Emma was still asleep, trembling in David's arms by the time they reached the loft.

His eyes stayed on her the entire ride, watching her sleep, his hands still rubbing warmth into her. Emma's lips were already turning a lighter shade of blue, her face gaining a pinch of color in her cheeks.

He watched her breathe, the reassuring rise and fall of her chest, the innocence in her face, and he had to remind himself that she wasn't a child; she was a grown adult, physically almost the same age as he was. But right here, tucked in his arms, pulled tight and safe against his chest, she was nothing short of his baby girl. He's never had a chance to just hold her, to just look at her. To recognize hints of Snow's nose and his own chin in Emma's face. He hated the circumstances that brought them here tonight, but he felt tears sting his eyes, for not only the fact that she would be all right, but for the fact that he finally got to feel like her father, for the first time in his—and probably her—life.

David had tried calling Snow at least twenty times over the course of the night, but she hadn't picked up any of them. David suspected she was taking a well-deserved nap or perhaps her phone died with nothing to charge it in the power outage, but tonight was a panic-inducing night, so he'll be happy when he sees his wife perfectly fine and well. He hadn't had the time to leave a voicemail, so he was just going to have to fill her in when he brought home their hypothermic princess, and her even-more-hypothermic pirate.

Once they arrived, David carried Emma out of the back of the ambulance, and Elsa followed a bit of a distance away, like she was afraid her presence would hurt Emma more.

David carried Emma up the steps to their door, asking Elsa for help with the doors, and they walked into the apartment…

…which was empty.

David scanned the room a little, but both Snow and the baby were missing. At least that meant they were together, he settled with. His eyes happened to catch Snow's cell phone sitting on the counter, and he imagined the set of missed calls that would light up if he were to turn it on.

The apartment was fairly cold due to the power outage, but as if right on cue, the lights flickered on with the hum of energy coming to life. David smiled.

Right behind him were the paramedics, and David directed them to the couch.

Carefully, the two men laid the unconscious pirate atop the cushions. They left the blankets on him, and David could even see from yards away the miniscule trembles shaking the man from head to toe. He frowned a little, thinking that Hook should be shaking more, like Emma had once she'd begun to warm up.

When he voiced his concern, the paramedic rose to his feet. "Keep him warm. He's risen a few degrees in body temperature, but he'll need plenty of added warmth to recover completely. He's got some broken ribs on top of everything, so his body's working overtime."

Broken ribs?

David suddenly flashed back to Hook diving over Emma to protect her from the mini-avalanche.

He felt his mouth run dry.

If Hook hadn't been there, that would have been Emma with broken ribs.

Or worse.

David suddenly felt even more horrible for the way he spoke to Hook before this whole thing.

He could remember the hurt look in Hook's eyes at his accusation.

Numbly, David thanked the paramedics, who left Hook's hook—which they'd taken off at some point—on the counter, and left.

David, Emma, Hook, and Elsa—who was hovering on the other side of the room, seeming wary—were now alone.

David started to carry Emma to his and Snow's bed, intending to wrap her tight under the covers.

The sound of the door closing seemed to wake her, though, and she stirred in his arms.

Emma's eyes blinked open. She was still shaking visibly. She looked around, confusedly and tiredly trying to figure out where she was. Her eyes settled on his face. "Dad?" she asked, in such a small, sleepy voice that tears once again stung his eyes, and he had never felt more like her father.

"Yeah, baby," he whispered with a smile. "You're home. You're okay."

She blinked a few times, then sudden fear jumped into her eyes. "Killian," she breathed. She looked around frantically, fighting his hold on her. "Wh-where…?"

"He's just fine," said David quickly. Turning, he gestured with his chin to the couch on the other side of the room. "He's just fine, Emma. Cold and banged up, but fine. We're gonna get both of you warmed up in no time."

Emma stilled when she saw him, seeming to relax a little.

David started to walk back to the bed, but Emma stopped him. "No—I…" She hesitated, just aware enough to hesitate on the words, "Can I be… n-near him?"

"Are you sure?" asked David. "You're freezing, Emma. Our bed will be a lot warmer and more comfortable than—"

"I d-don't care," she stuttered, teeth chattering. "Please?" she whispered.

But David remembered her voice from earlier, when she'd tried waking Hook up in the ice cave, when she thought he was gone.

David was not about to decline his baby girl's wishes.

He smiled. "Of course, babygirl."

Emma smiled a shaky little smile, and David carried her back across the room, settling her snugly into the armchair beside the couch. He wrapped her in two blankets, and draped a third over her.

