The phone in Emma and Killian's room gave a shrill ring, stirring them from their down time. They'd held each other through the early morning hours after fucking and making love repeatedly.

"Who's calling this early on a Saturday?" Emma asked grumpily.

"You don't even require sleep anymore, and you're still grouchy in the morning! Such a toddler," he smirked at her.

Emma shot him a death glare then picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Meet us downstairs for breakfast?" Mary Margaret asked chipperly.

"Breakfast doesn't appeal to me anymore now that I'm on a liquid diet," she snarked, although the minute the words were out of her mouth she knew them to be untrue. Her stomach didn't growl since she really didn't have a digestive system anymore, but her throat burned with the itch to consume. "Okay, actually that sounds really good, but we can't come down during the day, I mean we have these cool blackout shades in our room. I guess you guys could come up here."

Mary Margaret bellowed into the phone before explaining to Emma that those were merely shades in their room, because in Storybrooke it was more than safe for them to be out in the daytime. "That same force field, or aura you see around the portal, that protects all of Storybrooke's vampire residents from the harmful effects of sunlight."

Her words were like music to Emma's ears, she was so happy she would have cried if she didn't know how much of a mess it would make. After agreeing to meet the Nolan's downstairs, Emma hung up and then jumped straight up into the air and landed on her feet on the bed. Hopping up and down, she excitedly chanted, "We can go in the sun, we can go in the sun!"

Killian laughed at her girlish antics, beyond delighted at his Swan's enthusiasm.

~CS~

"Okay! So how was your first night here? Does it feel like home, do you love it? Do you think you could call Storybrooke home?" Mary Margaret fired off questions the moment the couple sat down.

"Easy dear," David chuckled. "Why don't we let them get a little more settled than the local bed and breakfast before we go asking about life decisions."

Emma and Killian just laughed lightly at their friend's enthusiasm. Looking at her lover, and seeing his relaxed state, Emma knew Killian could easily call this place home, and she knew she would call home wherever Killian was. After a lifetime of growing up without family roots, home really was where her heart was, and that was with Killian.

"I don't see any reason why Storybrooke wouldn't fit all of our needs," Emma said. Feeling Killian's sharp intake of breath against her side, she knew he was pleasantly surprised with her admission.

He gave her a gentle squeeze around her shoulders and pulled her just a little closer than they had already been sitting. "Aye, love, I agree. Although, I would follow you to the end of the world. Or time. So, whether we choose to live here, forest city, Transylvania, my home will always be where you are."

Emma looked at him in shock, it was as if he'd read her mind. And as much as she wanted to tell him that she had been thinking the same thing, she didn't want their breakfast companions to make fun of them. She tried to convey with her eyes, that the feeling was mutual. Suddenly, she could hear Kilian's voice as clear as day, not out loud, but in her mind! He was telling her he knows, he knows she feels the same. Leaning in, she kissed him soundly, and with her mind, tried to tell him that she loved him.

"I love you, too," he whispered aloud.

Emma giggled against his cheek, this new found trick was extraordinary! They could communicate silently, who knew the endless possibilities.

"Oh, jeez, it's too early in the morning for all this lovey dovey nonsense," Granny grumbled as she came up to the table with her ever present curmudgeonly attitude. "Especially after the late night sexual frenzy you two initiated," she added, scrutinizing the vampire couple.

David half choked on and half spit out his coffee, "What the hell! I want no part of this information."

"You and the misses most certainly took part last night," she scoffed. Along with the whole of Storybrooke, everybody got some last night."

Mary Margaret blushed a deep shade of pink as she hid her face in her hands, while David continued to clear his throat and clean up the mess he'd made. Emma's eyes went round as saucers and her mouth dropped open. Killian just bellowed deeply, he would wear that badge unabashedly. He certainly knew what his Swan did to him, who was he to doubt what their sexual energy could do to the quaint town of Storybrooke?

"What's so funny? I'll be cleaning sheets for the next month thanks to you two."

"Ugh, noooo," Emma moaned. "Too much information."

"And who knows what Ruby got up to, she hightailed it outta here like a bitch in heat."

"I heard my name!" Ruby shouted from the back.

"My what big ears you have," Granny shouted back.

"Can we just order," David said exasperatedly.

"Certainly," Granny said sweetly, then she held the notebook out to David, "you seemed to take orders awfully well in the bedroom last night, perhaps you want to give this a go?"

David roughly scrubbed a hand over his face, and muttered something about the power of relinquishing control under his breath.

Killian laughed loudly again, then commenced with ordering to get his friend out of this sticky situation.

"What are they?" Emma whispered, once Granny left the table.

"Oh, you don't have to whisper, they'll hear you no matter what. Werewolf hearing," Mary Margaret explained.

Shit, Emma thought.

Killian chuckled at Emma's reaction that only he had heard. "Alright, what time should we be at the festival for your first campaign speech?"

"It's tonight around six, in front of the clock tower. Hopefully there will be a big enough turn out to garner a decent vote. These people are used to the dictatorship of my evil stepmother right now. I'm hoping her occupancy doesn't keep them from attending."

