Chapter 63

Hey…it's just me casually coming back after 2 years. Anyone still out there? For some reason the Camelot arc has been the hardest for me to write. Weaving Hanna into the story just the way I want has been so difficult. Hopefully that 2 year break helped and it turned out okay. I've been trying to get ahead on chapters. The next one just needs to be edited and the one after is about half way done! If you all are still out there let me know and I'll get them posted as quickly as I can! I updated my one shot series as well! If you have any requests for that story let me know! As a reminder, I have a one-shot series for my story Little One too! Anyways, back to some Dark Swan and Hanna action! Enjoy :)

"Maybe if we ignore her she'll just leave," Hanna whispered to her sister.

"Have you met our mother?" Emma said as she went and opened the door.

Snow walked inside. "Hi girls. Is everything alright?" She thought she heard them yelling at each other before she rang the doorbell.

"We're fine." Emma told her.

Hanna didn't know what her mom was doing here. She remembered her dad telling her to be home by 9. She looked at her phone to make sure she wasn't late. "Mom, what are you doing here? It's only a little after 8."

"I know," Snow shrugged and walked further into Emma's house. "Regina said you were here, so I thought I'd come by for a quick visit and give you a ride home." Snow couldn't shake the feeling that her daughters were up to something. She knew Emma was, but she had a feeling Hanna knew more than she was letting on. "So what are you girls up to?"

"Emma came by right when I was walking Henry home and…"

"And then you saw the memory from the dreamcatcher, right?" Snow looked over at her oldest daughter, who was avoiding her gaze.

"Right." Hanna said, trying to turn her mom's attention away from her sister. "Emma feels really bad about what she did. I came back here with her to make sure she was okay."

"And that's all?" Snow asked, not taking her eyes off of Emma. "What about the sword, Em?"

Emma finally looked up at her mom, but didn't say a word.

"I don't suppose you'd like to tell me what you plan to do with it?" Snow crossed her arms and walked closer to her daughter. "Or why you had Gold locked in your basement?" They found the sword and signs that Rumple had been there when they searched Emma's house earlier.

Emma just turned her head and walked out of the room.

"Right then," Snow looked down and turned to her other daughter. "Hanna, the car is out front. Let's go."

"But Mom it's not even close to 9 yet. I want to stay a little bit longer. I…" Snow shook her head and guided Hanna towards the door. "You're coming with me."

Hanna sighed, but didn't protest. She would come see Emma tomorrow, and they could finish their conversation.

Just as they reached the car, Snow stopped, turned to her daughter, and grabbed her firmly by the shoulders. "Hanna look at me." She bent down and looked directly into Hanna's eyes. "Before today, did you know Emma had the sword in her basement?"

Hanna shook her head. "No. I knew she was hiding something down there, but the door has a protection spell. I couldn't open it." That wasn't a total lie. Hanna couldn't open the door…she just left out the part about her being able to poof herself around the protection spell. Hanna's stomach was in knots though. She felt so guilty about lying.

"Do you know what she plans to do with it?"

"I don't know, Mom." That wasn't a lie. Hanna had no idea. Even though she was pretty sure Emma was just about to tell her.

"We all want to help Emma as much as you do, so you would tell me if you knew anything right?"

Hanna nodded her head.

Snow's scanned Hanna's face for a few seconds, trying to determine if her daughter was telling her the truth. Usually she could tell right away when Hanna was lying, but right now Snow genuinely wasn't sure, so she decided to trust her. "Alright then, let's go home," she said as she let go of Hanna's shoulders and got into the car.

