Hey there! This was an idea that just wouldn't leave me alone! Hope you enjoy it!

Alas, I do not own OUAT.

David sounded so different on the phone. His voice was leaden with emotion as he let Emma know that he had found Mary Margaret and though he told her not to worry, she rushed home to make sure everything was okay. Finding the apartment empty with no indication as to where Mary Margaret had gone was…terrifying. Knowing the state she was in – not to mention Regina's penchant for bloodlust, was enough to send Emma's heart pounding into a tailspin and there was no way of counting how many horrible scenarios she envisioned as she jumped into the car and drove around Storybrooke looking for that splash of dark hair that would allow her to breathe again.

But she was home now. David had called her and told her so. She could breathe a little easier.

Mary Margaret was going to be okay.

Emma was going to make sure of it.

"David?" Emma called, shutting the door behind her. The apartment was eerily quiet – more quiet than usual.

She was about to call out again when she heard the door to her room close and saw her father coming down the stairs. "Hey," he greeted flatly, reaching the bottom step. "She's up in your room. Wanted a change of scenery, I guess." Gazing out the window at the world passing by was probably not her mother's favourite pastime.

"Is she okay?"

He scratched the back of his head and sighed heavily. "I don't know. She's finally starting to talk but she's not really making a lot of sense. She wouldn't tell me where she went – she just keeps saying that she's not Snow White anymore and to be honest I don't know how to help her with this. We've been through a lot but I've never seen her so…so lost. It's like she's lost who she is."

It was only in that moment that Emma could see how vulnerable David was. Not once since the curse broke had he shown her any weakness or lack of faith; strength shone from him in every way. But now it was hard to see his usual unwavering faith. His wife was no longer herself, but someone who he had never encountered before and it was obvious that that was taking a toll on him.

Feeling the need to comfort, Emma reached out and placed a gentle hand on his arm, not exactly sure whether she was comfortable in hugging him just yet. But the sentiment was appreciated nonetheless with the crack of a small smile. "She'll be okay," the blonde assured, channelling her inner-Charming. "I have faith."

David nodded resolutely, crashing through her boundaries and pulling her into a tight embrace. Funnily enough, Emma found herself needing the hug just as much as he did and she didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around his neck, tucking her head under his chin.

It was a few long moments later when her father broke away, laughing awkwardly. "Sorry," he sniffed sheepishly.

Emma smiled shyly, shoving her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. "It's okay. I think we both needed it." She turned her stare to her feet, suddenly feeling like a child again. "Do you mind if I go see her?"

"Fire away," he said, gesturing to the steps.

"Thanks."

The blonde drew in a deep breath as she took the first few steps and wondered how she was going to get through to her mother.

Emma didn't bother knocking on door, knowing well that the brunette wouldn't respond, so she let herself in. Mary Margaret lay on one side of the bed with her eyes glued to the ceiling and her hands fixed firmly over her heart.

"Hey."

Mary Margaret replied after a beat. "Hi."

Emma wasn't expecting an answer. She was kinda expecting to do all the talking.

Tentatively lying on the bed next to her, she cast a peek to see that Mary Margaret was no longer crying. Good sign or bad?

Mary Margaret didn't say anything and Emma didn't move. They just lay there, side by side with nothing but the faint sounds of their breathing to fill the space.

"Where did you go?" she asked quietly.

No answer.

"Mary Margaret," Emma breathed, "I need you to talk to me. Please."

The brunette shuffled slightly and she turned her head to look at her. Her eyes swam with regret and guilt; the usual spark completely extinguished. "I went to see Regina and begged for her to kill me."

Emma's eyes grew as wide as saucers and she jolted upright. "Wait, you did WHAT?!" She hurried into a kneeling position and fixed her gaze in the brunette's face. "Are you insane?! What were you thinking?"

That seemed to stir something within her mother as she pressed down on the mattress with her hands to push up against the backboard. "I was thinking I could put an end to all this."

"How? By offering yourself as a sacrifice?! What good would that do?"

Mary Margaret tilted her head to the side. "That's all she's ever wanted. I thought it would put an end to the blood feud and that maybe…maybe…"

"No!" Emma interjected forcefully. "All that would do is give Regina power! If anything it would only make things worse than what they already are! No matter what you do or anyone else does, she's still going to come after Henry. She may want revenge but she wants Henry more."

"I know."

"Dammit, Mary Margaret. I can't believe you would do that!" Running a hand through her unruly hair, Emma silently cursed the tears that pricked the back of her eyes, but the thought of her mother pleading with her sworn enemy to take her life was too painful. How could she do that? "You were just going to leave Henry without his grandmother and David without his wife?"

Mary Margaret flinched at the words; fresh tears spilled down her cheeks.

