AN: This takes place post 5.08. It's a fan theory on how Emma gets rid of the darkness.
Warning for major character death.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Literally nothing.
~Emma POV~
"I know you don't want to be a Dark One, I just couldn't lose you." I told Killian, desperately hoping he wouldn't be like everyone else and leave me. I gripped his lapels, forcing him to look at me.
"Well Swan, you have lost me." Killian seethed pushing my hands away.
"I'll fix this, I'll fix everything. I'll get rid of the darkness forever." I whispered. I grabbed Excalibur and used my magic to transfer the darkness from him into me. Killian stumbled back, the loss of magic dizzying. "I'm sorry, I couldn't sit by and watch the man I love die." I said before vanishing in a cloud of smoke into one of the spare rooms upstairs.
~Killian POV~
I ran to Granny's hoping everyone would be there. As soon as I walked in I rushed to Regina. "Where's Zelena?" I demanded breathless.
"You really have a thing for me, don't you pirate? Do you have a thing for mums? Sorry, but I'm not interested." Zelena snarked coming up from behind me.
"Emma's up to something, she took the darkness from me and disappeared. She said she was going to fix everything. I thought she would take you again. Emma's not a murderer, we have to find her."
"I'll try a locator spell." Regina said. She waved her hand and produced a map and Emma's red leather jacket. It showed Emma back at her house.
"I'll go, check it out." David said standing up.
"You shouldn't just charge in by yourself." Snow replied.
"She's our daughter; I can't just let her kill someone. She won't take to everyone storming in. I think I can talk her down." He didn't leave any room for arguments and left.
"We can't just sit here, let's go." The Evil Queen demanded strutting out the door.
~David POV~
I drove quickly to Emma's new house, hoping to get there in time. When I got there, the door was open. I made my way in and heard a cry from upstairs. I proceeded slowly following the gasps. "Emma?" I called out.
"In here." She responded weakly. I opened the door to an empty blue room with yellow ducks on the wall. I heard a gasp in the corner and saw my daughter lying on the ground with blood pouring out of a cut on her arm; Excalibur next to her. "I fixed it. The darkness's gone. Everyone's safe." She said between gasps of pain.
Horrified, I rushed to her, ripping my jacket off and pressing it to the cut. "I'll get help, a doctor, Regina! She can heal you." I reached for my phone when her hand stopped me.
"It won't work, Excalibur was forged to destroy. It almost killed Killian. Had to save him. Magic won't work. Couldn't let him die." She wheezed as the blood kept pouring out. I moved her so I was holding my little girl in my arms; she looked so pale and small.
"I have to try! We just got you back, I can't lose you again. I love you." I leaned down and kissed her forehead hoping for True Loves Kiss to work. What is truer than a father's love for his daughter? I looked at her, not feeling that familiar whoosh of magic.
"Magic won't work." She repeated softly.
"Why did you do it?" I asked grasping for answers to why she'd knowingly take her own life.
"I'm the Savior. Couldn't live long enough to see myself be a villain." She smiled a little bit. Seeing my questioning look, she continued. "Killian would understand my quoting." She looked around the room. "I thought we could have a future, maybe another kid, this would have made a nice nursery." A tear slid down her cheek as she tried catching her breath. "Had some good moments. Need you to protect Henry, tell him I love him… love you daddy-." Then she went still eyes glazing over, her entire body only moving with mine. I heard the others calling for us but I couldn't respond. I was broken out of my shocked daze by Snows scream of anguish. She dropped to her knees next to us crying for our daughter. I looked to the door to see Regina with a look of shock and Hook frozen in the door frame.
"She said she had to get rid of the darkness. A wound from Excalibur can't be healed." I whispered.
"Aye, in Camelot, Arthur cut my neck. She healed it but then it reopened. That's how I became a Dark One, she wouldn't let me die. She sacrificed herself. Why?" Hook questioned, clearly pained staring at Emma's lifeless body.
"She loved you. We do crazy things for love." Snow said looking up at him. "You made her happy."
"She said this was supposed to be your home. She said… she said she hoped this could be a nursery. You two could have a future." I told him of her last words. He grasped for the door frame trying to stay upright and failing.
"There may be a way to bring her back." Regina said breaking the silence.
"How? Anything, I'll do it." Hook demanded.
"We must go to the underworld." She started, beginning to explain our next adventure. To bring Emma Swan back.