As I said in the description, this is based on a theory we have over 5x10 and beyond spoilers. So if you don't want to be spoiled, DON'T READ!

Emma ran through the woods, heedless of the branches that slapped against her face and the underbrush that threatened to trip her, her sole focus on getting to the lake before it was too late.

She couldn't lose him. Not now, not after everything they'd been through….

A strangled sob threatened to overtake her but she pushed it down, willing her legs to move faster. She could still feel the dark magic coursing through her veins, thrumming with a life of its own as it tried to break the command that had been given to its master. But it couldn't ignore the ancient pull to the wielder of the dagger anymore than she could.

She had tried to shape Gold into the hero needed to pull Excalibur from its stone so as to spare her loved ones, memories of Merlin telling her whoever did would have to pay the ultimate price - their life for completion of Excalibur. But in the end destiny had intervened and placed Killian there in the ultimate moment for him to withdraw the famous blade from its stone causing his name to appear on its blade in the same dark, flowing script that adorned her dagger. He had united the broken pieces of Excalibur, forging the blade as it once was, and had set out to destroy the curse he had spent centuries chasing.

She now knew what Merlin's warning to her as a child meant. It was never her destiny to pull Excalibur, to unite the broken blade and wield it for dark purposes. It was his. The man who had lost his first love and hand to the darkness, who had a piece of the ancient blade inked on his skin, the one who Merlin had truly prophesied all those years ago - it had always been Killian. Excalibur was always meant to be pulled by an act of love, not darkness, and united under the same cause to break the ultimate dark curse.

And the price would be his life.

No! I will not lose him!

She cursed the fact that he had commanded her not to use magic as she ran blindly through the woods, her only comfort the sound of four pairs of boots running behind her. Whatever she had done to them since she fully embraced the darkness didn't matter in this moment - all that mattered was them getting to her pirate in time.

Breaking through the treeline her eyes frantically scanned the fog filled shore, finally seeing him near the small dock, a dark silhouette beneath the moonlight. She took off toward him, her heart beating frantically against her chest.

"Killian!"

He turned at the sound of his name, eyes impossibly blue in the dark as he watched her run to him. Gone was his leather jacket and vest, replaced with a black pea coat and dress shirt that had far too many buttons buttoned, his normally disheveled hair perfectly styled to the left. Excalibur was held loosely in his hand, tip pointing toward the ground and its red ruby shimmering in the moonlight. He was the other half of her curse now, the light to her darkness, love to her selfishness. This had always been his destiny - to be the true wielder of Excalibur, her Savior.

"Emma…."

She came to a stop mere feet from him, breath ragged from her mad dash. "Killian, please don't do this," she whispered, the tears that had been threatening to fall since she watched him withdraw the sword burning her eyes.

A sad smile pulled at his lips. "I have to, Swan. You know that."

"We'll find another way," she pleaded as the sound of her followers ceased behind them. "There has to be another way…"

Killian shook his dark head. "There is no other way, love."

"There's always another way!" she shouted, angry at the forces of the universe that put them in this moment. She had been destined to be both the Savior and the Dark One before she had even been born and he… he had always been destined to be the one to save her, in so many ways.

"Not this time," he quietly replied.

There was movement over his right shoulder and her breath caught as she saw the boat approaching the dock, a black robed figure standing at its prow. Desperation swelled within her and she took another step toward him, tears now freely falling as she choked out, "You can't leave me, Killian. You promised you were a survivor."

"It's the price I have to pay," he mummered as he came toward her, closing the distance until she could grasp the edges of his new jacket tightly, willing the material to never leave her fingers.

"Please…." she sobbed. She didn't care what those behind them saw, didn't care that they saw the Dark One vulnerable because in this moment she wasn't the Dark One. She was Emma Swan and she was about to lose the man she loved.

"Fret not, Swan. I have one last thing to do before I go."

A small hiccup escaped her. "What?"

She heard rather than saw him throw Excalibur to the ground, his now free hand coming up to the back of her neck. Blue eyes shined down at her with love and adoration.

"I have to save the woman I love."

Before she could respond his lips were on hers and there was an instant pulse of magic, one that radiated down to the very core of her being. She could feel the dark magic that had swirled within her for months disappear, replaced by the familiar hum of her white magic that she thought she'd never feel again. It filled her, spreading like a warm blanket over her until she was brimming with it.

