Author's note - this is my Valentine's gift for the wonderful and amazing lonelyiridescence. I wasn't given a particular prompt but I couldn't stop seeing parallels in Disney and well this was born. Whoever comes back first with all the Disney films quoted and referenced gets to request a Captainswan fic of their own if they'd like to.
DISCLAIMER - I do not own anything belonging to Once upon a time or to Disney - all references and quotes and characters form these appearing in this are purely for entertainment purposes.
Emma sighed glancing at the top hatted attendant who grinned widely at her before she followed the two people in front of her through the turnstile. Henry was wearing a set of Mickey Mouse ears and Hook(minus his hook) was wearing a set of Tigger ears. After much battering and wearing of her resolve by both gentlemen she had caved and was wearing a pair of Minnie Mouse ears. "Come on mom" Henry was bouncing up and down eager to do as much as possible in this park today. It had been a whirlwind tour yesterday of Animal Kingdom and she was still exhausted from the plane journey that had bought them here. But why was she in Disney world with her son and a pirate ? Well, it was Henry's fault... No that wasn't true it was her parent's fault for offering to send him and whoever he wanted on a trip for his birthday. It had taken him five minutes to say he wanted to take Emma and Killian to Disney World and five minutes of whining that they'd promised whoever he wanted could come until they gave in and a further hour before all was booked and paid for. Thus Emma found herself walking down Mainstreet USA smiling because Henry was loving every moment and wanting to kick the nearest person inhabiting a giant Donald Duck costume because he was here too.
"Come on Swan you're going to be left behind!" she looked at Hook sceptically "it's a whole new world out there lass". She ignored him. She walked alongside Henry as he tried to take it all in and it wasn't long until they got on their first ride. "You have to see their representation of your story Killian" Henry stage whispered in the pirate's general direction. Emma watched in amusement as the ride journeyed around the sets echoing with sound effects and music from Peter Pan. Normally this ride would hold fluffy feels of the only story that had been her escape as a child but today it was making her stifle hysterical laughter. The huffs and disgruntled noises Hook was making to Henry amused her greatly and she could see Henry's shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter too. Finally they emerged into the sunlight and fell onto another ride and then another. Hook appeared, despite his grumbling, to be really enjoying his self and he and Henry were walking together, talking and thick as thieves.
She suddenly noticed their behaviour was a little odd. Henry was in front of Hook and they were both... she paused for a moment they surely couldn't be; but indeed they were, in fact, skipping. Then suddenly Hook moved in front of Henry and they started to hop. "What are you two up to?" She called to them. Henry stopped and turned around to face her "we're playing follow the leader mom, come and join us?" She rolled her eyes at them both but a smile was playing around her face even as Hook levelled a challenging look at her. "I don't know, I'm really hungry, how about we get a snack?" "Sounds great lass, what do you suggest? A shot of rum and some of that ice cream stuff your lad introduced me too? " She exchanged amused looks with Henry "No rum but I can promise you ice cream and" she paused knowing that after this she would have him at her mercy "waffles". She almost laughed as his eyes grew big as saucers.
