Chapter 6: Storm

Emma was staring at the man. They were still sitting in the sunlight outside Granny's.

"What?" He asked.

"I was just thinking about what you said. I had no idea you wanted to have kids."

"Well, maybe this was a revelation big enough to be kept for the Echo Cave." He seemed a bit embarrassed that he had revealed this, and changed the subject. "Do you have any plans for the day?"

"What about just hanging around?"

"Do you feel good enough for this? What about getting some rest as the doctor told you?"

"Please, I don't want to stay inside, we can hang around without walking all day, we can rest sometimes. And the pain won't cause me any trouble; I took my medicine with me."

"I guess I can't refuse, then!"

They spent their day in the forest. Emma had already been there on a few occasions, mostly while she was wearing her sheriff's uniform. It was nice to be there without anything to look for, just randomly wandering, recognizing some places from time to time.

"This old bridge, I came here during my first days in Storybrooke, everyone was still cursed, my father awakened from the coma, and unconsciously came here to look for my mother, because there was a bridge in the Enchanted Forest where they used to meet."

"It shows how, even under a curse, memories never completely disappear. And I do know this bridge."

"You do?"

"Yes, you came here just a few days ago. With me. When we were in the Enchanted Forest, but I know you don't remember."

"Oh, I'm sorry. It was in the book, I should have known, it's just this story sounds so unreal, you know?"

"Are you really apologizing for having an accident? Swan, there's no need!"

Killian put an arm around her shoulders and led her deeper in the forest. Soon, they were facing a small lake.

"This is also a place where we've been a few days ago. We've been here before we went through Zelena's time portal. And this is also the last place we've been together before the accident."

The man was looking at her, as if waiting for something to happen. But no memories came back; the bench by the lake didn't remind her anything.

"We've walked quite a lot, you have to rest, let's sit on that bench over here."

With his arm still around her shoulders, he led her there. She let herself fall on the bench.

"You should have told me you were that exhausted! You shouldn't make too much effort, you're still in recovery."

"You would have brought me back if I had told you."

Killian tilted his head and smiled, "Perhaps." He sat next to her, leaving some distance between them. Emma, her arms crossed, closed her eyes and silently enjoyed the sun.

"Have I been sleeping?" She asked when she opened her eyes again. She had opened them without having a clue about when she had closed them, without even being sure she had actually slept. Serenely sitting there, facing her with an arm on the back of the bench, the man chuckled.

"Considering how steady was your breath and how long you stayed like this, yes, I would definitely say that you were sleeping."

"And all this time you just stared at me?" She wasn't angry, just confused, not knowing how long she had been sleeping here. The sun had disappeared behind the clouds, it was even colder than in the morning.

"Yes. I could eternally look at you without ever getting bored of your beauty."

Emma was speechless.

"Don't look at me like this," he laughed, "you asked me, I replied. I could have lied of course, but lying is bad form."

She smiled, but couldn't find anything to reply.

"I was wondering," the man began, "do you remember how to use your magic?"

"My magic?" She hadn't thought of it since the accident, she barely remembered what she was capable of.

"Yes. In case you don't remember, you have magic, and I've seen your powers. Lately, you were learning how to control them." He looked around on the floor. "Here," he bent down, grabbed something on the floor and handed it to her: a white feather. "Try to make it levitate. If you want, I mean."

Emma nodded. She put the feather in the palm of her hands and stared at it, focusing.

"I have no idea how to do that."

"I fear I can't explain. Magic is in you, Swan, I've never been more than a simple spectator."

She looked up at him. He was really close from her; the distance separating them when they first sat on the bench had disappeared. A light laugh escaped from her lips.

"I can't focus with you so close, you're distracting me."

"Oh, really? I didn't know I had such a power!" He didn't manage to hide the broad smile appearing on his face. "Well, as you wish!" Killian laughed and shifted to the end of the bench. "Am I far enough from you, now? Or should I go to the other side of the pond?"

"No, stay here." She laughed too and tried again, focusing on the feather. After a few minutes, finally, the feather rose in the air. "Look!" Her smile was one of the brightest as she kept the feather fluttering a few inches above their head. "I did it!"

