Hook wasn't sure why, but the moment Emma's grip on his hand tightened, he screwed his own eyes shut. He hoped that his own belief in her was enough to help with the monumental task she was trying to achieve. Because, quite honestly, he was running out of ideas that would allow the two of them to both survive the following day.
It didn't take long for that familiar tingle of warmth to stir the air around him. Hook waited as it gathered in intensity, seeming to wrap itself around him as Emma practically vibrated with her efforts to move the cage that had been magically erected around the two of them. When that distinct feeling of warmth and comfort began to recede, he opened his eyes, to find that Emma's were still shut tight. He pulled back a little, to survey their surroundings, and almost tripped over his own feet at what he saw.
"Swan. Open your eyes," he commanded, his tone colored by his disbelief.
"Did it work?" she whispered back.
"Open your eyes and see for yourself," he encouraged gently. He pulled his hook free from her grasp, but kept her hand held tightly in his own, as he stepped aside, to allow Emma to see just what she had managed to achieve.
"Holy crap," she mumbled, as her eyes flew around the clearing, taking in the free space she and Hook were now stood in. The cage that had held them both only moments before, now contained Cora's heartless minions.
Emma hadn't just managed to move it. She'd used it to trap their captors.
"Holy crap," she chuckled again, still not quite believing what she was seeing. "I did that."
"Yes, you did," Hook agreed. His eyes shone with his pride for her. He longed to pull Emma into his arms, to celebrate her achievement properly. But he knew that now they were both free, they wouldn't have long until Cora realized what was going on.
Emma's eyes met his own, and her excitement died down a little as she understood everything that he wasn't saying.
Half the battle had been won.
The other half would be even more difficult to survive.
"Okay um… I guess the best way to test the spell is to try and get out of here?"
"No. Absolutely not," Hook disagreed. "We have no idea what kind of spell she cast over this clearing. For all we know, the second someone touches it, they'll transform into a tree."
"Cora doesn't strike me as the topiary type," Emma sighed. They both knew the more likely option was that the moment one of them touched the barrier, they would die. Or, if they were really unlucky, end up cursed. "What do we do? We can't just sit here and wait."
"No. You're right, we do need to test it," he mumbled, already busy looking around the clearing for something to do that with.
"How do you suggest we do that? March one of the minions over the line and see what happens?" Hook's eyes snapped up to meet Emma's and she groaned a little at the look he wore. "I wasn't being serious," she protested.
"But it's the best plan we have," he countered. "Even if we threw an inanimate object at it, we can't guarantee that the effect the spell has on a rock will be the same as that of a human."
"So… how do we guarantee the effect it has on a heartless minion will be the same as it would on us?"
Hook's excitement died at Emma's words. She had a good point. He'd been thinking about all the ways in which a rock and human were different, but he hadn't stopped to consider that Cora might have spelled the clearing against those with a working heart.
"We could use the bean now?" Emma suggested quietly. It wasn't an ideal location, but maybe they would be lucky enough to slip through the portal before Cora could get to them.
"No. She'll know." Hook was absolutely certain of that. Just as he was certain the moment the barrier spell was triggered, Cora would also know. The witch couldn't be far away, and they were rapidly running out of time to act. "The portal will be too wide for this clearing anyway," he mused. "I don't know how it will work inside the barrier spell she's cast. We can't risk wasting it without knowing what will happen when that line is crossed."
There was a moment of strained silence between the two of them, before Hook finally voiced the only option he could think of. "I need to go through it," he stated. It was the only way to make sure it would be safe for Emma to pass through. He was the only person who could do that. If it wasn't, once the spell was triggered, he knew Cora would make her appearance known. And he prayed that Emma would be able to take that chance and run.
"No," she protested, shaking her head forcefully. "No way. We've made it this far, Killian. There's no way I'm losing you now."
"It's the only way to be sure."
Emma took a step closer to him, tugging on the hand she still had a grip on to encourage Hook to close the distance between the two of them. "I can't lose you now. Not when we're this close."
Hook freed his hand from hers, to bring it up to stroke softly over the left side of her face. He could see the tears she was fighting so hard to stop from falling. And he knew that whatever happened, he definitely wasn't worthy of those.
"I told you that we made a hell of a team, Swan," he chuckled, as he looked down at her beautiful face. He wanted to commit every inch of Emma Swan to his mind, just in case crossing that line would mean the end of his life.
Because Hook was pretty sure it would.
If he were to die that day, Killian Jones wanted to die remembering the incredibly strong woman he'd been privileged enough to know.
"You need to get back to your lad, Swan. And if me crossing that line is the only way to make damned sure you will, then I'll gladly do that." She was already shaking her head in protest, but Hook wouldn't let her speak. He wasn't done, just yet. "I've lived a long life, Emma. Far too long. I thought my purpose in this world was to exact revenge on the man who took the woman I loved from me. But now…. Now I know the truth. My purpose here is to get you back to your son. Let me do this for you, Emma. Let me be a hero for once."
The tears she'd tried so hard to withhold were flowing freely as Hook finished speaking. Emma couldn't believe that she'd finally decided to open her heart once more, to the pirate she'd come to know better than she suspected anyone else ever would, and now she was having to say goodbye to him. "I don't want you to do this," she told him, bringing her own hands up to cup his face.
"I know." Hook smiled softly at her, as he pulled her in a little closer, until their chests were brushing against each other's. "But you need to let me do this for you, Emma. You have to let me go."
Emma closed the remaining distance between the two of them to bury herself in his chest. She allowed herself a moment as she sobbed for everything and everyone she had already lost in her life, and everything she was about to lose once more. Hook held her tightly, hiding his face in her hair, to disguise his own tears.
Saying goodbye to Emma Swan was the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life.
When her shoulders had finally finished shaking with her sobs, he took a step back, and slid his fingers under her chin, to tilt her head up to meet his. He knew that if he didn't make his move soon, he never would. And he would not condemn Emma to the life he knew Cora and Blackbeard had planned for her. "Whatever happens, the moment that barrier comes down, you run like hell. Do you understand me?"
Emma nodded her head resolutely as she reached up to dash away the tears that were beginning to form once more.
"Goodbye, Emma Swan," he whispered. "It was a true honor to have known you."
"Goodbye, Killian Jones," she whispered back, leaning up to press her lips to his, one last time.
The rush of energy that swept over the two of them at the brief contact was unlike anything Killian had ever felt.
And just like the kind that Emma had experience for the very first time, only a few short weeks before.
Thanks for reading.