After these past few episodes, I kind of just want to skip to the point in the season when everything's okay again (somehow I don't think I'm the only one). So that's where this idea came from. I haven't read spoilers, so I'm probably completely wrong about where the show is going, so I'm not going too into detail about things that have/will happen with the Dark Swan. I also don't feel as though I'd be able to write the Dark Swan well enough to do her justice as of yet. She's almost like a totally new character and, Emma being my favorite, I have no intention of butchering her.

With that, here's some fluff! Also, here's the obligatory I don't own Once Upon a Time or its characters, I'm just borrowing them for fun until the show gets light and happy again.

"Bloody Hell!" Emma Swan yells, her voice sounding louder than usual in the otherwise quiet and empty house. After the darkness had left her, she'd decided to keep the house because, really, she had needed her own place. When visiting her parents' apartment, she can't believe she'd survived that long with three adults, a teenager, and a newborn all living under the same small roof.

And now, all she wants to do is decorate said house. Though she'll be the first to admit she's not much of an interior designer (in her defense, as she'd pointed out when Regina had made a snide comment, she'd never stayed in once place long enough to justify spending too much money on décor), she at least wants the place to feel a little homey.

Naturally, her idea of homey is nautical themed, which has earned her more than a few eyebrow-raises and knowing looks, mainly from David and Mary Margaret.

"Apparently he's rubbing off on you in more than one way," her father says from the doorway to the kitchen.

"Jesus Chr–" She whirls around and cuts herself off, realizing the intruder means no harm. "How'd you get in?"

"It was unlocked," David says with a shrug, then moves into the room and adds a box to the pile of boxes on the table. "I see you haven't really gotten anywhere with the unpacking."

"I've never had this many boxes to unpack before," she says, trying to ignore the implication of the statement, and hoping he does too. Though she knows he'd like to press, he seems to sense that today is not the day for pressing. A mere two days ago, she'd been the Dark One. Now… she's just Emma.

Of course, it isn't that simple, and she's done things and said things she'd rather forget, even if she'd ultimately embraced the darkness for the greater good after weeks of pretending to have already let it take over. Even thinking about the whole ordeal makes tears shoot to her eyes, and she turns back around, busying herself with resuming her search for the Jolly Roger model. She isn't ready to deal with any of it yet, and if David sees how not okay she is, he's certainly going to push her.

"Your mother and I figured as much, so we wanted to give you a little something to help with the transition," he says, hiding a smile from her. After all this time, it amuses him that she thinks she can hide when she's upset. The saying 'like mother like daughter' wasn't invented for nothing, and, as her father, he just knows when something's off with her (not that she still doesn't have a hell of a time admitting it, but he reminds himself that this process is baby steps). Looking around at the parts of the house she does have set up, he thinks there should also be something about 'like pirate like princess', but he quickly pushes that thought out of his mind. As much as he enjoys Hook's company, he has a hell of a time admitting that the reformed pirate is good enough for his daughter.

"Thanks," Emma says, turning her attention to the neatly wrapped box, then going back to unpacking her things.

"You can open it now, Emma," David says, a hint of confusion in his voice. "If you want, I mean."

"Oh," she simply says. "Okay." He frowns as he watches her slowly unwrap it, like she's scared of breaking it. She needn't worry, though, because neither he nor Snow wanted to put anything breakable in there because Emma Swan was definitely not known for her gentleness or her grace. It suddenly hits him that his daughter hasn't received many presents over the years, and it breaks his heart. So of course she hadn't known whether to open it or not, nor was she probably comfortable opening it because it's a foreign situation.

She lifts the lid and pulls out a tapestry, and something registers across her face. "This looks familiar," she says.

"It's our family crest," David explains. "It goes on the wall."

"I know where it goes," she gives him an eye roll, but he sees the smile of appreciation behind the biting sarcasm that's kept her sane her entire life. "It's um," she clears her throat, then tries again, "It's beautiful, thank you."

"I know it doesn't quite match the whole pirate thing you have going–"

"It's not a pirate thing," she whines.

"But we figured you'd be able to find some place for it."

"I'll make some place for it," she says, holding his gaze with purpose for the first time in what feels like forever. The gesture makes him want to pull her into a hug and never let go, because he isn't sure how many more times he can take almost losing her. He knows she's not ready for another 'moment', though, so he pushes the urge down and offers her an encouraging smile.

"So," he says, clearing his throat, "about your new favorite swear word…"

"What?"

"You said 'bloody hell', and that is most definitely a Hook thing…"

"Oh. So what?"

"I just find it amusing," David says with a grin. "Henry's going to have the mouth of a truck driver."

"Killian's good for him. Neal…" Emma sighs, leaning against the counter. "Neal could have been a good father, if I'd trusted him. I couldn't have known why he did what he did, but I –that's not my fault, and in the end, I was trying to protect Henry and give him his best chance, I didn't know… but at least, what I do know, is that Killian is good for Henry."

"He's good for you, too," David says, and that alone brings a smile to Emma's face.

"It's about time you see it," she snarks.

"Hey, I am being very open right now, and I don't appreciate the teasing," he says with mock hurt plastered across his face.

"Oh, come on, after all the teasing you've done to me in the past ten minutes? If you can't take it, don't dish it," she says in a playful tone, reminding David once again of just how much he'd missed the real Emma.

The front door opens and closes, and Killian calls out,

"Emma love, about last night, I wasn't prepared–" He cuts himself off when he sees David.

"Netflix," Emma quickly adds. "We were watching Criminal Minds –he's never seen it before– apparently the fearsome Captain Hook is a bit squeamish."

"You didn't bloody tell me that poor woman was going to die in such a violent manner!" Killian protests.

"Because then you'd bitch at me for spoiling it," she rolls her eyes and picks the tapestry up, planning to hang it above the fire place.

"You never explained just how you've come to say 'bloody hell'," David addresses his daughter.

"Dad."

"See, Swan, I told you there's a bit of pirate in you."

"What are you doing here?" David asks, deciding bluntness is the best option. "You didn't even bring Granny's."

"He's helping me unpack," the blonde responds.

"We would've helped."

"I know, it's just…" she turns to Killian for help.

"I'm splitting my time between here and the Jolly."

"Oh," now it's David's turn to be speechless. "Well… this is an interesting turn of events."

Emma clears her throat again, and Killian becomes fascinated with his boots.

"I'm guessing you were coming here to stay…" David trails off. "And I showed up. Am I interrupting any special plans?"

"No," Emma says a little too quickly for his liking, but David lets it slide because honestly, what he doesn't know won't hurt him at all.

"Well Henry's at Regina's for the weekend, so he'll miss see– you know what, your mother wanted me home to help with dinner," he feels his face turn red as he grabs his keys off the table and back pedals.

"We were going to make tacos if you guys would rather come over," Emma says, barely containing her glee at finally getting back at David for what she and Henry had walked in on.

"Emma Ruth Swan, I swear to the Gods you're grounded!" David yells as he scrambls out the front door.

"That's my middle name!?" She yells after him, but it's too late; he was already out of earshot.

"What was that about?" Killian asks after a moment.

"Something I really wish I could forget about," she says.

"You know, we didn't get past the first scene of this 'Criminal Minds' you say is so good…" he says, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in for a kiss.

"Hmm…" she hums against him. "I suppose we'll have to try again, that is, if you think you can handle it."

"You're the one who couldn't handle it," he smirks.

"We'll see about that," she says, shoving him onto the couch.

From the driveway, tires squeal.