Hooked

“Ariel?”

She woke with a start, could feel the tears stinging her eyes. It took her a moment to get her eyes to focus and see Emma standing over her. Ariel sat up quickly, looking around the empty cabin and noticing that it was still dark out.

“Are you all right?” Emma asked, concern laced in her voice. Ariel wiped at her eyes.

“Yeah,” she said. “I’m fine, just a bad dream. What’s going on?”

“Regina wants to head out as early as possible, so she got everyone up,” Emma answered. “Gold is trying to see if he can get a more exact location for Henry.”

“Are we leaving soon?” Ariel swung her legs off the bed and set her feet on the rough wood of the floor.

“Well, everyone but you and Hook,” Emma said, giving a nervous smile. “He thinks you’re still sleeping. He didn’t want us to wake you up, but I came in here to get a few things and you were crying so I woke you up.”

Ariel rubbed her eyes now from exhaustion.

“Any particular reason Killian and I aren’t going with you?” she finally asked.

“You two are going to back into one of the towns to ask more questions,” Emma said, shrugging. “Plus, I’m sure it wouldn’t surprise you too much to hear that everyone doesn’t exactly trust Hook.”

Ariel nodded, glancing at the door to the cabin.

“You should get some more sleep while you can,” Emma said. She headed for the door and opened it. She smiled one more time at the former mermaid before closing the door behind her.

Ariel sighed, knowing she couldn’t go back to sleep now. She also knew that she couldn’t (well, shouldn’t) drink any more alcohol… it was too early now.

She stood from her bed and dug through the bag she had packed for this voyage. She pulled on some clean clothes and ran a brush through her hair, hoping she’d be able to find some way to clean herself on this ship.

Ariel went out onto the deck and was slightly surprised that everyone had already left for wherever it was they were going. She hoped that they found Henry safely.

Killian was nowhere to be seen, so she walked over to his private cabin and knocked on the door. She listened, but heard nothing. She knocked again, louder this time, and sighed when there was no response. She opened the door slowly and saw that Killian was reclined on his bed, eyes blinking open as the dim light from outside filled the cabin; the sun was starting to rise.

“Shame, I was almost back to sleep,” he mumbled.

“Sorry,” Ariel said quietly. “I was just wondering if there was anywhere on here where I could get myself cleaned up?”

“You’ll have to heat up some water,” he said, sitting up slowly, eyes squinting in her direction. “There’s a tub below deck you can fill once the water’s heated.”

“Where do I get water and how do I heat it up?” she asked.

“There’s a store of clean water where the tub is,” Killian said as he stood from his bed and started rummaging around his desk. He pulled out a little glass vial with an eyedropper in it and held it out to Ariel. “This, my dear, is enchanted dragon tears. Add one drop of this to the water and it’ll heat it right up.”

She took the vial from him and looked at it with interest.

“How’d you get something like this?” she questioned, looking at the clear liquid with interest.

“I have my ways,” Killian, smiling at her. “You want me to join you for that bath? I could help with those hard to reach places.”

Ariel’s eyes met his.

“Isn’t it a little early for you to come onto me?” she asked.

“It’s never too early, sweetheart,” Killian smirked. “Especially when in the presence of such a beautiful girl.”

Ariel felt her cheeks warm and she turned to leave.

“Don’t spend too much time in the water, little mermaid,” he said before she closed the door. “We have some walking to do today.”

---

After Killian had managed to put together a small breakfast for the two, they set out on their own quest. They walked through the small village they had visited yesterday with Rumplestiltskin and Regina. After walking for another hour they came to a larger village, one that was definitely in a better condition than the one they’d just come from.

They stopped in each shop, asking their questions and receiving answers that were more or less the same as the answers they’d gotten yesterday. Either no one knew or they didn’t want to talk about what they did know. The same fear hung in their eyes and after learning the truth about Peter Pan from Killian, Ariel couldn’t blame them. She’d be scared too… well, she was scared but not like these people. Living in the shadow of such darkness brought on its own level of fear that Ariel couldn’t even begin to understand.

After giving up their futile questioning and gathering up some supplies, they finally decided to head back to the ship. It was starting to get late and Killian wanted to make it back to the ship before the sun set.

