Note: This is the backstory for why Emma did not wait for Killian

"It's too dangerous, Killian. I shall talk to my father and you can stay behind. He can reassign you to some other ship or something." Emma huffed, beginning to walk away from him.

"NO! You will not!" Killian shouted and Emma stopped in her tracks. He had never raised his voice at her and she could hear the anger in it.

"Excuse me?" she asked incredulously.

Killian sighed and continued in a more reasonable, if not pleading tone. "Your highness. I am a Lieutenant in the Navy and I have responsibilities to my Captain and to my kingdom. I cannot just give up and run at the first sign that what I am doing might be dangerous. It would be bad form and extreme cowardice. What would people say?"

"I don't care what people say" Emma said stubbornly.

Killian nodded, "Aye but you have that luxury which I cannot afford. I must make my own way and must do what is proper and right."

"You and that damn good form will get you killed" Emma was getting desperate.

Killian scratched behind his ear and reached out a hand to her arm, "Please understand that I must go."

Emma looked him in the eyes, trying to hold back a tear. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tight as if by sheer force of will she could keep him with her. He meant so much and she had never told him. Now he was going off to a war that might never return him. She started to cry in earnest and he enveloped her in his arms and rested his cheek against her hair.

"I will come back, Emma. I promise that I will come back" he said softly.

She shook her head, "You don't know that."

He chuckled, "Don't you know? I could go to the end of the world and still I would come back. I probably shouldn't but I lo.." Emma put her fingers on his mouth.

"Tell me when you come back" she said.

"Aye. I must go now. " He said untangling her arms and taking a step back.

Emma nodded and composed herself. "Good speed, Lieutenant."

"Fair health and sunny skies, your highness" he bowed, gave her hand a kiss and then winked at her as he took his leave.

Three years…it had been three years since the day that he had left. The war had been over for a year at great cost, though her kingdom and their ally, the Kingdom of the Northern Shores, had finally defeated their enemy. So many lives had been lost and she shuddered to think of the cost. Their enemies had used magic in almost every battle and it had drained the resources of both kingdoms until her parents had found that Emma and her brother were able to cast a protection spell over the two kingdoms and everyone in and from them. The spell was so powerful that it decimated the enemies within their borders immediately. After that, a hasty treaty was agreed to and the war ended. But it had been too late for some.

It had been near the end of the war when news came of the Battle of the North Sea. Out of 5 ships in the battle, only one had not been lost and had returned to the kingdom. Emma heard of the returning ship and ran down through the town at breakneck speed towards the docks. She ran so fast that the townsfolk swore she was practically flying. She made it just as the ship was docking but caught short when she saw the name – The Mercury. Emma's heart sank as she trudged back up the street and back to the castle. She waited for the Captain of the ship to make his way to the castle and his reports to her father.

She was wearing a whole in the carpet when she heard a knock on the door. She opened it to find her mother on the other side.

"What news?" Emma asked.

"Let's sit down" Queen Snow said. She led her daughter over to the settee and both sat down.

The Queen sighed, "The Battle of the North Sea was not kind to us. We lost 4 of our best ships. Emma…"

"No, the Jewel of the Realm was not there. I would know if it was there." Emma tried to deny what her mother was saying.

"Emma, Captain Jones was the lead in that battle. Captain Smith has confirmed that the ship was lost. They pulled some survivors out of the water but most of the crew was taken as hostages." She grabbed daughter's hand.

Emma yanked her hand back, "Then there is still hope."

After the end of the war, it had been agreed that all prisoners would be returned. They were returned home slowly and Emma's patience had been wearing thin. She felt that this was a punishment for being the solution to the war. The final group came and Emma was summoned to her father's council room.

"Emma, please come in and sit down" her father told her.

Emma warily sat on a chair, perched as if she would flee at any moment.

"The last of the prisoners have been returned. Captain Jones is here, we have set aside a room for his use. He is not well, Emma, but he asked to speak to you." King David told his daughter.

Emma nodded, "I shall go now."

Emma went and talked to Captain Liam Jones. It had been a hard conversation. He believed his brother to have perished in the attack. They had gotten separated and Killian was not in the group of captives that he had been held with and therefore, seeing as he had not been returned with The Mercury, it was his assumption that his brother was gone. Emma pleaded with him to reconsider, that she would know if Killian was gone but Liam begged her to see reason. She had fled from his rooms and refused to speak any further with the Captain.

