This chapter is half fluff half angst, but I hope you're going to enjoy it nonetheless. Thank you for every kind review; it really means a lot to me that you take the time. Also, so far, all your speculation is off base, and you have only two more chapters to figure it out before it actually happens. ;)

Emma barely sleeps the night after the ball and sneaks out of the castle with the first light of day, saddles Tornado and flies through the woods bypassing the lake and going straight to Killian's cabin.

"Hello?" She whispers as she knocks on the window, afraid to try the front door because even if they are practically betrothed, it would still be extremely inappropriate if somebody saw the princess entering his cabin without a chaperone.

Killian pushes aside the curtain, an exasperated look quickly replaced with a grin when Emma gives him a sheepish smile and motions for him to let her in.

"What are you doing here in the crack of dawn?" He asks as he offers her his hand to help her climb in, and Emma scrambles over the window sill, stumbling forward and burying her face into his shoulder.

"I wanted to make sure it wasn't just a dream", she says, her voice muffled by the material of his soft shirt, his arms tightening around her as his lips press against the side of her head.

"It's not a dream, Swan", Killian says and wraps her braid around his wrist, tugging gently until she tilts her head back and looks at him. "I became the man you needed me to be."

"You were that man all along", Emma says, then stretches up to kiss the underside of his jaw, her nose caressing his smooth skin and as she breathes him in, her heart filling up to the point of bursting because she had never felt so good in her entire life.

Killian turns his head and finds her lips with his, her right hand sliding into his hair to keep him close and her left caressing up back, feeling his muscles shift and contract as he releases her braid and unties the ribbon holding it together, his fingers shaking it loose as his tongue slides along her bottom lip and slips into her mouth.

Emma feels overwhelmed, all her senses drowning in him, in the way he holds her and nips at her lips, in the way his hard chest presses against her more pliant one, and when he pulls back she's completely disorientated, her eyes opening slowly to find him giving her a lazy, satisfied smirk.

"Would you like to have breakfast now, my lady?" Killian asks and Emma nods eagerly, following him toward the table where he sits down on the only chair and draws her into his lap. "I'm afraid I've only got cheese and bread."

Killian's easy smile is gone, replaced with a deeply embarrassed look, his head down as he reaches around her to cut off a piece of cheese; he reaches for the bread with his left arm and hesitates as if uncertain if she would mind him holding the loaf in place with his stump even though it's covered with the sleeve of his shirt.

"I'm going to marry the love of my life someday soon. Do you think I care about what and how we eat breakfast?" Emma asks, her hands covering his hand and stump so they cut the bread together.

Killian only relaxes when she lets go, but she understands that his scars go deeper than the physical and doesn't take offense, just leans her shoulder against his chest and takes a bite of the cheese, offering him the rest of it and smiling when he playfully bites her finger in the process.

Somehow, the innocent move becomes something else when her eyes meet his and acute longing fills her chest as she becomes aware of the intimacy of their position and the way they bodies are pressed together.

Breakfast forgotten, Emma slides her hand into the open collar of his shirt, her fingers sifting through his chest hair and caressing hard muscles as he leans forward and captures her mouth with his.

Their lips press together and release as they draw a breath, and his arm feels deliciously heavy where it's resting across her thighs as his fingers grip her waist, burning her skin even through the blouse and corset she's wearing.

But then, Walsh's insincere grin flashes in her mind and Emma pulls back abruptly, breathing heavily but managing to give Killian a reassuring smile, drawing his arms back around her.

"What's wrong?" He asks her nonetheless, pulling back when she leans in for a kiss and watching her carefully, his fingers grasping hers and holding on.

"It's nothing", she lies, but his ocean eyes read her like an open book and he waits patiently until she gathers her thoughts and tries to decide what to tell him.

"You can tell me anything, sweetheart", he murmurs and presses his lips against her cheek, lingering there for a moment before going back to regarding her steadily.

"There was this prince called Walsh", Emma begins and feels that old anger course through her veins again. "His father and mine had some business together and he came with, so we met and spent some time in each other's company."

Emma remembers her younger self, so foolish and naive, so easy to believe every beautiful lie Walsh had told her.

"He seemed perfect, and I convinced myself that I was in love with him just like he was in love with me, and I dreamt about a wedding that would join our Kingdoms and make everybody as happy as we were", she says, her gaze focused on the frilly edge of his sleeve her fingers are playing with.

Killian presses another sweet kiss against her cheek and it's all the incentive she needs to go on.

"We made love in one of the many guest bedrooms as far away from the main part of the castle as possible, and we kept meeting there for about a week. I wouldn't have known that it was all an act if I hadn't overheard him talking to his father and saying how they are going to be rich again soon because "the silly princess fell head over heels in love with him"", Emma finishes softly and sighs when all Killian does is give her one more kiss, this time right under her ear, his arm pulling her a little closer against him. "I was so angry and humiliated, but I knew better than making a scene, so I just went straight to my father and told him what I've heard."

