A/N: Continuing the theme of merging shorter chapters to longer ones with a small x line.. This chapter, and the next posted one, were always apart of the original plan, and they're finally here! Happy Friday!

~Blaze~

It had taken them several hours, a lot of back tracking, and one more outburst from Belle to get the trio to a port. They'd never imagined they might need an alternate method of travel, but the compass was adamant - they needed to cross the ocean.

They found an inn in port, having found no ships available for their cause until the next day. The three opted to share a room, as it saved time, money, and frustrations against the proprietor who made some sort of fit at their three-room request. He had the rooms available. He just wasn't happy with it. One would think he would revel in the idea of selling two extra rooms.

Belle was too tired to argue, accepting the single room, where they were now. Graham made himself comfortable on the floor, as the ladies shared the small bed. But Belle's mind was racing, thinking of her daunting quest to find a Goddess, wondering how Emma was faring in her own adventure.

The displaced princess thought about how different the trip would have been, had her companion been someone like Emma, or Snow even.

-x-x-x-

It was nearly dark, thunder sounding a few kilometers away, a well built fire roaring to life. The rain would be upon them sometime during the night while they slept. It was not ideal.

Killian thought over the last two hours. He had skinned and gutted the beast Emma had killed, while she gazed intently on his actions the entire while. She had seen this before, but never done it herself, so he had let her take over, filling in any blanks she might have. He had to push away the memory of his attempt at showing her how to use a sword. How different things were then. How different would they get?

She was not a fan of this new skill, but did keep it well hidden.. From anyone other than him. He'd smirked at the look of disgust he knew only he could see under her well placed mask.

While she had finished readying the thing, he found two Y shaped sticks that were long enough for his purposes, and positioned them on opposite sides of the fire before taking the prepared meat she handed him, attaching it to a longer, straight stick with twine before placing the whole bit between the Y ones he had already placed. He adjusted the two, until the distance between beast and fire was satisfactory for him.

She had called it a Jackalope, though he'd never heard of such a thing, and wasn't about to call it that anyway. He presumed she was only trying to mess with his mind. She had no idea she constantly was, already, without the effort.

Now, he sat next to a Y stick, and she sat near the middle of the fire. They were sitting just far enough away from each other that they wouldn't be able to touch, a fact he was grateful for. He had a hard enough time not looking at her, though he couldn't resist a stolen glance or two. Being within range to make contact would have made it miserable for him.

Disbelief was etched across her face. She seemed completely lost in thought, and he wondered why she had insisted on coming in the first place. He allowed himself a mere moment to observe her, how her yellow hair looked in the firelight, how her face screamed frustration at herself for joining him in the first place.

On some level, he did wish to satiate her mind. She'd hardly allow him, nor would he allow himself at this juncture. She wasn't his to protect. More than that, she was a Royal who had enough protection from others, she couldn't possibly need him too. She had soldiers, guards, an entire castle who loved her and would die to protect her before she ever had to raise a finger, though she'd raise more than a finger long before she had to.

And yet, he was the first one there to save her that night.

She's not there, she's here. I'm all she has, and she's all I've got.

Survival basics.

Pushing that night out of his mind, he reached to turn the roast, remembering the moment she had released her arrow. He had felt pride for her, and was impressed with her skill. He wasn't surprised, having seen her skill with a sword, but seeing it and imagining it were two different things.

She had taken charge, as a true leader should, and took on that responsibility. She was completely fascinating… if he allowed that sort of thinking.

Which he wasn't.

She was untrusting of him, he knew, cautious against him. While he knew part of it was the pirate bit, he knew the other part was the butterfly effect. She was scared on two levels, though he'd been careful never to lie to her. An omission here or there, yes, but never an outright lie.

Aside from that, she was acting as though she had to prove herself. She seemed to want as little help from him as possible, though not completely unrealistic. She had agreed to his rules. But if she was at all hesitant in their momentary partnership, he needed to crush those thoughts immediately.

He started to let go of the skewer, feeling her gaze and the pull to match it, to make that connection with her, was always such an overpowering sensation. He couldn't stop himself if he tried, and seeing her exactly as she was before, only now she was rubbing her temples as if frustrated.

He cursed himself for giving in, again, so soon since his last lingering look. He couldn't allow himself to keep thinking these kinds of distracting thoughts, not here, not now, not when -

He blinked, a thought hitting him in the gut so forcefully he felt his own lungs collapse a little. No, she wouldn't...

Keeping his head and eyes in a position that, using his peripheral vision, he could see her clearly, he shuffled his feet dramatically to gauge her reaction. Her eyes flicked over and back so quickly, he wasn't sure he had actually seen them move.

He smirked at that realization. Bloody vixen. He couldn't stop the robust laughter escaping his lips.

Thank you for reading!