A/N: I FINALLY get some work done on this little fluffy thing I have planned out... it's been 7-8 months since I wrote Butterfly kisses... and ever since I really wanted to explore HOPES STORY and how she meets Rueben. You don't need to have read Butterfly kisses to enjoy this, as this will be all Hope's story (whereas Butterfly Kisses was a Killian POV fic with focus on him being a father.) this story will be FLUFF with a bit more FLUFF...

UPDATED: this first chapter has been beta read by the lovely "hookedonapirate"... more chapters will be updated along the way... (ch 8 is also Beta read ) I did make some slight changes to what the future hold for Hope...

Hope you enjoy and will let me know what you think... will try to upload chapters close to one another... have 5 chapters so far. Some still need some more work. Just wanted to get this out here and see what you all think.

Chapter 1 Hope

Blue eyes focused on the candle, lips pulled tightly in concentration. With a low mumble and a tiny flick of her wrist, Hope grinned when the candle wick sputtered to life. Though things did backfire a little when the kitchen light flickered for a short second.

"For fuck sake, girl," Rose roared from her bedroom. "Keep the magic practice for when you're with Auntie Gina." Hope's loudmouthed friend obviously knew who had been messing with their lights.

"Sorry!" Hope hollered back, the grin still plastered over her face; this was the first time she had been able to light a candle with somewhat success. She spotted another candle on the coffee table, grinning mischievously like the Cheshire cat, and flicked her wrist. With a loud woop, she watched the candle burn brightly. Too bright in fact. In horror, she grabbed her glass of juice and rushed to the candle, which was fully enveloped in leaping flames.

"Bloody hell," the princess said in panic as she poured her morning juice over the flames. The fire fizzled and, luckily, died out before it burned down the table, though a round scorch mark was now visible under the ruins of the candle. "Bloody hell, the girls will kill me…" She slumped down on their worn down couch. Two of the three girls living in the small townhouse might be princesses, but they found this couch in a second hand store and loved it.

"What's burning in here?" Gloria's panicked voice could be heard from the doorway.

"I'm sooo sorry, Glo… bloody hell, I messed up again," Hope mumbled and hid her face in her hands.

"No shite, Sherlock," Rose said when she entered the living room and saw the obvious state of their coffee table. "What the hell happened in here, Hope Swan-Jones? Did you just frigging set our table on fire?" Rose's voice was shrill and loud enough to wake the dead.

"Sorry," Hope mumbled into her hands.

"Oh nooooo, not our table." Gloria joined them both.

Hope could hear them walking around the table; she peaked between her fingers and found her friends frowning at the damaged wood. "I'm sure I can get August to fix it…" Her voice trailed off when Rose glared at her.

"Why?" Gloria asked, plopping down on the couch next to Hope and rubbing her hands over the soft fabric. "Well at least you didn't burn our couch." She gave Hope a weak smile.

"I'm so sorry, guys, I really am. I thought I had it, well I did. Look.." She flipped her thumb toward the candle, which was burning on the kitchen table like a proper candle flame should.

"Yeah, well, keep the magic practice to sessions with your aunt, alright?" Rose said in a much calmer voice, though she still looked at their somewhat ruined table with sorrow filled eyes.

"Sure."

The three girls were interrupted when their front door suddenly burst open, and the lanky frame of Liam Jones stumbled in. He stopped short and wrinkled his nose. "Bloody hell, sis, did you gals burn something?" He lumbered further into the house, followed by his and Hope's parents.

"Your darling sister tried to burn our coffee table," Rose tattled the second Liam plopped down onto their recliner chair as if he owned the place.

Hope glared at her brother. "Don't you know how to knock, you little bugger?"

Liam simply grinned and hollered to their parents, "Muuuuum, Hope said bugger," his voice the right imitation of a perturbed five year old.

Hope rolled her eyes and rose from her seat, walking over to greet her parents. "Hey, Mom, Daddy." She hugged them both tightly. After moving to Royal City to begin her second year at Magic Kingdom College, she only saw her family once a month.

When she stepped back she could see both her parents scrutinizing her. She rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat. "I tried to light a candle, okay? Just like I did with Aunt Gina last time we practiced. It, eh, well, backfired a little when I tried to do it from a distance." She flipped her thumb toward the damaged coffee table.

"Cygnet, you really need to be more careful with doing it from afar, it's too soon," Emma said soothingly and patted her daughter's shoulder.

Hope looked at her father, who shrugged and said, "Well, you didn't burn down the house…" When Emma glared at him, he added, "But do be careful, love, alright?"

Hope nodded and sighed. She loved her parents, but being next in line to the throne of Storybrooke made living a normal life difficult sometimes. With magic mixed into it all, it was beginning to look like a downright nightmare to a 20 year old Hope.

Emma and Killian got settled in, and the group got ready to make dinner together, as they always did when they visited their daughter and friends.

—

"So, Hope, when will ya practice with Auntie again?" Liam asked with a mouthful of the lasagna they were eating.

"Chew your food before talking, kiddo," Emma admonished her son with a playful eye roll. Hope knew their mother was at a loss on how to get Liam to conduct himself with proper manners from time to time.

"Aye aye, Cap'n." Liam saluted his mom with a grin, then turned to his sister and raised an eyebrow. He was looking more and more like their father. Liam turned to his sister again and asked, "So, will you have time to practice magic while doing all the homework they'll throw at you guys this year?" Liam shuddered, and added, "not looking forward to going myself in a few years."

