Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time


In the pain, there is healing


Emma paced around the first floor of her house, a fully united Excalibur in her hand and a deep frown marring her features. The vision of Hook falling into the water and then lying helplessly on the bed in the captain's quarters of his ship was haunting her. Every time she blinked she'd see him. It was a small blessing she couldn't sleep as the Dark One. With a tired sigh, she slumped down onto the floor of the living room, picking up a strand of yarn from a pile laid out in front of her, she began to weave together another dream catcher. "Well, what are you waiting for, dearie?" Gold taunted her as she held the yarn so tightly between her fingers they were nearly turning purple. She did her best to block him out. She had the sword, she had the ability to wield more power than anyone else in the world. She didn't need him telling her what to do or how to do it. She would move at her own pace. It was okay to move at her own pace. There was something holding her back, though, something keeping her from walking down to that damn lake just at the edge of the forest and holding up her sword to summon every Dark One that had ever existed.

What's the point?

She doubled the speed with which she moved the yarn.

"The point, dearie, is that you could control the entire world. And more. Every Dark One has tried to unite these swords, and you have done it. Think of all the power."

She snarled at him, looking up from her work. "I don't care about power," she screeched.

He growled at her. "You are quite possibly the worst Dark One in history." She let out a yell and stood up suddenly, flinging the sword across the room. If he'd been more than a mere figment of her imagination the sword would've pierced Gold's heart. Holding up one finger, Gold sent her a maniacal laugh, his scaly face nearly splitting in two with his grin. "It's going to take more than that to get rid of me, dearie. Also, I'm not really here. I'm still in Storybrooke," he reminded her blithely.

Yanking the sword out of the wall, Emma waved her hand over it to cover the hole before muttering, "Leave me." She was slightly pleased when he disappeared and she was able to settle back on the ground in front of the large glass double doors that she had opened, giving her a clear view of the water below.

OUAT

Henry leaned in the doorway of the smallest and most unassuming parlor rooms of Elsa's palace. He'd been wandering around the castle for nearly two hours, trying to figure out his next move. It was clear his mother and grandparents weren't going to help him or trust him with a plan. Robin would do whatever Regina said. Elsa and Merlin had been working together quietly and in private for nearly an hour and a half. Kristoff and Anna had left to take care of some of Elsa's duties so she could focus on Emma. It had taken Henry nearly twenty minutes to realize that Killian was missing from the group. An hour and a half later, Henry found him in one of the smaller parlor rooms staring blankly into a fireplace with a far off look on his face. "She was talking to herself?" He asked quietly, drawing Killian's attention to his presence. Henry was still trying to put together everyone's accounts of Emma. He was trying to piece together her plan and her end goal. Based on her behavior up to this point, it was as if she were truly light deep down inside, but the Darkness was trying to push its way through. And she wasn't quite sure what she should be fighting, the light or the dark.

Killian glanced over at Henry. He nodded slowly. "Aye, lad, something's not right in her head at the moment." He patted the spot next to him on the sofa and Henry slowly ambled towards the pirate who was more like a father to him than his own father had been.

"Do you know what it is?" Henry asked softly.

Killian swallowed, his eyes trained on the fire. "It's Darkness," he murmured. "It eats away at you. It haunts you..." he paused. "It calls to you, demands things of you and you can't help, but to listen. It eats away at your soul until there's nothing left, but a void, an emptiness you can't fight alone."

Henry blinked back tears at Killian's words realizing slowly that he'd also faced this Darkness after Gold killed Milah. "How did you fight it off?"

Killian tore his gaze away from the roaring fire. "At first I had Milah. When I lost her it really took over. I spent lifetimes in Neverland succumbing to the Darkness and when I first came back I tried to soothe the wounds it had left exposed with rum and women." He sighed, his own blue eyes watering. "Your mum, she saved me." Killian flushed lightly at his admission. The cool and suave Captain Hook still surprised himself at all the ways he'd changed because of the blonde Savior. "She reminded me that I could be a part of something, rather than alone," he paused again. "And she loved me even though I was a nefarious pirate who'd spent most of his life selfishly seeking revenge on your grandfather."

