Author's Note: Short chapter this time! I think I can update more often if I do bite-sized chunks.

Chapter Nine

Emma woke up slowly, leisurely. She was warm and comfortable, her fingers twisting in her pillowcase. She could feel the weight of her blankets, tangled around her arms. She could smell the salt of the sea and something spicy and strangely familiar. Her blankets didn't usually smell that way, but she wasn't concerned. The smell was comforting. She snuggled a little deeper into her pillow, and it rumbled in response.

What?

Her fingers froze as realization slowly crept into her sleep-addled mind. She wasn't at home in her room in the palace. She was still in Neverland, and her pillow was a pirate. She felt her cheeks go warm as she tried to decide how best to handle the situation. On one hand, she was warm and comfortable. Hook seemed to still be asleep, so that was something. On the other hand, she was basically in bed with a pirate. She wasn't even dressed! What would her mother say? That thought made her groan, though she tried to stifle it.

She cracked open one eye, trying to take a stealthy glimpse at the man she was intimately clinging to. Bright blue eyes were watching her. She shut hers quickly, but he'd clearly seen her. His chest vibrated under her cheek as he chuckled.

"Good morning," he said very quietly, the words reverberating against her skin.

She pulled away immediately, scooting off the bedroll and curling up into a ball, her knees pressed to her chest. She hid behind his coat to cover her near-nakedness.

She couldn't believe she'd actually come down last night in just a shift. What had she been thinking? The euphoria from finally being clean must have made her drunk.

"You needn't move on my account," he'd said as she'd fled his side. She finally registered the words, and her eyes went wide, her head jerking up to meet his gaze.

His expression was warm, with his eyes crinkled a little and his lips curved into a smirk. He was sitting up, leaning on his elbows.

"I apologize for my lack of propriety," she said stiffly, embarrassed.

"There was no impropriety, love," he murmured. "I told you I'm a gentleman."

"I—I need to find some clothing," she stammered, scooting backwards again and trying to figure out how to stand while keeping herself concealed.

Hook immediately closed his eyes, sensing her distress. He sat up completely and turned to put his back to her.

Emma scrambled ungracefully to her feet, looking around. Dimly, she remembered that her clothing was on the upper level with Tinkerbell.

The trap door to the pixie's chamber was closed, and Emma didn't want to be a rude guest, so she didn't knock or call out. Instead, she carefully rearranged Hook's coat on her body, slipping it off and then back on the right way around. She did up all the buttons, covering herself from neck to ankle. The lapels of the coat left a wide wedge of exposed flesh at her chest, but there was enough slack for Emma to hold the lapels closed with one hand.

"Thank you for the coat," Emma said softly after double-checking to make sure she was properly covered.

Hook took her words as an indication that he could turn around and open his eyes.

"I'll want it back," he drawled, his eyes traveling down to her feet and back up.

"Eventually," he added quickly when he saw her stiffen at his original statement. "Though I won't deny it looks good on you."

Emma fidgeted self-consciously and said nothing.

"Are you hungry, love?" he asked after a beat. "You didn't eat anything last night, as I recall."

Her stomach growled as if on command, despite the butterflies that filled it.

"Yes," she said meekly.

Hook hopped to his feet, snatching up his namesake attachment and snapping it into place as he did so. He walked past her to the basket of fruit and plucked a coconut, using his hook to poke a hole through the husk. He offered it to her with a small smile, and she took it gratefully.

"Thank you," she said.

He inclined his head in response and turned back to the fruit basket.

Emma sipped coconut water and tried to think about anything other than snuggling with a pirate. She stared at the coconut in her hands for a long moment before her eyes slid off of it to the little coconut lantern that Tinkerbell had given her the night before. Something tickled the back of Emma's mind, but she couldn't get the thought to coalesce into something tangible.

A loud crack made Emma startle, and she looked to see that her pirate companion had cracked open a sprouted coconut to get at the meat inside. She watched as he drew the husk open, the two halves coming apart along a clean, curved line.

The gears in Emma's head slowly clicked into place as Hook plucked the globe of partially germinated coconut meat from the center of the nut, its flesh glistening white like fresh wax.

"I know how to make a trap for the shadow," she said in a rush as Hook offered the orb of coconut meat to her.

"Excellent," he said as she took the sticky treat from his fingers. "Would you care to share the information?"

She took a bite, first, savoring the sweet flavor as her eyes fluttered closed. She licked her lips and took another bite. Before she realized it, she'd finished the coconut center and was sucking the last of its sweetness off her fingers.

"Don't leave me in suspense, love," Hook said good-naturedly as she finished eating, but his voice held just a hint of… desperation? No, that wasn't right. But there was a rawness, a neediness in his voice, like desire, but that couldn't be it. Could it?

"A coconut," she declared, opening her eyes to find him staring at her with poorly concealed lust.

Her breath caught in her throat at the way he was looking at her, her eyes going wide.

He looked away immediately.

When he looked at her again, his face was completely composed, returning to his usual slightly smug expression.

"A coconut?" he said incredulously, cocking an eyebrow. His voice seemed a little shaky, but he looked completely relaxed.

Had she imagined the look he'd given her before? Or was he pretending it hadn't happened?

"Yes," she said weakly. She shook her head and stood up a little straighter. "We can trap the shadow in a coconut."

He still looked doubtful.

She crouched to pick up the fairy's lamp. She stood up, showing him the remains of the burnt out candle in the well of the coconut shell.

"We can make a lamp like this one, but keep the other half of the coconut for a lid," she explained. "If we poke holes in it, air can enter and keep the fire going, but the shadow shouldn't be able to escape."

"Oh, that's brilliant," he said with a wide smile that made her feel warm.

She smiled back at him and leaned forward, drawn in by the joy in his eyes. He leaned in, too, his eyes flicking to her lips for just a second.

"What's brilliant?" chirped Tinkerbell as she looked down on them through the trap door to her room above.

Emma's head snapped in the direction of the fairy and she took a step backwards from the pirate.

"Swan's plan for trapping the shadow," Hook said easily, leaning against the nearby trunk of one of the trees and looking bored again.

What was going on with him? Or was Emma going crazy?

"Which is?" Tinkerbell asked, hopping down to the main level of the tree house.

"A coconut," Hook said with a smirk.

Tinkerbell did not seem amused.

"Your candle holder inspired me," Emma explained to the fairy. "If we made a little lantern like that, with a lid, we could trap the shadow inside."

"Oh," Tinkerbell said, "that might work."

"It will work," Hook declared as though he believed it.

"One way to find out," Emma said with a sigh.