Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. Only the plot.
Part II
Emma was huddle in the corner of the window, facing away from the door, tears streaming down her face as she watched the sunset in Neverland. She could hear the crew above her, hurrying everywhere they went. She did not care for them at all; in fact, she did not bother with anything any of them did. They had brought her food after her bumpy ride into this wretched place. She did not touch it. All she could think about was how the man from her dreams was real, and how he possessed a great evil. Hours later, Killian came in to check on her. Upon seeing the untouched food, he realized that there was something wrong. The darkness in him told him to just ignore her; however, the goodness in him wanted to for him to be a gentleman. In the end, the latter won out. He went over to her side. She did not seem to notice him. He saw her blank stare and the tears. He reached a hand up to her cheek and brushed away a few tears. This made her realize what was going on. Jumping away from her captor's hand, she ran up the stairs and onto the deck. All of the men stopped what they were doing to stare at her, but she no longer cared. All she wanted to do was leave. She ran to the railing and climbed onto it.
"What are you doing, Love?" Emma had to grab onto the rigging in order steady herself. The Dark One was standing right behind her, hands raised as if to cast some sort of spell. She glared at him before a thought came to mind. She would trick him. Smiling coyly, she winked at him.
"Having some fun," she responded. He looked at her, confused. She twisted around to face him, her hands letting go of the rigging. He came closer to him and she bent down in order to get near his face. Their lips were almost touching when she whispered, "After all, this is my prison. I might as well make myself comfy." Then she tilted backwards and fell off the ship. The air rushing behind her felt like she was falling through everything. Mid-air, she twisted and came into a diving position. Her family's castle was on a lake, so she had learned how to swim. She took a deep breath right before she hit the water. The water was warm and made her feel at home. She swam to the surface, her corset making it hard for her to stay under water for long. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at the ship to see an angry and stunned Dark One. She laughed in delight and took off her corset. This shocked him even more. Emma began to head toward shore, feeling finally free from everything. Little did she know that she had just ensured her fate.
Killian looked on as his temptress swam to shore. He did not know the feelings stirring within him – the slight pain as she went farther away, the anger of her trickery.
"SMEE!" He bellowed. The poor, stout man was by his side in a heartbeat. "Ready the boats. We're going to the castle." Killian then proceeded to walk away and head toward his quarters.
"Um, sir?" Smee asked timidly. His captain froze, then turned slowly toward the frightened pirate, glowering at him. "What about the Princess?" And Smee immediately regretted allowing those words to slip out of his mouth. He had seen the Captain angry, and he had seen him upset. He had never seen the sly look on the darkened face of the Dark One before like the one that graced his features now.
"Oh, don't you worry, Smee," Killian smirked evilly, the darkness that he so hated taking over. "She will be mine. She just needs some… persuasion." And with that, the Captain of The Jolly Roger sauntered below deck as the men began preparing the boats.
Meanwhile, Emma had finally reached land and sat on the beach. The sun had just reached the edge of the land and was creating a beautiful picture in the sky. She sighed, knowing that she could never get off this godforsaken island. All she wanted was to see her parents again. The tears began to fall again. She did not know how long she had sat there before the sun finally set.
The bushes behind her began to rustle. Emma jumped and found a sharp rock. Standing abruptly, she turned to face whatever nightmare would come to her. She was not prepared for the shadow that came at her. She screamed as it flew at her, pulling at something in her. Something deep. But it could not get it. And for the second time in Emma's life, she felt the magic within her bubbling up as her emotions took over. She had been taught to keep it hidden, but when Regina had finally given up on trying to kill Snow White after meeting Robin Hood, she had began to secretly teach her how to use it. Still, she screamed as the shadow began to attack her. It threw various objects at her, and she had yet to produce a good protection spell. Her golden hair was severely messed up, and the rocks being thrown at her were ripping her white dress. Just when she thought things could not get worse, a voice sounded from just behind her.
"Emma!" The Dark One was there, a fireball in hand. She turned to see his plan just in time. A rock whistled past her head as she ducked and then great flames spewed from his hands. The shadow screamed and then faded into nothingness as the flames consumed its body. The Dark One quickly rushed Emma into the safety of the Dark Forest. Their clothing contrasted each other greatly: hers was white, pure; his was black, full of mystery and tarnish. Her ringlets were disheveled, and blood was dripping from her forehead and her left hand. The shadow had done a number on her.
