Ok, loyal readers, this is it! I'm so sad that it had to come to an end at all, but this is where my muse led me. Thank you all more than I can ever say for all of the follows/favorites/reviews. It's a great feeling to know that someone else appreciates when you put your heart into something and share it with the world. So thank you thank you thank you for staying with this fic that was never supposed to be longer than a single chapter and encouraging my writing.

She loved Killian. There was no avoiding it anymore. No skirting around the word because it would somehow make the loss of him hurt any less. She hadn't wanted to admit to herself what everyone else around her already knew because she knew that love meant opening yourself up to hurt. Love might have been strength, but it wasn't always the kind that you wanted. Sometimes love meant the strength to let someone go…to put their happiness before your own.

"She's been through a lot, but she's still just as beautiful as ever, eh?"

Emma spun around to find the source of the unexpected voice, but she already knew who she would find.

"She's a marvel," Emma replied, attempting to keep her voice flat, emotionless as she looked back up at the ship's sails still blowing in the wind.

"Aye, she certainly is," he said, stepping down off the steps and onto the deck, his bright blue eyes locked on Emma. Suddenly and before she could bring herself to look at him, he was standing at her side. "Emma," he said softly, that familiar unique tone of voice he once reserved only for her sounding in her ear as she finally looked away from the sky and met his gaze, her eyes immediately filling with tears that she quickly tried to blink away. "I was walking back to the library, back to Belle, but I couldn't seem to get the last thing you said to me out of my mind. I knew that I'd heard it before, but I couldn't figure out where, why or how. All that I knew was that I had to find you, to talk to you…to understand why I feel so lost. Why I'm getting glimpses of another…a different life. Seeing you in a cell…and standing on the dock…seeing you standing on this deck."

Without saying a word, Emma placed her hand at the back of Killian's neck, pulling his head down until their lips were all but touching. A moment of complete and utter silence passed between them, so silent that the world around them seemed to stop, before Killian closed the short distance and their lips met.

Emma felt it immediately, the kind of surge that filled her entire body when she brought Henry back and broke the curse. It reverberated across the ship and out to the sea, creating a ripple of waves that sent the Jolly Roger rocking violently. As Emma lost her balance and began to fall, Killian caught her, his hand wrapping around her waist as he pulled her into his chest.

"It's about bloody time," Emma said, looking up at Killian, who met her eyes and smiled before releasing her to stand on her own.

"So you think our story is a fairy tale?" he asked curiously, that ever-familiar smirk that she had come to hate and love finally back.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she teased, starting to turn away before he caught her wrist with his hook, pulling her back against him.

"I will always come back to you, Emma. I'm not perfect, and I haven't usually made the choices that the hero would make, but I will never leave you. I will never abandon you. I love you," he said, his voice strong but soft, the blue in his eyes putting the color of the deepest ocean to shame.

"I love you, Killian Jones," she replied, and she'd never meant the words more than in that moment. He leaned down and pressed his lips softly against hers again, his hands resting on her waist and keeping her pressed tightly against his chest, as if he would never let her go. The moment that he did, however, he kept his fingers interlocked tightly with hers, and they started the walk back to town.

"The daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming falls in love with Captain Hook," Killian mused as they fell into step, wrapping his arm around her waist. "It's quite a pairing, Love. What a fairy tale we're going to write."

I hope you loved it! Stay tuned for a special mini-chapter addition after this chapter in the coming days to cover something that a few of you may have inspired in your reviews and comments!