Chapter 14:

Emma POV:

When my eyes flutter open I can see the sun shining in my room. I'm home in my own bed. I never thought that would be possible. I gave into the darkness to save my family and I knew I was fated to die. And I did die but some how I'm here.

I sit up in my bed looking over at the alarm clock. Its 9:15 in the morning. I can hear my mother and father downstairs in the kitchen. I don't want to go down there and face all the pain I've caused them.

After I got home yesterday I expected to be questioned but my mom didn't ask me anything. She hugged me again and told me that my room was exactly how I left it and that she would be here for me if I needed her. Without another word I went up to my loft and crawled into bed falling asleep easily.

Now, just waking up I actually look around my room. My bag I packed was in the corner of my room. They must have found my car in the lake. It looks like it was gone through but everything was still there that I recall packing. There was another bag hanging up with my white cloak I was wearing back in Camelot.

It smelled like the ocean and was full of sand. They must of found me at the beach? I pull it out of the bag and I see a strip of paper fall out of the cloak as I shake it. I lay the cloak over the railing and bend down to pick up the paper. Its a strip of photos of me and that guy I met yesterday.

I run my fingers over the photos in confusion.

I don't remember meeting this man until yesterday. Looking at these photos, we looked really close. One of them I'm kissing him. The last time I opened up my heart was with Walsh, who turned out to be a monkey, and as always I had my heart broken again. Every man I was ever with died. I swore to myself I would never love anyone like that again so I wouldn't have to face all the hurt that comes with it.

Looking at these photos now a feeling of dread comes over me. This man clearly loved me at one point and I don't remember any of it. I take the photos and hide them under my pillow. Maybe its because I died. A side effect of death? I don't know anyone who ever came back from death before.

I shake my head. Time to face my family. No sense putting this off any longer. I walk down the steps and I'm greeted by smiles from both my parents. David is the first to speak. "Good morning, Emma! I hope you're hungry. I made eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast!"

I smile at him and pull up a chair sitting at the counter. "I'm actually very hungry! This all looks amazing, dad. Thank you!" I say. I usually call him David but saying dad felt right.

I see the biggest smile spread across his face and my mom and him both look at each other then back at me. They don't say anything as I eat. They continue to busy themselves cleaning the kitchen. When I finish my mom grabs the plate and washes it, handing it to my dad to dry.

"So when are you going to berate me? I've been expecting it since I walked into Granny's yesterday." I ask.

They both pause and look at me but say nothing.

I continue, "I know I deserve it. What I did... The way I left..." I take a breath trying to hold back my tears as they start to well up in my eyes, "I really hurt you both and I'm sorry." I say as the tears fall.

My mom comes around the counter and gives me a hug. "We don't care about all that now, Emma. We are just so happy we are all together again. We love you so much!" She starts to cry now choking on her words.

I sigh as she lets me go. "Everything I did, I did to protect all of you. The seizures I was having were visions of my future. I knew I was going to become the darkone but I also knew you would follow me to Camelot." I scrunch up my eyebrows as I try to recall my reasoning behind keeping them from following but I can't recall. "In my visions I killed... " I pause trying to recall who it was but I can't see their face. "I killed someone I loved. I had to prevent that future from ever coming true so I said hurtful things." I looked down, not wanting to see the pain in their eyes. "I said things I can never take back but I did what I felt was necessary to make sure you didn't follow me. I drove my car into the lake so you would think I left town when my car was gone. I had Regina toss the dagger into the well and drink a potion to forget what happened to me." I shake my head, "And it worked. The future had completely changed and I managed to keep you all safe." I laugh to myself. "I was alone but I knew you all would be safer if I was no where near you."

David put his hand on my shoulder. "You should have told us the truth, Emma. Facing the darkness alone couldn't have been easy."

I look up at my father and I know he is right but I can't change what I did now. "One of my visions, I had Rumpelstiltskin cast a spell so I could go back in time to change the future. The cost of that spell was a life. Mine. It took me a while to understand what that meant but once I realized that I was going to die I did all those things so that you would all think I was out there somewhere. I thought if you didn't know that I was dead it would somehow be easier for you to move on." I shake my head knowing that clearly wasn't true. They never stopped trying to find me.

Mary Margret grabs my hand, "What you did was noble, sacrificing yourself for the happiness and safety of others. You've done that all your life. You fight when it matters Emma but you should have trusted us with this."

I scoff, "Knowing the future is a heavy burden. My only chance at changing the future was if I didn't make the same mistakes. When this happened the first time you followed me to Camelot. Everyone did. In the end because of me, you were all in danger and I lost someone I loved." I start to sob now struggling to get the words out. "I always get left behind but I couldn't bear to lose one more person. Not this time."

Both David and Mary Margret hug me tightly and I hug them back. We stay like that for several minutes. Once I stop crying my parents let go and my dad asks me, "Are you still the darkone?"

I pause thinking about it, "No. When I died, the darkness died with me. I'm just me. Hopefully it remains that way even though I'm somehow back." I smile, still completely surprised.

David smiles, "Well this gets me to a sensitive topic but it needs to be said." He pauses and sighs, "Killian, the Sheriff, he is the reason you're back."

I stare in shock but wait for him to explain. My father just stares back at me waiting for something I can't comprehend so I ask, "How?"

Mary Margret smiles with a little sadness in her eyes, "True love."

I can feel my mouth drop as the words come out but I still cannot believe it. I'm pretty sure I would remember if I shared true love with someone. True love is the rarest magic of all and while I'm fully aware I am the product of true love I never believed I would ever find it myself.

