Killian's POV
Emma decided to stay with me the next day. She was looking around my great room while I practiced my sword fighting with a practice dummy. Every now and then, I'd catch her looking at me, but I didn't say anything. As I pushed myself harder, more sweat rolled down my face and made my hair come out of its hold. It would fall in front of my face, and it didn't matter how often I pushed it back, it always fell forward again.
I heard footsteps in the hallway outside of the great room, and I knew that I should hide Emma without her knowing I was doing so.
"Lass, why don't you go and prepare something for the both of us for lunch?" I asked. She smiled and nodded. But with that smile, I saw a hint of confusion. She disappeared into the kitchen and I waved my hand, and the two huge doors opened.
I was surprised to see The Evil Queen come in in her huge black and purple skirts. Her long hair curled and pinned up on the side of her head.
"Hook, I'm looking for someone," she began.
"Aren't we all?" I mumbled under my breath.
"She's the Princess of Misthaven. She destroyed my army yesterday and I need her out of the picture if I'm ever going to get my revenge."
"What makes me think I'm going to help you?"
"I can give you whatever you want."
"Nice offer, but I'm going to have to pass. I'm not in the mood to be making deals today. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to practice my battle skills."
I whacked the wooden dummy some more until Regina left. She vanished in a cloud of smoke and I finally put my sword down.
Emma's POV
I heard her voice. Regina. Rage and fear bubbled up in my chest at the same time. I heard her talking with Hook, and I heard how he wasn't telling her that I was here. Why? What did Hook even want from me?
I came back into the great room with sandwiches. I used whatever I could find, but it was a lot to pick from. There was a lot of space and food in the kitchen.
I put the plate down onto the table and Hook looked up at me as I did. I went over to the window and looked down. There was a beautiful ship bobbing up and down on the ocean waves. I gathered that that was the Jolly Roger. It had huge white sails, but that was all I could make out of it. I was too far away to see more of it.
"She's a magnificent ship," Hook said from behind me. I turned around and looked at him.
"I've never been on a real pirate ship before."
"I'll take you one day."
The Gods knew I was going to be here for awhile. But once Hook got tired of me, I'd be killed or cast away to a fate nobody could imagine. My parents were never going to see their daughter again, and this was all my fault.
"What are you thinking about, love?" He asked.
I shook my head. "Nothing." I felt the familiar burning sensation in my hands, and I quickly hid them behind my back.
"Then you should at least eat something," He said and held out a plate with a sandwich on it. When I didn't take it, he cocked his eyebrow at me. "Emma? Take the food."
"I uh, can't."
"Why not?"
I clenched my hands into fists. "I have to go." I started to head for the door, but I felt his fingers wrap around my wrist. The next thing I knew, a blinding white light knocked Hook backwards and he crashed into the wall. I gasped and covered my mouth with my hands in shock. "I'm sorry." I then ran away.
Killian's POV
Magic? She has magic? Of course she does! She's the daughter of the Truest Love. But why would she hide it from me?
"Emma! Where did you go? I'm not mad!" After looking in her room and finding it empty, I looked in every other room, but found them empty as well. There was one room left. The library.
As I went into the hallway, the library doors were closed, and light was seeping into the hallway through the cracks under the doors. I grabbed the handles but the doors wouldn't open. She must have blocked the door.
"Emma, cmon. Come out," I said and pressed my ear up against the door. I could always use magic to open the doors, but I wanted her to trust me and let me in willingly.
"Go away!"
"Love, it's alright."
"It's not alright!" Her voice cracked and I could tell she was crying. "I don't want to hurt you again."
"I'm the bloody Dark One. You can't hurt me. Only the dagger can. Come out. I can help you."
The light only seemed to glow brighter. "Don't fight with me! Leave me alone!"
"No! I won't because you obviously need my help!"
"I don't need you at all!"
I sighed. I knew she'd be stubborn. "Emma, come on. Just open the doors. I can help you control your powers."
"No. Just give me a minute. I'll be fine," she yelled a little too harshly.
"You asked for it," I mumbled under my breath and shot magic to the doors, forcing them open. The light was brighter than I ever expected. But, it was beautiful. "Emma." She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and I felt my heart clench. "Hey, darling." I held my hand out for her but she only looked at me. "You can't hurt me."
"Please, please, just go."
"Not a chance."
