A/N: I can't believe I'm going to say this, but...the end is near. There's only one chapter left in this, and it should come out in the next day or two.

HOWEVER, I am continually overwhelmed by the support this story has gotten (I love you all), and it's been a lot of fun to write! Hence, I am seriously considering starting a sort of sequel that follows the plotline of OUAT from 4x02-4x04, because Killian and Emma are just too dang cute...I can't decide if I'm going to or not yet, but it is certainly being pondered.

Disclaimer - This is the most depressing part of writing fanfiction: I do not, and probably never will, own OUAT.

...

Killian

"I want to go home."

Killian and Emma stood, watching as the portal began to open up at the sound of Emma's words. They stepped through it together, and Killian gripped Emma's hand tightly, refusing to let go. His choosing to follow her had been one of the best decisions of his life. She was still pulling away from him, but they had grown undeniably closer in the Enchanted Forest.

He traveled through the portal with lightness in his heart and hope for the future, his future, with Emma. She had given that heart wrenching speech about wanting to go home, and he wanted nothing more than to be a part of it. He would have wished upon any star in the night sky for her to stay here in Storybrooke, and after hearing her words on the subject, he truly believed that she just might.

Killian flew out of the portal, the wind knocked out of him as he hit the hard ground. Emma followed, but her fall was broken as she landed on top of Killian's chest. "Seems like you can't get enough of me, eh, love?" he said as he searched for breath. His voice may have been flirtatious, but the look he gave her was anything but, full of sincerity and love.

"I…I have some things to take care of," she said, a small smile on her face as she pulled away. He let her go, but he couldn't help following behind her, skulking through the shadows. She was sadly mistaken if she thought she could shake him this easily.

He walked slowly behind her all the way to the diner where her family waited patiently. The scene was full of warmth and love, but he felt unwelcome in the environment. She hadn't wanted him along, and her family – well, David might have said he approved in the past, but Killian was afraid those emotions may not have continued. He knew not to push his luck where Emma Swan was concerned. She would give him as much of her as she was comfortable with, and he would be overjoyed with every little piece of her that was entrusted to his care.

Killian took a seat outside in the cold, one which allowed him a clear view into the windows. He was an outsider looking in once again, and nothing about his status in Storybrooke had really changed. His status with Emma, though…he didn't know if that had changed or not yet, but he certainly hoped that it had.

He watched her wander inside and throw herself at her parents. He watched her embrace her son, and he watched her greet her baby brother.

He watched her embrace her mother the exact same way she had in the Enchanted Forest. The look of surprise on Snow's face was identical, but the love that replaced the surprise soon afterwards was entirely different – and exactly what Emma had been searching for.

His Swan looked truly happy, and that was more than enough for him.

…

Emma

"Mom…Dad…" she said in a broken whisper as she threw her arms around her parents.

"When we saw the portal, we were worried," David said. "Emma, are you…are you all right?" Mary Margaret contributed.

"Yes. I'm better than all right. I'm home," she quietly responded. The tears were building up in her eyes again, and she reached out again, allowing herself to be held by both of them. She was truly happy, and knew that as long as she had this, she wouldn't want for anything else.

Her mother looked like a deer in headlights at that. "Do you mean that you're not-"

"Leaving? We're not going anywhere." She finished with a hesitant smile, one that grew as her son jumped out of his booth to give her a hug. He had his mother, and she had her parents, and for the first time, it felt like family.

Her mother reached out to her, tears shining in her eyes, and held Emma as though she was her most precious treasure, her most prized possession. Her father reached out as well, his hand holding Emma's face to his chest as his arm wrapped around both her and her mother. Henry joined the hug, and the sense of togetherness overwhelmed Emma. It had taken her entire life, but she had finally found the place where she belonged.

The four of them sat in a booth together, drinking each other in.

"So…does this mean you're in the book, Mom?"

"I don't know, Henry." Emma spoke at the exact same time as David piped up, "Why don't we have a look?"

Henry ran to go and grab his storybook, and together as a family, they flipped through the pages. Emma's breath caught as she looked down at the page-length picture of her dancing with Killian. Smiles shone brightly on both of their faces, immortalized forever within the pages of this book.

"You were Princess Leia," her mom wondered in amazement. Her fingers traced the Emma on the page, tears forming in her eyes as she looked at her little girl all grown up. It showed her everything that she had given up when she sent Emma through the wardrobe door, and looking at Mary Margaret made her daughter begin to tear up as well.

"And that Prince Charles was Killian," David grumbled with a chuckle, clearly recalling a memory of long ago.

"Nice alias, Mom," Henry said. Emma smiled. Star Wars had always been one of Henry's favorites, and she should have known better than to think he would ever let her get away with using the name. "Guess that makes you my Han then, huh, my little partner in crime?" she responded, ruffling his hair. "And your lovely grandpa over there? He gets to be Vader." Henry burst out laughing at that, and she flashed him a conspiratorial wink. The grandpa in question looked more confused than Emma had ever seen him, and she had to admit the reaction was amusing. When Henry responded, "Nah. If I'm stuck as Han, he only gets to be my Chewbacca," Emma couldn't help joining in with her son's laughter.

They stayed like that for what seemed like forever, until her parents left to go and make the announcement about her brother. Henry went with them, not wishing to be parted from his baby uncle, and Emma was alone.

She opened the book one more time to the page of her and Killian dancing. She truly was a part of Storybrooke now; she even looked like a fairy tale princess amidst the covers of this book.

She read about the fearsome Captain Hook dealing with Snow White, about their introduction to Midas, about the dance. She read about their duel with the Royal Guards, and about how Prince Charles was dying inside as he watched them take away his princess. She turned the page, and was surprised by another picture.

This one was of a campsite, two men sitting around a fire. She recognized them as her father and Killian, and her eyes opened wide as a few lines of text caught her eye. She looked closer, scanning the page quickly.

"I once felt the way you do," Prince Charles responded carefully. "Then, I met the right person, and she changed everything. She saved me by giving me the push I needed to change for the better. I wanted to become a hero for her, and she means everything to me. I love her more than I love myself, and she is more than worth every sacrifice I have ever made on her behalf."

"Princess Leia? The one we're rescuing?"

"Aye. I'd go to the end of the world for her. Or time," he finished with a small smile.

"And she would do the same thing for you?" Prince Charming inquired. The answer to this question was far more painful than it had been to any of the others, and the smile was wiped clean off Prince Charles's face as he responded with the words "I don't know."

She gasped audibly, and watched as the world slowed down around her. Killian had said those things to her father. Killian.

She realized then that he had never come into the diner with her and suddenly everything seemed wrong. Storybrooke might be the place where her home was, but it was the people in it who contributed to the feelings it evoked in her.

Right now, one of the most important of these people was missing.

Luckily, finding people was the thing she was best at.