Let the Stars Lead Me Home
CS genre: Deleted scene (4x4)
"Well, love, shall we?" Killian asked, gallantly extending his right arm to his lady love who also happened to be his date for the night (for the rest of his life if he had any say in the matter).
Emma threaded her arm through his, grasping his arm with her other hand, laying her head against his shoulder. Killian had to resist the urge to pinch himself. Was this truly happening? Had he truly succeeded in winning his Swan's heart? Had she truly come to Granny's this morning to ask him on a date? Had they truly just dined together, talking and laughing and gazing into each other's eyes as though there was no one else in the world?
Killian began walking, steering Emma in the direction of the docks, wondering how so much happiness could possibly be contained within a single person. Not even his unnerving exchange with the Crocodile earlier today—and his even more unnerving outbreak of temper at the thief—could dampen his joy.
It took Emma a few minutes to realize they weren't, in fact, headed back in the direction of the Charmings' loft.
"So I take it the date's not over yet?" she asked, looking up at him curiously.
Killian shook his head. "Not unless you wish it to be so, Swan. I've yet one more item planned."
Emma smiled, and impulsively leaned up to kiss his cheek. "As amazing as this night's been, I'm not sure I ever want it to end. So where are you taking me next?"
"Fancy a walk along the beach under the stars, love?" he asked.
She laughed, a joyous sound he knew he'd never tire of hearing. "A walk on the beach under the stars? Killian could you possibly get more cliché?"
He grinned down at her. "And what, pray tell is wrong with clichés? Tell me, Swan, what causes something to become a cliché?"
"I don't know. The fact that everyone does it?"
"And why does everyone do it?" he asked. "Perhaps because it is the best, or, in this case, the most romantic course of action? The fact that others also choose to engage in it doesn't make it any less romantic or pleasurable. In any case, as I am far older than any of the other worthy denizens of this town. Perhaps I set the trends that everyone else later followed, in which case, I'm not following a cliché, but engaging in an original activity?"
Emma laughed again. "Wow! Both romantic and philosophical. Sorry ladies, I've snagged the perfect man."
"Perhaps," Killian said, stopping and turning to look into her eyes, "but I know one thing for certain, Swan. I've 'snagged' the most amazing, fascinating, awe-inspiring woman ever to grace the planet. I hope to spend the next fifty years or more attempting to discover what I ever did to deserve you."
Emma stared up at him for a moment, eyes becoming suspiciously moist, and then she put her hand to the back of his neck and pulled him down for a quick, fervent kiss that he gladly returned.
After a moment, they resumed walking, and within minutes they reached the sea. Killian closed his eyes, listening to the soothing sounds of the waves crashing upon the shore, smelling the salt of the sea, feeling the cool, humid breeze caress his face.
"You really like it here, don't you?" Emma asked gently.
He smiled down at her. "Aye love," he said with a nod. "Nothing is quite so peaceful, quite so alive as the sea. For years, centuries really, it was the only place I felt at home."
"Was?" she asked, as she slipped off her shoes and they began their moonlit walk. "Has something changed."
Killian looked deeply into her eyes. "Aye, love. Everything has changed."
They were silent for a moment, and then Killian threaded his fingers through hers, tugging gently. "Come, Swan. While the journey is certainly enjoyable, I do have a destination in mind. There's something I wish to show you."
"Well, now I'm intrigued."
They walked on for a quarter of a mile before Killian's 'destination' came into view. Emma smiled as she saw the blanket set along the beach, the bottle of champagne chilling in an ice bucket, the wine glasses, the bouquet of exotic island flowers.
"Wow, Killian! You really went all out," she breathed, as she settled on the blanket and watched as he popped the cork on the champagne.
"I wished to make an impression," Killian admitted, handing her a glass of the bubbly liquid and clinking his own glass against hers.
"Well, you've done that," Emma said after taking a delicate sip. "The question is, how? How did you manage to do all of this while we were having dinner?"
"I may have had some assistance," Killian admitted. "Your lad was instrumental in helping me plan this evening, as was the wolf-girl, Ruby."
The two of them settled in, lying against the blanket, Emma's head nestled on Killian's shoulder, as he looked up, pointing out stars and constellations, telling her stories of his days with Liam, answering her questions, relishing her genuine interest in him.
"There, Swan," Killian finally said, finding the constellation he'd particularly been searching for. "See that grouping? It goes by the name of Cygnus, the Swan."
"The swan?" she asked, turning to look at him. "There's really a constellation about a swan?"
