Chapter 11. The Castle.

Her dreams were filled with screams.

Ear-shattering screams, filled with agony, yet she didn't care. She enjoyed them.

Her dreams were filled with blood.

Thick, warm blood, splattering everywhere, all around her. She could feel it down her throat.

And when it's all over, when the people stop screaming and the blood stops running, all she could really think of is how she wanted more.

That's when she saw him, eyes wide with horror, right in front of her. She grinned at him, showing off all of her big, sharp teeth. Dessert.

"Swan. Emma."

The words made her stop. She heard him pronounce them, and while she didn't understand, they made her hesitate. They were faintly familiar, as if they were words she'd heard once in a dream. As if they meant something, something important.

Something she had forgotten.

Still; she angrily growled at him. This isn't the moment to hesitate; she's hungry, and nothing's supposed to distract her from getting what she wanted.

"It's me, Emma."

Emma?

Then, the dream changed entirely.

Opening her eyes, she found herself staring at the sky, dark and filled with stars. She was lying on the grass, and the smell of leather and rum reached her nose as she realized that strong arms were wrapped around her.

The person holding her was talking; about ships and the sea, and places she's never heard of. And for some reason, she couldn't help but sigh with relief, because she finally felt safe.

She only noticed he had stopped talking, and silence had surrounded them, as she felt a hand reaching up to her cheek, caressing it gently.

She wanted to lean into the touch; it was too warm, too real.

"Emma..."

She raised her head up slightly, looking up to find bright blue eyes, and white teeth being showed in a wide grin.

Emma, she repeated inside her head. That's my name.

Her eyes widened slightly at the realization, and she saw the man raise an eyebrow at her.

Her heart skipped a beat. Killian.

"Love?"

Killian.

"Wake up."

That's when Emma felt a slight shake, making her eyes flutter open.

She noticed green grass right under her, trees right in front of her as she blinked a couple of times. And as she turned her head slightly she found blue eyes staring at her. The lines in Killian's forehead were deepened with worry; he seemed to be tired, dark circles under his eyes.

"Killian?" She mumbled, turning around slightly, slowly getting up into a sitting position.

"Emma," Killian spoke softly, and Emma felt a pang of surprise at how he pronounced her name, how he breathed it out with relief. He quickly recovered, flashing her his usual charming and relaxed smile. She noticed, however, how it didn't reach his eyes. "Morning, love."

Morning, huh? How long had she been sleeping?

"What time is it?" She wondered, words being quickly followed by a yawn.

"A little past dawn. Sorry for waking you up this early, love; I wanted to make sure you were... alright." He told her, rising up to his feet, and offering her a hand to help her up as well.

Alright? Why did he feel like he had to make sure she was fine? What had happened?

Emma frowned, yet took his hand, letting it go as soon as she found herself standing.

Killian soon enough noticed her confused look, realizing she still hadn't understood quite well what was happening. Hesitating for a brief moment, he added: "You just changed back."

Another yawn tore out of her mouth as she rubbed her eyes, "Changed back?" She repeated with confusion.

It took her less than a couple of seconds to understand he was speaking of her curse. And then she froze, hands stilling right over her eyes, as she felt all of her air escaping her lungs.

She remembered her dream; screams and blood, and Killian. But now it didn't sound too much like a dream to her.

It was a memory.

"Love?" Emma heard him call her; her hands remained in her eyes, and even though she couldn't see him, she could hear the worry in his voice.

"No – no, no, no," she felt herself shaking, as she realized what she had done, and for a moment she feared her legs might give up on her.

Almost immediately she felt Killian closer to her, hand on one of her arms, steadying her and, as his thumb caressed the bare skin, trying to comfort her. "Easy, love."

She had killed, had massacred those knights.

Of course, they would've handed her back to Regina as soon as they got their hands on her. They weren't good people, they weren't someone whose death she'd mourn. But she had ended their lives, mercilessly, in the most awful way.

She had, once again, lost control of herself, and she hated it.

There were hot tears forming at Emma's eyes, and she took a deep breath. She shouldn't be crying, not in front of him. "It's fine. I'm fine," she told him, and wished her voice to be less shaky and her words to be more convincing.

