A/N: It seems that a lot of people do enjoy me nerding out over Harry Potter so I may try and continue Operation: Sorting Hat at a later date. For now, please enjoy the fluffy angst that is this fic.

As always, I don't own anything (except my new awesome beanie). Please review and enjoy.

She couldn't remember how it started or why. She'd been so frustrated and tired and she just wanted five minutes to close her eyes and block out all her problems but that wasn't going to happen so she did what she did best, she attacked.

Killian was standing in her lounge room, frustration and pain clearly in his eyes as he fought back.

"One day you're going to stop getting scared by everything, Swan, and believe that I'm here for you. That I'm not going anywhere."

Emma scoffed, "Right, I forgot, Killian Jones the loyal pirate. Should I put it on a sign for you so you can wave it around whenever you want?"

Killian recoiled with shock and Emma's satisfaction at the jab quickly passed. She knew what she was doing, she was still convinced this was too good for her and if she attacked enough he'd leave, like he'd eventually do anyway.

He sneered back at her. "I would tell you that people can change but it seems you're incapable of doing so."

Emma visibly flinched at that, the remark hitting too close to home. Killian seemed to regret it as well as he moved forward but she held up her hand, unwillingly to let him close. If he came close, she would break and right now she wanted to pretend to be strong.

"Get out." She whispered.

"No." Killian replied, she opened her mouth to yell but Killian quickly interjected.

"No, Emma, I need to know and you need to think about this." He moved over and gently clasped her hand in his own, his thumb tracing circles over her knuckles and she could feel herself cracking.

"You don't doubt Henry or your parents, why do you think I'm suddenly going to leave you?"

Emma looked away, unable to look into the eyes that always saw too much.

"Henry's my son and he's never done anything but so that he wants me in his life and my parents have done so much for me." Her voice broke. "They love me."

"And me, Emma, why am I going to leave?"

She felt tears welling in her eyes. "It's just what happens. My family has stayed but everyone else... Dies. Leaves. Pretends to be someone they're not."

Emma felt like those little circles on her hand were the only thing anchoring her to this world.

"Emma, look at me." Emma shook her head and she felt Killian's fake hand tilt her head up. Blue met green and she read so much in those eyes, things she didn't want to see because it was too much, and if she accepted it, she'd just lose it.

"I love you." Emma's breath left her in one gasp and her eyes widened. "I didn't think you were ready to hear it but I don't regret it. I love you. I love you for your overwhelming capacity to feel love, your loyalty and kindness. I love that you're a saviour not because of your birth but because you want to do the right thing. I love the way when you're happy your whole face lights up because true happiness doesn't need to be contained and I even love the fact that a part of you is still a lost little girl, who fears she won't get a happy ending. I love all of you, Emma Swan, and I should have told you that when I first realised because you deserve to know that you are loved. That you are deserving of love. You want to know why I won't leave? Because I love you, and I want to spend every day trying to make you happy, to make you smile and laugh because that brings light to my world." His voice suddenly became quieter and he broke eye contact. "I'll only ever leave if you want me to."

Killian released her hand and took a step back, eyes so blue, piercing and vulnerable. Emma took a couple of deep breaths and tried to find her voice, ashamed to realise it was choked with unshed tears.

"I just need some time, okay?"

Killian nodded dejectedly and she walked out of her apartment, unconsciously picking a direction that she knew would end in comfort.

Her mother didn't ask any questions as Emma arrived at the apartment. Mary Margaret took one look at Emma's tear-stained face and ushered her inside to sit at the table, shooting a look at her husband, who took the hint and decided Neal wanted a walk. Emma felt grateful as her father gave her a quick kiss on the head and whispered that she should let me him if he needed to challenge anyone to a duel before he carried Neal out of the room, singing lullabies as he went.

As her mother placed a hot cocoa in front of her, Emma felt like she could begin to function again.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Mary Margaret asked, concern lacing her tone and expression.

Emma sighed, staring at her mug like it was the most interesting thing in the world. "Killian said he loved me."

Mary Margaret raised her eyebrow in a gesture so familiar to a certain pirate Emma felt her heart drop.

"Does that surprise you, Emma?"

Emma's head snapped up. "You knew?"

A small, amused smile graced her mother's face. "It's a bit of an open secret, darling."

Emma fidgeted uncomfortably. "It's not like I didn't know that he cared for me a lot, but him saying it out loud means something. It's too much."

"Why, Emma? I think you need to start asking yourself what you want. You deserve to be happy, Emma, and the only reason Killian is not peppered with arrows is because I think he can help with that."