"Get out of here!" She yelled, and the windows in the room all shattered. I tackled her to the ground and shielded her body with mine. There was a burning sensation on my chest, but it wasn't painful. I looked down and her hands were glowing brightly. Both pressed on my chest.
She crawled out from under me and tried to run out of the room, but I raised my hand and made her immobile. She struggled against the magical force, but I wasn't going to let go. "Don't run away," I said sternly. "No one runs away from me." I walked up to her and faced her. Her attention focused on trying to escape. "Have you told anyone about your magic?"
"No. And you weren't supposed to find out either." She struggled in the magical bond. "Let me go!"
"Get yourself out of there."
"I can't."
"Use your emotions. Think about anything that made you mad. Use your anger to get you out of there."
I watched her stop struggling and she closed her eyes. Slowly, she lowered herself to the ground. When she was safely down on the ground again, she opened her eyes and a wide smile appeared on her face. "I did it!"
"See, love? I told you that you could get yourself out."
Emma looked down at her hands and her smile faded. "You will not speak about this with anyone."
I crossed my arms over my chest. "Why not? People should know that you aren't a woman to be crossed."
"I'm going to be cooped up in this castle for the rest of my life. It wont matter."
I avoided her eyes. "Let's go." I started to walk out of the room, and I could hear her footsteps following me.
For the rest of the day, Emma explored the castle. I would watch her through the crystal ball that I had, just to make sure she was still in the castle. I was working on potions and conjuring random things up, all because I was bored. I already planned to take Emma sailing tomorrow because it was getting late today. I knew that in my gut she would love it.
I could hear my name being called, but it wasn't Emma. I planned to ignore it, but the voice became louder. I clenched my eyes shut and pounded my fists on the table. I wrote a note, explaining that I would be back soon, and disappeared to the voice.
Emma's POV
I had to admit, the castle was huge. There were two dens, a study, a library filled with many books, it had everything. When I went back to the great room, Hook wasn't anywhere in sight. I saw a piece of paper on the table, and went over to it, finding out that he had left to run an errand.
I decided that this was the perfect time to escape. I couldn't stay here with a monster. I needed to get home. One day I was going to be queen, and my people needed to know that I was a strong woman. Not a weak princess that needed saving. I can save myself. I walked down the corridor in the direction of the entryway. When I got there, I nearly jumped out of my skin. There, Hook stood. A smirk on his face and his arms crossed over his chest.
"Don't tell me you were going to do a stupid thing and run away?" He asked. Instead of answering him, I pulled my sword from the scabbard on my hip and held it up to him. He waved his hand and disappeared. Out of instinct, I turned around, my sword still drawn. He gave me a wicked grin before waving his hand again. But when I turned around, Hook didn't stand there. Graham did. I lowered my sword and hugged him tightly. "You found me!"
But a warm smile wasn't on his face. He slowly took my sword out of my hand, and before I knew it, Hook was standing in front of me again. "Cmon, Emma. You're smarter than that." I felt my face grow red, so I raised my fist up and punched him in the nose. He held his nose, but blood didn't drip. Probably the Dark One thing. I started walking away, but I felt his hand close around my wrist. "I have to do this to you. My apologies, milady," he said and slipped a black cuff on my wrist. I was suddenly in a damp, dark room. The only light that came in was from the small window covered with bars. The heavy metal door closed and I got off the bed and looked out the small window in the door. Hook glanced at me one last time before walking away.
Killian's POV
"Good. You can't have your feelings wrapped up in all of this," the familiar voice said beside me. I looked over and saw the very first Dark One. Nimue.
"Why the bloody hell are you here?" I hissed.
"You are losing your Darkness."
"That's a good thing. I don't want it."
She giggled beside me. "Yes, you do. It's so much fun."
"Maybe for you."
"I am all Dark Ones, Hook. I know you like the feeling of being bad. Emma? She doesn't. She doesn't have any feelings for you. You will be nothing if you give into those feelings."
"Get out of my head!" I yelled.
Nimue giggled beside me again. "I'll be seeing you very soon, Killian."
She vanished beside me, and I felt anger flow through my veins. I didn't want to be a Dark One anymore. I wanted this burden to pass to someone else. But I wanted my life even more. I knew that I would be stuck with this forever. The only way to get rid of the curse, was for a kiss from my True Love, after all, true love can break any curse.