"Emma," Killian said after a few minutes of silence. She flinched: she knew what was coming. He continued to lead her through the tangle of brush and trees. "Emma, please don't do that to me again. I need you alive. You are part of a prophecy that will break me of my wretchedness. That's why… Emma?" She had begun to sway as she'd walked. He looked at her forehead. "Bugger," he swore. Then he led her toward the cliffs that would ultimately lead to her being rid of the blasted poison. Magicking them up to the top, he caught her as she began to faint. The shadow's aim was strong, and had probably given her a concussion. Flicking his wrist, the Dreamshade gave way to the pool of water that would restore her. He placed his right arm under her legs and her barely conscious body slumped against his chest.
"You have nice abs," she mumbled. He smirked, but continued to walk forward. As he reached the edge of the pool, he gently laid her down and pulled out his flask. Scooping some of the healing waters into it, he poured the cool liquid into her mouth. At first, the black veins only continued to spread; however, the liquid soon took over and she gasped for air. Killian's relieved smile filled her vision and she saw the man from her dreams – the good, kind man that was always there to comfort her and talk to her. "There you are," she said groggily. His confusion then made her realize that this was the Dark One that was standing over her. While she was coming back to her senses, he conjured up some bandages. He reached his left hand to touch her forehead, but she reeled back before he could get anywhere near her. Disgruntled and frustrated, he sighed.
"Try something new, Darling," he said tiredly. "It's called trust." And with that, he dressed her wounds and kissed each one when he was finished. She just watched on in awe, trying to think of a witty comeback, yet Emma was just too exhausted to think. Then she saw a jagged dagger with an inscription on it tucked into his boot. She could not make out the entire word, just "K". She secretly stretched her right hand out to touch it. Her curiosity was winning her over, and she wanted nothing more than to get away from him. Luckily, she had inherited her mother's banditry skills. He did not notice that she now possessed his dagger, which she then hid in her boot. She would read the inscription later on.
Soon, the pair set off again - when Emma was strong enough to get onto her feet. They traveled in silence for a long time. Emma kept her head down the entire time, trying to think of a spell to use to bring her happy thoughts. Regina had only taught her the basics of magic. She closed her eyes and focused, trying to think of something to do. She suddenly felt her hair right itself. Opening her eyes suddenly, she smiled and conjured a mirror to see what she had done. She had not exactly meant for that to happen, per se; however, he was grateful that she was able to still perform some magic. She had not realized that the Captain had stopped walking until she bumped right into him. She looked up, vanishing her mirror and putting her hood up so as to not show him that she could perform magic. But he had sensed something.
"Someone is performing magic," he muttered. He glanced at her and raised an eyebrow as he noticed her hood was up on her cloak. He was rather perturbed by this fact. She would not look at him. He approached her and she glanced up at him through her long lashes. "Did you do something?" She looked at him, shocked.
"Me? Performing magic? Where did you get that idea?" The pirate looked at her skeptically before flicking his right wrist and her hood fell down. The crystal headband was in place like it had been in the garden before he had shown up. He gawked at her.
"You can do magic!" He exclaimed. She blanched – no one was supposed to know she could do that. "Show me," he demanded. She looked at him like he was crazy and walked past him. He just stood there, his back turned to her, waiting to feel the magic again. She noticed this and formulated a plan, smirking all the while. With a flick of her wrist, she conjured up a long rope that tied around the Captain's waist. He felt the magic happen and looked down before he felt a strong pull and he was dragged along. He smirked at her ingenuity – this girl was smart and quick. He walked faster to get ahead of her. She did not know where she was going, so he needed to lead her. To his castle. He was the king of Neverland, and she needed to know that. This was going to be her domain, too, and she was going to see how much the land meant to him. It had been his home for three hundred plus years. He had spent the last eighteen of those years here, watching her grow into a beautiful, graceful young woman. Only she was not just a polite, kind princess – which, most of the time, she was. But she also had a snarky, adventurous side that helped her to discover her true self – she was a fighter. She did love the occasional ball, but she loved sword-fighting even more. And he had not realized it quite yet, but as he had watched her through the mirrors, he had become quite smitten around her. This made his good side come out whenever they were in close proximity – as in this very instant.
"You know, Emma," he said, waving his hand and moving brush out of the way. "If you loved the dream version of me, than why do you flinch whenever the real me comes near you? He and I are the same person." She shakily sighed and fought back tears at the memory of the dream version of him. Him in his dress blues, a complete gentleman. The only piece of identification that she had of him was that he was a lieutenant.
