Hi Everyone. Thankfully this update took me less than a week for a change. As always thanks for the reviews and follows. It's always a nice little adrenalin rush and great motivation when I get a new alert. Oh and as a total CaptainSwan shipper I have to say it totally pains me to write any scene containing Hook with anyone but Emma - but the story must be told!
The bell chimed cheerily above Emma's head as she entered Gold's store – she wanted to pull the damn thing off its hinges and throw it through the window. Her eyes were dry now, and having put some distance between herself and the love-struck pirates she was feeling more like her usual self – in a foul mood and looking to pick a fight. "Gold! I know you're back there," she yelled from the middle of the store. "Get your ass out here!"
"Ah Ms Swan." Rumple drifted casually through the red curtain at the back of the shop. "I thought I might see you again."
Emma stood with her hands on her hips. "Let's just cut the crap and get straight to the point. Is it really her?"
"It is indeed the one and only Milah. I can sign a certificate of authenticity if you like."
"What'd you do?" she asked with a scowl. "Bring her back from the dead?"
"No, I've just been keeping her stashed away for a while, letting The Pirate think she was dead." He thumbed the golden top of his cane. "At the time it seemed like suitable punishment for stealing my wife."
Shaking her head Emma stepped forward and leaned down on to the counter in front of Gold, fighting the urge to grab his cane and beat him with it. "And is there any particular reason why, after a couple of hundred years you thought now would be a good time to release her?"
Rumple smiled sweetly. "I came back from Neverland a changed man Dearie. I'm all about redemption, showing Belle I can be a better man. And that means, righting my wrongs and making up for past mistakes."
Emma glared at him. "Did you even stop to think about how any of this affects Neal?"
Raising an eyebrow Rumple looked down at Emma. "Somehow Ms Swan, I think you're more concerned about how this affects you."
"This isn't about me," she growled through clenched teeth.
"No? And yet you're the only one here." He put his hand to his brow and melodramatically glanced around the room. "I don't see the pirate complaining that I gave him back the love of his life." He shook his head and scoffed. "You might be the saviour Ms Swan, but that doesn't mean the world revolves around you. Not everything is about you. I'm sorry if you find my attempts to make amends with the pirate an inconvenience."
"Give me a break Gold. The day you forgive and forget is the day Hell freezes over. There's more to this. I know you're lying to me. You might have helped save Henry on Neverland but I don't buy this redemption bullshit for one minute. Everything you do has an ulterior motive."
His eyes met Emma's with an intense, steely gaze. "Don't pretend to know me Ms Swan."
Emma was grinding her jaw with frustration. "How do you really think Neal is going to feel about this? Knowing his mother was technically still alive all this time? That you had her locked up somewhere?"
Rumple took a moment of quiet contemplation while he toyed with his cane. "I think with time he'll forgive me, and see that without my interference, destiny can finally play its part and everything shall once again be how it is supposed to be. He has a chance rebuild his relationship with," he paused mid-sentence briefly, "his Mother."
"I know you're up to something." With her arms folded defensively across her chest Emma squinted at him. "This is going to come back and bite you in the ass Gold. Karma is a real bitch."
The corner of Rumple's mouth tugged upward into a smirk. "Would you like me to steal Milah's heart and make her disappear again Ms Swan?"
Emma snorted loudly, trying to hide the fact that she actually liked the idea. "You know that's not what I meant."
"Isn't it?"
With a flabbergasted sigh Emma retreated from the counter. Gold wasn't giving up anything. "We're not done here. This isn't over. I will find out what you're up to."
Rumple shrugged. "I think it's safe to say my grandson's imagination is rubbing off on you Ms Swan, but that paranoia, well that's uniquely yours isn't it?"
Emma's hand was clenched in a fist at her side. She wanted the beat the crap out of the smug bastard, but instead forced herself to take a deep breath and step back. "You better tell Neal what you've done. The last thing he deserves is to bump into his mother walking down the street – if he hasn't already."
Rumple nodded. "Finally something we both agree on. I'll talk to him. Have a good day Ms Swan."
