EPILOGUE
The heroes had been right. The path to redemption was full of obstacles, but Emma was determined and overcame all of them. She'd learned to ask for help, and Mary Margaret was the center of a lot of mediations. Before Emma had faced the town, David and Killian had held a small forum at Granny's and explained that Emma was back to her old self.
Neither one of them had been open with the details of the meeting, but Regina had. She told her that she believed in tough love and that knowing what the citizens of Storybrook thought of her might make her work harder. None of them, except for Belle and Ruby of course, had been willing to give her another chance at first. However, Killian and David had warmed them up to the idea.
She worked hard with Regina, learning how to channel her light magic again. It had been a struggle, going from dark to light, but she did it. The moment she was sure of her powers again, she went to the dwarves and fixed what she had done, even bringing back Leroy's axe.
Once the dwarves warmed up to her, things moved more quickly. She could have lunch at Granny's without feeling everyone's eyes on her and David had even given her her old job back.
Killian had tried to be by her side every moment of every day after she woke up, but Emma wouldn't allow it. They hadn't spent a night together since that evening. She felt that she needed to take things at a reasonable pace, but swore to Killian that they would never stand still as they'd done before. They'd had a few intimate moments since, though.
She and Killian met for lunch at the station every day. He always brought a big, grease strained bag from Granny's and two to-go cups of coffee. The first few times he attempted to bring the beverages, he'd ended up either dropping or spilling them, but he was determined and managed to juggle things around.
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The hardest thing was regaining Henry's trust. It took months before he would even speak to her, and when he finally did, she had a feeling it was because Killian had bribed him. They met at Granny's and took the booth all the way in the back. It had been hard to get the boy to open up to her, but she told him all of the things she'd been doing to try and prove herself.
"You've done all that?" He asked.
"Yes." Emma said. "And I really want to say that it was all for you, but the more things I set right, I'm realizing that isn't. It's not for you, or Killian, or even my parents. I'm fixing things because I want to."
He'd nodded and looked down at the table. "I hate being mad at you, Mom. You really pissed me off, but Violet and I are doing well. So, I think we're kind of okay?"
She reached across the table and squeezed his hand. "Thank you, Henry."
They both had a cup of hot chocolate and chatted about what was going on in their lives. Henry had been spending a lot of time with Violet's father. The man was teaching him how to properly wield a sword and apparently Henry was a quick learner.
He did have one complaint though, and that was Regina and Robin. According to the boy, they tried way too hard to seem like a perfect little family and it was starting to irritate him.
"I mean, we're far from a perfect family. My mom's boyfriend is having a baby with her sister. It's weird. They think if they don't talk about it in front of me maybe I won't remember." He took a sip of his hot chocolate and sighed.
"Well, you're welcome at the loft anytime you like."
"Thanks, Mom. But somehow I wonder if that's worse. It's so tiny." He stood and grabbed his backpack. "See ya later."
Emma left the diner a few minutes later with a huge smile on her face. Killian jogged up to her and raised a hand in greeting. Then the smile disappeared from her lips.
"Killian! What happened to your face?!" She asked.
The man had the beginnings of a black eye and a small cut under it.
"Not important. Just made someone angry, but they're fine now." He slung an arm around her shoulders and steered her toward the Jolly.
She didn't put up a fight and they strolled leisurely down Main Street. "Are you sure?" She asked. "They obviously got a good hit in."
"I'm sure, Swan."
They arrived at the ship and Killian stopped her before they stepped on board. "I've been doing some renovations, so I should warn you that it looks a bit different."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Pirates do renovations?"
"Aye. My ship is my home. It's been a very long time since she was updated." He extended an arm, gesturing for her to climb the ramp.
She rolled her eyes and did so. The moment she stepped onto the deck, her jaw dropped. "Whoa."
"Care to keep poking fun at my renovations?" He asked, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.
She shook her head and leaned back into him, taking it all in. He'd taken his little pillow nook and put a roof over it, almost like a little room. Closer inspection revealed that he'd set up a sofa and small television inside of it. The rest of the deck gleamed in the sunlight, freshly polished. He led her down the small set of steps into the galley and stepped in front of her.
"Now, before you assume anything, listen. The boy stayed with me quite a bit when you were the Dark One and lately he's seemed less than thrilled with his current living arrangement, so I thought it might be nice for him to have a place to sleep without any issues." He stepped back and Emma saw the "guest" bedroom in all it's glory. It was painfully small, but Killian had worked with it. A small futon sat across from a nightstand with a television on top. A dresser sat in the far corner.
"You did that for Henry?" She whispered, looking around the room.
"Aye. He's a good lad who deserves some time to himself. Now, there's one more thing I need to show you."
As he led her up the stairs Emma asked. "Why do you have televisions now?"
"Leroy taught me about something called generators and wiring. Made my head spin, but he promised to come back once a month to check on everything. Point is, now I have electricity."
They reached the door to the cabin and he paused for a brief moment. When he pushed the door open, she noticed his hand was shaking, but he didn't give her time to ask him about it. As she stepped into the room, seeing Henry's room was child's play compared to what was in front of her. The cabin had been painted a deep blue and the wood floors had been polished to a shine. The bed was made up with a light blue duvet and black silk pillowcases. A large mahogany dresser stood in front of the far wall next to a full length mirror.
The thing that caught her eye, however, was the single rose Killian picked up from the bed, holding it out to her. She took it hesitantly and looked up at him.
"Swan," he began, "do you remember what I told you in the echo caves?"
She nodded, too overwhelmed to speak.
"I never thought I'd be capable of letting go of my first love, of my Milah. To believe that I could find someone else that is, until I met you." He quoted. "Those words are more true now than they ever were. You've inspired me to be better than I ever thought I could be. I'm no longer a villain, nor do I ever want to be again. You've shown me the light, and I never want to see the dark again."
He sank to one knee and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small black box. Killian opened it to reveal a silver ring with a sapphire heart, almost identical to the ring that brought her parents together.
"Will you marry me, Emma Swan?"
She hauled him up by his shoulders and kissed him deeply instead of answering. After a few moments, he broke away. "I'm never one to complain about your kisses, Swan, but an answer would be wonderful too."
"Yes, you idiot." She said.
He slipped the ring onto her finger and she looked up at him. "It's the same color as your eyes."
"Aye. Was sort of the selling point."
She grinned. "So, is that why you've got a black eye?"
"Your father could have quite possibly gotten one last hit in." He cocked an eyebrow and winced.
"I love you." She whispered, looking back down at the ring.
"Love you too, Swan."
A/N: So, what did you think?