Had he not come on this trip with the resolve to abandon his selfish ways, this conversation would not be happening. This was the very price of REDEMPTION, the thing that would ensure that he could feel that dormant heart of his beat again. But old habits were hard to let go of, and so he decides to share the difficult decision with another pair of shoulders. Killian, still thinking rather selfishly, decides he will leave it up to Regina. 

If she said the word, he would help save David’s life.
If she didn't   ––––  it would be the end of the prince, and his conscience could be clear. 

❛  Aye, there is.  ❜  Assures the pirate in his hushed tones, hurrying along the conversation lest the lovely family would start missing them.  ❛  It’s here on the island, a fountain I can take him to that will cure his ails at a cost.  ❜   He ignores the lump on his throat that grows at the memory of his brother as he passed on the warning they didn’t get.  ❛  He won’t be able to leave Neverland. The healing properties of this water only work while on this soil. If he leaves, he dies.  ❜  His eyes capture hers, dread meddling with the shades of blue within them.  ❛  The question that remains is: Which of these would be the worst fate?  ❜  

regina could sense in his tone, the way he looked at her with eyes the color of the sea during a brewing storm, that he was asking her what to do. the conflict was clear. did they allow him to die this way or did they help him ?

in another time, another realm, perhaps she would have let him have the fate he chose. he wanted to die an honorable death, fighting for those that he loved. it wasn’t much different than her own choice just a day earlier. emma saved her, though. she saved her because henry wanted her to, and that was exactly why she had to make the hard choice. henry would never forgive her. even if he never found out, she would carry that guilt every time she looked at him, at emma and snow. 

with a furrowed brow and a slow shake of her head, she pushes a sigh from between rosy lips.   ‘   henry would want to see him. he would want the chance to say goodbye.   ’   it often tickled her how adamant some people were that making good choices was so easy, but today, it was all too infuriating. it was, she was sure, deception. some way to convince people to act a way that was ‘ acceptable. ’ moments like this just reinforced that belief. never in her life has the right choice been the easy one. 

‘   you should take him to the fountain when the two of you can sneak away. i can try to work on some kind of plan to work around the barriers of the spell.   ’   she could not guarantee his return to storybrooke, but if they could at least give the lot of them closure then perhaps it is the best decision. she knew what it was like to lose people, to never get to say goodbye. as a mother, she would do anything in her power to save henry from feeling that kind of pain.