Captain Swan One Shots

The Tavern

I call this "I've been MIA for the past 4 months and don't have an excuse so here, have 2.7k words of captain swan to make up for it" *hides*
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Regina convinced Robin Hood not to rob them by what could only be described as seducing him. This left Emma alone on the beach, missing her family. In particular the one who got her through most things; Killian.

Hell, it's not like they were getting home any time soon anymore. So she left, in search for whatever version of her true love this world held.

She found him in a bar. Of course. Because no matter what realm, what world, what age, Killian would be Killian, and a pirate needed his rum.

This version of her pirate, 30 years older than she knew him, hair greyed, eyes older -sadder, somehow- still managed to take her breath away.

He may have been bordering on 65, but the man was still gorgeous.

Is this what he was going to look like in the future? Suddenly, more than ever, Emma wanted to see it. To grow old, fight her supposed fate, to see the man she loved grow old and to grow along with him.

Pulling her hood over her head to conceal her identity, Emma forced herself to approach Killian. He sat alone in the back of the tavern, a beer that had barely been touched in front of him.

Whatever had happened to him over the past 30 years couldn't have been in his favour, Emma thought.

Hesitantly, she took a seat across from him. "What's a pirate like you doing here, away from his ship?" She asked quietly.

"Sorry, love. I think you've got the wrong man... pirate... haven't been one of those in years," he replied in a voice that was oh so familiar to Emma. She called it his "I'm hiding something but I can't tell you because I've convinced myself you'll hate be if you know what it is" voice.

"Once a pirate, always a pirate thought, right?" She answered, using his own words.

"Until you're not. So let me be, before we run into trouble, lass," he started to get up.

"Killian, wait!" She grabbed him arm in an attempt to make him sit down.

He stared at her in awe. "How do you know my name?" He demanded in a harsh whisper.

"I know a lot. I know so much more. Please. Just trust me, okay? Sit down. I need to talk to you... Killian."

He sat down slowly, suspiciously.

"You appear to know who I am, and yet you're still hiding under that hood." He said, his brow furrowed in suspicion. Emma could tell he was ready to bolt at any second.

"Because if people found out who I am... if you found out... you'd be gone right now."

"Remove the hood or remove yourself from this tavern." He threatened.

Slowly, Emma took of her hood with a sigh, revealing her face to him.

He stared at her for a beat before panic visibly appeared in his blue eyes, greyed by age.

"You're the princess. Your parents sent you here. They've tracked me down, haven't they? I've done no harm in years, just let me be in peace," he begged, moving to get up again.

"I'm not here because of my parents! I... left them." Emma said as calmly as she could, but the desperation she felt was evident in the way her voice broke.

"That's quite hard to believe given your family's history."

Emma sighed, exasperated. "You had a brother named Liam, and you loved a woman named Milah. Your father died because the evil queen tricked you into killing him. He named his son after your brother. You're afraid of dying without getting vengeance on the man that cost you your hand and who killed your love. Your favourite time of the day is the sunrise. It calms you, makes you feel like you aren't alone in this world. You feel the sun is a constant in your life, always there with you, like no one else ever could be," she whispered, reaching across the table and taking his hand.