Author's Notes: Welcome to my first foray into OUAT fanfiction. I hope you enjoy, and as always, I don't own OUAT.
Impavid: adj. from Latin impravidus, from in- (not) and pavidus (fearful): not afraid; fearless.
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The decision to tell her is no longer his to make.
He will not be saved.
Cannot be.
"Any last words, pirate?" She spits in his face, and he turns his head skyward to the darkness edged in a glorious flaming orange gold. The dawn is coming. The sun will rise. There is always a chance...
Hope. He must have hope.
He sets his jaw, pictures Liam: shoulders square, head held high. A true captain. A hero amongst his ranks. The man he always wanted to be.
The man he is meant to be.
His posture straightens; The desperate cries of the saviour fade away.
"I am not afraid," He grits back, invading Zelena's personal space with a crisp whisper. "You will lose."
"How brave." She doesn't think enough of him to roll her eyes. "Say goodnight, Captain Hook." She holds out the tip of his own hook drenched in an emerald sheen.
"His name is Killian."
His head turns to the left. Her eyes are brimming with tears.
She knows.
"Swan." The witch holds his hook in her hands now. His time is winding down.
Her eyes find his, wild and desperate and terrified. His soothe and pacify and stay.
"It's alright, love." He breathes out, gently. "Don't wake me up."
The witch cackles and he can feel the cool metal graze his skin.
For the first time in three centuries he isn't afraid to dream.