Blueeyeddevil06, thank you for being my beta!

I have a series of OUAT one-shots titled What True Love Does, they're all Killian and Emma pairings. The newest one was posted, The Sheriff's Daughter. Check it out and I hope you like it.

Regina walked up to Emma as she threw fireball after fireball at a tree. It was nearly decimated. "What did that tree do to you, Emma? You can stop now. It's dead."

Emma dropped her hands and turned to Regina. "I…" She sighed and threw up her hands. "This is ridiculous. I need to just get over it."

"Or you can tell me what's bothering you. I think the royal gardener would prefer that to you destroying his trees." Regina quipped. She knew sympathy right now wouldn't be welcomed by Emma.

"I had a purpose. It was scary, but I had one. Now what?"

"You're disappointed you defeated The Dark One?"

"No! Well... only kind of." Emma sighed. "See, it's ridiculous."

"Have you talked to Killian about this?"

Emma rolled her eyes, "Now, you're being ridiculous. Killian would say wonderful, encouraging things, and it wouldn't help because he loves me. Of course, he'd feel that way."

Regina gave her a wry smile. "And you're talking to me because…? I love you too."

"You came along when I was attacking the tree and talked to me." Emma decided to admit the rest of why she was telling her. "Also, you've always been… honest." She held up her hand to stop Regina from talking. "What I'm trying to say is that even when I was little, you treated me like a friend. You've always, kindly, told me the truth. I can rely on you to tell me what is in my best interest, not just what I want to hear."

She smiled at Regina, "Including when I was a brat. You told me I wouldn't want to grow up to be that kind of woman. My father always spoiled me, and you made sure it didn't make me rotten."

Regina smiled kindly at her. "What about the prophecy gave you purpose?"

"I had something to do. It gave me a goal."

Regina smirked, "And only ancient prophecies can give you goals? Emma, you are ridiculous. Just make new goals. You have a ship, a pirate captain, a loving family, magic, and a kind heart. Figure out a new goal, get off your ass, and go do it."

Emma looked at Regina, and a smile spread across her face. "It seems I have a husband to talk to. We have plans to make. Do you think my parents would mind if I go on an adventure?"

Regina raised her eyebrow at Emma and asked, "One, does it matter? Two, when have your parents ever stood in the way of what you really wanted?"

Emma smiled at Regina then rushed forward and hugged her. "Thanks, Grandma!"

"Hey! I told you not to call me that, brat," she was smiling despite herself.

Emma gave her a sassy look, waved her hand, and the tree was back to its original condition.

"How the hell did you do that?! No way is that possible." Regina's mouth was open in shock.

Emma smirked, "It was all a mirage. The fireballs and the damage weren't real. I didn't want to destroy the tree. It just felt better to pretend to damage it." Regina burst out laughing.

Killian was sitting in a meeting, and it startled him to notice that he was enjoying himself. Admiral Hornblower had called the meeting and made sure that Killian was invited. He was one of many notable Captains. There was Captain Jack Aubrey, Captain Threepwood, Captain Turner, Captain Monica Rambeau, and Captain Adéwalé. He had to admit to himself it was an impressive list of Captains.

Captain Turner asked, "I'm just curious, Admiral Hornblower, now that we have the HMS Cygnet among our fleet, what will be its mission?"

Horatio Hornblower nodded at the question. He'd expected someone to ask, and he knew it wouldn't be Captain Jones. He knew he was the type to wait and read the situation before acting. "She's aptly named. The HMS Cygnet will be acting as a royal ship and will be for diplomatic missions and the like."

Captain Rambeau burst out laughing. "I can just see Captain Hook being content with diplomatic missions. No offense, of course, I merely mean you're used to much more adventure."

"Admiral Hornblower has it right, though. I would like to take Emma to meet Queen Elsa. In fact, I promised I would. That sounds like a royal diplomatic mission to me." Killian leaned back in his chair and smirked. "I imagine anywhere I go with Emma will be an adventure. She's not your typical woman."

The rest of the meeting was highly productive, and Killian was able to contribute quite a lot. After all, he'd recently been in Tortuga, and he knew where a lot of the pirate ships would have their hunting ground for the next few months. He respected the fact that Admiral Hornblower dispatched his captains in those directions. They were to go and defend the merchant ships. He was glad to be part of a Navy that watched out for the citizens and wasn't afraid to head into danger.

By the time Killian and Emma met up for lunch, they both had the same destination in mind. They sat out on a picnic blanket on the lawn in the garden and talked about their plan. After everything was sorted with Rumple and Belle, after the party that her mother insisted on celebrating their marriage, they would head to Arendale.

"You didn't tell me because I would encourage you, Love?"

She shrugged and laid her head in his lap. "Yes."

"That's all the explanation you have?" He ran his fingers through her hair. He didn't feel the least bit upset, just curious.

"I didn't really want to go up to you and essentially say, 'Remember how you were terrified that I would die going against The Dark One? I miss that.'"

