6101719: Wow so a lot has happened since I last wrote, and it hasn't even been that long! I officially have this entire fic all planned out, with all of the movies our OUaT crew is going to watch and when, as well as themes and a general outline for each episode. Thank you ALL for your amazing ideas and advice and compliments; they all feel special to me and have helped shape this story all the way to its (hopefully satisfying) end.
And now the first of two small things. The first is that I might rename this fic, as "Movie Night" just seems kind of bleh. If enough of you are strongly against this idea then I will reconsider, but I just wanted to let you know ahead of time so you don't lose track of this fic if the name changes. (I can change the name, right?)
Secondly, I have this... other fic idea floating around in my head that is sheer torture, and might end up getting written. It's super embarrassing and silly, but also looking adorable and practically writing itself. It would be a re-telling of a Disney classic that is a favourite of mine (I'm not saying what because you'll probs laugh) but would anyone be interested in that? It would be something kind of like a Beastly or A Cinderella Story, only in an AU that wasn't modern. Anyway. If people want me to write in then I'll start sooner; if they don't then I'll wait until this fic has some more momentum before getting into anything new.
That's it for now. Here's another rather long chapter for all of you fantastic individuals.
Much love from Frick to you all.
Setting: A week after the drive-in and Emma hasn't seen Hook once. But she's had not a lot of time to think about the pirate, not with the dinner with her parents and the promise of big news just around the corner.
"Does everything look okay?" Mary Margaret straightened out the tablecloth once, twice, rearranging the pots on the deep green surface until her husband finally pulled her away.
"Everything looks great. You don't have to be worried." David pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. "They'll be here any minute. Why don't you go get dressed?"
Mary Margaret pulled away, untying the strings of her apron hastily. "You're right. I'm just not sure how Emma's going to react. Or Henry. I mean, he's already twelve."
"He just turned twelve a couple weeks ago Snow. It'll be okay. And Emma will understand."
Mary Margaret stripped out of her loose t-shirt and old jeans, struggling into a pair of tights. "Yes, she'll understand, but will she like it? She'll have a brother or sister thirty years younger than her!"
David chuckled from the kitchen. "That's pretty much par of the course with our family tree. Have you ever really thought about how crazy our family already is?"
"My step-mother is also my grandson's adoptive mother." Snow shook her head, buttoning up her shirt. "And if what Regina said was true, then my step-grandmother also had a thing with Henry's grandfather on the other side." She smoothes the skirt out over her stomach, imagining all the new clothes she would need when the new baby started taking up more room. Boy or girl? I wonder if I still have that pendant—
"It's strange to think that at one point there were five generations of our family all alive and under sixty. Well, in a manner of speaking."
Snow stepped back out into the kitchen. "I don't even want to think about it. I remember teaching Henry and his class about family trees, and getting them to draw them out… I can't even imagine how that would look now."
David chuckled. "Well it sure would make family get-togethers an interesting experience."
Mary Margaret looked up from the oven. "It would. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't have them." The wheels in her head were already turning, David could see it.
He held up his hands. "Mary Margaret, I know this is pretty exciting, but we can't get ahead of ourselves here—
"Christmas David." She gave him a pointed look. "It's just over a month away. We have this new house, and everyone's already getting along so well…"
"Snow," David pleaded. "Can we just take things as they come?"
Mary Margaret stepped towards him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She smiled sweetly. "If we don't seize the opportunities as they come, who knows how many we'll miss?"
He smoothes back a piece of her hair. "I know. And I'm not saying it's a bad idea. But we already have one milestone ahead of us." He slipped his hand between them, resting his palm on her belly. "One step at a time."
"I love you Charming."
"I love you too." He kissed her lips swiftly. "I'll get the roast from the oven. You can be in charge of getting the door." He smiled at her.
"If this is you trying to take the credit for my cooking, you're going to need to try a little harder." Snow grinned as she stepped towards the living room.
David laughed. "I appear to be caught red handed. I'm sure no one will think I was responsible for this, if it tastes as good as it smells."
