Chapter 2 - The Necklace.

"Hey daddy," Emma greeted her father as she hurried into the large throne room, walking up to him and placing a gentle kiss on his scalp.

David grinned widely back at his daughter; years had taken its toll on him, as more than just a few grey hairs had now adorned his head, and some wrinkles around his face had become more prominent. Despite all that, he still looked as handsome and strong as ever before.

The king seemed surprised for a moment by his daughter's presence, love filling his gaze as he took her hand in his, just as if she were still a child. "Hey, dear. What are you doing here?"

"I was waiting for you outside yet you didn't show - it's four o'clock, remember? Wednesday?" Emma told him, and his eyes widened for a moment in realization of what meant in their usual schedule, to then sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Sword practice. I forgot," He looked at her with a sheepish look on his face, "I organized a council meeting that'll be starting in just a few moments."

Emma's eyebrows raised at the words. While she had never been to one of their meetings, she knew whenever the council was called to a meeting it would be to discuss themes of big importance to their kingdom. She couldn't help but feel slightly anxious. "Why? Has something happened?"

"Nothing you should worry about," David reassured her, and the king's calm voice was always enough to soothe her. "The Ogre's war might be long over, but our armies still took a big blow from it. We're in talks to form alliances with the islands to the north. It'll help us regain our former strength faster."

For many years, hers and plenty of other kingdoms had faced surely the worst rebellion of the past few decades. The ogres, ruthless and vile, had attempted to slaughter and destroy everything within their reach; and during the time the war had lasted, a large number of their armies had been taken down.

It had been what brought Belle and Emma together. Lord Maurice and his daughter would come to her castle more often than not, as his and her parents' kingdom had struck an alliance to defeat the ogres. And in the many days their parents would meet and strategize, the two princesses found friendship in one another.

A few years later, Belle had done something incredibly, surprisingly stupid to some, but undeniably brave to most: she'd decided to stop watching from the sidelines, and struck a deal with Rumplestiltskin. The peace in all kingdoms, in exchange for herself.

Since then the war had ended, along with their long nights of friendships; but, as Emma learned at that moment, being a princess meant all that should truly matter was nothing more than the kingdoms' well-being.

Things had been peaceful since then; still, peace didn't always mean everything was alright. War, as always, left nothing but destruction behind, leaving her parents with the burden of a slightly broken kingdom they'd only begun to slowly help recover from the blow.

A lot of times, she'd see her parents awake late hours of the night, frustrated looks on their faces. Being king and queen was never an easy job, much less in times of war and destruction.

Emma gave her father a kind smile. Oh, how she just hoped they could ever get some rest from it all. "Good luck, daddy."

"I'm sorry about our practice," he apologized again. "We can do two hours of practice tomorrow, to make up for it."

Emma smiled dearly at her father. "Don't worry about it, dad," Emma reassured him. "I'll be fine; probably I'll go take Autumn for a ride instead. Maybe I could even visit Red."

The older man grinned in response. "That's a great idea, darling." He nodded in approval. "Have fun, sweetheart."

Giving him a final kiss on his forehead, Emma walked off from the throne room. Just as expected, as she was about to walk through the large doors, David's voice stopped her.

"And Emma?"

She turned her face around to watch him, and answered with a hint of annoyance in her voice, "Yes, dad?"

There was a slight frown on his face. "Please, be careful."

Emma chuckled softly, rolling her eyes.

"I will be, daddy."

Emma walked into the stables, crown left-back at the castle as it drew much attention while going through the forest. Red's home was among the forest nearby her castle; it took her less than fifteen minutes riding, but her parents taught her to always be careful while outside the castle.

Her horse was the chestnut-colored one, Autumn, and Emma gently patted her, offering her a treat.

"Hey, baby girl," she muttered to her. "Wanna get out of this place?"

The horse neighed in response, almost as if she'd understood the words perfectly.

Nearly every single day, Emma would take her out on a ride, throughout the castle's grounds. They would go in circles, watching the same old surroundings before Emma would take her back to the stables, and say goodbye for the day.

