Snow had spared no expense. Killian eyed the jewel-colored swaths of silk draping the ceiling and cascading down the walls, the polished black and white marble floor and the crystal-encrusted wall sconces as he wove through the well-dressed crowd. All around him, high ranking guests in their best court finery laughed and chatted. The air was abuzz with high spirits and anticipation. Killian had considered acquiring clothing more appropriate for the occasion, but had quickly dismissed the idea. He was here to ask her to choose him… just as he was. So he'd present himself to her just as he was, black pirate leathers and flashing, deadly hook. It wasn't like any of it would be a surprise to Emma at this point. She knew him. It only remained to be seen if he was what she wanted.
Snow might be off the mark in her attempts to fashion Emma into a perfect storybook princess, Killian thought as he examined the room full of guests, but her instincts regarding this ball were spot on. Emma didn't need this, but the kingdom did. It was a statement that they would survive and thrive, despite everything they'd gone through. This ball practically reeked of Snow's indefatigable plucky spirit.
He was slipping around another group of guests when a man just to his right laughed at something his companion said and stepped back, colliding with Killian's shoulder.
"Apologies, mate."
"Killian?"
Killian turned to look at the man now facing him. "Baelfire?" And then he registered Baelfire's companion, the one who'd made him laugh. "Mulan?"
For a split second, she almost blushed, but then her chin came up and those dark eyes, always so curiously tender and at odds with her stoic manner, met his in challenge. She was wearing a dress, something that had Aurora all over it and didn't suit her at all. But maybe that was only because he'd always seen her kitted out in armor. In truth, the lass looked very pretty. And her hand was resting in the crook of Baelfire's elbow with a strange sort of familiarity.
Killian's eyes flicked between them. "Where is Emma?"
Baelfire shrugged. "Haven't seen her yet tonight. I'm sure Snow is running her ragged with primping."
"What…" Killian halted, knowing that what he was about to ask was rude but he couldn't contain his curiosity and besides, the answer was bloody important. He attempted to frame his question with a compliment. "Mulan, you look lovely. Are you here tonight as Baelfire's guest?"
Now she blushed in earnest and her warrior's swagger vanished as she ducked her head and looked at the floor.
"Yeah, she's my date," Baelfire said, smiling at Mulan in a way that spoke volumes.
"But what about…"
"No, Killian." Baelfire cut him off. "That's ancient history."
They eyed each other warily, a healthy dose of suspicion still laying between them even though Baelfire seemed to be surrendering the field.
Bae turned to Mulan. "Gimme a sec, okay?"
"What's a sec?"
Bae seemed to find Mulan's confusion charming. "I just need to talk to Hook here for a minute."
"Oh!" she said, smiling. Killian had never seen the girl smile. It was quite a transformation. "I'll go find Aurora, then. She wanted me to come find her when we arrived."
"'Kay. I'll catch up."
Mulan slipped away into the crowd and Baelfire watched her go with a smile. "There's something kinda hot about a girl who can kill you with a flick of her wrist, huh?"
"Indeed," Killian drawled. "I've known my fair share. It's like that, then?"
Bae shook his head and rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. "Not yet, but maybe? I like her. Emma says she likes me. God, this feels like fucking high school."
"You said Emma suggested this?"
"Yeah." Bae's expression sobered and he looked Killian dead in the eye. "I won't lie. I gave it a go. And yeah, some part of me might always love her. We have a kid together, you know? But us? Her and me? It's done."
"I see."
"I finally figured out that I was never gonna get somewhere with a girl who's already in love with someone else." Bae gave him a pointed look.
"You seem rather certain of that. It's been a bit more unclear on my end."
Bae chuckled. "I think the only person who's not certain at this point is Emma. So how about you go convince her?"
"That's precisely why I'm here."
"So get to it, Hook. Just…" He reached out and grabbed Killian's arm to stop him.
"What?"
"Be good to her."
Killian smirked, feeling hopeful for the first time in a very long time. "I intend to, mate."
"Here, wait…" Snow reached up to adjust Emma's tiara for the twentieth time since they'd left her room.
"Mary Margaret, I'm sure it's fine. There are like a million hairpins in there holding it on my head."
"Just checking. There's nothing worse than losing your tiara at a public gathering. Trust me, I've been there."
"Yep, sounds like the absolute end of the world."
Snow smiled indulgently. "Here, let's just fix—"
"Mary Margaret, stop."
"It's just this one little tendril of hair, Emma."
Emma waved her hands, gently batting Snow away. "No, Mom, stop."
Snow stared at her with wide eyes.
"I'm never going to be the Queen."
"What?"
"I'm terrible at it. We both know it. I'd be the worst possible choice to rule the kingdom."
