This fic is based on a conversation I had on Tumblr about unicorns and Emma if she'd grown up in the EF.

It's set in an AU where Regina was defeated before Emma's birth, and Killian Jones' story happened in the present. That means no Milah (and thus no hook), but he did lose his brother to a corrupt king and became a pirate.

It starts with the Huntsman's wolf.

Emma's barely walking, and she hasn't seen the man since he was named godfather shortly after her birth (the Huntsman is fond of Snow but not of civilization, and despite being welcome any time rarely takes advantage of their hospitality), but she seems to recognize him immediately, throwing her arms in the air and grinning hugely wide.

"'Unsman!" She laughs, and when he doesn't move to pick her up immediately, wobbily pushes herself to her feet to go to him instead. The Huntsman, Snow, and David watch her progress fondly (and in the Huntsman's case, obviously bewildered), as she toddles slowly across the room towards the man dressed in hunting leathers.

Just before reaching him, she trips on a flagstone and goes stumbling forward with a little shriek. All the adults jolt forward to catch her - but none are as swift as the Huntsman's white wolf, always at his side.

It ducks its head and Emma catches her balance with her hands wrapped tight around the wolf's muzzle; it stiffens instantly, tail lifting. They stare at each other for a long moment, one red eye locked on her green.

Above them, her parents panic very quietly.

The Huntsman's wolf might listen to him much of the time, but everyone knows it is anything but tame. And while normally Snow and David would trust the Huntsman implicitly, this is their baby girl, staring into the eyes of a wolf they have seen ripping out throats, and they're too far away to get to her in time if it decides it doesn't like her touching it. (It's never let anyone but the Huntsman touch it.)

"Huntsman," Snow says in a tight whisper, as David slowly eases closer.

"Brother," he says gruffly, and it's terrifyingly clear he's concerned too. Emma's parents watch with bated breath as the Huntsman slowly kneels down to his wolf's level, reaching out to press a calming hand against its side.

But before he even reaches it, the wolf suddenly relaxes; tail dropping, ears pricking forward in interest. It opens its mouth, but instead of biting, its tongue licks out, first at Emma's fingers, and then when she sits down with a giggle, her face. The people in the room stare as the wolf snuffles against Emma, licking at her, tail wagging slightly like a dog, and she giggles wildly, throwing her arms around it wherever she can.

"I… guess she's made a friend," David says shakily, hand falling away from his sword.

The sound of his voice makes Emma look up, and she spots the Huntsman. He's kneeling a few steps away, staring at her and the wolf in something like wonder. She laughs out loud and keeps a hand on the wolf for balance as she walks into his arms for a hug.

That's how it starts.

-xxx-

Ever since making friends with Emma, the Huntsman and his companion visit the castle a lot more frequently. The man is still more stoic than anything, and still clearly prefers his forest and his wolves to most people, but he has a humongous soft spot for the young princess. It's obvious to anyone.

Every few months, without rhyme or reason, he'll show up at the palace. Usually he's carrying some little trinket: a piece of wood whittled to look like a wolf, or a rabbit's foot, or a pretty rock. Emma has a collection of these 'treasures' lined up on her windowsill, and despite all Geppetto's efforts, they're by far her favorite toys. (It's a slight matter of contention with her favorite playmate, but usually she and Pinocchio are able to compromise by playing with both of them together.)

On the morning of Emma's fourth birthday, the Huntsman turns up outside the gates looking a little nervous. He's ushered in to meet the royal family at once, as always, and rubs the back of his neck as he explains to the king and queen that he was hoping to take Emma with him to show her the forest - his home - as a birthday present.

Snow hesitates, thinking of the party planned that afternoon, but Emma's already dirtying her dress rolling around playing with the white wolf, and her grin is the widest it's been all day. When they ask her what she would prefer, she shouts, "Huntsman and Wolf!" without hesitation.

That settles it, really - Snow White and Prince Charming are nothing if not doting, and it's hard for them to refuse Emma anything when she's smiling like that. Still, the forest can be dangerous, and despite having complete faith in the Huntsman, they offer to come along too or at least send some guards (they do have other duties to attend to, after all).

