"Just don't tell your mom, Henry." I reminded him for the fourth time as we paddled down the river on our small and oddly shaped vessel.
"Aye aye Captain!" he responded with such fervor that I couldn't help but grin. He had taken so wholeheartedly to sailing that when we came upon this particular form of boating I couldn't help but say yes to the boys begging. I suppose it helped that when he grinned pleadingly his eyes looked exactly like his fathers and his hopeful face had 'Emma' written all over it. I was hopeless against this form of trickery. We were rushing down the river in our inflatable raft doing something called "white water rafting". I had never heard of it in the old world but the man who rented us the small craft and these handy life vests told us that it was simply an extreme kind of boating that was, and I quote, "totally awesome". We moved out craft down the river and even I would admit that the quick moving, tossing vessel was exhilarating to ride. Henry whooped and hollered at ever buck, every twist and every spray of water that had us soaking wet. We reached a rather slow stretch and put down out paddles to rest our arms, looking up at the scenery. The River ran between two cliffs that were so tall it had my mouth open in awe. Suddenly Henry jumped. "Did you see that?" He asked excitedly.
"What?" I instantly was on the prowl for Zelena, hand on my weapon ready to strike at a moment's notice. I wouldn't let her near the boy.
"Up there on that cliff by the next turn in the river! There was a puff of purple smoke! Do you think someone's letting off fireworks or something?" Purple smoke. Regina. Thank God. I eased my pose and looked at the boy in confusion.
"Yes. Most certainly fireworks." I added, wondering just how common that was in this world. Apparently pretty common as the boy was now looking away acting entirely nonchalant. I grabbed my spyglass and looked downriver towards where Regina was. Emma was there. I grinned happily at the sight of my Swan until I noticed her expression. Scared. Boarder line terrified. She was yelling something at Regina and when I moved my spyglass back towards the witch I saw her hands out held, ready to cast some sort of spell. And then, in a moment that sent my heart racing and my hand to my oar, I saw the bridge start to collapse.
"Swan!" Regina was trying to kill Emma. I didn't know why nor did I understand up that witch was going to kill my Swan and I had to stop it. "Paddle boy!" I yelled as we made our way more slowly than I thought possible towards the bridge.
"What about my mom?" He called as he started hurriedly paddling. Not fast enough. Emma was hanging on by the rope which I could see was fraying. As we would never make it in time. Come on Swan! I though praying she could hear me. Magic. You can fix this. But she fell. She was descending as if in slow motion towards the rocky deathtrap of a river bed. We weren't even half way there and there was no way we could get to her in time. That's when it happened. The bridge stopped falling. The pieces came back together with her standing on top of them. They held her aloft and slowly floated back to the cliffs edge where Regina stood. My gods, I thought to myself. She was brilliant. Bloody brilliant. The amount of power that flowed through her veins was incredibly. I smiled as she stepped of the deathtrap bridge and stood next to Regina. I looked down at Henry triumphantly and realized that he was staring at me concerned. Of course. He had missed the whole thing.
"Um, Killian, what just happened? Is my mom up there?"
"Oh, right. Your mother was on the bridge and I thought she was going to fall but she righted herself now and all is well."
"My mom almost fell? Is she okay? Is she with anyone? Oh no-does she know we were here? She's going to kill us!"
"She is right as rain dear boy and she didn't see us." The purple smoke billowed from the cliff top once more and I smiled down at him. "Come on mate, let's get you back to your mother." He grinned and we paddled to our end point down the river where the young man who had given us the raft helped us out and into his truck.
"You like my mom." Henry said calmly.
"What are you talking about?" I asked wondering where he had come up with such an idea. Was Swan talking about me? Did she say something to him? My heart beat quickly as I waited for his reply.
"When you thought she was going to fall, you yelled her name. You were doing everything you could to save her. You're always staring at her and you take care of her kid without any motive or payment."
"I have no idea what you are talking about." I decided Emma wouldn't want me to drag her son into this if she was truly planning on returning to New York. Besides, with a curse on my lips it wasn't as though I could entice her to stay anyway. "If you saw a person falling wouldn't you do whatever you could to save them no matter what? And I enjoy spending time with you. You remind me of your father whom I cherished deeply. And I do not always stare at her."
"Yes you do."
"I do not."
"You totally do!"
"I haven't the slightest idea what you are talking about." He sighed and turned back to his little handheld phone playing some game that I couldn't see the point of. We journeyed back into downtown Storybrooke in silence where we just caught a glimpse of Emma entering Granny's. I handed the boy a couple gold coins and his eyes widened substantially as we jumped out of the truck and he turned to run into the café. Suddenly he turned around and grinned at me.
"It would be okay, you know. If you did like my mom. I think she likes you too and besides, you're WAY cooler than Walsh. He only ever hung out with me when he was trying to impress my mom. And then we just played video games. You do cool stuff like take me sailing, or teach me how to cheat at dice. If you wanted to date her, I would be okay with that." And with that little speech he ran in and hugged his mother. A bittersweet smile graced my face. I had the boy's permission. He liked me and said that Emma liked me too. He told me that I would be welcome in his life and in hers. I should be jumping in joy. I touched my lips and reminded myself why it would never work. Villains don't get happy endings. I was about to turn when Emma ran out of Granny's.
"Killian!" She called out. I turned and looked at down at her. "Thanks for taking Henry today. He's going on and on about what a great time you two had today." I forced a smile and nodded.
"Of course, Swan. Anytime. I enjoyed his company as well." Henry raced out being chased by his grandfather, laughing happily and Emma turned to watch grinning. They were a family. And I could ruin everything. I turned around and slowly walked back to the docks and muttered under my breath.
