Wendy settles back into her chair as her family plays golf around her. She is glad that this month’s interviewee was willing to come to her family’s home in Benson, AZ. She had called him in a state, telling him that she had somehow lost a week. She had really thought that she had a week until the 30th, and was shocked when everyone told her otherwise.
She had no other time until now to type it up; Thursday had been the day she had arrived in Benson, and then she had taken her Ambien without thinking about how she had to get up soon for Thanksgiving. She had ended up being in a haze all day, not registering anything. She had even forgotten to text Mama Kitty! Friday was spent shopping with the family…and finally being advised what day it was.
Then, earlier today, she had gone into her room with Connor, and it dawned on her that the site she uses has her old credit card number, and she went nuts. Her computer wouldn’t open because it was upgrading, and life was just not working. She called Killian and begged him to at least to allow her to interview him on the phone. He had laughed instead and told her he would come there.
So she watches Planes for the second time with her nephew Fox with all the dogs happily stilling milling around. She laughs as she sees the family tease each other about their scores in Golf, then the dogs go crazy as she hears a knock at the door.
She gets up to answer the door and laughs to see Killian as he stands there in a black coat very reminiscent of his pirate one. He grins at her, and leans down to kiss her hand, “Milady, it is a pleasure to be here.”
The family looks over her shoulder at the tall man with the Irish accent. They then look at Wendy, and she shrugs. “Family, meet Killian Jones. Killian, meet The Family.”
He bows to them all, a sweeping bow you would expect from the flamboyant pirate, and winks at Wendy as she laughs at his antics.
She chuckles as she leads him into the family room, away from the rest of the family who stare at him as they pass. She offers him a slice of pie, knowing that they had all been overeager bakers and that making five pies for six people and a child maybe have been going overboard a bit.
He shakes his head, and soon takes a seat close to her. He grabs her hand and asks softly, “You are doing better?”
She nods. “It’s been a month for the record books. I don’t think I like Novembers anymore. Last year, Pooh Bear and Granddad died, this year my mom had cancer and my biological dad died. This is a much needed getaway for me. But enough with me, you came a long way to do this interview.”
He just shakes his head at her, “One of these days, my dear one, we will have a long talk. But, for now, we will do as you asked.” He leans back in the chair and waves his bejeweled hand to her. “Ask the questions your lovely ladies have prepared for me.”
She laughs as she settles back herself. She pulls out the trusty iPad, opens it to the site, and is once again thrilled at the sight of the new backgrounds and the snow and, mostly, at the fact she owns the domain now. “The first set of questions are the same for everyone. But then there are five questions for you to answer from the ladies themselves.”
He nods and regally waves his hand for her to start, crossing his leg over his other one as he awaits the questions they have for him.
Shaking her head at him she asks, “Full Name, please.”
He chuckles. “Which one?”
She raises an eyebrow then responds, “Real one.”
Grinning at her, he answers, “Killian Peter Jones at your service.”
She lifts an eyebrow up at him. “Peter?”
He snorts. “Where do you think the name came from? I may have not used Killian, but I remembered Peter when I first arrived. Killian Jones to me was an unloved person, who was unwanted and everything else. Peter is my name, but it was also not one that they used. So… Peter Pan.”
She giggles. “And the next question is, what are your nicknames?”
He smiles, “Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Dread Pirate Roberts…” He thinks, “I think that’s all of them for now. So far, I haven’t really received anymore.”
She laughs as he lifts an eyebrow at her. “Job?”
He snorts then covers his mouth at the sound. “Pirate? Leader of the Lost Boys? Leader of Neverland? The Love of Emma Swan’s life? All of them are true, all of them are meaningless except for being Emma’s Love.”
He smiles. ”Even though she is not very giving of it. Yet.”
She reads the next question of the list, thinking that she should memorize these sooner or later. “I ask the next few all at one time: Date of Birth, Height, Hair Color, Eye Color, and Build.”
His head rears back and then shakes back and forth. “Nosy, aren’t they?”
She chuckles, “You are not the first or even the second to comment on that. But Robin makes the character sheets and she uses these to fill out the information. So answer away, Killian.”
Still shaking his head, He answers her, “Unknown, 5’ 11”, Black, Blue, and I have no farkin clue.”
She laughs. “Unknown date of birth?”
He nods his head, “Since Neverland never had births nor did the time pass, it is hard to determine when I was born. And before you ask, I have no idea what my build is either.”
Wendy grins evilly. “Swashbuckler.”
He cannot help but laugh. “Swashbuckler?”
She nods, “It fits you, and it allows the ladies to place you. You are not overly muscular, but you are not fat, either. You are lean, and your body is fit as only a swashbuckling pirate’s could be.”
He raises an eyebrow, shrugs, and tells her, “As you wish, my dear.”
She shakes her head, then asks, “Significant other?”
He grins back at her, “Emma Swan.”
“Parents,” she continues.
He looks at her. “None, or according to some people it was Neverland and the Second Star to the right. Whichever you wish to believe.”
