And we're back with more insanity! Part three of this little tale…perhaps the last part but who knows! We'll just have to see where this goes.

When we last left our heroes…wait, what am I doing? I'm not doing a recap…go read "Shattered" and "Somewhere Out There" if you've stumbled upon this without reading those first!

As always, Enjoy!

~The Last Ronin~

"Step away from the lass mate," Killian steps forward, inching his sword closer to my father's neck.

David, for his part takes it all in stride and slowly raises his hands, moving away from me as instructed. All I can do is stare. It's him. I knew it. I knew it! He has a couple new scars but it's him!

"Killian," I breathe, finally able to get my voice working again as I shakily get to my feet, "Killian."

"You ok lass?" He asks, not taking his eyes off David for a second, "Did this bastard hurt you?"

I blink, stunned back into silence as I finally register his words, what he's saying…what they mean. He doesn't recognize David.

Swallowing heavily, I step in front of him, gently pushing the sword away from my father. My pirate's gaze finds mine, confusion written on his face and I both step towards him and recoil at the same time, shocked by what I see behind the confusion.

I feel like ice water has been injected into my veins; goose bumps pebble my skin and I shiver. My insides twist into knots and my knees begin to shake as his eyes stay locked with mine. There's no recognition in them at all. He…he doesn't know me.

The man before me is clearly Killian but he's not my Killian. He's not the man I love. He's someone I've heard about in stories but never met before…not really at least. The darkness in this man's heart surrounds him like a visible aura and washes off him in waves that are physically painful to be near.

I rock back on my heels, inhaling sharply, tears pricking at the back of my eyes. I'm so God damn tired of crying! But every time I get so much as a glimpse of what I want – of my happy ending – it gets yanked away again. Why is it that every single time I allow myself to hope I end up with my heart broken?

This man isn't my Killian.

This man is Captain Hook.

x-x-x-x-x

"I just don't see why we still have to patrol the town border is all," the dwarf grumbles, for the moment fully living up to his name, "I mean, no one's gotten in in years."

"Leroy, you know that's not why we're here," I sigh – not for the first time wishing I was back at the dinner instead of tramping through the forest.

"Yeah, yeah, I know Ruby. But we all know not to cross the line at this point. I don't see why…"

"Quiet!" I snap at the dwarf, inhaling deeply and nearly gagging as an all too familiar scent assaults me, "I hear something...and I smell blood."

"What? Where?" He's all business now and I can't help but smile at his one eighty.

"This way," I hurry through the trees, aware that we're heading towards the road…and the town line, "it's close."

We step from the woods, the scent stronger than ever and I break into a run as I see someone slumped across the road, just barely on our side of the town line. Leroy jogs up next to me and we peer down at the figure – a boy from the looks of it.

"Who is this?" He asks, rolling the boy over and then jumping back with a yell as he sees the gaping hole in the boy's head.

"I don't know," I cover my nose and grimace, already on my cell phone to call the hospital, "but he's alive."