The next time a sudden summertime downpour finds them, there is no inn to provide them shelter.
Although they haven't spoken a word since Killian kissed her earlier, they join hands without a word, running through the forest as the sky opens up above their head, drenching them in an instant. Killian's fingers tighten instinctively against hers as lightning illuminates the darkened sky, as if he expects Rumpelstiltskin to suddenly show up and wrench Mary away from him. Mary, in turn, clutches the strap of her satchel with her free hand, terrified of it tumbling from her grasp and the magic mirror smashing to the ground. She cannot bear to let go of the last link she has to her own world…not yet, anyway.
She doesn't understand herself. One minute she wants to stay with Killian, to undertake a life of piracy as long as it means never having to leave his side, the next she's pushing him away in order to keep him safe and preparing to go home to Matthew. She makes bargains with herself, promising that if she does make it back home she will tell Matthew how she really feels…but how can she know what she feels, when the heart that she had so naively thought would always belong to him, even after he had married another, now resides in the hands of someone else?
She had chosen Richard Carlisle, in part, so she would never have to deal with love and heartbreak again. She had never expected Killian Jones would change all of that.
They finally find refuge in the hollow of a tree, worn by time enough to have a small cavern in the massive trunk. It's just big enough for two, and yet Mary still has to practically sit in his lap to fit. Still, it's better than staying out in the rain and getting soaked, and so she rests the satchel carefully on her lap and leans against him, listening to his breathing as they watch the raindrops fall just beyond their little sanctuary.
For a long time, no one speaks. Then his voice in her ear, gruff and quiet and full of emotion that Mary cannot name.
"I'm sorry, lass," he says softly.
But whereas before, those words were what ended their kiss, now they are what ignites one. Mary's hand cups Killian's cheek as their lips meet in what seems like an apology, for their fight and for Matthew and Milah and Rumpelstiltskin and everything else that they do not dare speak. Mary allows herself to be lost in Killian's kisses as the rain falls around them.