A/N: My muse was on a rampage with this one. Hope you enjoy it nonetheless, esp. HookxEmma at the end :)

Also it has been mentioned that Emma can't swim - that will be addressed next chapter. There's a reason for it!

What is the purpose of a 'sorry' but to express regret for your transgressions; to take responsibility for them and ensure that the mistake will not be repeated? The word speaks of a promise of change; a promise that 'this will never happen again'. A promise that the word won't be repeated for the same reasons.

But apologies dripped from his mouth like withered rose petals, stripping him of all the excuses he had tried to make for the reasons why he repeated the same mistake over and over and over again, until he was left bare and exposed for what he truly was:

A liar. A coward. A monster.

"I'm sorry, Bae…"

The apology echoed in his mind and vibrated across his lips in a whisper as he lit a candle for what felt like the millionth time. It will have been almost three centuries since he last saw his lad, and yet even with his insurmountable Dark abilities he was still not able to find him. But he was so, so close - oh yes, he could feel the hopeful energy in the air. It will have been just as he has seen it with the Eye: the breaking of the Curse. The future with his son. And perhaps, if he could make amends, a future with…

"I know there is more to you than just a Beast. There is human still - I believe it."

"And how would you know that?"

"Because I know you."

Even he, the great and fearsome Dark One, could not prevent the shards of glass cutting through his black heart at the thought of her. Belle… But it was all the more reason to justify what he had done. All the more reason for him to justify why he carried out his carefully devised plan the way he did. To find him. To find her.

Oh yes, he will find them. And it was all thanks to one vengeful being. He was fortunate that all those years ago, he stumbled across his most successful student yet, and that she was as vengeful and ruthless as he was. The Black Fairy… How touching that she had taken up a title so similar to his own, even after he enraged her by suddenly disappearing on her when she needed him the most.

But when he found that she too had also taken a certain student of her own - a woman that happened to live in the very Kingdom that he was now imprisoned in - he sought after the Black Fairy again, who willingly accepted the Great Curse that he offered her, after hearing what it could do. Suddenly all past transgressions were forgiven, it seemed. He remembered the look on the Black Fairy's face when he told her that there was a price for such magic: 'A Saviour?' she had said incredulously. 'Who can and will break the Curse?' Unfortunately she never gained deeper knowledge on this subject as he evaded it entirely, and disappeared on her once again.

Unsurprisingly, the Black Fairy was furious and vowed to kill him if he didn't answer her questions about the Great Curse he had given her, and even attempted to, many times. Idiotic girl, thinking she could surpass him, the Dark One... But he was hardly worried; it was all part of the plan. He skillfully dropped the right clues for her to pick up, and soon enough she left her desire to kill him entirely and sought for something else: the Saviour. Just exactly how he planned it.

Indeed he knew very well what she was going to do and just who she was going to use to do it: Cora, the ever power-seeking woman who lusted after royalty, was the very pawn in the Black Fairy's little scheme to capture the Saviour. The Black Fairy taught her student a smaller version of the Curse, and convinced Cora to cast it on the Kingdom so she may be granted the wish she had for her daughter. Meanwhile the Black Fairy could find the 'Saviour' he had warned her about, using the Cursed identities to her advantage.

He let out a tiny cackle. Stupid, foolish women. Little do they know the Saviour already escaped the curse and was no longer in the White Kingdom as they both believed. How brilliant he was in leading them to believe they were looking for the only one who can find the Saviour, when secretly, that person is the Saviour! The Bounty Hunter… He wondered briefly which woman will retrieve her first…

But it didn't matter - the Saviour will arrive here regardless. It was what was seen and told by the Eye, and all futures seen in the Eye always came true. She will break it and he will be reunited with them again... And well, it didn't matter what happened to him in the end anymore, as long as he was able to accomplish what he came here for; the sole reason for why he had formulated this meticulous, well-hidden plan:

To find his son. To find his Belle.