"Damn you, Zelena."
"Aye aye Captain!" he responded with such fervor that I couldn't help but grin. He had taken so wholeheartedly to sailing that when we came upon this particular form of boating I couldn't help but say yes to the boys begging. I suppose it helped that when he grinned pleadingly his eyes looked exactly like his fathers and his hopeful face had 'Emma' written all over it. I was hopeless against this form of trickery. We were rushing down the river in our inflatable raft doing something called "white water rafting". I had never heard of it in the old world but the man who rented us the small craft and these handy life vests told us that it was simply an extreme kind of boating that was, and I quote, "totally awesome". We moved out craft down the river and even I would admit that the quick moving, tossing vessel was exhilarating to ride. Henry whooped and hollered at ever buck, every twist and every spray of water that had us soaking wet. We reached a rather slow stretch and put down out paddles to rest our arms, looking up at the scenery. The River ran between two cliffs that were so tall it had my mouth open in awe. Suddenly Henry jumped. "Did you see that?" He asked excitedly.
"What?" I instantly was on the prowl for Zelena, hand on my weapon ready to strike at a moment's notice. I wouldn't let her near the boy.
"Up there on that cliff by the next turn in the river! There was a puff of purple smoke! Do you think someone's letting off fireworks or something?" Purple smoke. Regina. Thank God. I eased my pose and looked at the boy in confusion.
"Yes. Most certainly fireworks." I added, wondering just how common that was in this world. Apparently pretty common as the boy was now looking away acting entirely nonchalant. I grabbed my spyglass and looked downriver towards where Regina was. Emma was there. I grinned happily at the sight of my Swan until I noticed her expression. Scared. Boarder line terrified. She was yelling something at Regina and when I moved my spyglass back towards the witch I saw her hands out held, ready to cast some sort of spell. And then, in a moment that sent my heart racing and my hand to my oar, I saw the bridge start to collapse.
"Swan!" Regina was trying to kill Emma. I didn't know why nor did I understand up that witch was going to kill my Swan and I had to stop it. "Paddle boy!" I yelled as we made our way more slowly than I thought possible towards the bridge.
"What about my mom?" He called as he started hurriedly paddling. Not fast enough. Emma was hanging on by the rope which I could see was fraying. As we would never make it in time. Come on Swan! I though praying she could hear me. Magic. You can fix this. But she fell. She was descending as if in slow motion towards the rocky deathtrap of a river bed. We weren't even half way there and there was no way we could get to her in time. That's when it happened. The bridge stopped falling. The pieces came back together with her standing on top of them. They held her aloft and slowly floated back to the cliffs edge where Regina stood. My gods, I thought to myself. She was brilliant. Bloody brilliant. The amount of power that flowed through her veins was incredibly. I smiled as she stepped of the deathtrap bridge and stood next to Regina. I looked down at Henry triumphantly and realized that he was staring at me concerned. Of course. He had missed the whole thing.
"Um, Killian, what just happened? Is my mom up there?"
"Oh, right. Your mother was on the bridge and I thought she was going to fall but she righted herself now and all is well."
"My mom almost fell? Is she okay? Is she with anyone? Oh no-does she know we were here? She's going to kill us!"
"She is right as rain dear boy and she didn't see us." The purple smoke billowed from the cliff top once more and I smiled down at him. "Come on mate, let's get you back to your mother." He grinned and we paddled to our end point down the river where the young man who had given us the raft helped us out and into his truck.
"You like my mom." Henry said calmly.
"What are you talking about?" I asked wondering where he had come up with such an idea. Was Swan talking about me? Did she say something to him? My heart beat quickly as I waited for his reply.
"When you thought she was going to fall, you yelled her name. You were doing everything you could to save her. You're always staring at her and you take care of her kid without any motive or payment."
"I have no idea what you are talking about." I decided Emma wouldn't want me to drag her son into this if she was truly planning on returning to New York. Besides, with a curse on my lips it wasn't as though I could entice her to stay anyway. "If you saw a person falling wouldn't you do whatever you could to save them no matter what? And I enjoy spending time with you. You remind me of your father whom I cherished deeply. And I do not always stare at her."
"Yes you do."
"I do not."
"You totally do!"
"I haven't the slightest idea what you are talking about." He sighed and turned back to his little handheld phone playing some game that I couldn't see the point of. We journeyed back into downtown Storybrooke in silence where we just caught a glimpse of Emma entering Granny's. I handed the boy a couple gold coins and his eyes widened substantially as we jumped out of the truck and he turned to run into the café. Suddenly he turned around and grinned at me.
"It would be okay, you know. If you did like my mom. I think she likes you too and besides, you're WAY cooler than Walsh. He only ever hung out with me when he was trying to impress my mom. And then we just played video games. You do cool stuff like take me sailing, or teach me how to cheat at dice. If you wanted to date her, I would be okay with that." And with that little speech he ran in and hugged his mother. A bittersweet smile graced my face. I had the boy's permission. He liked me and said that Emma liked me too. He told me that I would be welcome in his life and in hers. I should be jumping in joy. I touched my lips and reminded myself why it would never work. Villains don't get happy endings. I was about to turn when Emma ran out of Granny's.
"Killian!" She called out. I turned and looked at down at her. "Thanks for taking Henry today. He's going on and on about what a great time you two had today." I forced a smile and nodded.
"Of course, Swan. Anytime. I enjoyed his company as well." Henry raced out being chased by his grandfather, laughing happily and Emma turned to watch grinning. They were a family. And I could ruin everything. I turned around and slowly walked back to the docks and muttered under my breath.
"Damn you, Zelena."
|
If you don't want to use your own email address on the comment form use the following email instead!
[email protected] |