I was blown away by the reception to last chapter. Thank you all! You're reviews always mean so much to me!

Just to clarify, this chapter also is named after a musical term. I did not do two in a row on purpose. Chapter ten was always named Da Capo. But this morning I could not get the idea of repeating music out of my head. In music, Dal Segno means to repeat. In this chapter, Emma and Killian are very much going back and repeating and retrying.

Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. It is a bit shorter, but we've had quite a few long chapters so far. Either way- see you next week!

Chapter 11: Dal Segno

When Emma was three, the Swans, her first real foster family, sent her back because they were having a child of their own and they could not afford two children. She was too young to completely understand then, but that did not stop the sting of abandonment.

When she was seven, a foster mother told her she would never be a good enough daughter and sent her back the next day.

When she was fourteen, Lily happened. She trusted Lily. The girl told her that she understood her-that she to was an orphan and that they could run away together and be safe. But it all fell apart. She got close to someone, despite her better judgement, and got hurt because of it.

Several months later, Lily showed up again and ruined what had been a good home for her. Once again she trusted Lily and got burned because of it. She ran because she knew she would be abandoned if she did not.

At sixteen, Neal walked into her life and once again she made the mistake of placing her trust in a person. She fully let herself go and the only thing she got was a broken heart and a jail record.

Suffice to say, Emma Swan knew a thing or two about abandonment.

But Killian was supposed to be different. How many times had he told her "I'll never leave you, Swan" or "I don't intend to let you down?" He stood by her for years. There had been a connection that she had with him that she could never explain. He understood her differently than her other friends. Killian got the abandonment, the hardships-he got her.

But she had pushed him to a breaking point. Immediately after he walked out the room, Emma turned on herself, telling herself it was her fault. He left because there was something in her that pushed people away. There was something in her that made people leave. It was what she did.

"Emma-" A voice called and Emma immediately wiped her face of the few tears she actually let herself cry, and ran a hand through her hair before answering "In here!"

"We missed you at dinner." She head Ruby say as she walked into the room. "I brought you a to go."

With one look to her, Mary Margaret knew something was up. "Emma, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Killian came over earlier, didn't he?" Ruby asked curiously as she went over to set the styrofoam box down on one of the desks.

"Yeah, he just left a few minutes ago."

"How is he?" Ruby leaned against the desk. Mary-Margaret was still standing by the door, facing right in front of Emma.

"Good." Emma gave them a simple answer.

"Emma-" Mary Margaret started, but Ruby was quicker.

"How's his job? I bet it keeps him busy. But his paycheck must make up for that!"

"Yeah," Emma ran her hand threw her blonde locks. "He works a lot. He likes it though."

"Emma," Mary Margaret said again. "What happened?"

"M, I told you-"

She shook her head. "I've known you for three years. I know that something is off. What happened?"

Emma sighed and sat on her bed. "We just had a disagreement is all."

"What?" Ruby said and moved to sit next to Emma. "Do I need to kill him? Because I will kill him!"

"Rubes, it's fine."

"Em, what happened?" Mary Margaret's voice was filled with concern.

"We just- he got mad that I was always busy and then accused me of being jealous of Milah. And he said some hurtful stuff about my past and I lost it." It was not a lie, Emma told herself. All of that did happen. It just was not the entire truth. But her friends did not need to know that for now.

They did not need to hear about how Emma pushed someone else away.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Ruby immediately stated.

"Are you okay, Emma?" Mary Margaret ignored Ruby.

"Yeah." She told her friends. "We never stay mad at each other for long. I'm sure we'll make up in a few days."

Something about this fight felt different. It was a breaking point for both of them and they knew it. But just because Emma and Killian knew that, did not mean her friends needed to.

"So," Emma changed the subject. "What did you guys bring me for dinner? I'm starving."

Will returned shortly after they began eating. The four of them enjoyed dinner and talked like old times, exchanging comments about how their week had been and laughing at old college stories that somehow always were brought up.

After dinner, Killian told the guys he was going to walk Emma back to the bus station and would be back later. If either Robin or Will saw through the lie and knew Emma had driven herself and parked her car in the parking garage down the street, they kept their mouths quiet.

