Have some more angst and a lot of fluff! Thank you for leaving feedback, and enjoy!
"Do you think I should ask my father to offer you a post in his Navy?" Emma wonders during another sparring session she's having with Killian and his response is rather anticlimactic.
"No", he says and easily counters her attack, disarming her five seconds later.
"I'm sure-"
"Didn't you hear me the first time, your Highness?" He asks her sharply, his blue eyes turning stormy in a matter of seconds when she juts out her chin and crosses her arms in front of her chest.
"I thought you agreed you would try-"
"We did not agree on any such thing. I said I would try to re-learn sword-fighting, but I will not have you begging for me", Killian says and Emma bites her lip, feeling stupid for getting ahead of herself and believing in a dream in which he'd be reinstated and therefore able to accompany her to the ball.
"But you kissed me", she says, the petulant words escaping her, and she cringes because she's becoming her worse nightmare, a spoiled princess who's pouting because she can't get what she wants.
"Aye, and I shouldn't have", Killian says and she thinks it would hurt less if he ran his sword through her stomach.
"Very well", Emma says, her voice as cold as her heart; she bends to pick up her sword and sheathes it smoothly, a lump in her throat preventing her from breathing, but she'll be damned if she lets him see that.
"Swan, wait!" He calls after her when she walks away, but Emma has heard enough, and she needs to get away before the tears start to fall.
Even as it is, she can't speak or look at him for fear of falling apart.
"Emma, I didn't mean it like that, please", he says but she's already mounting Tornado without sparing him a single glance. "The last thing I want to be is your family's charity case."
"Even after all this time, you still think you're not good enough for me", Emma says, stunned and so very sad, and for the first time she levels him with a look of pity from high upon her horse. "Congratulations, you've managed to convince me."
"Swan!" He yells after her, but she's already riding away as fast as she dares, keeping her eyes wide opened and listening for the sound of Killian's pursuit, hot tears spilling down her cheeks when she reaches the meadow separating the castle and the woods and realizes he's not coming after her.
She had believed he's the kind of man who would fight for her, and the disappointment is almost too painful to bear; it' feels like a sledgehammer to the fine porcelain of her heart.
Emma spends the remaining week before the ball sulking in her room, staying under the covers and telling her parents over and over again that she's okay even as her chin keeps trembling every time she remembers Killian's stunned face when she had left him in the forest.
The possibility that they might never have another kiss is making her feel like her chest is being squeezed in a vice, and she keeps dreaming about Killian's fingers always slipping through hers and she ends up waking up before his lips can meet hers every single time.
The day of the ball dawns rainy and cold, and Emma briefly debates on telling her parents that she's sick, but she can't bring herself to do it because they would cancel the entire thing and all the preparations would go to waste, not to mention the fact that they would offend so many noblemen who are going to attend.
She knows some of them have already arrived in the past few days, but since she took all her meals in her room, she hadn't yet met any of her would be suitors.
It's just as well, because she knows that no matter their breeding and style and good manners, no matter how handsome and smart they are, none of them is ever going to do because they just aren't Killian.
And so, Emma takes a long bath and lets the maids wash and do her hair, leaving it tumbling over her shoulders in gentle waves and putting a pretty tiara on her head before they help her put on her dress.
She stares at the mirror and barely recognizes herself; she looks like a true princess but she doesn't feel like one, and it's astounding how much rather she'd wear her mother's pants and go to the lake to spar with Killian than attend this stupid ball.
It's a hard-earned lesson that even princesses can't always get what they want, and Emma wishes she was denied in some other way instead of losing the only man who'd ever saw the girl under the royal.
"You look beautiful", her father says from the doorway and Emma turns around with as genuine a smile as she can muster, curtsying when he bows and taking his offered arm.
"Let's find me a husband", she says and starts for the door, but David halts her progress and turns her toward him, the colour of his eyes reminding her of Killian and making her bite her lip to help her stay composed.
"I know your mother seems overbearing and you feel pressured with this ball, but I promise you that neither of us is going to say a word if you don't like any of the men today. This night should be about you having fun, dancing and meeting eligible bachelors, and none of them is going to get angry if you don't feel an instant connection", David tells her seriously and Emma nods faintly even though she knows he's just trying to comfort her.
"Okay."
If she doesn't like any of the men waiting for her in the ballroom, she's going to become a spinster because there's nobody left in all the kingdom fit for a future Queen.
The evening hasn't even started yet and she's already wishing she could curl in her bed and dream of Killian.
"Shall we?" David asks and they walk down the hallway and down various staircases until they reach the ballroom, the big room growing unnaturally quiet when Snow joins them and lopes her arm through Emma's free one.
"Presenting King David, Queen Snow White, and their daughter, princess Emma."
No matter how much Emma wishes to hide, there's nowhere she can go to avoid the unwanted attention, and she's forced to dance with this nobleman and that, avoiding her mother's worried stares and returning her father's encouraging smiles.
