5. AT LAST I SEE THE LIGHT.

"So, are you going to tell me what happens?" asked Emma.

"What happens with what?" asked Killian in response. He was at the helm while she was the one who was looking at the map, giving him the correct directions.

"With you. I've known you for more than a year, Hook, and I've never seen you so... how to describe it? generous, polite, hard-working, interested in something which is not you or your revenge, happy... there must be an explanation for this."

"I'm changing." he simply answered.

"The question is why you're changing" she insisted.

"Do you need an explanation? I used to be alone and embittered, but, since I met you all, I've remembered what it's like to have company and since I can't take my revenge I've decided to make a little change in my life."

"Since you met us all or since you met a person in particular?" Emma wasn't so stupid to ignore since when the captain's attitude had changed the most.

"What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously.

"Well, we all have been quite busy these days, but I've noticed that you spend quite a lot of time with Aurora lately."

"Are you jealous?"

"You wish." she answered ironically, but she wasn't willing to leave the subject so easily "So tell me, has she anything to do with your new attitude?"

"That little princess? Why, because she was the only person who cared about how I felt when you chose Baelfire and the only one who helped me while you were very busy staring at each other like teenagers?" Emma remained silent for a moment, processing what he'd just said.

"Hook... I... I'm sorry, I won't say I didn't feel anything towards you... but I just love him." he'd got it, he'd made her forget about Aurora.

"And I know. I'm not so selfish. If it's you what he wants I won't stop him. He's still Milah's son and I don't have the right to steal someone from him after what I did when he was a child."

"I'm the one who's been selfish. I should have noticed you needed a friend then."

"It doesn't matter anymore. So do I keep going straight?" she checked the map.

"Yeah... I'm glad we've talked about it."

"Me too." he extended his right arm "So we are friends, aren't we?"

"Of course" she shook hands with him.

Later, he realized something: that had been the first serious conversation he'd had with Emma since they'd arrived Fairytale Land. It was surprising to compare how he'd felt that day and how he was now, and the guilty of that was Aurora, although he wouldn't tell it to anyone. He had finally been truth to himself. The dance they'd shared had opened his eyes and, in the following days, his suspicions were confirmed: he didn't know how much time he had been like that, he only knew that he loved her. Why hadn't he noticed it before? Maybe he'd known it deep inside (let's see: he'd done his best to become a better person, he'd felt as excited about life as he hadn't been since Milah's death, he'd put a lot of effort to make her life better, etc. etc.), but his brain had insisted in calling it 'special friendship' until the rest of his body told him the truth that night. And he was sure she felt something too, he was captain Hook, maybe he had been really in love just two times in the past but he certainly knew women.

Now he didn't know what to do, should he tell her something? Or had he let that relationship go too far? Being friends with a pirate was weird (and probably dangerous) enough, but being a couple could be too much. He didn't feel he was good enough for her and her perfect life, which, by the way, would be very likely to deteriorate if they got together. By the way, a princess wasn't made to be with a pirate, they were from totally different worlds, they would probably never fit in each other's ones. Maybe it would be better to swallow his selfishness, keep his distance and let her live the life she was destined to... in spite of how much he wanted to be with her and the happiness she was able to bring to him. But what if all that stuff didn't matter to her? What if they gave it a try and it worked?

.

The night fell and Aurora was alone on the deck. She couldn't sleep since she had too much to think about. She was afraid, afraid of what she felt for Killian. She, who claimed to recognize love when she saw it, hadn't been able to notice her own one. 'You behave like that because you care about him' she'd tried to convince herself, to lie to herself. She'd fallen in love slowly, without even noticing, as a result of that care. But she felt stupid... and a traitor. Stupid because there she was, moaning for a pirate who was surely not interested in her, why would he feel something for a weak and spoiled princess like her? They were just too different, she was surely not what he wanted in a woman. And if he felt something, that was just impossible: a princess and a pirate, what would people say? What would her friends say? Was that kind of relationship able to come to a happy ending? By the way, and that was why she felt a traitor, wasn't she supposed to have already a true love? A gentle and brave man who would give his life for her? But another question had been hitting her mind in the last days: did she still love Phillip?

"Why don't you look above?" said a voice, interrupting her inner speech.

"Killian, I haven't heard you" she said.

"I'm a pirate, I know how to be discrete." he said with a smile "Now, come with me." As friends, they hadn't stopped seeing each other, but, as they were so confused about their feelings, they'd reduced that time together. Of course, they hadn't told each other anything about that feelings, they'd just kept acting as normally as they could, as if nothing was bothering them.

He lay on the floor and, after hesitating for a moment, she decided to join him. The sky was just astonishing that night. The full moon was reflected in the sea's water and the sky was so clear that a lot of stars sparkled above them and were reflected in the ocean too.

"It's beautiful." she said.

"Like you" he replied unexpectedly. In that precise moment, he saw everything clear: he wanted to be with her, to do anything for her and nothing else mattered, he just could be happy when she was near. He was where he was meant to be.

She stared at him. His tone was different from other times he'd made her a compliment.

"What have you just said?" she asked.

"Like you" he repeated "Can't a pirate make a compliment to a beautiful woman?"

"Killian..." she started to blush. "Be serious."

"I'm being serious, Aurora" he looked her in the eyes "You don't know how my life has changed since the night you approached me right here. You've awaken feelings in me that I thought I had buried long time ago. And don't tell me you don't feel anything because I know women too well to be wrong. And I know you too."

"But this is... we're so different, I mean..." she said hesitantly.

"Do you really care about that? Because all I know is that with you I feel that everything makes sense, as if all the pieces just fitted together with a click, and this is how I want to be, how I need to be. Will you tell me you don't want the same?"

"And that's all? So easy?"

"Why making it complicated?" She took a deep breath. That was the moment to leap.

"You know you're the first. Your happiness has become my first priority and I don't know when this started but I know I don't only care too much about you, it's something stronger, I..." she couldn't find the words. She was afraid of what she was feeling.

"...love you." he finished the sentence for her. She smiled and he did it too. None of them needed to say anything more. All the questions they'd made to themselves during the last days had been answered, including those concerning Phillip.

They kept silent during at least a minute, looking at each other's eyes. Then, a cold wind began to blow. Althought it wasn't strong, it made Aurora shiver. He noticed it and hugged her.

"Better" she said.

They were now so close to each other that the kiss came naturally. They didn't hesitate, they just didn't know what they were doing, and, at the same time they knew it perfectly. She was not afraid anymore, all she could feel was his warmth and just closed her eyes, getting lost in that surprisingly sweet kiss, unable to think about anything else. His lips were softer than she'd expected, but hers were exactly as he'd thought they would be, so soft and delicated that he was even afraid of hurting her. The kiss became more passionate as seconds passed and it only ended when they felt the urgent necessity to breathe. He cupped her cheek with his only hand, feeling more happiness than he'd felt in centuries. She saw it in his eyes and smiled widely at him. Something that felt so right couldn't be wrong.

"You're not a bad kisser" she whispered.

"You haven't experienced how good I can be yet" he answered with a naughty smile. And, before she could react, he trapped her lips on his again, with more confidence and hunger than before.

They'd forgotten about everything and everyone. Nothing else mattered, just them two, kissing under the stars, finally seeing the light.