A/N: Yes, I am guilty of making you wait for this chapter when I said you wouldn't have to and I'm sorry. Things have been pretty hectic over here and now with the holidays it doesn't look like things will slow down anytime soon. I hope all of you enjoy. A huge thank you to my beta, steph-the-fangirl-925, who always takes time out of her day to help out.
Disclaimer: I do not own the major characters, as they are part of the franchise of Once Upon A Time.
Chapter 24:
"So, are you going to tell me what happened to him?" Emma demanded from Robin the next morning.
"Regina, Roland and Lily arrived safely back in Storybrooke, thank you for asking," Robin replied with dry mock sarcasm, completely deflecting her original question.
"I'm glad, but if Lily goes after my parents, it's not Regina, or Maleficent, who everyone will have to fear… it will be me."
Robin waved at her to settle down and relax. "Calm down, Emma. Regina will take care of it. We don't need you going dark, especially if that's Gold's plan."
"Fine," Emma grit out. "Tell me what happened to Killian last night."
"The demon happened and that's all you need to know."
"Damn it, Robin. I need to help him." Emma clenched her hands and began to pace.
"Emma, calm down!" Emma turned and stared at him with her eyes narrowed at his harsh tone. Robin nodded at her hands where sparks were beginning to emerge. "I thought that you had control now."
"I did. I do." Emma unclenched her hands and began to shake them vigorously. With a deep breath, the sparks began to fade. "What did it do to him? Don't look at me like that, Robin. I need to know. It's the only way I'll be able to help him."
"Fine." Robin went to the window and stared outside, before he turned back to Emma. "It made him think it was you. And it… It did things to him. Things that you need to leave alone. It wasn't him and it wasn't you and it should be left at that."
Emma stormed over to the wall and punched it, leaving a dent in her wake. Pain crashed through her and she cradled her aching hand.
"Feel better?" Robin asked as he approached.
"No."
Robin grabbed her by the shoulders and steered her back toward the bed where he pushed her to sit down. "You need to remain calm. You can go dark just as fast worrying about this demon as you can thinking about what's happening in Storybrooke in our absence."
"You're right." Emma shook her head. "Of course, you're right. It's just that thing seems to pick up our weaknesses and preying upon them."
"Same could be said for any villain. This demon is no different." Robin sat next to her. "We need to take a page out of the villain's handbook and work together."
Emma nodded taking another steading breath to get her heart to stop racing. "Can I see him?"
"Not now. He's still asleep. I checked in on him a few minutes before you arrived." Robin laid a hand over hers. "Why don't you find a quiet spot and work on your magic to let off some steam. It might make you feel better and it will allow you to concentrate on something else for right now."
With a long drawn out sigh, Emma rose. "I think I'll do that."
Finding a secluded spot had been hard, but weeks ago Emma had found the perfect spot. Hoping that it would be empty at this time of day was a whole other can of worms that Emma would deal with when the time came. Emma had been thankful for Signora Assante in many ways and times and the small abandoned chapel that Emma headed off to now was no different. It had been the kind woman who had told her about the place shortly after they arrived and Emma had tried her best to go there when she could to practice her magic. Right now, it was the only sanctuary that Emma had.
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"Emma," Killian cried as he reached out to her. He was having a hard time keeping her in sight. She faded in and out of his vision as the room around him lengthened in shadows. Her laughter carried over to him as she danced between the shadows and the light.
When she was close enough to become clear, she beckoned to him and he slowly followed her. Her smile was infectious as she pulled him into her arms. For a brief moment, her head rested against his rapidly beating heart. Before he could wrap her in his own arms, she pulled back and grabbed his left arm.
Killian gasped at the gleaming silver hook, but Emma didn't flinch as she raised it above her head and used it to pirouette. The pale pink dress she wore seemed familiar as it spun out around her. She seemed genuinely happy and that tugged at Killian's heart because he had helped bring her that happiness.
Finally out of breath, she stopped spinning and leaned into him. "Kiss me."
He could only nod before he lowered his head to hers. Killian couldn't deny her request any more than he could stop breathing and still live. As his lips touched hers a flash of scenes floated through his mind. He was Captain Hook standing proud and almost untouchable aboard the Jolly Roger as wind whipped through his hair. Killian saw himself battling against a man whose skin was as leathery as a crocodile. He was sailing into Storybrooke harbor with an older woman at his side and vengeance in his heart. Killian saw Emma and he knew he was in love with her. In love with the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. The irony. A pirate in love with a princess who was supposed to save everyone. And deep in his heart he knew she at least saved one person… him.
