A/N: Sorry for the slight delay, real life is a bit crazy. I've been working on wrapping up this story. It's been such fun writing this in the past several months. Thank you all who still read and keep sending reviews, they mean the world to me.

Thank you.

Enjoy

Chapter 6

"Emma!" Killian bellowed as he felt her slip off Toothless, he twisted in the saddle and saw Emma drop towards the water. A white flash swooped under her and to his relief he realized that the Light Fury had saved Emma. The blonde woman clutched around the dragon's neck and despite it most likely being the first time the dragon had ever had a rider on its back it seemed they worked well together.

"Hold on tight Emma."

Emma only nodded as her eyes looked straight ahead of her, she seemed to let the dragon choose their direction.

Fire nearly cinched Killian's hair, he'd almost forgotten the dark dragon riders. But he saw how Graham and August worked well together swooping under one of the dark dragons and August fired one of Graham's pistols at the oncoming pirate. A cry of pain came from the burly man, but he never dropped from his dragon.

"Bloody hell." He nudged Toothless closer and leaned over the dragon's neck. "Do your dive bomb. Now."

Toothless made a quarter left turn upwards and seconds later Killian had to hold on tight as his dragon sped downward. He knew his dragon would spew his precise plasma blast at the nearest Black Rider. Once the blast hit its first mark the remaining of Blackbeard's men regrouped and tried to seek lower to the water, but August and Graham joined Killian.

"You go left and I'll go right." Graham shouted, "I'll see if this boy can do his wing blast." Graham patted his dragon's neck and called out his instructions.

Killian urged his dragon to fly left, going straight at the closest Black Rider, where Toothless showed his skills again, blasting the rider off his dragon. Not caring what happened to the man, Killian shifted in the saddle and saw how Hookfang began his wing blast attack. The dragon's large wing flapped faster and faster and with a giant roar a fireball flew from his mouth propelled by the wind tunnel that had been created. This knocked two more Black Riders from their dragons.

The last two dark dragon riders called: "retreat." Leaving their men behind Killian watched them swoop back the way they'd come.

"Is everyone okay?" Killian called out.

"Aye Captain," Graham acknowledged.

Killian searched the coastline for any sign of Ruby and Henry, to his relief Ruby's dragon emerged from the jungle with a worried-looking Henry on its back.

"Where's my mother?"

Killian searched the sky, in the fight he'd forgotten to keep track of where Emma and the Light Fury had gone. But he spotted a flash of white at the top of the bluff on the peninsula. With a nudge against Toothless' flanks, he flew to them and leapt from his dragon. It was a strange and surprising sight that greeted him. Emma was sitting cross-legged in front of the resting dragon, her hand smoothing over its snout.

As he walked closer, he picked up the words she spoke, "What does this mean… I never thought I'd connect with a dragon." She sighed heavily as she looked to the skies, "I've resented anything to do with dragons, you know they killed my parents." Emma had leaned closer to the white dragon and Killian nearly missed her last words.

Killian stepped closer and the movement caught the dragon's attention, when it lifted its head Emma turned around. Her eyes blew wide and she scrambled to her feet, hugging herself.

"Are you okay, love?" Killian walked closer, his eyes taking in her form.

"Hmm." Emma nodded and glanced back at the Light Fury, "She saved me."

"Aye, I saw that."

Toothless jumped forward and the two dragons greeted each other with grunting sounds. Killian shook his head at the sight, he'd never imagined seeing a Light Fury and now his own dragon seemed to have chosen his mate.

Emma walked over to him and stood beside him. "That white dragon, how special is it?"

"It's a myth and legend really, just as the hidden world of Caldera is." Killian explained with a shake of his head, "I never imagined seeing one, ever." He glanced at her. "You connected with her?"

Emma chewed her lip. "I don't know what happened." She looked down at her hands, "My magic went a bit crazy when I flew on her back."

"That has to mean something." Killian mused, "All I know is that some people connect easier with dragons than others."

"Yeah?"

"Ruby had a hard time taming her Deadly Nadder, but she was persistent and in the end, she succeeded. She and Stormfly have been on many adventures together."

"Where's Henry?" Emma whirled around searching the area behind them.

"Up there." Killian pointed to the sky, where Ruby and Henry were still flying in circles above them. "Ruby flew out of harm's way when Blackbeard's men came in."

Emma sighed in relief and glanced back at the Light Fury, "So will she be following us?"

"I imagine she will." Killian nudged Emma, "I think you have a new ride back to the ship."

"What?"

"I saw you speaking with her just now, someone has been changing her mind about dragons?"

Emma pursed her lips, "You heard that." She looked down.

"Aye, and now I understand why you reacted so strongly back in the clearing."

Emma's eyes flickered back and forth between Killian and the two dragons.

"Look, Emma, it's okay I understand." He reached out and placed his hand on her arm.

