Author's note : So you're the brave ones who decided to click on the story link. Nice to meet you. This fic begins right after the events of the season 4 final. A lot of dark Emma fics I read make Emma evil overnight or all shades of shady and that's not how I imagined it at all. I wanted an unapologetic and uninhibited Emma, who finally feels confident about herself and doesn't care about what people expect of her. So, I decided to write my own fic. No harm ever came from writing a fic, right ? (if you read that with Evelyn O'connell voice we're going to be great friends). It was actually quite difficult since English is not my first language but you can all thank CdB55 for her beta reading or rather making this story understandable. Enjoy !

Chapter 1

Everyone is silent. They all stay petrified, staring at the dagger as if it's going to move on its own. Finally, after what seems to be the longest minute of her life, Regina snaps. Even if using the dagger to call Emma without setting a plan first is probably the most dangerous and stupid idea right now she finds herself moving toward it. They have to know what has become of Emma. She has to know. When Regina picks up the dagger, everyone is still so stunned that nobody stops her. She decides to go for it then:

-"Dark One, I summon thee."

-"Regina, what are you..."

Snow doesn't have time to finish when Emma is here. And she is, well, Emma. Same clothes, same face, same expression (if a little more confused than usual). Regina heaves a sigh of relief while Snow runs past her shouting, "Emma" and crushes her daughter in a desperate hug. Charming and Hook join her and Regina stays rooted in her spot, the dagger still clutched in her right hand.

-"Is she all right?" It's Robin. Regina has totally forgotten he was here. With all the darkness targeting her and then Emma's heroic and oh-so-stupid move (why does she always do that?) she has lost her perception of her surroundings.

-"I don't know" she replies and it's the truth. Every time someone tries to help her, something goes wrong, whether it's to the helpers or to her. She decides to check, though, so she walks toward Emma, even if she has to break the big family hug.

-"How are you feeling? Are you all right?" She can't keep her voice from sounding a little too high and scolds herself internally for that.

-"I'm fine. I guess." Emma says with her signature half smile.

-"Maybe Emma's white magic disintegrated the darkness when it went into her," Snow suggests, a little too enthusiastic for Regina's liking.

-"It's impossible. That darkness is too powerful, and it was with Gold for decades," Regina cuts in, trying to figure out why Emma seems to be completely unaffected.

-"She's the Savior, Regina; she has a pure heart. Why would it be so impossible for her to destroy the darkness? Even your mother couldn't take Emma's heart back in the Enchanted Forest."

Regina hates it when Snow talks to her about Cora like she had nothing to do with her death but she decides to hold back the snarky remark which is about to come out and instead focuses on the matter at hand: "It's impossible because..."

-"Regina's right." They all look at Emma, confused. "I haven't destroyed it. I still feel it inside of me. It's like a powerful energy flowing through my veins and it feels great but strange at the same time because I know it's not mine", Emma says, gesturing around her stomach with her hands, her brows furrowed in concentration, trying to express in the best way possible what she's feeling. "Does that make sense?" she asks them, looking at Regina and hoping she'll provide an answer.

-"Yes it does" Regina replies with, she hopes, a reassuring smile. "Your magic is keeping the darkness at bay because it's new, an unknown power. But the darkness, especially the Dark One's, it's very tantalizing and soon your magic will grow accustomed to its presence and they will start to mix until you can't distinguish which one you're using. That's why I think we should look for Merlin as soon as possible. We have to get rid of that darkness before it consumes you totally."

Charming and Snow are pestering Regina for explanations for a strong minute now when Emma speaks again:

-"How long do I have?" Emma asks and tries to sound more calm and determined than she really feels because the last thing she wants is to see her parents panicking. Regina doesn't seem to understand her question so she adds: "before it consumes me totally, I mean."

-"I don't know, but if you want the truth, Ms Swan, I thought it was going to do it the moment you took the dagger and plunged it into the darkness, so consider yourself lucky." The moment Regina finishes her sentence she regrets it. Her tone was really harsh; it made the statement sound like a reproach. But maybe that's what it was: a reproach. She's still angry at Emma for the gesture, she can feel it. The fact that Emma is willing to help others, disregarding her own wellbeing, has always bothered her but this time more than ever. Emma could have died. Actually, she was sure Emma was going to die and that all that would be left was pure evil embodied by Emma. And the worst part, what makes Regina really angry, is that Emma is acting like it's normal, like it was the right thing to do. Regina is tired of people dying or suffering because of her and Emma is the worst among them because she's willing to do it over and over again. The fire, the wraith, the trigger... She could say all of this to Emma so she won't be looking at her the way she's doing right now, with hurt and confusion, but she won't. She already knows what the blonde will say - something like "It was the only way," or "It's too late anyway," or her favorite and probably the most accurate: "I would do it all over again." So she remains quiet and turns her back to the Charming family, ready to leave when she hears:

-"Not so fast, Your Majesty. May we know what you're planning to do with that?" Regina turns and sees Hook, pointing at her right hand. She looks down and realizes she's still holding the dagger.

-"Sorry", she comes close to Emma again and extend the dagger in her direction. "There."

-"You should keep it," Emma tells her. "Hide it somewhere so I won't be tempted, you know? Just in case." Regina is still debating whether it's a good idea or not when Hook answers for her:

-"I can do it, love, it's kind of a pirate thing, hiding treasures," he says, smiling and winking at Emma. