A/N: Sorry for the late update, school and life got in the way :(
Enjoy this chapter, it took a while to write, I'm not very familiar with OUATIW so my interpretation of it might be different. Thank you all for your reviews/follows/favs, they always make me smile!
Her lips are seared into his every thought, every waking moment, every second he breathes. He's lived for a long time, and never has a kiss affected him so much.
She stays within her quarters for the next few days, only coming up on deck to complete her tasks and eat. It makes him feel bloody awful, anger at himself, as well as at her status consuming his thoughts. He had vowed to never mingle with royals again, but he broke that promise long ago when he allowed her on board, helped her, and kissed her. He was clinging to the last vestiges of his promise, hoping that he could still keep himself away from her, away from how much he wants her for the sake of Liam. He's only a pirate, she surely deserves better.
His thoughts haunt him until they leave the chilly depths of Arendelle and sail into a region between the Midas' Kingdom and Corona. He decides with his crew to switch realms at this very spot, and preparation continues until sunset. Wonderland may seem exotic and wonderful, but it's filled with hidden dangers and he doesn't want to enter unarmed. He asks Robin to stay back with the ship and the rest of the crew, for the sake of the little one, and asks Jefferson, no matter how cowardly it makes him look, to warn Emma to be ready to leave soon, because leaving her behind would only mean another argument.
She kisses Roland's forehead softly, murmuring to him to be a good little boy for his papa and stands to hug Robin, his warmth easing her nerves. "Be careful, my lady." She nods and breathes deeply, looking around the ship, the bright blue ocean waves rolling and crashing against the sides.
He's standing by the edge of the fore-deck, his brows furrowed in concentration as he converses with Smee. She swallows and strides towards him. "Swan," he greets her and coughs, his cheeks are turning pink and that makes her heart warm. "Have you ever been to Wonderland?" He grins, his blue eyes shining brightly in the sunlight and she suddenly can't remember the tumultuous feelings she's been dealing with for the past few days. He's too attractive, stupid pirate.
"I have, mysterious and dangerous place." She's anxious and he somehow catches that, his eyes glazing over in concern. The dulled curve of his hook dips beneath her chin to raise her eyes to his. "You don't have to go, darling." She shakes her head, twisting her fingers nervously. "I want to." He gives her an exasperated expression and chuckles. "Very well then, you needn't worry, love, we make a good team." She blushes at his words and grabs his arm when the ship rocks precariously. Jefferson counts to three and Hook wraps an arm around her waist when the ship tunnels down into a swirling vortex in the deep, blue ocean.
Its spins and spins, the world tilting on its axis in a flurry of magic and power, until finally they crash into another ocean, shimmering waters glisten brightly in the golden sun. "Welcome to Wonderland."
It's just as he remembers, Wonderland, the colorful surroundings, the honey sweet air, and odd nature of huge mushrooms and swirled plants. Jefferson says his goodbyes to the crew, sorrowful as well as jubilant, his smile giving away just how happy he is to be back home as the ship sails towards a strip of land.
Emma follows Jefferson down the rail once they anchor, her green eyes curious and enchanted, and he hopes to all the gods that they're not treated to some monstrosity for her sake. He leads two other crew men along with him down the railing and smiles when he sees Emma gliding along a field of bright flowers, Jefferson in front of her, their smiles stupidly, but wonderfully too cheerful.
They make their way across the intricate, stoned paths, relying on Jefferson's memory to his home. It's the silence that should have given it away; the ease at which they were walking was a hint to the danger coming.
"Captain," his eyes tear away from Emma in front of him when he hears the anxiety in his crew man's voice, his body stance towards the beast behind them. "Bloody hell." He pulls his sword out just as the large, devious cat saunters towards them, his teeth sharp and long. There's not a second to breathe, the standoff ending abruptly as the cat pounces straight towards him. He backs away, slipping and hears Emma's shrill scream when the cat is on top of him. Gods, above, why the hell does this always have to happen?
He pushes and tugs as the cat snaps at him, his ferocious, enormous eyes intent to kill but before he can feel the dangerous bite, a sword dashes down the cats head and he turns, anger fueling his movement. He scrabbles for his sword, pushing Emma back as she reaches forward to distract and he feels his world stop spinning when the cat tears off his crew men's head. He doesn't have a chance to register the loss, the blood spilling along the beasts mouth a horrific sight, and instead screams at Jefferson and Emma to make a run for it.
The reunion is a bittersweet affair.
Her heart melts when she sees Jefferson fall to his knees as he embraces his daughter, her eyes just like her father's. He kisses his wife, tears dripping down his cheeks, and Hook smiles stiffly besides her, no doubt still furious and hurt from the disaster from earlier. Her heart aches for his loss, wishes she could say something, anything, but she had no idea what to say, just knows that they need to get off this treacherous land as soon as possible before anyone else was lost.
Jefferson insists on them to stay the night, claiming that it's too dangerous to trek back in the dark, and Hook agrees reluctantly. She helps his wife prepare dinner as Jefferson and Hook talk in muted tones in front of the fire. It makes her heart clench when they hug tightly, their lifelong friendship obvious in the soft looks exchanged.
