Chapter Title: Reunions
Title: lessons
AUTHOR: obisgirl
Rating: nc-17
Characters: Killian/Emma
Summary: Fairytale land – AU. Emma is a princess on the verge of becoming a woman but wants more out of life than what her parents can give her, so she makes a wish to be swept away which translates into being kidnapped and sold at a slave auction to one Captain Killian Jones.
A/N: The Evil Queen's curse never happened.
Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time characters are property of Disney and Adam Horowitz, Edward Kitsis. This fanfic is for pure entertainment.
Emma's too distraught to say anything as Sneezy, Bashful, Dopey and Happy escort her to the main hall of the castle. Many of the soldiers they pass don't even recognize her, knowing the princess as a blond girl, not a brunette but Emma doesn't really care at the moment. Her heart is breaking and she feels as if it'll take a very long time to mend.
She's happy to be home of course but it can't erase the sting of betrayal from the one man she thought she could trust. How could he use her like that?
He is a pirate, is the only thing her conscious can think of but there's more to it. Emma knows that there is but she's too depressed to really want to know.
She wants to break down and cry but crying over a lying, cheating pirate – he's not worth it she convinces herself.
Emma is determined not to let his betrayal get the better of her. Killian – Captain Jones' admission of love before being taken away doesn't mean anything to her.
They're just words.
The dwarves – her godfathers – Emma knows she can trust them to be discreet in front of her parents. Still, despite her cold face, it's just an act. Her heartbreak is too raw to ignore but she has to keep it inside for now.
They round a corner and come into the grand hall. Happy walks forward first but Emma stops him, not really needing her presence to be announced like she's some stranger. This is her home.
She walks forward slowly, looking up at her parents. Charming and Snow stare at her disbelief as Red suddenly appears, smiling thoughtfully at her.
"Daddy," she cries and Charming rushes to her, hugging her tight.
Snow hugs her from behind and turns her around, smiling through her tears, looking her over. Her mother notices her brown hair and touches it curiously and Emma laughs. "I never figured you as a brunette but you look beautiful, Emma," she says, "and you're well?"
Emma can feel her legs shake and her emotions swelling at the surface but somehow, she manages to suppress it. "I'm fine," she reassures her. "I'm happy to be home,"
"We're happy and relieved to have you home baby," Charming says, hugging her again.
"Welcome home Emma," Snow adds, embracing her. "We know you've been through a lot and you don't have to talk about everything now but we would like to know what happened to you,"
Emma looks at her dad. "When you didn't show up at the party when you were supposed to, your mother sent everyone home and questioned the guards near your room if they saw anything," Charming explains. "The man, whoever he was – he was stealthy,"
"I was kidnapped and sold at a slave auction to a pirate captain," she says.
"Did anything else happen?" Charming ventures.
Emma briefly glances at Red and then to her parents. "No, nothing else happened. He kept me locked away in a cabin the whole time," she volunteers, "and now, he's locked up too where he belongs,"
"Kidnapped," Snow muses, "and sold into slavery...that's outrageous. Last time I checked, slavery is illegal in all the kingdoms but we can look at the finer details of that later,"
"We're just grateful that you're safely returned to us," Charming adds. "We have many riches Emma but you are our most precious and loved treasure,"
Snow looks at her curiously. "It was your birthday a few days ago," she remembers and goes back to her throne, removing a small white box, giving it to her. "You have other presents of course but I know you generally hate the fancy stuff and prefer simpler things,"
Emma smiles thoughtfully at her, opening the white box and removes a swan necklace. "It's beautiful, thank you mother," she says, putting it on.
"Are you hungry? Maybe the three of us could have dinner together," Snow offers.
"Oh uh," Emma muses, "Dinner sounds nice but mostly, I think I just want to enjoy the comfort of my room,"
The dwarves come forward again and Emma glances at Red as she hugs her parents and turns to leave. Red steps forward and smiles at Snow before walking after Emma. "I'll take the princess up to her room," she offers and the dwarves back away.
