1/4: Swan Princess

Killian Jones has gone through more things he could have ever imagined in his life – he's saw the unimaginable, which already was a big deal for a pirate captain.

He used to think father's abandonment had made him and his brother stronger men – years and years of slavery should have done the trick. But when he had Liam's dead body lying on his arms, he knew he should have known better – he knew nothing about pain until that moment – he wasn't stronger, every loss just broke him a little more. And the mutiny against a King who didn't even know his loyal captain's – his beloved brother – name didn't seem enough to placate all the hate inside him.

But the first time he looked her at the eyes… Bloody hell. He really knew nothing about life.

What he did know was that the only reason he hadn't fallen over the edge was something – someone – so simple, so… pure that a hardened pirate like him would've never admit. Because, really – what kind of captain – of any kind – would be soft over their pet?

But Emma had been always more than just a pet for him – she was the only family he'd left, the only good thing his father had left him. She was his hatchling, his duckling, his swan, the only light in his light – a light he wasn't going to let anyone tarnish with their dirty hands of pirates.

And there she was – a bloody princess in front of him. Just because a peck on his cheek – what was that supposed to mean?

"So…" he said after give her the space she needed to put some clothes. He felt his cheeks reddening and he shook his head. "'Twas true." A man could hear rumours, but he would've liked to believe those were just that.

Emma frowned while bit her lip. "I've wanted to talk to you all this time. I thought – perhaps – you'd understand me. This is a surprise for me too – I was resigned to live inside an animal's body forever."

"But… how?" He didn't know who seemed more lost.

He only knew what everyone else knew. The Dark One was looking for a lost princess, the lost princess of Misthaven.

Misthaven, the Enchanted Forest. Misthaven, lands of the kind and beloved Queen Snow White, fairest of them all. Misthaven, usurped by the Evil Queen. Misthaven, where the Dark One used to be imprisoned. Misthaven, retrieved. Misthaven, where True Love once reigned.

However, all that was left was Misthaven, nobody's land.

"I was a child. I didn't know – what was going on, but I heard about two curses that day. First, Regina's one – you've heard of her, the Evil Queen – that's the curse that took my family and people away, I'm sure."

"And the second one…?"

"The Dark One's – the one that did this to me. My parents never understood that beast – I remember because they told me he used to be Regina's tutor. But… you could never know his allies. I think someone – I don't know who, if Regina or my parents – did something to wrong him," her voice was raspy and trembling. He could see how difficult was for her to articulate some words, and all that made him want to do was to kill someone – the Dark One, the Evil Queen, it didn't matter.

"He had no right to take his revenge against you."

She smiled. What a beautiful but sad smile. "Well, I've had a lot of time to think about it as a swan, you know – and I wouldn't say it was 'revenge'. It doesn't seem like his thing."

"My sword through his chest would seem like his thing."

"Oh, no, you wouldn't take that pleasure away from me, would you?"

He didn't know how to reply to that.

Besides, she was not stupid. She knew better than anyone all the things he'd done – he had no moral authority to throw a speech to her. And there was a thing… but no – he didn't dare to ask, to know…

"Why the spell has been broken, Highness?" and there he was. Her rank itched on the tip of his tongue.

She looked at him so hard, so intensively, he felt she could do a hole on his forehead. "I think… both of us know the answer to that…, lieutenant."

Perhaps he knew. As the lieutenant inside him always knew the truth about her, the truth that his pirate's part repressed. But he didn't know which truth they were talking about anymore.

Her real identity – or how fast his heart beat having her in front of him, how he'd swear to feel her heart beating at the same pace.

He'd sworn never to serve royalty again – but he'd be damned if he didn't embrace his lieutenant part to give her everything she wanted.

/

He warned to his crew lady Emma would be so in charge of them as the captain himself and anyone with a problem to that was invited to leave or show weapons.

Nobody dared. He wouldn't have dared with the lass' fiercely eyes on him, either.

Nothing of princess he could see on her but everything of pirate. The clothes definitively went well with her. And his most selfish side wanted to sail away and stop the search for her family, for her kingdom, to take her only for him – that's what Captain Jones screamed at one of his shoulders. But his lieutenant side – damn him – knew he wasn't the merciless pirate when she came into play.

He was the lieutenant, the man who believed in good form. And she was Emma – once his pet because life was a mess, indeed – but his best friend, his family and finally, his princess.

The woman who true-love-kissed him, apparently.

The woman he wanted to kiss every time he saw her.

And yes, the woman who kissed him in every quite moment they found away from their crew. And he kissed back, at the corridors, at their quarters – in every part of their bodies.

