Chapter 30:

"Yes! Just please don't hurt him," Leadora begged, "I'll do whatever you want, just don't take him from me!" She could feel her own heart beating faster than it ever had before.

"Hush, now, Leadora," Cora grinned, "We can come to some sort of arrangement can we not? After all, we are women of great power. You don't even know all that you're capable of, do you?"

"Wh-What are you talking about?" Lea asked her, "I know the limits of my power just fine, believe me."

"Oh, no you don't, if you knew what you could do I wouldn't be holding this still; you could easily take it back if your father had taught you to achieve your full potential. Don't you just hate him for that?" Cora taunted her, holding the heart just out of her reach.

"Papa and I might have our differences, but he is my father, and he loves me; I know he does…I might be unfathomably angry at him, but I don't hate him, Cora," Leadora told her, trying to inch her way closer, "And he taught me to the best of his abilities."

Cora tightened her grip, "Not another step, Leadora!"

Killian groaned in pain and fell to his knees.

"Don't hurt him!" Leadora screamed, stopping in her tracks, "Please...just don't hurt him…"

"Now, where was I? Ah, yes, your father. You see, dear, I need him out of the picture, and I need you either out of the way entirely or on my side for that to happen. I won't harm you of course, I plan to train you properly once this is all over and done with," Cora explained.

Leadora shook her head, "No, please don't kill him, you can't, he's the only family I have left…" she teared up.

"Nonsense, once this is over, you'll have a family, you'll have Regina and me, as long as you stay out of the way and allow us to do what must be done," Cora offered, "You'll finally have a mother, and you and your sister can finally make amends without the threat of your so called friends banishing you from their kingdom."

"H-How did you know about that? I've never told anyone…" Leadora whispered. She shook her head, "I will never make amends with Regina, she took years of happiness from me, years that I will never get back. She made my life hell for no other reason than she wanted to do it. And I will never let you train me, not ever."

"Ears and eyes everywhere, darling. Did you think staying in the forest with that band of thieves would hide you from us?" Cora chuckled. "Oh, that was your father's doing as well, you know that by now, don't you? Besides, Regina could have really killed him if she wanted to make you truly suffer, but she didn't, and here he stands. So, dear, do you accept my little offer, or do we have to do this the hard way?"

"I can't accept…I can't let you kill my father," Leadora teared up, "But…take my heart instead, give Killian's back to him and take mine."

"Lea, don't!" Killian shook his head trying to get to her and stop her.

"I can't lose you again," Leadora whispered to him through tears, "I'll be fine, I promise," she forced herself to smile at him.

"This has to be a trick," Cora laughed, "You would never be so stupid, surely your father taught you better than this."

"No tricks, take it," Leadora opened her arms and closed her eyes.

Cora shook her head, "No, now you can either accept my offer or I'll do it anyway and I won't be so kind about it. I will make your lover help me and then he'll die and then you'll die."

"Don't you dare hurt him," Leadora felt herself getting angry, and felt an energy surround her hands as it had never done in the past.

"Or what? Little Lea will stop me?" Cora tightened her grip further as if she was really going to crush Killian's heart.

Leadora screamed and a beam of magic shot out of her hand at Cora, sending her flying backwards, and causing her to drop the heart.

Killian gasped as it hit the ground.

Leadora ran forward and grabbed his heart. She walked to him, "I won't let anything happen to this ever again," she said softly.

Killian looked up at her from the ground and took her hand kissing it softly.

"This is probably going to hurt, love," Lea whispered as she helped him to his feet and positioned his heart over his chest.

"I'm ready," Killian nodded, "Do it my darling."

Leadora pushed his heart back in as gently as she possibly could and immediately kissed at the spot on his chest, "We need to go warn Papa."

"Not so fast," Cora got to her feet and held a ball of fire in her hand, "Not another move, either of you."

Leadora stood in front of Killian, "Don't you dare touch him again, I'll rip you limb from limb Cora."

Cora stepped towards her until they were nose to nose with each other, "Move aside, Leadora."

"Over my dead body," Leadora practically growled.

"Silly girl," Cora shook her head, "Didn't your father ever teach you that love is weakness?"

"No, but he tried to, in every lesson, in every conversation; he told me that love is weakness in magic and in life. He told me to use my pain and my rage to make my magic stronger. But my deepest pain came from losing the love of my life, and my worst anger and rage came from thinking of Regina and how she stole my happiness from me over nothing. So you're wrong, you're both wrong. Love, at least the love that I feel, is most certainly not weakness by any definition of the word."

"You sound just like your sister used to before I killed that stable boy of hers," Cora smirked, "I don't need his heart to kill him, I can just as easily set this ship on fire and leave the two of you to burn with it."

"I dare you," Leadora narrowed her eyes, "We will escape, and I will destroy you, I promise you that."

"You're so sure of yourself? Maybe you will escape, but will your fiancé be so lucky? Would you risk losing him again?" Cora asked.

"I trust Leadora with my whole heart, I know we will both get out of any trap you may set for us," Killian held Lea's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Any trap at all?" Cora asked raising an eyebrow, "Is that a challenge?"

"Yes, any trap at all," Leadora smiled, "including this one." She wrapped her arms around Killian's waist tightly and closed her eyes.

"NO!" Cora tried to throw the ball of flames at them, but it was too late, the two of them had disappeared.

When Leadora opened her eyes, she and Killian were standing on the deck of the Jolly Roger. "We have to run now, before she finds us up here."

Killian nodded, "Where can we go?"

Leadora thought for a moment and then sighed softly, "The Pawn Shoppe."