She wished Killian would just pretend like he believed her.

But of course he wouldn't.

"Swan," he began, and Emma felt his hand now up in her hair, pushing a couple of strands back. "Emma, love, look at me. What happened back there wasn't your fault."

"Of course it was!" Emma spit out, hands dropping and eyes laying on his blue ones, filled with worry. She knew Killian meant to comfort him, yet for some reason his words only made her angry. She continued, trying to keep her voice steady as she did her best to keep the tears from spilling, "I killed all of them because I was weak, because I couldn't control myself!"

Killian seemed to be taken aback by her sudden outburst, brows furrowing deeply. "You're wrong about that, Swan. You're the toughest lass I've encountered."

Emma wished she could find something in his tone that told her he was lying, that he was saying it out of pity, only to make it all better.

She remembered vaguely her mother telling her that a princess always had to be strong; know what was best for herself while at the same time do right by her people.

She'd always wanted to be that. Strong. But of course she wasn't; she couldn't even trust herself. She couldn't keep anyone safe, not as long as she was around.

"Your curse isn't something you can control, love. It's supposed to make you deadly," she heard him continue on speaking, "You spared my life, Swan, for the second time. If that isn't strength, then I don't know what it is."

Her memories from the night were confusing; blurry like a dream. She remembered him calling her name.

She remembered stopping; knowing that deep down she knew him.

And in that brief moment of realization, she also understood who she actually was. A princess, trapped.

And Killian... She couldn't lose him.

Had that been strength? Sparing one life out of many others?

"Stop..." She began, taking a deep breath, "Stop acting like you have any idea of what I'm going through." Emma snapped at him, "You don't know what it's like not having any control of your body, of what you do or what you think. There's no strength in that; you might be okay, but I still took lives. I remember... I remember enjoying it. You have no idea of what's it like to live with that burden!" She rose her voice slightly, hoarse as a couple of tears slipped down her cheeks.

Quickly she turned her head away from him, hand reaching up to wipe the tears away from her cheeks. It took her by surprise feeling Killian's arms gently wrapping around her, pulling her close to him. She wanted to pull away from him; but maybe he was too strong, or maybe her will was too weak right then and there.

Emma allowed herself to be comforted by his strong yet gentle grip; for some reason it made her feel safe and there, face hidden from his eyes, she allowed some of her tears to freely run, letting all of the anger and guilt she'd been keeping in for so many years out.

They stayed like that for minutes, in complete silence; she could feel his lips pressing against her hair, as she breathed in his scent.

She could've lost him, she realized. She had wanted to kill him, just as she had done with the guards; and she couldn't help but feel her heart ache at the thought.

It was one thing to kill someone you didn't know; the guilt ate her alive, filled every inch of her body and never allowed her to be fully at peace. But she could move on, try her best to ignore the feeling and keep going.

Emma knew she wouldn't be able to keep going if she lost Killian because of her curse.

It was a relief he'd remained unscratched after facing her for the second time, but she couldn't just keep on risking his life over and over again.

"I wish this would just be over soon," she muttered against his chest.

"It will, love. I'll make sure of it," he spoke, and she could feel his breath against her hair.

And just like that, the spell was broken. The calm around them disappeared. Because she was certain that the meaning behind his words weren't 'I'll make sure you get to your prince, so you can break your curse'.

No, of course that wasn't what he really meant.

"Don't do that," Emma snapped, taking a couple of steps back, pulling away from his grip.

There was a surprised look on Killian's face. "What?"

"This is you again thinking you might be the one to break my curse, isn't it?" Emma asked, "I think we had already established that's not going to happen."

"No - you are the one who keeps on trying to tell herself that, but deep down, love, we both know you're just holding back from what you're really feeling." Killian's voice was low yet certain, lips slightly curving upwards, and she felt herself growing angry at the man.

Who was he to say he knew how she felt? Being completely honest, not even she knew how she really felt. There was some slight attraction, maybe, but that was it. Her curse was not going to be broken by just mere attraction between a pirate and a princess - in what world could something like that work out?

