Emma began the drive back to Storybrooke, a week away in Boston was much needed. After everything that had happened recently with Regina they both agreed that Emma taking some time away would be best.

But coming back left a strange feeling inside of her, she wasn't sure if her trip away had worked. She missed Regina and Henry terribly, not having contact with either of them made things difficult for her but hopefully it was a step to fixing things between her and her wife.

She made the turning at the two roads which lead to the hidden town and looked around. Trees on either side just as she remembered, her stomach was doing somersaults; what if things didn't work out? She didn't want a divorce but if things continued the way they were, the arguments, the fights and the long silences that followed- just the sheer thought of it brought Emma to tears and the familiar stabbing pain In her heart.

She was coming down the road now and could see in the distance the faint red line indicating where the cloaking spell started and ended. She looked up at the green metal sign and almost stopped the car. Something was wrong with it, it looked extremely tattered and the name...

The sign was different-'Welcome to SilentBrooke'. Her heart started pounding and she pushed her foot down harder on the acceleration, she passed the red line and continued racing towards the town.

As she got closer things began to get even stranger, the town was completely silent, smoke and ash was everywhere. She drove through the streets slowly looking everywhere, but it just got worse. Shops and buildings were reduced to rubble, the town clock in pieces all over the streets making it impossible to drive down some of them.

Emma had to wipe tears from her eyes constantly, the pain in her chest was so bad she had to stop driving and recover for a moment. Everyone she knew and loved were no where to be seen, Henry, her parents and her wife- all gone.

She drove to various places, Gold's shop, Granny's diner, Mary-Margaret's apartment and then finally her home-but like she thought everything was destroyed. There was one last place to go to; Regina's vault.

***
Emma stood outside the wreckage that was once the mausoleum, she thought back to how long it took for Regina to finally allow her access, Emma had no use of the vault but the knowledge that she was allowed in there was important, her wife didn't let anyone in there so providing the blonde with a key was a huge step in their relationship.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a noise behind her, she quickly turned around "Regina?" But there wasn't anything there, a mixture of disappointment and sadness struck her hard. With a heavy heart she pushed through the collapsed mausoleum and made her way down the staircase.

***
The vault looked untouched, everything was neatly arranged in their places the various pieces of furniture looked exactly as they did before. She went further towards where Regina stored the hearts.

On a wooden table was a piece of paper folded in half, she didn't think much of it until she noticed it had the name Emma written on it, slowly she picked it up and unfolded it, she knew immediately that it was Regina from the handwriting, elegant and regal.

'Emma, by the time you've read this note the curse would have destroyed the town. I don't know how to stop it, it's nothing I've encountered before. Pan has used magic so powerful I don't think I can stop it even with Gold's help. Emma, I'm terrified. I don't know what to do, this curse will kill everyone, me, your parents and even Henry. I'm bittersweet about you not being here, I never got to see you again but then I'm glad you were able to avoid all of this. I never stopped loving you, we argued so much and it killed me. I wish we could have been able to fix things and I'm furious that a curse was the only thing that made me realise what all of this was doing to us. I will always love you Emma Swan and even though I am going die I don't want you to be ruined by this. If you find someone else you have my blessing, people are coming so I have to go, this is the end I want to say more but I can't so goodbye Emma. I love you.

Regina'

Emma felt her heart break, any chance of everything being okay was completely destroyed. She felt her knees go and she collapsed on the floor, she sobbed uncontrollably and screamed and screamed until she blacked out.

***
She awoke groggily, she felt numb inside as everything came flooding back to her, she held onto the wall for support and struggled her way up. She had never experience heartache so severe, she knew that it would never go away and nothing would ever dull it, Emma wouldn't be able to carry this hurt for the rest of her days.

***
Her car sat at the beginning of the docks; facing the ocean. The wooden platform was clear, which meant nothing could get in the way of her plan. She pushed her foot down and began to drive towards the sea. She pushed harder and just before she drove into the ocean she whispered "I'll see you soon Regina."

Her car crashed into the sea and began to sink. Water began to pour into the car, slowly it began to fill and the car sunk further and further. Emma didn't panic, she was calm even when the freezing cold water began to come up to her waist.

Water began to touch her chin, she closed her eyes and felt the sea completely consume her, before she succumbed to the ocean she had only one thought left, the image of Henry and Regina waiting for her smiling and arms open wide. She had a smile on her face and then everything faded away.

***
Emma coughed and spluttered, water forced its way up and she rolled onto her side and spat it all out, her lungs hurt from the water intake but for some reason she was on the beach in Storybrooke and everything looked the same still. Confusion pricked her mind until she saw someone knelt down next to her.

She turned and looked at the person, fury filled every part of her; "YOU BASTARD! WHY DID YOU SAVE ME!" She quickly got up and went for the person ready to rip them a new one.