"Have you done anything to drum up any sort of crowd?" Emma asked.

"Well," Mary Margaret began, handing a paper to Emma and Killian, "we were hoping for some help from you guys. I made these flyers last night. They outline the benefits of an elected government, from petty crime to the imposition of Regina."

"Not to mention this charming mug, Dave," Killian jested, pointing to a picture of David flashing his best pearly white smile for the camera.

"We'd like to deliver them door to door before the festival-"

"Door to door, that will take hours!" Emma whined.

The group just laughed at her, and she stared back at them with a slightly offended look on her face.

"You'll have to excuse my toddler," Killian laughed, "she's still learning how to vampire."

Emma slapped her palm to her forehead when she remembered that this task would actually only take a fraction of the time, now that she could break olympic records for sprinting. "Hardy har har," she rolled her eyes at them. "And you," she narrowed her eyes and elbowed Killian in the ribs, "better stop calling me a toddler, or you're going to be inciting the next sexual frenzy all by yourself."

Killian's expression instantaneously morphed from this is the funniest shit ever to somebody just took my favorite toy. The way his lower lip jutted out into a pout and his eyebrows scrunched together in distress was downright hilarious and they all just laughed harder, Emma included this time.

"I'd pay to watch that," Granny teased as she brought the drinks to the table.

David and Mary Margaret continued to crack up, Killian froze in shock at Granny's bawdy taunt, and Emma growled.

"Oh, don't you worry yourself, hon," Granny told Emma, "he's just got a pretty face is all, I'm just having fun teasing.

"Sorry! I don't even know what came over me. I know it was a joke, that was totally involuntary," she said remorsefully. She really didn't know what had taken over, she knew Granny wasn't being serious.

"No apologies necessary. I imagine what a bonded pair experiences is akin to my kind marking their territory," she chuckled. "And before you say it, no I don't mean pissing on something, that's not the only way we mark our territory!"

The group all laughed again, and then Ruby was there with the Nolan's food. "What's so funny out here? I miss everything," she complained.

"I'll let you outta the back more often when you stop trying to seduce everything that walks in here," Granny chastised.

Emma hissed again, this time at the pretty young thing that was twirling her hair on her finger with a lascivious grin on her face. She immediately clapped both hands over her mouth in chagrin.

Easy, love… I only have eyes for you.

Emma shook her head in embarrassment, she was going to have to get this peculiar jealousy under control. His words still comforted her, even though she knew that without him having to tell her.

Granny laughed boisterously at Emma's reaction. "Don't you worry about her either, not that she doesn't bed the occasional man, but you're far closer to her type than your boyfriend."

If Emma could have blushed, she would have as she looked up at the she-wolf. The brunette winked at her flirtatiously, then sauntered back to the kitchen.

"Unfortunately for your granddaughter, I don't share," Killian said with just a hint of possessiveness coloring his tone.

"Give it a century," Ruby called back.

Emma's jaw dropped when Killian growled in response.

"Stop that nonsense, the last thing you want to do is give Ruby a reason to mess with you, she has no real intent toward your mate. But you show her that she raises your hackles and she'll continue to ruffle your feathers," Granny said, giving them a quick analysis of her only kin.

After breakfast the group split up the flyers and then set to the task of passing them out to the denizens of Storybrooke. Most households received the information with genuine curiosity and a desire to learn more. David and Snow were excited to head home, a farm they'd apparently owned before they'd fled, and work on his campaign speech.

"Remember, tonight at six," David reminded them.

"We'll be the ones in the front row heckling you," Killian joked. He turned to Emma once the couple was gone. "Well, it looks like we have the day to ourselves, what say we take a walk in your beloved sun?"

"I say, yes, that sounds perfect. I never knew how much the sun meant to me until I couldn't have it anymore."

As they walked hand in hand down the main street of the small town they passed numerous small shops. Everything was so picturesque, a floral boutique, a bakery, and the cutest little ice cream shop.

"Any Given Sundae," Emma read the sign. "I'll miss ice cream," she lamented.

"You don't have to, love, look," Killian said, pointing at a sign in the window.

Now serving Sanguine Ice

Emma wrinkled her nose, "Too soon, that just doesn't sound as appetizing as Rocky Road, or Cookies and Cream. Maybe one day."

Killian chuckled and squeezed her hand. "Come, let's go to the docks."

They walked out onto the pier and Emma leaned against the railing to look out over the calm water in the marina. Closing her eyes, she angled her head up to the sun, and enjoyed the heat that warmed her now constantly cool skin. Killian came up behind her to wrap his arms around her middle, and as he rested his chin on her shoulder, she was struck with a strong sense of nostalgia. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she recalled the moment her heart was remembering. As she didn't want to wipe bloody tears on her sleeves, she blinked them back. "You know what this reminds me of?" she murmured.

"Aye," he answered before kissing her cheek.

"You do?"

"As momentous as it was for you darling, I assure you it was the same for me. It was the first time you told me you loved me. I had wanted to tell you for months, but I wasn't sure you were ready."