"She'll be safer if she's alone with us, your majesties," the Huntsman says, and looks down at where the wolf is licking Emma's cheek. "She's pack. The wolves will come to our aid when they'd leave others to die."

So Emma is dressed in pants and sent off alone. She skips to the tree line, holding the Huntsman's hand.

Five hours later, she comes home with a baby dragon.

-xxx-

"What the hell is that?" It's so rare to hear the legendary Snow White cursing that a passing servant stops in his tracks, before hurrying on.

The Huntsman, for the first time in living memory, looks sheepish. "I wasn't planning on giving her a dragon-"

"I should hope not!" David snaps. "That thing is dangerous! Dragons are murderous beasts! What is it doing wrapped around my daughter?!"

Emma looks up from her new pet to glare at her father. "Shhh," she hisses, stroking gentle fingers across shimmering green scales. "You'll wake Smoky up."

The dragonet's head shifts slightly, nuzzling further into her shoulder. She presses a kiss to a leathery wing as it flexes lazily, and twin puffs of smoke jet out of the creature's nostrils, explaining the name.

"She just found it," the Huntsman explains frantically. "I turned around and she was already holding it, and - she won't put it down."

He sounds baffled. Emma's always listened to him before so he has no real experience of how difficult she can be. No one else is surprised.

"I won't put him down," the little princess confirms haughtily. "Because then he'd be all alone again, and he's just a baby, he can't take care of himself!"

"Sweetheart," Snow starts to say.

"Also, I love him." Emma lifts her chin and glares.

Snow, David, and the Huntsman stare down at her helplessly.

They put the dragon in an unused stable.

-xxx-

Despite an increased guard for months in fear of an angry mother dragon returning to claim her young, or the pet itself turning out as vicious as its wild cousins, Smoky grows up as docile as a dragon can be expected to be.

That is - he only snaps at most people, and has quit trying to eat the horses since Emma refused to visit him for four days that one time. Mostly, he's a rather low-maintenance creature after he's reached maturity; he hunts for himself, flies around the kingdom scaring off outlaws, and returns to let Emma scratch him under the chin and polish his scales.

He earns David's eternal love when Emma is nine and an enemy kingdom attempts to kidnap the princess from within her own castle. It's the middle of the night and somehow the spy has managed to drug all the guards in his way. Emma fights back, and screams, and her parents come running to save her of course, but it's not needed. When they get down to the courtyard Emma is breathing heavily, but unharmed.

Smoky is chewing on the crispy remains of what once was a person.

After that, Emma's requests for sword fighting lessons are finally granted. Smoky is given lots of cow.

-xxx-

When Emma turns fourteen, Pinocchio and the Huntsman give her a collaborative gift: a saddle for the finally-fully-sized dragon. Until now her parents have managed to stand firm on not letting their beloved only daughter spend her days on the back of a dragon instead of studying, but they finally relent with the restriction that she limit her excursions to her days off.

Emma agrees joyfully, there are hugs all around, and she immediately requests to go out flying that very day. It's an open secret that she and Smoky have been practicing for years as best they can bareback or with horse saddles, so no one protests.

"Be careful, dear," Snow says. "Use your magic to catch yourself if you fall."

"Don't bring anything home," David says. "We don't have any empty stables left."

"Geez, Daddy, what do you think of me," Emma says, and proceeds to bring home an angry giant.

-xxx-

"But he's so nice, really!" she insists, after the chaos has worn to a halt and Anton has been fully convinced David is not his twin brother. "And he was so lonely up on top of his beanstalk!"

Snow rubs at her face. David would do the same, but he's got a huge shiner covering half of it from when Anton threw him across the room.

"Why did you think it would be a good idea to fly up to the top of the giant beanstalk, Emma?" The queen asks wearily. "You've been told about what's up there."

"It wasn't my idea - it was Smoky's!" Emma points an accusing finger at her dragon, who hisses unrepentantly. "He knew where to go, and Anton said he's been flying up there for ages to roll around in all the treasure. They were friends already."

"That does not change the fact that-"

"Besides," Emma huffs, "all those stories were wrong. It's only Anton up there, and he's very sweet, and if I'd known he was going to try and kill you I would have told him not to earlier. So I'm sorry about that, but I'm not sorry I went up there, because he's my friend and I told him he could live with us."

