So I didn't intend on writing a second chapter for this fic. It was supposed to be one and done. But after "Kansas", I felt this chapter needed to be written, as more of a parallel than a continuation. You'll find some of the phrasing to be pretty familiar to you...

Darkness. He'd often wondered what it would feel like when all the lifetimes granted to him finally came to an end. He imagined it might be something like the oblivion he found himself crushed beneath now. There was nothing to see, nothing to feel…except…weightless. Empty. No way to fight against it. But he had to fight. Because he had something…someone…to fight for.

A voice. There was a voice. Faint at first. Unintelligible. It must have been a demon, come to set his villainous heart aflame for all eternity. He'd committed far too many wrongs to hope he'd earned a place in paradise, if there was a paradise to be offered.

But suddenly the voice grew louder, echoing in the blackness around him until he could make out its message.

Come back to me.

Not again. Not him. First Graham, gone in an instant…lying in her arms, unmoving, his heart crushed to dust in Regina's hands. Then Neal, making the ultimate sacrifice…losing his life at her hand. And now Killian, the life stolen out of him, his head cradled in one of her hands as the other rested over his quiet heart.

No. She wouldn't lose Killian, too. She couldn't. This time, she had a choice. She had the ability to save him. But at what cost? Her magic was the only way to defeat Zelena…to save everyone.

Not this way. Not him. She'd kill the witch with her bare hands if she had to…in fact, she'd prefer it.

She looked down at him, her own heart pounding a frantic beat against her chest.

Son of a bitch. This was her choice. Because there was no other option. She could not lose him. Not again.

She leaned in and pressed her lips to his, and she wasn't entirely sure what happened next. A pulse of magic and a sapping sensation as her magic faded away and she was left weightless. Empty. But she didn't care about what she'd given as much as what she needed back.

Come back to me.

Her eyes never left his face as she silently wished to whoever might hear that she get to look into those piercing blue eyes again. That that familiar smirk would tug at his lips. That she'd hear her name fall from his lips. She wasn't done. They weren't done. He couldn't be done.

And then, a choking cough. The sound of water leaving lungs. A breath being drawn in. A shade of blue she didn't have a name for met her gaze as a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding left her.

Swan. She'd never considered her name to be anything special…or beautiful...until this moment. Until she'd thought she'd never hear him say it again.

He looked at her again with panic-filled eyes as he brushed his fingers against his lips.

What did you do?

I couldn't lose you. She wanted to say it, but she couldn't get the words past her lips. She'd lost far too much too often in her life. She couldn't let herself care about anyone so much that she couldn't go on without them.

Too late.