The curse never happened. Emma was raised in the Enchanted Forest as a princess. Killian remains a pirate wrapped in his obsession with revenge. But what happens when he is brought before the royal family? Does their love transcend the differing universes?

"Bring in the prisoner!" The guard at the door yelled as the large oak doors slowly opened. Emma adjusted in her seat; she carefully laid her hands back in her lap before glancing up at her mother. The Queen looked at her daughter with a proud smile before turning her attention to the man walking in. Emma followed her gaze and took in the image of the prisoner. Around his wrists and ankles hung heavy shackles, yet a cocky grin played with his lips. The leather and eyeliner gave away his profession: pirate.

The man seemed to feel Emma's stare, and turned his dark eyes on her. His face registered slight amusement before he bowed. "Your highness." The words rolled off his lips, and his beautiful accent mildly stunned the princess.

The King cleared his throat to bring the prisoners attention away from his daughter. "Well pirate," David says the word with such disgust that the man's eyes squint, almost as if he were pained by someone disgracefully using it. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Intrigued by the stranger, Emma purses her lips as she studies him. She watches as he brings his feet together to give the allusion that he is confident in the face of the King and Queen. Maybe he was that confident. Emma knew she wasn't when she faced her parents. "I would first like to be informed of the crime I've committed?" His smile is back, and it brings a slight grin to Emma's lips.

"You're a pirate." Snow deadpans. "Everyone knows that is a crime against the kingdom."

"So if they made being born into Royalty a crime, you would accept the unfair imprisonment?"

Emma places a hand over her lips to keep from chuckling.

Her parents, however, were not amused by the pirate's sarcasm. "You were not born a pirate, that is something you chose to be."

"How would you know? You don't know the first thing about me."

"We know enough Captain Jones." David's eyes fall on the hand that Emma just noticed wasn't a hand. It was a hook. A blush rose to her cheeks as it dawned that she had been so encapsulated by his looks and charm that she had been highly unobservant: very unlike her.

Emma realized who the man was. Captain Hook; she had heard tales of him throughout her youth, and his feud with Rumpelstiltskin. She couldn't believe how young he looked after being alive for so long. She found herself smiling as she watched him once more. Suddenly he was being escorted out of the room.

Before he is gone, Emma caught his last glance back at her, and the smile on his face as he turns away.

At supper that evening, her parents go on and on about an upcoming ball. Both of them keep looking at Emma as they make comments about the young men who will be attending. To ignore them, Emma focus' on her soup—swirling it around and around the bowl without actually consuming it. When she closes her eyes, his smile blankets her mind.

"Emma? Are you alright sweetheart?" David reaches for his daughter's hand across the table. Emma nods, her blonde curls falling down her shoulders.

"I'm just thinking about the prisoner." She surprises herself when she mentions the pirate to her parents.

"Why ever would you be doing that dear?" Snow almost laughs as she takes a bite.

"Well isn't he right? Who are we to condemn someone for piracy?"

"Emma, you know what pirates do. They hurt and steal from innocent people. We have every right to imprison him." David answers confidently, and looks down at his food, as if he thought the conversation was over.

"But what if he is only doing it to survive? After all, mother was a bandit to save herself. She should have been imprisoned for what she did." Emma refutes, startling both of her parents.

"Dear, those were different circumstances." Her father looks at her suspiciously. "Why the sudden concern for this man?"

"It's not just this man!" Emma pushes her chair back and stands. Wide-eyed, her parents watch her. "How can we justfully rule a kingdom if we do not know the circumstances behind why someone commits a crime? You can't say one criminal is acceptable, but another is not when you don't know their motives."

"You're right Emma." Snow speaks softly. "But that's a price of the job. You have to go with your instincts."

"What if your instincts are wrong?" Emma yells out of frustration. A stunned silence falls over the three of them; none of them can believe her outburst. Without another word, Emma runs from the dining hall.