The ship was no more. The illusion faded abruptly, and suddenly the scenery around him changed completely - there were only bright lights and white walls, blurry white walls. His eyes were unfocused, unused to the light. And there was something in his throat, something that went all the way down and was preventing him form taking air. Odd. His limbs felt leaden and it was hard to move. Very odd. He started panicking a little but there was a voice there, someone that had taken his hand, someone calming him.

"Keep still." the voice said "The Doctor's coming to get the tube out. Hold on."

Then the world started being more focused and Hook realised that he was in a hospital room and that the person with him was... Emma. Looking at him as if he were some sort of miraculous vision. What was she doing there...?

Then the Doctor came in and removed the tube. It wasn't exactly a pleasant process and Hook squeezed Emma's hand trying to fight the pain and discomfort. He held back a whimper but what he couldn't help was coughing like a dying dog when that damned contraption was out.

Emma was looking at him with a mixture of concern, relief and pure joy. She couldn't believe that he was finally back - it was practically a miracle. He still looked horribly sick and had lost a lot of weight but he was there, alive, awake, responsive, breathing on his own. Emma could have wept with joy. She gently caressed the hand she was holding while the Doctor spoke.

"He'll need some weeks to go back to normal and we'll have to keep him on antibiotics until the infection clears completely, but he should make a full recovery. He'll probably be a bit disoriented, but that's to be expected. You have some water there, in case you need it."

"Thanks, Doctor." Emma beaming, irraditing happiness. They had truly won. Again.

"I'll leave you two alone."

Hook wanted to speak, but only managed to cough. Emma got him a glass of water and he took it with a shaky hand (gosh, when had he gotten so weak?) and drank it.

"What... what happened?" He rasped.

"After effects of the drowning. Your lungs had some inflammation... they just stopped working, that's why they had to put on that ventilator, so it would breathe for you. You gave us quite a scare."

"Us?" There was no one else there to be scared. Still, the fact that someone had stayed was more than what he would have expected. Hook was so exhausted that he could hardly produce a decent sarcastic comment. His lungs felt tight, his head hurt and even if he had slept for what felt like centuries, he could barely keep his eyes open.

"How... long?"

"How long were you out, you mean? A bit over two weeks. You nearly died, Hook."

She moved her hand to caress his face. He was different, paler and thinner but it was still him. And after all the uncertainty and all the grief and sadness of the last couple of weeks the return of those blue eyes was more than welcome. Hook was confused at the sudden affection, but grateful.

He wanted to say something to her, but was too tired and sore to even think properly. It was logical, considering that he'd been in near coma state for the past weeks, but still, it was frustrating.

"Don't worry." Emma said. "Rest now, I can see how tired you are. We'll have time to talk."

He was already closing his eyes when Swan spoke again. There was something she needed to say right in that moment.

"Just... Thank you for fighting, thank you for coming back. I'm really happy you're back, Killian."

He went to sleep with a small smile on his face.

Even before he woke up again, he could hear noises. Noises in the room, around him. There were rythmical beepings - the hospital, he remembered. Which explained the tightness on his chest and the small tube he felt under his nose tht went back to his ears. Probably some medical thing. But there was something more... people, people talking.

When Hook opened his eyes he discovered that not only Swan was in the room, but a big part of her family as well. There was Henry who directed a big smile his way, and there were Snow and Charming with their little boy. Hook felt a bit weird, but tried to shrug it off. Tell a joke, as usual.

"Well, If I had known I would get a welcome like this I would have nearly died much sooner."

"Don't you even think about it." Emma said, but smiled. It was good to have his old self back as opposed to the sleepy confused pale man from the previous day.

"So, how is our hero feeling?" David asked, smiling as well.

"Me, a hero? Are you feeling quite well, Prince?"

"You almost died because of injuries you got while helping us. You are most definitely a hero, mate."

Hook just nodded, strangely flattered. Hero was not a word directed to him very often.