The next morning, Hanna was on a mission to find her sister. They needed to finish their conversation from last night and Hanna needed to fill her in on everything she just heard in Regina's office. They were devising a plan to communicate with Merlin now that they knew they found him back in Camelot. Hanna asked her mom and dad if she could go for a walk. She told them that she just needed some space from all of this. They let her go, but Hanna wasn't sure how many more walks she'd be able to take without them getting suspicious. She didn't have time to think about that right now though. She had to find Emma. The only problem was Hanna had no idea where to find her. She thought maybe she could use their twin connection to her advantage though. Hanna knew when transporting yourself by magic, you could only think of the place you wanted to go. You couldn't just poof yourself to a particular person if you didn't know where they were. Hanna thought maybe, just maybe it could work with her and Emma. Their twin powers seemed to be able to bend other magical rules, so maybe it would work for this too. Hanna closed her eyes, thought of her sister, and transported herself.

Hanna opened her eyes and found herself in the woods standing right in front of Emma. "Woah, I did not think that would work."

"How did you…how did you even know where I was?" Emma asked.

"I didn't. Guess it's that twin thing again," Hanna grinned. "Now you can't just poof away from me anymore."

Emma rolled her eyes. "What do you want Hanna?"

"Regina figured out a way to contact Merlin. Just thought you should know."

"Damn it," Emma furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. "I'm just going to have to move things along quicker than I planned."

"Move what along quicker, Emma? What are you doing in the woods anyway, and what are holding behind your back?" Hanna walked closer to get a better look. "Is that a heart? Who's…" Hanna turned to see a red-headed woman standing there with them. "Emma who the hell is that?"

"That's Merida," Emma told her.

Hanna raised her eyebrows at her sister. "And is that Merida's heart you're holding?"

"Yes."

"Emma what…"

Emma looked past Hanna. "Go! Do what I told you."

Hanna watched as Merida ran off, then she turned back to her sister. "What is she going to do?"

"She's going to make Gold brave."

"Gold…brave? What?" Hanna remembered from the storybook how Rumple was before he became the dark one, and she saw him cowering Emma's basement just the other day. How was Emma going to make him brave when he had no magic and why? "Emma just tell me what you're planning. You were going to tell me something last night before mom came…please!" Hanna begged.

"I need a hero to pull Excalibur from the stone. Merida is going to try and put an arrow through Belle's heart. Gold will stop her and that will make him a hero. He'll get the sword from the stone and this will all be over."

Hanna's eyes went wide. "But Emma what if it doesn't work? What if Gold doesn't stop Merida. What if Belle…"

"It'll work Hanna."

Hanna just shook her head. "Emma you don't know that."

"I said it'll work!" Emma yelled, but not at Hanna. Emma looked as if she was talking to someone who wasn't there. "It has to work. There isn't another way. It's the only…"

"Emma calm down!" Hanna grabbed her sister by the arms and moved onto her next question once Emma stopped muttering to herself. "Em, why do you need Excalibur?"

"I don't have time to explain," Emma shook her head. "I need help with something else."

"What do you need me to do now?"

"Go to Granny's and get me some onion rings."

"Onion rings? Do I look like a waitress to you?" Hanna stepped back. She was not expecting her sister to say that. "I am NOT going to get you some onion rings unless you tell me what the hell you're going to do with that sword!"

"Do you want to help me or not?"

"Maybe I don't anymore!"

"Suit yourself," Emma said with a shrug before disappearing.

"Ugh!" Hanna kicked some leaves up from the ground. She didn't know what to do. She knew she should probably go find her parents and tell them what Emma was doing. They could warn Belle…keep her safe, but Hanna knew Emma was working on something bigger. As mad as Hanna was at Emma right now, she still trusted that her sister was doing what she was doing for a good reason. Hanna was afraid of what Emma was going to do next, but she believed in her and wanted to keep helping so this would all be over soon. Hanna decided she was not going all the way to Granny's to get the onion rings though and just poofed herself to wherever Emma was.

Hanna found herself standing in Emma's kitchen with Zelena of all people.

"So the Dark Swan and her little lackey," Zelena raised her eyebrows. "To what do I owe this honor?"

"What is she doing here?" Hanna asked her sister.

"I just wanted to have a little chat."

"Afraid I'm not in the mood."

Emma turned to Hanna. "Did you bring what I asked?"

