A/N: Still reeling from 4X09 – my little shipper heart broke so hard for Killian. I hope all of you are ok. There will be two chapters coming today. I was going to make one really big chapter but I need to break it up so I'm releasing this one now and sometime later I'll post Ch. 20.

Thank you for your reviews and I love hearing from you. I read them all and I do appreciate your enthusiasm for Killian, Emma and my story. I hope the last chapter wasn't too heart breaking for you to learn about some of the things that happened to her.

Ch. 19

August made it to the docks just in time. He was able to get work on a ship headed to Tortuga for the night. It meant hard labor but it was worth it to get the message to Emma. He needed to keep his promise to the King and Queen.

He would be lying if he didn't feel a little special that the Evil Queen was unable to read his thoughts. Having a wooden head at one time had its perks after all. He may have hung around with some very undesirable people but magic prevented him from partaking in activities that would get him into trouble; at least not anymore. When his father learned of his mission to help the royal family he would be proud of him. He wanted to make his Papa proud again. It had been too long since he'd been home and after his indiscretions he was lucky that his father didn't banish him for good.

The journey took all night and he had blisters on his feet and waterlogged fingers to show for the effort he had to put in for the ride. He collected his coin and quickly ran down the docks. He hoped that the Jolly would be where he last left them. He couldn't think of another port they would go to. They needed to lay low so he hoped his hunch was correct.

Sure enough the Jolly was there a few bays down from where he last met with them. There were crewmen standing guard by the plank to the ship.

"I need to see the Captain." He said.

His chest was heaving and his heart was pounding.

"Who are ye? Why should I wake him at this hour?" asked the scruffy man.

"It's important. I have a message from King Charming. Please let me aboard." Said August.

"Wait here." Said the scruffy man.

He turned to walk up to the ship and grumbled to himself as he looked for Mr. Smee. He didn't dare go near the Captain's door at that hour.

"Smee, there's a bloke wants to see the Captain."

Smee looked over the side of the ship and recognized the man by the description that the Captain gave him the night before.

"See him up, I'll alert the Captain that he's here." Said Smee.

"Aye." Said the scruffy man.

Smee shuffled off quickly to alert the Captain. He knew he'd want to see him right away. He didn't know much about what was happening but he knew that this would be important.

He knocked three times on the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~K&E~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Killian was already up and dressed. He was watching over Emma. She was sound asleep finally after she'd had a rough night. Several nightmares woke her in her sleep. He'd held her as she cried herself back to sleep. He was worried about her and wasn't looking forward to her digging up these horrible memories again.

He heard the knock and immediately jumped up so that it wouldn't wake her and quietly opened the door.

"Captain, the man ye described is here. He'll be in the Galley." Said Smee.

"Good, give him something to eat. I'll be right there." Said Killian.

He closed the door. He walked over to Emma to wake her. She'd want to hear this as well.

He kissed her softly on the cheek and her eyelids fluttered open.

"Good Morning Love. I'm sorry to wake you but I thought you'd like to know August is here." Said Killian.

She sat up quickly and kicked her feet over the side of the bed. She jumped up and kissed him softly on the cheek before scurrying to get her things. He smiled at the surprise and touched his cheek.

"Is there news? Have you talked to him?" she said as she scrambled to put on her clothes.

"He's just arrived. I've asked Smee to get him something to eat." Said Killian.

He helped her fasten the back of her dress and she quickly ran a brush through her wild hair. She looked beautiful. Her cheeks had a pink glow to them and her eyes sparkled in the morning light. Even with the circles under her eyes she was more beautiful than any woman he'd met in his lifetime.

He smiled as he watched her pulling herself together. She caught him looking and smiled.

She pulled on her shoes and hurried to his side.

"Ready Love?" he asked.

"As ready as I can be." She said.

He held out his arm for her and she took it.

"Thank you for last night." She said.

"Love, I told you that I will always be here for you. You don't need to thank me." he said.

"Yes I do. You are wonderful and you do make me feel safe. I'm sorry I was so restless last night. I promise to make it up to you. You probably didn't get much sleep." She said.

"I'm glad to do it every night if that is what you need and I've had much worse nights in my lifetime. I'd say any night that I get to spend with you in my arms sleeping or not ranks in the top." He said.

