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CS AU: The Witch in the Woods (6/6)

Summary: “If it’s aid of a magical sort ye seek, then you’ll be wanting to find the witch in the woods.”

A/N: Holy crap! What's this? Another finished fic?? Those Killian sacrifices are really paying off! Seriously, though, I am so sorry this took so long for me to wrap up. I hope y'all will find this a conclusion satisfactory as reward for your patience. Your support and comments have meant the world to me. Without them this may never have gotten finished!

Now to keep the momentum going, should I work on my Serial Killer with a Twist AU or my Bachelor/Bachelorette Weekend in Vegas AU next? Reply, comment, or send me an Ask with your vote!

All my love to @kmomof4 as usual for giving this a once over!

Rated T (for now?) / Also available on ao3 / add to tag list / Curious? Come Ask Me! / Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part Four / Part Five

Part Six

Skull Rock was shrouded in fog, the dense mist adding a refracting filter over the torchlight flickering from the cavern’s opening. The weight of the air, heavy with a humidity usually only found within the Dark Jungle made Hook feel as though he were being dragged underwater rather than flown through the night sky. Glancing to his left, he could make out Emma cradled in the arms of The Shadow, a look of determination mixed with trepidation affixed on her features which shimmered under the moonlight.

While The Shadow took care to soften its landing with Swan in its embrace, the shadows transporting him were not so delicate. Hook’s knees buckled from the hard landing and his feet were swept out from beneath him as his spectre guards began pulling him along towards the cave’s entrance.

The Shadow had told them that Pan expected Hook to arrive weakened, so Swan (with some difficulty) had conjured a glamour spell to make him look as though he’d been beaten within an inch of his life. Now he and the other shadows were playing their part in case Pan already had eyes on them. With his head down, lolling in all directions from the way he was being unceremoniously dragged up the stairs, he hoped neither Pan nor the Dark One would suspect the trickery, or come to realize he was no longer in possession of his own shadow.

Who was currently on a very important mission; one crucial to their success and survival.

The stairs opened up to a spacious room at the center of the cave. Large holes within the exterior - the eyes of the skull shaped grotto - looked out over the coastline. An ocean breeze filled the chamber; the fresh brine both calming and invigorating to Hook’s senses, fortifying him for what was to come.

The shadows continued to lug him across the floor. Hook kept his head down and his body limp until he was roughly deposited against the stones in front of two sets of feet. A deep groan echoed out from his chest and he rolled over onto one side, clutching his ribs on the other.

“Be careful!” Emma pleaded beside him, struggling against The Shadow’s hold. “Haven’t you hurt him enough?”

Tilting his head back, Hook looked up into the faces of his two worst enemies, a scowl pulling at his split lip and a murderous rage glinting from his swollen and blackened eyes. The Dark One crouched down, his reptilian visage hovering within Hook’s view and a wide, gloating grin spread across his lips.

“Always a pleasure to see you like this, Captain,” he sneered. “So glad you could join us.”

“Indeed,” Pan agreed. “Lovely of you both to accept my invitation.”

“As though you left us any choice,” Emma replied back in a tone of pure venom. “Where is Henry? Where is my son?”

“All in good time,” Pan answered. “The lad is being well looked after by my Lost Boys. No need to fret.”

Knowing the Lost Boys as he did, Hook knew she had every reason to fret. Fortunately, a blur of black silhouettes wooshed across the cavern’s openings like billows of smoke, racing towards Pan’s encampment to retrieve the lad before any further harm could come to him.

“Why are we here?” Hook panted out in a pained cadence, forcing himself up to his knees in an effort to continue to sell his injuries. “What game are you playing now?”

“It’s quite simple, really,” Pan began in that irritating voice of feigned innocence. “We each wanted you here for different reasons. I…” he continued, stepping forward and indicating to himself with his eyes trained on Swan. “require your magic. And my son…”

The Dark One grabbed a fistfull of Hook’s hair and hauled him to his feet by his scalp. His pained cry almost drowned out Rumplstiltskin’s dementedly maniacal laugh as he brought him in close and confessed in the pirate’s face, “Why… I want you dead, of course!”

