Emma – On the Edge

He left me. Got on his stupid ship, and left me. Not just left me, gave up on life. Allowing that annoying lieutenant to stay, to start a new life, to live he was giving up his own life. He would die. Or cease to exist or whatever. Damn him. Damn him to hell and back for this. I loved him. I love him. What did he do?

My breathing finally settled, the sporadic, frantic breaths that had been hyperventilating through me calmed and I could almost breathe again. I glanced around me and flinched. I had never been particularly good at controlling my magic. This was no exception. It looked like a tornado had torn around me. Ruby and Liam pocked their heads up from where they lay in a ditch just off shore.

"Emma?" her voice was small but full of compassion. "Are you okay?" I floated towards her. Literally. Halfway there I looked down and realized my feet weren't moving, I was literally, floating. Well that's new.

"He's gone, Ruby. He left."

"Oh, Emma."

"He's going to die. I'm going to forget all about him."

"Maybe that's best, Em. Then you can find your happiness with Killian." I flinched at the name.

"I don't want to. Ruby he looks the same but it isn't him." Liam smiled at me kindly. I wanted to slap him.

"I think you'll find he is, Princess."

"No." I snapped angrily, feeling a small breeze start to swirl around me angrily. "No, he isn't. He is kind and good and so many girls would hack off their arms for a chance with him, but he isn't my pirate. He hasn't suffered loss so severe it changes his very soul. He hasn't wallowed in his darkest place and faced down the demons of hell. He isn't Killian, not my Killian anyway."

"He isn't as broken, that's the problems you have with him?" Liam asked, his eyes filled with confusion. "He's too perfect?"

"Lieutenant Jones is perfect. But Captain Jones, he's perfect for me." I tried to explain, feeling very much like none of my words made sense to the man before me. "I've lost so much and I've faced my own demons, my own darkness. I couldn't be with someone as sweet and innocent as Jones. I need a pirate, someone who not only understands my darkness but whose demons play well with mine." I shrugged. "Besides. They aren't the same man. And I love Killian. I don't love your baby brother. I'm sorry Liam. But I have to fix this. I have to get him back."

Mr. Gold – Guilty or Dark?

He'd done it then. I watched from afar as his ship disappeared into the horizon. He was gone. I breathed a sigh of relief and felt a twinge of guilt ripple through me. No. This was what had to happen. This is what had to be. I had looked into the future and I had lied to him. But it was necessary. If it happened any other way Belle would have been caught in the cross hairs. I couldn't let his actions lead to hurt on her part. This was going to kill Emma, I'd seen that too. Whatever seer this 'man in the cloak' had gone to see had said that the Pirate would hurt her beyond anything anyone else had ever done and what I had seen reinforced that. Sort of. He only hurt her like that if he left. Him leaving her, disappearing from her life, her losing him, it may just destroy her.

So yes, the pirate had hurt her more than anyone else. By leaving. Because I told him too. Damn. There was that guilt again! Where had it come from? I was the Dark One for goodness sake, I didn't do "guilt".

All of a sudden a flash of white light came ricocheting down the street, magic. A brand more powerful than anything I'd ever seen. When it washed over me I felt pain as I'd never felt it before. I instantly began to sob and as the rush of emotion that filled me grew stronger and stronger, filling me with terror and abject sadness. I had never felt misery of this sort. It broke my heart and I crumbled to the ground below me. What curse was this? Some sort of suffering thing? I curled up in a ball and cried.

Belle found me an hour later, hunched over, soaking in my own misery. She seemed unaffected by the curse and I took what little comfort I could from that. "Rumple! Rumple what's wrong? What happened?" I shook my head. How could I explain something I didn't understand? She called to the dwarves who reluctantly helped me into a car and the annoying one drove me to the hospital.

"Mary Margaret! Help! It's gotten Rumple too!" Belle called out, gripping my hand tightly.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Regina called out angrily. "I thought this was him." I shook my head, unable to stop the tears and too desolate to care that these idiots were all watching me cry.

