This short story is inspired by the csjanuaryjoy prompt on Tumblr – a new Captain Swan fic for every day in January! As I've been writing on The Long Way Home, I've come to love the Wish Realm, and thought I'd set another fic there while I still can! (As soon as OUAT S6 continues, all the 'maybes' will be gone, and that's where I like to write!) For those of you who've read The Long Way Home, please note this is a slightly different set up – no Old!Killian this time J
My prompt was: a character writes a list to make 2017 the best year ever.
Please enjoy!
The Kingdom of the Enchanted Forest awoke slowly; sunlight crept sleepily over the treetops, tipping them with an orange glow that cast a fresh day upon the inhabitants of the land. The Royal Castle rested on the crest of the highest hill, the surrounding trees stretching their arms to shake off the night time and welcome the morning.
The animals, bathing in the new dawn, began to awake too. In the branch of a tree, in a nest of lovingly gathered twigs and leaves, a mother bird stirred, careful not to wake her sleeping babies. She extended her wings, taking flight, ready to catch breakfast.
Inside the castle, one princess had been awake for some time. As she sat at her mirror, brushing powder on her cheeks, it mingled with tears and she knew it was a futile endeavour. She put down the brush, taking one last look at her tear-stained face, before going to her bed, where her case was packed and ready to close.
Emma had lived a perfect life.
As a well-beloved princess of the Enchanted Forest, she had been sheltered in the warmness of her parents' castle. Tragedy had struck, when she was expecting her son, Henry; his father, Baelfire, had died a hero, fighting alongside the King. It had been years since then, but this time of year always made Emma mourn; they had been planning for their new year baby when Baelfire had been snatched away from them all forever.
So it had been an almost perfect life, but not untouched.
"Emma! Are you almost ready?"
Queen Snow entered the chamber, no sign of the early morning upon her rosy cheeks. Even in age, Snow White had an innocent beauty; her face glowed, always, with warmth and compassion.
She noted Emma beside her bed, looking down at her case with her shoulders stooped. She approached her daughter.
"Emma? Everyone's waiting to leave," Snow said. She took her daughter's hand, and when Emma turned, her sadness was evident. "But I see we may be a while longer."
"I'm sorry, mother," Emma said.
"Don't be sorry, my dearest. What is it that's troubling you?"
They sat down on the bed, Snow taking both of Emma's hands in her own.
"With Henry being knighted soon and the new year coming," Emma said, "I can't help but think of Baelfire."
"Of course," the Queen said, her eyes mournful. "I should have anticipated."
"I know I should be happy that we're touring the kingdoms with Henry before his big day and I don't want to spoil it, but…"
"No buts are necessary, Emma. There is no need for you to feel sorry for what's rooted deep inside your heart."
"I just don't want to hurt Henry's feelings. The kid shouldn't have to see his mother like this."
"Henry's a young man now, he's not a kid anymore. You don't have to hide your pain from him," Snow said. "It's hard to let our children see what troubles us. Believe me, I know."
"You've had such a perfect life," Emma said. "You've not had to hide anything from me."
Snow laughed a little, and took out a handkerchief to wipe her daughter's cheeks.
"We've had troubles, Emma. Not so many recently, but before you were born there was a lot of heartache."
"So what do I do? Henry knows I love him, and he knows how much I loved his father. I just don't think I can keep a brave face right now."
"You need something new, Emma. It's been just you and Henry for so long, and now that he's growing up, you'll be in danger of being left with no one but your father and I for company."
"What are you suggesting?"
Snow's face glowed with that warm smile.
"You find love again."
Emma shifted uncomfortably.
"I love you and Dad and Henry. I don't think there's space in my heart for another person."
"You care so much for us, Emma, there's no doubt about that, but you need someone who will let you be selfish. So often a family starts out with one person loving another, then the rest building around it. You've been without your foundation for so long, without a partner who's your equal, that you've forgotten what it's like to build something together. You've been holding all that weight by yourself."
"I've not been alone," Emma said.
"Not always, no. But in many ways, yes you have."
Emma turned to look out the window, hoping to blink away fresh tears and will herself to be stronger; it was something she'd been doing for years. It was never a threat or a danger that she faced in her perfect kingdom; it was always the same sadness that assaulted her.
