In retrospect Emma should have recognized Henry's snores even muffled by levels of decking. She should have guessed her stubborn son would stow away. This was the kid that went to Boston to find her after all. He was just as pigheaded as she was. She smiles to herself remembering the animated way he had told his story.
He had stolen a horse–thanks to his dual memories he is quite the skilled horseman–and creeped aboard while the crew was still bustling about. Emma had managed to keep a stern face throughout the story but Killian hadn't even tried to mask his delight in the tale. His enthusiasm for Henry's antics had earned him a slap on the shoulder which had sobered him slightly. But his eyebrows had still danced when Emma had grudgingly admitted that turning back wasn't an option.
Emma had rolled her eyes and dragged Henry to the crew quarters where her cold and empty bed awaited her.
Now she lies in her hard bunk, staring into the dark and listening to Henry's snores, trying not to miss the heat of Killian beside her or to think of her disappoint when she discovered that they would no longer be pretending to be married. It was a reminder that they weren't a team, that none of it is real, just the result of lies and forced intimacy. When the curse or spell is broken they will go back to being adversaries or uneasy friends or something.
She touches her forehead where Killian had kissed her. Like the conversation they shared under the stars and the easy way they had sailed together, that kiss had been real. A kiss with no audience, a kiss done with familiarity, a kiss she hadn't expected but had welcomed. She sighs and drags her hand over her eyes. She rolls over pressing her pillow into her ears and forcing herself to stop thinking and go to sleep.
When she awakes the sun is filtering through the deck and Henry's bed is empty. She sits up with a start, worry taking over, until she hears Henry's muffled laugh above her and Killian's joining in. She lays back down and stretches, not quite ready to get out of bed. She listens to the sound of feet and voices above her. She can't make out what they are saying but it's punctuated by laughter and the occasional barking order from Killian. Eventually she gets up, puts on her vest, and fixes her hair before she makes her way to the galley where some kind of oatmeal is warming on a dying fire.
When she climbs above deck she finds Killian showing Henry how to tie a knot near the helm. Their heads are bowed together in concentration. Henry is still in his green and brown squire outfit that makes him look far too grown up for Emma's taste. Killian is in black leather pants with a white shirt under a black vest; a weird combination of the pirate she first met and the naval officer she has come to know. As Killian twists the rope into a knot Emma catches the gleam of metal and realizes that in addition to a wardrobe change Killian has found his hook. The change feels right somehow; she smiles and approaches them. Henry looks up and his face explodes in a grin.
"Mom! Finally! I thought you would sleep all day! You missed the dolphins! But Killian says there will be more later and if we are lucky there might be a sea serpent. Wouldn't that be cool?"
Emma laughs. "Yeah, sounds great." She ruffles his wind blown hair.
"Don't get your hopes up, love, sea serpents are very rare in these parts at this time of year."
"I'll try to manage my expectations," she quips. They share a smile before Henry is pulling her away to show her all the things he has learned about sailing. He names the various parts of the ship and the sails and explains what each does with enthusiasm. He only pauses a few times to think or to ask Killian for help. Emma can feel Killian's eyes on them as they traverse the deck and she can't help her own eyes wandering to him.
He stands at the helm the wind tossing his hair and billowing out his shirt. With his uniform jacket and vest gone his chest hair is on full display once again and Emma appreciates the view even as she realizes how much it resembles the cover of a steamy romance novel. When her eyes reach his face his raised eyebrow tells her he has caught her staring and she looks away. Shoving her thoughts and hormones aside, she focuses on paying attention to her son.
