#it was like a novel it was so good
So, since I’ve been remiss in participating these past couple weeks, I thought I’d officially rec a few fics that I’ve mentioned in response to some Asks I’ve received lately. Each of these fall under the hurt/comfort category, and are some of my favorites that I visit again and again.
All Flowers Keep the Lightby@best-left-hook-jones
Summary: France, 1966. After a hurried wedding due to the birth of her son, Emma and her new husband, Neal Cassidy, move to the quiet French countryside for a fresh start. With Neal working late at the psychiatric hospital next door, it is left to Emma to find her own way to settle in to her new life. Desperate to find a way to pass the time, and to find meaning in her life outside of being a mother, Emma takes it upon herself to revive the facility’s neglected greenhouse. But when a handsome blue eyed patient offers to help her look after the plants, everything in Emma’s world changes
Rated M / 6 Chapters / Complete
This fic is beautifully written (and that sentence does not do justice to the reality of its intent). There is a gorgeous melancholy that permeates the narrative while also infusing that sacred hope we all associate with canon. I already loved Killian Jones before reading this fic, but I fell in love with him all over again, right alongside Emma, as I read each chapter.
The Next Wounded Soulby@this-too-too-sullied-flesh
Summary: When a sailor recovering from injuries sustained during the war against the Dark One is tended by one of the noblewomen of the realm, he knows it is not meant to be; he is too hurt, and far too unremarkable for one as good as she. Little does he realize that time cannot heal all wounds, nor can it make him forget the angel who once eased his troubled mind.
Rated E / 12 Chapters / Complete
You want some masterful hurt/comfort? Then you have to read this fic. It features injured Killian; maimed, ill, plagued by nightmares and grief, with bouts of wallowing in self-loathing even as he comes to accept the care offered him by Emma, whose true identity is kept concealed. You will swoon, your heart will clench with feels, you will yell at these two idiots for being… well, idiots, and then be thoroughly rewarded by the end of it all.
Dance With Demons by SLimac
Summary: Killian Jones is fighting a losing battle with his vice and hiding it behind his music persona. Emma Swan is the cop who arrests him for it. But that isn’t the first time the two of them have met. After Emma impulsively offers him her apartment to recover away from the tabloids, it also won’t be the last. For her it’s just giving someone a chance she never had. But can it be more?
Rated M / 32 Chapters / In Progress
Another brilliant hurt/comfort fic! The attention to detail given to Killian’s recovery is expertly interwoven with the growing trust, challenges, and realities of relationship between him and Emma. Although the fic has not been updated recently, the last chapter posted leaves the reader in a good place with a sense of hope for the outcome that makes the investment in reading totally worth it. It is one I have gone back to and read through many times over, and though I am hopeful the author will pick up with the story again, I am never disappointed by the time I reach the final posted chapter.
