A flurry of fluffed, freshly fallen snow blew through the iced regions of the sea faring Arendellian province of Sullenshore. The realm's most notorious boys' academy sat in the heart of it, the Sullenshore Academy of Sea Navigation. No magic and no other unnatural hocus pocus was allowed in the school; all who entered dreamed of becoming Commodores, Captains and Naval Officers, to travel the worlds and all seven seas, perhaps even crossing realms, on board one of the kingdom's famed vessels, those made of enchanted wood, that served the Royal navy.
One such pupil made it and had earned a name and reputation for being the academy's finest mathematical stargazer and reader, mapmaker, navigator, sailor and captain… and who had quite unfortunately, given in to piracy. Captain Killian Jones, know to have stolen the finest vessel in the fleet, one that had been manned by his older brother, Liam Jones, and that now sailed the seas under the crimson flag and the name of Jolly Roger.
Those who remembered Killian Jones were befuddled by his mutiny; sure, he had always been slightly against the mainstream and he and his brother had been the most rebellious and unruly boys to ever set foot in the school, but the younger Jones had displayed unbelievably advanced navigating skills, his calculus and arithmetic practically flawless and with an uncanny ability to manipulate sextants, compasses and astrolabes. And even without those, he seemed to be naturally aware of his orientation. He'd made many friends, many of whom had earned other important positions, married off to good women and had started families of their own, he was reputed for his strict code of conduct (unlike his days at school) and was the village heartbreaker: few if any young women were new to the handsome looks and fresh face of Killian Jones, and in spite of his taste for the ladies, he still hoped in his heart he'd someday find that good, kind angel he'd set out to find.
But at only twenty-two, Lieutenant Jones became Captain of his very own pirate ship, his heart devastated by the tragic death of his brother.
His first deed as a pirate was to loot the envoy vessel of the Southern Isles, as a belated dowry for having wed the former Queen's sister, Princess Anna. The tip, it seemed, came from the former boyfriend of the girl, an ice-bearer named Kristoff, who seemed to believe his young lover had been forcefully engaged to the now craven King Hans, the man who had sent Killian's beloved brother into an early grave.
Killian was only delighted to oblige: He and his crew attacked at night and not only looted the ship in its entirety, but also recruited half of its men to serve him as crew members in the Jolly.
Nevertheless, no men were killed; Killian Jones had a strict no-killing policy that made him stand out as the pirate who apparently, lived by a code.
Regardless of his mercy, King Hans was furious; it had been he who had offered the Jones brothers a once in a lifetime shot at notoriety, and this was his repayment?
After Killian looted yet another vessel (and also stole the King's mistress, a courtier named Clarissa, taking her to Misthaven in exchange for her loving care during the journey), King Hans had had enough; he set a price on Killian's head, for no less than seven thousand gold doubloons, dead or alive.
Being a marked man is not an easy thing to live with, being a pirate: For such a price, his own crewmembers would have easily turned him in. So he took leave and continued his pirating schemes in Misthaven, known to its local inhabitants as the Enchanted Forest, the source for the wood of his ship.
Within a few years, he'd made a reputation for himself; it was easy for him to fall into the pirating world and lifestyle. While onboard, he was as strict as any well-bred naval officer might be; but once off shore, he was generous with his wages, paid his crew members equally and generously, and often joined them all in pubs and inns to celebrate the loot of the day. He was well-known for his gaming skills (dice were his area of expertise) and there was not a day he'd go back to his quarters without at least one decent looking woman escorting him and favoring him during the night.
Sometimes he'd please more than one in a single night, as well.
But all that ceased one night, one fateful night, when a remarkably beautiful brunette served him his first ale of the night. She looked a little different from all the other wenches present that evening: the girl had a visible stance of dignity and it was easy to tell she was neither a true bar wench nor a whore, but a woman working to sustain a home, maybe even a child. The second thing that caught his eye was her kind smile… and finally, her eyes, as they met his. The girl froze in place as she placed the beer before him, and both pirate and bar girl exchanged a grin.
"Thank you love."
"Most welcome, Captain." She grinned shyly as she leaned her hands on her apron.
"You have a name?" He raised a brow.
She smiled again. "Silly question. Don't we all?"
The pirate stood up and bowed before her. "Killian Jones, milady."
"I know of you, Captain Jones… You've quite the reputation."
"Have I now?"
"Aye: A gamer, a cad and a ladies man, a charmer who is known to be the handsomest man in all the seas but treacherous and dangerous, a thief and coward. Now if you'll excuse me…"
He stopped her by the arm as she tried to pass by him. "You did not say 'man of honor'"
She chuckled. "Can a pirate ever be one?"
Killian turned to her with a full smile displayed. "You'd be surprised; I've much more honor in a single toenail than the king of the realm that saw my birth."
She side-grinned. "Milah. Milah's my name."
