Timeline: One year after the events in "Queen of Hearts," but there's a slight twist of the canon events.

Fall and Rise

Rome wasn't built in a day.

It was something Emma told her, forgetting that her land's sayings had no meaning in this world. Something about an old empire rising up from nothing, a story that Emma could have easily lied about, but it stuck with Aurora long after her and Snow returned to Storybrooke. In fact, a year had passed since they had met, and although a lot of good came from it, that day was one Aurora was trying to forget.

Their arrival would lead to losing Phillip, her true love. All those years had passed, and when she woke up and saw him, she was happier than she could have ever imagined. Then he was torn from her just as fast. Her and Mulan had tried to bring him back, but she should have known better than to consider that a woman like Cora would ever speak the truth to help her.

After that fell by the wayside, Aurora knew that she couldn't hold onto his memory forever and it was time to think about more than just herself. Her kingdom was far from what it had been, so it was time to rebuild things that people had lost over the years.

But before they started their mission, she told Mulan that she wanted to be self-sufficient because Aurora didn't want to rely on Mulan as her personal bodyguard anymore. She knew she was soft around the edges, which had its merits, but she needed to have a strong heart if she was to help her kingdom find its former glory. Everyone would look at her expectantly, and she wanted them to see someone worth fighting for. She also wanted them to see someone who would fight with them.

So night after night, she spent with Mulan, learning self-defence, combat, even killing animals so they had food to survive. Aurora was far from an expert, but the two of them had become quite the team, warding off bandits and surviving on the land.

They eventually found another town of refugees and with that they had found their purpose in slowly rebuilding civilization. As time passed, vegetation had even began to re-grow in places where it had been lost and the people actually looked up to Aurora, a feat she hadn't expected so quickly. But she had worked hard to get that respect.

She couldn't say the same for him, but he likely thrived in his reputation. However, that didn't explain why he was here. Maybe he followed her out of some notion that she helped prevent his revenge or something. It was all the man knew after all, as it was clear it consumed him so much that he didn't care who he hurt to get it.

But when Cora left him behind, she knew that he realized he was nothing more than she had been: a pawn. At least she had the excuse of no free-will, but him, not so much.

From there, the tales differed based on who you talked to. However, the fall and rise of Captain Hook was something Aurora avoided as much as she could. In fact, she was surprised it took this long for them to meet again.

~0~

She looked... different. In fact, he almost didn't recognize her.

Gone was the regal look she sported with every step she took. Instead, her hair was firmly pulled into an imperfect ponytail and she wore sensible clothing for this kind of weather. Even from a distance, he noticed the darkness under her eyes, not that he blamed her for having insomnia. She had likely slept enough for multiple lifetimes.

She probably thought he followed her or something, but the truth is, he had been avoiding her all this time. He wanted nothing to do with her resurgent empire; after all, without rich people to steal from, what use was a pirate? Truthfully though, the reason was a little more personal, as he had done plenty of bad things in his life, but saving his hook's one heart removal for her meant that he never forgot it. He killed many men, injured many more, but her, back then it was a game. It seemed fun at the time, but when the portal closed and the bean was gone from around his neck, he thought he was done for.

Somehow, he still managed to captain his ship, to sail across the land doing what he did best. But happiness was never a possible feat. Then again, true happiness was something that he had given up on a long time again.

Eventually, his stare did him in and she turned to look at him, likely doing everything in her power not to show her disappointment. However, even with one glance, he could tell this was a different princess than the one he stole a heart from last year.

Holding his hands out to the side, acknowledging how he had been caught, he called out in his usual wit, "Princess."

As he bowed before her, Aurora called back, "Pirate." She was tempted to reach for her sword when he lifted his head back up. The man had taken her heart once and there was no way she was giving him the benefit of the doubt again.

But she decided against it as he turned around and left her. Narrowing her eyes, she tried to understand his actions, but she wasn't about to argue with them. Ever since her heart had been held in front of her eyes, Aurora knew that she wanted nothing to do with Killian Jones. So she turned her back and returned to her camp, as there was still a lot of work to do.

~End~

Sera's Scribbles: This kind of came out of nowhere, and it didn't do what I wanted to. So I'll likely regret posting it, as this is an unfamiliar fandom to me, but with any luck, you enjoyed it.