Chapter 12

Snow gave her husband a tiny smile and nodded hearing what he said but she was glad to be out of the place and to be back on the water. She chuckled at his tease and shook her head. "I don't trust him." She said since she hadn't ever met a royal they could trust. She looked at her husband and shook her head. "You don't have to apologize for anything." She told him. Snow heard the mention of sleep and shook her head. "I don't think I would be able to sleep right now." She said

Emma looked at him but was slightly glad to see him give her his hand without hesitation. She unwrapped the makeshift bandage and pressed it against his hand to get away any of the blood as she nodded a little. "It.. is nice having them back." She said after a moment but to her it felt odd, to finally have her parents back after so many years but she kept that thought to herself.

Emma paused slightly at his question, tilting her head a little in thought. "Probably not. Or they could eventually." She said with a shrug as she wrapped a fresh piece of cloth around his hand, tying it down so it was slightly tight and would stay on, though one of her thumbs brushed against his fingers until she pulled her hand away. "There." She said and shrugged a little. "I wasn't about to let him do anything to you." She told him and looked out at the water. "And it's only fair, you did save me from taking a lashing from a whip. When you didn't have to do that... You could have just let it hit me." She told him and sighed. "I don't say this much but.. thank you for having helped me to get them out." She told him.

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David nodded a little bit, he couldn't blame his wife for not trusting him and he didn't know that he ever would, Royals, especially princes were always selfish and just did things for themselves when it suited them, they were never decent, an as an example he just looked towards the current King, cruel, sits in his castle on his pampered throne while people starved on the streets or honest people turned to thievery and murder to survive and provide for their families. "Alright." He said and he gently tugged Snow to stand in front of him, making sure that his coat was still wrapped securely over her shoulders to keep her warm and his arms around either side of her and on the wheel just wanting to keep her close after everything that had happened.

Killian nodded a little bit and he gave a little smile to her. "Good." He agreed softly hearing that she was happy to have them back, though a small part of him was almost jealous, she'd been looking practically her whole life for her parents, from what he figured anyway, definitely longer than him, and now she had her parents back, he'd been looking for only a year and still had no news of Liam in that entire time, and he doubt that he'd be so lucky that someone just told him where he was, he could only hope that he didn't have to wait as long as Emma Swan to find his brother.

He cleared his throat softly hearing her speak again and realized that for a moment he had zoned out. "Well...I don't need their trust. I'll be surprised if they even let me stay on the ship and throw me overboard during the night." It was meant to be a joke but it came out as a rather hard and cold statement as he believed that that was something her parents would actually do. "We can finish our deal, and then we can part ways." He winced feeling the bandage tied tightly around his hand and almost pulled back his hand but he managed to keep it there. He looked at her work and for a moment the way he felt her thumb brush against his fingers before she pulled away gave him the strangest feeling in his stomach, and just for a second he realized that a part of him wanted to stay. He cleared his throat and pulled his hand back into his lap and examined the bandage but was glad to see she seemed to have that figured out too, he guessed that one learns a lot about themselves and generates a lot of experience when they've been on their own for so long. "I couldn't have let it hit you, I'm a softie at heart." He said and was embarrassed by how he'd said that out loud in front of her and clenched his jaw, internally angry at himself for his walls had crumbled slightly, walls that had once been solid stone the day Liam left was slowly turning back into breakable and fragile stone, as if been hit upon many a year by a rough storm and weather and with time was starting to corrode. "What I mean is that yes, I may be a prince, but I believe myself to be a decent man, and I meant what I said about wanting to change the lives of the people in this realm." He said softly and turned back around to look at her parents for a brief moment. "You...should probably head back before your parents start getting the idea that we have formed...some sort of friendship." He warned jokingly, his tone a little softer.

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Emma offered a faint smile and looked out at the water for a few minutes with a small nod but chose not to say anything more. She knew he would probably understand but she chose not to say anymore about how she felt with her parents. A part of her wanted to just stay there with him, to sit and talk but she knew they probably couldn't. She raised an eyebrow slightly knowing it was probably supposed to be a joke but said. "They won't if I ask them not to. This may have been my father's ship but technically it's mine after all these years. I made a deal with you to help you, we will find your brother. Who knows, maybe someone in this town will know something." She said but still felt slightly off trying to be positive.

Emma looked at him slightly amused hearing what he said and couldn't help a small, short laugh. "A softie at heart?" She echoed and rubbed her palms against her trousers slightly. "Most.. royals.. they wouldn't ever say that like you do. They want to help people, but most of the time they only look out for themselves and care for themselves." She told him. "I probably won't say this again... but I think you'd make a great king when that time comes." She said and slowly stood up. "There's still some time before we arrive in town... you can go down and get some rest. And if it comes to a fight.. just stand back. We don't want you hurting that hand of yours anymore." He said but frowned a little to herself since she didn't know why she seemed to care about that so much. "Oh no, we wouldn't want anyone thinking that." She teased slightly before she turned on her head putting her sword back in its sheath at her side as she walked over to her parents.

