Emma opened her eyes to warmth.
It spread like sunlight through her whole body. There was a sense of calm, of utter contentment in her chest. Like something just felt right.
The only other time she'd felt something like it was when she'd woken Henry from Regina's Sleeping Curse.
Yes, that was what it felt like.
Love.
But there was something else to this feeling, something exciting, some elated part of it that she felt before. She just… couldn't quite… place it.
Emma blinked a few times, staring at a wooden ceiling. She was lying on something soft, but her mind was a few steps behind.
A bed?
The last thing she remembered was rescuing Henry. They had been on their way back to the ship.
But after that… nothing.
But her puzzlement halted when she heard a door open. A voice floated in, and Emma managed to recognize it as Neal's.
"…tried twice, but I—Emma!"
Emma turned her head, noting, albeit delayed, that she was in a cabin that looked like one of the Jolly Roger. And not just any cabin; Hook's. "Where the hell am I?" she mumbled, even more confused.
Neal was at her side in seconds, pulling her into a crushing hug. "It worked!"
Emma tensed in his hold, her mind crashing into the present.
She didn't exactly like being touched, and she'd barely started to hug her own parents. But hugging him…
She'd realized it when he'd embraced her in the Echo Cave.
She didn't want to.
It was a hold that used to bring so much comfort. He was the first person who ever held her like she was worth something.
Now, it all felt tainted and empty.
Neal, however, was too elated to realize the embrace wasn't reciprocated. And Emma was still too confused about the whole situation to shove him off. "What worked?" she mumbled, seeing her parents, Regina, and Gold standing in the room. Her parents looked over the moon.
Barely, Emma could make out Hook behind them.
Neal pulled away, smiling. "True Love's Kiss!"
Emma froze.
That tingle at her lips.
That warmth.
She went rigid.
"It took a little longer than I thought it should, but it worked!" said Neal, that huge smile still on his face.
"Pan put you under a Sleeping Curse," explained Snow with a soft smile. "Your father and I couldn't wake you. Neal did."
Emma blinked, feeling like her mind came to a screeching stop.
A terrifying stop.
No.
No.
It couldn't be.
Not…
Not Neal.
"He did?" she echoed blankly.
Emma swallowed. Hard.
True Love.
They were True Love?
"Because from the moment I saw him again I knew… I never stopped loving him."
She had to admit she meant her words to her parents earlier—she had loved Neal and she hadn't gotten over what happened with him. He wasn't just her first love…
He was the only person who had ever loved her.
Up until she came to Storybrooke, Neal was the only person who showed her love. And after he left, after he seemingly used her… the day he told her he loved her…
Realizing that he left her in an attempt to help her find her family, that he didn't want to leave her, that he did care for her…though not enough…
It was a whirlwind of utter confusion.
But…
But after everything, she'd given it plenty of thought every free moment in Neverland since Neal showed up.
And she'd made her decision.
Her words to Neal in the Echo Cave had been the truth, as it proved to be, and her feelings were not about to change.
Ever.
After what Neal did, there was no way she could trust or love him now. Hell, because of him, she could hardly trust or love anyone. A part of her probably always would love him, but…
She loved the person she thought he was, not the person he is.
Not the person who left her.
She didn't look at him now and remember the love and the comfort.
She looked at him and she remembered the years of pain.
She was tired of being in pain.
She had been planning to break the news to him when they returned to Storybrooke.
But…
They were True Love?
"My own daughter," said David suddenly, snapping Emma from her thoughts, "the product of True Love, found her own! I couldn't be happier." To Neal, he said, "Thank you for saving her."
Emma blinked, never having felt so disoriented in her life.
And she felt the very familiar urge to run.
But she quite literally had nowhere to go, trapped on this ship, but her eyes darted around as if looking for an escape. A knee-jerk reaction she hadn't felt since she was a kid in a new foster home.
But her eyes landed on Hook, hovering in the doorway behind the rest.
The look on his face stole her breath.
He wasn't looking at her; he was looking at Neal.
Emma has never seen a look of pure heartbreak before.
But it was right there. In his eyes.
Something in him broke.
And not a moment later, he was gone, turning and walking away.
Emma blinked.
But Neal grabbed her in another bear hug, startling her again, and her parents took turns for hugs of their own.
