Well, folks, my blizzard fizzled - and while I'm thrilled that I'm not shoveling a foot of snow out of my driveway, that means I have to go to work. On top of that, the cover art for my book finally came in, so that means I'm good to publish just as soon as I finish formatting - hopefully before the weekend. All that means you're not getting a ton of updates like I teased you with. Sorry. :(

I'll do my best to push out another update by tomorrow, but it might not be as quick, with the book stuff coming down. Bear with me - you know I won't leave you hanging long! As always, thanks so very much for reading and reviewing!

They docked the ship and made their way to Granny's by mid-morning, and still there was no sign of Kai. It was all Meriel could do to shuffle her feet along, away from the dock, even though she knew it was far from the safest place she could be. She tried to reason with herself that Kai had always found her before, no matter where she was, but it wasn't helping much.

None of them had gotten much rest the night before, so they all agreed to sleep the remainder of the day, plan in the late afternoon, and try to hit the castle by nightfall. Granny did her part, loading them all up with a warm breakfast and sending them up to their rooms. Meriel had forced herself to eat something, knowing she needed to be on her toes when they made it to the castle. Finally, she went to her room, crawled between the sheets and let exhaustion claim her.

Emma finished unloading her satchel and splashed some water on her face. She went back into the hallway and stopped briefly outside Meriel's door, tapping lightly and calling her name.

"Is she awake?" Hook asked, coming up behind her and slumping against the wall.

"I don't think so." She answered. "She needs to rest. She's been through a lot."

"How bad was it for her?"

"She managed to hold him off," Emma related. "Between her talisman and her magic - which, by the way is much stronger than anything I can do - he wasn't able to hurt her."

Hook's eyebrows went up. "Impressive. Triton is incredibly powerful - you have no idea. I didn't want to bury the poor girl in misery, but if Kai had to face off with Triton, he wouldn't come out the winner. For her to be able to thwart him - well, that's quite a feat." He rolled his head on his shoulders, then gave a yawn.

"You look dead on your feet."

"Granny's excellent eggs and sausages aren't helping," Hook conceded. "I swear, they're pulling me down into the ground."

"That's exhaustion," Emma noted. "Come on, let's get you in bed."

"I'll be happy to let you press your advantage, love. Lead the way."

She lead him back into their room, then pulled the covers back on the bed. "Off with the boots."

He sat on the edge of the mattress, pulling them off. "I like it when you get commanding." He gave her a wink. "You're welcome to give the orders in bed anytime you'd like, love."

Emma gave him a push to the middle of his chest and he fell back on the bed. As his head sank into the pillow, it was all he could do to keep his eyes open.

"I'm a bit sleepier than I thought," He admitted, with a large yawn. "Just give me a few minutes, love, and then...we can..." He wasn't able to finish before sleep took him.

Emma sat on the side of the bed, just looking at him. She reached up and very gently pushed his hair back off his face, combing through it and feeling the silky strands slide between her fingers. She leaned in carefully, as if unable to help herself, and gave him a soft, tentative kiss on his forehead, then she got up and made her way into the water closet for a bath.

As the door closed behind her, Hook's eyes opened drowsily, the merest fraction of an inch.

And then he smiled.

###

Hook woke sometime later to find Emma seated on the bed next to him, eating. He rolled onto his back, passing his hand over his face in effort to wake up.

"What time is it?" He asked, groggily.

"We've got about an hour till dark," She said. "Meriel's asleep and you still look pretty rough."

He stretched, giving the back of his head a scratch. "I'll have you know, I never look anything less than impeccable," He protested. He blinked a few times, and then looked her over. "Did you get any rest? You look tired, as well."

"I was out trying to get some information. Cora's in residence at the castle, so we're definitely going to have to come up with some plan to draw her away." She got up and headed over to the small table in the corner. "Granny sent up some meat pies and cookies. Are you hungry?"

"I could eat," He acknowledged, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "Did you learn anything else of value? Like how we're going to get to the tower Meriel says they're in?"

