Once Upon a Time I Hope You Dance

_Living might mean taking chances but they're worth taking_

_Loving might be a mistake but it's worth making_

_Don't let some hell-bent heart leave you bitter_

_When you come close to selling out, reconsider_

_Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance_

_And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance_

_I hope you dance_

"Ahem," he cleared his throat, waiting for an icy blue gaze to turn and meet his before he continued. "Captain, would you mind explaining why you requested that I meet you in my dress uniform?" A grin slowly spread across his older brother's face, accompanied by a familiar mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"Because, _Lieutenant_, we're going to a party."

"A party, Liam? Do you think it approp—"

"Killian, you have to leave this ship. You need to see what else the world has to offer! Dance, drink…a little isn't going to send you stumbling overboard, come on," he added when Killian's mouth flew open. "…perhaps you'll see that there's far more beauty beyond the sea than you realize. Now let's go. The King is throwing a ball, and we've been invited." He started off the ship and towards the dock, turning after a moment to find Killian still standing on deck. "That's an order." Huffing a sigh in response, Killian jogged to catch up with Liam as he started through the village.

"So, at these balls, dancing…is customary, correct?" Killian asked, his eyes on the ground in front of him.

"Yes."

"And you're aware that I haven't the slightest idea how to dance?" He stopped mid-stride as Liam halted on the spot.

"I'm quite aware of that," Liam answered calmly, though the grin on his face was threatening to burst forth once more. He quickly sobered, though, and placed a comforting hand on Killian's shoulder. "How did you learn to use a sword?"

"Practice," he answered before adding, under his breath: "_Out_ of the eyes of the entire kingdom."

"Before that. How did you know what to do?" he asked as the realization finally dawned on Killian and he understood what his brother meant, though he wasn't any happier about what he was being forced to do.

"I watched you," he muttered.

"You watched me. And how did you learn to sail?"

"I watched you," he repeated.

"You watched me then, and now you're a far better sailor than I could ever hope to be." Killian opened his mouth to refute his brother's statement but Liam shook his head and clapped his hand on his little brother's back. "You've faced far worse dangers."

"I doubt it," Killian said, but he started back towards the castle at his brother's side anyway.

* * *

"Now," Liam said before they opened the doors to enter the ballroom. "I just want you to try to enjoy this. Can you do that for me, little brother?" Killian nodded weakly as the doors opened.

A whirlwind. That was the best way he could describe it. People…strangers…everywhere. Spinning. Smiling. Women draped in the very brightest of colors, jewels sparkling around their necks and atop their heads. Men taking their hands and whisking them onto the dance floor where they seemed to float together in perfect rhythm. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. And he found himself wanting to be a part of it.

Liam, meanwhile, was already surrounded by beautiful women, all of whom stood begging him for stories of his adventures at sea. Killian had never given much thought to where his brother went when they were in the kingdom on leave. He, of course, had always volunteered to stay aboard the ship, his only real home. Liam often remained with him, but with the way each girl seemed to light up when they saw him, he was no stranger to this world either.

It wasn't long before his brother was leading one of the girls out to the dance floor, much to the chagrin of the others. Killian tucked himself into the corner of the room, standing against the wall and watching as Liam placed one hand in his partner's and the other on her waist. They moved in perfect synchronicity, lifting together, spinning together, as if they were one with each other. After moments spent mesmerized by the beauty of it, Killian likened it to a sailor and his ship. In order to navigate the sea, as unpredictable as she was, they had to be in perfect rhythm. They had to be one.

He watched for what felt like hours that were only mere minutes, memorizing the steps, the counts, the moments when they separated and came back together, picking up exactly where they'd left off when they were back in each other's arms. It _was_ fascinating, establishing the kind of connection it must require for the world to fall away, leaving only this one moment in time. It was almost magical, Killian thought to himself, just as Liam parted ways with one partner and snatched another up, establishing a new rhythm as flawless as the last. It was impossible. There had to be some sort of secret to it, something he wasn't seeing. He couldn't understand how two people could appear so perfect in one moment, like two halves of a whole, only to switch halves seconds later and fit with that one as well.

"I don't believe I've seen you here before," a voice said softly as Killian turned to find a young woman standing next to him. She wore a navy blue dress, adorned with diamonds in the skirt that mimicked the night sky. Her dark brown hair fell in long curls over her shoulders, and when he met her gaze, he found a pair of bright hazel eyes. "I'm Melody." He took her hand, kissing the back of it softly.

"Lieutenant Killian Jones," he replied, watching her eyes brighten in recognition.

"So you're Captain Jones' brother. He speaks of you fondly," she said as they both glanced towards the dance floor to find Liam with yet another partner, smiling and laughing as they moved together.

"He's modest. It doesn't appear that way at this particular moment, but I assure you it's true," Killian teased as Melody laughed, soft and light. He glanced from her to the dance floor and back again, terrified and excited about what was ultimately coming. "Would you care to…to dance, Melody?" he finally asked, wiping the sweat already forming on his hand off on his pants before she noticed.

