Disclaimer: I do not own the show or the characters of Once Upon A Time. There's no profit except writing practice being made here.
"Swan, I thought I told-" He sighed. "It's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding." He was a seafaring man. Curses and karma for villainy were key players of their small seaside town. Nothing would stop him from marrying Emma Swan - three hundred years between their births hadn't stopped him from finding her - but they didn't need to call upon any bad omens should they have methods of avoiding them.
Yet here Emma was, asking her father to leave his presence so they could discuss privately the upcoming nuptials.
Killian's heart plummeted at the pallor of Emma's face and the determined glint in her green eyes. She was so easy to read, but Killian hoped he had read her wrong.
"What is it, love?"
"The Black Fairy," her voice dropped; defeated. "Now she's casting a curse that's going to separate me from everyone, so that I have to fight the Final Battle alone."
He scoffed. Not on his life.
"Not on our wedding day, she won't," he told her.
No wonder Emma had decided to buck superstition and visit him in his quarters while he prepared for the ceremony and the events of after - not that he'd admit to David what he was preparing for, such a break in tradition was well worth it. There was no way Killian Jones was not going to fight by Emma Swan's side, wedding day or otherwise.
"Let's go."
Emma Swan pulled the exact expression Killian dreaded she would, but he needed to hear her say the words. He would follow her until she told him not to.
"Killian," she sighed, resigned. If he thought it would make her feel any better, Killian would pull her into his arms and promise she would succeed alone, she'd been so alone for so much of her life, just like him, and she'd beat every obstacle she faced. She could do it again, he knew it. But she wouldn't have to. He'd be beside her for the rest of their lives - mortal or otherwise. "This is one I need to win on my own."
"Isn't that what she wants?" he wasn't the begging sort, never had been. But Emma was hell-bent in that brilliant way he adored - independent and strong and wilful, just like him - only that she was so used to having to fight for herself, on her own, without any support, even now, that it broke his heart. And this time, not only was she reverting to that lonely lost girl he'd first met, she was playing into the villain's hands at her most vulnerable.
"If you come with me, it just gives her a chance to hurt one more person I love." A year ago, should someone have told Killian somebody other than William Smee cared about where he spent his nights, what he ate, or what he was doing, Killian wouldn't have thought that somebody to be genuine, let alone truly exist.
Emma gave him that sad, guilty look but her eyes were steely with her determination. If he wasn't such a ruthless pirate, Killian could have melted at how this woman cared for him and her family. Never in her life had she been given proof that her love and affection was worth it, not until Henry knocked on her door. But love seemed to pour out of Emma Swan regardless. And now she had people that she was scared of losing and he, a ruthless pirate, was one of them.
Killian's insides warmed, despite his head hating Emma's strategy and his heart crying out that she shouldn't face this alone. He; slave, lone brother, pirate, abandoned, he was loved so much that Emma refused to put him in harms way - even with three hundred years of proof that he could survive the worst odds.
If she wasn't here to rally his support, then Killian had to wonder why she felt the need to approach him, calling upon the forces of fate that they were trying not to anger on their wedding day.
He wasn't going to change her mind. He didn't want to change her mind. Emma deserved his support.
But that didn't stop him from fearing that this was a goodbye.
She could detect a liar, but Killian could read Emma like a book. They couldn't lie to each other.
He wouldn't let her go if she doubted that she would return. He'd let her go. He'd honour her wishes and not put himself in danger by running to her aid. But Killian Jones would not allow Emma to be alone if she displayed any doubt whatsoever about her ability to win this battle. Her magic was based on her love and her faith in that love and herself. He would do everything in his power to encourage it.
"You've obviously made up your mind, so why did you come here then?"
She knew him too well.
Behind him, Killian heard David suck in a breath. He'd forgotten Emma's father was with him. Perhaps that was why Emma had left a foot of space between them and was not seeking to hold his hand like they so often did whenever they spoke.
Killian didn't care. He picked up Emma's fingers with his own, pressing their twined hands between their chests, fingers brushing heartbeats cherished.
"To tell you not to worry," a soft, but confident smile. Pretty, but a farce. "And that I will be there to say "I do.""
