Once Upon a Time in Storybrooke - OUAT DR

Chapter 19 - Sword Lesson

The next morning I was back at Hook's ship, wishing he'd find his way back here, dreading what would happen if he did. I couldn't decide if the lack of contact from him should be considered a good or a bad thing. If you asked David or the dwarves, it was a good thing. 

Henry was spending the morning with Neal - I saw them playing with wooden swords in one of the green spaces by the docks. I waved at them both as I walked by.

After checking the ship and finding no sign of the pirate, I got a call from Snow and David asking me to meet them on Main Street. I met them at David's truck, surprised to see Emma waiting too. They had us squeeze into the truck's cab and drove us out to the fields where I knew they were growing the magic beans. 

They hadn't told her yet, apparently, wanting her to see for herself. Anton was there, normal-sized, and we exchanged pleasantries. It sunk in what growing the magic beans meant to David and Snow - they wanted to go home. Although I had known they were trying to grow the beans, I hadn't realized how far along they had gotten and that they did want to go back, all of us, to the Enchanted Forest. It was the first time Snow had admitted to wanting to go back, to try and fix the land we all came from and live there. I had thought she was going to want to stay here, and it set in that going back to the Enchanted Forest was looking to be very likely, and Emma and I were going to have to make a choice. 

We had a lot to think about - what working magic beans meant, what kind of future we wanted to have, and where we wanted to have it. Emma and I agreed to go to the docks to think and talk about our options. She was a little peeved at me for not telling her about the beans but I told her in my defense we hadn't gotten time to talk since the New York stuff happened and she fell quiet after that. I asked what she was thinking but before we got a chance to talk, Regina walked over. 

I looked from Emma to Regina and decided to politely excuse myself and allow the two women to talk. As I watched them, however, I found myself growing nervous, wondering if Emma was going to tell Regina about the beans, about going back to the Enchanted Forest, and taking Henry back with us. 

After Regina left I went back over to Emma and asked what she had told her, exactly. She gave me a look but I didn't trust her not to somehow sabotage this plan our parents had of using the magic beans to get back to the Enchanted Forest. Perhaps leaving her to speak with Regina alone had been a mistake. Although she'd never do anything on purpose, if there was something she wanted to avoid, she'd find a way. She must have guessed where my thoughts had gone and assured me Regina had no idea. But with the way Regina had stormed off after their talk, I had a feeling that might not be entirely true. 

Emma and I parted ways so she could meet Neal when he dropped off Henry, no talk on what we would do but we seemed to agree that we would go where our family went. I headed back to the Jolly Roger, finally feeling more comfortable aboard the enchanted ship and wandering around, exploring, thinking, pondering potential outcomes, and wondering what life would look like if we all lived in the Enchanted Forest.

As I explored I may or may not have borrowed some books from what I could only surmise was the Captain's Cabin based on the lavishness of it. (Seriously, there were little gold carvings in the beams overhead and the craftsmanship was just on a completely different level, there was nothing I could compare it to). Once I had grabbed a stack of books that would surely distract me from having to think of the future I headed home and had dinner, eating on my back balcony. 

I cracked open one of the books I'd pilfered from Killian's personal library and found myself engrossed - it was a Captain's log. His Captain's log.  As I read, I noticed a weird pulsing light that caused me to tear my eyes away from the pages and look above me. About ten or so feet above my head was a little aurora, with colors dancing in rhythm with my heartbeat. 

Magic. My magic.

It was beautiful and enchanting and, more notably, I'd summoned it without meaning to. I was getting stronger, better, and it came with relative ease, reacting to my emotions. 

I decided to put down the book and headed out to the beach, ignoring the slight drizzle, and practiced with my magic. I had managed to save Johanna but didn't know how I had done it, so I decided to try catching sticks, rocks, anything I could find around me to throw into the air and catch with magic on purpose to replicate what I had done for the kind woman who was so close to my mother. 

The first stick I tried to catch I accidentally caught on fire. 

The one after that exploded into a million little pieces. 

The third one I managed to catch but I heard a noise and panicked, launching it toward the sound in defense. 

It was Killian, who managed to duck out of the way from the stick I'd thrown. I blew a piece of my hair out of my face but stood up a bit straighter as he walked over to me. It had been over a week since we'd returned from New York and Hook had been nowhere to be seen. I had, after all, been spending most of my free time on his ship, I would know. 

He joked about my having thrown things at him twice now and asked if he should take a hint but I just smiled, laughed, and asked what he was doing here, where had he been. He admitted that after our conversation he'd thought long about what I had said and decided to pursue reconciliation with the cricket and "get help for his issues" as I'd called it. The cricket did speak some sense, and although he wasn't prepared to forgive the Crocodile for what he'd done in the past, he was willing to see what life looked like where revenge wasn't the first thing he thought of in the morning, and the last thing he thought about before sleep. 

I was impressed. Hook had been, perhaps, the first person since the curse had broken to listen to what I had to say and follow my advice. He still had a long way to go, but this was a big leap in the right direction. 

He commented on my magic and asked how long that had been going on, and I admitted I wasn't quite sure, but it seemed to have a bit of a mind of its own. I showed him the fireworks I'd managed to master, and when I looked over to see his reaction he was smiling, and I realized I had been smiling too, transfixed by my own firework show. 

He asked if my swordsmanship had improved any, since our last go at each other, and I admitted it hadn't. Despite my dad being "Prince Charming" sword lessons hadn't been something he'd thought to teach me. I admitted then that our little "duel" had been my first time using a sword. Sure, I'd used it against the undead townsfolk, but that didn't seem to count as much as using it against a skilled swordsman. 

Hook balked, as if he couldn't believe it, and did a bow before offering to teach me how to use a sword properly. As the 2nd born daughter to royalty, it would have been a natural path to take up if I had so chosen, to learn how to use a sword and fight. I admitted that Emma and I seemed to be a bit reversed - she was a fighter, I was the diplomat, the mediator. I knew how to see patterns and predict what was going to happen and adjust accordingly, my not-mother growing up had always praised me for being a natural leader. 

Hook just smiled and told me we'd change that, as long as he was allowed free roam of his ship once more without fear of being thrown in the town brig. I laughed but told him since I had been the only one keeping patrol, it was safe to say he could return without fear of being thrown in the brig, so long as he promised not to leave port without my permission. 

He agreed to my terms and we shook on it. He decided our first lesson was going to start right then and we spent the next hour learning proper stance, footing, and grip on my weapon to be sure nobody, not even Hook, could knock the sword from my hand. Only then was I allowed to crawl back home and fall into bed, exhausted. We were going to meet the following night, on the deck of his ship where we didn't have to worry about being seen, and there we would see if I had retained all of what he'd taught me. 

I had to admit, it was nice spending time with Hook, it was even nicer knowing he'd taken what I had said and decided to talk with Dr. Hopper - I just couldn't call him Jiminey Cricket it was just too weird - and that he was seeing some kind of benefit from his visits with the man. 

He'd had every opportunity the last several days to go after Rumplestiltskin but, instead, he'd chosen to try something different, even knowing the man was alive and well. I fell asleep imagining conversations with Killian about the deeper aspects of life and its meaning - of karma and all I'd learned in this world about such things, what questions I would ask him if I got the chance.

He was the last thing I thought of before drifting off to sleep.