The meal they eat is simple, yet the most satisfying meal she'd had since her courtship ball which seems like years ago. She eats every morsel of her steamed rice and chicken bathed in spicy sweet sauce, the warm chocolate drink Grace offers her sweeter and lovelier than anything she's ever had.
Grace seems to like her a lot, and she smiles at the girl's wonderment at a princess traveling with a band of pirates. The house is small, only two bedrooms, but safe and warm and Emma feels exhaustion making he limbs ache. She vehemently disagrees to Grace giving up her room, no matter if she is a princess or not, and instead offers to borrow her sheets and lay on the cot next to her bed. She cleans up in the washroom, braiding her hair to keep it out of the way, and splashes water across her face. She hesitates at the door as she tries to go to Grace's room, her gaze on him sitting in front of the fire, his rum in his hand, a tormented and thoughtful expression on his face.
She tip toes across the silent room and settles right next to him, the heat from her shoulder touching his more heated than the fire blazing itself. He offers her is flask of rum, keeping his gaze downcast, but still manages to peek at her riveting beauty glowing from the flames.
"I'm sorry about today, about your loss." She says after sipping the rum and handing it back to him. His heart clenches when he remembers the helpless desperation he felt watching his crew men being devoured by the beast. "Yes, well, death is inevitable." He swallows another burning mouthful, trying to wash away the lingering pain in his mind.
She twists her fingers, a sign of nervousness he's noticed, and sighs deeply, as if the weight of the world is on her shoulders. "I know it's hard." He doesn't mean to laugh, but it bubbles out of his throat impulsively. Royal people don't know any bloody business about pain, loss, fear. They use people like puppets, leading them to their deaths, not even raising an eyebrow when one dies under their supervision.
He's taken back by the fierce anger and hurt in her jade eyes. "I lost my little sister, the day she was born." He feels ton of bricks press down on his heart as he watches the despair spread across her face. "Just because I'm from a royal family does not mean I've not had my fair share of loss…Her name was Mary, she bled too profusely to live and my family was devastated. It's why I'm so desperate to learn magic; I don't want them to lose me, too." She gathers her skirts and gets up, trying to leave, her walls are too low and he can see the broken girl beneath the pretty princess.
He grabs her hand, hot tears stinging his eyes for her pain, her burdens and loss. "I'm sorry, love." She gives him a watery smile and lets him strokes her knuckles with his thumb softly, before she pulls her hand back. "Goodnight, Captain."
His gaze lingers on her the whole morning the next day. It makes her skin prickle, as if he can see beneath her very flesh, and it feels oddly relieving, as well as terrifying.
She eats her sweet porridge and swallows down more sweet, warm chocolate drinks, because who knows when she'll get to try it again. She hugs Jefferson tightly, tears in her eyes when he sweetly kisses her forehead and tells her again and again how grateful he is to her, forever in her debt for bringing him home to his family. She says goodbye to the rest of the family, and begins her trek to the Jolly with Hook by her side, the silence between them comforting.
Wonderland is incredible, and terrifying. It's nothing compared to the stories she's heard as a child. The vivid colors, the exotic plans and villages, the sweet honeyed scent in the air are like a dream, an almost nightmarish dream. She grows wary when they reach the path that had led to his crew men's death, her heart rate picks up and she presses closer to his side. So lost in her own thoughts and fears, she hardly notices the little white rabbit popping out form beneath the large purple and orange mushroom. He grabs her arm, and raises his sword from his hilt when the rabbit oddly begins to talk in chipped, short words. "I mean no harm. I just need the Swan girl."
A cold wave of fear spreads over her and her hand immediately reaches for the blade tucked beneath her gown, strapped to her leg. "Sorry, vermin, but you can't have her." Fear grips her veins and coils in her belly when large, square like men appear from behind the bushes and mushrooms. She clings to Hook, her blade pressed to her chest, aimed to strike should anyone come near. She doesn't even get a chance to hear what he tells her, low and whispered in her ear, as the rough strike of some kind of stone knocks her out.
He wants to laugh at his predicament, he should have expected this, should have known that every bloody realm only held hell in store for him. He was called back to awareness in the middle of being dragged to the Queen of Heart's castle, the festering worry for her safety eating him alive.
"Captain, how nice of you to join us." He gives the woman baring her teeth at him in a demented smile a disgusted, grim grin, his anger at being tied by ropes and being forced to kneel on his knees to her fucking highness grating on his nerves. "Nice to see you, Cora, you haven't changed at all," he spits and she laughs, all sickening sweet and lethal. "But I see you have!" She tilts her head to somewhere behind her and he finally sees that streak of golden hair in the harsh sunlight.
She's alive. The relief that surges to him is indescribable.
He sees a young boy anxiously pacing the floor in front of Emma, his eyes lingering on the ropes tying her wrists. "You're princess here, dear Captain, is failing to understand my motives." She circles around him, her finger tips grazing the leathers around his shoulders, and he cringes at her touch. She leans down, her breath cool and twisting his stomach in a need to hurl at the scent of her fills his nose.
