Once Upon a Time 1. Chapter 1

The alarm clock went off, and the sound felt 10x amplified because of her massive headache. She quickly took her pillow and put it over her ears, trying to block out the noise, but it was no use. The alarm kept going off and she knew it was time to wake up. She took her hand and abruptly hit the clock, shutting it off.

Getting up proved to be a bigger challenge, her whole body aching. She went to the bathroom and was disgusted with her reflection in the mirror. Her red hair was a tangled mess, red curls all over the place. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she noticed her right eye was starting to bruise from the fight she got into last night. She was lucky she didn't get arrested. That seemed to be the norm ever since her divorce. Get drunk at her own bar, pick fights, make a seemingly daily trip to the Sheriff's station where she would often spend the night before being released. She brushed her teeth and then hoped in the shower, getting ready for another long and painful day.

She checked her phone to see what the weather was like outside. Chilly, high would be 45. She put on a pair of purple skinny jeans, a black blouse and her black leather jacket. She got her boots and scarf and headed out the door.

It was still early in the morning, but Granny's looked a bit deserted. There seemed to be only a few people there. She took a seat at one of the booths at the counter.

"Hey Aria" said a tall slender girl with red streaks in her hair. She wore a tight white blouse, red shorts and red high heels with socks. She was about to ask her what she wanted but she paused when she saw the black eye her friend had. "You got into another fight?"

Aria just gave her a glance that seemed to say "I don't want to talk about it" and then just nodded. "It's nothing Ruby."

Ruby let out a small sigh. "Ok so what would you like to order?"

"I'll just have some coffee" said Aria, giving Ruby a small smile.

Ruby nodded and left. Aria just glanced down at the counter, toying with her necklace. It was a long gold chain with a heart pendant. She didn't remember how she got it, probably from her dad at some point, but she had it for as long as she could remember.

The bell on the door rang as someone came into the dinner. Aria glanced over to see who it was and immediately turned away, letting out a small sigh.

The man sat right next to her at the counter. It was Sheriff Graham, a very attractive young man with an Irish accent.

"Are you here to arrest me Graham?" said Ariel, still looking down at the counter.

Ruby came over and placed the coffee on the counter, and then turned to Graham, giving him a big smile. "Morning handsome, can I get you anything?" she asked, giving him this very flirty look.

"No thank you Ruby" said Graham, turning back to Aria.

Ruby gave him a little smirk and went back to attending other customers. Ruby was a very nice young lady, and she loved to flirt with attractive men, especially Graham. It annoyed Aria a bit sometimes, even though Ruby was her best friend, well really the only friend she had, but it got on her nerves a bit.

"We need to talk Aria" said Graham in a very serious tone.

"So you are going to arrest me" she said, taking her mug of coffee, gently blowing on it before taking a sip.

"Look Aria... I'm afraid I don't have much choice" he said. "Ever since you're divorce you've just been making wrong choice after wrong choice and frankly I can't help you out anymore.

Aria let out another sigh. "So I have to go to jail without bail, is that it?"

"Well I talked to Regina and ummm basically she said its either jail or community service."

Aria quickly shot him a look, as she arched her eyebrow. "Community service? Like that what, picking up the trash?"

"Well not exactly. You would have to volunteer at the church and help out the nuns"We have a church?" Aria interrupted, clearly surprised.

"Yes" said Graham patiently.

"For how long?" she asked.

"Probably for a year" he said.

"A year?!" she said angrily.

"YEs Aria, unless you want to permanently move to the cell in the Sheriff's station" he said.

Ariel let out a sigh, closing her eyes. "Fine" she said, taking another sip from her coffee. "When do I start?"

"Today" he said, getting up to leave. "I have already talked with Mr. Jones, the priest, and he will meet you there at 2:00 pm today. I'll uh pick you up at 1:50 since you don't know where the church is." He gave her a small nod and left, leaving Aria with her coffee.

The church was a modest sized church, that looked like a mini- Gothic cathedral from the outside. One the inside it was dark, lighted by hundred of candles. There were only a few stained glass windows with biblical references on them.

The priest was walking down the halls, with the bible in his right hand, heading towards the door to wait for the Sheriff and their new volunteer.

He wasn't too thrilled about this arrangement since it seemed that the lady that would join them wasn't the greatest of people. Still he saw this as an opportunity to help her out, perhaps help her change her ways.

The Sheriff arrived precisely at 2:00, right on time. He got out of the car and went to open the door for his passenger, who was sitting in the back seat. Apparently the rear-doors were locked from the inside. Aria stepped out of the car, looking up at the church, taking it all in.

The priest stood there, taking her in, examining her, working his way from her boots up to her face. Her long, curly red hair flowed in the wind, and he saw how she shivered slightly as the wind hit her face. She put her hands in the pockets of her jacket, turning over to Graham.

He gently led her up the steps to where the Priest was standing. She was very beautiful, he thought, his eyes immediately going to her lush red lips.

"Mr. Jones, I'd like you to meet Aria Wayland, you're new volunteer" he said, presenting her to him.