Emma twined her fingers with his, and pulled his arms around her tighter. "I realized in that exact moment, I had been without love my whole life because I was going to have a stronger love with you than most people experience in their whole lives." She snuggled her head into his neck as the wind blew across the cold water.

"True love, if we're being precise."

"True love," Emma repeated, testing out the words. "So how exactly do we prove true love?"

"Do you doubt me, Swan?"

"No," she laughed, "I know the book says a vampire and his true love defeat Regina, but how do we know we are true love?"

"I know it in my heart, dearest," he declared, "but if you require finite proof, I woke you with True Love's Kiss."

"How did I miss this monumental smooch?"

"It was when you first rose as a vampire. You didn't come back to me easily, love. And when you finally did, it was at Snow's suggestion that I kiss you. A whole rainbow zephyr surged over us and you came back to me when our lips locked."

Emma swirled around in his hold and threw her arms around his neck, "I knew our love was special," she mumbled in between attack kisses.

"Aye, it is," he whispered against her lips and tongue. Breaking abruptly, he smiled her new favorite fangy grin. "I left something back in the room, do you mind if I go to retrieve it?"

"Not at all," she replied, a matching smile on her face. Before she could even contemplate what he needed from the room, he was back. But this time instead of wrapped in her arms, he was down on one knee.

"Do you remember the backpack I needed from the car?"

Emma nodded her head mutely, cocking her head to the side as she scrutinized her boyfriend down on bended knee.

"I needed it for this." Killian held up his palm to reveal a small black box. "I've loved you since forever, and I'll love you forevermore, I want eternity with you. So, Emma Swan, what do you say? Will you marry me?"

Emma couldn't stop her messy tears from spilling over as he declared his eternal love for her. She knelt down with him, cupped both of his scruffy cheeks, and stared into his luminous blue eyes, a small smile tugging at her lips before she graced him with one simple word, "Yes."

Killian let out a jubilant breath and a small chuckle, and then she was kissing him. When they broke the seal of their lips, Killian grasped her left hand in his and slipped the ring onto her finger.

There in the middle of the pier, still both knelt, the couple made out like young teenagers. Kissing, sighing, giggling, with sanguine colored tears streaking their faces, they expressed their love with the simplest form of physical intimacy.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the devil just happened?" Killian asked, head swimming with confusion. His knees were no longer pressed to the roughened wood of the pier, but rested on a plush surface. The sun was not surrounding them anymore, and the smell of the ocean was now distant. He opened his eyes to see he was surrounded by their small quarters at Granny's. "I don't think that was me, love."

Emma looked around sheepishly. "I was just thinking how much I wanted you to take me to bed," she giggled. "I guess I can poof us too. It's way more comfortable when I do it, whenever you do it I feel all-"

"Dizzy," he finished for her.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Because my head is still spinning."

Emma huffed, for just a moment she'd thought she was better at one facet of vampiring.

"Oh, don't sulk, did you think you were better at transporting than me?" he teased, reading her like always.

She gave him a rough shove and he found himself trapped beneath his vampire princess in a most inviting way. Emma had both his hands pinned above his head, and though he might've been able to break free, he had no real intention to do so. Killian studied her lusty eyes, vibrant green and surrounded by thick lashes. His eyes traveled down the narrow bridge of her nose, dotted with light freckles, and landed on her full lips.

"Gods, you're gorgeous." He'd never tire of the way her slender fangs rested against the plump pink skin of her lower lips, he wanted to bite her lip and suck her fangs. Just the thought had him bucking his hips into hers.

Emma preened as he keenly surveyed every facet of her face, batting her eyelashes, and darting her tongue out to wet her lips. She could feel him hardening where she was rested against him. This. This is what she'd wanted when she'd transported them right here to their bed. His words had her smiling lazily, then came the sharp contrast of a dirty grind as he bucked against her. Emma tightened her grip as she pressed herself against him, eliciting a groan from deep in Killian's throat.

"At least let me feel how wet you are if you're going to rub all over me," he requested.

His voice had dropped to that husky, wrecked tone Emma couldn't resist. With a speed inherent only to vampires, Emma stripped them both naked and resumed the same position. Aligning herself, she slid her wetness over him, coating his rock hard cock in her arousal. She smiled wickedly when his eyes rolled shut in bliss.

"Let me touch you," he whimpered, struggling lightly against her hold. He needed more, he bit his tongue against the filth he wanted to speak to her, but fuck he wanted to taste her soft, pink pussy.

Emma inhaled sharply, he may not have spoken the words aloud, but she'd heard them nonetheless. Ceasing all movement, and looking at him with a smirk she told him, "I heard that."

"Sorry, love, forgive me for being the animal you turn me into," he apologized. He definitely didn't want to soil the day he'd proposed and she'd accepted with vulgar thoughts.

"Say it out loud," she demanded.

Killian's pupils dilated as he realized she wanted him to talk to dirty to her. It wasn't something new for them, but he didn't normally refer to her so graphically. "I want to taste what I do to you."

