#i came up with 5 pounds out of nothing btw it's just like slightly heavy but not heavy enough to cause strain lmaooo

[journeyman-tier-fibercraft]

Market bag is a success! The handles turned out just long enough to wear over my shoulder!!!

[phoenix-before-the-flame]

God this has been in my ask box for so long. Anon wherever you are i am so sorry my dude. Writing requests are closed btw, I'm just clearing out my inbox.

Lucy's leg came down hard, splitting the earth where it landed, narrowly missing Natsu who had ducked to the left with a cocky grin, disappearing into the cloud of smoke from her attack.

The sun beat down on the pair of them from its high seat in the sky, not a cloud in sight to lessen the heat or a lick of cool breeze in the still air. Dry and dusty air swirled in Lucy's lungs and she greedily sucked in more lungfuls of it as she stood by, tense with tight fists, waiting for his next move.

Lucy barely even registered that she was wearing her Taurus dress still, her spirit's strength flowed through her muscles as though it were her own. Lucy's whip was tossed to the side, long forgotten and her hair slipped free of their buns. Stray strands stuck up all about her head and stuck to her sweaty skin. They felt gross, she wanted nothing more than to pull them all in a ponytail but she didn't have those seconds to spare.

A wild grin pulled at her lips when Natsu threw himself at her, dodging beneath her left hook. The wind from the force set him off balance slightly but it didn't stop him from dropping into a crouch and sweeping out her feet from under her. Lucy's back hit the dirt hard, knocking the wind out of her lungs in a strangled grunt.

She gritted her teeth, blinking the dirt and sweat from her eyes, taking in the only moment of calm she's had all day. Begrudgingly though she had to admit.

What were they now? 5 for 5? Lucy wasn't quite sure. She jumped to her feet, not even having the time to steady herself when he came flying out of nowhere. His fist broke the already beat up earth where she was just seconds ago.

He stayed there for a bit, a heavy frown pulling at the corners of his lips. Natsu watched her keenly, unblinking as she searched for an opening on him.

Well this wasn't how they was expecting today to go. One spar, just out of curiosity if nothing else. It was never asked although she could see it whenever she fought an enemy, the excited twitch of his lips and the sparkle in his eyes.

Natsu wanted to go against her, and Lucy'd be dammed if she didn't want to test herself against him.

One round turned to five, with Happy abandoning them after the first 2, possibly figuring something that they hadn't at the time. Her eyes narrowed at him, taking in a bit of the damage she had caused.

His cheek was slightly discoloured, a weak purple hue atop his dark skin that had spread since last she focused on it, going down to touch at his jaw. It distracted her from the split in his lip, which he was now gnawing on in concentration. His fingers curled and uncurled in the dirt, bare chest heaving for breath while his other hand gripped his scarf tightly.

Lucy stole a few seconds to pull her hair up and out of her way, wincing at a pain in her side from where Natsu’s leg had caught her earlier. That was gonna bruise for sure, and the one on her shoulder too. Though she didn't dwell on those thoughts too much, the adrenaline coursing through her veins had her on a jittery high that buzzed in her head, numbing the sparks of pain her bruises sent out.

Now lucy could sorta understand why her partner loved a good brawl so much.

Lucy dropped her body into a stance, arms hanging loose about her sides and ready for anything when she saw him hop to his feet. Natsu only threw his head back in a hearty laugh, pulling the scarf from his neck. He wrapped it around his head, securing it in place with a tight knot. His tongue darted out to swipe away the blood beading from his split lip.

Natsu's eyes sharpened on her again, widening his stance, readying for something. She didn't like that toothy grin on his face right now.

Natsu lunged towards her, feet pounding heavily and the scarf's tassles whipped wildly in the air behind him.

A straight attack? Someone was getting desperate, going for his typical right hook when she'd obviously seen through it before. Lucy pulled her fist back. One straight attack for another, an excellent trade off in her opinion.

He didn't even slow at her raised fist, in fact it seemed that he hurtled towards her even faster. This round was gonna be hers, Lucy thought with a smug grin.

"Hya!" She shouted, letting loose her attack, and he took it. Her fist collided with his face, just below his right eye and he grunted at the hit. She froze, not expecting it to land. A wave of concern washed over her, briefly blocking out the adrenaline pumping through her.

"Natsu you-" his fingers curled tightly around her wrist, yanking it from his face. Lucy lashed out with her other hand, hitting nothing as Natsu disappeared behind her, twisting her arm behind her back and keeping her in place.

She slapped fruitlessly at his shoulder with her free hand but he grabbed that too, pulling it behind her like the other.