Killian scrutinised Emma, his worst fears half realised. She wasn't lacking confidence. She was, however, taking precautions.
"No," he shook his head, ignoring how his voice broke. David was not one of his crew, he could show weakness in front of him and he could lean on him should he need to, turning back to see that the other man supported him and using that to bolster his plans. "No, that's not it."
He swallowed. He knew that look on her face.
"You've come to say goodbye in case it doesn't work."
When she whispered his name her voice broke like she was just as afraid as he was but also desperate to convince him. "Killian..."
Please, Swan. "Let me help."
"I love you," was how she turned him down. A promise to return on her lips beneath the word, the promise that her magic was strong, not only because of his love but undoubtedly drawing from it. Unshakable as they were.
She'd cuffed him on the beanstalk, prevented him from following her in New York, organised that he wouldn't follow her to Camelot because she didn't want to burden him or her family with her darkness. None of that had stopped him then. Effectively, her words did the same to him now, but Killian loved a challenge, and he loved breaking the rules.
With a burst of speed, he chased after her, catching Emma by the door to his cabin, his hook curling around her arm.
"Swan, wait. I don't-"
She had tears in her eyes. He was making this more difficult for her. The worst part of this was that Emma wasn't making the wrong decision, it wasn't something he'd begrudge her. He would have made the same decision once. That's what people who had always been alone did, they stayed alone, and when they had people around them to support them, they pulled away to protect those people and keep them as far from the fight as possible. He had every intention of whisking Emma Swan away from the Black Fairy himself. But she was the Saviour and this time she wanted to take that mantle on. She wanted to fight this battle and she wanted to win it, their final battle.
And didn't 'final' just sound lovely? Like a life of blood and scars and anger put to rest, and a life full of only quiet moments to come.
"Killian," she called his name softly, stepping closer to him but careful not to touch him. He knew that tactic. Touch brought vulnerability and doubt to the surface, if she touched him, her resolve would crumple. "I have to do this alone."
He smiled. It hurt. "I know love, and you'll succeed," he nodded. "I have no doubt."
Near two hundred and fifty hundred years of leading a crew of men; possessing the necessary venom and vigour to earn their trust and keep their loyalty whilst simultaneously having enough fire to keep them in line and therefore safe, Killian had plenty of experience keeping a lid on his emotions.
Not with Emma. With Swan, they all came pouring out.
"Emma," he started, "it's selfish, I know. But should the Black Fairy curse us before this afternoon, I don't want- I'd like..." Liam, in the Underworld, had turned to Emma and beamed about his little brother's orator skills, regaling her with the story of their first mutiny, all the while Emma drank in the story. Annoyed as he had been at his brother, and he definitely had been, even though the prevailing emotion had been relief and gratitude and Liam's here. Whatever skill Liam thought he had, and his centuries of experience failed him and he found no words to say what he felt. All he was aware of was the innate need that had coursed within him since even before he met her, and in every world in which he did, the unflinching desperation to have her see him for the man behind the mask and the desire to see her smile that grew within his bones.
Killian swallowed. "Marry me before you go."
Emma shook her head and clutched his hand to her chest. "No. If the worse happens, we'll be widows. I don't need to be married to you to love you, or remember to come back to you," her voice cracked and Killian surged forward to hold her against his chest. "We'd be cursed to spend another hundred years searching for a ghost. I know you Killian Jones. You'd use that as an excuse to never move on or be happy again. "
No one had ever cared for him or cared to alleviate the torture he imposed himself. Yet here Emma was, attempting to ease his self-deprecation long before he felt it, trying to harden the fences she built to protect his heart before anyone broke in and hurt him. And as much as he hated the idea, Killian knew that he'd still have Henry and David and Snow and that they'd band together and build each other back up, not back to how they were, but to functioning, should something happen to Emma in the final battle. Just as her family had wanted for him not that long ago when they returned without Emma to the Enchanted Forest.
Killian pulled away from her, just enough to brush his lips against her brow. "I won't move on, Swan. You know that."
She was beautiful; red jacket, flowing curls and love in her eyes.
At the same time as he conceded their marriage should not be a rushed affair while they feared for their future and should instead be a celebration of their certainty, Emma blinked up at him.
