Battle Wounds and Mermaids
Emma paused mid-wash and slowly looked behind her shoulder; she could see that there really wasn't any sense in covering her back up. So she rolled her eyes and continued to wash her arms.
"Probably the only time you have ever been speechless, huh?" She bit out, not even bothering to look back at him. She knew what he was looking at, she remembered. Every lash, the screaming …
She stopped thinking as soon as she felt his fingertips tenderly touch the skin on her back. Almost like he was afraid of causing her pain.
He traced the silver scars that littered her back with his eyes before he felt brave enough to touch them. In his past, he had been lashed before. But this was something else. The scars were deep, some of them still held a slight pink color to them, indicating that the wounds would have required stitches to heal properly.
The skin around the scars seemed to stretch which told him that she was young when then happened to her, very young. The thought of someone harming her this way, angered and sickened him at the same time.
He swallowed and took a deep breath, "How did this happen to you?"
For a few minutes, he thought that she wasn't going to answer him. She was quiet, too quiet for Emma Swan, he thought.
"I was 6 when they sent me with a boy who was younger than me to a home who wanted a couple of foster children. He wasn't even 5. They made us work for our keep" She said, "One night; he dropped a glass on accident. He couldn't even fight back. I can still hear it sometimes when I sleep."
She sat in the corner of the room with her knees curled close to her chest, trying to clock out the sound of the belt and the screams. She looked over at her bed and saw her blanket laying there with her name lovingly embroidered. She just knew she had to do something, anything. As she approached the room, she pushed the door open and ran. He was lying on the floor and the belt seemed to crawl through the air. The man didn't even stop after he realized that she was shielding the young boy now … when she woke up, the police were talking to the paramedics.
Apparently the land lady could hear them and called 911. She was in a hospital bed with her blanket draped on top of her. She could see the boy in the bed next to her sleeping soundly. It wouldn't be the last person she saved ..
Killian watched her as she trailed off into her own thoughts. His fingers were still lingering on her back, silently wishing that he could kill the one that put her through such pain. She was still in her thoughts when he kneeled beside the silver tub.
The soft scent of lavender flooded his senses as moved closer to her. He saw her glazed eyes begin to clear and widen. She had nowhere to run and he was going to kiss her that much was certain. Their breaths mingled the closer he drew until he moved in quickly to close the gap before she had a chance to even begin to think of fighting him.
Now, the first time that Killian imagined tasting Emma Swan was while they were stealing the compass within the Giant's Castle. Followed by within cave with Cora and at the lake while "fighting" with her. The list could go on forever but the fact is that he never would have expected this. His heart beat wildly in his chest when she started to return his attentions, albeit not as fast as he wanted, but still returned.
She picked up her left hand from the water to slowly slide it behind his neck, pulling him closer. He greedily took everything that she offered and began to slide his hand up her shoulder cupping her face. He almost lost his sanity when she let out a low moan.
"Umm …" A timid voice, spoke up, causing Emma to stop and pull away from Killian like he was burning her. Still lost in the mood; Killian weakly attempted to pull her back to him, fighting against her resistance. Emma craned her head towards the door where her mother was standing, blushing like a teenager. All while Killian chose to watch Emma, "I'll come back in a few minutes!"
At that Snow, retreated from the room, reminding herself to knock the next time.
The two occupants were in silence once more. Emma was looking at anything but him while Killian was looking at nothing except her. The fact that Emma was naked in a tub after thoroughly being kissed by Captain Hook caused her to skin to flush.
"Running away again, I see?" Killian said as he sat back on his heels while playing with a few strands of her wet hair. Once he could tell that the mood that he had worked hard to achieve had been broken; he let out a long sigh before beginning to stand up. He pressed his lips to hers once more, causing her to gasp in surprise, as he stood and looked into her eyes before stating, "This is far from over, Emma."
She didn't start breathing again normally until after she heard the door close and his footsteps leave. She groaned and tilted her head back, realizing that the water, along with the room, was suddenly very cold. She stood from the tub and began to dry off, noticing the clothes left on the bed.
Emma was buttoning up the shirt when she heard a knock on the door. She laughed and called out, "Yeah!"
The form of her mother rushed in and closed the door, looking like she was keeping a secret that she wasn't supposed to tell. "So, that was fun." She started, as she sat on the bed.
"That man is dangerous.." Emma said, shaking her head as she trailed off.
"Uh Huh." Snow replied, with a knowing grin on her face.
"It should be a crime for someone to be that …" Emma said, pulling the pants up her legs and tying the laces.
"Sexy?" Snow supplied
"Oh for Pete's sake, really?!" Emma cringed, as she sat heavily on the bed with her head in her hands.
"What? He is?!" Snow, laughed as her daughter who was currently trying to hide the fact that she was turning red. "I may be your mother but I'm not dead, Emma. That man is positively sinful!"
Emma knew that she couldn't deny the fact that she did indeed enjoy the kiss she just shared with the infamous Captain. The two of them couldn't continue before another knock caused them to turn their heads. David poked him head in the room with a serious look.
"Land has been spotted; we are meeting in the galley."
(Page Break)
Killian leaned on the cabinets of the kitchen bar and watched the door. He was rewarded quickly when he saw the object of his affections following her mother. Snow grinned when she saw Emma dart around him take an empty seat at the table. He pushed off the cabinet and came to sit beside Emma , choosing to straddle the bench, opening to face Emma's turned form.