And to say sorry one last time.

A loud bang was heard from the stairs below and he felt a tinge of irritation. What could that witch possibly want now? He thought that after Cora had consulted with him in regards to the Curse, she would have been entirely satisfied with the information he gave her and would finally leave him in peace.

But evidently peace was not in store for him as the footsteps thumping on the stairs grew louder, quickly approaching the room he was in. Bracing himself, he snapped a finger to draw a curtain to cover the room with his candles and turned around, an unimpressed expression ready to be plastered on his face.

However what he found was not Cora stopping by for a visit, but instead her daughter fully clad in her elaborate royal attire, marching towards him purposefully. He raised an eyebrow at the dangerously livid look on her face. "Queen Regina, to what do I owe this pleasure-"

"You did this."

She stopped in front of him, breathing heavily as her finger pointed threateningly at his chest.

"Did what, your Majesty? I'm afraid I've done many things in my long life."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," she hissed, narrowing her eyes at him. She pointed at the window close to them. "This Kingdom. You did something."

The amused smirk fell off his face at her words and was briefly replaced by surprise, until he hastily returned to his usual chipper attitude. "Elaborate, dearie. I've contributed many things to this Kingdom."

Regina was quick enough not to miss the sudden change in expression and barked out a laugh. "Don't toy with me, Rumplestiltskin. You and I both know exactly what you did." Her lips twitched into a snarl as she glared at him, hissing the next words dangerously. "Why did you curse us?"

This time he didn't bother to hide the surprise on his face. Ohoho, well he certainly didn't expect this. He smirked at her. "Is this a suspicion or have you… stumbled upon something to convince you?" Or someone, he thought, displaying the unsaid words through his knowing smirk.

She clearly read in-between the lines as she momentarily paused and glanced to the side. "Robin," she said simply, keeping her face neutral. Then the glare snapped back to his direction again. "Why isn't the entire Curse broken? True Love's Kiss is supposed to break all curses."

He gave her a wicked grin and began to pace the room, talking animatedly as he did. "Indeed it does, dearie! But I'm afraid True Love's Kiss only broke your cursed self - not the entire Kingdom."

"Then break the whole thing," she commanded with a snarl.

Stopping, he let out a long, irritated sigh. "Shouldn't you be asking your mother about this? I'm sure you should remember by now that it was dear Mother Cora who cast it herself." He looked up at the ceiling with a mocking, dreamy expression. "Ah, for the sake of her daughter's well-being. Just so lovely Regina could become Queen."

Regina snorted. "Don't speak to me about that woman. She may have cast it, but this magic is too Dark - even for her. There's only one person who could be behind something like this." She glared at him accusingly, making her point.

"Need I remind you that the Black Fairy was the one who gave it to her? Teacher gifting student type of thing."

She rolled her eyes. "And who was the one who taught the Black Fairy the Dark magic she knows?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't test me, Rumplestiltskin. You may be the Dark One but don't forget what I'm capable of, too. Now tell me why did you curse us and how can you break it?"

"Tut tut, I wouldn't be so confident if I were you, dearie." He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before adding with a sigh, "But I suppose I can tell you - perhaps you'll be useful."

He began pacing the room again as he spoke. "You're right - I taught the Black Fairy about this curse. But while I never directly instructed her to tell your mother to cast it, I suppose you can say I carefully pulled the strings behind the scene." He looked at her, the wicked grin forming on his face once again. "I wanted something from the White Kingdom specifically and I intended to retrieve it, so I made sure the curse was cast here to make my search easier."

"And you had to erase and change our identities all because you wanted something from here?" Regina stated in disbelief. "You made us stranded fools in this land, making Time stand still for 28 years - just to 'get something'? What the hell were you looking for?!"

"That's none of your business," he snapped, giving her a sharp look before absentmindedly fiddling with a paper on his desk. "The identities were something your mother made up - not me. But the 'Time standing still' part… Yes, that was all me."

