Dark Swan Rising

The Ugly Truth

Author's note: this chapter is how I had hoped the Dark Swan would be. Obviously since Killian is dead, you don't have to worry about her love for him getting in the way. In fact, in Emma's mind, she's doing this for him.

Regina stared at the Charmings in shock. Realization struck her.

"She has to have Excalibur," Regina gasped. "Figure out what the hell she needed," she said before poofing to Emma's house.

It has to be here somewhere, she thought, hoping that the Dark Swan would be distracted long enough for her to find the sword. A broken bone is nothing on a broken heart....

Closing her eyes, she put away the phone that she'd begun to pull from her coat and began mounting up the stairs.

She started as she heard a snicker behind her.

"How sweet," she heard Emma's voice sneer. "Sparing him of a devastating heartbreak."

Regina whirled around in surprise as Emma continued.

"Just as you tried to keep me from the truth." Emma's eyes lit with joy at Regina's fear. "That's right, I found the dreamcatcher."

Regina walked back down the steps and stood head to head with the Dark Swan.

"Then if you know so much," she started. "Then answer me one thing. Why couldn't you fight it off this time."

Emma's face became a blank slate. "Because... you seem to be forgetting that I had a reason to fight."

Confusion washed over Regina. "Yes, Henry. Why can't you fight this for him again?"

Emma appeared baffled, her bewilderment was written on her face, as clear as day. "I wasn't fighting for Henry. Don't you understand that by now?"

She couldn't comprehend what Miss Swan was implying. "Then who were you fighting for?"

"Killian. He was the only one trying to help me in Camelot. While you and the others were off playing hop scotch, he was helping me to fight the darkness."

Regina released a breath she hadn't noticed she was holding. "This is not who Killian wanted you to become, Emma."

Emma's left hand raised and Regina was sent flying into the door. Pain shot through her body as she shakily stood back up.

In a heartbeat, Emma had her hand planted on Regina's shoulder, keeping her pinned against it.

"I am exactly what you made me," she snarled.

Suddenly. she backed away and her face changed into a crazed expression. Her voice turned childlike, sending chills running down Regina's spine.

"Besides, it's not like I didn't warn you."

With those words lingering in the air, Emma vanished, leaving Regina to wonder what was going on in her mind. But one thing was for certain. Emma had something upstairs. She wouldn't have appeared when she had unless there was a reason, right? Regina made her way back up the stairs, more determined than ever. She had to know how Emma got this way again.

Of course she knew, since they made her the Dark Swan again, but that couldn't be all there was to the story. Emma's actions expressed more than anger, even before they wiped her memories.

How did she find that dreamcatcher, anyways, Regina pondered. Shaking her head, she worked her way up the steps again. Immediately turning to the left, she saw a small chest sitting on a bed in the room at the end of the hall.

Reaching the box, she opened it, closing it quickly and placing it down again, horrified with what she saw. Regina shakily pulled out her cell phone and called the Charmings. They arrived in a matter of minutes, their faces unreadable.

Regina led them upstairs and once again opened the chest, waiting for their reactions. The two immediately hugged each other and Snow buried herself in David's embrace.

Pulling away, she said, "How could Emma have fallen so far?"

Regina responded grimly, "She feels betrayed. But there's something else... I can feel it..."

David pulled away from Snow and stared at the red, pulsing heart.

She sighed. "There's only one way to find out." Grabbing the heart, she commanded, "Come," and sat in stony silence while they waited. After what felt like ages, they heard a door open. Rushing downstairs, they were stunned by who they saw.

"Red?!"

-

Emma watched blankly as Red walked out of Granny's and went towards her house. She knew Regina would find Red's heart in her upstairs bedroom. And that gave her all the time she needed. She walked across the town and stared at the Jolly Roger, the beauty rocking along with the gentle waves.

"Your family needs you," were among Killian's final words before he had her kill him. Thinking back to those terrible moments, Emma realized just how wrong he was.

They needed her, yes, but not in the way that either of them thought. They needed a villain to be around. They needed to be sent on a wild goosechase.

Emma smiled devilishly. They need to be destroyed, she thought. She closed her eyes and thought of David standing in front of her. When she opened them again, he was, fear and confusion lit in his eyes.

"Hello, father," she said, all her hatred contained in those two words. He seemed to be at a loss for words. Emma took this as a sign to continue speaking.

"I know what you're thinking. 'Why has she summoned me?' Well, let me tell you." She paused, waiting for a reaction.

"You're here because you miss being a part of the family?" he asked hopefully.

Emma scowled. "No, no, no, no, no. Quite the opposite, actually." She started to walk in circles around him.

"I've been thinking a lot lately. And I now see you for what you truly are. A horrible excuse for a father." David visibly winced, and opened his mouth to speak. "Em-"

"Let me speak," she interrupted. "You see, David, I now see things for how they truly are. Not what I'd hoped. You and Mary Margaret gave me away so you could protect a kingdom. So noble, right? Wrong." She stopped pacing and backed him into one of the buildings. He was trapped.

"You missed the first 28 years of my life. You had no right to have any say in my decisions. But yet you constantly tried to keep me from being with Killian. I am a grown woman, David. I can make my own decisions. Especially when you have no idea what I went through and how much he helped me." She chuckled and backed away. "That's not even the best part," she said, shaking her finger at him.

"You made it obvious that you were fine with me being with Neal. But yet you weren't angry that he caused me to go to jail. You didn't even bloody know Killian before you decided you hated him. And you tried to keep us apart."

David just stared, unable to make any noise come from his mouth.

"But now for the best part. You and everyone tried oh so hard to bring me back from being the Dark One, especially here in Storybrooke. but the instant yous found out that I turned him into a Dark One, you all turned on him. Didn't even give him a chance. AND when I gave you that letter saying I was sacrificing myself, I knew you'd try to stop me. But yet apparently the same rules didn't apply for Killian. None of you tried to stop his death yet you tried to prevent mine."

With her final words still lingering in the air, she plunged her hand into his chest and squeezed his heart-well, Snow's heart. He screamed and fell to the ground in pain. Emma leaned down and whispered in his ear.

"Enjoy these next few days in Storybrooke. Because they will be your last." With that, Emma disappeared, leaving behind a man in both mental and physical pain.