He panted, breathing slowing to normal as she struggled against his grip, hissing out a complaint when he drew her back flush to his chest.

"I win." He hummed, nosing at her neck. He took a deep breath then rested his chin on her shoulder, looking up at her with mirth filled eyes. "Ready to call it quits?"

"One more round." Lucy ground out. She tested his grip on her, unyielding, and she looked back down at him. The toothy grin was back with a hint of something devilish beneath it. "One more round." She repeated firmly. "And then I'm done."

"But Luuuuuuuuucy," He whined in her ear. "How ya planning on getting outta this? Seems impossible to me. Just say that I'm the winner and I'll let ya go."

"I think I know a way out. Sorry about this in advance by the way."

"Wait sorry about wha-" his question transformed into a yelp, feeling pain shoot up his foot, her boot crushing his toes without mercy. His grip on her loosened and Lucy pushed him off, scrambling away to a good distance while Natsu hopped around nursing his injured foot.

"That was low Luce! Really low!" He grumbled out, gingerly putting weight on his foot. She gave him time to recover, watching as he hobbled around grumpily as the pain she caused receded.

Lucy scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Low blow huh? And pinning my hands behind my back wasn't one?" She peeled off her gloves and chucked them somewhere to the side. She flashed her hands gratefully, they were starting to chafe in there.

"Consider that my revenge. Now quite fooling around. You ready?"

Natsu straightened, signature toothy grin plastered on his face. His most recent injury seemingly forgotten. He cracked his knuckles excitedly, fingers twitching before they curled into tight fists.

"For you? Always."

[lassluna]

Let the Stars Remind You (5/?)

“It’s ok Papa, you don’t have to worry. We can trust her, she’s just like me,” She says holding his hand. “She can hear the stars. She’s just like me.” she repeats, a look of wonder on her face, pure belief in what she’s saying. Killian looks down at her. His little girl, his Starfish, and isn’t sure. He still isn’t sure if rescuing Emma Swan is the best thing he’s ever done, or their undoing.

AN:  I'm so happy this story has been getting such positive response, especially since it was supposed to be a one-shot...oops? (We're not nearing the end, maybe nearing the midpoint?) It means so much to me, so Thank you. BTW, the next update is going to take me a bit of time since it's going to be majority fluff and I'm terrible at that.

Ao3 FFn 

Alice was screaming; she was calling his name. She was crying for her Papa.

“Eloise! You don’t have to do this!” He yelled, fighting against the restraints, the vines holding him against the tree. He felt weak and helpless against it, the more he fought, the tighter they became.

She was there in front of him, same golden hair, same self-satisfied smirk on her face. The cloak around her seemed to flow endlessly, like a phantom in the night. “I have to do this Killian. It’s her destiny.” She utters. It sounds like venom to his ears.

Killian didn’t care about fate or destiny, all he cared about was that his daughter was scared, that she needed him.

“What would you know about her?” He snaps. “You gave her away the moment she was born. You have no right to any of this.” Killian knows Alice, knows her dreams, her creative spirit, her resilience in the face of all her madness. “You don’t get to decide it Eloise.”

She knocks her head slightly. “You really are naïve aren’t you?” She asks. “I’m learning more about her every day.”

He blinks in confusion. He feels something shift.

“I told you I’d be back for her, I keep my promises Jones.”

But this time it’s not Eloise in front of him. It’s not Eloise taking away his daughter.

//

He wakes with a jolt, eyes fly open and he can feel his heart pounding in his chest.

It’s just a dream. He repeats, trying to ease his tremors. We’re safe, Alice is safe. He repeats to himself.

But he can still hear Alice screaming for him in his ears, he feels helpless against it, helpless against the sound shaking him to his core.

Thunder roars outside, shaking the floor beneath the bed.

Suddenly there’s a heavy knock on his door. He rushes up from where he sleeps, opening the door hesitantly. It’s Emma he knows, Alice surely wouldn’t knock on his door.

However the second he opens the door, he can hear Alice clear as day.

“Papa!” She wails from upstairs. Lightning flashes and another clap of thunder shakes the old lighthouse.

It wasn’t in his bloody head. He curses to himself. He’d been so wrapped up in his own dream that he didn’t even think it could be real.

“I’m sorry for waking you but I just heard her and this whole place is shaking so badly I-“ He doesn’t even let her finish, rushing right past her, and up the stairs 2 at a time.