Mary Margaret sat on the couch, resting her feet on the ottoman with a sigh. She had only found out she was pregnant a week and a half ago, and could hardly believe it. It had seemed like a dream come true to know about the little life growing inside her, and every time she looked at Charming it was like she could feel the baby already moving around, wanting to meet his or her family.
She placed a gentle hand on her belly, reminding herself this was all very real. She had a family. Even if it was the weirdest collection of misfits in either this world or any other, it was hers. She had a daughter that she was immeasurably proud of, and a grandson who seemed to steal more of her heart every day. But she had missed most of their lives up until this point, and that hurt. Like a perpetual nagging in her gut, she felt guilty for not having been there to kiss Emma's scraped knees, to spoil Henry when Emma was out of town, or to listen to either of them nervously asking if they could snuggle away their bad dreams.
This baby was her chance to make up for it. She would never get those years back with either Emma or Henry, but she could give herself and her husband a chance to alleviate some of that pain. And Emma too. Being a big sister at twenty-nine wasn't what she had planned, if Snow was to guess, but she hoped she would learn to love this new member of her family, and help her the way Mary Margaret should have helped Emma.
The doorbell rang, jarring her from her thoughts. She slipped back into her flats and made her way to the door, opening it to see Emma and Henry just outside.
"Hey," Emma smiled as she handed over a tin box. "Henry helped me make some cookies. He said shortbread were your favourites; I hope he wasn't wrong."
"He's not." Mary Margaret beamed as she took the box from Emma. "Thank you so much! Both of you." She gave Henry a sweet smile as she stepped aside to let them in. "David just finished making the roast."
The husband in question could be heard laughing all the way from the kitchen.
Henry looked a bit skeptical. "Gramps cooks?"
"Not nearly as well as Mary Margaret." David appeared in the hall. "But everything's ready when you are."
The four of them enjoyed an absolutely mouth-watering supper, but Mary Margaret found she could hardly remember any of it. She kept watching the interactions between father and daughter, mother and son, praying her news would go over well.
She stood and began taking plates. "We'll have the cookies for dessert, and I'll make some hot chocolate and coffee to go with it."
"And then will you tell us the news?" Henry picked up his own plate before Mary Margaret could reach it, taking it to the dishwasher.
Emma did the same. "He hasn't been able to stop thinking about it since yesterday." She confessed. "I haven't heard the end of what he thinks it might be."
Snow and Charming exchanged a quick look. "Well next time we have big news maybe we'll just spring it on you."
Emma smiled. "That would save a lot of guessing games, that's for sure." She took the plates and stuck them in the machine.
"Where do you want the food?" Henry came in with a pot of beans in his hands, David a step behind him with the roast.
"On the stove for now please. Thank you Henry." Mary Margaret began making the drinks as the other three cleared the table. "Does everyone want cinnamon in their hot chocolate?"
Three yeses brought a smile to her face. She remembered when she'd first given Emma hot chocolate, before the curse was broken, and she hadn't even thought about asking her. She hadn't ever met anyone who liked their hot chocolate like that before her, and as foolish as it sounded, even in the confines of her own mind, she thought it was special. As far as she knew, it was their only unique family quirk.
She frowned as she stirred in the syrup. We don't really have any family traditions either. No framed photos on the wall, no embarrassing stories, no inside jokes, no trip photo albums—
That stopped her. She curled her lips in slightly, trying to keep the smile off her face. I can't imagine what those would look like! She imagined an action shot of her shooting an ogre in the eye, Emma talking to Cora, Snow and Aurora passed out on the grass. Regina and Emma reunited with Henry, there were so many.
"What are you smiling about?" Emma took two of the mugs from her hands, a curious expression on her face.
"Oh, it's silly." Mary Margaret shook her head, but couldn't quite keep her lips from curving.
Emma raised an eyebrow. "Okay, but whatever it is it's cracking you up. Spill."
David and Henry had turned to listen. Mary Margaret stuck out her tongue slightly, still grinning like a fool. "I was just thinking, this is the only thing our family has that's kind of normal." She raised the mugs, gesturing to the stick of cinnamon. "I was thinking of all the other things normal families have. Pictures, stories, that kind of thing. And of course, the photo albums filled with shots of their trips."