Her eyes fluttered open as he ended the kiss and she gasped quietly. Gone was the black armor she had encased herself in since accepting the darkness, the leather of her red jacket a familiar warmth against her body. Her hair was golden again, released from its severe bun to spill down her shoulders.

True Love's Kiss. He had broken the Dark One's curse with love, as he had always been meant to.

Her joy was short lived as she saw the approaching hooded figures, ten of them in total, and her grip on his jacket tightened. "Killian," she begged, eyes pooling once again with tears.

"I love you," he whispered, and then everything happened at once.

She felt him press something into her hand as two of the hooded figures reached them, pulling him away from her almost violently. She fought to get to him but the remaining figures stopped her, barring her path to him and she dimly heard the shouts of her parents and Regina from behind her over her own screams as he was lead down the dock and onto the boat. His eyes never left her even as the boat started to move, his lips forming the words he had whispered to her over and over again until an electric blue portal opened upon the lake's water, taking him away from her.

Sobs wracked her body and she angrily beat her fists against the robed figures still stood in front of her. "I want him back!" she screamed, over and over again until her throat was raw.

"That can not be," one of the disembodied voices replied. "He must pay the price for withdrawing Excalibur and ending the Dark Curse."

"It's me you want! I'm the one who wanted the sword fixed, I'm the Dark One!"

"You are not that anymore," another hooded figure responded, "The Dark One no longer exists, its curse forever broken by an act of pure love."

Anger and desperation swelled within her. If they wouldn't give him back to her then she was going to take him back. "Where is he?" she demanded as the hooded figures began walking back towards the lake, disappearing one by one into the murky waters. "Where did you take him?"

"To where all souls go upon their passing," the last robed figure replied, "The Underworld."

"How do I get there?"

Even as she asked the question the figure was slowly sinking back into dark lake but its voice, cold and mocking, echoed back to her.

"It is impossible."

"The hell it is!"

Emma spun around at the sound of her mother's voice laced with hard determination. Tears were streaking down her face but the woman standing there was not the timid elementary school teacher she had met upon arriving in Storybrooke but the bandit Princess who had taken back her kingdom and defeated the Evil Queen, green eyes flashing fiercely.

Before Emma could say anything her father was stepping forward, hand on the hilt of his sword. "We will find him," he swore to her, "Because that's what this family does - we always find each other."

Emma's lower lip trembled. "Family?"

"Of course he's family," Mary Margaret said matter of factly, as if it was the most absurd question she had ever been asked. "After everything he's done for you, for this town… He loves you Emma and that is enough for us to call him family."

"Grandma is right, mom."

Emma's eyes snapped to the approaching form of her son, his jaw clenched hard. "Killian is family and we don't give up on family." Fresh tears pooled in Emma's eyes at Henry's words and she noted through her blurred vision Gold and Belle now stood next to her parents, the librarian's own eyes wet from the lose of her friend.

Another sob escaped Emma and she looked to Regina, the former Evil Queen grabbing Robin's hand before giving her own tense nod of agreement. "We will save guy-" she paused, swallowing hard before continuing in an emotional voice, "Killian. We will save Killian no matter what it takes."

"Emma."

Emma turned, seeing Merlin standing slightly outside their group, his face serious.

"Merlin," she whispered brokenly, tears once again falling down her cheeks, "Help me… please."

He walked toward her, every inch the foreboding sorcerer he was. "You wish to travel to the world of the dead, where the darkest nights and most tortured souls reside to retrieve the man who once walked the path of darkness himself?"

"Yes," she instantly replied, never more sure of an answer in her life. Merlin continued to stare at her for a long moment, contemplating her in that all-knowing way of his before smiling widely.

"But of course, Emma. And so you shall."

"Just like that?" Gold interjected, clearly having not expected the sorcerer to agree so readily. "Travel to the Underworld is forbidden by the living, dearie."

"Generally, yes," the ancient sorcerer responded, "But this is a special case."

"Special case?" Belle asked hopefully, wiping at the tears still falling down her cheeks.