Killian pulled Emma tightly into his encircling arms and deepened the kiss. Only as he did, Emma's body began to shake. With wide eyes, he watched as he saw the woman he loved transform into a white swan. It flew through the dark air surrounding them, gold glinting from its head. Only once it landed at his feet did Killian realize that the gold was actually a small crown.
The swan cocked its head at him. Killian held out his now bejeweled hand. It seemed since he acknowledged who he was that he had transformed into his old self. "Emma, please."
A tear slipped from the swan's eye. His own trailed down his face. He bent so he could touch her only to have part of the shadows that were once by his feet begin to swirl around his leather covered arms. Instead of consuming him as he suspected was its want, the shadow puddled on the floor under the swan's feet like oil.
"No," he screamed as a tornado of darkness welled up from the floor. It bent and swayed as it seemed to consume the white swan into its almost endless depths. Killian wanted to continue his protest but the air around him seemed to evaporate. Choking and desperate for air, Killian began to retreat from the vortex that had taken his love without any effort.
The further he went the more air, Killian could breathe. The blackness dissipated for a brief second and Killian caught a glimpse of the still weeping swan. The tears falling from its eyes fell heavily to the floor. Upon closer inspection, Killian noticed that they had turned solid. If he fully examined them he would realize what his mind was trying to deny, they had become diamonds littering the floor amongst the shadows. With one last wave, the swan fully disappeared and the black inkiness slowly began its own retreat.
"No! Swan! Swan!" Killian swirled around desperate for the sight of her. "Emma!"
Killian raised his fist into the air. "I'll fight for her. Do you hear me? I won't lose this one to you." Spinning, Killian tried to focus on the darkness that swirled around in the sky. "This isn't over. We aren't over. I refuse to believe that." The shadow darkened over his head. "She belongs with me. And I her. I won't live without her, so you might as well destroy me too."
The air shifted around his head, while something soft brushed across his cheek. With a quick spin, he discovered what touched him. A black swan circled his head, its green eyes gleaming through the red depths that should have been white. The swan dipped low to fly at the level of his shoulders, before flying up higher around his head once more. While it soared, he noticed a necklace hanging from its delicate long neck. Charms swung and swayed from the silver chain as the bird continued its erratic flight pattern. Killian's hand reached out and his fingers tangled within the chain as the bird flew past. The swan made a painful sound and almost fell before the chain broke. Finally free, the black swan soared up to the sky swooping in and out of the dark clouds above him.
Killian's eyes lowered to the chain dangling from his fingers. The charms were familiar. The black swan had worn his necklace. The necklace Killian had worn most of his pirating days close to his heart as a reminder of who he was meant to be. A man bent on revenge. A man longing for vengeance. A man with no soul.
"How do I save you?" Killian cried up to the bird.
It seemed to inspect him as it flew closer. The swan nipped in his direction with its sharp beak and for a second Killian was afraid it might bite him but remembering this was Emma he stood his ground. She wouldn't consciously hurt him. The bird landed at his feet, its gaze assessing him.
He grew frustrated as it examined him. It shook its feathers and then rose once more into the air. Its beak grazed his cheek as it flew by, gentle enough to be taken as a kiss before it flew up into the dark clouds. Killian patiently awaited the swan's return. The more he waited the more he knew. It wasn't coming back. He was sure of that deep down into not only his heart but his empty soul.
"Killian! Killian!"
Hearing his name, Killian pocketed the necklace and turned. He realized everything around him was as bright as the area behind him lengthened in darkness. He was literally standing on the junction between lightness and the dark. He could choose his path to follow.
Out of the light sprung a cathedral, its bells rang out signaling time for prayer. Chants from inside became louder and clearer to his ears. Deep within himself he heard his soul trying to emerge and sing along.
"Killian! Killian!"
It was that voice again. Only now Killian realized it wasn't coming from the light or the dark. Instead it seemed to emanate from the sides. As if the sound paralleled him. To get to the voice he'd have to straddle the line at the edge of the light.
Nothing seemed to be in his pathway to the voice, but it was the hardest trek he ever remembered taking. The lightness pulled at him beckoning him and he felt every compulsion to embrace it. Or he did until the black swan landed by his feet in the darkness. Only the depths of its red and green eyes standing out. For every hard step he took, trying to stay on a straight path, the swan followed. The darkness pulled at his heart. The light pulled at his soul. They each wanted him to pick a path that would lead him away from the one he was currently on. The very one he suspected was the only way he could leave this place with both his heart and his soul still intact.
