In all fairness she hadn't planned on going to Granny's opening, but after Regina had gone she realized there really wasn't much point to staying in the shop much longer. She watched as the lights in the library turned off and the lights in the apartment lit up. Rapunzel had gone to bed. Her father was probably out with his new friend. Robin was safe. Emma was still…Emma! And she certainly didn't expect to stay in this shop for the rest of the night! She was tired, staying here all night to translate the book she had wasn't going to help that. And yet, she didn't want to go back home to an empty house either. And so all she could really do was go back to the B&B.

She checked Rumple one last time. She placed her hand over his chest and then forehead, uselessly stroking his unmoved hair, then concluded his status hadn't changed. "I'll be back in the morning," she informed him. "Until then I'm just at Granny's."

He didn't respond.

She found a blanket that they'd once used to keep warm on a cool night, just after Elsa had come to town, and lay it over him. It was silly, she knew. He'd been laying there all day, there was no need to cover him at night! But it made her feel better, like this way there was some semblance of night and day in his dark life. So she covered him, wished him a good night and told him that she'd see him in the morning, then left for the B&B.

No, in all fairness she really hadn't planned to take Regina up on her invitation and go to the diner, but when she entered the B&B, before she could even take her room key out of her pocket, the noise from down the hall reached her ears. She looked to the staircase and then back to the hallway, and finally down at her fogged over rose.

Too soft-hearted. Too forgiving. Too curious. Was there ever a time that she really considered these good qualities?

Granny's was busy when she finally poked her head in. And it was clear that there were two sets of people there.

The happy ones. Those that she was fairly unfamiliar with, who seemed excited that Granny's was back and open for business.

And then there were the scarred.

A few people in strange clothing that she felt as though she'd seen only yesterday…and probably had. People from Camelot. With them, were familiar faces she did recognize. Mary Margaret, David, Henry, and of course little Neal all sat together in one little booth. Robin Hood, Regina, and Roland sat in another. And in the one closest to her, the dwarves sat, with their friend Sneezy still encased in stone. Still part of their troupe no matter what; it made her smirk. And when Robin caught her eye from his place across from Regina, he smiled back, with a gentle nod she took to be gratitude. No matter what happened between her and Regina, she hoped that she and Robin would always be friends. Maybe that was a perk of choosing not to acknowledge Regina's deceit.

Their gaze broke when Robin turned to grab Roland who was hanging over the seat to stare at little Neal. Her eyes wandered and finally settled over the one person in the diner that didn't fit into any group. He wasn't from Camelot. He wasn't happy. He wasn't scarred.

He was grieving.

Killian sat alone at the counter, drinking something she could only assume was ale or beer or rum directly out of the flask. Drowning sorrows in alcohol because of a Dark One…why did that seem familiar?

She couldn't remember telling her legs to move, only that one minute she was looking into the diner and the next she was right next to Killian. "You know, uh…Granny'll give you a glass if you ask," she commented setting her bell jar down on the counter and taking a seat next to him.

Killian didn't respond, instead he just stared ahead, holding onto his flask like it was a lifeline in the storm. It was alright. He didn't need to say anything, he didn't even need to look at her! Not only was it written all over his face but she'd been there herself. Things hadn't gone as he'd hoped with Emma.

"You tried to kiss her?" she assumed.

"Aye," he growled so low it was little more than a breath. "She didn't even flinch," he finished as he took another drink from his flask.

Again, the words were unnecessary. The darkness in his eyes and experience told the rest of the tale. But dark as his eyes were they were not as cold and emotionless as Emma's had been the night before. Quite the opposite actually. And that said more than his words ever could.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, words that she knew wouldn't help anything, not with the despair he'd be feeling at this point. Still, she also knew that it was important that she say them because she was sorry. She'd been there before and knew how important it was to know that he wasn't alone in all of this.

"It's not over," Killian insisted despite his tone. "I spent over a century trying to find a way to kill the bloody crocodile, I can spend at least that long trying to save the woman I love."

She tried to offer a smile but it faltered before it could fully develop. "Yeah…" she mumbled in response.

Where had she heard that before? He may as well have been echoing her own thoughts nearly a year ago. It was all so odd to her, being in this position, where she was now. She felt like she was talking to herself suddenly, hearing just how truly naïve she'd been! Had she really sounded like that once upon a time? Had she really believed that she had all the time in the world to help Rumpelstiltskin? Had she ever really believed that if she used that time wisely she'd break his curse? That he'd want to break it for her? Exchange ultimate power for happily ever after? It was tragic how fast "happily ever after" had come for them.

"No one says it has yet."

She shook Neal's voice out of her head. No, it wasn't "no one" who had said happily ever after had come and gone. It was Rumple. Maybe he hadn't used those words, but the moment he'd told her his desire for the "everything" she could never remember them wanted, she felt as though that was exactly what he'd said.

"And now that he's not cursed anymore? Who says this isn't a beginning?"

She shook her head again and looked around for Granny before asking for two glasses. She knew it wasn't Neal in her head. Only her; her thoughts disguised as his. And that was what she found truly confusing. Want and need. She had no idea what she wanted or what she needed. But she wished she did. She wished it was as simple as waking up tomorrow and having the answer plain and simple in her head, no thinking or thought process involved! She wished she could wake up tomorrow and have it be months ago, that she would have recognized his lies and forced him to talk about what was panicking him, that he would confess his plans to her and ask for help!

She wished she could wake up and be as naïve as she'd once been. But the truth was that she couldn't. And where she went from there was a mystery to her.

Finally Granny set two glasses before her and Killian. "Buy me a drink?" she asked glancing at his flask.

Killian paused before tipping the thing into his mouth again. Then, after a quiet moment or two he nodded. "To those of us in the light, who are crazy enough to love the Darkness," he sighed reaching forward and pouring the liquid into the glass between them.

She accepted his tribute, at least on the outside she accepted it and allowed them to touch their glasses together and drank, because she knew that he needed that acceptance right now. But deep down she rejected it. There was a time she thought she was light. There was a time she thought she was smart and kind and loving and good. Now she knew that she wasn't, at least not completely.

People weren't good or bad, it wasn't black and white as so many believed. Everyone had bad in them somewhere. It was just a matter of how much they chose to give into it. She didn't want to give into the Darkness inside of her; she wanted to be good, a true hero! Why couldn't he fight as she did?

So when she set her glass down and let the liquid burn her throat she was happy to see Killian pour more for the two of them. "To fighting the good fight for those we love," she suggested instead. Killian nodded, they both raised their glasses, and happily drank to that.

They'd barely swallowed when there was a strange sound behind her and a gasp that led to happy cheers. Over her shoulder, she saw a wonderfully unexpected sight. The sound was Sneezy, fully human again, and sneezing just as he'd meant to before Emma had frozen him! The joyful sounds were his brothers, suddenly happy he was truly back.

She felt a smile curve slowly into her mouth. Even the toughest hearts of stone could be healed. Could his?

Could hers?

I'm sorry this chapter was so short, but there really wasn't a whole lot I could do with it. Seen scenes are kind of difficult to add onto as I'm constrained by the episode itself. But don't give up, there is more to come and at this point I'm already beginning to set up those awful scenes in 5x10! Can you see how?

Thank you, Grace5231973, Carlyle23, Teresa Martin, Fox24, and Ladybugsmomma for your reviews! I'm so happy that ya'll are with me in this! Your encouragement keeps me going when these fictions get tough to write, and it's always nice to get that reminder that where the story went isn't my fault! Ya'll are awesome! Peace and Happy Reading!