They walked in silence to the park near Killian's apartment complex. There was still many things that needed to be said, much that needed to be worked through. They had a long way to go before they would be on solid ground like they used to be.

Emma had too much nervous energy to sit down and have this conversation, so she suggested they walk around the hiking trail. He agreed. A few moments later, Emma thought out loud, "Do you remember the first time we came here together?"

He hummed. "It was a few weeks after we met. We acted like a couple of mature blokes and darted right to the swings."

"And stayed there the entire night." Emma added and Killian laughed. "You know, that night it was the first time in such a long time I remember thinking that maybe I could trust someone. I never thought we would end up where we did."

Killian let out a low whistle. "Neither did I. Why did we ever stop talking?"

"We were angry. We were fighting about being busy-"

"No, love." He interrupted with a shake of his head. "I'm not asking why we were fighting. Why did we think that not talking for six bloody months would solve anything?"

Emma shoved her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. "We're stubborn?"

"That we are."

"I think I was just done." She breathed out. "I had pushed you away and got hurt like I always did. I told myself that there was nothing to go back to. I already got hurt and left."

"Emma-"

She held up a hand. "We've said our apologies. There is no point in repeating them. I was just saying where I was coming from."

"I don't have a real excuse, Swan. I could make something up, but I don't know why I thought it was best to avoid you. I admit I may have some of the same demons as you. My mother died when I was young and then my father left. And Liam-he was everything, and he left too. I suppose I have the same fears that you do. But I am my own worst enemy. I walked away from the best thing in my life."

She blushed at his last comment. "I'm definitely my own worst enemy. Always have been. Probably always will be."

They walked in silence for a few moments, both processing what had been said. Emma knew they both had done their fair share of growing in the past few months. They were willing to admit that they were both wrong, address their fears and past and Emma knew for herself, she no longer would let them dictate her future.

"Why did you ask me out?" She broke their silence. "Before you had your memories back, why did you ask me out?"

"I liked you, Swan. Even without my memories, I knew you were something special to me."

"You said you liked me in college-" She paused, unsure of how to finish.

"I did. Love, there was something special about you from the beginning. I'd be a fool to not see it."

"And now?"

"I still think you're pretty special, love." His voice was sincere and she knew what he meant. He wanted to give her his answer without scaring her.

"You know we can't do that right now," She said quickly. "Have a relationship. It doesn't matter how either of us feel right now. We have to work on being friends-well we don't have to. But we are not in a good spot right now and we should work on things-" She noticed she was rambling and looked to him.

A small smile lit up his face. "Is that your way of saying that you like me, Swan?"

"Still one for inflating your ego, huh?"

He smirked and she realized how much she missed this. Them. The real them. Not her trying to help him remember or a Killian with half of his memories. Those were great, but this was-this was them. It was like they were when they were in college, best friends, inseparable.

"So, you want to work on things?" His question pulled her back into reality.

"Yeah." She gave a definite nod. "You were my best friend. I don't want to lose that."

"Neither do I, Swan."

Emma sighed. "I'm gonna get better. I want to and I think I will. It's going to be different this time."

"Emma, love, you are not the only one who has to work on things. You were right when you said more of it was personal than against the other. I too need to work on myself. I want to be a better man for you."

She shook her head. "Do it for you, not me. Don't get me wrong, Killian, it's nice, but don't. I mean, I'm not getting better for you. I'm doing it because I know I need this. I have to do something for myself for once."

Slowly, Killian nodded. "Aye, I suppose you are right, love."

"I am." She knowingly teased.

"So, we work on ourselves." It came out more as a question, but she knew how he meant it. Killian continued. "We do what we need to and we try to be-"

"Friends." She finished for him. "It won't be the same as it was in the end. You have to understand, Killian, I don't really trust you right not. But than again, you probably don't trust me either. We just try to regain that trust that we used to have."

He nodded. "I knocked your walls down once, I will do it again."

"Okay." She said softly.

They both understood they had a long way to go-both individually and together. It would be a while before they had a chance at being the type of friends that they used to be. But Emma was a fighter and Killian was a survivor. If there was anyone that could do it, it was them.

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