Disclaimer: Once belongs to ABC, no matter how hard I wished it belonged to me.

Emma thought that with a ten-hour head start, she would never have to see Captain Killian Jones again. Which was good, because leaving him locked up didn't do a lot for their friendship.

Of course, she'd underestimated him.

They had made camp, and Mulan was roasting a rabbit that she had been lucky enough to catch. All four women were enjoying the chance to rest after the extremely long day they all had.

Out of the shadows, a familiar voice unexpectedly spoke up.

"Hello darlings. Long time no see."

Mulan drew her sword and Snow grabbed her quiver as Killian stepped out of the shadows.

"How did you find us?" Emma asked.

"Well, you ladies stopped and rested a lot. I didn't, so I managed to catch up." He looked around at them. "Now we're all together again, we can resume our adventure the way we started it."

"What, with you tied up to a tree as we leave you for the ogres?" Emma retorted.

"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of us working together to steal the wardrobe ashes from Cora."

Emma glanced at the others, who shrugged, as if to say. "What else can we do?"

They all ate their meal, and then Emma volunteered to take first watch while the others slept.

"I'll stay up with you," Killian remarked.

"I don't need your help," Emma said, moving to the perimeter of the camp. "I can keep watch on my own."

Killian, being his usual aggravating self, followed her. "I think we have a lot to talk about, considering that you locked me up and left me in the same room as an evil giant."

"He wasn't evil, and you weren't going to be stuck up there forever. We just needed a head start. Besides, you managed to catch up, so everything worked out well for you."

There was silence, and Emma thought that he might finally leave her alone when he started talking again.

"I figured it out, by the way."

Emma considered not answering, but figured that he would probably keep on bothering her until she said something.

"What did you figure out?"

"Why you left me up there. Ten hours give a man a long time to think, so one can normally draw some pretty great conclusions."

"Really? And what conclusions did you draw, aside from the obvious one that I don't trust you?"

"It's not that you don't trust me, darling. You're just scared to trust me." He stopped talking, and Emma found herself wanting him to explain this part of her that even she had been unable to find.

Killian continued, saying, "See, I'm guessing that your parents weren't the only ones to leave you. Somebody else did as well. Somebody you were close to – somebody you trusted. So you didn't want to trust me, because if you did, I would break that trust and leave, or do something bad. You would rather keep your distance. You locked me up because you wanted to leave me before I would – supposedly – leave you."

Killian finished, and there was a pregnant pause, as if he expected Emma to either confirm or deny what he had said.

As much as Emma hated to admit it, he was right. She always left first, because that way, she wouldn't be hurt when the other person left. Like they always did. Like Neal had.

"What?" she snapped, when the silence became too much for her. "Do you want me to give you a prize for being right? Do you want me to offer you congratulations on being the one to figure out the mysterious Emma Swan?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Emma saw Killian shake his head.

"This wasn't about me trying to make you say I'm right," he said. "This was about me helping you." He nodded over to where Snow was sleeping. "If your parents didn't – and won't – abandon you, wouldn't it be nice to give other people the benefit of the doubt?" When Emma didn't say anything, he went on. "If you just open up and trust people, Emma, it can open up a lot of new possibilities. And that's better than spending your life alone."

He turned and walked away after that, leaving Emma alone with many new things to think about.

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