When Henry runs out of ship related things to tell her he goes back to finish his knot tying lesson and Emma wanders to the prow, not ready to join them. She stares out at the wide ocean taking in the salty tang of the air. It is warm but the breeze keeps it from being truly hot. It's a big difference from the last time she was on the ship. A cold winter wind had kept her mostly below deck checking on a dying Gold. She was also wrestling with a tidal wave of information. Neal being the son of Rumplestilskin, Neal knowing her origins, Henry being angry about her lie, Neal knowing Hook and knowing how to sail, and the small detail that Neal was in love with and engaged to someone else. It had been a lot to deal with and in classic Emma fashion she had pushed most of it away to focus on saving Gold and getting Henry to forgive her. Now with nothing but the wind and waves she has the space to think about those things but she still doesn't want to. She wants Neal and everything that happened with him, both good and bad, to just stay in the past. But she knows that won't be possible when they all get back to Storybrooke and everything is back to normal. She will have to face him, for Henry and for herself. She sighs. Suddenly staying in this different reality doesn't seem so bad.
Hook's laugh breaks through her thoughts and she glances back at him and Henry. A soft smile plays across her lips at the sight. Henry might want to get back to running water and his game console but he also seems more than content to live it up in fairytale land. For a brief moment she wonders if it would be a totally horrible thing if they couldn't reverse the spell and they got stuck here. But at that moment Killian looks up and catches her eye. He smiles and cocks his eyebrow knowingly. Emma's heart accelerates and she smiles back. His grin grows but then Henry is pulling his attention back to the knots. Emma lets out a long exhale and, suddenly in need of movement and not to be in Killian's eyesight, she spins back toward the hatch and disappears below decks.
She cleans up in the galley and the crew quarters to keep her mind busy but the tasks are over too quickly. So she throws together a lunch and brings it on deck. They spread the food on the top of a barrel and eat standing with the wind whipping around them but even then it feels a little too domestic. She focuses on her son and does her best not to meet Killian's eye. Henry spends the whole meal talking animatedly and Emma is grateful he is there to fill the silence.
After cleaning up lunch she wanders around the ship, peeking in all the nooks and crannies she can see in the dim light. Eventually she goes into Killian's cabin, hesitating briefly at the door, to take inventory of her traveling trunk (not to snoop through his things) even though she had packed it just the day before. When she finishes that task she stands and goes over to the books hopeful of finding something to distract her. Perusing the titles leads to flipping through them. One of them, a thick book on maritime history, is inscribed to Captain Liam Jones from Lieutenant Killian Jones on the event of his promotion. Liam is the name Killian cried out in his sleep. Emma's fingers brush over the curly script. She thinks Liam must have been his brother and suddenly touching the book feels like a violation. She replaces it and grabs a smaller, less official looking volume. She opens it to a random page and discovers that it is a book of poetry; love poetry. She shakes her head with a small smile. Killian is full of surprises. She reads through a few and they are very romantic. When she flips to a random page a folded up piece of paper flutters to the ground. Emma puts down the book and picks it up. The paper is heavy and blank on the back and the creases are well worn. She unfolds it slowly and reveals a sketch of a woman.
She is beautiful. Her dark and wavy hair falls over her shoulder. Her face is peaceful, her full lips neutral, and her eyes staring away from the artist. Her earring and necklace are large and almost gaudy.
"Milah." Emma whispers, the name inscribed on Killian's arm springing to her mind. Suddenly worried about being caught, her eyes dart around the room but she can hear the low rumble of Hook and Henry's voices on the deck above and she relaxes. She bites her lip and looks back down, examining the picture closer. This was the woman Gold had killed and Hook had spent hundreds of years trying to avenge. It was the woman he still loved after all that time.
She wonders what it is like to love like that. She knows her parents love that way, with their whole heart and soul, willing to do anything for each other, but before she met them she would have said such love only existed in fairytales. Maybe for most people it still was that way, maybe her parents and Hook were the exception not the rule.
The rule in her life had certainly been that love was too fragile for obstacles. The Swans had returned her because they couldn't love both her and their new baby. Lily's friendship had been nothing but lies and manipulation. Neal had abandoned her because of misplaced faith in August and a warped idea of destiny. Automatically she reaches for her swan necklace but it's gone. She remembers yanking it off and throwing it at Neal in the bar; anger and pain ripping through her. Love, in her experience, never lasted.
