Okay, I lied when I said there would be only five chapters to this story; I didn't know it was a lie at that time, but in the end I couldn't leave Hook like this, so here's an epilogue. Enjoy!

Epilogue

Two years later, in the Enchanted Forest of a parallel universe.

Leaning over the railing of his ship with his flask of rum in his hand, Hook was gazing at the ocean. He was hopeful: in two years, he had never been so close to achieve his goal.

Two years earlier, he had seen Emma jump through a portal bringing her back to Storybrooke. One of the last things she had told him was to never forget what he was fighting for, and he never did. In barely two days, she had come into his life and turned it upside-down: after centuries spent fighting for revenge, he had started fighting for love. Convinced that if there were two versions of him, there had to be another version of Emma, he had set out on a quest to find her.

Not a day went by when he didn't think of her. There were days when he was tempted to think that his quest was vain, but every time he decided not to give up, keeping in mind that, if he was unwilling to fight for what he wanted, he would deserve what he would get. He couldn't give up; if there was an Emma somewhere out there, and a possibility of a future with her, he would never stop fighting for them.

His quest led him to cross the Enchanted Forest in search for any information he could collect on other realms or on how to travel from one to the other. It required him to go from village to village and question anyone who might know anything about it. He rarely got any useful information, but it was for him the occasion to hear other stories, and he was delighted to learn that Blackbeard had finally realized he had been tricked and was going mad because of this. In the meantime, Hook kept living aboard the Jolly Roger which was still invisible because Emma's spell had remained.

Almost two years after his life had been turned upside-down, Hook came across an old druid who told him stories about a man called the Apprentice. According to the druid, the Apprentice had an unequalled knowledge: if there was anyone able to help him, it would be him. The druid was able to indicate only vaguely where the man lived, and his quirkiness made Hook doubt that he was trustworthy, but since it was his only current lead, he gave it a try, and he was right to: he spent weeks looking for him, striding across the forest until, finally, he found the remote cottage he had been told about.

The old man who opened the door welcomed him with open arms, which surprised Hook; strangers were usually more mistrustful towards him. But the fact was that he was no stranger to the Apprentice: the old man happened to know everything about him, and about his quest to find Emma. Hook was even more surprised when he told him that he could actually help him: after confirming that there were parallel Enchanted Forests with other versions of themselves, the Apprentice mentioned a magic bean that he had in his possession and that he was keeping for exceptional occasions – occasions like this one; he revealed that he had been watching Hook for a while, following him in his quest and admiring how wholeheartedly dedicated he was.

With the magic bean in his pocket, Hook went back to his ship. All he needed to do was to think of where he wanted to go and to sail through the portal. That was how he found himself in a parallel Enchanted Forest, where the Jolly Roger became visible to everyone again as Emma's spell seemed to be lifted. It was night-time when he arrived at the village overhung by the castle. Deciding that waiting for the next day was wiser, he headed to the tavern where he approached strangers. He mentioned that he had come a long way – just not how long – before asking questions about the kingdom. His heart started to pound as soon as he was told that Princess Emma lived at the castle with her parents, Queen Snow-White and King David. The more stories he heard about her, the more impatient he was to meet her: the royal family seemed to inspire nothing but respect and admiration and, according to the tales he was told, Emma was much appreciated by everyone. She was known as a tough princess who spent more time outside, protecting her kingdom, than at the castle. Rumours were that, when she was inside, she was likely to be reading a book and daydreaming about adventures. This piece of information filled Hook with hope: a life of adventures happened to be, in his mind, one of the only things he was able to offer her.

On the next morning, he headed to the castle. It didn't take him long before getting caught by two guards. He didn't even try to fight: because he had trespassed and this was against the rules, he knew they would take him to the royals, which was exactly what he wanted. With his arms tied in his back, he was led to a room where two people, that he guessed were the king and the queen, were sitting in thrones. One of the guards informed them that he had been found breaking into the castle. That was when he stopped paying attention because there she was: Princess Emma had just entered the room and went to stand next to her parents. She was even more beautiful than in his memories. Surely because she wondered why he was gazing at her this way, she didn't take her eyes off him. Her look was far from being as soft as the one he had got used to two years earlier, but he didn't take this as off-putting, on the contrary: he loved a challenge.

One of the guards poked him with his sword. "Answer the king!"

Tearing his gaze away from the princess, Hook glanced at the king who repeated his question, "Who are you?"

The pirate fixed his gaze on Emma again as he answered, "I'm Captain Hook. But you can also call me Killian Jones. I've travelled a long way. I come from another realm."

