The next day, Hook and Emma passed through the mountains with minimal action and reached the top of the cliff and Emma peered down over the edge. It was a long fall down to the ocean below, and would be a hard fall at the bottom. "I don't think this is the place," Emma said in an annoyed tone.
"You doubt me?" Hook said.
"There's nothing here. Just the ocean, the long fall down, and..."
"And this tree stump?" Hook said, standing by it in triumph.
"I highly doubt that you can make a home in a tree stump," Emma said, rolling her eyes. Hook cleared his throat and stepped on one of the roots. The top opened and Emma looked down to see a tunnel with a long rope ladder. "How?..."
"I spent time with the lost boys. They were very creative when it came to their hiding places. I merely borrowed the idea for this land whenever I needed to stop in. I always came alone, of course, my crew didn't even know about this," Hook explained. "Shall we?" Emma gestured for him to go first, to which he smiled at her and started their way down. When they reached the bottom, the room was completely furnished.
"Did it look like this in our world?" Emma asked.
"Not exactly," Hook said. As he turned to make a further investigation, he was met by the tip of a sword, but the person behind it gave him more of a surprise. "You..." The face of himself stared back at him, only he had a patch over his eye where a long scar was, giving him an even further pirate stereotype. The other Hook looked back at him in surprise.
"Who in blazes are you?" The other Hook looked between his counterpart and Emma. "What sorcery is this?"
"Killian, who are you..." Another Emma rounded the corner of the second room and stopped in disbelief. Her husband was pointing a sword at...himself? "How?"
"Trust me, we're still asking questions ourselves," Emma said. "We don't want to hurt you, we're just trying to figure out how to get home." Killian lowered his sword and Hook nodded respectfully. "I think we should all sit down." The other Hook and Emma sat on a couch together, still looking a bit hesitant, but he put his arm around Emma and she held his hook in her hand. Hook stared at the scene, almost a bit jealous of the intimacy between them. Emma and Hook sat in single chairs, which made their counterparts look even more confused.
"Um...maybe we should start by making sure we address each other uniquely," the other Emma said. "I call him Killian here. Do you still call him Hook?" Hook nodded.
"Okay, that was the easy one. What should we do?" Emma said.
"Um...well, I do call you 'Swan', darling, maybe that would work," Killian said. Hook and Emma looked at him confused.
"That's my last name in my world. How do you know to call her that?" Emma asked.
"I don't know," Killian shrugged. "When we first met, she had grown up thinking that she was ugly and unwanted, when I knew her to be beautiful and strong. Swan just seemed to fit how I saw her." Hook and Emma exchanged uncomfortable glances. "Well, now that that is settled- who are you?"
"We're from the Enchanted Forest, only a different version," Hook said. "We were sent here by Cora. Does she exist here?"
"No," Swan said. "Regina killed her when I was young. Cora tried to kill the Dark One to take his powers, but Regina wants him alive. She wants to torture him that he can never cross lands to get back to his son, and that he tried to use her to enact a curse to get him there."
"In our land she did enact the curse. What stopped her here?" Emma asked.
"She killed my mother instead," Swan said sadly, which made Killian hold her tighter. "She enacted the Empty Heart curse, leaving my father to think he loved Regina. It was her final revenge on my mother- to kill her with the thought of knowing that her true love would love Regina instead." Killian rubbed her back and pressed his forehead to hers. Hook and Emma were in disbelief over the tenderness between them.
"And um," Hook said, clearing his throat. "You two are..."
"We married in secret," Killian said. "Her father was going to execute me for being in love with his daughter. She freed me, we found a priest, and we've lived in hiding ever since. I sacrificed my own ship to create the illusion that we died at sea."
"You sunk my ship?" Hook asked, a bit angrily. "You sunk the most marvelous boat in all the realms? Over her?" He pointed at his own Emma instead of at Killian's. Emma looked down, a bit hurt.
"You obviously haven't realized the potential of true love between you two," Killian said firmly, pulling his Emma closer. "She's more precious to me than anything."
"Stop, you're making me feel ill," Hook said, rising and starting to pace. Emma rolled her eyes.
"I apologize for his behavior," Emma said. "We only met recently." Killian and Swan nodded.
"Ah, now I understand," Swan said. "If he's anything like my Killian, this won't last long. But my condolences in dealing with him until then."
"Mine too," Killian added with a grin. "You don't know what you're missing, mate."
"Oh, I think you lucked out on the deal in this universe, mate. If I were to guess I don't think your Emma would abandon you on a beanstalk," Hook said, glaring at Emma.
"I wouldn't abandon him anywhere," Swan said, leaning in to give Killian a kiss, instantly getting lost in each other. Emma looked uncomfortable and got up to talk to Hook, since the other two were temporarily in their own world.
"I would never be that...blinded by love. It's almost pathetic," Emma said under her breath.
"Or maybe you should be. Maybe if you hadn't stood on ceremony before the giant showed up, you wouldn't have abandoned me on the beanstalk. That could be us right now," Hook said, gesturing towards them, who were still lip locked. Hook stared at them for a moment, only to be shaken out of it by Emma slapping his shoulder hard. "Ow!"