A soft voice spoke behind him.

"Is… is there something I can do to help?"

David turned, seeing Elsa hovering behind him, hands clasped behind her, looking from Emma to Hook with a horribly guilty expression.

David smiled. "Yes, actually. There's a—" He paused, remembering she wasn't from this world. "There's a small box in the bathroom with a… rope attached," he said awkwardly. "Can you bring that over here?"

She nodded, seeming thrilled to have a task, and disappeared into the bathroom.

"Is h-he okay?"

David looked at Emma, who was shaking hard under the blanket, staring at Hook. Clear worry danced in her green eyes.

"Yes, Emma," said David. "He'll be okay."

Emma smiled, resting her head against the back of the armchair, watching Hook, like he was the only thing in the room.

And for the first time, her obvious affection for him made David smile.

Elsa was back with the heater, and with it plugged in, it immediately became warmer.

It seemed to lull Emma back to sleep, and David smiled, watching her eyes lose the fight to stay open, just like he's watched his baby boy do the same.

David spent the next half an hour or so seated in a chair right beside Emma, having pulled her to lean on his shoulder, using one hand to rub more warmth into her, and his other to brush gently over her hair. She slept as soundly as her baby brother, and David loved every second of the moment. He spared a look every few minutes toward the sleeping pirate, gladly noting that his shivers had already begun to pick up in the new warmth.

The door opened sometime later, and Snow walked in, the baby tucked in her arms, and she froze, seeing Elsa seated at the kitchen island. "Who are—" she began, when she turned her head, seeing David, Emma and Hook. A puzzled and slightly alarmed expression crossed her face as she walked in on a scene that was the furthest thing from normal (and in this town, that was saying something), and she whispered, "David? What on earth—?"

He gave her a half-hearted smile.

But Elsa beat him to the explanation. "It's my fault," she said, straightening immediately. "I'm the one who put up the ice wall. I… I accidentally trapped them in it. I didn't mean to," she said quickly, ashamedly.

"Trapped…?" repeated Snow, turning to David. "Trapped in ice?" She walked over toward them, seeing Emma's steady shivering, and Hook's noticeably smaller ones. Snow's eyes widened. "Emma!" She touched Emma's cheek. "She's so cold!"

"She's actually warm compared to when I found her," said David quietly, chest tight at the memory.

"I'm very sorry—" began Elsa, but David cut her off.

"It was an accident," he said reassuringly. "Elsa also freed them in time."

Elsa dipped her head, the words not making her feel any better in the least, and she sat back at the kitchen island, looking nothing short of miserable. David sighed.

Snow looked from Emma to Hook, then back to David. She seemed to catch the depth of his words. "'In time?'" she echoed. In a whisper, though Elsa was well out of earshot, she asked, "David, how close was it?"

David swallowed.

Hard.

"Close," he breathed. He held Emma tighter. "Really close." Finally allowing himself to actually deal with just how panicked he'd been, he whispered, "We almost lost her tonight, Snow."

Snow's face crumpled at that, and she knelt beside Emma, brushing the hair over her forehead. "Well," she said, smiling a little with the relief that her daughter was okay despite the close call, "then I'm glad she has a hero for a father."

David found his gaze drawn to Hook, still unconscious beside him. "I wasn't the hero this time."

She looked at him questioningly.

"Hook was," said David quietly. "Snow… when the wall fell, it was going to crush Emma." Snow let out a barely-audible gasp. "Hook just…" David shook his head. "I don't even know how he reacted so fast, but he did. He dove over her, and the paramedics said that the falling ice broke his ribs." Snow's lips parted, her gaze finding the pirate as well. And David suddenly hated that Hook's heroism, after all this time, was still shocking to them.

"They were trapped in that ice for almost two hours, Snow." He felt himself hold Emma tighter, recounting just how scared he'd been. "Emma was knocked out in the fall, but Hook…" He looked at his wife. "He gave Emma his coat, Snow." The sheer disbelief, the sheer gratitude deepened his words. "He didn't share the damn thing, he gave it to her. When I got to them, he'd even let her lay on him. He sat in that place that had to be less than ten degrees, with no coat." He looked at Hook. "He saved her, Snow. If he hadn't gone in after her, she'd have been the one in there with no coat, with no extra body heat to keep her warm, and she would have—" His voice caught, and a tear rolled down his cheek. "Snow, we almost lost her." he whispered.

A tear fell down Snow's own cheek.

