Captain Swan AU: On Emma's twenty-eighth birthday, a book mysteriously appeared and took her from Boston to the Enchanted Forest. There, she met the brothers Jones, and Killian brought her home in a way she hadn't expected: she had asked him to bring her back to Boston but, instead, despite the Evil Queen's attempts to keep them apart, they fell in love and became each other's home. Killian wasn't the only one she found there: her son Henry – whom she had given up for adoption and Rumplestitskin had brought to the Evil Queen – escaped the castle and came aboard the Jolly Roger to find his mother. He, Killian and Emma, and Liam and Ariel, were living a peaceful life, sailing the seas. On the night of her twenty-ninth birthday, lights coming from the castle illuminated the sky and, on the next day, Emma met her parents. To celebrate the return of the lost princess – their daughter who had been sent by the Evil Queen to a land without magic when she was only a baby – Snow-White and Charming organized a royal ball.

Chapter 1: The Unwanted Guest

Emma was lost in Killian's eyes. Gazing at the man she loved, she kept waltzing around the dancefloor, unaware of anyone but him. One hand on his hook, the other one on his shoulder, and his own in her back, she was following his lead and it felt like her feet were naturally moving around. Looking into his eyes, she was wondering how she had been so lucky to have him in her life. Like her mother had said, she had found true love, and it was the most precious thing she had ever had. Just a year and a day earlier, she had been celebrating her twenty-eighth birthday alone, in her apartment in Boston. When opening her eyes after making a wish, a fairy tales book had mysteriously appeared and had brought her to the Enchanted Forest. It was only a few hours later that she had run into the man who had changed her life. From the first day, she had known there was something between them. Not feeling like it was safe to let a man go through her walls, she had tried to fight against it, but the fight had been vain; she had fallen in love with him, and he with her. He was loving her in a way she had never thought was possible, and their love had turned out to be her best adventure. A year after meeting him, she had spent her twenty-ninth birthday aboard the Jolly Roger, with him and Henry. During this year, she had learnt more about herself than she had in her entire life. Henry was one of the most important changes which had occurred; her son, whom she had given up for adoption when he was born and who had been adopted by the Evil Queen, had found her and become one of the best parts of her life. The past year had also been for her the occasion to find out she had magic, and to learn how to control it. Not earlier than on the past evening, on her twenty-ninth birthday, another truth had been revealed: when lights had been sent from the castle into the sky, they had realized Snow-White and Prince Charming, her parents whom she had thought dead, were living on the island along which the ship was moored. They had waited for the morning before heading to the castle, where she had met them for the first time. To celebrate the return of the lost princess, a ball had been organized.

Emma and Killian had been dancing for almost an hour. Just like her, Killian was lost in her eyes. It was only when a new music started that he was pulled out of his thoughts.

"Do you realize I'm not doing anything anymore? You're dancing on your own. Will you believe me, now, when I tell you that you're a natural?"

"I can feel it gets easier with every dance. I don't need to think about it, my feet just seem to follow yours." She defiantly looked him in the eye as she added, "But for all that, I'm not a natural, because you're the one who taught me everything."

"I knew you would deny," Killian chuckled while they were still waltzing. "My stubborn princess, there's a new move coming. When I tell you, place your hands on my shoulders."

"What's this new move?"

"Now."

Emma complied and placed her hands on his shoulders. Her feet left the floor as Killian scooped her up and turned around, before softly putting her down and starting to waltz again.

"You're alright, love?" Killian asked, looking worried. "I didn't hurt you with my hook, when scooping you up?"

"Of course not! I have an amazing partner who knows exactly what he's doing. And that may be one of my favorite moves," Emma said with a bright smile lightening her features. "Will we get to do it again during this dance?"

"Aye, a few other times."

"Good. Just tell me when."

He nodded and they didn't take their eyes off each other as they kept waltzing.

"Get ready," Killian warned. "Now!"

Hearing the signal, Emma rushed: wanting to help him, she placed her hands on his shoulders and jumped. But she did too early, while Killian was only getting ready to scoop her up. It took him by surprise and, without his help, she didn't manage to rise enough. As a result, she almost made him lose balance but he reacted fast enough; they caught themselves up right in time and laughed.

"Sorry," she giggled, standing closer to him than the dance required. "I just thought I could help. But you were obviously wrong when saying I'm a natural."

Killian chuckled. "Love, you won't convince me so easily. That was a very nice try, it could have worked, but I wasn't ready."

"So now you're going to try and say it's your fault that it didn't work?"

"Aye!" His smile showed how proud of himself he was. "But next time, it'll work. Just wait a bit longer, until I'm holding your waist."

Emma soon had the chance to try again and, this time, she jumped at the right moment, helping Killian to scoop her up higher than before.

"Perfect, love!" Killian congratulated once she was back on her feet, and she smiled brightly.

They kept waltzing and the few more attempts were successful as well. As the music came to an end, Emma jumped one last time. But this time, Killian took longer to put her down and she locked her arms in an outstretched position. From holding her waist, he stopped turning around and wrapped his arms around her, while never taking his eyes off her. Looking down at him and getting lost in his eyes once again, she felt like he was securely holding her; she let go of his shoulders to wrap her arms around his neck and run her fingers through his hair. Slowly, he lowered her. She leant her forehead against his and when she found herself at the right level, captured his lips. Her feet touched the floor and she kept kissing him. A new music had started but, lost in each other, they were standing in the middle of the dancefloor, catching their breaths, her arms wrapped around his neck while his were wrapped around her waist. Killian was the first one to open his eyes.

"Dancing with you is definitely one of my favorite things to do. You're amazing."

"I think this dance is my favorite. I really love this move. And I love you." She tiptoed to press a light kiss on his lips and stayed close to him, her forehead against his. "Can we have a drink? After that, we can come back and dance for the rest of the night."

"Sounds perfect to me."

Not waiting any longer, Killian looked around and spotted what he was looking for; taking her hand, he led her out of the dancefloor, to the houseboy walking around with a tray of glasses. Killian handed Emma a drink, took a second one for himself, and slipped his hook in her back to lead her to a spot which was not too much crowded. Locking his eyes on her, he raised his glass.

"To you, my wonderful princess who's finally home."

"And to you," Emma said, clinking glasses. "My flawless pirate captain whom I love with all my heart."

She was ready to drink but, noticing how he was staring at her, she inquiringly tilted her head on the side; a move she had taken from him.

"You can't imagine how, when I hear you say such things, I'm tempted even more than usual to kiss you and…" A crooked smile tugged at his lips. "More."

"Killian…" Emma quickly glanced around to check no one had heard him. "Resist, or I won't be able to resist either."

Killian seemed delighted to hear that. Clinking glasses again, they drank the shot down and Emma focused on the taste.

"Rum?"

"Indeed. I think your father wants to show he has nothing against the fact I'm a pirate." Killian thought of how, when they had met her parents for the first time, Charming had looked judgmental towards the fact he was a pirate. Later, the man had apologized and assured he had nothing against this fact. Killian looked around and his eyes landed on the buffet. "Want to see what's to eat?"

"Yes!"

Finding their way among the guests, they reached the buffet.

"Looks like we've found the desserts," Emma pointed out.

"And I feel like it actually doesn't bother you that much," Killian said with a teasing smile.

"You know me too well. Now... how am I supposed to choose?"

The buffet was constituted of many different bites which all looked as delicious as the others. The dilemma he was seeing in her eyes as she didn't know which one to choose made him laugh.

"You will have an indigestion if you eat them all. Let me be your taster."

"So devoted to your princess," Emma commented, amused as she watched him pick a chocolate one and take a bite of it.

"You will like this one," he decided, holding the other half an inch away from her lips. Emma remembered they were surrounded by guests and she looked around. Since no one seemed to focus on them, not even her parents who were dancing, she took the bite directly from his fingers.

