Chapter 2

With a glass of rum in his hand, Killian was studying a map of the kingdom. He was at the tavern of the village down the castle; the place where he had told Emma to come and find him when she would be ready. In the early afternoon, when he had let her go after telling her that everything she believed was wrong, he had followed her from afar in order to find the castle. He had spent most of the rest of the day thinking of a plan. His first challenge was to make Emma remember who she was. The idea of a true love's kiss had crossed his mind and, when he had seen her in the morning, it wasn't that he hadn't wanted to try, but he remembered the day when he had found her in New York too well and knew that kissing her wouldn't work until she would be ready. He was hoping that reading their story in the book would tickle her curiosity enough to make her want to remember. Then, perhaps she would be ready to kiss him. This was rather uncertain, and this wasn't even all: his second challenge consisted in finding a way back home. This was what he was working on. It was not the first time that he needed to travel from a realm to another: he had done it once, not such a long time ago, and could do the exact same thing once more.

He trailed his finger over the map, following the path leading from where he was to Longbourn, a port he knew very well for having moored the Jolly Roger there so many times. If Henry was right and only a minimum of changes had occurred, chances were that he could come across himself. But this realm's version of him was not the one he was interested in: he had rarely been in possession of a magic bean and he could see no reason why Emma not being the saviour would change that. The one he wanted to see was another pirate who could often be found in this port: Blackbeard. The plan he had in mind was to find him and offer him the Jolly Roger that his other version of him possessed in exchange of a magic bean.

Whether it be about making Emma remember or about finding a way back home, many elements were out of his control but he was confident: he and Emma had true love and a genie's wish couldn't change that. The main reason why he had to bring her back to Storybrooke was her family, but if nothing played out as planned and they needed more time to find a way back, he wouldn't mind staying longer: as long as he was with her, he would be fine. In this realm, she was not the saviour, but she was still Emma. If she didn't remember, nothing would stop him from starting over and winning her heart again.

Killian knew how to go to Longbourn. He simply hadn't decided when to go yet: the return trip would take at least a day; a day when Emma could decide to come to the tavern and not find him. All he knew was that it was too late to leave before the night, so he rolled up his map and had some rum: any decision would wait for the next day.

He spent the night in a room at the tavern. Except from when he had a look around the village to locate places where he could get a horse, he stayed at the tavern, making some calculations from his observations of the stars during the previous night. In the afternoon, a group of loud men entered the place and Killian was astonished when he recognized one of them: Robin Hood was leading the group. His first instinct was to go to him, but before doing so, he remembered this version of the thief surely didn't know him. Robin and his merry men headed to a man sitting at one of the tables; apparently another merry man.

"This can't be good, we need to leave. Staying would be dangerous," Killian heard Robin say and, curious about said danger, pricked up his ears to follow the conversation.

"I told you I didn't want to move anymore," said the man. "I'm staying here. This might be only rumours anyway."

"It's not rumours, I saw them with my own eyes, flying from the castle! Many of us saw them, everyone is panicking outside. Move your arse and get out of this tavern to see by yourself."

"What did you see flying from the castle?" Killian intruded.

Robin lively turned around to face the pirate who had got up when he had heard a mention of the castle. The thief looked him up and down before casting him a despising look.

"Intending to take advantage of the mayhem to pillage?" he asked.

Killian lifted an eyebrow. "Isn't that your job?"

"Not here!" Robin took offence. "These royals are good people."

"Right. What did you see flying from the castle?" the pirate repeated.

"It looked like flying monkeys."

"Bloody hell!"

"There were three of them," Robin went on. "It is said that the king, the queen and the prince have been taken."

"What about Emma? Princess Emma?"

"No one has heard from her."

Feeling his heart thumping against his chest and adrenaline rushing through his veins, Killian ran out of the tavern and up to the castle. It was deserted.

"Emma?" he kept calling, running along corridors.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" A guard burst out of an adjacent corridor and stopped him.

"Bloody hell! Do you realise flying monkeys were those you were supposed to stop?"

"You shall not pass."

"I need to see the princess."

"Who are you?" The guard repeated, standing right in front of him.

"Her true love. And you're not real."

He hit him in the face hard enough to make him fall, convincing himself that he had actually not knocked out anyone because this realm was not a reality.

"Emma?" he screamed, resuming his search and running along more corridors. "Emma?"

"Help me!"

"Emma! Where are you?"

"Here! Help me!"

Killian identified the door through which her voice was coming and entered the room which happened to be her bedroom.

"Emma?" he called when he saw her lying under her bed. "Are you alright?"

"Are the monsters gone?"

"Yes, they're gone." He came closer to her, concerned about what was keeping her under the bed and wondering if she was hurt.

"They took my parents and Henry away!"

"I know. Have you been hurt?"

She looked at the window. "No, but Henry… My parents…"

"Emma, what are you doing under that bed?"