“Well, go on then,” Hook challenged, defiantly. “What are you waiting for?”

“No! Stop!” Emma cried out, wrenching her arm out of The Shadow’s grasp and sending a pulse of magic straight at Rumplestiltskin's chest.

The force of the blast caused him to release Hook and stagger backwards. Much to Hook’s displeasure, Swan braced herself in front of him, shielding him, and ready to match the Dark One curse for curse.

“Now, now,” Pan tutted, throwing his progeny a hard look. “As I said, all in good time. Remember our deal? I’m first.”

“What do you mean, you’re first?” Emma demanded with her hands still raised. Magic may work differently than she was used to, but they had both agreed - along with The Shadow - that she ought to risk using it if necessary.

“The reasons we brought you here,” Pan informed her. “I get to have mine fulfilled first.”

“You mean Swan’s magic?” Hook limped forward to stand next to Emma and followed up the inquiry with another. “What bloody use is her magic to you and why would she ever agree to relinquish it?”

“To save her son, of course,” Pan answered, his words delivered as though that fact ought to have been obvious.

Hook shared a wary yet hopeful glance with Emma, then turned his attention back to the demon brat who was now arrogantly lounging against a craggy outcropping with his arms and ankles crossed.

“Go on.”

“It’s simple really,” Pan began. “I need an infusion of powerful magic to retain my youth and keep the reaper at bay.” His eyes narrowed in on Swan, the unnatural hunger and covetousness in his eyes sparking Hook’s anger and possessiveness. “A seer once told me I could gain the power I needed from the heart of a boy descended of my line, one full of unshakeable belief, but--”

“You’ll never get my son’s heart! I’ll die before I let you--”

“Yes, yes,” Pan waved off Emma’s outcry and threats with an air of boredom, then carried on as though they were discussing nothing more serious than the weather. “Well, it turns out the heart must be given willingly, and your little brat has been less than cooperative. Therefore…”

Sauntering forward, Pan came to stand in front of Swan, and Hook moved to place himself between them. His efforts were thwarted by a rough shove from the Dark One which landed him on his backside.

“I’ll make you a deal.” Pan circled Emma, who remained stiff-backed with a glower of determination scowling from her features. “While I could keep the boy here in an effort to wear him down and comply, I’m afraid time is not on my side… even here. So…”

“So you want my magic in exchange, hoping it will be enough to keep you alive until another option presents itself,” Emma finished for him, doing her best to keep the fear and torment out of her voice, but Hook could still detect it and his heart ached all the more for her.

“You managed to go nearly a decade without using it, if I’m not mistaken,” Pan rationalized callously. “Surely, you won’t miss it that much. A small price to pay for the life of your son, wouldn’t you say?”

Glancing back at Hook, Emma raised her brows; the hope that he might signal to her that their plan could be put into motion clearly pouring from her eyes. With a subtle shift of his head, Hook tried to convey they’d have to stall a bit longer. The crestfallen look she gave him let him know the message was received. With a decisive swallow, she straightened her shoulders and turned back to Pan.

“I’ll give you my magic with one additional condition.”

“Oh?” Pan replied, eagerly. “Do tell.”

Gesturing back at Hook, she demanded, “Hook’s life is also spared and he leaves with Henry and me.”

Pan drew in a hissing breath of supposed remorse, but Hook knew the boy did not possess the capacity for such an emotion. “I’m afraid I can’t make that deal.” A sinister grin lifted the corners of Pan’s mouth and he stepped back to gesture at the demon beside him. “You’ll have to take up the pirate’s fate with him.”

Another maniacal giggle twittered from the Dark One’s throat, setting Killian’s teeth on edge. “Care to make another deal, Dearie?”

“Don’t do it, Swan,” Hook pleaded, finally getting to his feet. “You know this demon can’t be trusted.”