Killian kisses the juncture of her neck and shoulder and Emma smiles, turning her head to kiss his temple and wishing she had known back then what she knows now, because she would have never mistaken her infatuation with love.

"Dad banished them from the Kingdom and I got the satisfaction of Walsh begging at my feet to forgive him, but I just smiled and told him to go to Hell."

"When did you realize I'm not like him?" Killian asks her softly and Emma smiles, her left arm reaching under her right so that she can entwine their fingers together.

"When you agreed to learn sword-fighting with your right hand", she says and kisses his chin, his lips pressing against her nose.

"I don't really understand how he managed not to fall in love with you, Swan, but I can't say I'm not glad he didn't", Killian tells her and she smacks his shoulder, then wraps her arms around his neck tightly. "Shhh, it's alright. I'm not like him."

"I know. I just don't want you to leave me."

"I'm not leaving you, darling, but being in the Navy means sailing from time to time", he says, his tone light because he's trying to make her feel better and alleviate her fears.

"I was so focused on getting you in the Navy that I never really thought about what happens when you rejoin", Emma says miserably and rests her cheek on his shoulder, sighing contentedly when his arms close around her waist, feeling safe and cherished and loved.

"It won't be longer than a couple of months, lass."

"But it might be dangerous", Emma says softly, remembering what he'd told her about pirates and shivering when she imagines another attack he might not survive.

"Nothing's going to happen to me, Emma", Killian tells her, his voice firm and full of conviction she wishes she could share, his lips erasing the frown creasing her forehead. She sits up straighter and rests her hands on his shoulders, her eyes roaming over his handsome face for a long moment before she leans in for a chaste, loving kiss.

"Do you promise?"

"I promise. I'll be back before you know it", he tells her seriously and gently sets her on her feet because he has to go to the harbour, his hand smoothing out her wrinkled blouse before he helps her out the window and walks with her to the edge of the woods where Tornado is waiting.

"My parents are probably going to invite you to dinner as soon as the guests clear out" Emma tells him as he hands her the rains, and he takes her free hand in his, planting a kiss to the back of it before he steps away and squints up at her.

"I will be there with bells on", he says with a wink and she's more than a little impressed with the fact that he doesn't seem all that scared of her father.

She remembers Walsh's spluttering every time he was in David's presence and smiles to herself, then sends Killian an air kiss and gallops away.

"See you!" He calls after her and she thinks; this is what true happiness feels like.

Over the course of the next two weeks Killian attends five dinners in the castle and Emma feels like she's walking on clouds because even though her mother was suspicious of Killian in the beginning, by dinner number two she became completely smitten with him. David had welcomed him with open arms from the beginning, and Emma rolls her eyes at her mother when the two of them lose themselves in this political discussion or that because even though Emma and Snow are well versed on the topic too, they don't really prefer it at the kitchen table.

Emma and Killian spend the afternoons at the lake, Killian sitting against the tree bark and Emma leaning against his chest, his arms wrapped around her waist and his lips leaving a kiss on her cheek or her neck every few minutes as they studiously avoid talking about the future.

The first time he tries, she presses her hand against his mouth and shakes her head, her eyes holding his as she tells him that she doesn't want to jinx him.

"I'm going to be alright, Swan", he tells her softly, but her stomach still clenches painfully because he should know better than anybody that there are no guarantees.

And so they don't talk about the future, about what happens when he boards the ship on Monday morning and sails away from her.

It's still the only thing Emma thinks about when she's lying in her bed, staring at the canopy above her head and trying to fall asleep without much success.

The night before Killian's departure they meet on the beach, walking into each other's arms like two sleepwalkers and lying down in the warm sand with all their limbs entwined together.

Emma slides her hand underneath the hem of his shirt but he catches her fingers and brings them to his lips, his eyes looking so dark blue they appear black.

"You're leaving tomorrow", Emma objects, pressing herself closer to him but he kisses her deeply and tells her that it's precisely the reason why they can't.

"I have no doubt that I will return to marry you, but I will not risk getting you with child on the off-chance that something does happen to me", Killian says and even though she's incredibly frustrated, Emma realizes that she had never loved him more.

"Just come back", she says and he kisses her again, his arms pulling her on top of him and holding her close until the sky starts growing lighter and he has to go.

"I love you, my beautiful Swan", he says and presses one last kiss to her forehead, his fingers sliding down her arm and tangling with hers briefly as she tells him she loves him too.

Emma stays on the beach as the sun raises and stands on the edge of the water as Killian's ship leaves the harbour, proudly waving their Kingdom's flag as it takes him away.

It's only when she can't see even a dot on the horizon that she sits down on the hot sand, puts her face in her hands and weeps.

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