How Deep Is Your Love

Chapter Two

"I think it's probably… time that I said… good night," Emma said hesitantly when she pulled back and gently pushed Killian away as he continued to try to kiss her. "I don't…"

"What's wrong, love?" he asked after he finally relented and looked into her eyes with a smug smile on his face. "Are you afraid? Or is it that you're afraid you'll be unable to continue to resist my charm if you kiss me for much longer?"

She chuckled and turned away from him, then answered, "I know you think that you're all that, but you're really not. I can resist your charm just fine. I have so far."

Killian leaned forward and kissed her gently on her forehead while he closed his eyes like she did, then he turned to walk toward the docks until he looked back at her as he responded, "If you really believe that's resisting, then I can't wait to see just how wonderful you are when you allow me in all the way. Good night, Swan. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night," she whispered after he walked away, leaving her to walk back inside Granny's alone.

"There you are," Mary Margaret called out in relief as Emma re-entered and found her parents with her baby brother in her father's arms, and Elsa had all come down from their loft apartment, having forgotten the reason why she left the diner in the first place. "We were hoping you'd be coming back soon. Are you alright?"

When her mother finished asking her daughter if she was okay, it was then that Emma swiftly broke from her thoughts as she stared between her parents with confusion as she asked, "What did you say? I'm sorry, I didn't hear you."

David looked at her with concern as he questioned again, "Are you alright? You seem… distracted. Worried. Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine," the Savior replied as she reached up to run her fingers along her lips, still feeling the lingering sensation of Hook's kisses, then started to walk past them until she paused and turned back to look at them. "Okay, not really. I am worried, but it isn't just the Snow Queen."

"Is this about Hook?" her father asked curtly. "You were pretty angry with him earlier. Not that I blame you. What he did was rash and thoughtless."

Emma looked at him and answered sternly, "He did what he did because he only wanted to protect me. That, and he wanted to help Elsa too."

The Queen of Arendelle spoke up quickly saying, "For which I am very grateful. I only wish his efforts didn't place him in harm's way. But at least we were finally able to discover who it is we are up against."

"Elsa's right," Mary Margaret responded in agreement. "We would all still be fighting blindly if it wasn't for Hook's irrational decision to try to go after our latest villain on his own, or… with Elsa too."

"No… it isn't about that," Emma replied as she looked away in frustration. "I mean it is, but it isn't. Not anymore it isn't. We talked and I understand now why he did it."

When she took a moment to recognize the look in her daughter's eyes as well as her earlier motions of placing her fingers to her lips, Snow finally understood as she smiled giddily and asked, "He kissed you again, didn't he?"

David glared between the women in his life as he retorted with anger, "He did what?"

"Are you really going to freak out every time Mom mentions something about Hook kissing me?" Emma stated brusquely when she glared back at her father. "Yes, he kissed me. But there was more to it than that. The way he looked at me… looked into my eyes like he was so confident we are meant to be together and I couldn't deny I really believed him for a moment. He almost died today and I told him I couldn't lose him like I lost Neal, Graham, or even Walsh, yet Killian reassured me that he's a survivor. However, all of that's not the only thing worrying me right now, nor is the fact that we've only just met this Snow Queen and she seems to know me and Elsa better than we even know. There's something else."

"You can tell us, honey," Mary Margaret said after she swiftly smacked her husband before he could interrupt again. "Is this about what happens next, between you and Hook I mean?"

The Savior sighed and then she finally answered, "I don't know what happens next. But I know… or I think I know that I want something to happen next. I'm just not sure if anything can. Hook… Killian isn't the same, selfish man he was when he first came here. And he's not like the others. There's something I haven't told you yet. Mom, I told you we shared our first kiss since Neverland the other night after we got back. But it wasn't just because I was thankful he helped me get back home to you guys. While we were trapped in your time, he made me realize how much I really needed you, all of you. I finally understood and appreciated that Storybrooke was my home. I never would have been able to learn any of that if it wasn't for him."

Elsa spoke up again saying, "That's wonderful, Emma."

"I know," she responded somberly as she looked over at her new friend and then between the others within the room. "He told me something else too. We were all so caught with ourselves and everything that's going on right now, we never even noticed, but the Jolly Roger is no longer docked in the harbor."