Ignoring Hook’s protest, Emma asked, “What do you want? What will it take to spare his life?”

“Let’s see,” he drawled ominously. “How about… the life of your son.”

“Never!”

Emma stretched out her hands, ready to blast curses at both their adversaries, willing to risk her own safety should the corrupted nature of the island cause her magic to backfire. Grabbing her wrist, Hook stalled her actions and out of the corner of his eye he saw a glint of metal sparkle from the cavern's eyes.

His shadow had returned. Victorious.

“You can’t really expect Swan to trade her own son for me,” Hook grit out through clenched teeth. “And you,” he said to Pan, “blinded by the capriciousness of a prophecy, you have failed to see the answer to your problem even when it is literally standing before you.”

An intrigued perplexity pulled at Pan’s features as he cocked his head to one side. “What do you mean by that, Captain?”

Hook shifted his weight and tucked his thumb into his belt. “I’ve spent a long time trying to find a way to exact my revenge on Rumplestiltskin, and in the course of that pursuit, I learned something.”

“You’ve piqued my interest, pirate, but my patience will not last.”

“There is another prophecy,” Hook told him. “One about a boy--one who will be more than he appears and who will lead the Dark One to his son. This boy shall be his undoing.” Shifting his attention to Rumplestiltskin, Hook clarified, “That’s why you want Henry dead. You believe him to be the boy.”

“Are you suggesting he is not?” the Dark One challenged. “You think you can save his skin by attempting to cast doubt?”

Shrugging, Hook replied, “I’m merely offering another perspective.” Taking a few purposeful steps to his left, the pirate positioned himself closer to the opening where his shadow remained hidden. “It seems to me it wasn’t Swan’s lad who led the Dark One to his son, but another boy altogether.” Flicking his eyes onto Pan, Hook stated, “One that is much more than he seems.”

Pan’s eyes widened in comprehension and Rumplestiltskin’s face grew pale beneath his scaly pallor.

“I see you both finally understand,” Hook said with a malevolent smirk. “Pan is the boy who shall be your undoing.”

“Impossible,” Rumplestiltskin scoffed. “We all know there’s only one way to kill me, and good luck finding the necessary--”

“Ah, yes. That.” The hard crack of the t reverberated off the rocky walls. Reaching his hand towards the sky, Hook gloatingly said, “You should know by now… pirates make their own luck.”

Hook’s shadow came soaring into the chamber and deposited the Dark One’s dagger into its master’s hand.

“NO!” Rumplestiltskin bellowed, lunging for the dagger only to be held back by his nemesis’ shadow.

Emma rushed forward and took the opportunity to snap her enchanted cuff onto the Dark One’s wrist, rendering him incapable of using his magic against them. The entire scene was silently witnessed by Pan, whose expression grew more and more delighted and more and more menacing.

“Well, now.” Pan slowly clapped his hands together in appreciation and approached Hook. “Isn’t this an interesting turn of events?”

“Indeed,” Hook replied, gripping the dagger tightly in his hand. “Looks like the only ones who will be making a deal are you and I.”

“I’m listening.”

“You free the boy, allow Swan to keep her magic, and guarantee us safe passage off the island. In exchange, the dagger is yours.”

“And with it you expect me to murder my own son?” Pan asked, feigning shock and outrage.

“We both know you’d gladly sacrifice your entire bloodline for the chance at the power and immortality he possesses,” Hook shot back, holding out the dagger. “Do we have a deal?”

Pan’s greedy eyes dropped down to the curved blade then flicked back up to the pirate’s. “You would willingly give me such power? Knowing the horrors I am likely to inflict?”

“So long as you leave Emma, her lad, and me be to live our lives in peace, I don’t much care.”

“Well then,” Pan purred, extending out his hand. “I’d say you’ve got yourself a deal, Captain.”

Rumplestiltskin began to protest, begging and pleading for Pan to reconsider as Hook handed over the dagger. Without hesitation and absolutely zero remorse, the demon boy plunged the dagger straight into the Dark One’s chest.

