Killian couldn't remember loving sailing this much since he was a lieutenant sailing with his brother. Once again, the sea felt like freedom to him. No longer was it solely a means of escape or vengeance. He had felt the profound change the moment he steered away from the harbor with Emma standing resolutely by his side.
As they left shore, he did work to ignore his ship, who he could feel was cockily pleased with herself. No matter how blatant she was, he couldn't force himself to feel too annoyed with her, though. He admitted that she had brought him right to Emma the moment he gave her control of their direction. He did owe her.
"It's amazing," Emma announced. "Sailing is so freeing." He smiled as he watched her joyous face as the wind whipped her hair around.
"Aye," he replied. He then motioned her over to stand in front of the wheel. "Turn that to the right."
"You want me to steer?" She asked excitedly as she did what he said.
He smiled and silently encouraged her to turn the wheel, and he placed his hand on hers to halt the turn when she had moved the wheel enough. "You're going to leave me?" he eventually asked with no heat.
"No!" She said and then looked back at him in concern. "How did you get that idea? I just asked about steering your ship!"
He smiled at her and replied, "Exactly —my ship. What do you think that means when you're with me."
"I don't understand."
He caressed her cheek and looked into her eyes. "As long as you stay with me, you have a claim on this ship more than anyone else on my crew."
Her eyes lit up as she looked back at him. "She does like me."
"Exactly. And she won't let just anyone tell her what to do, but she'll listen to you. Fair warning: Sometimes, she won't even let me tell her what to do.
Emma kept her hands on the wheel and leaned back against his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her. "Should I feel bad for you? You have two opinionated women around now."
"I won't be bored," he teased. He didn't feel badly in the least over that fact. Actually, it was the exact opposite.
Two hours later, Jack showed up in front of Killian as was commanded. He didn't trust Jack, but that was why he had summoned him. Some men could be kept in line with monetary compensation. He believed Jack was that kind of man.
Tossing a small bag, heavy with coins, to Jack, who quickly caught it, Killian said, "That's my official thank you for your help in finding Emma the other day."
"She was attacked and was about to be raped," Jack commented, pressing the issue and enjoying watching Killian squirm at the mention of rape.
"I am aware," Killian replied, forcing a calm tone. "That's why there are so many coins in there. I took that into account when I figured out how to appropriately show my level of appreciation."
"Silver isn't-"
Killian cut him off. "Those aren't silver coins, Jack. Take a look." He smirked that the man wasn't able to hide his glee at discovering he was holding a bag stuffed with gold coins. "Feel properly appreciated?"
"Aye, Captain," he replied with gleaming eyes.
"Good." Killian then added, "Tell me we're also clear on the fact that no woman on this ship is to be touched that isn't willing."
Jack got a big cocky smirk on his face. "Never touched a woman that didn't want it, Captain. You're not accusing me of anything, are you?"
"No. I'm just making sure that's clear moving forward," Killian replied.
He watched Jack go sure of two things. One, the man wouldn't force Emma. He was too self-assured to condone lowering himself to anything like that. And that was where the second thing came in. He believed he could charm Emma into bed with him.
Killian laughed at the idea. Milah had given Jack a false sense of confidence. Killian knew she didn't go to Jack because he was handsome or charming. She went to him because it made her feel powerful. She liked the feeling she got sleeping around and getting the attention of all the men.
Mac smirked at Shorty and Murphy as they sat together as they were all off duty. "So, Emma's the screamer."
They all laughed, and Shorty replied, "Our Captain is known for his prowess. She seems to appreciate all of those skills he's fine-tuned."
Murphy nodded, "It could be loud at night on the ship."
"Surely, with the whole crew on board, they will be more discreet. I mean, that was while we were at Shore. I can't imagine Captain minding, but Emma would surely be embarrassed if she knew."
"Aye," Shorty agreed and then quickly added, "Not it!"
"What?" Mac asked.
"I'm not explaining to the Captain that we can hear Emma screaming while he gives it to her good," Shorty responded.
"Not-it!" Murphy screamed out, realizing what was happening.
"Awe shit," Mac grumbled. "Fine, I'll tell him discreetly.
Murphy then said, changing the subject, "Captain wants us to work with Emma, Mac. She wants self-defense training, and he just trusts the two of us. He said he would trust Shorty too, but his only knife skills are fileting fish."
Emma stepped into her previous room, and once the door locked, the space opened up into her larger one. She then worked to retrieve all of the things she had placed around the room and tucked them back into her magical dimensional pockets. She then worked the magic out of the room, restoring it to its original size.
Small room again. She heard the ship say to her.
She smiled and replied, "It's not my room anymore. Killian insisted I share the Captain's cabin with him. I thought you'd be pleased."
Very pleased
"So then why comment?" Emma enquired.
Happy. Like to hear the truth.
Emma thought about what the ship really meant, and it dawned on her. "You want me to talk about how glad I am to be with Killian. You're delighted."
Smart Emma. Happy?
"I feel free for the first time in my life. I feel like I could go anywhere and do anything, and I'm sorry, but it has nothing to do with you. It's not sailing that makes me feel free, although it does help. It's Killian." Emma's mood darkened for a moment. "He's a risk for me. I could find myself hurt and betrayed. But something tells me I have to risk everything, or I don't stand a chance at finding love and happiness. It might sound foolish, but that's my decision."
Lachesis smirked as she listened to Emma's conversation with the Jolly Roger. She was pleased her contribution to Killian and Emma's love story was making a difference. She refused to leave all the fun of interfering to her two sisters.
She was the Alloter, and most every other time, that meant the length of each individual life span. This time, she used her ability in a different way. She Allotted Emma infinite patience with certain stubborn portions of Killian. Namely, his revenge. She knew for sure what Emma couldn't. Killian would choose Emma over the Dark One's destruction every time. He wasn't a threat, so she made Emma choose to overlook her worries in that area every time.