"Another realm? So that's true? Other realms exist?" The princess had her eyes wide open and filled with curiosity and wonder.

"Aye," he confirmed.

He was about to say more about it, but her father interrupted him. "What brought you here?"

"I'm here for Emma."

The princess opened wide eyes again, and the king stood up and protectively went closer to his daughter.

"What do you want with her?"

"I promise I mean her no harm."

"You're a pirate. And you trespassed in our castle. For that, you will be sent to the dungeons."

"Dad." The princess placed a hand on his arm to catch his attention. "We both know the trespass is not the reason why you want to lock him up. But I can feel he's not lying when he says that he doesn't mean to cause any harm. He can be trusted."

"He's a pirate," the king insisted.

"David," Snow said on a reproving tone, taking her daughter's side.

"Fine," the king sighed and addressed the guards. "Lead him back to the front doors."

The pirate and the princess exchanged a smile. He didn't know how she knew he could be trusted, but all that mattered was that she did. He had been in the same room as her for only a few minutes and, already, he could see her eyes had softened.

The guards made him turn his back on her but, before he reached the doors, he said out loud, "If anyone wishes to find me, all they have to do is to go to the docks. I will be aboard the Jolly Roger."

Once outside the castle, Hook went back to his ship. He spent the rest of the morning and a part of the afternoon waiting on deck, admiring the ocean and daydreaming of the princess he had just met. He was unable to forget her eyes filled with curiosity and awe, and wondered if she would be curious enough to follow his indications and come to find him. He had doubts but was still hopeful: his quest had led him there and he was closer to achieve his goal than he had ever been.

He was leaning over the railing of the Jolly Roger with his flask of rum in his hand, gazing at the ocean, when the voice he had been dreaming to hear pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Killian?"

He instantly turned around and there she was, aboard his ship. "You came."

"You look surprised I did," she said whilst pulling off her hood and coming closer.

"I was hoping you'd come, but I wasn't certain you would."

She shrugged. "I wasn't sure I would, either."

"What convinced you?" he inquired, forcing himself to remain still and resist the urge to run to her and wrap her in his arms.

Her mouth fell slightly open. "I don't know."

"Deep down, you do." He could see it in her eyes.

She bit her lip. "You said you came here for me." A light blush covered her cheeks and she tore her gaze away from him to glance at the ship instead. "And you get to travel a lot."

"So it's true, what is said about you?"

"What is said about me?"

"That you dream of adventures."

Biting her lip again, she looked up at the mast and the sails. "My life is great, here. I have everything. And I love horseriding through the forest and taking care of the kingdom. But I'm not supposed to cross the borders. There seems to be so much more to see, but I can't go there. I guess what is said about me is right. I would love to have the chance, one day, to go further and explore more of the world."

"That day could be today."

"What?"

"Come with me. I can show you the world!"

"I… I can't leave the kingdom just like that. And my parents think that I'm horseriding in the forest. They'll get worried if I'm not back by sunset. What about you, anyway? What's your reason for being here, exactly?"

"It's you." His answer was so instant that she arched her eyebrows, and he added, "I've spent two years looking for you."

"Two years? But you don't even know me."

"I do. Sort of. It would be too complicated to explain. Would you let me tell you about this only later?"

She nodded and he rejoiced in the idea that there would be a 'later'.

"But I still don't understand," she said. "Let's assume that you do know who I am; why would you spend two years looking for me? No one's ever done that before."

"Have you ever been in love?"

She looked suspicious. "No, I've never been in love."

"Does that mean there is no one holding your heart?" he inquired, hopeful.

"There is no one holding my heart," she confirmed.

Hook felt excitement run through his body. He was looking at her and all he wanted was to close the distance and hold her against him; to kiss these lips he had dreamt of. But he needed to resist.

"Why are you asking all these questions?" she asked.

"Because…" Because he loved her and he just wanted to be with her, and he had reasons to believe that it could work. He also had reasons to believe that it was too early to tell her all of this. "I was wondering if you would agree to come sailing with me. We wouldn't go far, so that we would be back before sunset."

She bit her lip and glanced up at the sails. "Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes," she confirmed. She narrowed the distance between them and looked him in the eye. "Now is my turn to ask a question: this doesn't have to be a one-time thing, right?"

His heart skipped a beat and he shook his head. "Unless you want it to be a one-time thing, it doesn't have to be. I have all the time in the world, we can come and go as you wish."

"Good!"

This was how a new story – their story – started: they set sail together for the first time, which happened to be the first of countless times.