"So what really happened after I left the ship?" Red inquires, escorting Emma back to her room.
Emma doesn't want to discuss any further details but Red is the only person who knows her true feelings for Killian - Captain Jones. "He betrayed me, he used and lied to me Red; but most of all, he broke my heart," she cries.
"I'm sorry Emma," she consoles, "but he is a pirate and I warned you to be careful,"
"I know and I should have listened to you; I should have left when I had the chance but I too blinded to see the truth," Emma continues, "but he's where he belongs now: locked up,"
"But he brought you back to us," Red counters, "He could have prevented you from coming back here but he didn't,"
Emma glares at her. "Please don't defend him, Red," she retorts, "Killian Jones is nothing more than a lying, cheating pirate,"
"But you love him, don't you?" she adds.
"I thought I did but he's nothing to me now and I wish that I never met him," Emma fumes, "I hate him,"
Red knows something isn't right after leaving Emma alone in her room. The last time she saw Emma, she was happy and clearly in love with Killian and now, she hates him? The huntress knows Emma won't tell her what happened in-between but she knows that a certain pirate might be willing to talk.
She finds his cell easily, guarded mostly by Grumpy and a sleepy Sleepy. Red notes Killian in his cell and the pirate looks curiously at the huntress but doesn't say anything, secretly hoping that she's there to let him out but doubtful. He hurt Emma pretty badly.
"Grumpy," Red says suddenly and the two dwarves turn to her.
"Red, what are you doing down here?" he asks.
"Snow wants you to look into security breaches around Emma's room, in case there might be another attack," she lies.
Sleep groggily opens his eyes and straightens up, seeing her. "I – we were not sleeping," the dwarf cries.
"Don't worry about it but you should probably go with Grumpy; I'll stay here and watch the prisoner," she offers.
Grumpy glances at Killian and then to Red before leaving with Sleepy. Red waits until they're a safe distance
away and walks closer to the cell.
"Are you here to free me?" he asks.
"Not even close," Red muses, "I came here for the truth. I trusted you to take care of Emma; I could have forced Emma to leave with me when I had the chance but I let her stay behind because she wanted to be with you and now, she has a completely different attitude towards you. What happened?"
Killian sighs. "I told her the truth," he reasons, "and in telling her the truth, I broke her heart,"
"You're a pirate," Red observes, "You could have continued lying to her and she would still love you,"
"She loves me?" he asks excitedly.
"Do you love her?" Red counters.
"I admitted as much after my arrest," he says, "the dwarves even know since they arrested me, but I gather that they don't know that you know the same thing,"
Red smiles at him. "You're right; they don't know that I know," she reasons. "so what made you come back here?"
"I was tricked, not by Emma, by a witch claiming to be my mother," he says, "She wanted Emma dead and I saved her life, killing the woman I thought was my mum. Emma told me the tale about the Evil Queen Regina and I suggested that we find the only one who can make sense of what was happening: Rumpelstiltskin,"
"Emma wouldn't risk seeing Rumpelstiltskin, she knows how dangerous he can be unless you persuaded her too," Red muses.
"It was my idea," he admits, "I brought Emma here and Rumpelstiltskin provided us the answers we needed, and I told her the truth,"
Red shakes her head, putting her red hood back on. "You're a very unusual pirate, Killian Jones," she muses, "and an honest man, too honest for your own good,"
"You believe me?" he asks. "Could you talk to Emma? Explain to her that I never meant to hurt her like this,"
"I'm not doing anything to help you get back into her good graces," she says, "You're a pirate and a very resourceful one. If you want to talk to her, all you have to do is find a way out of this cell and make it to her room without being caught. But mind you, her room is in the tallest east tower and it's probably very heavily guarded because of you,"
Killian frowns, confused by her statement. "Red, wait!" he shouts. "Red!"
"Like I said, you're a resourceful man, Killian. I'm sure you'll figure it out," she says, leaving him.
tbc