I can't believe another story is coming to an end... There's three more chapters left after this one, plus the epilogue. Thank you for going on this journey with me, and enjoy the feels.

Emma spends the day before her night shift trying to figure out what to do with Killian; he doesn't know that his nightmares haven't stopped and that the only thing keeping him from waking up screaming is Emma's voice.

Even though he's still moody and quiet at times, Killian seems more like himself the more time they spend together, and he even manages to get a job clearing rubble from the attack; she suspects that Sergeant Leroy had something to do with that, but she sure as hell won't complain because it's good for him to get out of his motel room and do something productive.

The person who gives her an idea as to what Killian should do is Whale, and Emma wonders how much Ruby had told him about their relationship because he seems full of understanding and more than willing to help; it's clear he's head over heels in love with Ruby, and Emma feels a little guilty for being so against him in the beginning.

And so, an hour before her shift starts she knocks on the door of Killian's motel room, smiling when he answers but unable to get a word in before he kisses her fiercely, then pulls her inside and pins her against the wall.

"I have to go to work soon", she says, gently tugging on his hair to make him look at her, trying not to get lost in the blue in his eyes when he does.

"Come on, Swan, don't be a spoil sport", he says and nudges her cheek with his nose playfully, making her wish she could stay with him and keep his nightmares from waking him without bursting his bubble.

"You can't go to sleep tonight", she tells him and covers his mouth with her hand when he tries to kiss her again.

"Stay here and I guarantee you I won't", he says from behind her palm and wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, her body melting against his of its own accord.

"I have to go to work", she says and he kisses her palm, then watches her carefully for a long moment before he unwraps his arms from around her waist and lies his hands on her hips.

"Why can't I go to sleep?" He asks, resignation coloring his voice because she's always an open book and he can probably tell that she'd been keeping something from him.

Emma isn't afraid of much; storms, spiders in the shower, and losing Killian, so she takes a deep breath and tells him the truth.

"Your nightmares aren't gone… I just sort of manage to keep you from waking up because of them", she says and watches the light go out in his eyes, her hands covering his to keep him where he is, to keep them on her hips for just a while longer. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"Go to work", Killian says and lets her go, her hands falling to her sides when he turns his back on her and goes to look out the window.

"Killian-"

"You are a nurse, Swan, but you shouldn't have to treat me like I'm your patient, and that's exactly what you've been doing", he says and she glances at her watch, deciding to stay here until he agrees to come with her.

"I'm just trying to help you", she says firmly but he doesn't respond or turn around. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You keep walking on eggshells", he tells her and he makes it sound like the worst offense a lover could ever commit.

"Fine. How about this; you need to stop feeling sorry for yourself and focus on the good", she says and his eyes flash when he looks at her over his shoulder.

"I am doing my best; I dig through the rubble every day and I pretend not to see the way they all look at me, I make love to you and I thank God every day that I haven't lost you, that I get to hold you every night, that I get to wake up next to you and now you tell me that I've been keeping you up because I'm not better at all?"

Emma stands in front of him with shaking hands and a lump in her throat, desperately trying to think of a way to fix this and finding that she's unable to find the words.

"Wouldn't you have done the same?" She finally asks and comes closer, resisting the urge to reach for him even though she'd give everything to feel the rush of his skin beneath her fingertips. "Would you care for a few minutes of interrupted sleep if it would help me?"

Her words give him pause, but he still looks so disappointed when he finally meets her gaze.

"I'd stay up all night for you, lass, but I wouldn't keep such a thing away from you in the morning", he tells her and she realizes that there's nothing she can say that would make it okay.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"I know. You should go. Your shift is starting soon."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'll try not to fall asleep", he tells her and she reaches up to cup his cheek in her hand, holding on until he looks at her.

"Come by the hospital. There's quite a few soldiers who suffer from insomnia, and Whale thinks it might help if you talked to them", she says and he frowns, looking utterly confused.

"I thought we've just established that I'm a bloody mess; how am I supposed to help anybody?"

"You've been where they are now", she tells him and holds her breath while he decides what he's going to do.

"I'm sorry, lass", he says, then adds in a more sarcastic tone, "while your offer is tempting, I think I'd rather just get drunk."

"Killian-"

"Go to work", he cuts her off and softens the bruise caused by his sharp tone with a brief press of his lips upon her forehead.

"I'm sorry", Emma apologizes again, her fingers brushing against his before she walks away and out of his room, softly closing the door behind her.

