It seems like maybe Killian is trying to help Emma find something or someone that will require them to be separated for awhile but in true Killian form he knows that it is what is best for Emma and what she needs so he is willing to make the sacrifice of being without her for awhile so that she can deal with something.
Me no likey this theory. I don’t want my baby Emma to be separated from any more of her loved ones!!!! 🙁 Anyway, I don’t think they’ll need to be separated as in for a couple of days… but yes, I think Emma will fly solo for at least a couple of hours to do her thing. There is still Henry – maybe Killian will be on babysitting duty??? Lol.
Maybe they talk about it in the bar and she realizes that he is right and CHOOSES to drink the potion and the hug is our first mutual CS emotional moment where they both express their love for each other even though it is kind of a good bye for now hug – but they know that whatsver Emma accomplishes with the potion will ultimately bring them together.
She drinks the potion outside the NYPD, and she also takes the potion there. They filmed in a pub after that. Then they filmed in a restaurant. IDK what order everything is in, but it seems like they’re together for MOST of the episode.
I don’t think Emma will be quite at the stage of expressing her love for Killian – BUT I think she’ll have realised by then that her feelings for him are a lot deeper than she’d like them to be (if she hasn’t already lol). Emma does NOT take the concept of “hope” lightly, having had so little of it in her life. So allowing him to hug her, knowing that he loves her, if she DIDN’T return at least SOME of his feelings would be against her character IMO. Another thing: it’s also very important that Emma didn’t shoot him down when he told her he would win her heart. Because she believes him. If Emma didn’t think he could do it, if she didn’t have any feelings for him whatsoever, she would have shot him down straight away, and told him there was no chance. What Emma needs most when it comes to love is time, the time to let herself open her heart. Like, it took her the whole of season 1 to tell Henry that she loved him, even though we knew it the whole time.
That potion is something to do with Emma learning how to break the new curse IMO. Killian has offered it to her twice – it was obviously a last resort – that’s how i’m reading it anyway.
Keeper of Captain Swan's first kiss