For the first time in her life, Emma truly felt afraid.

She stayed in bed, just like Alistair prescribed, not because she was hurt but because, for the first time in her life, she truly felt vulnerable. Emma had always figured she was brave because she could face the fact that the Evil Queen wanted to destroy her family. But now, as she lay there, she realized she wasn't.

Sure, her parents put themselves in danger, and the Queen wanted them dead, but she now saw that she had complete faith that her parents would live and that Regina would be defeated. Searching her heart, she noticed she didn't really believe in the danger. Her parents had always been larger than life to her, and they were invincible in her eyes.

Emma blinked back tears as she shuddered. Killian was right. She was a sheltered child who would die if she tried to attack anyone. A common ruffian managed to catch her by surprise and knock her unconscious.

All of her sword practice, bow and arrow training, knife skills, and tracking expertise really didn't amount to anything. Yes, she was good and even managed to surprise Killian and take his sword, but no one she practiced against ever wanted to harm her. She could merely defend herself in a fair fight against loved ones.

She rolled on her side and picked some of the hairs out of the dried blood from her head wound. Emma had healed her head injury entirely except for the cut, hiding that she was healed. She didn't want to explain how she had performed such complex magic to anyone.

Now, to her, any secrets she had felt precious and like a shield. Killian called her a hedge witch, and she was okay with letting him believe he was right. Especially since it would be embarrassing now to admit she had lots of magic and she was still caught by surprise.

Sighing, she wiped an errant tear from her eye and sat up on the bed. Besides healing her wound, she had used her magic to restore the room to what she had made it before. Emma hadn't bothered to change it too much then, unlike the cottage back home. Still, it was much bigger than the little cupboard he had been able to spare for her.

She raised a shaking hand to her cheek and brushed away another tear.

The reality was that if Killian hadn't found her, she would have been in real trouble. But how was she to thank him? What would a pirate captain even want as a way of saying thanks? A bottle or ten of rum? Surely a simple thank you wasn't enough. On top of that, he brought her to his doctor.

She cast her eyes to the wood flooring. "Well, ship, any suggestions?"

Stay.

Emma chuckled. "The captain has to invite me to stay, and so far, I've proven to be an arrogant burden."

Brave. Not arrogant.

"So you admit I'm a burden?" she asked, half laughing, half sad.

No. A woman worth his time.

Emma laid back down. "No, I'm not that. I just need to…" she paused. "I need to go home. I was so foolish to run away, and now I don't have a way to get back home. And it would be way too much to ask him to turn around to get me back there."

What did the Oracle see?

"You know about her?" Emma pressed her lips into a thin line and then said. "No. The Oracle saw me continuing on. But is that wise?"

Emma paused and waited for an answer from the ship that didn't come. So she pressed, "Is that wise?"

Wisdom never brought an adventure.

That got Emma to laugh. "So if I'm wise, I go home, but if it's an adventure I want, then I should continue?"

Don't lie to yourself.

Letting out a long slow breath, she nodded. "Fine. Adventure it is. But I don't know how to manage that, and I'm still terrified."

Pirates can teach you —defend yourself.

"Killian would have to want me to stay."

For some reason, Emma had the distinct feeling the ship was very amused by her comment.

"Get moving! You should know how to tie off that rope by now. You've been doing it for centuries, after all!" Killian yelled.

He knew Emma was resting in the room, hopefully sleeping through what had to be a wicked headache, but that didn't stop his yelling. He was pushing his mostly drunk crew to get the ship sailing with the tide. Emma was on board, and he wanted to keep her there.

His excuse for when she realized that they had left port was going to be that he believed she wouldn't feel safe being left in that town. Now he had to figure out how to get her to stay on at the next port. A stop he would ensure was as long as possible from now. He didn't care how hard he had to push his ship and his crew.

Mac walked up to him and, raising his hands in surrender, said, "Captain, where do you want me stationed? I'm…." he stumbled a bit and said, "I can't climb to the crow's nest like this."

Killian let out a frustrated noise. "Dammit! I shouldn't be sailing right now. Belay that order!" he yelled out to everyone. He pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Go back to town! Finish your fun. We sail in two days like planned."

He realized he was being reckless. He owed his crew better. No matter how much he wanted to keep Emma with him.

Thirty minutes later, he was pacing his small cabin. He wanted to be away from port to force Emma to stay on board. But it wasn't going to work, and he needed another plan.

Ask her. Fool.

He grimmised and rolled his eyes. Speaking back to his ship, he said, "If you were a crew member, I would discipline you for that blatant disrespect."

Yet, being a man of action and admitting his ship was probably correct, he marched out of his cabin and made his way to where Emma was staying. He then promptly knocked, and she quickly answered the door.

She stepped out of the room and looked up at Killian. With large eyes that he wanted to drown in, her words tumbled from her lips, "I need help. Can you… will you help me learn to defend myself? Well, actually, I should probably ask if your crew could teach me. You're the captain, and that's a lot to ask of you. But I see, I'm vulnerable to so much. I could pay you," she added almost as an afterthought.

He blinked once over her mini-speech and then smiled. She had handed him precisely what he needed. "We can teach you, but while at port, it's not a good time. My crew is having their fun. You may remain onboard, and we can train you when we have free time at sea."

She frowned. "I don't mean to invite myself to stay. That's not right."

"I assure you I'm inviting you to remain on board of my own volition. As a gentleman and a pirate, I cannot let a lass leave my ship and put herself in danger."

She cocked her head and stared at him. "Before, I would have argued, but now the thought makes me blush. I was so naive. You must have laughed at me."

He frowned and shook his head. "I assure you I wasn't laughing in the slightest. I was… concerned."

Emma bit her lip and nodded just a bit. "I don't want to die. I'm not even sure if I should continue. It's not wise that I know. But I do want an adventure."

"And a pirate ship is the perfect place for adventure," Killian replied, cracking a smile.

"Yes. But how long can I intrude as I am? I'm not really going to become a member of the crew. I add nothing."

Killian gave her a reassuring smile. "I have promised we will train you to defend yourself. You won't remain as you are. Who knows, you might make an excellent pirate."

She laughed joyously at that. "I like that idea. Pirate Emma. That sounds like a brave woman." She then frowned. "I like the idea of not being so weak."

"You're not weak," he promised. "You're just untrained."

Emma bit her tongue despite how much she wanted to scream that she had a lot of training. She hadn't proved herself the first moment she had the opportunity, so she took the humbling and nodded.