Chapter 10
Emma was numb the rest of the night as well as day, only answering yes and no questions in a detached tone. The only comfort Emma found was in her various memories of her own Great Adventure with this man on her bed the following evening. One memory stood out to her in particular. One of the first promises that he made after she found out he had cancer was that he would wait for her to join him in "The Next Great Adventure", as Professor Dumbledore had said. Emma attempted to talk Killian out of it, only for Killian to outright state that any adventure, let alone life, would mean nothing to him if she wasn't there with him.
That memory is what caused the floodgates to finally open up. At first, the tears were silent ones until she was unable to contain her pain anymore. Muffled sobs racked through her pillows as she mourned the loss of the man she loved with everything she was, who loved her back with just as much, maybe more. David and Mary Margaret heard Emma and came into her room and just held her as she sobbed, silently shedding tears of their own.
Several days later, both groups, now one, were in charge of funeral arrangements, since they were the closest thing to family Killian had. Nearly everyone from the Great Adventure attended the funeral. Everyone had the choice of whether they wanted to share a good memory about Killian with everyone, and almost everyone did. When it was all over, the drizzles of rain transformed into a major downpour. Before anyone could pull an umbrella out or make another attempt to cover themselves, the sun broke out from behind the dark clouds in the midst of the storm. This prompted Emma to start dancing and laughing joyfully in the downpour. The others joined her after a small moment of surprise.
Epilogue:
Several months later, Emma spent an entire day going through various things in Killian's old house. She was close to the end when she came upon several boxes labeled with the different names of each of their friends that contained various objects. She went through everything in her box, which turned out to hold a stone that she noticed in the waterfall where she and Killian first kissed, a swan feather from the day they had the animal discussions, her list that she put together for their part of the Great Adventure, two wooden swords that by some miracle managed to fit in the box, and an origami swan with writing all over it, which Emma recognized as a copy of the letter that started everything.
When Emma finished her box, she proceeded to load David's old truck, which was now her's, and started delivering the different boxes to their respective owners. On the drive back to Storybrooke, Emma looked to the bright and beautiful sunset up ahead and smiled, never feeling more alive than before Killian Jones, the only man she ever loved who loved her just as much, showed her how to live.
Many years passed and death is painless for Emma Swan. She examines herself and is astonised by the fact that she looks exactly like she did when she was in college. Emma freezes when she hears her surname. No one has ever referred to her that way since-
"Killian?"
Emma turns and sees him standing there and immediately runs to him. After a passionate embrace, the couple joyfully sets off on their next Great Adventure.
Thank y'all so much for reading and reviewing what you can of my first fanfic. (No thanks goes to the guest that complained) Please give a full, constructive review on this story as a whole. This story is also available on both Tumblr and AO3 and I have the same username for both sites. Many thanks and kudos go to Hannah (stayaliveforcaptainswan) for being a trooper and a good friend. :)