Killian supposed it was a miracle that his daughter only began to cry after Rumpelstiltskin disappeared, but Killian was still heartbroken after Milah's murder. The baby, as though sensing that her father was growing depressed, reached up one of her little hands and rests it against his cheek, the stubble there not bothering her. Killian looks at her in slight surprise, Aveena's large blue eyes growing wide and filling with tears as her bottom lip began to tremble. "No, no, sweet girl," he murmurs, using his thumb to wipe away her tears," I've got you. No need to cry, Vee." With a little whimper, Aveena calms down again and begins to babble, her hand still pressed comfortingly against his cheek. "Mummy's gone, but we've still got each other and the crew."
"Bababababa," Vee says with a giggle, her hand moving to his mouth and playing with his lips. "Ababa."
"Oh yes?" Despite his sadness, Killian couldn't help the laugh that she caused. It never failed, his daughter could always cheer him up when no one else could. Vee shouts her next word, if you could call it that, and he laughed again. "I know, sweet girl. How would you like to help Daddy steer the ship?" Killian nods and his daughter mimics him more energetically. She should have been asleep by now, but he couldn't bring himself to let her go yet. Besides, she's still wide awake. He continues to talk softly to her as he walks to the wheel using his newly acquired hook to steer while he held the baby with his good hand. How was he supposed to do this by himself? He would definitely need a nurse maid, and not one of those strumpets that stay near the destitute inns and taverns that his men enjoy. No, he needed someone that could be considered respectable.
Someone came to mind slowly, a woman Killian had known in childhood who had lost her newborn son just a few weeks after his birth. She was good with children, she was kind, she was shy, and she could protect herself from the crew if Killian was unable to help her at the time. Yes, she would be perfect for this job. He tried hard to remember where Trista was living at the moment; somewhere in the Enchanted Forest, but he didn't know where exactly. He supposed, until he found his old friend, Aveena could drink goat's milk. Milah had said something about trying out mashed bananas, but Killian would hold off on that until Trista approved it since the woman had more knowledge about babies than Killian did; she was, after all, a much sought-after midwife. "Captain?" The deep, accented voice draws Killian's attention back from the stars. His Bosun was standing a few feet away, hands clasped in front of him and a grim expression on his face. He wasn't large, but the way he moved spoke of his numerous skills and grace, and he would intimidate most men, but he's served on this ship before it was called the Jolly Roger and Killian trusted him more than any other person in the world.
"What is it, Norrington?"
"I was just wondering..." The man pauses, his dark green eyes landing briefly on Aveena, who was sound asleep now, before meeting Killian's eyes again. "I was wondering where we are headed now."
"We're taking on another passenger and then I'll decide where to go from there." Neverland, perhaps? He wouldn't age there and it would give him time to come up with a way to defeat the Dark One. There was magic there as well, so Vee wouldn't have to work so hard to absorb it, though the magic there was as dark as it gets. Would that make her sicker than she already is? She reacted well to Jafar's magic when they visited him a few weeks ago, so perhaps it doesn't matter whether the magic is light or not. "Get some sleep, Norrington, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
"Yes, Captain." The other man was halfway down the steps and back to the deck when he pauses and looks at Killian over his shoulder. "Shall I take the little one back to your cabin? The night air is not good for one so young."
"No, James, I'll retire soon. Have Barlow come up and take over for a shift."
"You need to rest, Killian." Killian lets out a long sigh, meeting his friend's worried gaze again. James Norrington was always worried about something, though Killian supposed that came from his time in the Navy when he was an Admiral before getting demoted to Bosun after helping a pirate to escape. It was nice to have someone worry over him, it made him remember the way his brother had fussed over every tiny detail until everything was perfect and he and his crew had a better chance at survival. James and Liam had grown up together, so James was always around the Jones household despite his father not holding any respect for them. "I'll make up a schedule for the men, so that they will work in shifts and you'll only have to take over tomorrow morning."
"Thank you."
"Of course, Killian." And then James was below deck and Killian could hear his commanding tone as he woke the men up to inform them of their duties for the rest of the night and tomorrow morning. Killian was grateful, he didn't know how he would survive without Norrington. Once the burly man named Barlow had taken hold of the wheel, Killian walks back to his cabin, the warmth comforting as he kicks off his boots, only laying Aveena down long enough to pull off his coat and jewelry before picking her back up and settling them both down on the bed he shared with Milah. He didn't want to risk that Crocodile coming back and killing Aveena in her crib without Killian noticing, and he didn't want to be by himself so soon after Milah's death. So, with the heavy blanket pulled over the both of them and with Killian holding his baby gently, the pair fell asleep and Killian allowed himself to dream of the lives they should have lived.
Killian was hesitant as he knocked on the door of the hut, hoping that this was Trista's home and he wasn't going to be greeted by an old crone that sold poisoned apples and then robbed the corpses. To his great relief, the door opened and a tentative woman stepped out and closed the door behind her, staring up at him in slight confusion. She was pretty with a tall lean figure and black hair that was up in a messy bun, her dark brown eyes had circles under them to show her lack of sleep and grief, and her complexion reminded him of the coffee Milah often enjoyed that was diluted by milk. This was Trista, almost exactly as he remembered her from when they were teenagers.
"Trista," he greets, lacking his usual confident grin and giving her a small smile instead. Trista takes him in quickly, her brows furrowing when her eyes land on the squirming baby in his arms.
"Please tell me you didn't steal that baby," she says in exasperation.
