Thank you so much for all the reviews for the last chapter, I hope this one doesn't disappoint, because it's what we've all been waiting for from the start. You might need tissues though, because Emma's fight is not over.

Emma arrives earlier than usual to clean up the mess that she had left last night, tired because she went to sleep around 3 a.m. after finally meeting her father. And yet, she's humming with the radio and smiling to herself because she can't stop thinking about how good it had felt to sit in Killian's lap and let him turn them in gentle circles. She can recall every detail and she can't help wondering if he does too, if he regretted not kissing her until it was too late like she does.

"Aren't you peppy today", Leroy says, walking into the kitchen and pouring himself a cup of coffee, grumpy as usual. "Is the master up yet?"

"I don't know, I haven't checked", Emma says, setting down the garbage bag.

"He was in a pretty good mood last night; I'd have thought that so many people around him would annoy him, but it seems he actually enjoyed himself."

"I'm glad", Emma says, smiling into her own cup because she's pretty sure their dance had more influence on his good mood than all his friends combined.

"Unless something else happened before I showed up…" Leroy says, looking up at her with narrowed eyes.

Emma just smirks, knowing that it's going to drive him crazy because he's more of a gossip girl than anybody she knows.

"Fine, I'll just ask him", Leroy says and storms out of the kitchen, leaving Emma wondering if he's going to find out anything at all because if she'd learned one thing about Killian by now, it's that he's always a gentleman.

Killian is so silent the whole morning that Emma begins to think he's sick again. He tells her that he's fine, that she shouldn't worry about him and she leaves him be, staring out at the bay and contemplating whatever it is he's contemplating.

Leroy comes after lunch and she washes the dishes, feeling so different than she did when she came in this morning, wondering if last night even happened of if she just imagined it. She finally faces the possibility that maybe it hadn't meant to Killian what it meant to her and now he's just trying to figure out how to let her down gently.

"His highness wants to see you", Leroy tells her, and she almost drops the plate she's washing because there's a grin a mile wide stretching his lips.

"What are you so happy about?"

Leroy lifts his eyebrows and leaves, and she wishes she had told him everything before, because if she did, maybe he would have told her what to expect now. Still, it can't be something bad when the grumpiest person on Earth is actually laughing all the way to the front door.

Right?

Emma dries her hands and comes into the living room, hesitantly walking to Killian, the weight in her stomach getting heavier with every step she takes.

"Sit down, lass", he says, and Emma looks around in confusion because he's parked in the middle of the room and it doesn't look like he intends to move anywhere anytime soon.

"You mean-", she trails off, coming closer and practically falling in his lap in her haste to get there. She accidentally elbows him in the ribs hard enough to leave a bruise but he just chuckles, tilting his head and trying to get her to look at him.

"I'm sorry about today", he tells her when she finally meets his gaze, and Emma shakes her head, hope making her a little breathless.

"It's okay."

"No, it's really not", he says, and there's something in his voice that gives her pause, but she looks at him steadily and waits to hear what he's going to tell her. "Do you still believe that it's better to be with someone you're in love with for a short time than not being with them at all?"

The words fall from his lips like rocks and each of them feels like a blow straight to her heart.

Emma can see in his eyes that he knows that she knows, feeling stupid for thinking that he wouldn't catch on considering how good he is at reading her.

And because she's good at reading him too, there's no doubt in her mind as to what he's offering her; everything he's got, but only for a month.

He wants to be with her, but he needs her to understand that he's not changing his mind about ending his life and she can't decide if what he's doing is selfish or selfless.

"If either of us had just one more night to live, I'd want us to spend it together", she tells him because he's still here, he's solid and warm and he smells so good, and no matter how hard she tries to imagine being without him, she can't. Sometime along the way he had restored her belief in happy endings, and she still hopes that when the final day comes he's going to decide to stay with her.

"Emma", he whispers her name brokenly because he'd just handed her a fistful of broken glass and she took it without hesitation.

"I'm your Swan, remember?" she says, wiping off a few tears and giving him a brave smile, knowing that if she loses him she's going to be lost, and she'll only find comfort in her memories of them together.

Killian kisses her and Emma wraps her arms around his shoulders, wishing she could keep kissing him forever and never come down from this high to face the real world.

"Well then, Swan? Do you want to spend the night and experience my unparallel love-making skills first hand?" He asks her when they finally separate and Emma feels a shiver of anticipation running down her spine because even though he's mocking himself, the fact that he's willing to try is proof enough that she's special to him and he's just looking for a way to hurt her less.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Emma had been postponing calling Ruby all afternoon but the time has run out; Leroy already came and went and Killian is probably wondering if she had changed her mind and decided to leave him hanging.

