To keep the Dark One at bay she has to be touching one of them at all times. It's usually Killian rather than Henry as the pirate does not seem to want to be apart from her either.

When he discovers that when they go to bed she can't sleep the disappointment is clear in his eyes. He is upset that she has been spending such long nights awake and alone while he sleeps on in ignorance. She tries to tell him that she doesn't mind watching him sleep; that he is even more beautiful when his face is clear of worry and his hair is all messed up (is it possible to love him even more?).

During the day they are inseparable. When they are forced to be apart Henry comes to sit with her and they catch up on what exciting things he has been doing in his first extended trip to the Enchanted Forest. When Killian returns, and he always does, they spend the next few hours as a little family that Emma can't help but imagine adding to if they free her from the darkness. When she sees her son and whatever Killian is to her (Boyfriend? Lover?), she is filled with hope. Hope that they can get through this and be a family. Hope that even if she doesn't make it, her boys will have each other.

She can tell that her parents, especially her mother, are disappointed that their presence does not have the same effect on her. Snow busies herself through Neal and by making sure that Emma and Killian have everything they need (if Emma is holding Hook's only hand, somethings are more difficult) whilst Charming seems to hover to make sure they are safe, keeping a hand on his sword at all times. Everyone is on edge. They seem to be waiting for something to snap. Emma expects that it is her.

She ignores them though. She concentrates on happy things, like peaceful evenings spent in Killian's embrace (they never got much chance to that in Storybrooke) or Henry's laughter as he entertains his uncle and Roland; the quiet, loving exchanges her parents have when they think no one is looking, or the way Granny still seems to manage to make her a grilled cheese for lunch every day.

Of course there are times when she is nearly consumed by the darkness; when Killian is needed by someone else and Henry is nowhere to be found. She finds herself wondering around Camelot, trying and failing to run away from the voice inside her head. It never works and one day she kills a boy no older than Henry. They keep telling her that it was an accident, that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that it wasn't her fault. But it was. She remembers the joy she felt when she crushed his heart, how pleasant it was to feel his life crumbled of dust in her hand. She is inconsolable and even Killian's presence cannot keep the darkness at bay now.

She lies next to him that night and thinks about how easy it would be to murder him, to use his own hook to pierce his heart. He wouldn't see it coming, he naïvely trusts her and her love for him, as if their love will prevent her from causing him harm. She doesn't trust herself though and when he scrunches up his nose in sleep tightening his arm around her waist to pull her closer, she realises what she must do.

She is gone by morning.


A/N If this gets a good enough response I might continue this...