Han waved her hand and made them appear. "I don't know why you didn't just do that yourself."

"I have my reasons," Em grinned. "I guess you're not that mad at me after all."

"Oh I'm still mad," Hanna crossed her arms. "I just want to make sure you don't rip out anymore hearts."

Zelena's eyes went wide.

"Don't worry," Emma told her. "I won't be ripping out anymore hearts today." She opened the to-go bag from Granny's and pulled out the onion rings. She walked over to Zelena and held them out to her. "Like I said. I just want to have a little chat."

"I suppose I could be willing to listen," Zelena said with a grin. She took the onion rings from Emma and made herself comfortable in one of the chairs. "So tell me, what kind of trouble do you want to get into?"

Hanna stood by and watched Zelena practically inhale the onion rings. She wanted to ask Emma what she wanted with this witch, but knew she wouldn't get an answer, so she just waited and listened. Once Zelena had eaten most of the onion rings, Emma finally got to the point of their visit. First, she made the Apprentice's wand appear. Hanna recognized it right away. That was what they used to get to Camelot. Emma told Zelena that she was the only one who's wielded Merlin's magic and lived to tell about it. She told Zelena that if everything went according to plan then she would need her help. She wanted to make a deal with Zelena. In exchange for her help, Emma offered Zelena her freedom and protection against Regina and anyone else who wanted to hurt her. Zelena turned her down, saying with a little one on the way she wanted to turn over a new leaf. She didn't want to involve herself with someone who might be a bad influence. After turning down her deal, Hanna watched as Emma poofed Zelena away.

"What was the point of all that? She's not even going to help you."

"She's already helping me. She just doesn't know it yet."

"Was it the onion rings? Emma what did you do to her?"

"You'll find out soon enough. I need you to do something else for me now."

Hanna rolled her eyes. "What now?"

"Go find Mom and Dad. See if they were successful in communicating with Merlin," Emma said before poofing herself away again.

She hated when Emma did that, but Hanna pulled out her phone and called her mom. She needed to figure out where she was. Snow answered the phone after the first ring and told her they were at Regina's vault. Hanna quickly transported herself there.

"Hey sweetie. How was your walk?" Snow asked.

David turned to her. "Where did you go?"

"You didn't happen to run into your sister, did you?" Regina questioned.

"We haven't heard from her all day," Killian told her.

"Uh…my walk was fine. I just wandered around the woods for a bit and I don't know where Emma is," Hanna shrugged. "What are you all doing? Were you able to contact Merlin?"

"No we weren't, " Snow told her. "Arthur wasn't any help. He lied to us, but we think we have another way to contact him."

"How?" Hanna asked just as Henry walked around the corner.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Regina asked him.

"I'm fine, Mom." Henry assured her.

"It's just…I know you've been through a lot."

"The person who ripped out Violet's heart isn't my mother. But Emma is still in there somewhere. And I'll do anything it takes to get her back."

Killian handed Henry the Crimson Crown. "You can do this, lad."

Henry was able to get the spell to work. He took the Crimson Crown and threw it into the cauldron. The contents inside the cauldron began to sputter, then a version of Merlin appeared before them.

"Merlin?" Henry asked.

"If you're receiving this message, then things are worse than I feared," Merlin said.

"I don't believe this," Regina said. "We're getting Merlin's voicemail?"

"There is only one person who can help you defeat the Dark One now. Her name is Nimue."

"Who's Nimue?" Hanna asked.

"If you want to destroy the darkness, then you must…" There was a noise, then Merlin quickly turned and looked behind him. "No. The Dark One has found me already," he said before disappearing.

"What the hell did Emma do to him?" Killian asked. He looked around at everyone else in the room. No one knew.

After realizing no one had any idea who this Nimue was, they decided there may be one person who did know. The person who had just betrayed them…Arthur. David, Killian, and Robin went to search for him while Hanna went with her mom, Regina and Henry to the sheriff's station to wait for them to return. Hanna sent Emma a text letting her know what they learned from Merlin. She also asked if she knew who Nimue was, but as usual Hanna didn't get a response.