"Emma… what's all this about?"
"This!" She waved her hands, indicating her white jeweled dress, her fussy hairstyle, the freaking tiara, the ball happening ahead of them through the arched doorway. "All this princess stuff. I'm no good at it."
"Give it a little time. You're just new to it."
Emma smiled at Snow, at her relentless, unflagging optimism and spirit. "Time isn't going to make me into a new person. Look, it doesn't even matter. One of the perks of being locked in a curse for twenty seven years is that I probably won't outlive you. I'll never need to be the Queen. It's Henry you should be focusing on, and hey… he seems to be a natural at this."
Emma pointed through the archway at the dancing couples. Across the floor, Henry was escorting Regina in a slow, stately turn, one hand raised to clasp hers, the other hand resting behind his back. His face was serious and focused as he perfectly executed every step with his mother, even when he had to duck out of the way to keep one of her pointy bejewel epaulettes from poking him in the eye (Where did she get these outfits?). Henry was even wearing a short cape, a small dress sword and a thin gold circlet on his head. He practically screamed princeling.
"But this is your birthright, Emma."
"No." Emma reached up and laid her hand against Snow's cheek. "Having both my parents back, having my son, being a real family, that's my birthright, and I've got it. And even if I take a pass on the crown, I'll still be around. I'll be like the Enchanted Forest's very own Billy Carter. Maybe I'll even open a brewery for fun. That's more my speed than all this."
"Who's Billy Carter?"
Emma sometimes forgot that the curse left huge gaps in Mary Margaret's knowledge of popular culture. "It doesn't matter. Look, let's enjoy the party and leave off the whole 'presenting the princess' business. Present Henry instead. He'll eat it up and you'll make Regina explode with pride."
"If you're sure…"
"You can't turn back time, Mom. We can only go forward, right? And this is how I want to go forward."
Snow finally smiled, one of those putting-on-a-brave face smiles she did with the watery eyes and trembling lip, but Emma sensed that underneath her disappointment, she really did get it. She just needed time to mourn the loss of the life she'd imagined for her daughter that would never come to pass.
It wasn't as though Emma didn't sympathize. She had a lifetime of regrets when it came to Henry. But she was done looking back. Circumstances, magic, fate… they'd all conspired to land them here. Time to quit trying to fight it and embrace it. And right now, there was something else—someone else—she wanted to try embracing, but she very much doubted he'd show his face at a royal ball. That would have to wait until tomorrow.
There was another very good reason for abdicating her crown: the men. From the moment she'd stepped foot in the ballroom, they'd started coming at her. Unwed noblemen from all over the realm, coming to pay court to the fair and very eligible Princess of The Enchanted Forest. Tall ones, short ones, fat ones, skinny ones, sweaty ones… one after another they approached and spouted long-winded, ridiculous paeans to her beauty and grace before asking for a dance. She'd flatly refused every offer except two. One dance went to Charming, who had to practically drag her through the steps to get her through it unscathed. The other was with Henry, who wisely picked a really easy one and whispered the steps to her under his breath as they went. That one was actually kind of fun.
Neal never approached and when she finally picked him out in the crowd, she could see why. He was leaning in close to Mulan to hear something she was saying and the look on his face said it all. Well done, Neal. She smiled contentedly. There was one happy ending managed.
Another Sir Fancy Clothes caught her eye as she was watching Neal and he smiled at her with a determined glint in his eye. Tall and gangly with slicked back hair, he looked like Ichabod Crane in pink satin. Hey, this was The Enchanted Forest. Maybe he was Ichabod Crane. He began to weave through the crowd to get to her, so she spun around and threw herself into Snow and Charming's conversation. Please God, no more Prancing Princes tonight.
She thought maybe she'd escaped when simultaneously Snow's eyes widened, Charming smirked and someone behind her cleared his throat. She closed her eyes and stifled a groan. Might as well get it over fast. She turned and found Killian standing before her, looking like some kind of swashbuckling nightmare, decked out in all his black leather, glinting silver and eyeliner in the midst of this room full of brightly-colored satins and brocades. He looked like a cool drink of water in the middle of an endless desert and she suddenly, desperately, wanted a drink.
Almost like he could read her mind, he smirked, that maddening, sexy-as-hell smirk that made her want to smack him and fuck him simultaneously.
"What are you doing here?" she asked in disbelief, only realizing after it was out that it sounded kind of insulting, like he had no right. In truth, she was so relieved to see him that she wanted to cheer.
"I was invited." His eyes flicked to Charming briefly and then back to her. She'd have to thank David for that later. Much later. Tonight she had plans for this pirate.
Killian extended his left arm, his hook glinting dangerously. "I've come to ask for a dance with the princess."
