They finally reached the beanstalk and Hook set Emma down on the clouds. He was out of breath, glancing back at the castle to make sure the giant wasn't following. He looked back to Emma. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah I think so," Emma squeezed her eyes shut. Her entire body was in pain from nearly being crushed.

"Did he break anything?" Hook knelt down, trying to check her.

Emma pulled away a bit, sitting up more. "I'm fine…I mean…I don't think anything's broken. I'm just gonna be sore for a while I guess."

"Can you climb back down?" he looked at her hesitantly, then to the beanstalk, contemplating how he could get her back to safety.

"Just…just give me a minute," Emma replied, "I'll be able to do it."

Hook sighed, standing back up. He kept looking back to the castle a bit nervously.

"You don't think that thing is coming for us do you?" Emma asked.

"He shouldn't be," Hook glanced back at her, "But you can never be too careful."

"Right," Emma murmured.

They were silent for a while as Hook let her take as much time as she needed to recover. Emma tried to keep her gaze on the clouds but she kept glancing up at him. Finally, she murmured, "I'm sorry."

His brow furrowed and he turned to face her. "Whatever for?"

"Well I'm the one who screwed up and got us caught. I cost us the compass." She looked down, angry with herself for ruining their chance to get back to Storybrooke, back to Henry.

Hook began to laugh. Her head snapped up and she looked at him. "What?"

"You didn't cost us anything," he reached into his satchel and pulled out a small wooden box. He tossed it to her. Emma opened it, revealing the compass inside. Her eyes widened and she looked back at him. "When did you-"

"Right before you made the commotion. I was able to put it in my bag before the giant came after us."

She stared at him disbelieving then looked back down to the compass. "So you already had it. You'd gotten what you went in for. You could have left," slowly she looked back up at him, her eyes questioning, "So why did you come back?"

Hook smiled at her. "Well I do consider myself an honorable man. You didn't think I'd let you get crushed by a giant, did you Princess?"

She stiffened a bit at the title, looking back down. Her mind swam.

"Oh that's right," Hook said, "You don't want to be called that. My apologies." He gave her a slight bow.

"Uhm, actually," Emma looked back up, "I don't think I have the right to tell you what you can and can't call me. Not after what you did back there."

"All the same, I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable," Hook grinned, "Emma."

She raised her eyebrow a bit at him, but smiled too. "You know, I think I'm ready to go back down."

"Are you certain?" he looked unsure.

"I'll be fine. That thing didn't have enough time to wreck anything I needed," her smile widened.

"Well in that case we should get back to your mother," he extended his hand to help her up, "Assure her that the pirate left you unharmed." Emma took his hand and stood up.

"Ah! I almost forgot," he pulled the sword from his belt and handed it to her, "Your sword."

"Thank you," she took it from him, now studying him with a quizzical expression. She didn't understand him at all. He lied about his identity and she had been certain he was still in league with Cora; but now he seemed…genuine? She didn't understand it. He was a pirate. He was Captain Hook. He'd admitted to working with Cora. But he wasn't lying now. He'd saved her life. He hadn't abandoned her. She couldn't wrap her mind around it.

"Is something the matter?" he asked.

"No, nothing," she shook her head, "Are you ready?"

He studied her for a moment and then smiled. "I'll go first? Only for your safety of course." He looked at her, as if waiting for her permission.

"Uhm...yeah, sure…" she shrugged, "Thanks."

He climbed onto the beanstalk and began to descend. Just before the clouds consumed him he looked back up at her and the corner of his mouth rose a bit. Emma returned his smile with one of her own. He gave her a slight nod and then disappeared into the clouds. Emma stared after him for a moment, her mind still swimming with questions; but as she climbed onto the beanstalk she found it hard to suppress her smile.