Killian nodded. "I am honored, Milah. Now, I would be even more honored if you'd… join me at our table. I've got an unusual appetite for a game of dice."
Mila side grinned. "I happen to be damn good at dice."
"You'd never beat me, love…" He grinned, flashing his dice from his pocket.
Milah picked them up and after looking at them carefully, she swiftly tossed them into the fire.
"OII!" Killian hollered.
Milah took two steps towards his face. "Those were loaded. Now…." She produced her own dice. "Want to know how real dice are played, Captain Jones?"
Normally, Killian Jones hated being nested; except when it was by a woman. Then the effect was quite the opposite: He immediately felt attracted to any woman who could outwit him.
And, as he had suspected, Milah beat him, three games in a row. She was looking more and more beautiful to him by the second.
Killian and his crew returned to that inn three nights in a row; by the third, he and Milah had become inseparable.
But after the night of the fourth day, the sun threatened to sweep the pirate and his crew away, to return gods knew when. Milah found the young captain as she woke in his arms, and begged him, pleaded with him, to take her with him.
"And you boy?" He whispered into her hair. "What will become of the lad, without his mother?"
"I cannot be a good mother to him if I lose my mind, and I shall, if I remain here…" She spoke back, her lips pressed to the rugged roughness of his cheek. "Please… Killian… take me with you. I am chained to a life of servitude as the wife of a weaver who can't even find it in him to defend his own shadow."
"Why don't you return home and fetch the boy, love?" he caressed her hair. "You know I'd be like father to him. You've naught to fear from me."
"It's not you I fear. But Rumple. He will find a way to make me feel guilty and I will never leave. He always does. Trust me, he might look meek, but there is a certain… darkness in him, a darkness that frightens me." She pressed her hands to his chest. "We can return in a few years and take Baelfire when his father is not home… when the boy is a little bit older and Rumple has given me up for dead. Please… Killian, I beg of you, my love…"
My love…
No words could melt his heart more than those.
"Then with me you shall come." He grinned and kissed her forehead.
Later that day, the small, slouching figure of a man in a cloak came to is ship, and asked for the return of his wife.
"I've many a man's wife here, mate." He replied with a grin. "And I'm not much for badgery. But that being said, I do consider myself an honorable man, a man with a code, so… If you truly want your wife back… then claim her. Rescue her and her honor…" A crew member threw a sword at Rumple's feet.
From behind the wooden panel of the top deck, Milah looked in secret; a part of her wished for Rumple to grab that sword and furiously fight for her, to show her how wrong she was about his cowardice… But he did nothing.
Killian held the sword to his throat. "Pick it up…" After obtaining no reply, he stepped to the man's face. "A man not willing to fight for what he wants, deserves what he gets. And you? You deserve to have such a luscious and beautiful woman taken from you. She's far too good for a coward."
"No… p… please sir… please…" the tiny man squeaked through tears. "What shall I tell my boy?"
"You could try the truth." Killian smiled coldly. "That his mother was taken by pirates and that his father was far too scared to fight for her when he had the chance… that he let them take her…" he sneered at him. "That he's too much of a coward." He turned and paced towards the hatch that led to his quarters. "Now leave my ship or walk the plank, either one is fine, see if I care."
He and Milah enjoyed one another for eight years. She once was with child but lost it just before the first trimester. They both tried again… and once she learned she was once again pregnant, they planned to return to mainland, to collect Bae and be the family they had wanted to become.
No one had counted on meek, scaredy-cat Rumplestiltskin to acquire the power of the Dark One. Even the bold and sassy Killian Jones knew well enough to stay away from that particular entity.
And then, his life fell apart… Rumple claimed his honor back by taking the life of Milah and their unborn child with him, together with Killian's hand, sparing his life to guarantee the aches and pains of his suffering.
His pride, his arrogance and his self-centeredness had cost him the life of the woman he loved… and their unborn son or daughter. He'd have to live with that guilt forever.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"MOMMY!"
Emma ran like a bat out of hell into Lilly's room at four in the morning, to find her daughter sitting upright in her crib, sobbing her little heart out, as she held her hands out to her mother.
"Oh sweetie… shhh…" She consoled the child. "It's ok…" She paced around the room, holding her, her hand tucked on her little head and caressing the black and long strands of hair. "It's all over now, just a bad dream…"
Lilly continued sobbing as Emma tried to calm her down, only to be taken aback by a sudden crashing sound. Lilly jumped and cried louder as Emma ran back to her bedroom, finding Killian sitting on the edge of the bed, hands tucked in his hair, trying to compose himself after another episode.
That damn hand was really taking a toll…
"Killian?"
When he turned and found Emma holding a now quietly sobbing Lilly Jones, his face fell. "Oh… not again. No…" He turned to them and tried to hold his daughter, but was stunned to see she refused.
