Emma slid the pale white lace of the dress between her fingers, her brows furrowed as she caught sight of herself in the mirror. She had never seen a stranger sight in her life than that of tough as nails Emma Swan in a fairytale wedding dress. The whole gown was sickeningly sweet and over the top, a tight corseted bodice that shimmered with pales crystals and a voluminous skirt that fell in petal-like layers of lace and chiffon all the way to the floor. It was a regular Cinderella gown—no, wait, it was a Snow White gown.

"Oh Emma," Mary Margret gushed as she entered the bedroom of Granny's Inn, a slumbering Aiden tucked lovingly against her shoulder. "You look stunning, just like every bit the princess you are."

Emma sighed, letting the fabric slip from between her fingers as she met her mother's eyes in the mirror. "Yes, well I'm sure you'll wear it even better. It definitely sings Snow White, not so much bounty hunter-savior-sheriff."

Mary Margaret's jaw dropped, disagreement clearly etched on her face. "What are you talking about? It's everything I'd imagine for your special day."

Emma cast a pointed look over her shoulder and shifted uncomfortably. "If I am ever to get married I think I'd rather stay away from the lace and the frills. I'd probably just keep it casual. You know a nice cocktail dress and a quick elopement."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Mom…"

"Your father and I have always wanted to see you grow up and have your own fairytale wedding, complete with the gorgeous gown and the wedding with all our friends and family. You deserve it."

"Just because I deserve it doesn't mean I want all that."

"You just don't—"

"Mom," Emma snapped more sharply than she meant to. This topic was getting dangerously uncomfortable. "I'm not even engaged. As a matter of fact, I'm not even close to engaged. This is your dress, picked out for you, and if you want it to be altered in time for your vow renewal I suggest you see what is holding up Granny."

Mary Margaret's lips pursed, but she argued no further as she went back into the hallway in search of what was holding up the older woman. Emma exhaled slowly, her gaze returning to the mirror to see the stranger looking back at her. It had been just a few weeks in Storybrooke time since her baby brother had been born, much to the delight of the Wicked Witch, and in that time Emma had found herself overcoming one hurdle after another. After a "quick" trip back in time to stop Zelena from preventing the meeting of Snow White and Prince Charming, Emma had found herself thrown headfirst into planning her parents' vow renewal.

It seemed that almost not falling in love and marrying had set a fire in their relationship, and now her parents wanted to reaffirm their love for each other by renewing their vows in just a few short weeks. When they had first brought it up in the diner a few weeks ago Emma had assumed they meant a small get together with a few friends and some post-baby drinks, but this was fairytale royalty they were talking about. She should have known better. Instead there would be a large and lavish ceremony in the woods; everyone from Storybrooke was invited.

Unfortunately the short time also meant that Mary Margaret had yet to lose all the baby weight from her pregnancy and could not actually partake in her own fittings. Someone, she wasn't sure whether it was Snow herself, Charming, or maybe even Granny, had thought it a suitable idea to have Emma fill in for the fittings, at least until the last one. Whoever it had been, Emma was cursing them a thousand times over in her head. She hadn't felt so much like a play doll since she and Hook had crashed Charming and Abbigail's wedding.

Emma silently cursed again as Mary Margaret returned with Granny in tow, a large container of shining pins in her hand. "Ready to go Emma? I'm just going to need you to stand up perfectly straight, no slouching. There we go. This should only take me a few minutes, a half hour at the most."

"A half hour?" Emma sputtered, her eyes wide.

"It all depends on how still you can be. Now let me see." The older woman kneeled beside her, shoving a few pins between her teeth as she began working at the hemline.

Emma had no choice but to watch her mother in the mirror as she carefully rocked baby Aiden. "So where is dad today?"

"Out at the docks with Henry and Killian. They're negotiating a price on a new boat for Killian. I think your father feels bad that he had to sacrifice his ship in order to get back to you."

Emma snorted, "He would. Ouch!" Emma jumped as a pin jabbed sharply in her thigh.

"I told you to keep still."

Mary Margaret attempted to bury her laugh against her son's head, but her eyes were still shining as she looked back up at Emma. "Yes he would. Your father has grown rather fond of Killian. Sometimes I think the two of them have more romance than we do with little Aiden taking over the house."

"A bromance mother…really? I don't very well see Captain Hook partaking in a bromance."

Mary Margaret smiled. "Well I do. I've even come up with a name for it, Captain Charming. But I only use it when it is just me and Aiden. You won't tell your father will you my little prince," she cooed, snuggling her nose against the wisp of blonde hair that fell across the baby's head.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Probably for the best that you don't let them hear that one. Dad might be able to live with it, but Killian…" she trailed off as Granny suddenly popped up and began working at the fabric around her chest.