Snow let herself be tugged in front of him but didn't mind, even after all that time of being with him, she still wanted to stay by his side. She saw their daughter coming back and watched her for a moment. "You two look friendly." She said since she didn't care it came out blunt, since most things she said often did.

Emma hesitated and shrugged. "Look, I know he's a royal. But he isn't as bad as the other royals. His injured hand? He got that from catching a whip his father went to hit me with." She said deciding her parents needed to know that and maybe it would change a little of how they think.

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Killian nodded a little bit. Her words meant a lot to him and he could only sit in silence as he listened. "thank you." He said quietly. He didn't know when thanking her became such a regular occurrence but he supposed it was in order for the amount of times she had saved him, and for the actual fact that she promised to still help him find his brother. "Maybe I will. Maybe I won't." He said about her saying he'd be a great king, he wasn't even sure if that was something that he wanted or something that he could pass over to his brother if he ever found him, though he knew that he'd never be able to do that, he'd suffer years and years of an unhappy life as king if it meant this his brother could live free and happy, that was to say that he was still alive.

Killian smiled a bit hearing her tease. "Certainly not." He agreed and looked up at the sky for a moment. "I...think I'll stay out here for a while. I don't want your parents thinking that I've become too uncomfortable on...your ship." He said with a nod but was just glad that he was out of any danger of being tossed overboard into the chilly depths below. He gave her a small nod seeing her walk off and he stood up and leaned against the front of the ship, looking over as the waves hit the side of the ship.

David narrowed his eyes slightly and bit his lip though he continued to steer them towards the town, he may have been locked up for years but he'd never forget how to sail or the waters in the realm, no matter how long he was away for, he was subsequently a king of the pirates, the most feared alongside his wife, having earned their reputation through years of hard work and hard-won victories. Though he wouldn't be surprised if Emma herself had come by some sort of similar reputation in the time that they'd been gone. He huffed a little at what his daughter said, jaw flexing as he tried to ignore the way that the prince pranced around the ship as if he owned the damn thing. "Well, he obviously did it to build trust with you. I'm sure that was the moment you started getting soft with him." He said and his eyes turned to her, he loved his daughter but he would not see her hurt. "He will build up your trust, and then he will betray you. When he does, do not let him break your heart." He said and turned his attention back out to the water wanting to get to the town as soon as possible and get some sleep on something other than the cold hard stone floor he'd grown accustomed to after years of imprisonment.

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Emma looked at her parents for a moment and sighed a bit. "Whether he did or not it doesn't matter. I'm keeping a deal with him and don't go thinking of ways to get rid of him." She said knowing that's probably crossed their minds at one point. She studied her father a moment hearing what he said. "I'm fine." She told him. "I can handle myself, and that means having a heart broken." She said. "And I haven't gotten soft with him, he at least understands a little of what it's like to grow up without someone who cares for you." She said. She knew it wasn't fair to be angry that they had been gone. That they had missed so much and she had to do what she had to survive. Maybe she was just angry because she had to grow up faster than she planned and she didn't get to have her parents around.

"I'm going down to my cabin," Emma said making sure Killian would hear just in case anything was needed as she turned and walked down and to her cabin, she took the sheath of her sword off her waist and put it against the wall next to her bed before she remembered the picture and pulled it from her pocket, gently unfolding it to see her and her parents in the image. She sighed a bit before she sat it down on the small table and sat down on the bed before she turned slightly to lay back against her pillow.

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David narrowed his eyes slightly at his daughter giving her an astonished look. "Don't you dare talk to us that way." He said and he took a step away from his wife hearing what she said, his voice raising in anger. "we have always. Cared for you." He growled, his fist clenched. "We may not have been there, which wasn't our choice, but we cared every single day!" He said and he shook his head. "don't you dare insinuate that me or your mother hasn't cared for you since the day you were born." He warned and gently squeezed his wife's arm.

He sighed hearing what she said and watched as she left and went down to the cabin. He ran a hand over his face and he stared at the prince for a moment. "keep an eye on him." He said to his wife in a much softer tone and kissed her forehead before he went down to the cabin and he knocked on the door not wanting to just walk in. "Emma?" He asked not sure if she'd ignore him or if she was asleep. "I apologize. I just...want what's best for you. And I know you've changed and grown up and become your own woman now, I respect that, but you'll always be our sweet little girl." He said and put his forehead on the door with a sigh. "I never thought that I would see you again, or that you'd see us. That we'd never get a chance to explain what happened." He said and placed his hand on the door for a moment. "Can I please come in?" He asked and waited for an answer.

