FINALLY, These Two Gave Us Something To Work With

As usual, Once Upon A Time threw adorable Hook and Emma moments our way left and right with no promise of an official 'ship in sight. We anticipated that this whole season of OUAT has been leading these two together for a final, epic union. And when the Season 3 finale sent Captain Swan to the Enchanted Forest via portal and since then, we've been anxiously awaiting signs that these two are going to bond. And they have. Significantly — as in, during the final five minutes of the finale, fans finally got that Captain Swan kiss they've been waiting for and a declaration of love that left me swooning.

Nothing like a little adventure that involves saving the fate of all of your family and friends to get two people to fall in love, right? In the case of Hook and Emma's never-ending will-they-won't-they, that's exactly right. OUAT started off the night with Hook calling out Emma in front of her whole family and all of Storybrooke's inhabitants during an adorable Charming family moment. Why? Because she was sneakily planning her escape back to New York City with Henry in tow.

In a true Emma tantrum, she stormed out of Granny's and in true Hook fashion — because he's "always chasing this woman" — he followed her, vowing to talk sense into her. Because he's Hook and the most charming man of all time (no offense to the actual Prince Charming). His plan almost works between calling Emma out for constantly running and believing that she doesn't belong with her family and using the magical storybook. But they get sidetracked via portal because, duh.

And their romantic and adorable moments hit the Enchanted Forest's ground running from there. Hook gets jealous of Emma for flirting with his past self — even though it's a part of their grand scheme to save the future of her parents' relationship. So jealous that he punched himself in the face. Endearing, right?

They attended a ball together, during which they waltzed and Hook complemented Emma on her figure. Because obviously he was so amazed by her elegance in a ball gown. -Swoon- And after she was captured, our favorite sensitive pirate told Charming (who didn't know that Emma was his daughter) that he would go to the end of the world for her. C'MON, OUAT, HOW THICK ARE YOU GOING TO LAY IT ON HERE? Not that I'm complaining. But there still was no convincing evidence that the night would end as it did.

Emma witnessed her parents falling in love, to which Hook quick-wittedly replied that Emma and her mother have something in common — it takes them too long to acknowledge their feelings. And we started to see what was going to go down. In a truly charming moment, Hook convinced Emma that she had the power to open the portal and bring them home and, in turn, also convinced her that she really was going home. It was magical, it was emotional, and if I had to see them gaze at one another so adoringly without kissing, I would've just died.

Thankfully, after two hours, Hook and Emma finally realized that they've got something real when he confessed to trading his ship for a magic bean to come find her in New York. Did we really need another reason to love him? Emma called him a hero and thanked him for standing by her and then they kissed and kissed and kissed. Because they're so in love and they've been waiting an entire season to show it.

Image: ABC