"Killian Jones" he said, smiling at her, extending out his hand to shake hers. Aria gave him a small smile as she took her hand out of her pocket. She flinched a little as their hands touched. She felt this weird shiver go up her spine, as she pulled away.

He might be a priest, Aria thought, but he was extremely attractive. Short brown hair, piercing blue eyes, soft white skin. She seemed to mentally undress him with her eyes, and then suddenly stopped herself, realizing what she was doing.

"All right well I'll leave you two to get acquainted" Graham said, giving Killian a smile and then turning to Aria,giving her a stern look as if to warn her against doing anything stupid.

Killian and Aria looked Graham got in his car and left.

"Well Ms. Wayland, shall we?" asked Killian, motioning for her to go inside.

"You can call me Aria" she said, heading towards the door.

Aria stopped at the door, amazed at the church. It wasn't that big but it was beautiful inside. Dark and a bit haunting, candles everywhere. Aria realized that she had never been inside a church before.

"Impressive isn't it?" said Killian from behind her.

"It sure is" said Aria, still looking around. "So what exactly am I going to be doing? Picking up after the mass, tidying the place up. You know I could be you're maid, I have this sluttly maid outfit I wore for Halloween a few years ago, I can wear if you like" she said.

"Ms. Wayland-"

"Aria" she said quickly. "Ms. Wayland would be my mother, if I had one."

"Aria" said Killian. "I am going to have to ask you to refrain from using inappropriate language while you're here. And I really hope you won't be wearing any inappropriate outfits. You also cannot show up here drunk on with a hangover, I'll make an exception today since its your first day."

"How did you"

"You look terrible, no offense" he said. "Besides this is a small town and ummm you were sort of on the newspaper the other day."

"Great" said Aria, raising her eyebrows as she let out another sigh.

"All right well basically you will be helping the nuns with the fundraisers and cleaning up after mass, things of that matter."

Aria nodded. "So you're Irish?"

"What?" he asked.

"You seem to have an Irish accent" she said, pointing at him. "Plus Killian... it's a strange name, foreign."

"Well yes I am Irish" he said. "And are you Australian then since you have an Aussie accent?"

"Yes I suppose I am" she said. "So tell Killian whats an attractive Irish priest doing in a town like Storybrooke?"

"I could ask you the same" he said. "Well... I've been here for as long as I can remember. Something about this place just seems to keep me here."

"I know the feeling" she said.

"Well let's get started shall we".

After hours of working, it was already dinner time and Aria was exhausted.

"Well I think we're done for today, you may leave Aria" Killian said, putting away the cups from mass in their respective compartments.

"That's it? No more mass, nothing?" she asked holding her breathe.

"Nope, we're done" he said, smiling at her.

Aria let out a relived breathe. "Thank God" she said. Her eyes quickly widened, realizing she had used the word God. Her hand quickly shot up to her mouth.

Killian chuckled to himself in amusement.

"Sorry" she quickly apologized. "I didn't mean to use the Lord's name in vain, or whatever it is..."

"That's all right Aria" he said giving her a comforting smile.

"So, what are your plans for the evening?" she asked nonchalantly.

"I'll just be heading home" he said.

"Perhaps you'd like to join me for a drink at my bar, drinks on me" she said.

"Thanks but I don't drink" he said.

"Oh" Aria said, with a bit of disappointment on in her voice. "Well I have food too we can just go get something to eat?"

Killian looked at her with a saddened gaze. While she was quite lovely, he didn't want to give her the wrong idea. "Aria you do know that as a priest I am not allowed to date right?"

"I know" she said quickly, defending herself. "Just think of it as me thanking you for giving me this job so I can avoid going to jail."

"Well... I guess I don't see the harm" he said smiling at her.

"Great, the bar is just a few blocks away apparently so we could just walk there" she said.

Killian nodded, grabbed his coat from the coat closet and they both headed out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

They got to the bar in a matter of minutes. Ariel swung the door of the bar open and let Killian pass before her. William Smee, her bartender had opened the bar today since she was busy at the church.

The bar was called Pixie Dust, but it looked nothing like the name suggested. Inside it was very dark and noisy. Loud rock music was playing from the stereo. There were plenty of tables everywhere, as well as stools at the actual bar counter. Smee was serving an apple martini to one of the customers. It was pretty crowed for a Monday night. It almost seemed like everyone who was of age was here tonight. Aria greeted Smee and then headed to a table towards the back.

They sat down, menus already on the table waiting for them. Killian took the menu and glanced through. They actually had some good food here, better than he expected.

"What would you like to drink?" said Aria, smiling at Killian from behind the menu.

"I'll just have some water" he said.

"Really? Just water?" she said, arching her eyebrow. "I know you said you don't drink but…."

"Water is fine" he said uneasily. Aria turned around in her chair and shouted to Smee "Smee I'll have a margarita and water please."

"So, Pixie Dust huh?" asked Killian. "I'm sorry?" asked Aria turning back around to face Killian.

"It's the name of your bar, Pixie Dust. Curious name, how did you pick it?" he asked.

"Oh" she said, chuckling. "Well, Peter Pan has always been my favorite Disney movie and I am actually a fan of Tinkerbell so I just thought I'd call it Pixie Dust. I thought it was cute and different, plus my daughter really liked it so."

"Here you Margarita for you and a water for you" said Smee, placing the drinks down on the table.

"Thank you Smee" she said, smiling at him. "So Killian do you know what you want to order?"

"Ah yes I'll have the alfredo pasta with shrimp please" he said, handing the menu to Smee.

"I'll have a bacon ranch chicken sandwich, with French fries" she said. "Thank you Smee."

"Ok thank you those will be right up" he said, taking the menus and heading back to the bar.

"So he is your bartender and your waitor?" asked Killian.

"Yes well, were a bit short tonight and its my day off so" she said.

Killian nodded, looking down at the table.

Just as Ariel was about to say something her phone rang. "Excuse me I really need to take this, I'll be right back" she said, getting up and walking towards the bar.

Killian looked at her as she walked away, staring at her back. She actually had a very curvy body for someone so skinny. He quickly shook his head, trying to get rid of the inappropriate thoughts running through his head. You can't Killian, he told himself, and you know that. He noticed that Ariel had a big smile on her face as she was talking, but he also noticed a small tear running down her cheek. She was crying a little bit it seemed. After a few minutes she hung up and came back to the table, just as Smee was coming with their food.

"Here you go" said Smee, placing the food on the table.

"Thank you Smee" said Ariel wiping the tears from her face.

"Are you all right?" asked Killian.

"yeah I'm fine" she said, sitting down. "It was just my daughter."

"Ah" said Killian. He knew that Ariel had recently gotten divorced, actually the whole town knew. It was quite scandalous. But no one really knew why they got divorced, or what Ariel did to get her children taken away from her. It must have been hard, he thought to himself, not that he would ever know.

"Aria I hope I am not being too forward but ummm…. What happened with you and your husband?" he asked.

Aria quickly shot him a look, and he could see the anger forming in her eyes, like a storm forming in the ocean. "I don't want to talk about it" she said hastily, taking a bite of her sandwich.

Killian decided to drop the subject; he didn't want to piss her off. For the rest of the evening they just talked about work and other small things.

Killian wanted to get to know Aria but he could quickly see that wasn't going to be easy. She wasn't very talkative and every time he asked her something personal she would either give him a quick, brief answer, or she would just ignore him and change the subject. What was she was hiding, he thought. Why was she so guarded?

Once they were done with dinner, Killian offered to walk Aria home but she told him that she was going to stay until they closed.

He bid her goodnight and headed home.


	3. Chapter 3

Killian walked out of the bar, pulling up the collar of his coat; it was quite chilly tonight. He started to walk towards his house when he noticed Dr. Whale walking towards him. He gave him a small nod and continued on. He turned around quickly though, curious to see if Dr. Whale was going to Pixie Dust. And sure enough he was, as he opened up the door to the bar and headed inside. Killian stopped, thinking if he should go back in. Dr. Whale had a bit of a reputation of his own in town. Not only was he a heavy drinker, but you could also say he was a letch. He was always looking for a pretty woman to try to bed, to satisfy his lustful desires. Although he knew Aria could take care of herself, he felt the need to go back and make sure Dr. Whale didn't try to do anything.

He walked back to the bar. He opened up the door and saw Dr. Whale sitting on at the bar by himself with a glass of whiskey. He couldn't see Aria anywhere though. He decides that it would be best to leave when suddenly Aria shows up and walks towards Dr. Whale. She sees her smile at him and gives him a huge hug. They must be friends then, he didn't know this.

Aria looks up and sees Killian standing by the door. She says something to Whale and then heads over to Killian.

"Killian, I thought you left?" she asks curiously.

Killian opens up his mouth to respond, but he is not quite sure what to say. Should he tell her the truth? Well he had too, it was a sin to lie.

"Well I was ummm on my way out and I noticed Dr. Whale coming over here and…. Well you know since he is a bit of a uh….. yeah I just wanted to make sure you were all right. That he wouldn't try anything on you. But I can see that you two know each other so I suppose I better get going" he said.

"Oh yeah Victor and I are old friends, no need to worry, but thanks for the concern" she said. "By the way, why were you concerned? What exactly have you heard?"

"Oh nothing its just that… when I see him in the dinner he always seems to be kind of just staring at Ruby inappropriately, and well he just seems like that type of guy" he said awkwardly.

Aria chuckles to herself, smiling at Killian. He was concerned for her, she thought this was adorable. It was too bad he was a priest; otherwise she would have just kissed him here and now and probably taken him back to her house.

"Well I should get going, I'll see you tomorrow. Good night" he said, with a small smile on his face.

"Good night" said Aria, watching him leave. She then walked back towards Dr. Whale, wondering if she and the doctor should have some fun tonight. They had been friends for as long as Aria could remember, but since the divorce, things seemed to change. They had slept together a few times already, but they agreed that they just wanted to be friends. They had always been drinking buddies, Whale one of her most valuable customers. While she did find him attractive, she didn't have feelings for him like that.

