Come here
It's all worth the fight when it's you, dear.
We're hitting our heads on the wall here
We don't have to hold on so tightly.

Empty. As darkness fell across the porch and seeped in through the front windows, that's all she felt. It was appropriate perhaps - it was the state of the house as well as her mind. She'd been fighting it for hours now, but as night surrounded her and the reality of solitude took over, she could no longer help her weak attempts to avoid sleep. She should have fought harder.

"Killian," her voice echoed, foreign and blurred. "Killian….are you…."

"Emma…."

His words were faint, a dwindling sound as the image of him flickered between shades of clarity. The connection they'd somehow formed was weak and unstable, only the inconsistent glimpses of his disheveled hair and the brief flash of his deep blue eyes telling her he was there - well, somewhere anyway. She had to find him.

"Killian….Killian, we're trying to find you…."

"Emma….don't…."

"No, wait," she gasped, reaching out for the ghostlike figure of him. "Killian, don't….I….I love you-"

"I know, Emma," he nodded, her touch moving right through him. "But I have to-"

"Killian, please - wait! I can't lose you…."

"It's okay, love," he whispered. "Just let me go."

Emma's eyes snapped open to the dim quiet of the room, her blanket tangled around her legs. She didn't know when she'd drifted off, but as her breath shuddered in her chest, she allowed relief to fill her bones. She blinked rapidly as she sat up slowly. It was just a dream.

At least, this time it was. She had to keep remembering that.

Tired. That was the only way to describe the way her jade green irises glared back at her in the mirror. Yes, she'd just returned from the Underworld and she was already fighting the next big bad villain in town. Sadly, this one was the piece of glass hanging over her bathroom sink.

Emma rubbed at the dark circles under her wide eyes, noting how pale she appeared in the bright light of the room. She turned on the water as she glanced around the still rather empty space. She realized she wasn't quite used to it yet - not that she'd had much time to adjust to being a homeowner between moonlighting as the Dark One and striking deals with the man who could rival the devil.

Plus, they'd picked it - or rather he'd picked this house out for them. He was supposed to be there. They were supposed to be doing this together.

Emma shook her head softly, trailing her fingers through the cold water and splashing it up onto her face. They'd gotten back less than a day ago and as much as she wanted to fall right back into daily lunches and stealing his flask as he gave her that stupidly sexy smirk, they couldn't. He needed time. She'd seen it in his fragile expression and his uncertain stance when they'd walked down to his ship a few hours earlier.

"Is everything….okay? It's all still here?"

"Aye - yeah," he said quickly, setting down the sextant he'd been examining since they set foot in the captain's quarters. "It's fine. It's all….everything's okay."

"Yeah," Emma replied cautiously, lingering behind. "But a-are….you?"

"Am I okay?"

"Yeah."

"I don't….I'm not….I guess," he stuttered, scratching at his ear. "I suppose I don't really know yet, love."

"Yeah," she sighed, leaning on the door frame. "Maybe being home will help. You love this ship, Killian."

"That I do," he smiled weakly as his hand rested on one of the shelves. "But I….Emma, I-"

"I know, Killian," she interrupted, her voice some sort of pleading. "I know you do. That's why it's going to be okay."

"You believe that?"

"I do," Emma said with a nod. "I'm choosing to."

"You can do that….after everything? H-How?"

"I really don't have another option," she admitted after a moment, giving him a tiny smile. "I'm in love with you."

"Aye," he acknowledged in a quiet tone, looking sideways at her. "And I - you, Swan."

She wasn't really sure why she thought leaving him there was a good idea. Perhaps it was because she hadn't given him opportunity to say otherwise. Perhaps it was the fact that he'd looked lost for weeks and the moment they stepped onto the deck of the Jolly Roger, he didn't appear to be quite as disoriented. It was normal for him. It had been his home for centuries and though he'd given it up once already for her, she just wasn't sure if the little Nantucket style tudor he'd selected from the classifieds was still going to be enough for an address change.

It was enough for her. He was enough.

Staring down at her phone on the counter, she contemplated calling him. Maybe she'd send a text - he'd gotten really into that prior to her descent into darkness. A reminiscing smirk caught her lips as she recalled his almost too proper texting etiquette and the stern lecture she'd had to give him more than once regarding the use of emojis. That was the man she'd truly fallen for - the kind, thoughtful, quirky guy who hid behind the broken pirate. That was the man she'd gone after, but was it the one she'd brought back?

Was he the same Killian? Was he still hers?

A barely audible knocking sound from the front foyer broke Emma out of her uncertain spiraling. She raised an eyebrow at the noise, her posture straightening as she walked toward the door. Her parents were home with Neal and headed for bed last she spoke to them. Henry had gone over to Regina's earlier, probably wanting to give her time to settle back in with Killian.

