Captain Swan One Shots

A Chance at Love: Part 1/2

Summary: Princess Emma is being forced to marry Prince Neal. Unable to go through with it, she runs out of her wedding and escapes in a rowboat. Her father hires the pirate, Captain Killian Jones, to bring her back. But the feisty princess and snarky pirate don't exactly hit it off right away.

Rating: G

Note: This was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but it got too long so I broke it up into two parts. Part two will be posted in a couple of days. I hope you enjoy it! ~Steph

...A Chance at Love: Part 1/2...

Princess Emma stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her wedding dress was beautiful. It had a full skirt with beading all over it and the bodice. A sweetheart neckline left just enough to the imagination. A diamond encrusted crown sat atop her hair, which was piled into a mass of curls. She looked every bit the princess she was. But she found herself frowning at her reflection.

Her mother appeared by her side. "You look beautiful, sweetheart."

"I can't do this," she said softly.

Queen Mary Margaret sighed. "Emma, not this again. Please, it's your wedding day."

She turned to face her mother. "I don't want to marry Prince Neal. We've only met once and for only a few minutes. I don't love him."

"You will come to love him. This is what's best for our kingdom and our people. We can join two kingdoms together today. I know it's a sacrifice, but as royalty we must put the needs of our people ahead of our own."

Emma felt tears fill her eyes, as her father, King David, walked into the dressing room and smiled at his daughter.

"You look lovely, honey."

"Dad, I can't marry him," she said.

David glanced at his wife. "This again?"

Mary Margaret shrugged, as David approached Emma and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I know you wished to marry for love, but that is not possible when you're royalty. You've been betrothed to Prince Neal since before you were born. He is a good man. You will learn to love him."

"You and mom married for love," she countered.

"It was different for us," her father said, smiling at his wife. "Fate played a part in our union. As you know, I was out in the village market one day when I saw your mother. It was love at first sight."

The queen nodded. "I didn't know who your father was and he didn't realize who I was. We gave false names to each other. He pretended to be a simple blacksmith and I pretended to be a peasant. When you're royalty, it's difficult to know when someone is interested in you for you."

"We began a romance, but we were already betrothed to two people we had never even met. We planned to run away together, but we each knew we couldn't hurt our families or our kingdom in that way. We finally revealed our true identities to each other."

Mary Margaret smiled as she placed her hand in her husband's. "And when we did, we realized we were already betrothed to each other and didn't even know it."

Emma nodded at the story she'd heard a thousand times. "But it doesn't change the fact that you still married for love."

"Our point is that we were meant to be, so we would have fallen in love no matter what. The same can happen for you and Prince Neal," her mother said.

"You two were lucky. Not everyone is."

Suddenly, they heard music begin to play.

"It's time," King David said.