"Hiding," she said as if it was obvious.

"What? So you're not hurt?"

"No. I'm hiding."

"But you're Emma, you don't hide."

"I was scared. I don't know how to fight. They would have taken me too if I hadn't hidden."

She looked like she didn't understand what was wrong with that. Hiding had been her defence strategy and it had worked, but Killian was astonished and didn't recognize her.

"What the hell did your parents do to you? Emma, this isn't you, you're stronger than this. You're the strongest person that I know. You fight dragons and defeat witches."

"What? No, I don't do that. I can't fight."

"You do, trust me. Speaking of witches, we need to leave," he said whilst holding out his hand to her. "She might come anytime soon."

She was about to take his hand but stopped midway. "Who are you talking about?"

"Zelena."

"Who's that?"

"The Wicked Witch. The flying monkeys belong to her. It can't be good that she sent them here."

"My parents, Henry… Where did she take them?"

"I don't know, and it might be hard to believe but none of this is important. All that matters is you. Emma, please come out from under that bed, we need to go."

There was in his voice a hint of exasperation that he couldn't conceal. Seeing her like this was a reminder that she was not the one he had fallen in love with: the first thing he had loved about her was how strong and brave she was, and this part of her was obviously missing in this realm.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when she finally took his hand and extracted herself from under her bed.

"Where's the book? The one I gave you yesterday."

"It's here."

She went to pick it up on her bedside table and that was when he saw it, lying against the wall next to her bed: a sword whose hilt was set with a red stone; the sword she had seen in her visions, back in Storybrooke.

"This sword, do you remember how you got it?"

"I found it under my bed."

This was not the answer he had been hoping for.

"Let's take it," he simply said, giving up on the idea to use it to make her see that this realm was not the reality they belonged to.

"Wait," she said when he put the book back inside his bag. "Why would I trust you?"

"What?" He asked, taken aback.

"You're a pirate. I didn't mention the creatures were monkeys, how would you know about that if you're not the one who sent them?"

"Emma, that makes no sense! As you said, I'm a pirate, not a zookeeper. You have to trust me." Since she looked suspicious, he added, "Look… You're still you somehow, you must sense something's off. Think of your dream, you can't have made that up."

She looked him in the eye for a moment and bit her lip. "Alright, I trust you."

His eyebrows went up and he flashed her a smile. "That was fast!"

The real Emma had needed much more time before taking the trust step. The thought that she might also need less time to reach the step of the kiss crossed his mind and his smile brightened. She looked at him inquiringly and he shook his head.

"Let's go," he said. "There's this stable in the village. I talked to the man this morning, he agreed to lend me a horse."

"We have a royal stable," she reminded him.

"Right. I wasn't sure you would come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"Longbourn."

"Why are we going there?"

"Would you mind if I explain all of this to you later?"

She shook her head, went to pick the sword, and they left. She led him to the royal stable. One of the horses was already saddled.

"Let's take this one." Killian indicated her the horse but she didn't move.

"I don't often go horseriding," she admitted.

"Alright. Do you know how to approach a horse?" he inquired whilst slowly closing the distance with the animal and softly placing a hand on its head.

"Yes. I just don't ride a lot."

Killian mounted the horse first and held out his hook to help her get on it.

"You need to hold on to me or you will fall."

At first, she hesitantly placed her hands on his hips, once again reminding him that she was not the same Emma, but the difference became much less perceptible when she wrapped her arms around him. Instinctively, he looked back at her and she suddenly looked embarrassed.

"Do you prefer if I just hold you like I did before?"

"No. It's perfect like this."

Once they were on the path to Longbourn, Killian lost himself in thoughts. He was unable to stop thinking about the woman he had found hiding under her bed and about these arms wrapped around him. She was Emma and at the same time she wasn't. This was disturbing him because she was the one he loved but was at the same time someone he didn't know. She looked like Emma and, just judging by her arms around him, also felt like Emma. But she didn't act like Emma and he was annoyed by the fact that this was bothering him: she was still the woman he loved but he couldn't deny that he had a preference for the Emma he lived with in Storybrooke. He wanted her to remember; he wanted her to remember about him and their love but, most importantly, he wanted her to remember who she was. The simple thought of how exasperated he had felt when he had found her hiding under her bed made him feel guilty. He didn't want to have such feelings toward her. He loved her and should probably accept her like she was no matter what. It was actually what she had done when they had been in an alternate reality and he had been a simple deckhand. He thought of their sword-fighting session and of how she had taken his breath away. His thoughts drifted as he recalled some of his favourite moments when she had been breath-taking. Absent-mindedly, he reached for the arms he could feel around his waist. Her fists were clenched, which was unusual enough to remind him of where he was, but she relaxed them as soon as his hand covered one of them. She turned her hand under his own, softly brushed his palm, and intertwined their fingers. At first, Killian didn't move but, after a moment, wondering how she would react, he caressed her hand with his thumb. He had expected her to take her hand back but she didn't. Instead, she placed her other hand on his wrist and, by doing so, lost him in his thoughts again.

