The Author's Sister or Not All Pirates Are Bad

by profoundlyfaded

When he was fifteen, Henry became brother to a little sister. As one would expect of a child born to the Saviour and the greatest pirate to ever live, she has a thirst for life.

Amelia Eva Jones, named for her long dead grandmother on her father's side and equally dead great-grandmother on her mother's side, was born less than a year after her parents married. Despite no crisis being in the swing of it when Emma was rushed to hospital by her father after her waters broke at the Sheriff's station, Regina stood on guard in the halls of the hospital. A child born from True Love with the bloodline of the saviour would have powerful magical properties. However, no one commented on the anti-climatically nature of no one coming to steal the child from her mother's arms. The new parents held their precious bundle for hours.

Her big brother, fifteen years her senior, doted on Amelia. Emma had been worried when she had discovered she was pregnant. While she and Killian hadn't exactly been trying for a child, they weren't being proactive in preventing pregnancy either.

'This isn't like when your mother admitted she wanted another baby, love,' Killian said, stroking her hair as they sat in their living room discussing the matter. 'Nor me finding out my father had run off and had a new family.'

Henry had been as excited as the rest of the family for his parents. Even Regina managed a smile upon hearing the news. As Henry had done for Neal, he told Amelia as she lay in her cot one evening while he baby sat the story of how her parents first met. 'Telling you when they fell in love, though,' he said to the now sleeping babe, 'well, that's several different stories.'

When she was nearly three Henry left for university, having been accepted to Cornell. On the day he went, he gifted her with his big book of magical stories. She clung to the leather bound book with tears dripping over her nose, leaning into her father's knee as Henry told her to ask Grandma to read to her, and Grandpa, and Mom and Dad. He stood, getting a hug from Killian.

'Good luck, lad,' said Killian.

'Thanks, Dad,' Henry replied, having accepted Killian as his father after all the trials and tribulations they had faced.

As Henry dashed down the stairs to meet his mothers, Kilian put his ring clad hand on his daughter's small shoulder, his thumb stroking her as she buried her head in his knees.

-/-

As one would expect of a child born to the Saviour and the greatest pirate to ever live, Amelia had an adventurous spirit that could not be squashed. By the age of six, she was out pacing her slightly older uncle around the garden as they played out their favourite tales from Henry's book while their parents chatted on the veranda.

'Was Henry like this as a child?' Emma asked Snow as she takes a sip of red wine. Her eyes darting as they followed Amelia while she played the part of Mulan around the bushes with a wooden sword presented to her by her Grandpa.

Snow glanced at her daughter then shook her head. 'No, but there was the curse and Regina wasn't exactly Mom of the Year back then.'

In recent years, particular as Regina has taken the mantel of a doting aunt to Neal, Robin and Amelia, it was easy to forget the sort of woman Regina was when Emma had arrived in Storybrooke eleven years earlier. The same could be said of a lot of people in her life, such as Killian. It took real effort on Emma's part to remember the pirate full of revenge as oppose to the man who was laughing with her father as they lit the barbecue while arguing over the manly duty of cooking on an open fire.

'When's Henry back?' Snow asked.

'A few days, but he's spending a couple of nights in New York with Violet first,' she said with the sort of arched eyebrow expression she had picked up from Killian.

'Oh,' said Snow, laughing then, 'oh,' again, with excitement, as she understood her daughter's pointed look.

Just as Emma is about to answer, a crash of branches accompanied by a yell of surprise from Neal stops her. Amelia jumps from a tree no one saw her climb while yodelling at the top of lungs with her wooden sword raised. Neal ducks out of her way as she lands in a crouched position. Emma stands, her mouth open with a reprimand, but Killian yells, 'Good girl,' from the barbecue with a huge smile.

Seeing Emma's expression, Killian schools his smile into his faux scolding look which only serves to make David laugh. Emma crossed her arms then looked at her mother for support but Snow is laughing behind her which leaves her with the only option. She sits down with a shake of her head but a secret smile passes between the parents of the extraordinary child now chasing her uncle.

-/-

She excels at her studies and when she gets to High School, Amelia broaches the subject of leaving Storybrooke for college. Of all the ears she goes to after being wowed by Henry about stories of what she could learn, she turns to Regina.

'Mom listens to you,' she explained to the Mayor, as she leans on the kitchen counter sipping the fresh apple juice that has just been poured. 'It will be only for a few years, I'll come back during the holidays and…'

Regina holds her hand up to stem the flow of works from the young girl. 'It's not me you need to sell it too, Amelia, but I can promise, if you go, I will make sure you are protected when you leave.'

Amelia nodded before hugging her. 'Thanks.'

Naturally, both her parents are apprehensive about their daughter leaving but when she is accepted into Harvard, Emma at least, relaxes. Even if she is surprised to gain the attention of one of the best schools in the country.

