A/N- It's Valentine's. It's my birthday. And it has been far too long since I've updated. So as a birthday gift from me to all my lovely readers, here is the next chapter! Hope you enjoy, and there should be another one in the not too distant future!

Chapter 2 (Arrival)

It was mid-morning when the tawny colored Cadillac pulled up in front of a residence that looked more at place in a medieval fairytale than in a seaside town. The faded grey paint on the crossbeams and wood slat-board certainly lent itself to the less-than-overwhelming charm of the place. Lace curtains billowed limply in the windows, and a couple small shrubs looked as though they were embarrassed to be seen next to the place. The only hint of color whatsoever was where the grey paint had chipped away to reveal red brick underneath.

Gold shuddered at the thought of having to stay at a place that not only looked like The Brothers Grimm childhood home, but also went by the spectacularly fitting name of "Granny's Bed and Breakfast." Now that he was here, he was rethinking this whole venture. Right now, all he wanted was to find this Killian Jones, kill him in an excruciatingly slow manner, and then go back home. Whoever this 'Granny' person was, she had better stay the hell out of his way.

A wiry, grey-haired old woman greeted him at the front desk, her half-moon spectacles yet another part of the whole clichéd quaintness that was positively oozing from this town in droves. "Can I help you?"

He rubbed his aching head with his index finger as he limped up to the counter. "I doubt that, but alas, it seems I'm left with little recourse. You seem to be the only lodging in town. Therefore, I suppose I shall need a room."

If the woman could have turned into a wolf and ripped his throat out, she would have, or so her glare would have him believe. "How long?" She (Granny herself, he presumed) snapped at him.

"That, I do not know," Gold replied tensely as he clenched his fist tighter around his gold-tipped cane. "My business in your lovely [his lip curled up in distaste at the thought] little town may require me to stay for an undisclosed amount of time. However, let me assure you that I have no desire to stay here any longer than necessary."

He could tell she was very nearly ready to simply toss him bodily out the door, so he slipped his hand into his tailored suit and withdrew a rather large stack of bills. Her eyes widened enough to know that she wouldn't be sending him away any time soon.

"I expect you accept cash?"

She growled, but nodded. "It's $200 a night. Two days deposit required, of course."

"Of course," he mocked, knowing good and well that she was charging him an exorbitant fee. The grey-haired woman grunted in response when handed over four bills, slipping them along the counter and into the till like she was a Vegas magician.

"The rest is due at check out," she added, reaching under the counter for a small card and sliding it over to him. "Fill this out and I'll fetch your key." She watched him like a hawk as he scribbled in his information. Peering down at the card, she asked, "Would you like the square view or the harbor view, Mr. Gold?" The way she said his last name made it sound as if she couldn't believe he would think she would buy that Gold was his actual name.

When she turned around to retrieve a set of keys from behind a locked glass box, he just couldn't resist trying to get in one last dig. "How about you just give me whatever room isn't infected with mice or insects. And preferably one with clean sheets."

If he had hoped to demean her to the point where she backed down, he didn't succeed. She merely hardened her glare and asked, "Your business, Mr. Gold?"

Surprised by her bravery, he was momentarily caught off his guard. "Excuse me?"

She tilted her head, and crossed her arms, clearly trying to intimidate him. "You said you were here on some sort of business. What is it?"

"None of yours, madam." He flashed her a cold, reptilian smile and jauntily picked up his cane. "Have a good day." A moment later, he had vanished down the hallway.

"Prick," she grumbled at his dark retreating form.

…

Having spent her morning at work trying to avoid talking or even thinking about anything to do with the man waiting for her back home, she was a bit taken by surprise when Graham appeared behind her while she was sitting at her desk. "Emma? I wasn't expecting you back," he said. There was an unreadable expression in his dark brown eyes that she thought meant he was angry with her.

Why would he be angry? Did he somehow find out about Killian? Was she going to have to explain her love life to her boss-slash-friend-slash-guy-who-had-feelings-for-her already? Was she ready for that?

He shook his head at her, a look of exasperation on his face, like it should be obvious what he was talking about. "How's Henry? He must be doing better."

"Oh." She replied lamely. Henry. Right. The accident. He was just worried about Henry. "Yeah, he's good. Really good."

Graham shuffled nervously as he continued to frown. "Ah, well. That's…good. Are you sure everything's alright, Emma? You seem a bit distracted. I hope this isn't about what happened between us, because I just want you to know I really did mean what I said before. I'm happy to just be your friend."

"No. I mean, yes, I'm fine." She offered lamely. He seemed so worried that he had offended her and she had no idea how to fix it. "I mean, this isn't about us or anything, I just didn't get much sleep last night," she confessed, instantly blushing beet red when she recalled exactly why she didn't get much sleep.

