They left DunBroch with a full contingent of pipes and drums following them back to the Jolly. It was a bit weird, but it was supposed to be an honor, so Emma decided to just go with it. Emma stood at the railing of their ship as they sailed away and looked over the assembled kingdom waiting there to see them off. Front and center were Merida and Macintosh, their hands joined, the happy, excited look of new love plastered on both of their faces.

"They seem happy, don't they?" Emma said as Killian came to join her at the railing. "Merida and Macintosh?"

Killian chuckled. "Aye, they do for now. I wonder how long it will be before they're screaming at each other again."

Emma turned in his arms to look up at him. "You don't think they'll last?"

Killian laughed again. "Oh I'm sure they will. They seem perfectly suited for each other, but I also think they won't ever be able to make it a week without an explosive argument."

Emma smiled. "You're probably right. But then they seem to enjoy arguing with each other as much as most people enjoy getting along."

"And there is one boon to arguing, love," Killian said, his eyebrows wiggling.

"Yeah? What's that?"

He leaned in close and nipped at her earlobe then whispered in her ear. "After a fight, a couple must make up, and that can be oh so very pleasant."

The implication of the types of make up activities Killian had in mind was unmistakable, and Emma felt the heat pool low in her stomach. "I like the sound of that. I might just have to pick a fight with you every once in a while, myself."

A wicked glint came into Killian's eye. Deliberately he shook his head. "You wouldn't do that."

"Oh no? You wanna bet?"

"No," he said, "I want to argue. You, Emma Jones would never fight with your brilliant husband."

"Funny," she said. "Seems like I'm fighting with him right now."

Killian's grin grew positively sinful. "And so you are. Well, there's nothing for it, Swan. Now that we've fought we must make up. Perhaps repeatedly and with the utmost passion. We must, after all, start our marriage out right."

"Who am I to dispute solid marital wisdom?" she said, taking his hand and leading him below deck.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

A long time later Killian collapsed, exhausted, nearly boneless, with pleasure pumping through every cell in his body, back onto his side of the bed.

"Killian," Emma said breathlessly. "Make-up sex is officially the best. Remind me to pick a fight with you every single damn day."

He chuckled. "Duly noted."

They lay silent for another moment catching their breath, basking in the bright, rose-colored afterglow. Killian grinned as he looked around him, noting the pinkish tinge to everything. Being married to a magic wielder was truly a marvel. He'd discovered the phenomenon during their first night together. No sooner had they finished their lovemaking than a bright pulse of rose-colored light filled the entirety of his room at Granny's establishment. He'd reacted with alarm, jumping to his feet, naked as the day he was born and reaching for his sword. Behind him Emma had chuckled.

"Um, Killian?" she'd said, "I, uh….I think I might have done, you know, all of this." She'd gestured around at the bright pink light.

"You turned the quality of the light to a pinkish glow?"

Emma shrugged. "Well not intentionally. It's just…when I, you know, finished, I felt magic flow from me and voila! Pink light."

Killian looked down at her for a moment and then grinned. "Are you saying that my attentions brought you so much pleasure you erupted into magic?"

She'd rolled her eyes. "Yeah, don't let it go to your head, Romeo."

Killian had climbed back into bed. "So tell me love, did a similar occurrence happen during your amorous activities with other suitors?"

"Nope. This is the first time."

His grin had widened. "Why Swan, are you telling me I'm the best you've ever had?"

She'd slapped him lightly on the chest before settling against him. "Like your ego needs any more of a boost."

"Come now love," he'd said. "Humor me."

"Let's just say I wasn't disappointed," she said. "Now would you please shut up so we can get some sleep? If you behave yourself, maybe when we wake up we can find out if that whole rose glow thing will happen more than once."

Killian smiled again as the glow slowly started to fade and Emma smiled contentedly, curling up against his side. As it happened, it hadn't been an anomaly. Every single time they'd made love the same thing had happened (which had made for some awkward conversations the one time they'd indulged in Swan's bedroom at her parents' loft).

They lay together for another few moments, enjoying being together, blissful with the knowledge that this was forever. Finally Killian groaned, rolled to a sitting position and then slipped on his boxer briefs. (He'd never really gone in for undergarments, but Dave had convinced him that a soft buffer in between his tender bits and his rough denim would be a comfort Killian would appreciate. The bloody things had felt constrictive at first, but Killian had to admit, they did feel far softer than the denim.)

"Hey, where you going?" Emma asked, rolling up to her elbow to watch him dress.

"I must check on our diminutive prisoner and feed him his rations for the morning."

"Well hurry back," Emma said. "I miss you already."