Killian and Milah were sitting on the bunk in his Captain's quarters. It had taken some time to bring her up to speed on all the events that had transpired since they'd been torn apart – his years on Neverland, The Curse, The Enchanted Forest, New York – all in his pursuit of vengeance. He intentionally neglected to mention a few key characters in his story.
"I can't believe Rumple took your hand," said Milah solemnly as she caressed the metal hook where his left hand once was.
"Screw the hand Love. I can live without a hand." Killian sighed mournfully. "It was you I couldn't live without."
"And yet you've lived hundreds of years," she replied with eyebrow raised.
"I wouldn't call it living," shrugged Killian. "Perhaps surviving would be a more suitable description."
Milah shook her head and bit down on her bottom lip. "Rumple shouldn't get away with this - taking me away from you for so long."
"Don't get me wrong Love. The Dark One deserves to die, but I spent an eternity trying to avenge your death. I sought out immortality just to have more time to find a way to kill him, yet I failed time and time again." He let out a loud regretful sigh as he began to realise that since forming a truce with Rumplestiltskin, and more importantly meeting Emma, his life had changed for the better." He has power over us," he added, "and not because of magic, simply because we let him dominate our thoughts. Let's just forget about him, at least for now."
Milah was visibly taken aback – suddenly up on her feet with jaw wide and eyebrows raised. "I cannot believe what you are saying. The Killian I know would never give-up."
"Don't mistake my words as a lack of regret Love." Killian choked back a few emotional tears as he looked up at her. "If I had known you were not truly dead I would have made a deal with the demon himself to bring you back - to reunite you with Baelfire and let you be a family again."
Milah's shoulders fell with remorse as she leaned back against the bunk. "Killian I-, I fear to ask, but do you know what became of my son?"
"He's here. In Storybrooke. Goes by the name of Neal now. He's physically the same age as you and I having spent time in Neverland and a variety of different worlds. I had the pleasure of getting to know him when he was a boy. Bae had a difficult life, growing up without a mother, abandoned by his father, but he's a good man." It pained Killian to admit it but it was the truth. "You should go and see him."
"I wouldn't know what to say. I haven't seen him since he was a child. I doubt he even remembers me." Milah frowned and shrugged uncomfortably with guilt.
"He's never forgotten you Love."
"Perhaps he should have," she replied with an anguished expression.
Killian took a deep, reluctant breath. "You also have a grandson. Henry. He's thirteen now I believe."
Milah's eyes lit up. "Baelfire is married with a family? Did he marry well? Is he happy?"
"No, not married," he replied, choosing not to mention Emma. "He wasn't aware he was a father until just recently. You really should pay him a visit. You two have a lot of catching up to do."
"You and I have a lot of catching up to do first," said Milah with a wicked smile, straddling Killian and pushing him back against the wall of the ship. She pressed her lips to his and kissed him.
Milah definitely hasn't changed, he thought. She always used seduction to avoid difficult conversations – and usually succeeded. Her lips were warm and wet and her familiar, sweet, salty scent was one that Killian realised he'd long forgotten. He pulled her closer and inhaled deeply to savour it, fearing he would forget it again if he let her go. "I missed you Milah. I missed you more than you will ever know."
"I'm here now My Love." Milah's lips travelled lower along Killian's jaw-line and along his neck.
Killian closed his eyes and felt as if he'd been transported back in time. He reached out with his right hand and caressed her curly locks of hair, murmuring quietly as Milah unbuttoned his shirt and slipped her hands under the soft cotton to caress his chest. When she reached for his belt buckle and caressed his growing erection through the front of his pants, he reluctantly reached out and pulled her hand away. "I can't Love."
Milah looked shocked and disappointed. "Killy what's wrong?"
His hand trembled against hers. "For centuries I dreamed that I might see you again, that your death was just a torturous nightmare that I would wake from at any moment. But now that you're here," his voice trailed off quietly.
"Please, tell me what's wrong. You seem, different. In my mind it feels like only a moment ago that we were together, but now," Milah frowned and looked away, "there is a distance between us that I cannot fathom."