“What have I always told you, Rumple?” The boy whispered with a vicious gleam in his eyes. “Pan. Always. Wins.”

Death rattles gurgled up the Dark One’s throat and Hook pulled Emma in close, turning her into his chest to save her from having to witness the gruesome sight. He would not deny the pleasure it gave him to see his old enemy in the throes of dying, even if it meant giving his other adversary nearly unlimited power.

Rumplestiltskin dropped to the cobbled floor, his hand wrapped around the dagger protruding from his chest, as he struggled to draw breath. Pan turned, triumphant; his stance wide and his hands smugly braced against his hips. A savage smile split his face and a feral glint gleamed from his eyes, sending a shudder down Hook’s spine.

A final rasp hissed from the former Dark One’s lips and his hand went limp, failing to the ground. Pan’s features began to glitter under the torchlight of the cavern and a swirl of black tendrils crept up his legs.

“See that my part of the deal is met, then come collect me at the Dark Vault,” he said to his Shadow, whom he believed was still loyal to him. The spectre nodded, and Pan vanished in a billow of pitch.

Hook and Emma stood in weary silence for several erratic beats of their hearts before turning to embrace one another. They’d done it! They’d beat Pan at his own game!

“I should not wait too long before going after him,” The Shadow commented, breaking the two apart and forcing them to focus on the next part of their plan.

“How long will you be g--”

Emma’s question was cut off by the exuberant sounds making their way from the cave’s openings.

“Mom!”

“Henry!”

Swan sprinted towards her boy, who was being gently set down by the shadows that had gone to retrieve him. Dropping to her knees, she pulled the lad into her arms and he reciprocated, wrapping his tightly around her neck.

Hook repositioned himself to try and hide the body of Rumplestiltskin from the boy’s view. However, the action caught Henry’s attention and his eyes widened in terror.

“Y-You’re Captain Hook! The Lost Boys told me about you!”

“It’s okay, Henry.” Swan stood and took her son’s hand, leading him over to the pirate. “He helped me get here. He helped me save you from Pan and--”

“Pan!” Fearfully, the boy searched the room, his head swiveling to and fro. “He wants my heart! He said he’d hurt you if I didn’t give it to him, but I knew you’d…” Impossibly, the lad’s eyes grew even wider when they landed on the poorly concealed body behind Hook’s feet. “Is that the Dark One? What happened to him? Is he… is he dead?”

Turning her son around so his back was now to the gruesome scene, Emma continued her assurances that the boy was safe and had nothing further to fear. Flicking her eyes up to Hook, a pleading glimmered from their jade depths and the pirate answered with a nod of understanding. Swan recounted the entire tale of what she had gone through, beginning at the point of his abduction and following through to the most recent events, all while Hook worked to move Rumplestiltskin’s body to a dark corner of the cavern.

Once sufficiently out of sight, he grasped the dagger and freed it from his enemy’s chest with a firm tug, then with his hook, he pried off the magic binding cuff from the corpse’s wrist. A sick churning overwhelmed his gut as he read the name now etched upon the blade and was reminded of the new horror they had unleashed upon the realms.

Lifting his head, he faced The Shadow hovering beside him. “Are you certain this will work?”

“It has to.”

Hook was not at all comforted by that reply as he handed over the dagger and cuff, but they had few options at this point.

“Once you’ve taken control of him with those,” Hook began, nodding at the implements, “will you bring him back here or keep him imprisoned in another realm?”

“Here,” The shadow replied without giving it a moment’s thought. “The island won’t like it, but he must be kept where he can be monitored, and I have a duty to mend what he destroyed.”

“I do not envy you that task.” Hook may not have the same magical intuition as actual purveyors of the mystic arts, but he had seen the changes and corruptions of the island firsthand since that initial tragic visit with his brother and all the years he’d spent trapped in the demon boy’s service.

“Captain?”

Young Henry’s voice echoed across the cavern and Hook was quick to follow it back to its source, lest the boy seek him out and catch another harrowing glimpse of the body.