"Well, I don't feel like I'm dying, which is an improvement from yesterday."

"You should have said something before, you know." Snow said. "We care about your well-being, as strange as it may sound given our past."

"Yeah, you're part of the team." David added, sincere.

"I am honored. And who is that little man?"

They left some minutes later, and then it was just Emma, Henry and himself. Hook felt a bit awkward but happy nonetheless. Having people that cared about him was definitely not a bad sensation. They had lunch in the room, the three of them. Like a little family.

"I always knew you'd pull through." Henry said, when they finished eating and were simply killing time.

"Well, thank you for the vote of confidence, lad."

Hook still felt like he'd been thrown out to the ocean on his ship, but all this affection made his head hurt less and coughs seem less important.

"I'm going to get the place ready, ok? I'll be back in no time." Henry said, and with a kiss to his mom and a wave at Hook, he left.

"The place?"

Emma smiled.

"Henry has found us an apartment. It's by the water, you'll love it."

"Us...?"

"Well, like the Doctor said, you'll need a few weeks to recover from this and you can't stay in that drafty cold ship all alone, so you're coming with us." Hook frowned.

"I thought you were going to New York."

"I thought so, too, but apparently I was the only one who did. It looks like we'll be staying in Storybrooke a bit longer."

Hook was playing with the remnants of his jello. As much as he enjoyed it, his throat and body couldn't handle much food at once.

"Hook... Killian. There are some things I need you to hear, so, just... don't interrupt me, ok?"

The pirate raised his eyebrow but nodded, intrigued.

"First is that I need you to know that you are very important to me. We've had many up and downs, and there have been times when I wanted to slap you, but... Even if I maybe cold sometimes, or distant... It's just a defense, it's nothing to do with you. You have changed and you have done such great things for us, I don't know if I ever thanked you properly, but... You're important, okay? Don't ever let me make you feel otherwise. And also, I'm sorry I was so busy trying to get away from you and all of this that I didn't notice you were hurting. You're quite good at hiding it, to be honest, but still, I should have asked. And next time, if you're not all right, say something. It's okay to be hurt sometimes. None of us are invulnerable."

Hook's eyes were strangely shiney, but Emma wasn't going to mention it.

"I... I am touched... Emma. I didn't know you cared."

"I do. Even if I didn't want to, I do. I even cried a little when we thought you were going to die." She admitted, laughing a bit, to try try and make matters less it was okay to admit it. The guy deserved some love after two weeks in a near coma, didn't he?

"Now, that I cannot believe." He said, in his usual whispery voice. "The mighty Sheriff Swan shedding tears over a lowly pirate?"

"That's the point I was trying to make, idiot. You're not just a lowly pirate - you're my pirate."

They both smiled. No witch, no curse, nothing to distract them. Now it was just the two of them in that room. Suddenly, the silence was perfect.

"Are you really going to let me stay with you?" Hook asked, still a bit uncertain.

"But you have to promise me one thing, ok?"

"What is it?"

Emma pu her best seroius-business voice and face.

"That you will never, ever scare me like that again."

"Fair enough."

When Henry went back to the room, it was in total silence. Odd. He imagined his mother and Hook would have lots to talk about. But what he saw made him grin like an idiot.

His mother had climbed on Hook's bed and was cuddled next to him, just watching him sleep. When she saw Henry, she motioned for him to be silent and winked at him. Henry saw the smile in his mother's face and the peaceful expression on Killian's. He was really looking forward to living in that apartment, just the three of them, as was Emma.

Looking at Killian and Henry she felt hopeful. She knew that there would be many more challenges to face, to right there and now, in the silence of the room...

It felt like a happy ending.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the ending! It's fluffy and happy because Hook deserves some love, the poor thing. Hope you enjoyed! And please do comment, on the chapter or the story as a whole ^^ As I said, it's my first time in the fandom. Did you like it? What did you likeee? And thanks for the support so far ;)

You know you want to review!