Regina gave him a mocking smile. "And did you find what you were looking for?"

He clenched the paper he had been playing with at her question. "No," he replied in gritted teeth. "But I will soon… He-it's here… I know it - I saw it…"

Regina huffed out a frustrated breath at how Rumplestiltskin was now muttering to himself and glanced at the paper he was now crushing in his hand. She peered at it, curiously looking at the sketch that was on the paper. That picture…

"Your son," she suddenly stated, voicing her thoughts. She looked up at him. "You're still looking for that boy, aren't you?"

All amusement was gone from his face as he deadpanned, looking back at her silently.

"Why a curse?" she pressed on. "And if he's here, why haven't you found him yet?"

Something flickered in his wide eyes and for a moment Regina believed that he was going to strike her for prodding into something that was clearly deeply personal. But to her surprise, he simply pushed the paper aside and looked away from her.

"Have you noticed that no one has left this place, dearie? And even if they wanted to, they end up staying here, somehow?"

She nodded slowly, eyeing him carefully. "The curse was designed that way - I can't leave as well," he continued. " And there was… The Eye. Only sometime during or after the breaking of this curse I will be reunited with… him. It must be that way, as that is what the Eye showed me, which is probably why I still have not found him."

Well she supposed that made sense. She knew that his son didn't exactly had the fondest memory of his father and would most likely run away as soon as he found him. So the Dark One did what he did best and created this entire... curse, to ensure his son was stuck in this wretched Kingdom and make his attempts to reunite simpler.

She looked at Rumplestiltskin curiously, another thought springing up to mind. "And what about Belle? Does she still remember y-"

"You're pushing it, dearie!" he sang shrilly, eyes gleaming at her dangerously. "Why are you here anyway? The curse on you has been broken and dear Robin Hood remembers you..." He waved a hand as if to shoo her away. "Run along now - go play house with your True Love."

"In case you haven't noticed, Rumple, everyone else is still cursed," Regina pointed out, glaring at him furiously.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "And since when did you care about other people's well-being? Shouldn't you be celebrating these turn of events and taking it to your advantage? I heard that lovely Snow White is your maid now and the Prince is a stable boy, completely separated from their True Love. Ah, isn't this what the Evil Queen wanted?"

"Don't call me that," she snapped. "I never wanted this life. My mother was the one who pushed me into this. I stopped following that path 29 years ago." Then she scoffed, crossing her arms as she looked out the window next to her. "As tempting as it is to laugh at those two lovesick idiots, I'm afraid my revenge for Snow has long gone. I've no reason or anger anymore to fuel my hatred since I have… Robin now."

Then she quickly whipped her head back to Rumplestiltskin, who had opened his mouth, presumably to taunt her some more. "But it still remains, Rumplestiltskin - everyone else is still cursed, which means they don't remember that I'm not the Evil Queen trying to ruin everyone's lives anymore. It doesn't help to be Queen in this curse if everyone is back to hating me again." She closed her eyes and breathed out a frustrated sigh. "They want to kill me - I can feel their plotting in the air."

"And here I thought you were being selfless and thinking of the people's well-being," Rumplestiltskin sneered. Then he paused and looked at her pensively for a moment, before reaching a decision. "I'll tell you what, dearie. You don't need to worry about breaking the curse. While True Love will break the curse, it won't be yours that will be doing that."

Regina raised an eyebrow. "Snow White and Prince Charming?"

"Close, but not quite!" Rumplestiltskin chirped. "Their daughter." He let out a high-pitched giggle at the stunned expression on Regina's face. "Oh yes, dearie, they bore a child! The product of True Love; the Saviour of this Curse! You and the thief may have been qualified but seeing that you two haven't consummated yet..." He trailed off giving her a crooked grin.