Merlin shrugged nonchalantly. "It was always prophesied, Lady Belle. The prophecy doesn't end with the Once and Future King withdrawing the blade and giving his life to end the darkest of all curses, not as long as the most powerful of all magic exists."

"True love," Mary Margaret whispered, smiling as her eyes moved to her daughter. Merlin nodded.

"It can defeat dark magic, break any curse…" he looked back to Emma. "And travel through any realm."

"What do we need to do?" Regina asked, easily stepping into the role of magical leader.

"You will need both a talisman he owned as well as the blood of someone who knew him before the magic of Neverland prolonged his life."

Emma frantically searched her memory for where she could find either of those things, heart dropping as she realised she could think of nothing. Maybe there was something on the Jolly Roger. She knew of the drawer in his desk where he kept reminders of Liam safely tucked away, perhaps there was something there….

"Rumple!"

Emma's head snapped up at Belle's excited shout, seeing the petite librarian smiling at her husband. "You! You knew Killian before he went to Neverland!"

"Belle," the pawn brooker whispered sadly, "I can't-"

"The hell you can't," David growled, stalking over to him. "You can and will help us get to Killian, do you understand me?"

Gold visibly shrunk back from the angry prince, leaning heavily on his wooden cane. "You don't understand…"

"But I do," Regina said, voice hard. "I understand the all consuming need to seek revenge for what you think was taken from you, to ruin lives and hold on to animosity until it chokes you." Her eyes flickered to Mary Margaret and David before returning to Gold. "But this is your chance, Gold. Your chance to become better than the man you were, to become the man your son hoped you would be. Don't you think you owe it to the pirate to save him after you not only took his first love and hand but were the entire reason his True Love had to take on the darkness in the first place?"

Emma stood in silence, watching Gold's eyes filter between the members of her family until finally coming to rest on her. She would beg him if she had to, drop to her knees and strike any damn deal he wanted if it meant saving Killian. Belle continued to whispered pleas beside her husband until he nodded softly.

"I'll help."

"Wonderful," Merlin sing songed, moving to where Killian had dropped Excalibur before saving her with True Love's Kiss. Emma's eyes widened as she took in the newly broken sword.

"What-"

"Excalibur has fulfilled its purpose of breaking the Dark Curse," Merlin answered, waving his hand over the smaller piece of blade. A new handle appeared and the sorcerer picked it up. "The blade can be rejoined once its rightful wielder is back but then it will simply be what it was before - a sword fit for the ruler of Camelot."

As he moved to hand the blade to Gold Emma shook her head, new tears threatening to overwhelm her. "We don't have a talisman that Killian owned before his time in Neverland."

Merlin smiled softly at her as he handed the dagger to David. "I believe the pirate - my apologizes, the King - took care of that." At her confused look he nodded to her hand that was clenched tightly at her side. Heart beating loudly in her chest Emma brought her hand up, slowly uncurling her fingers until the object Killian had placed in her hand before being swept away to the Underworld was revealed. It was his ring, the large ruby he wore on his index finger and on the moonlit shore Emma could see the carving of a swan's head within a heart upon its side, a detail she had never noticed before. Eyes snapping up she saw Merlin grinning at her once again.

"Just as he was always prophesied to pull Excalibur and defeat the darkness he was also always meant to be your True Love, Emma. It was written in the stars long before either of you took your first breaths." Tilting his head to the side he said knowingly, "How do you think a man born 300 years before you was able to live long enough to fall in love with you?"

For the first time in months Emma smiled and Merlin returned it with a nod, moving as the rest of the group came closer to the lake. She turned to face the dark lake, hearing Gold hiss as the blade that had once held both their names was brought across his palm. Looking back down at the ring in her palm she thumbed the flower design along its stone edge, chuckling quietly as she recognized the design as the same flower that was inked onto her own wrist. Written in the stars indeed.

Waving her hand over the ring a white glow encased it, revealing a long chain with the ring already slid on it. Hearing Merlin begin a chant in a language she didn't know she slid the necklace around her neck, her hand firmly grasping the talisman that would lead her to her pirate. As another electric blue portal opened in front of her her father came to stand beside her.

"You know, we really will have to save him now so I can call him King Killian."

She threw her father a grateful smile before turning back to the portal.

Hold on Killian. We're coming for you.