Killian bit his lip slightly though he couldn't help but turn and listen to everything that was said, Emma and David's voice reaching to him over the sound of the waves. He hesitated but once he saw that David had disappeared downstairs and saw Snow alone he thought that perhaps he could at least get one of them to warm up to him, and it might be easier to try that when they weren't together. Swallowing his nervousness the best he could he tugged on the bandage around his hand as he walked over to Snow, leaving some space between them, and struggled for a moment to find the right words. "I don't...intend to hurt your daughter. I know your views on Royals very well. But I'm not like the others. I...I try not to be." He said knowing that he hadn't been himself since Liam had disappeared.

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Emma closed her eyes but she knew she shouldn't have gotten so angry with them when none of this was her fault. She just didn't like how they were trying to take care of her but maybe it was just because she'd gotten so used to being on her own that she was trying to push them away, she wouldn't admit it, but she was scared of losing them again. She didn't think she'd be able to handle that if she was left alone again. She opened her eyes when she heard a knock and listened but stayed quiet as she stared up at the ceiling of the cabin but then sighed softly and sat up a little, leaning back against the bed. She was almost tempted to just remain quiet and act as if she was asleep but then she nodded to herself. "Come in." She told him after a moment after she had heard him done talking but just watched him for a moment. "I don't mean to be angry when what happened wasn't your or mom's fault... I just have all this anger." She said with a shrug as she pulled her legs up so her legs were crisscrossed.

Emma was quiet a moment before saying. "And I'm not getting soft on the prince. I owe him for catching that whip instead of letting it hit me and despite him wanting to find his brother he was willing to help me get you two out of that cell." She told him.

Snow watched but figured she didn't have to say anything since her husband said it for the both of them and gave a nod, eyeing the prince slightly. "I plan to." She said since she didn't plan on taking her eyes off him anytime soon since she didn't trust him with that. Snow looked at the prince and gave a soft sigh, "how do we know that's true? That you won't hurt her?" She asked. "We've learned it's much easier to not trust others than let it hurt us."

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David waited what felt like forever until he heard his daughter's voice telling him to come in and smiled a little to himself before he opened the door and closed it quietly behind him. He listened to her for a moment staying by the door for now. "I truly am sorry...that you were left alone for so long." He said and shook his head, he would not cry in front of his daughter. "I am sorry that there was no way we could get to you, we tried bribing the guards, getting out multiple times, we refused all their offers to protect you, king Midas' guards are certainly more efficient and mean than Brennan's." He said and he sat on the bed after a moment. He gently placed his hand on his daughter's knee. "You have as much anger as I suspect I have guilt. I truly am sorry for shouting at you." He turned his body to face her a little. "can...I get another hug?" He asked, just wanting to hug his daughter without worrying about guards coming after them or having to plan an escape route.

He sighed a little and he just enjoyed a few moments of silence with his daughter before pulling back a little to look at her. "Did...he really do that for you?" He asked quietly, whatever the royal status Killian held, whether he was supposed to hate him or not, he couldn't help but have a little respect for the man that had prevented his daughter from being hurt. "Hmm." He mumbled to himself in thought. "How have you been doing... alone? Has anyone been unkind to you?" He asked softly, he wanted to know if anyone had been causing trouble with his daughter, and if they had, once this was all settled down the first thing that he'd do was hunt them down and kill them, they realm would soon learn again not to mess with their family.

Killian sighed as he studied Snow for a moment, her question bothering him in many ways, how the hell was he supposed to prove that he was trustworthy to the people who so clearly had their minds made up about him. "I can promise...I can give you an oath, I'll do whatever you want. I'll jump off the plank right now if it helps you believe me." He joked though scalded himself for even suggesting that. He thought for a moment and he pulled out his sword with his good hand, he studied if for a moment and he then held it over to Snow, offering it to her before he knelt down on one knee before her. "While I travel with you, I'll be yours to command. A guest, not a prince or anything else. I'll follow your orders and anything you say without question...and if I don't, or if I raise a hand or even my tone to your daughter, you or your husband..." He said.

He looked up to her as he'd had his head bowed. "I will let you cut me down with my own sword." He said seriously and rest his hand on his knee. "I vow my allegiance to you right now, and that will not be broken by me, only by you when you wish it to end." He said, he acted as though he were making a peace treaty between two kingdoms, and he didn't know why he was so serious on proving that he meant no harm, especially to Emma, but he found himself doing it and he didn't regret it. "Don't believe me or do, it makes no difference. Keep the sword, and if I betray you, or Emma. Then kill me. Or do so now." He said and he tugged the collar of his shirt down for her and tilted his head to the side exposing the side of his neck to her, hoping that if she did wish to strike that it would be quick and painless. He closed his eyes, waiting for the killing blow.