Summary: The plan is a risky one: travel to a faraway kingdom and ask a powerful witch for help. As far as Princess Emma is concerned, though, it’s the only way to save her own life, and she isn’t about to let any kidnappings stop her. Rating: M (barely) AO3:1 – 2 – 3 Notes: So, my hiatus is at an end! I’ve been working on this story for a while, and thought it would make a good way to return to fandom.
This is dedicated to the entire CS Hub Discord; the community I’ve been a part of there has been incredibly supportive and wonderful, and I’m really glad to rejoin them post-hiatus.
In particular, this is for @winterbythesea, @mahstatins, and @katie-dub; I’m not sure if y’all remember discussing this fic prompt ages ago, but I started working on it then and never forgot about it. I hope you like it!
And finally, massive thanks to @lifeinahole27 for beta-reading. Not only did you help me figure out that one section I couldn’t quite get right, but whenever you beta-read for me, it always makes my writing so much better. ❤
Crown Princess Emma of Misthaven emerged from the royal library covered in dust and anxious beyond reason. As she rushed to her chambers, the torches along the walls flickered in her wake. She was too apprehensive to care that they did so in the absence of any drafts.
The threats from Camelot had grown worse over the last several months, and the two kingdoms seemed destined for massive, bloody conflict. Camelot’s king, Arthur, had only become more and more ruthless as time wore on, and Misthaven was running out of options. Diplomacy continued to fail, and with Arthur’s superior navy, Misthaven would almost certainly lose the inevitable war.
Emma had spent her entire life training for this sort of situation. This would be her kingdom to run someday, after all, and it was her duty to aid her parents, Snow White and David as they decided what to do to protect their kingdom and end the threat.
Right now, the biggest issue that her parents were facing was the suggestion from their top advisors that they consider allying with a neighboring country in order to fend off Arthur. It would have been a reasonable suggestion, except that any neighboring country would insist on using the one weapon that Snow White and David had expressly forbidden:
Author’s note: As many of you have guessed, Emma is suffering from post partum depression. At least, the Enchanted Forest version of it. They don’t have modern mental health diagnoses and treatment, so they don’t call it PPD, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I meant to mention it sooner, just to clear it up. It’s just one aspect of this story, but it features heavily in the early going. Having True Love doesn’t mean your troubles are over, right? I hope you enjoy this update. 🙂
Summary: Sequel to Only for One Night. The Dark One is still at large. As Emma and Killian adjust to parenthood, can they find a way to defeat him and not lose themselves in the process?
Emma threw her husband a scowl, snatching up a nearby tin
cup. Precious cool water glided down her throat; she was parched. When Killian
first suggested he join her training, she thought it would be fun. He loved
watching her fight back when they sailed on the Jolly. They often fought side by side or back to back on the deck
of some prize; it had never failed to make him hot and bothered. She lost count
of the times they tumbled into the captain’s quarters, pawing at each other.
Against the door, the desk, the ladder, the bunk, any flat surface would do. He
simply had to have her.
She loved him like that, wild and desperate for her.
This wasn’t a Killian she was very familiar with, barking
orders at her. And it was her fault. She’d asked
him not to go easy on her. To work her just as hard as he would one of his
crew. She was serious about this. Emma had never been some damsel in distress;
her father started teaching her swordplay from a young age. Of course, that was
the way of knights and honor; the man she loved was a pirate. Emma knew how to
take care of herself; she was just out of practice. She was learning that
practicing with Killian was much more difficult than practicing against some
dummy.
Sequel to The Swan Princess . Takes place right where the first one left off.
RATED T: LANGUAGE AND SOME VIOLENCE.
WORDS: 9505
I wasn’t planning on doing a Part 2, but here we are. I hope you all enjoy it. Thank you so much to the Colin to my Sean, @pirateherokillian, for reading this over for me. ❤
Emma’s known from a very young age that she wasn’t like
other animals. There was something inside of her that always felt a little… off. Sure, she looked like other
swans, but whenever she tried to communicate with them, they would merely
squawk at her and she’d always end up utterly confused. Whereas with the
humans, she never had trouble understanding them, and despite not being able to
speak as they did, their language was as clear as the sky after a storm.
Killian Jones, former crime reporter, was not happy to be home. It hadn’t been home in a very long time, after all. Home was an abstract construct that existed for people who didn’t know as many adjectives for blood as he did. Home wasn’t New York City, but it certainly wasn’t Boston or New Orleans either and he’d always gone where the story was. And he was positive Emma Swan was one hell of a story.
Emma Swan, pro video game player, desperately wanted to find home. She thought she had, a million years ago in the back corner of a barn and a town and faces she trusted. But that had all blown up in her face and it didn’t take long for her to decide she was going to control the pyrotechnics from here on out. So now she was in New York City and a different corner and she kind of wanted to trust Killian Jones.
Neither one of them expected a year of of video games and feature stories to dredge up old enemies and even older feelings, but, together, they made a pretty good team.
She’d blame it on being too wired or, maybe, too disappointed, the memory of how easy it had been to play like absolute shit running on a loop every single time she closed her eyes. If Emma was being honest with herself – she absolutely was not being honest with herself – it wasn’t either one of those things.
It was everything else.
It was a disgusting amount of espresso in one coffee order and how undeniably charming it had been to turn the corner and find an eleven-year-old kid wearing her team’s incredibly lame t-shirt asleep on Killian Jones’ legs and how he’d just casually mentioned he had a brother, like he wanted to keep talking to her.
I’m sorry it’s been a while but exciting news, I’ve been picked up by an Australian based greeting card company! It’s watercolour illustrations as seen at my Instagram and I’ve been working hard on those of late, but Captain Swan and Once will always be in my heart so you’ll see more fanart too.This one is charcoal and pastel on a really rough toothed pastel paper.
It All Starts With a Dance 