Holy crap this one is quite long I didn't know I could get that wordy. Please listen to Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton before reading; this song is really important to me because it's my Daddy's favorite and we sing it all the time I love you Dad, even when you're annoying :)

Epilogue: Take a Leap of Faith

Time flies in the small town of Storybrooke.

Beginning of July; summer vacation. Well deserved for our seniors.

Mr. Gold would never say it out loud, but he was kind of proud of his students. The percentage of graduate was at its best this year which was a surprise. But... What was even more surprising had to be his own life at the moment. Indeed, some major changes happened that were worth talking about.

First of all, he saw his institution winning four places in the ranking of the best high schools. Though to be completely honest; he didn't give a damn about it. Okay, just a little bit, he had smiled a little when Belle announced the news.

Ah Belle. That little girl was, indeed; the major change in his life. For the simple reason that, she was now a part of it. Unbelievable? Predictable? You choose. It was true that they had grown closer throughout the year, her adequacy of seeing the best in people caught his attention; he had never met someone like her and it was what made her unique in his eyes. But not only did she do that, she also changed him. He had worked to become a man worthy of her love, the best version of himself. Of course some nasty habits couldn't simply disappear like that, but he was clearly making efforts. Anyway, all you need to know about Gold is that; his life was nice, peaceful and quite enjoyable at the moment.

And what happened to our two main teachers? Well, Mr. Booth and Mrs. Mills were those who hadn't seen anything new happening in their oh so dull life.

Booth liked his life this way, simple but yet entertaining enough to not fall into boredom and doldrums. Of course he was alone, no lovers, no children, no pets; just an empty apartment. But at school, it was different. He wasn't alone anymore; he was surrounded by people, teenagers who were lost and clueless about life. He felt like he was useful out there, because he had been a teenager too, and he had acknowledged this feeling of loneliness. Teaching was his thing, he was good at it and he knew it because of the great feedbacks from the students and parents mostly. They would all qualify him as inspiring. And it was all he needed to be happy.

Regina on the other hand; wasn't as satisfied with her life as him. She was still broken because of the loss of her husband Daniel, and she was still seeking occupation in her work. She was definitely working her ass off, she needed to keep her mind away from depressive thoughts and this; was the only thing she found. In her free time, she would either prepare her lesson over and over again or read thousands of books about psychology. What a life she had there uh?

She was in pain. As a child she had lacked her mother's love. And now as an adult; she had lost the love of her life.

But... What happens when, a new teacher, a male history teacher named Robin appears? What happens when, she learns that his wife has just passed away and that he is a widow just like her? What happens when, they definitely get along? And that for the first time in forever, she sees a smile on her face when she looks in the mirror?

They were undeniably connected, it was striking. What'll happen...

Mary-Margaret and David were on their way to Granny's; meeting their group of friends there.

It was in fact, a sort of farewell diner. They for sure knew that after high school, they would all take different paths and not necessarily stay in Storybrooke. Mary-Margaret who had been a straight A student her whole life had received her letter of acceptance in the university of Columbia a few weeks ago. It had always been one of her biggest dream; but now that she got in; she couldn't help but feel like having a heavy heart as she realized she had to leave her friends.

But she didn't want to think about it. Tonight; they were having fun.

David on his side, surprised everyone. If at first he was thinking about going to a football school (and everybody expected him to); he changed his mind at the very last moment and decided he would join the police. This vocation came hitting him on the head as his new neighbor; Graham, appeared to be the new sheriff of the town. He enjoyed spending time with him; Graham was a friendly guy. And the guy was very fond of his job, and he really liked talking about it too which only resulted in passionating David.

they kept on walking, holding hands; as the light of Granny's ' signboard appeared in their field of view.

Ruby and Elsa were already in the restaurant since they had just finished working. They didn't plan on leaving town for the moment. Ruby would stay working at Granny's for awhile and the Australian girl chose to take a year off so she could stick around Anna a little bit more. It was a pretty bold choice, but she pictured it as wiser since her parents, too occupied because of their exhausting work as business man/woman couldn't take care of the youngest. Then maybe later; when Anna would get older and more mature, she would attend a school to form engineers, math and stuff had always been something she excelled at.