She sat with Whale at the bar and ordered a shot of whiskey. She decided to just sit with her friend and see what would happen.

They talked about their day. Apparently Whale had a very uneventful day, just checking up on the comma patient, making sure the other patients were fine, but nothing really happened.

"So where you on a date with the priest or something?" asked Whale, taking a sip of his whiskey.

"Victor he's a priest why would you even say that?" she said.

"Well when you want something you go after it so" he said playfully.

"Well I know my limits, and I know that he is off limits" she said. "No I am working at the church now, community service."

Whale nodded at her, taking another sip of his whiskey.

Suddenly Aria heard the door open. It was pretty late already, about 1:00 am. She saw Henry Mills come in, the mayor's kid, along with a blonde woman Aria had never seen before.

She was wearing a red leather jacket, and had her car keys in her hand. Aria got up and walked over to them, curious to see who this woman was.

"Henry hi" said Aria, looking down at Henry. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi Ms. Wayland" he said, with a big smile on his face. "We just stopped by for some food."

"It's one in the morning Henry shouldn't you be asleep?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"Well I went on a little field trip today and I just got back so" he said.

"I wanted to drive him home but he wouldn't tell me where he lives" said the woman.

"Oh Henry's house is just around the block. You take a right here, go down the street and his house is the biggest house at the end of the street" said Aria.

"Thanks" said the woman.

"I'm Aria. Aria Wayland" said Aria as she reached out her hand.

"Emma Swan".

"Oh Aria this is my mom Emma" said Henry who had gone over to the nearby table and sat in one of the chairs. "My birth mother I mean."

Aria's eyes widened, she was not expecting this at all. "Wow you're his mother? Huh well I'm glad you're here and that you met Henry he's a great kid. He would come over to play every now and then with my kids. So what can I get you to eat?"

"Actually I really need to get him home, his mother is probably worried sick about him" said Emma.

"Right well it was nice meeting you. I'll see you later Henry" said Aria, giving Henry a hug.

"Bye Ms. Wayland" he said.

"It was nice meeting you too and thanks for the directions" said Emma. Aria smiled and watched as the two of them walked out the door. It was quite interesting that Emma was here in Storybrooke now. In all the time that she has been here she never remembers seeing a stranger.

_The waves were crashing on shore. The two young boys were fighting with their swords, metal clashing with metal as the waves continued their back and forth motion._

_They stopped and decided to sit on some rocks near the water, waiting for their mermaid friend to come and see them. One of the boys, Eric, was the 16 year old prince. He was a handsome young lad, with dark black hair and big sky blue eyes. The other boy, was his twin brother, Killian. He didn't look quite the same as Eric for they were fraternal twins, but he still had those same big sky blue eyes. _

_They sat on the rocks, talking about the upcoming ball that their family was hosting. Eric loved balls; he loved having all the people of the kingdom in his home, having a good time. Killian on the other hand absolutely hated them. The only good thing that came from it was that he could usually find some princess to hook up with. _

_Just as they continued their conversation, Killian noticed a flash of red in the water. She was here he thought. It would probably be best for him to leave; he was only here for Eric, since he had a huge crush on the mermaid. Him on the other hand, he couldn't stand her. Sure she was beautiful but she was also incredibly annoying, and she wouldn't shut up, always asking stupid questions about the human world. He started to get up just when the mermaid showed up, swimming towards them. She gave Eric a huge smile, but when her eyes met Killian's her smile quickly disappeared and she gave him a small nod to acknowledge his presence. _

_Killian gave her a smirk, and decided to stay for a bit. If there was one thing that he enjoyed about the mermaid, it was toying with her, annoying her. _

"_Hey Ariel" said Eric, waving at her with a big smile on his face. _

"_Hi Eric" said Ariel, smiling back towards him. "Killian" she said, less enthusiastically. _

"_Fish" he said, still with that smirk on his face. "So happy that you could join us today! You know we have a ball tonight it's too bad you can't come."_

_Ariel quickly narrowed her eyebrows at him, clearly furious. He knew how much she wanted to be a human, even if just for one day. To have legs, to walk, to run, to dance, to be able to interact with other humans and explore the world. And here he was, rubbing it in. Oh how he infuriated her. She really didn't see how Eric and he were brothers. They were the complete opposite of each other. Eric was sweet, kind, smart, loyal, always there for you. Killian on the other hand was a cocky, selfish, snarky asshole. He was the bad boy. The only thing that Eric and Killian had in common, in her opinion, was that they were both extremely handsome, with gorgeous sky blue eyes, and that they cared for each other, even if Killian didn't always show it. But Ariel had known them for quite some time now, and she had observed the way they acted around each other. They were brothers, in every sense of the word. _

"_It's ok Ariel, don't listen to him" said Eric, trying to comfort her. "Hey, why don't you stop by tonight, I'll come out and we can have our own little ball."_

_Ariel smiled, Eric always knew how to make her feel better. "That sounds lovely!"_

_Killian rolled his eyes and said "and what are you planning on doing then? Are you two going to pretend to dance? What a waste of time. You know if you had legs there are much more pleasurable activities that you could do."_

