Based off the following prompt: It's been empty for days.
A/N: I have no idea where this came from. It was just something that sprang to life. Somewhat Future!CS, because they are well established, but not really a fluffy piece, more of a snapshot. A moment captured in time. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing! I merely took Hook out of the packaging that were so wonderfully presented by A&E and played with them. I'm putting him back just as I found him, promise. Once Upon a Time is not mine and I earn no profit from this. I just love to play in this world.
It had always been with him. That little silver flask, filled with the finest spiced rum he'd ever had fortune to find. He couldn't remember if the ship had been bound for King George's harbour or another realm, he only knew that the barrels aboard were filled with the finest rum he had ever had the good fortune to procure on the open sea.
He'd used it in times of need. Times when he had needed a little courage in battle, or at play. Times when he'd needed a little something to drown the sadness that 300 years of sea faring life had brought him. Times when the loss of his brother, and then his lover, had become too much to bear. Times when he felt lost, hopeless and unlovable. When he felt alone, there was always the rum.
A steadfast companion that remained with him long after the Jolly Roger was gone, that small silver flask that was at home in the pockets of his leather coat, the one thing that had never left him. In 300 years, it was the one constant, just like his ship. Always there for him, right when he needed it.
Holding the flask in his hands, turning it over and over, feeling the brushed metal beneath his fingertips as he caressed his old friend. This time he didn't open it. This time he didn't press it to his lips and sample the sweet nectar within.
This time he didn't need it.
"Goodbye old friend," he whispered, placing the flask in to the box reverently before sealing it tight.
Everyone changes. People grow, turn over a new leaf, and become who they are supposed to be in their own time. Killian's time had finally come, his time to turn over a new leaf. His time to be the hero and the honourable man that he wanted to be, the man that she deserved.
"Killian, hurry up! The truck is here!"
He heard Emma's call and that was enough. It was time to go. Time to shake off the past and move forward, together into the bright light of the future.
From their first apartment to their new home, right near the water, with room for the seeds they had planted and their family to grow. He'd saved this box for last, the one for the donation box for the less fortunate people of Storybrooke. Perhaps his flask would find itself with another soul who needed a little help every now and then, some one who wasn't as fortunate to have found the love and purpose that he had.
It wasn't sadness he felt as he deftly lifted the box into his arm, but happiness. As though a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. The flask settled to the bottom with a hollow thud.
He didn't need it anymore.
Besides, it had been empty for days…