Description: Alice is an extremely curious child, and her father loves her for who she is. One day, however, an innocent question about Killian's missing hand leads the two of them to having to discuss much harder topics. Knightrook one shot. Takes place during Alice's childhood in the tower.

Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Once Upon a Time.

Alice Jones was like most other seven-year-olds in that she asked her father endless questions. However, because she had never been able to leave her tower, the answers to some of her questions would be obvious to other children. Other children learn through first-hand experiences and direct observations, but all of Alice's knowledge about the world outside her tower had to come from books, or from the careful explanations of her father. Killian was aware of his responsibility to ensure that Alice would know all she needed to if – no – when he finally figured out a way to free her from her prison.

Normally, when Alice would ask him a question, Killian would never hesitate to answer her with as many details as he could think of, no matter how ridiculous the question seemed. That is, until the day his daughter's questions were about him.

It all started on a rather uneventful afternoon. Killian was in the kitchen, tidying up the mess Alice had created that morning when she attempted to assist him with preparing breakfast.

"Papa," Alice's little voice suddenly rang out.

Killian smiled as he walked to the bedroom area of the tower. There sat Alice on her bed, thumbing through the book he had brought back for her the last time he had gone into town.

"Yes, starfish?"

"I have a question, but I don't know if asking it would hurt your feelings."

"Alice, you could never hurt my feelings," Killian assured her as he sat down next to her on the bed. "Just ask me your question, whatever it is, and I'll do my best to answer you."

Killian never ceased to be amazed by his daughter's sweet nature. She was so purely good, and it was shocking to him. His own past was about as dark and twisted as they come, and her mother… Well, that witch really couldn't be considered her mother, could she? She did bring Alice into the world, but only to trap her in this blasted tower in her place. That woman was a monster as far as Killian was concerned; but his Alice, she would never do anything to hurt anybody.

"Well…" Alice hesitated.

Killian grinned at her as he nodded his head, encouraging her to continue.

"I just wanted to know… Are people supposed to have two hands?"

"What?" Killian asked, trying to hide the amusement in his voice. He never wanted to make his daughter feel foolish, no matter how self-explanatory her questions may seem to him.

"Well, you only have one hand, but I have two. And all of the people in my storybook have two as well," she told him as she gestured to the illustrations depicted on the pages of her book. "So I just wanted to know if everybody is supposed to have two."

"Yes, love," Killian explained to her as he fondly pushed away one of her curls that had fallen across her forehead. "People are supposed to have two hands, and most do, but some like me only have one. And there are others who have none at all."

"Oh," said Alice, thinking for a moment. "Why, though?"

"Why do I only have one?"

Alice nodded.

"Well, I used to have two like you, but then I lost one."

"How?"

This made Killian pause. He wasn't quite sure how to answer her. How could he explain his encounter with the Dark One in a way that was appropriate for a child as young as his daughter?

"A very bad man stole it from me," he finally told her. "That man took away someone I loved very much, and when I tried to fight back against him, he took my hand as well."

"Oh," Alice responded, looking down at her bedspread. "I'm sorry papa. I shouldn't have asked you about your hand. I shouldn't make you talk about sad things."

"You did nothing wrong, love. There's absolutely no need for you to be sorry. I lost my other hand a very, very long time ago. I'm so used to only having one that it doesn't upset me any longer. In fact, I actually enjoy having a hook instead."

"But papa, you didn't only lose your hand. You also said you lost somebody you love," Alice pointed out. "And you had to talk about it because of my questions."

"It's really alright, Alice," Killian once again tried to assure her. "The hard truth is, when you lose someone you love, you're always sad about it, whether you're talking about it or not."

"So you're always sad?" Alice questioned him, a look of despair evident on her face. Killian reached over and squeezed her hand.

"Yes, starfish. I am sad. But it's okay. For a long, long time after I lost my love, I was only ever sad - and a lot of times angry – but never anything else. But you know what eventually happened?"

"What, papa?"

"I got you. And even though I was still sad, I was also so, so happy. In fact, being with you has made me happier than I have ever been in my whole life because I love you more than anybody I have ever met before. You're so beautiful, and kind, and intelligent that whenever I'm feeling bad all I have to do is just take a glance at you and suddenly I'm filled with joy. And I'll be even better when I figure out how to free you from this tower, because nothing delights me more than your own happiness," Killian explained to her, hoping that at her young age Alice still could understand the effect she'd had on his life.

When he looked at her, she was beaming, but there was also a hint of a blush on her face. On top of all his daughter's wonderous qualities, Alice was also incredibly modest. Surely not a trait she had inherited from Captain Hook, Killian thought to himself. She truly was a miraculous little girl.

"I have one more question," she suddenly informed him, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"Ask away," he emboldened her.

"The person you loved who the bad man took away, were they a girl or a boy?"

"A girl," he said, a bit confused at what she was getting at.

"Was she my mother?" Alice asked him without hesitation, a hopeful look on her face.

Abruptly it felt as though his heart was sinking down into his stomach. Of all the questions Alice asked him, this was the one Killian vowed to never answer honestly. When Alice was only an infant, Killian had made the hard decision that he would never let her find out the truth about her mother. That the woman was a vile witch who had manipulated him into creating her, only to abandon her to a terrible fate the moment she was born. He knew this information would do nothing but hurt his little girl.

"Starfish, we've talked about this," he told her, quickly realizing that his tone was much harsher than it ought to be. His voice softened. "Just like some people only have one hand, some people only have one parent. You have no mother, only me. But it's alright because I love you enough for both a father and a mother, okay?"

With that, Alice nodded, hopped into his lap, and snuggled against him. Killian knew that she would not push the issue any further today, but as curious as his daughter was, he was sure that eventually she'd ask about her mother again. He would have to come up with something better to tell her before that happened.

Resolving not to worry about it any longer, Killian decided to just enjoy this moment with his child. He knew that she could not stay this little forever, and that every moment he was lucky enough to spend with her was precious. He held her to his chest and kissed the top of her head, thinking about how lucky he was to have somebody to love again after losing Liam and then Milah all those years ago.

"Papa, I love you," Alice told him.

"I love you too, starfish. More than you'll ever know."