She had to think about that one, but then remembered the prophecy and his beginnings as she asks, “Children?”
He cocks his head to the side as he asks, “Henry. And the Lost Boys if you wish to think of them that way.”
She just looks at him. “Interesting. You are claiming Henry already?”
He answers with no cockiness to his voice, “Of course he is mine, that part is not an issue. But getting Emma to agree and understand, well, that is not the question is it?”
She nods as she reads the next one, and asks, sincerely curious about his answer, “Who do you consider to be your best friend?”
He then rests his chin on his hand as he ponders the question. “I have to say Tinkerbell and Wesley. Emma is going to be a hopeful, since you should always be your partner’s best friend, but we are not there yet.”
Looking to the next question, she asks him, “Enemies?”
He ponders on this too, “The crocodile of course, then there are the enemies of my Emma. Right now, we are fighting against all sorts of people to be together, so ‘enemies’ is too wide of a description for us. Let’s just stick to those.”
She reads the next two in succession, noticing that everyone is waiting on them, “Tattoos or scars?”
He sighs. “I have a tattoo of my first lady love, Milah. As for scars, I have many on my body due to the harder life I have led, as well as the scar from my hand being taken by the crocodile.” But he exchanges a look with Wendy and the two of them chuckle at their mutual secret.
Wendy settles herself down from her laughter and pets Connor who had decided to come see why Mommy is laughing so hard. She looks to the next set of questions, and asks, “What is your favorite pastime?”
He smiles. “Sailing the seas in the Jolly Roger,” he replies immediately. “The feeling of the wind as it rushes past you and the sound of the sail snapping in the wind is like no other. But currently, my favorite pastime is appearing in my Emma’s dreams to try to convince her that I am for real. It is actually amusing to talk with her, to hear her views on the world and what is possible.” He cannot help the chuckle nor the twinkle in his eyes as he speaks of these things.
Wendy just jots it down, with a twist of her own lips. “Mode of transportation?”
He laughs, “I think I already answered that one, my dear.”
She laughs as she reads the next one. “Weapon of choice?”
He cannot help the laugh. “Actually I love my sword, since guns are not always reliable in Neverland, nor in the other lands. And I have learned to use my hook as a weapon too. So it is currently even between the two.”
She chuckles at the next one, “Pets?”
He snorts. “Like a pirate can have a pet other than the usual ones of a parrot or a monkey. Either are messy, and I run a tidy ship.”
“Best Childhood Memory,” she continues.
He starts laughing at her. “I had way too many years as a child, love. I cannot really say that there is one. Some would be my favorite depending on the stage of life I was in, or even the maturity level I had. So I really can’t answer that one.”
She tries again. “Favorite Teen Memory, or even Best Adult memory?”
He shakes his head. “I spent 286 years between being born and turning 20. There was so much living in there that again, it would be hard to pick a memory. But Best Adult Memory? That has to be when I met Emma in our dreams. Knowing that she is here, that she is perfect and I am able to see her, I have no doubt that the time I see Henry will be the next one, or maybe when we marry….” He looks off, lost in his thoughts.
Wendy thinks about it then shrugs. He is right, of course. Favorite memories are hard enough to decide with the normal number of years, but if you think about how long Killian has been alive, then it would be impossible especially given that he had been frozen at certain ages.
Moving on, she asks, “Favorite Scent?”
He answers immediately, and even leans forward some, “Emma’s.”
She then smiles at the next one. It has been very telling on the previous two interviewees’ answers. “What is you favorite movie?”
Killian just stares at her blankly. “Movie? What is a movie?”
It was Wendy’s turn to blink, then she starts laughing. “This is freaking rich!! I bet Karen and Robin didn’t even think of that!!! “
He is still staring at her waiting for an answer, and she finally answers him, “When we are done, I will show you Ice Age. Which is a movie. Fox is watching it right now, and we will be happy to show you what a movie is. We have so many here that you can spend the next week here and not see them all. And at my house? Yeah. We will set you up on that one.”
He just shakes his head confused. “Can’t you just tell me something about them?”
Wendy thinks and then grins. “They were first made to show that when a horse runs, all four feet can be off the ground at one time. And that is all you are getting, mister. We will talk afterwards. I just can’t wait for those two to read this!” She is positively giddy at the thought, and that alone is a miracle with her last week and a half.
She reads the next question, “If you could vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go?”
He thinks about that one. “I think I would like to visit this world more, where Emma is. Also I would like to visit where she grew up. It would help me understand her better. I will be taking her to my own memorable places, but then, she will be at most one way or the other. But I just don’t know if we will have the time to let me know about her past in the way I wish to.” His answer is thoughtful, and you can tell he put a lot of thought in it.
Wendy nods her head, and she asks the next two questions, “How do you spend your days? Nights?”