David is the first to break the silence. "You've forgotten him, but you told your mother and I you loved him. Somehow the love you shared brought you back but the cost was your memories of him."

I saw those pictures in my loft but hearing this now, I'm more confused than ever. "There is just no way." I shake my head.

Even though it was over a year ago I can still remember losing Walsh like it was yesterday, monkey or not, that love was real for me. Love had only brought me pain. After that loss my walls were back up and I closed myself off from it. The only love I wanted was for my family.

"I know I've heard the name before. Isn't Killian a pirate? As in Captain Hook, the villain from the story Peter Pan?" I ask.

"He is a pirate and he was a villain but he's changed. And I think you can take credit for that. Love changes us." David states, nodding towards my mother.

Suddenly as if on cue, someone knocks on the door and all three of us pause, staring in the direction of the noise. David walks over, unlocking the door and opening it. Standing in the doorway was exactly who I wanted to avoid. The man I supposedly have forgotten.

He holds up a tray of four cups of what looks like coffee. "Did I come at a bad time?" He asks. Clearly feeling the tension in the room.

We all reply at the same time. Mary Margret and David say "No!" and I say "Yes!"

He laughs in response and hands the tray to David then taking one of the cups off for himself. "I can come back later." He says as he turns to leave.

David grabs his arm, "No this is as good a time as any. You were just the topic of discussion." pulling him inside. "We just told Emma that you both love each other and that your love brought her back."

Really dad? I think to myself. As if I didn't feel enough pressure. I can't even remember this man, let alone any feelings I may have had for him. I look down for a moment then back up at him. He looks nervous much like how I'm feeling now.

Mary Margret rushes over to the table, taking two of the cups off the tray and slipping on her shoes. "David we have that thing! We really should be going." She nods towards the door.

Like a light turns on in my dad's head he rushes to grab his keys and jacket. "Right, that thing! We will leave you two to catch up! See you later!" And just like that, they slam the door shut behind them leaving me alone with him.

We both stand by the table awkwardly for several minutes. He is the first to break the silence, grabbing the other cup from the tray and handing it to me. I look up at him, about to tell him I'm not a big coffee fan when he seems to read my mind, "It's hot cocoa with a dash of cinnamon."

Wow! I wasn't expecting that. He knows so much about me, but I don't know anything about him. I nod accepting it. Our hands touch briefly when he hands me the cup. I can't help but feel the warmth that burned right down into my soul giving me the urge to put as much distance between us as possible. I step back a couple feet.

"Thank you." I give him a reluctant smile.

He nods with a small smile.

Back to awkward silence. We stand there for what feel like hours but it's only a few minutes.

He sighs suddenly, which causes me to look at him again. His expression is pained as he looks up at the ceiling and then down at me.

"Look, Emma." He walks closer to me, putting his good hand on my shoulder, "I know that the magic that brought you back erased our relationship out of your brain but please tell me it's coming back or at least part of it?" He asks.

My gut starts to turn and I start to feel sick. I feel so horrible that I can't remember him. At a loss for words I reply, "I'm not sure what to say."

He smiles at me, taking one of my hands in his still holding my gaze. "Easy! So easy! Just say you missed me as much as I missed you!"

I stare back into his eyes and I know he's telling me the truth. I see the love in his eyes that he clearly has for me. Still holding his gaze I reply with sadness in my tone. "I don't remember anything about you. I thought if I saw you again it may change how I feel but it hasn't."

He nods looking down at our hands, still held tightly. "Maybe you just need a little more time." He rubs the top of my hand with his thumb.

I sigh at the touch and lift my other hand to my hair, pulling it back behind my ear. "Killian, I know that I loved you" I saw the proof upstairs and my parents confirmed it. I know it's true.

He replies, "Aye, that you did." I can see the hopefulness in his eyes as I acknowledge that.

I continue. "I'm sorry but those feelings are gone."

He lets go of my hand and scratches behind his ear before he looks back at me, noticeably upset. "I know you think that but those feelings are still there. The magic is just covering up the truth and no matter what you say, it's not going to make it any less of a lie."

I step back feeling the intensity of his words. He responds by moving even closer so we are only a few inches apart. He reaches down for my hand again and places it over his heart. "Do you feel that? It only beats that way when I'm with you!" I look down at my hand. I can feel his heart beating under his cotton shirt.

He holds our hands there and brings his hook up to my chin, pulling it up making our lips only a couple inches apart.

"Emma, l love you." He says my name under his breath and whispers those three words as he leans in and closes the distance between us with a kiss.

It was the most passionate kiss I had ever felt. I lean into it, the feeling reaching inside, making me want more. I start to deepen the kiss as I put my other hand on his cheek. I feel him let go of my other hand and reach around me into an embrace.

He kisses me like I'm the most precious thing in this world. I've never felt anything like it. I suddenly feel him pull back slightly, our lips parting as he holds me back and looks at my face.

I don't know what he sees but he takes his good hand away from my back and places it over my heart. He smirks at me clearly feeling what I already know. My heart is beating a million miles a minute. I see his eyes lighten as the smirk turns into a smile. "If you don't feel that." He looks down to his hand over my heart, "Then you're lying to yourself."

I breathe out a breath not realizing I was holding it in. I can feel my heart pounding and how my body is reacting to his touch but I don't understand it. "How can I love someone I don't even remember?" I ask him.

He moves his hand from my chest and cups my cheek, "You figured it out once. You'll do it again." And with that he pulls away. I can instantly feel the loss of warmth as he walks back towards the door. "I'll see you around, Emma." He turns the knob and walks out leaving me in complete shock.

I've never had this feeling. I've been with lots of men in my life but that kiss lit a fire in my heart. I want to remember him but how?