"I never doubted you could!"

"Why did you ask me to do this?"

He thought about it for a moment, a lopsided smile on her lips. "I enjoy watching you practising magic. And…" He paused. "I know how amazing you are, love, I just want to be sure you do, too."

Once again, she couldn't find anything to reply. The wind started blowing and she shivered.

"You're cold. We should go back to Granny's. It's quite far from here, can you walk?"

"I think I can. We should leave as soon as possible." She was staring at the sky. "Look at that."

A big black cloud was coming their way. It started raining.

"This is not good, a storm is coming, we need to go, now!"

"Wait! Granny's is too far away from here. There's a cabin, deeper in the forest. It's closer, Snow told me about it, she went there one day during a storm. We should go there." Hook nodded. A thunder clap rang out and, suddenly, it rained buckets. Emma grabbed his hand and started running. "This way, we have to follow this path, it's not very far."

The cold wind was unleashed, sending the rain right in their face, making it even more difficult to go forward. The thunder rolled again. Soon, Emma slowed down, and finally stopped, out of breath. "I can't run anymore. Ouch!" She clutched her ribs.

Hook was concerned. "I should have brought you back at Granny's much earlier. Please let me help you, we can't stay here."

"Okay." Emma knew what he was thinking about. She put an arm around his shoulders and the floor disappeared from under her feet as he lifted her. He started running, carrying her. She held on him tightly, her arms locked around his neck. "You have to follow this path, we should get here soon."

A lightning bolt illuminated the sky, followed by another thunder clap. The rain was falling even harder. After a few strides, they could see the cabin. Finally under the porch, sheltered from the rain, Emma was standing on her feet again, shivering with cold. She tried to push the door open. It was locked. She leaned against the door and sighed, looking at Killian.

"Well, that's annoying. You don't happen to know a spell to unlock doors, do you?"

"Nope… But I may have something in my bag." She searched through her bag and took from it two small objects.

"What is that?"

"Paperclips."

"What?"

"Something that can help us, I always keep them with me, just in case."

"Is that some sort of magic?"

"Magic?" She laughed. "No. I just need to unfold them." She tried but her hands were shaking, her fingers paralyzed with cold. Killian wanted to help but couldn't do much with his single hand.

"Swan, wait, give me your hands." He grabbed them and pressed them against his lips. As they stared at each other, Emma could feel his warm breath on her fingers and, slowly, she could move them again. "It should be easier now."

Indeed, Emma managed to unfold the paperclips, and inserted them in the bolt. She bent and pressed her ear against it to listen to the clinking noises, under Killian's admiring look. She moved the wires into the bolt, until a satisfied smile appeared on her face. She stood up and opened the door.

"Well done, Swan!"

Freezing, Emma went inside, hoping to warm up. But the abandoned house was just as cold as outside. It was a single room, plunged into darkness. All they could see was a table in front of them and, on their right, a couch facing a fireplace.

"What even is this place?"

"I don't know, Snow just told me about it once."

"At least, it's not raining in here."

Emma pulled the curtains open and looked through the window, holding on to the ledge. She was still shivering, water trickling from her hair.

"Love, you're soaked to the skin, your coat isn't watertight enough, take mine."

She turned around. "What about you?"

"I'm not in recovery. You're supposed to rest, not to run in the forest under the cold rain. I'm actually not giving you the choice." Killian smirked, undid the buttons of her coat and grabbed the collar to softly take it off. He then rushed to suspend the soaked coat to the hat stand and to take off his own coat, shivering in his turn as the cold reached him. "Put this on," he said, helping her.

"Wow that's heavy."

"And hopefully warmer than your own coat."

Her shivers stopped. "Thank you." She was still facing the window, turning her back to the man, watching the rain falling hard, the trees swinging in the wind, the sky being lightened by thunderbolts. "I've never seen such a bad weather, I've always thought storms happened when it was hot."

