Finding Home Port

CS Genre: Canon divergence (5x8)

Emma took a deep breath, feeling the nerves roar to life. This should be a simple thing after everything else she'd been through in the last couple of weeks. The nightmare was nearly at an end; all she had to do was reforge the sword, transfer the darkness into it (however she was supposed to do that) and destroy it once and for all.

But it wasn't a simple thing.

Emma felt the weight of all the Dark Ones pressing in on her, whispering in her ear, urging her not to be seduced by Merlin's pious words, urging her to forge Excalibur and use it to snuff out the light.

They told her she wasn't strong enough to defeat them.

Feeling the panic engulf her, she looked up and sought out the one person who always, without fail, supported her and reminded her of the strength within.

Killian, I don't know if I can do this.

She found his eyes already on her, a gentle smile, so full of love, on his lips. He nodded slightly, and it was as though she could hear his thoughts.

You've got this, Swan. I believe in you. The Dark Ones in your head are no match for you, love. Go on, my bloody brilliant lass, defeat this scourge, and then we can return home and begin our life together.

She smiled back, feeling love and peace and hope well up within. She'd finally found her True Love, her happy ending, her family and love and a normal life—the American dream. She'd be damned before she let a few nasty, annoying voices in her head take this away from her.

With one more deep breath and a determined nod, Emma picked up the two broken pieces of Excalibur and held them up to the spark.

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

Two hours earlier

Emma watched in horror as Merlin, controlled by King Arthur and Excalibur, choked the life out of her mother. Emma lay on the forest floor, spent and powerless.

"Merlin, you have to fight it," she insisted.

"I can't!"

"You are the greatest sorcerer that has ever lived," she continued. "If you cannot fight off the darkness, no one can."

For a moment, it looked like Merlin would succeed. He broke Arthur's hold and removed the vines from Mary Margaret's throat.

Arthur commanded again, and Emma saw the fight drain from the sorcerer's eyes. It was only a matter of moments before Emma would be forced to watch her mother's life choked out right before her eyes.

But it didn't happen. As Merlin prepared to call down the vines once more, Emma saw a flurry of motion out of the corner of her eye. She held her breath as Killian pulled his arm from his hook brace, got free and sprinted toward Arthur, intent on getting the sword from his grasp.

The fight was intense by short-lived. Arthur swiped at Killian with Excalibur, but her pirate leaned back, narrowly avoiding being nicked—or impaled—by the blade. Killian retaliated with a swift left hook (literally) to the king's face. Arthur took the punch, remaining upright, but the force was enough to loosen his grip on his sword.

A moment later, it was all over. Arthur and Zelena had fled via magic, and both parts of Excalibur, as well as the Promethean spark were safely in the Storybrooke contingent's possession.

Emma got to her feet and ran to Killian, taking his face in her hands, looking over him closely. "You okay?" she asked. "He didn't get you, did he?"

He gave her a tender, gentle smile. "I'm fine, love. Not a scratch."

"Quite a good thing, too" Merlin said, coming up to stand beside the pair. "Excalibur is no ordinary weapon. One scratch from the blade would have proven fatal, as Excalibur's wounds can never be healed."

Emma felt a chill run through her at the thought of what could have happened. She pictured it in her mind's eye; Killian bleeding out from the neck, dying before her eyes while she stood by utterly powerless. The thought was too horrible to consider. "You couldn't have given us that little detail before sending all of my loved ones off after the sword?"

Merlin gave her an inscrutable look and then shrugged delicately. "It's unwise to tamper with the future. Regrettable as it might be, I had no choice but to let circumstances play out as they were meant to."

Emma and Killian watched as the sorcerer slowly walked away after reassuring the group he would return and meet them at Granny's as soon as Emma succeeded in fanning the Promethean spark into flame.

"Benevolent mage he may be," Killian said, with a quick shake of the head, "but he's bloody enigmatic and deadly unhelpful sometimes."

Emma smiled slightly, and then stepped into Killian's arms, hugging him tightly, still feeling the desperation over what might have been.

Perceptive as ever, Killian held her close, brushed a kiss across her forehead, and then murmured "Calm yourself, Swan. All is well. We all emerged from this encounter unscathed. But one more task to go and then we're free."

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

Igniting the Promethean flame had proven more difficult than Emma had expected. It was only when she let go of her fear of the future, her fear of her life with Killian being too good to be true, that she'd managed the task.

But with her True Love at her side, urging her to trust in him, in them, kissing her gently, she'd succeeded, and then the two of them rushed back to Granny's, eager to put this whole nightmare behind them.

"But how do I destroy the darkness," Emma asked in frustration. "I know I have to reforge the blade, but what do I do with it then?"

"Fear not, Emma," Merlin said, "when the time is right, you'll know what to do."

Bloody enigmatic and deadly unhelpful indeed!

And that brought her to now, the moment of truth, the moment she would either succeed…or fail…at destroying the darkness.

Emma held the broken parts of Excalibur into the Promethean flame. For a moment nothing happened, but then with a flash and a shockwave that knocked all the inhabitants of the diner to the floor, the sword came together, the edges knit so tightly it looked as though it had never been broken.