"The lieutenant in my dreams is a far better man than you will ever be," she spat, the rage filling her. How dare he compare himself to her beautiful lieutenant? The moments they shared in her dreams… not even her own mother had heard of some of the things that had gone on between them. The Captain glanced at her and shook his head.
"You do know that I was him. At one point in time," he muttered darkly. She stopped, still holding the makeshift the "leash" that was around his waist. He felt the rope tug gently on his midsection. He turned to find her lost in thought.
She knew what she had to do.
She was going to bring his lieutenant back from under the darkness.
They had finally reached the castle and Emma stared at it in complete and total awe. It was a complete glass structure and it was huge – much larger than her home castle. It was even bigger than Regina's – and that was saying a lot. Killian watched her as she stared in awe, her small, seemingly fragile hands still grasping at the rope around his middle. But her amazement was short-lived as she realized where she thought her quarters would be – the dungeons. Her head dropped and she magicked away the rope. She could feel Killian's gaze on her back. Sighing, she tried to steady her resolve.
"I'm ready to be put in the dungeon," she whispered. She jumped when she felt his hand on her back. It was as if a jolt went through both of them.
"What makes you think I'm putting you in a dungeon, Lass?" He murmured into her ear. He began to lead her toward the castle, his steps confident and sure. She stumbled a couple of times before she reached the door, and it took the two of them longer to get to her room than Killian had originally anticipated. He suddenly stopped in front of her door and shoved her inside.
"You'll be staying here," he said, his cold demeanor returning. She shuddered and turned away from him. If she had been looking at him, she would have noticed his scaly complexion returning to his form – albeit, she had never seen it on him before. He shut the door on her and the lights in her room turned on. The room was rather plain – a small cot on one side of the room, and a bathing basin and bathroom on the other side. A mahogany wardrobe sat adjacent to the bed, and a large mirror hung on the wall beside it. She went over to the mirror and waved her hand, trying to remember the spell to transform mirrors into a two-way mirror. She was not a powerful magical being yet, but she would become one. The first couple times did not work; however, the fourth time seemed to work. She saw her mother and her father sitting in their bedroom. Snow White was crying because she could not have her beloved daughter anymore; her father cried because his baby girl was gone forever. Her younger brother, Leopold, ran into the room, crying and clinging to his best friend, Neal. Emma felt her eyes prickle with tears, but she shoved them away quickly. She did not have that much time to talk.
"Mom," She called. Snow White's head lifted and she looked at the mirror.
"Emma!" She watched as her mother ran toward her, the rest of them following suit quickly. "Where are you? Are you okay? What's going on –"
"Mom, I don't have that much time to explain. I'm in Neverland. The Dark One took me. He needs me to 'break his curse,' or something along those lines –" The door behind her opened and the Dark One himself, scaly and eerie in appearance, marched over to her. "Mom, help!" She shouted before the Dark One waved his hand and the connection was broken. Emma could still see and hear her parents, but it had appeared that their end of the line had disconnected.
"Sorry, Love," he said. "No long-distance calls." The tears fell freely as she wheeled around, drawing the dagger she had snagged from him earlier in the night. His eyes flashed with rage when he saw it. "Where did you get that, Lass?" His whisper was dangerous.
"I swiped it off of you while you weren't paying attention," She said, lunging towards him. He deflected it with an easy flick of his wrist. Both she and the dagger went flying – in opposite directions. She hit the ground and gasped as all of the air left her lungs. She heard the clangor of metal on the floor where the dagger fell. She watched as the Dark One stooped down to pick it up and he began to walk to the door. He had reached the door before he seemed to change his mind and he headed back toward her. She sat herself up slowly, painfully, as the Dark One approached her. He knelt down in front of her, blue eyes gleaming in the dim light.
"Emma, I am only going to offer this to you once. And I am only going to tell you this information once. So listen carefully. This dagger controls the Dark One. It can also kill the Dark One. I am asking you as a favor to not use it unless it to kill me unless it is an absolute emergency. You can summon me with it all you want, but do not come at me with it unless it is your last resort." With that, he held the hilt of the dagger to her. Trembling, her fingers wrapped around it, her eyes never leaving his. As soon as she was in its possession, he smirked. "Now I have to do whatever you say. See what I'm doing? I'm trusting you." With that, he left her to herself and the dagger. Emma quickly looked down at it; she wanted to see the inscription.
Even in the dim light, she could make out that it was his name. She smiled for the first time in what felt like days at the sight as she mouthed it.
"Killian Jones."