Today, however, she rode past the grounds and past the large bridge that joined her castle with the woods. While all the trees were nearly identical, Emma knew that small part of the woods well enough so she wouldn't get lost. There was a path of dirt that led straight to Red's house, and Emma knew it by memory, being the only place outside of the castle she was allowed to go to on her own.

After about five minutes of riding, Emma halted as the trail split into two different directions. She perfectly knew that Red's house is following the road on the right, still…

She'd followed the other road a couple of times before, yet, she'd never done it by herself. It led to the nearest town, a place she had only been to accompanied by her parents and a couple of royal guards.

Never alone, never unprotected.

It felt odd, how stories often spoke of how brave and fearless her parents had been in their youth - and still, now they'd be frightened at the idea of her going out unprotected.

She tried to understand, though. Her parents had gone through so many things, so many dangers that threatened to destroy their happiness forever. And while the main source of their problems - Regina - had been gone from the lives ever since she was born, it was clear they still feared she would come back, to take away the happy ending they had finally managed to build.

Emma could sometimes see it in their eyes when they looked at her. Hidden behind that deep love they had for her, was fear. Fear that Regina would ever come for her. Fear that they'd lose her.

She understood, truly.

But she also understood, that her life could not be controlled by fear. She wanted to leave her mark on the world, just like her parents did.

And she wouldn't do that by following the same, old path she always took.

By the time she had reached the town, Emma had planned all of her excuses out.

She'd left Autumn back in a little stable, paying a couple of small coins so she'd get water and some rest, as she headed out to the marketplace. She thought of getting something for Red, as it would perfectly justify why had she taken so long, and why'd even come to town in the first place.

It would also buy Red's silence if her parents were to ever ask anything.

Emma stopped at a small booth, one selling all kinds of fresh vegetables and fruits, and hummed in delight as she spotted just what she'd been hoping for: a large number of beautiful strawberries, Red's all-time favorite fruit.

Emma entertained herself by examining each of the little fruits, picking out only the reddest and largest of them and placing them in a small basket. It was a couple of moments later, once she'd had the equivalent of a couple of big handfuls in the basket, that she decided it was just about enough, and she addressed the man sitting behind the booth.

"How much for the strawberries?" she asked him, pulling out a couple of silver coins from a small bag in her belt as the man responded, and she held out her hand, handing out the coins to the older man.

"Have a good day, ma'am."

"You too. Thank you," Emma said kindly, curtsying out of instinct, forgetting for a moment where she really was.

She didn't fail to notice the odd look the man gave her just before she turned around and began walking back to the stables.

Clearly, she had all the mannerisms of being a princess plastered all over her entire being; and if she wanted to stay out of trouble and fit in, she had to find a way to disguise them.

While she enjoyed watching the commoners around the town, wondering what stories may lie behind tall men heading to work and young women taking care of children; she also came to realize, as she stared, that some were clearly staring back, as interested in her as she was in them. Her eyes locked a couple of times with people that walked past her, giving her quick, strange looks that made her feel slightly uneasy.

With one hand, she pulled up the white hood over her head, covering the long, perfectly-braided golden hairs. She hoped that would make the strange feeling, like a burning in her neck, disappear.

Emma was well aware she easily stood out from everyone else around the town. She looked out of place, from the way she dressed to how she moved and acted. And surely, she thought, it wouldn't be long until people started whispering into each other's ears, wondering about that blonde girl that had shown up in town, looking very alike to the crown princess.

Her parents would surely be asking her lots of questions.

The idea put her on edge, and she hurried up her pace slightly, wondering if coming to town had been a good idea in the first place after all. She decided, the faster she walked past the shops, took her horse, and hurried to Red's house, the better.

But she'd only gotten a couple of hurried steps out of the way, before a voice spoke right from behind her, making her jump and turn as quick as she could; the harsh movement causing the hood to fall off her head.

"Leaving already, love?"

The voice was coated with a deep accent, and as she turned around, she found a young man staring at her curiously, a thick eyebrow raised. Her first impression of him was that he was handsome. He was tall and lean, with a sharp jawline, and his slightly tanned face covered by a dark stubble.

