What Could Have Been: A Once Upon A Time Fanfic

Chapter 3

Emma's mouth dropped open.
"Are you serious?" she gasped.
"Yes." Snow said excitedly. "Aren't you excited?"
"Mom, I barely know him!" Emma exclaimed.
"Oh, you two used to play together all the time." her mother replied.
"Yeah, used to. That was eight years ago! We've changed a lot since then. And you know how I feel about arranged marriages. It's not true love."
"Well, like you said, you barely know him. How do you know that it's not?"
"Because. . . It's just not!" Emma said, then stomped off.
"Emma!" Snow called after her. When she received no answer, she started to go after her daughter, but her husband stopped her.
"She has a point." he said.
"What are you talking about?" Snow asked.
"What if I had decided to marry Abigail instead of you? None of us would have ended up being very happy."
"But she was already in love, as were you. And I think Emma would end up being very happy."
"Don't you think that's for her to decide?"
"I think that she should at least give him a chance and see what happens."

❦ ❦ ❦ ❦

"And she wants me to marry him! Can you believe it?" Emma complained to her maid, Johanna, as she helped Emma with her corset.
Johanna had been Snow White's maid when she was younger, and now she was Emma's. Her normally red hair had begun to turn grey, but that was the only thing about her appearance that had changed.
"I'm sure she means no harm, Your Majesty." Johanna said. "She's just anxious to see you happily married, is all."
"She can't know that I'd be happy with Maverick." Emma said as she was helped into a dark blue dress.
"Besides, I'm not ready to be married yet." she added.
"Your Majesty, might I offer some advice?" Johanna asked.
"Yes, of course, Johanna." Emma replied.
"If your heart is telling you that this isn't the right young man, I believe that you should listen to it. Even if everybody wants you to make the easy decision. The easy decision can seem to be better at the time, but it often leads to unhappiness."
"Thank you, Johanna." Emma said, hugging her maid.

❦ ❦ ❦ ❦

That night, after Emma had been in bed for a while, she got up and went to her parent's bedroom door. She placed her ear against it and listened to see if they were asleep. When she was sure that they were, she went back to her bedroom and gathered up a pillow and a blanket. Then she reached under the bed and grabbed a long rope she kept hidden there. She opened the doors that led to a little space that overlooked part of the grounds, and stepped out into the cool night air. She took the rope and tied it to one of the rails on the edge of the platform. She tossed the other end over the edge and watched as it fell all the way to the ground. Then Emma tossed the pillow and blanket over the edge as well, and she began to climb down the rope towards the ground. She was glad that it wasn't windy, because that would make it difficult to keep a hold on the rope. She breathed a sigh of relief as her toes touched the dewy grass. Emma felt something cold slap the top of her foot and she screamed. Quickly slapping her hand over her mouth, she looked down and saw that it was only a frog. The frog croaked and leapt off of her foot back into the grass. She hoped her parents hadn't heard her scream, but she was pretty sure they hadn't. She pocket up the couple pieces of bedding and made her way to the stable. Emma often snuck out to the stable to sleep when she was upset or just needed to think. It seemed to help calm her nerves. She opened the large doors and slipped inside, quickly closing the doors behind her. She took one of the lanterns from near the doors and lit it. She picked it up and went to one of the empty stalls. Setting the lantern in one corner, Emma gathered some clean hay and made herself a little makeshift bed. She plopped the pillow onto the pile of hay and laid down, pulling the blanket over herself. She looked up to see Swan looking down at her from the next stall over.
"You look really funny from down here." she giggled.
The horse cocked its head as if to ask 'Why are you sleeping here?'
"It's okay, Swan." Emma said. "I'm just gonna sleep here tonight, okay?"
The mare nickered and then laid down in her hay.
Emma turned the flame in the lantern down and then fell asleep.

Emma was awoken suddenly by a thumping sound. Thinking it was just one of the horses, she closed her eyes to go back to sleep. But she heard it again, and it was coming from above her. From the hayloft. And it sounded like human footsteps. She listened closer, and she could tell that they were headed towards the ladder that came down from the hayloft. She quietly got up and snuck over to the ladder, hiding behind it. She was glad she was barefoot, because it was easier to sneak across a wood floor that way.
When Emma saw the person begin to descend the ladder, she waited a few seconds before shouting, "Hey!"
The person was obviously startled because they jumped and fell, landing on their back. They let out a groan, and it sounded like a man. Emma grabbed a riding crop and placed it against the man's throat. She hoped that with how dark it was, that the man wouldn't be able to tell that it wasn't a sword.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Emma asked in a commanding tone. The man only chuckled and she felt something cold hook around her ankle. Then whatever it was gave a hard jerk and Emma's leg was pulled out from under her and she fell to the floor with a squeal. Before she could get up, the intruder got to his feet and held an actual sword to her throat.
She looked up at him, but all she could she was a dark figure that appeared to be wearing a long coat.
"The name's Killian Jones." the man said. She saw him raise his other hand. Only, it wasn't a hand. Where his hand should be, there was a shiny, silver hook.
"But most people call me Hook." She could hear the smirk in his voice. "Now, on your feet!" he ordered as he removed the sword tip from her throat.
Emma got up off of the floor and glared at Hook.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Oh, I'm sure that's none of your business, now, is it?" he replied mockingly.
"Actually, it is. This stable belongs to my parents, the King and Queen."
"Is that so?" Hook asked. "You're the princess?"
Emma placed her hands on her hips. "That's right." she replied smugly.
"That's all I needed to hear." Hook said menacingly.
Emma was about to ask what he meant, but barely had the time to open her mouth before she was struck in the back of the head by a man in a red cap and she slumped to the floor, unconscious.