So I may have lied when I said that this chapter would be longer because I DID end up deciding to split it into two different chapters. And I'm sorry this took so long to post! I've been looking forward to everyone's reaction to this particular chapter for awhile, and I totally thought I'd already posted it and just wasn't getting reviews about it, but now I see that I had just never posted it in the first place! This moment was written as part of the original script for the episode of ONCE that this is based off of, and it was this moment that started it all for me. I became an official Captain Swan shipper because of the interaction in this chapter. It's weird, to think that I could be inspired by something that I wrote myself, but I think my muse knew something that I didn't know yet, if that makes any sense. So yeah...I know it doesn't seem like much, but this chapter hold a very special place in my heart, and to have the chance to share it with all of you is really an awesome feeling for me. So I hope you like it! As always, please let me know what you think in the reviews!

Killian walked down the street alone, the hint of the smile that he just couldn't seem to conceal playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Hey!" a voice called out to him from behind. He stopped, recognizing the voice, and turned to face its owner as his smile grew wider.

"Have you come to arrest me, Sheriff?" he teased as Emma approached, rolling her eyes when she reached him, though he immediately detected that familiar attempt at hiding a smile.

"Of course not," she replied. "When Regina tried to keep Henry from me…I reacted the same way you did yesterday." She diverted her gaze from his, focusing on something just over his shoulder. He stepped closer to her until they were nearly touching, his proximity bringing her eyes back to his.

"It seems we aren't so different, you and I," he said, his voice so low that only she would have been able to hear regardless of the fact that they were alone on the street.

"Except I knew that I had a kid, and I had to fight to get him back. You never knew," she said, her green eyes full of an unexpected sadness that caused his own blue eyes to focus on the ground.

He'd been so happy to learn that he had a daughter, a connection to someone for the first time in what felt like an eternity, and that she wasn't ashamed to be his daughter that he had yet to face the fact that he'd lost so much time with her that he could never get back…so many memories that he would never be able to make with this girl who had lived so much life that he wasn't sure where he would fit in.

"I know about lost time," Emma continued, startling him with her consistent ability to know what he was thinking. "It's the story of my life." She chuckled humorlessly before her expression sobered. "But you have a chance now. You have a family to protect, just like I do."

"It's been a long time since I've had anyone to care about other than myself," he revealed, not entirely sure why he was opening up to this woman he'd known for such a short time. Perhaps it was because she seemed to understand him in a way that no one ever had. This woman, with all her strength and stubbornness, had the same walls around her heart that he'd built long ago. And it was because of that connection, that mutual understanding of love and loss, that he was willing to share that part of himself that he thought he'd lost long ago. "She…changes things," he added, allowing his gaze to drift back up to meet hers. Emma nodded, obviously thinking of her own child, the boy she'd fought so hard to return to back in the Enchanted Forest.

"Just…don't do anything stupid, ok? I'd hate to have to lock you up," she warned, her eyes dark and serious, though the small smile on her face remained. Killian returned her smile with a wink.

"I'd love to see you try, Swan." Emma responded with another roll of her eyes as he turned back in the direction he'd been walking and started to leave.

"Hook," she called as he turned to meet her eyes again, her expression softer now. "If you ever need anything…you can trust me."

He allowed his smile to widen just slightly as he turned back to her, though the overwhelming appreciation and fondness he felt for Emma Swan far exceeded anything he'd felt for another human being in 300 years. He didn't know the circumstances of her plight or how the look in her eyes seemed to reflect his own, but he knew that she understood. So he smiled, nodded ever so slightly, and turned to walk down the street.