I do not own Once Upon a Time or its characters.

I love you.

He couldn't get her voice out of his head. He kept hearing her say it over and over…I love you. I love you. I love you.

I love you too. Why hadn't he said that? Instead, he had just stood there gaping at her like a fool while the woman he loved vanished right before his eyes.

I love you.

How long had he been waiting to hear those words? And then she had the nerve to bloody sacrifice herself for Regina. It wasn't fair, they had come so far to be together, they were finally happy, and now this.

Killian pushed open the library doors, Belle would still be at Gold's shop tending to her husband, but he didn't need her here. He just couldn't go back to his ship yet or stay there on the street with everyone, the spot where Emma stood mocking him. He had to do something.

When Liam died, he had thrown himself into revenge, into becoming a pirate to get back at the King who had sent them to Neverland in the first place.

When Milah died, he had thrown himself into revenge again, only that time against the Dark One and returned to Neverland to bide his time till he could kill the crocodile.

Emma wasn't dead. Her name on the dagger inside his jacket proved that. No matter how badly it hurt that she was gone it wasn't the end, he wasn't about to start mourning her when she was still out there and he could save her. He just had to figure out how.

A glance around the library revealed that the chart they had used when attempting to release the faeries was still pushed against the back wall of the library, where Belle had moved it after they succeeded. It seemed like so long since he had spent hours in a day staring at that board, wallowing in his own self-guilt over his actions. They would most likely be starting a new one for Emma.

Instead of getting the board ready for the others' undoubted arrival, Killian headed into the stacks of books to begin pulling out all the volumes he could remember that they might use. It wasn't hard since most of them came from nearby sections, a book on mythology here, and a few volumes on ancient artifacts there; quickly a new pile was forming on the desk. The rhythm of grabbing the books, stacking them in his bad arm, and bringing them over to be deposited on the desk kept him occupied for a little while.

It was on his third trip into the stacks of books that his eye was caught on a volume he hadn't noticed before.

Gold lettering along the spine of the book read: Peter Pan.

Killian found himself chuckling grimly under his breath; Peter Pan was the boy partly responsible for his brother's death. The boy was an imp, malicious, a trickster and yet here in this world, he was a hero, the boy who wouldn't grow up. Emma had mentioned the story to him before and the moving picture version, both including a very different version of himself and of Peter.

The book made him think of his last time in Neverland, Emma had been with him then, that was where he had vowed to win her heart—and where they had shared their first kiss. He might've told her he loved her then, if he had ever thought she would share the feeling.

I love you.

His hand found the dagger within his jacket and he pulled out to look at it, his eyes roaming over the letters inscribing her name. Killian glanced back up at the volume on its shelf, Peter Pan, and suddenly he was standing just before it, his hand reaching out to pull the book out of its space.

What am I doing? He thought to himself, as he opened the front cover with his hook. The book was a larger volume, clearly made to look striking in someone's study, on a shelf. The dagger, which he had set on the shelf in the book's place, would be just long enough…he used his hook to make a rip in the pages, it was rough and ugly and it would take some time but he had plenty of that at least.

Belle might kill him when she found out—oh well, the lass will just have to get over it—with a large enough hole he might be able to—there! Laying the book flat on the shelf he used his good hand to shove the dagger into the space he had made. The cover wouldn't lay flat when he tried to close it again but once he lodged the book back between the others on the shelves no one would be the wiser.

When he was done, he gave a final glance over the section thinking that at least now no one would suspect where he was keeping the dagger, it would be safe, and it was still close enough that for him to keep his eyes on the one thing that was left of her, for as long as it took him to search for Emma.

Emma let out a breath as she watched Killian leave the library. Now was her chance.

She closed her eyes, envisioning the library, and felt the—now familiar—sensation of her magic moving through her. When she opened them, she was inside standing next to the front desk.

A quick glance around the room assured her that she was alone. Although she could see all the telltale sights of an investigation, the flow chart mapping out everything they knew, piles of books both opened and closed across the desks, several old coffee cups sitting variously around the books, and a few jumbled post-it notes crumpled and variously littering the floor. It was the system she herself had been a part of, before she had come to her senses.

Emma ran her hand along the covers of the books laid out before her now.

"I think I know where your dagger is."

"What?"

