This chapter is for Quladi who prompted me to listen to the song "Bad Apple" and write a chapter off of that. Here we go! Since Season 6 started, I'm going to assume all of you are caught up. If not, don't read today :)

This is set after Emma comes to visit Henry and Regina goes off on her for ripping out Violet's heart. Little warning for self-harm because, well, she's the Dark One and the song was dark.

Emma paced back and forth in her bedroom. She didn't even know why it was here; it wasn't like she slept anyway. Dream catchers could only occupy so much of her time, and lately they had gotten her into a lot of trouble. Especially with Regina.

Emma winced. Regina had said some things that had been hard to hear. But she had been right. Ripping Violet's heart out had been a part of her plan.

Ever on and on I continue circling
With nothing but my hate in a carousel of agony
Till slowly I forget and my heart starts vanishing
And suddenly I see that I can't break free

The darkness was a part of her now. And she liked it that way. But she was losing everything, including the woman that she loved the most. So was it even really worth it in the end?

I'm slipping through the cracks of a dark eternity
With nothing but my pain and the paralyzing agony
To tell me who I am, who I was
Uncertainty enveloping my mind
Till I can't break free

The old Emma Swan was long gone, that much Emma was certain of. Even if she ridded herself of the Darkness, there was no way that it wouldn't continue to haunt her for the rest of her life. Already she had managed to cause so much trouble, and even pain towards her son. What kind of person did that?

"A Dark One, that's who," Emma mumbled to herself. She glanced over towards the bathroom and got an idea. When she was younger and had felt in a running mood, she had always inflicted pain on herself to keep from causing trouble.

And maybe it's a dream; maybe nothing else is real
But it wouldn't mean a thing if I told you how I feel
So I'm tired of all the pain, all the misery inside
And I wish that I could live feeling nothing but the night

It also turned off her emotions. Maybe if her emotions were turned off, she wouldn't be so hungry for power. And if she wasn't so hungry for power, maybe the Darkness would stay quiet and she could make amends with Henry and Regina.

Nodding to herself, Emma reached behind her mirror and pulled out the razor that she kept hidden there. Not that she had to hide it. No one would come into her house.

Emma winced. She was pushing everyone away. But it was for the better. Wasn't it?

Sighing to herself, Emma sat on the edge of her bathtub and pulled up her sleeve. Now that she had learned how to hide her scars with magic, making a few more probably wasn't going to make a difference. Plus she could heal the cuts she made instantly.

You can tell me what to say; you can tell me where to go
But I doubt that I would care, and my heart would never know
If I make another move there'll be no more turning back
Because everything will change and it all will fade to black

Emma watched as the blood dripped down her arm. She felt the pain in her arm, but at the same time she didn't. She felt numb. Her emotions had completely left her, shutting her down.

Cut after cut stretched across Emma's arm until the bathtub was lined in the bottom with her blood. And yet she still felt nothing. Was she supposed to feel something?

Will tomorrow ever come? Will I make it through the night?
Will there ever be a place for the broken in the light?
Am I hurting? Am I sad? Should I stay, or should I go?
I've forgotten how to tell. Did I ever even know?

Emma supposed that she was probably shedding more blood than was healthy. Already she was starting to feel a little light-headed. But maybe that was a good thing. If she was light-headed wouldn't that mean that she was feeling something again?

Deciding that she had done enough cutting, Emma set the razor on the side of the bathtub next to her. She was dimly aware of feeling the barrier around her house being invaded, but found that she didn't care. The only ones that weren't blocked out were Henry and Regina, and she doubted that either of them would come to visit her. It was probably someone coming to kill her. Which she wouldn't fight.

Can I take another step? I've done everything I can
All the people that I see I will never understand
If I find a way to change, if I step into the light
Then I'll never be the same and it all will fade to white

Did she even want to change? She knew logically that she should...but the power was addicting. Who wouldn't want to have unlimited power?

Then again, she had to look at other factors. Loving Rumple as the Dark One had taken its toll on Belle. What was Emma currently doing to Regina and Henry?

If I make another move, if I take another step
Then it all would fall apart. There'd be nothing of me left
If I'm crying in the wind, if I'm crying in the night
Will there ever be a way? Will my heart return to white?

Would it be possible for her to even go back to being normal? And what even was normal? Being the Savior? And would Regina and Henry ever love her again?

There were so many questions going around in her head, and none of them were particularly helpful in any way. After all, who in their right mind would ever try to love the Dark One?

Can you tell me who you are? Can you tell me where I am?
I've forgotten how to see; I've forgotten if I can
If I opened up my eyes there'd be no more going back
'Cause I'd throw it all away and it all would fade to black

Emma leaned her head back against the wall, the lightheadedness in her getting stronger. She had forgotten that she had even cut herself in the first place. Thinking back on it that probably hadn't been a good idea.

Emma jumped as the door to her bathroom was pushed open. Who in their right mind was in her house? Then again, she had just lost a lot of blood. Catching the Dark One at her weak moment. How clever.

"Emma?" Regina whispered. Her eyes were wide as she saw how much blood was all over the bathtub and the floor of Emma's bathroom. "What have you done?"

"Nothing," Emma said flatly. "Just leave me alone."

"I am not going to leave you like this," Regina argued, crossing the room to her and gently picked up her arm. "You did quite a number on yourself."

"I said to leave me alone," Emma said. She tried to pull away, but found that Regina's grip was stronger than she had thought.

"And I said that I wasn't leaving you like this," Regina said. She held her hand over Emma's arm, using her magic to heal all of the cuts there.

Emma sighed in relief as she felt the cuts heal and blood being returned to her system. "Better?" Regina asked.

Emma nodded. "Thank you." She pulled her sleeve down and began to walk out of the bathroom. "Don't worry about the blood. I'll clean it up later."

Regina followed Emma downstairs. "So that's it? We're just going to pretend that you didn't just nearly bleed to death?"

"You and I both know that I can't die without the dagger," Emma said. "There was nothing to be worried about."

Regina reached out and grabbed her arm, forcing her to turn around. "Regardless of whether you died or not, you still harmed yourself. Quite badly I might add."

Emma shrugged. "I would have been fine eventually."

"Don't pull that with me," Regina scolded. "Is this about what I said at the mansion? About Violet and Henry?"

Emma winced. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to apologize for what I said," Regina said. "And it's a good thing that I did, otherwise you might still be in that bathtub."

"Why do you care?" Emma asked. "I'm the Dark One."

"You're also the woman that I love," Regina said.

"You can't possibly love me," Emma scoffed.

"I can and I do," Regina said strongly. "Just because you're the Dark One right now, doesn't mean that I love you any less. I said what I did because as Henry's mother I'm protective of him. I said things that I didn't mean."

"And yet a part of you meant them, didn't you?" Emma asked. "Henry doesn't want to see me."

Regina sighed. "I know. But he doesn't love you the same way I do. I know what it's like to fight the darkness Emma. I understand what you're going through."

"Then you of all people should understand why it's dangerous to love me," Emma said.

"I do know," Regina said. "And yet I'll love you no matter what. Because that's what people do when they're in love. Stupid things."

And it was in that moment that the Dark One actually laughed.