But her eyes stayed on the doorway where Hook disappeared.
It suddenly clicked.
That tingle on her lips.
That feeling she woke with, the one she knew she'd felt before, but couldn't place.
Something like wonder passed through her chest.
Her lips tilted a little, even as Neal pulled her into yet another unreciprocated embrace.
Because he didn't wake her.
And she knew who did.
It was the end of the day by the time Emma found Hook alone.
Everyone was beginning to get ready for bed, as Hook had said—of the few words he'd spoken all day—that they wouldn't be home until midday tomorrow.
Not long after she'd woken, Emma had broken through her daze enough to remember Henry. He'd been sleeping soundly in one of the cabins when she awoke. Emma spent hours at his bedside, reveling in the fact that he was safe. After he woke—giving her the biggest hug she's ever had—everything finally felt like things were calming down. They were on their way home. Finally.
And as things quieted down, Emma couldn't help thinking about this morning.
True Love's Kiss.
Emma was surprised it took her as long as it did to place that elusive feeling.
"Please. You couldn't handle it."
"Perhaps you're the one who couldn't handle it."
That kiss.
That damn kiss.
She hated to admit it, but she knew it the moment Hook's lips touched hers.
She couldn't handle it.
The moment they pulled away, she felt it.
That feeling.
Neal had been the first person to make Emma feel like she was worth something, but…
In that kiss with Hook…
Just through touch alone, she didn't just feel like she was worth something to him.
Somehow, she could feel she was worth everything to him.
That… that feeling…
It was something so strong and raw and pure…
She knew she was screwed.
Because that contentment she felt both then and again when she woke felt like it was worth everything to her.
How could one kiss convey all that?
"You and I. We understand each other."
Maybe their connection went far deeper than Emma had originally thought. Far deeper than just understanding.
She'd known since the beanstalk that they were similar.
And she'd known since they'd met that he had a… level… of… attractiveness…
But that kiss?
"It was what the kiss exposed."
His words couldn't have described how it felt any better for her as well—that kiss exposed just as much for her as it did for him.
The curiosity she's always had for Hook was now a full-blown feeling for him.
And the moment she realized it, in the middle of that passionate moment, his jacket in her hands, his fingers in her hair…
She couldn't linger for a second.
"That was…"
"A one-time thing."
Little did he know, she wasn't telling him.
Because, hell, she hadn't even felt such a connection with Neal, back when things were great with the two of them.
True Love's Kiss.
That exact feeling she had when they'd kissed was lingering on her lips the moment she woke.
It was Hook.
She knew it was.
Over the course of the day, Emma had gathered that Neal tried to kiss her awake more than once with no success. But when he'd left and come back, it they'd assumed it was only delayed.
Somehow, Hook must have kissed her when Neal left the room.
The fact that Hook had even tried to kiss her awake, let alone been successful, touched her in a way words couldn't describe.
And the theory that it was in fact Hook became more and more sure as the day went on, just something that felt so right in her chest.
She wanted to get a chance to talk to him, confirm her theory for sure.
Yet, Hook had been either fixed at the helm among the others on deck or he's been a ghost, convincing Emma the Jolly had some secret passageways that only he knew.
He was clearly avoiding her, and though Emma could think on more than one occasion in the past that she'd wished for him to get lost, she was quickly finding that she hated not having him around.
She hadn't even gotten a chance to be alone herself. Neal had been practically glued to her damn side.
All day long, Neal had been telling Henry about all the things they were going to do—the three of them—as a family. Emma had let it wash over her, hadn't commented on any of his plans for them, since, she mused with irritation, he hasn't asked her anything. Ever since she'd woken, it seemed that he thought they were suddenly… together again.
But even if Neal had woken her with True Love's Kiss, Emma knew her feelings wouldn't change at all.
She simply couldn't fall back in love with someone who hurt her so deeply, and that was that.
He didn't deserve a third chance, and barely deserved the second.
He simply didn't deserve her.
Emma let out a breath. She'd managed to tell Neal that she needed some air, so she walked up the stairs to the deck.
And there at the helm, flask in hand, standing alone in the moonlight was Hook.
He was staring in the distance at nothing in particular, the muscle in his jaw working furiously.
And at the sight of him, Emma suddenly realized…
She wanted it to be him.
Regardless of the fear that crept up in her chest at the notion of it…
It was clear to her now, no matter how much she tried to deny it.
She simply wanted him.
A little flutter of fear—fear of what, she wasn't entirely sure anymore—in her stomach, Emma took a breath, climbing the rest of the stairs.
He didn't notice her.
He looked utterly lost in thought, and Emma unfortunately knew she was most likely at the center of them.
She sighed, and said softly, "Hey."
He jumped a little, startled at the sound of her voice, and Emma's brows rose. She didn't often catch him by surprise. He was either that deeply lost in thought, or buzzed.
Or both.
He snapped his head around, seeing her, and went rigid. He attempted to regain his composure, and Emma couldn't remember ever catching him so off guard before. "Swan?" he said blankly. "Shouldn't you be… resting?" he tried.
"I've had my fair share," she said dryly. The air suddenly felt as if it grew tense in their silence, so Emma walked to look over the side of the ship, at the clouds passing, though it didn't ease the feeling. She waited a little, wondering if he would tell her now that they were alone.
But he remained silent.
"I haven't seen much of you today," said Emma carefully, wondering just how to bring up the topic. When he didn't say anything, Emma turned to him, and asked, "Why aren't you sleeping?"
He gestured to the wheel with his hook. "Someone's got to keep an eye on her."
Emma caught the half-lie in his eyes, but she let it go.
She hm'd, turning back to the clouds, feeling that tension ebb in the air between them.
"I'm glad you're all right, Emma," she heard him say quietly.
She smiled a little. "Me, too," she said honestly.
"Baelfire…"
Emma's chest squeezed a little.
He said it like it physically hurt him.
Hook cleared his throat a little. "He is a lucky man."
Emma watched him carefully.
He wasn't looking at her.
That muscle still worked furiously in his jaw.
The heartbreak from earlier was still in his eyes, deeper than the ocean below them.
She turned back to the clouds.
A smile tugged at her lips.
It was him.
He kissed her.
And from the clear torture in his face, he wasn't about to say a damn thing about it.
"I'm always a gentleman."
Perhaps he was.
For some reason, her usual fear, her walls, weren't stopping her from saying her next words.
Somehow, knowing what she knew, True Love's Kiss and all, made her a little less afraid.
"So, you weren't going to tell me, then," she said, words shaped by her smile, still tilting her lips.
She turned to look at him.
The look of shock on his face was almost comical.
He looked like a deer in headlights. She watched him, and he gathered the semblance of composure. "What?" he managed.
He'd heard her, and every unsaid word.
And he still didn't want to tell her?
Her burning curiosity overrode any ounce of fear that should have stopped her from saying, "Who woke me." The clarification was unnecessary; he knew. But he was still frozen where he stood, and he almost looked lost.
That heartbroken look on his face mixed with the lost one, making him look so horribly young Emma felt a painful tug in her chest.
She took a step toward him. Softly, she said, "I know it was you."
His eyes widened a little. The truth Emma had been looking for was right there in them.
And as much as it should have scared her, it didn't.
"I…" He breathed. "You… how?"
His voice was so small.
It was so different to hear from him.
He was waiting for her response, and Emma suddenly realized she needed to explain how she knew. Which… was a bit more vulnerable than she cared to share. Though, the fact that he woke her told them both the most vulnerable secrets of one another. It was already out there, and they both knew it now. Evidently he loved her and she loved him, with the purest form of love in existence. Yet, they were only just beginning to explore what their connection was. It felt as if they'd been given a message from the future about something that hasn't happened yet. It felt both reassuring and like a surprise had been spoiled.
But when love was such a terrifying thing, Emma would take the reassurance any day.
However, she couldn't help shifting with shyness that rose color to her cheeks, averting her gaze a little as she stumbled through, "I didn't see anyone when I woke up, but I just… I had this… feeling." She hesitated, her now-flimsy walls barely able to hold back her next words. But she let them out anyway. "I had the same feeling when we…"
She didn't say it.
But again, he heard it.
A spark of hope cut through the brokenness in his eyes.
He looked utterly speechless.
Emma smiled a little, definitely feeling the vulnerability now. She cleared her throat a little. "I just knew," she concluded. Looking back up at him, she met his eyes. And asking the question she's been asking herself all day, she asked, "The only thing I don't know… is why you didn't say anything."
His eyes found the floorboards. The hope was dashed, the sadness deepening all too much. Like broken glass was shattered all over again. "Emma," he said heavily, painfully. "You deserve more than me, love."
Emma released the breath she didn't know she was holding.
Because a part of her—a very tiny, fragile part—was afraid that he didn't tell her because he didn't want it to be true.
Now that heartbroken look made so much sense.
He found out that he was her True Love, and he was going to keep it to himself?
Let her think she was in love with another man?
Emma knew that Hook was interested in her, and after that first kiss, more than interested. But now? For him to find out that the woman he was vying for not only had the potential to love him back, but actually did?
In the highest, deepest, purest possible way?
And he still kept it to himself?
He was willing to sacrifice his own happiness to ensure hers?
No one, no one, has ever done that for her.
It took Emma a moment to find her voice.
"And you thought Neal could give me that?" she said with a raised brow, when she found her voice.
Hook lifted his eyes back to hers, and it looked like it took his every effort to do so. He swallowed. "He's the father to your son," he said hollowly. "He… loves you."
That lit a fuse in her that's been building for quite some time, and Emma muttered, "He also set me up for his crime and left me to go to jail for him. Right after he knocked me up." she huffed. "Granted, he didn't know, but he's still not exactly hero material. It's not like he ever cared to come back to see if I was okay," she said heatedly, the anger and hurt building. She's pushed it down every time it rose up after Neal had come back into her life, and it seemed so much less pertinent when she'd thought Neal was dead. But now that he was back and being as self-involved as ever… She shook herself, finishing, "He can't exactly promise to never stop fighting for me when he's already broken it several times over."
If Hook's shock had looked comical earlier it was nothing compared to his face now.
Her history with Neal certainly was the last thing he expected to hear.
But as his shock cleared, Emma saw that the hope from before had returned.
As tiny a spec as a star in the sky.
Emma's brows kneaded. "Did you think I wanted it to be Neal?"
He was silent, but it was answer enough.
Emma let out a breath. She has never met anyone with lower self-worth than she had herself, but Hook tipped the scales and broke them.
It suddenly hurt to know how little he thought of himself.
He saved her life.
Emma suddenly had an urge her fear usually fought to the death, but she acquiesced. And she stepped even closer to him, and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
Even that touch alone sent a flutter in her stomach and seemed to affect him all the same. He looked at her in awe.
"Thank you, Killian," she whispered.
A different kind of shock colored his eyes.
She'd never called him by name before.
Then, he smiled, and Emma has never seen anything more beautiful.
Emma smiled right back, feeling a little shyness touch it again. Even though magic had unveiled their fate before their lives unraveled it, she didn't want that kind of a change.
Not… yet.
But when they were home…
Maybe it was time to try something new.
Emma turned to head back below deck, but paused, turning back toward him.
He was still looking at her, something soft in his face.
It was the first time she's ever seen him look happy.
"I'm glad it was you," she said quietly.
Shock and joy brightened his eyes in the moonlight, and he smiled, his response in the expression alone.
That certainly made two of them.
Emma still had a faint smile on her face as she walked back below deck.
It was Hook.
The confirmation came with a rush of emotions that settled on joy.
After checking on Henry who was sleeping in Hook's bed, Regina sleeping on the floor next to him since none of them were letting him out of their sight for the next, well, ever, Emma decided Sleeping Curse or not, she was going to try to get some sleep.
Emma opened the door to the cabin. The cabin was empty except for Neal, who was scrutinizing one of the beds.
He turned when he saw her, smiling, "Ems!" He gestures to the bed. "They're a lot smaller than I remember them, though I guess I was when I last slept on 'em." It took Emma a moment to remember that he had spent time on the ship before. "It'll be a tight fit, but all the cozier, you know?"
Emma blinked. "What?"
He looked at her like he didn't understand what was wrong with his insinuation that was wrong in every single way. "Purely a sleeping arrangement," he said. "I mean, unless you… wanted…"
"No!" snapped Emma, brows narrowing at the very idea.
He laughed a little, hands coming up in a mock-surrender. "Woah, okay, easy. It was mostly a joke."
"Considering that the last time you slept with me you knocked me up," growled Emma before she could stop herself, "it damn well is a joke."
