#echo cave

The cave demands that you reveal a truth about yourself. 

A secret you would never admit to anyone.

Madonna - Jump [Confessions Tour DVD] Video by: MadonnaConfessionsTV

I remember watching this episode for the first time. The minute Hook explained what Echo Cave was, I started grinning from ear to ear. Occasionally laughter started to slip out. What else was Hook keeping secret? His magical leather tailor? His magical eyeliner producer? I knew exactly where his secret was going, and it was going to have to come out of his mouth in front of her parents.

You have to applaud his courage. That was a seriously gutsy thing to do, especially knowing there was a small chance it might not work and he would have just revealed the deepest thing in his soul for no apparent reason with her family as an audience

Beyond that, this is Emma we're talking about. She runs when she gets scared. He's very aware of that. He might have said more in depth how he was feeling if he wasn't running the risk that she would bolt just as she did at the top of the beanstalk. After they kissed, she panicked and declared it a "one time thing" and ran. We saw the look on her face after he revealed his secret. She was pretty terrified. 

Looking into the future, Hook became more blunt after this. He gave up on much of his sarcasm and flirting in the season two finale when he made the decision to come back and save Emma the town with the bean. But he wasn't exactly forward in declaring how he felt until after their kiss and Echo Cave. After that he vowed to win her heart. And when she didn't run, and still constantly looked to him for help, it gave him more and more comfort that she would stay.

After he found her in New York, he knew what it was like to lose her. After that he was even more blunt about his intentions and his thoughts on the matter. And the fact that his bluntness didn't scare her away showed him at least a part of her heart was in this.

But he always wanted an even playing field. He only wanted her heart if she wanted his in the most honest of ways. Telling her he traded his ship would have been a big enough gesture to finally send her running. Or he would have run the risk that she'd be so appreciative she'd either want to engage in a relationship or feel that she had to because of the gesture. He doesn't want a relationship based on a gesture. He wants it because he loves her truly and honestly, and he only wants her love if she wants it the same way.

And for all of this, Hook was brave enough to run the risk she would run out of his life for the second time. He was brave enough to state his feelings in front of her parents running the risk it would fail. And the reason he was confessing his love in the first place was so she could save her ex, and the father of her child, who very well could also be in earshot. He lay everything on the line in echo cave. The only bight thing in his life could disappear just like that, but he took a leap of faith.

I really love the layer of their relationship that is this exchange. The exchange between the moments he expresses his feelings and she doesn't run. She may walk away from the situation, but she always stays hear him. She always looks to him for help and advice. Every time he expresses deep feelings and she stays is another assurance to him that she feels the same way. 

And the fact that he is patient and has no problem waiting for her to be ready or express anything back is another layer of just how perfect these two are for each other.

So thank you Echo Cave, for giving Killian the silent assurance that part of Emma's heart was falling for his the way his was falling for hers.