All of her instincts were screaming at her to just run before she made things worse. Quickly, she swung around and grabbed the keys to the squad car. "I'm going to go on patrol. You want me to get lunch?"

Graham nodded, his hand fidgeting with pocket of his vest as he smiled tersely at her. "Sure. Just don't go falling asleep behind the wheel. Or if you do, make sure you park the car out in the woods so the townsfolk don't complain about where their tax money is going."

Hanging his head in shame, he groaned at his failed attempt at a joke. However, it was exactly what she needed and the awkward tension between them was suddenly gone. "I'll take that under advisement," she teased and she noticed that his posture immediately relaxed. "I'll be back in a couple hours. With Granny's."

Graham looked up then and met her eye, a smile brightening up his face. "Maybe you should have Ruby see if she can add some extra caffeine to her coffee. And I'll take a cheeseburger."

A minute later, she was pulling on her jacket and heading for the car. Distracted by thoughts of Killian and her night before, she never even noticed the older gentlemen with the cane as he passed her on the street.

Gold was also thinking about Killian, but for different reasons. He was busy fantasizing about all the ways he would exact payment for having to spend time in this town on Jones' hide to see much more than a red and blonde blur as she passed. He was far too busy to think about women right now, anyway.

He had a sheriff to see.

…..

What was she going to do? She had to get it together, especially since Henry would be out of school soon and she was going to have to try to explain to him that 'Captain Killy' was going to be living with them for the foreseeable future. And then what? What if he didn't want to be around Henry? Or what if Henry was mad at her for just jumping into this…thing…and…

The patrol car swerved to avoid an old man trying to get his mail and Emma waved at him in embarrassment as he shook his fist in her direction. She really needed to get it together before she got fired or killed someone.

Figuring it was better to not be behind the wheel of a moving vehicle in her present state, Emma stopped the car outside of the diner and let her head hit the steering wheel. "Ow," she moaned, as she then rocked her forehead back and forth over her hands.

If it hadn't been for the knocking at the window, she probably would have stayed that way for the next hour, trying to rub out her thoughts into the leather grip of the steering wheel.

Ruby was standing outside her window, rolling her eyes and examining the crimson finish on her nail polish. "If you're going to do that," she called through the glass, "you might as well come in and sit at a booth in the back where at least the entire town can't witness it."

Emma lifted her head and groaned, reaching over to release her seat belt. As she exited the car and followed the leggy brunette into the diner, she grumbled softly, "Who do you think made up that rule for cops drinking on the job? 'Cause it's a stupid rule and I want to punch them in the face."

She plopped down in the booth farthest to the back and Ruby joined her a moment later. "How on earth are you this miserable after the way you left here with Mr. Sex-on-a-stick? Seriously, girl? With the way he was eye-fucking you yesterday, you shouldn't even be able to walk."

With a deep sigh, Emma lifted her eyes just enough to peer up at Ruby. "I don't know. I don't know what is wrong with me."

There was a long pause while the waitress studied her like she was trying to puzzle out the secrets to the universe. "Oh," Ruby replied nonchalantly, her eyes darting out the window.

Anger bubbled up inside her, and Emma sat straight up in the booth, crossing her arms over her chest. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Ruby shrugged, playing with the hem of her apron. "Nothing."

"Ruby."

"I don't think you're ready to hear it."

Rolling her eyes, Emma motioned with her fingers. "Lay it on me. I can take it."

The waitress's shoulders fell and she frowned. "Fine. I think…I think this guy, whoever he is…and believe me, Emma, we will be talking about that…is different. He's important to you and you are flipping out. A bit. A lot of bit."

"I…he's not…" She floundered, her mouth actually opening and closing just like a fish. But there was no denying the Ruby was right. Killian did mean something to her. Something so huge and life-altering that she still hadn't completely processed it all. Her head fell back onto the table with a dull thunk. "What do I do? The only other relationship I've ever had was…well, it wasn't like this. I can't mess this up."

"Emma," the brunette sighed, clearly taking pity on her and reached over to take her hand. "You're not going to mess it up." She tilted her head, "You really have it bad for him, don't you?"

"Not helping," Emma moaned.

Suddenly, the hand that was lying on top of hers was gone and the next thing she knew, Ruby was sliding over next to her in the booth. "Fine. Here's what you do." She waited until she was sure she had Emma's undivided attention. Then, she grinned. "Take a deep breath. Smile. Go home and make crazy, passionate love to that man all night long. And just let things happen in their own time. I take it that if you are actually admitting to having feelings for him, he's admitted the same to you?"

You could say that, Emma thought.

"Yeah. He's been really clear about his feelings towards me."

Just talking a little bit about Killian was making her heart ache to see him. It had only been a few hours since she had left, but she was practically vibrating with the need to be near him, to see him, to talk with him. How was it possible to miss someone this much when you had hardly even been away? Would this feeling ever subside? Did she want it to?

