years. Any number of things could have happened to you." She pointed out. "I'll do whatever I can to help you figure that out, if you even want to remember that is."

"That's a kind offer, Swan, though I'm sensing the word but is coming."

"But I'll only do it if you promise to leave Belle and Gold alone." She gave him an ultimatum, knowing the moment of truth was coming. Who mattered more to him? Milah, the woman he loved and remembered? Or her, the girl he once loved but had forgotten?

"You've chained me to the bed, love. What could I possibly do to them?" He asked, avoiding giving her an answer.

"Get some rest, Hook. Let me know when you've made up your mind." She sighed and left the room and this time he didn't call after her.

CS

"You were out all night. Where were you?" Henry asked as he came running down the stairs along with several other questions. But Emma was too tired to catch the rest of them.

"Rumpelstiltskin and Captain Hook had a fight and someone got hurt." Mary Margaret filled him in as he sat down at the kitchen island for breakfast.

"Is Hook gonna be okay?" He asked.

"We weren't sure if Dr. Frankenstein could fix him but he did." Emma told him. "Besides, he is a few hundred years old after all, I don't think a few broken ribs is gonna stop him." She assured him and smiled at a certain memory.

"Doctor…oh that's who Whale is."

"Yeah, but without the neck bolts."

"The monster had the bolts not the doctor." Henry corrected her.

'It's too early for this.' She thought to herself. She also wondered why he had to inherit her gift of being a smart aleck.

"Right, but either way some of us having known him, it's weird." She commented and threw a look her mother's way.

"It's not weird, we're passed it, we were cursed." Mary Margaret stated.

"What are you talking about?" Henry asked her.

"Nothing." David answered him. Emma almost wanted to laugh at the situation. She had heard that he punched Whale and she sort of wished she had been there to see it.

"Wait…"

"Really, it's nothing." Mary Margaret interrupted him and one second he was there the next he was gone.

He came back with the story book and started talking about Frankenstein not being a fairytale.

"Eat. I really want to go to bed." She told him, placing his cereal on top of the book.

Usually she didn't mind him coming up with theories but not when she had been up for the past who knows how many hours without sleep.

"If the curse went to places with other stories," He continued as if he hadn't heard her and she plopped her head down on the counter in defeat. "Then who knows who else is in this town."

It seemed the world was out to get her this morning because a second later a knock sounded at the door. Gold walked in and announced that he was cashing in the favor she owed him. And as if that wasn't bad enough she had to leave with him at noon today

'Was a few hours of peace and some sleep too much to ask?' She asked herself. She didn't think so but apparently it was.

"So much for getting any sleep today." She mumbled to herself when Gold left.

"Emma, you can't…" Mary Margaret started.

"But I do. I made a deal and I can't let him kill Hook." She interrupted her.

"I know. What I was going to say was, you can't do this running on adrenaline and coffee. Go take a nap, we'll pack for you."

"Are you sure?" She asked, still not used to other people helping, and both her parents nodded. "Okay, but help Henry pack too. I'm not going without him."

"Yes!" Henry said in excitement and she laughed and ruffled his hair.

She decided to skip breakfast and go straight for that nap her mother had suggested. Her last thought before falling asleep was something she'd been thinking about a lot since Killian got hit by the car.

CS

Month 4

The sun arose and light came shining through the windows of the captain's cabin and roused Emma from her sleep. She opened her eyes and stretched only to find that she was sore all over. But she supposed that's what she got for sleeping in a chair all night. It probably wasn't her best idea but the only thing she could think about was making sure Killian was alright.

They had been at the tavern and Lumière had just brought them a new bottle of rum. Emma excused herself to use this realms equivalent of a bathroom when a man approached her. He thought she was one of the girls that would give him a good time and was too drunk to take no for an answer. Thankfully Killian noticed her situation and knocked the guy out in one punch before anything bad happened. His two buddies however were not so easily defeated.