“Aye, lad?” He slowed his steps as he drew closer and tucked his hook behind his back, not wishing to frighten the boy with his namesake.

“I… I wanted to say thank you,” Henry said, staring up at him with the same warm, brown eyes another boy had looked upon him with long ago. “My mom said she’d never have been able to rescue me without you. I owe you my life.”

Sticking his small hand out, Henry stood rod straight as he awaited the pirate’s acceptance. A touched, soft smile lifted the corners of Hook’s lips and he took the lad’s hand.

“No thanks required, my boy. It is I who owe you and your mother. If not for her, I’d still be indentured to Pan and just as much a captive on the island as you were.”

Twisting his head to one side, Henry’s eyes narrowed in contemplation. “You are not at all what I expected for a pirate,” he said. “I always thought pirates were the bad guys.”

Something unpleasant tightened in Hook's chest. “I hope that recent experiences have proven that, at least on this island, I am not the bad guy.”

“And neither is he,” Emma informed her son, indicating the umbral spectre still hovering in the dark corner. “You can come forward. He knows you were powerless to deny Pan’s bidding as well.”

The Shadow presented himself and gave an apologetic bow towards the boy. Hook noted that he too was concealing potentially distressing items behind his back. Although, the effort wasn’t quite as successful given his gossamer nature.

“So, what now?” the lad asked, turning his face up towards his mother. “You said we can’t go home because the village turned against you.”

“We’ll just have to find a new home,” she told him, wrapping a comforting arm around his shoulders. “The important thing is, we’ll be together and no one will ever separate us again.”

“I actually have a proposition for you in that regard,” The Shadow began, hesitantly. “What would you say to staying and making a home here for a while?”

Emma balked, her lips parting in surprise and her brows arching up her forehead. “Here? In Neverland?”

Hook was also taken aback. Surely the entity must know of their eagerness to leave this accursed place.

“I realize it is not an ideal environment, but with your help Neverland can be restored to what she once was.”

A look of uncertainty crossed her features and her mouth opened to voice, what Hook could only presume would be, a resounding refusal.

“Please,” The Shadow pleaded, stalling Swan’s words. “Truth be told… I am not certain I can heal all of her wounds without you.”

“Why me?” she asked, and Hook could see the heartache she felt for the island shimmer within her eyes even as she fought to keep her resolve. “There are plenty of others, more suited to the work than I, whom you could enlist.”

“But none of them possess white magic as powerful as yours.” His head tilted down towards Henry and he added, “Nor do they have the heart of the truest believer beating within their chest.” He cast his eyes out towards the shoreline, the moonlight glittering upon the waves and mused, “I do not think any of this has been a coincidence. I believe you have always been meant to save this place.”

“I’m no saviour,” Emma refuted. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin to--”

“Yes. You are,” Hook reminded her. “You saved me. You saved your son. You saved all the shadows who were doomed to be trapped here forever.” When her stubbornness refused to release the dubious expression from her face, Hook took her hand and pulled her in close. “How many people have you helped over the years? Even while you were in hiding and without your magic, I know you could not have sat idly by while others suffered from that which you could help ease.”

“How could you possibly--”

“Because I know you, Swan,” he murmured with a flirty smirk. “You are something of an open book… to me.”

She swallowed hard then inhaled deeply. “What about Henry? There are still so many dangers here and I--”

“I’ll be fine!” the boy protested. “The Shadow and the Captain are right, Mom. If we can help make Neverland better, then shouldn’t we stay and at least try?”

Sensing they nearly had her swayed, Hook offered, “The two of you can stay with me on my ship. I swear no harm will come to the boy whilst he is in my charge.”

Henry’s eyes lit up. “Can we really?”

“No,” Emma replied, emphatically, gripping Hook’s hand tightly. “You can’t possibly mean to stay. Not when you are finally free to leave.”

Running the pad of his thumb over her knuckles, he confessed, “My reasons for wanting to leave this place no longer exist.”

“What possible reason could you have for wanting to stay, though?”

