Second Star to the Right

by bostonbiblichor

Oneshot. This is based on a prompt from Tumblr: When Emma looks at the stars all she sees are dots of light caused by giant balls of gas burning millions of miles away. She doesn't see the magic or the stories. When Killian looks at the stars he sees a way to navigate home. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Hate is not tolerated.

A/N: This is my second CS fic. This will (probably) be a oneshot. This is based on a prompt from Tumblr: When Emma looks at the stars all she sees are dots of light caused by giant balls of gas burning millions of miles away. She doesn't see the magic or the stories. When Killian looks at the stars he sees a way to navigate home. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Hate is not tolerated. Reviews make me happy.

In the city the stars are hidden behind clouds made of dust and dirt and sweat. In the hustle and bustle of urban life, people forget to savor the night sky. When she was a kid, Emma used to look up at the stars and dream. She had only been tossed around a couple of different homes by that time. Every night, she would curl up near a window and gaze at the stars. Every night she wished, as every orphan does (and foolishly so) that her parents would come find her. She wished with her whole heart, with every fiber in her being, that they were out there, under the same sky, and that they wanted her. She wished desperately that they had only been separated by some horrible twist of fate, or some grand accident, but that they had spent every moment since searching every corner of the Earth to get her back. Emma gazed at the lights in the sky and wondered if her parents ever looked up at them and thought of her. But every day, after she fell asleep under the window, she had to wake up face the harsh reality that was her life: another family that was just in the system for the check, another foster parent who cared more about the quantity of her chores than the quality of her life. She spent her days working to "earn her keep" in her foster homes and fell into bed every night too tired to remember to wish on the stars. As Emma's hope faded so did the stars into the back of her mind. They were reduced from something magical, to what they were, dots of light caused by giant balls of gas millions of miles away.

When he was young Killian had nightmares. In the few years before her death his mother would pull him into her arms. She would soothe him back to sleep with a different kind of fairytale, stories of Andromeda, Hercules and Orion and point out their immortalized forms, forever frozen in the night sky. After her death, when Killian's worst nightmares came to life he would crawl to a window and look up at those stars.

Liam joined the navy when Killian was 14, and though he promised Killian that he would write, he was not consoled by his brother's promise.

"Look at the stars, Killian," Liam said to him as they stood at the docks the morning Liam was to leave, "If you ever find yourself missing me, just look up, and know that as long as those stars hang in the heavens, I will find you."

When he first joined the Navy, Killian had a hard time sleeping. As much as he loved the sea, he was not used to being in constant motion. So he would sit up on the deck late into the night, and sometimes early into the morning with his back pressed against the hard wood of the mast his face turned up to the sky. He was comforted by the soft pinpricks of light. On the ocean they seemed endless, reflected, on a calm night, for what seemed like forever. With those stars in the sky Killian felt at home, no matter how far out to sea he sailed.

After Killian made his way back to the Jolly Roger, which had not been too far from Philip and Aurora's kingdom. He began to plot a course. The Jewel of the Realm had traveled between realms before, and Killian was sure that she could do it again. So he began to set course, to find Emma. Killian knew it was selfish but he didn't intend to wake her up, he just needed to know that she was alright. He looked up at the stars hanging in the night sky, brand new and ancient, and got his bearings. He set his sights on an old friend, the second star to the right, and headed straight on 'til morning.

A/N: I know that Emma is not in Neverland, but it was poetic and lovely so it happened. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Hate is not tolerated. Reviews make me happier than Killian Jones when he found Emma in 3x11.