"Good morning, Princess." Johanna said as she opened the curtains to Emma's canopy bed. Emma yawned and stretched. The sun was pouring in from the gigantic bay window and she heard birds chirping.
"It is a beautiful day, Johanna." Emma exclaimed as she propped herself against the pillows.
"My, someone's in a good mood." the old maid said as she opened the windows.
After Emma was dressed in a simple lavender gown, she made her way to the dining hall and breakfast with her parents. Once she entered the room, Snow noticed that Emma seemed especially cheerful. She had a smile on her face and greeted them more enthusiastically than normal. Her father pulled out a chair for her and she sat, waiting as the main courses arrived.
While eating, Snow began asking how the ball last night had been.
"Did you enjoy yourself, Emma?"
"Yes, mother. It was lovely." she exclaimed through a mouthful of eggs.
"Did you meet anyone?" David asked. Snow hissed, "David!"
"No one of consequence." Emma replied, wiping at her lips with a napkin. "But, I do have one request." She added. "A restraining order for Prince Hans of The Southern Isles." David laughed while Snow said 'Emma!' in a scandalized tone that didn't entirely hide her mirth.
"What was it this time?" David asked.
"So," Snow started, attempting to reclaim her original topic. "Who was the man you were dancing with last night? The dark haired one." Snow, leaned in to better hear Emma's response. Emma paused.
"No one of consequence." she repeated before excusing herself from the table and practically running out of the room. Snow just smiled, she knew a smitten girl when she saw one.
Sleep? After kissing Emma? Nope. Killian had laid awake nearly all night thinking of her. Of all the wenches he could have fallen for, why her? A princess! He shouldn't be having a dalliance with a bloody princess! But all the sweet moments he spent with her were worth it, he decided. And, after the ball, he knew that his feelings weren't one sided like he had feared. She cared for him too. That was when he made up his mind that he wasn't leaving until he saw Emma again.
After breakfast, Emma's day was completely, utterly, infuriatingly normal. After all her time spent on the high seas she was bored to tears within minutes during lessons and matters of state. The remainder of the day she was continually followed by the guards as well making her want to rip her hair out in frustration, something she dare not do for fear of her mothers wrath.
That night, when Johanna and the other handmaids had left and she was just beginning to drift off, she heard a quiet tapping sound on the window. She groaned and rolled over, cocooning herself in the blankets. The tapping became more incessant. Muttering incoherently, she pushed the blankets aside and went to the window. What she saw there made her jump about a foot in the air.
It was Killian! Outside her window! He was perched on a thick stone ledge that jutted out from the brick. The wall beneath him was flat in-between two round towers so that it was difficult to see him even from that height.
"Killian!" she cried, grabbing his arm and hauling him inside. Once he was on solid ground again, he gave Emma's room an appreaciative glance.
"This really does outstrip that cabin on the jolly, doesn't it?" he said.
"Killian, what are you doing here?" Emma asked, giving him as much of an evil glare as she could muster. Ignoring her scandalized look entirely, he smirked, eyebrows raised.
"Isn't it obvious, Love? I came to see you."
"In the middle of the night? Through my window?" Seeing the way she reacted, Killian backed up.
"I couldn't exactly stroll into the palace and knock on your door. I had to take an alternate route." he explained like he was disscussing nothing more important than a fallen tree blocking the road. Emma walked over to the open window and peered straight down, the wall was perfectly smooth, not a brick out of place. She wrinkled her nose, confused.
"How did you get up here?"
"There's some ivy growing along the wall that I used." he pointed it out to her." I climbed up a beanstalk once. Your window is nothing in comparison."
"A beanstalk?" she asked, incredulous.
"Aye, thats a tale for another time."
"I'm intrigued. Humor me." Emma said, grabbing his hook and pulling him to sit with her on the bed.
For the next few hours, Emma and Killian sat together as he shared his adventures with her. In return, Emma told him of life inside the castle."
"Since returning to the castle, I've been followed everywhere by the guards." she confessed. "They fear that I'll be 'kidnapped' again."
"But then your devilishly handsome pirate would be there to rescue you." he said. Emma raised her eyebrows. Killian pretended to be deep in thought.
"Hmm, lets see. One, I saved you at the bar; two, when you were tied up in that wagon; three, last night when I saved you from having to dance with that ogre."
"And, if my devilishly handsome pirate doesn't stop rescuing me, soon i'll have no choice but to reward him for his actions." she said and before he could process what she meant, she grabbed the collar of his leather jacket and pulled him in for a kiss. Killian didn't resist, instead he pulled her close as well, running his hand through her hair. She pulled back again and placed a finger over his lips.
"Before you argue with me, Killian, you should know that it's time for you to go."
"You would kick me out in such an unbecoming manner?" Killian placed his hand over his heart, mockingly.
"We both know what would happen if someone came into my room and caught a rogue pirate in my bedchamber." she said, ushering him to the window. Before he began his descent, he gave her his best puppy dog look.
"One more, Love? For luck?" Emma sighed dramatically and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He smiled and sunk down the wall. Afterwards, Emma leaned on the window and watched as he grew smaller and smaller until he disappeared from view before returning to her lonely bed.