Still pinning his arms, Emma leaned further into his space, breasts dragging along his chest, and shook her head no. Say it out loud, she thought to him.

"Fuck I want to taste your soft, swollen, dripping pussy, Emma," he murmured gruffly.

A shiver ran up her spine and she shook against his body, "As you wish," she whispered. The moment she released his wrists he took action.

Killian lifted her by her hips and effortlessly positioned her above his face. He had no intentions of slow and merciful as he locked an arm around each thigh and pulled her against his watering mouth. Plunging his tongue into her depths he felt her body convulse at the sudden intrusion.

Emma reached out for the headboard desperate to stay upright as Killian fucked her with his tongue. They both froze when they heard the groaning of metal. She looked down at Killian with wide eyes.

"What was that?"

"I bent it," she giggled.

"Bent what?"

"The headboard."

"Holy shit, that's wrought iron, you brute," he chuckled.

"I had nothing to hold on to," she laughed.

Killian sat up, tossing Emma straight back so she landed softly against the mattress. "There, now you won't fall," he said before diving back in. This time he focused on her clit. Licking between her folds he found the promised land, the one that had Emma running her fingers into his hair. "Watch the hair love," her muttered through his assault.

Emma tugged at his thick locks, desperate to come. Wrapping her legs and locking them around his head she pushed into his mouth, panting curses, his name and pleases.

"Please what?" He pulled back to gaze at the mess he'd made of her. She was so wet her juices were running down her thighs and coating her perfect backside.

"Please make me come," she begged.

"Mmm, as you wish." Dragging his fingers through her arousal to wet them, he sunk them into her depths while he resumed loving her clit with his mouth. As he pumped his fingers in and out of her soaked channel, he could smell her impending release as her blood thrummed louder; he wanted nothing more than to bury his cock and bite her. Killian yearned for at least one or the other, and since his digits were currently pleasuring her, he removed his mouth from her, and then applied his thumb to her clit.

"Don't stop," she whined. But before she could even fully miss his tongue, she was lost to her climax as she felt his fangs pierce the vein at the juncture of her thigh. Her fist balled into his hair tightly as he drank deeply, and the harder he pulled the harder she came. Her walls constricted against his fingers while her clit pulsed with pleasant vibrations that wracked her body.

The wet sounds of his fingers fucking her, and her sinful noises had Killian so frenzied, by the time he sunk his teeth into her femoral he was rutting desperately into the sheets. When the coppery tang graced his tongue he lost himself, he grunted as he pulled her blood into his mouth, fuck he was going to come. He couldn't even be sorry, the mix of her arousal and her blood was intoxicating, an ecstasy like no other.

Emma was still riding his fingers as little aftershocks washed over her. Her eyes blinked open when she smelled Killian's arousal in the air. Looking down at him still buried between her thighs, she came again as she watched the muscles of his back tense and release as he fucked into the sheets and knowing she'd turned him on that much. "God, you look so good like that," she whispered. "Get up here," she demanded as he continued to rut, "let me help."

Killian immediately complied, knowing he'd be blushing right now if he could. His cock was painfully engorged and he had to wrap his hand around himself to relieve some of the pressure.

"Do you want my hand or my mouth?"

"What if I want this?" he asked cupping her sex.

"Later," she told him as she encouraged him to straddle her stomach. "Do you want to come down my throat or on these? She asked as she caressed her breasts, which had been painfully neglected up until this point.

"Fuck, let me mark you, love," he growled.

Emma removed his hand, placed it on her breast, then wrapped her own hand around his rigid cock. She pumped him a few times then stopped. "This won't do." She reached her hand between them and coated it in her release. Killian groaned at the wetness as she resumed stroking him expertly, slowly at first and picking up speed as she went.

Emma watched him squeeze his eyes shut, throw his head back and moan in pleasure, he kept his hands where she wanted them, fondling her breasts and tweaking her nipples just how she liked. Reaching her arm around him she grabbed a handful of his firm ass and encouraged him to pump into her hand. He was a sight to behold, abs rippling with exertion as he chased his release. "That's it, mark me, baby," she told him when his cock started to jerk and his thrusts became erratic. She let go of his ass and worked his balls as he closed in on his orgasm.

Her words were his undoing, he unscrewed his pleasure closed eyes and brought his head forward. He released her breasts and grabbed onto the footboard so he could watch as he shot his release over her chest. The coil of desire in his loins finally snapped as he felt the pulsing pleasure spilling forth, his balls throbbing as Emma gently massaged them. The way he painted her chest had him emptying himself in long pulses that stole the breath he didn't need, yet the broken stutters of gratification indicated otherwise. They didn't even flinch when the bed protested again, this time under Killian's grip.

"Christ, you are brilliant." Killian leaned down and kissed her soundly, not caring about the sticky mess that now covered both their chests. He rolled them so they were both on their sides. "What brought that on?"

Emma shrugged. "Just felt like getting a little dirty, I guess." She kissed him again. "Now make love to me like a proper vampire. I know you're ready again," she said, arching an eyebrow when she looked between them to where his erection was poking her stomach.

Kissing her lovingly, fangs and tongues, Killian pulled her thigh up and around his hip and entered her where they lay. They kept a languid pace as they rocked together, she never released his mouth, and their hands never stopped roaming the other. They were connected at every physical point imaginable as well as mind, and soul. Their I love yous and other sweet nothings echoed in the other's thoughts as they communicated silently. Although not outwardly as dramatic, their combined climax was just as powerful. They lay quietly after, enjoying the cliched afterglow that only the act of making love to the one you cherish can bring.

"What time is it," Killian asked.

"Who cares?"

"Probably Dave, if we're late."

"Nooo, I don't want to leave this bed… like ever," she complained.

Stop being a spoilt toddler, we have a friend to help. Emma heard his quip loud and clear, even his deep laugh rang out in her head.

Throwing the covers back, Emma huffed as she rose to her feet and headed to the shower. I was going to let you have shower sex, but forget it now. She sashayed away, swinging her lovely ass for Killian's perusal and subsequent torture.

He visibly pouted, for her benefit only, knowing that she couldn't resist him, just a s he couldn't resist her.

She tried to hold in her laughter as she saw him trying to pout with fangs, it was quite endearing. She held strong though and shrugged her shoulders noncommittally before hopping in the shower.

Emma purred under the hot spray of the shower, it wasn't that she was ever cold, it was just a heady contrast to her body's natural state. Lost in the simple joy of the hot water, she yelped in surprise when Killian was suddenly in her space, hands planted firmly at her hips.

After enjoying each other once more, they got ready for their evening at breakneck speed. It turned out they weren't late, so they'd decided to go and enjoy the Miner's Festival. If this was to be home, they may as well mingle with the inhabitants of the quaint little town.

As they arrived at the festival, Emma's eyes lit up. This was like a carnival, the smells weren't as enticing as they once were, but she did love to ride the ferris wheel and play games. "Oh, look, a corn maze!" Emma tugged his arm toward the maze, there were multiple entrances, and she wanted to race. This was no ordinary corn maze she realized as they walked up to see it was built over two acres of land. "Okay, last one to the finish owes the other… anything they want in the bedroom."

"That's a given in our bedroom, Swan. How about just bragging rights."

She did hate when he bragged, so she would just have to win. "You're on," she agreed holding her right hand out to shake his.

"Then we have an accord." After shaking her hand he placed feather light kisses along her knuckles, causing her to shiver.

Then he was gone in the blink of an eye. "Hey! That's cheating," Emma yelled before taking off into the entrance on the opposite end he'd chosen.

Killian used an algorithm method as he tried to find his way to through the maze, returning to his last move each time he'd hit a dead end. There were numerous people in the maze, but he focused in on Emma. He snickered under his breath as he heard her cursing. He loved her competitive streak.

Emma used a fight or flight method, frenziedly heading in the opposite direction every time she'd hit a dead end. Frustrated after the umpteenth wall she'd come to, a sneaky thought came into her mind. She carefully shielded her plan, so her pirate wouldn't pick up on it.

When Killian was finally arriving to the finish line, he was satisfied with the time he'd taken, sure that he'd bested her.

"It's about time," she teased as she walked up to him with two twist top bottles in hand. "I got us Vitality this time. Would you like O positive or O negative." She offered him the beverage nonchalantly, a smirk upon her lips.

"How the hell did you get through that so quickly?"

"Guess I'm just good," she laughed.

Killian narrowed his eyes, studying her calm, cool, collected demeanor. Something was off he decided. "Mmhmm, and you had enough time to go procure refreshments as well. You, Emma Swan, are a liar and a cheat," he whispered so only she could hear his outrageous accusations.

"I am not, you scoundrel!"

Killian swept her up in his arms and planted a kiss to her lips, "Are so. How'd you do it? Did you pay someone to show you the way? Did you follow all the little lads that have done it fifty times already?"

"Hmph, I'll never tell."

He didn't have to use words to force her hand, instead he dropped his bottle to the hay covered ground before tickling her mercilessly.

"Stop! Stop! Mercy," she panted as he wiggled his fingers against her sides, eliciting the wonderful sound that was her carefree laugh.

"You'll 'fess up?"

"Yeeesss!" she screeched.

Killian halted his attack and waited for her answer.

"I… I poofed to the finish, okay?" she admitted haughtily.

"You dirty cheat," he chuckled.

"Hey, all's fair in love and war," she grouched petulantly.

"Aye, that it is. You win m'lady," he said before bowing down to her cunning tactics. "Come here, my ticklish vampire." Killian pulled her into his embrace, hugging her affectionately.

Emma returned his embrace and pecked his lips before they bent to pick up their drinks and head to the next Miner's Festival adventure. They rode the carousel, making out like teens when they stopped at the top, bid on some baskets at the silent auction, listened to an informational presentation about the mines of Storybrooke and what they contained, fairy dust, much to Emma's surprise, and played a host of carnie games, winning little trinkets. Killian bought Emma some handmade candles for the charity being promoted, then he transported everything back to their room before he and Emma settled at a spot front and center for the Nolan's campaign debut.

