This has to be the fluffiest thing I've ever written, I was in the mood for something sweet enough to be sickening. You've been warned.

I know the whole Princess Bride thing has been done before, but I wanted to write my take on it. Set some time during season 4 but no spoilers.

Disclaimer: They're not mine.

Please review! :)

She was amazed to discover that when he was saying "As you wish", what he meant was, "I love you."

She's pressed up against the door outside her parents' loft, trying to remind herself that she's here to pick up Henry and that it's time this date officially ended, but it's hard to think when there's a mouth attacking her neck and a hand resting at the hem of her jeans underneath her shirt, the touch too light to be satisfying but just firm enough to make her ache for more. Her head falls back to give him better access to her throat, and she feels him smile against her skin. Her fingers slide into his hair, pulling his head up for a kiss, and then…

And then the door opens and she feels herself falling backwards before Killian's arms around her manage to steady her. With a huff, she turns her head to see what just happened, only to flush bright red when she finds her mother watching her, looking just as embarrassed as she feels.

"Huh, sorry, we heard a noise and we thought you'd knocked and…"

Killian's chuckle earns him a glare from both women and, now that she's not in danger of losing her balance anymore, he lets go of her and holds up his hand and hook in surrender, though he doesn't try to conceal his enjoyment of the situation. His eyes find her again and travel down to her cleavage, following the spread of her blush with unrestrained delight before he brings them back up to her face with a smirk.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Swan."

She nods in answer, a shy smile pulling at the corner of her mouth as she gives him what has been her usual response to this kind of comments for a little over a month now. The feelings are there – have been for quite a while, if she's honest with herself – but it's still too early for the actual confession, so she's found a satisfactory alternative until she's able to say the big, scary L word.

"As you wish."

He gives her a small, secretive smile that she doesn't get a chance to really think about because in the next second he's stealing another kiss and she's more concerned with the way her toes are curling in her boots, before Henry's disgusted groan behind her brings her back down to earth and she pulls back with an apologetic smile. Killian just winks at her and gives a slight bow to Henry and a companionable nod to her father where he's standing behind Mary Margaret. David nods back with just a bit too much mirth for her liking. The pirate takes his leave, and once his footsteps have faded behind the now closed door, Emma turns her inquisitive stare to her father.

"All right, out with it!"

"What do you mean?" David asks innocently, but his grin is still too knowing, like Killian and himself just shared a hilarious secret.

"What was that about?"

"Emma..." her mother starts with a shake of her head, both her hesitation and amusement obvious, making for a strange combination. When she crosses her arms in front of her and raises her eyebrows expectantly, Snow relents. "You know that Westley and Buttercup are famous in our world too, right?"

"I... huh... It's... They're… What?"

She sees Henry roll his eyes at her from his spot on the couch, an annoying habit he most definitely did not get from her.

"Really, Mom? You never thought it was a possibility?"

"I… No?" she half-asks, half-states.

"They are. They're real. Well, they were. They've been dead for hundreds of years, but yeah, everyone in the Enchanted Forest knows the story." David pauses in his explanation and exchanges a glance with his wife, and Emma narrows her eyes at him, urging him to say what's on his mind. "To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Hook personally knew them, or at least Westley. I mean, the timing's right, and it's not such a stretch to think that two famous pirates would have crossed paths at some point."

It's too much for her mind to make sense of what her father is really saying, so instead it latches on to the mental image of the Dread Pirate Roberts and Captain Hook engaged in a duel and she can't help the laugh that escapes her at the thought – her life is so weird – but then she abruptly sobers up as the implications of what she just learned settle in – finally.

As you wish.

Even if you held a knife to her throat, she wouldn't be able to tell you how many times she's uttered the three small, seemingly inconspicuous words in the past few weeks, all the while thinking that she was the only one privy to their real meaning, that he would just think his vernacular was rubbing off on her.

And every single time, he just smiled and kissed her.

Cunning, manipulative, knowing, fucking bastard.

"Kid, stay here a bit longer. I have to go," she snaps, already halfway to the door by the time she finishes her sentence.

