A/N: Yeah, I know, I started a story earlier and left it hanging and now I'm starting another, despite pleading guilty that I am busy. Well, forgive me? *puppy face*

Probably will take time to update.

Anyway, this is my take on a post-underworld possibility. Hope you enjoy!


Prologue

She had stood there numbly for a moment.

"Gone forever?" she repeated.

"Indeed." Hades had said, a bit impatient at how long she was taking to grasp the situation. "Though now, having half your heart, Mr Jones is perfectly fit to return to the living world, I must ask for a price in return. Alas, it is the truth of the world, magic always comes with a price. If Mr Jones is to leave the Underworld, he will lose every memory of you."

"But what good will it do for you?" Regina, being the most practical minded of the lot, had asked. Hades had chuckled at that. He had looked somewhat appreciatively at her, as if this was the very question he was waiting for, but looked at the couple in concern when he replied.

"You see, these true love perks are getting on my nerves. These two with their 'True Love' drama, they've cheated me out of a soul, shaken my ground. Though that is commendable, and I let you go with a far subsidised deal for that, I can't give you a free passage after you just interfered and bent my rules. So I shake your ground - Ms Swan, you get to free your lover, but he loses every memory of you. The life you shared, the love you shared, it will be lost. You, of course, will remember; but to him, Emma Swan will be a stranger."

But of course, it was a small price to pay for Killian's life, and so they were soon exchanging tearful goodbyes as the portal opened, for everything was going to change.

"I promise you this, love," Killian had said, "whether or not I have my memories, I will never stop loving you. I can never forget to love you. You will never be alone, Emma, remember that."

She wanted to believe him, she really did, but as she saw him heading off towards the docks without as much as a second glance at her, whatever hopes she had began to flicker.

His promise hadn't been surety, it had been his hope, their hope. But how many times do hopes hold true in reality?

You will never be alone, Emma

And yet, watching his silhouette slowly disappearing, she had to admit that she was alone. Even Henry holding her hand or her mother putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder couldn't take away that dull ache.