She's currently dancing with a prince of some far off land whose name she doesn't even bother to recall because he's stepped on her feet three times already and all he can talk about is his horse; she loves Tornado as much as the next person loves their horse, but the prince's affection is just too much.
"Do you mind if I cut in?" A voice says from behind her and Emma stumbles over her own feet, strong arms catching her when the prince lets her go with an entirely unmanly shriek, and then she finds herself face to face with Killian.
He's clean shaven, his hair is less mussed up than usual but no less attractive, and he's wearing an uniform of her father's Navy.
"Can I have this dance, my lady?" He asks her softly, his eyes so deeply blue and full of admiration she can't find her voice.
Killian offers her his left hand and she takes it without hesitation, gently squeezing the glove filled with something soft as she lays her left hand on his shoulder, stepping back when he steps forward and feeling like she's floating in a dream.
"Is this real?" She asks rather dumbly, the rest of the ballroom fading away as they spin round and round on the dance floor.
"As far as I know, yes it is", he teases and she can't help laughter bubbling out of her even though she thinks she should be mad at him.
"But I don't understand."
"I couldn't let you talk to your father about me, Swan. You've told me how much he loves you and I'm sure he wouldn't be able to refuse your request, and I would become precisely the kind of man who doesn't deserve you, so I talked to him myself", Killian says and she gapes, more than a little impressed.
"You talked to the King?"
"I did."
"How did you manage that? People make appointments weeks ahead", Emma says and holds on to his shoulder a little tighter because she's suddenly dizzy, but his arm tightens around her waist instantly and he slows their turns until she feels well again.
"Your father seems to hold me in some regard after those few talks we've had when I forged the swords for him and his personal guard."
"And me."
"And you. It wasn't all that difficult getting an audience with the King", Killian says cockily and adds with a wry smile. "The problem was trying to convince him that I'm fit for duty."
"But you did", Emma says quickly, her stomach tightening at the thought that all this is just a beautiful illusion.
"I challenged him to a duel", Killian says and Emma stops moving so abruptly they stumble in place, both his arms closing around her waist and keeping her upright.
"You did what?!"
"Just until disarmament!" Killian says quickly and gives her a sheepish smile when she just glares at him angrily.
"You're completely insane!"
"No, I'm not", he says patiently and ushers her out of the ballroom and down a quiet hallway, both of them ignoring the curious looks they attract on their way there.
"You've gone completely mad! A duel!"
"Swan, calm down, I just-"
"Do not tell me to calm down! You could've died! What were you thinking?!"
"I needed to prove to him that I'm still more than competent, so after the duel we went sailing and as you can see, I got reinstated", Killian tells her, his hands resting on her shoulders as he tells her everything she'd been dreaming to hear for months, but she's still breathless with panic because he took such a great risk she can't quite wrap her mind around it.
"You're insane", she mutters again, but his dimpled, bright smile breaks through her shock and she finally manages to catch her breath.
"I'm alright, love. And if you still want me, I'm all yours", he says, his real hand sliding over her skin until he cups her cheek, his fingers sliding in her hair as he waits for her answer.
"Of course I want you, you dummy", she whispers, her arms wrapping around his neck as he pulls her closer, his fake hand resting gently on the small of her back.
"Thank you", Killian whispers back, and Emma blinks away a few tears because she'd never felt happier in her entire life.
"When did you decide to do something so crazy?"
"A few days after we started sparring", Killian murmurs, his nose brushing against hers and his warm breath fanning her lips, tempting her to lean in and give him a kiss she'd been dying for since the last one they've shared.
"Why didn't you say something last week?"
"You didn't exactly let me get a word in edgewise", he tells her and smiles against her mouth, her eyes drifting closed when the smile melts into a kiss, gentle and loving and so full of emotion she feels like her heart will burst with love.
"Did you tell my father why-"
"I already asked him for your hand", Killian tells her and her eyes fly open, her grip on his shoulders tightening.
"And what did he say?"
"He said that it is up to you, but I'm not allowed to ask until I complete a tour aboard the ship he'd assigned me to" Killian tells her quietly and her heart sinks to the floor, her lips meeting his desperately this time.
"I'll talk to him-"
"No, Swan, you won't. I will complete the tour, and then I will return to marry you and love you for as long as I may live", he tells her and shushes her protests with another kiss.
When they finally come up for air Killian presses one more kiss upon her cheek, then offers her his arm and leads her back into the ballroom and to the centre of the dance floor where he gives her a graceful bow before taking her in his arms again.
Emma would like nothing more than to spend the night dancing with him, but after the waltz ends he kisses her hand and steps back to allow others a chance because they both know they don't really stand any.
Prince after prince spins her around but Emma's eyes always find Killian's where he's standing next to the table with the refreshments, and when the big clock strikes midnight and they announce the last dance she lets go of her partner and walks straight into Killian's arms.
He receives her with a bright smile and pulls her close, and she's completely certain that she's got exactly the kind of love her parents share.
Truest of them all.
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