However, past him being handsome, there was something about the man that had alarms ringing loudly in her brain, warning her to keep as far as she could from him. The more she looked at him, she realized he certainly looked more menacing than handsome – he wasn't dressed like any of the commoners she's seen before; it's all leather and black, and his eyes, so blue it startled her at first, were outlined by black kohl. There was also a mischievous glint to them, just as he flashed his teeth at her in a grin.

She took a step back, "Excuse me?"

He chuckled, probably at the baffled expression on Emma's face, and then repeated himself: "I asked if you were leaving already, love. You seem in a hurry."

"I, well – I am." Emma blinked a couple of times, wishing she could come up with something better than just that, still she couldn't think of anything else to say, and closed her mouth.

His looks definitely stood out to her; she had never seen this man in her life before, yet he felt familiar to her for some reason. Like she'd seen someone like him in one of her many books; and the more she looked at him, she was positive that was true. A word seemed to be dancing around the tip of her tongue, yet her memory had it blurred out, and no matter how hard she tried she seemed unable to remember.

"Where are my manners? Killian Jones, at your service."

The man, Killian, then curtsied and reached out for her hand, just as any of the noblemen that visited her in the castle would've. He brought her hand to his lips, soft and careful against her skin, the stubble ticking her.

He lingered just a bit longer than most men did back in her castle and spoke lowly as he pulled his lips away from her skin. "And you are?"

The moment he loosened his grip, she pulled away from him, taking another step back.

She wasn't a fool, of course, and she knew telling him her name was surely the most idiotic thing to do in a situation like that. While Emma was not an uncommon name around the kingdom (her birth had brought many women to name their baby girls like that, in honor of the royal princess), anyone could easily look at her and connect the dots. She did not look like a commoner, she was sure he'd figured that out already, and having him realize she was a princess would only make her situation a whole lot worse.

Her mind collapsed for a brief second, as no name came to her right away – and in the end, she managed to stammer the first name that popped into her brain:

"Ruth."

Her grandmother's name, of course.

Killian stared at her for just a moment, and Emma swore she could feel his eyes burning right through her. After a brief hesitation, he took a short step towards her, as he asked, "Where are you headed off to, Ruth?"

Something gave her an urge to flee – perhaps the fact that she was a princess, and he looked like the definition of danger and he was just too close.

Still, she found her voice and spoke: "Home." She realized it wasn't a good enough answer, and added, hoping it'd sound convincing. "A farm, in the woods."

Killian watched her for a couple of seconds, eyes roaming through her figure, and Emma could read it right in his face, that he didn't believe her one little bit. She couldn't blame him, after all; it was clear she did not look like just a simple farm girl.

"I don't think so," Killian claimed with a chuckle, shaking his head.

"Why's that?" The question left her mouth before she's even thought about it, and she regretted it right away. Stop entertaining him. Leave.

He threw her an amused look. "Your hands were too soft for a farm girl. And your garments… They're too refined."

A hand reached out to her neck, pulling back the blonde braid that rested on her shoulder, taking a better view of the necklace made out of precious gems that rested around her skin – except it's not a hand, and she inhaled a deep breath, eyes wide as the sharp tip of the hook came near to the skin of her neck.

Emma quickly took a step back from it, only to realize that at some point she'd gotten herself backed out against the wall of the back of a small store.

So, this was it. The moment she'd always dreamt of, where she'd prove she was more than just some little, weak princess. That she was brave.

But truth was, her knees wobbled and her stomach turned, and she tried to speak something to him, but the only thing that managed to leave her mouth was a strangled noise that sounded very much like: " – Hook."

Killian then pulled his hook away from her, looking slightly surprised at her reaction, before an amused chuckle left his lips. "Aye, love, that's me. Captain Hook."

He emphasized the word captain, and that's when it dawned on her why he looked somewhat familiar.

Pirate, that was the word she'd been looking for.

She'd read about them in one of her many books. Vile people, who stole and lied and killed, all for their treasures.

And she, a princess, could easily be the subject of a pirate kidnapping.

"A pirate, then," Emma replied, trying to disguise the wobbliness in her voice, and her eyebrows raised slightly.

"Aye. And you, lass, are not a farm girl," Killian told her with certainty.

