Thanks for the reviews and the tips guys and, finally, here it is, the finale.

Hope it won't disappoint ya'll.

CHAPTER 3

Ok, fire... I need to start a fire. She quickly gathered some branches and dry leaves and managed to start a little fire. After a couple of minutes he was still as cold as ice and his lips were getting a bluish kind of hue. She put him even closer to the fire but still nothing happened, so she did the only thing she could think of: she took off her ever present red leather jacket, then her white T-shirt and scooted closer to him to keep him warmer, hoping it would work. I'm in my white bra and jeans, hugging the king of innuendos "It's a pity you won't ever know what I'm doing to save your ass. Now that I think about it it's definitely a good thing you won't or I would never hear the end of this!" she snickered, despite the situation.

She put her head on his chest and after a while she could hear his heartbeat increasing, getting stronger, healthier, and she breathed a sigh of relief wishing he would make it and wake up soon even if just to tease her.

Out of nowhere came a big furry animal, she couldn't quite understand what it was, so she just laid there, Killian in her arms, hoping it would just ignore them and go away. She had no such luck. The animal came closer and closer still, Emma put her hand on the hilt of Hook's sword, she didn't want to use her gun because she couldn't risk making too much noise and attract who knows what else.

It was sniffling Killian's feet now, out of the corner of her eye she saw how big the animal's teeth were, so she mentally prepared to fight and avoid those sharp razors.

She decided to try and scare it away, so she got up in one fast movement, taking the sword with her. The beast looked at her for a moment and when it did she saw its eyes, they were so beautiful that she couldn't bring herself to hurt this creature. They started something like a staring contest and then the animal simply turned around and walked away, hopefully for good.

She went back to the unconscious pirate lying on the ground and saw some colour had come back to his cheeks; he wasn't looking so pale anymore, it was as if he was simply sleeping it off, resting after a long tiring day at sea. Once again she found herself mesmerized by his handsome features, by those long thick and dark eyelashes, almost as beautiful as his enthralling sky blue eyes; by his lips that looked so soft, so tender. Almost without realizing it she started to imagine how it would feel to kiss those maddening lips, to kiss this unnerving, yet oddly charming pirate, it must feel wonderful... For a moment she thought of stealing a kiss from his sleeping figure he would never know it, but then she decided against it since it wasn't the right thing to do, it wasn't fair, should they ever kiss she wanted it to be spontaneous, to be right, to be... Her fantasies were interrupted by a low moan coming from said unconscious pirate Good god, he's waking up she thought, but her relief was short-lived. He soon was sweating again, thrashing in his sleep and muttering something that was unintelligible to her. At first she thought that he might be dreaming or having some kind of nightmare, she didn't know if it was possible to have dreams when you fainted. Before long his moan had changed into little whimpers and it was obvious even to her that he had to be in pain, his face scrunched up in distress. To begin with she stupidly tried to rouse him, then she settled to simply pet his hair trying to calm him, telling him everything was fine, that he wasn't alone as she was there by his side and she wasn't leaving him. It seemed to work, his thrashing around coming to a halt. Then an agonizing scream came from him, followed by another, then another. It seemed never ending, he went on till his voice was hoarse. Again she didn't know what she could do to help him, to ease this seemingly unbearable pain of his. She would gladly take it from him and in her worried state she didn't completely rationally register what her mind had just suggested her, otherwise she would have been even more scared. Right now she was completely focused on the man in his arms, somebody who had given up everything he had been living for the last 300 years in order to please her; a strong man who had been hurt and beaten, but even battered and limping always got up no matter what; a pirate with a gold heart who had allowed his archenemy on his precious ship just to save her son, a man so different from the people she was used to and yet so familiar, somebody who had suffered as much as she did, if not more, but never gave up. This wonderful, witty, handsome man who was now suffering because of her stubbornness. She tried to remember if he had said anything else that day on the ship about this kind of stings, but she was more than sure he hadn't.

Once again she didn't know how much time had passed since he fainted must be a couple of hours at least, if not more. He wasn't screaming anymore, maybe because he didn't have enough voice to do so, but his brow was still creased, his breath coming out in short puffs, telltale signs that he was still suffering. She did nothing but keep stroking his hair, now damp with sweat, whispering words of comfort and holding him tight to her just wishing she could make him feel better by sheer willpower.