The two girls were there, at the table; waiting for their friends to come. And as the welcoming bell of Granny's rang, announcing the arrival of David and Mary-Margaret, they waved at them, smiling.

They all greeted each other and ordered some drinks.

As they started small talking; they realized that something was missing. Someone, two someone to be exact were missing.

"Where's our favorite couple?" Ruby inquired, frowning.

"Right here!" David raised his hand and pointed his finger at him and his girlfriend jokingly.

They all laughed at this as the girl with red highlights said: "Sorry but you two are only 2nd on my list. The Swan/Jones is my OTP."

The poor boy pouted and swept some inexistent tears away with his sleeve, which only made her roll her eyes as she sticked her tongue out.

"Emma told me they would be a little bit late; she had to pick up her things at her foster house to bring them to Killian's" the girl with the pixie cut explained innocently, but at the view of the others widening their eyes, she realized that she had goofed and felt like she had just betrayed her friend.

"Sorry what?" Elsa blurted, addressing to Mary-Margaret.

"You guys didn't know- of course you didn't, she called me less than an hour ago." She said, face-palming herself. "How stupid I am. Okay so now that you know; I can tell you properly. Emma decided she would move in with Killian for the summer vacation."

"So. That's where I'm gonna sleep for the next 2 months."

"Aye." Killian said, giving her a warm smile.

"Great uh- where can I put my stuff?" Emma pressed her lips together, nodding towards the rectangular box at her feet.

"Let's take care about that later shall we?- and that's all you've got?"

"Yup."

"Of course it is. Three leather jackets; red, burgundy, orange. Three pairs of jeans and there you go!" He teased her, giggling as she only rolled her eyes but yet couldn't hide her smile.

"Actually four jackets. I have a blue one too." She stated really seriously.

Their eyes met; and they both bursted out into laugher.

She started wandering in the living room; looking at the couch, the small TV, the table.

"I don't know if I've already told you this but, I like your place."

"Our place." He corrected, and she froze. He seemed to notice her sudden change of mood since he added quickly: "at least for now."

She had warned him. She told him that night at the dock that she needed time and he agreed to give her that. Indeed, they were a couple. But definitely not a cheesy, noticeable one kissing at every corner. It was almost like their relationship hadn't changed. They were doing those debates daily like they used to before, the only difference was that they would share a small kiss before leaving each other or a hug when one of them was feeling down.

The day right after they became 'official'; she didn't plan on saying anything to the others and she was even apprehending Killian's arrival, afraid that it might be- awkward. But then he appeared in the hallway as she was chatting with Mary-Margaret, and kissed her gently on the forehead in greetings. The little girl jumped in joy as Emma was clearly less amused, even if this small morning attention coming from her now boyfriend warmed her heart.

When she was done with her lessons of the day, he was waiting for her as usual. She was a little bit embarrassed as they started walking but he did his best to make her feel comfortable. And then he noticed her reluctance to go back to her house. And he remembered the whole fight with Blue and Isaac. But what she didn't expect was him dragging her into the house, forcing her to have a talk with them. She didn't want to apologize, she was too proud he should know that. The problem was that, Killian refused to leave if she wasn't going to say a word to her foster parents. She sighed in defeat and told them she agreed to have some explanations with them in order to 'clear that f'd up mess'. And as Killian was still standing there, she introduced him to them and Blue immediately understood that they were more than friends as a mischievous smile appeared on her face. Then Emma told him to go as she promised that she was truly going to talk to them, and he left since he trusted her and knew she wasn't lying.

They had a fucking damn long talk. Blue cried a lot and took her into her arms. Isaac apologized to her weakly and she decided to give him a chance only if he was willing to do the same with her. We can say that they had buried the hatcher that night.

