"KILLIAN!" His name is shrieked out in pure terror, piercing through the air, and ringing loudly, long after the word has tore itself from her lips.
And then everything is quiet. The kind of quiet that tears at your soul. Steals away your breath as you wait for the worst to happen.
Emma's eyes are wide, watching in horror as a blast of ice shoots into Killian. Through him. He's falling back, thrown, stumbling, clutching his chest.
"I told you to stay away from me!" Elsa's sobbing cry reaches Emma's ears like it was through a long tunnel. Echoing and almost unreal. Because nothing else matters. Not a damn thing. The world could be falling apart and it doesn't matter. Because Killian - her Killian - is crashing to the ground, back arching and head slamming into the pavement.
She's racing towards him, crashing onto her knees and skidding towards him. Arms outstretched, she grabs a hold of him and pulls him into her lap. He's shaking and stiff, skin unbelievably cold.
"S-swan?" His blue eyes struggle to focus on her face, but they're flickering up, rolling back into his head as he fights for consciousness.
"I'm here. I'm here." Emma's holding his face, rocking him, trying to ignore the ice that she can see clawing it's way up his boots. Because, damn it, she's not going to lose him. She's not.
The ice has reached his coat, trailing patterns up the black leather that would've been beautiful if it weren't sucking away his life. His breaths are coming out in puffs despite the sun beating down on them.
Her lips tremble and she holds him tighter, running her fingers through his hair. Hair that's slowly shifting from raven black to an ashy white.
"Stay with me, ok?" Her words come out quiet and shaking and her eyes have started to glisten with tears ready to spill onto her cheeks.
"Always." Somehow, he manages that damn smirk of his. Pale lips curling at the corners.
He's getting colder. Even through all the leather, he's starting to feel like a dead body. His skin has lost all its flush and is changing to a grayish blue.
His eyelids start to flutter closed and Emma shakes him roughly. "No! Killian, no!" The tears flood out of her eyes, trailing down her face.
He coughs, shuddering, and forces his eyes back open. His breaths are coming more and more forced as the the frost coats itself across his chest.
"Killian, you can't leave me." His hair is completely white now and she's still stroking it, lovingly, tenderly, trying to keep her hand from trembling.
He stares up at her, eyes bluer than they've ever been.
Emma leans down, face near his, golden hair cascading around his face and shielding him from the world. "I love you." She whispers, pouring all of her emotions into the words, needing to say them before it's too late. Before he's …
Ice crystals are spiraling slowly across his cheeks. His face is stiff, lungs almost completely frozen, but he still manages to speak.
"I know." The words are so quiet she almost misses them. It's all he can manage. And the words aren't cocky. Not proud or self-impressed. They're reassuring. Don't worry, Emma. I know.
And the ice finishes its path, sealing him off. Completely frozen. Face fixed in one final, loving smile.
A jolt of pain courses through Emma's body. She feels as though someone's just punched through her chest and torn out her heart, even though she knows it's not possible.
He's gone. Her pirate. Her perfect pirate. He's gone. He can't be.
She starts shaking, racked with sobs. Her eyes are stinging, nose running, throat closing up. She's almost coughing she's crying so hard. She's a lost girl again, with no home.
"Killian. Killian, come back." She's repeating his name over and over like a desperate prayer, rocking his cold, stiff body in her lap. "Killian." She's bending over him and doesn't even seem to notice that a white light is starting to pulse around her. It's shining and bright and somehow every color at once and yet none at all. It's pure.
Closing her eyes, Emma presses her lips to his cold ones. She's not even thinking of True Love's kiss. It doesn't even cross her mind. She just wants her Killian. Wants to kiss him one last time. Even if he can't feel it.
And then that awful quiet comes back. That all encompassing, smothering quiet. She pulls back and her eyes flutter open as she stares down at his beautiful face, forever preserved in ice.
And then … it's slow … like a sunrise. But's it's there. A blossoming of color on his lips. It's spreading, gradual at first, and then faster and faster, color racing back to his cheeks and down his body.
His eyes snap into focus and he gasps in a deep, ragged breath. His hand reaches up and grips onto her arm.
Her face is still coated in tears, nose and eyes red, but now she's smiling and her eyes are watering up afresh. And then she's laughing, bright and happy and relieved beyond belief.
Emma pulls him against her chest, wrapping her arms tightly around him, no intention of ever letting go. "Oh, god, you scared me so much." She's shivering and clutching him.
Killian holds onto her just as fiercely, face burying in her neck and hand fisting in her hair. "I love you."