"Very nice choice that was. Now..." Her hand hovered over the desserts and stopped when she picked another chocolate one, different than the one they just had. "This one."

Her eyes closed and a sound of delight escaped her as she took a bite of it. She held the other half in front of Killian.

"You need to try this one! And consider this as an evidence of my love for you: this chocolate is one of the best I've ever tried, I really love you to be willing to share it with you." Emma was looking up at him, waiting for him to take the bite, but all he did was to chuckle. "I'm serious!"

"You're adorable," he commented, his eyes sparkling with love. "Eat it, I know you want to."

But Emma hesitated, obviously torn. "I do, but I also want to share it with you. Try, you'll see I'm right, it's the best chocolate!" Again, Killian said nothing and simply smirked, and Emma playfully pretended to be taken aback. "Is the pirate mocking his princess?"

"No, he would never do such a thing," Killian denied, clearly amused by all of this. "I just remember this day when you told me chocolate was your guilty pleasure."

"I lied."

"Sorry?"

"On that day, I lied." Catching this look in his eyes which meant he was curious and wanted to know more about it, Emma felt her cheeks warm up before admitting, "Chocolate is one of my guilty pleasures, but I've said chocolate mostly because I was feeling too guilty to admit it was already..." The intense way he was gazing at her got her lost in his eyes, which seemed to amuse him even more; his eyebrows raised and he tilted his head on the side, waiting for the end of her sentence. She shook her head and finished, "You."

"Me," he repeated with a crooked smile on his lips.

"Yes. Now, try the chocolate."

Chuckling, he shrugged. "If the princess insists..."

"So? What do you think?" Emma inquired after he had taken the bite.

"Very nice. It melts in the mouth and the flavor is exquisite. But nothing will ever beat this."

Without any warning, he captured her in his embrace and his lips crashed against hers. The thought they were not alone crossed her mind but she decided she didn't care and went for the kiss.

"My apologies, the amount of adorableness you displayed simply was too much for me to handle," Killian said, pretending to be sorry.

"So now you're going to apologize for kissing me?"

"You're right, I shouldn't."

Flashing her a smile, he went for another kiss which left her breathless. One arm in his back, her other hand in the nape of his neck, she kept her forehead against his.

"Is adorableness even a word?" she asked.

"If you're real, then it must be."

"I love you."

"I love you."

Brushing his nose with hers, she was about to kiss him again when a yell made both of them look up.

"She's here!" a dwarf shouted with a hint of panic in his voice, while running towards Snow and Charming who were still on the dancefloor. "She's here! The Evil Queen! She's coming!"

Both worried, Killian and Emma glanced at each other before looking around, both thinking of the same thing: Henry.

"Where's the lad?" asked Killian as he couldn't see him.

Emma couldn't see him either and grabbed Killian's hand before making her way to her parents.

"Where's Henry?"

"He wanted a book, he went to his bedroom a while ago," answered Snow.

"Go!" Killian told Emma. "Go and protect Henry, he's the one she wants."

"Go with her," Charming told Snow. "The ballroom is the first place where she will come. Killian and I will stop her."

Killian glanced at the man, not looking as confident as him, and Emma noticed.

"Killian..."

Both she and her mother were looking at their respective man, willing to find another solution.

The pirate regained his composure and suddenly looked more convincing as he repeated, "You need to go."

Not finding any other solution, Emma sighed and quickly kissed his lips before turning around.

"Wait." Killian's fingers closed around her wrist and he pulled her back to him to kiss her passionately. Charming imitated him and kissed Snow.

"Why does it feel like a goodbye?" Emma asked, looking up into his eyes.

"Hopefully it isn't." But Killian remembered well how, on the two times when the Evil Queen had paid them a visit, he had found himself away from the woman he loved. "Now, go!"

She wanted to complain, to tell him to come with her, but she already knew what he would tell her: he and her father needed to stay in the ballroom with the guests.

"Be there when I come back," Emma told him.

"I'll be waiting for you," Killian nodded. "Come back to me as soon as you can."

