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@futurecowdoctor This person had a dream where Emma turned into a baby and Killian tried to care for her like a father instead. Personally, I think dreams are really important even if sometimes they are a live action Tumblr crack fic, so here you go :)
I envision this taking somewhere between season 3 and 4, but it's a sort of "stand alone" kinda curse that isn't tied to any of the other events in the series. It's just so you know what characters are in Storybrooke at the time.
I had more ideas but it would have turned into a 10k word drabble with no plot and would have been more boring to read, so hopefully this is entertaining hah.
Pairing: Platonic!Cool uncle figure!Killian x Child!Emma
"Emma!" Killian screamed, watching as the gold dust swallowed her up completely.
"It's okay, Killian, we had our time." Emma replied, her voice low and firm, like she had been expecting something like this to happen to her.
He rushed over to it, trying to wrap his arms around her, only to feel the air. For a moment, all he could see was gold, but eventually it all disappeared, along with Emma. He froze, letting his arms fall by his sides as he stared into the distance.
He didn't even notice the small crying figure at his knee, not until she hugged his leg. His eyes darted down, mouth hanging open in shock. After a couple of seconds, he mustered up the courage to speak.
"Emma?" He asked, gently prying the small girl off his leg and crouching down to face her.
She looked only about five or six years old, but it was definitely her.
"Yeah?" She replied, wiping her tears with small hands.
Killian hugged her awkwardly, burying his head into her shoulder so she didn't have to watch him hold back a tear.
Was this worse than death? They would never be together the way they were before and he still had to watch her grow up as a permanent reminder. He had no idea who was at the bottom of this, since there wasn't a face to attribute to the curse, but he was ready to spend a good few years hunting them down.
"Do you remember anything?" He asked, eventually pulling away once he had pulled himself together.
"I remember being a grown-up. And I know I have a son and a mom and a dad and I don't remember everything about you but I think you were a friend."
It was better she didn't remember the full details, that way she wasn't experiencing the same loss as him. She seemed to have the full brain capacity of her childhood self, Killian quickly deduced, it wasn't like she was just her regular self in a child's body. He was glad she was alive and well. To think this fate was worse than death was selfish on his part.
Emma began to cry a little more, "I want my mommy."
"Oh no- oh- oh no, don't cry, mate, she's- look, why don't I just call her?" He rambled, standing up and switching on his phone.
He tried to remember how to find Snow in his contacts, scavenging his brain for that very specific memory of adult Emma teaching him how to use a phone. Very luckily however, Snow was the one to call him. It seems she had been thinking of them and how they were doing.
"Are you guys okay? We're coming down there right now. I knew I shouldn't have listened to Emma when she said the two of you could do this on your own. David? David! David, get Neal's stuff. Call Ruby and ask her if she can watch him while we're out." Snow audibly panicked, unknowingly interrupting Killian every time he opened his mouth to speak.
"Snow, there's no need for that. The erm- the danger has passed. It's over." Killian explained, looking at the little girl uncertainly before holding out a tentative hand. "You can stay where you are. It's Emma. It's difficult to explain- no, she's not hurt- look, I'll just bring her to you."
Emma had stopped crying when she had heard her mother's voice over the phone. Silently, she took Killian's hand, her little fingers squeezing three of his. After about fifteen minutes, they found themselves at the front door, knocking frantically to be let in. Both Snow and David were at the door in an instant, Neal being rocked in David's arms. Killian couldn't describe their faces when they saw Emma.
She ran up to Snow, hugging her leg the way she did Killian before.
"Oh, honey," Snow sighed, patting her head and looking over at Killian.
"There was a spell. The dust was gold, so it wasn't anybody we know, and this is what happened. She's alive, and from what I can tell she's healthy too. She's just regressed to a young child." Killian explained, growing frustrated as he realised how little he knew about the curse.
"Emma?" Snow asked, locking down at the little girl with shock.
Emma simply nodded, her child mind unable to comprehend how big this change was.
"Did you even catch the person who did it?" David spoke up, keeping his voice somewhat gentle to not disturb Neal, or little Emma for that matter.
"We didn't even see them. I'll try and get Belle to do some research on it tomorrow. I'll send her a text." Killian decided, taking his phone out and typing in the pin very slowly.
Snow and David gave each other a look, fighting back small smiles.
"You'll text her?" David smiled a little.