There must have been an odd look on her face because Ruby became very still, biting her lip slightly. "I need the whole story, Emma. I need it all. I'm in a dry spell right now, and I'm forced to live vicariously through your love life, so I need details."

Unable to help it, Emma laughed at just how serious the waitress sounded. "Not now, Ruby."

Ruby grinned wickedly. "That's not a 'no.'"

Emma groaned and shook her head. "Fine. We'll talk at Book Club." Great, just great. Now I'm going to have to tell all the girls about my love life and I'll just bet the whole town will find out about Killian before the week is out. "Damn, I should get back. Can I get the usual for me and for Graham."

She followed Ruby up to the counter, while the brunette placed the order with the cook in the back. While she was waiting, Ruby poured her a cup of coffee and Emma sat at the bar, sipping it in silent contemplation.

"Speaking of that scruffy Irish unicorn, how did he take the news about your new guy?" Ruby asked with a far too interested raised brow as she leaned over to refill the cup.

"Um…well…" Emma stumbled.

She grinned wolfishly back. "He doesn't know, does he?"

"No. And please don't tell him," Emma begged, tugging at the woman's sleeve. "It needs to come from me, but I don't really feel ready to tell him yet."

Ruby closed her eyes and rolled her head back. "I would love to be a fly on the wall for that meeting. Emma, do you realize you are the cream in the center of the delicious man cookie? What I wouldn't give for just a little nibble."

"Wait," Emma said. It dawned on her that the blissed-out look on Ruby's face was about far more than some silly fantasy. "Are you after Graham? I thought you said he was a man-whore?"

"I called him a play boy, not a man-whore," she replied defensively. "Besides, dry spell. I'll take what I can get."

Smiling to herself, Emma realized there was a lot more to that story than Ruby was willing to share. Emma sipped at her coffee watching the waitress with a little smirk, until her take-away was ready to go.

"As always, thanks for the sustenance, Ruby," she called out.

Putting down the order she was working on, she stopped Emma with a gentle pat on her arm. "No problem. And Emma. Stop worrying so much. Have a little faith. I think it's time you're owed your happy ending, don't you?"

….

It started with an itch. Right up inside his cast where he couldn't reach it. Trying to ignore it only made it worse, it seemed.

Bloody hell. He'd forgotten just what an annoyance living could be.

Killian forced his concentration back on the little picture box, gritting his teeth as he watched the antics of a drunken Jack Sparrow as he tried to fight his way past the soldiers.

It wasn't working.

Ten minutes later and the itch had spread. It was in his legs, his neck, his stomach. Only, it wasn't exactly an itch. When he closed his eyes, trying to will away the slight tremble in his muscles, he could tell he knew what it really was.

The world was just outside those windows. Even from his comfortable spot on Swan's chaise, he could see it in all its magnificent, wide open glory. It was calling to him, beckoning him after being so long apart from it.

But he had given Emma his word. She wanted him safe, and he didn't want to upset of disappoint her.

Yet his bones ached and his mind wandered and suddenly, he just couldn't sit still any more. Restlessly, he paced the kitchen, his eyes straining to see the flat of the ocean with every pass. And the itch grew.

She had told him he wasn't a prisoner. She didn't want to control him. Surely she couldn't be upset if he just took a little stroll down to the water and back. What could be the harm?

And before he knew it, he was outside.

The sun beat down upon his skin, reminding him once more how utterly glorious it was to be able to feel again. He rushed down the rocky pathway towards the beach where he had rescued Henry, feeling like he was flying. The wind was harder down towards the shore, with the little droplets of water cooling off his heated brow.

And the smell. Gods, the smell. There was absolutely nothing like it. Briny and tangy, salty and pungent. So full of life. Of freedom. He closed his eyes and breathed in, expanding his lungs as if trying to take in the entire world. This. This is what he had been missing for hundreds of years. The simple sensation of the sea on his skin.

But it was also more than that.

Having gotten his fix, he let himself wander down the beach, his feet pressing into the soft sand and leaving small indents in their wake. There was no particular direction he had in mind, no rush to go anywhere. It was true freedom, and oh! How he had missed it.

He travelled on.

It wasn't until the first of the tall masts came into view that he truly realized just how far he had walked. It seemed he had traversed the entire length of the shore until he had ended up at the docks. And he knew in his heart, he should just turn around and go straight back home.

But he couldn't.

The sight of the little sloops and yachts in the harbor made his heart swell with a feeling he hadn't experienced since he had first stepped on the H.M.S. Jolly Roger. Memories of that day assaulted him as he stood on the boardwalk and watched the bob of the hulls and the swaying forest of masts and lines.

…..

"What do you think, little brother? Impressed?"