The townsfolk gathered as the imposing clock tower rang 6 P.M. for all to hear. David and Mary Margaret gave a joint speech filled with facts on how a new government could enhance the lives in this small town, promises of changes to come, and of course, hope for the future. When they were finished they locked hands and held them high in the air, calling on the people to vote for Nolan and Nolan in the election to be held at town hall the following morning.

As the crowd stood cheering, a heavy gust of wind swept through the festival. Everyone quieted, not sure what had caused the uncharacteristic gale on this calm evening.

"It seems my invitation was lost in the mail?" Regina sneered at the crowd as she appeared on the stage next to Mary Margaret and David.

A tense stillness came over all as they held their breath waiting to see what the Evil Queen wanted. She was no longer dressed in her sensible pant suit, but instead was covered from head to toe in black. Her hair was swept back into a tight ponytail which was pulled up dramatically through her head piece that came down to a vee shape on her forehead, and she wore a skin tight black dress that flared at the bottom.

"Anyone is welcome, Regina," Mary Margaret countered.

"I heard your hope speeches," she gestured a gagging motion before continuing, "they won't do any good. This isn't a democracy, despite my title of mayor. It's actually more like a... dictatorship, we've just never had to call it that before."

"Not anymore," David interjected. "The people demand a change."

Regina disappeared and reappeared right in front of David, wrapping her hand around his neck. Flicking her wrist, she incapacitated Snow as the woman charged toward her. "I don't give a fuck what the people demand. They don't have a choice," she cackled.

Emma and Killian were up on the stage in a flash the moment Regina attacked. "Let him go!" Emma shouted.

"Really? Do you think that's all it takes is you telling me what to do?" With those words Regina plunged her hand into David's chest.

Emma and Killian gasped with horror as they watched the impossible happen. Regina retracted her hand slowly, and gripped in her fist was David's heart. She let go of his neck, no longer needing it to control his movement.

David's hands flew to his chest and he heaved as she squeezed the organ, laughing maniacally.

Turning toward Killian and Emma she held out his heart. "One wrong move and I'll crush it," grit out between bared teeth. "This is my town," she shouted to the crowd, "anyone who dares to participate in this silly little vote will meet the same fate as the charming would-be-sheriff Nolan here." With that she squeezed his heart.

Tears streamed down Snow's face, the only movement not ceased by Regina's hold. David screamed in agony, still clutching his chest until finally his heart gave out, it disintegrated in Regina's hand and she callously brushed the dust from her fingers.

Emma leapt toward Regina once she no longer held David's heart as leverage. She wrestled her to the ground, pinning her roughly to the floor. "I'm going to rip your fucking throat out," she roared in Regina's face.

"Emma. No! Don't do this," Killian shouted. He didn't want her first act in Storybrooke to be murder. He didn't want her living with the guilt she might have if they didn't try to find another way.

"What?" she cried out through the tears and rage that blinded her. "She killed David!"

Enthrall her, take away her will. Control her, Emma. We can find another way. Look into her eyes and command her.

Emma shook her head as Killian's thoughts flooded her brain. She didn't want to take Regina's will, she wanted to take her life. She looked at David's lifeless form, now laying in Mary Margaret's arms. Regina's spell over the distraught fairy had been broken and the she'd immediately run to his side.

"No, she has to pay!" Emma told Killian.

"We can make her pay, just not by murdering her, love." Killian whispered to Emma as he knelt down next to where she had Regina pinned. He grabbed each of the woman's wrists above where Emma was holding them and then nudged Emma to let him take over. Complying, she let him take over then ran to Mary Margaret's side.

Looking into the eyes of evil, Killian concentrated as she stared back with a smirk on her lips. "Stop fighting. You will surrender yourself to the new law in this town."

"You will fix this, I know you can."

Regina's entire body relaxed, and she ceased to struggle against the hold Killian had on her. Nodding her head she colorlessly said, "There is a way."

"Tell me," he said darkly.

"I must take out Snow's heart. I will split it in half and then they will share one heart," she said mechanically.

"Can this be done?" Killian shouted out to anyone who might have answers.

"I've read about it, in the ancient scrolls," a low tone murmured from the crowd. "It's fabled to be a way for true loves to be united, should one meet their demise."

Killian recognized the owner of the voice, it was the librarian, Belle. She seemed to be knowledgeable in all folklore. He didn't have time to research it, if they waited too long, he feared David's body would be too long expired to accept Snow's heart.

"Do it," he commanded her. Leading Regina to where David lay in Snow's lap Killian forced Regina to her knees, restraining both hands behind her back. "Do not fuck with us," he snarled in her ear, then he released both her hands to perform the transfer.

A second too late, Emma saw the wicked gleam in Regina's eye and the smirk of her lip as it lifted in disgust. Summoning a dagger from nothing Regina violently lunged at Snow and sliced her throat.

