Later that afternoon, Snow sat in the kitchen with her head down. Her baby girl was a pirate, a notorious one at that. She did her research, of course, after she and Charming washed off the mud and dirt from their impromptu trip to the park. Her visit to the fairies left her with more questions than answers, and Charming had stormed off when she came clean. She always wished Emma would find her way home, but she should've been careful with her words. Emma was no Princess. She was Captain of the Damnatus, the sister ship to the Queen Anne's Revenge, and leader of the most feared collection of pirates in all the realms.
Dangerous. Vicious. Bloodthirsty.
All words used to describe the ragtag group of lost boys and abandoned children that sailed under her flag. They were some of the worst men to ever walk the Earth, and they followed their Captain, a faceless monster that left bodies in her wake and realms in ruins. She destroyed half of the Southern Isles in a matter of minutes, black smoke pouring from her lips as she sucked out the souls of the residents.
Or, at least, that's what one of the fairies said.
Snow still wasn't sure what was fact or fiction, but that didn't matter. Emma was in town, spending time with Regina, and Snow couldn't allow it. She wouldn't.
Emma tapped the tip of her blades against the deck and took her stance. When Regina shooed them away under the guise of needing to get work done, Emma took full advantage of the temporary separation. Her men were restless, eager for the violence that had become their norm, and what kind of Captain would Emma be if she didn't give it to them? One by one, Emma went against them, daring them to mark her ten times before she returned the favor. Not a single soul managed to get past seven until the last man took his position in the center of the circle. The rest of her men surrounded them from all sides, and they were growing anxious. Emma breathed in their excitement. She was covered in sweat and blood from several deep cuts and scratches on her arms and torso, but they were marks she wore proudly. There was once upon a time none of her men could touch her, let alone cut her. But Ryland, her precious navigator, had gone the farthest. He'd been the only one who refused to join them at the house, content to stay on the ship and keep watch, and Emma knew it was because he was still uncomfortable around the others. He was the newest of their crew, and while he was learning to be a pirate, he was a damned good swordsman. Courtesy of his noble upbringing. They were tied nine to nine. It was the first time Emma was facing the inevitability of losing, and it excited her.
"Ready your blades," Tobias said.
Emma and Ryland lifted their swords.
"Begin!" Tobias shouted.
The two circled one another until their blades clashed. Move for move, they were even. Emma blocked, and Ryland parried. Emma swung, and Ryland jabbed. They were going so fast that the only thing many of the men could see was the glint of the blade. Emma lost one of hers, only to turn around and knock one of Ryland's out of his hand in the same move. She held hers against his throat, and Ryland aimed his at her stomach.
"You are leaning too far to your right," Emma said sharply. "Fix your stance."
"Says the one lunging forward. You are leaving your midsection exposed."
They pushed off and began again, and for a moment, it was a defensive showcase. Until Emma grinned and did the very thing Ryland warned her not to do, and Ryland fell for it. She spun at the last moment, trapped his blade against her ribs, and slammed her hilt into his nose. At the first drop of blood, the men erupted into a cacophony of jeers and boos. Emma laughed and raised her hand, and they went silent.
"For the first time in history, one of my men has bested me." There was confusion, and Emma gestured to Ryland. "No one in this lifetime has ever come close to drawing my blood ten times, yet our little navigator came the closest. While he may not have won, he has shown great promise. Tip your swords to him, men. Our navigator is finally becoming a man."
"Aye! To Ryland!" Tobias shouted.
"To Ryland!" the others shouted, cheering.
Ryland smiled widely, even as blood poured from his broken nose, and Emma reached out for him. She reset his nose and pushed him toward the group. The other men surrounded him, hugging and jumping on him, and Emma felt some deeper part of her heart grow warm. Tobias came up to her side and elbowed her.
"You have a visitor," he said, jerking his head over her shoulder.
Emma looked behind her and found Snow White on the docks, watching the ship.
"Why does she refuse to leave me alone?"
"If the situation were reverse-
Emma waved off the question before he could even finish and said, "Do not apply logic to her actions. You insult me by doing so."
"Yes, Captain," Tobias said dryly. "Of course, my Captain."
"Keep it up, and you will be on bucket duty until I stop finding pleasure in it."
