The wind blew steadily across the plain, blowing the long grass and making it away in the wind. Snow paused and faced into the wind. She loved the feeling of the breeze against her face, especially when the sun was out like it was.
"You take my breath away," David commented as he walked up and stopped beside his beloved wife.
She turned to face him, smiling. "There is a reason for your nickname —Charming."
He chuckled, "I thought when you started calling me that it was to highlight just how not charming you found me."
"No, you were annoying. That's completely different."
"And how is that?" he asked, confused.
Snow shrugged and replied, "You were charming against my will. I didn't have time for romance or 'the right man.' I was on the run."
The smile slipped off his face. "We still are. Emma grew up…."
She stepped into his space and wrapped her arms around him, and he embraced her. "Grew up loved by so many. She's not the princess she could be, but she seems happy to me."
"Except when we left her behind," again, he didn't say the last word.
"It's for her own good," Snow insisted.
David kissed the crown of her head and then sighed deeply. "I think it was for our good. Be honest. Would you have left her behind if she wasn't your daughter?"
"I asked Red and-"
David cut her off and said, "Her godmother, it doesn't count." He then tipped her head up to look at him. "Look around at all of our friends. Most of them are with us, and Granny would have been if she wasn't in her eighties. We raised her around brave, adventurous people and then required that she doesn't act the same way."
"It's a bit too late to have second thoughts, David. We can't go back and get her."
He pressed his lips into a thin line. He then said, "I don't think she's back there. Something tells me she's run off on her own adventure, and it has me regretting my decision. I feel that if we had brought her with us, we could have kept her safer. Well, relatively. Who knows what kind of people she's run into."
"You seem so sure. Why?"
Looking deep into Snow's eyes, he said, "She's so much like the best woman I know." He kissed her nose and added, "If you were in her place, you'd have taken off by now."
She furrowed her brow, "No. I was raised to be so sheltered. I didn't have the imagination to run off."
"I'm talking about the way you are now. She's an odd combination of sheltered and worldly. It's like her swordsmanship. She's amazingly adept and has a deep knowledge of technique, but she's never fought against anyone who wouldn't lay their life down for her. There is a violence out there she can't fathom."
Snow leaned her head against his shoulder and rested in his comforting arms. "How do we fix this? If she's gone, there's nothing we can do."
David held her even tighter. "Resolve not to leave her behind again. It's all we can do. I think."
They soon returned to the camp the group was setting up for the night. It had been a long trip, and the latest portion had involved hiking for three days straight. And had decided it was time to rest for the afternoon. They were weary and needed to recoup their energy.
Emma didn't care that what she was doing had to be a form of cheating. She was blindfolded, and Murphy and Mac were taking turns trying to sneak up on her to hone her senses. She faced the wind and felt the breeze blow through her hair, and she pulled on her magic just enough to let her know where the next attack was coming from —Magic they didn't know she had.
When she tagged Murphy, catching him quickly, the watching crew cheered as she smiled. She had been able to sense the two one-hundred percent of the time. Everyone was wildly impressed.
Killian watched from the ship's wheel, feeling his pride and The Jolly Roger's pride in equal measures. He knew she was using her magic, but he greatly approved. He wanted her to use every advantage she had, especially one that no one else knew about. He felt it showed that she had more than a little bit of pirate in her, and that pleased him.
And watching the whole scene play out with his crew, he had no problem admitting that he was excited over the blindfold that covered her eyes. In fact, he fully intended on using one on her tonight if she agreed.
That very thought made him smile. He knew she would agree. She had the most gratifying sexually adventurous side to her.
Tuning the wheel the slightest bit to catch the wind better, he considered how perfect Emma was for him. It was something that really made zero sense to him the more he thought of it. She was beautiful, intelligent, fascinating, magical, and perfect. He didn't like how he felt when he thought about it too much. It left him feeling as if he couldn't ever deserve her.
Still, no matter how he felt about it, he knew he refused to lose her. He might not deserve her, but she would be his. Despite his self-loathing, he would do anything for her, even love her.
Killian watched as she removed her blindfold. The practice had ended, and she looked up at him with a smile on her face. He gave her a nod of approval, and he watched her smile widen.
And that right there was why he realized that he would ignore his self-doubt and stay by her side. Being with him made her happy, and he wouldn't ever deny her anything.
Granny sat on her cushioned chair by the window and let out a sigh of contentment. She calmly watched the wildflowers sway in the breeze while everyone else who had remained was fretting over Emma's disappearance.
She was glad Emma didn't see past her lectures and admonishments to remain behind. She knew Emma was the type of woman to rebel against any advised course of caution. Sure, she would have left eventually on her own, but Granny had wanted to speed up the process.
It bothered her that Emma was expected to stay home and behave herself when everyone else behaved quite differently. Her own dear granddaughter wouldn't have listened, and she loved that about her.
Closing her eyes, she rested and thought about what kind of adventure Emma had gone on. She hoped it involved a hot man with an edgy side to him. She felt Emma deserved a thrill in her life after all the time she spent hidden away.
She heard Marian fretting in the other room and rolled her eyes at the woman. She never really understood the woman. After all, she was the type to stay behind willingly —Granny couldn't respect that.
