The Life We Will Fight For

Home

He stumbled through the portal with such a force that it pushed him right over to land hard, face first on the ground. His hook shredded across the asphalt of Main Street, giving off sparks, and the gravel cut into his hand, and yet – for him, it was the sweetest feeling he could imagine.

The next thing that hit him though, and even before he could fully pick himself back up, was not Regina's sweet embrace, but a fierce punch in his back that pushed the last bit of breath out of his lungs.

„Bloody hell!!", he gasped and instantly turned around to face his attacker when he looked into a familiar pair of blue eyes, her red curls blowing across her face in the evening breeze shining golden in the light of the streetlamp.

„What the...?"

„Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist, pirate", she replied, „I just think that for what's going to happen next, you'll want your heart back where it belongs."

Only now did he recognize the so familiar thumping rhythm inside his chest. Something he had gotten so used to over the years and centuries that he'd barely notice it anymore, but felt almost violent to him now that he had been without it for so long. And most of all, he instantly felt the pain, the longing for the one who loved more than anything, making tears shoot up in his eyes.

„Thank you", he mumbled, his voice thick with emotion, and then he saw her.

A black silhouette appeared, set off sharply against the light of the streetlamps, so he couldn't see her face, but he instantly recognized her high heeled boots, the way she walked, hesitantly at first, then breaking into a run, the way the figure tucked her hair behind her ear.

„Regina!!", he yelled, which only made her run faster.

„Careful, Regina, the road is wet!", Zelena yelled after she had been greeting her daughter, but her sister only slowed down to a minimal degree. She had waited for months to hug and kiss the father of her children again, for quite a while even wondering whether she'd ever see him again, she wouldn't wait a second longer.

She fell to her knees next to him, sobbing already.

„Killian...", she whimpered as he pulled her into his arms, so tight that she almost had to fight for air and lost her balance, „Oh my God... you're home."

„I'm home, love", he sniffed, not even bothering to hide his feelings, „And I won't leave your side ever again, whether you like it or not."

„Don't you dare, you hear me?! Ever! We need you... more than you think."

Together they helped each other back up onto their feet, and as soon as they were standing, he pressed her against his body once more, grabbed her face between hook and hand and kissed her, and he was so lost in relishing this feeling of holding her again, smelling her hair, tasting her lips, that it took him a while to notice something unusual pushing against his stomach.

He let go of her lips to gasp for air, then looked down between them and saw that there was something hidden underneath her coat. He placed his hand on it and frowned.

„What..."

The others exchanged a few knowing looks and took a few steps back to give them some privacy for this moment that Regina had undoubtedly been looking forward to for months.

She looked into his eyes, then swallowed to calm her heavily beating heart and opened the buttons of her coat, revealing her tiny baby bump to him. Nervously biting her bottom lip, she watched every detail of his unshaved, unwashed and still incredibly handsome face.

His blue eyes twitched and scanned every inch of what he was seeing before himself as his lips repeatedly formed silent syllables, without ever really being able to voice a single sound.