The fight seemed to drag on forever as she stood helplessly on the sidelines. And it was not by choice but because Cogsworth was holding her back. But eventually the one man surrendered and the other was too wounded to get back up. And though Killian was the victor he didn't come out entirely unscathed.

Cogsworth tended to his various wounds but he was still pretty bad. They all tried to insist that he stay there for the night but Killian, still his usual stubborn self, insisted on going back to the Jolly Roger. How he managed to walk all the way there, she'd never know. But she did know that he passed out as soon as he entered his cabin and she stayed with him so he didn't do something stupid when he woke up.

"Swan?" Killian asked groggily with his eyes barely open about ten minutes after she woke up. "Are you alright?"

"You fought two guys last night by yourself and you passed out as soon as you got here. And you're asking me if I'm alright." She asked him incredulously.

"I'm fine, love. I have you looking after me don't I?" He told her with his signature look that both annoyed her and made butterflies flutter around inside her.

"Your ribs are broken; you have a nasty cut on your arm, a busted lip, and a black eye. Not to mention all the other scratches and the golf ball size lump on your head. That's not fine."

"The what size ball?"

"Golf, it's a sport in my world mostly played by old and mild-aged people with money." She quickly explained. "But that's not the point. The point is that you got hurt defending me and you shouldn't have done that."

"Shouldn't have gotten hurt or shouldn't have defended you? Because I'll gladly admit I could have done a better job of blocking their swings. But there will never come a day when I don't come to your aid, love."

"I can take care of myself." She stated defensively.

"I know you can. I've never met a woman stronger or braver than you. But if it makes you feel better, tell yourself I wasn't protecting you, I was protecting my reputation as a gentleman." He told her again with that grin of his. "Besides, why does it bother you so much anyway?"

"And don't say it's because of some need for independence that women of your time strive for." He interrupted when she opened her mouth to reply. "You've happily relied on me since you came here and you know it."

"But it's never led to you getting hurt before!" She shouted at him.

"Aye, but I've been hurt doing other things. You weren't this upset a few weeks back when that navy ship attacked us. Why is this different?"

"It just is, Killian!"

"That's a terrible reason, love, and you know it. You can do better than that." He stated, trying to push her buttons.

"Fine! It's because I…" She started to say 'I love you' but the words just wouldn't slip out of her mouth. "I…I feel guilty. If it weren't for me…"

"If it weren't for you I'd still be waking up with a headache from drinking 'til I passed out. And I probably would have gotten into a fight over dice instead of a lass. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer the latter." He said and she couldn't argue. He was a pirate after all. "Now, I don't doubt that you feel guilty, even if it is needless, but that's only part of the reason."

"I can't lose you." She whispered as she looked anywhere but his eyes.

"Well, you don't have to worry about me. I know you're not ready to say it yet, Emma. But I love you and it's going to take a whole lot more than a fight with a couple of drunks to lose me." He assured her in a way that only he could.

She stood up and walked over to his bed. Gently, so as not to disturb his ribs, she curled up beside him and laid her head on his shoulder.

"What if I am ready?" She said so quietly she wasn't even sure if he heard it.

"Ready for what?" He asked. She couldn't see his face but she could hear the hopefulness in his voice that he was trying to hide.

"To say it." She replied, still whispering.

"I'm a patient man, Emma. I can wait." He said, trying not to pressure her as usual.

"But I can't." She shook her head and sat up to look him in the eye. "I…I love you, Killian."

"And I you, Swan." He smiled like a little boy on Christmas and she couldn't help but laugh just before he kissed her.

"Bloody music to this pirate's ears." She heard him mumble before kissing her again.


First let me say thank you for the reviews last chapter! That was the most this story got so far and I can't tell you all how happy that made me. So please keep them coming :D Also as you might have noticed, I've begun giving titles to the chapters. And the next one will be called Hidden Ring so feel free to guess what that little teaser may mean ;) But as for this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. It's one of my favorites because it was the first scene I planned out when I came up with the idea for this story so I've been waiting some time to share it with you. Anyway enough of me. Once again I hope you enjoyed, please review, and see you on Monday with Hidden Ring.