A/N: Hey, I'm back! I'm glad you all are excited about this story :) I promise, Emma and Killian will meet in this chapter! They have an interesting start, to say the least.
Enough of my rambling–enjoy!
Emma Swan had always been alone.
It was her thing, you know?
Abandoned as a baby, it was all she had ever known, even after being put into an orphanage. Nothing changed.
She hated every moment of it, but she was ambitious, anxious to get out of her orphanage.
Emma was fifteen when she ran away from the system.
She had been living in a lovely home, with lovely people, when one night after a near-attack on her life by an intruder, she used magic (that she had no idea she harnessed) and accidentally struck one of her foster brothers.
Her parents were immediately infuriated with her behavior, calling her a witch, a freak.
So, Emma ran.
She ran straight to the Naval Academy, hoping to become a strong Captain, to make a name for herself. A name that had been taken away from her.
Emma was only looking for a place in the world at the Academy.
She found something else entirely-Neal.
They met when just after she'd turned seventeen, and she had never known love before.
He was the Captain of a ship called the Yellow Bug, and Emma fell in love with him much quicker than she should have. Their love was stupid, young, and plain cheesy. He showered her with kisses and gifts, and when she was almost eighteen, they sailed away together, hoping to get away from all of the annoyance of the Academy.
All was well until Emma fell pregnant with his child, and he just... disappeared one morning, along with the crew. Emma had been stranded at a small inn at a random station she didn't recognize, and all that was left to her was the damn ship and some prize money.
She was alone.
Having her baby was much harder than she expected, but she wouldn't let him grow up alone.
So, she kept him, and she named him Henry. It sounded like a strong name to her, a name fitting for her little boy.
Emma made a vow to never trust anyone after he was born, and she stuck to it as long as she could.
She was going to make a name for herself by finding Treasure Planet, the planet no one thought even existed. With the string of hope she had left in her body, she thought maybe, it was really out there. And that string of hope would take her far.
"Henry, go below deck, okay?" Emma asked, pressing a kiss to the top of her son's head.
"Mommy-"
"Kid, please." Emma spoke quickly, ushering him to her quarters. He rolled his eyes and sulked in, slamming the door behind him.
Emma knew he wanted to get in on the life she was living, but he couldn't. She wouldn't allow it.
Pirating was hardly a place for a boy, but Emma needed to make some sort of life for them. This was the best she could manage after being left behind.
"Captain, you sure this is a good idea?" Mary Margaret, Emma's lieutenant, asked as she came to stand beside her.
"We don't really have a choice, do we?" Emma sighed, "Hopefully, it'll be an easy raid, and we can get on and get off without too much of a fuss."
"You know it never ends like that." Mary deadpanned.
"I'm aware." Emma sighed, "We don't have another choice. We've got to get food, or money, or something."
"This isn't the way we should do that, Emma. You know that."
"You are my lieutenant, and you will do as I say." Emma snapped, "Make sure the crew is ready to put up a fight."
Mary sighed before nodding and skipping down the steps, giving orders to the crew.
Most of Emma's crew were women, simply because she knew that they worked better as a team than men did. It was much easier to prove her dominance, too. Her crew was treated well, and in return, they made the practically perfect team.
Well, so long as the pirates they were fighting weren't stronger than them.
Emma clenched her jaw before sailing through the stars, straight to the other ship.
It was now or never, she supposed.
The two ships collided, and the other used a cannon on Emma's ship. She grabbed the helm as it impacted, wincing as it did. That would be expensive to fix, for sure.
"All hands on deck!" She yelled.
The pirates from the other ship started flocking onto the ship, and she knew immediately they were outnumbered.
Fuck.
She grabbed her cutlass and jumped down to fend off some of the (surprisingly) young men, slicing mercilessly at them.
"Got a better plan?" Emma called to Mary as they fought back-to-back.
"Not yet!"
"I need you to think of one-fast!" Emma shouted, slashing a boy away.
"I'm trying!" Mary yelled in response, "I'm a little busy!"
Emma rolled her eyes and continued to fight, frustrated at how badly her own plan was going. They weren't always perfect, but they usually went a hell of a lot better than this.
"Mom!" Henry cried out, causing Emma to stop her fighting and look up to the helm.
The Captain of the other ship had Henry hostage.
"Let go of him!" Emma snarled.