Outside the window, on the branch of the nearest tree, Emma saw a mother bird returning to the nest; her song was audible through the glass, sweet and beckoning, as her babies strained upwards, calling to be fed.
Emma could not deny that at times she felt incredibly lonely, despite the love that surrounded her. Her mother had struck a chord within her.
"Well how do I change this?" Emma said, turning back to Queen Snow. "I don't see any eligible princes lining up outside the castle gates for a thirty-year-old widow, crown or no crown."
"It won't happen all at once. Small steps lead to great adventures," Snow said. She stood and walked to Emma's bureau, taking a quill and a pot of ink. She beckoned for Emma to follow and sit. "Here, pass me a piece of paper."
She began to write.
Princess Emma's Rediscovery
"Rediscovery?"
"Don't stop me now, I'm thinking."
"Really, Mom? We're making a self-help list? If anyone finds this they'll think I'm having a mid-life crisis."
"Oh Emma, sometimes you come out with the oddest things," Snow said, laughing. "It's nearly the new year, we're just making you some resolutions to make it the best yet."
"You know I love you, but this might be overkill."
"Emma, do you not want to feel that same love you had for Baelfire again? You have a second chance to feel something spectacular. It alters your soul. If you're not open to it, you're only open to emptiness."
"You believe I can have a second chance at a love like that?"
"I do." Snow said. "If you're open. There, that's your first resolution."
Emma looked down at her mother's neat cursive, smiling as she dotted the full stop to finish it.
Step One: Emma will open herself to new experiences.
"That should be easy enough," Emma said. "We're about to set sail on a tour – a whole tour's-worth of new experiences!"
"That's not all I mean, Emma, and you know it."
Emma caught sight of the nest outside her window again; the mother bird was teetering at the edge of the nest, her wing gently pushing her babies to the edge with her. She was preparing them to fly.
A voice came from the doorway.
"Snow?"
King Charming had peeped his head into the chamber, calling his wife from the corridor outside. His smile was always infectious; Snow was beaming as she put down the quill. They met in the middle of the room, embracing each other with a fervour of young lovers in a fresh romance, not a husband and wife of decades.
Emma smiled at the sight. Yes, she could not deny it: she did want the opportunity to grow old beside someone.
"Good morning, my love," King David said. "Are we almost ready? The carriages are waiting."
"Yes, Father, let me get my case."
"Let me call a serva-"
"No, it's fine, thank you."
"Or I can carr-"
"I can carry it myself, Dad, don't worry. Thank you."
As she gathered her things from the bed, she spotted her Mother placing the quill, ink, and paper into a simple leather shoulder pouch. Snow chuckled as she saw Emma watching.
"It's not over, Emma," she said. "We'll keep writing on the journey."
As they walked down to the carriages at the front of the castle, Snow told Charming of their list. He immediately lit up with excitement.
"I have the perfect addition," he said, taking his wife's hand to steady her as she climbed into the waiting coach. He took the quill she offered as they all gathered in.
As he wrote, Emma looked up the front steps to the castle doors.
"Where's Henry?" she asked the footman.
"On his way, Your Highness, he went back to his room to get one last thing."
"Thank you," she said. She tried to read her Father's writing upside down from where she sat opposite, but couldn't read it; his writing was not as elegant as his wife's, though not completely terrible. "We'll need to put this away before Henry comes."
"Why? It's nice!" Snow said.
"This is his day," Emma answered. "It's his tour, I don't want to take any of that away."
As her father put away the quill, he gave Emma the parchment to look at.
Step Two: Emma will allow others to help her.
"Really, Dad? That's your advice? I live in a castle! People serve me all the time, I'm kind of used to it."
"I meant-"
"Henry!" Emma interjected as her son appeared. "How's my knight in shining armour this morning?"
"Good, thank you," Henry said, closing the carriage door behind him. "Excited to be on our way!"
King David signalled for the carriage to begin moving and they jostled slightly as the horses pulled them into a steady trot. Emma took hold of her son's hand.
"So, which kingdom are you most looking forward to?" she asked. "Arendelle? Avonlea?"