"But yes," he continued, ignoring her spluttering red face. "Snow White and the Prince's child can and will break this curse. Unfortunately she escaped this Kingdom before the curse was enacted and her whereabouts are unknown, but it just so happens that Cora will be the one who will retrieve her after all." He let out another giggle and clapped his hands together gleefully.

"My mother- what the hell are you talking about?"

He shot her a distasteful look, as if disapproving of her lack of knowledge. "You see, dearie, your mother came to me a while ago searching for the Black Fairy. You know, just to make sure the curse was foolproof kind of thing. But I let her in on a secret: I told her that there's a Saviour - someone who can and will break the curse, unless Cora stops her. So she took my bait and sent off for the Bounty Hunter, who I told her can be the only one who can find the Saviour."

"And how do you know for sure that this... Bounty Hunter will find this Saviour?"

His frown deepened, as if judging her for inability to understand something that was so plainly obvious to him. "Don't you see?" he said irritably. "The Bounty Hunter is the Saviour. Cora believes she's bringing in someone who's supposedly the only one who can find her, when in actuality, she's allowing the Saviour herself to waltz into the Kingdom!"

Regina narrowed her eyes at him warily for a moment, before softening her features, seemingly deciding that what he said was plausible. "All right, so the Saviour is coming. What would you have me do?"

"Do what you do best, dearie," he replied with a flourish of his hand. "Your time will come when needed. But as of now, keep your pretty little head focused on pretending like you're still cursed."

"And what will you be doing? Going on the lookout for your son? Or," she added with a wicked smirk. "Trying again with wonderful, clever Bel-"

"Your tongue is as provoking as ever, Regina," he snapped irritably.

"And your skin is as dry as ever," she countered smoothly, glancing pointedly at the scaly, grayish-green tinge on his face. Then she turned around to leave, deciding there was nothing more she wanted from the Dark One.

"'Till next time, Rumple," she said, lifting her fingers to snap herself out of here.

Although he was tempted to blast the sly Evil Queen in front of him into oblivion, another thought sprung into mind. "One more thing, dearie!" he called out, causing her hand to pause mid-air. "Keep it to yourself. I'm afraid your mother isn't the only one after the Bounty Hunter."

Regina scoffed at the pointless warning. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Then with a snap and a poof, she was gone.

'The Black Fairy.' The name echoed in Emma's head as she stared at Hook, who still had an amused look on his face. "A fairy is going after me?" she asked in disbelief. "I thought all fairies were good."

He shrugged. "Who knows? Perhaps she's not truly a fairy. But apparently she used to be one. That's all I know of her although frankly, I don't really care much for her story."

They halted abruptly when Emma pulled out an arm to stop him from walking, her eyes trained on something in front of them. "This is it," she said, gesturing at a large tree in front of them. "We'll camp out here for the night."

Hook peered at it, unsure of what exactly was going on, and raised an eyebrow at her. "Something special about this tree, Swan?"

She took a step forward and reached out to grab one of the many vines that was twisted around the tree. "Noxins." She bent down and started patting the tree, as if searching for something. "They release poisonous vapours at night, making the ground pretty much a death bed. So we're gonna climb this tree and stay in the branches for the night."

Hook didn't miss the slight wince Emma made as she stretched an arm around the circumference of the tree's trunk. "And I suppose you're going to climb with that bad arm?"

"It's fine," she snapped, her fingers closing in on the bump she was looking for. She twisted the round piece of wood, causing parts of the tree trunk to shift to the left slightly. As a result, a large dent appeared on the trunk, a size the perfect fit for a foot to settle into. Hook followed suit as Emma used the dent to begin climbing, pulled onto the vines like a ladder as she did. Together they climbed in silence, side by side as they did.

"Graham made these," Emma suddenly said quietly, breaking the silence between them. She nodded at the dents they were using to put their feet in to help them climb. "One of our first missions together. I almost suffocated from the Noxins but he managed to help me climb up here."