Now that she had graduated, she wanted to attend a law university in the short future. She knew since the beginning that Storybrooke was just a one year thing, a little bit less. Her foster parents had just taken a new kid, a thirteen year old little dude named Henry. And as she informed Killian about her intention to leave, she noticed how the news saddened him, he had this forced broken smile she hated to see on his face. So she swallowed her pride and hugged him, and at this moment she realized that, she was for sure going to miss him. The next day, he came with the idea of going on vacation with her but she told him she preferred staying in town before leaving it for good since, it was her home. They talked and argued, and finally decided that they would live together for the summer. Emma thought it was a good arrangement and explained the thing to Blue. She wasn't really enjoying the idea because, she wanted to stay with Emma too before the separation, but accepted anyway as long as she was going to visit them twice a week.

So here she was, moving in with Killian Jones. As she was glancing at the whole place, a photo frame disposed on the counter caught her attention. She got closer; and she smiled.

"What a beautiful picture uh?" Killian whispered in her ear, hugging her from behind.

"I can't believe you actually managed to make me come to prom"

Indeed, it was a picture of them dancing, waltzing. She had a red princess-ish dress and he was dressed as a real gentleman with a fair brown costume.

"We had fun, don't deny it."

She wasn't denying anything.

It was around mid June, and it had been a week since prom had been announced. People were all being so excited and talking about which dress, makeup, partner and blah-.

Emma was heading to her locker and groaned angrily as she saw this paper-ad-for-prom thingy glued on it.

"Seriously!?" She yelled, which made some students around blench. She ripped it out furiously, threw it on the ground before crushing it with her boot.

"How hot you look when you're mad."

She turned around, her eyebrows still furrowed, only to face Killian.

"Do you know the dude who takes care of the propaganda in here? If yes, tell him to go brainwash people anywhere else but on my locker." She blurted, crossing her arms on her chest.

He laughed. And she shot him a death glare. It was definitely not funny.

"What type of propaganda?"

"What do you think? Prom night of course. This stupid thing that everyone is so fond of when it's just some kind of fucking silly fancy party where horny teenagers flock together in order to have fun."

"Oh." He bit his lower lip and looked down. Now he seemed nervous. What was wrong with him- oh god no.

"Jones you'd better be kidding me. You weren't going to invite me to go to prom, were you?" She sighed.

He looked up and stared at her with this intense gaze of his. She wasn't falling for it.

"Please?"

"No!"

He got closer, and she took a step back but was soon stopped by her own locker. Wonderful.

"Swan?" He said, arching an eyebrow.

"Killian everyone's looking."

"I know you don't give a damn."

True. People had been used to seeing the two of them together now. It didn't take long before the whole school knew about them being a couple. It wasn't really surprising, they knew it was going to happen soon or later. To be completely honest, bets had been going on and Emma got really, like really angry when she heard about that one guy winning 70 bucks, because he had bet 'they're gonna get together before the end of the school year'. She had grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, he was about to pee in his pants. She told him through gritted teeth 'you're ridiculously pathetic' before letting him go. And she was even more furious when she learned that he wasn't the only one making money out of it. But anyway, most of the people found it cute that the two troubled and well 'untouchable' people of the high school were dating. They would hear whispers as they passed by, but nothing really alerting. They were living their definitely unusual romance, without a care in a world.

"I'm not going to fucking prom Jones. And I'm not wearing some fucking- what's the dress code yet?"

"Royal ball."

"Holy freak. And here I thought it couldn't get any worse."

The upcoming days had been a real operation make-Emma-come-to-prom for her friends. It wasn't only Killian. It was now David, Mary-Margaret, Elsa, Ruby; they were all pressuring her.

"And what's in it for me?" She shouted, pissed off.

"It's a tradition Emma!" Ruby whined.

"I don't give a fuck about traditions."

"It's just that I'm dying to see you in something else than a leather jacket" Elsa said with a wide smirk, but her sarcasm was not appreciated apparently since they all shot her a death glare.

"You know Emma, it might be our last big thing together" Mary-Margaret finally blurted, smiling sadly. Everyone turned to face her as they all remembered that they were getting separated in a few days, the end of the year approaching dangerously.