"So? What am I then?" she dared him, voice coming out braver than she felt herself to be, and for a moment she feared her defiance was going to anger the man.

But instead, he let out a laugh, and for the first time, she saw it reaching his eyes, lighting them up for just a moment. "I don't know, lass, but you sure do seem of value."

She felt her heart slightly speeding up, as something in his voice has triggered the danger alarms in her brain once more, and he's just way too close for her liking.

He lifted the necklace string with his hook, examining it closely. "And I'm certain a farm girl doesn't wear anything near as valuable as this." He looked up at her, an interested and curious look on his face. "What is this worth? I'm sure way more than a few gold coins."

Just like that, he took a step away from her - and with a sharp movement of his hand - err, hook, the necklace snapped and fell away from her neck. He caught it with his right hand, and quickly placed it into his satchel.

Emma's stomach turned with disgust; that particular necklace was a delicate gift given to her many years before by her parents, and her favorite. She hated the idea of this man having it, so he'd get quite a few gold coins for it; to then probably spend them on liquor and woman.

She wished she had her sword with her or any sort of weapon for the matter. David had taught her to defend herself quite well during the past many years, but she was now out in the real world and she was defenseless, with nothing but her bare firsts to help herself – and surely this man was a lot taller and much stronger than she was, and she had no choice but to sigh in defeat and unclasp the necklace behind her neck.

"Lovely making business with you," he said with a grin, taking a step back, finally giving her some space to move.

She felt humiliated and angry, and at that moment all she could possibly want was to punch that stupid grin out of his stupid face. Still, she inhaled deeply and clenched her fists, containing herself. "Yeah, as long as I don't have to ever see you again," she said through gritted teeth.

"Don't misinterpret me, love - I might be a pirate, but I still am a gentleman," he said with irony, "You might want to join me for a drink - I'm sure we can compensate for this little incident."

His voice had now become low and sulky, and he raised an eyebrow and smirked at her like he was daring her.

Emma could certainly now feel her blood boiling at the nerve the pirate had. "Don't ever dream about it, pirate."

He leaned slightly into her. "You sound too certain, love. The thing about pirates, lass, is we always take what we w– oomph!"

Emma took the opportunity as soon as she saw it, using up all of her strength to raise her knee and kick him right in the groin. As he bent down in pain, she out of instinct dropped the basket full of strawberries and quickly grabbed onto the satchel, pulling on it until the band snapped, and she had it pressed tightly against her chest.

She realized right away it was definitely heavier than she'd expected, and perhaps there was much more inside than just her necklace. She was surely stealing more from him than he had from her, but she pushed past the guilt almost immediately – the darned pirate had it coming, after all.

Emma pushed past him, no longer cornered, and grinned, "Lovely making business with you, Hook!"

She felt a delicious joy running through her being as she teased him, and saw how behind his grimace of pain, anger quickly flashed through his blue eyes.

And before the pirate could compose himself and take the satchel right out of her hands, she was already running in the opposite direction.

After moments of running, once Emma was positive that she'd lost the pirate entirely, she allowed herself to stop, leaning against the wall of one of the small houses as she caught her breath.

Looking around, she realized she was in a part of the town she'd never really been to before. None of the houses nor the roads seemed in any way familiar to her, and the thing was, she didn't quite remember the path back to the stables where she'd left Autumn. She was lost.

She thought perhaps she could ask any of the passing commoners for directions, but she quickly threw the idea away. The last thing she wanted was to draw anyone's attention back to her again.

So, Emma walked around the town, trying to spot the stables, or just anything familiar enough to orientate her and set her back on her way home.

Surely, this had all been enough adventure for one day. She'd proven what she'd wanted to prove, and Emma was smart enough to know the right thing to do now was leave before any more trouble came looking for her.

And by trouble, she meant a certain, surely now very angry, pirate.

Sure enough, she wasn't walking around the town for long before a strong arm wrapped around her, and she let out a shriek as she felt something sharp press against her neck.

"You have spunk, lass, I give you that." She didn't have to watch his face to know it was Killian the one whispering dangerously into her ear. "Bad form, stealing a pirate's gold."