After the war, relations between her Kingdom and The Northern Shores had grown even stronger. Prince Olav was a frequent visitor and he and Emma would have lively debates over things as simple as weather you should have sugar or cream in your tea. She found him to be a pleasant man and they became good friends. It was a year and a half after the war's end when her life was turned upside down.

"Emma" her mother said as she entered the council room.

"You wanted to speak with me?" Emma asked.

"Yes, Emma, your mother and I have called you here to ask you to consider a proposal from Prince Olav." David said.

Emma shook her head, "I am not sure that I can do that."

David sighed, "It would be good for both kingdoms…You could"

"What about what is good for me?" Emma asked.

Snow shared a look with her husband, "Sweetheart, it is time that you accept that he is not coming back. I know it pains you, but Lieutenant Jones is gone. Prince Olav cares for you a great deal and would give you a good home."

Emma stared in horror at her mother, "What about love? Do I not get what you have? I am just destined to be married for convenience?"

"He would not have wanted you to be alone the rest of your life" David stated plainly.

Emma let a tear roll down her cheek, "He promised he would come back."

Snow rushed to her side, "I know. We just want you to try to be happy and move on."

Emma nodded. "I will consider it, mother, for your sake."

Emma had been married for a week and she and Prince Olav would be returning to The Northern Shores in a few days. She had conceded to the marriage but had asked that they be married in her kingdom and he had agreed. She had been reflecting on the past three years. How she imagined a much different life than the one she had been led to now. She heard a commotion coming from the courtyard through the open balcony doors. She went to the balcony to see what was happening but could not make it out as the group moved towards the castle.

Emma went to investigate when she almost literally ran into her mother.

"Emma, oh, perhaps you would like to walk with me in the garden?" Snow said.

"What was all that noise?" Emma said.

Snow looked away guiltily, "It was nothing, your father is seeing to it. Nothing that concerns you."

Emma looked into her mother's eyes. "You're lying."

"We are just looking out for you," Snow said and began to ramble, "This is just bad timing and if you just wait then everything will be ok. You will see. Captain Jones should have written first and asked permission to talk to you."

Emma paled at the name. If Liam was here, then he must have some important news because he had followed her wishes not to see him and had corresponded with her father through intermediaries or private meetings. She suddenly felt selfish for barring him from a shared grief. She had lost someone she loved but he had lost the only family he had. Liam Jones adored his brother and to lose him in such a manner must have torn him.

"I will speak with Captain Jones in my sitting room" she told her mother.

Snow shook her head, "Emma, I don't think…"

"Mother, I must speak to him. Please." Emma pleaded.

Her mother agreed and went off to talk to her father and Captain Jones. Emma sat as calmly as she could while waiting for him. He was led into the room with both her mother and father. Captain Jones bowed and sat when she asked him to do so.

"You wished an audience Captain Jones?" she asked politely.

He nodded, "Your highness, I do not wish to pain you any further on the topic of my brother, however, I felt it my duty to inform you that I found him."

Emma suddenly felt dizzy and her mother rushed to her side. After a moment, she tried to regain her composure. "Excuse me, you found him?" she all but whispered.

Liam looked at her with sadness, "Aye."

"Is he…where did you…may I see him?" she was a lost for the proper words.

"I am not sure that is wise" David said.

Liam nodded, "Your highness, he is not wholly himself."

Emma looked between the three people in the room with something between surprise and anger. "I don't care." She turned to Liam and tried to keep the begging from her voice. "Liam, please where is he?"

Liam sighed and David spoke up. "Captain Jones, perhaps if we sent a carriage and some help, we could make the Lieutenant comfortable in some rooms here?"

"Aye, your majesty, that would be most helpful." Liam replied.

Emma watched their exchange with an eagle eye. She knew there was something else they were not telling her.

"What happened to him?" she asked. She watched as Snow and David exchanged a look.

"We will let you two talk for a moment" Snow said as they left the room.

After they were gone, Emma waited for Liam to continue. He took a drink of the wine he had been offered, then scrubbed a hand down his face.