An amused and slightly exasperated huff puffed from his chest. “Don’t you know, Emma?” he whispered. “It’s you.”

Before that wall of hers could begin to fortify itself, he gave her hand one last gentle squeeze then stepped back, tucking his thumb into his belt as he cocked his hip to one side. “Besides, you were right. There are still many dangers lingering, and you’ll need someone to help you navigate past them.” Throwing The Shadow a look over his shoulder, he added, “You’ll need all the help you can get keeping Pan secure and the Lost Boys in line.” Turning back to Swan, he shot her a challenging grin and a raised brow. “So what say you, love? Fancy throwing your lot in with a pirate?”

A smile tugged at her lips, her eyes cutting between her son’s hopeful pleading and the pirate’s taunting expression.

“Fine,” she dramatically exhaled. “We’ll do it your way, pirate.” She took a few sauntering steps forward and poked her finger in his waistcoat. “But don’t think I’m taking my eyes off you for a second.”

Hook brought up his hand and pressed hers against his chest beneath it. “I would despair if you did.”

~/~

Some measure of time later…

“Don’t run too far ahead!” Emma called out to her son who was hurriedly making his way to the Pixie Wood. “The cottage will still be there!”

Beside her a deep chuckle rumbled through Killian’s chest. When she glanced his way it was to find him already gazing down at her. Lifting their joined hands, he brushed a soft kiss to the back of hers, sending a quiver of a wonder down her spine.

“You can’t blame the lad for being excited,” he murmured softly against her knuckles, skimming the tip of his nose along her wrist before letting their hands fall back between them. “It’s been an age since he had his own room.”

Emma mused affectionately to herself. She supposed he had a point. The Jolly Roger had become rather crowded as of late, what with many of the Lost Boys choosing to relocate there in order to learn a sea-faring trade from one of the greatest sailors in all the realms. Realms they planned to return to one day as soon as their captain deemed them ready to join another’s crew.

The more troublesome of the group, the ones dangerously loyal to Pan, who would have stopped at nothing to free him from where The Shadow had imprisoned him deep within Echo Cave, had been shipped off early on. Literally. The army of shadows had rounded them up in a matter of days, and Killian had wasted no time in taking them to a place called Pleasure Island. He hadn’t said much about the place, but Emma had been quite certain she did not want the details.

Once the Lost Boys and Pan’s imprisonment had been dealt with, she and The Shadow began the arduous task of setting things within the island’s enchantments to rights. Their first victory had been the returning of the dawn. Emma would never forget that morning, dozing in her pirate’s arms as they lazed in his bunk after a night of ‘enjoyable activities’ (as he called it) only to be roused by faint rays of sunlight prisming in through the Captain’s Quarter’s windows.

Nor would she forget the experience of being kidnapped by said pirate the very next day, taken to a secluded lagoon, and introduced to the provocative practice of skinny dipping. The image of his naked, glistening body being bathed in beams of light as he sunned himself on the grotto’s large rocks would be forever seared into her memory… and happily so.

The days had not lasted a full course at first, but with each salve of sorcery, each balm of spellwork, and every incantation towards a cure, the island began to heal more and more. Yet, with each achievement there was one restoration of the island’s power that remained beyond their conjuring.

Pixie dust.

Try as they might to get the trees where the pixie flowers grew to produce their blooms, Neverland was still without its most powerful resource. That was until Tinkerbell (a former fairy who had been banished to the island) had been able to persuade the Blue Fairy to help in their cause. A sackful of fairy dust had arrived by special delivery from another fairy named Nova, and with it, instructions on how the fairy dust might help encourage things along within the Pixie Wood.

And encourage things it did! Within a matter of days blooms began to appear on the highest branches of the trees, but the Blue Fairy had also warned how fragile and delicate the early stages of pixie flower growth was. The blooms would require constant monitoring and infusions of magic in order to survive into maturity and produce pixie dust.