She nodded and stepped closer to the dragons, and the white dragon lifted her head and blinked her big blue eyes.

Killian smiled when Emma touched the dragon and asked, "Ready to fly, girl." The dragon snorted in reply and shifted around so Emma could climb up on the dragon's back.

"You look amazing up there," Killian shouted and leapt up on his own dragon.

Moments later the two dragons lifted from the ground and soared to the sky and were joined by Graham and Ruby's dragons. The four dragons headed south towards Theiver's Cove.

Killian kept looking over at Emma on her dragon and while she looked apprehensive whenever the dragon would make a small dive towards the water he could see the joy spreading over her face.

The crew had welcomed them back on deck and as night had come, they went to the nearby tavern to get some dinner. Killian kept watching Emma interact with her son and their companion August, the man had never left her side since they landed back on the Jolly Roger. Emma might not notice this herself, perhaps so used to having the man as her personal guard, but Killian could see the lingering looks from the man. He clearly held her in high regard, perhaps even more than was acceptable if she was some high noble lady.

Killian slipped from his seat and went to the bar, giving an order of rum, he could certainly use it after today. As he waited for the drink he picked up a conversation between two men at the bar.

"Wonder if they have found the Misthaven princess."

"Oh, the bounty it would give finding and returning her."

"Aye, heard the reigning Queen Regina has sent out a hefty reward for whomever will return her precious niece."

"The lass probably ran off with a stable boy." The two men shared a laugh and the man continued, "So look out for a blond-haired lass."

"Oh, I think the herald said something about her son too."

"The princess has a son?"

"Oh, aye." The two men turned toward the room and scanned the area as did Killian, now suddenly eager to get back to the table and find Emma.

The table was empty aside from his cook Anton, his stomach did a strange swoop. Forgetting the drink being placed behind him he strode over to Anton, "Where's Emma and the boy?"

"They went back to the ship." Anton was a large burly man but looked a bit taken back by Killian's outburst. "Ruby accompanied her and the boy, August went with them."

"Bloody hell." Killian rushed outside and headed towards the docks.

Once back on his ship, he ran into August who lounged up on the deck.

"Emma, is she here?"

"She is?" August lifted a curious eyebrow at Killian's outburst.

Killian rubbed over his face, contemplating revealing his suspicions to the man that could be a royal guard if what the men in the tavern had spoken about. "She just left the tavern and I got a bit worried." He combed his fingers through his hair.

"Oh." August frowned, "I got her back, mate, don't you worry, we're not here of our own free will, but I'll make sure that Miss Swan is looked after until we get back to Misthaven."

Killian glowered at the man's words, but he knew he was overstepping lines here, but somehow the lass had crawled under his hardened pirate shell. "You like her?"

August spluttered, "No… I… it's my duty to… protect her."

"I thought so." Killian clipped and pushed past the bumbling guard, it was clear that the man harboured feelings for the blonde woman, princess or not.

He walked down to his cabin and slumped down on his chair, he searched his pockets and found the compass he'd acquired from Ali. It had cost him a fair share of gold and a promise to aid Ali's thieving men, should he ever encounter them on the sea.

The compass was heavy in his hand and as he opened the lid with a flip of his thumb, he suddenly felt a little weary. If this compass couldn't show him the way to the hidden world of Caldera he had no means to find the Phoenix flower. Images of his sick brother wilting away on his deathbed tore through him, leaving behind only pain.

With determination, he stood up and headed through his ship giving orders to all to be prepared at the first light of dawn. If anyone were still on a drinking spree in the village they'd be left behind. A few crew members scurried out into the night to find their mates and Killian headed for his cabin and poured over the charts. The compass perched on the table pointing due south and Killian consulted the charts and realized they might have to sail past Neverland unless they took a longer route, which would take them a whole extra day.

"Bloody hell." He made the last notes and tried to find rest, but as he lay in his cot, his mind flashed with images of the Lady Swan in a princess gown and tiara.

The next morning Killian rose before dawn and shouted his first orders to his crew and headed for the helm. As they lifted off the water soaring to the skies, he saw Emma emerge from below deck. Her golden hair was tied into a braid falling over her back. She wore her usual red leather coat, not exactly typical princess attire, but nothing about this woman was typical. His heart leapt in his chest as the morning sun swept over her golden hair, it was blindingly beautiful and he shook his head trying to clear his head. He had to focus.

When she spotted him at the helm, she ventured up the steps, "Good morning Captain. We're heading out early?"

"Aye, we've got a long way ahead of us. My crew stocked up to our fullest capacity while we had our little adventure in the jungle." He smirked when she looked down with a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Sorry about that."

"He's a curious lad and dragons are exciting for anyone."

"Not me."

"Well, you do have your own dragon now."

