Disclaimer: Not my characters, not my world, just my take on what comes next.

They've been back a week, a week that feels more like a year. Darkness vanquished, Killian rescued, everything back to normal. A new normal, but they're back.

He stays in her, no, their, house, moving his things slowly from the Jolly. She doesn't push, she knows he needs his space, time to be comfortable with everything, with them, their new lives.

He says he forgives her, she knows he understands why she had to do it, to kill him, to save him, but she can't stop wondering how much he really means it. If her biggest mistake was keeping him, she'd gladly do it all over again. But it hurt, to see the pain and distrust in his eyes. It hurt, when he didn't feel the same as she did. It hurt, when he turned dark without a moment's hesitation. She brought him back to be with him, but during those days, she never felt so alone.

His sacrifice nearly killed her. She knew it was the only way, and she knew she couldn't fight it. So she let him go, this time. But not without a vow to get him back, as a hero this time. The trip to retrieve him was harrowing, but her family's support meant more than she could ever acknowledge. They came for her, yes, but also for him. He was as much a part of them as she was, and she still smiled thinking about it. Reunited, to bring back their friend, her love, family.

And now they're back. The house so large it didn't quite feel like home, not yet. He stays with her, they both don't want to be apart for too long, afraid to lose each other again. They find comfort in little touches, holding hands, smiles across a room, but it's not the same as before, and maybe it won't ever be.

He has nightmares. His memories of dying three times in a space of a couple of months haunt him at nights. His eyes are rimmed with a darkness that his smiles can't quite chase away. She tries to be there for him, to hold him as he wakes gasping and shaking in the dark, whispering quiet words to let him know she's close. He holds her tight, only able to sleep again with his head resting against hers, fingers entwined, breath mingling in the space between them. He doesn't talk about it, can't talk about it, but she's there, for when he will.

She thinks of his collapse in Camelot at times, at the choices she made that started them on the hardest journey of their lives, she sees him just before running him through with Excalibur, and the weight of him as he fell against her afterward, and sometimes she can't remember how to breathe for a moment. He's always close enough to know, to grasp her hand and pull her closer. He tells her he loves her, he'll always love her, and she knows he's telling the truth.

The past will always be there, their mistakes always a part of their history. The future they talked about in Camelot was idyllic, unsoiled by the darkness of their choices, pure. That future isn't theirs, not anymore. But maybe, with time, and love, they can build a new future, together.