This litterally made me cry. It was so bittersweet and well written and I think the biggest thing was you captured the threes feelings to each other perfectly. In a lot of fanfic they make Neal an ass, but that's not necessarily true. He was a result of his surcomestances. Or they make Killian way more prominent than Neal, but he was emma's first love and father of her child. Your right they couldn't have gotten back together, but emma couldn't entirely commit to Killian if it meant hurting him.

I love how you stated that both men loved each other too! Thats exactly how I feel about the whole thing and that moment between Killian and Neal was my favourite of the episode. This was a lovely follow up. Thank you

Excellent choice for a story.

I love your description on their "love triangle". Purely selfless for all 3 of them, they would have sacrificed their desires for the others.

I completely and absolutely agree. The shipping wars are ridiculous and tarnishing the relationships between the characters. You nailed it on the head in here when you mentioned that while Emma loved Neal she was no longer IN love with him - a crucial point; they'd had their day in the sun, but it was sadly long since set. The same goes for the love between Neal and Hook. I can honestly say I was truly happy that they were able to mend that bridge before it was too late. I shudder to think of the crushing guilt of not being able to forgive and begin to move past, had they not seized that chance. A lot of fans seem to forget that moment at the end of season two when Emma mentions Henry "already losing a father today," and the look on Hook's face when he realizes Neal was/is Baelfire. Neal was one of the major motivating forces for Hook to join up with them to save Henry in the first place, even as the second motivating factor was Emma herself. Bah! DX Don't get me wrong, shipping wars are fun and all, I for one am a Captain Swan shipper, but as with you, I genuinely grew to respect and like Neal as a person/character, and am truly sad to see him go.

I have never cried so hard over a fanfiction before. That was so beautiful.

I LOVED THIS SO MUCH!

You took such an epic approach to this. It was very deep; Most choose not to acknowledge the fact that no one made a move in that love triangle for fear of ruining everything for the odd one out. My opinion of Neal is the same as yours, I gained a ton of respect for his character in his passing. While it don't think the people of Storybrooke expect Emma to jump into Hook's pants because Neal is gone, the majority of your ideas really fell along canon lines nicely. (I think the hardcore!shippers might feel this is the only plausible option, but hey, we're all entitled to our opinions.) I think the Killian/Baelfire relationship was seriously overlooked as a whole in the series, but you definitely did them justice. The end was perfect - can I please tell you how much I like the name?! - and while I don't usually get all doe eyed over sentiments like these, I want to extend you a hearty kudos because the last line of this piece was absolutely stunning. You've done an excellent job on this one.

Wow. This was beautiful.
I totally understand your point in the story. As a captain swan shipper, I want people to understand that if Neal is dead is just not to let Emma and Killian fuck. Is more deeper than that. And so many people still don't understand it. I loved when Killian hugged Neal and when Neal called him Killian. I cried so much. I hope people who read your story understand the point. :)

FINALLY! I've been hoping you'd write another story for absolutely AGES! Totally worth the wait! So well written, and perfect. I loved the way you managed to have both the ships unite in this fic, well done!