A/N: I was supposed to post this yesterday, however, I was out all day and I wasn't able to. I'm sorry for the delay, however here you have the chapter just as I promised! As always, thank you to everyone who has reviewed, I love reading what you guys think about the story, and what you think will happen!
Chapter 5. Thief.
Killian woke up the next day, early in the morning. This time Emma had awakened before him, and was a couple of meters away from him. She was sitting by the river, her feet submerged in the water.
With a yawn, he rose from the floor and approached her.
"Good morning, love." He groggily spoke, running a hand through his face. Emma looked up as she heard him, and quickly rose up to her feet.
"Morning, Hook." Emma gave him a little smile, and now that he was facing her, Killian was able to see that the dark circles around her eyes were now even more marked than they were the day before.
"Swan, did you even get any sleep?" He asked her, staring at her tired face. Killian began to wonder if the girl had gotten any rest in the last couple of days. "Bloody hell, you look tired."
Emma shook her head, not giving it much importance.
"I'll be fine." She said, as she put her boots back on. "It doesn't matter if I'm tired, we've got to go."
Killian wondered then if she was trying to appear stronger than she actually was, not wanting to be the reason why they had to stop on their journey.
As he stared at her, a slightly grim thought crossed Killian's mind. He had no idea what would the girl's imminent death be like -and honestly, he wasn't looking forward to ask her that-, but he wondered if perhaps this had something to do with it. The girl seemed unable to fully rest, and it seemed that at any moment she would fall down from exhaustion. If she continued going on like that, she would probably fall ill.
"What are we waiting for, then?" Emma's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and she stared at him with an exasperated look, and Killian shook his head.
"Nothing. Let's go on, Swan."
They walked for a while, and while Emma never complained, Killian could see how every moment that passed the girl seemed to have more trouble in keeping up with the pace.
"Let's get some rest for a while, love." Killian told her, knowing that she desperately needed a break from walking.
"Hook, I told you I'm-" She began to protest, but he quickly cut her off.
"I'm tired too," he told her, so she wouldn't feel bad about it. "It'll only be a couple of minutes."
Emma decided to agree, and sat on the grass. Killian looked toward the river, wondering if it would be good idea to fish again, since it took him some time to do that. Opening his bag, he looked at the food that was left, seeing what he could offer to the blonde. Perhaps some food could get her energies higher.
"Well, Swan, we still have a few apples..."
He looked up to see her, only to find that Emma had fallen asleep. Killian laughed softly, beginning to consider that wasting a little time wouldn't be that much of a bad idea. It wasn't too late yet, he could let her rest for a while as he fished, and then they would continue on their way.
He took his time collecting a couple of fish, then starting a fire to cook there. Even after Killian had finished all of those activities, Emma was still in a deep sleep.
He then decided to dedicate himself to watch her. Since he had first seen her, it had been more than clear that this woman was one of the most beautiful he had seen. Perhaps his memory failed him, but at that time couldn't recall seeing any woman with a beauty comparable to hers.
Emma's hair was slightly tousled, and Killian took a strand of blond hair to place it behind her ear. A mischievous smile settled on his lips, and he lowered his hand to place it on her cheek, rubbing it gently.
The blonde sighed, leaning into the touch. A few moments later she began to slowly open her eyes, and when the green orbs finally landed on the pirate, Emma went still.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She asked hesitantly, and Killian removed his hand from her face with a laugh.
"Well, for a moment back then, it looked like you were enjoying it." Killian said with an amused smile, and Emma rolled her eyes as she sat down. "Lunch, love."
"Thank you." Emma said as he handed her a cooked fish. "How long was I asleep?"
"A couple of hours." Killian said, as he began to eat. Looking at her face, she seemed livelier now. "You look better."
Emma smiled, slightly embarrassed.
"You were right, I was tired."
"We're leaving the river behind." Emma spoke a few hours later, stopping her walk for a moment.
"Aye, and we should try to get some more fish. We don't know if we'll come across to another safe source of food during the days of walking we have left." Killian told her, and Emma nodded.
Noticing that Emma had nothing to do, an idea passed through his mind.
"Care to help me out, Swan?" He asked her, raising an eyebrow at the princess.
"I would, but I think it's quite obvious that I've never fished." Emma replied to him. "I don't know how to do it."
Killian motioned her to come closer. Both ducked at the river's edge, and he pulled his knife from his jacket. Killian always carried with him a pair of hidden extra weapons, just in case.
"You've got to wait for a fish to get closer." He told her. "You only get one chance to grab him, if not you'll scare it away."
Emma nodded, taking the knife from his hand.
"I can do it." She murmured, eyes focused on the water.
Emma's gaze focused on one, and she waited for it to be as close as it could get to stab the knife into the river, splashing water all around and it was quite clear she didn't get even close to catching the fish, which swam away from the scene.
Killian held back a laugh.
"Love, things in the water seem closer than they really are. You have to calculate better your move." He explained, and reached out his hand so she would give her back the knife. "Let me show you how it's actually done."
Emma shook her head fiercely.
"I can do it." She insisted. Her second try was as bad as the first one, and this time Killian did laugh.
"Is that the best you can do, Swan?" He teased her.
Emma glared at him, and before he could react, the princess was pushing him into the river.
"Goddamn it, Swan, you've got to be kidding!" He cried out in annoyance, his clothes completely soaked as he walked out of the water. The blonde was a couple of meters away from him already, possibly since she had assumed that the pirate would want to throw her in the water as his revenge. "See if you can catch any fish now that you've scared them all away!"