"I don't know why I didn't think of it before—he spends all his time in the library, I thought it was just for the research but today I thought I saw something, I think he's hidden it there."

Lily wasn't sure exactly where it was, but after spending days cooped up in that tiny room Emma was glad to get out and do some of her own investigating. It was a good theory too, who would suspect the pirate to hide something so valuable in the public library?

She had searched his ship already, to no avail, and even the surrounding boats, the dock was his safe space. Emma had even been contemplating going on her own little treasure hunt along the beach, desperate as she was the whole "pirate hides his buried treasure on the beach" theory was something she was at least willing to investigate.

However, as she walked around the deserted library Emma felt that her dagger could not be far. It was as if she could almost sense it, the way she had when she first returned to Storybrooke. They were connected, her and the dagger, and when she closed her eyes and relied solely on the instincts of her magic, it wasn't impossible to think she could key into that connection.

When she opened her eyes again they landed on a stack of shelves not far from where she was standing, as her eyes swept over the line of novels she noticed one in particular book packed too tightly near the middle so that its spine jut out slightly.

Her eyes narrowed in on it, for years before she had even known about the existence of magic Emma had been a skilled bounty hunter with keen investigative skills, she could tell there was something distinctly off about the novel when compared to the rest. Further inspection revealed the title to be none other than Peter Pan and Emma smiled as she pulled it from its shelf. Of course, he would pick this particular novel. Neverland was the place he had hidden for decades—years and years that Emma realized he still hadn't completely shared with her, now he hid her dagger with Peter and Neverland.

She pulled open the cover and there, smashed between the pages of the story of the boy who would never grow up, was her dagger. The name Emma Swan inscribed along the blade.

It was strange to finally hold it in her hand again after so long, the last time being when she became the Dark One. It seemed lighter now than it had when she had flung it into the mass of darkness but then it also made her feel stronger, freer, knowing that from now on there could be no one to control her. Emma finally—finally!—had the dagger back in her hands and now she could go to Henry and rid herself of this place, forever.

It was an odd weight at the end of Henry's bed that alerted him to the presence of someone else in his room. He turned his head from his pillow and looking up at the shadowy figure, mumbled in a sleepy voice, "Mom?"

"Henry." Emma whispered, moving up closer to him to run her hand along his hairline, her touch was as gentle as he remembered even as he was realizing she seemed tense and alert.

"Mom! What are you doing here—" He began, becoming more aware and sitting up in bed. It was almost a relief to finally see his biological mother again, a part of him had been worrying that the reason she hadn't come to see him yet was because she was so far gone she no longer cared about him, an even smaller part of him, the part still left from growing up adopted, felt abandoned again.

"I had to make sure everything was ready." Emma moved away from him and peaked out the door, no doubt looking for Henry's other mother. Remembering that this Emma wasn't the Emma who was his mother is what kept him from being fully relieved to see her and throwing himself into her arms.

"Everything? Mom, what are you talking about?" He knew he should call for Regina; his adopted mother would come running from her room down the hall. However, he still didn't know just yet, what Emma wanted or why she had appeared in his room in the middle of the night and keeping her here at least meant someone knew where she was for the first time since she had reappeared in Storybrooke.

"We're getting out of here, Henry. These people, this place, it's not safe for you. Our only chance at happiness is if we get out now." Emma said coming away from the door and pulling up his backpack from where it was set on the end of the bed.

"Getting out of here? You're not making sense." He saw a flash of something on her skin, just along the wrist of her sweater. "Mom—what's that on your wrist?"

Emma didn't even glance down at the wrist of her sweater; she only pulled the sleeves down murmuring "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Henry didn't believe her but he thought maybe he could reason with her, "It's not nothing, Mom, let me take you to grandma and grandpa's, they can help you—"

"Here," She threw the backpack at him, ignoring his words, "grab everything you think you'll need."

He pushed the backpack aside. "This is the curse talking, Mom, not you. You could never leave everyone who cares about you behind and if you were in your right mind right now you'd see that."

Emma, who was pulling clothing out of his closet and dresser drawers, stopped when she heard him, "Henry, I know what I'm doing. I'm perfectly in control, in fact I'm better than that, I'm thinking more clearly now than I ever have in my entire life." She began packing the clothing into his backpack as she continued, "They don't care about us Henry, they only want us here so that we can save them from themselves, they're liars and they're selfish. You and me, Henry, we're not like them, you remember how great our year in New York was? We can have that again, she can give us that, we just need to go."