Snow grabbed at her throat, as she choked and gasped for air.

"You think you can enthrall me vampire? No happy endings!" Regina screamed maniacally.

Heal Snow, Killian! Emma cast to him. She tackled Regina backwards to the ground. "You will never hurt anyone again," she spat at the woman. "Right now Killian is saving Mary Margaret, healing her neck with his venom, and after that I will split her heart and save David too."

"No," Regina howled into the night.

Grabbing the dagger that had clattered to the ground, Emma held it above the woman, for just a moment she thought on the poetic justice that was Regina being slaughtered with her own weapon. And then she plunged the dagger deep into the Evil Queen's heart. The acrid smell of her blood assaulted Emma's nose and she gagged as a thick black liquid bubbled to the surface when she pulled the dagger out.

Emma thought back to the short amount of research she and Killian had done. Could it really be this easy? No, it can't be, she thought. Taking no chances, Emma shoved her hand into the woman's chest and emerged with a shriveled black heart.

"Wait!" Killian shouted.

"No, I'm sorry Killian, not this time, we can't take the chance."

"Aye love," he agreed sinking down next to her. He encased her hand in his own and together they crushed her heart. The dust flew away with the explosion of light that burst forth from Regina's body.

A surge hit the crowd and suddenly there was crying and laughing, yelling and whooping. Looking out to the citizens, they watched as couples and families were reunited.

"You broke her curse!" Belle exclaimed. "You brought back the happy endings."

"Not all of them," Emma said, "yet." Standing up, the couple walked back to Mary Margaret who was still holding David. "I can fix this. Even though it was a ploy, I think Regina was telling the truth about how to share a heart. I remember reading that with true love couples, one often does not live long after the other's death, and that one of the ways they are able to survive even the death of a mate is to be of one heart."

Mary Margaret took off her jacket and unbuttoned the first few buttons of her blouse. Pulling the material to the sides she looked at Emma. "Do it. I forgive you, no matter what happens." Tears streamed down her cheeks as a realization hit her. "I know now what you were living with the entire year Killian was gone. I don't know how you survived it, because I too would rather die than go on without him," she confessed through uncontrolled sobs.

Bloody tears fell over Emma's cheeks as she listened to her friend's plea. Gently reaching inside Snow's chest she found the organ and withdrew her hand. It wasn't bloody as she'd thought, but a brilliant and shining red; the four chambers were decidedly two halves. Closing her eyes she focused every part of her being on saving David. Snow clutched her chest as Emma gingerly gripped both halves and moved to separate them, causing Emma to jump and cease.

"No, go on," Snow gasped. "It's this, or nothing."

Emma started again, this time she concentrated on separating the halves, and when she opened her eyes she held identical pieces of the same heart in each hand. Turning to Killian she handed him one half. Gripping Snow's shoulder she started to place the heart back in her chest.

Snow stopped Emma's movement. "David first, if it doesn't work, I won't need this."

Emma looked into her friend's eyes reassuringly, "It's gonna work." Then without another moment's hesitation she delivered the organ back to it's home.

Killian handed Emma the other half and she leaned over David. After whispering a small prayer to any god that might listen, Emma shoved the other half into its new home. She was rewarded immediately with David's strangled intake of breath.

"Charming!" Snow shouted before diving into his arms.

"Oomph!" All the breath he'd struggled to take in left his body once more. But the feeling of his wife in his arms overtook the need to breath. His heart fluttered happily, and he felt an invigorated connection to Snow. "What happened?"

Snow kissed him soundly, all the while pressing her forehead to his. A faint glow emanated from the pair as Snow regaled him telepathically with the evening's events. David placed a hand over his heart and a single tear streaked down his cheek. "You gave me half of your heart?"

Snow nodded once before capturing his lips again.

"She may have given you half her heart, mate, but there was a time that I held your heart."

Even though they were all laughing, Emma slapped his chest. "Too soon," she scolded.

Just then a loud, brash, bearded man walked up to the group. "What should we do with the body, Sheriff Nolan?"

"Um, I'm not the sheriff yet," David answered.

"What do you say, Storybrooke?" the gruff little man yelled. "Do we need a vote, or is this the new sheriff in town?" He held David's arm up in the air as if they were in a boxing match.

The crowd cheered and whistled, signaling their agreement to the new sheriff of Storybrooke.

"Leroy!" Snow exclaimed as she finally realized why the man looked so familiar. He'd been one of her guards before the curse.

"Princess Snow," he tipped his head.

"Well, I'd still like an official vote, in the interest of fairness," David said, ever the boy scout. "And what body?"

"Her body," Leroy said gruffly, pointing at Regina's lifeless corpse.

"Hmm, death becomes her," David muttered under his breath.

The group decided that the best course of action would be to dispose of the body completely, just to keep any necromancing at bay. While Emma would've liked to see her lit up on a pyre, just for closure, the town's medical team took the body to the hospital to take care of the dirty work. After viewing just what said dirty work involved, Emma was positive there would be no subsequent issues from the Evil Queen.