"I want to strip my daughter of everything, of all her happiness, and I've only accomplished taking her son so far." He is dumb struck for a moment, failing to comprehend the purpose of Emma, or the boy, or her daughter. "I can't have Emma and her quest to find out her magical abilities ruin my purpose." She fists the collars of his coat, her crazed eyes boring into his. "It needs to be me! You understand where I'm coming from, right Captain? Revenge is only fulfilled if all other threats are killed."
She won't raise him to bait by bringing up his old revenge quests, ones he's given up on, the ones where he was alone and felt as if only murder and pain could fill his void. It hits him suddenly, when he catches Emma's green, terrified eyes. Cora's daughter was Regina; she had taken her son, the boy who was discreetly untying the ropes around Emma's wrists.
He twists his hook around the rope, digging into the flimsy strands until it gives away and smirks when he rises to his feet, sword raises high above his head. He takes a moment to appreciate the shocked and angry expression on Cora's face before he swings at her, missing by a few flicks away. The movement happens so quickly, he hardly has time to process it, his eyes glued to Emma and the boy running around the guards and towards him. His breath stops in his lungs, the shocking pain lashing against his chest in a wave, and then he looks down, and sees her hand deep in his chest, most likely gripped around his furiously thumping heart. He looks up and sees her vicious smile. "Leave the boy, princess, or I'll crush your pirate's heart."
Time slows, the world stops spinning, everything inside of her ceases to function when she sees Cora's hand thrust into his chest, around his heart.
She doesn't have time to understand what Cora wants, what her plans are, what her powers are, all she knows is that Hook could die and she can't lose him. She's only mere feet away and wants to throttle the woman, but she's frozen in place, her heart beating frantically, her eyes burning with tears.
She has to save him, she can't lose him.
The boys tugs at her dress, and she looks down, sees his warm brown eyes figuring out a plan before he even says the words. "Use your magic." She shakes her head, wondering how he knows that she even posses any power at all, and feels the panic choking her, she doesn't know, she can't- "Emma, use your magic, concentrate on what you're feeling."
She knows in that moment that the boy is the Evil Queen's son, or more like Regina's son, the one she use to know, the one that controlled her magic through emotions. "Hurry princess, I'm not patient," Cora sneers, twisting her wrist and Hook's eyes go wide as the pain washes over him. "Emma, run," he pleads, desperately.
Cora's dark eyes taunt her and she feels rage surge through her, desperation, and the need to save him at all costs making her head spin.
She will not lose him.
It fills her veins, the bubbling, rushing feeling, and his blue eyes anchor her as it pumps through her. It's foreign and powerful and wonderful and terrible. The light pours out of her in a swirling storm, and blasts Cora back, hitting the guards trying to capture them down. He falls to his knees as she catches her breath tires to comprehend what she just managed to do.
She runs to him, falls to her knees and cups his pale cheeks, feeling relief surging through her at his very much alive heart beating in his chest. "Swan, you did it," he says, voice raspy and she laughs, tears filling her eyes at the wonder in his voice. "Let's leave," she tells him and he nods, stands up with her help. She reaches out her hand for the boy and he hesitates for a moment. "I'm…can you take me back to my mom?" Emma smiles and grips his small hand in her owns. "You don't know how happy I'd be to do just that, Henry."
They head back to the Jolly Roger without any obstacles, except for hunger and thirst. The return is somber, the loss of three crewmen a depressing shadow haunting over the men. Hook lets her explain to the crew that Henry is Regina's son, and that Cora, her mother had taken him away. She hopes with all her heart that once Regina has her son back she'll stop ruining her family's life for him disappearing in the first place. Henry is a sweet boy, and Roland takes liking to him instantly, they even decide to share a quarter, and Robin simply smiles, glad to have some company for his boy.
She breathes heavily, inhaling the sea salt scent of her quarters, relieved that they're finally safe. She never thought a pirate ship would be her safe haven. She showers quickly, washing away the turmoil from the past few days and ponders about how her magic had saved his life. She wanted to feel that again, that rush of power, that strong strike of emotions rushing through her veins, and hoped that once she found Tinker Bell she'd be able to do it without having to be in a life and death situation.
She practically devours the bread slathered in jam that Robin brings her and tells him about the Hatter family reunion, the warmth in his eyes mixed with longing making her wonder what happened to his family. "She passed away, her name was Marian. I loved her…and it was my fault." Emma feels her heart ache for the outlaw; her eyes watering at the thought of little baby Roland losing his mother. She hugs Robin, unwavering even as he flinches at the unexpected contact and smiles when his arms come around her slowly, shyly as he hugs her back. "Thank you, Princess." He bows when he leaves, shutting the door quietly behind him.
She can't possibly sleep, not when her mind is on him, the blue of his eyes, the way she feels about him consuming her, scaring her, mesmerizing her. God, she wishes to kiss him again, wants to show him what she's feeling inside with the press of her lips. She doesn't know exactly what she feels for him, but whatever it is was powerful enough to surge her magic, and that in itself was an extraordinary thing.
With that thought in mind, she tip toes out of her quarters in search for her Captain.
Please leave a review to let me know what you think! Next chapter has tons of angsty and fluffy CS :)