"_Killian can you just stop?" said Eric furious. "Why do you always have to be such a bastard?"_

"_What? I haven't said anything wrong."_

"_You shouldn't even be talking about this stuff" said Eric in frustration._

"_It's ok Eric" said Ariel, calmly, looking right at Killian. "He's just jealous because he knows that if I ever were to become human I would never even consider getting together with the likes of him." She crossed her arms in front of her chest, feeling pretty satisfied with herself. _

_Killian scoffed, and said "As if I would ever be interested in you." His eyes wandered down to where her arms where. They were covering up her purple sea-shell bra. She might have been 14, but she had matured quickly for her age. She looked over her soft, white skin, the tiny freckles on her body. He was suddenly brought back to reality when he saw Ariel turning around, her back towards him. She was talking to that crab, Sebastian I think is what she called him._

"_Sebastian what are you doing here?" said Ariel._

"_Ahriel" he said with his thick accent. "How many times do I have to tell you, your father does not want you coming to the surface! Come now, before your father finds out." _

_Ariel let out a small sigh, then turned back around to face Eric and Killian. "I have to go guys. Eric I'll see you tonight right?"_

"_Don't count on it" said Killian, getting up to leave. _

"_Don't listen to him. Of course I'll be here! See ya" he said, waving good-bye._

_Ariel waved back and then disappeared under water, her green tail the last thing the boys saw. _

_Ariel followed Sebastian as he led her back to the castle. He kept rambling on and on about how humans were dangerous and she shouldn't be socializing with them. But Ariel didn't pay attention. She needed to find a way to get a pair of legs so that she could go to that ball. _

_She heard that there was a sea witch that could grant anybody's witch, but she knew that would be too dangerous. So she decided to ask her father. It was just for one night, and perhaps Sebastian could go with her. She knew he would be angry, but maybe if he just listened to her, he would understand._

_Ariel swam over to her father's room. He was standing near his desk, looking over some papers. He immediately looked up as Ariel swam into the room. "Ah Ariel, there you are!" he said, a big smile on his face. He gave his youngest daughter a hug and a kiss on the forehead. _

"_Daddy, can I ask you a question?" asked Ariel. _

"_Of course" he said. _

"_You know that kingdom by the shore not too far from here? Well they are having a ball tonight and I was hoping that, just for tonight-"_

"_You went to the surface again didn't you? Ariel how many times do I have to tell you, I don't want you going up there, its too dangerous!" he said._

"_But daddy please just listen!" said Ariel, trying to get him to calm down._

"_You have no idea what some humans would do to you if they saw you!"_

"_Daddy!" said Ariel, as loud as she could. Triton stopped, looking at her. "Please just listen."_

_He nodded, promising to hear her out. _

"_Look I know what you think about the human world, but I really want to go. Its just for one night. Please, Sebastian can come with me and make sure I am ok. Please I know these people; they won't do anything to hurt me. I just want to experience what its like to have legs, even if its just for one night." She quickly made the most adorable and saddest pouty face she could make, hoping it would be enough to get her dad to say yes. _

_Triton sighed, but he just couldn't say no to Ariel. And it was only for one night. "Ok" he said. "But just for tonight, and I want Sebastian with you at all times."_

_Ariel's face formed a huge smile as she swam over to her dad, giving him a huge hug, thanking him!_

_This was it, she was finally going to be human._

_It was night time now, and Ariel, Sebastian and Triton swam up to the surface. Ariel could hardly contain her excitement. She wondered how Eric would react when he saw her there. _

_They got to the shore and Ariel pushed herself up to sit on one of the rocks. Her father looked at her, with a bit of sadness in his eyes, and he asked her "Are you sure Ariel?"_

_Ariel looked at him with big blue-green eyes, and her eyes said it all. She wanted this more than anything. He nodded at her and then took his trident, placed the tip on the top of the water, and watched as a sparkly yellow light made its way to Ariel. She waited as the yellow light ran up her tail, completely consuming her, shining so bright that you couldn't even see her. _

_A few moments later she was wearing a beautiful lavender dress, her curled hair falling down her back, but most importantly, she had legs. She raised her dress up a bit to get a look at them; she was fascinated. It was the best thing she had ever seen. She tried to get up on the rock, but before she could try and probably end up falling in the water, her father came over, picked her up and carried her to the shore so she wouldn't get wet. _

_She then got up on her new two legs, shaking and wobbling and eventually falling. But she wasn't going to give up. She kept trying and trying and finally after many attempts she started to get the hang of it. It took her quite some time, but she was finally able to walk, albeit with the occasional stumble, but walk nonetheless. Sebastian crawled over to her, and they then said goodbye to Triton as they headed up to the castle. _

_Ariel was finally inside and she was desperately trying to find Eric. Sebastian was neatly perched on her shoulder, slightly hidden by all her hair. She looked around, saw so many people elegantly dressed dancing, talking, eating, having a grand time. _

"_Well hello there, I don't believe I've seen you before" said a voice that Ariel knew all too well. Ariel let out a small sigh as she turned around to face him. _