She crosses her arms.

"Young lady," David snaps, the entire left half of his head aching. "Go to your room!"

"What about Anton?"

"We'll take care of him; now go before we lock you in a tower."

"Smoky would just fly me out."

"Emma," Snow says.

She hesitates, but must sense that she's about to go too far past the line, because she finally turns to go, pouting.

She stops at the door, though, for one last word. "Don't punish Anton because you're mad at me. Give him a chance - he just wants somewhere to belong."

The door slams behind her, and David and Snow turn to each other with slumping shoulders, twin expressions of creeping guilt on their faces.

Anton apologizes profusely for scaring them and attempting to murder David. He compliments them on their lovely daughter and promises to stay atop his beanstalk forever this time. Nothing good ever happens when he comes down, anyway.

They scrounge up a shrinking mushroom from Wonderland and he moves in with the dwarfs.

-xxx-

All is quiet for a while.

Smoky eats two more criminals.

Anton gets a dwarf pickaxe, which names him Tiny.

The Huntsman's wolf is getting old, and stops visiting with him so often. Instead, Emma hikes into the woods whenever she wants to visit it.

…In hindsight, they should have known that wouldn't end well.

-xxx-

The day before Emma's seventeenth birthday, she goes to visit the white wolf deep in the woods. Three hours after she leaves, the Huntsman and his wolf arrive at the castle, claiming the desire to be there for her birthday no matter what. There's going to be a ball in celebration of her status as a fully grown woman, and the nobles have been flocking to the castle for weeks now.

Twenty minutes after the Huntsman arrives, a huge storm hits out of nowhere.

It's impossible to go after Emma; the roads are mud pits more than anything else, and there's lightning striking, a high wind - it's just too unsafe.

When Snow attempts to go anyway, David tells her she has to think of the baby in front of half the court - and that's how the coming birth of Prince Henry is announced. The king attempts to rescue his daughter himself, but the Huntsman of all people won't let him.

"It's not safe, your majesty," he insists. "Emma will be all right - I've taught her what to do, and I'm sure the wolves will find her. But it's too late to go out there now." His wolf whines at his side.

There is nothing more David and Snow want to do than to rush out into the middle of the night, storm raging around them, and bring their daughter home, but they're forced to recognize the reality of the situation. They make arrangements for a search party to set out as soon as possible in the morning, and retire to bed early in order to be well rested.

It doesn't do any good, as they spend the night lying awake and worrying.

-xxx-

The next morning dawns bright and hot, skies already clear. They send Smoky out to search the sky, and David mounts his fastest horse and is leading a party of knights (and Red) out the gate before half the city is even awake.

They get all of three feet before finding her.

Emma's riding out of the forest on the back of a unicorn.

"Good morning!" she calls cheerily. "Look who I met last night!"

As one, the knights groan and start dismounting. David rolls his eyes so hard they hurt.

"Dammit, Emma," he says weakly, and starts picking his way over to her through the sucking mud.

Red gets there ahead of him and he can see her reach out, but the unicorn shies away nervously. She says something he can't hear to Emma, who laughs.

"Yeah, I don't know why it likes me if the whole virgin thing is true, because it's not like that applies anym- Dad," she cuts off, eyes going wide when David chokes audibly on nothing. "Um. I didn't think you were close enough to hear that."

"What doesn't apply to you anymore?" He demands, and Emma's grin goes decidedly nervous.

"Nothing at all, anyway, Silver really needs some feed and grooming I better get him inside see you later!" Despite receiving no discernible command the unicorn seems to know exactly what she wants anyway, and bolts for the stables. It's the fastest horse David has ever seen.

It's also the most obvious avoidance, and all that day he trembles with a sort of impotent fatherly rage mixed with fear at the realization that his little girl is all grown up.

He never learns who Emma's dallied with, though Red and Snow clearly have already been informed.

She's the belle of the ball, and not just because it's in her honor - David could swear he sees the moment at least three men fall in love with his daughter.

Her unicorn takes to spending time in the pasture by Smoky's stable (really more of a barn after they've had to expand it as he grew). Other horses are still nervous around the dragon, but Silver pays it no mind, and though he's never restrained, he wanders in and out of the city on occasion to visit Emma.