"Don't stare at them!"
"What?! I wasn't!" The two stood uncomfortably until Killian and Swan came back to reality. They both looked a bit sheepish.
"Sorry, we haven't been around people for a while. When the moment strikes, we just get lost," Killian explained.
"Must be nice," Hook said, glaring at Emma. Killian and Swan exchanged glances, giving each other a small squeeze.
"So, how can we help you," Swan asked.
"Do you know of any way that we can get back to our land?" Emma asked. Killian got up and retrieved a small treasure chest from the shelf. He pulled out a small bag that contained a single magic bean.
"It's the only one I have left," Killian said. "We thought about using it so many times, escaping to a different land, so we don't have to live in hiding."
"Why don't you?" Hook asked.
"Because of my father," Swan said. "I know if we can figure out how to break my father's curse, we can stop Regina."
"But instead you're hiding in some hole," Hook stated, this time receiving glares from all of them.
"He needs true love's kiss," Swan said pointedly. "But my Mother is gone."
"What about the lake?" Hook said simply. "I'm sure that could restore his memories."
"Too dangerous. There are soldiers all over the place, probably more since they've seen you," Killian said.
"We'll help you," Emma said.
"We will?" Hook asked, getting another glare from Emma. "Yes, apparently we will."
"There's two of us and two of you. Together I'm sure we can get the water to get to your father. Trust me, I'd feel better knowing that my father was not with Regina in any universe. My parents would too when we return to them," Emma said. Swan tensed instantly.
"You...you have both your parents?" Emma nodded sympathetically to her.
"Yeah, I do. But I didn't meet them until this past year. I grew up without both of them," Emma said. Swan nodded and Killian held her close. Without thinking, Hook put his hand on Emma's shoulder, which made her look at him in shock. He gave her an encouraging nod.
"Well, um, we'll find a way to help each other," Hook stated.
The four of them decided to stay underground for the night to figure out a plan and then venture out in the morning. Killian and Swan retired to their room after discussing their plan, leaving Emma and Hook in the main room to sleep. Hook insisted on taking the floor, leaving Emma to take the couch. He handed her the warmer blanket and she gave him the fluffier pillow. As they lay in the darkness, neither one of them was able to sleep.
"Hook? Are you awake?"
"Yes, lass. Although I'm accustomed to a ship's bunk, this floor isn't the most comfortable," Hook admitted. Emma leaned over and lit the candle next to her. Hook turned on his side and propped his head up on his good arm, since she obviously wanted to talk.
"Do you, um...was it weird for you? Seeing you with me? Well...the other world you and me," Emma asked.
"It's another world, another life. Fortune obviously favored them here," Hook said with a shrug. "Why?"
"I don't know. Sometimes I think about what my life could have been if they curse hadn't happened. What life as a princess would be," Emma said, looking down and playing with the corner of her blanket.
"And being in hiding and married to a pirate wasn't in your calculations?" Hook finished for her.
"No! I mean, not exactly. I would have hoped that both my parents would be alive to start. I still can't picture myself in the princess gowns or anything," Emma said.
"I think you'd look quite lovely in a gown," Hook said. "Your hair up, the candlelight reflecting in your eyes..."
"Have you thought about this?" Emma asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise. She couldn't help but smile a little.
"No, not really," he covered. "Are you blushing?"
"No, of course not!" The both looked away from each other and laid in silence for a little. "You seemed kind of annoyed that Killian isn't doing anything down here."
"I'm honestly more upset that he blew up my ship, but yeah, I don't see myself not taking action," Hook said. "Especially if it meant protecting someone I loved."
"Maybe he is trying to protect her. Or maybe she won't allow him to take action, because if she were to lose him, she wouldn't have anyone," Emma said, trying to defend, well, herself. Hook looked into her eyes.
"Is that what you fear? Being alone forever?" Emma tensed her jaw and looked away. "You know, Emma, when you abandoned me, you said you didn't want to be wrong about me. Is that what you were really afraid of- being just another man who will leave you to fend for yourself? I may be a pirate, love, but I do have my honor. I kept my word and helped you, I distracted the giant so he wouldn't see you, when the giant was coming all I could think about was that I couldn't let you get crushed," Hook said.
"You did?"
"Well...yes," Hook stated. He got up a little so he could sit directly next to her. She instinctively pulled away a little, but held his gaze. "There's something about you, Emma. It's something I don't quite understand."
"It's obviously not love, you've felt that before," Emma said, more telling herself to avoid disappointment than telling Hook. He looked at her expression and her posture and could suddenly know what she was thinking. She had experienced too much pain in her life to expect anyone to treat her differently. Emma looked up and caught his eyes. They were soft as he gazed at her, and she could easily get lost in them. She swallowed a little as he seemed to be looking at her lips. Emma laid there frozen, not wanting to read his body language. Hook leaned towards her, only to get up instead. Emma tried to hide her disappointment as he laid back down on the floor and pulled the blanket over him, facing the other direction. Hook sighed as he closed his eyes.
"Good night, Emma," he whispered.
"Good night, Hook," she said, blowing out the candle.