Tumblr Prompt: Emma tries to plan a date and do something for Killian but she can't plan a date and it turns into a disaster and Killian finds her? :)

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The Dark One had told her that she should get a hobby. While most of his suggestions had been completely useless, that singular piece of advice had actually ended up being the only useful thing that the Darkness had whispered to her. The light part of herself, the part that was still Emma, could admit to herself that she did indeed need something to fill the sleepless hours of the night, something to keep her thoughts from straying into darker waters.

But what should that hobby be? The first night — after both her son and pirate had fallen asleep — she had tried all sorts of different things. She tried reading for a little while, but the book was only able to keep her interest for a few minutes. She (very grudgingly) did attempt to knit for a little while after that, but it was too monotonous, and very soon she found her thoughts again straying towards all the evil deeds that she might do if she let her guard down. Throughout the rest of the night, she tried what seemed like million different things: drawing, writing, even juggling at one point. But nothing seemed to help.

With an exasperated sigh she collapsed on the rocking chair in the corner of the room. Moonlight shone through the open window, falling on the large grandfather clock that sat up against the opposite wall. It said that it was only two o'clock in the morning. That left her with a minimum of three hours (probably four or five if she was being honest with herself) before anyone else would be awake to distract her from her thoughts.

She glanced over at the bed to where her pirate was sleeping. She hadn't had the heart to tell him that sleep was impossible for her. She knew that he would've insisted on staying up with her, making sure that she was okay. But she couldn't do that to him. Even though he put on a strong front, she could tell that he was exhausted both physically and emotionally. He needed his sleep.

After she had tucked Henry into bed in the adjacent room earlier that evening, she had returned to the chambers she shared with her pirate and had gotten into bed with him. She had been content just lie in his arms for the first hour or two, focusing only on his breathing and tight embrace. But eventually doubts and fears had started creeping their way into her mind. It was not the voice of the Dark One that plagued her; surprisingly it had been content to leave her alone for a while. No, all of the worries that had begun to swirl around in her mind were her own fears, Emma's fears. What if they couldn't defeat the darkness? What if they never found a way? What if she hurt her parents, Henry, Killian?

Eventually it had become too much, which was when she had thrown off the covers and thrown herself into every random activity she could think of. And none of them had proved to be the solution to her problem. So here she was, sitting in a rocking chair, awaiting the morning sun with nothing to occupy her time but worry.

The hours passed by slowly with no one to keep her company. The only things that indicated any passage of time were the steady ticking of the clock and the changing of the shadows in the room. However, around four in the morning, inspiration finally struck.

She knew a way that she could keep her mind of the Darkness.

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The next morning, she kicked Killian out of their chambers, telling him to come back at noon for a surprise. She then went to find Granny. The two of them spent the rest of the morning going back and forth between the castle's kitchen and the Diner, preparing food for what Emma hoped would be the greatest date of all time. As they cooked she made sure to avoid using magic, relishing the physical and mental exertion that everything required.

Five minutes before Killian was supposed to return she stood in their room, surveying everything with a happy look upon her face. The food smelled delicious, and was set out upon a large white blanket on the floor. It was the setting for the perfect indoor picnic. Looking around the room, the only thing that seemed to be missing were some decorations. Wanting to fix that problem, she closed her eyes and concentrated. A moment later, the room was adorned with various different flowers and a few candles. Emma smiled to herself; now everything truly was perfect.

She didn't have long to bask in her feeling of contentment before she was hit by a sobering realization: her magic was no longer Light. She had used Dark Magic and Dark Magic always came with a price. How could I have been so reckless? she thought as a jolt of extreme anger flowed through her. And that one moment of strong emotion was all it took for her to lose control. All the candles in the room flared up, setting everything ablaze. She stared at the flames in complete and total shock for a few moments before snapping back to reality and concentrating on putting it out. The fire died down a moment later, but it was already too late; everything had been burned to a crisp. Tears began to form in her eyes as she waved her hand and made everything vanish. The room looked just as it had that morning, but all of her hard work had literally gone up in smoke.

Emma felt her heart sinking. This was supposed to have been a special afternoon for her, for them. It was supposed to have been a simple afternoon when they could have forgotten about Dark Ones and Curses and Saviors. They were supposed to have had a chance to be themselves, to just be Emma and Killian for a few hours. And she had ruined it. The Darkness inside of her had ruined it.

She was so focused on everything that had gone wrong that she didn't hear the footsteps of Killian behind her as he walked into the room. His, "Hello, love," startled her out of her thoughts and she jumped, turning around quickly to see him standing in the doorway with a bright smile on his face. As soon as he saw the tears sliding down her cheeks, his expression changed from one of complete elation to one of concern. He didn't say anything, just simply opened his arms in an inviting gesture. She walked forward and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest as her shoulders began to shake with vigor.

As she cried, he rubbed soothing circles into her back, holding her tight and not saying a word. Eventually her sobs began to subside and she hesitantly tilted her chin up so that she could look into his eyes. "Hey, Swan," he said softly, giving her a small smile which she couldn't help but return. Taking her hand, he led her toward the bed where he sat down next to her. "What's the matter, my love?" he asked softly.

Trying not to cry again, she told him all about the date she had planned, and how her magic had completely ruined it. She told him about how afraid she was that the Darkness had already taken hold of her. She told him about how badly she wanted all of this to be over.

As she talked he didn't say anything. He seemed to realize that all she needed in that moment was to get her worries off of her chest. When she was done talking, they sat there in comfortable silence for a for a few moments as he massaged her hand reassuringly.

"Everything's going to be alright, Swan," he said finally, breaking the silence. "As flattered as I am at what you tried to do for me today, it doesn't bother me in the slightest that we weren't able to have lunch like you wanted. Just being here, being here with you, is enough for me. And it might take us a while for us to overcome this challenge, love, but we will overcome it. After all I have yet to see you fail."

At his words, Emma felt as though a huge weight had left her. Leaning forward, she pressed a soft kiss to his lips before pulling away in order to envelop him in a tight hug. He was right. The Darkness was a challenge that they had to face, and it was arguably the most difficult one that they had ever encountered. But neither she nor Killian had ever been one to back down from a challenge. They would defeat the Darkness together, and when they did…

…she would give this date a second try. And this time she would get it right.