_Killian's face quickly went from amusement to surprise. His jaw dropped slightly as his eyes took in every inch of her. "A-Ariel?" he said, a bit confused._

"_Not what you were expecting huh?" she said with a triumphant smile on her face. She then slowly turned around, her dress flowing around her. "So… what do you think?" _

_Killian had no words. He was just shocked, not understanding how she could possibly be here with them. He had to admit though, she looked absolutely stunning. As he opened his mouth to say something his brother quickly came over to them. _

"_Ariel?" asked Eric, a big smile on his face. "Woah how… why are you…. How did you?"_

"_My father, he gave me legs for the night." Eric offered her his hand and asked her to dance. Ariel gladly accepted, and the two of them went off, leaving Killian alone, as he watched the two of them. _


	4. Chapter 4

The alarm clock went off and Aria quickly groaned, annoyed at the stupid thing. Why couldn't she just sleep in? It was Saturday after all. But no, even on a Saturday she had to go volunteer at the church. She moved her arm over to shut the alarm clock off and then opened up her eyes. She noticed her bed was a complete mess, pillows all over the place, the sheets out of place, clothes all over the floor. Someone must have gotten busy last night. Then she remembered, she had invited Dr. Whale over and well the usual happened. At least she didn't get drunk, she thought to herself. She got of bed and went to get ready for the day.

She was at the church in about thirty minutes. She opened up the doors and walked in. It was quiet as usual. The nuns were usually either making candles or just wandering around. She started walking around, trying to find Killian. She passed by a mirror that was hanging on the wall and within seconds she found herself checking her appearance, making sure she looked good for him. She didn't really have any make-up on, just some eyeliner and mascara, and her hair was loose, with a French braid on the side. She then stopped herself when she realized what she was doing. "He's a freaking priest" she told herself. This was ridiculous, she needed to stop. She continued on and walked right up to Mother Superior, who to her surprise was walking with Thomas, her ex-husband, and her two kids, Daniel and Melanie. Ariel quickly froze on the spot, not quite sure what to do. She wasn't supposed to be any closer than 50 feet from them, because of the stupid restraining order Thomas had put. Thomas quickly noticed her and stopped, firmly grasping the kid's arms. The two children however, about ten years old quickly had a huge smile on their faces. They started to go towards Aria, but Thomas held them back.

"Hi mom" said Melanie, with a big smile on her face.

"Hi sweetie" said Aria, trying to hold back tears. She didn't want to cry, not in front of him. "What-what are you guys doing here?"

"We just came to drop off our donation" said Thomas coldly. "What are you doing here? Come to ask for forgiveness for your sins?"

"No I um- I am volunteering here now" she said.

Thomas scoffed, and turned his head away from her, turning to Mother Superior. "Well we better get going, have a good day Mother Superior."

Mother Superior nodded at him and left. Thomas and the kids walked past Aria, his grip still tight on their arms, not even letting them give their mother a hug. Aria stood as she watched them leave, her heart sinking. There were many things that she regretted in her life, but that one night of sheer stupidity that had gotten her into so much trouble, ultimately costing her custody of her children, was the one she regretted the most.

She felt a hand resting gently on her shoulder. She turned around and found Killian standing behind her. Aria quickly wiped away her tears, and walked away, needing some privacy.

She went to one of the rooms and locked the door. She then slammed her back against the door and just slowly slid down until she hit the floor. Then she started to cry uncontrollably. She would have continued if it weren't for a voice interrupting her. She looked up and saw Henry was standing in front of her, asking her what was wrong. She wiped away her tears, and asked "henry…. What… what are you doing here?"

"Well I just…. My mom….. I don't know I am just confused right now. I found Emma but she doesn't really seem like she wants to stay. I don't know if she even loves me. And my mom just freaked out last night because I left."

"Come here Henry" she said, motioning for him to sit next to her, which he did.

"It's ok to be confused I mean you have Regina and now you found Emma. I am sure that she wants to be with her Henry. It's just hard you know, after 10 years she sees her kid for the first time. But no mother would ever abandon their child. You just need to give her sometime, that's all. As for Regina, you did give her quite the scare."

"yeah I guess you're right, thanks Ms. Wayland, you always know the right thing to say" he said, smiling at her.

Aria smiled right back. They then heard Killian knocking at the door, and decided it was time they got out of this room.

"I think you should head home Henry, you don't want Regina getting worried again" she said, hugging Henry goodbye. He waved goodbye to Killian, and then left.

Killian smiled and then turned to Aria, looking a bit concerned. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, everything is ok. So what are we doing today?"