A few moments later they were stood in front of the counter ordering "can I please get one Mickey Mouse waffle with whipped cream and chocolate sauce, one with mint choc chip ice cream and" she turned to Hook expectantly. He caught her gaze and quickly responded to the unspoken query "oh a pirate's life for me love". She was about to tell him to stop being an idiot and pick a flavour when she looked down at the case and saw the ice cream he had picked, of course it was a Disneyfied way of titling rum and raisin. "Seriously Hook you're like a blood hound for really awful booze, although I don't think there'll be that much rum in that ice cream." They ate their snacks observing the world around them. Emma glanced across the bench to Hook and saw he and Henry laughing together a genuine smile on both of their faces, she could feel something tugging at her heart, her stomach was fluttering and she tried to wrestle with the emotions she was feeling. Since he and Gold had come to an uneasy truce he had been a right royal pain. He followed her everywhere and when he wasn't following her he was flirting with Ruby. That bothered her, she told herself it was because she didn't want Ruby to get hurt but a little voice at the back of her mind kept asking he if that was the real reason. He'd gotten himself into all sorts of trouble and they'd had so many arguments she'd lost count. In spite of all that, he'd become a feature of life for her in Storybrooke. He was always there with hot chocolate or a listening ear if she had a bad day, he was great with Henry too. Like it or not she had strong feelings for hi but wasn't sure how to articulate them. So instead she tried to ignore them. What if, she suddenly thought, he told me he loved me, the thought terrified her but intrigued her. Then there it was, suddenly an insistent voice in the back of her head coaxing her "if the time comes" it told her "you'll know what to do". "Mom can we go on the haunted mansion ride now , please?" Emma snapped back from her reverie and turned her focus to her companions. Her son was smiling and eager, Hook gave her an odd searching kind of a look or so she thought but it was so quickly replaced by his customary smirk she couldn't be sure. "Yeah of course kid that's one of my favourites".
They had made it onto the Haunted Mansion ride although even three rides and a Mickey Mouse shaped snack later Hook was still grumbling about this worlds view of him. "Cod fish ...really I mean do I look like a cod?!" "Come on Killian let it go, we'll take you on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride after this one." So they ended up in a doom buggy together Henry excitedly explaining the mansion's tale to him. They reached the attic scene a particular favourite of hers. She glanced over at Hook and saw the tension in his shoulders and the hurt and anger in his eyes. Without thinking she reached out and put a hand on his arm giving it a gentle squeeze. He turned his head towards her and his eyes spoke volumes, they thanked her but there was something else behind that look that she couldn't place. As they disembarked and walked out into the sunshine he started to look better, more like he had earlier in the day. Henry was bounding n front of them pointing out the ride host who was a tall slightly odd looking gentleman, he was wielding a dark coloured umbrella with a curved wooden handle which he was using to point at small children and disturbed looking adults as they passed him by.
It was later on in the day and they had just bought the photo of the three of them on Splash Mountain. Well Henry and Killian had when Emma had nipped to the bathroom after the ride, even after her specific instructions not to. It was not a beautiful picture of her and Henry articulated Killian's thoughts perfectly "she'd kill us if she knew we had this". Killian put his hand on Henry's shoulder leaning in so only he could hear him. "You're only in trouble if you get caught lad, your mum will never know about the picture". Killian saw the boy's eyes grow wide as his gaze fixed somewhere over his shoulder and he knew what was happening. "I'm in trouble" he stated, Henry nodded and Killian turned and straightened up, pulling what he thought was a winning smile, before facing the un-amused woman behind him. "I can't believe you two bought that picture of me honestly I'm " at this point she made an indignant noise and gave him a glare full of annoyance and irritation. What she didn't know was that to Killian it just screamed challenge. "Henry we all need to go back to the hotel now or we won't be ready for dinner in time and you'll miss out on the parade" Emma saw Henry nod but thought something was off about him.
They made it back to the hotel room and Henry dropped down onto his bed. "Mom, I feel really tired and my stomach hurts. I think I'll bail out of dinner and the parade" Instantly Emma was at his side "Hey kid, it's okay I'll order room service and stay here with you" she tried to keep the panic to a minimum, it was probably a combination of too much ice cream and the movement of the rides. "No, Emma you have to go to dinner and to the parade. I promised Killian and he's really excited about it. I can't let him down." She looked down at him again and saw he had his pleading look on his face and he knew she couldn't resist that look. "Besides Snow will want some pics of the outside worlds view of everyone. I'll be fine here honest." "Alright, but if you get worse you phone me okay? Oh and if you get hungry order room service and if you feel better let me know and you can come and see the parade" he nodded in consent. "I'll let Killian know, you go have a shower." She gave him a suspicious glance before turning and entering the bathroom.
Emma was of course completely oblivious to the conversation that went on whilst she was in the shower:
Henry - We have lift off.
Killian - What story did you tell her kid?
Henry - I'm ill and I promised you that I'd take you to the parade and dinner and she has to honour that.
