AN: I am figuring out the logistics of this chapter as I write and it may be a bit cheesy, but I am trying to avoid that. Let me know if I cross the border of what is acceptable. It also has quite a bit of plot in relation to other things, but once we get past it, there should be more fun stuff. I hope you enjoy!

"Henry," Regina screamed, horrified.

"Henry," Emma screamed and wriggled desperately, "Go back! It's too dangerous here."

"No. I'm fighting with my family. You said that's what families do."

"Oh, look at that," Cora's lips twisted into a grin, "You all love each other. Pathetic."

Turning to Regina, Cora continued, "So you came to this bland world to find yourself people who could love you. Your poor mother wasn't enough. You just killed her and started over. Do they even love you, dear? – Oh," she paused, holding back a laugh, "It doesn't matter because you love them. Didn't I teach you anything? Love is weakness!"

"No, it's not," Henry yelled, sword pointed out in Cora's direction, "It's strength!"

Cora smirked and turning to a crewmember, nonchalantly demanded, "Kill him."

"No," Regina and Emma screamed in unison. Regina darted toward Henry and Emma broke free, knocking Hook to the ground with a sudden burst of adrenaline. She ran towards Henry as Hook picked himself off of the ground and headed towards her.

Gold started toward the boy to help him when he noticed Belle peering out the library door, trying to assess what was going on. He knew if Cora realized Belle was there, and even worse, if Cora realized how important Belle was to him, Belle would be in the same position at Henry. While everyone was busy, he slipped out to hide her.

Regina had almost made it to Henry, who was fighting relatively well considering he was wielding a toy sword against a man who had decades of experience, but Cora threw Regina back 20 feet in the air. Regina rolled her landing, allowing her to stand right up and head back towards Henry.

Cora, noticing that the two women were about to double-team the attacker, threw the crewman aside. This caught Regina and Emma's attention and as Cora prepared to throw a terrible curse at the boy, both women dove for him.

They collided in front of him and in the brief moment before the curse hit, Emma pushed Regina out of the way, shouting, "We don't both need to die. Henry needs a mother."

And Emma wrapped herself like a shell around her son as the curse hit. The last thing she was conscious of was multiple people shouting her name before everything went black and her body limp.

But only milliseconds before the curse hit her, something remarkable happened. It was something no one expected, something that no one knew how to react to. It was something that, once again, made everyone hit the pause button on their lives.

When she grabbed Henry, her chest began to glow white and build a force-field-like power around her. The shield she created absorbed much of the curse as it hit, but ultimately shattered, allowing the rest of the curse to hit her. Her body slid, almost in slow motion, to the ground.

Snow and Charming attempted to run to their daughter, but Hook's crew surrounded them. Ruby reached the town square to help, but was immediately surrounded by pirates as well.

"Swan," Hook screamed running past Cora to Emma, while swinging his sword around. As he kneeled down before her, a wooden sword slashed across his cheekbone, leaving a rather nasty bruise and cut combo.

"Leave my mom alone," Henry yelled striking the pirate in the temple.

"I'm trying to help," Hook begged, "I'm trying to help."

This caught Cora's attention and Regina took it as a chance to send a curse hurtling towards her mother.

"No, you're not. You're just a filthy, lying pirate! My mom and grandma told me about you," Henry yelled, winding up to strike him again.

Hook blocked the strike with his hooked hand and took the sword, placing it behind his back. Leaning down to take Emma's pulse, he told the kid, "You'd be wise to let me help her. Oh, Gods- Emma; it's hardly beating."

Cora easily deflected Regina's curse and turned to Hook and Emma, "Oh, what is this? Has the princess stolen the pirate's heart? I expected more from you Hook. You know she will never love you, right? So it'd be better if you just moved away and allowed me to finish my business."

Cora sent another curse at Emma, grinning wickedly, knowing she had won.

"No," Hook screamed, throwing himself in front of the mother and son. Knowing it would be his final moment he, like any pirate would, took what wasn't quite his. He stole a kiss from the princess and waited for it all to end.

That's when it happened again. The glowing started at her chest and her body convulsed, sending out a wave of a white haze that hung there like mist in a valley, suspending the curse in mid air.

"Emma," Hook asked, glancing up. Everyone had their eyes set on the three of them. Emma laid there, much as she had before, on the brink of lifelessness, except a strong, white power seemed to be emanating from and controlled by her chest.

