As Emma lay flat on her leathered couch she wished only for silence and for her pain to end. She had only been the dark one for a couple of months at most and yet, she could still feel the power and the desire to have more, creeping inside her. Emma did terrible things to good people. Her family, her son. An innocent young girl. But she also knew they loved her, and despite everything her family was all about forgiveness. So why did Emma find it so hard to forgive herself? Being the dark one, her emotions were at times uncontrollable. Her anger got the best of her more often than not. And as much as she had prided herself for not giving in to every dark temptation, looking back at it now she had done more than a few evil things. She had kidnapped a comatose Rumplestiltskin. Kidnapped Merida and stole her heart during multiple instances. Then there was Hook, Killian Jones, her pirate captain. Dying from a small cut of Excalibur and then dead at the end anyways. Emma could see it now, she never truly saved him in Camelot. It was her selfish decisions that prolonged his trip to the underworld, and made him almost dragged her family there instead. Yet, as she lay still as a corpse, her blonde hair no longer the frosted updo and her skin no more snow white, she missed her him. Emma wished that so many things had gone differently, that she had banished the darkness from inside her like planned. So many thoughts and regrets coursed through her mind forbidding the silence that Emma wished desperately would come. Then there were the whispering. The low breaths and quiet callings of her name. Emma say straight up. No, she was no longer the dark one. She shouldn't be hearing voices. But as Emma stood up shakily, she knew what it was that was calling. The dagger. Though it should no longer be hers. Emma closed her eyes, using the one lesson she had learnt when first exiting the vault of the dark one: how to teleport. She imagined the metal dagger, with its unique curves and hard handle. Immediately Emma felt herself traveling as if floating on air. Within milliseconds her feet found solid ground and she opened her eyes. A white modest sized mansion stood out in front of her, Regina's house and Henry's home. The first house Emma had visited in Storybrooke. She could feel the anger grow inside her, left over from the darkness that had rooted itself within her. She couldn't stop herself as she stormed forwards the front door and entered with a magic flick of her hand.
"Emma?" Regina asked, her voice full or worry. She had been sitting somewhat comfortably in a soft armchair, with a cup of coffee in hand before the savior barged in. For the first time, in what felt like a very long time she had no makeup on, her hair lazily tossed in a ponytail. She wore silk pajamas and a cardigan over her top. Both she and Henry had decided on a late morning, it was already past nine and he was still in bed. But one look at Emma's panicked face and clenched fists as she stood in the foyer was all Regina needed to be up and standing, ready for a fight.
"You have the dagger" Emma said and it wasn't a question. "I need to see it, please" she added.
"But I don't" Regina said slowly. She wondered what this was all about. Emma Swan was no longer the dark one. Her blonde hair and pasty complexion was proof of that. Also the bags under her eyes showed that she did need to sleep again, but given her recent trauma was finding it rather difficult. "Emma. What is this about?" Asked Regina as she made her way carefully to Emma. This was no longer about the Evil Queen versus the Dark One. As Regina saw it, it was about two enemies turned friends, one who now desperately needed the other.
"It's been calling to me. Whispering. I followed it here" Emma said. Her eyes traveled around to the living room and then the dining room as if the dark one dagger was casually going to be on display.
"Swan, I don't have it. And even if I did, the power is gone. You're no longer the dark one, no one is" Regina said and she reached forward and took one of Emma's hands in her own. Regina could feel the delicate tremors, but she could also feel a pulse, a heart beat as confirmation of Emma's mortality.
"That's not entirely true" Henry spoke as he walked down the spiral staircase. Emma and Regina's heads whipped towards his direction.
"Henry what—" Emma began, but her breath seemed to stop from within her as she saw the shimmer of metal in her son's hands. As a joint pair the two moms walked the few feet towards their son. Henry stopped on the very last step, so that his height was just over that of his mothers. Then, he held the dagger out. A name was etched in the metal. Unmistakably it read "Henry Mills".
"No!" Regina yelled in anguish. This could not be happening. Not only was the darkness not gone, but it trapped within her son.
"Before you freak out," Henry began with pocketing the dagger, as casual as a teenage with his cellphone. Henry's arms then reached out in front of him, addressing both of his mothers. "Please, let me explain".
"You can be the dark one, Hook died. It should be gone" Emma said, her face reddening at an astonishing rate as she tried to hold in heavy tears.
"Mom, please. Merlin said you would be confused and obviously worried. You both would be. Please just let me explain" Henry repeated.
"Merlin's dead" Regina said, her eyebrows narrowing. Henry nodded.
"Remember he sent us that message in the fire?" He started. "That wasn't the only one, at least it wasn't for me" And so Henry explained. Merlin could see the future. He knew he would likely be killed for a dark curse, cast by Captain Dark One and Nimue paired hand in hand. He knew the lengths Emma would go to in keeping herself away from her family and from Hook. But Merlin foresee not the happiest of endings. Killian Jones discovering the truth and the darkness overtaking him once more. He would then call on all the dark ones from underworld, damning Emma's loved ones to Hell.
"Merlin saw all this? And didn't tell me?" Emma asked as she stared at Henry in disbelief. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks, and she didn't bother wiping them away. "So Killian died for nothing? I killed him for nothing?" She asked.