"Okay."
"Emma Swan," Killian sighed, holding her tighter against his body until she arched back to look at him, swirling their torsos together like he did when he was feeling playful so that maybe that frown would leave her forehead. "You don't need a rushed affair. Your whole life has been rushed and hidden from others. Our wedding should not be that. It's the mark of the start of the end of that life on the run we both lived, and the start of our slow, languid life together."
Emma shook her head. "It won't be rushed," she promised. "I'll be the wedding we both want."
Her eyes flicked to David, who Killian had forgotten was still present, but he understood what she was keeping quiet. Their wedding was a ceremony for the people - her mother in particular, and her mother's subjects.
"We'll need the Cricket."
Emma rolled her eyes, tapping her hand against his chest. "We have a captain right here, Killian. My father can be witness."
David piped up then, catching Killian's attention and then pulling his talking phone from his pocket. "I'll call your mother."
Emma pulled completely out of Killian's arms, keeping her hand against his back, which Killian took as a signal to do the same.
"She's just in the car on shore," Emma told Dave.
Killian squeezed her waist. "Let's meet her above deck then, shall we, love?"
David delayed them, furrowing his brow. "Why'd you drive here with Snow?"
"She and Henry were helping me being stuff aboard for the honeymoon," Emma shrugged but Killian saw her squirm. Anticipation lanced through him. Obviously, they packed rations for meals and prepared for hot and cold weather and storms. They'd plotted their route, Killian more than Emma, and packed for every occasion. But from the blush on Emma's face, she must have packed her suitcase with things she wanted to hide from her mother and son.
"Aye," Killian led Emma toward the ladder and easily steered the conversation away from more talk of honeymoon particulars they wanted to keep private and away from David's overprotective ears. Killian didn't much care, and Emma Swan was shameless, he'd learned. But she was accommodating to her parents, who still sometimes saw her as their little girl. "I'm glad the wedding will be on the land. We can make a hasty escape and sail away into the sunrise alone."
Emma, halfway up the ladder, turned to beam at him. "And no clean up."
"Aye."
"I'll go bring them on board then," David marched passed the pair.
"You know I don't want you in that white tux, right?" Emma mouthed against his ear.
Killian blinked down at his soon-to-be-wife who hung from his neck.
"It's the one mum picked out."
"Please tell me you had more say in your dress than I?"
She snorted, bowing her head against him and Killian lost himself in the scent of her shampoo beneath his nose.
"There's an old princess from this realm," Emma told him. "She was a nobody and she became a princess."
He knew that tone of Emma's. "You're not a nobody."
Emma shook her head, flattening her palm against his chest. "She was. Well, she wasn't. Not at all."
"See."
"But she wasn't royalty. And she married a prince and became a princess. This prince of hers," Emma continued to explain, her eyes imploring him to understand. "He was descended from pirates. His kingdom, a pirate kingdom. I'm wearing a dress that resembles hers."
"I'm not a prince."
"You were once."
"Does your mother know?" Killian knew Snow had approved of him for some time now, and the woman had been a bandit herself for quite some time. Still.
"You're memory going, old man?" Emma teased, pressing a kiss against Killian's cheekbone. "You were once."
"Killian rolled his eyes at his own blush and Emma's pointed misunderstanding. "You know what I mean."
"I'm not sure," Emma admitted. "Although I wouldn't put it past her. Then again, she's just so excited I said she could do my hair and all that."
She couldn't hide how eager she sounded. Sometimes, if he spent too much time with David, it was easy to forget that this huge family had only just found each other, he'd barely lived a month between losing Emma and finding Emma. But Emma had lived twenty-eight years without the tenderness of her family. And before she turned twenty-nine she had met the vicious naval officer who would never let her live another day without that affection again.
Killian twirled a lock of her spun-gold hair between his fingers. "You're tying this up?"
She wiggled against him. "I'm doing a whole thing," Emma promised giddily.
Killian could imagine. He'd planned a similar 'whole thing' with David, preparing for Snow and Emma's choice to be offered, not forced. An old, important earring, a jacket in the fabric of the vest h'ed hidden in his cloaks when they met, in a style that seemed to be a statement in the world outside of Storybrooke (Some man that Emma said could play him in one of Henry's movies had worn something similar and apparently it was the done thing to emulate people like him), the shirt he'd worn on their first date.
