Emma shoved down her panic, the rising feeling that she'd finally, finally, run out of her family's seemingly-endless supply of hope. She shoved that fear down as far as she could, her frantic gaze locked on Killian, fear for him surpassing everything else.

Killian was still lying on the ground at her knees, eyes screwed shut, shaking hard, tears falling down his cheeks, his voice breaking from pain he could no longer handle.

His agony made Emma's eyes burn and Emma felt tears fall down her own cheeks as she hovered over him, hands afraid to touch him.

Wait—

She could use magic now.

Not easily, not much, but she could at least take away some of his pain.

"Killian," Emma choked out, her voice wobbly with tears. "Killian, I can heal something… where does it hurt the most?"

His teeth were clenched so hard, screams and cries still breaking through, she didn't even know if he heard her.

"Killian?" Emma's hands hovered over his writhing form as he curled in on himself, her eyes finding horrible injuries everywhere she looked. God, every time she looked at him she found more. If she could only heal some of his injuries right now, she wanted to start with the worst there was. And it absolutely terrified her that his entire body looked so bad she didn't even know what the worst could be.

It took Killian a moment to crack open his eyes. He snapped his jaw shut, breathing hard. He opened his mouth to reply, a cry slipping through his teeth. Something resembling a sob wracked him, making Emma's heart twist in her chest. But Killian tried again, managing to choke out, "R-Ribs," his voice cutting off into a groan.

Quickly, heart beating fast, Emma unbuttoned his shirt with shaking, fumbling fingers that were slick with Killian's blood. She carefully pulled the material away from his skin, wincing as Killian let out a sharp hiss.

Emma froze.

His entire torso was black and blue.

The bruises ranged in depth of color, some of them looking like he'd been hit over and over and over in the same places. Blood from the wound in his shoulder had streamed heavily down his chest, all the way to his jeans. Hardly any part of his skin wasn't black, blue or crimson.

Emma couldn't breathe.

Killian's gasp snapped her out of it, and Emma swallowed her panic, quickly finding the blackest of the bruises, closest to his lungs. Because god, his breathing sounded absolutely horrible. Every breath he took moved the broken bones of those ribs, and there was no telling if they'd managed to injure his lungs. Emma lightly pressed both palms to the darkest bruise, shutting her eyes, her face crumpling at the keening noise he let out the moment she touched him. Eyes burning, Emma quickly, desperately pulled her magic from deep within. She felt the warmth travel to her palms and fingers, focusing on mending the broken bones beneath the skin. Killian gasped the moment he felt her magic seep into him. Somehow, through the touch of her magic, Emma realized the bones weren't broken; they were shattered. Another hot tear slipped down her cheek.

As she healed it, she felt the pressure—the dark magic in the very air—pushing back against her, acting like a friction. Exhaustion pulled at her, but she fought to push past it. Killian was in agony; she needed to be strong. But it wasn't a clean break and there were so many fractures in the one bone alone.

Emma's eyes fluttered open as she felt the rib piece itself back together, seeing the skin at her fingertips no longer black, and now a light shade of blue.

Killian let out a breath in relief.

It made Emma smile to hear his pain eased, and she sluggishly looked for the next dark bruise, another rib that had to be pressing into his other lung, the culprit of the scraped sound of his breathing.

Emma took a breath, fighting the heavy tiredness from the exertion of her magic, feeling like her body was suddenly twice as heavy. She blinked fast to try to clear the haze, and she pressed her fingers back to his skin, shutting her eyes and concentrating her magic on the bones of the next rib even when the dark magic fought her, like she was trying to put the wrong ends of batteries together.

The moment the bones of the second rib were intact once again, Killian gasped in a breath that finally sounded like a healthy breath, and Emma sat back on her heels, feeling dizzy.

"Better?" she asked, her voice strained. Her eyes fell shut, but she forced them back open.

"Yes," gasped Killian, eyes shut, lines of pain having receded visibly from his face, looking like he was simply revelling in the fact that he could breathe. Though, he was still shaking badly, and looked and sounded like he hasn't slept in weeks. But he was no longer writhing like he had been, in the way Emma would imagine someone reacting to being set on fire, so Emma revelled in that with relief of her own.