'Boston isn't that far away,' she tells her husband as she folds washing as he mulls over letting his daughter go with a glass of rum. 'A few hours at the most. It's not like when Henry went to Ithaca. Besides, it might be our only chance to get her to calm down.'

'Amelia calm down?' replied Killian, with a deep chuckle. 'With her healthy dose of pirating genes in her, I think it's going to take more than College to calm our girl down.'

With everything decided, there is still a tearful scene on the veranda of her mother's house as this time she hugs her grandparents, Regina, Violet and Henry's five-year-old son, James, before being driven to Boston by her parents. As they crammed into her Grandpa's four seater truck, Henry jumped in the back at the last minute.

'Hey,' Amelia complained as his presence left her space cramped. 'I didn't come with you when your mom's drove you to Cornell.'

'Because you were two, kept getting car sick and there wasn't enough room for all five of us,' Henry pointed out to her with a smirk.

'There isn't enough room for the four of us,' Amelia grumbled as she looked out the window to wave to her family.

-/-

Children's Literature makes up the first semester of work. So the students can't get two much of a head start, the texts are not announced until the first class in a syllabus document on every chair. Amelia, sitting beside her roommate, Betty, a prep school girl from NYC, opens it and groans at the sight of the second text before pushing her light brown hair out of her eyes. Betty arches an eyebrow at her in disapproval but otherwise ignores Amelia as her eyes linger on the first page.

Peter Pan; or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up.

She's always diligently avoided this realm's tales of Peter Pan. When she was six and Robin was eight, the older girl had told Amelia her father was the evil Captain Hook from the story, even going so far as putting the film on to demonstrate the point. At six she had cried her eyes out on the floor of Regina's living room as she watched what she considered to be a frankly horrific appraisal of her father's life. When Emma had learnt of the event from Regina, her mother sat her down and went through it all with her. She had never asked her father about it. The man portrayed into those films, those stories was a far cry from the man who brought home flowers for his wife and sang while cooking bacon in the morning.

By the evening she held the short transcript of the play in her hand, looking with some disgust at the illustration of a harmless looking boy playing pipe while the silhouette of a Captain holds his hook up. Her belly twists. She ends up hiding it beneath several other books. Besides, the semester's first assignment is on the origins of fairy tales. It should be a laugh at least.

Professor Jackson choose to focus on Cinderella due to its three distinctive origin tales. None of them quiet capture the horror of the tale in her brother's book. One version includes one of the stepsisters having her eyes pecked out. However, none of the versions mention the death of the Fairy Godmother nor Cinderella actually made a deal to give up her firstborn to find true love.

The curious thing is, Amelia writes to her brother in an email entitled 'don't tell mom and dad', if everyone discovered these stories were true they'd flood Storybrooke and knock down Gold's shop. I'd even bet some of them would be willing to give up their firstborns for the chance of true love. What do you think he would do with that many babies?

The answer from Henry is the warning to not even joke about the power his grandfather possesses. He's seen first-hand just how destructive Rumpelstiltskin is and has often commented that if he could, he would wipe the man from existence for the deeds he has committed.

Besides, he concludes, True Love is much more fun when you work for it. What's your next assignment now you've navigated the perils of Cinderella and her sisters?

Peter Pan.

-/-

How did you get on with the play? Henry emailed after a long weekend. I contemplated calling.

I threw the book across the room several times, and on one occasion it hit Betty in the face as she came through the door. She has a red mark on her nose. Amelia wrote back. I have come to the conclusion however; Barrie was a lost boy who wound up in England to write nice stories about Pan to make his kidnaps easier. I mean, who wouldn't want to fly through the stars on pixie dust, never grow up and fight cutthroat pirates. But there is something I was curious about, clearly put it to the back of my mind when I was younger after Robin managed to get me to watch Peter Pan, why does Pan get the credit for cutting off Hook's hand? And don't suggest I ask Dad, or Mum. You're the only one I've told I'm writing this assignment.

You've watched it? Henry response twenty-four hours later asks. When I was a kid, before I found out about the curse, it was one of my favourite films. As you can imagine, it doesn't remain the case, in fact I found an old copy at my Grandpa's store the other day – I took it and chucked it in the bay. As for your other question, if you won't ask Dad, then I most certainly won't either. Besides, he may not even know why but if I were to hazard a guess, it could have been to make Pan sound more heroic. Pirates, as you well know, are considered outlaws and back in the 1900's when Barrie wrote this, hacking pirates apart would have been considered an act to encourage back then. You may not realise this, little sis, but being a pirate has only been considered cool for a few years.

