An hour later, around 7pm when there was a strong wind in the town that vanished not long after, she scuttled inside The Jolly Roger and finally found Killian sat at the bar swigging rum from a bottle that was almost empty.

Her ballet shoes made next to no noise as she shuffled across the floor to him. His head rested on his forearm on the bar and as she slid onto the stool next to him, he briefly glanced up to look at her. The smell of alcohol filled the air as he spoke in a slurred voice. "What do you want?"

"Killian... Don't you understand? We can be together if I do this." Her words were spoken in as calm a tone as she could manage but still he snapped his head up, scowling at her.

"And what if once you don't remember me, you decide I'm no good and move onto someone else, huh? Did you once think about that?"

"Of course I thought about it. But we were cursed before and still I fell for you. Killian, I'm sorry, but I'm going over the town line in the morning." She lifted a dainty hand and placed it over his own on the bar. His eyes seemed sleepy but still were brimming with hurt. "It's your choice, my love, whether you decide to spend our last night knowing each other on your own drinking or with me."

Her final words seemed to get to him finally. His expression fell and he sighed as he pulled her off her stool and into his arms. His face buried itself in the crook of her neck as he held her tightly in his embrace.

"I just... I'm afraid, Astrid. More afraid than I've ever been in my entire life. You're all I have, and now you won't remember me." His voice was no more than a whisper and they brought tears to her eyes which she quickly blinked away.

"My sweet, sweet Killian. If I can fall in love with you twice, both times not knowing you at first, then what's another time, huh? We can be together, Killian, but we have to try."

"I don't think I could bare to be without you. You are my love, and my life, always, Astrid." He paused to pull away and cup her face into his hands, leaning his forehead against her own, their eyelids fluttering closed. "I will miss you. I'm never going to get this version of you back, the version that remembers our world am I?"

She sighed in realisation. He was right, she would never be this version of herself again. She'd never be Astrid, and forever be Tristessa Rey, the unemployed rich girl who had nobody left in the world after her father passed away. She'd be all alone without her love.

But she wouldn't know about it and wouldn't realise what she'd lost. She'd be used to being alone. "Let us not dwell on that. I want to spend my final night in happiness with you. I want it to be the thing I remember most when I cross over that line tomorrow morning."

He nodded and there was a long moment where they just sat gazing at each other and when Killian spoke he did so in a soft tone filled with wonder, looking directly into her emerald irises as he did so. "You know, when my crew and I used to stop in your city for provisions, I heard about you. They told me how charming, intelligent, well-read, gracious and kind you were. A true heir of your wonderful mother, Queen Cyrene."

He paused briefly, a loving smile curving his lips as he gently caressed her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. "But nothing prepared me for your beauty, princess. A beauty that is as strong inside as it is outside. To me, you are the most beautiful and magnificent creature on this world, and all other worlds. I will love you eternally, whether you love me too or not."

His words had made Astrid's pulse quicken as her body was overwhelmed with love for this man. This man who, she truly believed now, loved her dearly in return. Her heart belonged to him. It always had.

She was now more unsure of her plans than she ever had been. She wished so bad that she wasn't cursed with not being able to love him. The only one she wanted to love. She wished she knew why she was cursed so she could break it, but even if she knew, could she break it? True loves kiss was said to break any curse, but no matter how many times they would kiss, it never once broke.

But she couldn't live in pain either. A niggling feeling of ache was already creeping to her head and she knew she had to go across the town line tomorrow. Then they could finally be together.

As she watched his features, she could see his pulse quicken and his eyes to darken as his pupils dilated. He wanted her. She knew that as much as she knew she wanted him too, desire pooling in her stomach. She moved her lips back to his own in a passionate and ardent kiss full of lust and need, his hands invading her waterfall of midnight locks and gently tugging it.

Astrid's hands moved to his plaid shirt, unbuttoning it and pushing it off his shoulders where her hands proceeded to move to rest at the hem of his jeans and pop the button open. Caught up in their heated kiss, Killian simply tore open her shirt and removed what was left, tossing it aside and snaking his arms around her thin waist.