"It came from the beach." I managed to sob out. "White magic. Emma."

"Our daughter wouldn't do this!" Snow White frowned angrily. "David is sobbing uncontrollably too." Her father. Hmm. That was interesting. What was this curse exactly?

"Besides," Regina continued snidely. "Where would she have gotten this curse? We haven't exactly been teaching her about dark magic."

"It was white." I insisted angry now that no one would listen. "And maybe, just maybe, she's strong enough to come up with her own curses. Unlike some people here she may not need the help of a greater enchanter."

"Oh shut up."

"Regina, I have to find my daughter." Snow called out as she gripped her purse tightly and made for the door. "Watch out for everyone."

"Who has all been affected by this curse?" I managed to ask between deep shuddering breathes that didn't seem to help the tightness in my chest.

"You, two dwarves, the blue fairy, David, and Killian. The young one." Hmm. That's an odd grouping. "Maybe we should find the pirate. If he's affected or not could tell us something about the meaning and intention of this magic." She suggested.

"That'll be a trick." I smirked, beginning to feel better. Aha. That was something. I could push the pain aside by latching on to anger.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well he's gone back to the Enchanted Forest. More specifically, he's gone back in time and into the Enchanted Forest."

"He's done what?!" Regina was growling now

"He's decided to make things easier for Emma. Doesn't want her to feel guilty over having to choose. He also said something about her deserving better than him."

"You knew about this and you didn't tell me?" Damn. That was Belle's soft voice, pulling me away from the darkness I was clinging too and back towards the side of me filled with pain.

"It was the right thing to do. It was his choice."

"No you fool! Emma was going to choose him! She was just busy cooking up a way to control the paradox so that Liam and ponytail Jones didn't have to die and he wouldn't feel guilty!" Regina spat out. I flinched. I knew that. I had seen that. But I hadn't told him that.

Captain Killian Jones – Heartbroken Pirate

I was back. Not just back in the Enchanted Forest. I was back in time. A long time ago. Back before Emma was even born. Hell, back before her parents were born. This was, if nothing else, a world without my Savior. And yet she was everywhere around me. My heart was filled with her. Everything I did, I did for her. She was in every thought, every breath, every beat of my miserable broken heart. If it's broken, that means it still works. If it's broken, it can be fixed. The old saying crept into my head before I could stop it. Yes. It could be fixed. But I wouldn't allow it to be. If it were fixed, Emma's would break. I would suffer, I would die, so that she didn't have to.

And if I had to do it all again, I would make the same choices a hundred times.

And a hundred times more.

"Mr. Eaton!" I called out to the first mate my brother had sent along.

"Yes sir!"

"Where, or rather when have we landed?"

"About 5 days before they leave sir." He reported with a smile.

"We will need to find somewhere to hide out while we wait for them to go. It won't do to have duplicates running about. They'll be madness in the streets."

"Yes sir. The ship may look the same but it's got a different name and a different figurehead. We could simply stay aboard the ship, sir." I nodded but with unease. It was a good plan but there was something I needed to do before they disappeared.

I needed to find the man in the cloak.

I needed to find the man who destroyed my life.

I knew when he'd show up. I knew what to look for. I just had to sneak off the ship and hide my face as I boarded my brother's vessel. It truly wouldn't do to have me appear before my brother and my younger, more annoying self, dressed up as a pirate. They'd have a damn heart attack. I'd have to disguise myself. That couldn't be too hard. What kind of costumes could I come up with on this ship?

Hello lovely readers! Sorry it has been so long with the update but I'm working on a few fics at the moment and this one just isn't getting the kind of feedback the others are. I am really enjoying writing it and I hope some of you are enjoying reading it! Thank you so much for taking the time to support me! Please, please leave a review with what you think about this update! Any guesses as to what this curse is? Previews to anyone who can figure it out!

I hope to update soon!

XOXO - E