Stuck in the Enchanted Forest after her wish was granted, Emma seeks out Killian. She doesn’t expect what she finds.
Endless thanks to @caprelloidea for looking over this for me.
Rating: T
Word count: 5850
Emma can’t stop her smirk when the tracking spell leads her to a tavern. Of course.
She wasn’t sure if it would work at all, whether he’d even be in this version of the Enchanted Forest. The Jolly was nowhere to be found at the docks and none of the local sailors knew anyone by the name of Killian Jones or Captain Hook. He could have been long dead, or still in Neverland, or an actual blacksmith for all she knew, but the simple spell using Liam’s ring led her straight here. She pulls the hood of her cloak more tightly over her head – escaping the palace guards was easy enough, and she damn well wasn’t going to do this with an audience – and approaches, her boots barely kicking up dust on the well-worn path.
It’s a bit out-of-the-way, this little place, and her smirk falls when she realizes just how far it is from the docks… or, come to think of it, any water at all. She pauses just outside the door. Killian – her Killian – would know where to find a magic bean, but whatever version of him she’s about to meet might not. He’s likely not even a sailor, much less a pirate. But –
But. She has to try. She’s not deluded enough to convince herself it’s the only reason she wants to find him. In real-world terms it’s only been a day since she’s seen him, but now with yet another lifetime’s worth of memories in her head, she’s left with the near-physical ache of three decades without his presence. More than anything she just – she needs to see him.
And, if she’s honest with herself, part of her wants to watch him fall in love with her again.