AAAAH this scene gives me so many feels! Maybe I'm reaching but there's so much going on here.
Killian has just gotten discharged from the hospital and he has to come back to his apartment, prepared for the absence of Alice yet glaring presence of filled in remnants of having stayed together while both cursed, probably swimming in memories and bits of lingering magically induced pain.
The way he asks, "Starfish?" as if to confirm that the curse was broken and it wasn't just a dream. How he probably still has her marked on his phone as Tilly and didn't expect to hear from Alice. The look of disbelief and recognition as she answers. I don't know if it's intentional or coincidence that Alice replies, "Yes, papa, it's me," because it parallels all too well with their initial reunion moment, where he thought she was dead and she physically showed up, presuming they were shielded/cured from the effects of the poison heart curse. (Aka 7x08's "Alice, is that really you?" and "Yes, yes, it's me."
They're connected through the wonders of modern technology, her words clearer and different than before as they're now awake, even though it'd probably been a few days since he physically saw and heard from her last. The pain, strength, and joy Killian expresses as he hears her voice. Man could have been ready to break down at the gravity of their situation all over again in his loneliness, but Alice calls him up and he emotes as if she were right in front of him.
When this episode came out, I was like, "Just let them hug already! Wait, they can't. This hurts." Still comes as a shock and pleasant surprise to me, in tandem with him, at Alice being across the street. The writers could have just left them with a phone call in different places, but I'm glad they went this way because it hits hard in all the right places!
