AN: Another fluffish drabble because I get far too emotional thinking about all the ways all the versions of CS could have fallen in love.
Thanks for reading!
The first time (which isn't technically the first), it is swift and unforeseen, as if the sun that's just broken through the clouds is sending them a message. For a moment, all she sees is a flash of white, and then her eyes adjust to find blue ones looking back.
(He fears going blind even after his eyes have adjusted, for Killian is certain he's still staring at the sun. She is a shock of light, golden hair and hard eyes, fierce words and determined stance.
(His heart begins to beat faster)).
/
The second time, it is haste and tension, as if they can both feel the storm that's coming, the calm that's being chased by chaos. She looks the same, all golden hair and emerald eyes. She doesn't know him, but he knows her.
(He is familiar. She gets flashes of something -a dream, she thinks- and tries to recall where she's seen him before. His eyes hold something gentle and desperate, her name an exhale on his lips, and it has her nerves in tight coils.
(She can't imagine she'd forget meeting him)).
/
The third time (which is technically the first), it is fire and heat, as if the tavern's been set ablaze around them. He stares without meaning to, the whole bloody place falling away behind her, silence and darkness wherever she doesn't stand.
(She tenses even as she smiles. There is something in his eyes -familiar and so different, all at once- that makes her chest tighten, her stomach drop to her toes.
(Her heart begins to beat faster)).
/
The fourth time, it is urgency and awe, as if they're racing against the clock, against time itself. He looks the same, all dark hair and stormy eyes. He doesn't know her, but she knows him.
(She is familiar somehow. He thinks of another time, a place in which he knows her from, impossible as it is. Her eyes hold care and recognition, relief in her wide, breathless smile, and it makes his blood boil.
(Surely he would never forget meeting her)).