A/N: Alice is attempting to make her day a little brighter while waiting for her papa to return from his trip to the outside world. Killian's return seems to do the trick.
A Father's Gift
Alice was sitting cross-legged on the floor, waiting for her papa to come back. She would've loved nothing more than going with him, leaving the tower and never coming back. But that wasn't an option so she'd settled for sitting in the sunlight and enjoying its warmth on her face. It was the only thing from the outside world that the barrier surrounding the tower allowed her to feel and she made the most of it.
She'd closed her eyes, pretending that she was on the Jolly Roger. Her papa had told her so much about the ship that she could envision it perfectly. She could even see his crew in their respective places, everyone working together to keep the ship sailing and cleaving the waves. Her papa was standing next to his first mate–Mr Smee–and the two were laughing like the close friends they were while they watched her steer the wheel, directing the ship through the water. The sound of the waves hit her ears as the breeze waved her hair and carried her fantasy away.
She opened her eyes only to have the sunlight blind her as her hair stuck to her skin since there was no breeze. There wasn't even a slight draft since the barrier that kept her prisoner didn't allow her to feel the change in weather. Wind and rain were completely unfamiliar to her save for the sight of them she'd caught from the window of her little tower. She'd played with snow, at least, since her papa always made sure to bring her some when he came back from a trip during the winter.
The scraping of metal against stone startled her out of her thoughts just in time for her to see her papa's head show at the window.
"Papa!" she cried out excitedly and jumped to her feet, rushing to hug him the moment he stepped inside. She threw herself at him, causing him to stumble backwards and lean on the windowsill for support.
"Hey, starfish," he greeted her, out of breath from the climb up the tower. "You're quite excited today, huh? Just wait wait till you see what I've brought you." He smiled at her and she held on to him tighter.
"I love you, papa," she said, happy that he was back. His love was the best thing he could give her and he'd been doing just that ever since she'd been born. It was enough for her. The warmth of his embrace was the only thing she needed to be happy.