She turned to him and put her hands around his neck. She leaned up and kissed him softly. He pulled her close and held her to him.

"Good Morning Killian. I want this day to start with something good." She said.

"Perfect." He said kissing her softly once more.

"Ok, let's not keep him waiting." She said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~K&E~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

August was seated in the Galley eating the breakfast that Mr. Smee offered him when they arrived. He stood to greet them.

"Captain. Princess." He said.

"August, is everyone ok?" she asked.

"What news do you bring Mate?" asked Killian.

"Everyone is ok. Your father is with your mother back at the castle. Ruby and I had a run in with the Evil Queen. She tried to read our minds to find information about you but Ruby didn't know anything and she can't read my mind, on account I used to be wood." Said August.

"That's a relief. I'm sorry you were tortured because of me." Said Emma.

"Knew I chose you for a reason Mate." Said Killian smiling.

"She wiped our memories. I don't even remember what happened. Your father witnessed it from outside so my only recollection is what he told Me. So if I was in pain, I don't remember." said August.

"Did she see my father?" asked Emma.

"No, he was hidden from her outside the tavern. He was lucky not to be spotted by her men when he first arrived. Your father would have liked to tell you this in person but he was worried about your mother and they needed to stay to keep up the façade that you are dead. We thought it was best I come back with the news since the Evil Queen can't read my thoughts and without a letter there is nothing to learn. We still aren't sure how she found out about your meeting. The King and Queen opened the letter alone and spoke to no one of its contents except each other." Said August.

"I've learned that there are people who can read thoughts. If someone were near my parents with that capability they could have learned about us." Said Emma.

August nodded.

"What more is there to tell?" asked Killian.

"I think you will both want to sit down for this." said August.

His mouth fell to a frown and he sat back down at the table.

Emma felt her magic begin to prickle against her skin. She looked over to Killian and he caught her gaze. He grabbed her hand and she started to relax. They sat down across from August at the table.

"Ok Mate, we know the Evil Queen tried to kill Emma and her family. She cursed Emma and took her magic. She's suddenly after Emma once again. What more could there be?"asked Killian.

"King Charming watched the Evil Queen come out of the tavern in a rage. She pulled a mirror from her pocket that must have been some sort of dark object. The mirror held a man that she argued with. She revealed in her rant that if Emma were to fully accept her magic that she would lose her own and the man would be trapped in the mirror. She also revealed that it was Rumplestiltskin that gave her the magic in the first place as part of a deal." Said August.

"The Dark One is behind this?"asked Killian.

"So if I accept my power she will become powerless. She won't be able to hurt us any longer?" asked Emma.

She felt relief because this was something that she could figure out how to do. She would continue working with Nairobi and Greta until she got it.

"There's more to this and it gets worse." Said August.

"More?" said Killian and Emma at the same time.

Emma felt her stomach drop.

"What could be worse than having the Evil Queen chasing you trying to kill you?"asked Emma.

"She made a deal with Rumplestiltskin to trick your father into having you marry his son. Rumplestiltskin was supposed to keep you in the castle and never let you leave. He wanted a royal heir and he needed you to make that happen." Said August.

Emma's mouth fell open.

"Neal, is the son of The Dark One?" asked Emma.

"Yes." Said August.

"That means that King Rupert is really Rumplestiltskin. He's not a king at all. He's a sham. Papa was tricked." Said Emma.

She felt her magic prickling all over her body. Killian had his arms around her immediately. She felt the tears streaming down her face. This was not what she expected. Her whole life was a lie. She'd been tricked out of her magic, her true love, and her marriage was a hoax.

"So that means that the Evil Queen continues to seek help from the Dark One." Said Killian.

"He was supposed to keep Emma in the castle. She was angry that you were free." Said August.

Emma looked up.

"He trapped me there? Do you think that is why Neal was so cruel to me?" asked Emma.

"I've told you everything that I know." Said August.

"Poor Henry, What am I going to do?" Whispered Emma.

"Love, you said yourself that Neal was never cruel to Henry. If the Dark One's plan was to get a royal heir he would never harm your son. I think we need to worry about eliminating the Evil Queen. " said Killian.

"Yes, you're right. I can't think about myself right now. I need to think about my family. I need to think about all of you. If she comes back she will be looking to take the kingdom. The people will suffer greatly at her hands." Said Emma.