Emma's eyes widened, then she laughed. "Ours would look ridiculous!"
"I know! That's why I was laughing!" She chuckled slightly. "No normal family would believe them!"
"It would look like someone gone a little overboard with photoshop." David mused, a smile cracking his face even wider.
Henry laughed. "Imagine ones from Neverland. On the Jolly Roger on the way home."
"A pirate ship sailing through the clouds." Emma shook her head. "Or all those sour looks you were giving David in the dark forest."
Mary Margaret blushed, and David took her hand, laughing. "At least we can joke about it now."
"Or how about David's puppy eyes trying to get me to talk to him." Snow teased, winking up at her husband.
"Wow, I wish someone had brought a camera with them." Henry sighed, a small smile still on his face. "I'm sure we'll have more adventures. We'll have to bring one then."
"Absolutely kiddo." David agreed. "But I'm kind of adventured-out for a while. Relaxing these past few weeks has been incredible."
Emma nodded. "Not running for your life is so peaceful."
"And boring!" Henry teased. "I'm glad to be back too, but our family's all about adventure!"
"That we are, Henry." Snow smiled. This is it. "And speaking of family, I think now's as good a time as ever to announce that our family's about to get a little bigger."
Emma's jaw dropped, and Henry's too, a moment later.
"No way!" Emma took a tentative step closer to Mary Margaret, reaching out to touch her stomach. "In the caves, you said you wanted this." Her smile melted Snow's heart. "And you got it. I'm so happy for you." She hugged her mother tightly, and Mary Margaret could see David's eyes shining.
Henry turned to his grandfather, hand outstretched. "Congratulations Gramps." David laughed and shook his hand, pulling him in for a hug. "Do you know if it's going to be a boy or a girl?"
Mary Margaret shook her head. "Not yet. It's too soon, and we haven't decided if we want to be surprised yet."
"More surprise sounds like just the thing for our family." Emma joked. "I think it's going to be a boy."
"Me too." Henry nodded. "You already have a girl, so a boy would be fair." His eyes lit up. "Hey! I know what we should do to celebrate!"
"And what's that?" Snow asked, reaching for the cookie tin.
"The Lion King! It's been a week since our last movie night, so we have to carry on the tradition!"
Tradition? Snow felt her heart take a leap. "I think that's a great idea. We can head over to Emma's after…" She stopped, staring into the cookie tin. She looked up, and Emma was smiling sheepishly.
"It was Henry's idea."
The twelve-year-old grinned impishly.
Snow lifted a cookie, showing them to her husband. Each one of them was carefully frosted in a perfect red apple, shining and delicious-looking.
David's jaw worked for a moment. "Interesting choice, Henry."
"I thought we could use some good memories of apples." He shrugged. "Are you mad?"
"No, no I'm just surprised." Mary Margaret looked at him for a moment before chuckling and shaking her head. "What are we going to do with you?"
"Make me a nephew, from the sounds of things." Henry quipped. "Eat one, they're really good."
Snow took a bite, eyebrows arching. "You're very right." She passed the tin around, then gave out the hot chocolates. "Let's go eat these in the table and plan out the evening."
It was decided that they would invite the whole extended family for the movie, and host it at Snow and Charming's instead. Emma reasoned that if no one was offended by the drive-in the week prior, they had nothing to worry about for any of the other movies, so it made sense to avoid offending anyone by not inviting them.
Every time she thought of the drive-in, she could only think of her parents. She'd done a pretty good job of feigning surprise when Mary Margaret had announced the baby, which she was proud of herself for. And now that she'd had a full week to privately come to terms with this change, she knew had no excuse for her behaviour with Hook. Her parents' love had created her, and all the opportunities that came with life itself. She couldn't possibly use it as an excuse to deny herself anything they would want for her, when they'd given up everything for her.
She fidgeted with her car keys as she sat by the docks. She remembered her conversation with Mary Margaret as David and Henry had been playing foosball in the basement.