Emma slowly got to her feet, feeling Killian now at her back. Taking a step forward, she reached for Excalibur, still suspended in the air.

As soon as Emma's hand connected with the hilt of the sword, she knew precisely what she needed to do. She closed her eyes, focused all of her energy toward Excalibur, and then felt the tendrils of darkness bleed from her body to be captured within the sword. It seemed to go on and on, but finally, finally she felt the last drop of darkness leave her and transfer into the waiting blade.

Emma sensed that this moment was the most critical of the entire process. She could barely hold onto the sword, barely hold it out away from her. The darkness wanted to return to her body, wanted to possess her again, and Emma knew instinctively that if she wasn't strong enough, if she couldn't hold it off, their last chance to save her would be irretrievably gone.

A warm, gentle hand came around Emma's waist, and Killian pulled her back into his body. He leaned forward, kissing the juncture between her neck and shoulders. "You can do this, Swan," he whispered. "You are not alone. We, all of us, are behind you."

Emma felt herself tense. "I don't know, Killian," she said through gritted teeth. "It's taking all my strength just to hold it off."

His arm tightened around her. "Then lean on me, love. Use my strength, my love as well. There's not a thing in any realm that we cannot overcome…together."

Emma took a deep breath, closed her eyes and focused on the love she felt flowing between herself and the man behind her, focused on the love flowing to her from her son, from her parents, focused on the hope, belief and faith she felt coming from everyone else in the diner, and suddenly she felt a calm, an almost superhuman strength come over her.

Setting Excalibur on the table before her, she sealed it in place with a quick spell, and then she reached up to take the Promethean flame into her hands. Despite it now being a full, roaring flame, it didn't burn her, the flames licked at her hands, feeling like nothing but a warm breeze.

Feeling love—and her old savior magic—bubble up within, she shot the promethean flame toward Excalibur. It immediately went up in flames, burning brightly for several seconds before there was a loud "pop", and then nothing was left of Excalibur but a pile of steaming ashes. With a wave of her hand, Emma made even that disappear.

For a moment no one spoke, no one moved, no one even seemed to breathe. In the end, it was Regina who broke the silence. "So? Did it work?"

Merlin stood stock still for another moment, and then looked over each person in the diner, a slow smile spreading over his handsome face. "Indeed, my lady. The darkness has finally been defeated."

A triumphant roar went up from those who'd watched the drama play out, and before Emma knew it, she was being pulled into a tight, exuberant Charming family hug, Henry on one side of her, David on the other, and Mary Margaret directly across. She tightened her arms, almost giddy in her joy and relief.

When the embrace came to an end, Emma looked behind her, seeing Killian standing by himself a few feet away. With a soft smile she went to him, knowing she wanted to take this reunion somewhere beyond the prying eyes of her son and her dad.

"You guys work on finding a way to open a portal back home," she said, "We'll be back in a few."

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

Killian closed his eyes when Swan draped her arms around his shoulders and then her pure, white magic filled in around them. When he opened them, he and his love stood together in the middlemist field, a light breeze gently tossing Emma's loose hair and voluminous cape.

Killian looked deeply into her eyes, carefully looking for any evidence of lingering darkness, of pain or anguish.

He saw nothing but overwhelming joy and love. Feeling the relieved tears rush to his eyes, he slowly lowered his head until his lips covered hers. With a small, delighted laugh, Emma tightened her arms around him and returned his kiss with abandoned.

The kiss was long, slow, deep and full of so much love, Killian felt as though his heart would burst within his chest. If there'd been any lingering doubt in his mind that Emma had succeeded in fully banishing the darkness, this kiss would have been enough to put him at ease. Killian had fought the darkness for long enough that he recognized even its faintest fetid trace, and his love, his Emma, his happy ending was completely and utterly free.

After long minutes, Killian finally pulled back, breathing hard and resting his forehead against hers. "Emma," he said, voice hoarse with emotion. "I think it's time I finally said something to you; something that's been in my heart ever since the stifling jungles of Neverland. I love you."

She smiled at him, bringing up one soft hand to cradle and caress his cheek. "About time you said it back, pirate."

Killian grinned, preparing to make a quick quip, but she stopped him with a finger to his lips. The mischief left her eyes to be replaced by aching sincerity. "Killian, I love you too, now and for the rest of eternity."

And with that, she rose to her toes and brought his head down for another kiss, a kiss that tasted like True Love, commitments, marriage, family and forever. Killian didn't know what the future would bring; likely they'd never be graced with peace and tranquility, but he did know one thing with every fiber of his being. Together there was nothing they couldn't handle.

This restless pirate had finally found his home port.

Notes:

-Happy Friday everyone! Here's to the (near) start of another weekend!

-For this week I chose to go with a prompt I was recently given. (Sorry! I can't forget who sent this one to me, so I can't credit you with the idea!) What would have happened if Killian had never been cut by Excalibur? This fic is certainly far less angsty that what we got in canon!

-Up next: I decided to consult my "Story Prompts" Word document, and I think I'll go with an older idea for a deleted scene: An extended 2x12 hospital scene.