"Believe me, Hook, it was worth it." Emma replied between laughs, wiping tears from her eyes. And for some reason, instead of bothering him, Killian had to fight against the smile that was threatening to appear wide on his face.
Three days in, and the blonde was already starting to get under his skin.
In the end, they caught about four fish- of which Emma actually got to catch one. In addition, Killian pulled from his bag an empty bottle which they filled with water. From there, they walked until they left the river behind and returned to delve into the forest. The sun had begun to set when they stopped walking.
Emma was still laughing from time to time as she remembered how she threw Killian in the river (the sun had done a good job in drying his clothes out as they walked). She seemed to have more energy than she had had earlier that day.
"I'll go collect some wood for the fire." She told him with a smile.
"Aye, love, go carefully." Killian nodded, sitting on the ground to wait, as she disappeared between the bushes.
She wasn't gone for any longer than five minutes when he heard her.
"HOOK!" Her cry was one of alarm, a desperate one, and in a second Killian got up, feeling his heart drop to his feet. "HOOK!"
Without thinking it twice, he shot off to where he heard the voice coming from.
"SWAN!" Killian called out, and he felt dread at the thought of something bad happening to Emma. He heard her scream once more, this time however the sound was abruptly cut off. He used the sound as a guide, and he kept on running through the trees.
When Killian saw her, he didn't hesitate to draw out his sword. There was a man, of short height and thin, who had one arm around the princess' waist, and his other hand was covering her mouth. Emma was squirming under his grip, trying to get away from him.
"Let her go!" Killian shouted, knowing he couldn't attack directly, not with Emma right there in the middle.
Emma writhed harder against the man until he yelped in pain, removing his hand from Emma's mouth. By the way waved his hand, his face distorted with pain, Killian could easily guess that the girl had bitten him, and not in a gentle manner.
Emma took advantage of the man's weak moment and stroke him another blow, this time elbowing him in the ribs, making him release her completely. And now that she was free, she immediately ran to where Killian was.
"Are you alright, love?" He asked her in a low voice, eyes not leaving the man's figure, as he felt his blood heat up with rage. He could perfectly go ahead and kill the man, but he found it more important to know if the girl was okay.
"I'm fine." Emma answered him, a little breathless, and that was all he needed to know.
Killian took a couple of strides towards him, whose hands were resting on his knees as he gasped for air. Just as he reached the man, he quickly put his sword against his throat.
"Why are you here?" Killian asked, voice thick with anger. "What did you want with her?"
"T-the reward, sir." The man spoke with a trembling voice. "I just wanted the money. Please, don't hurt me..."
"Cowardly men like you shouldn't exist in this world." He spoke angrily, however, the feel of Emma's hands on his arm stopped him. He turned to look at her.
"Don't." Emma spoke softly to him. "Please, Killian."
It was the first time she used his name, instead of just calling him Hook. And seeing her, with her big green eyes silently begging him to have pity towards the thief, for some reason it was impossible for him to refuse.
He put away his sword.
"Thank you so much." The man spoke, his expression one of relief.
And while Killian had heard the blonde's petition, she couldn't stop Killian from giving the man a well-deserved punch in the face. The man ended up sprawled on the floor.
"I want you out of my sight. And quickly, before I regret letting you go."
The man, a little disoriented, clumsily ran off, hand still holding his jaw.
"Are you sure he made you no harm?" Killian asked her as he turned to watch her face. Now that the thief had left, he could place his full attention to her. Emma nodded at his question.
"I'm good. What about you? You seemed a little pale back then." A mischievous grin appeared on her face. "Worried about me or about losing your reward?"
Killian remained quiet. He wasn't quite sure if he knew the answer, actually. However, the blonde seemed to understand quite well what the silence meant, and it seemed to please her.
"You did a great job in defending yourself, love." He changed the subject. Emma then took a few steps, getting closer to him.
"Perhaps I needed you to rescue me, Hook, but I did fine on my own for almost twenty years." She spoke with confidence. "I can take care of myself."
And with that Emma began walking, leaving Killian behind.
What a woman, indeed. What a woman.
"I think we should take night shifts. Just in case there happens to be anyone else around." Killian spoke to her once they were already settled back in the ground, ready to rest. They had decided it would be the best to not to light any fire that night, not wanting to risk that the flames would draw any unwanted attention to where they were.
Emma nodded. "I'll go first."
His eyebrows rose at her words.
"None of that, love." He refused, she had just been almost taken away from him a couple of minutes before, he couldn't just sleep peacefully and let her do what had to be his job- protecting her.
"Hook, I can do it." She told him, and he heard that stubborn tone of hers and knew it was a lost case. She wouldn't give in, no matter what he said. "If I see anything, I'll wake you up."
It took him a few moments to actually nod at her and, with a loud sigh, he reached out for the knife hidden in his jacket, the one they had used for fishing earlier that day.
"Well, if you're going to do that you might as well then have this, just in case someone actually shows up." He told her, and a smile showed on Emma's face as she took the knife.
"If I didn't know you," Emma started, watching his face carefully with an amused glint in her eyes. "I'd say you're worried about me."
A snort came out of Killian's mouth. "You were lucky this guy was nothing but a weakling. Keep the knife, maybe next time you'll need more than just your bare fists, princess."
"Thank you." She told him sweetly, he could notice her words were honest. Her smile had widened, and for some reason, that smile seemed so dazzling that he had to look away from her face.
"Wake me up in a couple of hours, aye?" He told her as he laid down on the grass.
"Aye, captain." Killian heard her speak, imitating his accent, and he couldn't help but laugh right before he closed his eyes and slept.