He laughed at her characterization of the problem. "I can't say I would have loved hearing that."

"If you'd happened upon me when Regina did, I would have told you. I was going to tell you. I just hadn't been ready."

"We're in this together, Swan. Always remember that."

She sat up and kissed him and deepened the kiss. She didn't care who could be watching. She had the love of her life with her, and he was even better than she could have hoped for.

When she pulled back, she said, "So, we essentially banish Rumple and Belle, party, and then we're off on a new adventure."

"For our first step, we have to get rid of the bloody Dark One."

"Soon."

"Why are we waiting to tell him our plan?"

"We're giving them a bit of a honeymoon before they have to make a whole new life."

"Right, because he has always been so considerate."

"Belle is my friend. I'm doing it for her."

Killian had to concede she had a point. "Fine, it's for Belle. Even though there must be something wrong with her. She fell in love with The Dark One. She must be daft."

"You haven't met Gaston. It could have been worse."

'Who's Gaston?"

"The man her father wanted her to marry. They were betrothed, and he's… awful."

"I feel like you don't hear yourself. She fell for The Dark One. I was evil, and he even seemed awful to me."

"Gaston doesn't want a wife. He wants a servant that will warm his bed and give him heirs. He expects her to anticipate his needs and never have opinions of her own. Even The Dark One listened to her and came to me for help."

Killian sighed, "I get what you're saying, Love. I just watched him murder his first wife. I think what we can agree on is that we hope she's very happy with her choice to marry him."

"That we can agree on."

Zelena was shocked to discover that when Baelfire wasn't a doormat for his father, he was interesting. Also, she made the happy mistake of encouraging him, and he responded to it by trying to get her approval again.

She quickly realized that he was one of those people best motivated by praise, and she only pretended to herself to use it to her advantage. If she really looked at her motives, she'd have realized she liked being able to build him up. He'd been starving for approval.

Baelfire walked into the room, and he smiled at her, walked over, and kissed her on the cheek. She liked that. "So, I don't know what happened with the stone, but similar things are happening. I'm hearing reports of my papa's magic failing. What do you make of it?"

"It sounds like he's been weakened. I imagine it's Emma's fault. What do you want to do about her?"

He shrugged, "I don't know what to do. I do know I don't want you going after her. You're almost completely healed, and I would hate to have you hurt again."

"You don't want to play nursemaid again?" She tried to act like the answer didn't interest her.

"I don't want to see you hurt again."

She held back a smile. "So, what's your idea?"

"My father likes his plans and expects me to fall in line with all of them. When he contacts me, I'll let you know what he's up to next. In the meantime, we should just wait. I don't think going after any of them is a good idea right now."

Zelena finally smiled. "I like your plan." He really did care about her.

Emma went to Rumple's estate to let him know their idea of sending him and Belle to a land without magic. She went alone because she had a question for him she wasn't ready to tell Killian about.

"Just ask, Emma." Rumple stood there patiently waiting.

She nodded and let out a sigh, "It's just that you're not exactly a fan of Killian."

With the Dark One no longer in him, it had been a hard couple of days. He now had to face what he'd done for decades, and it horrified him."No, but… I realized that I was the villain in that story."

Emma couldn't stop herself from laughing. "That's what Killian said. He helped a mother abandon her son. He deeply regrets that."

He thought about it for a bit. "That was what made me the angriest. That and that he slept with my wife."

"He didn't."

"He lies. She was willing to sleep with anyone to get what she wanted." Rumple realized Milah had made her choices freely, and Killian wasn't wholly to blame.

"She was willing, yes, but he didn't. He has no reason to lie to me about that. He's been honest about the other women he slept with."

Rumple looked thoughtful. "There was so much deceit in the past. It's good to know the truth of what happened." He sighed. "She did anything she wanted and didn't care about who she hurt. What was your question?"

Emma let the topic change. She figured it was hard to face his past with her. "What do you know about things related to Neverland?"

He tensed. "A lot. Why?"

"I want to figure out what happened to his brother's body when he died. I want to give him something to bury. I think it would give him closure."

He just nodded, walked to his bookshelf, and pulled out two large volumes. "Here. I did a lot of research, and these are the best books I have on Neverland."

"Why?" She took the books as he handed them to her. "Why research that horrible place?"

"The demon child, Peter Pan, is my father. He abandoned me and then made his way to Neverland."

She looked at him in shock. "He's at the bottom of the Neverland sea trapped in a coconut." She couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Good. Who do I owe for that?" He looked relieved.

She gave him a wry smile, "Captain Hook."

"You're kidding me."

"No. I'm completely serious."

"Damn. Now I owe him." He looked disgruntled.

"The good news is he didn't do it for you, so technically, you don't owe him."

He chuckled and said, "Thank you for making me feel better."

She held up the two volumes, "Thank you for the books."

She then moved on. "How would you feel about traveling to a land without magic with Belle? You wouldn't have any enemies, and you could start over. We just need to find a magic bean, and I can do the magic to open a portal."