"I'd love to," she said as he gently took her hand in his and led her slowly out to the dance floor.

He tried to mirror Liam as best he could, putting one hand in Melody's and the other on her waist. She was small, fragile…almost weightless as he led her in the steps he remembered. Only once did he stumble over his own feet, his cheeks burning as he fought to correct himself and find his rhythm once more. _His_ rhythm. But not theirs. He knew the difference immediately…could feel it. It wasn't what he saw when he'd watched his brother dance. But he had to admit, he was enjoying himself.

He was a bit less amused when he found himself leaning precariously over a girl named Gwendolen who, while just as pretty as Melody, threw herself to the floor every few seconds so that he had no choice but to catch her in a dip, pull her back up, and repeat the process once more. And then there was Marina, who took the lead and sent him spinning around the floor at a pace far faster than the music or the rest of the dancers.

Dizzy and disoriented, he stumbled across the room, back to his corner, where Liam stood waiting for him, hands crossed over his chest and a small smirk tugging at his lips.

"You appear to be a natural. Marina's something, isn't she?" he said with a chuckle. Reaching out to brace himself on the wall, Killian shot a poisonous glance at his brother when he could focus on one single thing in the room again.

"How do you do it?" Killian asked after a moment, longing to know the secret that his brother had to be withholding from him. Liam merely raised an eyebrow in question. "Each person you dance with…it's like you belong together. Yes, I learned the steps and I've enjoyed myself tonight, truly…even Marina…but what _you_ do…it goes beyond that."

"What you're seeing is years of practice. If you recall, I danced with each of those girls tonight, as well." He was right, Killian realized, when he replayed the scenes again. Gwendolen's golden dress was not one to be forgotten easily, and he recognized it from Liam's first dance of the night. "You haven't found the right partner. When you do, everything will fall into place, and you'll understand."

"And you've found the right partner?" Killian asked.

"If I had, do you think I would have spent the night dancing with anyone else?" Liam responded. "I choose to live in the moment. And each of them is everything to me in their moment. You, little brother…you see the bigger picture. You need one person, one partner, to be everything to you at every moment. You just have to find her."

* * *

"Mary Margaret and David are always going on about this ball, that ball. What's the big deal about these things?" she asked as the crowd parted and the dance floor came into view. He watched her intently as she looked on, the fascination suddenly bright in her green eyes. A fascination that was all too familiar to him.

"You were saying?" he whispered as she remained mesmerized by the dancers, mirroring a young sailor from lifetimes before.

"What am I supposed to do?" she asked, breathless. He could feel her hand shaking as he wrapped his tightly around it and led her to the dance floor, her eyes meeting his once more.

"Blend in," he answered, his palm slick with sweat at the prospect of not only dancing for the first time in longer than he cared to recall, but dancing with her. Emma. Thankfully, this time he was wearing gloves.

"Wait…are you saying you know how to do…whatever this is?" she asked, sounding both surprised and impressed.

"It's called a waltz," he said, sliding his false hand into hers and letting the other come to rest on her waist as he pulled her closer. "There's only one rule." She looked up at him, green eyes fluttering slightly as she met his gaze and he felt his heart stop. "Pick a partner who knows what he's doing," he concluded with a smile that she mirrored, and then they began.

His heart pounded erratically against his chest as they moved slowly, the first few steps as effortless to him as they'd once been, despite lifetimes passing between the last time he'd found himself using them. Emma, he came to realize after mere moments, had already taken to dancing, as well. She didn't shape herself to him like his first dance partner those many years ago, in another life. She didn't create her own dramatic dance moves, and she didn't steal his rhythm from him. She had her own cadence, her own unique rhythm.

"Watch the mocking, I'm actually getting the hang of this," she interrupted, apparently reading his thoughts.

"I'm not mocking you, Swan. I'm just thinking about what you said in Storybrooke, about not being a princess," he said as he knelt down, watching her circle him in a full-length ball gown, her long blonde locks pulled up beneath a sparkling tiara that only further accentuated the glimmer in her emerald eyes. Princess or not, she was the most beautiful sight he'd ever beheld.

"Really? You get my first dance at my first royal ball, and all you can say is 'I told you so'?" He rose to meet her gaze, remembering _his_ first dance at _his_ first royal ball, and how much his life would have changed then and there…if only it had been her. But the Fates had different plans for them, and he wouldn't have traded a moment of any of the lifetimes he'd lived…because they all led to her.

"I believe what I'm trying to say, Your Highness…" he brought himself back to reality as they bowed to each other, a fitting piece of the dance. "…is that you appear to be a natural."

They were the very same words his brother had said to him long ago, as true now when he spoke them as when he heard them spoken. And as they stepped and lifted and separated and came back together, and the world fell away, leaving only this one moment in time, he realized that it was, indeed, magical, and that Emma Swan, his princess and his partner, was everything to him at every moment and for all the moments to come.


End file.

Once Upon a Time, Romance