They had been walking for hours, cutting across the forests of dense trees, following the dirt path that Emma was beginning to believe was leading absolutely nowhere. Hook had insisted that retrieving the healing water from Mermaid Lagoon was something necessary to their quest but Emma still saw no reason they had to venture deep into the forest and find it right this instance. It's better to be safe than sorry, darling, he had told her earlier in the day as they began their journey. But all Emma could think about was one thing; Henry. Finding her son. To hell with the healing water.
But sadly, with Hook has her guide of the vast island, she had no choice but to closely follow him through the woods to find the lagoon, letting herself take in the beauty that was Neverland. And although it was beginning to seem like they were walking in circles, she noticed up ahead a small clearing and, to her initial surprise, an electric blue body of water on the other side.
"Is that…?" she questioned while gesturing ahead of them. Hook stopped immediately in his tracks and grabbed her wrist, keeping her from advancing onto the lagoon. She eyed his hand that kept a tight hold on her before glancing up at his face, the daggers in her eyes demanding him to let go.
"Aye love, it is indeed. I must warn you though; they're not too fond of your kind." Emma furrowed her eyebrows forward as she felt him release her wrist, his eyes pondering in the direction of the lagoon. They're just mermaids; how terrible could they be?
"What about you?" Emma spat back, rolling her eyes at the smirk he shot in her direction.
"Oh don't worry about me darling. They love me." If she could have smacked the smile that was persistently lingering on his face, she would have. Something about the way the sentence dripped from his lips caused her stomach to surge; but she quickly shook away the feeling, biting the inside of her cheek. "I advise you stay back a ways, no need to cause any commotion."
"I can handle myself just fine," she scoffed.
"Ah, I don't doubt that lass. In fact, I personally am aware of your fascinating tactics for showing how you handle yourself. Unfortunately, tying up the mermaids is not exactly an option." Emma rolled her eyes and folded her arms reluctantly across her chest, eyeing him warily. "Now, be a good girl and stay here while I acquire the water."
If looks could kill, Hook would be dead; honestly he would have been dead a while ago. He strode confidently towards the glistening lagoon as Emma watched, cocking an eyebrow as she did. He was an arrogant son of a bitch, but something about the way he carried himself intrigued Emma, as much as it pained her to even admit to herself. But she was quickly pulled away from her train of thought as a high pitched, bone numbing shrill echoed throughout the inlet that held the lagoon. As Emma's gaze fell to the source of the noise her eyebrows rose, noticing three of the mythological creatures themselves sitting on the rocks opposite the cove Hook had knelt down towards. She had seen and used magic, seen the depths of the Enchanted Forest, but she was still in shock to see these creatures, their hair shimmering in the bright sunlight, tails flapping against the water, sitting perched on the rocks. Her brain couldn't begin to wrap her head around the fact that they were actually real.
"Captain!" she heard one shriek as the trio quickly swam in the direction of Hook, causing her heartbeat to quicken, suddenly fearing for Hook's life as they closed in on him. But the thoughts were quickly shaken away when she saw the smiles spread across their faces, all of them looking admiringly at Hook under long lashes.
"Ah, if it isn't three of my favorite ladies," Hook said with a smug tone. Emma felt her body involuntarily cringe as Hook referred to them as his. Her eyebrows scrunched when she realized she had; she had no reason to cringe, no reason to be mad. But somewhere deep in her gut, the phrase falling from his lips pained her.
"You've come back to Neverland?" one asked excitedly, the three of them keeping themselves wading against the water only a foot or two from Hook. Emma silently was happy that she was close enough to hear their conversation, her curiosity beginning to get the best of her.
"Aye it appears I have."
"Well you're looking handsome as ever, Captain," the youngest looking, a brunette, said shyly from under hooded lashes. Emma watched intently as one of the others, a fiery red head, sat herself on a rock close to Hook, her scaled tail falling against the rippling water. As the red head threw her head back playfully Emma's eyes widened, realizing that the creature's tangled hair fell just perfectly over her nearly exposed chest. A burning sensation surged through Emma's body as she saw Hook glance at the scantily clad mermaid, smirking as he trailed his eyes along her bare curves. She bit the inside of her lip, not able to pull her gaze from the scene in front of her, but not ignoring the ball of anger that was growing in her core. Why the hell was she feeling like this?
"Oh what I would give to have legs at a time like this, don't you agree girls?" the perched one asked, glancing down at the two brunettes buoyed in the water.
"Definitely," one of them responded, the sultry tone falling from her lips making Emma's shoulders begin to tremble.
Hook chuckled to himself as he secured the lid on his flask before slipping it in his knapsack. "That surely would be something darlings." Emma narrowed her eyes as the mermaids continued fawning over the pirate, inwardly cursing herself for the feeling of jealousy surging through her body. She shouldn't be jealous about this- about him using his beloved pet names on these fish tailed creatures; about them relentlessly trying to seduce him. And certainly not about him encouraging it by throwing it right back. But the more she watched, the angrier she got. And since this wasn't a feeling she was used to, she wasn't entirely sure how to handle herself.