Emma was practically shaking as she spoke. Henry wondered what she meant by she can give us that, whom was she talking about? Who was working with her?

"I can't go with you—I won't."

Emma narrowed her eyes at him; clearly, he was trying her patience, now would have been the moment to call for Regina but Henry was worried he had waited too long and that Emma might snap if he did anything now. Henry had thought about what it would be like to see his mother now that she was the Dark One, he pictured her with cold, uncaring eyes, he pictured her throwing fireballs, he had even imagined Emma at her worst, taking hearts, but the reality of what he was seeing was completely unexpected. It was as if the darkness had heightened all of her insecurities, twisted them until they consumed her.

"Do you know what I found earlier, Henry?" Emma finally said, her demeanor softening slightly. When he shook his head, she pulled something up from where it was tucked on her belt loop; he was surprised he hadn't noticed it before. It was the Dark One's dagger. Henry was beginning to feel nervous. "They were keeping this from me, do you know why? To keep me under control."

"That's not the reason—"

"Regina, my parents, Hook, they can't control me anymore. We can get out of here and we're going now."

Henry was about to protest again but before the words could leave his mouth Emma's hand clamped down on his forearm and he felt magic rush around them as his room faded from his view.

They appeared on the main street running down Storybrooke; Henry recognized it as the same place he'd been told Emma had disappeared the first time. Now, she pulled him with her as she strode down the road, he still wasn't sure where they were going, but Emma looked more confident and determined than ever.

They were coming upon the end of the block when Henry thought he heard the sound of someone approaching them.

"Emma, what are you doing?" Henry turned, pulling against Emma's grip on his arm, to see Killian standing on the side walk.

"Killian!" He called. The pirate nodded to Henry but his eyes didn't leave Emma. Henry knew Killian had seen Emma since she had returned, twice, and that neither time had ended pleasantly.

"Get out of here, Hook, before I make you." Emma raised her other arm, the one holding the dagger and Henry saw Killian's eyes widen just slightly.

"Where did you get that?" He was maintaining a jovial tone although Henry knew Emma must've thrown him for a loop. Killian had told Henry just after Emma disappeared that he had safely hidden the dagger within the library, seeing Emma with it now meant that she had figured out its hiding place and that they had no easy way of stopping her from whatever it was she was planning.

"It wasn't hard, not after Lily told me how much time you've been spending at the library." She still had her arm raised, she was still on the offense against him, but Henry could see Killian was making small calculated steps closer to them.

"Lily?" Killian asked, "I should've known."

Henry was surprised as well, he knew it was odd that Lily had wanted to join them but she had seemed genuine enough and with her history with Emma, no one would have suspected them to actually work together.

"Fine. You've got your dagger, now let the lad go."

"What, do you think I'm going to hurt him? Henry's my son." Henry realized that Emma was backing up with him. Wherever they were going, it must be close to where they were now.

"Aye, but I'm not so sure you quite know what you're doing, love."

"I'm getting us out of here."

"And going where?"

Emma stopped moving then; she took a glance around herself, although Henry wasn't sure what she was looking for, before she spoke, "I think we've talked long enough. Goodbye, Killian."

He was still too far away; Henry thought Killian would never be able to reach them in time for whatever Emma planned. However, she surprised them both when instead of simply disappearing in a puff of smoke, Henry in tow, the very air around them seemed to ignite with magic, the wind began to rush, and just as Emma moved to raise the dagger, Henry saw Killian lunge for them. He felt Emma's grip slip from his arm as Killian's weight was thrown between them. He heard her cry out for him once before in a blink, they were both gone.

Henry stood alone on the empty street. Killian and Emma had vanished into thin air.

The flashback at the beginning of this chapter is meant to be back at the start of this story, just after Emma disappears at the end of season 4 and after Killian leaves the group to go to the library. It's meant to show a little bit of his mindset when he hid the dagger and why he chose where he did.

That being said, I didn't initially plan for the dagger to be where it ended up, when I was writing the last chapter it just sort of happened and I actually liked it better so I hope you all do too!

Anyway, thank you for reading!