This was all Emma needed to hear, all she wanted to believe; she and Snow rushed out of the room.

"Are you as confident as you pretend to be?" Killian inquired.

"Honestly? Not at all." Charming glanced at the front doors, the slight crease of his eyebrows revealing his anxiety. "Regina's visits never bring anything good."

"I unfortunately agree. The two times when she came aboard our ship, she got what she wanted."

"This time, she won't," Charming said, looking confident again.

"Let's hope you're right."

"What she wants is Henry. She won't get him," Charming reassured. "Here, I think that's yours. You might need it."

"Aye, that's mine indeed."

Killian took the sword Charming was handing him. He barely had time to sheathe it before the doors flung open, and the one they were both dreading to see appeared.

"Sorry, I'm late!" the Evil Queen said, entering the room and walking down the stairs. "You didn't think you could enjoy a family reunion without me, now, did you?"

One of the guests came between her and the two men. "Don't make them suffer again!"

The Evil Queen laughed and, with a move of the hand, turned the man into stone. Most of the guests gasped or stepped back, which seemed to delight the woman. She indicated the stone.

"This is what will happen to those who, out of what they think is heroism but is actually pure stupidity, try to interfere. Anyone?" While some guests took another step back, some others looked down and the Evil Queen smirked as she looked around. "That's what I thought. Now, I think you know what I'm here for."

"You won't get him back." Glaring at her, Killian unsheathed his sword and it seemed to amuse her.

"My dear captain," she said as she came to him. With another move of the hand, she made the sword vanish and Killian remained immobile as she trailed her fingers down the side of his face. "It is a shame your wit doesn't outperform your handsomeness. When will you realize you cannot hurt me with that sword of yours?"

Neither of the men dared to move while she walked around them; they knew that she could turn them into stone in the blink of an eye.

"You may prevent me from getting Henry tonight, but you're lucky, I have other ideas in mind," she said as she took a few steps away from them.

"What do you want?"

Regina turned around to face them. "Prince Charming, I had missed you too. But sorry to disappoint, there's nothing I want from you. Now, handless wonder," she said, looking at Killian who, powerless just like Charming was, wasn't moving. "Do you remember how I said I would destroy your happiness, if it is the last thing I do? It's been too long since I haven't added my personal touch to your love story. But lately, I came up with the perfect plan."

"What are you going to do?" Clenching his jaw, Killian was looking daggers at her.

"I'm going to make your love suffer," she said while walking away.

Charming was about to react but Killian was faster; his sword having vanished, he snatched the prince's and ran after the Evil Queen.

"I won't let you get near Emma!"

Delighted, Regina stopped midway to the top of the stairs. "Oh but I won't need to."

Smirking, she turned around. Everything happened so fast that Killian didn't have time to realize. Charming looked struck with horror, watching Killian holding onto whatever he could as he tried not to be sucked into the large hole which had appeared in the floor of the ballroom. It had appeared where Regina had thrown her hat, right in front of Killian and he was fighting against the green light coming out of it and trying to suck him into it. Very quickly, Charming threw himself on the floor and grabbed Killian's arms.

"Killian, hold on!"

"Does that remind you of something, Prince Charming?" she asked, mockingly emphasizing his nickname. "A useful friend of mine made me this new hat. The first time I've used one of his hats was on your daughter when she was just a newborn. I surely do not need to remind you how she disappeared and you found her only twenty-nine years later. Now you're about to witness this again, this time with the man she loves the most. Emma adapted well to this realm, let's see if her beloved pirate can do as well in hers."

Regina was taunting him but Charming was ignoring her. He was trying as hard as he could to pull Killian out of the trap. A few guests came and tried to help him, but Regina froze them one by one, until she decided to freeze them all.

"Killian, you can't fall through that thing."

But, at first holding his arms, Charming was now holding Killian's hand and hook as he was now even closer to fall through it. Charming himself was being pulled closer to the portal.

"Take care of your daughter and the lad. Remind Emma that I love her."

"Killian, I can't let you fall."

