The bell on the door chimed as Ariel opened the door to the library. It was early morning, but the library was dark inside. She looked around, searching for Belle. She would have called her but, because of the deal she had made years ago, way before this curse had hit and brought them over to this strange land, she had no voice. Not anymore. A part of her had hoped that her voice would return to her once the curse had been broken, as they were all awakened and brought back to who they were. She had opened up her mouth, hoping to hear the sound of her voice again, but nothing came out. The curse may have been broken, but she still didn't have her voice. She was at least thankful that she still had her legs.
The library was still closed but Belle let Ariel come in and borrow some books every now and then, since she really didn't have anything else to do. Before the curse had broken, she was working at the Sheriff's station as a receptionist. Of course she couldn't answer the phones, but she did everything else; now with the curse broken, the Charming Family had taken over the station, made it sort of a family business. She still worked there, but there wasn't as much to do anymore, so she spent a lot of time reading books. She continued to search the library, but it was pretty clear that Belle wasn't in yet. She went to the bookshelf and put the book back where it belonged. She wanted to borrow another book, but she wasn't sure which one. She began to search in the nautical books section; she wanted something that had to do with the ocean.
As she picked one up and started to skim through the pages, a hand grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth, which was completely useless since she couldn't scream. The man that grabbed her was pulling her towards the door, trying to take her. Ariel tried to escape his grasp, but he was too strong for her tiny, petite body to do anything. She nudged him in the ribs and ran away from him, trying to find something to defend herself with. But the man quickly caught up to her and grabbed her again, this time pinning her to ground and tying up her wrists with some rope. He then took a piece of cloth and covered her eyes with it. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, carrying out of the library. Ariel kicked and squirmed, but it was no use. Within a few minutes she could hear the sound of the ocean, and she could smell the salt of the sea, hear the seagulls in the air. They were at the docks. Why though? Who could possibly want to kidnap her and then take her to the docks?
She felt the creak of a ship, as the man walked up some stairs. She could then feel the back and forth movement of the ship. She was definitely on a ship. She had been on one before with Eric, but why would she be on a ship now? She thought for a second that it might be Eric's ship, but no he didn't have one here in Storybrooke. Besides, why would he have someone kidnap her?
She heard the sound of a door opening and then she was dumped onto a bed. She tried to take the cloth of her eyes, but before she could do anything, the man picked her up again and roughly sat her on a chair. He then tied her once again, her hands still bound, and then took off the cloth. She quickly saw the man standing in front of her. She didn't know, she had never seen him before. He had a brown hair and a brown beard covering his chin, a red beanie hat on his head. He was a bit on the heavy side, and as soon as he saw her, his eyes seemed to be overcome with disappointment and fear.
"You're…. you're not Belle?" he said, looking at her.
Ariel looked at him confused, and shook her head slowly. The man quickly bit his lip, pacing the room anxiously.
Ariel looked around the room. Something about it seemed awfully familiar; the smell, the bed, the desk in the corner, she felt like she had been here before, a long, long time ago.
She heard footsteps approaching the room. The door swung open, and a man walked in. He was tall and lean, dressed in all black. He was incredibly handsome, with piercing blue eyes and a scar on his left cheek. Ariel knew who this man was. She hadn't seen him in centuries, she actually figured he was dead, but here he was, standing right before her. The only thing different about him, Ariel noticed, was that instead of a hand in his left arm, he had a hook.
"Did you get her Smee?" he asked, walking towards the man with the red hat, whose name apparently was Smee.
He then looked over to where Ariel was sitting, and his eyes immediately darkened. He just stood there, frozen, staring at her.
After a moment, he brought himself to say "What the hell is this?!" He then turned over to Smee angrily. "I told you to get me Belle! Belle you idiot! Does this look like Belle?!"
"I'm sorry captain but she was the only one in the library and it was dark and it looked like her, so I just assumed it was her. I didn't realize it wasn't her until I brought her here" said Smee, his voice cracking at times.
He turned his gaze back to Ariel, who just sat there, unmoving. "Leave us" he told Smee.
"But Captain what about the girl?" asked Smee.
"I said leave us!" he screamed at him, turning to Smee.
Smee quickly ran towards the door, and left. The captain returned his gaze to Ariel.
It was really him, Ariel thought, Killian Jones. She hadn't seen him since she was about sixteen, but again that was centuries ago. One day he was just gone, not there anymore, and she hadn't seen or heard from him since. But here he was, standing before her, after all this time with a hook for a hand. So that's what he had been doing. He had become Captain Hook. She heard stories about him, how Rumpelstiltskin had taken away the woman that he loved, ripped her heart out right in front of him. He then sailed off to Neverland, in search of a way to kill his crocodile, planning his revenge for about three hundred years. Ariel had never imagined that Killian Jones would have become Captain Hook though.
