Prompt:Emma manages to free herself from the EQ's dungeon and arrives at Killian's and Charming's campfire just in time to overhear their conversation ("I'd go to the end of the world for her, or time." - "And she for you, I take it?" - "I don't know.").

Author's Note: I decided to have Marian tell Emma her name, for the sake of tedious writing and reading. Also, I've made things play out a little differently, for obvious reasons… I hope you enjoy.

Emma trudged through the forest, blind. Everywhere she looked there were trees and more trees. Footsteps squelched against the leaves, wet from rain. The damp smell of wood filled her nose. It reminded her of the scent in the Storybrooke woods, but here, it was different. That was a smell she associated with her friends and family. In the Enchanted Forest, she was beginning to associate it with hopelessness.

The forest back in Storybrooke was tamer too, less trunks and twisted branches obscured her view. Nor did she have to worry about accidentally tripping over a rabbit. Not that there weren't rabbits in Storybrooke - they were just few and far between.

The woman who'd been in the cell next to her followed closely behind. Emma had found out her name was Marian, and she'd been locked up for protecting Snow White. For some reason, the name Marian rang a bell, but she couldn't place it. Still, she had more important things to worry about.

When Emma had managed to pick the lock, she knew she couldn't leave Marian. She knew it could change things, but she still couldn't leave her. How could she? She preached enough about finding a better way than letting an innocent die, and so it would be hypocritical of her to leave Marian for Regina's wrath.

Plus, what could it change, really? How could saving an innocent woman cause terrible things? The chances were slim. The real problem was making sure Emma was born. Otherwise that would have consequences.

They had decided to stick together, just for the time being. Emma knew it would be dangerous to separate in the forest. If the Queen's men came looking for them, they had a better chance of surviving together than alone. Tomorrow Marian would disappear to find her family, and Emma and Hook would fix things and return home.

Even though she told herself she did the right thing, an uneasy feeling still made a home in her stomach. She knew as soon as Hook saw Marian, he'd be angry. But what could she do? Take her with them?

"How much longer?" Marian asked from behind her.

Emma frowned. She didn't have any idea. She didn't know where she was going, or how to get there. "Not long," she mumbled. "As soon as I can find out where we are."

How would she be able to work that out? She'd even asked Marian for help, but Marian hadn't been in this part of the forest before. All of the forest looked the same. Perhaps she would never find Hook. Maybe she would spend the rest of her life there.

Emma shuddered at the thought. She didn't want to go one day without indoor plumbing, let alone a lifetime.

No, she had to trust her gut instinct. And it was telling her Hook would be somewhere hidden, most likely in the forest behind the castle, working out a way to save her. She almost felt guilty for depriving him of such a heroic rescue.

Captain Hook a hero. So different from the Peter Pan stories she'd heard as a kid. She averted her eyes to the ground to hide her smile.

That's when she spotted them. Two sets of boot prints in the mud. "There," she called to Marian, pointing to the prints. She crouched down to get a good look at them. Definitely boot prints, all right. "That must be theirs."

Marian knelt down next to Emma. "How can you tell? They could be anyone's. The Queen's Knights."

Emma looked up at her. She knew Marian wouldn't trust her about her gut instinct. "This is a chance we're just going to have to take," she said instead. "We'll be quiet. Sneak up on them. If it's Regin- The Evil Queen's men, we can just sneak back before they notice."

"Okay," she said, but her eyes were wide and wary.

"Hey, trust me," Emma gave a little smile. "I got you out of there. I'm not going to lead you into certain death now."

As it turned out, she wasn't going to lead them to certain death, but she was going to lead them round in circles. They must've passed the same tree fifty times.

After hours of trudging through the mud and leaves, she said: "We might as well set up camp here. Tomorrow morning, I can find him and you can go off on your own way. You stay here. I'll go and find some wood for a fire."

"Okay," Marian agreed. She perched herself on a log and arranged her dress.

Emma disappeared into the darkness. Her eyes took a while to adjust as she moved further into the forest, but it wasn't so bad. Many years of late night stake-outs meant she was prepared. She picked a few sticks from the ground and held them close as she searched for more.

That's when she heard it. A man's voice. She could make out his quiet mumble, but that was all. Suddenly, Emma's heart was in her chest. If the Black Knights were in the forest, she was screwed. It meant they were too close to set up camp. But there was always a chance they might be travellers. Emma took a step closer to where the voice had come from. She could make out a clearing just behind a curtain of leaves and branches.

She crouched down in the dirt, and slowly moved some of the branches aside, just for her eyes to peek through. She wrinkled her nose at the scent of fresh mud and greenery.

Two men were sat around an open fire, side by side, but on separate logs. They must have been trying to keep warm.