And now Emma felt guilty.

"Yeah I know but-"

"But what Emma? Come and have fun with us!" David cut her off and they were all looking at her with pleading eyes.

Shit.

"I-"

"For us?" Ruby said with a small voice before pouting. They all had this hope in the eyes, and she hated that.

She was so screwed.

Oh and double shit.

"Okay." She breathed out in defeat, as they all cheered in joy and came for a group hug.

"Eh get the fuck off of me I only come for the free food" she groaned but it was soon followed by a laugh.

When she told Blue she was going to prom, her foster mother got all excited and decided to personally take care of her dress, hair and makeup. She couldn't argue with that and it wasn't bad after all, she didn't have any dress and couldn't even manage to fucking braid her hair, or even tie them into a bun.

As she looked at herself into the mirror, she couldn't help but open her mouth in disbelief. With this red -damn uncomfortable- dress and this tiara and her hair and makeup done and well- she looked like a real princess.

She thanked Blue and tried to walk with this big thing she was definitely not used to wearing, and God what did she get herself into.

As she opened the door for Killian who came to pick her up, she asked automatically:

"How do I look?"

The boy had this prince costume on -looking far too attractive- and he seemed like- paralyzed at first, stunned but he quickly regained consciousness and started humming:

"And then she asks me, do I look alright-"

"Please." She rolled her eyes.

"And I say yes,-" he paused, before continuing in a normal voice:

"You look wonderful tonight, Swan."

As she was walking by his side and complaining about how a nightmare this corset was,

"You might not be able to move Swan, but you cut quite the figure in that dress" my ass.

She noticed that every eyes were on them. She didn't like that.

"Why are they all staring at us?"

"Not us, Swan. You."

She rolled her eyes. Again. She did that a lot around him. "Well make them stop, I'm not a damn circus freak"

"As you wish. Mesdames, messieurs-" he said, speaking louder for them to hear.

"What the hell are you doing? I was kidding-"

"Mademoiselle Swan standing right there doesn't like the way you're all eyeing her." He glanced quickly at her to gauge her reaction and she was just shaking her head in exasperation.

"And I don't like it either. She's mine."

"I'm not something you can fucking possess Jones." She spat. "Are you done fooling around now so we can go get the food?"

"We go to a party, and everyone turns to see, this beautiful lady-"

She nudged him in the stomach which made him moan slightly. Great now this song was stuck in her head.

"-that's walking around with me-"

"Shut up."

In the end, she did have a great evening.

"Ah here they are!" Elsa cried in joy at the view of Emma and Killian entering Granny's. The Irish boy waved at her frantically as he and Emma took a seat at their table.

Since the day he started dating her, he grew closer to her friends too. They all accepted him immediately -it took a little more time for David and yet he was still over protective when it came to Emma- which made him regret judging them for so long just because they enjoyed living at a time he was only a waste. He hated the whole judging-without-knowing thing, but this was actually what he did with them and he felt sorry for this. After all if they were Emma's friends, they were obviously great. He could make efforts.

"So you guys are moving in together and didn't tell us?" Ruby admonished them, squinting at them suspiciously.

"How do- Seriously?" The blonde turned to Mary-Margaret with a so done face as she gave her an apologetic smile in return.

"Well we were going to tell you guys about that but apparently, someone already did" he snapped sarcastically, making the poor girl blush.

"Sorry guys I didn't mean to-"

"Hey it's okay, it wasn't a secret anyway. Or was it?" He said to tease his girlfriend who only rolled her eyes.

Killian graduated this year, since he realized how important studying was and revised a lot for his exams. Gold was proud of him, he knew that because deep down, he liked him. And perhaps he liked him back after all. For the moment, he wanted to stick around Storybrooke, working at the Jolly Roger with Liam; the usual. Then maybe find something else to do when he'd get tired of this job. Not pressuring himself; making his way slowly, peacefully.

