For the Love of Her Lieutenant

CS Genre: Lieutenant Duckling

Emma stared out of her palace window, letting her long, blonde hair blow in the springtime breeze and trying desperately to tune out her lady's maid's droning.

"My lady it will be so exciting," the maid gushed. "Just think of it! Your coming of age ball! It will be exquisite. Perhaps you'll even meet your own Prince Charming."

Emma sighed. On the night of her twenty-first birthday her parents planned to hold a ball to let all and sundry know she was officially on the marriage market. That's right. Come next month it was the start of princess hunting season.

Emma knew she would one day have to marry and take the throne and be the prim, proper ruler of the Enchanted Forest, but all she truly wanted was her freedom. She envied the surfs in the village. Her childhood friends Ruby and Elsa and Belle. They could marry who they wanted, when they wanted. And if they chose to remain single and free, they could do that as well. She didn't have that luxury.

It wasn't as though a political match was a necessity. The kingdom was at peace. Why her parents, Queen Snow and King David insisted she begin searching for a proper suiter NOW was beyond her. Their epic tale of true love in the midst of difficulty was legendary. Didn't they want the same for their only daughter?

Emma had always thought True Love would happen instantly. From the moment she first set eyes on her true love, she'd just KNOW. Maybe there'd be some sort of deep, ingrained understanding, a bond forged from the moment they met.

That wasn't how it was at all. For her, she'd known her true love for years, thinking nothing of it, and suddenly, in one blinding flash of light, she'd known. There would never be another man in the world for her.

Emma glanced out at the single ship moored in the harbor. The Jewel of the Realm, her father's fastest ship. Emma smiled gently looking out at the vessel, wondering if the newly-installed Lieutenant Killian Jones was onboard tonight.

She and Killian had been friends forever…playing together, talking together, getting in mischief together. (Well, to be fair, she'd gotten into mischief. Killian had done everything in his power to keep her from it.) Even as a child he'd been the most honorable, decent, disciplined person she'd ever met. Far be it from him to step a toe out of line. The thought of disappointing his older brother, Liam was not even worth contemplating. Good form was paramount.

Emma had always found it kind of endearing. It had never been a problem….at least until that day last week.

Killian had come to the palace, so excited he could hardly contain himself. He'd sought her out, pulled her to a secluded corner of the gardens and told her his news. With Liam's promotion to captain, he'd been appointed the new lieutenant of the Jewel.

She didn't really know how it happened. Perhaps it was his sparkling blue eyes, brimming with excitement. Perhaps it was the dusting of scruff upon his face. Perhaps it was her longing for adventure and freedom. Whatever the reason, she suddenly found herself in his arms, her hands carding through his midnight hair, her mouth fused to his.

She'd had the occasional kiss before, but it had been NOTHING like that. It was as though fire coursed through her veins, as though everyone and everything else in the world had fallen away. Everyone but her and Killian.

And suddenly she knew. Killian wasn't merely her friend. He wasn't merely her father's lieutenant. He was the man she loved; the only man she'd ever love.

Killian had avoided her since that night, apologizing for his forwardness, excoriating himself for his bad form. Emma hated it, hated that he thought so little of himself and his place in her life.

How was she to discuss what happened with Killian if he wouldn't come within ten feet of her?

And suddenly it came to her. If he wouldn't come to her, she'd have to go to him. It was time to see just how deep her lieutenant's discipline went.

And so it was three hours later that Princess Emma found herself dressed in her favorite red dress—the one that was not QUITE indecent, sitting on Lieutenant Killian Jones's bed on the Jewel of the Realm, awaiting her true love's return to his quarters.

He ambled in, whistling a jaunty tune under his breath. And then he saw her. "Princess!" he yelped. "What are you doing here, lass?"

Emma got to her feet in one fluid motion and went to him. "Killian, I've missed you these last several days."

He scratched behind his ear, looking anywhere but at her, mumbling something about duty and chores and business.

Emma took his face into her hands, stilling his movements. Killian swallowed hard, closed his eyes, and unconsciously leaned into her touch. "Killian, we have to talk about what happened, about what it means."

"Love," he croaked, panic evident in his tone, "it was but a kiss. Only a kiss. You needn't concern yourself with it farther."

Emma took a step back and slowly shook her head. "It was much more than that. It was the moment that changed my life forever. I'd never thought I was capable of true love, not like what my parents had. That is, until I met you."

His eyes snapped to hers shock and wild hope filling their cerulean depths. "Emma," he breathed, "are you saying…?"

She went to him then, rose on her toes and kissed him with everything within her. He hesitated for a mere breath, and then his arms came around her and he crushed her to him, returning her kiss with wild abandon. When they finally pulled apart, desperate for air, Emma touched her forehead to his. "Yes, Killian. I'm saying that I love you."

"Truly, Emma?"

"Yes, and I want no one but you by my side for the rest of my life."

His grin was like the sun coming out after a storm. Impulsively he surged forward, giving her one more hard kiss, leaving them both breathless once again. "Emma, I've loved you for as long as I can remember. I will be beside you to the ends of the earth or time."

Joy leapt inside of her, joy like she'd never known. No doubt they'd have their struggles, the path of true love never did run smooth, but there was one thing she knew. There was nothing she wouldn't do for the love of her lieutenant

Notes:

-Hi everyone! It's Friday again, so you know what that means! It's time for your weekly dose of fluff from me!

-This is my first foray into the world of Lieutenant Duckling. There's something I really like about this CS genre—Both Emma and Killian are still themselves, but they're also so different. It's interesting to think about what might have been if Emma had been raised by Snowing in the Enchanted Forest. And, well, we already got a glimpse of what Killian was like before Liam's death. Mainly I just love that no matter what situation you put these two in, no matter what their circumstances in life, no matter where they are, they will always find each other and fall in love. They truly are timeless.

-Anyway, this was my entry for day 8 (yesterday) of the CS Writing Challenge on Tumblr.