Killian glanced down at the woman walking beside him with drooping eyelids and faltered footsteps and he frowned knowing they should have stopped long ago, as soon as the sun started setting. She'd urged him on, some new twinkle in her eye over the fact that night might actually be better – didn't fairy tale things prefer the cover of darkness. Lifting her up into his arms, he laughed when she immediately dropped her head to his shoulder and fell asleep and he sighed her name in amusement.

"Darkness is not a place for one such as yourself," he told her silently.

He shook away the thought, reminding himself that as much as he continued to think of her as some dainty princess from a faraway land – royalty he had somehow managed to be charged with and managed to fancy just a bit too much – she was just a girl he'd gotten into trouble. With a smile and a glance at the calm face, Killian imagined she wasn't the type to stray too far from home often. Her skin was too pale; features too soft.

Taking refuge in a cave, he settled her down, smiling when she moaned lightly, and he started a fire, deciding to leave her for a few moments to search for something to eat and returning with a rabbit held tight in a bloodied hand. Grimacing, he skinned, gutted, and worked a stick through the carcass before slowly cooking it as she slept by his side. He frowned because he could hear her muttering something incoherent, face crumpling against another nightmare and when she gasped and sat up, she looked confused, touching her head and then glancing up at him with furrowed brow.

"You caught a rabbit?"

He nodded.

Clara licked at her lips and adjusted herself to sit next to him, inching closer to him as she shivered against the cool night air, arms wrapping around her shoulders as she watched the meat he turned over just above the fire. She was lost in thought and he considered her. Her nightmares were about her mum, he'd gathered that much, and as she lifted her hands to warm next to the flames, he shifted uncomfortably.

"What happened to her?" He asked quickly, then added, "Your mum."

She eyed him a moment and he could see the blank stare that replaced the immediate shock of the question and he knew he shouldn't have asked. But she replied in a whisper, "She died a couple years ago."

"I'm sorry," he sighed.

Clara flashed him a quick smile and shook her head, "Sort of a crazy day, mannequins coming to life – they sort of attacked the city for a while and she… she pushed me out of the way of a shot."

Her lips came together tightly as her eyes glistened in the firelight and Killian understood: she'd watched her own mother die, probably held her as she took her last breath. Not unlike he'd done with his brother. His head dropped slightly and she leaned into him, small sniffle audible through the crackling of the fire and he raised his arm automatically to drop onto her shoulder, hugging her tightly.

"How long was I asleep?" She asked quietly.

"Not long," he told her honestly, "We should stop for the night. I heard a brook not far; we can search it out in the morning." Killian looked out over the forest and then turned to look at her, tucked at his side, as she plucked at her own fingers in her lap and curled her legs towards him. "Don't get too comfortable, pet," he teased, "I could get used to this."

She managed a smile, eyes finding his before she offered, "Maybe I wouldn't mind."

Killian looked away because he was convinced she could see the blush staining his cheeks and he absently rubbed at one with his right shoulder, as if he could wipe it away. And he pursed his lips when he glanced back at her, seeing her chuckling softly to herself. He hated how easily she affected him and he unfurled away from her to check the rabbit, passing her pieces until it was bones hanging limply and her eyelids were dropping again with a full stomach.

"Clara?"

Raising her head to look at him with sleepy eyes and a faint smile, she nodded.

He took a long breath as he watched her body quiver slightly when a breeze found her and he leaned back against the curved cave wall and beckoned her to him. Clara picked herself up, gathering the dress in her fists, and she took the few steps towards him and then dropped down in front of him, spreading herself at his side and laying a palm against his chest before her head joined it. She released a long sigh of tired contentment.

Leaning his head back against the rough surface, Killian snaked his arm out from his side and shifted it around her delicately, slipping down with her to lie against the ground. Clara snuggled in closer and he huffed a laugh as she made a noise of gratification and he lifted his free hand to stroke his knuckle along her cheek, flicking her nose lightly with the tip of his finger before he dropped his hand to his stomach and slowly let himself drift to sleep.

When he woke, he smiled instantly, feeling her back pressed flush against his chest, her hands curled up around the arm draped across her chest. Her head was cradled in the crook of his left arm and she breathed calmly, in tandem with him and it struck him how natural it all felt. Inhaling her scent, he closed his eyes and imagined that maybe she'd been taken into the portal with him for a reason – maybe she wasn't meant to be returned. Maybe, he thought to himself for the smallest increment of time, maybe she was supposed to be out of time with a strange man from a strange land.

He chuckled to himself softly and nuzzled into her hair, grinning when she released a small sleepy laugh and muttered his name. He chanced to kiss the side of her neck, reveling in the feel of her warm skin against his lips and she shifted, rolling against him onto her back to look up at him in confusion before calling his name again, this time a question.

"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?" He asked, voice barely audible.

Clara bit her bottom lip and stared up at him curiously and Killian didn't hesitate to drop his lips to hers, sighing when she offered no resistance to his exploration, simply brought a hand up to grip at his vest. His hand slid to her waist, turning her up against him as she gasped into him, fingers sliding down to the first button to begin twisting it free. And then the floor vibrated underneath them with the stomp of an oversized foot and they broke away, staring at one another before shifting to look towards the opening where the five large toes scratched against the space just outside of the cave's entrance.

And then a set of fat fingers reached inside, grabbing hold of them both.