"As much as I look forward to that," Killian promised, not wanting to give away that he was guessing, probably quite correctly, that she was going to wear her hair up in that gloriously tight bun she wore as the Dark One. He'd secretly loved that hairdo, and known Emma had too, else she wouldn't have selected to use her magic in such a way. Other than up in a ponytail on their first date and braided loosely at night, he'd never seen it up in any other way, and Killian had promised to twirl her endlessly on the dance floor all night so a slicked-back bun would be the best way to manage her appearance for her guests if that was something Emma and Snow were concerned with.
"Will you leave your hair out for this one?" He'd like to marry her with her wild hair and tight jeans. Exactly the Emma he had met.
Her face ignited, tearing open with a joyous laugh. "'Course. Will you wear your coat?"
Killian beamed back. He could do that. He loved that she wanted to marry him as a pirate. He didn't begrudge her mother not wanting him wearing his old gear, and he'd tossed his dress blues overboard centuries ago, so he couldn't wear his old uniform. Yet it still meant the world to know that either of those options was acceptable to Emma because she loved him at any stage of his long life.
"Want me in my red vest too?" he offered, knowing it was Emma's favourite.
"Jesus, Killian," Emma choked out. "Henry's up there." She patted his chest in a slow, meaningful circle. "Save it for tonight. I'll see you up there."
He chuckled, taking a deep breath to calm himself as Emma's flushed cheeks turned away from him and she disappeared down the hall. "As you wish."
Out in the open sunshine, Killian met Henry at the top of the steps where the lad led him to where Emma stood between her parents beneath the golden sun, the sea breeze gathering up her hair, the shimmering horizon all around her.
"You ready?" Henry asked.
Killian took Emma's hand in his. What an odd question. Of course, he was.
He'd officiated a wedding before, once. Two of the men on his ship, not long later lost to a life on land. Killian probably should have told David and Snow that, or looked to them or Henry. But Emma was haloed in the light that bounced off the water, everything else too bright to see.
"So this is an older ritual. if that's okay."
It was what he'd done for those sailors, not the ceremony he'd studied at the academy. It was the ceremony from the town where he grew up, too young to understand what he'd seen when he was a boy, but dreaming of it even on his worst nights under Captain Silver. Liam couldn't remember the words either, in those days, but one of those sailors, he'd known them, asked for them.
So Killian could have the wedding tradition he'd dreamt of. So could Emma. So could her mother.
Emma smiled at him. "It's perfect. An ancient wedding now-"
"Oi."
"And a modern one later."
Exactly what he'd been thinking.
Killian collected Emma's left hand in his and placed it against his chest, right where his heart was thudding with anticipation. Then he placed his hand against her chest.
Emma frowned.
Killian's blood chilled. And then his cheeks flamed and his heart swelled when he understood. She lifted his hooked arm from by his side and rested the curve of metal between her breasts, nudging his hand away.
"Hook," she called him, "I loved you as the revenge-driven pirate I trusted too much on the beanstalk, the captain begging me not to trust Gold in a storage closet in New York, and the crazy man asking me to take a leap of faith. Just as I loved you without your heart and when the Dark One was feeding you anger and manipulating the things you said and did."
"Swan," his voice cracked.
"You forget," she gave him an admonitory look, "I could see him too, whispering what he wanted you to say."
"I couldn't fight him. I wish-"
"I wish we hadn't abandoned you in that moment. Had we supported you, had I, like you were there for me, maybe you wouldn't have given in to it." She was too good to him. Nobody deserved someone so forgiving. And yet, she had been there too. A pirate, a Dark One, ruthless, just as he was.
Yes, that had been her plan when she turned him dark. She'd been so sure in their love, so certain that his love had made her herself again that it would work for him, that she had forgotten she had a whole army of people who loved her in different ways. He only had her. None of them had cared to check in on him when he had remembered his cloaked darkness and attempted to enact her plan. Nor had he let them.