-/-

The discussion relating to Peter Pan and pirates continue through the over the course of the next few weeks as Amelia crafts her four-thousand-word assignment piece that asks her to explore the themes of Peter Pan. But three weeks before Thanksgiving she hands in her work, printed and on a memory stick as per the lecturer's instructions. The only indication she gives the work is complete is a text she sends her brother 'Phew, it's done.'

You never said what your overall essay was about, Henry emails the day after the text.

It's called Not All Pirates Are Bad: A Defence of Captain Hook, and don't worry, I didn't get personal. I'll let you read it when I'm home next weekend. But, while we were chewing over everything we chewed over, something occurred to me while I was reading the notes. Mr Darling and Hook are played by the same actor, so theme of the essay centres on the idea that Hook is actually a protective father trying to save his children from a mad boy-man who has kidnapped his kids. Although, I am careful to point out it isn't the actually intention of the author, but that of the actors.

Interestingly, Henry wrote back, his reply arriving not ten minutes after Amelia had sent her message, were that to happen to you, Pan kidnapping you (and it can because he was consumed by the River of Souls in the Underworld), then your hypothesis would actually be true. Hook would be the father trying to save his child.

Life imitating art, Amelia observes in her reply, and arguably, it is what happened to you. But like everything our family get caught up in, it was all a little more complicated.

His reply to that is to let him know what result she gets for her work.

-/-

It could be argued his biggest life changing moment was being brought back to life by Zeus. However, to Killian the thing that really changed him is the young woman chatting away to her older brother. The two have their heads bent over some assignment piece she had worked on last term. From what Killian can gather, she consulted Henry extensively on the subject as it revolved around fairy tales. In the end, Henry bumps his shoulder against her slender one which results in her rubbing it, screwing up her nose in disgust demanding he buy her lunch tomorrow.

'What are they doing?' Emma asked quietly, resting her chin on his shoulder, and one hand his hip.

Killian shrugged. 'Damned if I know,' he replied as Henry got to his feet.

A grown man in his thirties now, Henry had flourished, managing to leave behind some of the more disturbing episodes of his earlier life. Emma leave his side to wish Henry goodnight at the door leaving Killian alone with Amelia. After putting the folder she had been showing Henry away, she said curled in the smallest ball she could manage on the corner of the sofa with her head on the arm. It's a trait from her mother. However, she does have a healthy dose of both of them in her.

He sits down beside. Amelia looks up and grins before she scoots over to lean into his arm. 'Hey, Daddy,' she says. 'Missed you in the big city.'

'The daily text messages might have given it away,' he replies with a smile. 'But you're enjoying it, aye?'

She nodded her head. 'Aye,' she said softly. 'Lots of reading, and smaller sleeping space I have to share, as well as loads of people. Tonnes of them. I mean here, all you have to worry about is accidently colliding with one of the dwarves. It's a completely different story in Boston.'

'Well, your mother did warn you,' he pointed out.

'I'm not complaining; it was just a little… overwhelming at first,' she protests, pulling away from him to look at him. 'I've barely left Storybrooke, as you well know, o ye of many lands travelled.'

'Seas,' he corrects as his daughter rests her head on his shoulder again. 'What were you and Henry talking about?'

Amelia rapped her fingers across her thigh. 'First term was, er, fairy tales and children's tales, and well, there is no one better than the actual Author to ask when it comes to the multiple versions of Cinderella that have been crafted over the years.' She sighed. 'There was also an assignment on Peter Pan.'

The words hung between them, but Killian brought his arm up to wrap around her shoulders.

'And what did to make of that?' he asked after a few minutes.

She turned a little to look at him. She contemplates the lines around his mouth and eyes, lines caused by the laughter that usually echoes in the rooms of this house rather than from age. Although time is catching up on him now. Amelia smiled and sighed.

'I found it to be a terrible rendition of the story,' she said eventually. 'I told Henry I thought Barrie was a lost boy sent back to England to write about Neverland so as to make Pan's kidnaps easier to carry out.'

'Perceptive,' Killian compliments with a warm smile. 'It's possible, but I'm not certain.'

Silence falls between them. Amelia fidgets with her slender fingers, twisting a ring on her thumb as a white elephant starts to form in the room.

'I do know, though, that you are not quiet the villain painted in that story,' she said.

'In many ways, I was much worse,' he said. 'The man in that story is rather sedate compared to what I had in my mind when I sailed the seas around that accursed island.'

'Mom said once,' Amelia replied, 'a long time ago.' Killian's eyebrow arched questioningly. 'Robin managed to get me to watch the Disney version which left me more than a little upset but I was six or something.' She chuckled. 'Besides, it's interesting to read where other people think we come from, even if they do negate telling anyone that the boy who never grew up is the actual homicidal maniac.'

Father and daughter look at one another for a moment, a smile creeping onto Killian's face before they dissolve in laughter.