colors of love
chapter two
Summary: A myriad of colors dance across her vision. It stops as soon as it starts, and then all she can see a deep, stormy shade of blue.
It's the most beautiful thing she's ever seen.
It's also the color of his eyes.
Damnit!
A CS soulmates!au.
A/N: Here's the next chapter! Hope you guys enjoy it~Thank you for your reviews, thecaptainswan, SparklyGurly227 and Oneonta!
Emma's first instinct is to run. Run as far as possible, preferably to the ends of the earth and never look back.
Against her better instincts, she sits next to her soulmate-God that sounds weird- and listens as he feeds them some sob story about being a poor blacksmith who hid during the attack. (He also says his name is Killian Jones. Can't forget that.)
He's a good liar, Emma will give him that much. His expression and tone are meek and subdued, but she'll bet anything that it's the opposite of his true nature.
She doesn't hesitate to call him out on his lies. He denies it, of course, and then perks up with he hears Mary Margaret speak of finding Cora.
"I know this land well," He tries to convince them. "I can guide you-"
Emma snaps.
She grabs a fistful of his hair and tilts his head back, pressing her knife against his throat. "You're not guiding us anywhere until you tell us who you really are."
Within minutes, Emma has him tied to a tree with Mulan's help and whistles for the ogres. Turning, she walks away without a backward glance.
"What if he's telling the truth?" Aurora looks back at Killian in worry. Emma scoffs.
"He's not," She says dismissively.
"Good for you!"
Emma stops.
"You've bested me," Killian says, all meekness and terror gone from his voice. "I can count the number of people who've done that on one hand."
Emma walks back to him, the rest of the group following. "That supposed to be funny?" She demands. "Who are you?"
"Killian Jones," He smirks down at her. "But, most people have taken to call me by my more colorful moniker."
Emma raises an eyebrow.
"Hook."
She resists the urge to facepalm.
Because of course Captain freaking Hook would be her soulmate.
God, her life is weird.
As Mary Margaret, Mulan and Aurora argue over who should go after the compass with Hook, Emma stands at the foot of the beanstalk and observes the pirate in question.
She doesn't trust him, of course, not by a long shot. But there's a mutual understanding there. He has his own agenda, just as she has hers. That's why they're working together.
And then there's the whole soulmate thing.
Thinking about it, Emma has to suppress a groan. She has never had the time to think of such things before, and suddenly it's been thrown in her face; in the form of leather, blue eyes and eyeliner. Well at least Hook hasn't said anything about it. It would make the situation worse if-
Wait, why hasn't he said anything?
After all, he could have easily used it as leverage while negotiating with them. Not to mention the complete lack of shock or recognition in his eyes when he saw her.
No way.
Can it be possible that while he's hers soulmate, she's not his?
It makes sense, Emma has heard of stuff like that happening before.
She just never thought it would happen to her.
She's really not sure what to think. On one hand, she's immensely relieved because now she can simply focus on the mission and getting back to Henry. And on the other hand, Emma feels a strange mixture of hurt and disappointment.
And the worst part is that she's unable to rationalize these emotions.
Annoyed by her own reaction to this whole mess, Emma spins around and walks over to the other women.
"It's me," She interrupts shortly. "I'm going-and I'm not gonna fail."
Emma Swan is quite possibly one of the most fascinating women he has ever met, Killian thinks, as they climb the beanstalk together.
The moment he had laid eyes on her, Killian knew that this woman was dangerous. For a minute, she seemed to be glowing-so vivid and bright and everything else seemed to pale in comparison. It was like staring at the sun, and Killian had to resist the urge to shield his eyes.
If Killian didn't know any better, he'd think she was his soulmate.
But he does know better and he resolves to stay away. She is different and is achingly familiar, like a long lost memory.
Emma Swan is dangerous.
And Killian has always been a magnet for danger.
Emma keeps up a stony silence as they begin the climb. When they are almost halfway there, Killian can't take it anymore and strikes up conversation.
"You know, most men would take your silence as off-putting, but I love a challenge."
Emma glares at him. "I'm concentrating."
"No, you're afraid," Killian retorts. "Afraid to talk, to reveal yourself. To trust me. It'd be a lot smoother if you do."
Emma pulls herself up beside him and snorts slightly. "You should be used to people not trusting you."
"Ah, the pirate thing," Killian resumes the climb, really not caring about her impression of him and more than a little smug that he finally got her to talk. "Well, I don't need you to share. You're something of an open book."
"Am I?"
"Aye. Let's see-you volunteered to come because you're the most motivated. You need to get back to a child."
Emma looks unimpressed. "That's not perception, that's eavesdropping."
"You don't want to abandon him the way you were abandoned." Killian says lowly.
There's a slight tremor in her voice when she speaks. "Was I?"
Killian shrugs. "Like I said, open book."
Emma finally looks at him, then. "How would you know that?" She demands warily.
Killian looks away from her and focuses on the vines he's grasping in his hand and hook. "I spent many years in Neverland, home of the Lost Boys. They all share the same look in their eyes, the look you get when you've been left alone."