"It seems that all kinds of weather are possible over here. All I know is that it's not going to end soon, trust me, I've seen many storms. This one could last a few hours. You look exhausted, you should go on the couch."

"Yes, I… Ouch!" She clutched her ribs again. "In my bag, there's a bottle of water and my medicine."

She tilted her head, leaning her cheek against her shoulder, so she could smell the coat. She had never noticed how good it smelt, a scent she couldn't describe precisely; it was like a complicated mix of fragrances she couldn't identify. It reminded her of the ocean, of these few times when she had enjoyed a day-off on the beach. But it didn't remind her only of the ocean, there was also this pleasant masculine's scent, like a man's fragrance, reminding her of the day when they were in Neverland, when she had kissed him, and therefore been close enough to notice his perfume. Emma stayed there for a moment, smelling Killian's coat, until she realized he was behind her.

"Here." She could hear in his voice that he was smiling. Killian handed her the medicine and led her to the couch. "Maybe we should warn Charming that we're here, or he will think I have kidnapped you."

Emma laughed. "You're right." He handed her phone and sat next to her. "Shucks!" She said just a few seconds later, "there is no network here, maybe we're too lost here, or maybe it's because of the weather." Confused, the man raised an eyebrow. "No network, we can't call. We can just hope they won't notice our absence or, I fear you're right, my father will launch a missing person appeal for me and chase you." She laughed again.

"It seems like we're trapped here for the night."

"And now you're the one freezing."

"I will be fine, I've seen worse. Don't worry about me."

"That doesn't seem fair."

"Well, I do have some ideas to warm up, but there aren't really honourable." He smirked. "You always have paperclips with you, I always bring some rum with me. Rum does have the power to warm up, but I don't think that's the best idea, right?"

"Can't hold your rum?" She teased.

"It's definitely not good form. It would be easier if you could throw one of these fireballs Regina uses."

"Oh!"

"Let me guess," he teased her, "you had forgotten again about your magic?"

Emma bit her bottom lip, repressing a laugh. "I don't throw fireballs, but maybe I can do something about that fire." She went to the fireplace, supported by Killian. She sat there and placed her hands above the hearth, her palms facing the floor. But all she managed to create were a few sparks, not enough for the fire to light. She sighed. "I can't do it."

"Yes, you can!" He squatted next to her and, with the back of his hand, caressed her cheek. She was not expecting this sudden contact. A quiver ran through her body and she felt like an electric discharge in her hands. Finally, the fire was lit. The man chuckled, "this was quite effective!" Emma looked at the fire now burning, and remembered what Gold had told her once, that magic was about emotion. It was still too dark for Killian to notice she was blushing.

They went back on the couch. The fire was now lit, but the temperature was still quite low.

"I guess we will have to wait a bit before feeling the heat." Killian was still shivering.

"You know, you talked about rum. There are other methods, even penguins use it, call it survival instinct or whatever you want." The pirate raised his eyebrows as she took off his coat. She moved on the couch and closed the distance that was separating them, grabbed the coat to use it as a blanket for the both of them, and snuggled up to him.

"If I may, this is quite a nice way to survive the cold," he beamed as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I couldn't let you freeze while I was wearing your coat."

"Thank you, love, that's good form. The coat suited you well, by the way, my lady pirate." He tightened his embrace and leaned his head against hers. She didn't reply anything and simply closed her eyes, focusing on every part of her body against his, separated by only a few layers of clothes. She had forgotten about the cold. His shivers had stopped. She grabbed a part of the coat and pulled it close to her face, so she could smell it again.

"Does it smell good?" He teased her.

"Actually better than I expected!" She laughed and blushed again, without knowing if he could see it.

"Being stuck in a storm could have turned much worse. I'm actually quite enjoying this. With you. I just hope you're not hungry, there's nothing to eat."

"I'm not hungry. I actually have no idea what time it is." She could have checked the time on her phone, but she didn't feel like moving. The storm was still rolling from time to time, and the rain kept falling without interruption. It was surely quite cold outside, but she didn't care; it was warm right where she was. "We just need to find an occupation. Talk to me about you, about your past."