Killian's eyes opened—only one really opening—seeing Emma struggle to keep her eyes open, fighting the urge to lay down and sleep, which easily reminded herself of being trapped in Elsa's ice cavern. Killian's good eye widened a fraction at her weakness. "Emma," he whispered, and Emma couldn't help smiling at the sound of his voice; he already sounded so much less ragged. "Love, are you… are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she said. She lifted herself over him again, breathing out to quell the exhaustion that felt like someone laid a heavy, weighted blanket over her. "I can do a little more," she told him, words slow and a little slurred.

"No," said Killian immediately, shaking his head. "Rest," he whispered.

"I will," said Emma, shaking herself, clinging onto reserve energy. "But I can do a little more first. Where do you want me to heal?" He hesitated, like he was about to argue some more, so she said, "Either you pick or I pick."

Despite himself, a smile flicked at his lips, strained though it was. And it made Emma grin too, because he was just starting to look like himself again. She missed that smile. "Stubborn," he whispered through the smile. He blinked, then said, "If you… insist, I'd like to… see you," he said. "Properly."

His eye.

Emma smiled a little. "Close your eyes." He did, and she gently pressed her fingertips to his swollen skin. He gasped a little, making her heart skip painfully. She shut her eyes, pulling her magic forth once again. It was harder this time, like trying to walk through mud. She faltered more than once reaching for the magic, but she finally had a semblance of a hold on it, like she was holding onto slippery rope. Warmth spread from her chest to her fingers once again, easing the inflamed skin over Killian's eye, slowly revealing the left side of his face, unmarring the skin until Emma saw him open his eyes.

Both of them.

He smiled at her, a brilliant smile that warmed her more than her magic did, and he whispered, "Emma." He blinked, that smile growing, like he was happy to blink once again. "Thank you… love," he whispered.

She smiled back, but the grin faltered, her eyes heavy. Everything heavy. She blinked fast, listing to the side, catching herself on the ground beside him. Feeling so, so tired. Her eyes shut for a few seconds.

"Emma!"

"I'm… okay," she said slowly, blinking away the sleepy haze. "Just tired." With effort, she pushed herself back upright, swaying a bit. Trying to shake away the haze, she dazedly looked back at Killian, saying, "I can probably do a little more—"

But his hand grabbed hers, even when it made him wince. "Emma," he said, giving her that look that always went straight through her. "Rest."

"But—"

"I'm all right," he said with a strained smile.

"No, you're not," said Emma, tears suddenly welling up again, unable to tear her eyes away from the blood, the bruises, the way he still shook in a way he couldn't control, the wounds that looked like something tried to rip him apart. "You're not," she said, sniffing, tears building and falling over. "You're… Killian, he—he hurt you so much," she whispered, unable to stop the tears now. "And it's all my fault, I didn't listen to you, and I…" She lifted her eyes to his, seeing absolute heartbreak in those blue eyes as he watched her cry— "Killian," whispered Emma, "I killed you." A sob broke free from her chest, wracking her body.

"Love," said Killian, grunting as he tried to lift himself off the ground. He hissed sharply, his hand pressing to broken ribs Emma hasn't yet healed. Emma slipped gentle hands under his arms and helped to lift him up. In her own weakened state, it took them both a few tries before he was upright.

He was too weak to sit up on his own, and was panting from the simple exertion of getting halfway off the ground. Her own arms shaking from the effort of holding up, Emma gently helped him a few feet across the ground to the cave wall, leaning him against it as carefully as she could. He sucked in a sharp breath when his back touched it—Emma still didn't know what was wrong with his back, and didn't know if she wanted to—but Killian cracked his eyes open. He was shaking harder, breathing shallow even though his breaths were deeper now.

Without hesitation, Killian lifted his right arm, shaking harder with the effort, and gently took her face in his hand, making her look him in the eye. His fingers trembled, only reminding Emma of his weakness and of her own guilt, making her tears burn hotter. "Emma," he said, out of breath, but no less firm. "None of this…" He lost his breath, drawing a shaky one in. "None of this is your fault. And, love, I asked you to… to take my life," he said, wiping her tears with his thumb before letting his arm fall back to his side, like he was too tired to hold it up.