Although her eyes remained guarded and trained in concentration, her casual tone didn't fool him. "A huntsman fitting to his name, though too smug for my liking sometimes," he commented. Then he paused, glancing at her in afterthought. "Forgive me. He truly is an important person in your life, isn't he?"

"You make it sound like he's already dead," she scoffed as she grabbed on to another vine. Then her expression softened. "But yeah, he is," she said softly.

For some reason, the way her voice sounded when she spoke of Graham irked him. There was a hidden intimacy and nostalgia there, an emotion that the Bounty Hunter so often tried to sound indifferent to. But it seemed that whenever it came to the huntsman, her voice leaked with hidden emotion, and that was when Hook realized that Emma probably didn't have many people who cared for her and thus why she cared for little too, and so such rare moments of emotion shown by the Bounty Hunter were clearly reserved for special people like Graham... Hook shook his head, trying to will the ridiculous jealous thought out of his mind. He opened his mouth to make a cheeky remark but was cut off quickly by her voice.

"Wanna race?"

Hook looked at her in surprise, and was even more so when he didn't find any amusement on her face at the suggestion. "I don't partake in contests against invalids, love." He glanced pointedly at the arm he knew very well was still wounded.

"I told you, Hook, it's fine," she said through gritted teeth. "Well, even if it wasn't, it'll be fair. One-handed pirate against wounded bounty hunter. Unless…" She looked away from the vine she was holding and stopped climbing to give him a mischievous smirk. "Unless you can't handle it?"

He raised an eyebrow at her sudden light mood but smirked back nonetheless, deciding to enjoy this rare exchange. "Please," he said in a low voice. "Perhaps you couldn't handle it."

A long pause stretched between them after as their eyes bore into each other, a challenge of who would break away first. Then, as quick as lightning, Emma tore her eyes away from his blue ones and quickly grabbed the vine.

Hook barked out a laugh as he quickly followed suit, determined not to let the blonde vixen best him. Soon they were climbing at almost equal speeds, though the pirate was a little ahead of Emma, allowing him to turn his head towards her so he may continue his taunting.

"Enjoying the view down there?" he called out to her teasingly.

Though she was short of breath, she still managed to scoff. "We're basically tied at the moment, Hook!"

"Ooh, being tied up does sound like a good idea, lo-" He stopped when he caught her wince as she grabbed yet another vine, though this time it was less subtle than before. "Swan? You sure your arm is all right?"

"Yes," she replied through gritted teeth.

Liar. He didn't miss the next wince that came shortly after, causing him to frown deeply. The lass was so bloody stubborn - why couldn't she just admit that her injury was far worse than she thought it would be?

"Lies, Swan, your dishonesty seeps through you."

This time she didn't bother to hide her flinch as she bared her teeth, eyebrows pinched in concentration as she struggled to continue to climb. "I told you it's- ha!"

Thinking her cry was one of trouble, Hook instinctively reached out for her, but she only stopped climbing and turned to give him a triumphant smirk.

"I win." She lifted her arm to slap the base of their destination, ready to hoist herself up the branch she intended them to rest in, but then her foot bent out of place, causing her to momentarily struggle-

"Swan!"

She felt her other hand slip from the vine she was holding, causing her body to be dragged down against the tree. As quickly as she could, she flung out her arm to grab a vine before she completely falls from the tree to her death -

"Fuck!" she swore loudly as a sharp pain cut across her wounded arm, a warm sensation slowly escaping it as she gripped the hand that had caught hers just in time.

"Is it fine now?" Hook growled through gritted teeth, looking at her wounded arm where the sleeve's rip had torn apart even more than ever, exposing the gruesome bruise underneath it. However he didn't wait for her retort as he immediately placed her arm around his and began climbing, dragging her with him.

Hook managed to reach the large branch she had touched and struggled to pull her up with him. He looked around to see if there was anywhere he could let her lean against. Luckily for them, it appeared that the "branch" was reminiscent of a cave or a ditch of some sort.