Hook walked towards her, circling around her slowly, examining her, taking her in. She was merely a child last time he saw her. She was not, without a doubt a woman, and a beautiful one at that. Her hair was much shorter than he remembered, but still long by human standards, as it fell a few inches from her shoulders. She still had those beautiful, blue green eyes, the soft, silky white skin that was kissed by freckles. But something about her seemed different. The Ariel he knew all those years ago was always happy, exuberant, and if she were in this situation that she is in right now, she would be fighting like hell to escape. But instead she just sat there, staring at him. He could see there was a lot of pain and sadness in her eyes. He knew that look, because that was the look he saw in his own eyes every time he looked in the mirror. So she too had lost someone close to her it seemed.
"Ariel?" he finally said, bending down so he could look at her. "Is it really you?"
Ariel nodded. There was so much she wanted to ask him, but she couldn't. He took his hook and ran it through the rope, freeing her. He then did the same with the rope around her wrists.
"I am so sorry love, I didn't mean for you to get kidnapped" he said, looking into her eyes.
Ariel just gave him a small smile, not quite sure what to do.
"Well say something" he said.
Ariel shook her head, and then touched her throat, trying to tell show him that she couldn't talk.
"What's wrong with your throat?" he asked confused. Then it occurred to him, she had legs here, she wasn't a mermaid. She must have given up her voice to become a human, something she had always dreamed of he remembered. He looked down at her legs, his hook running down her right left leg gently. She had black stocking on, with an emerald green dress and black coat. He could feel Ariel shiver as he touched her.
"It's all right love, I'm not going to hurt you" he said gently.
She looked around, trying to find something to write with. She then found some paper on his desk. She got up and walked towards it. She took a pen out from her pocket and began to write on the piece of paper. Hook looked at her curiously, wondering what she was writing.
Once she was done, she held the piece of paper up for him to read.
"What do you want with Belle?" she asked. "I thought you were here for the crocodile?"
Hook's eyes widened slightly. How did she know about Rumpelstiltskin? "I umm… I am but seeing as Belle is with him, I figured that would be a good place to start."
"Are you going to hurt her?" she wrote.
"You know love, you don't need to concern yourself with this, and it's not your business" he said, walking towards her. "I rather know how you lost your voice."
Ariel stared at him for a bit before writing down her response. "I did it so I could get legs" she wrote. "I made a deal with a very powerful witch. My voice was her price. She gave me three years to find my true love, and that way I would be able to stay human forever. I thought I had found him…. But before the curse hit, she…. She took him away."
"What do you mean she took him away?" he asked.
"She killed him. She took his heart and she crushed it" said Ariel. A tear started to fall down her cheek. She didn't want to cry though, not in front of him. She needed to be strong.
Hook could see the pain in her eyes. He came closer to her, touching her cheek, wiping away the stray tear with his thumb. For once in a very long time, since Milah had died, he actually felt something. He felt sympathy, but he also felt like he needed to protect Ariel, help her. Something about her just seemed so innocent and pure. He felt like the cold, hard ice that had formed around his heart was thawing with the fire of her fiery locks, with the fire of her heart.
He leaned down, wanting to kiss her, but not sure if he should. To his surprise though, Ariel raised herself on her toes and kissed him. This was the best he had ever felt in so long, and he just wanted to stay in this moment, with Ariel in his arms.
Suddenly though, the door of the cabin opened abruptly, interrupting their kiss. A woman in a long blue dress walked in, with a smirk on her face.
"Well…. You waste no time do you Hook?" she asked.
Ariel saw the woman and immediately recognized her. It was Cora, the witch that had taken away her voice. Why was she here? Was Hook working with her? Ariel quickly stepped away from Hook, frightened.
"Cora, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to see Regina" said Hook, clearly surprised and somewhat angry at Cora.
"I already saw her. I thought I'd stop by to see how your plan was going, but clearly it seems you have gone a bit astray" she said, turning her gaze to Ariel. "Ariel dear, what a surprise, I certainly wasn't expecting to see you here. And I see you know Hook, quite intimately apparently."
"How do you know Ariel?" asked Hook, stepping in front of Ariel, as if to protect her from Cora.
"Oh Ariel and I go way back. Who do you think gave her the legs?" she asked.
Hook turned to Ariel, looking down at her, then back at Cora.
"Well, now that you know that we are here, I am afraid I can't let you my dear Ariel. We can't risk anyone knowing we are here. Not yet at least" she said, walking towards them.
"She can't even talk, I don't think this is necessary" said Hook.
"Just because has no voice doesn't mean she can't communicate" said Cora. "She could easily expose us."
"But I won't, I promise" wrote Ariel frantically on the piece of paper.
"Oh I know you won't" said Cora. "I'll make sure of that."
She then raised her hand and magically moved the ropes towards Ariel, wrapping them around her tightly. She then snapped her fingers and purple smoke appeared, engulfing Ariel. Within a few seconds, she was gone.
"What have you done?!" asked Hook angrily.
"Relax, I simply stored her in one of the holds of your ship, temporarily, while we take care of business" she said.
"People will start to wonder where she is, her family, and her friends" said Hook.
"No they won't" she said, with an evil smile on her face. "Come Hook, we have things to do."
She then left the room. Hook stood there for a moment, wondering what would happen with Ariel. He then shook the thought out of his head, remembering why he was here in the first place, and followed Cora out of the room.