About the only consolation to the whole affair is that Emma's still awful at naming things. That, at least, hasn't changed.

-xxx-

Three months before her twenty-second birthday, Emma is invited to visit Snow's dear friends Ariel and Eric at their kingdom across the water. They're going to be hosting several balls, and simply want to spend some time with their honorary niece as well.

Snow White and her Prince Charming are busy dealing with some important legislature, not to mention Henry running around, so they aren't able to attend, but Snow thinks it's a good idea for Emma to go. She's been looking a little lonely for a while now, and it would do her good to meet some new people.

Emma is beautiful and charming and kind, but she's also rather blunt and unwilling to conform. She doesn't have much interest in 'typical princess activities' outside of dancing, and as such really doesn't get along very well with Alexandra, the closest princess geographically. She is a friend to the people, but not really to any one person - the villagers are too intimidated by her confidence, her magic and her ability to seemingly tame any wild beast she comes across. Pinocchio, her closest friend and really more of a second brother, left to 'travel the world and seek adventure' two months ago, and Emma's been noticeably quieter ever since. She spends all her time with her animal friends or people a generation older than herself; what she needs is socialization.

Not to mention, she's never shown lasting interest in a boy. Snow would never push Emma towards anyone she doesn't want, but surely simply meeting some new men would help, right?

"No," Charming says when she tells him her thoughts. "No, absolutely not."

"Don't be so overprotective-"

"If there's anyone I'm protecting, it's us," he snaps. "Just - stop. Think about what's happened every time she's left the castle on her own near one of her birthdays. Every time!"

"You're exagger-"

"Snow, we can't just put a - a - a giant squid in the bathtub! What are we going to do if she brings something home with her?"

Snow puts her hands on her hips. "Maybe I'm hoping she'll bring someone home."

Charming splutters out a shaky declaration that this makes it even more certain: Emma's not going anywhere until her birthday has safely passed.

Two days later, Emma sets sail.

-xxx-

Snow keeps in touch with Emma via bird. Though the princess has some special touch with mythical beasts of all sorts, she's never inherited her mother's affinity for speaking with birds. Still, they're perfectly able to bring her letters, and Snow and Emma write every couple of days.

Ariel and Eric are wonderful. Their kingdom is beautiful, and the people are so lively. The seafood is brilliant; it's a shame it was too far for Smoky to fly and he's too heavy for the ship, because he'd love the cuisine. The dancing is great fun. Emma's getting a tan.

There's not a single mention of a man, but at least Emma seems happy again. Snow considers it a mission accomplished and gloats to Charming over dinner.

"Her birthday is coming up," he warns.

"She'll be home before then."

"Oh, will she?" Charming mutters darkly, clearly not reassured in the slightest.

Even Henry shakes his head pityingly at his mother, like her optimism is cute but misguided.

"You'll see," Snow huffs, and eats another bite of venison.

-xxx-

Her optimism was cute, but misguided.

Emma's supposed to come home two weeks before her birthday. Her letters stop coming a week before that, and Snow's birds report back that they can't find her anymore. When frantic searching eventually turns up the ship at a port nearly a hundred miles up the shore, it's to the news that they were attacked by pirates, and Emma traded herself for everyone else's safe release.

Emma is strong, smart, trained in the sword and the bow and in magic; she's proven time and again that she is well capable of taking care of herself. Besides, pirates will probably want to ransom her, so they won't harm her.

Knowing this changes nothing.

Snow and David spend their days sick with worry. They send out every ship they can to search for her, but not a trace is found. No ransom request is made. They consult with the Blue Fairy, but all she can tell them is that Emma is still alive, somewhere - some sort of magic is cloaking her from further detection. Perhaps the ship she's on is made of enchanted wood, or she's gone through a portal, or the pirate has sold her to a talented witch - none of it makes any practical difference, but Snow and David can't help but think dwell on the possibilities constantly.

It's the first time they regret defeating Regina. When her castle fell, Rumpelstiltskin found his True Love hidden in a tower and their reuniting kiss broke the curse giving him his dark power. Of course, he still retained all his knowledge of magic and his many magical artifacts… for a while. Visiting Red with Belle (the two women were close friends) one evening, he ran into Anton and discovered his magical bean necklace. Though it was dried up and seemingly useless, the former wizard was undeterred, and not long after receiving the necklace as a gift, both he and his wife disappeared from the Enchanted Forest entirely.