Killian - nice one, you'd make a hell of a pirate
Henry - Gee thanks. So this is your chance to tell her how you feel.
Killian - Lad, don't get me wrong normally I'm not at a loss for words when it comes to the fairer sex but your mum is different. I've tried all I have.
Henry - First of all be sincere, the compliment her Don Juan ! Tell her she's smart, fun. Pick a feature The hair, the eyes. Anything. It'll be fine. Now she'll meet you downstairs at the time we'd arranged . Good luck Captain. Oh and hold back on the rum.
With this last piece of advice Henry hung up and went back to his book.
Emma wasn't best pleased at the prospect of going to dinner and to the parade with Hook on her own but she had promised Henry and so here she was. She finished touching up her makeup and put on her heels. She turned quickly to look in the mirror and silently cursed that she hadn't bought a different dress this one clung to her curves and with the mood Hook had been in all day there was no way he wouldn't comment. She supposed she could have worn the one Snow had packed for her but she had decided she preferred the sexual innuendos to the comments he would have made teasing her about looking like she was wearing the curtains or a bedspread. Not that the dress Snow had chosen wasn't beautiful, it was just a bit to floral for her; so the red it was. She quickly checked on Henry and he smiled at her as she kissed his forehead. "You look beautiful mom. Have fun and ..." he paused and she turned back to him raising an eyebrow hope that he might ask her to call it off rising in her. "Maybe try calling him Killian instead of Hook I know he'd like it if you called him by his proper name". That wasn't what she had been expecting so she just nodded and shut the door softly behind her. What she didn't see was the minute she was out of the room her son jumping out of bed right as rain and picking up his mobile. She also missed him phoning a certain pirate letting him know that his mom was on her way "it'll be fine Killian just, tell her the truth".
No, Emma knew none of the conspiracy and realising she was late ran down the hallway leaving one of her silver heels behind. Noticing quickly she retrieved it and still unknowing hit the top of the grand staircase that led down into the hotel lobby. She paused at the top scanning the room below until she spotted him, he had his back to her and she took a moment to look him over. She could only see his back but she could see he'd made and effort, he was wearing a black dress shirt and slacks the shirt appeared to have a waistcoat over it. It was in that moment that he turned around and their eyes met. A lump formed in her throat and her heart was pounding, her stomach doing flips, he was indeed wearing a waistcoat it was a dark burgundy red. In his hand he was holding a single red rose and the smile on his face was wide and genuine unlike any she had seen on him before. She held onto the banister and it slid through her hand as she walked slowly and carefully down the stairs towards him. As she reached him he bowed and held out the rose to her, his eyes quickly returned to hers as she took it . "You look wonderful" he sounded so earnest and his eyes spoke no hint of a lie, she couldn't help but smile back at him. "Thank you, you clean up well too" she broke the stem of the rose off and tucked the rose into her hair. "Well shall we?" He offered her his good arm and she took it as they walked towards the restaurant where they had made reservations.
Dinner was wonderful the conversation flowed easily and she had not even noticed the time go until suddenly the bill was on their table and she was reaching for her clutch. "No Emma, I'm paying" she looked up at him and saw that he was completely serious. "Killian, I can't let you do that, it's not fair" she was silenced by him taking her hand in his. "What did you just call me?" he asked teasingly "I called you Killian, but I'm happy to go back to Hook if you prefer". He squeezed her hand and despite her natural urge to pull it from him and punch his jaw she just sat and for once allowed a moment to happen to her. "No, Emma, I hope you never call me Hook except in teasing tones ever again." It was after this revelation that Emma noticed the waiter hand a card back to Killian an watched as he signed the bill. "You are a sneaky ..." he was putting his card back in his newly acquired wallet and turned to smile at her "pirate love". He gave her such an outrageous smirk she couldn't help but smile back. "Come on then Captain" she saw his eyes darken and a seductive look come over him "we're going to miss the parade". She felt him come up behind her and his breath on her ear made her freeze "I can think of better things to do love". "Yes, well" she was flustered but she wasn't going to let him guess the effect he had on her "I promised Henry photos so the parade is where we shall go."
