Full summary: Emma is the Dark One now, and her family, plus Regina, Robin and of course Killian, will stop at nothing to get her back. But in this time where hope seems to be in short supply, a foreigner appears, and she looks painfully familiar...

A/N: Hello everyone! Yes, well...I now there is going to be quite a number of fanfics after that finale, but the muse could not let me be...so here is my contribution. I hope you'll like the twist I have on this. It's completely nuts, but I like it.

(Can you believe that this is the sixth fanfic I have ongoing? I'm totally bonkers...)

Disclaimer: I do not own Once upon a time nor any of its characters. I only own the plot in this story as well as a major OC.

The Light One

1. Dis-appearances

Killian

Gone. She was gone. Emma was gone.

All he could do was stare at the place she had just been and that was now empty safe for the blasted dagger. This dagger. The dagger...he wanted nothing more than to destroy the thing forever.

In a moment of weakness, he found himself fall to his knees, the edge of his hook cutting in the fabric of his jeans as he squeezed his eyes shut. Time stood still. He could not see or hear the shuffling of the Charmings behind him, although he could guess they were as broken as he was, nor could he see or hear the quiet curses of the Queen and her archer.

The only thing he could see or hear was Emma. Emma and the words she had uttered before running from him and cursing herself. I love you, she had said. Those dooming three words he had wanted to hear ever since he had gained her heart, not long prior. Not long at all. They had had so little time to really get to know each other.

And yet he knew that all his being and all his soul was hers. Now and forever.

So, when Killian Jones opened his eyes again, there wasn't an ounce of weakness in his blue eyes. Instead, there was pain, yes, but mostly determination. He stood, stumbling a bit on his two feet, and strolled to where the dagger lay. When he could make out the two words that doomed his beloved – Emma Swan...the new Dark One – a growl escaped his lips and he pocketed the offending object before it could do even more evil.

When he turned around, he realised David was staring at him, Snow White sheltered against him, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed.

Then Regina walked to him, her face too set in a look of determination. She looked deep into his eyes and for perhaps the first time since they had met, he felt like they understood each other completely.

She nodded once, and he nodded back. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse but strong. "You need to take care of the lad."

"I will. Keep that safe."

"I will."

She outstretched a hand behind her and the archer joined her, linking their fingers as they hurried off the street.

When David looked at him again, the four words that escaped his lips sounded like eternal truth. "We will find her."

Regina

She felt as if history was repeating itself. Although the previous time, she had been the one ripped from Henry's side, and not Emma.

Her lips set in a hard line and Robin squeezed her fingers.

"Regina." She looked at him, and he tried a small comforting smile, one of those only he could produce. "You will find the words."

"I hope so... He's just saved us from a doom worse than death...and here it goes again."

"Henry is a strong lad. If anything, this whole ordeal made it clear. He'll understand."

She nodded absent-mindedly as the form of the Town Hall appeared before her. A lump formed in her throat but she swallowed it, letting go of Robin as she stepped inside.

He would wait for her. She knew that with utter certainty.

Henry was where she had left him, in her office. Unbeknownst to her, he had already received the visit of another, but that hardly mattered anymore.

He was deep in reading his book, as if nothing had changed at all. Although, when he heard her stop at the door, he closed it and turned to look at her.

How wise he was, and how well he knew her. When his grey eyes fell on her, he stood and strode to her, his brow furrowed. "Mom! What's wrong?"

Regina tried a smile and put her hand on his cheek. "Henry, my Henry..."

"Something happened." he said. He seemed resolved, as if pain would instantly turn to determination. It seemed to be the universal feeling, that evening... "Is it Mom?"

Regina would never know how he had guessed. Was it because he was the Author now? Or was it because he had lived through so much that he was used to his family being torn apart?

She nodded. "Emma...she sacrificed herself."

Henry's eyes filled with tears but instead of shedding them, he gritted his teeth. "Is she dead?"

Regina felt her heart break at the strength he was able to muster. She shook her head and pulled him towards the couch. It was time for the truth. "The Apprentice sucked all the darkness from Rumpel's heart and sent it into the hat. But it couldn't stay trapped. It went out and began to feed on Storybrooke's own darkness. It had to be stopped. To be tied to one person." She paused, reliving the feeling of it surrounding her and trying to claim her for its own. "It tried on me."

Henry looked at her intently, then his smaller hand took hers. "So Emma did it."

"Yes." Regina let the words sink in, as incredible as they were, then she added "She is the Dark One now."

Henry froze, his grey eyes staring into nothing, or more like towards the table they had just left. He seemed on the edge, ready to pounce on something.

It was Regina's turn to squeezed his hand. "What is it?"

When he turned to her, his eyes were full of anger. Although, as she'd soon discover, it was anger towards himself. "I broke it. The quill. I destroyed it. I can never set things right."

Regina gasped and then, seeing as he was about to break down, she encompassed him in a hug. And, choosing Snow's favourite weapon, she breathed words of hope in his ears. "We'll find a way, Henry, I promise."

The stranger

When they all woke up, she was in the park, sitting on a bench and staring into the pond, trying to calm her raging mind. Two people appeared not far, and she made sure they thought she, too, had just been sucked out of the most horrible book ever written.

If only they knew...

When they all woke up, she closed her eyes and caught a glimpse of something happening nearby, of another person waking up. Her creator. Her mother, so to speak. She was getting up from the hard ground and checking on her son before running off to check on yet another loved one.

She opened her eyes again, and anyone looking at her would have seen how they had turned green for a split second, before she stood and decided to mirror the couple's antics and head back into town.

She had had time to visit it, while trapped alone. Of course, she had another's memories and could recognize everything, but it wasn't the same as seeing it with your own eyes. She had strolled through the empty diner, visited one particular room upstairs, then headed to the pawn broker's shop, touching several items before deciding it was better if she was far away when all of this stopped.

She could remember passing next to a clothes shop, and glanced down at her own attire. Yes, if anyone paid attention to her at all, they'd see. See that she obviously was not from Storybrooke. Her riding leather breeches could perhaps pass unnoticed, but the leather jacket over her beige shirt, and more than anything, the empty scabbard at her side, those were totally conspicuous.

She was standing in front of the shop's window now, eyeing a pair of jeans. She knew what they were and how they felt on your skin...and yet had never worn any. She raised her hand, in which rested a heavy stone, and when she threw it, the window shattered in tiny pieces, allowing her to step in.

What she not taken into consideration was the noise.

So, as she was putting on the pair of jeans, a red sweat-shirt resting next to her, she could not guess that a figure had stepped inside as well, lured in by the sound of her petty robbery.

"I would advise you to stop, Madam."

A/N: So...short chapter, I know, but I wanted to get your pretty little brains going in-between revelations. ;) Who is the stranger? And who catches her in the shop? Dun dun dunnn! See you later, folks!