Set approximately 13 years after the defeat of Zelena. As always, I don't own anything you recognize.
Thursday Throwbacks
Liam sunk deep into the mattress, settling down with five blankets on top and a dozen stuffed animals around him.
"Ready for bed?" Killian asked. Liam nodded, smiling contentedly. "You brushed your teeth, washed your face, everything?"
Another nod. The seven year old bared his teeth to give evidence of just how clean they were. "Will you tell me a story Daddy?"
Killian smiled at his son. He always marveled at just how much like his namesake he could be; stubborn, determined, and able to bend him completely to his will. "Alright. What story would you like to hear?"
He contemplated for a long time, but before he could respond, Annie rushed into the room. "Dad, I need your help. I have to write a story about someone I admire, and I can't decide what to do."
"Tell me about the giant!" Liam interrupted, disregarding his sister's needs.
Killian smiled. "Actually, this could be a very good tale to share. Why don't you stay Annie?" She took a seat on the floor, grabbing one of Liam's castoff animals and holding it on her lap.
Killian cleared his throat. "I assume you want to hear about when your mother and I climbed the beanstalk and met Anton for the first time." When he received a positive response from Liam and whispered excitement from Annie, he began telling the story.
"Well, your mother and grandmother were trapped in the Enchanted Forest after the Dark Curse was broken here in Storybrooke. They were trying to get back to Gramps and Henry, and they weren't about to let anything stand in their way, including a devilishly handsome pirate."
Lily appeared in the doorway and spoke in an accusatory tone. "What are you all doing?"
"Shh! Daddy's telling the story about climbing the beanstalk," Liam shushed her.
In perfect imitation of her mother, Lily rolled her eyes and proclaimed the story old and boring. "Bedtime stories are for babies anyways."
"You don't have to listen," Annie said.
Lily huffed, but didn't move from her position. Killian continued the story, hopefully without any more interruptions. "The only way that we knew of to get Emma and Mary Margaret home was by retrieving an enchanted compass from the top of the giant's beanstalk. Every story we had ever heard was that the giant at the top was fearsome and terrible. We didn't know what to expect when we got up there, so we prepared ourselves with a bag full of poppy powder that would put him to sleep, and your mother and I set off on the beanstalk."
"Don't forget the fact that I trusted you about as far as I could throw you," Emma said from the doorway. She joined Annie and Lily on the floor, and the entire family watched Killian anxiously for the next part of the story.
"As we climbed the stalk, I got bored. Your mother refused to talk to me because she was afraid of all the feelings she was developing for me…"
Emma couldn't let the lies continue. "Yeah, right. I was concentrating, and even if I wasn't, I wouldn't have wanted to waste my breath on talking to a suspicious pirate who had admitted to working with Cora."
Killian smiled at her. "You keep telling yourself that Love. However, I did finally get your mother to say a few words. Despite her initial reluctance to talk, I was then, and ever after, able to read her like an open book. That's how I knew that she really did want me, but was too afraid to say it."
Emma snorted, but allowed him to continue this time. "When we got to the top of the stalk, I, being the gentleman that I always am, noticed that she had injured herself. I carefully bandaged her hand, leaving her speechless in her desire to forget our mission and proceed to – more enjoyable activities," he censured himself for the sake of their innocence.
"Eww, you wanted to kiss Mommy?" Liam asked.
Annie echoed her mother's snort and muttered, "I think they wanted to do more than kiss."
Emma cleared her throat. "Don't forget the part where I saw your tattoo. Mr. "I can read you and you have no secrets from me" decided that he couldn't take as much as he could dish out, and closed off immediately when the questions became about him."
"I shared plenty with you. You didn't need to know all the details right away, did you?"
Liam tugged at Killian's arm, bringing him back to what he should be doing. "Yes, well, we determined that we needed to find a way to get the giant to inhale the poppy powder. So your mother climbed up on a statue, and I drew him out of his castle by banging away at a shield with a giant bone. When he emerged, he was much taller than we had expected, and in order to help your mother, I had to draw the giant's ire."
"What's 'ire'?" Liam asked.
"It means he made the giant really mad," Annie said, proud of her skills.
"Aye, I had to make the giant go for me rather than your mother. You know, protecting her, being her knight in shining armor so to speak." Killian didn't even allow Emma's small noise of protest to interrupt his flow. "I yelled at the giant, made him look at me rather than at your mother. Then, when the giant reached down to grab me, your mother slammed him right in the face with the powder. He dropped to the ground, and I knew at that moment that your mother and I were destined to work together as a team because we did it so well."
"Until you dropped me," Emma said. The children all turned to face her, and she picked up the story to keep the facts straight. "As I slid down the statue I had climbed up, your father attempted to catch me, but only succeeded in sending us both to the ground. That doesn't sound like good teamwork to me."
"It was better when we faced the giant again," Killian said.
"You mean when you got stuck under a pile of rocks and I negotiated for the compass? That was great teamwork," Emma said.
"Mom, Dad, the story?" Lily said.
"Quite right darling. I believe part of the story was skipped. So, after we knocked out the giant, we began to rummage through his treasures in hopes of finding the compass. Unfortunately, your mother got impatient with our results, and finally gave into her feelings for me and grabbed me close to her…"
"To save you from getting trapped," Emma interrupted.
Killian continued without missing a beat. "And then she wouldn't let go of me. Honestly, it was slightly embarrassing."
"I know what story we should tell tomorrow – how you spent three days trapped in a New York City apartment storage unit, or maybe all the things that you did while you were working with Cora, or stealing the bean…"
Killian took Emma's threat under advisement. "After your mother and I ended the embrace, we continued our search. It took hours, and we began to be impatient. Our search was ended rather abruptly when Anton awoke and ran at us. As your mother so kindly mentioned, I was covering in an enormous pile of rubble from the collapsing ceiling, but your mother was able to get me out."
There was a pause in Killian's tale. "Isn't that when Mom chained you up and left you?" Annie asked.
"No, that's the end of the story," Killian said.
Emma jumped in to provide the unabridged version. "Yes, I did chain your father and told him that I was giving myself a head start. I had made arrangements with Anton, and I knew that nothing really bad would happen to him. But I couldn't risk that he would disrupt my plans to get home to Henry, so I took him out of the equation."
"That's not very nice Mommy," Liam said.
"I agree Liam. It was not very nice," Killian said.
"You got out eventually, didn't you? So, no harm permanently done, right?" Emma excused herself.
"Mom, I still think it was a little harsh. I mean, why would you do that to your True Love?" Annie asked. Lily and Liam nodded along with the question, each looking deeply at their mother.
Emma's breath caught in her throat at the accusation being thrown at her. "I didn't know he was my True Love at the time. And like I said, nothing really wrong happened, okay?"
Quiet moments passed as the children and Killian each evaluated Emma's excuse. Killian let the issue drop by leaning over to Emma and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I think you made up for that mistake by saving me from Zelena."
"Now that was an adventure. That would make an excellent story," Emma said.
"But Daddy, you didn't finish this story yet," Liam said.
Killian did a mental check of the story. "No, I'm pretty sure that was it, at least as far as the beanstalk adventure goes. And it's getting late, so we don't have time for the Wicked Witch story tonight."
"No Daddy. You forgot to say, 'And they lived happily ever after,'" Liam instructed.
Killian smiled at his children and his wife and knew the words were certainly true. "And they are living, and will live, happily forever after."