Snow and David have no one left to ask for help. They cannot leave their kingdom to search personally - they have a duty to their people, and Henry is still too young for travel, and besides neither of them knows a thing about maritime travel.

There is nothing they can do but hope.

Emma's always returned home safely before. They have to believe she will this time too.

-xxx-

Nearly four months later, it happens.

A messenger comes running in from the harbor, claiming a giant sea monster has been spotted on the horizon. But rather than attacking, it appears to be towing a ship, and naturally as soon as they saw that everyone thought of -

"Emma," Snow and Charming breathe in unison, and start running.

When they get to the docks, the ship has come fully into view. Most interesting to the royals peering through a telescope they've snatched from the nearest Captain is not the gigantic mass of tentacles that are pulling the ship speedily towards shore, nor the broken masts from which dangle limp black pirate flags.

No, what they are focused on is the tiny figure of a woman, standing at the prow of the ship and waving her arms wildly above her head.

"It's Emma!" David shouts, and a cheer goes up on the docks around them. Villagers, noblemen, guards and traders alike are all rejoicing loudly, laughing and shouting that they knew she'd be okay, that their princess is finally home and she's added another beast to her collection, a toast, a toast to Princess Emma!

And in the midst of it all, Snow and Charming and Henry stand perfectly still, huddled close together with their telescope, watching silently.

The beast is cut loose once it gets a little closer to the shallows, and inspection with the telescope before it sinks beneath the waves reveals tentacles and a distinctly squiddish shape, and Snow chokes out a laugh.

"A kraken," she sniffs, trying not to cry and failing. "You were right Charming, you were right."

"At least we won't have to find it a bathtub," he returns, and then they're laughing along with the crowd, a broken, relieved outbreak of emotion as the ship limps closer and closer.

Finally, it creaks to a stop by an empty dock, weary pirates rushing to secure the lines, helped without hesitation by naval sailors. A gangplank is hastily set up, and Emma is the first down it - but she's not alone.

"Mom, Dad, Henry," she beams, and David freezes in horror, because that's a pirate on her arm, dressed in black leather and staring down at his daughter as though she is the sun, and oh please no - "I'd like you to meet Killian Jones."

"You - that's a man, you met a man," Snow gurgles, caught between tears and helpless laughter.

"Throw him back, we'll find a bathtub big enough for the kraken," David says desperately, but it's too late, Emma's already in his arms and he's holding her close, Henry, Snow, Killian Jones because Emma hasn't let go of him and pirate or not nothing will stop David from holding his daughter close and kissing her hair and whispering, "No more traveling on your birthdays, I mean it."

And Emma's laughing and crying too, and hugging them all back, and her pirate is just standing there stiffly at first but then he starts relaxing into the group embrace, and something about the vulnerable set to his shoulders against hers makes Snow feel dizzy with realization, and after several minutes she's the first to pull back.

"You do know this is the man who kidnapped you Emma; he's a pirate - you can't expect us to forgive that." She hates to say it, but it has to be said - and David's nodding agreement.

Killian's head drops. He swallows hard. "I - I understand that," he says scratchily, and he sounds so miserable Snow can't help melting a little. A little further when he lifts his head and says, "But I've changed, I - please, let me prove myself. I love your daughter, I would never do anything to harm her."

"That's not enough," David says, shaking his head, and Emma straightens from where she was crouching to pick her younger brother up.

"He was only ever a pirate because his king was doing terrible things and he didn't have any other choice," she defends, eyes flashing as she clutches Henry close. "He's a good man, an honorable man, and he saved my life out there."

And then she turns her head and smiles at this pirate, this Killian Jones, smiles like she's never smiled, not once in her life. It makes Snow's breath catch, to see her little girl smiling that sort of smile. The sort of smile she feels on her own lips whenever she's looking at her husband, her True Love.

"Also," Emma adds, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "I love him."

"That…" David says softly, and Snow knows he can see it too, "that's enough."

(He still attempts to put Killian in the stables.)