To make up for the last chapter being late, this one is early! Thank you so much to everyone who read, and especially to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: Naiariddle, Angels-heart1 and Tala Danaro!

-KM-

Chapter 5

He deftly caught the hand she raised to slap him. "Hear me out first, love. Then, if you still want to hit me, I'll give you a free shot. Fair enough?"

She nodded, still seething, allowing her hand to drop to her side. "Talk."

He guided her to the door. "Walk with me, love. This is a story for your ears only."

She nodded, allowing him to lead her silently to the shore. He sat on a rock and motioned for her to join him. They sat in silence for a few minutes until finally, he spoke. "First off, I am sorry. I knew that would upset you, and I apologize. I know that your world is different, that you are very used to being on your own, and making your own choices. I respect that, Emma." He looked at her to ensure she knew he was sincere before continuing. "But you're not alone here anymore. You have a family who cares for you. You have your son. Who you are...involved with, for lack of a better word, affects more than just yourself, and that's what our tradition acknowledges. This is not about your family making choices for you, love. It's about giving them the opportunity to make choices with you."

Emma laughed mirthlessly. "You've never seemed overly concerned with tradition before, Hook. Why now?"

His eyes flashed at the bitter tone in her voice, and he looked out to sea, knowing she had the right to her answers, no matter how difficult it would be for him. "You've heard about Milah."

She nodded. "I know the basics. Neil's mother, Rumple's wife, and your..."

"My first love." He stared out to sea, watching the stars on the water. "I was young, I was in love, and traditions be damned. Our being foolish cost Milah her life." He looked down at the tattoo on his right wrist. "I made every mistake possible, starting with falling in love with another man's wife. We all know how that ended."

"That wasn't your fault."

He shook his head. "I should've sent Milah home to sort things out with her husband, either to fix it or end it instead of stealing her away in the dead of night, bucking every rule and every moral I was raised to respect. Loving Milah was one of the best things I ever did, but I will always regret the way I did it. I don't know if it was flouting tradition or simple bad luck, but I am not willing to take the risk again."

"What are you saying, Hook?"

"I want... I need to do this right, Emma."

She looked at him in confusion. "I don't even know what this is! Henry's missing, there's a witch turning half the town into flying monkeys, and you want to court me?!"

"I would never interfere with you finding Henry, or doing what you need to do to protect this town. I only ask that you allow me to stand beside you while you do it."

She bit her lip, looking away, resting her elbows on her knees. "I think I can handle that." She sighed. "Why couldn't this just be simple. A quick fuck to get you out of my system..."

"Is that what you want?"

"Yes. No. I don't know. I have no idea anymore." She fixed her gaze out on the water. "I don't know how to do...whatever this is. I don't know what you want from me."

"What do I want? I want you to trust me with your heart. Maybe not today, nor tomorrow, but I sincerely hope that someday you will choose to place it in my keeping." He looked again at the tattoo on his wrist. "I saw Dr. Whale today."

"Why?" She looked concerned.

"To inquire about the possibility of removing this." He gestured to the tattoo.

"Killian, Milah was a large part of your life. Why would you want to do that?"

"Because this wasn't about Milah. If it was, it would've been her name across a sun; she was that bright of a light to me." He shook his head. "This was about vengeance, about the Dark One, and about me wanting to keep my hatred alive with a constant reminder. I don't want to live like that anymore, Emma. I don't want to allow what he did to Milah to define me any longer."

She nodded, her fingers lightly tracing the outline of the tattoo. "I understand."

He rose and offered his hand to help her to her feet. "We should head back. Your parents will be worrying that you've killed me."

She didn't answer, but kept hold of his hand as they walked back to her front door.

He turned to her as she stood under the porch light. "So, Princess, still want to hit me?"

She shook her head. "I still don't understand it, but I understand why you did it."

"As I do have your parents' permission, I now ask for yours. May I court you, Emma?"

"I-" She looked down. "I don't-"

He tilted her chin up with a fingertip. "It's alright. I understand." He turned to walk down the path toward the street, shoulders slumped.

"Killian!" He was surprised to hear her footsteps coming after him, and felt her hand on his arm. "I'm not saying no. I just- I don't know how to do this... whatever this is. I've had my heart broken every time I've risked it. I don't know if I can do it again."

He looked down to the water to where the Jolly Roger bobbed lightly in the waves. "A ship in the harbor is safe, Princess, but that's not what ships are built for. Hearts don't work their best when sheltered either." His hand on her back guided her back up the porch steps. "Take your time, love. I'm not going anywhere." His hand cupped her cheek and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her, but then felt his lips brush her forehead. "Goodnight, Emma."

"Goodnight... Killian." She whispered, turning to unlock the door.

He walked down the path, stopping at the curb to make sure she was inside and waiting to hear the click of the lock, before continuing on to his ship and his bunk...alone.

Emma passed through the kitchen and into her bathroom, showering quickly and heading to bed. She found herself staring at the ceiling, her mind swirling with the day's events, with worry about Henry, worry about everything. Her thoughts wouldn't settle, kept turning back to him, to what he asked of her, to his promise that she could take her time, that he'd be there. Finally, she threw off the blanket and walked over to her bag, pulling out the shirt he'd given her that morning. Slipping it on, she breathed the fragrance of sea salt, spiced rum, and that scent that was uniquely him and settled back into bed, feeling wrapped in the comforting warmth she'd known the previous evening. Her eyes closed and she quickly drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, Killian reached his quarters, stripped off his clothes and unbuckled the brace holding his hook to his arm, looking away from the twisted flesh at his left wrist as he rubbed the skin where the brace had left deep red creases. It wasn't comfortable, but it was effective. He set the hook and brace on his bedside table and bathed quickly, falling into bed as soon as he'd dried off.

He fell into a restless sleep filled with vivid dreams of Milah, of Rumplestiltskin ripping her heart from her, but when he caught her as she fell, it wasn't Milah at all, but Emma. He woke with a start and pulled the blankets up around his shoulders, shaking off the dream as best he could, over and buried his face in the pillow she'd used the night before, the soft scent of her hair lingering on the pillowcase, holding her pillow to his chest, reminding himself that she was home, she was safe, and he would see her in the morning to be sure of it. Slowly, he relaxed and fell back to sleep just as the sun began to peek over the horizon.

Next chapter should be up sometime on Monday and get more into the search for Henry. Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know what you think! -KM-