Killian nodded, patiently pointing out the stars depicting a swan with its wings outstretched, flying through the summer night's sky. "Legend says Neptune's son was dragged to the beach and smothered. In order to save his son's life and immortalize him, if you will, the god of the sea transformed him into a swan and transferred him to the heavens."
"You think that's true?" Emma asked as Killian began tracing patterns into the bare skin of her shoulder. "I can't believe I'm even asking that, but given all the other myths and legends that have turned out to be real…"
Killian laughed and then shrugged. "Who's to say? I do believe King Triton would object to the idea of there being another king of the sea, however. In any case, Cygnus has always captivated me, been my favorite of all the constellations."
"Really?" Emma asked. "Why?"
Killian raised himself until he was braced on his forearms, until he was able to gaze into the green depths of her eyes. "It always seemed to be my guiding light, my consolation and my hope. Even in my darkest days…the days following Liam's death and Milah's, she was there, the swan, guiding me on, showing me I was not alone. Never could I have guessed that Cygnus was nothing but a pale comparison to the Swan who would one day become the very light of my life; the woman who would guide me back to myself and the man I wish to be. I can never thank you enough, my Emma."
The tears were definitely in her eyes this time, welling up, ready to spill over their banks. Emma reached for him, pulled him down and let her soft, gentle lips tell him in exquisite detail just what his words meant to her. The kiss went on and on for long minutes, gentle, tender, loving. Killian kept the ever-present passion firmly in check, knowing an open beach was not the appropriate location to explore it.
When Killian finally pulled away, Emma groaned in protest, following his lips with her own, until he succumbed, kissing her again, following her lead for the barest of moments as she opened her mouth and deepened the kiss.
When he pulled away the second time, they were both breathing heavily. Killian took Emma's face in both his hands and kissed her lightly, one last time, before pasting on a cocky grin. "I think we'd best slow down, love. I suspect if I were to ravish you on this beach where anyone could interrupt us your father would castrate me himself."
Emma laughed, pushing herself to a seated position. "Well, we can't have that!"
"No indeed!
Emma sighed, and then got to her feet, extending her hands to help him up as well. "As amazing as this date has been, I guess I really should be getting back. I'm supposed to be at the station at 8:00 tomorrow morning."
Killian nodded, wrapping an arm around the woman he loved and beginning the trek back to the loft. He saw goose bumps dotting her arms as the north wind began to pick up in earnest. "Are you cold, Swan?"
She shrugged. "A little. Elsa really did a number on the town with that ice wall. Whoever heard of ice in summer?"
"Well, we can't let you catch a chill, darling," he said firmly, stepping away for a moment so that he could shrug out of his new leather coat. "It doesn't provide as much warmth as my old pirate duster, but it will do."
Emma allowed him to help her on with the jacket, and then sighed in what Killian could only believe was rapture. "Won't you be cold now?" she asked.
"When I'm able to bask in your glow, love?" he asked, wrapping her once more in his arms. "Not a chance."
And indeed, as Killian walked his true love back to her home, no chill, no doubt, no pain could have touched him. After three-hundred years, Cygnus had finally led him to his true home.
Notes:
-Yes, I fully admit this was about as cheesy as it comes, but hey! This story is called Fluffy Fridays. You had to know what you were getting yourself into.
-A quick note on the "timing". I don't know what time of year the events of 4x4 were supposed to take place during, but for the purposes of my story, I needed it to be summer, because that's when Cygnus is visible in Storybrooke's corner of the world.
-I'm sure the whole "cursed" hand situation was heavy on Killian's mind throughout the evening, particularly after the incident with Will, but in the interest of absolute fluff, I'm invoking poetic license to say that Killian didn't think of his hand again until they reached the door to the Charmings' loft and he apologized once more for losing his temper at the restaurant.
-The first date was one of those cs moments that was fairly begging to be turned into an extended, deleted scene! What we saw of it was beautiful and wonderful and everything I could have hoped, but we got so little! In particular, I wanted to show how it came about that Emma returned home from her date wearing Killian's jacket. (Also, I couldn't resist at least one moment of Killian taking her face into both of his hands. I think that was a moment the entire fandom was waiting for…and now we've missed our moment! Just remember, in fanfiction land, this absolutely canonically did happen.)
-As to the Cygnus…I know many people have written about Killian pointing it out to her, but I wanted to get a little bit into the mythology. It seems there are LOTS of myths to explain that particular constellation, but when I happened upon one that involved Neptune…the god of the sea…I knew I had found the perfect explanation for Killian!
-Up next: a CS future fic. Emma and Killian's twins have a favorite book that they insist their parents read them every night before they'll go to bed. Unfortunately…it doesn't paint their papa in the most flattering light.