They were all having a great time around the table. Chatting, laughing, living. Killian's eyes began wandering around, but then they stopped to contemplate this; this scene, them.

He had his right arm around Emma's shoulder and she had her head resting on his. He was playing with her long blond hair, caressing and twirling it.

So that's how it feels like? To be happy?

He was proud of him, of her, of them.

Because they've come so far.

"What are you thinking about?" Emma whispered in Killian's ear, as she noticed that he was lost in his thoughts.

"Life." He mumbled, absent minded.

She frowned. So he was preoccupied because of something. "Come again?"

"-And how I love mine at the moment. We did it, Swan."

"We did what?"

"Look at us. We're not surviving anymore, we're finally living."

She looked up to face his gaze, and his blue eyes were electrifying. Shining with joy, relief, and this hope that looked so good on him.

A big genuine smile appeared on her face without her noticing it, showing her bright white teeth.

"Well, shot?" She said, handing him a coke.

"I never thought I'd see one of those"

She rolled her eyes (yes, again I know) "it's called a coke."

"No Swan, a smile."

In only response she gave him another grin as she yelled, raising her own coke and addressing to everyone: "To us!"

They all did the same, echoing her with the 'to us' thing.

After that, everyone returned to their chatting and giggling.

It was nice.

And thinking about the fact that, a few months ago she was at the bottom, an orphan. A lost girl, guarded as hell in order to find her place in this world. She was hurt, alone, cursing her life...dead. And here she was now, happy -kind of-, surrounded by amazing people, grateful for having them in her life... Alive. They were more than just friends, they were the family she never had. And it's crazy to think that, to get to this point, all she had to do the whole time was to believe that a lost girl could find her way home. Because this; was her home. They were her home.

Though a temporary one.

They were all going to leave one by one in the upcoming years and she knew that. She hated this fact and- There she was tormented, good job. Not now Swan, enjoy this quiet moment and shut up.

"There is always a crisis. Perhaps you should consider living your life during them, otherwise you might miss it."

Killian had told her at the dock, back to January when they were still in this 'I hate you but not really since you're the only one out there who understands me' optic. She got into a fight with Blue that day, and came rambling about how she was tired of crisis and that this wasn't over; and how it was exhausting to not be able to have peace, always being on defensive.

He was right.

The past shouldn't define us, the future shouldn't worry us. Because somewhere in the middle there's the present. And that's exactly what we have to focus on, otherwise we've forgotten to live. We have to do things in order to make today beautiful, not yesterday or tomorrow. Let it guide us.

Finally she understood that. It took her what? Only seventeen years and a half? But hey, it's never too late. She felt free now, as if she got rid of a burden called state of mind.

For her entire life she had sought safety, reliability, proof. She had been cautious; not taking any risk, always avoiding danger, running away and so on. But where did it guide her? Nowhere. She was left alone behind those tough walls she had built up, mourning her pain.

And now, look at her now. Sparkling, blossoming like a little flower in this oh so ugly world.

Doesn't it feel great?

Sometimes, all you have to do is; Take a leap of faith.

Wow. That's the end, for real. *getting way too emotional* I wanna thank you for reading my story and also for bearing with me and my grammar mistakes because of the English-not-being-my-first-language thing. And special thanks to guest Andria for staying from beginning to end :3 I can't believe it's over I've spent so much time writing this shit and I loved doing this and now I'm going back to my so dull life. God I don't know what to say, that's the first thing I've ever written entirely and maybe I'll come across it in a few years and read it and be like 'that sucks and my English was actually really bad' but I'm sure I'll get super nostalgic of the time I was a Fangirl. Cause I'll be all grown up and not really into fandom and shipping anymore I guess. Writing this fanfic, developing the characters of this story, (especially Emma) made me realize so many things about myself and my own personality. Sometimes I would stop writing and be like 'perhaps if I behave this way it's because of that too and maybe I'm also overacting-' But anyway, you guys are wonderful; so is Captain Swan. I wish you all the best Xx LONG LIVE ONCE UPON A TIME AND THE CAPTAIN SWAN ARMY.