"Also," he added, "I do believe we had agreed that you were to show me some gratitude, lass."

He showed her that stupid smirk of his; and he was using that tone of his that indicated he wasn't being serious, but still she could feel his words riling her up. Oh, how she wanted to wipe that smirk -that stupid smirk that made him look so impossibly handsome- off of his face.

The idea came to her suddenly - what better way to prove him wrong than actually giving him what he wanted, showing him like that whatever feelings flowed between the two of them, love wasn't one of them.

He wanted a kiss? Well, that was just what she was going to give him.

Taking a couple of quick steps towards him, she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and in a rough movement, Emma pulled him close to her, lips pressing against his.

She felt him still for just a second, maybe too impressed to react, yet quickly enough she heard a grunt come out of his mouth as his lips began to move - and she wanted to say it didn't affect her, ignore the unfamiliar feeling of desire that roamed through her body, as she felt his hook pressed against her hip, pulling her even closer to him.

Truth was, Emma had no idea of what she was doing - and honestly, she'd never imagined her first real kiss to be like this. It was filled with passion, and it just felt good, making her body seem to act on its own, lips finding a good rhythm against Killian's.

Her hands wrapped around his neck at the same time his hand tangled up in her hair, both drawing each other as close as it was physically possible. The fact she was kissing him to prove there was nothing between them just slipped off of her mind, getting caught up in all the feelings, the sounds - getting caught up in him.

They kissed until she ran out of breath, having to pull away from him. She hated the fact that she actually didn't want to pull away.

Her breathing was irregular, and so was her heartbeat - and she hoped it was only because she the passion of the kisses had made her flustered. She felt Killian's forehead against hers; his warm, heavy breathing on her face - and her mind betrayed her, thinking he was too close, she could close the gap between them effortlessly, press their lips together and start all over.

But no. She'd done this to prove him wrong, nothing else.

And she had succeeded, didn't she? The kiss had been passionate, better than she would've imagined, and while her body still tingled with the memory of Killian's hands and body pressed to hers, that had been it. There had been no sign of the most powerful magic in the world; meaning right then and there, no curse had been broken.

She felt Killian slow pull away from her, her eyes quickly opening at the loss of his touch. There was a mixture of confusion and awe in his face, eyes roaming carefully through all of her features.

He was trying to find a sign that told him it worked.

"See," It took her a couple of moments to finally find her voice, and she wished it didn't sound so hoarse and breathless, "I told you it wouldn't work."

While he was probably trying to not let it show, Emma was quick to notice as disappointment flashed around his features, and she turned her face to the trees, hoping she could just ignore what had just happened.

She also wished her heart would stop hammering against her rib cage.

"We should get going," she finally spoke after some moments of silence.

"Are you sure that's what you want, love?"

His voice was hesitant, and she had to take a deep breath. Her lips still tasted like him.

"We can't keep on wasting time, let's go."

"Wasn't this what you wanted, Swan?" Killian asked in a slight mocking tone, eyeing the girl as she paced, the sound of her boots against the stone floor echoing through the room.

Emma looked around nervously, before setting her eyes on him, annoyed look on her face. "Don't be ridiculous, Hook, of course I am. I just -" she began, sighing before adding quickly in a hushed tone, like it hurt her to pronounce the words: "I'm a little nervous, I guess."

In any other situation he would've laughed, finding it endearing how the woman failed to hide her nerves - but now as much as he wanted to shake it off, he couldn't help but frown at her. What was it that made her nervous? Meeting her prince, at last?

They'd arrived to the castle less than maybe fifteen minutes ago, one of the guards taking them to the room they were currently in - large and elegant, two thrones at the end of it, meant for the King and Queen -only King, actually, since he was pretty certain he'd heard that the Queen had passed many years ago-. They had been told to stay there, as the guard who had taken there went to inform the King about their presence.

"Nervous about what, lass?" He inquired with a raise of one of his eyebrows. He heard her sigh.

"I'm not sure if I can do this," she pointed at her surroundings, and groaned at Killian's confused look, "I don't know if for how long I'll be able to put up an act for these people; they'll expect me to be a princess... but I'm not, I haven't been one for twenty years."