He slid off his chair and hitched her up onto his hips, not once breaking the kiss as he walked her over to one of the couches in the corner of the bar and set her down on it, hoping nobody walked in even though the closed sign was up. He popped open the button of her black jeans and slid them as well as her blue cotton panties down her deliciously pale legs.

Astrid shifted to remove her bra, casting it aside as she rolled him to lay beneath her. He cocked a thick brow in response, a salacious smirk on his lips that she returned with her own as she peeled him out of his jeans and boxers, reaching into his jean pocket to pull out a square foil packet and toss it down at him. "Always prepared, huh?" She mumbled in a playful tone as he tore the packet open and grinned at her as he rolled the condom over his rigid cock.

Her tongue darted out over her lips to wet them as she caught his stare that was filled with concupiscence, the simple look that made the place between her thighs moisten and her breath hitch in her throat.

She climbed onto him and straddled his hips, taking his length into her hand and rubbing the head against her slick folds a moment as she hungrily kissed at his neck, grinning deviously at his strangled groan. She then placed the tip at her entrance and slowly lowered herself onto it, moaning out from the delicious feeling of being filled.

She allowed herself a moment for her taut walls to adjust to him before she sat up straight, gazing down into his eyes as she began to grind her hips against him; slowly at first but then quickening.

Her lips parted wide as she elicited soft moans of desire, his hands exploring her body before they rested at her waist and his hips bucked to meet her own, bouncing her up and down on his cock. Her hands rested on his chiseled torso as she moved, fingernails scratching at it as she was filled with delectation.

He winced at her clawing giving him sweet pain and he began to move his hips quicker as she did hers, the only sounds in the air the soft slapping of skin meeting skin and their loud moans.

Astrid reached her orgasm after a while of their relentless and wanton hip movements, crying out his name and writhing in carnal bliss as she rode him through her orgasm. The sight of it spurred Killian's own release to make an appearance and he let out a strangled groan as he came inside the rubber barrier.

With both of them panting, a thin sheen of sweat covering their bodies, she collapsed onto him. It was getting late, and she was tired, but she didn't care. She wanted to try and stay awake with him longer.

Killian rolled her onto her side, pulling his soft length out of her and removing the condom, tossing it into a nearby bin before he returned and cradled her in his strong arms.

He didn't want her to leave him once again tomorrow, but he had no choice. It was the only way they could be together and he had to get her to the town line before she got another of the agonizing headaches she had earlier.

As he heard soft snoring from Astrid, he smiled to himself but it quickly faded. That's the last time I'll hear that. He thought. The last time I'll hold her in my arms as Astrid Stark. A soft sigh emitted from his lips as he allowed himself the luxury of a single tear escaping him.

He pressed a light kiss to her damp forehead. She didn't move once, even when he mumbled against it. "I love you so much, Astrid Stark. And I will always and forever."


The next morning when Astrid awoke, Killian was nowhere to be seen. It hurt a little to know he wasn't here to say goodbye to her, but she understood. He couldn't face it.

She searched around for her clothes and when she was almost dressed she realised with a quiet grumble that Killian had torn her shirt. Astrid scanned the room with emerald irises and saw a Jolly Roger t-shirt folded upon the bar for her. On it was a scrap of paper saying:

See you soon, love. Remember me. Remember us. - Killian.

She rubbed at her already aching forehead but the note made her smile and she tucked it into the back pocket of her jeans alongside her phone. She slid on the Jolly Roger t-shirt. A black, baggy thing with the ship logo on the front.

Prince James was parked out front, leaning against the door of his car when she exited the bar. "Killian told me what happened. What you're about to do. Said you might need a ride." His words made her smile. He was willing to help her even though, as Killian informed her, his wife and Emma had fallen through a portal.

She climbed into the passenger side and neither of them spoke until they reached the town line except for the normal chatter.

Astrid walked to the line of paint indicating where the end of town was, the soft breeze licking at her hair and making it sway. She glanced back at James, speaking in the only tone she could manage which was barely more than a whisper. "I hope they return to you soon. Goodbye, your highness."

She inhaled a deep, steadying breath and closed her eyes as she turned back around, memories of the night before and her dearly beloved captain as she stepped over the line.

The girl felt pained for a moment but then her mind went blank. And Astrid was gone.