Hahaha. I'm terrible at updating. Sorry. Enjoy. (Note: I know nothing about sailing or ships so forgive me in advance for like, the rest of this story whenever that comes up, also I don't own anything except for Alex, Alaya, and Wyn)
89 years ago, Enchanted Forest
"Years ago, there was a horrific war." Rumplestiltskin began, staring daggers at the girl in front of him. "I had been sent away from my wife, Milah, to fight. But there was a young girl, a seer, who had been taken prisoner by my superiors. She told me that Milah was expecting, that I would have a son."
Alexandra had always wondered what her captor had been like before he became the Dark One. He hadn't always been this heartless beast. He had a family.
"I... I was injured, and discharged. When I got back to Milah, our son had been born. She named him Baelfire." Rumple hesitated. "We fought, and she began to sneak away at night. Go to taverns, meet other men."
"Why did you fight?" Alexandra asked, curious. She didn't want to lose this opportunity, but if she could learn more about the Dark One, maybe she could find his soft spot.
"Does it matter? I'm giving you answers about your father. That's what you wanted, wasn't it?"
Rumplestiltskin shifted, favoring one of his legs more than the other. He didn't look at Alexandra. She sat for a moment, considering his appearance, the way his eye twitched on the side of his face he thought she couldn't see.
Growing up, her mother had withheld so much from her, as had everyone else she had met, that Alexandra learned how to make deductions.
"You injured yourself to be sent home. It wasn't an accident. You wanted to meet your son, but Milah didn't appreciate what you did to do so. She left." Alexandra tilted her head, giving her best doe-eyed look to the Dark One.
"You're a smart child, Alexandra," He sighed, "But she didn't leave. She stayed, until I made yet another mistake."
Alexandra swallowed her pride, and instead let her shock show. Rumple had taken her response quite well.
"Bae was poisoned, and we searched high and low to find a cure. When we did, I made a deal. I sold away our second child's life. Milah was done by then. She left for good, ran off to the nearest port to sail away with her dashing pirate. Killian Jones. Your father."
Alexandra's heart skipped a beat at the mention of her father.
"I broke after that. I became what I am, to protect my son. But I lost him anyways. All because of your father. If it weren't for him, my Milah would never have left. I planned endlessly to hurt him and get back at him for destroying my family."
"And then I was born," Alexandra muttered. Rumplestiltskin nodded.
"And then you were born. He may never have met you, but if there is any heart in him, he'll know. And he will feel the pain I felt when I kill you in front of him."
Alexandra glared at her captor.
"Did it ever occur to you that it wasn't my father who destroyed your family, but you?" She folded her hands in her lap.
"That's enough," Rumple hissed. He strode over to the girl, grabbed her wrist, and disappeared.
Present Day, Storybrooke
I land on the docks, nearly tripping and tumbling into the water. I know it won't take my father long to find me. I glance at the dozens of ships docked in the harbor, looking for one in particular. When I finally spot the familiar looming masts and the patchwork of , I relax. Even after dark, I would never fail to recognize the Jolly Roger. The Roger had been my home for 20 years, and those had been the happiest 20 years of my life.
I dash down the docks, ignoring the curious glances from Storybrooke citizens. I nearly push a few into the water, but they keep their balance as I stumble my way forward. Surely Papa will know where I went, which gives me very little time to myself.
The ship is the same way its always been. I step onto the deck, the boards creaking in the same places they used to. I take a few slow steps, swiveling my head to take in my home. Without thinking, I drift towards the mast in front of me, and scurry up to the crow's nest. That had always been my favorite place to hide, or to be alone on the Roger when I needed a break from my drunken compatriots.
When I reach the top, I lean against the mast and curl up, staring out over the dimly lit harbor. People are scattered around the harbor, carrying about their normal everyday lives. But none of this is normal, not to me.
A soft breeze blows past, pushing strands of my long hair into my face. The last rays of sunlight were reaching over the horizon, reflecting over the calm waters. Looking over the little town of Storybrooke, part of me feels like this is where I was meant to be. Not on a small farm with my mum. Not trapped in a cave learning magic. Not exploring the seas with Papa. Not adventuring the Enchanted Forest with Wyn. Rather here, in this little town in a place called Maine, with all of their 'modern technology' and things like grilled cheeses.
"What have you gotten yourself into, Alex?" I mutter, sighing. "Your best friend is dead, and you've spent every ounce of your being trying to get here. Now what? Now you've run away from it all. Stupid."
My hand strays to the chain dangling around my neck, to mum's shell and Killian's ring.
"If Wyn were here, what would he say?" I stare at the necklace in my hand, thinking about all the things I've gone through while wearing this necklace. He would tell me to suck it up. He would tell me that I need to see the big picture, to think past today and think about tomorrow, and the next week, and the next year. He would tell me that of course my own father missed me, and tried his hardest to get back to me. He would tell me to get off my ass and do what I came here to do - get my happy ending.
"Get your happy ending," I whisper.
"It's harder than you think."
I look down, and find Papa leaning against the mast below me.