"I will have plenty of time, and I'm getting better, so it's only a matter of time really before I can wield my magic." Hope shrugged and continued eating her food. In her mind, it wasn't that big of a deal, but ever since she showed the first signs of having magic, she was 13 and her mother had been adamant to help her harness her powers. This meant more and more practice time with her mother, and since moving to Royal City, she also had sessions with her aunt. Regina ruled the joint realms and still found time to teach her "niece". Though not legitimately her aunt, Regina had still been called Aunt Gina by both Hope and Liam. Trying to get people outside of their family to understand how they all were connected was a lost cause. So Aunt Gina was her teacher of all things magic and things had progressed pretty nicely - well until she burned a hole in the coffee table.

"You will get there, my tiny love," Killian said with a proud smile on his face.

"I'm not tiny Daddy, I'm an adult now, in case you missed it, but thanks." She was her father's daughter through and through. He might not have magic but he did understand her in more ways than her mother.

"Just make sure you don't burn down your bloody house here," Liam mocked with a loud laugh.

"Bugger off," Hope grumbled and cleared her plate, ignoring her mother's gasp.

Liam smirked at his sister. Hope knew he took so much pride in teasing her; it was beyond childish. Liam was three years younger, still at Storybrooke High as a senior.

"So anything fun and new happening in your life, ladies?" Emma piped up and looked at the three friends.

"Oh, we're already being bogged down with homework," Gloria sighed and rolled her eyes. She was the workaholic in their little trio of friends.

"It's a pain in the butt," Rose chimed in and slumped in her seat. Hope knew she hated scoolwork, but she hung in there and got her work done. She smirked and added, "But tomorrow we go to the first football game of the season. That will be a load of fun, and there will be oh so many hunky men too ogle on the field."

Liam made gagging noises from his seat. "Oh lord, don't tell me the princesses will be swooning over muscles throwing a ball around."

"Shut up, brother," Hope said through clenched teeth. Her brother was a real pain in the arse sometimes. "We don't swoon. God, will you just butt out of my life." She threw her curled up napkin at her brother.

Liam grinned, caught the paper in his hand and chucked it right back at his sister.

Rose laughed at the sibling squabble at the table and added, "Well, we might not be swooning, but that doesn't mean we can't appreciate the male spiecemen out there." She nudged Gloria next to her and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, "We need to find you a man, princess."

Gloria's face heated up. Hope knew her friend was a bit shy when she tried to talk to the opposite sex. Not that she herself did much better. Well, she might have the guts to actually say more than three words to them, but in all honesty, neither of them have had a proper boyfriend. She didn't need that conversation to happen while her parents and brother were there, though.

"Liam, leave your sister and her friends alone," Emma said, shaking her head. She looked at Hope with a fond smile. "No need to rush things regarding boys, Cygnet. There's plenty of time."

"Yeah I know, Mom," Hope groaned. "I have no plan on falling in love. I mean the boys I went out with got a bit spooked by my magic."

"Aye," Liam teased, "you set fire to the poor bloke's shoelaces when he tried to kiss you goodnight." His laugh boomed over the table.

"Oh god, you're still hung up on that story? I was friggin 16." Hope glared at her brother. "I wasn't ready to get my first kiss."

"The lad had it coming—" Killian chuckled until Emma nudged him with her elbow, staring him down. Hope smiled at this: her parents had an uncanny ability to talk without words. She imagined it was because their love really was true love. She sighed; she could only hope and dream of finding such love herself. Not that she was looking. She imagined it would be better for everyone to have her magic under control before having to deal with anything related to boys.

"Well," Emma rose from her seat, beginning to clear the table, "I'm sure you girls will have fun at the football game."

"Thanks," Hope said and got up to help her mother.

When they were finished cleaning the table, Emma and Killian said their goodbyes, along with Liam and headed back to Storybrooke. Hope sent greetings to her grandparents, her grandmother is the mayor in the Storybrooke part of the United Realms.

Later, Hope and her friends were chilling on the couch and watching a movie. Rose was also occupied with something on her phone.

"What's so interesting there, Rose?" Hope asked with a smirk. "Found a new man to sink your claws in, or shall I say fangs?" Hope chuckled. It was well known her friend descended from a wolf, since Rose's parents were Ruby and Dr. Whale. Ruby was part wolf, and even if Rose couldn't turn yet, she did have some hunting skills that sometimes scared the poor lads.

"Fuck off, Hope," Rose fired back as she kept scrolling. "I was just checking to see if there were any new blood on the football team." She looked over at her friends with a wolfish grin.

"Oh god." Hope rolled her eyes, then asked, "So, anyone new?" She tried to not sound too curious, because honestly, she wasn't looking right now. With all her magic going more and more haywire she wasn't sure dating was such a great idea.

"Yup," Rose popped the P and smirked, "there's a Rueben Smith who transferred from Faraway College." Rose waved her hand in the air. "You know the college that's far faraway…" She rolled her eyes at the stupid name, but it was very remote from Royal City, and Magic Kingdom College.

"Nice," Hope shrugged. "I guess we'll see who the bloke is tomorrow."

"Awe, no pictures on there?" Gloria suddenly piped up and looked at Rose.

"Nope, not yet. Guess the guy is so new, they didn't get his picture taken." Rose shook her head and sighed. "Such travesty." Rose scrolled further down, and gasps. "Oh, will you look at this? Prince William was appointed team Captain." She wiggled her eyebrows. "Good lord, that boy can get my inner carnivore blood boiling."

"Get a life, Rose," Hope said with a laugh and got up. Rose has had a secret crush on princess Aurora and prince Philip's son for several months now. "I'm going to bed. I'm knackered." She waved at her friends. "Goodnight, ladies. Sleep well."

"Sweet dreams, princess," Rose fired back. Both her and Gloria went to their own rooms and got ready for the next day and the football match they would attend.