Prologue

She walked down the stairs towards him with a sad smile and looked nothing like the feisty woman he had grown to care for so much over those decades. She had been his port in the storm, now she was further away from him than he had ever thought possible. Although she stood right before him. He bowed without taking his eyes off of her.

"Look at you." He then spoke with a smile.

"Look at us." She corrected. How far they had come from when they had first met all those years ago. He had been nothing but a broken sailor in the streets of the Cove, his love ripped from him so sudden and so brutal. She had been a pleasurable companion, kind of heart but with no pity for his pathetic state. And it had not been pity that he needed. She had picked him up and put together the pieces of his soul; had fallen in love with a hopeless man who would never look at her the way he had looked at Milah. But she had loved, and when one like her loves, she does so unconditionally, even if unrequited.

He straightened and stepped closer, placed his good hand on her pale cheek and leaned closer to gently place his lips on her other cheek. Although he knew it would just hurt them both. She closed her eyes and wanted to freeze this moment in time, forever. His scent surrounding her – the salty sea, the leather of his coat, rum, and something that was just… him. His warm hand on her skin, his lips, the scruff. He felt her hand on his chest, soft, gentle like the fluttering wings of a butterfly, a reluctant touch as if she did not dare more.

"Stay." She whispered, although she knew his response. And oh it broke his heart like he hadn't even known it could. He knew how much it cost her to say this one word. To forget her reckless pride and head held high just to say it.

"I cannot." He whispered, his forehead touching hers. "This is your world, your home, your people. There is no place here for one like me."

"Yes there is." She corrected him. But she knew better. "I know you will not stay. But know this, Killian Jones. You changed me. You made me different from them, you have made me human. Time will pass, we will grow apart. You will forget me eventually; you will grow old, wither and die as all things must. But I will not. I am forever as the stars. I will not forget. I will forever remember you, there will always be an echo of you in this Universe, through me. And as you made me mortal in a way, I have made you immortal."

He stepped away from her as she spoke, had trouble dealing with her words because he knew how much they meant. Knew that they were her way of saying just how much he meant to her. Oh they were both stubborn that way, weren't they? Would never say that one word, although they both felt it each in their way. Because even though she was not Milah, she was the closest thing to Milah any other woman had ever gotten. Would ever get.

He took the box he had held with his hook for the last moments and handed it to her. A simple box made of dark wood, with delicate carvings to it and a lock sealed with a magic only her kind could break for it had been forged in the dragons fire.

"It is yours." He said with no explanation, then took the simple chain from his pocket, a small key for a pendant. He placed it around her neck gently, careful not to scratch her with his hook, and the key rested just over her heart. "I just wish…" his voice broke, he left it unfinished.

She looked up to meet his gaze, her eyes their impossible blue with the dark ring around the iris. She knew what it meant. Knew what was in that box, knew what he was giving to her. But she wanted him to say it. Needed him to say it.

"Say it." She whispered against his lips. "Say it and I am yours."

He closed his eyes, fighting back the urge to actually say it.

"I'm sorry." He said instead and could almost feel her heart break in two. Yet she smiled.

"I know. I know you can't say it. I know you will never stop loving her. So I will let you leave. I hope your heart will be free one day and maybe… just maybe… you will remember that there is a woman waiting by the shores of these isles, looking for you, waiting for you. No matter how long."

"Then watch, for I shall return to you."

She got to the tips of her toes and gently placed her lips on his, just this once, before she stepped away from him. He caught her hand as she did, unable to let go of her but she was slipping away. And eventually, it was only their fingertips touching. Then they were apart. They remained like that for a long while before he finally bowed. "Your Highness."

She nodded gently. Then he turned and left.

And so she watched him sail away. After he had ripped her from the life she had known, the life she had been safe in, the life that had been easy for her. He had pulled her right out of it and now here she was, in precious gowns, a crown upon her hair and a Kingdom under her responsibility. How much she wanted to share it with him. Why all the effort, just to watch him leave now? For Milah Always for Milah. She held the box in hands as she watched the Jolly Roger disappear, the small key around her neck and the soft sound of his beating heart within that box. The closest he had ever come to saying that he loved her. Her Captain, her jolly sailor bold.

Watch, for I shall return to you. He had said it and so she would. Look for him on the horizon every day. Like the love struck fool she was.

Notes: Oops I did it again. Not sorry though. This is something I've had in mind for a long, long time now and I hope it comes out as nice as I want it to be. Basic background knowledge is that Milah is indeed already dead. Prior to her demise, she and Killian had retrieved a magic bean to travel to another realm – a realm that apparently was where Milah's mother had originally come from. Milah herself knows very little of her family history at this stage. They wanted to find Bae and take him with them, because she felt terrible for leaving him with his father. Well, you all know what happened – The Dark One got in the way, she died. This is where this sets off; Milah has basically been dead for only a few days. Other background information is that here, Killian is the son of Davy Jones (and Calypso, hell yeah!) – just experimenting with some new background theories for him other than being Peter Pan. It also bothered me a lot that so far we have no clue who Milah was – was she a fairy tale character? Or was she just 'Rumpelstilzkin's wife' and 'Captain Hook's love interest'? I don't like reducing her to that when literally everyone else has a fairy tale backstory. So, while Milah is in fact dead, I did some research to find a fairy tale that would actually make a very nice background for her and will explore it here, maybe you will recognise it (although I have altered a major detail to avoid similarity to a certain swan Princess) ^^ let me know if you figure it out, I don't know how popular this fairy tale is.

On a different note, 'Wanderer of Worlds' will update over the weekend.