Tobias smirked and walked off, and Emma clicked her teeth. She let her magic wrap around her and appeared in front of Snow, and the woman took a quick step back before she recovered. Her smile fell when she saw Emma's cuts and scratches.
"Oh, my God! Are you okay?" Snow asked, reaching for her.
Emma smacked Snow's hand away and said, "I will live. What do you want?"
"I only wanted to talk."
"There is nothing to say."
"I made the best choice that I could!"
"The best choice would have been keeping me with you."
"Emma, please. You don't understand! Regina was going to kill me, kill all of us. She ripped us away from our homes and our lives. I couldn't take that chance. I'm sorry that I gave you to Blackbeard, but I thought I was doing the right thing."
"There is no need for you to be sorry."
"What?"
"I am happy that you gave me to my father," Emma paused and admitted, "and as angry as I am that you gave me away, I am also grateful. Blackbeard saved my life, he gave me everything that I could have ever wanted, and I am alive and in good health. I got the better end of the deal in the end."
"What? How can you say that?"
"Easily. I am proud of who and what I am."
"You're a pirate! You've murdered people and - and you've terrorized realms!"
"Indeed. And I enjoyed every moment of it." Snow sputtered for a response, and Emma held up her hand, adding, "Enough. You should stop while you are behind. One, understand that I care very little about what you are and are not okay with when it comes to me. I am not your daughter, so this conversation is superfluous at best. Two, the moment you gave me to Blackbeard, I became his Kin, and I will remain to be his Kin. And if anyone asks me if I had a mother, I would tell them I was raised by a wonderful woman who nurtured, protected, and taught me how to be a good person. Everything that I am is because of her."
"Clearly she didn't do a good job!"
Emma snatched Snow up by the collar of her dress, lifting her off the ground. "If you ever speak ill of my mother again, I will tear out your tongue and feed it to you. The only reason you still breathe is because my Queen wishes it. But the moment that changes, I will personally take my blade and gut you like a fish. Nod if you understand."
Snow paled and nodded quickly, and Emma dropped her, turned, and walked away. As soon as she was back on the ship, Emma grabbed the closet pirate - Ulrich - and jerked her head at Snow.
"Make sure she understands that if we see her near our ship again, she dies," she ordered.
"Yes, Captain."
Ulrich hopped over the railing and jumped down to the docks. Tobias came up behind Emma and folded his arms.
"She is going to be an issue," he said.
"I know," Emma huffed. "She reeks of desperation, and desperate people make desperate decisions."
"Your plan?"
"Nothing. We came here for Hook, that has not changed. Snow wanting to make amends is…not my concern."
Tobias studied her and frowned.
"I thought you said you had no feelings toward her."
Emma ground her teeth and said, "That was much easier to say when she was not around."
Tobias grabbed Emma by the jaw and forced her head up to look him in the eyes.
"If you wish to be a Princess, then say it now, and I will happily toss your ass overboard, Swan."
Emma scowled and wrapped her fingers around his wrist. She twisted sharply to the right, and Tobias sucked in a sharp breath when the bone snapped. Emma squeezed the broken bone and forced Tobias to a knee.
"I hold you in high regard, Tobias," she said coldly. "But you are not indispensable." She leaned over and added in a whisper, "The only reason you still live is because I command it. Remember that."
Emma released him and stepped over him.
"Get this ship locked down!" she shouted, never taking her eyes off of Tobias.
"Yes, Captain!"
The others raced to follow orders, and Emma flicked her hand at Tobias. His wrist snapped back into place, and she watched him slump against the railing. He glanced up at her and inclined his head, silently conceding the point.
"I owe you for many things," she said softly. "But please remember who I am."
"Aye, Captain. It will not happen again."
Emma called on her magic and let it wrap around her, vanishing from the ship.
Regina opened the door and froze at the sight of a shirtless and bleeding Emma. Then she frowned and looked at her watch.
"I thought we agreed I would meet you at the house at five," she said.
"We did. But I am here to talk to you in private. Is Henry around?"
"No, he is with Ruby at the diner. Is everything alright?"
"May I?"
Regina stepped to the side. Emma slid past her into the apartment, and then had the nerve to plop down on the couch. Regina closed the door and waved her hand at the pirate without looking. Emma yelped and fell to the floor, and Regina cocked her head.
"I would rather not have you bleeding all over my furniture."
"Right, my apologies. Would you like for me to shower first?"