He nearly rolled his eyes at her.

"Love," he told her, "You are a princess. It's in your blood, anyone can see you're no common lass. Just be yourself, Swan, and you'll be fine."

He saw her inhale deeply, the worried look on her face fading as she showed him a small smile. "Thank you."

The sound of doors opening made them both switch their focus to the small, dark-haired woman who had opened them. She gave them a small curtsy, stepping aside to allow the man right behind her step into the room.

He was tall, slightly overweight, and his black beard and hair began to show quite a few of grey hairs.

And right on top of his head, a crown that indicated he was none other than the King.

"Your majesty," Killian curtsied as the man approached them. He'd been a couple of times in front of royalty, and while he hated the formalities that came with dealing with such people, he knew very well how to act being in front of a king. Killian's eyes briefly laid on Emma, who had remained still for a short second; her eyes met his and she seemed to understand, quickly following his lead.

"Princess Emma," the King bowed as well as he stopped right in front of the princess, grabbing her hand and pressing his lips against her fingers. "I'm King Edgar. My heart is filled with joy to have you finally here. I can assure you we'll make sure you find this place comfortable enough to, maybe soon, call it a home."

There was a sudden feeling of jealousy going through his body - he was very well aware what was it that the King was implying.

"Thank you, your majesty, you..." Emma replied, and Killian could see despite the effort she made to remain calmed, that the entire situation was overwhelming her. "You are very kind."

He gave her a gentle nod, before shifting his attention to Killian, "And you must be the brave gentleman who rescued her."

"Indeed, your majesty," Killian gave him a curt nod, to then introduce himself: "Killian Jones."

The king eyed him up and down, before giving him a nod and turning to Emma, "This man treat you well, princess?"

He managed to keep his expression still and not to frown.

If I treated her well?! I'd bloody kill anyone who tried to lay their fingers on her, do you think I'd hurt her?!

But then, of course, all about his appearance screamed pirate; and it was well known most royalties weren't too keen in trusting people like him.

Killian's eyes quickly shifted to Emma, to see her face breaking into a shy grin, and Killian was pretty sure he saw some amusement in her features. "He's taken good care of me; saved my life more than once already."

The king smiled.

"Yes, you two look like you've had quite the journey. I expect you to fill us in with all of the details tonight - Prince Robert is out riding right now, you shall meet him during dinner."

His head then turned to the doors, where the woman that had entered the room along with him still waited. "Elizabeth!" The king called, and she rushed up to them, "Please, take the princess and our guest to their respective chambers. I suppose they'd like to rest a little after all that traveling."

"Thank you," Killian nodded at the older man. While he wasn't looking forward to stay that much in the castle, since he'd very much prefer resting back in the Jolly Roger, he was exhausted, and the opportunity of taking a bath and laying down for a couple of hours was just too tempting.

"See you later tonight, your majesty," Emma spoke to the king, before both of them followed the handmaiden out of the room.

She led them up a couple of stairs and then through a hall; Emma and Killian walked right behind them, and he raised an eyebrow at the blonde, asking her a silent question when their eyes locked. What do you think about what might be your new life now?

She seemed slightly tense, and shrugged at him in response. He guessed she wanted to speak to him, just not in front of the woman who accompanied them.

"You'll be staying here, sir," the handmaiden stopped in front of one of the doors, turning around to face them.

"Thank you, ma'am," he addressed the smaller woman, whose cheeks darkened slightly and gave him a soft nod. Then he turned to Emma, giving her a small curtsy, smirk on his lips. "See you later, princess."

"See you tonight, Hook," Emma replied, eyes rolling at the pirate, yet he was able to see how her lips curved into an amused smile right before her and the woman reassumed their walk, just as Killian closed the door behind himself.

The room was very neat and impersonal, probably a room for guests that hadn't been used in quite some time. He found a large bed with red sheets in the middle of the room and, taking his coat off, he threw himself on to the bed with a sigh. The bed was incredibly soft; and while he wanted to get up and take a long bath, he found himself unable to move, eyes closing because he was just so tired. He had stayed up the previous night; making sure they didn't get any other unwanted visits from the Evil Queen's knights, while also watching over Emma, still not too sure if he trusted that the magic from the powders would keep Emma asleep until dawn.

