Chapter One: End of A Beginning

...

And what hurts the most,

Was being so close

And having so much to say

And watching you walk away

~What Hurts the Most, Rascal Flatts

...

Cheers and singing reverberated throughout the old warehouse as half of Storybrooke embraced. Peter Pan was defeated. And here they were after luring him into a trap that had bound his powers forever, sending him back to Neverland to be nothing more than a scared little boy. Forever. Killian smiled, amused with an imagined image of the tantrum Pan must have been throwing that very moment. Beside him Henry hugged his mother for all he was worth, and the beautiful blonde embraced right back. After a few moments Henry squirmed out of her grasp, mumbled something inaudible for Killian, and then rushed off into the crowd.

Emma stood from where she was kneeling and looked over at Killian, who hadn't realized he'd been staring. She tilted her head at him, expecting words. Killian gave a slightly awkward cough and then opened his mouth. "Well, a job well done I'd say." She smiled warmly, and Killian felt his heart skip a beat when she stepped closer. Damn it Jones, pull yourself together!

"Yeah, I guess it was," she shrugged. "I'm glad we found a way to fix Davi-"

"You found a way, Swan," Killian felt obligated to point out. "It was your magic, after all."

She smiled again. Another jump of his heart. "I guess. Now they're going to have another baby I suppose . . . and things will pretty much go back to normal." She bit her lip, an internal battle clearly taking place. She was debating whether or not to say something to him. Killian simply watched her face, waiting. Finally she took a deep breath and spoke. "What are you going to do?"

Killian breathed in sharply. I hadn't expected that. Maybe she does care. He liked to think he could read Emma like an open book, but he could never tell what she was feeling in relation to him. And it hurt him deeply, cutting to the core when he thought she might not care at all for him like he did for her. "Well," he began. "I really don't know. But, Emma," he looked into the astounding depths that were her stormy eyes, and he needed to tell her the truth. "I want to be near you." She dropped her mouth just a little, eyes widening slightly as she stepped back and let her head fall to the ground, her hair falling to her face.

"Hook . . .I-I," she stuttered, and Killian's heart clenched. Hook. Did she still really think of him as just that cold pirate? Not a man of honor?

"Emma, please," he reached out to her face, gently holding her chin and lifting it up to him as he flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "My name is Killian." He searched her eyes pleadingly, and with another mental slap realized they were filling with unshed tears. She looked at him for the briefest of moments, something he'd never seen before alight in her eyes. Before Killian could say a thing though, she dropped those beautiful eyes away again and let them search the ground. He opened his mouth to make another attempt at a conversation, but she beat him to it.

"What's that?" she whispered, eyes trained on the ground a few feet away. She suddenly kneeled down and crawled through the sets of the feet over to where she'd been looking. Killian would've laughed at the spectacle where his heart not so agonizingly waiting for Emma's next move before breaking or swelling to bursting. She got up from the ground and dusted herself off before marching back over to Killian. She'd wiped her eyes and her expression was guarded, but also curious and puzzled. "Look." she held out a clenched fist, slowly opening it to reveal a clear, sparkling, magic bean.

"But that's impossible," Killian breathed, also transfixed. "There was only one left."

"This was where we fought Greg and Tamara. They must have dropped one!" Emma's tone was excited, and she met Killian's eyes with glee, like a child who'd just found a new toy. Killian smiled right back, heart lifting with Emma's happiness, if it was probably only short lived.

"But you have Ariel. You don't need the bean to travel between realms." Emma's brows creased in thought, and then she nodded, glee fading, much to Killian's disappointment. Suddenly she let out a kind smile and grabbed his arm. Startled, he made no move to stop her as she opened his good hand and carefully placed the bean in his palm, looking back up at him slowly. Her smile was still in place, but no longer genuine. She was giving him the bean. But why?

Emma shrugged aloofly, out of character for her. "A symbol of something magical and full of hope," she muttered jokingly, looking away as a blush began to crawl up her face.

"Much like you," Killian finished in a whisper. Now he knew what was going on. She expects me to leave her, like everyone else in her life. Not happening, Swan. Suddenly very determined, carelessly he tossed the bean behind him, and Emma took on a shocked expression. "Emma, I-"

"Emma!" interrupted a call behind them. They turned and there was Neal, standing with Henry and waving Emma over excitedly. Emma looked at Neal, then back at Killian, and then at Henry. "I'm sorry, I just can't do this," She frowned apologetically and then rushed over to her family, leaving Killian's heart about to shatter on the ground. She couldn't even let him finish! But how could he blame her? She was afraid he would hurt her, that he would leave her, that she wouldn't be enough. . . again. He just had to show her that would never happen.

So he steeled himself and waited for Emma to come back, to hear him out. The mingling bodies in the warehouse blocked his view of her, but he could just catch a glimpse of her hair, and kept his eyes trained on it until the crowd parted enough for him to see more clearly. There Emma was, with Henry and Neal, arms around the both of them. Killian's jaw tightened with jealousy, but he pushed it away. Then Snow and Charming came forward, putting their own arms around their daughter and grandson, starting to walk off together, laughing and joking amiably. As they walked away, Emma looked back at him, expression unreadable. Then she looked away and took her final steps out of the warehouse and away from Killian.

There it was.

The anger and jealousy he had only just pushed away, the searing pain of heartbreak suddenly came crashing down on him like a wave. Unable to take it for yet another moment in his life, this time more intense than he'd ever felt it before, he fell to his knees on the ground. No one noticed him as they too, drifting after the royal family, vacated the warehouse, and soon Killian was alone. He dropped his head and punched the crate next to him as hard as he could, letting out a scream of emotional turmoil with hot tears streaming down his cheeks. I'm sorry, I just can't do this. Of course not, because she loved Neal. Because she had a family with him and Henry. Because when she gave him the bean she wanted him to leave. Emma didn't love him. She wanted him out of her life. Killian Jones' love was just an annoying distraction. She had chosen. He tried to get angry at Emma, tried to let any emotion other than such deep melancholy come over him, but it didn't work, and as he pulled his knuckles, now stripped and bleeding to the bone, out of the crate, he just sat there and let his heart break all over again. Getting up slowly, Killian began to walk out of the warehouse, dragging his feet, each barely choked in and out breath fueling a broken heart that was still beating. But he couldn't leave before grabbing the magic bean, cradling it in his calloused fingers like a precious newborn. Something magical and full of hope, he inwardly scoffed bitterly. But it's not dried up, dead, or useless. Like my heart.

And with those thoughts and images of Emma running through his head, Killian Jones walked out of Storybrooke and Emma's life, climbed aboard the Jolly Roger, and sailed away.

First Chapter! Whoooo! Please drop a review, favorite or follow and thanks for reading!