Emma jumps at the sound of boots on the deck. She hastily refolds the sketch and puts it back into the book, silently hoping that the paper wasn't marking a specific page. Then she turns and hurries back to the crew quarters where she sits alone with her thoughts until Henry bursts in to drag her up on deck.
When they come up Emma has to catch her breath at the beauty of the scene. The ocean is painted with reds, oranges and golds and dolphins are dancing in the water at the front of the boat. Hook is standing at the helm his eyes taking in the scene with a small quirk of his mouth. He looks so relaxed and comfortable like there is nowhere in the entire world he would rather be. As Henry runs to the prow to see the dolphins better Emma heads in the opposite direction.
"Swan." He gives her a slight nod before focusing on the horizon.
She stands beside him, close but not quite touching, and takes in the view. When one of the dolphins does a flip Henry lets out a whoop.
"Did you see that?"
Killian chuckles, a warm sound that seems to flow into her, and she is again aware of the heat between them. They stand side-by-side, shoulders brushing with the sway of the ship. "Thanks for teaching Henry." She breaks the building tension.
"He is a clever lad, a quick learner and a born sailor, much like his father."
A sigh escapes her lips. She feels Killian's eyes examining her but she doesn't meet his gaze.
"Don't worry, love. We will figure this out and when everything is back to normal you and your boy can go sailing with Bae. The Jolly Roger will be at your disposal."
"You are going to be staying in Storybrooke?" Her voice betrays her surprise as she faces him. The orange of the sunlight is doing strange things to his beard and his eyes seem a light green instead of the blue she is used too. He scrutinizes her face for a moment, as if trying to read her, the heat between them grows and she blinks rapidly.
"Would it bother you if I did?" His voice is a low, unsure whisper.
"Do what you want. It's a free country."
"That's not an answer, Emma."
She breaks eye contact and looks over at Henry, still enamoured with the dolphins.
"As long as you didn't go around kidnapping and robbing people I guess I wouldn't mind having you around." She looks back at him and he is smirking.
"I will endeavor to behave myself."
"Good because if you don't I will have to lock you up."
His smirk turns lascivious. "I thought you enjoyed locking me up, darling."
She knows he means it in the dirtiest way possible but it also strikes her as a little sad. She tips her head. "No. I really don't like locking you up Killian. I like it when we are on the same team." He ducks his head and she sees a slight flush in his cheeks.
"Then we are in agreement. After we find a solution to our predicament and return to Storybrooke I will stay and you and your family can go sailing."
"With you?"
He clears his throat. "I don't believe that Bae would be eager for my presence."
A small furrow forms between his eyebrows as he stares at the scratches on the wood of the helm just like he had the night before. She wants to ask him about those scratches, about Neal, about Liam Jones, about Milah, about everything. She wants to ask him every question she can think of and unravel the story of Killian Jones chapter by chapter. To read him as easily as his book of poems, as easily as he sometimes seems to read her. It's an intense curiosity that she has never felt before and it scares her. She wonders if he has the same desire to know her and that scares her even more.
"Look, I don't care what Neal wants. Hell, when we get back I am not even sure he is going to stick around."
Killian looks up abruptly, his eyebrows raised. Emma doesn't want to share her entire history with Neal but she feels like she owes him a piece of herself after all her snooping and she thinks Killian should know that they are not one big happy family.
"Things with Neal are complicated. Before I found him with Gold I hadn't seen him for ten years. You remember Tamara?" Killian nods. "Yeah well he was going to marry her. I mean he didn't know she was an evil, cheating bitch but he was in love with her. And I...well it's complicated." She looks back out at the sunset now a dark blue overtaking the orange and pinks.
"Swan, time does not erase true love. I am sure he still cares for you. He would be a fool not to."
Her eyes snap to his intense gaze and her heart skips. All thoughts of Neal and their messed up history evaporate under the heat spreading through her body. Unconsciously she leans closer.
