iii. so never will i ever let you go

He tried.

He really did. But it seemed like his soul mate just did not want to be found. And with the lack of any substantial information about said soul mate, Killian could do nothing but drink and curse the bloody concept of soul mates.

It had been almost three months and he was nowhere near finding the mysterious blonde beauty. After the conversation with his friends at the Rabbit Hole, Killian decided to heed to Tink's advice and take charge of his destiny.

The next day he divested his house of all alcohol so that he would not be tempted if he failed in his endeavor. Since he did not even manage to catch his soul mate's name, he could not go to any respectable private eyes and was left trying to find a somewhat respectable soul mate private eye. Ever since people realized that soul mates were a universal thing, some sodding idiots decided to take advantage of it and opened up businesses that helped people locate their soul mates.

He absolutely bloody hated those shoddy institutions and tried to find her himself for two weeks. But with no clue in sight he finally succumbed to the lure of resorting to using the soul mate private eyes.

Killian spent another two weeks compiling a list of the less shoddy of Boston's soul mate finding agencies (and bloody hated every minute of it but it was for the greater good so he just tried to suck it up and not complain much) and had five narrowed down.

Another week was spent going to those places and rejecting quite a few of them because they turned out to be shoddier than their websites made them seem. With the help of Belle, Tink and Liam (who was bloody ecstatic that his little brother – younger brother, Liam – had found a soul mate of his own) he finally managed to find an agency and hire them.

Which brings him to here – almost two months since he hired them and still no sign of his elusive soul mate.

Now considering that the only information he has about her is that she has blonde hair that shine brighter than the sun, jade green eyes that remind him of the forests back home and that he could easily get lost into (and does so in his dreams) and a face that is so beautiful that even angels would get green with envy, it really isn't a surprise that he hasn't found her yet. After all there are many green eyed blonde lasses in Boston to search from.

But he is Killian and after spending the better part of two years believing that you don't have a soul mate (even though the mark on your left wrist shows the contrary) and wallowing in that knowledge, it tends to get easier to lose any semblance of hope that chance encounter gave him.

And he knows all too well how many people die without seeing their soul marks darken and fill in because they just did not meet their soul mates at all. Really it serves him right for sleeping with all those lasses and cursing every deity known to mankind because of the Milah debacle.

And so Killian Jones, hereby known as the Man Who Lost His Soul Mate Right After He Found Her (hey he was kind of drunk when he came up with that name so cut him some slack, mate), went back to wallowing and drinking.

And Liam Jones is absolutely fucking done with his little (younger brother, Liam!) brother acting like he is going to die in the near future. So Liam Jones made his way to his brother's apartment and proceeded to grab the bottle of rum (Gods, he upgraded to drinking directly from the bottle itself. This is getting bad.) and emptying it in the kitchen sink.

"Get off your ass, little brother. Elsa's friends just got engaged and they have a party today and you are coming with us. I will not tolerate you wallowing here anymore," said Liam pushing Killian off his couch.

"Sod off, Lee! You found your soul mate, brother, you don't get to tell me if I can or cannot wallow. You don't understand what I am going through!"

Liam sighed. His brother was right. He found Elsa and they fell in love almost right away. He did not understand the extent of his younger brother's pain. But he just couldn't let Killian waste away his days working and drinking.

"Killian you are right. I don't understand how you must be feeling right now and I won't even pretend that I do. But I do know that seeing you like this breaks my heart – all of our hearts. You haven't attended your almost daily hangout session at the Rabbit Hole for two weeks now. Belle, Tink and Jeff are so worried about you. We all are," he squeezed Killian's shoulder, "just come out today. You don't have to even enjoy yourself but please just get out of this house for something other than work or buying more alcohol."

Killian got where his brother was coming from. Everyone seemed to be worried that he would go down the same path he went through after Milah and that made him feel guilty. He honestly did not mean to cause them worry he just wanted to forget about his spectacularly unsuccessful love life. Sighing he nodded his assent.

"Fine, I will go to this party with you," he said and left in the direction of his bedroom.

"Great! And go take a shower. You stink and I would not have them think that my little brother is a slob."

"For the love of God, younger brother, Liam!"

Liam laughed as he could hear Killian grumble from the bedroom. His brother would be just fine.

Killian was seriously regretting his decision to come to the party. There were too many people around and he was definitely not in the mood of making small talk today.

"Whose engagement party is this anyway, Liam?"

"Mary Margaret and David. They have been Elsa's friends for almost six years now. They are really great and nice. Mary Margaret will probably force you to eat five cupcakes before asking your name," he chuckled.

Killian was glad that his brother found new friends. Liam was always a loner of sorts, always more interested in his studies and then his job than in partying or going out. That was exactly why he signed him up for that hobby arts class and now he is really glad he did. Elsa was perfect for him. She helped him find a balance between his personal and professional life. Killian hadn't seen his elder brother this happy since before their mum died.

"Ah, I can see Elsa over there. Let's go Killian."

They made their way through the crowd and reached Elsa. She introduced him to her friends and before he knew it, Killian found himself having a good time. They were just as great as Liam described them, Elsa's friends. David reminded him a lot of Liam and he found common ground with Graham and Robin in football. Ruby could keep up with his quips and Mary Margaret actually did force him to eat two cupcakes if not the five that Liam thought she would. Regina was probably the only one who hadn't warmed up to him that well and proceeded to make sarcastic retorts but he could tell that she was probably like that with every new addition to their group. Killian could see Elsa's friends fitting perfectly with his group of friends and the fact that Regina seemed to know Tink just cemented that thought.

He had just started forgetting about the search for his soul mate when he heard the most beautiful mesmerizing voice he ever.

"Hey guys, sorry I am late. Traffic was a total bitch," the angelic voice said.

Killian turned to see the newcomer and felt his heart stop in his chest. It was her. It was his bloody soul mate. She somehow looked even radiant in the dim lighting of the bar. Her long blonde hair hung loose and flowed as gracefully as the sunshine down her back. Her beautiful eyes seemed greener than he last remembered.

He could tell she hadn't seen him yet and could hear the sound of conversation in the background. But his mind was still frozen. He had found her. He found his bloody soul mate and this time he was not going to let her get away.

Killian finally seemed to have found his voice and exclaimed breathlessly, "you!"

The blonde goddess finally seemed to have noticed his presence and her eyes grew wide the minute they met his. She seemed as shocked as he felt.

"You!" she said in the same breathless tone that he did. He could feel rather than see the confused stares of everyone around them. But it did not matter. At that moment it was as if it was just the two of them in the room – the whole world around them had disappeared.

He took a deep breath and held his hand out and said, "hello there love, I am Killian Jones, your soul mate."

Still not breaking eye contact with him, she took his hand in hers and said with a smile, "Emma Nolan, your soul mate."

The world around them erupted with gasps and questions but they just grinned at each other with their hands still intertwined.

fin