"You and Hook seemed to be getting along well at the drive-in." A sip of her hot chocolate, eyebrows raised.
"Yeah, Henry told me to invite him and then went and sat with Regina. It was a little strange, but it was nice of him."
"Which, sitting with Regina or inviting Hook?"
Emma thought. "Both. I mean there was some real potential for her to be offended by the movie. And Hook's got no family or anyone here." She shrugged. "It was the least I could do." Her conscience tugged. It's not that it was a lie, but she knew that she wouldn't have left Hook anyway, not with all he'd done to help her. To blame that sentiment on anything else felt vaguely dishonest.
Her mother's face softened. "I hadn't even thought of that." She looked away, thinking. "That must be so lonely, out in the ship all by himself."
Emma's heart twisted. "Yeah. I haven't seen him since that evening."
She looked down at the pressure of Mary Margaret's hand over hers. "Maybe we should invite him tonight."
"I'm not sure how that would go over." Emma excused quickly. "I wouldn't want people getting the wrong idea. Or him, and Neal will be there, so I'll have enough to worry about."
"Emma," her voice was soft. "What's wrong?"
How had her mother learned to read her so well already? "Well we didn't part ways under the greatest of circumstances."
Snow said nothing for a long time. "Wanna talk about it?"
Emma sighed. "Not really. I know you're right." She gave her mother a half smile. "I should invite him."
"If there's a rift, that might be a good way to start mending it. And you don't have to worry about anyone getting the wrong idea." She smiled, squeezing her daughter's hand. "I know your father may not be overly fond of Hook. But he saved David's life." She looked down. "I can't ever repay him for that." When she turned back to her daughter, her eyes were determined. "I don't mean to force you into anything. But whatever you choose, I support you. Hook isn't the man I thought he was, and if you care for him, in any way at all, then I think that's something special."
Emma felt like her throat had closed up. "Thank you." She hugged her mother, taking a shaky breath. "Thank you."
She looked out at the ocean, the soft splashing of the tide bringing her back to the present. Did she care about Hook? Absolutely. She hadn't figured out just how much, or in what kind of ways, but she knew that, if nothing else, she cared about how he was alone right then, and she had a family. Her family had been a surprise—a gift really—considering her status as an orphan mere years ago. Loneliness was something she didn't wish on anyone.
She opened the door to the car and stepped out into the November air. It was the warmest night in easily a month. The cold that had come through Storybrooke and hung around promised a bitter winter, and days like today had to be appreciated.
She put her hands in her pocket, rubbing her thumb over the unfamiliar surface of the keychain. Henry had given it to her a few days prior; the design was a small circle of hammered metal, a dark background with silver stars raised of its surface. He'd said it reminded him of Neverland, and he wanted to give it to her to remind her of that adventure. She could still see his small smile, telling her that he didn't need one because he was never going to forget how far she'd gone to save him.
Emma swallowed. She would never have forgotten either. She wouldn't forget about saving her son, nor the part that all these others had played in helping her.
She looked up at the Jolly Roger. Hook was far from the least of those. He'd been invaluable with his knowledge of the island, not to mention the use of his ship.
The boards creaked under her feet as she looked around. She checked the rigging first, not wanting another surprise drop-in (literally) from the captain.
Not seeing him, Emma made her way to his cabin. There was a slight draft across the deck, caused less by the wind and more by the emptiness. She tried to imagine the Jolly Roger out on the open sea, under a blazing sun and covered in sailors going about their jobs in their loud and practiced way.
She knocked on the cabin door. "Hook?"
The door opened jerkily, revealing a disheveled captain in only his breeches. "Swan!"
"Uh, hi." Emma fought to keep her composure. Not the first time I've seen a shirtless man. Not the first time the man I'm looking for opens his door shirtless. Not the first time Hook's made me feel like a stupid teenage girl.
She kept her eyes trained on his face.
"I can't say I expected to see you back here." He scratched the back of his head, his torso stretching in the process, severely testing Emma's resolve. "Is everything alright?"