She stared down at his hook. It was a challenge. If he was interested in playing by the rules, he'd have kept it behind his back and offered his right hand. She was so glad he hadn't, because she wanted the hook.
"You can't dance with the Princess," she said. For an instant, doubt flickered in his eyes. Then she arched her eyebrow at him, her own challenge, and he grinned again. "But you can dance with Emma," she finished, finally smiling back. She reached out for his hook, curling her fingers around the cool steel, and let him lead her onto the floor.
His arm came around her, pulling her in close, much closer than all the other courtly couples around them.
"Remember, I can't do this."
"And you remember, it's all in finding the right partner. Just watch me. I won't let you fall."
But she was. Falling hopelessly for him, in so deep that she might never see the light of day again. And if this is what True Love felt like, she didn't want to. She'd stay lost in this sea forever.
He spoke, shocking her out of her cataloguing all the shades of blue in his eyes.
"I came to tell you that I'm leaving."
"What?"
"Leaving. The Jolly Roger's been spotted. I mean to track her down and get her back."
Fucking pirate. She'd forgotten for a moment.
Emma stiffened and stepped back, pulling free of his embrace. "Thanks for coming to let me know, but it wasn't necessary. I knew you'd leave sooner or later."
He opened his mouth to say something but she wasn't interested in hearing it. How stupid did she have to be to fall for a guy like this, after everything she'd been through and everything she knew about him? No guy was truly trustworthy, but she hadn't picked just any guy. She'd fallen for a fucking pirate. Fucking Captain Hook! Good one, Emma. Still batting a thousand in your love life.
She turned on her heel and pushed through the dancing couples. Once free of the dance floor, she sprinted out of the ball altogether, down the hall towards her own rooms, as fast as she could go, which wasn't very fast considering her outfit.
It was the ridiculous dainty satin slippers with the wobbly heels that let Killian catch up to her before she'd made it even twenty feet. His hand closed around her arm and he swung her around.
"Emma, wait."
"What for? You said what you came to say so don't let me keep you."
"You have been keeping me, you bloody maddening woman. Why do you think I've been here all this time? I've been here for you. I'm still here for you."
"Until you leave."
He still held her arm and now he pulled her closer, until she could feel his words brush across her lips. "Until you come with me."
"What?"She tugged her arm free and Killian released her, but only long enough to snake his arm around her waist.
"I want you to come with me, Emma."
"Go with you where?" She pushed on his chest but he wasn't budging.
"I told you… to find the Jolly Roger."
"I can't do that," she replied automatically, because it was a preposterous suggestion. Wasn't it?
"Why not?" One eyebrow cocked up in challenge.
"Because…"
"Because you're their princess?"
She wasn't anybody's princess. Hadn't she just declared that tonight?
"Because you need to stay and help the Queen negotiate trade deals or figure out seating charts for state dinners? Who cares about that?" His voice dropped into a low, sexy purr that she could feel in her own chest. "Come with me and find my ship. Come be my pirate queen. Come with me and have a bloody great adventure, Emma."
She could feel the heat of his hand on her back, even through the layers of her dress. At some point she'd stopped shoving at him trying to break free and had started clutching at him to hold on. He angled his face and tipped his chin up, bringing his lips within an inch of hers.
"Emma…" he whispered. His breath swept between her parted lips. She felt him on her tongue. "Come with me."
She swallowed and pressed her thighs together. How the hell did he do that, turn her to a puddle of lust with a few words and a look? He wanted her to run away with him, off on some quest to find his ship. She couldn't deny the appeal of it. She sighed, feeling her resolve starting to crumble and not feeling particularly inclined to shore it back up. She wanted him to convince her, sweep her off her feet, steal her heart away.
"But…"
"But what, darling?" He leaned back and smirked because he knew he had her considering it, which was just a short, easy step to "yes".
"Do you even know where it is?"
"Vaguely."
"Will it be dangerous?"
"Definitely."
"Will it be illegal?"
"Probably. Wait… your illegal or my illegal? Scratch that. The answer is yes either way."
This was madness. Stupid, insane, appealing, oh-God-she-wanted-to madness. She wanted to kiss him, and spend a week in bed with him, and run away with him and do stupid, daring, dangerous things with him. But he was a pirate and always would be and worse, he was a man… and they always disappointed her.
"Killian—"
He didn't let her finish. "Look, Emma." His voice grew serious, and his face was intent. "I know I don't fit here. I fit in here better than in Storybrooke, but I still don't fit with you. I know it. I'm never going to be the bloke to sit in on council meetings and negotiate peace agreements over dinner. So maybe that means I'm all wrong for you. The royal guards might always arrest me every time I come near you because I'm a pirate. But I don't bloody care. I can't be all those things, that man you should be with, but I can be this…"
He released her and laid his palm flat on her chest, right over her heart. She held her breath, unable to feel anything but his warm hand over her heartbeat and unable to see anything but his blue eyes, pleading with her to choose him. Unconsciously, she laid her hand over his.