"So what happened after you left with Emma last night?" Henry asked as he sat down next to Hanna.

"Nothing really," Hanna turned to her friend. "How are you? I know seeing that memory in the dreamcatcher wasn't easy for you."

"I'm fine," Henry shook his head. "I…I know that wasn't really my mom who did that. It was the Dark One."

"It was, Henry. Our Emma wouldn't have done that."

"You're right. She did help me find Violet's horse, but…I think that she was just trying to get on my good side because she felt guilty."

Hanna felt that twinge in her stomach again. Maybe she could just tell Henry what she knew. He could keep their secret, right? He could help. It would be like the old days when the three of them worked together. Hanna looked up…her mom and Regina were across the room. They wouldn't be able to hear her if she did tell them. Hanna stopped herself though. She knew she couldn't. Emma didn't want Henry in on any of this. The only reason Hanna knew anything was because she pestered Emma and didn't give her a choice. Henry didn't have any magic either. Hanna was no pro, but at least she could poof herself away if something bad happened. She didn't want to put Henry in any danger.

"She didn't say anything to you about it did she?" Henry asked.

Hanna shook her head and shrugged. "No, she never mentioned it." Hanna could see the despair in Henry's eyes. She hated lying to him.

Henry sighed. "Let's just hope we can get the darkness out of her soon."

"We will Henry." Hanna reached out for his hand and gave him a smile. "This will all be over soon."

David, Killian, and Robin came in awhile later with Arthur. They threw him in a jail cell and before anyone cold stop him, Killian had ahold of him through the bars. "Who's Nimue? What the hell happened back in Camelot?"

"I wish I knew," Arthur told him. "That blonde demon took my memories, same as yours."

"Then why destroy Merlin's message? What aren't you bloody telling us!" Killian shouted.

"That's enough!" David pulled Killian away from Arthur. "He doesn't know anything. He's a king with no kingdoms and as much as he hates it, he's not important anymore."

"Feel any better?" Regina asked Killian as he walked back towards them.

"I'll feel better when I have some answers. Emma said this whole thing was about me."

Hanna's eyes went wide. "You talked to her?"

"Aye," Killian gave the girl a nod. "Emma said this was about me, but said nothing more."

Regina started to laugh. "Are you really that naive? She's manipulating you. That's what the Dark One does."

"No," Killian shook his head. "This was Emma talking."

"There may not be any Emma left," Snow said sadly. "Not anymore."

"Mom, you don't really believe that…do you?" Hanna asked.

"She's right, Hanna," Regina said. She looked over at Killian too. "This Dark One…she has Excalibur, and she is going to destroy all light magic."

"Regina you're wrong. It has to be something else." Hanna told her. "She hasn't even used the sword."

"Well, obviously, she needs another ingredient to cast the spell," Regina told her. "So we figure out what that is and stop her from getting it. Then we get our Emma back."

"You can all look at magic spells until you're blue in the face, but something happened between me and her in Camelot. The only way to help Emma is to figure out what the hell it was." Killian turned and left the station.

Hanna's first instinct was to follow the pirate and find her sister, but she didn't. It was getting late and she knew her parents wouldn't let her go for another walk. They'd probably make her go home and go to bed.

"Come on, sweetie. We're going to head home for the night," Snow said as if on cue.

Hanna rolled her eyes. "But Mom! The sword. Emma. We have to…"

"It's getting late, Hanna." David came up beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. "We'll go get some rest and figure out what your sister is planning in the morning."

Hanna sighed. "Fine."

Hanna was getting ready for bed when she heard a knock on her door. When her parents walked in Hanna's stomach started doing somersaults. They normally came to her room to say goodnight, but Hanna could tell by the looks on their faces she was going to be getting more that a couple of goodnight kisses.

"Can we talk to you?" Snow asked as she sat on the bed next to Hanna.