It's not the exact truth. It's true that Killian has seen that lonely, forlorn look in the eyes of the Lost Boys, but he also sees it in himself, everyday.
But Emma doesn't need to know that.
"Yeah, well, my world ain't Neverland," Emma's face exudes indifference, but Killian can sense the vulnerability beneath.
"But an orphan's an orphan," When Emma doesn't respond, Killian tries a new tack. "Love has been all too rare in your life, hasn't it?" He pauses the climb and looks her in the eye, raising a brow. "Have you ever been in love?"
Emma stops climbing as well and turns to face him. Her jade eyes are cold and empty as she speaks.
"No. I have never been in love."
As they finally reach the top of the beanstalk and enter the huge courtyard, Emma glances at Hook. He hasn't said a word after she told him she'd never been in love. She's pretty sure that he saw right through her, but exhibiting some tact for once, he decided not to push it.
Emma hasn't expected this. All she wanted to do was the climb the beanstalk, get the compass and go home to Henry. She just didn't expect that damn pirate to read her so well and figure things out about her that nobody else did.
She knows he's her soulmate, but this is going a bit too far.
Emma looks around the courtyard, trying to get these thoughts out of her mind. Right now, she needs to focus on getting the compass. Hook can wait till later. Or maybe she can just not think about him at all. Oh, who is she kidding? That's not going to happen at all.
As if on cue, his voice breaks through her thoughts. "Your hand."
"What?" Emma asks distractedly and glances down at her left hand and grimaces. There's a long, jagged cut across the palm that's bleeding badly and hurts quite badly too, now that she thinks about it. How the hell did she not notice it before?
"Your hand, it's cut. Let me help."
"No," Emma backs away quickly. "No, its fine-"
"No, it's not," Hook insists and pulls her towards him. Doing her best to ignore their sudden proximity and the heat that's radiating off his body, Emma raises a brow.
"So now you're going to be a gentleman?" She says dryly.
Hook leans closer, his breath ghosting over her ear as he speaks. "Giants can smell blood. And I'm always a gentleman."
God, this is ridiculous, Emma thinks angrily. She's a grown woman; she shouldn't be feeling so flustered around this-this pirate! Sure he may incredibly attractive and hot as hell and have the dangerous bad boy vibe that Emma may or may not have a thing for and sure his eyes may be blue and deep enough to suck her in but that does not mean she should be so distracted around him!
Ugh, she really needs to get a grip.
Hook takes a flask out from seemingly nowhere and pops the cork with his teeth. Holding up her hand, he spills half the flask's contents over it.
Emma hisses in pain and tries to jerk away. "Ah! What the hell is that?!"
"Rum," Hook answers nonchalantly and inspects the wound. "A bloody waste of it."
Hook takes off the scarf around his neck and starts to loop it around her palm. "So, here's the plan," He begins. "We wait for the giant to fall asleep and when he does, we'll sneak past him into his cave. It's where the treasures are, and where the compass lies." He leans down and fastens the knot with his mouth, holding eye contact with her all the while.
Emma can feel her face burning at the sensation of his breath over her palm and she can't help but think about how that mouth of his would feel against hers. He'd be an amazing kisser, she thinks.
"And then?" Emma asks, hating herself for how breathless she sounds.
Hook smirks, the bastard, as if he knows exactly what's running through her mind. "And then we find the compass, and run like hell."
He finally lets go of her hand and Emma doesn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed.
"I don't have time to wait for a giant to fall asleep," Emma says tiredly. "The powder Mulan gave us, we need to use it."
"Well, that's riskier."
Emma gives him a disbelieving look. "Than waiting for a giant to fall asleep when we need him to?"
Hook nods in assent. "Good point," He murmurs and gives her an admiring smile. "You're a tough lass. You'd make a hell of a pirate."
He takes the powder out of the satchel and hands it to her. Emma grasps it and then notices something she hadn't before, a tattoo on his forearm. It's a curved dagger-she's pretty sure she's seen something like it in Henry's book-piercing a heart. A woman's name is written on the dagger. Milah.
"Who's Milah, on the tattoo?"
Hook's eyes widen for a minute-and Emma can see pain and agony in his gaze before his defenses slam back up and he turns away. The smirking, flirting pirate is gone, all of a sudden and now all she can see is a broken, wounded man.
"Someone from long ago," Hook says quietly and walks past her.
"Where is she?" Emma asks. Hook sounds almost exasperated when he replies.
"She's gone."
Judging from the pain she saw in his eyes, this 'Milah' was probably his soulmate. And suddenly everything clicks into place.
"What does Captain Hook want in Storybrooke?"
"To get revenge, on the man who took my hand, Rumplestilkskin."
"Gold." Emma says aloud and watches as Hook stops in his tracks. "Rumplestilkskin. He took more than just your hand from you, didn't he? That's why you want to kill him."
Hook is silent for a long moment before he speaks.
"For someone who's never been in love, you're quite perceptive, aren't you?"
Emma thinks of a stolen watch, the cold metal of handcuffs clasping over her wrists, tears running down her cheeks as her baby is taken away from her.
"Maybe I was," Emma whispers. "Once."