Five minutes later, Killian returned, a frown on his face.

"Something wrong, babe?" Emma asked. "Blackbeard try to start something again?"

Killian sat heavily on the bed. "No…" he said, drawing out the syllable. "Not precisely, but it is utterly unaccountable."

"What is? What's happened?"

"You know full well what a foul temper that tiny git displays every time we visit him in the brig," Killian said.

"Yeah."

"Well today was different," Killian said. "He was positively pleasant, greeting me with a smile, thanking me for his victuals. What could he be on about?"

Emma shrugged, getting up and tossing on her clothing. "Who knows what's going on in that tiny pea brain of his. Maybe he's had a 'come to Jesus' moment and has decided to stop being a total bastard."

"Maybe," Killian said skeptically.

"At any rate, I say we don't look a gift horse in the mouth. If Blackbeard wants to cooperate, I say we let him."

Killian continued to look uneasy for another moment, but finally shrugged. "Too right you are, love."

"So where we off to next? It's your turn to choose."

Killian thought for a moment. "After my last adventure, thanks to Gideon, I find myself curious about Jasmine and Aladdin's fate. What say we make a visit to the sandy courts of Agrabah?"

"I say let's do it!"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Emma kind of wondered where the portal would take them this time. They were, after all, sailing the Jolly through it…into a desert land. Not a whole lot of places for a full, 18th century pirate ships to dock in the desert. As it happened, she needn't have worried, for even within deserts there are oases. After sailing into the portal, one such very deserted oasis was where Emma and Killian found themselves five minutes after tossing their magic bean into the seas of DunBroch.

It was beautiful, hot and steamy surrounded by palm trees and tropical flowers. Their own little private paradise. Emma decided the oasis was the perfect place to debut one final bit of clothing she'd packed for their honeymoon—a tiny little red string bikini with barely enough fabric to cover the important bits.

"I'll be just a second, Killian," Emma said as she headed below deck. Why don't you go explore our little oasis a bit and I'll come join you?"

"As you wish, Swan," he'd said absently, busy weighing anchor.

He might have been absent as she left deck to change, but when she emerged in her little red number, she certainly had his full attention.

"Swan, there you are," he said, standing on the beach below, "I was afraid you'd gotten lost in our quarters you were gone so…Oh!"

His eyes grew round as saucers as he looked up and caught sight of her attire for the first time. He swallowed convulsively.

"Thought I'd try out my new bikini," Emma said with a smirk. "Like it?"

After a moment, he scraped his jaw off the sandy beach and hustled back to the ship, back to her side. "This 'bikini'…is it a popular style within our home land?"

"Yeah, pretty popular," Emma said, enjoying the look of desire in his eyes as he looked over her body. "Women wear bikinis a lot when they go swimming. I thought maybe we could take a dip here in the oasis before we head to Aladdin and Jasmine's. What do you think?"

"I think I'm very, very fond of your land's swimming attire," Killian said. I'd love to join you for a bit of a swim, but what do men in your land wear?"

"My dad sent along a pair of his swim trunks, if you want to use them," Emma said. "Then again…I could teach you the custom of skinny dipping."

As it happened, neither the swim trunks nor the string bikini lasted long within the warm, sun kissed water of the oasis, both articles of clothing ending up on the beach while their owners enjoyed the crystal-clear pool—and each other.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

It was nearing mid-afternoon before Emma and Killian finally made it to the sultan's castle. A servant showed them through the courtyard to a solarium of sorts where they were seated and offered refreshments. Emma looked around the room in wonder and awe. Never had she seen such lavish riches and décor in one place. Agrabah must be in pretty good shape economically.

"Aladdin is one lucky man," Killian said, looking around, "marrying into this kind of luxury."

Emma gave him a pointed luck.

"Certainly no luckier than I am, however," Killian said quickly.

"Nice save," Emma grinned as the door opened and the prince and princess themselves came through.

"Emma! Killian!" Jasmine said, rushing over to them, alarm on her face. "What has happened? Is there a new villain? Has Jafar resurfaced? Do you need our help?"

"No, nothing like that, your highness," Killian hastened to reassure. "Believe it or not, we've come with happy news."

"Oh yeah?" Aladdin asked, coming to his wife's side and putting an arm around her waist, "we're always up for good news around here. What's yours?"

Emma held up her left hand, showing off her sparkling engagement and wedding rings.

"You did it!" Jasmine said in wonder. "You actually got married!"

"I'm rather insulted you sound so surprised love."