"Is it stealing if it was already stolen?" Emma scoffed, still too aware of the hook that threatened to pierce through her skin oh-so-easily.

She felt a warm breath against her skin as he chuckled, and she was able to smell the bitter scent of alcohol.

"Give me my stuff back, love, and I promise I will do you no harm."

She expected to find a lie hidden behind the words, but she found none. He was speaking the truth; he'd allow her to leave unharmed as long as she returned everything to him. It was the easy thing to do, of course; give him his stuff back and leave, yet she felt her own pride holding her back from doing just that.

Before she could contemplate what to do, her interest became piqued as she spotted the figure of two royal guards patrolling not too far from them around the streets. An idea quickly popped into her brain; one she knew well enough would probably get her in trouble – if they recognized her, which they probably would, they'd be taking her right away to the king and queen, and they probably wouldn't be too pleased to learn she'd been to the town and gotten into a fight with a dangerous pirate.

But still, the pirate and herself had just started a war, and she was sure as hell going to do anything in her power to not let him win.

Blood pumped faster than ever through her veins as she decided her next move, and screamed: "Help! HELP!"

It ended up working out even better than she'd expected. The scream threw the pirate aback, softening his grip and he pulled the hook away from her neck. He was distracted enough for her to be able to break free from him, just as the guards turned around and spotted them, marching quickly towards them.

Emma didn't take even one moment to hesitate, running the opposite way before either he or the guards could get to her. She heard the pirate curse and shout behind her, still, it didn't make her stop.

She was running for more time than her body was prepared to, yet the only thing that made her stop was spotting yet another guard, walking the street in her direction. Her heart dropped to the ground, stopping dead in her tracks; she'd made it so far, she was so close to getting home, and yet she was going to get caught just then and there.

She'd get caught, and surely her parents would forbid her from ever leaving the castle all by herself again.

Emma's mind raced as she tried to think of a way out of this, yet before she could contemplate another route to take, a hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling her to a side.

"Gotcha, love," a voice already too familiar said triumphantly, almost as if they were children and he'd just won a simple game of cat and mouse.

She held back a scream, instead covering her mouth with a hand, keeping silence as she turned her head to the street – the guard passed by without even turning to look at them, as they were hidden by the darkness of the alley.

Emma let out a deep breath, face warm and heart racing from all the insanity she'd just experienced the past few minutes.

It didn't take more than a couple of seconds for Killian to let go of her, and she allowed herself to lean against the warm wall, closing her eyes for a moment as she focused on her own breathing.

She wondered what her parents would say if they saw her now. Probably, I told you so.

When Emma opened her eyes, she found that the pirate had his eyes set on her, in a curiosity-filled gaze. He had leaned against the wall as well, and he held a canteen in his good hand.

"You're not what I expected," he commented, sounding both impressed and surprised. He pressed the canteen to his lips, taking a large sip of it. Once he was finished, he held it out to her. "Drink?"

She eyed the canteen for a moment, knowing accepting a drink from a stranger was not a good idea – after all, her family had a history with strangers and poison. Still, not caring about whatever drink was in the small flask, she ignored the question altogether, and instead addressed his first statement, a deep frown on her face. "You barely know me–"

"You're sort of an open book," Killian interrupted her, matter-of-factly, and then shrugged. "The way you move and speak, it's not like anyone else here. You're something else, lass. Type of girl who's always gotten everything she wants without having to lift a finger, probably. And yet, you bested me twice out there."

"Yeah, well, I'm much different than you think," Emma snapped, angered by the fact that this stranger had the nerve to act as if he knew her.

He knew nothing – not a thing about her. Yet she had an awful feeling that he actually did; he'd been reading right through her since the moment he saw her.

Killian chuckled. "Indeed. There's a little pirate in you, love."

"You're wrong," she quickly refuted, offended by the words. "You… You pirates are thieves and deceivers, and I – I'm none of that."

"Still, you've been lying about you being a farm girl," he simply stated. And then, his eyes dropped to the satchel in her hand, and she followed his gaze. "And you could say you've stolen from me, too."