"Come with me… To Misthaven," she said with a husky voice while he was kissing the freckles of her shoulder. Their legs were entangled, as his sheets, after their night. "Once we find my parents and defeat Regina and Rumplestiltskin – if we do defeat them… I don't want that to be the last time I see you."

He sighed. "A pirate is hardly welcome among royalty, love. Once we find your people and defeat the Dark One and the Evil Queen – and you will succeed – your parents will have thousands of royal suitors waiting to woo you, and they'll want the pirate at lengths of their daughter."

Her eyes hardened. "I care a fuck about royal suitors, Killian." Her determination made him stay back. "And my parents would never force me to do anything I don't want. I want to find them, I want to save my kingdom, and I want my best friend by my side – as long as we can be together."

"I swear to you, my princess. I'll be at your side as long as you want me."

/

"If the Dark One comes and finds me…"

"I won't let him touch you. He won't find you, love."

There were seconds of a long silence. "I know," she said, and waited another pause to add: "It's me the one who's going to find him."

His brain stopped. Everything inside him – he could swear literal – stopped. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Careful, captain. Remember I'm the one to outrank you, even on your ship."

There was no way he was following her lead on that. Not bloody way. Not at all.

He was not going to take her to a suicide mission. Not the Jolly Roger, not their crew, not her…

"I can do it by myself, you don't have to come with me – nor has the crew. I don't want anyone to endanger their life for my cause."

/

Of course everyone was to endanger their lives for her, no matter her protests. A crew had the duty to follow their captain wherever they go – that or mutiny, but he wanted to see someone dare – and he as a captain had the duty to follow his co-captain, his princess, no matter how mad he thought her plans were.

And he reiterated, suicide mission.

That woman was going to be the death of him, literal, thought he supposed it was a fair price to pay. She needed to regain her kingdom, her family, her people, and for that she needed to find the sorcerer who cursed her as a child – he wouldn't let her to go on her own, though he would've preferred for her to keep on their ship hiding from the beast who have spent eleven years looking for her already. But it was not like he could stop her even if he tried.

"He knows where I am," she said once, "always did! He's just waiting for me to find him."

"How –?!" He would've liked to be able to formulate coherent words, but since they were both trying to steer the ship in the middle of a storm, it was complicated.

"I just know."

/

She did.

The dreadful storm stopped once the vessel made port in Misthaven's lands. It was like destiny was playing with them.

But she and he knew better than that.

It took Emma a while before she was back – as promised, though he'd feared – with them from her walk through the woods.

She seemed tired, but not from her stroll. Worst, she looked defeated. Defeated, and their mission was just beginning.

"Everything's alright?" Killian asked, uneasy. If she had met something – or someone…

"As fine as it can be. Is just…" she let a heavy sigh go; her hands were trembling. "Nothing is like it used to be. Not the grass, not the trees, not the animals. Everything is – dead."

It was like he could read her mind. "They're fine, I know. We'll find them."

"I guess." At last, she took a look at the Jolly, at their crew, how everybody was coming down the tables – ready to follow their instructions. "From now on, I'll be on my own. Wait here with the crew until my sign – if I'm not back in three hours, you –"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop there, princess. No way in hell I let you go to face the bloody Dark One alone, you know that."

"Killian, please –"

"We're a team, Emma. The both of us, you're my co-captain and I'm yours. I swore my loyalty and my sword to my princess, and I don't intend to dishonour my oath."

After seconds that felt like an eternity lost in her eyes, she shook her head. "You're so dramatic, Jones." But, once they delegate the crew their duties, she took her sword and his hand to come together into the thicket.

/

"My, my – who do we have here? I would say I didn't expect visits today… but I'd be lying," the words came accompanied with some lunatic giggles.

For fuck's sake. If the Dark One was that bloody crocodile, the best he could do was to take Emma with him back to the Jolly and run away from there. But she would kill him after that.

"I've been waiting for you, for so long, Emma." Couldn't Killian cut his tongue for dare to say his princess' name as if it were something so nasty?

"You know my name…, Rumplestiltskin."

"Always did – as you know mine, dearie."

"So, Dark One… I summoned you, as everyone says you should do, but you never came."

He turned around to take the teapot and serve on the cups. Killian saw how there were more cups full of tea than the three of them – except for one chipped cup. "Lately… I've been out of business, princess – don't take offence, nothing personal. But still, I'm delighted to see you found me, princess – even brought pirate for the meal."

Both Emma and Killian felt shut, frozen.

"Not serious." Really, his laugh was driving him crazy, couldn't he just shut up?

"Let's cut this crap. I just want to know where my family is, where Regina's curse took them, why did you curse me. Are you working with her? I knew she used to be your student."

