Here's another new chapter!

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-FantasyWriterFoSho

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Summary of the Previous Chapter: Elsa confronted the Snow Queen before they banded together and went to search for the magical urn.

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Chapter Twenty-One: Salvation

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Killian delicately placed Emma down but when he tried to stand back up, she wouldn't let him go. Her fingers tightened on his shirt, causing her nails to lightly scratch at his skin from beneath the material. Looking into her lethargic eyes, he leaned in closer and nuzzled his nose against hers, telling her that it was going to be "okay".

Belle suddenly rushed forward and didn't stop until she stood between the couple and her husband. "Listen to me, Rumple," she pleaded. "I don't understand why you're doing this but if you stop now, and help Emma, you stand a chance at having some redemption."

"It's not that easy, Belle," he replied. "It's hard to explain but what I'm doing, I'm doing for us."

Belle shook her head. "You can't be doing this for us when I'm not even part of the planning!" She then narrowed her eyes. "You knew that I would never agree to this. That's why you kept everything a secret and lied to me about your dagger!"

Rumple exhaled loudly then gestured his free hand. "Belle, just trust me—"

"Trust you?!" she exclaimed wildly, overlapping what he was telling her.

"—I have our best interests at heart—"

"I can't believe that you're doing this!"

"Belle..."

"Tell me why! Tell me why you've lied to me about everything!" she exclaimed. "You lied to me about whatever suspicions you had about the Snow Queen, you lied to me about knowing the Snow Queen, you lied to me about helping Mary Margaret and David with the potion! TELL ME WHY!"

"I lied to protect you!" he shouted, his eyes ablaze. "And if I don't finish what I've started, there won't be a life for us because I'm dying!"

Everybody, minus Emma, looked at him in confusion.

"What...what do you mean?" Belle asked, some of her anger melting into panic. "What's wrong?"

Gold looked down, trying to gather his composure. Shaking his head, he ignored the pattering of his heart. "I've committed too many atrocities in my life," he began, his tone unusually soft as he glossed his condition over. "So, now...it's catching up to me..."

Swallowing hard, Belle took a step forward. "Then, before it's too late, you should stop this. Instead of doing whatever it is that you're planning, you could make this right." She then gestured behind her. "Help us with Emma. The rest we'll figure out...together..."

Staring deeply into his wife's eyes, Gold's could see the hope glimmering within them. He wished that it was that simple but it wasn't. Magic always comes with a price. "I'm sorry, Belle," he said, his voice noticeably darker. "But what's one more atrocity to my already vast collection?"

Heart skidding, Belle's mouth dropped open while everybody else's eyes grew intense.

Belle's throat dried up and she felt as if her lungs were being squeezed repeatedly. She didn't know what to do but now she understood why she had that uneasy feeling earlier. Deep down, she thought. I knew that something was wrong. I just couldn't place it...

She was about to argue with him further but then something behind him caught her attention. Curious, Belle quickly snapped her eyes over to the door and quietly gasped in relief when she spotted a now hiding David and Mary Margaret.

Hoping that they may have something in mind, she returned her attention back to her husband and folded her hands over her chest. "Last chance, Rumple," she said, stalling for more time than actually pleading with him. Trying to keep her tone steady, she continued. "Last chance to be the changed man that you've claimed to be for the past couple of weeks..."

Gold leaned his head back then raised a knowing brow. "Admirable and genuine as that statement was," he said, his eyes seeing right through his wife. "I know what you're doing. I sensed them the moment they arrived..."

Waving a finger, Gold then magically hurled Emma's parents into the room, their forms snapping forward before they rounded about him in a wide turn. Holding them off to his left side, he immediately froze them before returning his attention back to Belle, who had rushed forward to stop him, her hands stretched out for his dagger. Flourishing the same finger, he quickly paralyzed her, her eyes containing untapped rage and betrayal when he briefly glimpsed into them.

Moving around her, Gold then waved his hand at Regina, who had moved closer to Killian—but not before the latter had swiftly gathered Emma back into his arms—but she countered his action by creating a small shield. Covering the three beneath her translucent barrier, Regina looked over her shoulder at the couple, thinking about risking Emma's health by magically sending her and Killian back to the hospital, but stopped that line of thought when she heard something in front of her.

"Shit," she muttered, seeing the hissing energy collecting in his hands. Breathing heavily, Regina strengthened her protection with another magical layer then braced herself when she saw Gold's face darken.

Releasing a powerful beam from his hands, he then shoved it into her direction and watched it slam into her shield with an incredible amount of force. Grunting under the strain, Regina managed, but found herself sliding backwards, prompting Killian to protectively take a side-step out of her way.

Watching Regina's shoulders suddenly hunch forward and her mouth grow into a scowl, Killian quickly measured the distance from where he stood to the door but knew that he wouldn't be able to make it in time. Feeling helpless, he was about to rack his brain for more ideas when he felt something soft press against his chest.

Knowing that she was moments away from death, Emma found the strength to raise a hand to gently touch the only place of Killian she could reach.

As everything happened around her, she had been coming to terms and making peace with her new direction. She could honestly say that she now regretted trying to give her magic away but not because of what was currently happening to her. In the end, she just needed more practice with them and to learn how to govern her emotions, which sadly, reigned over her too much. If she did, she would've figured out sooner that having them wouldn't have been so bad.

Control comes with patience, discipline and study, she thought, mentally realizing the answer to her hand sparking and general magical problems. That's why they never worked when I needed them to. All the self-blaming and thinking that I was dangerous was dumb...I just wasn't experienced...

She then shifted over to what she saw in the mirror.

Though she was still foggy on certain details, she realized that even though not all of its images were lies, it fed off on her negativity and fears, replaying and twisting them until they affected her more than they normally would've. But now, at the end of her life, she surprisingly couldn't help but to feel happy…

She had found her family.

She had found real love and that's more than what some people get in their lifetimes.

But before I go, Emma thought, staring at his face. I want one more kiss.

Strength dwindling, she tried to lift her feeble hand up to his neck but couldn't, prompting Killian to instantly react by grabbing and bringing it up to his mouth. Knowing that this was it, he leaned down, tears welling in both of their eyes when he did.

Managing to move some of her fingers, Emma pressed them against his mouth, signaling him to come closer. Doing as she asked, Killian's breath hitched before he closed the distance between them and kissed her unmoving lips, their wet cheeks mingling.

Suddenly, the air sputtered around them.

Unbeknownst to them, a bright light began to shine beneath Emma's other hand, stained shirt and bandages.

Glittering in a twinkling fashion, what remained of her magic began to stitch and weave against her stomach, sealing her skin back together as it irrevocably healed her from the potion and from impending death.

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Curiouser and curiouser ;)

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