Okay, so I'm a day behind the deadline I set for myself, but here is the final installment of "I'd Know You Anywhere". I truly hope you enjoy it, that it lives up to expectations, and I thank everyone SO MUCH for reading and reviewing this as it went along. I'm so excited that the show has now returned and we can see them in canon once more, but I hope once I do write something new for them again, you'll come back to check it out!
Epilogue: Like Some Kind of Fairy Tale
Three Years Later, Rock Harbor Marina on the Michigan shore of Lake Superior
Emma Swan breathes in the crisp, September morning air as she turns her face toward the rising sunbeams and their pleasant warmth. Basking in the early light, she cannot help grinning broadly; almost unable to believe she can be this content, as the warmth of the sun's rays heats her face despite the autumn chill. Running a hand through her sleep-disheveled hair, Emma steps out onto the wooden planks barefoot and holding her hands cozily around the green tea she's grown fond of in the last few months.
Looking out over the horizon and the gently rolling waves in the harbor, Emma savors this morning in the life she now leads. All of her years drifting rootless and alone have finally led her to a home she never wants to leave. Walking to the end of the dock, she turns to look back the way she came, affection warm in her eyes. True, not everyone would be thrilled beyond belief at the idea of making permanent residence in a houseboat on the coast of one of the Great Lakes, but it seems so simple and idyllic here for her, Henry, and Killian. Emma feels that perhaps this was where she was always meant to be. Stretching her still-sleepy body and placing a hand to an aching muscle in her lower back, Emma has to chuckle at herself reveling in the peaceful sunrise, when she could once have easily slept well past noon. Not so long ago, she worked all night in the false neon glare of Vegas and slept all day, walking through her life without realizing that in so many ways she was still searching. It wasn't until she found true happiness that she understood just how much love her heart could hold.
She isn't at all surprised to feel the vibrations of someone else walking down the dock behind her, drawing nearer with each step. Without ever looking, Emma knows who it is and smiles to herself, glad he has missed her and come to find her, even though she tried so hard to let him sleep, to be quiet and careful not to wake him when she had crawled out of bed. When Killian reaches her, his arms immediately wrap around her, tugging her gently until her back leans against his chest and nuzzling his nose into the crook of her neck. "Morning, Love," he rasps in her ear, his voice low and still rough with sleep, sending tremors of delicious electricity running through her veins. It isn't hard to melt into his embrace and be held – not anymore. It is a luxury he has finally taught her to enjoy, being surrounded in the arms of the one she loves. She never would have pegged him for such a cuddler when they first met, but she finds it doesn't really bother her one bit.
Her eyes fall to where his hand rests on her rounded, ever-growing stomach, wedding band glinting on his finger in the dawn's new light. They had gone to the courthouse for a very simple ceremony – neither having any family or many friends, nor wanting to draw any attention, one of the elderly female clerks there serving as an adorably teary witness, and Henry proudly serving as both ring bearer and best man – just barely a year ago, and sometimes the sight of her ring on his finger still startles her, making Emma's heart swell with joy and disbelief that she is truly Killian's wife and this is not all a dream. The wedding band may be on his right ring finger, as he had argued that he "wasn't wearing an emblem so important on a bloody fake, plastic part of himself", but it doesn't matter a bit to Emma, so long as it is there reminding her that they will be together always. She has to tease him a bit though, even if it is around a lump in her throat. "Have trouble reaching around my gigantic midsection?" she snarks playfully.
"Hardly, Darling," he responds immediately, stroking both hand and stump over the bump where their baby is growing in such a tender, loving way that warmth floods her in overwhelming waves. "You're bloody brilliant. Have you not learned yet, Emma? I am a fan of every part of you."
"Seriously, Jones?" she responds, both charmed and exasperated by how ridiculously perfect he is. Turning in his embrace so she can look Killian in the eye, she frames his face with her hands on his cheeks. "How are you even real?" Surging forward, she winds her arms around his neck, diving into an impulsive, urgent kiss.
Taken aback only for a second, Killian's groan of appreciation rumbles through his chest and reverberates against her own. He pushes forward, tongue joining their duel, hand and stump both roaming over her wantonly, and pressing her up against the railing at the end of the dock.
Emma falls into the spell only he can place her under for several blissful, perfect minutes, reveling in her husband's skilled mouth and ardent fervor. Henry is at the local diner in town getting breakfast with Ruby and her wolfhound mix Pete, who have finally been given the all clear that it's safe to visit. Henry had actually stayed the night at the town's one small inn with Killian's former partner, a night and morning after alone, as a sort of early anniversary present for them from the incorrigible younger agent.
Finally though, Emma pulls back, biting her lower lip and trying to catch her breath. Her hands trail down, brushing over his shoulders, until gently clutching at his bicep, she pushes him away just a bit. "Easy there, Tiger,' she cautions, a smile tilting her mouth with a bit of a taunt. "Or we'll be giving our grumpy neighbor a free show."