He let out a groan. Emma. The last few days had been quite eventful, and he honestly wasn't sure of what to make out of it all.

Emma. The beast. The King. The Prince. His revenge.

Emma.

What was he going to do about her?

Emma.

The kiss. His feelings about her were true, he knew that. And when she surprised him by pressing her lips against him, he'd thought she finally accepted she felt the same way.

But Emma made it clear that it hadn't worked; that it just hadn't meant anything.

He groaned. Maybe he had to forget about her.

But it was hard to do that when he could still feel her lips against his, their bodies pressed up together, her hands around his neck.

And with those thoughts roaming around his head, Killian finally gave in to sleep.

"Sir? Sir!"

The female voice, followed by a couple of knocks, dragged him away from his sleep.

"Sir?"

"What?" he mumbled into the pillows. He let out a groan, rising up since he noticed he hadn't been heard, "What?!"

"Sir, you are to go downstairs to dinner in fifteen minutes."

Killian cursed under his breath. "Alright, thank you,"

He wished he could have dinner in his chambers, just like he usually did in the Jolly Roger. Eating peacefully, not having to put up with any unwanted company, like the King and Prince. Still, he knew better than to refuse having dinner with royalty, plus he definitely didn't want to leave Emma alone.

By the moment he'd finally went downstairs, being led by Elizabeth, the handmaiden, to the dining room, he found Emma was already on the table. She looked beautiful, of course; rested and with a soft pink dress.

However his attention didn't linger too long on Emma; eyes focusing on the man right beside her. He was well-built and of dark brown hair; and he was speaking to Emma, with such ease, like they'd known each other for years already.

He felt a pang of jealousy, and clenched his jaw.

"Your highness," he spoke, green and brown eyes landing on him as he gave the man a curt nod.

Quickly the prince stood up, offering his hand. "Robert will do," he said, with a polite smile, "You must be the pirate that rescued the princess."

Killian shook his hand, forcing his best smile to appear on his features, "Killian Jones."

The prince sat down, and Killian did so as well, sitting on the chair in front of them.

Soon enough the King joined them, sitting at the head of the table, and they began to eat.

It didn't take them long to start asking questions.

"So, captain, aren't you telling us about how you defeated that beast?" Prince Robert asked, eyebrows raised at him.

Killian felt Emma's eyes on him, a glimpse of alarm on her features only he would understand. She didn't want him to tell them about it.

He took a quick sip of the glass of wine he had in front of himself, before speaking, "I didn't." Killian said with a shrug, noticing the curiosity filled looks they were giving him. "I was a lucky man, facing said creature would mean a certain death to anyone. I found a different path into the tower, one that allowed me to get to the princess, without having to face the wrath of the beast that guarded her."

Emma smiled softly at him, and he understood it was a silent 'thank you'.

The rest of the meal was filled with both him and Emma sharing some of the details about their adventure. Actually, there were quite a lot of omitted details, clearly there were a couple of things neither Emma or Killian wanted the King and Prince to know.

"Well, it's no wonder then that it took you so long," the king commented once they had finished with the story, as he took another bite of his meal, "We honestly weren't expecting you; after hearing the princess was rescued, and seeing time passed and there was no word about what had happened to you, Emma, we began to fear something bad might've happened, or maybe after so many days we believed the princess was off to some other kingdom."

Emma's eyes laid on the King, eyebrows raised with surprise. "You heard I was gone?"

"Your mother sent us a message," he replied with a shrug, "She announced that someone had rescued you, and inquired to all kingdoms if they had any idea about your whereabouts."

"My... my mother? How would she have known that?"

"Ah, I've spoken to her quite a couple of times; she's a lovely woman." The king told her, "Lovely, but fierce and determinate. The Evil Queen might've made it impossible for her and the King to go find you, but as you see that didn't stop her from keeping a close eye on you somehow."

