A/N: Okay so I started watching OUAT like a month ago and fell completely in love with the show. The Killian Jones was introduced and there was no way I could not love his character. Then he interacted with Emma and there was no way I would not ship them with my entire being. So now I ship them as strongly as I ship Doctor/Rose and I just needed to get something about them typed up so here you go.
Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time or any affiliated characters.
The Pirate, The Raven, and His Swan
I
In his lifetime, the great and famous Captain Hook fell in love twice. The women he loved were two very different women. Both were beautiful, both were strong willed, and both knew what they wanted. One of them would risk anything to get what she wanted but the other; she knew that part of life was limitations. Unlike his first love, his second love would not throw away what was important for her; she had priorities and always made the right choices for others before herself. The second woman Captain Hook loved knew true pain and true love. The first women Captain Hook loved never harsh pain or true love.
II
Milah was beautiful; she had stormy green eyes and hair as black as midnight. Her beauty was that of a raven; sharp, dark, and mysterious, with an undeniable calling for freedom. She longed to escape from her life, chained to a coward husband. The only light in her life was her clever son. She cared deeply for him, but when push came to shove she cared more about herself than her son. If it meant she could be free, she would leave her son behind. And Milah did it. She left her son behind.
She loved to spend time at the tavern. It gave her a short escape from her husband and allowed her to numb the hatred of her life away. Many a night she spent sitting alone or gambling, it never mattered, as long as she was drinking. That was how she met Killian Jones. He intrigued her. Killian Jones was a seaman, a pirate; he was the embodiment of freedom. Milah drank with him and gambled with him, she listened to the stories of his adventures and in that moment knew she wanted to go with him.
She thought she fell in love with him that very night. He was everything her husband was not. Killian Jones was gorgeous; he was sexy, rugged, and charming. Killian Jones had stormy blue eyes and ebony colored hair. Killian Jones was brave; he was as far from a coward as one could be. He offered her a new life, the type of life she always wanted. He would take her on adventures, like from the stories he told, and she would be free.
Milah was going to run away with him. But then her husband was there. The coward she was stuck with. She laughed him away, she had found something better. But then her son was there. His eyes, the same color as hers, looking up at her begging her to come home. She went with him. He was her son and she loved him dearly. She could not bear to part with him.
When news came to her that Killian and his crew was to be leaving there was only one thing Milah could think of doing. She went with him. She hated leaving her son behind. But in the end, she hated her life more. Milah went with Killian Jones, in search for freedom and adventure. She wanted to be able to tell stories. She wanted to be with someone respectable and brave.
Milah loved Killian Jones. Milah was not in love with Killian Jones. She was in love with what he offered her and what he gave her. She was in love with the idea of him. The idea of freedom and of the power to control her own life. Milah was not in love with the man himself. She was in love with the fact that he was brave. She was in love with the fact that he was willing to fight for what he wanted.
Killian Jones loved Milah. Killian Jones was not in love with Milah. He was in love with what she gave him, a woman who was entirely devoted to him. He was in love with the fact that he had a companion, a lover and a traveler. Killian Jones was in love with the fact that he had a partner in crime who needed freedom as badly as he did.
This was not true love.
III
Emma Swan was beautiful; she had stormy grey eyes and hair that was golden like the sun. Her beauty was that of her namesake; elegant, graceful, and seemingly innocent but with a constant pain in her eyes. She longed for a better life, a place to call home with people she called family. She was alone in life, having been abandoned by her parents, abandoned by all foster families, abandoned by the first person she loved, and she let go of her son. There was no light in her life, only pain, until her twenty-eighth birthday. That day her clever son found her. He pulled her into a life where she had friends, where she had a family. And Emma did it. She got herself a family.
She loved to spend time with her family. For the short time they were all together. There was no denying it was strange, there was no denying that she would never fully heal from her pain and the feelings of being abandoned, but she spent time with them. Emma lived with her mother, her friend. She spent her free time with her son, her savior. When they were together they would drink hot chocolate, with cinnamon.
But then she and her mother got sent away. They were separated from their family, in a world they believed to be destroyed; with the only person they could trust being the other. Separated from the family that she just got, all that mattered was returning to her son. All that mattered was that staying with her mother. All that mattered was staying with the only person in the strange world that she could trust and rely on. Emma Swan did not give her trust easily. She had a superpower the prevented her from trusting, she could tell whether or not a person was lying. When she met Captain Hook she knew he was lying.
Emma Swan hated Captain Hook when she met him. He was a liar, a thief, and a pirate. Captain Hook was incredibly good looking. He was sexy, flirty, and sarcastic. Captain Hook had stormy blue eyes and ebony colored hair. He was the type of man she always fell for. He insisted on being called Killian Jones. She continued to call him Hook. Emma Swan was not interested in Captain Hook. Emma Swan was interested in returning home to her son.
Emma Swan volunteered to climb a beanstalk with him. Not because she liked him but because she loved her son. While climbing the beanstalk Emma and Hook spoke. She tried to make it clear she did not care for him. He could read her well. Emma Swan and Captain Hook were obviously very similar people.
That was why Emma left him behind, chained to the beanstalk. She knew she was like him, broken, alone, and trying to find a way to feel less like that. Emma could not risk developing emotions for him. She had been through too much pain and risked too much. She would not throw away the chance to get home to be considerate to Captain Hook.
Captain Hook was intrigued by Emma Swan. She was brave and cunning. She bested him. She bested him twice. Captain Hook wanted to know more about Emma Swan. He wanted to know her story; he wanted to know why they were so alike. Killian Jones wanted to know more about Emma Swan. He wanted to know why she cared so much about her son. He wanted to know if he could grow to care for her.
Hook was used to women leaving for him. Emma Swan left him. She left him in his world as she returned to her world with her son. Captain Hook went to her world for revenge. Not revenge on her, revenge for lost love. Killian Jones went to her world for her, to see if she could love him.
Emma Swan cared for Hook. Emma Swan cared for Killian. There was no denying either. Emma Swan loved her son. There no denying that.
Emma Swan did not love Captain Hook. Emma Swan did not love Killian Jones. Captain Hook did not love Emma Swan. Killian Jones could possibly love her.
That was not true love.
IV
Killian Jones sought out his revenge for his first love. He did not succeed. His second love saved him. Emma Swan helped her second love heal.
Captain Hook fell in love with Emma Swan. Emma Swan still loved her son. But she still fell in love again. She split her devotion.
Killian Jones loved Emma Swan with his whole heart. He loved everything about her. His love for her was not like his first love. It was entire. He loved her quirks; he loved her when she was angry and sad. He loved her enough to try to heal her pain. He loved her enough to stay despite her pain. Emma Swan loved Killian Jones. Emma Swan loved everything about him. She loved him enough to trust him with her son, the biggest part of her. She loved him enough to let down her walls for him, the thickest part of her. She loved him enough to give her soul to him. Emma Swan opened up completely to Killian Jones. Killian Jones opened up completely to Emma Swan.
That was true love.