~CS~

Killian took Emma's hand in his as they left the hospital, and grinned at her, "I think we make quite the team, Swan. Although, I guess we always did."

Take me home.

Home?

Emma nodded her head, the sheer movement causing further exhaustion to her psyche.

"Alright love," he whispered. "Don't you want to say goodbye to the Nolans?"

Tears brimmed Emma's eyes as she looked at her friends who were several paces in front of them. "Hey guys?"

The couple turned around when Emma called out.

"I'm going to have Killian take me home for awhile."

"Okay," Snow said, "let's meet for lunch tomorrow? I promise I will stock up on some beverages for you two so we can hang at our place, instead of eating out all the time."

"I mean home, home Mary Margaret."

The other woman's face pinched with pain, but she held herself together. Emma was the newest to this life afterall. It was going to take some getting used to. "Alright, well, we will see you soon, then." She reached out for her friend and pulled her into a hug. They parted with the promise that they would indeed see each other soon.

"Do you want to grab our belongings from the room?"

"No," she whispered, as the first of many tears fell, "just take me home."

"I've got you," Killian murmured, then he gathered her up and poofed them home. He watched as Emma silently stripped her clothes off and stepped into the shower. She stood there motionlessly under the spray until he couldn't take it anymore. Stepping in behind her Killian picked up the shampoo and proceeded to wash her hair, then her body. He tried to hold his tears in check as silent sobs shook her body. When she was clean he washed himself quickly, then dried them both. "Do you wish to dress," he asked her quietly.

She shook her head no before walking over to their bed and lying down under the blankets. Killian followed, slipping in beside her. "May I hold you?" He didn't know if she'd want the contact, he'd not seen her like this since he'd watched her mourn his loss.

Emma rolled toward him when he asked the question, she immediately sought the solace of his arms. She'd had to mourn without him before, she wasn't going to take for granted that he'd always be here. The floodgates opened and she couldn't even be quiet anymore. Broken sobs poured from her as the events of the past several hours really hit her.

"What is it, love, let me help."

"I… I took a life," she choked out.

"There was no other way, you know that. We gave her a chance to redeem herself, and she chose to try to murder not one but two people we love."

Emma shook her head against his chest, "It doesn't matter. Here I am with a second chance at life, and what do I do? I take one. And what's worse is all I wanted to do after was fuck and feed." She was utterly disgusted with herself. Her humanity had fallen by the wayside in the matter of days.

Killian leaned back and propped her chin up to look at him. "I understand. I was beside myself when I first took a life. Even though it was a life for a life, I struggled that I was effectively acting as judge, jury, and executioner. But what if I hadn't, would one of your murderers still be at it? Emma, what would have happened if you hadn't killed her. She would have attacked the innocent bystanders, then I wouldn't have been able to heal Snow, and she wouldn't have been able to save Dave. What I know is everyone is better off with her dead. As for the afterthoughts, that's called the frenzy, it's natural to most blood drinking beings."

Emma thought on his words. Deep down she knew he was right, but it still felt wrong to have ended a life.

"Why did you want to come here?"

"I just… I don't know if I can live in the supe world. I don't know if I am cut out for it. I mean, Killian who knows what else is out there with a score to settle. I could've lost you tonight, and we… we don't have hearts. What would happen if one of us was mortally wounded, we wouldn't be able to share a heart like Mary Margaret and David. I can't lose you." Her lips stretched with the heave of her sob as she imagined losing him again, and she threw a hand over her mouth to quell the noise.

"We're different than they are," Killian reasoned. "We have hearts, Emma, they just no longer beat a human rhythm. There are few ways for us to actually meet our mortality, if we were to meet the sun, a stake, massive amounts of silver, or beheading, there is nothing a half a heart could do to save us from that. I know it doesn't sound reassuring, but it is the bottom line, and though I don't take it lightly, I know that through most things, we would be able to heal each other without needing a heart. Plus, you don't have to worry about me, love. I'm a survivor, and I know you are too."

Emma rolled her eyes at the last bit. "Damn you," she sniffed.

"What?" he asked, taken aback by her curse.

"Always so logical. I know in my brain everything you're saying is accurate and true. It's my… unbeating heart that is having issues processing all this."

Killian wrapped her tighter, "That comes with time, you're still... young for a vampire."

Emma chuckled lightly, knowing he'd wanted to call her a toddler. "And you're so old and wise, right?"

"Wise beyond my years, as it were."

"You are so conceited."

Killian squeezed his eyes shut and grabbed his head as the room suddenly spun out of control. "Bloody Hell, I'll never get used to that."

"Yeah you will," Emma laughed as she opened her eyes. Before she even knew the thought, she was picturing them cuddled in their cozy room at the inn. "I guess I just needed a reality check," she whispered, then placed a chaste kiss to his lips. "Thank you, Killian." She rested her forehead to his, the physical contact comforting.

"You're welcome," he whispered genuinely before kissing her back.

"This is where we belong. Among our friends, our kind, and together."

"Aye, together love, forever."

"Forever."