#swanthesaviour

“Alright lass,” Killian said. “What would you like to hear?”

His daughter looked up in thought, where constellations had been painted on the dark blue ceiling. “Can you tell me the one with the beanstalk?” she asked.

Killian smiled. “Good choice, Lily.” he said. “I first met your mother in the Enchanted Forest. I was pretending to be a blacksmith, but she knew I was lying.”

“Because she used her secret power right?” Lily asked.

Killian smirked. “Yes. Because of her secret power. She tied me up and made me tell her that I was working for the wicked Cora. She need a compass to come to Storybrooke. So I joined the group to climb the beanstalk. At the top of the beanstalk was a terrible giant. The only way for anyone to climb the beanstalk was to have a magic cuff. It would let you climb the beanstalk. I only one two, so I gave one to myself and one to your mother. And then we climbed to the top.”

“Did you fall in love with her then?” Lily asked quietly.

“Yes.” Killian answered.

“Why?”

Killian smiled. He could go on and on and on about why he had fallen in love with Emma. But he didn’t want to bore the little princess. “That’s a very long answer, sweetheart.” Killian replied.

Lily shrugged. “Go on with the story.” she told him, and Killian did. He told her how her mother had helped him put the giant to sleep, and how they retrieved the compass. Then he got to the part where she chained him to the wall and left him there with the giant. “Did you hate her after that?” Lily asked sleepily.

“Do you want the truth?” he asked. Lily nodded. “I was very hurt. But I loved her, and when you love someone, it’s really hard to hate them. Even if they do something bad.” Killian answered.

“Even if they leave you with a bone crushing giant?” Lily asked.

“Even if they leave you with a bone crushing giant.” Killian replied. “And the giant didn’t plan to crush my bones. Your mother took care of that. She made Anton promise that he would not harm me.” Lily yawned and so did Killian. “Alright, princess, time to sleep.” Lily opened her mouth to protest but Killian pressed a finger to her lips. “You have school in the morning, love. I don’t think your mother would be pleased to have you late again.” he told her.

Lily sighed. “Okay. Goodnight dad.” she mumbled. She hugged his neck as Killian hugged her back.

“Goodnight Lily flower.” he said quietly. He kissed her forehead lightly and turned to see Emma standing by the door. “Bloody hell.” he whispered. He walked over to her and quickly closed the door. “I thought you were asleep.”

Emma smiled. “I could help but hear the story. You were very good at getting everything right, but you left out some parts.”

“I think it’d be nice for our daughter to not know that you found me under a pile of dead bodies.” he replied quietly as they went back to their room.

“Touche.” Emma replied. She slid back into the bed as Killian wrapped his arm around her. Emma turned around and rested her forehead against his. Killian closed his eyes. It was the moments like these that he was happy to have her. Her, Henry, Lily. Even the unborn child inside of Emma. He was so happy to have found someone after Milah, so extremely lucky to have that person love him back.

“What was the long answer?” Emma asked. Killian did not answer, for he was confused as to what she meant. Then he understood.

“I love you because we can relate in so many ways. You’ve lost people and so have I. I love you because you are fierce and you fight. You are one of the most strongest people I know, and you believe in me. You believed in me even when I didn’t, and you trusted me.” It came out in a rush. He had said this before, after she had regained her memories in New York, when he confessed his feelings for her. It gave him the same feelings from before. The lightheadedness, the rush. It was all the same. But he did not feel scared. Scared that she did not feel the same way. Now he knew. He knew that she loved him, and he was grateful.

Emma had her eyes closed, but Killian could tell that she was not asleep. She leaned forward to kiss him on the lips, and he closed his eyes. “I love you too Killian Jones.” she murmured. “Mind telling me a story?” she asked.

Killian smiled. “Aye. I’ll tell you one about how a pirate and a princess fell in love. It started at…”