“Papa.” She lets out in half relief half terror as he appears. She’s practically shaking, clutching one of stuffed animals tightly in her arms. She lets it go immediately and reaches for him instead. He sits on the bed besides her, holding her as she recounts the dream in quick terrified spurts. “She was going to get me, and you, she was coming, and-and- she said she’d hurt you if I didn’t help her, so I did and you begged me not to and she-she ended up turning me into a tree and you were gone.” She whimpers into him.

“Shh.” He says softly. Holding her close, trying to calm her down, Killian should have expected this after yesterday. “Nothing bad is going to happen.” He assures her. “We’re safe here.” He reminds his daughter.

“What if she finds us?” Alice whispers.

“She hasn’t yet, and she won’t,” He assures her. “If she does, we’ll find a new place, maybe in a town no one knows us, or a city we’ve never been to. Just know that no matter what I’m going to be here to keep you safe.”

Alice nods, looking at him with her big blue eyes, shining with tears. “And I won’t let anything bad happen to you either Papa.” She says. “I think the thing that the Stars say is coming…I think it’s a bad thing.” She admits in a quiet voice. “I think it’s a really bad thing. They’re louder than they used to be.” He nods, rubbing her back softly.

“We’ll be ready Starfish, just the two of us right? The Knight and the Rook can do anything.” He reminds her.

//

Killian tells her stories, any he can think of, something exciting, and something to bring a smile to her face and chase away the worry and thoughts too old for his young daughter. He doesn’t want her worrying about him, protecting him.

He wants Alice to be a happy girl, just a happy little girl.

In his stories, animals come alive and everyone always ends up with their happily ever after. He’d tell her stories until dawn if it would help, he’d tell her stories until the end of time if he had to.

But thankfully tonight, Killian didn’t have to. Tonight Alice is too exhausted from her tears, from her mysterious adventure in the woods. She eventually nods off just as the hero is about to enter an unsolvable maze.

(He’s glad she fell asleep as she definitely needs it, as well as the fact he had no idea how to get the heroes out of an unsolvable maze, Killian knows he should plan out these stories rather than winging it)

Eventually he returns downstairs, content to let Alice sleep.

Content to avoid the way his eyes can’t seem to stay open or focus on anything without conscious effort. Without the welcome distraction of Alice, his own nightmare returns to his mind at full force. He wonders if it’s a sign that the two of them had similar dreams tonight. He wonders if it’s a bad omen.

He wonders if he’s literally going to dissolve from how tired he was all of a sudden.

“Killian? Are you alright?” Emma asks. He looks over at her; she’s sitting on the floor rifling through the cabinets.

“What are you doing?” He asks instead. Killian knows he should respond first but he doesn’t have it in him to be polite.

She pulls out a bottle, one he painfully recognizes.

“You look like you could use some of this.” She says with a mischievous smirk. “I definitely pegged you right, definitely a rum guy.”

He stares at it unmoving, he wants it. He wants it so bad it hurts.

He remembers how easy it is to drown everything else out, the pain the worry, the sadness. He remembers how well he let nothing matter with the help of the amber liquid sloshing around in the bottle.

“I can’t Swan.” He says. His voice quiet. He doesn’t want her to ask why. He doesn’t want a chance to change his mind, to give in to temptation of letting everything disappear.

“Killian, cut yourself some slack, one drink won’t kill you.” She responds.

“I’m an alcoholic Swan.” He says it without hesitation. Without even looking at her, staring directly at the bottle, a bottle he could empty quite easily if given half a chance.

He glances back at her, she looks mortified. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry I didn’t-“ He cuts her off with a wave of the hand, approaching her slowly, removing it from her hand. He knows she didn’t know. He doesn’t fault her in the slightest for trying to help. He crouches down, putting the bottle at the back of the cabinet where she found it. “Why do you even have that if you can’t drink?” She asks.

“What’s recovery without a little temptation?” He says with a dark chuckle.  She’s staring at him with a guilty expression.

“It’s alright love, I’m fine.” He says softly. “You were just trying to help.” Emma rolls her eyes.

“By literally putting a drink in your hand. I’m awful.” He shakes his head.

“You’re not.” He assures her. “I’ve met awful and you share no resemblance.” He says with a smirk.

She doesn’t respond as he helps her back to the couch, and then he sits beside her. “You must be curious…” He says.

“It’s not my place to ask, but if you want to share, want to talk I’ll listen.” She says simply.

“After Milah died I didn’t really see the point of anything anymore, I decided to drown my sorrows in the bottom of a bottle, drove my brother away and left myself completely alone.” He hadn’t even cared back then, he didn’t care about anything except the next drink, the next escape.

