His crew is at the ready when Killian comes up on deck. Starkey left him alone in his cabin and prepped everyone for a final salute. It touches his heart to see every man there to say their final goodbye to him, men he's sailed with for years, laughed with, shared stories with and other adventures. It hasn't always been an easy life, the life of a pirate, but each man knew what were signing up for when they joined his crew.
Not everyone is meant for a pirate's life and few make it.
Killian looks at Starkey, Smee and his other men.
"By now, most of have you have heard that I am retiring from this life of piracy and settling down," Killian starts and a few chuckle. "I can say, the rumors are true and I think you all know who the lucky lady is, Princess Emma. I still feel myself humbled that she would take this pirate and want to spend the rest of her life with – me – but alas, we are where we are,"
He walks down the line of his crew, looking at each man. "But I am not leaving The Jolly Roger without a capable Captain," he continues, stopping in front of Starkey. "I know that you will take good care of her for me, Starkey and I could not trust anyone else to do the job right,"
"Thank you again Cap – um, how exactly should I refer to you know as, highness?"
Killian smiles at him. "Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, Starkey. I'm not even married yet," he says, "but Killian will do,"
He looks to the rest of his crew. "I do have one last request though, since this will probably be my last time on board The Jolly Roger," he starts and looks to the skies, staring at a dove flying overhead. The bird comes in for a landing, perching on top of a crate and lets go of a tiny parchment. Killian should seriously be wary of any kind of bird near his ship but this bird is not a crow.
He takes the small parchment and unravels it. It's a note from Emma. Killian looks up at his crew and then to Starkey. "Um, everyone dismissed for now," Starkey commands and everyone disperses leaving only him and Killian. "A note from Princess Emma?"
"Aye," he says, "She says I can't see her for a bit but hopefully it will not be for long,"
Starkey shrugs. "She is your fiancé, right?" he asks.
"That she is but why can't she see me?" he wonders, scrunching the paper in his hands. "This isn't right, especially after everything we've gone through together. There has to be something else going on,"
"What else could it be?"
"I don't know but I'm going to find out," he says.
"She wants to be with him Snow," Red says to her friend as she accompanies her back to her chambers. "One way or another, they will find a way to be together,"
"I know Red," Snow muses, turning and regarding her, "You've seen them together, what are your impressions?"
Red clears her throat, blushing. "I don't think True Love's kiss wouldn't have worked if it wasn't – but I do believe that her feelings for him are genuine, as are his for her. It's not infatuation or a simple crush. She loves him Snow and he loves her,"
"But he's a pirate," Snow sighs, "And I guess, to some degree, I can agree with David's stance. Pirate wasn't exactly at the top of list of possible suitors for Emma,"
"You can't choose who you fall in love with Snow, no more than where the stars shine each night," Red says, "David will come around. He loves Emma so much and in the end, he'll see that his love for her will overcome any prejudice he has against Killian Jones,"
Snow rubs her forehead and smiles thoughtfully at her. "But is he the right choice for her?" she wonders.
Red shrugs. "Love doesn't discriminate on whether someone is the right choice for us, Snow," the huntress continues, "But I think the question you should be asking yourself and David, is if you are willing to lose your
daughter over this? Because that could happen if both of you continue to disagree on what is right for her,"
Snow considers her words and she knows that she is right.
"Look Snow, I love Emma too. How could I not? She's my goddaughter and she's a wonderful, independent, strong-willed young woman, or as he puts it 'a stupid, naive, incredulous girl,'" she says, "Knowing your daughter, her personality and how stubborn she can often be, do you really think that she would be happy married to a noble, Prince or a King who would stifle who she is? Probably not,"
"I'm still me," Snow says.
