CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Think Happy Thoughts

MAIN STREET, STORYBROOKE – PRESENT TIME

Emma had whipped back around to him just as he had begun speaking aloud what he was writing, and raised her hand in an attempt to stop him, but Killian placed himself between her and Henry. Emma faltered for a slight moment before summoning a flame in her hand, but it was too late. Henry added the full stop to the sentence, and the page began to glow. Henry looked up as the flame disappeared from her hand, and blue magic began to freeze her in place. Squid ink.

"No…" Emma uttered.

Before anyone could say anything else, a portal opened underneath her, and her immobilized body fell straight through it. The portal disappeared with her almost as fast as it had appeared.

Everyone stared at the spot where Emma had stood moments ago. No one spoke. Henry couldn't help it. He broke down crying, falling to the ground. It wasn't a moment later that a pair of strong arms—Killian's arms—were helping him up, trying to soothe him. They clung to each other for comfort and solace, like parent and child.

Finally, Regina stood and approached the now-lifeless body of her sister. Her baby girl that Emma had placed on her lap when she was finished with it lay squirming on her lap. Regina carefully picked it up, and walked back over to Robin, who was still in shock over what had happened. They also wrapped each other in a hug, both of them cradling the baby.

After a few moments of hugging, David and Mary Margaret, and everyone else, approached Killian and Henry, staring in awe at both Killian and Henry. Mary Margaret approached Killian and reached out to touch his arm.

"You're okay," Mary Margaret stated, almost like a question, before pulling him into a hug.

"How did you get that pen, Henry?" Mary Margaret asked, pulling out of the hug and looking at Henry. She then turned her attention to Killian. "And how are you even here, Killian?"

"It's a long story," Killian told them, looking at Henry. "It might take a while…"

"We need to hear everything," Mary Margaret told him.

So, Killian and Henry told them. Killian told them about the Underworld, about Meg and Herc (whom he noticed Mary Margaret's face redden at the mention of) and Milah and Liam, about the Author's pen calling to him, about killing Hades, about meeting Zeus, and Henry told them about Emma's message to the two of them.

"She said…" Henry began. "She told me to tell you that she's sorry, and that she loves you guys."

Mary Margaret looked away, obviously hurt that her daughter didn't tell them herself.

"She wouldn't have been able to do it, you know," Henry told her reassuringly, making Mary Margaret look back at him. "She wouldn't have been able to say goodbye to you guys one more time."

At his words, Mary Margaret smiled a weak smile, and let tears fall from her eyes.

"Where is she?" Robin asked after a while. "Do you know where she's gone?"

Suddenly, Henry began to panic. He realized that he hadn't been thinking straight at the time, and hadn't specified where she was to be banished to.

"Oh, god," Henry uttered, stepping back. All the possibilities of where she could be began to flow through his head. "What if… what if I banished her to the Underworld? Or somewhere worse? Or somewhere where she can still hurt people? Or—"

"Henry," Killian interrupted, kneeling down to look up at Henry's glistening eyes. "It's okay. She's okay."

"How do you know that?" Henry said, looking away from him.

"I don't know," Killian told him, which made Henry look back at him in confusion. "I just… do."

Henry stared at him for a moment. "You're right," Henry agreed with a small smile and nod. "She's okay."

Killian returned his smile, and stood up again. David approached Killian and shook his hand firmly.

"It's good to have you back, mate," David said, emphasizing the 'mate'.

At his words, Killian let himself forget about the past few weeks and allowed himself to smile his cheeky smile for the first time in a good while.

"Devastated at my passing, were we, Dave?" Killian asked, making David's smile grow large.

"Don't push it," David said as firmly as he could through his smile.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Killian responded.

Mary Margaret and David stepped out of the way to allow other people to talk with Killian. After shaking a few hands, Belle came over and pulled Killian into a hug that shocked him a little at first. Despite their first encounter, the two had grown close, and developed quite a strong friendship.

"It's good to have you back, Killian," Belle told him.

"Aye," Killian agreed. "It's good to see you again, Belle."

Belle pulled out of the hug, and gave Henry a hug as well. She turned to walk towards David and Mary Margaret, but noticed something—someone—on the ground, and froze.

"Rumple!" she exclaimed, causing everyone to turn towards her.

She ran over to Gold's body and held him up in her arms.

