"Emma!"
He finally caught up to her, standing in the middle of the street with the storm building around them. She clutched the dagger in her hand as she turned to face him.
"Don't do this love." He took cautious steps toward her. "We'll find another way."
"This is the only way." She shook her head. "Who knows what'll happen if we don't."
"Who knows what will happen if we do." A street lamp behind her flickered as the winds increased. The sky flashed with lightning and thunder boomed a few seconds later.
"Hook stop." He was a few steps from her and he stilled when she spread her hands in front of her. She had to yell to be heard above the storm now. "I don't want you to get hurt."
"I'll only be hurt if you go through with this Swan." He clenched and unclenched his hand. "Just put down the dagger love. You don't want whatever dark promises it showed you." She looked down at the instrument of darkness in her fist. For a moment he saw her; sleek red and black fabrics clinging to her body, hardening every soft angle of her perfect form, stark white hair instead of gold whipping around her face, pale skin with eyes no longer a stunning emerald green and clouded with darkness. He swallowed the thick lump that had risen to his throat as she shook her head.
"No." He could see the tears forming in her eyes now. "I have to do this. I can save everyone if I do this."
"Absorbing his darkness will save no one Emma!" Killian was having a harder and harder time keeping the fear out of his voice. Emma shook her head again.
"It's his dark deeds I'm taking away." Her voice lowered and he had to step forward to hear her. "If I remove those deeds which darkened his heart then this won't be happening."
Realization hit him like a sack of bricks. "Emma none of this will have happened."
And it all came together.
"You're rewriting the story. You're giving everyone their happy endings before they've had the chance to lose them." She nodded, a mournful smile forming on her face.
"Without that darkness Rumpelstiltskin won't lose Neal, neither Cora or Regina will get magic, there'll be no dark curse. Everyone will be safe and happy."
"You don't know that Emma." Her voice had lowered again, he was now directly in front of her. "This changes everything. Regina might not be born. Henry might not be born." His head was spinning with all of the ramifications this could have. Her lip quivered but she didn't look shocked or surprised. She must have thought everything through already.
Not everything it seems. Killian thought to himself.
"I'll be a pirate again." She nodded sadly. "That life was meaningless Emma. It was meant to fill a void but it was just emptiness, darkness." He shook his head, his stomach roiling at his next thought. "I won't... We will never meet." She didn't say a word, didn't move but for the tear descending her cheek. "We'll be lifetimes apart." he shook his head despairingly. "I'll never find you. Never escape that darkness..."
"You'll have your ship, your hand-"
"I don't want any of that Emma!"
"And Milah."
His breath caught in his throat. Milah. His desire for nearly three hundred years. Her strength and her warmth, dark hair billowing as the Jolly Roger cut through a rolling sea under bright skies. Holding her with two hands. He could see it all, dim memories flashing through his mind. He tried to focus on her face but... He couldn't.
The memories shifted.
Facing a giant on a beanstalk. Sword fighting in the sand. Neverland. The Echo Caves. "That is, until I met you." Dark Hollow "When I win your heart, and I will win it..." The second curse. "Not a day will go by that I won't think of you." New York. "Perhaps there's man that you love in the life that you lost." Fighting Zelena. Losing Baelfire. Following her into the past and kissing her outside of Granny's for the first time. Their date. Almost losing her to that hat. "I'm a fan of every part of you." When she tearily kissed him goodbye at the station and he almost proclaimed his affections right then and there. Seeing his heart in her hands and knowing there was no place it better belonged.
Don't you know Emma? It's you.
They all blurred together in a haze of green eyes and blond hair, warm smiles and fierce determination, gentle touches and soft kisses that were just for him.
His light.
His princess.
His Emma.
He lifted his palm to cup her cheek and sighed in relief when she didn't pull away.
"I would suffer every hardship," he started slowly "every hurt, every loss... I would endure it all again, because that is the path that brought me to you." Her tears fell unchecked now and he brushed away the ones he could reach. "I've lived nearly three hundred years, but they are all dim compared to the light you have brought into my life. I lived in darkness for so long that as soon as you entered it you blinded me. You outshine any star, brighter than the sun Emma Swan, and I love you."
He ended in a rush, close enough for her to lean their foreheads together as his declaration pressed into her skin. Emma entwined their fingers and pressed them to her heart. "That's why I trust you'll find me." She whispered just above the cacophony around them. "In anyplace, or anytime, I know you'll find me, because that's what love does. That's what this love does." A teary smile graced her lips and Killian could help the tiny seed of warmth and hope she planted in his heart from letting it root.
He returned her smile. "I will find you. I will always find you."
"You've been spending too much time with David." They both chuckled softly as the wind howled louder, unsteadying their feet as they gripped each other for balance. Her eyes turned somber when they met again. "I have to go."
Killian wasted no time in crushing his lips to hers, pouring every bit of longing and sadness and hope and love he could muster into this kiss. Earnest and honesty, deep and true, he would not let any curse keep him from Emma Swan. "No matter how long it takes, no matter what happens, I will always love you, I will always find you."
"Hopefully not too long." She breathed back and gods above she winked. The seed in his heart bloomed painfully in her tease, but it was a good pain.
If it's broken that means it still works.
He meant those words, now he would have to live by them.
Even if he didn't remember saying them.
Or her.
Or them.
Her fingers slipped through his grasp and she took several quick steps backwards toward the swirling darkness. Her back turned for a moment before her face pivoted back.
"Killian."
He raised his chin in acknowledgement, taking a cautious step forward. She shook her head but smiled softly, a few more tears leaking from her eyes.
Eyes he knew that he could never forget.
"I love you."
He barely heard her but could read her perfect lips, had imagined what those words would look and sound falling from those lips. He stepped back, bracing his hand on his chest. Near his heart.
It's yours love, it has always been and will always be yours.
With no time left she turned and plunged the dagger into the swirling mass of darkness. It immediately latched onto the shiny metal, tendrils crawling and creeping up Emma's arm as it engulfed her body in a twirling clump of smoke.
It was as if a lock was turned in the ground. There was a shift in the earth as buildings creaked and the wind blew harder. The sky darkened and then suddenly.
White.
Like the summary said, this was 90% written pre-finale but never got posted and I didn't want it to go to waste and I was full of feels (am still full of feels) so I'm posting it now. And even though I've been reading and reviewing in the OUAT community for several months, this is my first hand at a CS fic and actually my first fic on this site in a VERY long time. Thoughts? I have a very rough idea for a follow-up to this. It would be pretty short, but certainly cute and hopeful. Let me know what you think and if you want any more. As always please review, praise and/or critique (especially critique, positive or negative) is greatly appreciated and keep authors going.