Episodes 3x21-3x22

"Partner"

Emma was losing count of all the bizarre things happening, from seeing Regina in full Evil Queen mode to interrupting her parents' first meeting to seeing Rumplestiltskin in all his Dark One glory.

The only way she could keep herself from losing it was to do her best to roll with the punches.

Even when it came to literal punches, like Hook knocking out his past self.

Interacting with him—the man he was before they met—was surreal. It was not Emma's first time playing honeypot, flirting and flaunting herself as part of a larger strategy. But this time, her goal was not to trap or trick her target, just distract him.

It was actually a little fun, getting to flirt so openly and share games and drinks with him, as if they were strangers with no baggage between them. It was shallow, though, without the mutual understanding that made up her connection with present-day Hook.

But he clearly wanted more from her. And what surprised her the most about that was her Hook's vehement reaction. After everything he had said about minimizing their impact on people at this point in time, Hook's solution to getting them out of that entanglement—in a way, protecting her from himself—was to incapacitate his younger self.

Hook looked at his past self with such disgust, almost loathing. When had he developed such feelings for himself?

"You didn't have to do that," Emma told Hook as they hurried away from the Jolly Roger. "I could have handled it."

He gave her a sideways glance. "Perhaps. But were you going to?"

She hoped her stolen cloak's hood hid her blush. Kissing the past Hook while keeping an eye on the present Hook had to have been one of the weirdest, most awkward moments of her life; she did not want to think about what it was like for him to see it. "I was waiting for you to leave!"

"Well, I didn't want to wait for you to leave. He may have been drunk, but he wouldn't have let you get away easily. You probably would have had to do the same to him as I did." He shrugged at her incredulous expression. "It wouldn't have been the first time you knocked me unconscious."

That was true, but things had changed between them since those occasions. Emma may not have cared for Hook as much as he did for her, but he was her friend and ally. She did not want to hurt him, even at a point in his life when he might have deserved it.

Despite the different circumstances, kissing him had reminded her of Neverland, and their conversations afterward.

"When I win your heart, Emma—and I will win it—it will not be because of any trickery. It will be because you want me."

The man who had said that was as far removed as possible from the man who now lay senseless on the floor of the captain's quarters. Emma had been the one using trickery, and unlike the Hook she knew, this one did not care a whit about her as a person.

It was a relief to get out of there, one way or another.

The next bizarre development was Rumplestiltskin, the father of Emma's first love, dressing her up like a princess and sending her to a ball with his sworn enemy Captain Hook.

Why couldn't he have disguised them as guards or servants so they could keep a low profile while they infiltrated the palace? Did he know how uncomfortable Emma was with the idea of being a princess, and want to revel in her discomfort?

Hook did not protest much—he probably welcomed the opportunity for the two of them to act like a couple, even if it was just a cover for their espionage. When he offered Emma his arm, she accepted it, hoping it did not look like she was holding on to a lifeline.

Emma had never even been to a school dance. She had never been in a single school long enough to feel comfortable attending such a high-pressure social event. She had not even been to many parties with dancing; she had had no friends to invite her. The only place where she might have danced as an adult was in nightclubs, and that was definitely not the kind of dancing that would go over well here.

She tried to convince herself that her red dress was like her red leather jacket, a form of armor to protect herself.

She remembered Snow reminiscing—mourning, really—about the life she had wanted to give Emma. "I was going to show you how to dress for your first ball …"

Why was this something a parent would want their child to experience? Was it like sending a teenager to the prom, seeing them dressed up and realizing how grown-up they were? If so, she was way overdue.

"What's the big deal about these things?" she asked Hook as they cut their way through the clusters of people chatting. He had been right about the grandeur of it all: the guests were gorgeously dressed, and Midas' palace practically glittered in the candlelight.

She stopped short and gaped when she saw the couples dancing. Despite the clothes that she found so restrictive, they moved with incredible grace, all perfectly in sync.

"You were saying?" Hook whispered teasingly.

The next thing she knew, he was leading her onto the dance floor and offering his prosthetic hand. She could not really argue—they were supposed to blend in, and if they were not going to make small talk with the other guests, dancing was the best way to appear busy.