"I happen to think this is more important," he said, turning his hand, taking hers, and pressing it to his own chest, just over his heart. "It's the only important thing."
"What are you saying?" she whispered.
"That I love you? Come now, Emma. You know that already. D'you think I'd have done what I have, followed you from realm to realm, risked my life a dozen different ways, if I didn't? I love you and I want you to come with me."
"And if I wanted to stay?" She didn't want to stay, not at all, but it was very important to know his answer just the same.
He sighed. "Then I'd stay, of course. My place is wherever you are."
"And your ship?"
He smirked. "What ship?"
"Shut up, Killian. I know you want it back."
"Aye, I do. But it's nothing to wanting you. There's no contest, love."
"Wow, you really know how to woo a girl."
"I'm not out to impress a lass with a lot of words and grand gestures. I'm out to claim your heart, Emma. It's as simple as that."
"Killian…." There was really no way to resist him. She didn't even want to. "But…. what about Henry? I can't just leave him."
Killian rolled his eyes. "We won't be gone forever. We'll go find the Jolly Roger and bring her back here. No matter where we go, I promise you, we'll always come back here. I know how much it means to you. And maybe we'll even take Henry with us next time. You know he'd enjoy it."
Emma snorted. "Enjoy" was far too mild a word for how Henry would feel about sailing off on a pirate ship. But how did she feel about it?
"You know where you belong, Emma," he said, once again knowing just what she was thinking. "And it's not here learning the bloody gavotte. Which I can teach you, by the way, if you really want to know, as I'm a man of many talents. But I think you don't care about bloody dance steps or treaties or crowns. Because I think you know you don't belong in this palace any more than I do. You belong out there. With me."
"On your ship."
He grinned, that rakish smile that made her toes curl. "Aye, and wherever else adventure takes us. What do you say, Swan?" He reached up and traced her jaw with the blunt curve of his hook. "Come and be my love."
She felt like there was still more to discuss, some other protest she should make or something important they should sort out, but Killian decided that he'd done enough with words so now he kissed her. And the kiss obliterated every lingering argument she could have come up with, because there was no denying this, the way he made her feel when he touched her.
It was the opposite in every way to Neal's kiss. She didn't think it through or debate the rightness or wrongness of it. She couldn't. Killian overwhelmed her. He obliterated every thought and reservation. When he kissed her, the world shrank down to just him, just her, just this kiss, and her heart expanded in a way she never believed possible.
His arms came around her and he deepened it, the kiss turning hungry and desperate as Emma kissed him back. He stumbled forward and she fell back until they met the stone wall. When he released her mouth and trailed down her neck with a series of kisses and gentle bites, she finally organized her thoughts enough to say something.
"How far is it?"
"How far is what, love?" he rasped against her throat.
"Your ship."
"Oh… ah… three days' ride, perhaps."
"Roughing it the whole way, I suppose?"
"Very rough." His tongue dipped into the hollow behind her collarbone and she sucked in a breath.
"Then there's something I think we should do before we go."
He finally raised his head. "What's that, darling?" God, how could he make such an old-fashioned, corny endearment like "darling" sound so hot? It made her knees buckle when he called her that.
Gripping his lapels, she pulled him in close, until her lips were brushing his as she spoke. "Come to my room and I'll show you."
"Your room? In the middle of your own coming out ball? I'm shocked, Princess."
She pushed off the wall and grabbed his hook, backing down the hall and pulling him after her. "I thought we just established that I'm nobody's princess."
"Aye, that's true."
"And this pirate queen thinks we should take advantage of the bed while we have one."
Killian smirked and his eyes sparkled. Her heart flipped over. She hoped he always made her feel this reckless and wild. "Your pirate king agrees, milady. Do you mean to ravish me?"
She grinned back. "Only if you promise the ravishing goes both ways."
"I promise," he said, a note of emotion piercing their lighthearted banter. "For all my days, however many they number, I promise."
It seemed fantastic and unbelievable, that this was where her story would lead. An orphaned lost girl in the cold, real world, now a renegade princess, a pirate's queen, in a fairytale land of magic. But when she looked at Killian, looking at her as if he'd be happy to let her be the only sight he gazed on for the rest of his days, she knew she'd just stepped foot on the path she'd been meant for from the moment of her fantastical birth. And she couldn't wait to see where the road led them.
Thanks for reading!