Wait - Killian. Emma's heart skipped several beats as she froze. Her breath was heavy in her chest as she reached for the doorknob, yanking hard on it as a cool burst of night air met her skin.

Relief filled her veins instantly at the sight. He was there - dressed in the red hooded sweater he always looked unsure of with a jittery appearance that was very unexpected. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets as he rocked back on his heels, running his tongue across his lower lip anxiously. His eyes were a sad blue - lonely and lost and achingly handsome. He looked out of place - almost like he thought he shouldn't be there. The observation was a painful one and Emma tried quickly to shove it out so she could get him to come in.

She had, after all, wanting nothing more than that since she walked away from the ship without him not long earlier. She'd wanted him here. She wanted him with her.

"Killian?"

His eyes jerked up to hers at the sound of his name, the corner of his mouth turning up into a nervous half grin of recognition. It faded fast as his stare went wild with a frenzied blue color, one that she'd gotten somewhat used to seeing recently. It wasn't as easy to drown in as the previous tints and shades of that hue that she'd learned to love - the calm blue of the sea when he met her for morning coffee or the deep navy haze when he kissed her goodnight. This one was more unpredictable. This was the color she needed to conquer.

"Oh," he stammered, shuffling his feet slightly. "You're still awake."

"You sound….surprised?"

"I guess I shouldn't be," he answered, keeping his tentative distance. "Dark One tendencies are….tough to break."

"Yeah," she agreed, trying to hide her pain in the way she gripped the door. "Is something wrong?"

"I guess I, uh….I mean, I'm not really sure….but I know it's late," he commented, shaking his head in realization. "So that probably doesn't make the fact that I've chosen to show up now look natural."

"No, it's not bad at all actually," Emma replied with a curious smile. "Just wasn't expecting it I guess…."

"I can go-"

"No, no - you don't have to. I mean, I don't want you to," she rambled, taking a moment to steady her nerves. "But are you okay? I just….you didn't have to come over here so late. I figured you wanted to tend to the boat and that we'd talk later-"

"It's a ship, Swan," he teased, a hint of that old humor in his eyes - even if it was riddled with uncertainty. "I did that actually, but….you said that maybe being home would help."

She'd been playing those immortal words from their earlier exchange over in her mind for hours, telling herself that she'd used them to justify the reason he needed some time alone at the docks. She had convinced herself that 'home' was just a word and that if they didn't end up turning this house into theirs after everything they'd been through, it would still be okay. Yet here he was - a disheveled mess of dark hair, exhausted blue eyes, and the black Converse sneakers that Henry had coerced him into a few months earlier.

He was home.

"So," he started, a slight tremble in his words. "Can I come in?"

"I guess that depends," she answered in a slightly more relaxed tone, accompanied by a faux smirk. "Do you plan on knocking at your own house regularly or is this just a….one time thing?"

"Funny, love," he laughed, a slight awkwardness evident in him. "My house though? Is that what you're calling it? Because you don't have to-"

"I know," she cut him off, trying to hinder any further shaky conversation. "But….it is, isn't it?"

"Well, I guess I was more thinking of it as 'ours'," he shrugged, his eyebrows knit with hope. "If you'd like it to be. Eventually….of course. One day."

"I….I kind of thought that was the plan," she replied softly, a weak smile following her words. "Come in?"

He nodded, his feet fidgeting a moment before he walked through the doorway. Emma's eyes closed briefly when their shoulders brushed and she reveled for the millionth time in the fact that he was real. He was there. He was whole.

She'd actually found him. She'd saved him - just like he had saved her. Something about that ending - or beginning - was everything to her.

"You're tired," he said after a moment, tilting his head at her. "Why aren't you asleep, love?"

"Well, I….I was," she stammered as she bit her lip. "I guess I just….woke up."

"I gathered that much," he smirked, his gaze concerned despite his effort to make light of things. "But I'm curious if there's a reason why?"

Emma pulled in a deep breath, wondering silently just how much she should tell him. They hadn't actually gone to hell, but he looked like he'd been dragging himself through it with his deep blue eyes and his somewhat wrinkled clothes. His face was still slightly marred - the healer Meg had taken them to had assisted with the majority of his injuries, but a few cuts and scrapes remained.

Oh, as well as a fairly battered broken heart. Emma tried not to think of the one she possessed and how well they matched. Real kindred spirits they'd always been. At least one thing hadn't changed.

"I just-" she said, swallowing hard. "-wasn't sleeping well."

"Yeah," he replied, quiet and distant. "I know what you mean."