Cora, confused and fed-up sent another curse towards them while Hook was focused on Emma.

"Come on, Swan," he took her pulse again, "You didn't fight this hard for your son, just to die on him did you? Come on!"

He didn't know why, but something told him he should, so he leaned in and kissed her again as Henry pulled Emma's hand to his heart crying, "Come on, mom!"

That's when the fog that had been floating in place suddenly solidified, rising from around everyone and captured the curse and Cora together, forming a solid but translucent spherical cage around the sorceress.

With one last convulsion, Emma's heart stopped.

"We have to get her to the hospital," Hook told Henry, "Take me there."

"What about them," Regina asked pointing to the crewmembers who were back in attack mode.

Hook looked down to the ground and picked up a satchel that Cora had been wearing moments before. Turning towards the crew he said, "Stop fighting, guard Cora and don't let her escape."

The crewmembers instantly created a circle formation around Cora. Snow, Charming, and Ruby ran towards Emma.

"Someone we trust needs to keep an eye out," Charming stated, emphasizing 'trust.'

"Don't worry, we'll do it," Grumpy folded his arms, "Go, quickly."

"Ruby, go find Gold, it looks like we may need his- powers," Charming directed before helping the pirate with his daughter.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"What's the point," David yelled, knocking equipment to the ground, as Emma was being defibrillated, "Her heart stopped."

Snow slapped him across the face, "Don't you give up! Don't you dare give up!"

"She's not gone," Regina said, "It's the curse, but she's not gone. Her chest is still glowing."

"Then break the curse, damn it" David yelled.

"I don't know how. That curse- it would have killed anyone else. I don't understand this white magic."

"Mom, please, try something," Henry begged Regina.

Regina stepped up to Emma and told Whale to stop for a moment. Raising her hands she tried to withdraw the curse from Emma's body, but it just began to make Emma seize.

"Kiss her," Regina said turning to Hook.

Hook had been sitting in the corner of the room, as his mind tried to grasp what had happened, "I feel like you should be informed, there are serious things going on, that we should focus on."

"I agree. I see no reason for that filth to go near my daughter," David snarled.

"Look, the last time he kissed her it saved us all. I don't know why it worked, but it did. We should at least attempt it. Just kiss her while I try to remove the curse."

Hook walked over to Emma, and leaning down part way whispered, "I just want you to know, this isn't my plan, love. So, if you are conscious of this, I'd appreciate it if you don't punch me. You have a pretty mean right hook."

"Hook-"

"Right," he leaned down and kissed the dying princess as Regina tried again.

Emma's seizures turned into giant convulsions and the white glow rose from her chest, flashed, and went out as Regina was thrown to the floor.

"Emma," Snow asked, wide-eyed.

Hook checked her pulse, "It's faint, but her heart beats."

"She's still unconscious though," Whale informed them.

Snow threw herself into Charming's arms, crying, "Thank the Gods."

Henry helped Regina off the ground and hugged, "Thank you, mom. Don't you see now that love really is more powerful?"

Hook was staring down at Emma, scrutinizing everything that had happened since entering this Storybrooke and since meeting Emma.

Snow approached Hook and asked to speak to him outside. Hook nodded and followed her out as Gold came in with Ruby. Both men eyed each other as they were consumed with total loathing.

"It's good to hear Emma has made it," Gold declared to the room.

"No thanks to you," Charming yelled at him.

Ruby ran to Emma's side, to make sure for herself that her best friend's daughter was okay. Satisfied, she turned and hugged David.

"Do you know what happened," Regina asked Gold.

"You mean the white haze that took over the town," Gold asked, "Throwing herself in front of the curse was an action so pure, it could only be caused by one thing: true love. An act of true love is one of the most powerful of magics on its own, but an act of true love performed by the product of true love has uncharted power."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Snow waited until they were out of sight from Emma's room before she spun Hook around and pinned him against the wall with her dagger, "I know you well enough and that you don't do anything without an ulterior motive, so what do you want?"

AN: So, it didn't turn out quite like I wanted it. I didn't want to remove Gold from the fight, but it was too incoherent with so many things occurring at the same time. I'm hoping to update again within the next week, but I do need to get a considerable amount of work done on a documentary I've been working on. Thanks for reading, and review please (even if it is to tell me you think I'm nonsensical and an awful writer…it's a good thing to be aware of).