Kings, Queens, gowns and parties were all Emma had grown up with. Don't sit like this, don't stand like that; don't run across the gardens in your new dress, and all the other reprimands you can imagine. Being the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming wasn't easy but she wouldn't have had it any other way.
When Emma was ten, she remembered playing quietly in one of the gardens when she heard somebody calling for help. She ran to see who it was and saw a boy, not much older than she with bright blue eyes, as blue as the sea, and hair as dark as a night without stars. He was bruised and filthy, his clothes tattered. He looked afraid but his eyes betrayed sadness.
"Who are you?" she inquired, her mother would've had a heart attack if she had heard her tone.
"Killian," the boy shouted, "Killian Jones. And you must be Princess Emma." Emma furrowed her brow and crossed her arms and said, "You don't have to call me Princess. Just Emma will do." Killian grinned at her and she asked him, "What are you doing out there alone?"
He inhaled a shuddering breath as if trying not to cry in front of the princess and quietly said, "My father abandoned me. I had been looking for him all day. A fisherman told me he saw him walk off the harbor and into the water before the sun rose. He's dead… And I'm alone." He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and straightened his posture.
Emma walked closer to the gate that divided them and reached out her hand through the bars. He walked over and took it; she squeezed his hand gently and smiled. "It's going to be okay, Killian. Stay here, I'll be right back." Emma nodded once, much like her father did, and ran into the castle to look for her mother.
A few moments later, she returned with her mother Queen Snow White. Snow opened the gate and let Killian in.
"Emma told me all about you, honey. You'll be okay. I promise." Snow told him and he walked side by side with the Queen. For a second, she thought he looked familiar but then dismissed the idea. It was then that Emma noticed he was only a bit taller than her, with a lean but sturdy body for a boy of his age. She shook herself out of her reverie, and walked next to him into the castle. No one knew that that moment had been destiny's hand at play. This was only the beginning of their story.