"Aye," Killian sighs in agreement, bowing his head until their foreheads rest together, panting lightly for breath himself, "and get another complaint called into the sheriff's office on us."
The cranky old fisherman who owns the small trawler in the slip next to their houseboat, Leroy Dorfman, is out with his fishing rod already this morning, and he has made it clear more than once that he doesn't need to witness any public displays of affection from them. Obviously, a loner and set in his ways, the man generally tends to grumble at both of them, and even at Henry, in passing – no matter what they do, but for some odd reason it entertains Emma more than anything, and perhaps nothing more than perverse stubbornness makes her keep wanting to get on his good side and make him into a friend, despite his more than a bit prickly temperament.
"Most excitement that old codger is likely to get this week," Killian mutters unfazed, leaning in towards her once more.
"Mmm… I don't think so, Buddy," Emma sighs, seeing Ruby and Henry coming towards them down the docks from the main part of town. "Here comes Ruby and our son. I think we're going to have to take a rain check."
As she comes toward them, smirking and shaking her head, Ruby's mischievous look is already making Emma blush, even before she speaks up to say a word. Emma shakes her head just as good humoredly in return. She can hear Ruby's buoyant voice regaling Henry with some story of a "breaking in the new recruit" trick she had played on her new partner at the FBI – August Booth, Emma thought she remembered Ruby calling him. Henry is the perfect enthralled audience for his vivacious friend, giggling along as she gestures wildly to further illustrate the events of her story.
Both Emma and Killian turn to walk back toward the newcomers and the boat as they see Ruby hop easily from the dock onto the deck of their vessel, then reach out to catch Henry as he leaps after her and swing him through the air to his obvious glee.
Killian steps down onto the familiar surface of the deck he happily calls his home these days with similar ease, then turns back, offering Emma an arm to help her down after him, as her expanding belly has begun to throw of her balance a bit and make her slightly less agile. As always, his attentiveness and care touch Emma deeply, going right to her heart. Not so very long ago, she would never have imagined she could be so loved.
Strolling forward to join Ruby and her son at the bow of their little ship, she leans on the railing as she wishes her friend a good morning.
Ruby turns, beaming, and pulls Emma into a hug, despite the baby bump between them. "Wow, Emma!" she exclaims, her eyes nothing but happy for her friend. "It must be true what they say, that pregnancy suits some women. You really are glowing!"
Emma's eyes water just a bit with emotion. "I don't know if it's all the baby…or if it's finally finding a home, seeing Henry happy and safe...and having Killian here loving us both. It's more than I ever hoped for when this all began."
Ruby nods her understanding, a quiet moment overtaking them, which they allow for in several comfortable beats of companionable silence. Then she grins at Emma conspiratorially. "I should take a picture of how great you look to show David and Margaret when I get back. With Leo in his terrible twos now, Dave's lucky if he's even wearing a clean shirt when he comes into work some mornings, and they both look completely frazzled most times you see them. They'll definitely want to know your secret!"
Emma laughs, knowing all too well that carrying an unborn little one and chasing after a toddler are two very different things, but she is happy to hear how her other two friends are doing and to be a part of her Ruby's joke. Not long after the trial ended, David Nolan had proposed to Margaret Blanchard, saying they had lost enough time separated and he wanted to spend every year he had left in this world with her. Henry's elated teacher had of course wasted no time accepting his proposal joyfully, and they'd held a small but perfect wedding before Emma and Killian had left Boston so that their friends could all be in attendance. Emma knew that Margaret had moved from Kansas to Boston with all speed, and that she couldn't be happier than she was at being reunited with her long lost first love.
In the end, though Emma did wish she could see these people who had played such an important part in her life more often, she and Killian had both felt safer relocating once more. The Bureau had not thought it necessary to keep her in witness protection, as Gold and Cora were both found guilty and would not be seeing the outside world again. The shooting at the courthouse did not seem likely to be repeated now that the verdict had been reached and Emma had no information on any new leaders who might try to rebuild Gold's empire. She could go back to being Emma Swan with a sweet little boy named Henry – though she would never have to be the lost and lonely orphan that went along with that name, not ever again.
Looking over her shoulder she sees Killian at the helm of their little pleasure craft, and he sends her a gentle smile, the knowing gleam in his eyes making Emma feel as though he is once more reading her mind. She walks back to stand beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder and sighing in true content as his arm curls around her and pulls her into his side. As they leave the marina for a short sail around the lake, Emma thrills at Henry's little squeals of delight while he points out things he notices to Ruby and she makes all the proper appreciative exclamations.
The breeze cools Emma's face and ruffles her hair while she gazes out over the horizon that stretches before them. Drawing in a deep breath of Killian's warm, spicy scent from where her nose is pressed close to his chest, Emma looks up to him once more, then back out to the open water and sky. The way ahead has never seemed so clear.