He wanted to tell her about Emma, explain how his heart was pulled in two directions, but with everything that Milah had gone through he didn't think now was the right time. "I am different Love. I've lived a long time. I'm still the man you know, just older, and may I even suggest - a little wiser."
"My Love we just need some time to reconnect," she suggested. "This town is so strange and unfamiliar. Let's sail away and never look back!"
"There are no more portals Love. At least not right now, and that's not our world out there," recited Killian, remembering the words Emma said to him only yesterday.
"Then let's make it our world!" Milah exclaimed enthusiastically. "Just as long as we're free from Rumple - away from this terrible place. Do you remember what you said to me in that tavern that night we first met? The night I fell in love with you?"
With a smile Killian shook his head. "Would you murder me in my sleep if I said no?"
Milah laughed and took his hand. "You said that it didn't matter where we sailed – that you could navigate using the stars in my eyes."
Killian chuckled under his breath. "You do know that was likely just a woeful attempt on my part to lure you back to my quarters and into my bed?"
"Of course I do. What sort of fool did you take me for?" She poked him playfully in the chest. "Never-the-less what you said rang true with me that night. I was always starry-eyed, wanting to see the world and all it had to offer. You were my guide Killian. I love you. Be my guide again. Take me away from this place."
"I can't just leave. Not now."
"I don't understand." Milah looked at him with confusion. "What ties could you possibly have to this place?"
"There is something you should know," he muttered quietly, staring down at his feet.
"What is it?" Milah looked alarmed and concerned. "Tell me!"
"There is another woman in my heart."
Milah gave him a shove and got up from the bunk. "Let me guess," she spat at him with abrupt vitriol and hostility, "It's that blonde whore who arrived with you on the ship?"
"She's not a whore! Her name is Emma." Killian replied, suddenly on the defensive.
"How long has this been going on?" she asked in a stern voice.
"It's only a recent development."
"So end it now while it's still young!" barked Milah. "Break her heart and we shall move on and forget this transgression ever happened."
"I'm not sure I can do that Love."
Milah stood with her feisty arms folded across her chest, glaring down her nose at him. "It's her or me Killian. You have a choice to make."
Killian scoffed loudly. "Well with an attitude like that Milah, you're making my choice easier by the second."
Milah's expression suddenly dropped and a flash of guilt suddenly swept across her face. "Oh My Love, I'm so sorry! I must sound like a complete wench. I love you. I don't want to lose you."
"I'm sorry too Love. If I had known you would be back, I wouldn't have-" Killian stopped mid-sentence. Any additional words that came from his mouth would make it sound as if he regretted falling in love with Emma - that he regretted finding happiness again after all these centuries. He didn't regret one single moment. Yes, his life would have been very different if Milah had lived. They would have been a family and he would have likely died a happy man many years ago. However this was the path he was given, and he felt no remorse at making the choices he had. Now though, it was suddenly a whole lot more complicated. Killian felt morally bound to Milah – and even though they had never married he felt he had made a life-long commitment to be with her.
His heart still swelled with love for her, but so too it did for Emma. Killian needed time – time to see if his heart pulled him undeniably in one direction or the other. He needed to give Milah a chance and see if their bond had lasted the test of time. He wasn't too sure that Emma would understand that, which left him in a very difficult predicament. Perhaps, given the recent situation with Neal she might actually empathise, even just a little.
"Do you love her?" Milah asked, a single tear falling down her cheek.
Killian looked up at her with heavy heart. "I do," he replied honestly. "But that does not mean I stopped loving you."
"You're are going to have to choose, you realise that don't you?" Milah asked sincerely.
Killian had a sudden flash of déja vu. He was back in Neverland saying exactly the same thing to Emma in relation to his battle with Neal to win her heart. He felt a unbearable ache upon hearing her words replaying in his mind - It's not a contest Hook. Sadly in this case he felt it might be true. He wanted Emma to fight for him. He wanted her to tell him that he should spend the rest of his life with her.
Most of all he wanted Emma to tell him that she loved him.