“Ariel? Is that you?”

Ariel stopped walking abruptly, and Killian who had been a step behind her bumped into her, dropping one of the parcels they had just purchased.

She glanced over her should and sure enough, there he was. Eric. He looked surprised to see her, but she could see the mirth in his eyes.

“I thought that was you,” Eric said, coming over to the pair, only sparing a quick glance at Killian. His eyes lingered on the hook before returning to my face. “You’re the only person I know with hair that shade of red.”

Ariel felt her cheeks turning red to match her hair as her eyes stung with tears she wanted to shed. Even after all this time he was still mocking her in his own subtle way.

She was surprised suddenly when Killian took a protective step in front of her.

“Listen, mate, you should just go before I’m forced to cause trouble for you,” Killian said. Eric’s gaze left my face and turned to Killian before a smirk graced his face.

“You’d protect her, would you?” he questioned. “She’s nothing more than a smelly fish who somehow managed to escape the ocean. She’s not worth anything.”

She felt Killian tense in front of her, saw his good hand twitch toward his sword. Ariel grabbed his arm.

“Please, can we just go Killian,” she said quietly, trying but failing to steady her voice. “He’s not worth it.”

Killian glanced at Eric before bending over quickly to pick up the dropped parcels. As they turned to walk away, Ariel shot Eric one last look, wondering how she could have ever loved someone as terrible as he was. Some prince he was.

The walk back to the ship was quiet, Ariel falling behind Killian a few steps. When they returned, she was glad to find that everyone else had not returned. She wasn’t even sure if they were returning tonight.

She slipped into the bunk area and closed the door behind her, going straight for her bed, she sunk heavily onto the bed, sitting there and staring down at the floor. It only took a moment for the dam to break, tears streaming heavily down her face. She pressed her palms against her eyes as she tried but failed to quiet her sobs.

She didn’t understand how someone could be that terrible. Eric had loved her once… right up until the day that he found out who she truly was. Nothing but a smelly fish… was that how everyone saw her? Could no one see past the fact that she had once been a mermaid? Was this to be her burden for the rest of her life?

The door to the bunk area opened and she heard heavy footsteps coming her way, but Ariel didn’t bother looking, burying her face as much as she could into her hands and trying to stifle her sobs. It was a fruitless effort, though. As she felt Killian sit beside her and wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her to him, she only hesitated a moment before accepting the embrace. She buried her face into his shoulder, not caring if she ruined any of his clothing.

“That man is scum,” she heard Killian saying. “Not worth a single tear, sweetheart.”

“I loved him though,” Ariel managed to choke out. “I’m such an idiot.”

She felt the cold, smooth edge of Killian’s hook on her chin, turning her face so there eyes met. She reached up to wipe at her eyes. The tears were still coming, but not as quickly as before.

“We’re all idiots when it comes to love,” he said. “Now stop crying. You’re not a ‘smelly fish’, as he put it. You’re a beautiful young woman who smells better than most people.”

Ariel laughed softly despite her tears.

“When did pirates get so wise?” she questioned.

“Not all pirates are wise,” he said as Ariel straightened out. He pulled a handkerchief from a pocket with his hook and handed it to her carefully. She took it gratefully and wiped at her eyes before blowing her nose. “I’m just one of a kind.”

“I could really use a drink right now,” Ariel said, sniffling slightly as her eyes met Killian’s.

“Aye, never have true words been spoken,” he said, standing up. He held out his good hand to Ariel, and she took it, allowing Killian to pull her up. Once standing, however, neither of them moved and Killian didn’t let go of her hand. She glanced up at him, recognizing that familiar look in his eyes. But this time she wasn’t preparing to turn away.

He leaned down slightly and Ariel pushed herself up slightly on her toes until their noses were brushing and their breath was intermingling. No sooner had his lips brushed against hers than the door to the bunk area flew open with a bang as it hit the wall. Ariel pulled back quickly, almost falling back onto her bunk, if it hadn’t been for Killian’s hand on the small of her back.

Standing there in the doorway, the sky behind her red as the sun set and a look of fear in her eyes was Emma.

“We found Henry.”