"But that isn't even our best one. When I had Henry over the other night we came up with an even better ship." Emma's brow arched questioningly, and it was all Mary Margaret could do to keep her face relatively straight. "Yes, we thought we might start referring to you and Killian as Captain Swan on account of the whole true love's kiss thing."

"You what! Ouch! What the hell? Goddammit those pins." Emma hissed painfully as Granny jumped at her sudden yelling and sent a pin stabbing straight into her left breast. The older woman glared at her before breaking into her own chuckles. Emma fought to school her features, her voice turning falsely calm, "I meant, what are you talking about?"

"Emma, your father and I grew up in the Enchanted Forest. We know it was a curse that sent you and Hook back in time, and we know that for there to have been no repercussions on the future you didn't just have to stop Zelena's plan. You had to completely break the curse. We may be your parents, but we don't live under a rock. You didn't think we'd noticed the furtive glances you keep shooting each other, or the strangely large gap you've kept between the two of you every time you are in our presence?"

Mary Margaret's grin was far more teasing than Emma would have liked, and she felt the heat rising upward into her cheeks. "You don't know…you don't understand. It wasn't like I planned it or expected it. Zelena had cursed him and we were making a complete mess of the past. I just thought what the heck I'm disappearing anyways, so what if I lose my powers, at least I can show him how much his being there for me meant before I do. It wasn't supposed to be...you know that."

"True love's kiss. You can say it aloud Emma. It isn't a dirty word."

Emma blushed further, the room suddenly feeling blisteringly hot, and the dress horribly uncomfortable. "I know it's not. I just…I…Henry!" Emma couldn't be more relieved as her son suddenly materialized in the doorway.

Mary Margaret jumped, startled at the new presence and baby Aiden awoke with a disgruntled wail. "Oh no, we've got to stop your grandfather. He can't see the dress before the ceremony!"

Henry looked up momentarily confused, "Oh right. He and Killian are just coming up the stairs. We can head him off." Henry took a moment to evaluate Emma before grinning broadly. "You look nice mom."

Emma made to comment back, but Snow was already out the door and Henry was ducking back out to follow her. Emma could hear her mother's frantic shriek from down the hall, "No. No. No Charming! You can't come any further. Emma has my dress on." Emma couldn't help but chuckle as her parents' voices faded down the hallway.

Granny suddenly straightened. "I'll be back in just a few minutes. I've got to find some more pins. Try and stay still."

The room, once again empty, fell into a long silence, and Emma found herself fingering the fabric once again. How could they have been so obvious? They had been trying so hard to make it look like their relationship was developing reasonably slowly. They didn't want to be giving anyone, especially Henry, the wrong impression. No one but she and Killian actually knew how long they had spent in the past. When they had kissed and the curse had broken they had been immediately thrust back into present-time Storybrooke. As far as the others had been concerned no time had passed, the Wicked Witch had just suddenly vanished.

The reality was, however, that they had actually spent months in the Enchanted Forest of her parents' past. They had seen details of all their lives that they should never have known, so it had been an unspoken agreement between the two to share only bits and pieces of their story, to make the others believe that they had only been in the past a few days at most. It was all to spare the others the embarrassment of knowing their savior and a pirate some barely tolerated knew some of the most closely cherished and guarded memories of their past. They had spent months developing their relationship. How could they not between having to combat all of Zelena's attempts to separate Snow and Charming and having to break up Charming and Abbigail's impending nuptials. They had each had more heart to hearts with the young prince and princess than they would care to admit, and in teaching those two about love had even come to understand their own feelings better. Killian and Emma had been growing closer for months, but to everyone else the whole affair was still very new.

"That is a stunning dress love, almost as beautiful as the one you wore to the ball we crashed, but I have to say I didn't see you as the lace type of woman." Emma's breath hitched as she caught sight of her pirate smirking in the doorway. His blue eyes were smoldering, and his gaze appeared to be drinking in every inch of her, but his body-language was strangely unsettled.

"Killian, what are you doing up here?" Her blush was rapidly returning to her cheeks. This had to rank as one of the most awkward predicaments a girl could land herself in, having her boyfriend find her wearing a wedding dress when they weren't at that stage…hadn't even talked about…ugh, why did her cheeks have to betray her embarrassment?