He smiles, “Days, well that one is hard. It all depends on the timing of my life then. But now? I am working on getting with my Emma. The nights? They are now spent in joint dreams with her, trying to get to know each other, to be able to tell each other what is going on. Currently life is too busy to really answer that one with as much detail as your ladies would like without going into our story too much.”
Sharing a look with Killian, Wendy looks back and tells him, “Last one for the normal questions.”
Killian cannot help his laugh. “Normal questions?”
She nods as she gets ready for it, “I’ll explain after this one. What is your Life’s Aspiration?”
He answers quickly and without hesitation. “To be with Emma and Henry. To protect them from the pain they have each experienced. To love them. To simply hold them when they are falling asleep, knowing they are safe and loved.”
Wendy sighs. “Aren’t you the romantic one?”
Killian just grins at her. “Now for these not normal questions?”
Sighing, she moves to the Facebook group’s site to see what they had asked. “The ladies, after voting what story AND which character they want interviewed from the story, are then asked in a new set of comments which questions they would like to ask that character, and then they vote on the questions listed. The top five questions with the most ‘likes’ get picked. This month, with everything going on, Sharon and the rest of my ladies took care of the voting and getting the interview questions organized for me. So this will be new to me. We had six questions, and the top five are being asked.”
He nods his head. “Interesting. And any of the ladies in your Facebook group can ask the questions?”
“Yes, and as long as they get voted into the top five, they will be asked. I break any ties in either voting or the questions section. I try to encourage my ladies to participate in the group, but it looks as though when I’m gone, there isn’t as much going on. Ah well, they are there to see what I am like in real life I guess.”
Killian just shakes his head, and pets Connor who comes to visit again. “Ask away.”
Wendy nods, “The first one is from Rissa the Great: Given everything that you’ve seen and done, if you could change anything, what would it be and why?”
He raises his brows. “They certainly don’t pull any punches do they?”
She shakes her head no, and waits for him to answer.
He leans forward to rest his elbows on his legs as he thinks. “There is much I would like to change, but would I? No. Everything happened the way it did. I learned what love is, and I know what hatred is as one only can when one has a loved one murdered in front of them. I learned how to lead people as Peter Pan, as Dread Pirate Roberts, and finally as Hook. Every part of my past has shaped me to what I am today, and that person is able to offer Emma so much more than one with only a part of my past could have done.”
Wendy notes his response, smiling as she understands what he means. “The next one is from Leigh Warner: What is the one thing you regret doing the most and what is the one thing you treasure most in your life?” She looks up from reading the question and wonders how he will answer this one.
Killian just shakes his head. “These ladies are really good at this, are they not? But to answer the question, the one thing I regret doing? I regret how so many things have happened, but mostly I regret the way I handled Rumple. I could have been more adult about it, but then, I truly believe a man unwilling to fight for what he wants… deserves what he gets. But for the other half of the question? The one thing I treasure most is meeting my Emma. Knowing I am meeting the other half of my soul, is a truly unique experience.”
Noting his answers, she also notes how much more eloquent he is with these questions. She tells him, “The next two are from our very own Sharon. The first one is: How difficult do you think it will be finally meeting Emma face to face yet not being able to act on your feelings for her yet?”
He laughs. “I have met her face to face in our dreams already, and there were no issues!! But if she means when we physically meet? It will be pure torture. I am sure my Emma will still be doubting our love and everything to do with it. Being that close and not being able to reassure her that she is my everything, it will be truly painful.”
Still chuckling over the beginning of his answer, she just shakes her head. “Thanks for answering it! But the second one is: If you were forced to live in the town where Emma currently resides for any length of time, what do you think you would do since Piracy isn’t exactly an occupation there?”
He just can’t help himself from laughing. “Our Sharon!! But…hmm. What could I do? Anything I set my mind out to do. I haven’t existed for over 600 years without knowing how to shift with the times in my own way. I’m not saying I can find myself a job immediately, but once I am used to this world, I think I can handle supporting my Emma, Henry and I quite easily.”
Wendy quirks an eyebrow at the pirate, “You know she may not accept that one.”
He shrugs. “It is the truth.”
She notes the answer, then reads the next one. Laughingly she tells Killian, “I am going to be heavily editing this one. Robin, our very own WordPress Whisperer who is thinking Christmas already came with the gifts I told her about already, asks: What would you say about this story to get us addicts to drop everything and go read it?”
He stares at her then starts laughing. “If they are addicts of yours, they should have read it already!!! But, what is there not to love? There are pirates, true love, a crocodile, and a prophecy. What else can you wish for in a story?”
With that Wendy cracks up laughing. He grins, enjoying her laughter as well.
She types up her notes, and then turns to him. “Now let’s get you over to Fox. He can explain what is going on in the movie pretty well, and you can experience the magic of movies for yourself. Maybe in the future we will be able to come back to this question.”
He laughs and then, standing up, offers her his hand to help her rise. After she stands he kisses her hand, then bows to her. “Lead on, my lady. I look forward to learning about this movie thing.”
And with that the two of them leave the room as Connor trails behind them wagging his tail.