"What do you mean you're spending the night? Is Killian sick again?" Ruby asks, worry creeping into her voice because Killian had managed to charm her last night despite her best efforts to resist him.

"He's not sick", Emma says, warmth flooding her cheeks when she thinks about what's going to happen soon.

"You mean spending the night?"

"Yeah", Emma says, biting her lip. "Can Henry stay with you? I'd ask Mary Margaret but she has to take care of David now that he's awake and-"

"He can stay. But can Killian… you know?" Ruby asks, and Emma feels fiercely protective even though she's having the same doubts.

"Of course he can. Probably. Maybe. He wouldn't ask me to stay if he couldn't, right?"

"Probably not. But you've been in heat for months now, so I'm pretty sure that whatever you guys do is going to get you off."

"Come on!" Emma exclaims even though she knows her friend is right. She just wants to be close to Killian in any way she can and she'd bet her life that making love with him is going to be something she's always going to cherish.

"Wait… Does this mean he changed his mind? Emma?"

Emma looks up and takes a deep breath to calm herself because she promised herself she's not going to think about that.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow when I get home", Emma says and hangs up, leaving the cell phone in the kitchen and walking through the silent house toward Killian's room.

Killian is leaning against a couple of pillows, his too blue to be true eyes following her every move as she crosses his room and gets into bed with him. He gives her a crooked smile and she forgets her uncertainty and nervousness because they are finally coming together and soon everything will be exposed, both of their walls turned into ruins.

She reaches for his hand and studies his graceful fingers, butterflies fluttering in her stomach when they grip hers with quiet strength; it's like he wants to tell her that it's okay but can't find the words, and Emma still hears them in the silence, leaning down to kiss each knuckle before finally pressing her lips against his.

This kiss is different from the previous ones they shared, unrestrained and incredibly hot, and Emma tangles her fingers in his soft hair as the world spins on without them.

Maybe it's because she'd never felt like this about anyone before or because Killian's mobility is so limited, but his kisses aren't like anything she'd ever experienced before; she sees star constellations bursting with rainbow colors behind her closed lids, her skin tingling and humming with need to touch his.

"Is it just me or is it hot in here?" She asks him, pulling away to catch her breath and biting her lip because he looks at her like he could eat her whole.

"It's definitely hot", he says in a low voice, and Emma smiles because his cheeks are flushed so prettily.

"What do you think we should do about it?"

"You can always take something off", he tells her and raises his eyebrows suggestively; Emma lets go of his hand, sitting up next to him and pulling her shirt off, her eyes never leaving his as she unhooks her bra and drops it on the floor.

Killian licks his lips and Emma takes his hand and presses it against her breast, closing her eyes and arching into it as his fingers tease her mercilessly; she doesn't know how he can make her burn like this with the simplest of touches and decides that it must be pure magic of true love.

"Your turn to get naked", she announces when she can't take this beautiful torture anymore, wrestling with his shirt a little until she finally gets it off so she can kiss his collarbone, his shoulders and every scar on his chest, wishing she could make them all disappear along with the pain they had caused him.

"Can you feel this?" She murmurs, glancing up at him as she sucks his nipple, and his soft gasp is answer enough, so she keeps experimenting, her hand sneaking past the waist of his sweatpants to find that what she's doing is definitely working.

Emma finishes undressing them both and then lies on her side next to him, guiding his hand to her waist and holding it there before she kisses him again, feeling his gentle caress right down to her core. Her fingers trail over the perfection of his jaw line and she smiles when he bites her lip playfully, sneaking her hand lower again and feeling him grow harder in her hand.

"Let me touch you", he says and looks at her with eyes so bright with wonder, like he can't quite believe that making love can be this easy despite being complicated.

Emma shifts and then his hand is between her thighs, clever fingers making her feel like she's about to combust and lose herself so completely that she's never going to be able to return to who she used to be. She rests her forehead against his and closes her eyes, wishing she could freeze this moment and keep it perfectly preserved forever.

"Please", she murmurs and straddles his hips because she can't wait any longer; she's too hot and she needs him too much.

"Whatever you need, love", he breathes and she guides him inside, riding him slow at first, then faster and faster, bracing her free hand against his chest and bringing his hand to her waist to steady her, their fingers firmly entwined.

She doesn't have to tell him that she loves him; he already knows because he sees it in her eyes just like she sees it in his.

The setting sun is painting Killian's room orange, dust swirling in the air around them, but Emma can only see Killian; he's looking at her like she's some kind of goddess, and she wishes she could find the words to tell him that he's the only one who can make her shine like this. Their breathing gradually synchronizes as they come closer to the climax and when they finally take flight together, all the hurt and heartbreak that came before are erased and love gives them back their freedom.

Review?