I Believe In You

Chapter 26: Believe that a pirate can be a hero (part 2)

The next thing Emma saw was a thick smoke and then she was in front of her parents and everyone else again. Killian took some steps forward, his eyes locked in hers.

She wasn't sure if it was the first time but she could swear that she saw hope glancing in his eyes. Her breath caught at her throat. Cora was planning something and she should find what it was.

"Here I am, Hook. As I promised." Cora said mysteriously and he narrowed his eyes one more time.

"What do you mean? You promised..." He stopped talking and his eyes widened.

"I promised to come here with your Emma. I don't remember something else; do you?" She mocked him satisfied.

"No. You said...! Let her go." He shouted frightened of his deception.

"Sorry, but that's my choice to make! You made yours!" She continued smiling.

It was pointless to fight with her. She would be angrier and Emma was in her hands. She took a look back and his eyes met Liam's, then David's and then Henry's. It was up to him. They trusted him to stand in front of them, with all the power of what would happen. How could he do this? His attention was returned back to Emma the next second. He should find a way to take her away... somehow.

"Emma." He breathed her name with a view to gaining some time and she knew that.

"Emma, you were right. You can't stay here for more. But I can't leave!"

"What?"

She exhaled in shock and he looked down for a second. He couldn't go with her but he didn't want to lose her. Not now that he had started to be opened to her.

...these walls of yours; they may keep out pain. But they also keep out love!

"You have to go." Killian repeated and bite his down lip.

"You mean leave you." She corrected him bitterly.

"Aye. I've talked with Cora. The only way for you and your family to be safe is to go back without me." He explained, but he wasn't saying something new to her.

"No. No, you can't trust her!" Emma shouted desperately.

Her voice made his louder too. "I have to! It's my only choice. It's what's best for you, Emma. Every time we try to fight about my saving, someone gets hurt."

"No, no. Killian, please. You're just scared. This has happened to you many times before. It's just this low moment before you fight back." She cried out in an effort to persuade him.

"I've never fought before!" He cried out too, loudly. "I stayed back, watching my life be ruined and... I did nothing. I accepted it and became the worst version of myself." He took a moment to brush his tears away. What was the point? He wouldn't stop crying so easily. "Emma." He walked and stood right in front of her. "This isn't a story! This is our lives. And yours is in danger! Things have to change. You can't run after me. You can't relay your safety on me. And you can't believe in the bloody fate."

"You really don't believe." She whispered with realization. "I thought you were afraid to accept it but... you just don't!"

"This is how it has to be right now." He answered calmly this time. "Cora will let you leave." He added.

"Yes, but she wants you dead." She complained.

"I died Emma! She didn't kill me. It's not her fault that we're here."

She stepped forward too. Her body inches away from his. "You're the only one that can change that." She motivated him.

"Change what? All I'm doing is following my life's track. If you want to believe in fate, that was mine."