When Killian entered the library, he was dismayed to hear the now increasingly familiar instrumentation of one of the many “Christmas” songs that had infiltrated every musical device in the bloody town.
He wasn’t a fan of this type of music. To be honest, he wasn’t a fan of much of what this realm called music, but these sort of songs irritated him so – especially since they had the nasty habit of getting stuck in his head. (“Earworms,” Henry called them.) They were much to merry, and though he enjoyed the sentiment of spending time with loved ones, did all of the songs have to be so focused on this particular holiday?
Killian also wasn’t fond of the forced merriment of the songs, especially when he considered the task he carrying out today, and almost every day since Belle forced the Crocodile over the town line: researching ways to free the fairies. Week had passed, and he was still no closer to discovering a way to save them. As such, his time in the library generally placed in him a somewhat foul mood, or at the very least, a mood that meant he didn’t want to listen to those sleigh bells jingling or whatever else they bloody well did.
This really just wrecks me on a lot of levels, their friendship. Especially in an episode where Belle is presented with pretty much iron-clad confirmation that Rumple will never rise above his demons and become the man she knows he could be. He will never be able to be there for her in a supportive, healthy, loving way. He will never embrace the goodness that she believed to be in him for so many years.
One of Belle’s greatest strengths comes in her belief in people, in her ability to see beyond the darkness that they are wrapped in and discover the good heart inside. She is smart and supportive, but most of all hopeful for better people that create a better world. Her hope encourages people to change and grow, but as we learned with her story arc with Rumple, that hope can only do so much. The other person has to truly want to change, want to be the better person. And Rumple just does not.
Which is why Killian Jones and Belle French’s friendship is so flingflangin’ important.
Hook and Rumple have always been foils of each other, and it continues with Belle. They both started in a bad place with her, they both let darkness consume them to the point where she was hurt in each of their dark quests. BUT. Whereas Rumple only continued to hurt her, time after time, Hook did not. As he began to reform – genuinely reform – he made atoning with her a big part of that. He actively worked to earn her forgiveness, support her efforts and protect her from harm. And when she told him she forgave him, he wasn’t ready to quite believe that, but you could see that her hope in him inspired him to keep working to become the good man he wanted (and she knew) he could be.
Flipside, this friendship helped show Belle that her hope in people is not always misplaced, that it is valid and powerful. Killian Jones proved that people could overcome the darkness of their past if they wanted to, if they accepted people’s help and faith in them. He showed her one of her greatest strengths helped him to find his strength again, and from that blossomed just the loveliest of friendships that will only to continue to make them both happier people and me a weepy mess.
Captain Book friendship, ~1700 words, during 6×02 (this isn’t particularly Rumple-friendly, as Belle herself isn’t right now)
Thanks as always to @j-philly-b for the quick beta!
He starts to offer her his flask, gets halfway to holding it out to her, and then he remembers.
“Sorry,” Killian says sheepishly, tucking it away in the pocket of his leather jacket. “Forgot for a moment that you’re with child.”
Belle gives him a smile, pulling herself up to sit on his narrow bunk next to where she’s set her suitcase down. “It’s okay,” she says with a laugh. “You haven’t spent much time around pregnant women, I assume?”
“Indeed not.” He sits in the chair opposite her. “A bit of time around Snow White when she was pregnant with Neal, I suppose.”
Belle cocks her head at him. “Have you ever had a child?”
I feel like the sane members of this fandom have been given a few gifts from the writers and showrunners of OUAT so far this season:
Zelena and Regina’s exchange in 6×01: Zelena comes right out and counters Regina blaming her for Robin’s death by suggesting Emma is to blame for bringing them all to the Underworld. “I CHOSE to go,” Regina answers. May we never again have to hear how Emma/Killian/CS is to blame for Robin’s death.
Killian’s acknowledgment of striking Belle in 6×02: This is huge. It hasn’t been forgotten. It hasn’t been swept under the rug. It wasn’t retconned. He acknowledged it, he sought forgiveness for it, and he admitted that he is still struggling to forgive himself for ever doing it. And the way he spoke of it, the obvious shame and disgust he felt – this kind of action was clearly one he did not and would not regularly engage in. HUGE. May we never again have to put up with people claiming Killian Jones is a woman beater.
Belle forgiving Killian in 6×02: This one goes out to all the folks claiming that Belle and Killian don’t make sense as friends or that their friendship is somehow dangerous or harmful to Belle. Both of them acknowledged that he did some rotten things to her in the past. Belle confirmed that he has changed a lot since then, and that she’s forgiven his past misdeeds. He confessed that he is still trying to make up for those misdeeds, and is struggling to forgive himself for them, even with her forgiveness. This is not a problematic friendship. This is one of the show’s primary narratives – of second chances and redemption – done right. It not only makes perfect sense, it is an excellent standard that others’ behaviors can be measured against. We see a lot of people on this show giving second chances with suspicious or bitter undercurrents… and a lot of villains getting those second chances who don’t deserve them or squander them. Neither of those things are happening here. May we never again have to defend Captain Book from this nonsense again.
Kinda looking forward to whatever truth bombs they lob at us in 6×03…
#Amazing Character Development # Killian owning up to the things he’s done in his past # to Belle and Rumple # and not blaming a seperate entity in him # or his dark side # he owns up to his mistakes and # he’s consistently living with those choices # and trying to get better # he still is learning to forgive himself # truly wonderful development.
cshappybeginning 