"Sure." Hanna watched as her dad pulled the chair out from her desk and sat in front of her. "So…what's up?"

"Hanna are you sure there's something you're not telling us?" David asked.

"Anything you may have forgotten or didn't think was important?" Snow added.

Hanna shook her head.

David sighed. "Are you sure, kiddo?"

"Yes," Hanna insisted.

"You've spent more time with Emma than either of us since we got back. She hasn't told you anything?" Snow tried.

"Mom, no. I have no idea what she's planning."

"And you're sure you didn't know anything about Gold or the sword before tonight?" Snow asked her for the second time. She still had a strong feeling that Hanna was hiding something.

Hanna looked down as her mom reached out for her hand.

"You can talk to us sweetie."

Hanna felt like she was going to puke. She hated not being able to tell her parents. She had to do this though…for Emma. Hanna trusted that Emma was doing what was best. She had to get her mom and dad to stop asking her questions though. She didn't know how much longer she could keep up with all of this lying. She knew she was going to have to make this good so they would finally stop.

Hanna felt the tears start to well up in her eyes. "I already told you I didn't. Why won't you believe me?" Hanna looked up at her parents as the tears began to stream down her face. "I would tell you if I knew anything. Especially after seeing what Emma did to Violet." Hanna shook her head as she remembered what she witnessed in the dreamcatcher. "I thought Emma would be different. I thought the darkness wouldn't take over, but I was wrong." She also thought back to Emma clutching Merida's heart in her hands and sending the red head off to put an arrow through Belle's heart. Luckily, that part of Emma's planned worked. Belle was safe and Emma got the sword just like she wanted. Hanna knew something was up with Zelena and those onion rings too. Emma seemed to be plunging further into the darkness and that terrified Hanna. Hanna let her head fall into her hands as she started to cry even harder. These tears weren't fake anymore.

Snow and David looked at each other and could tell their little girl was devastated. They had a feeling Hanna wasn't just going for walks these last couple days. They were trying to trust her though…give her some space. They hoped she would tell them anything she learned, but Snow's gut was telling her that Hanna was keeping things from them. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe Hanna really was telling the truth.

"Okay, Hanna. Okay," David came to the other side of Hanna and held her close.

"Just calm down, baby. It's alright." Snow rubbed circles on her back and started to feel guilty.

"We believe you, princess."

Hanna looked up at him and let out a sniffle. "Daddy, I just want my sister back."

"I know," David wiped a few of Hanna's tears away. "We want Emma back too."

"We're sorry we pushed you," Snow told her.

"We trust you, Hanna. It's okay," David assured her.

Once Hanna calmed down, Snow and David tucked her in for the night. Hanna laid in her bed as a whirlwind of emotions swept through her. She was relieved that she was able to convince her parents she didn't know anything. She felt guilty for lying to them in the first place. She was scared for her sister. Scared that the darkness would completely take over Emma. What if Hanna failed her? What if she couldn't do this. What if she broke her promise and couldn't get the darkness out of her sister…

"Remember I always know when you're lying." Snow raised her eyebrows at her daughter.

"Come on princess you know you can tell us anything."

"Hanna, please you're my best friend. I need to know what my mom is up to."

Sweat poured down Hanna's face as her family questioned her. She couldn't hold it in anymore. She had to tell them everything. Hanna took a deep breath and revealed all of Emma's secrets.

Then the room went dark. A bright flash lit up the room again.

Everyone was gone and Emma appeared in front of her. "I thought I could trust you."

"You can, Emma! You can!" Hanna's eyes started to fill with tears.

"You told all of my secrets. You betrayed me."

"Emma I had to! Now that they know, they can help you!"

They can't help and now I've failed." A strong wind began to blow as the darkness surround Emma.

Hanna reached out and grabbed her sister's hand. "Emma what's happening?" Hanna shouted.

"It's taking me away! You broke your promise and now the darkness has won!"