It took her only a moment to piece it together - that fractured expression that was ruled by a terrified, exhausted stare and dark red lips. He was tense and hanging on by a thread as his mind appeared to reel. She wanted to go to him - to hold him. It wouldn't be right though. Right now, he was still realms away even as he stood just inside their front door.

"You...you had a nightmare," she realized, the truth of it pressing on her aching soul. "Is that it?"

He didn't reply yet, his teeth worrying his lower lip as he looked away. His posture was weak and oh so unlike the confident Captain that used to wear swagger like it was going out of style. He sighed heavily, his chest shaky with the thousand emotions she was feeling too. When he finally brought his vision back to hers, she immediately took note of how unprepared she'd been to see him this way.

His eyes were pale and watery, the darkness surrounding them full of disaster as his hands hung helplessly at his side. Emma wasn't sure how much time passed as they stood there on the edge of her knowing statement, only certain that it was far too long. His mouth trembled and a solitary tear slid down his cheek. It was quickly swept away as he pulled a frustrated hand over his tormented face.

She was supposed to be the one doing that. Comforting him after all of this was her job - and she was quickly on her way to becoming unemployed.

"Killian-"

"It was like...I was a ghost, Emma," he finally told her, devastation wrapping around his accent as his shoulders slumped. "I was gone. I….I left you - just like everyone else."

His words burned deep, the reality of his pain suddenly right there in front of her as she realized how much of it had followed them home - valiant rescue efforts be damned. He had never appeared quite so broken as he did in that moment, his skin colorless and his expression cloaked in the failure he was feeling. He was wrong though. He wasn't like everyone else.

"Killian, no - that wasn't your fault," she tried to remind him. "You were doing what was right. You saved us - you saved me."

"But….then I lost you," he said softly, the battle raging in his words. "I….I almost remember - I mean, some of it."

Emma breathed back her own tears as they threatened to fall, her hand reaching to the ring around her neck. It was her strength - all she'd had after Excalibur destroyed the darkness and the man who'd taken it on, despite how much she detested it. She cringed inwardly, exhaling with an unstable sound as she tried to fight the memory. It was still there though - the look in his eyes when the blackness encircled him, his heroic and heartbreaking plea, the way he choked out his last declaration of love, and the final sound he made when the sword pierced his skin.

It was all too painful. It was all too real.

"I….I felt you, Emma," he told her, a barely audible tone wrapping around his words. "When you took my hand and then….when you let it go. I couldn't stop it from falling away from yours and I knew that I….it was over."

She broke at the explanation, her legs shaking as her heart fell at her feet. The fight to control her sobbing was quickly lost and tears ran freely down her cheeks as she tried to catch her breath. Emma knew she was moments from dropping to the ground, the way she'd done so on that night still so easy to recollect. This time, she knew she would feel the cool wood floor on her knees instead of the frigid cushion of the grass - but she was wrong.

Instead, she felt only Killian's unexpected, warm, careful touch as his hands moved to graze the sides of her face. Sudden stability found her and the world stopped turning for an instant - just long enough for her eyes to flutter back into a desperate focus.

"It….it sounded like that," he whispered, his thumb brushing a rogue tear from her cheek. "You were crying and….it was the last thing I heard, Emma. Then everything was black."

"Killian, I…."

Her reply faded as he stroked her jaw, holding her chin gently as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His hand fell after a minute, but this time it found her hip and he squeezed softly to coax her forward. Emma didn't know how she was able to move her feet, but she closed the space between them quickly. His forehead leaned against hers and his fingers moved upward again, his hand tangling aimlessly in her loose waves of hair. Her hands lifted from her sides and her palms rested carefully on his chest. He shuddered slightly under her returned touch and they breathed each other in like the light mist of the sea breeze.

She felt it almost instantly and the relief she experienced following the pattern of his thumping heartbeat was suddenly her reason for standing.

"Do….do you feel that, love? I'm….I'm alive-" he exhaled, the tiniest of smiles evident in his voice. "-because of you, Emma."

"But I...with Excalibur-"

"Emma," he cut in, pressing his lips to her forehead. "It doesn't matter."

"It….it doesn't?"

"No - but this matters….because you found me," he said quietly, the comfort of his gaze holding her steady. "You brought me back, love."

His breath was steady in her ear as she squeezed her eyes tightly closed and allowed him to hold her. This was the moment she'd needed since she watched the darkness leave his body. It was what she'd prayed for since the second her foot cut through the water leading them to Charon's boat.

I can't lose you too. Her own words from what felt like ages ago echoed in her ears. He was finally there - and she wasn't about to lose him this time.

"Killian," she whispered, her forehead pressed against his shoulder. "Stay. Please just….stay."

"I'm here, Emma," he assured her, his hand smoothing her hair as they stood in the dark foyer of the house he'd chosen. "I'm home now."