"Perhaps the Dark Forest?" Henry said, laughing as his mother and grandparents looked shocked. "What? I'm looking for some adventure!"
"I'm looking forward to seeing Longbourne," King David said, swaying slightly with the carriage. "I've not been there in so long. It would be nice to see how it's changed."
"Perhaps to see an old flame?" Snow joked.
"What?" Henry said.
"Your grandmother is exaggerating," David replied. "My mother once tried to set me up with someone in town, it was about a day's journey."
"This was before Princess Abigail?" Emma said.
"Yes!" Snow said, smacking her husband's arm playfully. "You had so many love interests before you met me, I feel like I missed out!"
"They were nothing compared to you, my love," David said. "If I had met you first, they wouldn't have even been a consideration."
"What, no joke?" Snow said.
"You're too wonderful to joke about, my dear. I'm in all sincerity."
"This is getting a little too smushy," Emma said, mock covering Henry's ears.
"Mom!"
"Don't listen, Henry, they'll be done in a minute."
"You need to lighten up, Mom. Romance isn't all that bad."
"That almost sounds like a resolution, Henry," said Snow, raising her eyebrows at Emma and smiling slyly.
"Mother!"
"Quill out, come on!"
"What's going on?"
Snow presented Henry with the leather satchel, ignoring his mother's protests, and took out the paper inside. As he read the two that were already there, he looked at his grandparents.
"This is perfect! Here, hold the ink bottle."
"Henry!"
"Shh, Mom, I need to concentrate, this carriage is rocking all over the place."
"See what you've done? I thought we were going to make this his day?"
"Mom, calm down, you can shower me with appreciation later." As he began to put the writing implements away, he handed the parchment to her. "Be careful, the ink won't be dry yet."
Step Three: Emma will not shy away from romance.
"It's Mom to you, kid."
The carriage trundled down the cobblestone streets and through the town, making its way to the docks. As they drove, subjects of the Kingdom gathered on each side of the street, waving, cheering, even singing as they passed. Banners bearing the Enchanted Forest crest tumbled from window ledges and waved on the end of sticks. It seemed as though the whole kingdom had come to wish them well on their journey.
Snow and Charming waved at the window, smiling and thanking their people, with genuine love and care for each of them. Henry leaned forward too, beside his grandparents, raising his hand and eliciting a cheer.
Emma watched; seeing Henry all dressed up in his finest, she was unable to stop herself comparing him to how Baelfire looked at that age; with his hair a big longer, he looked so alike to the young Baelfire she first met as a young girl.
The familiar sadness that she'd been keeping at bay since that morning rose up in her chest. Instead of moving forward to wave at the window, she found herself retreating a little further into her seat. She closed her eyes, memories of her Baelfire assaulting her.
The time they had unpicked the lock on the stable door and ridden out at midnight.
The time Baelfire first kissed her during her birthday ball.
The time he'd tried to teach her a song his Da used to sing to him, a song of his homeland, and she'd messed up the words.
All the times they'd laughed and laughed and laughed.
She couldn't remember that song anymore, not that she'd ever managed to memorise it in the first place. As she'd grown older, she'd had a crazy thought of tracking down Rumpelstiltskin himself to find it out, but she knew she'd never dare.
The voices of the townspeople rang out stronger in her ears. Emma caught hold of the tune being sung, humming it to herself as they passed. She couldn't make it to the window, not right now, but she could do this.
As they neared the docks, the crowds began to die down a little and the salty wind of the sea grew stronger. She breathed deeply, clearing her head as best she could. She made it through that journey; she could make it through the rest of it, even if she had to hum that song every minute of the day. She couldn't let her own unhappy memories ruin Henry's big tour.
She took the quill and paper from the satchel she had kept in her lap. Writing quickly and secretively, she included her own addition to her list.
Step Four: Emma will sing a song to chase away the sadness.
Stepping down from their carriage, the Charming family were surround by the bustling royal guard, who were already transporting their luggage onto the impressive vessel before them. Docked in the harbour was a large ship, bobbing slightly on the water, with the name 'The Jewel of the Realm' painted carefully on its side.