“Then I met her.” He continues. Killian didn’t expect to talk about her, yet here he was. “I thought, I thought she would be someone, someone who could help pull me back out. She understood my pain, the agony of losing your entire world…” She’d recently lost her family, a broken soul raging against the entire world. “I though two broken people could fix each other, drag each other out of it?”

He’d been dead wrong. “Except she didn’t want to get out, and she didn’t want me out either. Things between us turned toxic pretty quickly. I didn’t realize for a while, not after I moved in with her, not after it felt like she just wanted to use me as her own form of escape, not after I saw that every time I even thought about fixing my life, she’d just push another bottle in my hand.” He shudders slightly.

“It wasn’t until she told me she was pregnant.” He looks to Emma, her expression gentle and understanding. “I called my brother, told him I needed help, that she was pregnant, and he came back, like the good brother he is, he dragged me out of there, helped me get sober, back on my feet, just in time for her to tell me that she had lied about the baby.”

Killian hears Emma audibly gasp. “That’s-“ She couldn’t finish.

“I know.” He concludes. “She just wanted whatever progress I made to just crumble. But I didn’t want to go back, I wanted my life back.” He doesn’t tell her how a few months later; Eloise appeared outside his door, an infant in her arms. He doesn’t tell her how she pushed the baby in his arms and told him that she didn’t want it.

She didn’t want her own daughter.

“You’re a good man Killian.” Emma insists. “Despite your demons.”

He shakes his head because it’s just not true. “She deserve better.” He responds. “She deserves more than just me. She deserves for her coming into being to be good and pure, she doesn’t deserve any of this.” He insists, angry all of a sudden. Killian usually doesn’t let himself feel angry about all of this, but in this one moment he makes an exception.

“She deserves a mother who loves her and a father who can protect her.” He says.

“You protect her.” Emma counters.

“We’re in a bloody lighthouse.” He reminds her. “I ran away. I took her and ran; I thought it was my only option, but what if I was wrong? What if this was all a big mistake.” Emma shakes her head.

“Alice loves it here, she loves you. You did what you thought you had to do, you took a bad situation and made it better, made it bearable.” He lets his head fall into his hands.

“She deserves better than bearable, she deserves a father who doesn’t make such huge mistakes, someone-“ He stops.

“I get it Killian, you have regrets, but you can’t let them drown you.” She reminds him. “You have to accept them.” He does, he does accept them, forgive them? Forgive himself? That’s another story entirely.

“And how exactly do I do that Swan?” He asks sarcastically.

“Hell if I know.” She responds with a shrug, leaning back into the sofa. “I get it Killian, in case you can’t tell, but I’ve made mistakes too.” Emma says after a moment. “I got put in a pretty tight spot a few months back, the only way out I saw was to make a deal with someone. I had to-“ She trails off, sounding a bit panicked if he was being honest.

“You don’t have to explain Emma” He tries, letting her out of telling him, giving her an excuse to put her walls back up. But Emma shakes her head, determination flashes in her gaze.

“I had to steal something, something incredibly valuable…Medicine, rare medicine…”She says hesitating again, he can feel her picking her words carefully, deciding exactly what parts of the truth to tell him. “I didn’t know it was medicine at the time and-someone died, a woman, a mother. She died without the medicine and that’s why, that’s why this happened.” She says pointing at her leg. “I’m not a good person Killian.”

He crosses his arms. “If I have to listen to you when you say that I’m a good man then you have to listen to me when I saw that you’re a good person too.” He counters. “You thought you had to, and you didn’t know what would happen. Hell, if it was a stranger or Alice I would have done the same thing.” He adds.

“I guess we’re both a little broken.” Emma concludes.

He nods. Perhaps.

“Killian? Do you believe in fate?” Emma asks after a moment, her voice sounding strangely vulnerable.

“Sometimes.” He responds honestly. “But I don’t like the idea of anyone deciding my fate but me.” She snickers at that. She turns her head towards him and it’s then Killian realizes just how close together they were sitting, their shoulders were brushing and Killian could see all the shades of green in the candlelight.

He wants to kiss her.

“Killian” She says in a small voice, sounding almost breathless.

He pulls back. He can’t, she doesn’t-

“Sorry, I don’t-“ He trails off, feeling a blush creep into his face as he jerks away, but doesn’t leave the couch. “I don’t know what we’re doing Emma.” He admits.

“What I-“ She trails off, pink coloring her own cheeks. “Shit did I-“ She scoots away.

“I don’t want to pressure you Emma, I don’t want to give you the wrong idea about me.” He continues.

“Pressure me?” She repeats, eyes narrowing in confusion.

“I know you were upset because I tried to kiss you and you didn’t want that. I apologize.” He continues.