_Killian couldn't stop starting at Ariel and Eric. Well, truth is he couldn't take his eyes off of her. She just looked stunning in her gown. But he still didn't understand how in such a short amount of time she could have turned human. Then he remembered what she said, that her father had given her legs for the night. Killian chuckled to himself. She certainly was a persistent lass, he had to give her that. Ariel quickly glanced over at him, and he quickly turned around, embarrassed. Why was he feeling like this? He had never particularly liked Ariel, but for some reason tonight he just couldn't take his eyes of her. He had always found her attractive but there was just something about human Ariel that he just couldn't resist. _

_He watched as Ariel clumsily tried to learn how to dance with Eric, how she got upset at herself every time she missed a step, how she giggled whenever Eric said something to her. He decided he needed to go over there, he had had enough of this whole standing around staring at her thing, and surely people would start to notice. _

_He walked up to Ariel and Eric, and asked if he could step in. Eric eyed him suspiciously, but let him take Ariel's hand, telling her that he would be back in a bit. He turned to Ariel and smiled at her, holding her right hand, and placing his other hand gently on her back._

_Ariel wasn't sure why Killian was dancing with her, and frankly she wasn't sure if she wanted to dance with him. But once they started to move she was actually surprised at how well he could dance, unlike her, who just kept stumbling and stepping all over the place. Killian laughed at her at times, amused. But it wasn't a mocking laugh like he usually did, it was just a small, quiet laugh. _

"_So you're human now huh fish?" he told her. _

"_Yeah I am" she said. _

"_Well I must say you look beautiful."_

"_Thank you". _

_They looked into each other's eyes, reading each other. Ariel then saw that Killian was leaning towards her. Was he going to kiss her she thought?! She had never kissed a boy before, but she always thought that Eric would be her first kiss. But before she had time to react, Killian's lips were pressed against hers. She was shocked at first, but then she just closed her eyes and went with it, taking in the moment, trying to imitate what his lips did to hers. After a bit he pulled away, unsure of what he had just done. He quickly apologized and just left, leaving Ariel alone in the middle of the ballroom, her fingers gently tracing her lips. _


	5. Chapter 5

Aria started to walk away from Killian, but he quickly grabbed her arm and stopped her from leaving, turning her around to face him.

"Aria" he asked her gently. "Whats wrong?"

Aria let out a small sigh. She wasn't sure she wanted to have this conversation. A part of her wanted to tell him what was going on, but then he would just start asking her questions that she wasn't ready to answer. "It was just my ex-husband that's it. I'm fine really, let's just…. Can we just get to work please?"

Killian let go of her arm, but he was still concerned. He knew that she wasn't ok. There was so much he wanted to ask her, but he knew that he shouldn't. He barely knew her, and yet he had this strange feeling that he did. Like perhaps in another life, or another world even. He just wanted to hold her, protect her, wipe away the tears, stop the hurting. He pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms around her. He could she that she tensed at his touch, trying to be strong, trying not to cry, not in front of him. She rested her head on his shoulder, but the tears still wouldn't come.

"It's ok Aria" he said in a soothing voice, his hand gently going up and down her back. "it's ok. "

She started to cry, softly at first, and then more desperate. He could feel her heart beat quickening, the rise and fall of her chest. In that moment he just wanted to take all the pain away, he hated seeing her like this, because for some reason, he was hurting inside as well. He wasn't sure why, but he was.

After a few minutes of silence, Aria raised her head, and wiped away the tears. "Thank you" she said, sniffling. "This isn't your problem but thank you for being here for me."

"I'll always be here for you Aria" he said, smiling at her.

Aria looked into his eyes, and suddenly, as if the actions weren't her own, she placed her hands on his cheeks, pushed him towards her, and kissed him passionately. He kissed her back, placing his arms on her back, and slowly moving them down. But suddenly he opened his eyes, realizing what he was doing. He pushed her away, a mix of shock and anger in his eyes. Aria looked at him and it finally dawned upon her what she had done. She just kissed a priest. She backed away with horror in her eyes. "I'm… I'm so so sorry Killian. I just-" she shook her head slightly and just ran off, completely embarrassed.

Killian just stood there, trying to process what had happened. He had just kissed Aria Wayland… and he enjoyed it.

_Ariel remained where she was, while everyone else continued to dance. She had just had her first kiss….. But it was with Killian Jones of all people. It wasn't the way it was supposed to go. Her first kiss was supposed to be with Eric, not the arrogant, selfish, cocky Killian Jones who she always hated. She did hate him right? Of course she did. He was always making fun of her, annoying her, making her feel like crap. And yet, she actually enjoyed kissing him, even if it was for a few seconds. Why did she enjoy it?! She was furious at herself for feeling this way. She then heard a couple nearby arguing. She looked over and saw that the female had slapped the male in the face, and just ran off, furious. So is that what humans did when they were pissed off, she thought to herself. _

_She turned around and headed in the direction that Killian had headed in. She searched for him in the hallway outside of the ballroom, and to her surprise, although she wasn't sure why she was surprised, this was Killian Jones after all, she saw him kissing some other girl. She scoffed as she rolled her eyebrows, annoyed at him. Then again why was she annoyed? Oh right because he had just kissed her and now he was smooching some tramp. It infuriated her. She quickly cleared her voice, trying to get their attention. They stopped and looked at her. Ariel crossed her arms across her chest and arched an eyebrow. "Killian…. a word" she said in a demanding voice. _

_He let out a sigh as he rolled his eyes, and motioned to the girl to leave with his hands. "What is it fish?"_

