'Emma, we didn't have to come back and do it here.' Killian said softly as Emma straightened out the bed sheets and fluffed the pillows. 'And you certainly don't need to do all this.' She turned around to give him a pointed look, raising her eyebrow in such a way he knew she had picked it up from him.

'Yes, we do. The portal may take me back home, but this place was your home, one that you no longer have in the present. If it wasn't for me you would still have this place, I couldn't just take you away from it without a decent goodbye.' They had discussed his trade over breakfast one morning, Killian kissing away her guilt ridden thoughts and Emma kissing away his mournful ones. He told her he didn't regret his decision for a second, but Emma told him it was okay to regret it; she knew it didn't lessen his feelings for her and he shouldn't feel guilty for wishing he hadn't given up his home.

Killian stared blankly at a candlestick for a few minutes, spaced out and lost to his thoughts. Emma tidied around him, folding up maps and stacking neat piles of books. 'I think I'm going to tell the crew that you have something important to do here, and that we won't be seeing you for a long time. I realize we never thought about the fact that to them you are mysteriously disappearing. They know how important you are to me now, so saying that we simply grew tired of each other would never work. It needs to be vague but enough to prevent them asking the other Hook about you. Speaking of which, could you wake him up? I should go up to the crew and tell them something.' Killian rambled on quickly as he made his way towards the ladders.

'Killian, wait! I have an idea.' Emma reached for his arm, her fingers wrapping around his bicep firmly to prevent him from leaving. The sadness in his eyes made her stomach twist and she wished she could take his pain away.

'I'll write a letter to Baggins telling him that I need to take care of something important, something that is preventing me from being completely happy here. I'll say that after all the goodbyes you've had to say, I didn't want to be another one, so I gave you a memory potion to forget me. When I'm ready to come back, I'll find you and True Love's Kiss will bring your memories back. It explains my disappearance and Hook's lack of memory.' She watched his eyes soften as she spoke, but there was still a hint of melancholy in them.

'Aye, lass, that's a good idea.' He whispered, a small, tight smile masking his sadness for a few seconds. Emma gave his arm a comforting squeeze before going over to the desk and finding a quill and parchment to write the letter. Killian distracted himself by pulling his past self out of the cupboard and opening his mouth to pour in the memory potion. He looked up to see Emma wave her hand, using her magic to transport the letter to Baggins' quarters on the other side of the ship.

Emma looked over the desk at him once the letter had disappeared and their eyes locked. She could see the love in his eyes (no matter the circumstance she could always see the way he looked at her) but the mournful gaze was too much for her. She walked over to him and pulled him into her arms. His grip on her was tight and she knew he was struggling.

'It's hard, Emma.' He whispered and her arms tightened around his waist, hoping that it could somehow make it a little better to just hold him.

'I know, Killian, I know.' She replied softly.

Their hands were linked as they jumped through the portal together, the disorientating whirlwind of magic swirling around them until they crashed onto the muddy surface of the barn. Emma felt her back hit the hard ground forcefully, making her feel winded and dizzy. Killian wasn't faring much better a few feet beside her, groaning as he rolled onto his knees, attempting to stand.

Emma blinked and her surrounding came into focus. She recognised the abandoned barn that Zelena had picked to cast her curse and the unidentifiable but noticeable shift in the atmosphere that told her she was back in her world once again. Killian offered her his hand and she took it, her head spinning as she stood upright.

They stared at each other, both at a loss of what to say or do. Emma hadn't really comprehended what had happened over the past week, and suddenly now that she was back to reality (hers anyway) it all hit her.

Just as she opened her mouth to speak, she heard a muffled buzz, and frowned before noticing her phone vibrating in the dirt at her feet. David was calling her, and the memory of ignoring his calls came back to her. She picked the phone up, noticing the time and date were exactly the same as before they had been sucked in the portal.

'Killian, no time has passed here.' She said, sounding slightly breathless and confused.

'Aye, I thought time travel would work differently. It's like an alternate universe, so the time and space of this realm remains the same. Even so, you should go find your family. There are important things you need to tell them.' His eyes shifted down, looking over the pattern Zelena had dug into the mud. For a second she wondered if he had meant what had happened between the two of them, but then she remembered the reason she had ignored David, why she had been alone and why Killian had come to talk to her.

'Yeah, I do. We should get back to the diner and I'll tell them everything.' Killian nodded silently in response before heading towards the exit, Emma following behind with a strange sense of disorientation and fogginess clouding her mind.

She caught up and walked beside him, but when Killian didn't look over and give her his usual mischievous yet endearing smile, she linked their hands together. she could see it in the way his eyebrows were pulled down into a frown and the way his shoulders were hunched that something was bothering him.

She squeezed his hand gently to let him know that it was okay; she wasn't going to pull away now that she was back. He understood the sentiment of her gesture and his expression softened, giving her a relieved smile that calmed the nerves in her stomach. Emma wasn't quite sure when they had begun to communicate so well with simple looks and touches, but it no longer scared her to have someone who knew her so well.