Liam cleared his throat, "After we spoke, I recovered from the imprisonment and then I returned to my duties as a Captain in the Royal Navy. As you probably know, there have been pirates and slavers that we have been dealing with off the shores of the kingdom. Recently, we were attacked by a pirate ship off the south shore. It was a close battle but I was able to get the upper hand on them and we were able to take the ship and the crew into custody. I was inspecting the crew when I noticed on of them in shackles."

Emma gasped, "Killian"

"Aye. I hardly recognized him. They had cut his hair and he now has a scar on his cheek. He was malnourished and hardly himself." Liam choked on the lump in his throat.

"But he is alive, Liam." She tried to comfort them both.

He nodded, "That he is, thank the gods. Apparently he and two others had avoided being captured but had been skipped in the rescue. They were found by the pirates and pressed into service. My brother, being the stubborn arse that he is, had been chained and shackled and never allowed to leave the ship due to his big mouth."

Emma smiled, "Let's go get him and return him here."

Liam took a moment, "There is one other thing, Emma."

Emma waited and thought she saw horror cross Liam's face before he took a deep breath.

"Just tell me" Emma said with barely contained patience.

"They cut off his hand" Liam said.

Emma had been convinced to let Liam go alone, with some of the house servants to fetch Killian to the castle. In truth she needed to time to compose herself. She and Olav had talked. He knew the relationship she and Killian had before the war and he knew that she must be conflicted in her thoughts now. Olav knew that she had agreed to marry him because she felt it was her only choice. He was a kind and understanding man and he promised her that they could postpone their trip home if she needed to stay while her friend was recovering.

She knew that he was now in the castle, she had heard the carriage. She continued to wait while they made Killian comfortable and what Liam termed "presentable to her highness" to which she rolled her eyes in annoyance. In truth Killian could be wearing a potato sack with pink hair and she would not care. All she wanted to do was see him for her own eyes. To see that he was indeed alive and safe and home. She stopped short at the thought of home, remembering that in a few days this would no longer be her home. She was in the middle of this musing when Liam at last knocked on the door and entered her sitting room.

He bowed low, "Your highness"

"Cut the crap, Liam," she said with exasperation, "Just take me to him."

Liam scratched behind his ear, "He has asked that you not visit, Emma."

Emma glared at Liam with her hands on her hips. "It is not his decision. Take. Me. To. Him. Now" and she punctuated the last word with a stamp of her foot.

Liam nodded and gestured for her to come with him. They walked through the castle to the door of Killian's room. Emma took a deep breath, attempting to steel herself for what she would see.

She pushed into the room without knocking. Killian jumped where he was sitting and his eyes widened. He struggled to stand and Liam was at his side in a moment to help. This brought Emma out of her shock.

"Please sit down" she said quietly.

Killian gave a short bow but remained stubbornly standing.

Emma threw up her hands, "Oh for heaven's sake." She stomped over and plopped into a chair.

Killian chuckled and then Liam helped him to sit. "Brother, I will be near if you need me." Liam said and left the room.

Emma and Killian stared at each other for a long moment. It pained her to see him this way. He was gaunt and tired looking. An angry red scar crossed his right cheek and his normally neat, long hair was a little messy and cut short. His normally clean shaven chin and jaw were covered in a light scruff and she tried desperately not to notice the deep purple bruises under his eyes. Those same eyes that were looking at her both with trepidation and shame. She let herself linger there for a moment before glancing briefly at his left arm, his sleeve ending where his hand should be but was not. He made a self-conscious move to place his arm between himself and the chair.

"Don't" Emma said in a whisper.

"Your highness, I, " Killian began.

"Killian, there is no need for formalities." She said.

He looked pointedly at her left hand and she swallowed heavily, suddenly feeling too warm for the room. "This does not change the fact the we are friends" she said.

"Friends" he muttered under his breath and she wished that she could erase the look of hurt that crossed his features. She moved from her position to kneel beside him.

"Killian, what did they do to you?" she asked.

He laughed humorlessly, "Enough."

"It matters not. You are back and that is what is important. You kept your promise." Emma said.

"Aye, Emma. I am sorry that it took me so long to come home. I was delayed." Killian said earnestly. He gave her a weak smile and that was what broke her composure.

Emma threw her arms around his neck and started sobbing, her tears staining his shirts where she laid her head. "Oh Killian."

He wrapped his good arm around her and let her cry for both of them.