Before the door slams shut behind her, she hears her son and her father's laughter, as well as a warning from the latter about trying not to break her boyfriend's nose when she punches him.

She's not making any promises.

She's surprised the door hasn't broken down with the way she's pounding on it. She needs to congratulate Granny on her resistant building, she thinks absentmindedly, fully aware that she's focusing on this unimportant detail to avoid thinking about the confrontation that is about to take place. Hook's "Coming, coming" sounds irritated, which isn't surprising given that she's about to make everyone in the neighborhood go deaf, but his expression when he opens the door and sees her standing there with her fist still in the air for her next knock is pleased.

"Emma," he starts, but doesn't get a chance to say anything else before she throws her accusation at him.

"Did you know the Dread Pirate Roberts?"

To her disappointment, there's no look of shock on his face, no flash of surprise in his eyes. Just a raised, amused eyebrow and a sweep of his hand motioning for her to come inside. She brushes past him, accepting the silent invitation, and rounds on him the second he closes the door and turns to face her.

"Who fessed up?" he asks instead of answering her question directly, and she can't help but smile because there's no way that this is one of his own phrases, he has to have heard it from Henry. Those two need to spend less time together. Then again, maybe not. Her son's smile after a day spent with Killian always warms her heart. "David?"

"And Mary Margaret. So? Did you?" she insists even though she's pretty sure she already knows.

"Aye. In fact, I knew quite a few of them."

This confuses her for a moment, until she remembers how the story goes. The title went to a few different men according to the novel. Right. Looks like she's gonna have to be more specific.

"What about Westley?"

He was clearly expecting this, because he immediately gives her a nod, his face now serious.

"He was in a dark place at the time. Had lost the love of his life. Was starting to lose hope that he'd ever see her again. He was more than happy to share their story. Every single detail of it," he adds pointedly. When she squirms under his scrutiny, he gives a small shrug, as if what he just said isn't significant at all, as if he didn't just admit that he knows exactly what she's been trying to tell him for the past few weeks without quite being able to take that last step. "He couldn't bloody shut up about the lass. Of course, I didn't really get it back then. I certainly do now."

She decides to ignore that because it's getting dangerously close to the Too Much territory, but the words that fall from her lips without her authorization aren't much better.

"Back in Neverland…"

The smile he gives her is so soft that it kind of makes it okay that she asked, even if she didn't mean to.

"I didn't realize what I was really saying until the words were out of my mouth and it hit me how much I meant them."

"Killian," she whispers, unsure what to say to that, but thankfully he saves her from the embarrassment of stammering an awkward explanation about how she's not ready and she wishes she were but it's…

"The first time you said it," he starts quietly, brushing her hair back from her shoulder with the tip of his hook in a gesture so familiar that her throat closes up with emotion, "My heart tried to jump out of my chest. Took me the whole night to calm the damn thing down, trying to remind myself that you'd probably never even heard of them, that just because they were famous in the Enchanted Forest didn't mean that they were here as well. But you kept saying it, and I kept swallowing back my answer because I was so sure you weren't ready. Then one day…" He trails off, and there is no way for her to hold back her whimpering protest at his teasing. He chuckles and leans down to press a small kiss at the corner of her mouth before continuing. "One day, Belle came to me with an old copy of what she told me was a well-known book in your world. When I asked her why she was giving it to me, she just said that she'd overheard you telling me something once and that I'd find some answers in this story."

She has to roll her eyes then.

"So basically everyone but me knew that you knew."

"Aye."

"I hate them all. And you," she adds for good measure, but he just laughs at her half-hearted pout, his left arm sliding around her waist to pull her body against his.

"Swan… Say it again. Say it so that I can give you my answer."

She doesn't even need to think about it, the fear of Too Much suddenly seeming so far away and ridiculous that she has to wonder why she let it paralyze her for so long. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she whispers against his lips.

"As you wish."

She doesn't think she's ever seen anyone smile so brightly.

"I love you too."

Fin