He looked stunned. "What? I—I kinda thought we were past that…" he mumbled, rubbing at the scruff on his chin.
"You—" Hot rage from too much pent-up anger and hurt was beginning to overflow. Emma took a breath, trying to steady herself. They were almost home. If she could just make it through the night…
"Emma," came Neal's voice, cutting through her attempt at calm. "You seem kinda moody. Maybe you should get some rest, or something." He again gestured to the bed, with the same intention of crawling right in after her.
Emma breathed out slowly, trying to keep the lid on her anger. "Yeah. Sleep sounds good. But I'll sleep by myself, if you don't mind."
Now his brows kneaded, something between puzzlement and frustration. "Emma, I don't get it," he said, voice strangled with confusion. "You love me, I love you, the damn curse proved it—what's the problem?"
"The problem is I don't love you, Neal!" growled Emma, breaking down her self-control. "Maybe I did once, but… but I am not in love with you, so you just need to—"
"Emma," said Neal just as heatedly, "I know you're not from a world of magic, but when you need True Love's Kiss to break a curse, and a kiss wakes you, that person is your True Love!"
"Well you didn't wake me, Hook did!"
Neal froze.
The moment his name left her lips, so did Emma.
So much for waiting until they were home.
"What?" he breathed.
Emma huffed out an angry breath. "When your kiss didn't work, Hook tried. And then I woke up. Do the math."
Neal went rigid for a moment, his mind seeming to work furiously. Perhaps putting together the delay between his kiss and her waking.
Anger touched his own features. "I'm gonna kill him."
Emma's expression went from angry to bewildered. "Are you kidding me?"
"Are you?" snapped Neal. "He takes my mother from me and then he takes you?"
"Hook didn't take either of us," ground out Emma.
But Neal steamrolled ahead. "He and Pan probably worked together to make a Sleeping Curse to trick you into—"
"Pan hates him!" growled Emma. "Why the hell would he do that?"
Neal's face reddened with a losing argument. He shut his eyes, like he was attempting to hold down his temper, but it was a rope that already slipped from his grasp. "You love him?" he managed. "Hook?"
"I—" Emma swallowed. "I… I don't know," she stammered, "we haven't really known each other that long, we we just starting to—" She shook herself. "I don't need to explain myself to you. And you just said that if magic says you're True Love, you're True Love."
"He's a pirate, Emma!" hissed Neal. "He's a murderer and a jackass and he only cares about himself! He—"
"Well that selfish jackass didn't even tell me he was the one who kissed me until I asked him!"
"He—" Neal blinked. "What?"
"He thought I wanted it to be you," said Emma lowly, words heavy with anger. "So he was set to take the secret to his grave. I can see how selfish that is."
Neal looked speechless. "I—Emm—"
She took a step toward him, anger fueling her entire being. "And you know what, Neal? Even if it was you, even if you did wake me, I wouldn't be with you! You were the first and the only person who ever cared about me, who treated me like maybe I wasn't an accident, maybe I wasn't worthless, and you made me feel like I could be wanted." The emotions were rushing out like water through a bursted dam and she couldn't have stopped them if she tried. "You told me you loved me and you let me go to jail for you! You left me alone!" Her voice choked on the last word, all of the feelings rushing back at once. Neal opened his mouth but she steamrolled ahead. "I don't care what your reasons were! I went to jail thinking you had used me that whole time. I went to jail for you thinking you didn't give a damn about me! I had your baby handcuffed to a bed! And you never even bothered to see if I was okay!" She took another step toward him, and his back hit post of the bed. "August told me that he told you when I was in Storybrooke and you didn't even bother to see if I was okay then! You rubbed your fiancé in my face and you only told me you loved me after you found out she was batshit crazy! When I found you in New York you didn't apologize to me once! You fricken laughed!" Tears were streaming down her face now, raw hurt and anger ripping through each word. "You were too obsessed with yourself and how your father left you and your father hurt you and you were so busy thinking about yourself that you didn't even realize you were just like him!" He flinched, but Emma's eyes only narrowed. "So you better look in a damn mirror before you call Killian selfish because the only jackass I see here is you."
Neal was frozen, staring at her in shock.
She must have finally found a way to shut him up, because he didn't even bother trying to find words to say.
Emma turned sharply on her heel to leave, only to freeze, for her parents were standing in the doorway, faces just as shocked as Neal's, but just as angry as Emma's.
