So many nights he had dreamt of that day when he said farewell to Emma Swan, knowing they would likely never meet again. He replayed it over and over in his head and thought of the ways it could have gone, the ways he wished it had gone. He wished he had embraced her, if only for a moment. He wished he had kissed her, if only fleetingly. He wished he had refused to let her leave without him, that he had gotten into that car and rode off with her and Henry to live in some city somewhere; he would have willingly given up everything he had known all his life to be with her. But every morning he awoke with memories of the smell of her hair lingering in his nostrils and only the silken palace sheets pressed against his skin.
About once a month, Regina would ask if he was still pining after the Savior, and every time without fail, his answer was simply,
"Always."
It had taken him three hundred years to get over losing Milah. It would take him not one day less to get over Emma Swan.
Now he stood at last outside her door, and he wished he didn't have to deliver bad news, he wished she would know him when she answered the door and be as overjoyed to see him as he was to see her. He raised his hook and hammered urgently on the door. There was no answer but the muffled sound of music from inside. He knocked again with more urgency. The music stopped. He heard footsteps approaching, then the door swung open. Emma stood there, looking beautiful despite the early hour and her tousled hair. What he wouldn't give to wake up to this every morning...
"Swan," he choked out, smiling in gleeful relief.
"Who the hell are you?" Emma said.
In his joy at seeing her after all this time, he had nearly forgotten that she didn't remember him.
"Maybe this'll help you remember."
He stepped forward and kissed her, pulling her towards him. He felt her go rigid, then suddenly he was stumbling backward in pain. He gasped, straightening up.
"Emma, your family is in danger, they need your help," he implored.
"My family is here," Emma replied.
"Emma please..."
He stepped forward again, but she slammed the door in his face. He closed his eyes, listening to the indistinct voices from inside the apartment as the elation he had felt when Emma opened the door sunk into a pit in his stomach.