Killian seemed to be pleased with her discomfort as he sauntered across the room never breaking eye contact in the mirror. He stopped in front of her, his face just inches from hers, and reached up a hand to tentatively push back her blonde hair. "Emma," he breathed, her name full of the same happiness and hope it held every time he spoke it, a quality that Emma still couldn't quite wrap her head around. "This isn't a sight I thought I'd ever see. Never in three hundred years."

"Well don't get to used to it. This is all for Mary Margaret. She is the one getting married again, remember." Why was her voice so unsteady?

Killian smiled, a genuine smile not one of his trademark smirks, and pressed his forehead to hers. "It won't always be, love. It won't always be."

"Killian?" Emma could feel her heart pounding in her chest, bursting against her corseted top. Was he really talking about marriage while she stood in front of him in a wedding dress? Wasn't this sort of scenario supposed to send men running for the hills? As if reading her fears Killian moved mere inches from her body and leaned in to place a chaste kiss across her lips. "Don't worry. I know it's still too soon for you, but I'd wait 'til the end of the world if that's what it took to have you."

"You promise?"

"Haven't I already, or have you forgotten about that ring I gave you in the forest? I know it's been thirty years since that day, but I'd hope you haven't forgotten so soon."

"Of course not," Emma laughed reaching up to her neck and sliding out the promise ring she had looped around her necklace. It was a worn silver ring with a white opal on top of it that had been scratched over the decades by its unwavering presence on the ever working hands of Captain Hook. It had belonged to Killian's mother, the only piece of her that had survived his darkest days, and for that she could see no flaw in it.

#

It had been right after they had crashed a celebratory ball for Charming and Abbigail that Killian had given it to her. They had gone to so much trouble to try and get into the event. Killian had "borrowed" dress breeches and a full gold justacorps from an unsuspecting nobleman as he showered, and Emma had cast an illusionary charm on him to hide his ever infamous hook. The idea had been that he would sneak in as a noble and she as a peasant maid to reach Prince Charming and plant seeds of doubt in his mind. Emma's strange real world slang, however, had prevented them from getting very far, a mistake she would learn from when they tried again at Charming's wedding.

They had returned to their makeshift camp that night with heavy hearts. Emma could feel she was running out of time, the wedding of Prince Charming and Princess Abbigail was only a week away and they had still made no promise. And although Killian wouldn't say it she knew he was just as scared as she was. They took turns with watch that night, Emma unable to sleep volunteering to go first. She had thought him sound asleep when she had finally pulled her knees against her, tucking her chin against the white cotton fabric of her shift and pulling her blue cloak tighter around her. It was the first time she had cried since their ordeal began; it was the first time she had lost hope.

Killian was at her side in a second, his hooked arm wrapped tightly around her while his good hand brushed away her tears. They sat in this position for what felt like hours with him whispering reassurances in her ear, everything fitting perfectly until Emma turned her head and attempted to kiss him. She had never seen him move so fast as when he recoiled from her movement.

Emma's expression must have been one of clear horror and hurt as she stood up and moved away from him, because in seconds Killian was on his knee before her, begging her forgiveness and confessing to Zelena's curse. He was terrified of losing her for more than one reason, and Emma wanted nothing more than to sooth his pain. So she did. Emma had waited until his apologies subsided before clasping his hook and pulling it towards her lips. After all the witch hadn't said anything about her kissing his hook. That was when he slid the ring from his finger and promised that no matter how this all ended he would always love her, that she was his other half, and that he promised he would go to the ends of the world to have her.

#

At the sight of the promise ring clutched in her hand, Killian's blue eyes burned once more and he leaned in for another kiss, this time sliding his hooked arm tightly around her back and pulling her forward with his good hand until—"Ouch! Killian, you can't, Granny's got me sewn in with pins."

Her pirate growled, reluctantly pushing his body away from her dangerous dress. "Bloody woman."

It was Emma's turn to smirk as she let the ring drop back behind the corset. "You can't blame her. She couldn't possibly expected me to be accosted."

"No," he sighed, this time carefully extending his neck so that he could press his lips against hers, "But one of these days I will have you in a wedding dress Swan and I won't be backing off."

Emma closed her eyes, breathing in his salty windblown scent, and relishing in the heat that his lips provided as she whispered back, "As you wish."

So hope you all enjoyed my first attempt at a OUAT fic. I know this fandom seems to like smut, but I'm more of a fluff kind of girl so there you have it. :) Please let me know what you thought with that lovely little review button below, and if you REALLY liked my writing I invite you to check out my original story The Foundling s/3158382/1/The-Foundling over on Fictionpress. My Beta is on vacation, hence the time to write this, so I am suffering from some feedback withdrawal until she gets back.

Much luv,

C.V. Atwood