"We're having another movie night. At Mary Margaret and David's, and you're invited."
He smirked. "The lad's sending you again?"
"Actually, no." Emma almost bit her tongue. "This time I'm inviting you."
His face was a mask. "I see. Who's the star of tonight's show?"
"Hamlet." Emma exhaled. "And as far as I know, no Shakespeare characters made it to Storybrooke, so it's safe."
Hook raised an eyebrow. "Hamlet? I saw that one when I was a boy, I believe. A strange choice."
"Well technically it's actually The Lion King, which is the kid-friendly version. Less suicide and unhappy endings."
"Ah. Well, I'll clear some room in my schedule for it."
Emma was glad to hear the teasing back in his voice. "Alright. Well, we're starting soon, just stopping to get some snacks first. So you can get dressed and come with me."
"Dressed?" He did far too good a job at looking shocked.
Emma gave him a look, but he only grinned and winked.
"As you wish, m'lady." He stepped back inside his cabin, not bothering to close the door. "Will I have the pleasure of visiting with the whole family this evening?"
"Yep. We're inviting everyone who could possibly be related to Henry." She averted her eyes, finding his body and its labour-hardened muscles altogether too distracting. "Regina, Gold, Belle, and Neal." She hesitated. "That's not going to be a problem, right?"
Hook tipped his head, looking at her through his lowered eyelids. "Not at all darling." He buttoned up his shirt, an interesting feat considering the tools at his disposal.
"Good." Emma avoided looking at the buttons and the man behind them for any longer. "I don't want to have to scrape you off another street shoulder."
"Oh but it was so much fun the first time." Hook ignored the top few buttons, grabbing a grey zip-up from the closet.
Where is he getting all these clothes? "If that's your definition of enjoyable, then there are some serious issues you have to work through."
His expression let Emma know her mistake. "I have other ideas of what's enjoyable too, darling, in case you were worried." He pulled a black jacket over his sweater. It was leather—of course it was—with cotton sleeves. He looked like something you would see in a magazine.
"You're hilarious." She said sarcastically. "Almost ready?"
"Patience love." Wool socks and loosely laced Doc Martens completed his change. He stretched. "Shall we?"
The drive back to the Charmings was interrupted only by a quick stop to the corner store for Doritos and coke. Hook was pleased to see his "second favourite bottled drink" was coming with them.
Gold and Neal were still missing by the time Hook and Emma walked through the basement door. David gave them a respectful nod, which Hook returned. Mary Margaret barely had time to smile encouragingly before Henry piped up from the couch.
"Hey Captain. I didn't know you were coming." He smiled, looking pleased, as if he'd had something to do with it.
"Nor did I until a few moments ago." He looked at Emma, then back to Henry, who nodded, understanding.
"Well you can sit on the couch with me and Mom." He patted the seat beside him.
Emma moved in beside her son, Regina on the other side. Hook eased down to her right, stretching his legs in front of them. He looked around the room, from the flat screen to the fooseball and airhockey, then back to the massive couches. He raised his eyebrows, impressed. "Quite the set up you've got here, Charming."
David gave another curt nod. "Thank you. It's what we wanted; a place where we could have the whole family over to hang out."
Emma nearly winced. The last thing Hook needed was a reminder that they had a family and he didn't.
But the pirate only smiled.
Emma was thankful, as that was the exact moment Gold and Neal walked through the door.
From her seat right beside Hook, Emma saw him tense. The muscle right above his jawbone flexed, but he gave no real obvious reaction to the presence of the crocodile.
In another set of circumstances it might have been comical, the way father and son raised their eyebrows simultaneously at the sight of the pirate. Neal appeared slightly confused, and maybe even a touch hurt, but that didn't bother Emma half as much as the look on Gold's face; he looked like someone had just given him the best news he's heard all day. The man's eyes shifted across the room to where Belle stood chatting with Mary Margaret. Only once he seemed satisfied that she was, in fact, completely unhurt, he turned away.