The crocodile sat at the table's end. Even looked like an invitation for both of them to accompany him, but they knew better. "So you're the bold kind, princess. Such a vocabulary must be due to the company of pirates – be careful, the dirtiness sticks. But I must say, you still know so many things for someone who spent most of her life as an animal.

"Because of you," Killian couldn't hold himself back – the aversion seemed to be mutual. "Why? Are you working for the Evil Queen?"

Rumplestiltskin clicked his tongue and went self-absorbed for some seconds. "Once – we used to have our business together. But she wronged me – in the worst way of betrayal she could come with, and I'm the one the pay back."

"So why curse me? Regina took my kingdom, my family away – I'm so against her as you are – why would you –?"

"Wouldn't everybody like for things to be crystal clear?" he croaked. "You're useful to me, dearie, I couldn't lose you to the Dark Curse, I needed you in the Enchanted Forest."

"So my family is…?"

"Lost. Lost in a land where there no happy endings."

"I want to go there," Emma said, everything was determination in her voice and Killian feared for what that beast could have prepared for her. He'd said he needed her, and that couldn't signify anything good.

"So much in common. I told you – I do need you; I need the princess of Misthaven to take me where the queen didn't so I can take what was stolen from me," the Dark One's voice turned bitter as he stood from the chair to walk through the room. "I need the Saviour, the product of True Love. I can teach you, Emma. You still don't know anything about it, but you could be the greatest sorcerer this land has known, almost as good as I am. You can have your family back and defeat the Evil Queen – I can train you to be better than her. You can have everything. But the pirate," he spat the word with so much hate Killian shivered, "stays."

"No bloody way, crocodile." Sick of the shit, Killian drew his sword to place it at the beast's chest. Emma went behind him to grab him from the vest. "Wherever she goes, I go with her."

The beast giggled – again – out of his reverie. "How courageous, lover boy. But you see, I have this major deal to achieve that was already ruined once – I'm not one for repeating mistakes. And you – well, let's say you seem to be constantly on my way…, captain."

"What you're talking abou –?" Before he could end the phrase, the feeling of a force hoisting him off his feet took him aback. He was crushing against a bookcase.

That time was Emma the one to draw her sword and point it to the crocodile. "Let him go – now."

"Just keeping things where they belong. What do you say, Your Highness? Come with me to get your kingdom back, give me your help and we have a deal: your pirate lives."

"Emma! Emma, please – don't! Dark Ones lie! You can't trust them, there's always a trick behind their wo – Ah!" The pain cut through him; his vision went black. His hand…

"Killian!" Apparently, Emma ran to get his falling hand back, but it was already out of her reach. The Dark One's giggles were clue it was in his power, as he had them. "You said –!"

"I said he'd live – didn't specify in which state, did I?"

Bloody hell, why was he doing that? The three of them wanted the same thing; all of them want to get to Emma's family, to defeat the Evil Queen.

Killian tried to fight against the force that was keeping him out of her reach. He couldn't let her do it alone, no matter how much effort Rumplestiltskin put on made them apart.

Her sword was still pointing the crocodile with a ready-to-attack pose. "If you help me to find my family, as you say, and let Killian go without further harm – we have a deal."

The crocodile smiled – a dirty, pleased smile he wanted to punch the hell out of. "So you have my word, Your Highness."

But a glow began to cover Emma's body, and he tried to get rid of his immobility even more vehemently. He knew, he told her they couldn't trust in Dark Ones. He just knew and Emma… Oh no, Swan.

The swan he spent his life with was in front of them, squawking, shaking.

"You, fucking liar!" his scream was broken, full of anger – it filled the whole room and made the crocodile turn around. "She gave you her word! And you –!"

"If there's something you should know about me, is that I only broke one deal in my whole life, dearie. And I can assure you, this is not the one."

Just a motion of his scaly hand was the last thing Killian saw. And he was back on the Jolly – with his crew, one hand less and a broken heart.

The swan's squeals and his previous yells still echoed on his head. But they were supplanted by new ones: his men screaming for their wounded captain – and where the other one was, too – sunk in confusion. The Jolly Roger with all them inside fought against the winds of the middle of the ocean.

Without explanations, he grabbed Smee's hand so tight he was to break his bones, and walked through the plank to the helm. There was a hook stuck between panels, the sudden transportation of the ship must have brought it – he took it. A determination never felt before filled his body, and he knew what to do.

A promise to himself – the hook to be buried on the crocodile's heart.

The oath to his princess to not be forgotten. Orders for the crew to take, they were not giving up.

No matter where, no matter how long it could take… Emma, I'm coming for you.