Killian's head jerked up, startled out of his revelry by the appearance of his older brother. He had been lost in pleasant fantasies about the ship at the end of the dock. It was still impossible for him to believe that soon he would be spending all his time aboard a ship of such splendor. Not to mention that he would be spending all of it with his brother.

"Younger brother," Killian replied absently, as he nodded. "And quite, Liam. The king must have great faith in you to bequeath you the captaincy of this fine a vessel."

Liam puffed up with pride, the shiny medals pinned to his jacket reflecting the sun with the movement. He clapped a hand upon his shoulder and smiled. "With hard work and dedication comes reward, Killian. This commission wasn't easily earned, you know that."

Catching his brother's eye for the briefest of moments, Killian blushed at the implication of his words. This last year at the naval academy had not been easy for him, and it was only his drive to make his brother proud that had kept him going. "No one is a better captain than you, Liam. The king knows this. And soon the world will, as well. Everyone will remember the name Liam Jones as the greatest captain His Majesty's Navy has ever had."

There was not even a hint of falseness in his words. Killian Jones knew that his brother was the best man he had ever known. He was selfless, tireless, and loyal to a fault. (Even if he could be a bit of a stubborn ass at times.) He had practically raised Killian after the disappearance of their father, which could not have been an easy task, so it was to be expected that he had stars in his eyes when it came to his older brother.

Liam chuckled at Killian's over-the-top praise. "Nay, little brother. What they will remember is that the Joneses were the finest officers in the fleet and that their ship, the Jolly Roger, was the finest and fastest vessel in all the realm."

"Their ship?"

"Aye. Yours and mine. You have been offered a place my side, as my lieutenant."

The ground suddenly felt like sand beneath his feet. He couldn't be serious, could he? All along, he had been under the impression that he was to be just another ordinary seaman, just one of the crew. Surely this had to be a joke. Who would think he was worthy of such an honor?

"I…Are you serious?"

"Very," Liam said, pulling out a thick scroll of papers, closed with ribbon and wax bearing the king's own seal. Killian took it from his brother with trembling hands, hardly daring to break it, just in case this all really was a dream. "What say you?" Liam continued, beaming proudly down at him. "Ready for your hero's journey? Ready to bring glory and honor to the name Jones?"

Killian clutched the scroll to his chest and then, without thinking, pulled his brother in for a tight hug with his other hand. "I will follow you, Liam, until the end of the world."

Liam clapped him hard, blinking back a few tears of his own, and waved his hand out. "Time to board your ship, Lieutenant Jones."

His footsteps echoes down the wooden docks, but the pounding of his heart in his ears prevented him from hearing them. Nor did he register the shouts of "Officer on deck," as he ascended to the gangway. But the moment his foot touched down on the polished wood of the H.M.S. Jolly Roger, Killian Jones knew he had come home.
…..

"Are you alright?" A voice interrupted.

Killian jumped at the intrusion and turned to see a handsome, blue-eyed man staring at him with a look of concern.

"Aye, mate. Just a bit lost in me own head."

The man chuckled and smiled at him. "Yeah, I get that. Are you a tourist? Haven't seen you around before?" He adjusted the straps to the bag that was resting at his hip and took a step closer.

"Ah, um. No." Killian remembered Emma's warnings about people finding out about him, but knew he had to come up with something. "I've recently taken up residence just down the shore apace. Haven't had the chance to come and see the docks until now," he said easily.

The man seemed to believe him and also seemed genuinely curious about him. He must have noticed the look in Killian's eye as he watched the ships, because after a moment he asked, "Do you sail?"

"Aye, although I haven't had a chance in many years," Killian replied wistfully. The little ships bobbing along in the harbor where hardly as grand as the Jolly, but what he wouldn't give to be on one right now.

"Well, you should definitely go again," the man offered. Sitting down on the bench, he stuck out his hand. "The name's August, by the way. I work over at the shipyard." He pointed to a building down at the far end of the docks that Killian hadn't even noticed before.

"Killian Jones, at your service."

"It's nice to meet you, Jones." August smiled and sat back against the bench, taking a moment to come to some sort of decision. "Look, if you ever want to go out, just let me know. I'll be happy to arrange something."

Killian turned abruptly, surprised by the kindness of the stranger's offer. Was this normal for people in this age? Did random strangers normally perform acts of kindness for people they had just met? Or was this just some sort of pleasantry? He studied the man's blue eyes, trying to find any hint of insincerity, but found none. "I'd appreciate that, mate. And I may just take you up on that," he chuckled.

The other man smiled broadly. "No problem, man." He stood up to leave. "See you around."

Before August could get far, Killian found himself running after him, not even sure what he was doing. "Excuse me, mate. This may seem a bit forward, but…" he awkwardly scratched behind his ear "you wouldn't happen to know where I could find employment around here, would you?"

August paused, studied him, and finally nodded back. "It so happens, I do."

I'd love to hear from you! Reviews are the best present of all!