Emma watched as two men, both wearing uniforms of the same naval blue, stepped down the gangplank to receive them. The first greeted her father, extending his hand and shaking it firmly, with a bow of his head.
"Your Majesties," he said, "welcome aboard the Jewel. It is truly an honour to have you sailing with us."
He was a tall man, with a tanned, weathered face that was still youthful and cheerful. Beside him, the other man looked dark, his cheeks stubbly and his longer hair pulled back from his face.
"We thank you for your service," King David said. "We're looking forward to our tour tremendously. Let me make some introductions. This is my wife, Snow White, my daughter, Princess Emma, and my grandson, Prince Henry."
"Of course!" the Captain said. "My warmest greetings to all of you. I am Captain Liam Jones, of the First Royal Navy Battalion, and this is my Lieutenant and brother, Killian."
Emma was surprised – they looked nothing alike. The second brother stepped forward to shake the hand of the king, just as firmly. He also reached to the Queen, who offered her hand out with a smile as he kissed it. Emma watched with a raised brow; he was certainly a charmer.
"Your Majesty, it is a pleasure to have you and your family aboard," Killian said. As he stepped back beside his brother and the group began to move, he glanced Emma's way and winked.
He winked.
Emma could not control her eyebrows. She was sure she must look stunned.
"Shall we make way then, Your Majesties?" the Captain asked, holding his arm out for the Queen to take. As he escorted her mother, Emma found herself being offered an arm on both sides – her father's and the Lieutenant's. She took the king's and began walking, trying to hold her head high whilst feeling her face flush.
Lieutenant Killian fell in step behind them, apparently unfazed and with a rather large smile on his face. He walked up the gangplank with Henry, asking about the Prince's tour plans and other such niceties. Emma strained her ears, unsettled by the Lieutenant's confidence.
Emma settled into her room as they set sail, letting Henry and her parents wave goodbye to the crowds. She tucked the satchel under the bed she'd been given and lay down, humming the song to herself again, eyes closed and fingers rubbing against her temples.
There was a knock on the cabin door.
"Come in," she said, sitting up.
"Feeling sea-sick, lass?"
"Oh, Lieutenant, I wasn't expecting it to be you," Emma said, putting down her hands and folding them neatly in front of her. "The send-off went well, I presume?"
"Excellently – you're aboard the finest ship in the navy," he said, moving a little further into the room. "And you know there's no need to be so formal, you can call me Killian."
"Alright, Killian" Emma said, "and you can call me Princess or Your Highness."
Killian laughed heartily and gestured next to where she sat.
"May I sit?"
Emma nodded, though a little reluctantly. Killian sat beside her, not leaving much space between them. The room suddenly felt very small. Emma could count the hairs of his dark stubble, and his eyes – piercingly blue – were staring intently. If she hadn't been cornered in her cabin, she might have admired him.
"Looking forward to the tour?" he asked.
"Yes," Emma said. It seemed, she decided, most appropriate to keep her answers curt. Killian smiled impishly in response.
"I do hope you're not going to keep yourself to your cabin the entire trip."
"Of course not," Emma said.
"Have you travelled much before?"
"A little, but not much, and not for a long time."
"So you're ready for an adventure?"
Emma suddenly thought of the list under her bed. New experiences, the Queen had written.
"Yes," Emma said, smiling. "Yes, I am."
"Glad to hear," Killian replied, looking at her fondly. "Is a life really lived if we stand on the shore, watching everyone else set sail?"
"Or in setting sail yourself, only to stay in your cabin and watch through the porthole?"
"Exactly."
"Thank you, Lieutenant," Emma said. "When I'm feeling a little better, I'll come up on deck."
"Yes, Princess. The fresh air will do you good, I think."
The Lieutenant rose and bowed, and just as he left the room, he turned and leant from behind the door.
"It is an honour to be a part of your adventure, Your Highness."
"Thank you," Emma said. "I look forward to it."
After he left, Emma took the satchel from beneath the bed and began to write.
Step Five: Emma will get out on deck and be part of the adventure.
Considering this is only meant to be a one-shot, I'm really tempted to expand it and write more! Just the hint of CaptainSwan at the end might not be enough for me ha!
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