"But it's my fault," whispered Emma, pain and guilt and horror tumbling out. "I didn't listen to you, I just couldn't l-lose you," her breath hiccuped. "I was selfish and I'm so sorry, Killian, I'm—"

"No," said Killian softly, and Emma met his gaze again, seeing a tortured pain in his eyes. "Emma," he said heavily, "you have nothing… to apologize for." And shutting his eyes, he breathed out shallowly, "Emma, I apologize to you. Everything I said… I did, to you of all people—" His voice caught, and Emma was startled to see a tear fall down his own cheek. "I'm so bloody sorry, Emma."

"You saved us," said Emma with a broken smile.

That tortured look only deepened in his eyes. "From me," he said, barely loud enough for her to hear. But quiet as the words were, she heard the guilt. The raw self-loathing. The same horror and sadness that she felt toward herself.

"Killian, I almost killed someone after five minutes of being under that curse," she said sharply, feeling the guilt sink deep under her skin at the memory. "I know how it works. It's not your fault that the darkness used centuries worth of suffering against you," she said firmly, tears burning. He just held her gaze, like he didn't know how she could see it in such a way. Emma sniffed. "You had to fight that pain once already and it took you two hundred years. And I made you have to do it all over again." She shut her eyes. "I should have listened to you," she whispered. "You begged me not to save you and I didn't listen," she shut her eyes, her own guilt and anger with herself flooding her.

His shaky fingers were on her cheek again, making her look at him. "No, love. I should not have died," he said softly, brokenly. "I promised you I... wouldn't."

"I can't lose you too."

"You don't have to worry about me. I'm a survivor."

Emma felt more tears sting, only reminded more that he was dead, and right now… their chances of getting home, her chances of saving him…

Panic and sadness built and built and built.

"I love you," whispered Emma, seeing his eyes widen a little in surprise. Only partly due to her rare use of the words, but there was an almost disbelief in his eyes, like he didn't understand how she could.

He managed to recover from his shock enough to whisper just as quietly, "I love you, Emma," and she searched his eyes, seeing the absolute truth in the words. And she found herself wondering the same thing he did, after everything she's done, how he could still love her. Why he still loved her.

They searched each other's eyes, finding nothing but that raw, pure truth, and Emma felt tears come faster, and she gently wrapped her arms around him, feeling him wrap his around her. Mindful of his injuries, she nestled her head into his less-wounded shoulder, shutting her eyes, having missed his embrace so much.

Killian groaned a little when she accidentally pressed into something that hurt, making her eyes shoot open and she tried to pull back, but he didn't let her. He just held her tighter, pulling her to him in a hold that felt safe, that felt like home.

She shut her eyes again, sinking into his warmth, his scent, him, and never ever wanted to let go.

a/n: thanks for reading! :) finally our pirate is getting some comfort! lol - Did it bother anyone else that Emma waited until she and Killian talked with her family before healing him? She could have healed him with an instant, easy wave of her hand the moment they got there - the poor guy was standing there covered in blood and in pain! Hades wasn't the real sadist of this arc; the writers were. xD

My portrayal of Emma in this is a bit different from what Emma was like in the show during these episodes, so I hope you guys don't mind the change. To me I think she was pretty calm and kind of carefree in the show from the moment she saved him, and I feel like she'd be a little more scared of losing him, rattled that he was dead and suffered so much, and that kind of stuff, as well as I feel like she'd feel guilty for the fact that she was the one who had to kill him for something she inadvertently caused etc.. Emma was a mess when she thought Killian was gone for good, so I just expected her to show a little more emotion after they were reunited. I had thought that after Killian dying in her arms, Emma would have been eager to tell him she loved him in almost the first moment they were reunited since she still doesn't even know if they'll be able to save him. Hopefully that moment in this chapter and the Emma portrayal I'm going for reads naturally and in character!

Thanks again to everyone reading, and buckle up for plenty more h/c ;)

~cosette141