Darkened Arrow ｡ Henry Mills

2 - BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY

　　One moment she was standing there, enveloped in a swarm of inky darkness, and the next moment she was just gone. Vanished into thin air. Like she was never even there in the first place, leaving behind nothing but the clatter of a steel blade as it fell to the ground where she had once been. And on the smooth steel was the name of a girl that nobody ever expected would succumb to such darkness.

　　Teresa Holmes.

　　No one moved a muscle or made a sound as they stared at the fallen dagger that now spelled out her name. A name that meant something to each of them; a daughter, a friend, a soulmate. It was Emma Swan that broke that deafening silence.

　　"No." The Savior's voice was a whisper as she pushed herself away from Killian, who held her with an arm encircled around her waist. "How could she do that? Why would she─?"

　　"Because she's stupid, that's why," Regina said, cutting the Savior off mid-sentence.

　　Henry's eyes snapped towards his adoptive mother, and he meant to say something, however, found himself speechless. He knew in his heart that what Teresa did wasn't out of stupidity. What she did was brave and selfless. She saved both his mothers by sacrificing her own soul to the darkness.

　　"Regina!" Snow White gasped, insulted by what she said about the teenage girl.

　　Regina looked at her. "What? It's true."

　　"No, it isn't," Robin Hood insisted, knowing in his heart that the six-year-old little girl he raised wouldn't have done something like this if not for good reason. His eyes darted from the dagger and toward Henry, wondering if perhaps the boy had something to do with it, given the newfound revelation of their soulmate bond.

　　"There had to be another way," Regina insisted.

　　"There wasn't," Snow White frowned. She knew Teresa cared for her grandson and didn't want him to lose his mothers like she lost her own not that long ago. Somehow, she knew Teresa felt like she had nothing left to lose, and yet Emma and Regina would have lost so much. So she did what she did because she cared about them. And though it warmed Snow White's heart, she feared this would not end well.

　　Snow White knew that Teresa's soul was not pure, it never had been. The teenage girl had a darkness inside of her that planted like a seed a very long time ago, when the girl had taken her first life. And now, with the power of the Dark One and her own ice magic flowing through her veins, Snow White feared that Teresa Holmes could be lost to them forever.

　　"That thing was going to kill you, and Emma," Snow White continued after a moment. Her eyes drifted toward her daughter, who wore an expression of guilt. "She saved both your lives."

　　"Don't you think we know that?" Regina spat, gloved hands settled on her hips. "But this doesn't make her anything more than a teenager acting out of stupidity."

　　Robin shook his head as he stepped forward to address the group. "I have known Teresa since she was a child. Since she was six-years-old. She wouldn't do what she did without good reason."

　　"For what reason would she have to sacrifice her own soul to the darkness?" Emma asked. "It doesn't make sense. She's just a kid."

　　"It makes perfect sense, Emma," Snow White spoke in a soft voice. "Teresa did this because she cares for Henry." At the mention of his name, everyone turned to look at the boy as he stood frozen in his place and staring numbly at the dagger. "She didn't want him to lose his parents as she has."