After being lost in a sea of cold and nothingness he found himself starting to feel his body again, and readied for what he knew was to come. At first it was a dull aching, then its force intensified and he started to hope he could willingly go back to the darkness that had encompassed him up until a couple of moments before. He tried to shut it out but there was no fighting it, he wanted to double over, to cry for help, to tell whoever was with him to kill him and end his torment. Had I heard something? Was there somebody calling his name? He was also feeling something he couldn't quite place or understand so he focused his aching and fuzzy mind on it. Is that Emma stroking my hair? Then he heard her voice again and for a moment he even managed to forget the pain "I'm here Killian" She's calling me Killian, funny what it took to get her to call me by my given name "I'm not leaving... I'm going..." Then he lost it, he started to hear loud noises is that coming from me, now also his throat was aching but he didn't stop, he wasn't able to. He tried to ignore it, to focus solely on her, it was a difficult task but he was bloody Captain Hook and he still loved a challenged. Like Emma, oh was she a challenge, she was his Mount Everest to climb, his ocean to cross without a ship, his Sahara to walk though, his greatest fear to overcome; she was quickly becoming his obsession, his temptation to give in to and she was there for him. He tried to fight the pain: he concentrated on her arms still holding him tight, her hand petting his hair, caressing his cheeks, his brow, his scar... He pictured her green eyes, pink lips, blond locks and all. Then he was again able to hear her voice "It's going to be all right. I'm here with you just please, hold on. Please Killian wake up"

She sounded so sad, heartbroken he wanted to tell her not to worry, that he was a thick-skinned son of a bitch but he didn't manage to do so because the empty nothingness took him again.

He was relatively calmer and she hoped the worst was over now.

Anyway she never stopped talking to him nor caressing him; not only did she think it made him feel better, but also because she wanted to take advantage of this moment to fix his features on her hands and in her mind.

Even thought she didn't want to admit it she was falling real hard for him.

When she felt him move she stopped both moving and talking prepared to have her heart shattered by another agonizing scream. It never came though, he just started to moan and then mumble, eyes still closed, face still puckered up. She got closer so she could hear him better and held her breath

"Don't"

Saying she was confused was an understatement, so she waited for him to say more

"Emm... Don't stop"

"Stop what?"

"Talking, touching my hair... 'twas nice luv"

She felt like crying and laughing all at once... But first she had to make sure he was ok: "Killian, can you open your eyes for me?"

Though he struggled, he managed to open them and she was struck silly by their beauty, they were even more beautiful now, after having feared she would never see them again.

She helped him up a bit, without letting him out of her embrace, though, as she selfishly wanted it to last a bit more. He still looked a little groggy. She passed him her canteen "How are you feeling?"

"Just a little confused, light headed maybe... But fine"

Well, here's the macho "I'm fine" crap again she didn't tell him that though and even if she had the intention to he saw right through her, as usual, and added "Let me finish lass... Thanks to you"

He looked straight in her eyes, sky meeting meadow, sapphire meeting emerald.

And then he smiled to her that half smile of his, which would make every hot-blooded woman in her right mind swoon, and all she could think about was kissing him. So, the hell to the rest, that's exactly what she did, she kissed him. At first he was sensibly stunned but then he started to respond: he turned around in her arms, the roles reversed now she was the one being embraced, she was the one being caressed, by his calloused yet gentle fingers. She grabbed his hair, the air turning electric, he did the same thing and the kissed became more intense and passionate than anything she had ever experienced. Unfortunately they had to come up for air, never breaking their embrace nor eye contact though, hot fire passing between them.

"As much as I'd love to continue this, it's time to get you back beautiful"

Once again he was right, so she just let him lean a little bit against her and let him lead the both of them to his ship.

"And don't even think that we won't get back to it when we reach the Jolly" he told her with a wink making her insides melt.

The following night Killian kept his promise, more than once. They made love in his captain quarters, with the sound of the ocean and the light of the moon coming from the open window. Who knew her recipe for happiness included a ship and a pirate Captain?