"I had it under control," Emma said after he settled her against the wall of the tree.

"Sure you did," he said dryly. He quickly shrugged off his leather coat and began to pull at his sleeve. "Your pride is insufferable, Swan. If you're injured and it hurts, do us both a favour and just admit it."

She arched an eyebrow at his raised tone. "Cross with me now?"

"Consider it as an expression of concern from an honorable pirate." He paused, still not taking his eyes off his sleeve; an unreadable expression on his face. "We were at least 50 feet from the ground. You could have died if I didn't catch you."

The sudden soft tone of his voice really did suggest genuine concern, but Emma chose to ignore it, shifting uncomfortably as she cradled her own bleeding arm. She watched as Hook began pulling roughly at his black sleeve, causing a large rip through it; exposing a part of his forearm.

"I have some spare rags in my bag," she informed him, nodding at her small pouch on her waist. He stopped what he was doing and reached over towards her bag, untying it from her belt.

"How in the bloody hell do you keep so many things in this tiny bag?" he asked incredulously as he began pulling out a bunch of ripped cloths.

"It's enchanted," she replied with a shrug. "I can fit a whole ship in here, if I wanted."

"You know magic?" he asked in surprise, pulling her closer towards him so that he may begin wiping off the blood that had smeared all over her forearm.

"I know people," she corrected, cringing when his callused hand gently ran over her cut skin. "The orphanage I grew up in was run by three... Special women."

"Ahh, I see."

A long silence stretched between them as Hook began wiping off the blood from her skin, and Emma was grateful he didn't ask more about her past life in the orphanage. She watched as his eyes stayed fixed on her bloody arm. It was… strange having him so close to her like this, and even more so to see the pirate tending to her wound in such a gentle manner. She could make out the faint scent of spice and sweat emanating from him as he leaned over; an odd sensation filling her stomach as his warm fingers slightly brushed over her skin unintentionally. For a moment she found herself completely frozen, but then suddenly, the thought hit her and she realized -

She jerked back her arm instinctively. "I can do this myself," she informed him brusquely, picking up one of the cloths. What the hell was she thinking, letting him touch her like that? Even Graham wasn't allowed to mend her battle wounds.

"Don't be daft," he scoffed, pulling her arm back to his. His grip tightened when she began to yank it back, causing her to wince once again, and he lifted his eyes to glare at her. "You see? You've barely any strength left. Let me do it."

Seeing that she had no choice, she surrendered her arm to his hold. "Oh, so now you're being a gentleman?"

"Like I said, love," he replied with a cheeky grin. "Always a gentleman."

She rolled her eyes when he winked at her, and then watched tentatively as he began rolling her sleeve higher to expose more of her skin. He turned around for a moment and reached for a long strip of cloth with his hook, and Emma wondered how the pirate was going to manage to bandage her wound with only one intact hand. But then she caught sight of the white knitted cloth he was now holding and upon recognizing it, she nearly toppled over to stop him from using it.

"No, not that one," she said quickly, snatching it away from him. He arched an eyebrow questioningly. "It's… not for wounds," she explained hastily. He looked at her face intently for a moment then back at the cloth she was now holding protectively but whatever question he had, he decided not to ask. Shrugging, he picked up another rag.

"I've been wondering, Swan," he began conversationally as he wrapped the fabric around her wound with one hand. "But how is it that the notorious Bounty Hunter can't swim?"

An unpleasant memory resurfaced from her mind but it was quickly erased when Hook suddenly dipped his head down towards her arm, his warm breath mingling with her skin. "I-uh, just never gotten the chance to... Learn..." she replied, suddenly realizing that she couldn't really remember anymore why was it she never learned how to swim.