Emma opened her mouth, then closed it once again, focusing entirely on her food. Killian felt his heart ache slightly; he knew her too well already. She was trying to seem strong, but he saw right through her, saw all the emotions she was trying to hold back – confusion and sadness and longing for her family.

"What do you mean she made it impossible for them?" Killian asked with curiosity.

"I believe the Evil Queen used some of her magic to keep the King and Queen away from the tower."

"Will they be paying us a visit anytime soon?" Emma spoke once again, lips pursing into a thin line. "I mean, my parents."

"I don't think so, but don't worry, your highness," The King replied, "We'll take you to them soon enough."

"Speaking about that," Killian spoke, noticing it was the perfect moment to speak to them about why he truly had gone through all of the trouble of going to rescue a princess, "If you don't mind, I'd like to take the princess to her parents."

"What?" Prince Robert quickly stepped, eyes wide in surprise staring at him.

Killian did his best to ignore him, "As a reward for rescuing her. That's all I ask," he explained. "The ship I captain is the fastest you'll ever see. I can take her to them in record time."

"Reward, you say?" The king asked, surprise also plastered over his features. "We offered enough gold to live a good life to anyone who rescued her. Is that truly what you want?"

What I truly want, huh?

His eyes immediately went to Emma. She was looking down at her hands, clearly avoiding looking at him. Her jaw was slightly clenched, in what could've been anger or perhaps disappointment. Once again, an open book. And he wanted to reassure her that she was more than that, she had become more than just the means to getting his reward. She had become much more.

What do Itrulywant?

His eyes shifted to the man next to Emma, and he knew his response.

The princess had made her choice, it was time for him to make his.

This isn't about Emma. It never was.

It was about him finally getting his revenge on Rumplestilskin.

"Yes. I have some matters to discuss with the King and Queen of Misthaven, and taking their daughter to them will do me good in getting what I want." Killian spoke, "I do, however, would like to ask for a fine horse, so I can ride back to my ship tomorrow morning."

"That's rubbish, you can stay a couple of days," the king said, "We'd very much like you to attend the ball."

King Edgar laughed, "That's rubbish! Why leave so soon? Stay for a couple more days," he spoke, "After all, we'd very much like you to attend the ball."

"Ball?" Emma's eyebrows raised.

Killian did his best to try to ignore how the Prince leaned towards Emma as he spoke, "My father loves balls, my princess. He's always looking for any excuses to throw one."

"Well, we have to celebrate the arrival of the princess, don't we?" the King said.

Of course you have to celebrate, Killian bitterly thought. They'd be getting rich from saving the princess from her curse.

If they succeeded.

"I believe she and our captain deserve to have some time to relax and have fun after all the trouble they've been through!" The king continued, "We shall have it as soon as possible, I'll have the invitations sent tomorrow morning, and we can call one of our fastest tailors so they can start working on a dress for you, princess."

"Thank you, your highness," Emma gave him a soft smile, rising slowly from the table. "If you'll excuse me, tomorrow sounds like a quite busy day, and I'm quite tired."

"We can call a handmaiden to take you to your chambers…" The prince spoke.

"It's fine," Emma replied with a soft shake of her head. "I can walk to my room on my own."

"I'll accompany her," Killian said as he too stood up, "I'm exhausted as well."

After saying goodbye to the royalties, they both walked out of the room, and up the stairs. They remained in silence as they walked, stopping in front of the door Killian guessed led to Emma's room.

She opened it and began to step in, turning around to give him a faint smile, "Goodnight, Hook."

"What, you're not going to invite me in?" Killian raised an eyebrow at her.

"I don't think it's proper for a princess to allow pirates into her chambers." Emma replied her smile widening slightly, yet stepped aside, and allowing him inside the room.

His eyes roamed around the room, it looked very much like his, to then stop at the blonde's figure. "So, you're not going to tell them?"

Emma seemed surprised at his question, and bit down on her lower lip, uncertain, "I don't know."

Killian rolled his eyes, taking a couple of steps to approach the bed, and sat down. "Trust me, Swan, I doubt you're going to find true love being so dishonest." He told her, the words leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

Emma gave him an exasperated look, "That's none of your business, Killian," she spoke, sitting down on the bed too, leaving some distance between the two of them.

