Emma + Killian

A Captain and His Queen

Captain Swan historical AU. Contains Lieutenant Duckling flashbacks. Please comment your thoughts as you read :)

It had been nearly two years since Killian Jones had laid eyes on the immense oak doors that lead into the Great Hall. Killian felt dirty, disheveled, and heinously out of place. His dark hair was longer and untidy, falling into his eyes in locks of dirt-matted darkness, and his perpetual scruff had grown into a short, tangled beard. He scratched at it now, anticipation roiling within him like a storm. He had arrived at the castle almost an hour ago on horseback, the young woman, Belle, in front of him dozing with her head lolled onto his shoulder, her chestnut curls clinging to her fair skin. He had shaken her awake gently as they'd entered the gates. The guards had stopped them, as he knew they would, and demanded he identify himself and name his intentions. They looked upon him and his companion with suspicious eyes, but when he'd reached down his shirt and pulled out the royal seal that hung on a silver chain around his neck, declaring with a strength he'd clung to that he was Captain Killian Jones, shock had bloomed in their eyes and they'd helped Belle down from the horse. Within moments a group of young serving girls had come and helped his exhausted companion inside. Killian had refused their help, swinging himself from the horse and demanding to see the Queen. The stableboy took the horse away to be fed and watered, and more servants had bustled around him as he strode into the castle. He paid them no mind, swatting away their questions about bathing and food. Those things could wait. Right now, all he wanted to do was see her again. Through the months of hardship and torment, he had been kept alive only by the memory of the woman he loved, her pale face and large blue-green eyes dominating his dreams and every waking moment. So here he was, standing before the great doors that would let him see her again. He inhaled deeply, blowing out his breath as the guards opened the doors.

And there she was. Standing in front of a table, her blonde curls turned to spun gold by the sunlight that filtered through the window overlooking the sea. All Killian could do was stare. Her perfect fingers trailed over the map laid out before her, and she was so engrossed that she didn't even hear him enter. However the woman at her side, Ruby, the Queen's handmaid and closest friend, looked up as he entered. A smile pulled at the girls full lips and she nudged the Queen to get her attention, nodding at the door when the Queen looked back at her. The blonde angel turned, and her eyes met his. Those beautiful eyes widened in surprise and her full lips parted in shock.

"Killian..." her whisper carried across the room, the sound of his name on her lips more beautiful to him than any music.

"Emma..."

~~~~~~~~

Emma didn't like the market place. There were so many people everywhere, and the air was heavy with the scent of meat and the sound of clinking trinkets as they passed from one hand to another. Though she loved this time she got to spend with her parents outside the stone walls of their castle, she much preferred running down to the docks and through the gardens by herself, the fresh scent of salt air and adventure filling her from head to toe. She turned to her mother, Snow White, and tugged at her sleeve with all the patience an eight year old could muster. Even at such a young age, Emma knew her mother was beautiful. The Queen had raven hair that curled lazily around her fair cherub face, and a kind and warm heart that made her beloved throughout the kingdom. People were always saying Emma looked a lot like her mother, but Emma didn't think so. She had her father's blonde curls, but her mother said that her hair was sunlight instead of sand whenever she'd run the brush through it. Emma never understood what that meant, instead squirming and asking if she could go and play in the yard with the other children. Her mother would always give her a warm smile, kiss her on the forehead and tell her not to ruin her clothes, saying that she had her father's adventurous heart, too. Snow gave her that same smile now as Emma asked if she could go and explore. She looked at Emma's father, Prince Charming, and he ran a hand over Emma's head.