"Rumple?" she asked. "Rumple, can you hear me?"

At her words, he began to awaken from his unconscious state, if only slightly.

"B-Belle?" he asked, his brow furrowed a little.

"Yes," Belle said, allowing herself to smile despite everything they'd been through. "It's me. I'm here."

He opened his mouth to say something, but instead fell back to sleep.

"It's gonna be okay," Belle told him, cradling him in her arms. "It's all gonna be okay."

GRAVEYARD, STORYBROOKE – TWO DAYS LATER

Regina stood next to Henry in the graveyard as she stared at Zelena's coffin. It wasn't raining, thankfully. The sun shone bright in the sky.

Regina's thoughts drifted back to the previous day.

Are you sure about this? Mary Margaret had asked Guinevere, who had insisted that Arthur be brought back to Camelot to be buried properly.

Yes, she responded, still devastated at his passing. It's what he would have wanted.

Okay, Regina acknowledged.

She raised the wand to open the portal back to Camelot for everyone Emma's curse had brought over, but Mary Margaret stopped her.

And, this time, send them the portal without the twister, Mary Margaret told her.

Regina had rolled her eyes and glared at Mary Margaret for a moment before continuing. Very well.

She waved the wand and caused a door to appear on the road. Merida led the others towards the door, and walked through it after hugging Belle for helping her with her brothers. Guinevere thanked David and Mary Margaret, and led several of Arthur's soldiers holding Arthur's coffin above their heads through the portal.

Are you sure you don't want to take Roland back home to Sherwood Forest? Regina asked Robin while watching everyone walk through the portal.

Robin looked her right in the eyes and told her words that Regina will never forget. We are home.

Robin had planted a quick kiss on Regina's lips before scooping Roland up in his arms and returning to Granny's.

"Though she wasn't the best of sisters," Regina said to Robin after pulling herself away from her memories. "She still never even got to name her daughter."

"How about something like…" Robin said to her, confusing Regina. "Eleanor. Eleanor Zelena Hood. Ellie for short."

Regina stared in wonder at Robin, who had at least partially forgiven her sister for everything she'd put them through.

"I love it," she said, looking back to the coffin.

Henry stood next to Killian, Mary Margaret, David, and Belle. While they did grieve the loss of Zelena, they couldn't get their minds of Emma, and where she might be. While Henry still had moments where he believed Emma could be somewhere in pain, Killian would make sure that he stopped thinking like that.

Henry and Killian had visited Emma's house yesterday. It would take a while for them to both be ready to move in there together, but Henry was trying his best to look to the future. He still had Regina, he still had his grandparents (including Gold, who was still unconscious in hospital), and now he had Killian. Henry was slowly but surely accepting Killian into the family with open arms.

"You alright, lad?" Killian's soft voice came.

"Yeah, I'm good," Henry told him. "It's been a rough few days."

"You can say that again," Mary Margaret said with a weak laugh. "I hope we never again have a day like today, or any day these past weeks."

David chuckled at that. "Me too."

"Well, what do say, Henry?" Killian asked him. "Ready to go home?"

Henry smiled at him, and the two walked out of the cemetery, with Killian's arm around Henry. They both wore smiles on their faces, but deep down, they were asking themselves the same question.

Where's Emma?

THE DARK ONE'S CELL, THE ENCHANTED FOREST – FOUR WEEKS LATER

THE DARK SWAN'S POV

Emma sat on her perch high above the floor of her cell. The moonlight shone through the slit windows. The moonlight reflected off of her black wings, which had encased her in a cocoon of sorts. The entire jail had been protected by the Author's magic. Emma, despite all her power, was not able to escape.

Her wings weren't soundproof, and she snapped back to attention when she heard the door to the jail being opened. Opening her wings up also made the sound of water dripping that had been driving her completely insane fill her ears again, and she snarled. She had killed the last guard that was meant to keep an eye on her; snapped his neck while practicing her magic, though she soon discovered that using magic as dangerous as that would result in her being paralyzed by squid ink. There was no doubt about it: Emma Swan enjoyed toying with her victims. She'd probably kill this guy too. No… she'd definitely kill this guy too. He had no idea who she was, or what she was capable of.