Emma didn't stop to hear anything they had to say if they were planning on it, so she just walked past them, heading for the first quiet room she could find to cry herself into oblivion.
However, she didn't miss the distinct smack and thud coming from the cabin she just left, and even managed a little tilt of her lips at what was clearly her father letting out his own anger with Neal in the best way he knew how.
She knew she had forgotten to do something.
-.-
David shook out his fist, anger boiling under his skin.
Neal laid sprawled on the floor, and the blue-black bruising was already forming over his eye.
"Prison?" he breathed, turning to Snow in bewildered dismay. "Prison? Emma was in prison?" he hissed, trying to imagine his little girl, his princess, locked behind prison bars. "Did you know?"
Snow's face had gone paler than her usual. "I… She mentioned it in passing, but she didn't want to… elaborate," she said, her eyes narrowing at Neal, still on the ground where David's punch left him.
"She had Henry there?" David's voice took on a higher pitch, anger consuming him.
"She… she didn't tell me any of that," whispered Snow, eyes misty with tears.
But David's chest tightened. "It doesn't matter," he muttered, anger only with himself. "We don't know because we didn't ask."
But shaking himself, because they'll have to process that—and fix that—later.
There was something else that was suddenly a concern that felt almost as pressing.
Hook.
Hook.
Not only did he kiss his daughter—twice now—but he woke her?
A new emotion surged, and David felt his instincts pull him harshly out of the room before he could think twice.
Just as he reached the hallway, footsteps were hurrying down the steps.
"What the bloody hell is going on down h—" began Hook, face more exasperated than anything.
"You woke Emma?!" demanded David, striding toward him, fists clenched.
The exasperation in Hook's face snapped to sudden shock, as he froze on the last step.
He visibly swallowed.
And it was the first time David has ever seen the pirate look intimidated.
"I…." began Hook, standing stock-still, suddenly looking years younger, like a child caught doing something they shouldn't be.
But a door opened, and Emma rushed out, standing before Hook, blocking him from David. Reluctantly, David stopped.
"David," said Emma quickly, almost warningly.
But David just looked at Hook, his hard gaze meeting Hook's uncertain one. "You kissed her awake?" he demanded.
A muscle twitched in Hook's jaw. His eyes met the floor, before meeting David's again. "I…" he trailed off.
It was true; he had.
Hook—notorious Captain Hook, thorn-in-his-side Captain Hook—woke his daughter.
Was his daughter's True Love.
David simply stared at him, trying to wrap his head around it.
Hook took David's silence as a bad sign. Swallowing, he said, "I… I didn't think—"
But David didn't let him finish, and cut him off, saying with firm sincerity, "Thank you."
Hook froze once again
Emma and Hook suddenly had a look of shock so identical it was almost humorous.
David took a step forward, and Emma stepped aside. He extended his hand to Hook, gesturing for him to take it.
Hesitantly, Hook took it.
That uncertain gaze in the pirate's eyes was even more surprised now.
"You saved her." said David, pulling back his hand.
It was true.
He had.
If he hadn't….
David didn't even want to consider it.
"Emma told us you didn't even tell her," said David seriously. At that, Hook's fingers scratched behind his ear, his eyes finding the floorboards.
And he suddenly looked nothing like the man who had presented himself to them weeks ago.
He looked nothing like the ruthless pirate they met, or even the man on a quest to win Emma's heart, caring only about himself, and what he wanted.
The fact that Hook had let Emma, let all of them believe that Neal had woken her…
That wasn't the act of a selfish pirate.
That was the act of an honorable man.
To have learned that the woman he cared for loved him back, with True Love, no less, and let her walk into another man's arms?
David didn't even know if he could have done such a thing for Snow.
David cleared his throat a little, feeling the heat of his initial reaction die down. Hook looked at him as David said, "I was wrong about you." said David quietly, and Hook's eyes lit with so much surprise that David was surprised the man's jaw didn't hit the floor.
For he was wrong about Hook.
He treated Hook like vermin, like the scum of the world.
And he, as well as Snow, had treated Neal like a saint.
Neal had left Emma to rot in jail, in his place, when she was practically still a child.
And Hook…
Hook had done nothing except protect Emma, and save their lives turn after turn.