"I want you to tell me why you are bleeding."
Emma heaved herself off the floor and gestured to her chest. Regina refused to rise to the bait and forced her eyes to remain on Emma's.
"My men were restless, so we fought. The wounds are superficial and will heal."
"You fought?"
"With blades," Emma corrected. "I challenge them. The first to draw blood ten times will be the champion. Naturally, I have never lost."
Regina rolled her eyes and pointed up the stairs.
"My door is the only one open, and the bathroom is through my bedroom. Take what you want out of my closet, but do not use any of my products outside of soap and shampoo should you need it."
"Thank you."
"And when you get out, we can have that talk."
Emma bowed and went upstairs, and Regina waited until she heard her door close before she hurried into her spare room. She closed the journal she'd been reading but paused. Regina knew she needed to tell Emma, but she couldn't figure out the best way to explain how she ended up with Blackbeard's journal. Whatever spell Blackbeard cast in his final hours resulted in Regina finding a journal on the nightstand with questions that only he could answer. The pages were filled with memories, regrets, and desires for not only his life, but for Emma's as well. Blackbeard had a heart, and it beat in time with Emma's. But as thick as the journal was, the pages ended abruptly, and no matter what spell Regina cast, she couldn't continue reading. She knew something else was there, she could feel it, and she couldn't ignore the gut instinct telling her that it was important.
From what she learned so far, Emma and Blackbeard were bound by the darkest of magics, practiced only by those who held no morals, no hesitations, and no fears. They were impulsive, reckless, and bloodthirsty. Not even The Dark One tapped into that magic. But Rasputin, Blackbeard, and Emma were only a handful of the people who could wield it.
But why Emma? How did Emma, the daughter of True Love and all things innocent, become a vessel for…evil? Regina traced the symbol carved into the leather, the same one on Emma's forehead and on Regina's hip, and she remembered what Rumple said when he saw it.
"You have been marked," he said, resignation dripping from his words. "No matter what we do here, Fate has higher plans for you. You are destined to walk through fire, hand in hand with the Devil. Casting this curse is only the beginning."
Regina never took stock of his words, too angry and focused on Snow White to pay attention, but with Emma's arrival, it was all she could think about. She knew she needed to see Rumple soon, but they hadn't spoken in a long, long time. They avoided one another if possible, and Regina wondered if it was because he knew who she was bound to. Regina sat down behind her desk and lay her head on the back of her chair, trying to get her thoughts in order. She hadn't realized how much time had passed until the journal was removed from under her fingers. Regina opened her eyes with a start - she didn't remember closing them - and stared at Emma. Emma, with her hair still wet and swiped away from her face, sat down on the edge of the desk.
"I was going to tell you-
"How? Tobias believed it to burn with the ship."
"It appeared on my nightstand several years ago. I had forgotten about it until recently."
Emma hummed and asked, "Have you read it?"
"What I could, yes. There is…he spelled the last pages. I have not been able to read the rest."
Emma hummed and opened to the place where Regina left off. She looked over Regina's desk before finding the letter opener, and she jammed it into her palm. Once she began to bleed, Emma squeezed her fist and let the blood fall on the pages. Suddenly, words began to appear, and Emma passed the journal back to Regina. The wound on her palm sealed shut, and Regina had another startling realization she was still out of her league.
"My father always told me that the words at the end were meant for the one person who would protect me when he was no longer there." Emma stood and leaned down, kissing Regina on the forehead. "We can talk when you are done," she said.
With that, Emma shuffled out of the room and closed the door. Her brain was in overdrive, and she looked down. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized the new portion started with a letter to her.
Regina,
Forgive me for my deception. But I have always known the role you will play in my daughter's life. It is both a curse and blessing of who I am, what I can do. This journal is for you and you alone. Should anyone else attempt to read it, they will know pain like no other. I protected it so that you could one day understand why I did what I did. When Snow White gave me that child, my magic responded so emphatically. It had never reacted to another being the way that it did to Emma, and I followed my instincts. I marked Emma as my heir. She would inherit all that was mine when I died. Including my magic. And you of all people know what I can do.
Protect her. Respect her. Never lie to her. But most of all, you must love her in ways that I could not. Emma was what I had been searching for my entire life, and no matter where I am in the future, whether dead or alive, Emma is my greatest achievement.
She is my - our - treasure.
Teach.