A Happy Beginning

Chapter Four

Hey babes! Again, thank you for all the positive feedback on my last three chapters. Your enthusiasm for this story has boosted mine and I really couldn't thank you enough. I was in such a big writing mood when I finished chapter three and I decided it would be more productive if I took advantage of that energy and continue. So, here's chapter four, only a day after I already updated, lol. I hope you all don't mind too much ;) Anyway, I hope I do these characters and story justice, and I hope you stick with me until the very end. It's going to be one hell of a ride.

"Emma, what are you saying?"

"I don't---I can't watch Leia go through, well," she looked up and down at herself, "This."

"You can't actually be serious?"

"Killian," she pleaded, her bottom lip trembling.

He let go of her arm, "She's destined to become the Savior. Just like you were. Why would you ever want to take that away from her?"

"You really think being the Savior is so great?! You think it's been easy for me?! You haven't been through it, you don't know what it's actually like! Sure, lots of good things have come from it, but what about all the bad? Being the Savior meant putting everyone's life before my own, putting myself in danger for the town, fighting battles I didn't know if I would survive. Killian, being the Savior meant not getting my happy beginning and a certain death wish until just a few years ago. I would never stop being the Savior, but that's because I didn't have a choice and I still don't - it was too late when I found out. Too many lives depended on me taking up this role. But Leia? It's not too late for her. She can have a normal life. A life that doesn't involve magic, and villains, and final battles. She can have a life where she doesn't have to worry about fighting for other's happiness, just her own. I don't want my daughter to live in fear of whether she'll lose her life during her next battle or not," Emma's last few words were barely audible over her sobs.

Killian did not have to say much for Emma to know that what she had just said had hurt him, "How dare you say that I haven't been through it?"His voice cracked, "Bloody hell, Swan. Yes, I'm not a Savior, nowhere near one, actually, but I've been by your side through it all. The villains, the battles, the magic...it's affected your life just as much as it has mine. You wanna know why, Emma? Because you are my life. How do you think it felt having to stand on the sidelines while you got impaled to death? How do you think I felt knowing how broken you were when being the Savior meant not getting your happy ending?" Killian was now shouting between cries, his cheeks stained with tears, "Every time you felt hurt, broken, or scared about facing the reality that came along with being the Savior, I wanted nothing more than to take your place just so you didn't ever have to feel that pain again. You're the reason I live and breathe, Em, you and the kids. So, don't ever say that I haven't been through it again."

"I'm sorry," was all Emma could manage to say, "I didn't mean it like that." They both knew each other far too well to know that fighting about it was not going to get them anywhere.

"I know," Killian sighed, wiping his tears away with the back of his hand, "C'mere," he whispered and pulled Emma into a hug, wrapping his arms tightly around her small frame. Emma had always considered Killian to be her home so there was no better way to comfort her than to be wrapped in his arms. The smell of his sweet, woody cologne always soothed her beyond belief; so much so that, on nights when she needed a pick me up and her husband was not around for whatever reason, she would fall asleep wearing one of his many oversize shirts he kept around just for her, which all smelled just like him.

Emma curled up into his embrace, holding her hands closed to her core, allowing him to rock her back and forth. Killian rested his chin on her head and combed his fingers through her hair.