“You thought I didn’t want to kiss you?” She exclaims. She’s laughing now, all the previous serious talk disappears with that smile.

“You started avoiding me.” He reminds her.

“I wasn’t-“ She tries, but Killian shakes his head.

“I’m a smart man Swan, I know what being avoided looks like, and this.” He waves his hand in her general direction. “Is avoiding.” He assures her. “And the only possible reason I could find to why you were doing so was that I misread the situation and you didn’t want it to happen.”

He has another apology on the tip of his tongue; it was the only proper thing to do. He moves to get up, to return to the kitchen table and let Emma have the rest of her night in peace. He can make a cup of coffee and spend the rest of the evening in his room pacing and not thinking about kissing Emma. Emma however, catches his hand and with surprising force as he tries to leave, pulls him back down, the determined look back on her face.

“Then let me make myself perfectly clear right now.” She says with conviction. “I, Emma Swan, just-desperately want to kiss you, Killian Jones.” She says slowly, breathlessly. And then she does so. She pulls him into her.

She kisses him, a gentle thing, as if she too doesn’t want him to slip away

Killian reciprocates before he even consciously realizes what he’s doing.

He responds the same way, not wanting to push her too far. Because he wants her to stay; he doesn’t want her to run, he wants to live in this moment where he’s kissing the bright, brilliant woman he found on a beach.

However, he feels her kissing with more force, her hand pulling him by the collar. It stirs something in him, whatever tension existing between them melts as he cups her cheek, pulling her closer as well.

They break briefly, both breathless and surprised.

“Bloody hell.” He curses, because that was…it was something, she’s something.

He wants more, he wants her, wants so much more than just one kiss.

This time it’s him kissing her, trying so desperately for more, more of feeling her lips, her hands, her warmth pressed against him. Killian feels like he’s drowning, but doesn’t want to stop.

After a moment he feels her shift, now straddling him. He has a good feeling that Emma doesn’t want to stop either.

A moan escapes his lips at the feeling, making Emma snicker. She breaks the kiss, looking at him with a teasing look.

“Emma.” He sighs. He has more to say, more to tell her about what she’s doing to him, but all he can do is say her name. “Oh Emma.”

He’s very positive that he is absolutely enamored by her.

“Shh tiger, we have to be quiet.” She reminds him. He nods.

She’s kissing him again, her hands through his hair as his own hands briefly graze her body, her shoulders, her back, she shivers when he finds the bit of skin where the shirt rides up.

Then he feels Emma shift and inhale sharply. He stops instantly. His eyes widen in fear. Had he hurt her?

“Sorry, sorry.” She says immediately, noticing his look. “I forgot about my leg, rubbed it wrong.” She admits. He scoots so the bandage doesn’t rub against the arm of the couch. “We can-“

Killian yawns. He curses himself immediately. “That wasn’t-“ He tries. He doesn’t want to insult her. She laughs shaking her head.

“Look this-this was a onetime thing alright?” Emma says. “I just…”She trails off.

“Sexual tension, just a bit of a release for the both of us.” He concludes.

(It’s a lie and they both know it, but that’s ok)

“You’re going to try and stay up aren’t you?” She asks after a moment.

He doesn’t respond; they both know he will. Killian is never really able to go back to sleep after a nightmare. He’s always too afraid he’ll be hit with another.

“You’re exhausted Killian.” Emma insists. “You need to sleep.”

He knows he is; he can barely keep his eyes open now that the adrenaline of their previous actions started to fade, but still he tries.

He has to.

He doesn’t bother trying to convince her he’s fine. “Look at me Kilian.” He does, catches her eyes in the candle light. Her hands slip up to his face, rubbing against his stubble, her palm is so smooth and soft; the sensation makes him gasp slightly. “Do you trust me Killian?” She asks. He nods, eyes slipping closed slowly. He feels her move from straddling him, and he groans wanting her to stay.

“I’m not going anywhere Killian.” She assures him tugging his shoulder. He complies, letting her direct his body to lay on the couch long ways, his head settling on her lap. She tugs the blanket to cover him.

Killian tries to open his eyes, vision already blurring with sleep, he tries to sit up to protest, but she gently pushes him back down. He complies, not really wanting to leave this spot anyway.

“I’ve got you Killian.” She assures him, hands find their way through his hair massaging is scalp gently, soothingly. “Let me take watch over you Killian, you know you can trust me.”

He does.

Tags: @hollyethecurious @branlovesouat @winterbaby89 @celestial-fire-writer @celestial-fire-writer @kmomof4 @therooksshiningthrough