"So what brings you home?"
Hook smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Well it's a bore of a long story, one I'm assuming you wouldn't want to hear."
"But we love your stories!" the younger one quipped, her cheeks blushing a deep shade of red as Hook locked eyes with her.
Emma's eyes watched closely as Hook sighed deeply and then steadied himself against the rocks, settling too close for Emma's liking to the red head. "What the hell are you doing?" she said quietly under her breath, her foot beginning to involuntarily stamp into the dirt. They didn't just have all the time in the world to sit around telling stories to the mermaids in the lagoon. But what she observed happen next snapped something deep in her core, boiling the blood under her skin. The red head leaned over and placed her hand against Hook's chest, running it carefully along his collarbone and over the curve of his shoulder, a smile toying on her face and her eyes fluttering up at him. That's it. Emma's knuckles turned pure white as she clenched her fists and briskfully made her way from her hiding spot to the secluded cove, her purposefully loud footsteps catching the attention of the four.
"It's time to go," Emma said calmly as she could through clenched teeth, willing herself not to narrow her eyes at the moronic pirate.
"Who is that," the red head questioned, continuing to paw at Hook, wanting to keep his attention on her. Emma was fuming and was past the point of caring if it was visible to everyone else. All she knew is that she wanted the creature's hands off Hook. Now.
"This, ladies, is Emma Swan. I'm here helping her find her son."
"Aw, how wonderful of you!" one of the mermaids in the water said sweetly, her hands clasping together and falling to the side of her face. Emma rolled her eyes and let her hands fall to her hipbones, jutting her hip to the side as she did.
"Yes, he's very amiable," Emma said, her tone dripping with sarcasm, before turning to Hook. "Can we go now?"
"Killian, why is she so rude?"
Emma prodded an eyebrow in the direction of the mermaid, a dark laugh falling from her lips. "Please, this is me being nice. Now let's go." She gestured to Hook and his eyes met hers in a horrid stare. Before Emma could ask what was wrong she heard the loud clap of a tail against the water, never seeing the wave of water coming, and was suddenly completely drenched, head to toe, her clothes soaked against her skin. Her eyelids fell closed and mouth agape, her palms clenching as she narrowed her gaze in the direction of the two mermaids that had erupted into a fit of giggles in the water. Emma's eyes cut daggers into them; she was livid, her body shaking with anger, annoyance, and that persistently lingering twinge of jealousy.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Emma screamed, noticing Hook quickly trying to find his footing against the mossy rocks, attempting to make his way over to her. "You stupid-"
"We've to be going now," Hook said, cutting her off, and grasping her by the arm. "Until next time ladies," he said with a wave, pulling Emma away from the cove, ignoring the insistent struggles from her.
"Come back soon Captain!" they shouted out at him, causing Emma to slowly roll her eyes before letting out an aggravated groan.
"Emma, what the bloody hell was that?!" Hook nearly screamed once they were far enough from the lagoon, turning to face her and letting go of her wrist. His eyebrows rose slightly as he took in Emma's completely soaked appearance, her golden locks dripping a puddle into the dirt below her. He couldn't help but let his gaze fall over her abdomen, a smile beginning to tug on his lips as he noticed how her shirt now hugged her torso in the all the right places, accentuating every curve on her body. Even with the angry expression still lingering on her face, she was a sight for him to behold.
"What the hell do you think it was Hook?" Emma was still fuming at this point, her body surging with millions of different emotions. "My son is lost somewhere on this god forsaken island and all you seem to care about is flirting with the half-naked mermaids in some damn lagoon!" She let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding in, her body heaving as she tried to calm herself down. She wanted to believe she was simply mad because she wanted to find Henry; but somewhere in her gut she knew there was an underlying reason to her anger. And as she watched the sly smile spread on Hook's face she realized that he knew it too.
"Emma, darling, there's no need to be jealous. It's not a trait that suits you." That god damn smirk was plastered on his face again as he advanced towards her, reaching out to push her wet hair behind her ear. "Plus, you know I've only got eyes for you."
Emma ignored the feeling that pooled in her stomach from the latter of his sentence, angrily crossing her arms across her chest. "I'm not jealous."
Hook chuckled as his eyes met hers, his seemingly shining a lighter blue than they had before. "The time will come when you admit it Swan."
"In your dreams," she mumbled. Hook playfully raised his eyebrows at her and she realized in an instant that some stupid innuendo filled remark was coming. But to her surprise; it never did.
"Come lass, let's get you out of these clothes," he said while extending his hand to hers. She eyed it before looking up and meeting his gaze again. There was a little voice in her head telling her to grab his hand; it was just a simple gesture that didn't mean anything. But as quickly as she considered it, her walls were back up and she simply walked past his hand in the general direction they had come from. All she wanted to do was get back to the Jolly Roger and change. Hook sighed before following her, his head slowly shaking back and forth.
"One of these days Emma. One of these days."