That hurt deep; Lilly never refused to be held by her father, ever.
"Lilly, honey, your dad wants to hug you, why don't you…?"
"NO! DADDY IS BAD!" She screamed into her mother's hair.
Emma turned a wide-eyed look at Killian, who looked crushed, his face distorted into an ached sneer as he turned back to sit on his side of the bed.
"I'll just … put her back to bed…" Emma turned quietly and walked to Lilly's nursery. She asked if she wanted daddy to sing for her, and even that she declined.
What the hell had she and her husband dreamt of this night, anyway?
Once Lilly was asleep, she returned to the room; Killian was sitting on the chaise by the window, going through the little baby album he had seen back in New York, his eyes swollen and red, and his expression conveying an ached smile.
She grabbed a blanket and sat next to him, wrapping them both.
"So, you wanna tell me what the hell it was about this time?" She leaned on his shoulder.
Killian did not reply; he continued grinning at the images of the little baby girl he had come to worship.
"Killian?"
"I can't let her carry on like this." He whispered. "She doesn't deserve to endure my own blackened heartache, Swan. I have no idea what to do to control these… bloody memories." He swallowed and touched the image of a newborn Lilly. "I've just… relived the most painful moment of my life, and woke up to find my daughter hates me." He swallowed. "She shouldn't be burdened by my own mistakes, Swan."
She took the book from him and sighed as she closed it. "Look, we both knew it was going to be rough seas ahead and…"
"HAD I KNOWN MY DAUGHTER WOULD SUFFER I'D HAVE BLOODY NEVER LET THIS HAPPEN!" He jumped up and shouted, making Emma jump. He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "She's learning all my deepest and darkest secrets, Emma, things I've never even told you, and if reliving them hurts me, can you imagine what it does to an innocent wee girl? It's not fair!" He huffed. "I'll go to Whale tomorrow… see if he can get this bloody hand chopped back off."
"Hey HEY!" Emma stood up before him. "That is NOT yet an option. Look, we know Lilly is powerful, we must have to find a way to disconnect her from your own memories, I'm sure there's a way."
He sighed and finally sat down on the edge of the bed. "We've got to find Zelena. The bloody witch that almost killed our child, yes." He huffed and slumped back on the bed. "Why does this all have to be so bloody complicated?"
Emma shook her head. "I've no idea; but I don't think Gold will be too amicable and just hand in that urn." She sighed. "We have to do something."
"My child hates me."
"She does not."
"She thinks I'm bad, you hear her…"
"She was scared, Killian! You know she doesn't feel that way!"
"Hmmm." He sat up and looked into Emma's eyes. "Did you know that… when she died, Milah was pregnant with my child?"
Emma gasped. "Wh… what?"
"Aye…" he stood and paced. "We'd lost one already so, we were rather happy about this one. That was when we decided to return for Bae." He shrugged. "Neither of us had a clue that her cowardly husband had turned into the most powerful dark sorcerer in all the realms." He gulped. "The man didn't crush one heart. He crushed two." He turned his face to Emma. "And then took my hand to try and steal the bean that had lead him to us…." He gulped. "It seems the hand has not only memories, but it also triggers the darkest ones, ones that occurred even after I became Hook."
She ran her hand in circles on his back. "You're facing them, one by one. And they will be gone once you do." She caressed his hair. "You've always been there for me, Killian, no matter what. So… Time to return the favor."
He nodded. "Thank you love. I know I can handle these bloody memories. But Lilly should not."
Emma thought for a minute and nodded. "Yeah. You're right about that." She looked at him. "Why do you suppose she has these dreams as well?"
"I have a theory… might have been when she saved me… she might have connected to me, I don't know…" He shook his head. "Nevertheless, she's but a babe; the visions in my mind are far too strong to stomach, even for me, and I was the one who did these things. It's no wonder she hates me right now."
"It could be. Either way, we'll have to ask Gold about that urn." She kissed his cheek. "And she worships you, stop saying she hates you."
The door was suddenly pushed open softly; both Emma and Hook turned to find Lilly standing there.
"She climbed over the bars?" Killian turned to Emma.
"She's been doing that a lot recently…" Emma nodded back. "What's the matter, honey?"
Lilly looked at her father and walked to him. She touched his hand and looked into his eyes. "Daddy, this bad."
Killian looked at his hand. "You mean my hand, angel?"
"Aye."
He and Emma exchanged a glance, and Killian looked at his daughter again. "Tell me something, Lilly, love… is... the hand bad, or is your father bad? Please… "
Lilly looked at him in the eye and pointed at his heart. "This good…" then his head. "This good." And finally, his hand. "This bad."
Killian fisted his left hand and nodded. "Aye, little one, I am inclined to agree with you. Do you think…" he swallowed. "… do you believe we should get rid of it, darling?"
"Killian!" Emma cut in.