He was the one to take his hand back when holding the reins only with his hook happened to be too risky.

They didn't talk until he slowed the horse down.

"Where are we?" Emma asked.

This was not Longbourn: they were still in the forest and were stopped in front of a large cottage.

"Longbourn is too far away to reach it before dark. This is the only place on the way where we can stop. We'll spend the night here."

"The night?"

"Aye, they have some rooms."

"Will we be in the same room?"

"If you don't mind," he replied, judging her reaction as he didn't know which answer she wanted to hear. "With these flying monkeys around, I'll be reassured to have you with me. And I like having you with me. But I'll understand if you prefer two separate rooms."

"The beds are for two people, right?"

Killian couldn't repress a chuckle. "Yes, they are."

"Then, we can share a room."

Moments later, they had the key to a room with a double bed. On Killian's initiative, they went back outside.

"Where are we going?" Emma asked.

"Right here."

Stopping in the middle of the clearing by the cottage, he softly let go of her hand and flashed her a smile which she returned.

"And what are we doing here?"

"We're going to work on your fighting skills."

"You want to teach me how to fight?"

"Not exactly. I'm going to show you that you do know how to fight."

"You still believe I can fight dragons and defeat witches," she assessed.

"And you still don't believe that none of this is real."

She lightly shrugged. "If I didn't believe in anything I know, what would I believe in? What would I do? I would have nothing."

"Emma…" He stepped forward but stopped himself from cupping her chin. "You have much more than you can imagine."

"And that includes fighting skills?"

"Aye. You'll see." He considered her outfit and lifted an inquiring eyebrow. "Is that dress comfortable enough for a swordfight?"

She shrugged. "If I ever need to fight, I won't have time to change anyway."

"Point taken."

Stepping back, he unsheathed and placed on the ground both swords, and started to work on his belt.

"What are you doing?"

"As you said, when time for a fight comes, there is no time to change. There is also no time to look for a weapon. Your sword must be within reach," he said whilst removing his belt.

"What about you?"

"I'll find a way to use my other belt." He handed her one end of his belt. "Can you hold this?"

She nodded and took it, and he slipped the belt in her back, under her cloak, before fastening it around her hips. Focused on what he was doing, it was only when he finished and looked up that he noticed how she was staring at him. He fixed her gaze on her. Her eyes were filled with curiosity and endearment. She looked like she was hypnotized.

"You should get the sword," he said softly.

She shook her head as she was pulled out of her thoughts. "Right."

Killian grabbed the hilt set with a red stone and sheathed the sword. Once again, he caught her eye.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. Everything's fine. Teach me."

She was about to unsheathe her sword with her left hand but he interrupted her.

"It will be easier to use the opposite hand. Since your sword is on your left, you need to use your right hand. Let me show you."

He stood behind her, took her hand and placed it on the hilt. He guided her as they unsheathed the sword together, but he could feel she did it almost all by herself.

"I think that's what they call muscle memory," he said in a low voice.

She was leaning back against him and their hands were still in mid-air. Her head was turned toward him and her eyes were closed, reminding him of when he was a deckhand. He wondered if she felt like he had felt at this moment.

She was so close to him and looked so close to succumb that his urge to drop the sword, wrap her in his arms and kiss her was even more difficult to repress.

"Let's work on your parry."

Softly letting go of her hand, he stepped back and took a deep breath.

He showed her how to parry and, at first, she was slightly hesitant. But after a few trials, as he had expected, she became more confident and managed to make the first move.

"See? You're a natural. Because in this other reality, you're really good at it," he said proudly. "You're actually good at everything, there's not a thing that you can't do."

A light blush covered her cheeks. Lightly biting her lip, she didn't say anything.

"One more time," Killian interrupted the silence.

This time, he blocked her sword between his cutlass and his hook. She gazed at the metal and seemed to lose herself in thoughts.

"Emma?"

"I wonder how you do that," she said absent-mindedly, still staring at the blades.

"How do I do what?"

"These feelings of déjà-vu. It's just happened again. The first one was when we were on the horse and you took my hand."

"You're starting to remember!"

"I don't remember. It's just these feelings, but I have no idea where they come from. There is just this feeling, like a flash, but there is no clear memory related to it."

"Emma…" He knew what could make her remember, but waited for her to look up at him before saying, "I just want to make sure that you know this: if you want to kiss me, please don't hold yourself back."

"What?"

"You've heard me well," he said with a lopsided smile. "That could save us some precious time. If there's one thing that I've learned last time something like this happened, it's that it won't work until you want to."

Her gaze shifted between his eyes and a smile tugged at her lips.

"Let's try again," she escaped the conversation. With her hand on the hilt of her sword, she was ready for another attempt.