Hook's own throat cleared, and he said, "David, you don't have to—"
"Yeah, I do." said David. He looked from Emma's little smile, back to Hook. "And if Emma and you are..." he couldn't exactly say it, but he grinned a little anyway. "Well, I think I can get on board with that." Then, with a touch of that protective anger he'd punched Neal with earlier, he narrowed his eyes a little at Hook in seriousness, and said, "But True Love or not… don't hurt my daughter."
Emma didn't have a father to protect her before, and he would feel the guilt for that for the rest of his life. However, David didn't truly believe Hook would, or was even capable, of hurting Emma. But he had to say it, in light of what he had just learned about Emma and Neal.
No one would ever hurt his daughter again; David would make sure of that.
And he had quite the idea that the man standing before him would make sure of it just the same.
Hook met him back with a gaze just as serious. He looked first to Emma, then back to David, to say, "I'd die first."
A little blush touched Emma's cheeks, something warm in her eyes.
David held Hook's gaze, and he didn't need Emma's superpower to know he was telling the truth. David smiled.
David felt Snow step up beside him. She gave Hook a soft look. "You fought for your first love for two hundred years," she said, a little pain reflecting in Hook's eyes. Snow looked from David, back to Hook, and said, "After seeing how much you cared for her… I think our little girl is more than lucky to have you."
Hook suddenly looked like he'd been given an absolutely precious gift.
And David smiled, because so had they.
Emma found herself climbing back on deck a while after the… excitement of the evening.
Everyone had more or less retired to a cot in the cabins, but she simply refused to be so close to Neal.
Or, she simply wanted to be around someone else.
She let herself believe it was the first, and climbed up the rest of the stairs.
Emma found Hook—Killian—exactly where she left him.
He heard her footsteps this time. When he saw her, a little pleased surprise jumped into his eyes, and he gave her a soft smile. "Swan."
Emma smiled just as softly, and Hook's eyes lit up brighter than the moon at the sight of it.
She's noticed that.
How her smile elicits one from him.
It suddenly made her want to smile more.
He made her want to smile more.
"To what do I owe the honor?" he asked, a smile tilting his lips.
Emma just smiled, and kept walking toward him, watching the question develop in his eyes.
And without warning, she grabbed his coat, just like she did the first time, and she kissed him.
She could feel his surprise, but it only lasted a moment.
He kissed her back, matching the tenderness, mirroring her emotion.
It felt like relief, it felt like safety, it felt right.
That warmth that his kiss brought her both times their lips had touched returned, wrapping her in an embrace just as securely, just as tightly as his arms did.
They pulled away, and Emma found herself staring into surprised, warm blue, like sunlight reflecting off ocean waves.
At the question in his eyes, Emma said, "I didn't get to enjoy the last kiss." And for whatever reason, the shyness that should have tingled inside her, didn't.
Killian smiled. "Neither did I."
Emma smiled.
Slowly, gently, he kissed her this time, something soft and precious, his hand in her hair, his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. And at his every touch, she felt loved.
Emma broke the kiss, looking back into his eyes, the emotion bringing forth some of her fear. "Are you going to… to stay in Storybrooke when we get back?" She didn't intend for the words to sound as unsure as her heart felt.
Killian smiled, easing Emma's every fear. "I will go wherever you wish, love." A little color touched his cheeks in the moonlight, as they both caught the epithet in a much different context. But he smiled, embracing it, and whispered, "I am yours." Emma felt something so touched at the words. Killian brushed a thumb over her cheek. "I have loved you long before magic proved it."
Absolute warmth filled her chest.
She has never, not once, felt more wanted than she did right here, right now.
Emma opened her mouth, feeling the urge to say it back, feeling the same, but familiar fear tugged at her.
Before she had the chance, Killian said, "Don't." Emma looked at him, puzzled, but he just smiled, it fading a little when it said, "After what Baelfire did to you…" Emma felt pain tug at her. "Don't say anything you aren't ready to," said Killian. "I'm a patient man, and I'm not going anywhere. So—"
Emma cut him off with a kiss.
Her eyes shut, and she melted into him, trying to convey every word she couldn't say, everything she couldn't tell him into the kiss alone.
This morning, his kiss told her everything they both needed to know.
And from the brilliant smile he gave her when she pulled away, hers did just the same.