"ARE YOU CERTAIN this is as good of an idea you say it is?", Wilma whispered, though not very quietly, as she followed Belle at the docks, with the princess confidently in the lead. "Not that I doubt you or anything, I just— I hardly think confronting a pirate is a good thing. Especially one with a... hook for a hand", she muttered, trying to keep up with Belle's determined steps, with her eyes frantically looking around the windy docks in case Killian were to appear unexpectedly — especially because she knew him already, despite claiming Belle that all the little details she shared with Wilma were brand new information to her. But Wilma wasn't so sure if her endless kindness towards Killian would be appreciated, especially now that she was trying to win Emma's trust. Sharing a hotel room with the villainous pirate was hardly the way to do that. Therefore, she decided to keep quiet until she would be able to convince her friends that Killian couldn't be that bad.

  "Don't worry, Wilma. We'll be fine, I assure you. I just need to stop Hook from destroying Rumple's happiness", Belle spoke, and Wilma shivered at her words — well, that did sound pretty serious, she had to admit that. Therefore, she shut up and followed the princess, who was holding a gun, just in case, and the only sounds filling the silence between the two were the squealing seagulls flying in circles above them, and the calm waves hitting against the shore. But then, both Wilma and Belle noticed how, indeed, the seagulls were flying in circles, surrounding something, yet it was invisible to their eyes.

  As the smart woman Wilma had always known her to be, Belle grabbed a handful of sand from the nearby box and tossed it into the air, that then turned into what looked a lot like the outline of steps. "Found you", was Belle's choice of words as she strode ahead, and with careful steps, she stepped on the platform the sand had revealed before disappearing into thin air, like she had stepped through a portal. With wide eyes, Wilma followed her lead and carefully placed her foot on the steps, and then walked until she too entered the pirate ship Belle had successfully discovered.

  And it was beautiful.

  As a lover of boats and ships — born a Pisces — Wilma was breathtaken and most definitely impressed by the ship, painted with strong shades of red, yellow, blue, black and brown, and the spars rose high with the majestic sails moving with the gentle wind. To be honest, it was the most glorious vessel Wilma had ever seen — one on water, though, because nothing could ever come even close to her Iron Maiden. Nevertheless, it left Wilma gasping as she looked around the awesome ship, which she could imagine Hook being the captain of, indeed.

"Come on", Belle broke Wilma's train of thought, and turning to face the woman, the latter nodded.

———

  AFTER SAVING DR. HOPPER, who had been presumed dead only to be found in Hook's ship, Belle and Wilma traveled around the vessel until they ended up in another cabin where the princess began to look around, with Wilma staying behind her and keeping an eye on the surroundings just in case.

  "So, let me get this right. Mr. Gold is Rumplestiltskin, but also your — don't take this the wrong way — Beast? And Hook's Crocodile?", Wilma pondered as Belle dug out a treasure chest and proceeded to try and open it with different approaches, to no avail. Chuckling, Belle nodded to confirm what Wilma was suggesting, and trying to comprehend all that, Wilhelmina leaned against the nearest wall and followed from aside as Belle finally found a key and pushed it into the lock of the mystery chest.

  With a click, the chest unlocked and Belle lifted the top, but instead of what she had been looking for, she came face to face with a handful of coins and other trivial objects she couldn't care less about. The silence in the cabin lasted for barely a split second, when suddenly, a familiar voice spoke from behind Belle and Wilma, causing the latter to nearly choke on her own breath and trip over thin air.

  "Looking for this?", Killian's coaxing voice questioned, and both of the women turned to face the pirate, who was casually leaning against the doorway with a light brown shawl hanging from his hook, his hypnotizing eyes looking up at Wilma, then. "I did expect her to come and play hero, but I am quite surprised to see you here. I really thought we connected, love", the man continued, approaching Wilma and cornering until they were nearly body to body, his hard chest meeting hers and his eyes looking down at the woman with intensity so deep it was impossible for Wilma to even try to fathom. She was aware that he was playing games, but still, she managed to make her quiver as his thick accent rang in her ears.

  Luckily, Belle saved the situation.

  "Uh, that doesn't belong to you", the woman defiantly spoke up, looking at Killian, who chuckled despite being devoid of amusement, and with that, the man parted with Wilma and began to approach Belle with a posture that could only be described as ominous in all of the word's potential meanings.

  After the man had argued that it did indeed belong to him now, Belle made the mistake of glancing at the handgun she had foolishly enough left on the table, before lunging towards it, only for Killian to beat her to it and grab the weapon quicker. "Ah, ah, ah", he chuckled, as he began to observe the gun in his hand with interest, and as he slowly began to point it towards Belle, Wilma tensed and a feeling of fear erupted within her heart, causing her to shake as she remained in the corner where it was more or less safe. However, she wasn't planning on cowering and letting Killian just murder the woman, but it was better to think than act impulsively, in her opinion. Therefore, she didn't make a move, or a sound, as Killian held Belle at gunpoint.

  "Real life can get so...", he muttered as he pressed the barrel against Belle's forehead, "messy."

———

  ADMITTEDLY, AT FIRST, Wilma was in some kind of shock, unable to comprehend what was going on and grasp the situation, but when she saw Killian leaning closer to Belle with a threatening posture, her mind began to work on plots and ways to save Belle, and herself, from the vengeful pirate. And with Wilma's lack of talent with weapons of any sort, she decided to use something else of hers and outsmart the man — which he made rather easy for her, considering he had complimented her on her charm just the previous night, and therefore, she was feeling quite confident about getting his attention.