Henry snorted at that. "Let's be honest, Killian, that one threw us all for a loop." He shrugged. "Our family tree is complicated."

"To say the very least." Killian chuckled in agreement. Leaning over, Killian wrapped an arm around Henry's shoulders. "Try to stay positive, lad, we'll figure this out. I know everyone has been saying that since we lost Swan, but we will. We always do. We can't let ourselves succumb to despair. Besides, if we do your other mum will surely have our heads."

Henry chewed on his lip and rested his head on Killian's shoulder. "I hope so. I just wish I knew where she was." He fingered Emma's scarf and the bottle of locator potion he'd lifted from his mother. When everyone was distracted he'd find her on his own.

"Me too, lad," Killian agreed softly.

OUAT

Emma settled on the widow's walk on the top of her home, the sword by her feet. "You're wasting your powers. You're destroying everything we've all worked for," Gold tutted her.

"I'm not destroying everything," she snapped loudly. "I'm just thinking."

"Stop thinking!" He yelled. "Stop thinking and just use the sword!" He motioned to the metal at her feet. "Do what I know you want to do." He knelt down by her ear. "Stop thinking and start embracing the Darkness. You can feel the magic just thrumming beneath your skin, coursing through your body. You're positively humming with it and I know-"

Emma placed her hands over her ears. "Stop it! Maybe I don't want to. The last time I did, it nearly killed everyone I love and-"

"You can't love them anymore. Not really," Gold reminded her. "It's something I never learned with Belle. Love is weakness. There was something that could hurt me. If you let go of the things you love you will be all-powerful."

"Well maybe I don't want to be all-powerful." Emma stood up suddenly. "Maybe, unlike you, I didn't do this to be dark and powerful and get revenge. Maybe I did it to save Regina. Maybe I did it to save the people I love."

"Mom?"

Emma spun at the voice behind her. "Henry?"

Henry looked around. "Mom, who are you talking to?"

Shaking her head, Emma stepped forward. "Kid, you can't be here. You need to leave."

"No." Henry latched onto her arms. "I'm not leaving until you're okay. And you're not okay. Who are you talking to, Mom?"

Slowing her breathing, Emma worked not to react on instinct to Henry's sudden movements. "It's really hard to explain, Henry, but I need you to trust me."

"Trust you?" Henry asked incredulously. "You let Blackbeard out and he tried to kill Killian!"

Biting her lip, Emma nodded. "I know, I know I've done some bad things, but-"

"But what? No wait, don't tell me, you did it for me?" Henry scoffed. "What are you trying to do?"

"Just trust me, Henry, when I'm done no one will ever be able to hurt you again. You'll be safe for the rest of your life. Everyone will be, I just need-" she started to explain.

Henry shook his head. "You just need to let go of the Darkness and trust us. Trust me. Trust Killian. We love you and we can help, but you can't do it this way. You have to stop."

"When I finish this, I will," Emma promised. "I can change, Henry. I'm still the same mom you went searching for in Boston and-"

Shaking his head, Henry's eyes were wide. "No you're not. You sound like the Evil Queen." Without another word, Henry turned and fled, leaving Emma alone on the widow's walk once more.

"Well that wasn't very nice," Gold groused. "The Evil Queen was hardly as powerful as you are. He could've at least compared you to," he paused, "oh, I don't know, me?" He suggested, pointing immodestly at himself.

Emma let out a hiss, waving her hands up above her head and disappearing. She reappeared a moment later next to a very small, inconspicuous lake at the eastern edge of the forest. With measured strides, she circled the edge of the small body of water, watching as the sun bounced off the icy blue water, casting shadows in different directions. The tip of Excalibur dragged along the ground at her feet.

"You're thinking about it," Gold taunted. "I know you're considering it. Henry has no idea what you're thinking about. He can't possibly understand what it's like to have the kind of power you have. None of them can. None of them know what you can do. What you should do."

Emma growled, stopping and turning on her heel. "What will make you go away?" She demanded darkly.

"Call them," he murmured in her ear. "Call them and I may just disappear forever."

Emma's eyes sparkled as they moved between the lake and the sword. Acting without thinking, she raised Excalibur. "Dark Ones, I summon thee."

OUAT

XOXO

MAS