"Do it! If you don't, you will fall as well."

But, under the Evil Queen's amused eye, Charming refused to let him go and kept resisting.

"You left Killian alone with her?" Henry asked his mother.

Emma had just told him about the Evil Queen's visit. She and her mother had taken more time than expected to find him: running upstairs, they had found his room to be empty. At first thinking Regina had found him already, they had called and looked for him. He had happened to be exploring other rooms of the castle on his way back to the ballroom, holding a book under his arm.

"You're the one she's looking for. We had to come and find you to keep you safe," said Snow.

"But…" Henry looked from her to Emma. "Mum! We need to go back to Killian! He's in danger!"

Emma had tried to conceal her fears but Henry had triggered them again. Killian wanted her to keep Henry away from Regina, but Regina wouldn't hurt her son. Killian, however…

"Let's go! And stay close to me."

Taking his hand, the three of them ran back to the ballroom. Emma was wondering if she had made the right decision; coming to Henry had probably been the right thing to do, because otherwise, Regina would have been free to take him back to her castle. And she knew Killian wouldn't want him close to Regina, but she convinced herself this was also the right thing to do; her magic could protect him, and Killian. She felt a knot in her stomach as she hoped it wasn't too late.

But as they entered the ballroom, the view turned her blood to ice. "Where's Killian?"

Charming was standing in the middle of the room, obviously in shock as he was gazing at the piece of metal he was holding: Killian's hook. Everyone else in the room was immobile and Emma recognized the signature of Regina's magic there. She looked around but there was no sign of Killian, or of the Evil Queen. Her father was so immobile that she wondered for a second whether he had been frozen as well.

"David! What happened?" asked Snow, coming to him and cupping his cheeks. "Where is she?"

"Gone," Charming muttered while staring at the hook. He looked up at his daughter. "Emma, I'm sorry. I've tried to hold him back."

"Where is he?" Emma repeated, feeling on the edge of giving into panic.

"He fell through a portal. He's lost."

"No." In denial, Emma refused to believe she had lost him.

"How did that happen?" Snow asked.

"Her hat. She used it to open a portal. Just like she did when she took Emma away from us. There was this same green light sucking everything it could." This was actually why it had been such a shock to him; seeing Killian fall through that portal had made him relive the worst part of his life: losing his daughter. Again, he looked at Emma. "The portal opened right in front of him. I've tried to hold him back, but the portal was too powerful. He feared we would both fall through it, so he removed his hook and let go of me."

Freeing himself of her father's grip, Killian had disappeared through the portal which had closed itself. Regina had then picked up her hat and vanished.

Emma was standing a couple meters away from her parents, still refusing to believe. She was holding Henry's hand, who was silently standing beside her, eaten up by guilt; if he had stayed in the ballroom, Emma wouldn't have needed to leave Killian alone.

Snow went to hug her daughter who remained still; it wasn't the first time she and Killian were pulled apart, and they had always found each other.

"Did she say anything about where she sent him?" Emma asked her father.

"No." Charming then paused, reliving the scene. "Wait. She said something about you adapting very well to this realm, and about seeing whether he would do as well in yours; maybe she sent him in the same realm as you when you were a baby."

"Then, I just need to go there and get him back."

"Emma… She did to him what she did to you."

Emma knew her father was implying she couldn't find him. "This realm where I lived, I know it."

"Do you know how to get there?" Though teary-eyed, Snow sounded more hopeful than Charming, who was still in shock because of the scene he had witnessed.

"I will find a way," answered Emma.

"We can do it, mum. We will find him," encouraged Henry.

"Emma?" her father called. "Right before falling through the portal, Killian told me to remind you that he loves you."

"I know. And I'll hear him say it to me again, because I will find him." Hearing her father delivering Killian's message had made her flatten her lips, but she had not given out. Mostly because she wouldn't handle the thought she had seen the last of him, she convinced herself the situation was only temporary. "He'd go to the end of the world for me, and I for him. Wherever he is, I'm getting him back."