WARNING: ***SPOILERS FOR "ONCE UPON A TIME" ARE IN THIS ARTICLE***
I have what may amount to a seemingly unhealthy obsession with the TV show "Once Upon A Time." Everyday Sunday I can be found, when I don't have chapter, sitting on the couch at 8 p.m. watching "Once Upon A Time." I was late to jump on the Once train as I didn't start watching it until it was in its second season. But, after the first episode that I watched, I knew I was hooked.
The first episode that I watched was episode one of season two and I was terribly confused. The curse that had been cast in the first season had just been broken and the people of Storybrooke were dealing with the aftermath. Then, just before the end of the episode, Emma Swan and her mother Snow White were transported to the Enchanted Forest. Snow White was home and Emma was seeing were she was from for the first time in her life. At the end of the first episode through to the beginning of the third, Emma and Snow were figuring out how to get home to Stroybrooke. In this time, they meet Sir Lancelot, Mulan, Aurora, the Queen of Hearts, and none other than Captain Hook. The first time Colin O'Donoghue came into focus, every fangirl lost her mind. But, under the surface, we could all see the beginning of what would be the couple that would give us severe relationship goals. And, for me and countless other Captain Swan shippers, these are the reasons that Emma Swan and Captain Hook, the savior and the pirate, are relationship goals.
They know when to put the other first.
Hook and Emma have a firm understanding of what it means to put the other first. The last words Hook says to Emma before they are separated the first time are "Not a day will go by that I do not think of you." He is facing going through into a hostile environment where, because of his past, he will not be too well liked. He could be injured or killed but his first concern is Emma knowing that he will never forget her, no matter what happens. The same thing occurs when Emma is forced, because of a curse cast by the Wicked Witch, to watch her mother be "burned" at the stake. Though Hook is watching a woman who has become a dear friend be killed, he puts his emotions aside and is focused solely on Emma. This season, Hook is in the underworld after he sacrificed for the people of Storybrooke. Emma's first priority has been finding Hook. To bring him back, Emma has decided she is going to split her heart in half and they are going to share a heart. They know that Emma can't always come first and neither can Killian (Captain Hook's actual name).
They are absolutely adorable and attractive
I mean, look at these adorable little love muffins. They look like they just stepped out of a photoshoot. Whether watching Emma's son get on the bus (the top picture) or going through videos of Emma's childhood in various foster homes (the bottom picture), they couple can still strike an attractive pose.
They have literally been to hell and back for each other.
Hook sacrificed himself for Emma and the rest of Storybrooke. For his sacrifice, Hook was sent to the Underworld because he had unfinished business. Emma did not give a second thought to venturing to the Underworld to save him. She even brought along her parents, her son, her step-grandmother, and her step-grandmother's boyfriend. Emma went into the Underworld without much of a plan outside the fact that she wanted her pirate back.
They represent a true healthy relationship.
Throughout the entirety of their relationship, Hook and Emma have been a healthy couple. This does not mean that they are a perfect couple, because a perfect couple or relationship is impossible. They fight. They argue. But, they love without restraint. They treat each other with respect and recognize when the other needs their space.
Hook and Emma may not be perfect. They have both done things that they would rather forget about than have to relive. However, they show this generation that almost anything is possible. You can find love in the most extraordinary of places and in the most unconventional of ways. And, yes, even a fairytale love between a pirate and a princess will have its ups and downs.