"I knew this wasn't a good hiding place," I mumble, adjusting myself so I can climb back down.
"Why do you need to hide from me, Alex?"
"I don't." I leap down from halfway up the mast, landing in a crouch. Sometimes even I was amazed at what I could do in heels.
"Then why did you run?" Papa asks, offering me his hand. I take it, and allow him to lead me to a stack of crates. He sits down, gesturing for me to do the same.
"I know it wasn't easy for you here, Papa, but I went through so much to make it to Storybrooke. I lost my family, and then my home, and then for four years I made due with almost nothing, and just when I thought I could finally have it all, I lose my best friend."
Papa's face goes blank. I don't quite feel like explaining, so I let the two of us sit in silence.
"You have dealt with your fair share of trauma, Alexandra, I will admit that. But why do all of this to get to me? I've let you down plenty of times. I don't deserve that kind of love from you."
"Because you were all I had. And you're all I have now. And you're my dad, it's kind of required to love you," I say. Papa chuckles. "I guess I just wanted things to be like they used to be. That's clearly not going to be the case here."
"We'll make it work. I promise." Papa wraps his arm around my shoulder, and pulls me close to him. "While I would like to have a deeper discussion about what happened while we were apart, I feel like this isn't the time."
"Definitely not," I say, giggling. Papa smiles, leaning his head against mine.
"I missed you, Lilly."
"I missed you too, Papa."
89 years ago, Enchanted Forest
"You are a clever one, I'll give you that much," Rumplestiltskin said, crossing his arms. He glared down at the young girl before him.
"It was an honest question!" Alexandra protested. "I will not apologize for it. You aren't a good man, and I refuse to let you go about the Enchanted Forest thinking that."
"Who do you think you are, dearie? I don't have to be so, shall we say, accommodating. I could keep you as a slave and feed you scraps just as easily as I can teach you magic and give you the luxuries you receive here."
"You call living in a cave a luxury! Who do you think you are? You kidnap children and are hellbent on destroying one man's life because of mistakes that you made!"
"Dearie - do not think that I would hesitate to kill you here and now-"
"Then do it. What do I have to lose?"
The Dark One and the pirate's daughter sat there, staring at each other. Icy blue met cloudy gold, one challenging the other.
"You can't do it," Alexandra said, smiling. "As bad as you are, you can't kill a child without reason."
Rumplestiltskin disappeared in a cloud of smoke, reappearing beside the girl.
"I can and I will."
He grabbed her by the neck, dragging her to her feet.
"You think that you're so smart? That you can outwit the Dark One?" Rumplestiltskin hissed, bringing the child's face towards his.
Alexandra clawed at her throat, her feet missing the ground as she kicked out. Her pale face flushed red as she gasped for air to no avail.
"You're wrong." The Dark One slammed the girl into the smooth stone wall of her cell, then released her, sending her crumpling to the ground. A frown flickered across his twisted face. Some awful part of him actually admired the girl, with her shred of wit and her nerve. But he couldn't have her thinking that she knew him, that she could appeal to whatever 'good side' she believed he had.
If he was to get revenge on Killian Jones, this was his way to do it. No more being nice. No more opening up. Nothing. This girl would get nothing from him.
With one last glance at the young figure curled up at his feet, Rumplestiltskin poofed himself out of the cave.
Unbeknownst to the Dark One, a certain 'pest' was watching the whole incident. As soon as the older man had left, Winslow Elsey darted out of the shadows, sliding to a stop at the bars of Alexandra's prison. He knelt down, trying to reach the unconscious girl.
"Alexandra!" He hissed, stretching his arm as far as he could. "Alexandra!"
The girl shifted slightly.
"Alex!" Winslow said, sliding off his boot. He gently tossed it through the bars. It landed on Alexandra's shoulders, then tumbled to the floor. She moved again, but didn't wake.
"Alexandra!" Winslow tossed his other shoe at her head, and it landed exactly where he wanted. Alexandra's eyes flew open, and she let out a gasp. The girl scrambled into a sitting position, backing herself up against the wall. After a few moments, she registered who was sat in front of her.
"Wyn?"
Okay. Several things. First: I'm trying to develop Alex and Killian as characters and their relationship, but it's probably going to be a bit rocky for a while, until they start warming up to each other and I can get a sense of how they work best in the writing (if that makes any sense). Second: reminder that timelines will probably be a bit wonky because they never use actual dates on the show, so I did the best I could. Third: I myself am not British, but I imagine Alaya as having a kind of Irish/British accent, and obviously Killian and Rumple have accents, so between the three of them, I think Alex would have a pretty strong British/Irish type accent. Just wanted to bring that up. Fourth: I never update and I'm really sorry about it but I feel like I should stop promising that I will be better about it. However, with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and the one year anniversary of this story coming up, I hope to update much more frequently. Don't quote me on that. So yeah. Thank you so much for reading! Feel free to give feedback, hopes, concerns, predictions, corrections, questions, and the like. Bye!
-TheFandemonium
