Inspired by something I saw at my local zoo over the summer.
The day before Henry's sixteenth birthday the Swan-Jones family decided to take a trip to the zoo. They had spent the whole day exploring everything there was to possibly see. It was every bit as much for Henry as it was for Killian who'd looked at everything with wide eyes.
The last thing they had seen was the African section which was located on an island of sorts surrounded by the river/pond combination that flowed around the southeast border of the main section of the zoo. The only way to access the island was a long, wooden bridge that stretched across the river right at the mouth of the pond.
They were just completing the loop around the island when a woman's voice cut through the sounds of the animals and other visitors. "The Storybooke Zoo will be closing in 10 minutes. The zoo will be closing in 10 minutes. Thank you."
Of course, Emma was the only one to hear the announcement as Killian and Henry had been too busy teasing each other a little ways behind her to hear. "Alright," she says, walking over to them, "It's time to make our way back." She puts her hand out for Killian to take.
"But Swan!" He starts to say, "I wanted to see the jellyfish!" He looks at her with his best puppy dog eyes. The jelly fish were located in a restaurant area back in the farthest corner of the African section while the exit was on the other side of the zoo.
"We're going the wrong was to see the jellyfish!" She says sounding slightly exasperated.
"Well, let's go back!" Henry says with a big smile on his face. And with that, he turns around, running down the wooden path that leads back to the exhibit.
"C'mon love, it won't take that long!" He takes her hand in his and starts to walk after Henry looking at her over his shoulder.
Emma takes her hand out of his and runs a few feet ahead of him before turning around and stopping. "We don't have enough time! We need to leave now if we want to get out before we get in trouble!" She argues. Killian just shakes his head, an affectionate smile tugging at his lips.
"Darling, we have nothing to worry about. We'll just go take a peak at the jellyfish and them run for the exit. It's not a problem." With that she turns and starts to run ahead of him again.
About halfway down the path, she stops. She spreads her arms and legs so that she's blocking his path, a hint of a smile on her lips. When Killian sees what she's trying to do, he smiles too and continues walking. When he gets to her, he wraps his arm around her waist without stopping, effectively pulling her off falls into him with a little shriek of surprise and wraps her arm around his shoulders.
They walk off towards the jellyfish laughing the whole way, Emma forgetting about the lingering closing time for the moment.
Henry stands at the end of the wooden path watching the whole thing with a smile on his face before racing off again to find the jellyfish.