"Killian!"
The voice was nearer but Killian had yet to find who uttered it. It still came from neither the darkness nor the light. It just was.
Still unsure of the voice, Killian looked around and realized he could now see his ship on the horizon. It sailed through the air on the same path that Killian traversed, both in the light and dark but residing in neither. The sails billowed in the non-existent wind. And a flag flew proudly amongst the pristine white sails. As it flapped in the darkness, the symbol of the Jolly Roger stood out proudly, skeletal white in the darkness or almost non-existent in the light. And when the wind changed directions, causing the flag to change direction, it majestically waved the flag his brother had sailed so proudly under. The Jewel of the Realm. For only an instance, the flag fell limp between the two sides. It was then that Killian noticed that it was pure white. A flag of surrender meant so much more in that moment, it meant that it was waiting for Killian to choose its new path.
Killian felt very much like that limp flag. He wanted desperately to be welcomed to choose his own path, one that wouldn't lead him into the darkness, while not giving up who he used to be.
He straightened his shoulder and set out on the path toward his ship. The magical timbers that made up his home for some many centuries. Killian knew nothing but that the ship would help lead him to his new destiny. Together they would sail down this treacherous path to find the voice that still called out to him.
For a brief minute, Killian veered into the light so that he could board his ship via the rope ladder that hung at its side. However, once aboard, he felt the need to stand at the helm, where he once more straddled the light and dark. Killian's hand curled around the ship's wheel as his name was called out from that disembodied voice. The black swan landed on the rail of his ship and he noticed the diamond-like tears shining on the edges of its green depths.
A stiff wind shook the ship and Killian quickly righted it with a steady hand at the helm. He trembled, but tried to steady his nerves under the steady onslaught of wind that bracketed the ship. The swan, unable to keep its grip, fell off the side. "Emma!"
As his feet flew across the boards of the ship toward where she fell, he slipped, slamming hard into the side. When his eyes opened, he realized he was no longer on his ship. Instead, he was lying abed. Robin stood above him, to his right. Robin's hand lay upon Killian's shoulder. He must have been trying to shake Killian awake.
"Thank God," the ex-thief muttered in relief.
Killian rubbed the sleep from his eyes trying to adjust to the bright light that surrounded him. When he was acclimated, he rose from the bed and tried to focus on the quickly dissipating memories of the dream he had been having. "What is it? What happened?"
"You have to follow Emma."
"Why? Where is she going?" Killian was still confused, unable to fully focus on what Robin was trying to tell him.
"Get dressed. You must hurry."
Killian, now worried, grabbed the nearest clothes. It was his blacks that he had planned for his last day in Rome, so he could visit with Father Bastian. Not wanting to waste time, Killian quickly dressed, disregarding the dream completely.
"Don't let Emma see you. And if she does, don't tell her I sent you after her." Robin raked a hand through his hair. "I'm worried about her. I think she might do something after I told her about what happened to you last night."
With a nod of understanding, Killian grabbed his coat and shrugged into it. He followed Robin out the door. "Do you have any idea where she is going?"
"She just left. You should be able to follow her easy enough, but if you don't leave now, you might not find her."
"Thank you, Robin. I'll keep her safe." With one last nod, Killian ducked out the door of Signora Assante's house and followed behind the blonde woman who had stolen his heart.
Robin leaned out of the dining room and noticed Killian leaving the boarding house. "Killian?" he called out, but the man was already out the door. "Damn it, Regina," Robin said into the phone he held at his ear, "I hate to interrupt you but I need to go. Something is going on with Killian. Hug and kiss Roland for me, will you?"
"Of course. Be careful, Robin. This demon you've told me about makes Rumple seem like child's play."
Robin let out a shaky laugh. "That is a very good comparison but I need to go."
"I love you."
"And I you. I'll call you later. I promise." With that said, Robin closed his phone and placed it in his pocket. Grabbing his coat that he had laid across the back of a chair, Robin ran out of Signora Assante's boarding house to chase down the man who had no business leaving in the condition he was in.
Determined to find out where Killian was going, Robin pushed his way around the crowds of people that surrounded him on the street. After Killian had the confrontation with the demon last night, Robin had promised his friend that he wouldn't let him out of his sights.
The closer they all came to leaving Rome the more unstable things were becoming. And with the way things stood in Storybrooke, Robin refused to delay their return for even an hour more than necessary. It was imperative that they all get out of Rome safe, even if that meant that Killian never regained his memories.