The fact that she knew he was right took her aback for a couple of seconds; yet she was so determined to try and prove him wrong, the next thing she does, she does it without even thinking: she threw the satchel at him, provoking a surprised look from the pirate as he caught it out of reflex. "I don't want it."

However, she regretted the action as soon as she saw the satchel in Killian's hands, remembering she had forgotten to take the necklace out of it.

All that trouble, all for him to remain victorious, with his gold and her necklace back into his possession.

Killian seemed to notice that detail as well, as he kept an eyebrow raised while he opened the satchel, examining its contents.

And, much to her surprise, he then pulled out the piece of jewelry and threw it back at Emma, who raised her hands to catch it. "We're even now."

She looked down at the necklace - it was broken, but nothing too unrepairable.

She opened her mouth to ask why, yet she found herself stammering, and ended up speaking just a baffled: "Thank you."

It seemed like they had reached a middle ground, and Emma felt her own body finally starting to relax slightly.

Killian nodded at her, and a cocky look appeared on his features as an idea seemed to pop into his head. "My offer of sharing a drink with you still stands, lass."

As she felt now less on edge, instead of feeling angered by the offer, she lets out a mocking snort. "Sharing a drink with a pirate? Sounds like danger to me," she said, raising her eyebrows.

"You've already proven you can defend yourself quite well," he chuckled. "I'll be looking forward to it."

Her eyes widened slightly, as he'd just cockily assumed she'd agreed to it.

But the thing was, would she really consider going for a drink with him?

Not in a million years.

"I wouldn't hold my breath, Hook," she spoke, and she caught the ghost of a smile on his face right before she turned to walk away from the alley and him.

She'd only taken a few steps into the street before his voice made her halt.

"What's your name, lass?" Killian asked her, still leaning against the wall.

Emma turned her head quickly and saw a curious look on his face. It made her slightly nervous. "I already told you. It's Ru-"

"I mean your real name," Killian interrupted her, making her confident look falter. Had he figured who she really was already?

She didn't believe so, as she could sense real curiosity behind his voice. Apparently, she was just not as good at giving lies as she was detecting them. So, instead of coming up with another lie, she decided to just imitate the smirk on his face.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Granny, I know how to make strew, for god's sake!"

Red groaned in annoyance, as the older woman gave her directions and tried to step into the kitchen.

"If you knew how to make stew, then you would've known that the potatoes are added last!" the elderly woman complained, slowly making her way to where the taller woman was. "Now, step away, child, and let me handle this the right way."

"Whatever you say, Granny," she said with a roll of her eyes, wiping her hands on the front of her apron, and stepping aside.

Even though her grandmother was nearly one hundred years old, she was still as insufferably stubborn and bossy as she ever was.

Red was about to sit on the couch, waiting for Granny to finish at the kitchen when a couple of knocks were heard on the door.

"I didn't know we were expecting visitors today."

"Neither did I, Granny."

Red didn't need to open the door to know who it was; the familiar scent reached her nose before she even had touched the doorknob, and a grin appeared on her face.

As a child, she'd always had wished for a sister. Fate had blessed her, giving her Snow White, and Red wouldn't have it any other way.

Years later, as Snow had introduced her to her newborn baby, Red had felt her heart swelling with love.

Fate had blessed her with yet another baby sister.

And just like she did with Snow, she would rip the throats of anyone who dared harm her sweet goddaughter.

"Emma!" The older woman threw her arms around the blonde as soon as the door was opened. "I had no idea you'd be visiting me today."

There was something different – a faint smell, almost unnoticeable.

Red breathed into her hair, trying to pick it up. It was weak, but it was there.

A faint bitterness; salty sea mixed with something else.

When Red pulled back, she noticed what she had failed to see seconds before.

Emma's often impeccable hair was slightly tousled, wild hairs coming loose from her braid, sticking up in different directions. Her face was slightly flushed, and despite the smile on the princess' lips, attempting to play it cool, she could see something off with her expression.

Red gave her a suspicious look. "What's going on?"

Emma inhaled deeply, a sheepish look on her face.

"Keep a secret for me, Red."

A/N: And they finally meet! Things are bound the get interesting from now on. Thank you all for your feedback!