Tinkerbell had offered to become the Wood’s guardian and look after the flowers, but Blue had other ideas, gifting the fairy back her wings and her wand and inviting her to join the ranks of her sisters once more. Emma would not hear of her missing out on this second chance and with Killian’s agreement, they urged her to go with their blessing.

Emma would see to the Wood.

As much as she had enjoyed spending time on the sea, she could not deny having missed the firm foundation of nature and the solace of the forest. Fortunately, her pirate was well aware of her longings and had agreed to relocate with her without a moment’s hesitation. It had taken more time than she’d expected to construct the modest cottage - her magic still functioned abnormally on the island from time to time - but now that it was complete, she, Killian, and Henry would live out the remainder of their time in Neverland within the comfort of its walls; although, Killian would return to the Jolly Roger each day to continue the necessary lessons with his prepubescent crew.

“Now the cottage is finished and the pixie flowers are growing, might we ought to discuss what happens afterward?” Killian posed as they continued to make their way through the woods.

“Afterward?”

“Aye,” he replied with a hesitancy in his tone that had Emma pausing their steps. “After you’ve successfully brought pixie dust back and finish bringing the island back to its former glory.”

“You mean… what happens when it’s time for us to leave.”

Killian did not respond, choosing instead to give her the time and space she needed to consider what he was truly asking. She really was an open book to him.

Inhaling deeply, Emma worried her lip and cast a glance towards the cottage door which had just been flung open by her exuberant son. “I suppose we’ll have to find a place that accepts pirates and witches.” Flicking her eyes back up to the man before her, she pondered, “If such a place exists.”

Wrapping his arms around her waist, a broad smile stretched across his handsome face and he crooned down at her, “I am certain there are a number of places that will welcome your gift. And as for piracy…” His expression became solemn and serious, his eyes swimming with a resolve that left her nearly breathless. “I think I have had my fill of such endeavors.”

“What?”

“I will keep my ship, of course,” he hurriedly clarified. “Perhaps we could find a quaint fishing or merchant village with a harbor suitable enough for her?”

“Are you… are you sure?” Emma could not quite believe he’d be willing to give up his life on the sea. “I would never ask you to make such a sacrifice for my sake.”

“You’re not,” he assured her, reaching up to cup her face. “And it is no sacrifice. Not when I compare it to a life spent at your side.” His thumb caressed her cheek as he bent over to brush his lips over hers. “That is, of course…” he murmured nervously with his forehead pressed against hers, “if you’ll have me?”

A shuddering breath fell from her mouth, followed by a jubilant elation of mirth. With joyous tears stinging the corners of her eyes, she swept her hand through his riotous hair and lightly held the back of his head, toying with hairline at the nape of his neck.

“Yes!” she whispered excitedly. “A thousand times, yes!”

A startled cry made its way up her throat when he tightly wrapped her in his arms then lifted her off the ground, swinging her around as an overjoyed burst of laughter rumbled through his chest. Setting her back on her feet, his lips crashed against hers and they lost themselves for several blissful moments, until Henry’s impatient shouts forced them to come up for air.

Taking Emma’s hand, Killian pierced her with a look that held heated promises for later before leading them towards the cottage. A charge of desire zipped through her, and she silently hoped that the day’s excitement would be enough to cause Henry to sleep very, very soundly that night.

“Shall we tell the lad now, or wait?”

Emma contemplated Killian’s question before deciding, “Let’s give it a day or two. Give him time to settle into the cottage before we set his sights on the next chapter.”

“As you wish.”

Arriving at the door of their new, albeit temporary, home, Emma tugged on Killian’s arm to stop him before entering. Perplexed by the action, he raised his brow and cocked his head at her.

“What is it, love?”

“I just want you to know,” she began lovingly, “No matter where our life may lead us or how we spend our days… you’ll always be the pirate captain who gave me my greatest adventure.”

Killian smiled and swept her up into his arms, carrying her over the threshold. “And you, my love,” he replied with his mouth poised to kiss her as soon as he said his piece. “Shall always be the witch in the woods who saved me.”

The End

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