Killian stood at the helm of his ship, his eyes fixed on the ever-elusive horizon. He wondered, on nights like these, standing alone as the ship drifted smoothly through the cerulean waters that had nearly turned black with the fading light, what he might find if he ever made it to that horizon. A true journey's end.
Tonight, the sky was ablaze with the blending of the deepest reds and oranges the captain had ever seen. He was consistently amazed with how beautiful the world turned out to be despite all of the evil that he had been witness to in his centuries spent in it. How there always seemed to be a bright light ready to overcome the darkness, if one could only fight long enough to find it. It was this constant motivation – to find that light - that kept him alive. That kept him from sinking into the black oblivion of emptiness that had once threatened to consume him. For a long time, he thought that his light had been the revenge he sought for Milah's death. When the Crocodile was dead, he would be complete. He would have reached that horizon, after so many years of anger. But it had merely been a flicker just before the flame.
The light in the darkness was not death but rather, life. His life. And the life of another who reminded him that there was still something left to fight for.
"Red sky at night, sailor's delight," a familiar voice interrupted his thoughts. He felt the corners of his lips turn up into a small smile at the irony of her approach at this particular moment. You and me, we understand each other, she'd once said to him. If only she knew just how much.
"What's that about my delight, Lass?" he asked, his eyes still on the horizon, though he felt her gaze on him as she came to stop next to him.
"The old saying, 'Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailor take warning,'" she clarified. "Any truth to it?"
"Not sure what the sky has to do with my delight, but I'm certain you could be of assistance if you're so concerned about it," he teased, not needing to look at her to know that she was rolling her eyes with that small amused smile she always tried to hide on her face. But he turned to look anyway.
"That the best you can come up with? I thought for sure you'd mention how the time of day has no bearing on a sailor's delight," she said in her best impression of him, smirk and all. A fit of laughter had him nearly doubled over, gripping a stitch in his side, and he realized in that moment that he couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed. Laughed because he was genuinely happy.
"What can I say? You bested me at being me, Love," he said when he finally recovered, straightening up and looking back out past the ship as a peaceful silence fell between them.
"It means that there's a storm moving in the same direction that we are. Moving away from us," he explained softly after a moment. She took a step closer to him so that their arms were brushing as they stood staring at the darkening sky.
"But we're sailing straight for a different kind of storm," she said, no question in her voice. She knew without needing to hear it from him. Because they understood each other.
"Aye, that we are. Neverland is a tempest and a temptress, all in one instance," he said, his voice dark. His mind wandered back to the years he'd spent there. The horrors he'd seen. The horrors he had committed.
But not this time. This journey would be different. He wouldn't give into his hatred. Wouldn't let who he once was define him. He couldn't. He had lost more there than he cared to recall, including what he thought was his only chance at a family. His only chance to change. And yet, here he stood, next to the only person in his lifetime to give him that chance again despite all that he was…all that he had done. She was his second chance. His light in the darkness.
"We'll get him back, Emma," he said when he turned to see that that light was flickering, threatening to go out as her eyes filled with small tears. She looked up to meet his gaze, eyes brightening. A silent understanding filled the space between them as he reached up to wipe away the single tear that had fallen down her cheek.
"Henry…he's the reason for all of this," she said, her voice nearly breaking. "I've made a hell of a lot of mistakes in my life. I wasn't exactly the poster girl for happily ever after. But he came along and gave me a second chance. He gave me a family…and a chance to change. To be the person I know that I'm meant to be," she said before laughing softly, humorlessly, and adding: "I know that doesn't make any sense. I've been a part of too many fairy tales lately. Second chances and happy endings just seem like the criteria for me to write my own."
"I don't know much about happy endings, Love, but I do know a thing or two about second chances," he said, taking her hand in his. "And I'm honored that mine is meant to ensure that you find yours again."
She smiled, a genuine smile. The kind of smile that lit up the darkness and filled his heart with hope for the first time in what felt like an eternity, and may well have been. They may have been sailing straight into a storm, but as long as she stood by his side, there would be second chances, happy endings, and a red sky on the horizon…a light in the darkness…a sailor's delight.