Emma squinted. She could only just make them out in the darkness. Only when the light caught their faces, did Emma realise who they were. She felt embarrassed for being unable to notice that one had a missing hand.

"I don't mean to pry… mate, but you don't exactly look like a man who's doing this by choice?"

"Hook," she breathed out, unable to stop her smile. She'd found him. Them, it would seem. He was sat with her father. Emma let out a relieved sigh. She worried they'd struggle to find her parents when she escaped Regina's cell, but once again, Hook knew what to do.

David sighed. "I always thought I'd marry for love," he said, shaking his head a little. "And here I am about to enter into what amounts to a…business transaction." He paused, almost as if he couldn't believe it.. "A merger of two kingdoms. I don't know, this whole ordeal makes me wonder if there's even such a thing as true love."

Emma felt a little surprised. Her dad, Prince Charming was wondering if there was such a thing as true love. How she longed to tell him she was the product of his true love, but she knew she couldn't. She couldn't influence as strongly as that.

But she could give him advice. That wasn't going to happen with her hiding behind a few bushes, so slowly, she began to rise from the mud.

"I once felt as you did, mate," Hook said. "And all it took was meeting the right person and everything changed."

Emma froze in place, in her half-crouch. Her head, placed on a tree trunk, steadied her. Meeting the right person? He couldn't mean...

"Princess Leia?" David asked. "The one we're rescuing?"

Emma fell down onto her knees behind the leaves, trying to keep as quiet as possible. She felt her heart flutter in her chest as she waited for his answer. She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but curiosity kept her rooted to the spot. Curiosity and… something else.

"Aye." He said. Her breath caught in her throat. "I'd go to the end of the world for her. Or time." A low chuckle escaped his lips.

Her eyebrows knitted together. She had looked at Hook's feelings as a petty, school-boy crush for some time now. She wasn't really sure why she did; it was just the mindset she'd gotten herself into. Even when Hook had admitted his feelings in the Echo Cave back in Neverland, she'd pushed it aside, telling herself he'd get over it.

Perhaps it was a self-preservation thing. She already knew she was attracted to him. She hadn't wanted to fall for him too.

"And she for you, I take it?" David asked.

Hook gave that same chuckle, but it was humourless. "I don't know."

Emma's stomach flipped in guilt.

David folded his arms. "What's the problem?"

Was it her? Her inability to let him in? Her inability to let anyone in, even her parents?

"There are many complications."

"Family?" David gave a sympathetic nod. "Because my father is making things quite difficult for me."

"Aye. There's that," he admitted, eyes flashing up to meet her father's. "I'm not so sure her parents approve of me."

She could almost hear Hook's thoughts: Why would they? He was a Pirate. David had made his feelings quite clear in the past. Once a Pirate, always a Pirate.

"Given the lengths you've gone through to save her, they'd be crazy not to," he said, and Emma was unable to appreciate the irony of the situation. Hook's words still echoed in her mind.

"I hope you remember that."

She watched with wide eyes, waiting for them to say something else. She didn't know what to think. She didn't know what to feel.

One thing David said stuck out to her. Given the lengths you've gone through to save her, they'd be crazy not to.

He was right. Hook didn't have to save her from the Regina's castle. He could just have just left her there to her own devices, and made his own way back. Yet there he was, sat in a forest, next to a person who would do nothing but judge and criticise him in the future.

He didn't have to go through the portal with her, but he did, even though he knew he might not be coming back. He wasn't going to let her stumble around the Enchanted Forest alone. The decision he had made had been a split-second one, selfless and brave.

He didn't have to come back for her when Zelena's curse hit, but he had. He could have sailed away on his pirate ship, and returned to his pirate ways of looting and drinking. Instead, he'd travelled all the way to her flat and made her remember what she'd lost.

Emma suddenly realised she was wrong. Hook didn't have a petty little crush on her, no. She could tell herself that a million times, but it wouldn't make it true.

Zelena had cursed his lips. His lips. She could have cursed anywhere. She could have used anything to take away to take her power away, but she hadn't. She'd cursed his lips.

No, this was not a school-boy crush.

He was in love with her.

Why did the thought of that make Emma's heart flutter like a hummingbird's wings? She wasn't in love with him. At least, she didn't think she was. Yes, she had feelings for him, but she pushed them away as much as she could. Perhaps that was wrong of her. By denying her own feelings, she wasn't just punishing him; she was punishing herself. Denying herself of someone who would love her unconditionally, no matter what she did. Someone who'd be there for her time and time again. Hadn't he proved his worth enough already?

Emma slowly rose from the grass. She would find somewhere to hide, wait five minutes and then discover Hook and Charming, like she hadn't been listening to the whole conversation.

She took a step back, ready to return to Marian and tell her she'd found Hook. But she winced as a branch cracked underneath her shoes.

