Thank you for all your lovely reviews, and have some more fluffy fluff; there are just three chapters plus the epilogue left!
The morning after Emma and Killian arrive to Storybrooke they meet her parents at the diner for breakfast, then enjoy a brief tour around town until they end up on the docks.
"I have to go pick up my dress", Mary Margaret announces but David doesn't step away from Emma like she expects him to.
"Killian, can you take my truck and drive my lovely bride where she needs to go?" David asks and Emma hears the sound of keys jingling, first when David takes them from his pocket, and second when he throws them in Killian's direction.
"Sure, mate, no problem", Killian says and Emma wonders what's happening between the three of them that she isn't aware of, but when Killian comes to give her a kiss and tells her that he'll see her soon, she doesn't insist that he stays.
She trusts her father, and besides, it's pretty obvious that there's something he wants to discuss with her in private.
"What's going on?" Emma asks as soon as the sound of Killian's and her mother's footsteps dies down; she closes her eye sand inhales the scent of the sea before David leads her to a bench where they both sit down facing the sea, judging by the sound of the waves lapping at the docks.
"Why do you think something's going on?" David asks innocently and nudges her shoulder with his, that simple gesture making her feel so close to him, so loved and so happy to be here.
Emma gives him a sideways look complete with raised eyebrows and he chuckles, then tells her that she's just like her mother.
"Nothing gets past her", he says, and there's such affection in his voice that Emma can't help but smile. "I wanted to talk to you about the father daughter dance."
"That's when your daughter is getting married, not when you're getting married", Emma says quickly because she absolutely cannot dance, much less with everybody watching.
"In theory yes, but I've missed all the opportunities when you were still in school, and I'd rather not wait until Killian musters up the courage to propose."
"Dad!" Emma exclaims before she can stop herself and finds herself enveloped in her father's warm embrace.
"You never called me dad before", he says, his voice choked with emotion, and she relaxes into the hug, feeling overwhelmed with affection because he smells so nice and she loves every second of being in his arms.
"Killian and I have only been together for a few months", she says him and feels him shake his head, still holding her close.
"The way he looks at you, he'd probably picked the ring already", David tells her and slowly pulls back, his hands coming to rest on her upper arms. "Listen, if you feel uncomfortable or just plain don't want to do it-"
"I can't dance", Emma says quickly because the longer she thinks about it, the more she wants to have a memory of dancing with her father.
"Sure you can. I'll lead and it will be fine."
"No, I mean, I really don't know how to dance", Emma explains and squeezes her cane in her hands, waiting for her father to backtrack and tell her that it's not so important after all.
"Would you like to learn?" He asks and takes her hand in his, his big fingers easily swallowing hers.
All her life Emma had been a woman child, too mature for her age, and this is the first moment she properly feels like somebody's daughter.
"Yes, I would."
"Come on, then", David says and pulls her to her feet, then takes her bag and cane and puts them on the bench, his hand leading hers to his shoulder before he takes her in a proper hold.
"You want to do it here?" Emma asks even though it's fairly clear that yes, he does.
"There's nobody around", David reassures her and proceeds to teach her the basic steps, and even though they are easy enough, Emma finds it hard to relax and just let him lead her. "Try to close your eyes."
"Why?"
"Come on, just try", David tells her and Emma does even though she thinks it's silly since she can't see either way, but it turns out that her father was right; it's easier to remember the steps with her eyes closed. "There we go."
"It's really important to you? Dancing with me?" Emma asks him as they sway on the worn wooden planks of the dock, and a wave of sadness washes over her because she had been missing so much growing up apart from her parents, but then her father pulls her in closer and tells her that everything they can do together is important to him.
"You're a natural."
"Just don't let me trip tomorrow", Emma tells him once the lesson is over and they are walking back toward town, retracing their steps back to Granny's.
"I would never hear the end of it if I let something happen to you", David says and Emma wishes she could imagine the smile she hears in his voice, but she doesn't feel comfortable enough yet to ask him to trace the lines of his face with her fingers.
"There you are", Mary Margaret exclaims as soon as they return to the diner and Emma slides into the booth next to Killian, his hand instantly reaching for hers.
"I missed you", he murmurs against her ear and Emma wonders briefly if her dad was right, but she decides to push those kinds of thoughts away because she's nowhere near ready to think about the future of her relationship with Killian.
She's happy with him, and that's all that matters.
"I missed you", she tells him and she can just imagine her parents exchanging meaningful looks across the table when Killian presses a kiss to the back of her hand, but she realizes that she kind of likes these public displays of affection.
Killian is with her, and he doesn't seem to care who knows, so when he slings his arm around her shoulders, Emma resists the desire to pull away and leans into his side, all her apprehension melting away.
Killian is pacing in the hallway outside Mary Margaret's bedroom, looking at his watch every five minutes and wondering what could possibly take so long.
"Have you seen my wife?" Victor asks from the top of the stairs and buttons his suit jacket, shooting a long-suffering look in Killian's direction.
