The memories were slowly returning - like a movie reel playing in her head. One by one scenarios trickled though - moments, conversations, feelings.
Having never experienced magic induced memory loss, the feeling was peculiar to say the least. Like when you have lost something and suddenly remember where it is. Like when a mysterious ache inside disappears and is replaced with a sense of hope. But hope for what?
Killian had insisted they head across town. He had said it was important. There was something they needed - to save everyone.
Although he hadn't said as much, she knew instantly this was Neal's apartment. Crazy as it sounds, she felt him - his presence. His essence hung in the air like an undetectable marker. As she crossed the threshold she hugged her arms close to her sides.
"Why-" she asked as she stepped inside. Her question halted when she felt him pause - mere inches behind her. He was so close she could feel his breath on her neck. Memories of this stranger began to eek into her conscious mind. Salt. Rum. A smile here and there.
"Bae- Neal-" he moved in front of her, "He said there was something here that would help. A talisman. Something he had held since Neverland."
Sighing, she rolled her eyes as memories of Neal and Neverland soaked into her - washing through her body in painful bursts. "Well that's vague," she finally replied, shaking her head and walking across the apartment - away from him.
Reaching the window, she looked outside at the late winter light as it lit the street below. The last snow had thawed and the icy fingers that had permeated the city seemed to be finally retreating. A small smile crossed her lips - Spring was her favourite time of year. One of new beginnings and hope.
Absentmindedly, her eyes flicked upwards. Her breath caught.
The honey coloured leather of a dreamcatcher formed a criss crossed circle. So familiar.
Then his hand was on her arm. An image flashed into her mind. His hand in her hair. His lips on her mouth. She was pulling him towards her-
"Swan-"
His voice was soft - almost apologetic.
"I remember," she began, "I-" Her voice trailed away. What to say? What on Earth needed to be said - in this moment. A rolling feeling crossed her body, turning and churning her feelings as it did.
The potion she had drank had not been an instantaneous solution. Certainly it had been slow in fact she had doubted her initial trust in this enigmatic stranger. These recollections were returning in small bursts, in a seemingly random order.
But him...
"Hook…" she finally managed, turning to look at him. His eyes widened as she gave him a look. One that said - it's me, I'm back, I remember...
"Swan…"
She gasped as his hand cupped her cheek. So warm, so familiar, so right. Her eyes rolled shut, her face slipping comfortably into his warm palm like it belonged there.
With a jolt, she shook her head. The juxtaposition of her memories and his proximity to her shaking her emotions.
"Why?" she asked. One word seemingly enough enough.
His hand held steady - his thumb ran over her cheek, making her spine shiver and her stomach roll.
"Why?" he echoed, lost in her gaze.
"Why did you kiss me? At the apartment?" she asked. She needed to know if it was true. How he felt. She stepped a little closer. She could feel his body heat tingling against her.
His gaze dipped for a second. Her heart stilled - swelling and rising in an imperceptible moment as she waited for his response, though in her heart she knew the answer. A smile finally danced on his lips.
"Why do you think?" he asked, his crystal blue eyes boring into her own.
One hand ran up his arm absentmindedly, her eyes fixed on his. Can you have a converstation just with a look? She remembered the way he used to gaze at her when he thought she wasn't aware.
But she couldn't say it. But she could show him.
So she kissed. Cautious and slow at first. His maimed arm looped around her, pressing her waist against him. Her lips pressed tightly against his - as if to prove he was real. More and more memories returning as every second passed - his heart, his bravery, his love...
Burning kiss after burning kiss evolved. He pushed her against the window sill - stumbling back together in a blur of passion. The feel of his lips on her skin made her mind swim as her legs twisted around his waist.
She murmured into him, clawing at his thick leather jacket - his salt laden skin.
Knowing this was what she needed.
A strange sense of separation came over her - as if her body was not her own, but at the same time under her control.
Automatically, she seemed to slip her fingers into his salt coated hair and press her hips forward - relishing in his gasp as their bodies made contact.
Part of her held back. What the hell are you doing Swan? said a voice inside; one so quiet she stilled it in seconds. She knew this man. She remembered him - what he had done, his worth- His hips dug into hers - the bones sharp, sparking her emotions as his kiss sought out her own. He took no rest: diving into her mouth without hesitation - wanting and needing her so his embrace told.
She shuffled onto the window sill; wrapping her legs around him, letting him press into her - showing her the pain of a twelve month separation. She had waited so long for this. Her newly resurfaced memories highlighting a year of pain and hurt - a year she wanted to end. She needed him.
He pulled back, his lips pausing at her ear, "I thought of you every day. Every hour. Every minute. Every second."
His words sent a wave of desire flood over her - previously suppressed emotions flooding to the surface.
"Emma..." He whispered, his words dancing over the sensitive skin of her neck, "My love..."
But she still couldn't speak - so instead she pulled him closer again, pouring out the hurt and loss and want. Now she remembered him - the hollow feeling of the last year made sense. The sensation that something was missing from her life. It was - him.
His body melded with hers. Ever twist and curve elicited an equal response in him. She hummed and purred against him as his hands slid up her spine, caressing every bone and making her body sing.
With wanton abandon, their clothes soon found their way to the apartment floor - forgotten and unwanted. Instead their bodies rocked together, a stirring rising inside. Something almost intangible that transposed over time and space - that hurt and sang at the same time.
His fingers dug into her moist skin as he pushed into her, relishing in the small moans he elicited with each motion, tilting his hips each time, enriching her feeling. His head dipped to hers, as her eyes closed. Her breath quickened.
Close. So close.
Slowly - achingly so, she began to fall apart. His eyes scanned her face as the emotions trickled through.
Loose and free, happy and blissful and a million other feelings passed her by.
Until she sank into his arms.
And he knew that all was lost. He was hers.
And he had found her.
He would follow her anywhere.
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