Emma felt her shoulders slowly relax, now that she knew Gold wasn't about to jump on the chance to go after Hook again. It reminded her of her time in the foster system. The apprehensiveness in the atmosphere as you waited to learn whether or not this foster parent was as forgiving as the last. In one family a broken plate was an accident, and your only responsibility was to clean up the shards. But in another house it was an infraction, an abomination, and it meant that you would be eating no dinner off that dish or any other until your uncomfortable sentence had been served.
This situation, thankfully, was more like the former. The subtle tenseness of the room dissipated, and before too long everyone was talking amongst themselves, not causing any trouble.
Emma looked at Hook again, noticing the purposeful relaxation of his shoulders. He really was trying.
Without any announcement, Henry got up and put the cassette into the VCR, adjusting the channel and volume. He stood up on the ottoman, clearing his throat.
"Excuse me, but the movie is beginning, and we ask that you all make your way to your seats as quickly as possible." He grinned, clearly impressed with his cordiality.
Regina chuckled. "I suppose I should be more careful about how loudly I practice mayoral addresses in the house."
"At least he didn't say anything about how we're calling this session to order." Emma pointed out. "Then we all would know who to blame for his precociousness."
"You say that like it's a bad thing." There was an edge to Regina's voice.
"It's not." Emma clarified. "He's a smart kid."
Regina's smile was only slightly delayed. "I know."
Henry sat down between them, just as the opening lines of Circle of Life started. "This one has always been one of my favourites. Timon and Pumbaa are my favourite."
"Hey, I haven't seen this one before." Regina chided, squeezing his shoulder teasingly. "No spoiling!"
Henry smiled.
Mary Margaret sat down on the other side of Hook, along one side of the U-shaped couch. Gold, Belle and Neal sat down on the other, and just before David killed the lights, Emma saw the quiet look her old flame sent towards her.
She directed her attention back towards the television. The music was always Emma's favourite part of this movie. The songs were all catchy and beautiful, even the more twisted ones, like Be Prepared.
As had become a bit of a custom, Emma found herself watching her companions as much as the movie. She, Neal, and Henry were the only ones who had seen it before, and it showed as the film progressed.
At the announcement of Simba's birth, Emma watched her parents. The subtle looks exchanged, the tender way he reached for her hand, it was a little much at times, the gooeyness of it all, but Emma couldn't keep herself from being happy with him.
I'm going to be a sister. A REAL sister. It hadn't really occurred to Emma that this was something she'd wanted. But she supposed it was a side-effect of wanting parents. A full sibling was a reminder that your parents were real, that they were together, that there was hope of a real family.
Emma looked around the room, at all the faces in rapt attention to the little lion on the screen. They were her family. Even without this new baby. They were the people who cared for her and hers, who had fought to save the most important person to her: Henry. They maybe didn't all get along, they maybe didn't even all like each other at times. They weren't perfect. But they were hers. They were permanent. They weren't going to leave her for this new baby, as some foster parents had done. They weren't going to decide she wasn't worth the trouble. They would fight, but they wouldn't break ties.
And wasn't that all she'd ever wanted?
The movie about the power-hungry young lion cub was a very interesting one, of this Hook was quite sure.
He remembered enough of the story of Hamlet that he wasn't shocked by the evil uncle Scar, though he did have to admit the death of the large lion, Mufasa, his name was, did affect Hook in ways he hadn't quite expected.
As little Simba poked around his father's body, crying and pleading, a tight vise curled around Hook's heart. He knew how it felt to lose the person closest to you. To be left with nothing but to hold them and weep, knowing they were a better person than you could hope to be, struck with the cruelty of fate choosing to take their life over yours, when you would have given up anything for that person.
First Liam, and then Milah. His family was torn apart by death, time, and betrayal. In that way, he felt like little Simba, confused and lost, overcome with agony and failure.
He looked at Emma, who was holding her son's hand. Beyond them, the queen looked like she had swallowed a rock. Her lips were pressed together tightly, too tightly to be doing anything but keeping in a sob. All Hook knew was that he'd ordered him to kill her own mother, and then supposedly killed Cora herself, by accident. He hadn't thought she and her mother were close (he didn't imagine it was a very loving relationship that consisted of mutual attempts at murder from time to time) but perhaps this was about her father. He'd never met the man, but perhaps Regina had favoured him.