  It wasn't like she enjoyed turning on him like that, ploying against him, but for the survival of her, Belle and Mr. Gold, she needed to get past her conscience, which was already knocking at her ultimately good heart.

  "I heard you stole his wife", Wilma spoke up, blurting out the venomous accusation she had heard from Belle on their way to the docks, and surprising not only herself but Killian in the process. Belle seemed relieved as Wilma drew the pirate's attention to herself, which gave the other woman time to come up with a plan to escape, whereas Wilma was cornered as Killian slowly but surely began to approach her — however, instead of intimidation, he was just radiating with temptation and it made things a dozen times more difficult for Wilma, who swallowed thickly and looked at the man carefully.

  "Tell me something, beautiful", he muttered and stepped close enough to Wilma to close all the empty space between them, and to bring the woman's breathing to an irrational level. "If a woman comes to you and begs you to take her away... Is that theft?", Killian continued with a husky whisper, his plump lips merely inches away from Wilma's, and his piercing eyes locked with hers in the most intent of ways, dizzying her along with the manly scent lingering in the thick, tense air she felt like drowning in.

  Without saying a word, Wilma just gulped and looked at the pirate, as he drew away and proceeded to poke the shawl with his hook, explaining how he intended to burn the object but didn't, as it had been made by the woman he, supposedly, stole from Rumplestiltskin. But Wilma was starting to doubt that, and feeling a lot more sympathy towards Killian, who resembled a misunderstood villain in so many ways it made it hard for Wilma to stick with the plan she had come up with in her mind.

  "Everyone has lost someone, Killian. I am truly sorry she died, but revenge won't bring her back", Wilma tried to invoke the good in him, but instead of being impressed with her attempts, Killian turned around with a profoundly amused smile on his lips and the gun now pointed at Wilma, as he shook his head in disagreement.

  "Died?", he mocked, before turning back to Belle, "is that what he told you?", causing the woman to tense up.

  Truthfully, Wilma no longer knew what to do — obviously she couldn't let Killian kill Belle, but as she listened to his side of the story, she failed to see him as a villain. Evidently, she disagreed with his way to handle things, she disagreed with vengeance, but she didn't blame Killian for feeling so angry. Not too long ago, Wilma had lost someone she loved — several people, actually — and she had felt similar fury and frustration within, she just chose not to give in. Instead she moved away, found a new start and let go of the darkness threatening to spread out in her heart. But the same didn't seem to work for Killian.

  "He killed her. He ripped out her heart and he crushed it right in front of me", Hook spat, holding the gun against Belle's chest before walking away and in the process, switching places with the woman, who found a new spot next to Wilma. She understood that Belle was defending the man she loved, as she would do anything for him, but at the same time, Wilma could see it in Killian's eyes — he was hurt, and he wanted to make Gold pay for his actions, and in some strange way, Wilma understood him.

  "Why would you want to fight for a man like that?", Killian simply asked, directing the gun at Belle, rather than Wilma.

  Instead of being taken aback by the question, Belle knew her answer immediately, which Wilma kind of admired. "Because I still see good in him. Because I believe he's changed. Because his heart is true. And yours?", Belle explained, before grabbing the oar above their heads and using it to knock Killian down. "Yours is rotten", she spat, as the man stumbled backwards and fell, giving the two women time to flee to the top of the ship after grabbing the shawl.

  And that they did. But instead of not looking back, Wilma did the opposite, and gave a glance to Killian's direction — but didn't stay. She ran with Belle, until they ended up on the deck of the ship where the fresh air tugged on their dark curls and brought a chilly relief onto Wilma's heated skin after such an intense encounter with the pirate. Pirate, whom they just couldn't escape — Killian showed up as quickly as he had been gotten rid of, jumping onto the deck, right in front of Belle and Wilma.

  "I know this ship like the back of my... well, you know", he grinned, when Wilma asked how the hell he did that, and the woman had to suffocate a sincerely amused chuckle, but before she could, Mr. Gold made an unexpected appearance and caught Killian's attention, and the two began to bicker, which seemed rather typical to them.

  "Run", was Belle's simple whisper to Wilma as the two men started to argue. "I'll be okay. But you need to go, now", she insisted, and although Wilma was tempted to say no and stick along, she believed that Belle was telling her to do the smart thing so while she still could, she fled the ship. And as Wilma ran down the couple of steps of the Jolly Roger, the whole vessel disappeared and it was as if the woman had never been aboard.

  And this time, even if she desired to do otherwise, she didn't look back.

———

  "SISTER, YOU OKAY?", Leroy's voice snapped Wilma out of her thoughts as the woman merely stared at the full plate of the usual bacon and eggs in front of, and with a thoughtful look, she turned to face the dwarf next to her. After the happenings on the ship, Wilma had headed over to Granny's for some comfort food, and truthfully, Leroy's question had been the one burning in her mind ever since. And yet, despite spending a fair amount of time there by now, she didn't know the answer. Perhaps it was both yes and no.

  "Do you know that confusing feeling when you're just... drawn into something or someone you shouldn't? And that guilt you feel when something so wrong feels just so good? Or when something just kind of makes sense but you still question everything?", Wilma spoke suddenly, looking at Leroy, who nodded slowly as a sign of listening to the woman ramble on and on about these feelings keeping her mind and heart busy.

  Clearing his throat, Leroy gestured towards Wilma's plate. "Are you talking about bacon? Because if you are, then I relate with my entire existence, Barton", he nudged the woman, and grumbling, Wilma pushed her food towards the dwarf who dug in without a single word. And Wilma took that as a no to her questions, which continued to tease and linger in her mind, impossible to shake away.

  Just like Killian.

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wilmelle my beautiful beanS

hope you liked it ((: x