AUTHOR'S NOTE: This short ficlet is for Colin O'Donoghue's 10,000 posts celebration over at fan forum. If you would like to celebrate with use please feel free to find us there.

Vivid Dreams

As the sun began to rise and the darkness fell away, Killian could not help but feel as though his night spent searching for Emma had come to no desirable end. His eyes burned vividly with the exhaustion of the night. He had done this alone. In fact he had done this alone every night for the last month. Everyone had warned him that it was time to give up on searching for her, that the way to finding her was to find Merlin, but he couldn't give up. He didn't even know if she was in this realm, but nonetheless he refused to rest until she was found.

Wearily, Killian moved throughout the forest, his fingertips brushing against the trees bark as he went. The rough wood splintering against his fingers forced him awake. His mind was beginning to give up for the night, but on the other hand his heart was not relenting. His eyes remained peeled in the distance as he searched for Emma's whereabouts. It was then that he saw a small abandoned cottage. A figure in a blue cape was loitering outside; soft blonde curls falling down her back.

"Emma?"

The figures head turned slightly to the side and Killian caught a glimpse of her side profile. He knew that button nose anywhere.

"Swan, please," he bellowed, but with a snide smile she disappeared into thin air. "No wait!"

Killian broke into a run in the direction he had last saw her, his feet feeling weak beneath his weight. He paused in front of the cottage, his mind racing. Emma was nowhere to be seen, but then her face appeared in the window of the cottage. With his heart in his hands, he approached the door and, as quietly as he could, walked inside.

"Swan," he said, witnessing her eyes enveloped by darkness. The mixed green with starry blue was no more.

She paused looking directly at him. He was bewildered by her appearance and yet it still remained unknown. The more he looked the more he couldn't see her. He reached out towards her. Her face was covered by shadows.

"Please Swan," but his words provoked nothing but a smile, her teeth shining in the fractured window light. She remained voiceless and then he heard the door slam behind him. There was no way out. "Do you remember your last words to me? I love you too Swan, you know that don't you?"

Emma raised her hand as if to take his in hers, but instead out stretched her palm.

"Love is weakness," she growled.

A jet of invisible power surged at Killian, throwing his whole body backwards. His arms flailed in the air and his back crashed to the floor with a great thud.

The falling sensation within the dream forced him to awaken; jolting into consciousness so quickly disorientated him. After a few moments he looked beside him in the bed, it was empty. Sweat drenched him and his bed sheets. His eyes burning, he looked around the room and it was also empty. A swarm of isolation enveloped him.

"Swan."