"Oh? Why should I?" The young man smirked, "He'd make such a wonderful Lost boy."
That's who these pirates were, then. They were the infamous Lost Boys, a group of teenage pirates that captured other kids when their parents weren't looking and luring them into a trap that was impossible to get out of.
"You let go of my son right now." Emma snarled, taking the few steps needed up to the helm, pointing her cutlass at the boy.
"Oh, but he could have so much more fun as a Lost Boy, rather than being your cabin boy." He spoke with that devil's grin of his.
"He is not my cabin boy. He is my son." Emma snapped, taking another step closer, "And, if you don't let him go right now, your head will roll right down the steps behind me."
"I seem to have forgotten to introduce myself," He grinned, "Peter Pan. I assume you're Captain Swan?"
Emma stood up straighter, her eyes narrowed.
"What does it matter to you?"
"Oh, Miss Swan, your head is worth, well... Millions." He spoke simply, "Your son's head isn't worth quite as much, but what's the old saying? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree?"
Emma lunged for the boy, trying to keep the sword away from Henry. It took one move for the boy to whip out his own cutlass and clash it against hers, causing her to furrow her brows.
Smoke. She smelled smoke.
Jesus fucking Christ, she couldn't catch a break.
"Oh, it seems as though you were too focused on me to realize what was happening. Let me fill you in: your ship will be turned to ashes in mere moments, so unless you-"
Emma slashed at him, hitting him and wounding his arm enough to let go of Henry.
"Get on a lifeboat with Mary, okay?" Emma asked him.
"But, Mom, my book!"
Emma rolled her eyes. She didn't have time for this.
"We don't have time to get it, Henry!" Emma snapped, "Go with Mary Margaret, now!"
"I'm not leaving you alone!"
"I can handle this just fine!" She shouted over the chaos that was ensuing on her ship, "Go!"
Henry hugged her tight before hurrying down the steps, into the smoke that was engulfing her ship.
Now, it was time to end the one who started it all.
Emma straightened her jaw and stormed over to the boy, using her magic to lift him by his throat. He struggled in her grip, but she held her ground.
"If my ship goes down tonight, yours goes down with it." She snarled, using her free hand to ignite a flash of energy towards his ship and causing flames to erupt there as well. She tossed him across the space between the ships, unknowing if he made it to his own or not.
It didn't matter. Emma had bigger fish to fry.
Like how the hell she was going to save her ship.
She grabbed her cutlass and started down the steps and into the chaos.
There were other men on the ship now, men she didn't recognize. They seemed to be helping with Emma's crew, and getting them to safety.
She couldn't find Henry.
He'd gone back for that damn book.
"Henry!" Emma called, running towards the cabin.
A large flame burst in front of her, causing her to fall back onto the wooden planks. She felt the tears in her eyes as she realized her son's fate, the only person who understood her better than anyone else in the world.
"Captain, are you alright?" A worried voice asked.
Emma looked up to see a man about her age, but she couldn't tell much else due to the smoke as he helped her to her feet.
"My son is stuck in my cabin, and I can't get him out-"
"I'll get the lad." He promised, lifting a bandana over his mouth and venturing into the flames.
Emma clasped her hand over her mouth as she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Captain, you ought to get onto a boat." A man with sandy blonde hair spoke firmly.
"Not without my son!" She yelled back, whipping out her cutlass and preparing to trek into the fire before the other man came out, Henry in his arms, holding the damn book.
"Henry!" Emma shrieked.
"He'll be alright-but we need to get both of you onto my ship-and fast. This won't hold much longer." The man informed her, taking her hand with his free one and leading her towards the stern of her ship.
He stepped in front as they hurried along the planks, handing Henry to one of the men already aboard his ship. He jumped on himself and held his hand out for Emma.
"You have to trust me!" He yelled.
Emma simply swallowed hard and clenched her jaw.
She hadn't trusted anyone since-
"Love, you have got to trust me, or you'll perish!" He shouted, extending his arm further.
Emma grabbed onto his hand just as the two ships were parting from each other, holding onto him for dear life as he pulled her onto his ship.
"Get us out of here-the two ships are about to explode!" The man ordered. He must have been the Captain.
Emma panted as she tried to gain her bearings, her son lying beside her. Her head was spinning, and she was exhausted. She couldn't do it anymore.
This wasn't a terrible way to go, she supposed, letting her eyes fall shut.