Killian's heart was breaking for her. She was trying to be strong for the people she loved and he needed to be strong for her. He would make sure she was safe and that she was cared for in all of this. He would not let her suffer at the hands of evil again.

"Killian, I need to go back to Nairobi. I need to find out what it means to fully accept my magic." Said Emma.

"Thank you, August, can you please let the King know that Emma received the message. Tell him that she is safe with me and that we will find a way to protect them." Said Killian.

He reached into his pocket and grabbed some coins to give to August so he could have a less arduous journey on his way back to the Enchanted Forest.

"Thank you for your help. Will you tell my parents that I love them? If you can bring me any news of Henry I would greatly appreciate it." Said Emma.

"Of course Princess. Will you stay here in Tortuga?" asked August.

"As long as it's safe for Emma we will remain here. She is getting help with her magic from people I trust. If I suspect any danger we will leave immediately." Said Killian.

Emma fell silent. She didn't know what to say about what she just learned. Her chest felt like a heavy weight had been dropped on her.

"Killian, I need some air." Said Emma.

She got up and ran out onto the deck. She started taking deep cleansing breaths. She could feel her magic prickling against her skin again. Tears filled her eyes. She held onto the side of the ship for balance and stared out into the horizon.

She couldn't believe that this Evil woman would do such horrible things to her and her family for such selfish reasons. Her parents suffered at her hand long before Emma came along and then after she was born she tried to kill her. She cursed her and stole her magic. She robbed her of her freedom and her true love as part of an evil deal. How was she going to go up against two very evil people.

"Captain, there's something else you need to know." Said August.

"What's that?" he asked.

"While I was on the ship to deliver the scrolls to the king I heard the men talking about the Princess. There was no talk of rescuing her. It was only revenge against the men who hurt Neal and killed her that they sought. They spoke of her as if she were dead. I worry for her if they find her alive. They want people to believe she is dead." Said August.

"Leave the worry to me. No harm shall come to the Princess. I won't let them near her. You'd better go or you'll miss your chance to get back. Give them my regards." Said Killian.

Killian stood close and watched her. The news from August was alarming. He would make sure she knew about that later. He wanted to give her a moment to understand everything that she just learned before adding something else to it.

Smee saw August off the ship. He was glad that for once he'd chosen the right man for the job. If he'd chosen anyone else things could have been very bad for them right now.

He walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist pulling her into him. She leaned back against his chest never taking her gaze off the water.

"Killian, I don't know what to say about what I just learned. My life has been a lie." Said Emma.

"Don't say anything. It doesn't matter what she's done in the past. I won't let her hurt you again. We'll make things right. I'll be with you every step of the way." Said Killian.

She turned around to look at him. His beautiful blue eyes were mesmerizing her again under the early morning sun. She felt her body relax. He wiped away her tears with his thumb and caressed her cheek.

"I don't know what to do first. I want to run to Nairobi and ask her to help me figure out what it means to accept my magic. I want to go back to my parents and hug them. I want to rush back to the castle and take Henry. I'm scared. I'm scared I won't be able to help them." Said Emma.

"Love, I know all of this is overwhelming for you. I'm here for you. You don't have to be afraid." He said.

He pulled her close and held her.

"What if I can't do this?" asked Emma.

"Love, you can. You are amazing. I believe if you set your mind to it you can accomplish anything. In the end we will do all of those things you mentioned but we will be smart about it. We can't just go rushing into this without a strategy." Said Killian.

"Killian, I know this is more than you bargained for when I walked onto your ship. I can't ask you to put your life at risk for me." said Emma.

She tried to pull back from him and he held her tight.

"Love, you are my life now. I can't be without you anymore now that I know what it's like when you're in it. Where you go I go. I'll never leave your side. You are worth the risk and always will be." He said.

She looked up into his eyes and saw the sincerity of his message. He caressed the side of her face and her heart skipped a beat. In that moment she knew she loved him. When she thought about him risking his life for her and trying to live without him she felt crushed.

"You're my life too Killian Jones. I'll never leave you." She said.

She leaned up and pressed a kiss to his soft lips. He pulled her in and held her tight. She knew in her heart that as long as he was by her side that everything would be ok.