"Hmm." She fiddled with the sleeve of her coat, "I guess I do." She looked over the deck and asked, "Where are they?"

"The dragons?" When she nodded he continued, "They took off to go hunting."

"How will they know where we are?" She scanned over the horizon behind the ship.

"They will know, I do not know how, but they always come back." He smirked, "Don't worry love, she'll come back to ya."

When she rolled her eyes he laughed.

"So where are we going?"

"South it seems." He pointed to the compass before him, "This compass will show my heart's desire."

"Was that the thing you went to Alibaba to get?"

"Aye."

"So it's magical." She leaned forward, her arm brushing over his hand.

"Aye." He gulped down, the scent of her person filled his nostrils and he held his breath as she inspected the compass.

When she looked up her eyes were blown wide as if she realized just how close they were by now. She stepped back and waved her hand in the air. "So we won't be on any land until we reach that hidden world?"

"I suspect not." He pointed towards the bow. "If you do see land to our right it won't be a place I'll be going."

"Why?"

"Ever heard of Neverland?"

"Hmm."

"There's some devil's poison there called Dreamshade, my brother was in close contact with it on a crazy mission to save the last remaining fairies." Killian bit out in an angry tone and he could see that Emma understood he resented the place.

"There are fairies?"

"Aye, they travelled back to their own realm. I suspect a child demon called Peter Pan had held them prisoner in Neverland."

"Okay, so that place we're going to has a cure for the poison."

"If our healer's words are true, it's the only thing that can save my brother."

"Who's your brother?"

Killian felt the muscles twitch near his eye. "You know we're pirates?"

"Hmm." Emma nodded her head with a bemused smile.

"My brother took over the leadership of Rum Island when our father died."

"So you're the pirate prince?"

"Bloody hell." Killian shook his head while his heart leapt in his throat when he recalled what he'd heard last night. "Who are you really, Miss Swan?"

"What?" Emma shuffled her feet over the rough planks on the deck. "I'm Emma Swan."

"Accompanied by a guard and her son?" He lifted an eyebrow hoping that she'd fess up her real identity on her own.

"As you said I'm a noblewoman…"

"A very high noblewoman, royal even?" He lifted his eyebrow as he kept his eyes on her.

Emma spluttered and mumbled something under her breath, sounding like a curse that should never fall over the lips of any noblewoman.

"I…"

"It doesn't really matter either way love, you're here on my ship and I'll make sure you come back home."

"Thank you." Her green eyes looked up at him, a silent plea to keep this a secret.

"I overheard a few men speak about a herald being sent out to the realms about a missing princess."

"Oh."

"The description is a blond-haired woman accompanied by her son and a royal guard." Killian saw movements out of the corner of his eyes and saw August walk over the deck below. "He's got the vigilance of a loyal guard who'd step in front of a sword for you."

"He's a good man."

"Aye, he certainly watches out for you and your boy."

"Hmm." Emma nodded her eyes following the guard speaking with the crew members. "Thank you for keeping this a secret. I never wanted this to happen, we got here because my son is too curious for his own good."

Killian bowed his head and with a smirk added, "And in case you're wondering I won't claim the reward money for bringing you back to your aunt."

"There's a reward?" Emma looked shocked and appalled by this.

"I imagine the Queen is keen on getting the true heir of Misthaven back." Killian chuckled.

Emma huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "As if that will ever happen."

"Are you not the princess of Misthaven?" He whispered and leaned closer to her, close enough for him to notice a small splatter of freckles lining her nose and cheeks.

"Yes, I am." She lifted her chin, "But the old outdated rules want me to be married before I can claim the throne." She rolled her eyes. "My parents never got around to changing them before they…" her lips pursed and she blinked a few times as if the memory of her parents still pained her.

"How long ago?"

"Uh?"

"When did your parents die?"

"I was 16, young and blinded by love for a man who wanted to use the alliance with our realm to do harm to his father's enemies."

"Henry's father?"

Emma merely nodded. "I was too young to claim the throne, Regina was crowned acting queen until the day I wed."

"That sounds like stupid old outdated laws if you ask me."

"Yeah, but it is what it is and here I am on a pirate ship going to the ends of the world." She glanced over her shoulder, Thriver's Cove was no longer visible.

"Mark my words, I'll bring you home safely, princess." He whispered the last word into her ear and he grinned when he noticed her gasp at the closeness.

"Thank you," Emma mumbled and stepped back.

Killian grinned as she walked down to the deck and stepped towards August who was leaning against the railing. Killian couldn't help but frown as he watched the two interact in a conversation that had August laugh and give a comment to Emma which made Emma laugh. They looked so at ease together and his recent thoughts about what relationship the two had. It was clear that August was a bit more interested in the princess than might be proper. This shouldn't have the effect it seemed to have on him, but he knew deep down that his heart might have cracked open towards the blonde princess.