Ever since she could remember, Princess Emma Swan from Misthaven had been told she'd marry Prince Liam of Camelot. She was raised with that knowledge and every story about a brave prince coming to the princess' rescue would be filled by Liam and she on her mind.
She'd only met him once, when she was eleven and he was sixteen. He had blue eyes and curly brown hair and a nice smile. And he treated her with the utmost respect, not like a child, but like an important princess. He listened carefully to her ideas about what should be done in a kingdom (she had ideas but no one was willing to listen). His little brother used to interrupt them, a dark haired boy of thirteen that wanted nothing more than his brother to teach him swordplay instead of being with that princess. Emma scoffed at the little boy who clearly didn't understand how crown princes and princesses should behave.
When it was time for their visitors to return back to Camelot, Liam had placed a kiss on her hand and told her he knew she'd rule her kingdom wisely one day.
And from that day on, all Emma could dream of was the perfect prince she'd marry. Prince Liam of Camelot.
Except that, at the age of twenty-three, and only a few months away from the official betrothal celebration, Prince Liam had broken the engagement. It wasn't just that, but he had resigned to his right to the crown of Camelot, choosing to live the simple life of a sailor instead. He'd felt the call of the sea, and he'd answered. The decision was not met without scandal and strong intentions from his parents to persuade him, but Liam was adamant. His parents finally let him, thinking for themselves that he'd soon tire from the hardship and would come back to claim his place as crowned prince and heir to the throne.
He'd sent Emma a letter, apologizing for whatever troubles his decision might cause her and wishing that she'd find an honorable suitor that could make her as happy as she deserved.
A year passed and the news had not even reached the ends of the realm that another notice was travelling as fast as that one: Liam's ship had wrecked during a terrible storm and he'd gone missing, nowhere to be found.
All eyes then turned to Prince Killian, who at the age of twenty-one had to leave his post in the Navy to become the crowned prince and rightful heir to the throne of Camelot.
Prince Killian had not been raised to inherit the kingdom. From a very young age he'd been sent abroad, learning to fight and spending time at the command of his father's most ruthless knights. He'd fought in battle since the tender age of sixteen and it was in battle where he'd lost his left hand at the sword of the enemy, before reaching for the nearest object available, a hook, to save his life. It was the hook that he now used as a prosthesis, making him even more fearsome in battle. At nineteen, he'd ventured at sea, his life devoted to fight pirates and keep them from attacking their kingdom's vessels. Some ventured that he was as ruthless as a pirate sometimes, and that his manners would never be fit for court.
Killian was called back to land, but he still took a few months to come back, determined to search the open sea for his brother. He was unsuccessful in his task and finally resigned himself to the destiny he'd now needed to fulfill.
When he finally landed in Camelot, more news awaited him. In his absence, his parents had seen befitting that he'd now take Emma as his betrothed, thus keeping the alliance with Misthaven and the possibility of uniting the kingdoms under one single family.
Killian threw a rage fit at his parent's decision. He was certainly not interested in marrying the girl that his brother had almost left at the altar and whom, as much as he recalled, only had eyes for his brother the only time he'd seen her. The princess had been raised to be royalty, and he'd been raised to be anything but a fighter. Nothing good would come out of it, he yelled to his parents before locking himself in his old room (he refused to take on Liam's quarters no matter how they've historically been reserved for the heir of the throne) and drinking himself to oblivion.
Emma's rage was a match for Killian's. All her life she'd dreamed to marry Liam, and only had a few months to the idea of not marrying him before the news of the wreckage had come. And now she was meant to replace one brother with another as if nothing had changed. She remembered the boy that looked at her with contempt, jealous of the attention she was getting from his brother, and she'd heard of the stories of his ruthless actions and brutish manners.
While they fought (and they fought hard) against it, the prince and the princess were cornered by their parents and that is how Emma found herself making the trip to Camelot to attend the official ball to celebrate their engagement.
She noticed his stormy blue eyes when they met again and he noticed her fierce green ones. He tried to behave but she seemed to be looking at him with contempt, like she'd measured him and he came up short to her standards. Of course he was, she'd been expecting to have someone like his brother and he was nowhere near Liam. Never had, never will be. So he did what he did best, he put on a mask of swagger and smirk and treated her like a mere conquest, a trinket that he'd soon add to his collection. He could see the rage in her eyes and he thought for a second that she was going to slap him, but she took a deep breath, gave him a curtsey and left the room.
Emma was so livid at his behavior that the first thing she did in the morning was get on a horse and ride as fast and as far as she could, working her frustrations away. She was an excellent rider and had brought her leather pants outfit specially for the occasion. As she pushed the horse to a full throttle coming back to the castle, a dark hooded figure passed by her, cutting her path. She stopped the horse skilfully and grabbed the knife hidden in her waist as the hooded figure turned around and came to her way. When it lifted its hood, Emma found herself faced with the blue eyes of Killian, looking at her with clear admiration.
"No need for the knife, your highness, I mean no harm." He said cocking an eyebrow.
She smiled and put the knife again and they rode back in silence towards the castle. Killian helped her dismount and escorted her to the castle before he quickly turned around and left.
The ball was an awkward ordeal for both, though they were very good at hiding it. He had dressed in black leather and was behaving with more swagger than ever while Emma's white dress and floral crown where a complete contrast to him. Yet, they danced in unison, and he noticed how naturally she acted around his hook, which was something that no one, not even his parents, had ever been able to do.
Per their parents insistence, they took a walk alone in the gardens and Killian found himself actually enjoying the company of the princess. She was still very closed, but at least she wasn't looking at him with contempt. When he left her at her door that night and he pressed a kiss on her hand, his heart skipped a beat.
