Treasure

Chapter 65

Later that evening...

Dinner was oddly quiet. No one but Anna talked, not that anyone got a word in with her around anyways. Elsa nodded towards her sister every once in a while but excused herself halfway through the meal to attend to an issue that she didn't bother going into much detail about. Kristoff just stared at his fiance with nothing but love in his eyes. He seemed to be the only one who never got tired of her talking.

Throughout the dinner, Killian and Emma didn't speak a word, nor even looked at each other. The Princess of Misthaven was still upset with the pirate's earlier actions. When she told him she couldn't melt the snow, he insisted she continued to try. Blamed her for feeling sorry for herself, expecting her to live up to this expectation of someone with great power. Deep down, she knew he meant no harm. He always believed she could do more than she was capable of and often pushed her to try, but sometimes he pushed too hard and talked to her in a way she found to be harsh. He was supposed to be her safe haven against the rest of the world, but he slowly became another person in her life that tried to push her too far.

All her life back home people expected so much of her. She had to know how to solve every little problem thrown her way and always had to have a smile on her face. Growing up as the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming was definitely a blessing, but it was also a curse. Emma often thought she couldn't live up to her mother's endless kindness nor her father's authoritative figure. They did their best to teach her and guide her, but she knew she could never be them... and now with magic on her side, everyone was expecting so much more.

Killian, on the other hand, was letting guilt consume him. He thought perhaps he should have spoken to her kinder and not as if she was one of his men acting too lazy to finish a task. But at the same time, he needed to give her tough love. She didn't need to be consoled every time she failed to attempt magic. She was beyond that. Elsa was right, Emma was powerful. She needed to embrace that and learn her potential. There was nothing she couldn't do and he knew it, everyone knew it. Emma never saw how amazing she was and it drove him insane. He knew how much of a burden it is for her to appear perfect all the time and he wanted her to feel safe around him. He wanted her to feel like she can break down and not fear judgment around him but the captain also knew it was now his job to push her when she wanted to give up. Her parents weren't here to give her that tough love, so he had to do it.

After the awkward dinner, Emma went to their room to be alone while Kristoff and Anna disappeared into the castle's stables to spend time with Sven. Killian was left alone to wander the empty halls. The captain found himself in the castle garden with all sorts of colorful flowers. He picked a few as he often did when he was there and decided to bring them to Emma. Even though she was upset with him, he decided it was time to apologize. He never liked going to sleep when either of them were upset.

The pirate made his way back to their spacious room and found her lying on her side, in bed, facing away from him. She had changed into her nightwear, indicating that she was ready for the day to end.

    Emma turned her head to see who had entered, but quickly turned back when she noticed it was him. "I picked these for you." Killian said holding up the flowers.

    The princess didn't bother to look back, "You can put them with the others."

     The captain sighed and did as asked. He walked over to her vanity and put them in a tall vase that held many other flowers he had picked for her throughout their stay. Afterward, he turned around and looked at his princess. His sweet Emma, his angel... Killian walked over to their bed and climbed in, pulling her close to him and placing a soft kiss on her shoulder. She didn't flinch, "I apologize that I've made you upset." He whispered with a pause, "But I'm not sorry about what I said."