"Emma I can still save you!"

"It's too late!" Emma yelled as the darkness took her away.

"No!" Hanna sat up with a start. She couldn't catch her breath.

"Hanna?" Snow and Charming quickly came into the room and turned on the lights. They had been woken by Hanna's nightmares before, but the screams coming from their daughter were worse than they had ever heard before.

David quickly sat down onto the bed and pulled Hanna into his arms. "Calm down baby. It's okay. Your mom and I are here. You're safe." His soothing words weren't working this time.

"Hanna…" Snow sat down next to her husband and looked into her daughters eyes. Snow could tell Hanna was still stuck in her dream. She could see the sweat soaking Hanna's face and hair. Hanna never had a night terror like this before. "Hanna!" Snow said a little louder as she put her hands on either side of her face. "Hanna look at me!"

Hanna flinched and her eyes focused on her mom sitting right in front of her. She could feel her dad's strong arms holding her.

"There you are," Snow said with a smile as she pushed Hanna's hair from her face and tucked it behind her ears. She noticed her daughter's breathing hadn't slowed down at all though. "Hanna I need you to take some deep breaths for me, okay? In…out…"

Hanna listened to her mom and her breathing began to even out.

"I'll be right back." Snow went to get a cool cloth to help with the sweat.

David leaned back against the headboard and continued to hold his little girl.

Hanna laid her head against her dad's chest and tried to relax.

David leaned down and gave Hanna a kiss on the top of her head. "You're safe princess. We've got you."

Snow came back and leaned back against the headboard beside David. David laid Hanna in between them on the bed while Snow reached down and put the cool cloth on her forehead.

"Want to tell us what you were dreaming about?" David asked.

"The darkness…it took her."

Snow and David watched as tears started to fall from Hanna's eyes again. They weren't going to ask her anymore. Their hearts just broke for their little girl. Neither knew what to do about the darkness inside of Emma, but they would do the only thing they could in this moment and give their youngest daughter the comfort she needed right now. They laid down beside her and stayed with her until morning.

"Hanna please eat something," David tried for the third time. He made his daughter's favorite chocolate chip pancakes, but she wouldn't even touch them.

"I'm not hungry." She just felt so exhausted and not just from the nightmare she had last night…it was all of it. Her sister being the Dark One. The lies…all the lies. Hanna didn't know how much more she could take.

David knelt down in front of Hanna. "How about I make you a hot chocolate?"

Hanna shook her head. She got up and laid on the couch. She thought maybe she should go check in with Emma, but she couldn't. Hanna just needed a break. She turned on the tv and tried to get her mind off of her sister for just a little while. Hanna didn't hear from Emma all day and by the time evening rolled around, Hanna just wanted to go to bed. Maybe by morning she would have enough energy to deal with her sister.

Hanna was about to head upstairs when Snow's phone rang. Hanna waited to see what the call was about. It was Regina. Apparently Zelena was in labor. As soon as Snow hung up the phone, Belle came running into the loft and told them that she found the spell to destroy light magic in Merlin's spell book. The one thing Emma needed was the cries of a newborn child.

Hanna's mind was racing as they all made their way over to the hospital to warn Regina and Robin. What had Emma done to those onion rings? She wouldn't really do something to the baby would she? After everything she's seen, Hanna wasn't so sure.

They arrived just as Regina, Robin, and Dr Whale were rushing Zelena down the hallway in a wheel chair, her screams from the labor pains echoing the hallway. Hanna was shocked when she saw her. Zelena was way more pregnant than when she was at Emma's the day before. What did Emma do to her?

"Zelena, why would Emma do this?" Regina asked.

"I have no idea! Why don't you ask her!" Zelena pointed to Hanna. "She was there when the Dark One gave me the onion rings! She procured them for her!" Zelena continued to shout as they wheeled her into the delivery room.

Hanna froze. Dr. Whale and Robin continued to rush Zelena into the delivery room, but everyone else stopped and all eyes were on her.