It's after everyone has gone inside Granny's and it's just them, alone at last, that she starts thinking, really thinking about what she wants.

If the numerous deaths and goodbyes weren't enough, the latest separation, and how it could have potentially ended, hit her hard. When her parents and Killian had appeared in the fountain she'd been…shocked, tearful, joyous, and so many other things. She hadn't known what to think or feel. She still wasn't sure how to situate herself into this new situation.

For right at that moment, there was nothing new happening. No monster chasing them, no fireball trying to kill them, no curse threatening their memories, no portal attempting to separate them across worlds.

And it's for that simple reason, that peace, so rare a thing in this town, that she feels the need to cement this moment and make her declaration.

Gathering courage, she walks with him, hand held tightly in his, swinging slightly with their steps. Just under the arch, she stops, drawing his attention.

"Killian, I was thinking…"

He quirks an eyebrow, a gentle and encouraging smile on his face. "Aye, love?"

"After everything that's happened…I want to stop backtracking." She watches his mouth open to respond, placing her finger against his lips to stop the words escaping. Looking him directly in the eye, she tells him. "You're my happy ending. You and my parents and Henry. And, I just…I love you." His eyes soften and he grips her hand tightly, smoothing his thumb over her knuckles. "I promise to always love you and that I'm done running away from this. I want a future with you, in that house you picked out, and I want it to be forever." Before she can say another word, he's picked her up and claimed her lips. And moving past her sudden surprise, she has enough presence of mind to recognize the fairy tale element of it all, and lets her foot pop, like a girl in a romantic movie.

She feels her feet settle to the pavement a few moments later, her lips still clinging to his. After a moment, he pulls back, their foreheads touching as they breathe each other in, the setting sun shining on their faces and illuminating their silhouettes.

No words are exchanged, for none are needed. When you've been to hell and back, literally, when you've lost and found the love of your life, what can you say?

Who knows, Emma thinks, caressing his face. At the end of the day, this is what's real. Love, she thinks, is the only unbreakable thing in all the realms. And looking into his eyes, she knows that the reason love endures, persists, overcomes all obstacles, that it has the ability to change people for better or worse, and heal all wounds, is because of those like them, because of those who believe in its magic.