"And what about me, huh? Did you think about me? How you'd leave me without my mother?"

"Emma-"

"You said you wouldn't leave me again. You promised. When I asked Mulan to cut down the beanstalk, you told me that we had to back together; that it was the only way. We do things together, Mary Margaret. Always." She slapped away the tears as they fell. "And you just decided that you were going to get yourself killed without telling us?"

"I deserve to die, Emma," she cried.

"No you need to stop thinking like that!" The blonde climbed off the bed and circled it to stand before her. "You were just protecting your family."

"I killed someone. My actions led to someone losing their life, Emma." She was talking like the schoolteacher she had been for twenty-eight years; any emotion was cast aside as she relayed the facts. Her tone was clinical, dejected and the more despondent she looked and sounded, the more Emma's heart twisted and ached. With each passing word and dead glance, Emma felt Mary Margaret slip further and further away from her and she wondered how long it would take for her mother to disappear altogether, to go so far away that no matter what she said or did she'd never be the same – her mother and best friend would be lost forever.

More tears. She was sick of crying. She hated the lump in her throat. She just wanted everything to go back to the way it was. She just wanted Mary Margaret back.

"Okay, fine. If you want to put it bluntly, then yeah you did." Emma shook her head as she gathered her thoughts. She didn't really know what to say. "You made a decision but…you made that decision because you felt like you had to. I mean, we both know that Cora was dangerous and driven by power. Heck, the woman took out her own heart so that nothing could stop her! She would have killed us all if she had become the Dark One. She would have taken Henry. She would have ruined the lives of everyone in Storybrooke. If you chose not to act, Gold would be dead, Cora would be the Dark One, Regina would still be miserable because her mother was incapable of love and we would have been easily taken out of the picture." She made sure to keep eye-contact, to keep Mary Margaret's attention. The brunette was still as stoic as she had been, but Emma had to cling to the hope that something she was saying was getting through. Pausing to take a few calming breaths to keep her emotions in check, Emma reached out and put a hand on her mother's hands. "If you think about it, there was no right choice. Someone was going to die; people were going to be hurt. You did what you had to do to protect us. You saved my son's life. You saved my life. And that's good enough for me. I don't see you any differently than what I did before. I still see Mary Margaret."

Her mother's face contorted into a series of expressions, eventually settling on something that resembled heartbreak. "My heart is turning dark," she whispered.

"What?"

Mary Margaret swallowed. "Regina – she took out my heart."

Emma's breath hitched, her body trembling. "No!" she shouted in fear, flinging her hand up to the brunette's heart in inspection. It was still there. Still beating. She hung her head in relief, allowing the air to traverse in and out of her lungs steadily. "I…don't…understand," she said in-between breaths.

She felt a soft hand cover hers and she raised her head. "I think she was going to crush it until she saw…until she saw that there was a black spot."

"A black spot – what does that mean?"

"It means I'm turning dark. I'm no longer the Snow White I thought I was, or the person my mother wanted me to be. I'm not me anymore. And it's only going to get worse. I'm going to end up destroying our family."

"No you're not." Emma was defiant now. The idea that Mary Margaret could ever hurt their family was ridiculous. "I don't care what you did; you're still a good person. The mere fact that you're in here wallowing in remorse shows that. What's done is done and somehow you have to find a way to get past it and move forward."

"Emma, I-"

"I know," she interrupted. "I know you feel guilty and I know you'll carry that guilt with you. But you'll get through this. You are Snow White, after all."

Mary Margaret's grip tightened on Emma's hand and both of them were crying together. The emotions of the past few days rushing over them like a tidal wave.

"How?" she asked, her chin quivering.

The blonde lunged forward and flung her arms around the woman, clutching onto the back of her sweater for dear life. She took a moment to collect herself before speaking as her mother's arms wound around her back. "Together. As a family," she snivelled. "But you have to stop pushing us away and locking yourself out. You're not alone and we're not going anywhere. We need you." She bit her lip. "I need you. My life just keeps getting crazier and crazier and I can't deal with it anymore. I can't get through it without you. I can't lose you. I cannot lose my family. You have to come back to us."

Neither one of them broke away but instead relished in the moment. Emma had let her walls crumble in the hope that Mary Margaret would respond and though she could still sense the distance between them that she assumed would last at least a little while longer, the warmth of the embrace was enough for her to know that her mother and best friend wasn't gone just yet. She had faith that they would get through it together, that she would return to them. So when Mary Margaret replied timidly, Emma allowed herself a smile.

"I'll try."

Ah, angst; how I've missed you :P I was trying to channel all the revelations and emotions Emma's had to deal with over the past while into this so I hope it doesn't come across as being too pushy. It was a tricky one!

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed it! Please review and let me know what you thought :)