Treasure

Chapter 22

"You guys... I'm so sorry. He's not usually like this." Emma said to the crew.

"Don't worry about us ma'am, I'm sure we can all find something to do." Mr. Smee responded.

"Aye." The crew responded in a defeated tone.

They made their way off the ship to a nearby tavern for a well deserved meal and a drink. Only Killian and Emma were left on the deck. Her parents already left in the carriage. Emma was hoping that her mother was correcting her father's behavior.

"Killian... I'm sorry. This isn't the welcome home I was hoping for." Emma stated.

"It's alright love, if I were him I probably do the same. After all, I am nothing more than a pirate." Killian responded.

"You know that's not true..." She responded, placing his hand in hers.

"Aye, but that's how he sees me. Now it's my job to change that." He said more for himself.

"Come on, it's a long walk." Emma said, pulling his hand to follow.

As they made their way down the dock August was waiting for them.

    "August, you didn't head back to the castle with everyone else?" Emma asked, Killian's hand still in hers.

    "No, I thought I should keep you company." He responded, ignoring Killian's presence.

    "Very well then." The princess responded, not thinking too much of the situation.

August and Emma were making small talk, Killian didn't bother to listen as he was stuck in his own thoughts. He had to admit he was slightly jealous of August being here, taking attention away from him. Deep down he knew he shouldn't be. August has been with Emma practically her entire life, raising her when her parents couldn't. August was ten years older, so there was no chance for a romance. Right? Killian was twenty two, four years older than Emma. Would ten years make a difference? What bugged him most was how similar they looked. Both had muscular bodies, dark hair, slight stubble, and bright blue eyes. Everything Emma seemed to like in a man.

By now they were halfway there and Emma released his hand, making Killian more upset. Her show of affection was gone and all her attention was on August. Emma hadn't even acknowledged Killian's presence since they left the dock.

"So August, tell me how our alliances are doing." Emma insisted.

"Well Elsa was upset you couldn't make it, she's dying to teach you magic." He replied.

"Well if I ever do get magic I will probably go to her, she's had it since she was a little girl." The princess responded.

"What about Rumplestiltskin? He's by far the most powerful man." August asked.

"That may be true, but he uses magic for all the wrong reasons. If I ever do have magic I want to use it to help people. Not instill fear in people like he does." She responded, thinking hard about her answer.

"When I visited his kingdom, it seemed Belle was helping him become a better man. He seems to be trying." He responded.

"That woman is a saint. I don't know how she could marry a beast like him. I mean he enslaved her. She must be under some spell." Emma said without thinking of her words.

"Either way, we don't want to get on his bad side. Who knows what he'd do to Misthaven if we did... By the way, their son, Baelfire, has already put in a request to dance with you at any upcoming ball." August replied.

"He'll always be Neal to me, that nickname I gave him when we were younger. I don't see why he wants to dance, we've already tried a relationship and we were just better friends than suitors." Emma responded, almost forgetting Killian was there.

Jealousy and a hint of anger continued to enter Killian. The princess was completely ignoring him as if he wasn't even walking beside her. Then she and August start talking about magic, something he didn't even know she had. Something he felt she should have told him. Then about some man who captured a woman and held her hostage, same as he did to Emma. She even seemed disgusted by the topic, referring to the man as a beast. Did she forget that that's how they met? Would she soon refer to him as a beast? The thing that upset Killian most was when she started talking about another suitor she had. Sure he knew that she had men before him as he did women. But this man wanted to come back into Emma's life, then what? First he had August to worry about and now Baelfire. Maybe he should have just dropped her home and then left.

"Well this is it. Home sweet home." Emma interrupted his thoughts, referring to the castle's bridge.