"_Fish?!" she said furiously. "Ok what the hell is wrong with you?! You treat me like crap when I'm a mermaid, but then when I get legs you just start acting all nice around me. And then you …. You kiss me and then you just apologize and leave! And now I see you kissing some other girl? And then I come here, because you owe me an explanation and you ….. you call me FISH?!"_

"_That's what I always call you" he said nonchalantly._

"_Why did you kiss me?" she asked again._

"_I don't know…. It was just a spur of a moment kind of thing. It didn't mean anything so calm down" he said._

"_It didn't mean anything really?" she asked, not really believing him._

"_No it didn't. It was just a kiss. You'll find that humans can kiss just for the sake of kissing."_

_Her eyes filled with anger. She raised her right hand and smacked him as hard as she could across the face. _

_He looked surprised at first, but that quickly turned into anger, his eyes turning cold and black, and staring at Ariel with a very menacing and frightful gaze. Perhaps slapping him wasn't the best thing to do, she thought to herself. _

"_You slapped me" he said._

"_Yes…. I thought that was what humans did when they got angry" she said softly. _

"_Yes…. I suppose they do" he said. He quickly went over to her, taking her arms and pinning her to the wall. Ariel could see the lust forming in his eyes, and she was frightened. He just looked at her though, his eyes wandering up and down her body, inhaling her intoxicating smell. He then closed her eyes and let her go, walking away. _

_Ariel was left alone, wondering what the hell just happened. _


	6. Chapter 6

Aria went outside, needing some air. Her mouth was open as she was still in shock over what she had just done. She had just kissed the fucking priest. How could she be so careless? Surely that was a sin, not that she cared much for that, she had committed plenty of sins in her lifetime. But she could get him in trouble, maybe even fired if anyone had seen that. She paced back and forth franticly, not sure what to do.

She then heard the screech of tires stopping nearby. She turned around and saw Sheriff Graham arriving in his police car, along with the Mayor, Regina Mills. Aria let out a small sigh, knowing that they were here to check up on her.

She walked towards the car and said "Morning Sheriff. Madam Mayor. What brings you here?"

"Morning Aria" said Graham, smiling at her. "Regina wanted to check up on you, see how you were doing."

"Yes I wanted to make sure everything was going well" she said, smiling at her.

"Yeah… every-everything is great. We're just making candles… you know for Miner's Day since that's coming up" she said nervously.

"Forgive me Ms. Wayland doesn't the candle making happen inside the church?" asked Regina coyly.

"Yes it does. I was just –ah taking a little break" she said.

"Right" she said, walking towards the entrance. "And where is Father Jones?"

"Uh—he's uh…. He's currently preoccupied with… you know… fatherly stuff" she said.

Regina looked at her suspiciously. "Ms. Wayland is there something you're not telling us?" she asked in a very demanding voice.

"No-no of course not, why…. Why would you say that?" she asked. Aria knew that she was acting very suspicious, but she couldn't help it, she had always been a terrible liar.

Just before Regina could say anything else, Killian appeared at the door, greeting them.

"Ah Mayor Mills, Sheriff Graham, what can I do for you?" he asked smiling at them.

"Oh nothing Father Jones, I just came to see how Ms. Wayland was doing. Has she been behaving?" asked Regina.

Killian stayed silent for a moment, thinking about that kiss they had just shared. He wasn't going to say anything to anyone of course, but it just wouldn't leave his mind. "Yes she has been an exceptional volunteer. We are very lucky to have her" he said, smiling at Aria.

"Good" said Regina, with a satisfying smile on her face. "Well we better go then, have a nice day."

Graham said goodbye to the two of them as he went to his car with Regina. They drove off, leaving Killian and Aria alone.

They stood there for a few minutes in awkward silence. Then Aria said "Look Killian about what happened in there, I am really sorry I didn't mean to kiss you… it just… I was just so emotional and well.."

"It's ok Aria, I understand, just try not to let it happen again ok?" he said.

Aria nodded. "Good" he said. "Well let's back to work then."

Killian woke up in the middle of the night, another dream haunting his sleep. It was the same dream again, the dream of the red-headed creature, who he believed was a mermaid, her bright red hair flowing in the water, his hand touching the soft silky curls.

He started having these dreams a few days ago, but the odd thing was he never saw the mermaids face. And he never saw his own face either. Actually he never saw anything of himself, only his right hand, which was covered with these strange looking rings. He wasn't even sure he was the man in his dreams, but he had to be.

He wasn't sure what this dream meant, but he wasn't too pleased with it, because whenever he had these dreams, he just kept thinking of Aria, and how the mermaid's red hair reminded him of Aria's red hair. He realized he had been thinking a lot about Aria lately, not just since the dreams, but since the moment he laid eyes on her. He couldn't understand why. He had seen plenty of attractive women in Storybrooke before, but he knew the vows that he took, and he knew that that is what he wanted. But for some reason, he felt this strange attraction towards Aria. Like something was pulling him towards her, some force bigger than himself.


End file.

Once Upon a Time, Fantasy, Romance