"I wasn't referring to you,"
"I know," Snow mutters, smiling sheepishly at her. "But there was a time, a long time ago when I wasn't afraid to fight for what I wanted. I had to do many things to survive on the run. Considering my circumstances at the time, I didn't think love was in my future until I met David. I used to have that fiery spirit Emma has and actually, I would never admit this to her, but it's one of the qualities I've always admired about her. I lost that Red,"
Red wraps one arm around her friend, sighing. "I don't think you lost it Snow," she says, "Priorities just changed. Peace reigned throughout the kingdom, you married David and became a mother. But look at you now, you're willing to fight your husband in defense of your daughter's choice. You haven't lost who you are Snow,"
She smiles at her thoughtfully. "It will not be an easy fight," Snow muses, looking at her friend again, "I'm curious, which side are you on Red?"
Red smiles wolfully at her and Snow is not surprised.
"Stupid question," she says.
Emma's bored and restless. She also hates being cooped up and is itching to get out and find a certain
pirate and sail away with him. Emma understands her mother's need to keep her distance from Killian until she is able to persuade her father but it's not like she is asking him for half of the kingdom. All she wants is to be with her True Love.
That's not an outrageous request in Emma's mind.
Emma shifts in her bed and freezes, hearing a rustle outside and walks over to the window, looking down the wall for anyone. She lingers a moment, hoping to see her pirate in black, scaling the wall but when she doesn't, she turns and falls into his arms.
"Killian, what are you doing here?!" she cries.
"Sorry," he says, "I got your letter and thought I would drop by to see what's it about,"
Emma sighs, smiles despite herself and hugs him. "You know I don't want to be separated from you, especially after all the Hell we've been through," she continues, "It's my father,"
"He doesn't approve, does he?" he surmises, "because of the pirate thing,"
"He loves me and wants the best for me," Emma muses, "I love him too but there is good news; I won't be fighting alone for you. My mother is on my side and I'm pretty sure, Red is too,"
He smiles at her. "Three fierce ladies willing to fight for me," he teases, arching an eyebrow, "That's definitely an ego booster,"
Emma playfully smacks his shoulder and he makes a mocking face at her. "My mother promised that she would
do her best to convince him to support us," she continues, sitting down on her bed and looking at him, "but I had a thought, if she can't – I still want to be with you and I'll do whatever it takes to make that possible,"
Killian comes over and sits beside her. "Emma, what are you saying?" he ventures.
"You still have your ship, we could sail away, find someone to marry us and we'll start a life together," she says hopefully.
Killian laces his fingers through hers and kisses them. It's a sweet gesture but not a realistic solution to the problem. "Emma,"
"I know," she cries, "but we could have life a together, the two of us, leave everything behind if we wanted,"
He sighs, gently removing a hand from hers and combs it through her still brown hair. "Emma, there's something you should know about me," he starts and she looks at him curiously.
"You're not already secretly married to someone else because I will not accept that,"
He grins. "No, I'm not," he laughs, "What I was going to say is, before you, there haven't been too many good
deeds associated with my name. I've done a lot of bad things in my life but after meeting you, loving you well, it's the first time I've wanted to be a better person for someone else. And I still want to be better, which means waiting until your father approves of our union,"
"That could be forever,"
"So, I'll wait," he reasons, "Emma, I want to do this right; I want to do right by you,"
Emma smiles at him thoughtfully, leaning closer to kiss him. "It's sweet and I commend you for wanting to do
the right thing, but seriously, you still have a ship and we can go anywhere," she tempts.
"The right way Emma," he echoes, "We can wait,"
"Then I suppose you should probably go before someone spots you and you end up in a jail cell again," she reasons, "Breaking and entering isn't a good first impression, especially where in-laws are concerned,"
"Good point," he agrees and starts towards the window.
"Killian!" she calls out and he turns back to her. "I love you, honey. Be careful,"
He smiles at her and starts down the window. Before she Emma can even go back to sleep, she hears a curse and he climbs back towards the window. Emma covers herself and sighs heavily as he's accompanied by two other guards.
"Sneaking into the princess's personal chambers, pirate?" the taller guard teases, "You didn't even learn your
lesson the first time. That's shameful,"
Killian looks back at Emma. "It's the prison quarters again," he says, "Lovely,"
tbc