And perhaps it was because Hook had his teeth on the cloth that he had wrapped her arm with, using it to effectively tie it into place, his eyes never leaving hers as his mouth fastened the rag's knot. While the intense eye contact might have seemed like he was simply listening to her speak and giving her his full attention, she knew better than that. Damn it - clever one-handed bastard and his ability to seemingly make virtually any otherwise-innocent situation intimate.

As if he could sense the tension forming in her stomach, a knowing grin spread across his face. He leaned back to pause and look at her before reaching behind him to get yet another cloth. "The cut on your face is still a bloody mess," he explained when she looked at him questioningly. Before she could protest or move away however, he wet a bit of the cloth with his tongue and started dabbing it on the dry blood on her cheek.

Despite the alarm bells echoing through her head, she allowed him to continue his work anyway, watching the Captain warily as his eyes remained focus on her cheek, clearly deep in concentration. She didn't know what was going on in her mind that was making her sit still under his touch like this, but she was tired and her body ached and well, it was kind of nice to have someone else take care of her for a change...

"How about you?" she suddenly asked, willing to distract herself from the heat rising up to her cheeks. "Do all pirates know how to swim?"

A flicker of surprise passed by his eyes as he drifted his gaze towards hers. It was very rare for the Swan to converse like this without any prompt, and the answer to her question was so blatantly obvious that he knew right away she was most likely talking for the sake of it. His eyes trailed over her face for a brief moment, trying to read into her sudden willingness to converse, until he decided he'll just let it go and play along.

"Aye, it's a must," he replied with a slight chuckle. "After all, we are always venturing out on the seas and God-only-knows-what dangerous waters the realms we've passed have." He watched as she shifted in her spot, a hint of embarrassment in her expression at the fact she'd ask such a ridiculous question.

"Must be nice," she muttered. "I've… never travelled on a ship before. A change of scenery would be nice."

He looked at her curiously at the hint of wistfulness in her tone. "Perhaps because you've never been granted the opportunity to, Swan," he said, looking away from her. "The waters contain a vast universe in and of itself. It's as beautiful as it is dangerous. I love it."

He felt Emma watching him curiously as he spoke and he realized that he was looking out in the distance with a faraway look on his face. Snapping out of his reverie, he dropped his arm from her face and grinned at her. "All finished, Swan. You know, you'd make an excellent pirate. Perhaps even a more adept swimmer, too."

She gave him an unimpressed look as if to say 'Really? A pirate?', causing him to raise his arms defensively. "Just saying, love. You've got the skill and not to mention the foul language-"

"Who's Milah?"

He paused at the name, the grin disappearing from his face completely. Emma was now looking curiously at the heart-shaped tattoo on his forearm that was now exposed due to the rip he'd made earlier. "Someone from a long time ago," he replied in a voice too cold for his liking.

Emma looked at him at the sound of his tone, watching him carefully. "She was more than just 'someone', wasn't she." He averted his eyes, expression as stony and guarded as ever, but remained silent at her blunt observation.

"You were in love with her and she left you."

At this, he snapped his eyes towards her own, almost glaring at her for being so accurate. "That's a rather bold statement for a bounty hunter who has never been in love."

Something flickered past Emma's eyes, so quick and so subtle that he'd almost miss it, and for a moment his unexplained anger subsided and he wished he'd caught what the emotion in her expression meant. But instead of agreeing with him or evading the subject entirely, she looked right back at him.

"Well maybe I have been in love… Once."

A/N: Wooooo almost 5,000 words LOL. My muse was generous to me for this one. Sorry about the lengthy chapter! I hope you still enjoyed it.

But yeah, some interesting development going on with these two stubborn hooligans plus some interesting things happening back at the White Kingdom. I absolutely love ReginaxRumple interactions (their endless sassiness, ya feel me?). I hope I did those two characters justice.

Next chapter: We learn something interesting & dark from Emma's past, while in the present, Emma starts feeling…& seeing something differently when she looks at Hook.

Again, thank you thank you thank youuu for the reviews. Keep it up and don't be shy with some constructive criticism please :)