Selvina grunted as she lifted her heavily laden pack over her shoulders and walked out of her room in one of Maron's undamaged inns. Waiting outside for her was Cindy, Red, and Jack. They too all had packs filled and ready to go.

"If you wanted to bring the entire inn with you, hot stuff, you could have just asked Beast," Jack said with a raised eyebrow.

Selvina shot him a look and straightened herself, showing him she could bear the weight. It nearly unbalanced her, however, and she stumbled back a few steps.

Jack laughed. "Do you need a hand?"

"I'm fine," Selvina grunted as she bent forward slightly, gaining balance.

"Now you look like a hunched-over old lady."

Selvina sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Let's go!" Cindy exclaimed, hopping up and down. "Uncle Ruslan said we can't wait too long or the winter seas will make it impossible to sail."

"Yeah, Cap said the same thing," Jack said, getting down to business.

Selvina eyed him worriedly. "Are you going to be safe going with him, Jack?"

Jack shrugged one shoulder. "Well, not really. We're heading to battle, Selvina."

"Can't you stay here?"

Jack walked up to her and held her hands in his. Despite his horrible jokes, Selvina loved him deeply and wanted to come back to him when her duties in Kenmard were over.

"The captain asked me if I would come along with him and I'm not going to abandon him," he said softly. "He'll be sailing a war frigate so he'll be tasked with covering the larger ships of the line from any of the smaller enemy ships trying to cripple them. We won't be taking the brunt of the attacks. We'll be fine."

Selvina took a deep breath and nodded slowly. "I hope so, Jack."

Red cleared her throat. "Selvina, Jack."

They glanced at her and she nodded to the side, where Cindy was already walking down the road to Maron's southern gate.

Jack gave Selvina a wink before taking her hand and following Cindy. "I suppose we should get going."

They exited the city and were soon surrounded by Avalonian military tents and pavilions. A horse-drawn wagon awaited them with Ruslan at the reins. They deposited their bags in the wagon, breathing sighs of relief, and then climbed aboard.

"Are you all ready?" Ruslan asked from the front.

Cindy climbed over the bench and sat beside him, giving him a nod. "Yes, now let's go already!"

"Wait!"

Everyone looked back to see Merlin approaching the wagon, his gnarled staff in one hand and a pleading expression on his bearded, weathered face. His eyes were on Selvina.

"I am sorry to say this, Selvina, but I think it unwise if you leave the protection of the camp. There will be bounty hunters and assassins out for your head and it is far too dangerous for you to be sailing off with the Black Knight's destruction still fresh on everyone's minds."

Selvina eyed her friends in disbelief and then frowned at Merlin. "You can't tell me what to do! I want to go with Cindy to Kenmard!"

"I know this, Selvina, but you are far too important to be taking needless risks. I am doing this for the good of Faeryum, please try to understand that."

Selvina crossed her arms over her chest and didn't move from her seat. "Everything will be fine, Merlin. I have Ruslan and Cindy with me, as well as the guards you said would be coming with us. Nothing is going to happen."

"And what if you encounter the Black Knight?"

Selvina's resolve began to crumble as she thought of that. As great a warrior as Ruslan was he was no match for such a force of destruction. The Black Knight had fought Frenis' best and had come out stronger than ever. If it was somewhere under the sea and it detected her on the ship to Kenmard, she'd be endangering Cindy and Ruslan's lives as well as her own. She saw the reasoning of staying behind but did not enjoy the thought of it at all.

After several minutes of silence, Cindy offered Selvina a weak smile. "It's ok, Selvina. Merlin is right. It's better for everyone if you stay here where you're protected."

Selvina eyed Cindy and then glanced to Red and Jack, their expressions showing support and understanding. With a heavy sigh she grabbed her pack and swung it overboard before sliding off the bench's edge and landing on the ground.

"We'll be back before you know it," Red said with an encouraging smile. "Spring will come soon enough and we'll be there to see it with you."

Selvina, red-faced and furious, grabbed one her bag's straps and dragged it behind her as she stomped off, heading back to the inn. She was about to leave it all at that when sense broke through, took hold, and she stopped. Her best friends would be leaving her for weeks, perhaps months, and she couldn't have a childish tantrum be the last thing they received from her.

Dropping her bag, she hurried back to her friends, leapt onto the wagon, and opened her arms wide. Jack, Red, and Cindy wasted no time rushing in and wrapping their arms around one another for one huge hug.

"You all better come back," Selvina said, fighting a losing battle against tears. "I can't afford to lose any more friends. Please, promise me you'll all come back."

"We promise," Red, Jack, and Cindy said simultaneously.

The four friends held the hug for many minutes and during that time Belle arrived, smiling up at them fondly. She said nothing, not wanting to break the moment.

"Are you coming to the port?" Jack asked Selvina as she climbed down from the wagon. "Will you see us off?"

She shook her head. "No...I want to remember this moment, Jack. I don't want to see you sail away like Rapunzel, Wendy, and Goldi. Their time here is over. Not yours."

Red and Cindy nodded in understanding.

Jack, however, leapt off the wagon and grabbed Selvina's hands in his, his eyes firmly fixed on hers. He eyed her wordlessly for several moments, uncharacteristically silent.

After it was becoming awkward, Selvina raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Jack?"

He didn't reply for another minute. "I want to remember your face, Selvina. If I'm going to be away from you for a while I want to make sure I can remember every detail about you, down to the last freckle."

Selvina blushed and felt a pleasant rush of warmth pulse throughout her body. A great smile grew on her face and, for a moment, she forgot that other people were around. Her eyes lowered to Jack's lips. "This should help," she breathed before leaning forward and kissing him firmly.

A delightful shudder crept up Selvina's spine as the kiss was held. Jack wrapped his arms around Selvina and held her close, drowning her in his body heat and scent. She relished it all and kissed even harder, eliciting a slight moan. She could feel the cold touch of a tear roll down her cheek despite the rest of her body glowing with heat.

When their lips parted she whispered through a breath, "You should stay..."

Jack replied with a light sniff and a smirk—that wonderful smirk. "You're making it difficult to leave."

Selvina looked up slowly, her nose nearly brushing against Jack's. "Then stay, Jack. Please. I...I need you..."

Jack swallowed hard and Selvina could tell he was struggling. Knowing that he was taking this long to reply told her all she needed to know. Yet, she held hope. "I want to. Gods, do I want to."

"Captain Hook can find someone else," Selvina pleaded. "You can stay here with me, Jack, where...where you belong..."

Jack sighed deeply and Selvina's heart went out to him. This decision appeared to be breaking him and, shockingly, a part of Selvina seemed to enjoy it. Knowing that it was so difficult for him to abandon his duty to his captain so he could remain with the woman he loved brought some type of strange solace to Selvina. She didn't know if she should take delight in it or be terrified of it. Jack was clearly in pain and she had never wanted to do that to him. And yet, she was somehow relieved that having him leave her was no easy decision to make.

Knowing what had to be done, she held his head in her hands and slowly lowered it. She gave his forehead a light kiss and said, "Go, Jack. Captain Hook needs you too. You'd feel terrible for leaving him if you stayed here anyway."

"I feel terrible for leaving you..."

"You know you can come back to me. I'll be fine. Captain Hook won't. As difficult as it will be for me to be without you—again—the captain needs you more. If anything, make it your mission to bring him back here to me. I've got some wedding plans to talk to him about."

"Wedding plans?" Jack asked quizzically.

Selvina smiled warmly. "Bring him back, Jack."

Jack eyed her curiously and cocked his head to the side. "Wait, are you and Cap up to something?!"

To that, Red, Cindy, and even Ruslan and Merlin burst into laughter.

Selvina rolled her eyes, smiling wide, and gave Jack another quick kiss. "Hook is going to marry Wendy, you dummy. He can't marry her if he's dead so you make sure to keep him alive. And...well, don't you die either..."

Jack smiled and gave Selvina another hug. "I can't die."

"Don't say things like that, Jack. It's no joke."

"I'm not joking. I mean it. I can't die."

"What are you talking about?"

"I left a piece of my soul in you, Selvina. No matter what happens to me, I'll never die."

Selvina, overcome with emotion, tightened the hug as her body flushed with heat. "I love you, Jack."

"I love you, Selvina."

They held the hug for several minutes, savouring the feel of their bodies pressed together, their souls as close as they could be to one another. If Selvina died now, she thought, she'd be fine with it. The moment was horribly bittersweet and she dreaded its end.

It came, unfortunately, when Ruslan cleared his throat and banged his fist on the wagon. "Sorry to break up the hearts and rainbows stuff but we have to get going..."

For a flash of a moment Selvina wanted to hit Cindy's uncle. The sensation passed quickly, however, and she eventually let Jack go and watched him climb into the wagon. Flanked by Belle and Merlin, she watched the wagon pull away. Merlin and Belle waved goodbye but Selvina could only stare, her eyes fixed on Jack.

The wagon and its occupants grew smaller and smaller and before long it turned down a bend in the forest road and was gone from sight. Belle and Merlin left but Selvina kept staring, eyeing the empty road. Minutes piled into an hour and she hadn't moved. She thought of heading back to the inn and crying into her pillow. She thought of screaming at the top of her lungs. She thought of tearing her hair out. She thought of gouging gashes into her arm with her nails. She thought of banging her fists into a mirror and watching the blood-covered glass rattle to the ground like tiny red diamonds. It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair. It shouldn't be like this. It couldn't be like this.

"Jack," she whispered.

She wanted him. She needed him. He was going to die out there. She couldn't let that happen. She wouldn't! She had to stop him. Jack had to come back to her. She only felt safe with him by her side. He couldn't leave her!

"Jack!" she screamed.

Before she knew it, Selvina was racing down the road, the cool autumn wind snaking through the trees and whipping at her face. She ran as quickly as she could. Sweat began to bead all over her body. She ran. Her legs grew sore. She ran. Her body ached in agonizing pain and her vision blurred but she ran. She ran and she ran.

When she was about to drop the ground and let despair and torment take over, she burst out of the forest.

There, in the distance, was the small port of New Avalon.

At the end of the longest pier, three rowboats were being loaded and far out in the bay were three ships awaiting them.

Taking a great gulp of air, Selvina charged on.

Jack couldn't leave. He had to say! He needed to stay!

Selvina's boots splashed into mud, and then pounded on hard-packed dirt, before finally pattering dully on wooden boards. The young woman rushed down the long pier, the same one she had said goodbye to friends days earlier. The three rowboats were pulling away and setting oar to water.

"Jack!" Selvina shouted at the top of her lungs, though it sounded far away and quieter than a whisper. "JACK!!"

Overcome with agony and lack of air, Selvina collapsed.

And the boats rowed away.