"We have to do what the sorcerer did; we have to tether it to a person to contain it!" Emma said as she walked over to the darkness surrounding Regina.

"EMMA!"

"No!" Regina said, looking at Emma with pained eyes. "There HAS to be another way!"

Emma's eyes were wide, scared of what she was about to have to do. "There isn't… You've worked too hard to have your happiness destroyed!" she said, her eyes filling with tears.

"NO!"

She turned to her father, determination on her face, "You figured out how to take the darkness out of me once…You need to do it again…as heroes."

"EMMA…EMMA PLEASE!" Killian rushed forward, grabbing her arm and turning her to him. "No… don't do this…" he said, as her eyes that were filled with tears finally spilled over.

"I love you." She said, choking on tears, as she pressed her head to Killian's, then pushed him back and plunged the dagger of the Dark One into the darkness around Regina. The darkness left Regina and flowed through her, traveling down her arm and surrounding her. She gave a scream of pain, the light in her being snuffed out. She managed to look at her parents, Killian, and Regina and Robin one more time before the darkness swirled around her and engulfed her fully, swirling up and finally vanishing, leaving behind the Dark One's dagger… which now said Emma Swan on it.

She opened her eyes slowly, looking up at the swirling purple and green clouds above her, and she groaned, rubbing her head and sitting up. She looked confused, taking in the strange scenery around her and getting to her feet.

That was when she noticed… she wasn't in her clothes anymore. She was in a long princess dress, a pale purple, but it was tattered and dirty. Her hair was filthy, hanging in her face, and everything smelled strange… It was disgusting, to be honest…

Where was she?

Pushing her hair out of her eyes, she took a few steps forward, and gasped as she finally viewed what was around her.

All around was clouds… smoke, and a smell of brimstone, permeated the air around her, choking her, making it hard to breathe. That was when she realized, she didn't need to breathe.

Everything felt strange… Her fingers were cold and clammy…

"Where AM I?"

"Emma?"

She knew that voice. That voice is dead, he can't be here. Her head whipped around, her eyes wide.

"Emma? What are you doing here?"

Neal…

"Am…Am I dead?" she whispered, as he let out a breath and pulled her to him. Her arms hung limp by her side, as she let him hold her.

"You're not dead, Emma. You're safe here, for now. How did you get here…?"

She explained how she had tethered the darkness to her body, since it had been pulled from his father. Neal shook his head. "Emma I'm so sorry, you should never have had to come here…"

"Where is here, anyhow?"

He looked up. "It's an in-between realm… a place where the souls tainted by darkness go. It's not a safe place, Emma. This place is for the damned."

She tilted her head at him. "Why are you here, then?"

"Because of the magic I used to bring back my father… my punishment for reviving the darkness for my own selfish ways is to be banished here. I can't move on. I couldn't return to my body, but I can't go to the afterlife. I'm stuck." He said, as she looked down at her feet.

"So I'm stuck here too now." She stated.

"No, Emma, I'm going to get you out of here. I know you, if you can get back to your body, you can fight the darkness and get your body back. Henry needs you, Emma." He said, as she nodded.

"I can't just leave you here, knowing you're trapped here now, Neal… Henry needs his father. He needs more than just stories, he's getting older. He doesn't want to talk to me about… things. He needs a man to help steer him in the right direction, and you're his dad."

Neal shook his head. "Only one person can get me out of here, Emma. You can't."

Emma looked up at him. "Merlin?"

Neal's eyes widened and he pulled back to look at her. "How did you know that?"

She sighed. "It's a really long story… Suffice it to say, you've missed a lot…"

He shrugged. "Fill me in? We've got time."

A month had passed in Storybrooke. Not hide nor hair had been seen of Emma… but Regina had her dagger.

And in that moment, she was staring at it, contemplating what she was going to do with it.

"Regina?"

Robin walked in the room, coming up behind Regina and wrapping her arms around the tired mayor. Regina rested her head back on Robin's chest, sighing. "I keep thinking, maybe today it will work… maybe I can summon her today, but then I think… it's my fault she's gone… and I can't face her."

He shook his head at her and kissed her shoulder. "It was not your fault."

"But it was, Robin… that darkness was surrounding ME, not her… she took my place, Robin…"

"Anyone else could have stepped in, Regina. Snow and Charming, neither of them are fully innocent, they could have stepped in, they chose not to. Killian could have stepped in, he probably would have, actually, if Emma hadn't pushed him back. You do not deserve constant punishment. You've changed, Regina. You are not the Evil Queen anymore."

Regina closed her eyes, tears falling from her eyes. She still felt responsible for all of this… and now Henry didn't have his birth mother in his life, again. And again, it was her fault.

She wiped her face, putting on her brave face.

"So, what news of the Wicked Bitch of the West and the… you know."

