"Emma, love, what's wrong?" Hook asked. The look on the Savior's face scared him, even more than the crocodile, or even Pan.

"I killed her." Emma spoke with no hesitation, no emotion.

"Killed who? What the bloody hell are you talking about?" But then Killian looked at the bottom of the cliff. A black and white fur coat and a broken body lay there. Cruella was dead. He didn't know what to say.

"Mom!" Henry's voice broke the silence.

Emma turned and looked at her son. She'd saved him. She knew she should be happy, but something had changed.

The fear Killian was feeling increased by the moment. He didn't like the way she was looking at Henry. He guided her away from the cliff, where they could talk privately. "Emma, what's happened to you?"

"I saved Henry. I got rid of Cruella. My parents are hypocrites. There's nothing else to say."

"Emma, your parents are not bad people!"

"Didn't we just go through this with Regina?" Emma asked. She was losing patience with him.

"Look, I don't know what Cruella's done to you, or why you're acting like this. But this is what I do know. Your parents made a mistake. Everyone does. Look at Regina. She's done more bad things than almost anyone, but she's made up for it. Love, why not give your parents that same chance?"

"They're my parents, and it's my choice if I forgive them or not!" She pushed him away, walking back the way they had come.

Henry saw her leaving. "Mom!" He ran until he caught up with her. "You saved me!"

"Yeah, kid. I know," she brushed past him. Henry wanted to stop her, but he didn't know what to say. He turned to Hook, who was just behind him. "I've never seen her like this."

"I know, lad. She never gave up on a ruthless pirate. I'm not about to give up her."

Suddenly, Henry felt a rush of affection toward the pirate. Unexpectedly, he hugged him. "Don't thank me till after I've done something," Killian said, ending the embrace.

He ran to catch up to the Savior. "Emma!"

Emma sighed, turning around. He was the last person she wanted to talk to. Not if he was going to go on about her parents. Forgiveness was impossible.

"After all we've been through with Pan, and Cora, the Snow Queen, the least you can do is listen to me," Hook said. Emma didn't move. He knew he had her attention, at least. "I know that killing someone is a drastic step, and it always comes at a price." He ignored the fact that he was now quoting the Dark One.

"Yeah, I know," Emma said. "But I can handle it. Don't worry."

"I know you can, Swan. I don't doubt you. But you did what you did back there to protect Henry. Because that's what parents do, right?"

"Well, yeah. What did you think I was going to do, just let her kill my son?"

Hook smiled. He knew that would be her answer. "A parent always does whatever's necessary to protect their child. Even something they would never have considered ordinarily."

Emma sighed. As much as she hated to admit it, she saw his point. "Yeah," she said, hanging her head.

"Love, I'm just trying to help. Otherwise the darkness I saw in you back there would've taken over your heart. I've seen what it does to people."

"Like Gold," Emma said.

"Yes. And I didn't want that to happen to you. I care about you." He touched her cheek with the fingers of his good hand.

"I know," Emma admitted. She thought about Hook, and his past. He'd been through so much over the years. Centuries, really. And then, there were the stories she'd always heard about Captain Hook. The ones she knew now weren't true. None of them came close to capturing the man in front of her now. "For a minute there, I got carried away. I wasn't the Savior. I was a murderer. I was exactly the kind of person I thought my mother was."

"What do you think of her now?" Hook asked, tightening his arm around her waist.

"It's a lot more complicated than I thought. It isn't always black and white." A small smile appeared on her face as she remembered Cruella's famous coat.

The sight of her smile warmed Killian's heart. For a moment there, he hadn't been sure he'd ever see it again. "Take it from a man who's been around a lot longer than you have, love. It rarely is." He kissed her. All the years of pain and vengeance were worth it at moments like these. Love was a treasure far greater even than those pursued by pirates. Now that he'd found it, he would do anything he could to keep it.

The End