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Killian sat on the bench outside, taking in the night air. Emma had decided to have a talk with Henry, about everything that had happened. She owed him a proper explanation first for wanting to leave, and second for changing her mind. She had told him and her parents all that had happened, but since Henry got his memories back, Emma hadn’t had the chance to properly bond with her son. Killian wanted to spend every hour with her, especially since she decided to open up to him, but Emma Swan was not his solely, and he respected and loved her for that.
He could still feel her tender lips upon his. Killian had worried about what would happen when he told her the truth about his ship. What he wasn’t expecting was for her to kiss him, not that he minded. He was afraid that she would run again, but he could tell she had changed after her time in the past. She probably would still be afraid to fully commit, but he would gladly wait for her.
“Mind if I join you?” David asked, as he walked over to the bench Killian was on.
“Not at all, your Highness,” Killian said, as he gestured to the space beside him.
“I wanted to thank you,” David said, as he looked at him. “Emma told me how she fell through the portal, and you went in after her. You didn’t have to do that. You could have let it close, and let her go alone. You would have been safe, and no one would have known any better. But you fought for her, like you always do.”
“I barely even thought about it,” he admitted. Which was true. There never was a choice for him to let her go through it alone. He couldn’t have done that to her.
“Which is why I owe you so much,” David said. “I remember what you said, you know. I remember how I talked to you in the Enchanted Forest, and you said you loved Emma, but you also said her parents don’t approve. I didn’t know it was you who I talked to until Emma explained how Rumple changed your faces, but I remember it all now.”
“I shouldn’t have done so,” Killian cut in. “It was wrong of me to talk to you like that.”
“But you were right,” David stopped him. “We’ve been judging you so harshly, with no absolute reason, other than you being a pirate. But how is that any worse than Neal? He was a thief, and he was no better for Emma.”
He didn’t say anything. He wasn’t really sure what he should say.
“It’s hard, you know?” David said. “Sending away your daughter one minute, then the next time you see her and it feels like less than a moment, but she’s fully grown up. She probably grew up years ago. We blindly sent her away, afraid for her safety, but also so she could save all of us. How could you place that big of a burden on one child? It wasn’t fair of us. We missed so much by trying to be noble. We missed her first words, her first steps, her first boyfriend, and everything else. Sometimes I think I try and force being her father over her, when it’s so clear that she doesn’t need us. When I see her, I see that child I sent away, and I just want to protect her.”
“Which is understandable, Mate,” Killian said as he listened to him.
“But it’s wrong,” David said. “Because she’s an adult, and she doesn’t need us to make decisions for her. Snow and I thought it was the right thing to do to try and get her back with Neal, but it would have been so wrong for her. It would have made her miserable, because she would have been with him for all the wrong reasons. But she wasn’t the only person I was wrong about. I was wrong about you. You said you assumed that we sent you that letter, and we called you out on it, and twisted your words to say that you told us we sent you. It was wrong of us, and in that moment, everything was so heated, and I let myself get carried in that heat and fire and I attacked you.”
“David-” Killian tried to say.
“No, let me finish,” David stopped him. “You were right in the Enchanted Forest. But I want you to know that I don’t think that about you. You are good enough for Emma. Hell, you’re probably the best thing for her. You get her in a way that no one else does. But I’m not going to start pushing her towards you either. I just want you to know that if she chooses you, then I’m not going to be against it.”
“Thank you,” Killian said, feeling overwhelmed.
“But regardless, I want you to know that I’m also your friend,” David said. “You might have saved me in Neverland for Emma’s sake, but you saved me nonetheless.”
“I did it for you too, Mate,” Killian said with a smile. “You may be her father, but I do consider you a friend as well.”
David clapped him on the back, “Let’s go back in. Henry was asking for you earlier, and I’m sure he still wants to see you.”
Killian stood, and followed him back into the diner, knowing that regardless of how he and Emma progressed, he won’t have to worry about David’s approval.