Never Letting Go || CS

Chapter 26: Neverland

That night, Emma couldn't sleep. The rest of the crew had been asleep for hours, including Hook. She had made sure he was fully asleep before she slipped out of the covers.

She was now standing on the top deck, staring at the star-filled sky. There was a gentle breeze caressing her exposed skin, and the moonlight illuminated everything it touched.

She had too much on her mind to sleep, and didn't want to bother Killian with her problems. He thought she was going to be alright now that she had stopped crying, but that wasn't the case. Emma was anything but alright. She leaned her elbows on the side of the ship and stared down at the sea, which looked like ink due to the time of night.

Yet another tear managed to slip down her cheek and it landed in the murky waters below. She sighed lightly. Emma was sick of crying. It hurt her so much that her father would even consider disowning her. Killian and the crew were her only family now, and although that was a wonderful feeling, the pain of losing her parents still hurt a lot. She couldn't help but replay her father's words in her head. As soon as you step outside of those gates with him, you are no longer considered my daughter.

Emma let out an unintentional sob. "After my brother passed, all I could do was relive that final terrible moment, and I think that's what you're doing now. Don't do that to yourself, love." Emma jumped. Killian had managed to slip onto the top deck without her noticing. He was now stood right behind her, so close she could feel his breath on her neck.

"How did you know that?" Emma asked, amazed at how well he knew her. "Open book, remember?" Emma let out a small chuckle. "Right." She pushed herself upright and turned around, their faces inches apart. He took her hand and led her to the middle of the deck and proceeded to lay down, pulling her down with him. "What are you doing?"

"Showing you the stars, love." Emma smiled softly. He wanted to distract he from the thought of her mother and father so, for the rest of the night, Killian pointed to various different constellations and named them for her. "And that," Killian said, pointing to another constellation, "Is Cygnus, you see? It's like a swan. It's always been my favourite, I don't know why, but now it has a lot more meaning to me." Emma chuckled and shook her head slightly. She pushed herself upright onto her left elbow, leaning know it so she could see Killian better. He did the same and leaned in and kissed her softly.

The kiss soon got heated and killian was now leaning over Emma,  who was laying flat on the wooden floor. "You. Are. So. God. Damn. Beautiful." Killian said between kisses, making Emma giggle. "I love you." She told him. "I love you more."

"I highly doubt that." Emma said with a giggle. "Oh really?" Killian sat up and had a mischievous glint in his eyes. He began tickling her stomach and she writhed and laughed loudly. "Stop! Stop it!" She yelled between breaths. "Only if you say I love you more."

"Never!" Emma shouted. She tried to escape, but he just pinned her down an tickled her some more. "Say it." Killian was laughing too. "Okay okay! You win." He stopped tickling her. "Say it."

She sighed. "You love me more. Not really." She muttered the last part to herself. "What was that last part?" Killian asked jokingly. "Oh nothing." Emma mimicked one of his smirks and stood up. Killian chuckled and stood up with her. His smile suddenly dropped, "I want you to know that I love you more than words can describe. I didn't know it's possible to love someone as much as I love you." Killian said with the utmost sincerity in his voice.

"I love you too, so much. I have no idea how you came to love someone like me, but I am forever thankful that you did." Emma told him with tears in her eyes, treasuring this perfect moment under the stars with the man she loved with all her heart. The months she had spent with him had been the best in a long time. "How could I not love you." Emma smiled and blushed. "Come on, we better get some sleep." Emma followed Killian back to their cabin and they fell asleep in each other's arms, basking in one another's presence.

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The next day, the whole ship was up at dawn, awaiting orders from their captain. Today was the day they were heading to Neverland. Hook had a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach, but ignored it. "Killian, are you alright?" Emma asked as she took his hand. "Of course, love. Why wouldn't I be." He smiled to convince her that he was alright. "Don't try and lie to me, I know you too well." She stated with a frown.

Killian chuckled softly and shook his head, looking down at Emma lovingly. "Indeed you do, but it's nothing to worry about. I'm alright."

"What aren't you telling me?" Emma asked stubbornly. "I've already told you, Swan. I'm just worried about what we'll face once we reach Neverland." Killian was getting agitated with Emma's persistence. He couldn't tell her. After preaching for years about the wrongs of cowardice, here he was lying to his Swan's face. He was scared, though he wouldn't admit it to himself. "No, that's not it." She stated confidently. Hook sighed and took his hand out of Emma's to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"We need to get going." Hook said curtly, avoiding Emma who was glaring at him accusingly. "If you're gonna be like that, fine. I was just trying to help you. I care about you, that's all." Emma snapped and walked away from Killian.

Killian shook his head, "Right men. Is the ship prepared for the mission?" Hook asked his crew loudly, to which they all shouted "Aye!"

"Good! Now, everyone hold on to something and prepare to enter the portal." The men scrambled around hastily, grabbing onto anything secure that they could find. Men lined the sides of the ship, gripping on tightly. Emma clung onto the mast tightly. When Hook was sure everyone would be alright, he threw the bean into the ocean a couple of meters away from the ship.

At first the water started swirling slowly, then it built up and up until there was a whirlpool in the water that was glowing green. The Captain steered his ship into this swirling mass and held onto the wheel tightly. The ship rocked violently as they descended into darkness.

All of a sudden, the movement stopped, and the crew got up to see if they had arrived. Emma stood up and went to look, curious as to what Neverland looked like. Not too far ahead was a lush green mass of land that Emma could presume was their destination. It looked like a small tropical island, and totally harmless.

Emma smiled at the excitement of visiting a new land. Suddenly, Emma heard the metallic sound of swords being unsheathed. She turned around to see the crew's swords pointed at a small group of boys, no older than fifteen. She frowned in confusion as to why the men were being so hostile towards these young boys. What confused her more was that the boys looked surprisingly calm, smug, almost. "No need to be so hostile, we didn't come here to fight." What appeared to be the leader stepped forward and held his hands up in mock surrender. He had curly blonde hair that covered his forehead and he was wearing a green hood. "What do you want, Felix?" Hook spat, making no effort in trying to hide his distaste for the boy.

Felix glanced at all the men, but did a double take when Emma caught his eye. "Well look what we have here. A new crew member, and a girl. Or is she just one of your many bar wenches, captain?" Felix asked smugly as he approached Emma. "Keep away from her." Hook warned.

A twisted smile spread across Felix's face, marring his features. "Ah I see. The infamous, cold hearted Captain Hook had gone soft for a woman." Hook laughed mockingly. "I'm far from soft, mate."

"But you care about her, no?" Felix raised an eyebrow in question. Hook laughed sarcastically again, "Of course not. I just don't want another crew member's life taken by you."

"What's your name, girl?" Of course, Felix knew her name, Pan had told him, but he was just playing with them. "Emma. Emma Swan." She said confidently.

"Well, Emma. Welcome to Neverland."

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a/n gosh I haven't updated this in over a week! I'm so sorry! School has given me a mountain of homework and I've been so busy with it, I haven't had time to write. I'm not too proud of this chapter, but I think it will do. You'll be glad to hear this is the last filler chapter for now. Thankyou so much for taking the time to read this fanfiction, you honestly have no idea how much it means to me <3

Happy belated birthday to Colin O'donoghue :D