Emma shook her head, handing him some food and rejoining him on the bed. "I can get us into the castle, but I've never been up to that tower. I don't know the layout or anything about the room she'd have them in - which I assume is probably locked and guarded."

Hook chewed his meat pie thoughtfully before washing it down with a swig of rum from his flask. "I happen to know that tower, but the last time I was there, I had the keys. The head of the Queen's guard keeps them on his belt - not an easy place to pilfer from. In addition to that, there were two guards posted, and the stairway is unobstructed - they'll be able to see us coming."

"Did you see them then - my parents?" Emma asked, her eyes widening. "Were they in there? Or didn't you get in?"

"I got in," He replied. "But this was before Cora came to power."

"Before she sent you away," Emma said thoughtfully. "You never did tell me why."

"I made her angry. That's about all it takes with Cora." He finished off the last of his meat pie. "I was lucky she didn't just kill me. She's as like to do that as anything else when she's furious."

"What did you do?"

He took another drink of rum, weighing whether or not he wanted to bring the subject up. Finally, he realized he'd taken too long and she'd likely figure it out on her own, anyway.

"I let you get away," He admitted. "That day in the square. I was supposed to go after you and bring you to her."

"She would have killed me."

"Aye. She would have."

Emma looked down, her fingers playing with the edge of the blanket on the bed. "Thank you," She said, softly, lost in what had to be some very painful memories.

Hook took a deep breath in, letting it out as he stretched. "Yes, well - obviously, I knew then that you'd one day grow up to steal my carriage and our destinies would be sealed." He gave her a cocky grin and she let out a laugh.

"Right." She nodded. They smiled at each other a moment, before Emma remembered what they were discussing. "So - anyway, the tower. How can we create a diversion to get Cora out of the castle, and another diversion to distract the guards? You had some plan that involved that sea diamond - didn't you?"

"I did. Now I'm not so sure that putting a sea diamond in Cora's hands is the best plan."

"She can't hurt Anton if she can't find him," Emma pointed out.

"And how long will that last?" Hook mused. "And if it helps her channel her power enough to take the heart of a giant, what else can it help her do?"

Emma nodded. "Good point."

Hook raised his brows. "Hate to say it, love, but I think we need to wait for Kai. If he makes it back, we've got another set of hands - magical hands - and that could make the difference. It might be worth waiting until tomorrow at least."

"Honestly, I could use the time to get some more information, maybe round up some weapons," Emma agreed.

"I'm sure we can find some way to pass the time." He gave her a grin. "Theoretically speaking, of course."

"Of course." She smirked. She slid her feet off the side of the bed and started to get up, but Hook reached out, grabbing her wrist. "Come back here, love," He said with a smile, but her eyes weren't on his face. They'd glanced down fleetingly to where he held her wrist, and she rolled her arm over, self-consciously. It wasn't quite fast enough.

He'd seen the marks, and felt the scarring under his fingers. He'd never noticed it before - Emma had a tendency to wear long-sleeved shirts, and when he'd had her naked, well - he'd certainly been busy looking at other parts of her. He'd definitely noticed it now, and the look on Emma's face said that she'd noticed him noticing it.

Their eyes met briefly before she pulled herself free. "I have to take the dishes back down to Granny," She said, gathering them in a stack and not looking at him. "Then I'll be out for awhile." She balanced the dishes in the crook of her arm and got the door open before she stepped through, closing it behind her without a backward glance.

Hook sat very still for a long time. He'd known others across the years with scarring like that on their wrists. He wondered briefly when she had tried it. When she was a child, all alone in an empty cottage? Was it a night that the ogres came too close? Or was it a night when she was a little older and too cold, or hungry, or abused to see much more than a peaceful way out of it?

It just seemed so unlike the Emma he knew. Emma was a fighter. She must've changed her mind, or she wouldn't be here now.

She must've changed her mind.

Just like he had.