"Yes. What is it?" Killian demanded, swiping around and looking for the contacts app on his phone.
"David..." Snow warned, watching her husband turn around and snort slightly.
"You're bad at phones." Emma spoke up, making David absolutely lose it.
Even Snow began to laugh, causing Emma to smile and blush. Killian saw the humour in it, a five year old roasting his lack of knowledge on technology. Snow stood aside, letting the two of them into the apartment.
She invited them for dinner. As she had originally planned for them to come back successful and intact after their mission, there was enough to go round. David sat down with them after putting Neal in his high chair, taking Killian's phone and teaching him how to find Belle and text her.
"Got it, thanks, mate." Killian nodded gratefully, watching Snow serve the meal.
Emma was in the seat next to Killian and Snow and David opposite them. She looked curiously at the meal, pulling a face at the green stuff. She watches as her mother served her a particularly small plate. Bad idea.
"No, no, mommy, you have it wrong. I have big plates." Emma explained, thinking she had just made a mistake.
"That was when you were bigger, now you need a smaller portion to be healthy." Snow replied, taking her seat next to David.
Upon showing she hadn't, Snow was left to deal with her 5 year old child's wrath. She folded her arms together and pushed the offensive plate away.
"Aw, baby's first hunger strike." Snow joked, earning a small laugh from the remaining adults at the table.
Little Emma was just too cute. It was impossible to take her seriously, even if she was mad.
"It's okay, mate." Killian reassured, sliding his plate further scross the table so it was inbetween the two of them. "We can eat from the big plate together."
As he had predicted, Emma only picked at his food. She had a few morsels that were tiny compared to the pirate's hearty bites. She ate enough for herself and Killian still managed to scrape about two thirds of an average adult meal. Snow and David watched in awe at the man entertaining their child.
Emma was a child now. She was even younger than their grandson, Henry, so he was back to having only one mother; they had their little one, Neal, to think about; and on top of that, they knew nothing about their infant Emma's interests. Did she still have her same interests from the 80s or was she going to be more of an iPad kid now? They owed it to her adult self to reverse the curse but in the mean time where would she stay? It wouldn't be fair on either of their kids if they were crammed in the nursery together.
David looked at Snow, seeking her hand under the table and squeezing it to reassure himself, to calm his mind. Snow looked back, equally worried.
As if on cue, Emma yawned and slumped in her seat.
"Hey," David said gently, "let's not sleep here, why don't I take you up to your room?"
What room? Snow thought, as she glared at David.
"We'll figure this out tonight, sleep down here, then move in the morning." David murmured to Snow, getting out of his chair to pick up Emma.
"I am not going to sleep!" Emma exclaimed. "It's still day time outside!"
She thumped David's chest, who looked over at Snow desperately. She bit her lip, then out her head in her hands to try and stop herself from laughing. In that moment she knew when the curse was reversed, she'd never let adult Emma live these tantrums down.
"May I?" Killian asked quietly, standing up.
Part of him had always wanted a child. He remembered the closeness he felt to Baelfire when he seeked refuge on the Jolly Roger. He remembered the guilt he felt casting him away. He then looked at Emma, this was her second chance at childhood. If this curse was permanent then at least he could guarantee she'd never be alone again.
David shrugged, setting Emma down on the floor and watching as Killian crouched to her eye level.
"Hey, mate. What's bothering you? Why won't you sleep?" He questioned, watching Emma yawn again.
"It's not night time." Emma insisted, gesturing in the direction of a window.
"You know, in my days as a pirate, we would sleep when it was light out." Killian began, chuckling a little under Emma's attentive gaze. "We travelled all over different realms, so in some places, it was day time all the time. We just had to sleep when we felt tired. Do you feel tired, Emma?"
She nodded admittedly, and Killian held out his arms. She stepped into them and allowed him to carry her, resulting in David's shock and slight jealousy at the touching moment. Killian didn't stop talking, he carried her upstairs watching her eyelids flutter listening to his tales at sea. He took her to David and Snow's room, having overheard them talking about where to put Emma, and he tucked her into bed. He stood over her, watching her serene sleepy disposition.
"I'm very happy you're my friend, Killian." Emma muttered absent-mindedly, before rolling over, hugging a pillow to her chest, and finally going to sleep.
Killian paused, then grinned widely. He would be thinking about that for the rest of the night.
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