Title: Declaration

Summary: "[…]She tells him exactly what he doesn't know he wants to hear." Captain Swan, "Birth" (5x08) spoilers.

Disclaimer: Once Upon A Time is property of ABC studios and a pair of subpar writers dubbed A&E. If I had the rights to this show (the Dark Swan Arc wouldn't be so dull), do you really think a Black guy would end up as some white king's slave and his girlfriend punished by the plot for exacting her revenge? A clue: no.

Sitting on her hands when she had everything she needed was frustrating to say the least. Even in the face of Nimue's caution and the faux Rumpelstiltskin's irritations, Emma wanted to be doing something rather than lurking in an empty house while her family maintained a distance as they played detective.

So Arthur and Hook had given her an excuse to finally do something, really. He'd gone after Arthur against the council of wiser minds for the satisfaction of running through the subhuman being that took satisfaction in harming others with magic.

"A commonality you both share, now, it seems," Emma could see Nimue smile in the dark as she watched the pursuit from a distance, fingers curling every now again against her palm. It wasn't a lie, so she didn't deny it. The other woman walked ahead of her, her cloaked figure melting into the environment like it belonged.

Emma watched Arthur trip and fall over the fallen branch and scramble to his feet as Hook caught up to him, stepping casually over the branch like he'd seen it there all along. Nimue disappeared behind a tree, laughing at the angry flails of Arthur as he fought Hook.

"So misguided."

Excalibur hung lazily at her side, the power of the Grail, the power of Merlin and the gods, thrumming in opposition of the spirit of Nimue's power. Some part of Emma believed the soul of the woman welcomed the power of her lover, all it did was make Emma's skin crawl with guilt and regret.

She should've listened to him.

"You listened to me. You chose power."

Emma raised her eyes from Excalibur in time to see Arthur swing for the killing blow. She reacted without thinking, appearing between the two men like she'd been there all along. The hilt of Excalibur burned in her hand as the blade clashed with his. Arthur went rigid at the sight of the weapon made whole. Emma barely exerted any strength at all pushing him away, yet he stumbled like his legs were about to give out on him. "Excalibur," He whispered the name with such reverence. "It's whole…"

The muscles in her face perpetually frozen with anger, Emma could only feel her lips moving when she said, "Yes it is, but it's not going to help you. This sword doesn't control anyone now." The weight of her words were lost on him of course, he wouldn't touch anyone like he had Guinevere and Merlin, the people of Camelot. There was a pang of disappoint looking at the blank expression on his face, so she dismissed him. Arthur went flying, he crashed into the tree across from them and landed on the ground, the disgraced king he was.

She could hear Nimue yawning at the display, she thought it was childish, but Emma ignored her and prepared to leave.

"…I suppose I should say thank you," His pride goes before the fall. Emma felt her face twitch as she turned to face the embarrassed and frustrated pirate. "You don't have to say anything, just don't do that again."

Killian regarded the woman before him with downcast eyes, shifting from one foot to the other. Emma recognized the body language for what it was, she waited, jaw shifting all the while.

"I should apologize for what I said that day on my ship."

I loved you. She could hear Nimue laughing at the memory, remembering exactly how accurate her prediction for the situation would turn out.

Swallowing the ache, she said, "For when you refused to accept me or when you said you did not love me?" The merciful part of her would forgive him, just like she forgave her parents for putting her in the predicament that was created by Isaac Heller's very existence.

The other part of her wasn't so merciful, or quick to forgive. However complicated he thought it was, she was tired of being told what she was or who wasn't. She was the "Dark One", she was the physical embodiment of Nimue's power, but she was also still Emma. They were one and the same. If her family chose not to accept that fact, that was their problem, not hers.

Still, she was grateful for the very sound of his acceptance of the truth, even as he tried to reason with her like she was some host stuck under the thrall of a body snatcher. It wouldn't work, and she wouldn't tolerate his presumptions about her intentions, the things she wouldn't reveal to him. In the midst of his self-righteous yelling, she pushed back. She told him exactly what he didn't know he wanted to hear.

"I'm doing this for you."

And there was silence.

FIN.