His eyes returned to Emma, as he knew they would. Her affection for her son was touching, but also maddening. He could still feel the pressure of her fingers around his from their last movie together, even though the contact had been brief. But he also could still see the gaze she'd shifted around the room, open appraisal of these people. Her family. Something Hook would never again have, as likely as not.
Hook knew jealousy was unbecoming, particularly of the woman you loved, but he couldn't help himself. She had given him more than an invitation to a film that evening, and it meant more than she could ever know. He was touched by her sharing her family with him, but there was nothing he could do to return the favour. The brief kiss they'd shared a week prior had solidified things for him; Emma didn't love him as he loved her, but she did care. She cared enough to help him, even unknowingly. And it was good she'd asked nothing in return, as Hook had nothing to offer.
On the screen, the young Simba was being rescued by a strange pig creature and a rodent of some sort. Hook watched, captivated, as the creatures now known as Timon and Pumbaa took in the lion cub as they would a friend. Like a brother. Like they, too, were a family.
He shifted in his seat. Perhaps blood wasn't the only way to forge a family. If Simba's own uncle could kill his father, and attempt to see him killed as well, then perhaps these adopted brothers would be better even than blood.
Killian Jones was a boy whose father abandoned him. Killian Jones was a left tenant whose king killed his brother. Killian Jones was a man of Captain Hook's past, but he would never leave him. Killian Jones had no family. Captain Hook needed none.
And yet, what of Emma? What of this fierce desire that saturated his very being in want for her love? Was family not love itself in action? If that's what he wanted with Emma—a chance to be accepted and needed and appreciated—then was that not the same as wanting family? He could admit he was in love with her, he could admit he felt envious of the bond she shared with her family, then surely he could admit that perhaps being a part of this family was what he wanted too.
Nala, the love interest of the dear Simba, reappeared on screen, and Hook felt the corner of his lip twitch upwards. Sometimes even the lost boy gets the happy ending.
David watched intently as Simba stepped towards the edge of Pride Rock. He wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders as the camera did a wide pan of the scene, the lion roaring in triumph, his family all around him for support.
He was sure that there wasn't a person in the room who wasn't touched by the movie. The part of him that was Prince Charming had to admit that he missed the Enchanted Forest, but David Nolan, at that moment, could not have been more content than sitting there with his family, experiencing this type of magic completely absent in their old realm. The story of a son losing a friend and confidant in his father was something he reckoned everyone in the room could relate to, and the power in that unity was not to be understated.
The room seemed to sigh as the end credits began to roll, David included. He took this opportunity to look across to Gold and Belle. He had never seen the older man so at ease in his life. Belle's head was leaning just slightly on his shoulder, and Gold looked like the king of the world, with his son on his other side. He hadn't even said a word about Hook, for which David was grateful.
This brought the prince's attention to the pirate sitting between his wife and daughter. He resisted frowning, not wanting to ruin the tranquility of his thoughts. He didn't entirely trust Hook, and he didn't expect that to change the more he spent time with Emma. He loved his daughter, and that made him protective. What father couldn't relate to that? He couldn't deny that the captain had saved his life, and risked his own hide to do it, but that didn't mean he approved of him cozying up to Emma. He was still a pirate, even if he was also... what? What was he?
David would have to think more on it. For now it was enough that he had had a daughter for only a short time, and he wasn't ready to give her up just yet.
His attention traveled to where Emma sat smiling and talking with Henry. His heart swelled. He was so proud of her. She wasn't his baby girl, but he was getting his second chance at that in a few months. She was Emma, the woman who'd saved an entire world with only her son to help her. She'd become an incredible person, and a great parent.
David thought back to young Simba, crying at his father's side. Emma had been given every orphan's dream; she'd gotten her father back. David knew it deep in his heart that he owed it to all the orphans in the world to make sure that his daughter never felt like one of them ever again.