She knows the way from his motel to the hospital by heart, so she gets to work on time despite the fact that her eyes are blurry with tears.

Emma is in the nurse's station going over some files when Killian just appears in front of her and almost makes her jump out of her skin.

It's a pleasant surprise but her heart is hammering against her chest, and she's reminded of the night he had returned, coming like a ghost and turning her entire world upside down.

"Sorry for startling you", he says and hesitates in the doorway, but she jumps to her feet and pulls him in, giving him a kiss before she tells him that she's glad he came. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm getting sick of rum."

He doesn't say that he didn't want to fall asleep, but she can see it in his haunted eyes, in the downward tilt of the corners of his mouth.

"You don't have to talk to them if you don't want to; you can stay in here with me", Emma says and he lifts his eyebrow, eyeing the small couch and shaking his head before he reaches for her hand.

"You're too tempting for me to stay here, my love", he tells her and she smiles, relieved that he had forgiven her so easily.

But then again, that's the way he loves her, that's the way he had always loved her, without restraint and no matter what happens.

"Follow me", she says and leads him down the hallway to a room occupied by three soldiers that won't leave the hospital for at least a year longer; they keep them together because the doctors think it would set back their recovery if they were with all the other victims of December 7th that are slowly leaving the hospital and going home.

To Emma's surprise, Killian doesn't hover in the doorway like most visitors do, going straight in and introducing himself, seemingly nonplussed by Corporal Williams' charred skin and all the screws in Commander Hawking's legs.

"If I could, I would stand up and salute you, sir", Private Kent says and Killian looks mildly annoyed and a whole lot embarrassed.

"There's really no need, mate", Killian tells him and pulls a chair from the corner of the room, sits down and engages them all in conversation.

Emma leaves them to it, and when she returns a few hours later she finds them all asleep except Killian.

"You can sleep on the couch and I'll watch over you", she whispers and comes to stand behind him, her hand resting on his shoulder.

"I'd rather watch over them", he says and takes her hand, bringing it to his mouth so he can kiss the back of it before he tugs her around and pulls her down on his lap. "Can you stay here?"

"Of course", she says and leans her shoulder against his chest, letting him hold her as they keep a silent watch over his brothers in arms.

Emma and Killian spend most of Sunday in bed, arms tightly wrapped around one another, legs entwined, and all it takes for Killian to stop mumbling in his sleep is a few kisses and a whispered "I love you"; Emma isn't sure is it because he's exhausted or because talking to her patients helped, but she's more than glad to snuggle closer to him and go back to dreamland.

"We should eat something", she says around 3 p.m. and kicks away the sheet, trying to sit up, but Killian's arm wraps around her waist and pulls her back against him.

"In a minute", he says, his accent sending a shiver down her spine, and Emma sighs contentedly, walking her fingers up and down his scarred arm; it took him a while to let her touch him like this, freely and in broad daylight, but now he doesn't even bat an eyelash when she does it.

"We should go to the beach afterwards", she says and he freezes for a moment, then goes back to nuzzling her neck.

"I think we can have more fun here", he tells her and she wiggles when he ghosts his hand down her side.

"I want to go swimming with you", she says petulantly and turns in his arms so she can look at him, but he avoids her gaze.

"I'm not sure it's a good idea, lass", he tells her and tries to smooth a frown on her forehead with his lips. "I'm not so inclined to go around frightening people, pets or small children."

"There's a secret beach", she tells him, her leg sliding deeper between his, her lips quirking into a smile when he groans. "We'd be alone."

"A secret beach on O'ahu?"

"I needed a silent place when I was writing you letters", she tells him and manages to smile around the lump in her throat.

"Lass…", he breathes, his arm wrapping around her a little bit tighter, his lips pressing against her cheek and making it easier for her to tell him what she needs him to know.

"It's silly, but I sat in the sand writing them and hoping that they would warm you somehow", she tells him, ducking her head because she's pretty sure her cheeks are burning scarlet.

"They did warm me, Emma. Your words were like a song, and I could feel how much you love me even from half the world away", he says and tilts her head back with his thumb underneath her chin. "You kept me sane, and you gave me strength to fight."

"Does that mean you're gonna go with me?" She asks him coyly and he laughs, a sound so happy and unburdened that it makes her emotional; she tries not to let it show, but he can still tell.

He can always tell.

"As you wish", he says softly, his knuckles caressing her cheek, his eyes holding her captive before he leans in to kiss her.

They don't make it to the beach for a while longer.

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