"No!" Henry said quickly in reassurance. "Merlin saw millions of possible futures. The only one to save all of us, and stop the dark ones from being resurrected was by using Excalibur and for Hook to die" he said.
"But then how did you get the power? The darkness should've been destroyed for good" Regina asked, as she couldn't quite figure all of this out.
"Just like Merlin saw Emma using Excalibur, he also saw what Grandpa had planned to do" Henry said.
"Gold? He gave me the dagger, handed it over without a second thought" Emma said, but as she spoke the words she knew that was never Gold's plan. He had been tricking and deceiving people for years, it didn't just stop now.
"Rumplestiltskin had planned to cast a spell on the sword using some left over potion in his shop. When Hook was stabbed, the darkness would channel back into himself" Henry said.
"To be the dark one once again" Regina said angrily.
Emma looked to Henry, "But he didn't do that?".
"Merlin had prepared me against that. It was a vision, I guess. It's hard to explain. He told me that I had to cast my own spells over the sword before Grandpa could. And the power would go into me instead" said Henry.
"But how did you cast a spell, kid? I thought the Author didn't have those kinds of powers" Emma asked. She remembered Isaac only too well, and that scheming man could do nothing without his pen.
"I guess that's another small part of this story. I'm a grandson of the Charmings. Son of the Savior and grandson of Rumplestiltskin. Raised by the Evil Queen herself" Henry shrugged as if it shouldn't be a surprise. And to be completely honest, when he had cast that spell Merlin had put into his mind, it didn't feel abnormal to have this kind of magic coursing through his veins. Truly he believed that his magic would've shown itself soon enough, even without these circumstances.
"So you followed Merlin's instructions tethered yourself to the sword. When Hook died, the power went into you. And your name is now on the dagger. Henry, why the hell would Merlin want this for you? After we just spent all this time trying to get the darkness out of me?" Emma asked, exasperated. She was shaking even more now, and Regina had the feeling that maybe she should get the Savior a seat and a drink. Possibly one for herself too. This was all too much, what kind of deceased wizard decides to put the darkest of magic into a thirteen year old?! But then it hit her. The very normality of Henry. The lack of change to his messy hair and baggy clothes.
"Emma wait. Henry can I see the dagger?" Regina asked, and Henry smiled removing the dagger from his back pocket. He handed it over and Regina held it with both hands, flipping the blade over to view both sides. She smiled. They hadn't truly seen it from from away, not really. The shape of the dagger was the same, yes. But the design was different. Where previously there had been darker, almost black designs within the blade, the accents now shown brightly white. This was no sword of darkness any longer.
"It's because he's the Author" Regina said aloud for confirmation.
"What?" Emma still didn't understand.
"Mom, back in Camelot you had asked Merlin if there was a possibility of someone being able to have the dark one's power but not be tempted by the darkness, and only use it for good" Henry said.
"Yes, and Merlin said maybe it was possible?" Emma said as she thought back to that time. Suddenly her eyes grew wide as she turned back to her son. "You?"
"Merlin knew the darkness would have to go into someone to stop Rumplestiltskin from regaining his power. The problem was that anyone else who would become the dark one would also be tempted by the magic that came with it. That's why he chose me. Being the Author I have magic that's uniquely my own, gifted directly from Merlin himself. Created before the darkness emerged in Nimue. Merlin believed that if I took the darkness into myself that I'd be protected, and be able to turn that magic into something. I'd be able to become something else too" Henry said.
"So you're not the Dark One?" Emma asked, her voice now sounded steadier. "What do we call you then?" To this Henry took the final step down, so that his two mothers stood taller than him once more.
"Henry's ok. I'm kinda partial to that name" he smiled and so did Emma. Regina couldn't help but notice that while her son looked like himself, spoke in his own voice, there was a sense of confidence that just wasn't quite there before.
"What about the dagger?" Regina asked, but as she held the blade she couldn't feel any magic emanating from it, not like when she had been the keeper for Emma's.
"Just a relic now" Henry took the handle from Regina and held it to the light. Doesn't control me or anyone else to it. But it'll be a pretty cool letter opener" he laughed.
"Emma?" Regina asked. The blonde woman was staring once more unfocused, it was clear she was deep in thought. Upon hearing her name, Emma blinked. She looked forwards Regina and then once more focused on Henry.
"Kid, you're not the Dark One. Not technically. But you're still immortal right?" Emma asked. The thought had just occurred to her. Her son may not be tempted by the darkness as she had been but he still had all the advantages of being the vessel for this magic. Which meant, Henry Daniel Mills would be a teenager for ever.
"No, you're only thirteen" Regina said, firmly grasping Henry's shoulder. The Queen's voice now took on the nervousness that Emma had. While her son had been growing rapidly over the past few months he still had long ways to go. Regina couldn't imagine him frozen in this state forever.
"Almost fourteen" Henry replied. "Mom you're right, I can't die. But I don't plan on staying a kid forever. Merlin had mentioned everything. He said that my magic will let me age until I'm fully grown, probably around twenty five" he said.
"And then?" Regina asked.
"Then, I'll do what my family has taught me. I'll go off and be a hero".