"Henry said it was always there, that you were a little more frantic and a lot easier to anger during that time, but that they all thought you were desperate to get me back. Only I knew what it really was, the Dark One seeping in. But the moment you remembered-" her voice cracked that time.
"I pulled away, Emma," he reminded her. "I felt guilty and angry and surprised that you thought I deserved so much. I felt unworthy. And it made me bitter."
"We left you to deal with it yourself." David cut in. "Your plan, when we remembered, and Emma's, had always been to surround the Dark One with family until the darkness couldn't get a word in. I wish we hadn't left you in our fear and disappointment."
"But then we wouldn't have discovered our true love."
"You are?!"
"I knew it." Snow and Henry whooped at the same time.
"Of course, we would have love, your kiss woke me from drowning."
Emma rolled her eyes. "I know you've never believed me that I lost my magic that day, but-"
"Twice," Killian added, stopping Emma's denial of him. He was right. He knew it in his bones. "Once, in Neverland when I swore I couldn't love honestly ever again and had almost convinced myself what I felt for you could be forgotten, but your kiss made me realise I was a fool and already entirely at your mercy. And once again when Zelena cursed us."
"And if you insist on deny those things which we all know are true, then I defy you to deny me this," Killian preempted Emma's denial with a salacious smirk. "It can only be Providence that allowed me to I live 300 hundred years to find you. I vow, with all of my being, to love, support, provide for, and fight beside you, Emma Swan. I vow to love you through all of space," he couldn't fight his grin, try as he might, "and time."
"I, Emma Swan, swear to love, honour and support you, Killian."
She trailed off, eyes cast to the sea. She wasn't second-guessing them. She wasn't hesitating. But Emma Swan had stopped saying her vows and it did make him fear for a moment.
"I wish Liam was here."
"Love?"
The expression Emma turned on him was filled with sorrow and longing, an expression he hated seeing on her. It was pitiful but she wasn't pitying him.
She was trying to give him the world. Just as he did for her.
"Ariel will be."
Killian nodded when Emma mentioned the mermaid he'd long since made his peace with. He'd sent a few messages in bottles and calls out through his shellphone, but hadn't expected anyone to turn tail and stay for his wedding. Surely, Granny hoped someone might come from out of town to stay in her inn, but Killian wasn't too fussed. He didn't need an audience or a crowd. His crew was coming, Emma and Henry would be there. He'd made his peace with Neal and the women they'd fought over, and found closure with Liam. There wasn't more he needed to ask for.
"And when I talked to her on your shell, she said she'd find Captain Nemo and your brother and they'll all be here with your crew but Liam..."
His heart swooped. "You contacted Ariel and Nemo for me, love?"
Emma untangled their fingers and swatted his chest. "Oh don't act so coy. When Elsa arrived, she said they couldn't have said 'no' because of all the invitations by bird clogging the palace. I only sent one. I know that was you and mum. How did you get that many sea birds to do that for you?"
Killian, a tad foolishly, swivelled his head around to observe the town behind him. "They're here already?"
Emma nodded, her smile yet to fade. "Came in an ice submarine pulled by Ursula. Brought a handful of Merry Men with her. Ursula wasn't too happy with the old pirate she once knew who didn't ask her to sing at his wedding."
Her eyes widened and her smirk rivalled his. The smug vixen. "You're something else."
Emma hummed, bouncing on her toes excitedly.
"A true princess, uniting the realms," he bragged.
"Shut up," she scolded, laughing. He never wanted her to lose that carefree light she was imbued with in this moment beneath the crisp midday sun.
"Aye, Swan, I would have loved if Liam could be here. But he half-expected this had already happened when you met him and all but sent us off with a wedding gift when he moved on. He's at rest, love. And if Zeus and the others are at all like I remember them to be, he'll get to see."
He believed it, wholeheartedly. His brother was at peace. Liam had encouraged Killian toward Emma. He'd been shocked at the sight of Henry and confused when Killian attempted to explain that no, that wasn't the Bae his mother told him about, nor was Henry Killian's boy.
"You're so sure."
"Swan, I spent two hundred years feeling his gaze upon my every decision," he told Emma, "Today is no different. And today, I feel his approval. For so long I didn't, I-"
But Emma cut him off. Taking his hook and placing it back on her chest where he'd been gesturing too widely for it to stay, and then taking his fingers in hers.