"Well you can't exactly blame her can you, mate?" Aladdin said. "After all, you were all brooding and angsty the last time we saw you here in Agrabah. Something about how you'd lost her forever and 'woe is me' and general self-loathing."

"I beg your pardon," Killian said. "I have never in my life uttered the words 'woe is me'."

"Well, whatever the case," Jasmine said, "I'm glad everything ended well. What ever happened with the Black Fairy and the prophecy of death?"

"We fought the final battle and won," Emma said simply.

"Don't be modest, love," Killian said. "My wife is a marvel. She not only defeated Gideon, but she did so without harming him. She sacrificed herself to end the threat to our land. And thanks to our lad and his True Love's Kiss, she returned to us whole and unharmed."

Aladdin and Jasmine took their seats. "I'm such a sucker for a happy ending," Aladdin said, draping an arm around his wife.

"Oh but it wasn't a happy ending," Emma said, shooting Killian a secret smile, "it was a happy beginning."

"I'm so glad you two found happiness!" Jasmine said as a large Bengal tiger padded his way into the room, sat at her feet and began purring. "Isn't love the best."

"When you've found the right one to share it with," Killian said, smiling tenderly down at Emma, "it's the most extraordinary thing in all the realms."

Emma gave him a quick peck on the cheek and then turned toward the other couple. "So anyway, we've been using our honeymoon to visit other lands, see how our friends are doing. What all have you been up to since you found Agrabah again?"

"Well to start," Aladdin said, "we've been rebuilding our land. Seems being stuck inside a ring for decades tends to leave a kingdom a bit run down."

"Aye, I can see how that could happen."

"But once Agrabah was back on the right track," Jasmine said, "we started thinking. Maybe we could use our wealth and prosperity to help other people."

"And we found our chance when we happened to come across a portal to the Land of Untold Stories," Aladdin said. "Jasmine and a couple of our advisors devised a way we could go back and forth through the portal anytime we want."

"And we've used the knowledge to help as many people as possible find good solutions to the problems that landed them in the land in the first place," Jasmine concluded.

"That's amazing!" Emma said. I couldn't help but feel kind of bad for the folks that landed in Storybrooke. We tried to help them, but then…" she shrugged, "the Evil Queen happened, and then Gideon and then the Black Fairy. Way too many fires to put out in Storybrooke all the damn time."

"You do have some pretty messed up luck back in your home," Aladdin agreed.

"But as for us," Jasmine said, "we've had peace since we got rid of Jafar. It's been perfect. And helping the Land of Untold Stories folks gives Aladdin a chance to be a savior once again. Jafar may have tricked him into using the shears, but we learned something after the first person we pulled out of that portal."

"What's that?" Emma asked.

"We learned that we make our own fate," Aladdin said. "I wasn't about to give up being a savior just because some stupid shears said so. I wanted to be a savior to those people who needed me, and so a savior I was."

"Good form, mate," Killian said. "It seemed you and my Swan travelled similar paths of self-discovery."

Jasmine called for a dinner to be served, insisting Emma and Killian join them for the evening repast. Dinner was an enjoyable affair, full of delicious food, witty banter, lots and lots of laughter, and Raja the tiger begging like a puppy.

Emma and Killian walked the path back to the Jolly long after the sun had set and the bright, beautiful stars shone in the sky.

But their happy mood lasted only until they reached their cabin below decks. The place looked like a bloody cyclone had passed through, bed ransacked, clothes strewn throughout the room, a couple of Killian's books lying open on the floor with pages torn out and ripped to confetti, the rum barrel spilled and the food stores open and scattered.

"What the hell?" Emma asked, looking around with wide eyes.

Killian was silent for a moment before his eyes landed on what looked like jam smeared across one of his windows. The letters B B, one on top of the other was drawn into the mess. His jaw clenched. "Blackbeard."

Notes:

-Sorry for the delay in this chapter! I normally write during my breaks at work (because morning is when the muse is the most alert and raring to go. This week, though, my hard drive died on Tuesday, and it took a couple days to get everything up and running again. That, of course, delayed all my story updates, and so here we are. The Honeymoon on a Saturday rather than a Thursday.

-Up next: Emma and Killian figure out how Blackbeard managed to wreak so much havoc in his tiny state, and they make him an offer he would be stupid to refuse. Afterwards, they make their last stop on their honeymoon. Emma decides they'll go to the Wish Realm because she wants to make sure Wish Henry is doing okay after all that happened to him while she was there. She finds that her fake son has made a very interesting alliance—actually three very interesting alliances. We'll get to see what's been happening with not only Henry and Wish World Hook, but also a couple of other characters that I simply couldn't tell this story without mentioning once again.