Of course it's my bloody business, Swan.

He looked away from the blonde, sigh escaping his lips. This woman was bloody frustrating.

Killian felt the bed shake beneath him, and turning his head towards Emma, he found her lying on the bed, eyes closed. For a brief moment he panicked, thinking perhaps it was midnight already, and she had passed out like she had the previous night; however, after a few moments she spoke:

"How did you find that window?"

"Huh?" Killian looked at her with surprise, though the woman remained with her eyes closed.

"You said during the dinner you found a different path. The window," Emma asked, "You were the only one to realize it was there."

"A bird," he smiled, "A bird was standing right by that window - I was trying to get a drink, and it was being obnoxiously loud. If it weren't for that bird, you might still be in that tower. That, or I could've found the door to your tower, only to die in the hands on your not-so-lovely side."

Emma chuckled. "My not-so-lovely side?" She repeated, green eyes opening and locking into his.

"Don't misunderstand me, love," he replied, "I think all sides of you are lovely - I just like you better when you're not constantly trying to kill me."

She rolled her eyes at him, "Right."

They remained quiet for a few moments, until she spoke again: "Do you really think my parents were watching over me?"

He could sense the uncertainty in her voice. "I don't know, love," Killian replied, "From what I've heard, they've done all they possibly could to have you back with them. It's not hard to believe they found a way to keep an eye on you."

"I wish they would've given me some kind of sign." Emma sighed.

Killian stared at her as she suddenly rose to her feet, only to lie down on the floor.

"What are you doing, Swan?" He asked her, standing up from the bed.

The blonde showed him the now familiar small bag she held in her hands.

"It's time for me to sleep," she told him. "I'm not sure if the bed will be able to hold my weight, so I'd rather not take any chances."

He nodded at her, leaning over the bed to grab one of the pillows, to then take a couple of steps towards her, sitting down on the floor right next to her.

"Lay down, love," Killian said, giving her the pillow.

"Thank you," Emma gave him a soft smile, placing the pillow behind herself, on the floor, and then carefully laid down, head resting on it.

She handed him the bag filled with powders, and Killian quickly took a handful.

"Goodnight, Killian."

He gave her a smile, "'Night, love."

As soon as the powder reached her face, Emma's eyes closed and her breathing slowed.

She was in a deep sleep, and he couldn't help but stare for a couple of moments, her face seemed completely at peace.

He stood up and approached the bed, leaving the small bag in one of the nightstands, to then take one of the sheets out of the bed.

Going back to Emma, he kneeled next to her, placing the sheet right on top of her.

Bloody hell, what was this woman doing to him?

Giving her one last look, his hand reached up to gently place a couple of blonde locks behind her ear and away from her face, to then stand up.

"Sweet dreams, Swan."

A/N: Well, another interesting chapter, huh? We got yet another kiss that didn't work, urgh! A couple of chapters ago I got a lovely reviewer asking why their first kiss didn't work, so I wanted to wait until now that we have another unsuccessful kiss to explain:

While both Killian and Emma clearly have feelings for each other, Emma, as usual, has a hard time admitting it. And, at least in this story, for the true love's kiss to work both parties should (obviously) feel love towards the other, and embrace said love. The moment Emma stops being her usual, stubborn self and finally realizes that she has fallen in love with the devilishly handsome pirate and embraces those feelings, that's when true love's kiss might work! Let's just hope she realizes that before it's too late :P

Also, another amazing reviewer asked if Regina will be making an appearance in this story, to which all I have to say is: maybe ;) You'll have to wait and see, haha!

Anyway, again thanks all of you for the AMAZING reviews you've been leaving! It makes me incredibly happy to get such a great response and read all of your thoughts. Speaking of thoughts, I'm curious - how do you guys think Snow and David managed to keep an eye on Emma while she was locked up? Tell me in your reviews, as well as your thoughts on this chapter! :)

Well, this A/N is getting a bit too long, so I say goodbye now! Have a great day, and see you next chapter!