A/N: Hey everyone! This is the first story I'm posting on here, so I hope you all will like it! I thought it might be nice to have Killian go on an adventure for once, so we will see how it goes :) The chapters will get longer as I go along, I promise, the first few are just to get the story going. Please comment what you all think! -Leslie


Killian's POV

I gulp as I look up at the perfectly curved piece of metal that's embedded in the ground. My trembling hand clutched in her shaking ones. Both my arms burn with the strain of holding on, but those arms are the one thing keeping me with the one person I can't bear to lose again. As much as it pains me to, I tilt my head up the slightest bit until my eyes meet those of the person looking over the edge of the portal, tears welling up in the corners of those brilliant eyes.

"Emma!" I call out, my voice so stressed from the intense, fiery pain that even I can hardly hear it, "I can't take this anymore. You have to let go of me!"

She stares back at me, sadness glittering in the sparkling green depths of her eyes. I know how hard this is for her, because my poor love has lost everyone she ever cared about. I should know that pain best, for that same experience has happened to me. Struggling against the portal hurts less than just seeing that awful ache in her face, and knowing that she is feeling it deep down in her chest, because her heart was my job to protect. And even if I have to walk through hell, I will get back to her, if only to save her from a broken heart, which can be the worst torture of all.

"Swan, I promise. You don't have to worry about me. I'm a survivor, remember?" I say with a crooked, forced smile in a feeble attempt to lighten up the situation. I receive a halfhearted smile in return. "Just let go. I'll be back, I swear!" I tell her, and the single tear that slips down her cheek just about cracks my heart in half.

"I trust you, Killian," Emma says as she tenses, preparing to let go. "I believe you, and I believe in you. I-I love you." That last part she says in a whisper, now sobbing in earnest. I've never really thought about it before, but I realize now that the reason we understand each other is that we are both the same...both orphans who have lost everyone close to us and have never stayed in one place our entire lives. And I remember something Emma once told me, something she had learned from another lost love: "Home is the place that, when you leave it, you just miss it." And they say "home is where the heart is," right? And in that case, my home wasn't a place. The home of my heart was Emma Swan. And right in that moment, she let go of my hand and I wrenched my hook out of the ground, and I caught one last glimpse of her beautiful face, marred by the tracks of the tears still falling. And then she was gone, and I had never missed her more. And so I plummeted down into the swirling depths, and the only thing I could think about was home.

The Enchanted Forest

I tumble through the grey mist of the portal, until I come to an abrupt stop, standing in a green, grassy land. It is not one that I think I have seen, not even from years of traveling different realms.

"Where am I?" I ask myself, for there's no one else around to talk to. The space is oddly quiet, with its beautiful rolling hills to my left, and, only a few yards away to my right, a path through a forest. On the off chance that I am in the Enchanted Forest, and that this path could lead me somewhere that I am familiar with, I decide to follow it. I walk to the entrance of the woods, and halt right before the path, reluctant to enter. For all I know, there is a hideous beast waiting there to attack.

For Emma, I remind myself, and I step on to the well-trodden path. Nothing happens, so I continue to walk, and when still all is silent, I start a jog. The path only branches off once, and I continue on the section I am already on. But before I know it, the path has come to an end. I emerge out of the forest, only to find myself looking up at a giant waterfall spilling majestically down a rocky cliff. I must've taken the wrong turn on that path. I study the waterfall, trying to figure out how tall it is...maybe I could scale it for a good vantage point? And as I study it, a strange flicker of feeling tickles at the base of my skull. Something I can't quite place, but it almost seems like I've been here before. I try to shake it off, ignore it, and focus on something else, but while I was distracted, someone had crept up behind me. I hear one footstep and start to turn around, but it is already too late. There is a thump, an ache spreads across the back of my head, my vision goes black, and I collapse onto the ground, unconscious.