He shifted uncomfortably. "She's rubbing it in, which we all knew would happen… She's so damn smug. But the baby is healthy. I swear Regina, when that child is born I will get… what did you call it?"

"Custody, Robin. It's called custody." She said, as he nodded.

"I will get custody of that baby. I will keep her as far from him or her as I can. Zelena will rot in that cell, for killing Marian, for screwing with us, for all of it. She will pay, Regina."

Regina nodded, but inside, she was scoffing. Oh she was paying all right; she was paying her way in attitude and spite.

At that moment, Killian decided to barge into her office for the third time that day. Well, saved by the hook…

"What can I do for you now, pirate?"

"You can get off your bum and come down to Granny's diner, and help Belle. She needs someone with magic, and I doubt Lily and Maleficent are willing to help her."

"And I should help her… why?" Regina asked, propping her chin on her hand, as Robin squeezed her shoulder.

"Because if she gets the Crocodile awake, perhaps he can take back his accursed darkness and we can summon Emma, heal her." He said, as Regina shook her head.

"That's not going to work. I've never seen a heart like his is now, I can't even begin to imagine what waking him would do… or if he even has the capacity for darkness anymore."

"You have to try something! It's been a month! We need to summon her here!"

"And that will help how? What if she can't be controlled? We have no idea what a Dark One, Savior-Edition will be like. It's like mixing alcohol and milk, you don't know what you're going to get until you do it, and sometimes, it curdles and goes bad fast. I don't want to put Henry in that danger." Regina said, narrowing her eyes at Hook.

He slammed his hand on her desk and turned to leave as Robin grabbed his arm.

"That's not a recommended course of action, pirate."

"And what are you going to do? Shoot me with a twig?"

"Go drown in a barrel of rum and leave Regina alone." Robin glared, as Hook sneered.

"Please, you're a second-rate Hawkeye at best. I'm not scared of you, Avengers-wannabe." Hook snickered at the confused look on Robin's face. Thank God Henry had been forcing him to watch new movies. He was quite fond of that Avengers junk right now.

Robin glared, but let go of his arm. Hook walked to the door, but stopped in the door frame. "You're the only person who can fix this, Regina. Her parents are too shell shocked to take care of their infant, do you think they're going to help their adult child? Henry can't do this, he's too young. I have no magic, I have nothing but the ability to fight… but you CAN fix this."

"The question is… will you?" he said, as he walked out the door, allowing it to slam behind him.

"So wait a second… You and Hook, huh?" Neal asked her with a strange look on his face.

If she could have blushed, she would have. Instead, Emma opted to just shoot him a look. "Don't go there. Seriously, you do not want to go there."

He just gave her the same perplexed look. "What in the world do you see in him? Unless you're into alcoholics who chase after fairy's backsides now?"

She glared. "He doesn't do that." After a moment, she added, "Anymore…" to that statement, in a hushed tone.

Neal grunted, kicking at a rock as they walked, and talked. "So, have you two…you know."

"Oh I REALLY don't think that's any of your business, Neal." She said, crossing her arms.

Letting out a breath, he sighed. "I know, I know. It's just… it's hard. Has it really been that long? It only felt like days here. Not months…It literally feels like yesterday since we said goodbye, Emma… It feels like yesterday that I left you."

Emma nodded. "It's been a while… I had to move on, Neal… Remember what I told you in Neverland? I was hoping you were actually dead so that it wouldn't hurt so bad to lose you again? When I lost you, it hurt so bad that I wanted to die… but I couldn't. And Killian was there, he picked me up, he fixed me. When my mom and dad lied to me and let me down, when Ingrid tried to bind me and Elsa to her, even with Henry… he's been there, he's tried to help me. He hasn't told me what to do, but he's been there. I needed that, Neal…"

He sighed, before nodding. "I knew you'd move on. I'm sorry, Emma… I'm sorry I pulled that stupid stunt that ended up getting me killed… I knew better. I knew I shouldn't be bringing him back, but I wanted one more chance… I thought you and Henry were gone forever… As much as I wanted to hope we would find each other, I lost that faith…"

Emma wiped her tears from her eyes. "We both made mistakes."

Silence overtook them as they looked ahead… and Emma squinted. "Hey… what IS that?"

Neal tilted his head. "I have no idea… I've never seen it before."

Emma shrugged. What did they have to lose, anyhow? They were both, for lack of a better term, dead, right?

"So, let's go find out what it is. Maybe we can get some answers there."

Neal nodded. "May as well… I'm going to get you back home, Emma, you can count on that."

Emma hiked up her dress, and began to move towards the large, castle-like building in the distance. She kicked off the rather annoying, painful shoes that she had come here in, and, barefoot, she made her way to the building, Neal at her side.

*AUTHOR'S NOTE!- Oh my goodness I am finally getting to WRITE this! I hope you enjoy, I'm about to rock this place with all kinds of plot bunnies! If you enjoy, please review, that always makes my day. :) *