"And he…" David went on, "When I found them, Hook wasn't even conscious. Emma was crying, trying to wake him up, you—you should have heard her. I've never heard her sound like that before." He held his daughter tighter. "When we found them, I… I thought he was dead." The icy feeling of that memory slid through his chest. "Whale said we got to him just in time. That any longer, he would have been critical, or… or worse."

Another tear spilled down Snow's cheek, and she rubbed his arm comfortingly, giving Hook a tender look. Looking back at David, she said, "But they're both okay. You saved them."

I didn't do anything, thought David miserably.

Looking at Hook, David felt that guilt sink through him. "Right before it happened, I… Snow, I accused him of treating Emma like some conquest of his." He looked at her, feeling the guilt killing him. "He almost died to save her, and I accused him of not caring about her."

"You're her father," said Snow softly, brushing her thumb over his arm. "You were just looking out for her. Any father would do the same."

"Yes, I'm her father," said David with a little heat of anger, only toward himself. "And Hook has done more for Emma than I ever have."

Snow sighed. Then, seeming to find a response, she said, "Well, our little girl is just lucky to have two men in her life who love her so much."

David's brows rose at that, his eyes finding Hook again.

Who love her.

He'd never associated the L-word with Hook's interest in Emma.

But after tonight…

It was impossible not to see it.

He loved her.

And after seeing how Emma reacted tonight when she couldn't wake him…

She loved him just as much.

Whether she admitted it to herself or not.

And surprisingly, the thought of his princess with the pirate—a thought that only ever made his skin crawl—made him smile.

David smiled, looking at Hook. "Seems she does."

Snow got up, pulling the throw blanket from the back of the couch and draping it over Hook's shivering form, tucking it around him even snugger than the paramedics did. She gave Hook a soft smile, rising back to her feet.

Snow looked around. "Where's Henry?"

David blinked.

That's right—Henry was staying here for the weekend.

Emma had said that Henry told her he'd meet her back at the loft after they'd checked out the power outage.

At David's puzzled look, Snow got up, finding the cell phone she left on the counter. Her brows shot up when it lit up, and David already knew what she saw: all the missed calls from him.

She let out a sigh, saying, "A text from Henry. He said he tried texting Emma but she didn't respond…" She hesitated at that, and David felt that panic from earlier flit through him. "But he said that he decided to go to Regina's anyway, and he'll be staying there this weekend to help cheer her up."

David smiled.

Every one of his family was safe and sound.

Looking down at Emma, who could not be comfortable in that chair, or half as warm as she would be in bed, he said, "I think it's time to get her in bed." Hesitating, because he knew she asked to be near Hook, he shook Emma's shoulder a little. "Emma? Emma, sweetie?"

He'll never get tired of being able to treat her like his true little girl.

She roused a little, looking very sleepy. "Hm?"

"Is it okay if I bring you to your bed?" he asked.

He wasn't exactly sure if she was completely with them, but she nodded after a second, then shut her eyes, falling back asleep almost instantly, and David couldn't help a little chuckle.

Once again, he gathered up his daughter in his arms, blankets and all, and started carrying her to the staircase. Once upstairs, he slowly lowered her to the mattress.

Snow came up the stairs just after he did, and she wound her arm around his waist, looking at her sleeping daughter with tears in her eyes. "It's almost like we didn't miss a day, seeing you with her like that," she whispered.

David smiled, tears stinging his own eyes. "I just wish it could have been her whole life."

Snow tightened her arm around him. "Me, too." She sighed, a sigh full of a million heartbreaks, and she said, "I'll get her out of those clothes and change her into something warmer."

David smiled, kissing Emma on the forehead, whispering, "I love you, babygirl."

Snow smiled at that, her heart touched just as much as Emma's would be if she'd heard him.

David left them alone, and Snow rummaged through Emma's drawers, finding her favorite pair of pajamas as well as a sweatshirt.

Once dressed in the warmer clothes, Snow tucked her under the covers.

All the movement seemed to wake Emma, and her sleepy eyes blinked open. "M-Mom?" she mumbled.

Snow smiled, always loving hearing that name through Emma's voice. "I'm right here, Emma, sweetie."

Emma smiled, her eyes shutting. She was still shivering, but she was already warmer to the touch.

Snow leaned over and kissed her forehead, right where David had, and she whispered, "I love you, Emma."

Eyes still closed, Emma smiled sleepily, mumbling, "Love you, too."

Snow smiled.

She tucked her in, underneath at least five blankets, and watched her baby girl fall back asleep, safe and sound.