"Are you saying Hook never found his ship?" Charming asked with genuine concern, despite his apprehension toward the pirate's feelings for his daughter. "He was looking for it during the missing year, but with Zelena and…"

Emma suddenly replied in interruption, "Actually he did find it. He was able to get to me and Henry in New York because of it, but not because he steered it through a portal and docked it in the harbor before coming to find us. It's because Killian traded the Jolly Roger to someone for a magic bean. He gave the only home he's ever known for centuries in order to save us all. If he hadn't, we'd all still be trapped where we were before we found ourselves back here again, with no memories and in the mercy of the Wicked Witch of the West."

David looked at his daughter with surprise and then turned to Mary Margaret while Elsa answered, "It clear that Hook cares about you very much, Emma. I saw it this afternoon the more we spoke, but even more so now."

"But how can I really allow myself to let him in with everything else that going on right now?" the Savior asked worryingly. "This ice witch is dangerous and she nearly killed him earlier. Not to mention that I am the Savior and it's my job to make sure that everyone remains safe too so long as we're fighting against her. And then there's Henry and…"

"I think Henry would be thrilled to know that his mom is moving on from all the pain and loss she's felt in her past and allowing herself to finally be happy," Snow responded firmly. "He may still be mourning the loss of his father, but he knows you can't stay single for the rest of your life and surely he would want you to be happy as much as we do. Talk to him and tell him the truth. And then ask Hook out on a date, a real date. Let him know that you're willing to try to take the first step with him. Your father may not like this idea, but I think it's wonderful. After all Killian's done for you and for us, the least we can do is accept that he's a part of our lives and that he's someone special to you, whether something more comes between the two of you or not."

Emma looked at her mother with sadness in her eyes as she asked, "What if I do let him into my heart and something more does come between us, but then he decides that I'm not worth the pain and aggravation any longer after all the trouble that comes with me being who I am, with my walls and the burdens of me being the Savior of an entire town filled with magic and power hungry villains. Especially with… Rumpelstiltskin. I know how much pain he's still suffering because of that bastard, changed or not."

Mary Margaret moved to stand directly in front of her daughter as she continued gently, "Do you remember what it was he told you in Neverland, inside Echo Cave upon revealing his darkest secret?"

"But it was just a kiss," Emma stated as she stared at the pirate in frustration. "How's that your darkest secret?"

"It's what the kiss exposed," Killian replied sadly. "My secret is, I never thought I'd be capable of letting go of my first love... of my Milah... to believe that I could find someone else that is, until I met you."

Emma broke away from the memory that flooded her mind and stared back at Mary Margaret as she answered, "Yeah I do. He was trying to tell me he had found love again, and he's never given up trying to prove it since."

Snow smiled and then responded, "Exactly. And if that's really true, do you honestly believe that he would have sacrificed the one thing that meant more to him in three hundred years if there was any chance he was going to leave you? After everything you two have been through together, I don't believe he's going anywhere. Open your heart to the possibility of love, Emma. No matter the heartache I suffered since your father entered my life because of the Evil Queen, I never would have given up the love we share for anything."

"I agree with your mother," David added as he pulled his wife into his arms and kissed her, then turned back to Emma. "At least about our love and the fact I would never give it up for anything in the world. Hook I'm not so sure about. If you do decide to listen to your mother and he does break your heart, I'll kill him."

"I doubt that'll be necessary," the Savior replied humorously after she snickered at her father's threat against the man she couldn't deny she was beginning to care about as more than just the friend he had become while they were in Neverland. "I'd kill Hook myself before you would have the chance, that is if the Snow Queen doesn't take care of him first. In fact, I may just decide to kill him beforehand if he ever decides to go looking for danger again in order to try to protect me."

Elsa quickly stood up for Hook stated, "That was partly my fault. I fought with him about going to the sheriff's station like where you told us to go. I wanted to find this woman even more than he did in hope that I would be able to discover how she has magic like mine."

David scoffed as he answered, "Don't worry about it. He didn't need you to convince him to help you."

"Dad's right," Emma responded. "I don't doubt that he already decided to go against my wishes seconds after I expressed them. Now, if you don't mind I'm going to head to bed, or at least I'm going to try to get some sleep. I have a lot to think about. Thank you for the advice, Mom. You may be right."

"I hope I am," Mary Margaret replied to herself as she watched Emma walk up the stairs toward their loft they all shared and then looked down at her son within her arms. "I think that your sister's finally beginning to come around to letting love back into her life. Who would have thought that Captain Hook would have been the man to help her do it?"