They stood a short time later at the side of the parade track watching Mickey and Minnie dressed up in fairy lights. They had got there early enough to bag a fairly decent spot so the photos which Emma had taken were reasonably good. She started to shiver in the evening cool and suddenly felt a coat around her shoulders. "Thanks" he just smiled at her and nodded his head. He looked a little ill, she hoped he hadn't got what Henry had. "Emma will you come over here a second" she looked at him suspiciously but stepped over under the tree he was leaning against. "It's funny" he turned from the brightly lit up float to look at her "I met a guy once, a bit foxy looking, on the run from some authority figure or other. I helped him out and he gave some advice in return. I don't remember much of it but it was just after I lost Milah and I've always remembered a piece of it I determined to be a downright lie. But I guess it wasn't." She put a hand on his arm and gazed into his eyes "what was it?" "He said keep your chin up, someday there will be happiness again. It looks like I was wrong to dismiss the sentiment after all it turned out to be true. Hey lass?" She took both his hand and his stump in her hands not taking a second thought as to the arm where no hand lay. "What are you saying Killian?" she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer because if he said what she hoped and feared that he would there was no going back.
He turned her head up to look at him, moving his hand from under her chin to her cheek. "You can't change the past but you can move forward and I " he paused and she could see all the emotions fighting underneath his exterior, a reflection of how she was feeling too. "I think you're beautiful and you're clever and brave and loyal and bloody infuriating sometimes. You're always a challenge but then I guess I am too. You're my match Emma Swan and I want to be in your and Henry's life." She continued to look at him making eye contact and trying to convey all of her feelings to him. "Milah wouldn't want me to be unhappy; she had a thirst for life and adventure and she loved me because I did too. I lost sight of that. I think she'd want me to be happy. You make me happy, you and Henry and even being around your parents , even if your dad and mum are going to be out for my blood when they find out what I'm about to say to you. I love you Emma and I need to know if you feel the same way too." His shoulders relaxed a little like he had let out all of the troubles in his life in one go. Emma stood there shocked, she couldn't do this , she had the prize for rotten judgement. What if he hurt her, it was just going to end up the same damn way but this time Henry would get hurt too. But in his eyes there was something so earnest so truthful that Emma with shaky breath and racing heart knew that she couldn't keep the walls she had up forever. He was her equal and the traits she had once found so infuriating she had begun to find endearing, he was brave and smart, a little ruthless yes, but really kind and gentle. It was time she took a risk again stuck her neck out, for something other than a person. It was time to put her emotions on the line and that was a terrifying thought but as she reached up for him and her lips found his as the clock on the castle struck midnight she knew that this time she'd picked a hero (even if he did hide in a villain's clothing).
Two years later and the final curse on Storybrooke broken she was gripping her fathers arm as the clock in the castle struck midnight. Musicc began to play and they took the first step down the aisle. She saw him at the end, her pirate, her price, her one true love standing side by side with Henry and both gave her a wide eyed smile. At the moment her father placed her hand into Killian's the rest of the room and the world ceased to exist she barely registered the words of the reverend and when Killian kissed her and the whole of the enchanted forest roared with joy and happiness she could little more than smile up at him and watch him smile back down at her like she was the most beautiful thing in all the worlds. There was no place she'd rather be than here , right now with his arm around her waist and Henry walking proudly up the aisle in front of them. She guessed it was true when love was involved anything was possible. She danced and chatted her way through the reception and slept her way through the night content to rest in his arms.
The next day she stood on the deck with him as she waved goodbye to her parents and Henry. She had not wanted to go so far away from Henry as Neverland for their honeymoon but the small boy had insisted she go and so here she was. Once they pulled out of the harbour onto open seas she walked up behind her husband who stood as a dashing figure at the helm. Wrapping her arms around him she whispered in his ear as he leaned back into her embrace. "Come on then Captain, bring me that horizon".