But the next morning news came into the castle from the far kingdom of Arendelle: Prince Liam was alive. Alive and well, as he'd drifted into the shores of Arendelle, where he'd been found unconscious by no other than the queen herself, Elsa. Liam had been feverish and in the verge of death for several weeks and it was the queen's personal care what had saved him. It was her cold hands, pressed against his forehead and heart, what had kept the fever down and the infection at bay. Liam finally woke up to the teary blue eyes of Elsa and he was never able to look away again. They'd fallen in love at first sight, and were married within the fortnight. Liam had no intentions of claiming the throne of Camelot again, but requested permission to visit the kingdom and introduce his wife to his family.
Killian's eyes were on Emma the moment the news were public and he witnessed how her face crumpled and her eyes filled with tears before she stormed out of the room and the castle. He hastily made his way towards her, and he was able to catch her before she reached the stables.
He pulled her towards him. "You can't ride in this condition, lass. You'll kill yourself." He said as he embraced her.
She cried in rage and hit his chest, "Leave me alone!" she pleaded.
"No." He said as he held her tighter against him and she collapsed in his arms, sobbing forcefully.
"It wasn't that he didn't want this life," Emma cried, "He didn't want to have it with me."
"That's not true." Killian whispered, "my brother is a romantic. He loved the sea and he always believed one should marry for love. He - he was caged in this life and he preferred to leave before condemning you to a loveless marriage and a miserable life for you both."
"And so he gets to be happy while you pick up the pieces," she said.
"He's alive, Emma." Killian said as he pulled away and looked into her eyes, softly drying a tear from her face with his thumb, "I'd gladly give up everything and pick every piece that needs to be picked in payment for that."
As the days passed, Killian's attention kept travelling towards where Emma was, his eyes studying her carefully until he memorized every gesture of her face, every sound of her voice, every movement of her hands. And it wasn't longer when he knew… he just knew.
The night before she was meant to return to her kingdom he went to find her, breaking all propriety rules as he knocked on her door.
Emma answered and looked at him curiously and Killian cleared his throat and told her that he was breaking off the engagement, thus relieving her from any obligation towards him.
"Why?" she asked.
His hand reached for her face, "Because I haven't won it, Emma. And I hope that when I win your hand, Emma, it won't be because of an arrangement, it would be because you want me. Because I've won your heart, because you want not just this life, but you want it with me. I am setting you free of this commitment, love, in the hopes that one day, you'll see me in the same way I see you. Make no mistake, Swan, I want this life with you. And I'm willing to earn it." He reached to press a soft kiss on her forehead before turning around and leave.
Killian spent the next few months at sea, travelling to Arendelle to meet with his brother. He wrote to Emma constantly, each letter sharing stories about himself, his hopes and dreams, the things he feared, the things he wished. The regrets he had, the mistakes he seek forgiveness for. He always closed his letters with the same line.
Not a day goes by I don't think of you.
When he finally met Liam again, and witnessed the happiness in his brother's eyes as he introduced him to his wife, he knew that things had happened for a reason. And he only hoped that he'd be as lucky as his brother was.
Liam chuckled in surprise when he learned of Killian's love for the princess, tracking back to the contempt he'd seen in both of them when they had met.
"Well, I guess everything happens for a reason, right?" he said clasping his brother's shoulder.
When Killian was finally back in Camelot, he sent word to Misthaven requesting permission to visit the princess. He received word that he was welcomed and he sailed again towards his new destination. A problem with the ship in the last port forced have to continue the trip by land.
Emma was standing at port, waiting for the ship's arrival, when a messenger arrived with the news that the prince was arriving by land. He'd ditched his escort and was riding as fast as he could towards the castle, eager to see the princess. Emma fidgeted with her hands for a second, as she couldn't shake a somber feeling from her mind. Never the one to hesitate, she mounted and rode towards the road. And that is how she watched in the distance a figure being attacked by two hooded man. Her heart beat frantically in her chest as she hastened her horse's step and she reached for the knife that she kept on her saddle.
"Killian!" she yelled as she maneuvered the horse to hit one of the man while she stabbed the other with the knife.
The two bandits looked into the new situation and quickly escaped. Emma turned around her horse and dismounted, quickly running towards Killian.
"Emma!" he said breathless at the sight of her.
"Are you hurt!?" she asked as she reached for him, her hands searching for wounds.
"No, lass, I'm fine. You saved me." He smirked.
Emma's eyes filled with tears as she threw herself in his arms. He quickly caught her, bringing her closer into their embrace, breathing into her hair.
"Don't you dare travel without your escort again." she whispered.
"Swan," he asked in a strained voice, "does this - does this mean I've made progress in my quest of winning your heart?"
She pulled away from him a little, her hand reaching for his and placing it on her chest. "You've already won it. It's - It's yours if you still want it."
"I do." He vowed and she leaned into him, kissing him with more fervor than what was proper for a princess. He pulled her closer to him, his hand burying in her hair and he kept kissing her with even less sense of propriety.
When he broke the kiss, he was out of breath and dazzled, but he still managed to give her a smug smirk, "If you keep kissing me like that, your highness, I might request to marry you very soon."
"Works for me." she smiled mischievously before pulling him by the lapels of his coat and kissing him again.
(They actually married in secret that same night as neither of them wanted to wait the months that it would take to arrange the royal nuptials.
And yes, the princess had a loose wedding dress on the day of the official wedding three months later.
Their first son was born 7 months later, and while the entire kingdom was buzzing with rumors, they couldn't care less.)