"We will weigh anchor and retire for the evening. The lagoon will be a few leagues from the coast. We will take the long boat when the day breaks."
"And then?" Regina questioned, holding the Captain's glaze.
"When we reach the lagoon, I will ask that the women stay hidden." Killian cut his eyes to look at Regina, before landing on David, "along with your majesty." He ended with a tilt of his head in his direction.
"You are telling me that you are going to go with Gold … alone .. to the lagoon?" Emma asked.
"Three hundred years is a long to gather information on everything. I know all about a certain deal that was made between the Dark One and a certain mermaid …" Killian trailed off while looking at Gold.
Gold looked at his cane before shrugging, "A sound thing to do at the time .."
"I don't believe it! She was here the entire time! And you?!" Regina screeched while jumping up from her seat.
"What can I say? I was feeling very .. generous .. at the time." Gold met Regina's angry eyes.
"As much as I would love to see the two of you have at it," Killian spoke over both of them, "We all need to be well rested in a very short amount of time. I suggest you using that energy for the fight against the forest tomorrow."
Killian watched as the Evil Queen and the Dark One strode from their spots at the table to the cabins provided to them. The Charming's were discussing plans of their own, leaving him to watch her. He watched as she stood to stride towards the pantry, he cut his eyes back to the table when he felt eyes on him.
Snow was watching him with a slight interest in her eyes. After a few minutes, she shook her head and whispered something in her husband's ear. Killian watched in interest as the man seemed to all but jump from the table and hurry out the door.
Snow watched Killian's confused face before slowly leaning over and looking him in the eyes, "I thank you for your services," She taunted, "Consider it payback." With a wink and a grin, she disappeared from the galley to follow her husband.
Confused, he turned his head, only to find Emma standing on her toes, trying to get to a bag of apples on a high shelf in the pantry. The shirt she was wearing was loosely clinging to her shoulders, showing the skin that he longed to touch. He could see it rise as she stretched like a cat to reach her goal.
He groaned deeply before he dropped his head on the wooden table, with a heavy thud. Killian hated to admit it but he had been bested at his own game, and by Snow White of all people, the embodiment of all that was pure in this world.
He was never going to live this down...
(Page Break)
Emma sat on the long boat beside her mother as it was rowed to the sandy beach in front of them. True to his word, as soon as daybreak, the six of them were up, fed and off the ship. The past few days, Emma could feel herself growing closer to the pirate captain. In her head, she had begun to call him Killian. Instead of the moniker that he lived by.
However, that was on the ship, where they were safe. The pirate that stood on the bow of the long boat was not Killian Jones. The pirate that led them was dark and imposing, fully Captain Hook with the face of the pirate that she was growing closer too.
After her parents left them to their own devices, and locked out of her room, she might add. Killian advised that he would stay at the helm and that his quarters were her quarters for the night.
"However if you wish to continue where we left off .." He trailed off as he looked up at her with smoldering eyes.
Emma was sharply thrown out of her thoughts when the longboat touched the beach. They pulled the longboat on the shore and up the beach, near the beginnings of the dense forest that stood before them.
Killian turned to them, looking at Emma in particular. "Touch nothing. Even if I touch it, do not touch it. Trust me when I tell you that there is nothing Enchanted about this forest."
Once he was done, he unsheathed his saber from the scabbard at his belt and began to cut his way into the forest.
Killian led the way through the forest at a quick pace. The mermaid's lagoon was relatively close to the area that they left the longboats. He hoped to get there, attain the information needed and leave before harm come befall anyone in the party. In all his time in Neverland, he tried to not have dealings with the mermaids that swam within her waters. However, he had hoped that there was at least one mermaid in particular that would speak with him. If all else fails, he could have the Dark One step in.
It was in the monotonous cutting of the vegetation in front of him that he could recede in his brain and truly think. These days thinking was not healthy for him. He couldn't see her but he knew that she followed him without fail, the pirate in him could discern her light steps, so much like her mothers, from the rest. Once they returned to the ship, he would begin to teach her how to properly use her natural skills.
The portion of his body that was still Hook was beside himself with glee at the thought of her fighting. He could truly mold her into a fierce weapon to behold. However, the man named Killian Jones only wanted to pull her close.
If what Milah said was indeed true than there would be a time and place for such thoughts. She had never lied to him before, so Killian truly believed the words that Milah told him. All he had to do was make sure that the two of them survived until then.
As he saw the trees begin to clear, he slowed and returned his sword to his scabbard. He heard the rest come to a halt behind him as he lifted his hand, signaling them to stop. Killian turned to Gold.
"We proceed alone from here."
"Always a delight, Captain." Gold replied with a terse chill to his voice.
Killian looked up and made note before walking to David. "If we do not return by the time the sun reaches the mountain, return to the ship."
David nodded his head and Killian strode past him to return to Gold. His steps slowed as he passed Emma, cutting his eyes sharply towards her form, leaning against a tree. She looked up at him, following his form with her eyes until he was swallowed by the very jungle he warned them about.
AUTHORS NOTE: I STILL DON'T OWN OUAT OR POTC.
Another chapter finished! I feel pretty good about this chapter. Many thanks to my new beta and follower .. Angelfan984! I hope I can make you proud
Thanks to all of my followers! A heartfelt thank you to all of my reviews! I check my phone every chapter posting over and over to read all of your wonderful words! I hope to get 900 reviews for this chapter!
Until next time lovies! - Muse
