entitled; i will always find you
summary; "i have news for you, my dear," he murmured, tilting his head to the side as he let his fingers linger in the soft tresses, smirk ever present on his lips, "i will always find you."
rating; k+
disclaimer; I own nothing more than the little plot bunnies running through my head.
notes; this story was inspired by a post I saw on tumblr by dlanadhz. (/post/35304069603/what-if-hook-catches-up-to-the-girls-next-time#notes) also, this is kind of the opposite of what i would think hook's reaction would be to going after emma; i legit stand by that while he was hurt when she first chained him up, when she actually left, he was PISSED, but this was too cute an idea to not write.

i will always find you

.

They'd actually made it pretty far since leaving him behind. Far enough that his initial rage had slowly begun to wane. He was frustrated that he'd been tied to a bloody wall in a giant's lair, but he'd slowly begun to understand that she had done what she did for the sake of her son, and for that, he couldn't truly be upset with her.

Not when she had a fire in her he hadn't seen in anyone in ages.

So, he went after her.

He'd been walking for most of the previous night and the entire day, and it was just as the sun was setting that he heard the faint, but all too familiar, voice that belonged to Emma Swan.

"I think we can settle down here for the night," she mumbled, and Hook took a chance at heading quietly in the direction of her voice.

"Right." came the warrior's - Mulan? - voice, "Aurora and I will go look for some fire wood."

Hook walked closer, careful not to make a single sound until he caught sight of the blonde in her dark leather coat.

"Okay." she nodded, sitting down on a rather large tree stump with a sigh, as the warrior and the princess headed off into the trees.

"Emma…You should get some sleep." came her mother's voice, and the more Hook focused on her, the more he realized that blonde looked very out of sorts.

"I'm not tired." Emma responded, trying to smile up at her mother, but failing.

"Emma," the queen's voice grew stern, "You haven't slept since you got down from that beanstalk. Now, you've got two choices; you get some sleep, or you tell me what happened up there."

"Mary-Margaret…" Emma sighed, running her hands over her face.

"I'm not trying to be over-bearing," she said, taking a seat next to her daughter and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, "I just worry about you. I know you can handle yourself, but, as strange as it is, I am your mother, and I'm going to worry about you."

"I know, I do." Emma sighed, "I just… I really am fine, I promise."

Snow looked skeptical, and Hook had to bite back a laugh; for someone with particularly inhuman lie-detecting skills, she really wasn't all that good with telling them herself. Either that, or she really wasn't trying all that hard and was simply hoping her mother would leave her be.

She let out a soft sigh and pushed herself to her feet, "Alright. I'm not going to push you. I know I can't rush these things after all that's happened. But I'm here for you, okay? You're not alone anymore, Emma. You're not going to be alone anymore."

Nodding, Emma followed suit, pushing herself to her feet and walking to stand in front of Snow, leaving Emma with her back to Hook, a devious little plan running through his head.

"I know, I know. I just… I need time to get used to all of this." Emma murmured, running a hand through her now flat blonde locks, "I mean, I saw it… I see it. I'm seeing it everyday that we're here but the hat, the wraith-thing, this world, Cora, Lancelot, the Giant, friggin' Hook. It's all so hard to believe. So much to wrap my head around while worrying about Henry and him being over there with Regina. Too much to believe is real-"

It was then that Hook pushed through the trees and came up behind Emma, resting his hand on her waist and breathing softly into her ear, "Well, I am most definitely real, love."

Emma jumped, and Snow had her bow up and ready in an instant.

"You!" Emma shouted once she'd wiggled away from him and spun to face him.

"In the flesh." He answered with a smirk.

"You.. You found us." Emma repeated and - though it seemed it was gone as quickly as it appeared - Hook swore he saw relief flash through her eyes, "How did you find us?"

Hook chuckled softly, taking a step forward and reaching out to brush a few strands from Emma's face, every bit conscious of the arrow her mother had trained on him, "I have news for you, my dear," He murmured, tilting his head to the side as he let his fingers linger in the soft tresses, smirk ever present on his lips, "I will always find you."

The moment those words left his lips, something in the universe shifted, though he wouldn't know it until much, much later.

While neither of them realized it, and Emma snorted, smacking his hand away after a moment, Snow stared at the pair with wide eyes, angling her bow and arrow to the ground.

"You've got to be kidding me…" she murmured quietly, the pair in front of her completely oblivious to the shock on her face, as they were both engrossed in some witty banter she couldn't register for the life of her.

Those words, were what started it all. What led to her true love, to her happy ending. To Emma. And now they'd fallen from the lips of this man, just as they'd fallen from Charming's all those years ago.

A large part of Snow wanted to put an arrow through his chest; she didn't want to risk things going wrong because of some stupid pirate. But a tiny voice in her head wouldn't let her. As much as she detested the idea, this man could very well be her daughter's true love. Hook could be Emma's Charming, and who was she to take that away from her? Especially considering the hardships Emma had already endured because they sent her away.

"So, you're sticking with us?" she asked with a thin brow raised, finally gaining the attention of both Hook and her daughter.

"Yes."

"No."

Snow had to fight the amused grin that threatened to make its way onto her lips as she watched the banter begin all over again.

"I already told you once, Swan." Hook took a step towards Emma, and it was impossible to ignore the way Emma unconsciously angled her body towards the pirate as she glared up at him, "You can try getting rid of me, but I will always find you."

Snow allowed herself a small smile, the memories of her first encounter with Charming running through her mind.

Things were going to get very interesting from here on out.

[end.]