It was always you // discontinued

The Secret Passage

(Emma's POV)

I haven't seen Killian in a week. And to think that he might possibly care for me? Never.
He said he would come, but he failed to do so. I've barely made any human contact, only the occasional flirting of a guard. I haven't been given any food at all. It's cold in this dungeon as well, and I've seen my fair share of insects, bigger than I ever thought could have existed.

I sit in the corner of my cage, too tired and weak to move. I hear footsteps coming towards me, but I don't bother looking up.

"Emma..."

(Killian' POV)

She looks up at me, her eyes giving away the fact that she is tired. She has dark circles under them and they're puffy. She's much thinner than before, and I'm afraid she hasn't been given food.

"What do you want?" She glares up at me.

"I just... I'm sorry that I couldn't come down here sooner. The guards usually don't let me in, I had to bribe this one, and-" her cough is what silences me. She must have bronchitis or something of that sort. It hurts me to see her like this. "I'll be right back."

I walk back around the corner I came from, to where a single guard is standing up. "Do you happen to have the keys to the princesses' cell?" I ask him, a little too politely.

"Yes, but I have strict orders from the king not to give the keys to you. With all do respect." He says roughly.

Of course father didn't want me to be near her. This is infuriating.

"Right, not a problem." I smile humbly and walk behind him, as if pretending to leave. Instead, I unnoticeably grab the handle of his sword and pull it out of it's scabbard, the guard turns around confused and before he has a chance to say anything I run the sword directly through his throat, and twist it. He starts choking as pure red blood trickles through his armor. He falls to the ground, and to make sure he's dead, I run the sword through his throat again. This time I check his pulse and I smile slightly.

"I was never fond of him," I smirk to myself. I remember why I even killed him in the first place, and I take the keys off of a small hook on his waist. I walk back to Emma's cell and put the key through the keyhole.

"What are you doing?" She asks confused.

"Saving you, love."

"I don't need saving."

"Clearly you do." I open the cell door after unlocking it and I walk in cautiously. I stand in front of the weak princess and I hold my hand out to her. She looks at me suspiciously, then hesitantly puts her small hand in mine. I gently pull her up and she stumbles a little. I put my arm around her waist to help her regain balance. "Are you ready?" She nods her head even though I'm sure she doesn't know what I'm doing exactly.

I lead her slowly out of the cage to where the dead guard is, Emma looks at me questioningly and I nod my head as if to say, 'yes I murdered him'. Instead of walking up the flight of stairs that leads into the main part of the castle, I lead her down a dark corridor.

"Where are we going?" She asks, unsure.

"You'll see."

After walking along the corridor for some time, we reach a tapestry. It has a ship on it, and not just any ship, a pirate ship.

"I remember this..." Emma whispers as she tilts her head to look at the tapestry.

{flash back}

Emma and I ran down several flights of stairs while giggling to ourselves. We had found a secret passage way behind a tapestry of a sunset, just outside of my bedroom.

"You're so slow! Hurry up, Em!" I called out to her. Though, she was two years younger than me and had layers and layers of clothing, which made it harder for her to run.

"I'm coming!" She yelled to me while laughing insanely much.

Eventually, we landed at the bottom of the many stairs and were facing a wooden door. "Shall we see what's behind this?" I asked her, and she nodded enthusiastically. I opened the door and we both walked through the opening.

"Killy, where are we?" She asked innocently.

I smile wickedly to myself. "We're in the dungeons." Father and mother had never let me go down here because, as you can imagine, there was no pleasant company down here, unless you consider murderers and thieves pleasant, of course. I shut the door that we had just come through and I looked at the wall, covering the door was another tapestry. It had a ship on it, a large one, with massive masts. It was sailing across a roaring ocean, waves crashing everywhere, and lightning streaking the sky. "One day I want a ship like that." I pointed to the ship and Emma looked at it.

"What would you call it?" She asked in an amused tone.

I thought for a moment. "The Rolly Jodger." I shook my head, no, that didn't sound right. "Wait. The Jolly Rodger." I smiled, yes, that's it. That's what I would call my ship.

"I like that." She smiled. "Can this be our secret?"

"The ship, you mean?"

"The ship and the secret passage. We can come down here whenever we like, and only we will know about it."

"Brilliant."

{end flash back}

"The Jolly Rodger." Emma states. She really does remember. I smile slightly, recalling the many memories of us coming down here.

"And this is our way out," I pull the tapestry aside and open the familiar wooden door. "No one can see you or find out where you've gone, we can't risk it." She nods, understanding what I mean. I keep my arm around her, just in case she looses her balance or trips. We make our way up the many, many, stairs and I can hear her breath growing heavy. "We're almost there, love."

At last we make it to the top and we stop so that she can catch her breath. While she rests I open the door that leads into the hallway next to my bedroom. I look down the hallway on both sides to make sure no one is there, and much to my relief, there is no one. I take Emma's hand in mine and I can feel her flinch, but then give in. I gently pull her out of the passage way and into my bedroom.

"Are you alright?" I ask her, worriedly.

"It could be worse."

Then she does something, something I haven't seen her do for years.

She smiles.

||I'm not exactly sure how the 'Jolly Rodger' is spelled, so, sorry if I've been spelling it wrong! Please comment your opinion on this chapter:)||