"I-I actually made this one." When she didn't look convinced, he steps closer and allows her to see the little girl more clearly. Anyone with eyes could tell this child was Killian's since she was his mirror image in girl form. "Do you believe me now?"
"I suppose I have no choice in the matter. Why are you here?"
"The woman I love was murdered yesterday evening and I need someone with experience to help me raise my daughter." Trista lowers her gaze to her shoes for a moment, her own grief plain on her face as she fights back tears. "Please, Trista. I can promise that you'll be completely safe aboard my ship."
"I'll do it." Not expecting her to agree so quickly since the woman he knew loved to argue, Killian continues to speak.
"You'll only have to help with the baby, there'll be no other chores, and you'll have a guard with you at all- Wait, you'll do it?" With a tiny smile of her own, Trista gives a nod and takes the baby from him, walking into the hut and leaving Killian to follow behind. The hut has one room that's cluttered with a small bed, a cradle, and a small table; the floor was hard-packed earth and a fire was burning in the fireplace across the room. Killian was forced to duck as he walked inside, but straightened out once he was over the thresh-hold.
"Let me get my things together and I'm bringing my cat whether you like it or not."
"Very well." Killian wasn't the type to like animals, but it seemed the women in his life enjoyed forcing him to live around them. Before Milah found out she was pregnant, she had found a stray puppy at the docks and had somehow convinced Killian that the mongrel was worth keeping, and now Trista was bringing her cat, Tom, aboard as well. Killian watches as Trista moves around the hut, throwing items in a bag while talking to Aveena at the same time about everything and nothing. Perhaps caring for another child will help her through her grief, or perhaps it will distract her at the least?
"What's the little beauty's name?"
"Aveena, but most of the crew has taken to calling her Vee." Trista's smile is big and real this time as she stares down at the child, one of her fingers brushing down the soft, dark brown hair that covered the top of Aveena's head. "Milah chose her name."
"It's a good name." Gently, Trista maneuvers until she had Aveena cradled in one arm and her cat held in the other. It was an old animal with graying fur and intelligent eyes, but they way he looked at Killian made the pirate think it definitely remembered the time Killian accidentally set its tail on fire when he was five. "My bag is on the bed, Killian." She looks smug as she steps back outside, Killian once more left to follow after her with her bag in his hand. "What happened to your hand?"
"A crocodile stole it from me." She cocks up an eyebrow at his strange answer, but doesn't question it when she sees something dark in his pale blue eyes. Nothing good would come from it and she was glad that the Dark One wasn't inspecting the lands today. Living just beyond his boundaries, Trista was often prone to looking over her shoulder at the forbidding castle that rose above the sloping hills and trees. "Who lives there?" Killian had noticed where her gaze was drawn to, taking in the dark castle with a frown.
"No one that you want to know."
The waters were calm that morning as Milah's body slid overboard, Killian staring down at the magical bean in his hand contemplatively while Trista comforted his crying daughter. The child didn't understand why her mummy was gone and never coming back, but at least they had Trista now. As Killian was ascending the stairs to the helm, the prisoner begins to shout for his attention, though a gag muffles the noise. "Allow him to speak," Killian demands, his words missing their usual snap as he faces the group of pirates surrounding the portly man.
"I want my bean," the man says fearlessly, walking right up to Killian once he was untied.
"Let me tell you how it works on my ship." He stares down at the shorter man, daring him to speak up like that again, but he doesn't miss Trista trying to walk over and Norrington stopping her with a hand on her shoulder. "I make the demands. You follow them. The bean's now mine."
"You have to give me something for it."
"Oh, I will." Killian's temper was rising, but he kept his tone firm and in control. There was no need to yell at this man when it was so obvious that the life of a pirate would help him rise above his previous station as a thief without purpose. "Your life. The chance to join my crew." This was normally the part where the person thanks Killian, but the man before him just continues to talk with an expression of disbelief on his face.
"So instead of the promise of eternal life, I get to scrub blood off your decks. How is that right?" Killian looks away from him and at his friends and daughter, knowing that he might lose his sense of control if he stared at the worthless man for too long.
"And what if I was to tell you I was about to set sail to a land where none of us will ever grow old?" He looks back at the man now, the intensity of his gaze making the prisoner fidget slightly. "Where I can discover how to get my revenge on Rumpelstiltskin?" He missed Trista flinching at the name, but James didn't and he intended to ask her about it after Aveena was put down for a nap.
"I'd say I could live with that," the man responds with a smile growing on his face.
"Good. What's your name, sailor?"
"William. William Smee." Smee looks over his shoulder at one of the crew members that was wearing a large red stocking hat, obviously a bit irritated about something. "Can I have my hat?" With a shrug, Killian gestures for the hat to be returned before speaking again, his tone taking on a note of authority and command again.
"Well, Mister Smee, welcome aboard." Smirking, Killian throws the bean out into the waters, a maelstrom forming there seconds afterwards; a portal that would take him back to the place he'd hoped never to visit again. "Harden up and get ready to set sail, mates! There's bumpy seas ahead." Killian moves skillfully to the helm, leaving Smee at the railing to watch the maelstrom. The crew immediately set to work, James ushering Trista up the stairs to stand near Killian.
"What's the name of the place we're heading, Cap'n?" Killian doesn't answer for a second, too busy fitting a silver hook into the holder fixed to his stump, then giving poor Smee a deviant smile as he takes over the wheel, steering them towards the portal. He could feel Trista huddled against his back, the baby held by James to ensure her absolute safety through the worst of the trip as Trista holds tightly with both hands to Killian's overcoat.
"Neverland!"