"We're back." He could hear the relief in her voice, and though he was grateful to have returned to their proper time with their stories, individual and intertwined, unchanged, he couldn't fight the familiar pain deep within his chest.
We won. She had said it the very same way, with the same lilt in her voice and the same smile tugging at her lips. And then she'd added the heartbreaking words that would haunt him for all time.
"I suppose you'll want to find your family and say your proper goodbyes...you and your lad have a long journey home ahead of you," he answered, voice low, head hanging.
He didn't have any goodbyes left, despite only having truly said it once. Those he'd loved were taken before he had been granted the chance. He'd only ever said goodbye to her. There's not a day will go by that I won't think of you. And he would...think of her. Every day. Every moment. For as long as time would allow. But he wouldn't say goodbye. He couldn't.
"Are you going somewhere?" she asked, though he hadn't moved from his spot.
"Sorry?" he replied, focusing on a space of forest just over her shoulder to keep his gaze from meeting hers and sapping what little strength he had left. He saw her take a step forward, and another, and another, until he could no longer see the forest for the beauty before him. She reached up to grasp his chin, tilting his head to the side so that he had no choice but to meet her fiery emerald gaze, burning with some emotion he couldn't quite get a read on.
"If it's going to take me so long to get home, you would have to get a head start." He cocked his head to the side, one eyebrow lifting in confusion and curiosity, but he said nothing, waiting for her to explain as she playfully rolled her eyes before her expression sobered, her green eyes darkening. "It's you. It's always been you." He remained silent, letting her words play in a constant loop in his head until he almost believed he wasn't dreaming, doomed to wake alone, the ache in his heart never fading. But even in his dreams, he could never imagine her like this...long blonde hair spilling out over her shoulders, each shade of green in her eyes...her beauty was beyond even his imagination. So that could only mean...
"I'm your-" he started softly before her lips were crushed against his and all time came to a stop, leaving only the two of them alone in a world beyond past, present, or future. It was theirs and theirs alone. It was...was...
"Home," Emma finished gently.