"There's only one rule," Hook told her as he showed her how they were meant to hold on to each other. He met her eyes with a smile, as charming as ever, but also reassuring, like a promise. "Pick a partner who knows what he's doing."

Then they were dancing—slowly at first, then catching up with the other couples' speed, until their movements were synchronized with the others'.

Emma hoped that David never found out about this. If he had raised her, she probably would have had her first dance with him. And if he knew that her partner for her first ball was a pirate … well, maybe he would not mind so much, since he and Hook had learned to get along pretty well.

Emma told herself it was no big deal. She had followed Hook's lead in Neverland because he knew his way around that place. Dancing with him was just following his lead in a more intimate, kinesthetic way.

She had to admit, he was pretty good at the waltz. It was hard not to be encouraged when he was smiling so broadly at her, his face so close to hers. Clearly, he relished getting to do something as romantic as dancing at a ball with her. Or maybe he enjoyed seeing her flustered like a fish out of water, and being the one to show her how to do things.

It amazed her how at ease he was in this situation. He was a pirate, and from what she had gathered, he had not come from a high-class background.

On their first adventure together, Hook had said that he was always a gentleman. But his words and behavior toward Emma, Snow, Belle, and other women had shown that that was not quite accurate.

Now, though, he was behaving like a real gentleman, and treating her like a real princess—not like he was flirting or currying favor, but like she was someone dignified, and he was showing the respect due to her. Not many people in her life—especially men—had even treated her with basic decency, like she deserved respect just because she was a human being.

She supposed she could see how people in this land would fall for one another in this kind of setting. It was nice to be with someone who made you feel special, to hold someone close and move in sync with them.

As the dance progressed, Emma gained new confidence. She could not help feeling proud as she managed to repeat the choreography.

If she had not been keeping an eye out for David, she might have been carried away by the music.

It turned out to be a good thing they were at the ball. As Snow made her escape, Emma knocked down a Black Knight trying to shoot her with an arrow.

Then, to her dismay, Emma found the ring Snow had dropped. She had never held it herself, though she had seen Mary Margaret wear it ever since they met each other. Mary Margaret had moved it to her ring finger after the curse broke and she remembered that she was married. David had said that it once belonged to his mother, Emma's grandmother.

Clutching the ring in her fist, Emma ran back to the ballroom while Hook held off more guards on the parapet. Maybe she could steal a horse, catch up with Snow, and give her the ring.

But Emma's dress slowed her down, and by the time she reached the ballroom, the knight she had knocked down also ran in and denounced her for helping Snow White.

The next thing Emma knew, she was seized by more Black Knights and forced to face Regina—only it was not the Regina she knew.

She could not look around to see if Hook had returned—that might give him away and lead to his arrest too. But as soon as the guards pulled her away from the staring assembly, she slipped the ring into the bodice of her dress, just in case they searched her.

As they forced her into a cage-like carriage, Emma had a momentary flashback to when she was arrested as a teenager. That time, she had been more emotionally devastated, because her partner in crime had betrayed and abandoned her; but all she had been in danger of was imprisonment for a matter of months.

This time, Emma knew that her accomplice was on her side; but he could not help her, and the stakes were far higher, putting her very life in question.

During the journey, the huge red ballgown that Rumplestiltskin had conjured for her turned into a white dress and dark cloak; her hair, too, fell out of the fancy updo and tiara, replaced by a simple headband. It was like Cinderella's carriage changing back into a pumpkin at midnight.

So much for playing princess.

Author's Notes

Magic was the only plausible explanation I could think of for how Emma changes from her red ballgown to the white dress and cloak she has, and how neatly styled her hair looks, at the start of the next episode. Regina and her guards certainly wouldn't have given her a change of clothes and a headband!

This chapter was an unexpected development; I only meant to cover the dance scene, but ended up exploring the scenes before and after as well. It's a fun challenge for me to get inside Emma's head during these strange, multilayered scenes. Writing from Hook's point of view is much more straightforward because he's unambiguous about his feelings and motives. Writing from Emma's point of view is more complicated because she tends to ignore or deny her true feelings.