How the hell are there even still people in the Enchanted Forest to keep an eye of me? Emma wondered to herself. There have been, like, three different curses…

Emma was pulled from her thoughts as she saw the flame from his torch light up the floor of her cage. He peered in, searching for her. She heard him slot the torch into the holster on the wall. Moments later, she saw him push her meal on a wooden tray underneath the door and onto the floor of her cell.

"Here's your supper," the man said.

Emma licked her lips at his pure innocence. He said it as though he were feeding a baby. She stood up from her perch and extended her wings outwards, preparing to pounce.

"Come get it."

And with that, Emma dove down to the floor of the cage and grabbed the man's arm, pulling him towards the spiked door of the cage. His resistance was futile. She was too strong for him to escape her.

"Let me go!" he demanded.

He peered through the cage door trying to see her face behind the spiked bars and darkness. Emma loved the sound of fear and desperation in his voice, his rapid breathing pattern. She hadn't felt such pleasure since she drove Excalibur through Zelena's chest.

"Who are you?"

Emma leaned forward, still gripping tightly onto his arm, so that he could see her scaly skin and large, crocodile eyes, which had returned thanks to her banishment back to the Enchanted Forest. She flapped her wings as well, causing his cloak to blow in the gust of wind it created.

"My name is… Emma."

He stared in pure shock at her for a few moments before responding, full of fear. "You really are a monster…"

"On the inside and out, dearie," Emma told him, smiling and tilting her head.

She reached into his chest and felt around for his still-beating heart, thoroughly enjoying the gasp of pain that escaped the man's mouth. She then pulled it out of his chest, causing him to fall to the floor in agony.

Emma stared at the heart for a while. She had always been intrigued by hearts, and hadn't held one in her hands for so long now. Emma couldn't even remember the last time. Was it Killian's heart in the back of Granny's? Or was it Merlin's to enact the curse? Emma's memories had become quite all over the place. Isolation and insanity will do that to you, no matter how powerful you are. She considered herself lucky that at least Rumple's spirit wasn't there taunting her.

She closed her eyes and squeezed on the heart, crushing it until it became dust in her right hand. She let the dust linger for a few moments before allowing it to slip through her ringed fingers. She snarled at the man on the ground who closed his eyes and stopped breathing.

Emma put both her hands on the bars or the cell door and stared at the door to the jail, willing it to open. Her wings moved violently behind her, almost as though they had mind of their own. Though Emma's magic was severely dampened in here, Emma still managed to finally open the jail door with a satisfying 'click'. For some reason, the squid ink didn't paralyze her. It would only be a matter of time before she was strong enough (or the magic holding her there was weak enough) to open the door to her cell and make her escape.

"Soon," she promised herself.

Then, she released the bars, and flew up to her perch once more. She closed her large wings around her, into their previous cocoon shape, and closed her eyes. She held out her hand and was able to spark a silver fireball in her hand, though it burned out almost as fast as it had appeared as squid ink began to immobilize her once again for using magic like this. However, she opened her eyes and began to laugh.

Emma Swan continued laughing long after the moon had gone down, and long after the sun had come up.

Author's Notes: Hey guys! Well, what did you think? I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

I really wanted to include footage of the Dark Swan from that trailer we saw at San Diego Comic Con last year, though I had to change it around a little bit. It was so good, and got me extremely hyped for the whole series. We also got to see everyone's reactions to the devastating finale, which I hope you enjoyed. I also named Baby Hood something different because, well, this whole trend on the show of naming babies after dead characters (Henry, Neal, Robyn) NEEDS to stop.

I have a basic outline for where the story is going to go from here, but I'm not too sure just yet. What I can promise is that, when it comes back, there will be lots of Snowing and Rumbelle (because I think there are some people who could use a little Rumbelle fluff after all they're going through on the show), some OutlawQueen, and maybe I can try a little VioletBeliever… There will also be lots of CaptainBook (because I legit live for those two), and, who knows? Maybe we'll even see some CaptainSwan (hopefully). I don't know that we'll see Merida or Arthur or Guinevere or anyone else from Camelot again, but death couldn't keep Zelena off the show, so I suppose it's a possibility that she could come back somehow...

Anyway, I'm going to take a little break from the story now. I don't know how long it'll take, but it'll be better than ever when it comes back again, hopefully. If you guys would like to, you could follow the story to be notified when I update it again. I'd also appreciate any thoughts or ideas you guys have that you could post in the reviews section, or you could PM me.