[ circumstances. that's a gentle way for saying portals, and storms, and the end of their world. she's tired of circumstances parting them, and she's tired of being the only one left standing. it's a weariness that's been bone-deep lately, something she can't shake even with a pirate pledging some version of forever to her. their version of forever is so limited that she can hardly grasp it.

how long is he going to be awake for? a day? a month? a year? in all of her efforts to get the people around her to hope for something more, she's still struggling with doing the same.] Killian. [ there's a part of her that wants this closeness, even in the middle of grumbling at him for reminding her of how she pulled him out from under a pile of dead bodies and shoved a knife against his throat the day they met.]

As much as I want to believe that you waking up here is the start of something good, I have to tell you, this isn't a place where a lot of good things happen.

[ take, for example, the two of them being trapped in this terrible memory of both of them getting their hearts broken. it's still just the tip of the iceberg compared to the conflict going on outside of this, and the actions that have been taken to create a war. anything could happen, and experience tells her it's usually nothing good.]