"I, Emma Swan, will love you, Killian. In this life and the next," she winked. Pirate. "I will find you and I will fight for you, but I won't have to because neither of us are going anywhere."
"I love you, Hook."
They kissed.
Someone, David, cleared their throat.
Killian blushed. He had a job to do. He wasn't one to shirk his duties, normally. Emma Swan pulled the worst out of him. "Um, as far as the seas may take us, in a storm and in glory light, the distances we travel may we do so together. For as long as we both wish, may we share our winnings, and our losses, our lives and our treasured future."
"Henry, can you do this part for us, mate?"
Killian pulled out a strip of blue fabric, the finest silk he owned, embroidered with gems and icicles, an engagement gift, courtesy of Tinkerbelle - although how she got it to Elsa, Killian hadn't asked - and handed it to Henry.
"You're going to tie our hands in an Anam Cara Knot, alright, lad?"
Emma turned to watch Henry, unsurprised, it seemed, that he had asked this of him.
"Uh, Killian, I haven't tied one of them in a while."
Killian smiled at his boy. He wanted to tell him that they were having another one of these ceremonies later in the day, so the legitimacy of this one, or this one part of this one, wasn't too worrisome. Or that it was just a ceremony. Just a knot. That they'd already kissed too early and ruined it a little, but life wasn't worth it if it wasn't a little messy.
"You've not failed us yet, son," he said softly.
Snow gasped. David clapped Henry and Killian on the shoulders simultaneously. Henry flushed. Emma kissed his knuckles.
As Henry bound Emma and Killian with the silk, Killian proclaimed the ceremonial words he'd secretly dreamed of, and asked Emma to repeat them.
"I swear to be your constant friend, your partner in life, and your true love. To love you without reservation, to honour and respect you, protect you from harm, to embrace our future together, to grow with you in mind and spirit. And to find you and win your heart in every realm."
Emma's family cheered when they kissed that time, hands still bound, fingers touching chins.
Killian slipped the silk off their wrists, Henry had tied it perfectly, just loose enough to take off and keep - he'd talk to David about a frame or case of some sort.
"Now, love," he rubbed his nose against Emma's as he lay the knotted silk against the helm. Loathe as he was to say it, he knew it was the right thing to do. As her husband. She would come back to him - his wife - and he'd see her walk down the aisle her mother had created upon that rooftop where he and Emma had made so many memories. "Don't you have a villain to vanquish?"
Because I've always loved the portals in the final battle episodes opening all the realms to each other for a moment, meaning Arrendale, the Merry Men, all the world's collided and may have even been in Storybrooke pre the official United Realms at the end of season 7. But I also know mermaids can travel through realms and that these two have such an army of friends that can easily be contacted.
As a side note, I will admit, I love Emma's wedding dress. Not aesthetically, like I think it's ugly and I wouldn't personally touch it with a ten foot pole, but that's because I don't like lace and nothing to do with the dress itself. But I love that her dress and hair and veil is a perfect mix of Snow's desperation to have a big white wedding for her daughter, Snow's dress, traditional dresses from this realm, Emma's Dark Swan hair, Killian's buttons, Emma's cursed memories tight bodice and the Author AU's dress and her dress from the wish realm-esque veil. All the aspects of the woman Emma Swan is and has been fully represented.
Plus the reference to Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, famously founded by pirates, in the fact that it is the Princess' dress. Brilliant! And meaningful.
Which goes the same for Killian's entire outfit being meaningful in the same way Emma's is. Even his season 2 earrings. Not my favourite of his that he could have chosen to wear but so sentimentally perfect that I can't fault it.
But, if Snowing eloped, so did Emma and Killian - even if they didn't have the Black Fairy to ruin their day, they had Snow and her pushing to escape. Then again, that's not Killian's way; he'd want to give Emma the wedding she deserves, and Emma would want to give her parents the wedding they wanted her to have. Still, with the genuine threat, Killian and Emma could have organised something both beautiful and elegant. Then again, Killian didn't need to be married to Emma to have her be his world and strive for 300 years to honour her memory should something happen.