Emma rubbed her forehead, trying to put words to the real issue that had been bothering her since she could understand the ideas of curses and magic and happy endings.

"But, what if it's not..." Emma flushed as her mother gazed at her intently and looked back at her cocoa. "What if it's not True Love?"

Sympathy was etched all of her mother's face as she reached over to hold the same hand Killian grabbed not that long ago.

"Oh, Emma. Honestly, sweetie? I hope you never find out." She must have seen Emma's hurt and confused look as she continued in a rush. "Finding out that someone is your True Love involves curses and danger and things I don't want for you. When I met your father, I wasn't worried if he was my True Love because I knew that I loved him and I didn't want anyone else. He was it for me and I don't think I would be able to ever move on. It doesn't matter if you've had a test to see if this person loves you or not because love is about more than that, it's about belief and faith and finding happiness in nothing more than their presence."

Mary Margaret gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "You need to start asking yourself some questions, Emma. Do you love Killian? Can you ever picture yourself being with anyone else? When you think of your life in the next 10 years, after Henry's gone to college and is off being an adult, do you still see Killian there?"

Emma knew the real reason why she was running away and it wasn't because the idea of commitment scared her, it was because she could have answered those questions so easily, and the careless way she seemed to be using her heart terrified her. But the answers were easy.

Yes. No. Yes.

It was as easy as hearing the beating of her own heart. Her heart had been filled with just Henry, then her parents, but Killian had wormed his way in and she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to get him out. Or even if she wanted to.

Her mother smiled in satisfaction. "I guess that answers that."

Emma gave her mother a weak smile and Mary Margaret stood up, moved over to Emma and wrapped her arms around her. Her mother was by no means a large woman so Emma was always amazed by the strength she managed to offer, her hugs were fierce and loving and as she rested her head on her mother's shoulder, Emma listed her mother's arms as one of the places she called home.

Trying to get into the mindset of a pirate was a weird endeavour, but Emma did need to speak to Killian so she had to figure out where he might be hiding. She had hurt him, she thought with a grimace, so he would want to be around water, but he wouldn't want to be found so the docks would be too obvious a location. With a destination in mind, she set off, hoping she'd find the words along the way.

She was exactly where she thought he'd be, sitting on a bench staring morosely over the lake. They had sat there before their Back to the Future adventure, before she decided she wanted to stop running and she thought it was a fitting place for her to finally stop.

He didn't look at her as she sat next to him and they sat together in silence before she finally found her courage.

"Henry and my parents, I kind of feel like we have to be together, that our lives are together. But you? You could have a life of your own anywhere but really that was just an excuse I was clinging to."

She sighed and continued, but she felt lighter as she spoke, like the words were a weight that had been bottled inside too long. Ducks were swimming across the lake and those little birds were easier to focus on than the presence beside her.

"It started when we were climbing that beanstalk, maybe before but I can almost pinpoint the moment on that beanstalk. You said I was an open book and that wasn't what scared me, what scared me was that I could read you too and that sort of connection wasn't what I wanted. What was the point of my walls if you could just see through them? So, I pushed you away, I was sure you would betray me so I betrayed you first and I kept on finding any reason to keep you away because I knew that if I let you in – completely – I would never want to let go."

She turned to look at him, finding strength in the love that shone in his eyes.

"But I realised, I don't want to let you go. I don't want a future that doesn't have you in it. I love you, Killian Jones, and it might not be a fairytale love, it's overwhelming and broken like me but it's all I can offer you."

She paused, hoping he would respond but he just sat there, a smile creeping up on his face and she felt her own face respond in kind.

"Don't you have anything to say to that?"

He slowly moved forward and Emma met him halfway, hands going around to the nape of his neck as she kissed him softly, languidly, like they had all the time in the world. And maybe they did.

Killian broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to hers.

"I love you, Emma."

She giggled and would have been ashamed of how teenager it sounded if she wasn't so deliriously happy.

"I love you, Killian."

She moved in to kiss him again, trying to show how much she cared. She felt freed by the knowledge it didn't matter if Killian was her True Love. She loved him and wanted to be with him through all the nonsense that would probably be thrown her way. She felt freed by the fact she didn't have to doubt that he'd always be there because she chose to believe, in Killian and in them. Like her mother's hugs, Emma found home in the steady beating of Killian's heart and she didn't fear its loss, she relished its presence in her life.

A/N: It's angsty and sappy and I make no apologises for it. Congrats to everyone for surviving the last month, only three more to go!

Have a wonderful evening (or whatever suits your timezone),

Adrina Stark.