She dreams of him, her mind returning to that one moment when he truly believed she loved him, his eyes bright with the knowledge, that arresting blue snaring her even as his mouth tipped into a reverent and happy smile. He'd wanted to believe.
She dreams of those knowing eyes, the vibrance there with that sad smile that tore through her as the elevator had carried her away from him, that last touch of his fingertips and that look in his eyes her final goodbye to the man she loved.
She hadn't wanted to leave him behind. She felt the ache in her chest, a physical manifestation of the grief in her heart.
He'd wanted her to leave. To escape the underworld. A part of her had resisted, hoping -needing- there to be another way. But there wasn't . There wasn't .
She'd gone down there to bring him home! To reclaim that elusive thing that always seemed to be taken from her.
True love.
She'd had it for a while. It hadn't been long enough.
She got mad at him sometimes. He'd told her that he was a survivor. That he wouldn't leave her. He laughed in the face of death. He looked out for himself and was always the one to walk away unscathed.
He hadn't walked away unscathed this time. He was just...gone. His larger than life presence no longer next to her. No longer diving into the fray with her ready to beat the odds.
He'd lied. He wasn't a survivor.
Killian Jones the hero, yes...
But not a survivor.
She dreams that he didn't move on. That he defied logic and the rules and found her again...
But there had been finality in his eyes. He knew he wasn't coming back this time. And she wanted to scream at him for breaking his promise. How could she believe he was gone when she'd touched him and kissed him that last time?
She dreams of him sometimes. Coming for her, his eyes ablaze in blue fire with intensity and desire, his mouth slamming into hers to claim and plunder like a true pirate, his body wrought with tension and need as he claimed her, and she revelled in it.
But he never would. She'd never taste the smile on his lips again or see that expression of wonder on his face -like he was afraid that he would wake up when he was with her.
'Don't you know, Emma? You're my happy ending.'
She wanted to be his happy beginning.
A future. The promise of a house. Of something real and lasting.
She woke with tears beading on her lashes, the pain a harsh reminder that her heart had never left him, her chest aching from that emptiness. He'd dug that hole. He'd stolen her heart from the treasure chest she'd kept it locked in. X marked that spot for him.
She dreams of his goodbye.