"What the hell was that?" Emma heard. And then the smooth drawing of swords.

She cursed herself.

"I think we're about to find out," Hook said.

Emma took a deep breath and opened the curtain of leaves. Could she pretend she hadn't heard their exchange? She had a feeling Hook would know, but she was hopeful. Mary Margaret always told her to have hope, and now she was hoping he didn't know she overheard.

She stepped out into the clearing, trying to mask her sheepish expression. "Relax, it's just me." Her eyes flickered to Hook, who looked confused for a moment. Then his eyes fell down to the bottom half of her dress. Dark patches of mud were there from when she knelt to listen to their conversation. The colour drained from his face. Yep, he knew. "Sorry about that. I managed to get out of the castle."

"You did? How did you escape?" David asked, oblivious to the mud. "More importantly, do you have my ring?"

She held it up and it sparkled in the moonlight. "I picked the locks with a few spoons. Where's Snow?"

Charming frowned. "I... don't know. We told her you were in the castle."

No… no, that wasn't right. Her parents were supposed to separate when they had the ring. That's how it had to happen. She longed to look at Hook for help, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She could feel his eyes on her, watching her, and it made her face burn. Her heard was still fluttering.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," David said, settling back down on his log. "We'll go our separate ways tomorrow morning. It's too dangerous tonight."

…

It was Charming who volunteered to go and find Marian. Even though Emma wanted to go, he had insisted, leaving her alone with Hook.

They both sat on different logs. She stared down at her hands, so she wouldn't have to meet his eyes. They were pale in the moonlight. She examined her nails, her fingers and her wrist. Anything but his face. Anything.

After a long silence, he cleared his throat. "You shouldn't have saved her, Swan. It will have consequences."

"I knew you'd say that," she said in reply, keeping her eyes cast down. The words he'd exchanged with David played over and over in her head like a broken record. She couldn't shake them away.

"What else am I supposed to say? Am I supposed to be happy about it?"

She shrugged, now turning her attention to the grass next to her feet. It was softer than the grass in Storybrooke. More natural.

"Bloody hell, why won't you look at me?"

The urgency of his tone caught her off guard. Her eyes flew up to his and remained there. She ignored the sudden flip of her stomach.

"I know you heard what I said," he continued slowly. Carefully. "Is that why you won't look at me?"

"I am looking at you," she told him. Her voice was softer than she intended. She had wanted it to be hard, like so many times she'd addressed him before.

"I hope you know…" he said, rising from his log. He made his slow descent over, boots squelching, and sat down next to her, on her log. "That I did not intend for you to hear what I said."

"Did you mean it?" She asked suddenly. Her eyes burnt into his. She already knew the answer.

"What?"

"Did you mean it?"

He gave her one of those confused smiles. "Of course I meant it. Every word."

Her eyes fell back down to her hands again, resting limply on her lap. This time, he gently tilted her chin up so she was forced to meet his eyes. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Emma was captured, but for how long, she did not know. He was treading on thin ice, and he knew it.

"Emma, I think you are already aware of this…" He began softly. His voice was careful, and so was his gaze. Judging her every reaction. "I do believe everyone is aware of this. But the only other person I've told is that bloody awful witch Zelena. Not by choice."

Emma didn't speak. She swallowed nervously. She had a horrible feeling she knew what he was about to say, and she wasn't sure she was ready to hear it. She wasn't sure she wanted to. But still, she remained silent, frozen as she looked into his eyes. They were a soft blue, much like the sea. A sailor's eyes. She'd never noticed that before.

"What I'm trying to say is that…" He huffed an awkward laugh, eyes looking away nervously for a moment before they returned to hers. And then his face changed. Harder, as if he had finally decided on something. "That I-"

"Here she is," announced a voice, cutting through the silence.

Emma jumped away from Hook and turned to see David making his way towards them, Marian trailing behind.

"Bloody hell," Hook murmured under his breath. She caught his expression out the corner of her eyes. His lips were pressed together in a tight line; eyes dark.

Emma rose from the log, trying to put as much distance between her and Hook as possible. Too many tension-filled moments and silences with the pirate was dangerous. For a moment, she'd forgotten why she was there. She'd let him distract her. It was like Neverland all over again, though her feelings had grown since, she was finding it more difficult to deny them than she used to.

Instead, she focussed on her father. He was her goal. She had to get him and her mother together before it was too late.

She watched him as he warmed his hands over the fire, ignoring Hooks eyes on her. They burned into the back of her head, making her cheeks colour, but she ignored him.

What else can he do? said a small voice in the back of Emma's head. What else could he possibly do for her to just give in?

Emma didn't know but she had a feeling she would soon find out. And that time, she might not want to resist him.