"You think so?"
"Aye." He sways toward her, his voice sending a thrill up her spine. "Any man that loves you and doesn't fight for you is a fool and undeserving of your heart."
She opens her mouth but is interrupted by Henry.
"Hey guys!" They spring apart and turn as he comes skidding to a halt at the top of the stairs. "The dolphins are disappearing!"
They turn and look to the front of the ship as the last of the dolphins vanish in midair.
Emma feels Killian tense. "Hold on!" he shouts as he grabs Emma around the waist, pinning her between the wheel and his body. Before she can protest the ship begins to shudder and buck side-to-side.
"Henry!" Emma calls as she watches him between the spokes gripping the railing. He turns and smiles and Emma could strangle him for enjoying this. The wheel jerks to the right and Emma grabs it, trying to help Killian keep it steady. The waves crest and the ship rises up and shakes even harder before crashing down and sending water splashing on deck.
"Come on girl. You got this" Killian murmurs fiercely, his knuckles white, his heart thundering into Emma's back. There are two more waves and then the ship gives a final violent shake and there is a blinding light. Emma shuts her eyes against it as Killian releases his grip on the wheel but doesn't step away. She resists the urge to lean on him.
"Henry?"
"I'm fine Mom! Just a little blind."
She sighs in relief and tries to blink her vision clear. Killian steps away from her, his boots clicking rapidly as he crosses to the right side. Slowly the deck comes into focus and Emma realizes the harsh light is nothing more than the noonday sun in a cloudless sky. She looks to the horizon where only moments ago the sun was disappearing and instead sees a wall of green and a brown beach sprouting out of the blue sea. What had been an endless expanse of blue was now land close enough to swim too.
"KIllian what the hell is going on?"
"I believe we have arrived."
She follows his outstretched arm and sees a glittering house sitting further down the beach.
"This is the island?"
"Is that a glass house?" Henry asks.
"So it would seem." Killian answers both questions at once.
Emma and Henry join Killian at the railing and they all stare at the strange sight.
"Why would she live right on the beach? Shouldn't she be harder to get to?"
Killian shrugs. "The island is impossible to find without the sextant. What need has she to hide her residence? And given the choice wouldn't you rather live on the beach than in the forest?"
Emma nods. "I guess that makes sense. So you think she wants visitors?"
"I suppose there is only one way to find out. Henry, weigh anchor."
They secure the ship and row to shore and though Emma is sure it takes them almost an hour the sun doesn't move from its place in the sky.
They approach the glass house cautiously and Emma realizes it looks more like a Victorian mansion than something that belongs in the Enchanted Forest. That detail seems less strange when they get close enough to see that it isn't glass at all.
"It's made of ice!" Henry's voice is full of wonder as he turns his wide eyes to Emma.
She smiles. "Guess anything is possible with magic."
"Not anything, Swan."
"He is right. Magic can be fickle." The group spins abruptly at the new voice. Standing behind them is a vaguely familiar woman in a simple dress, her long white blonde hair loosely plaited, her feet bare and a soft smile on her face. KIllian draws his sword.
"There really is no need for that," she purrs quietly, "I am more than willing to help you. As soon as I am sure you can be trusted."
"And how shall we prove our trustworthiness?" he says, not dropping his sword an inch.
A small smile plays on her face as her fingers flutter. An ice cream cone appears in her hand and Emma is finally able to place the face. She shares a look with Henry because really the lady that owns Storybrooke's ice cream parlor is a powerful sorceress now?
"It's very simple. Whoever eats my treat will be unable to tell a lie. I will ask them a few questions and if I am satisfied with the answers then we can proceed."
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Decision Time
Who should eat the ice cream cone?
Emma
OR
Killian
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Authors Note: So did you realize it was going to be the Snow Queen or were you surprised? The last vote was 64% for Henry to be the stowaway. I love me some Captain Cobra so I was just fine with that path.