"Still helping Mary Margaret and Emma dress", Killian answers and they both stare at the door for a while before simultaneously checking their watches.
"They've been in there for hours", Victor exclaims and announces that he's going to go downstairs and have a drink, and Ruby should get him once they are ready to leave.
"Emma? How much longer?" Killian asks through the door and steps back when it opens, revealing Ruby wearing a bright red dress and holding Mary Margaret's bouquet.
"Hold your horses, cowboy. Perfection takes time", Ruby says and steps aside to let Killian in, and he can practically feel his jaw hit the floor when he finally sees Emma in a pretty pink dress that flares from her waist and makes her look like a princess with her hair in a high ponytail and her cheeks tinged pink as the turns from side to side for his inspection.
"You look beautiful, Swan", he tells her and slips a corsage with a pink catchfly on her slender wrist while Mary Margaret picks up her phone and demands pictures.
"We are going to be late to church if we don't leave right now", Ruby announces and hustles her friend out of the room while Emma and Killian follow at a more sedate pace.
"What's this flower?" Emma asks him, her arm wrapped around his and her fingers touching the petals as they descend the spiral staircase into the main part of the apartment.
"Campion, also known as silene in Latin", Killian tells her and gives her a wry smile when she asks what it means. "I'll tell you later."
Emma shakes her head and lets him help her into her coat, and Killian drives them to the church in David's car while Victor plays chauffer to Ruby and Mary Margaret.
Emma and Killian sit in the first row and the rest of the church is filled to the rafters, but the citizens of Storybrooke all seem happy for the happy couple, both because of their marriage and because they have finally found their only daughter, so Killian tries to tame down his over-protectiveness, refraining from glaring at everybody who looks at Emma.
His Swan seems unaware of the attention, but she's fidgeting with her cane and Killian knows that she's not as indifferent as she appears, so Killian bumps her hand with his and she grasps it in hers, holding onto it through the service, the wedding vows making a lot of people slightly misty-eyed.
Emma closes her eyes and a few tears roll down her cheeks, and when she rests her head on Killian's shoulder he kisses her forehead and caresses the back of her hand until she sniffles and sits up straight again.
Both Mary Margaret and David turn around and smile at Emma once they put the rings on each other's fingers and Killian tells her that, receiving a nod and a meaningful look from David in return, which doesn't make him as uncomfortable as some would expect.
He'd known within a week of being with Emma that he's in it for as long as she will have him, preferably for life, but he also knows that it will be quite a feat to convince Emma to believe him.
The reception after the wedding is held in a ballroom of an imposing mansion on the edge of town, and it seems like most of the town showed up.
"Your parents have a lot of friends here", Killian notes as they make their way around the tables, people going out of their way to give them enough room to pass side by side.
"It's a small community", Emma says noncommittally, smiling about her like a long-lost princess would when facing her subjects for the first time in decades.
"You mean a lot to them, lass."
"I know", Emma says softly, and he can tell that she's only getting it now that they are surrounded with all the people her parents are going to be leaving behind.
Mary Margaret and David come into the ballroom accompanied by a big applause and sit next to Emma, who grins widely and manages to hide her wistfulness because her parents are too happy to notice how distracted she really is.
Still, when David asks her if she's ready to dance with him, Emma doesn't hesitate, and he leads her out on the dance floor, Mary Margaret blinking back tears as everybody present holds their breath and watches David dance with his daughter.
"Killian?"
"Hm?"
"Don't you dare hurt her", Mary Margaret says and looks at Killian with the same eyes Emma has, her fierce protectiveness making it impossible for him to feel offended.
"I would rather suffer than see her hurt", Killian tells her and Emma's mother nods, understanding passing between them before they go back to watching their significant others dancing.
When David returns Emma to her seat Mary Margaret kisses her cheek, then follows her husband to the center of the floor where they do the waltz in a manner that would make any dance teacher proud.
"Was I awful?" Emma asks and Killian caresses her bright red cheek with his knuckles and tells her that she was absolutely stunning.
"You appear to be a natural, Swan."
"Dad said that too, but I don't believe either of you."
"Still want to know what the flower means?" Killian asks and Emma tilts her head to the side and regards him suspiciously, perfectly able to sense a trap she can't see.
"What does it mean?"
"Will you dance with me?"
"Killian-"
"Your father got a dance", Killian attempts his best pouty voice and Emma rolls her eyes, shaking her head and telling him that she had filled her dancing quota for the year.
Emma looks stubborn, but Killian knows her well enough by now to recognize when she just needs a little encouragement.
"It would make me very happy, Swan, if you would honor me with the next slow dance", he says, his voice pitched low and his lips grazing her knuckles in what she often calls an entirely unfair way, Emma's pupils dilating with need and her reluctance to return to the dance floor melting away.
"Very well, flower boy. Take me for a spin", she tells him and their one dance ends up being a dozen, Emma standing on tiptoes and murmuring against his ear that she doesn't feel lost when she's in his arms.
He promises her that he will never let go.
Review?