Lilly continued to stare at her father, before shaking her head with her happy, normal grin. "No. Clean."
"Clean it?"
"Aye."
He sighed and touched her hair. "How?"
The child rolled her eyes around and shrugged hard with a smile.
Killian raised an eyebrow. "You… don't know." He looked at Emma before looking back at her with a grin. "Well, you're not supposed o know everything now, are you?" he touched the tip of her nose. "You're a smart one, Lilly love."
The girl grinned and babbled something as she held her hands out for her pirate father to hold her. "Oh, then, does that mean you forgive me now?"
"Aye."
He smiled back and picked her up, pulling her to the bed. "Good, love, because I was really sad that you were mad at me."
"Daddy sad."
"Aye, I am. But I will be fine, I promise."
As she huddled between them, she sighed and whispered something, barely audible, before she nodded off to sleep. "She comes."
Emma and Hook exchanged a glace. Emma mouthed at Killian. "Who comes?"
"No idea…" He mouthed back as they both lay down, with worried scorns on their foreheads, to try and sleep.
The rest of the night was dreamless, as Lilly slept between her mother and father, waiting for the light of dawn.
As they and the rest of the town slept, a cold, ominous breeze was blowing through the streets of Storybrooke.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
A few hours earlier, Rumplestiltskin had been sitting alone in his shop; He fiddled with his cane, wondering whether or not returning the pirate's hand had been the right move. He knew the agony that would entail; but he also knew he would need both limbs to deal with the events that were soon to come.
He had a powerful theory behind Lilly's existence and power, and while it was a breath of hope, it also carried with it a series of terrible obstacles, far too powerful for an innocent little two-year-old child to face alone… even if she had been born for the very purpose of it.
The magic that dwelt in Storybrooke was barely enough. There were a few magical beings living there: Regina, Emma, Jefferson, BoBeep and himself…. And now the little girl.
He needed help for what was to come, if the little one was to make it out of it alive…
Zelena was definitely NOT an option. Even if given an opportunity, she was far too envious and succumbed with ease to her own desires, so returning her magic to her was out of the question. Henry was viable, being Emma's son and his own grandson, but he had not yet shown signs of magical prowess… so there was one more that could be of aid… the woman in the urn.
He sighed and shook his head as he cast a protector spell around the shop, before leaving for the barn where Zelena had opened her time portal. He then proceeded to release the contents…
Zelena was easily captured in a genie's lamp. It was the other prisoner he needed to have congress with.
A smooth, blue liquid oozed from the urn after Rumple opened it and gently placed it on the ground. It came together in the center of the circle carved by Zelena's portal, and slowly built itself up to reveal a woman, young, beautiful…. And powerful beyond measure.
She drew breath and gasped as she looked around. She found Rumplestiltskin's gaze and she stopped, a sudden flurry of soft snow falling on top of her head. "Wh… who are you?"
Gold grinned. "You have no memory of me… dearie?" He stepped to her. "You came to me, looking for your sister, and begging me to imprison you before you froze the whole realm."
The girl closed her eyes and exhaled softly. "Rumplestiltskin."
"Welcome back… Queen Elsa."
"Why have you set me free?"
Gold swallowed a hard gulp. "You are standing in a different realm, a realm that before me, had no magic. There are few magical beings here… and we need your help."
"H… how?"
"A child was born, Elsa… the one who can defeat Her."
Elsa paled even more and the wind picked up a notch. Gold shuddered.
"The one who… froze Arendelle, is that the one you speak of?"
"Indeed."
"She cannot be stopped." Elsa paced. "She helped Hans to power and set me up, you know this."
"If that is so…" he walked to her, unafraid. "Why did you ask me to restrain you?"
Elsa shook her head. "M… my sister. She threatened to kill Anna, I… I could not have stopped her." She looked up at Gold. "What became of her?"
Gold paced and shrugged. "She wed your foe, under blackmail, of course. Her fiancée recruited a pirate to try and start a revolt against the King, not that the pirate had needed any prompting. He already had his own quandaries with him. Nevertheless, it seems that he ruled over your land, dearie, before he perished of old age." He reached into his pocket and produced a small, snowflake medal. "This, I believe, was your sister's."
"Anna…" Elsa gasped, teary eyed, as she took the little medallion in her hand. "Does she still live?"
Rumple stared at her coldly. "She does."
Elsa swallowed and nodded. "What do I have to do?"
"Well for one… no one should leave this town. For their own safety… and the rest of this realm's." He bit his lower lip. "And then we find Her."
"And what of the Healer?"
"The Healer, dear, is an infant girl… she is the child of a Savior and a Captain of your realm, and also the product of true love. It wasn't until I learned about the origins of her father that I put two and two together. Her name… is Lilly Jones." He paced to her. "It is imperative that the child is safe… safe from Her. Or we will all be lost… including your sister."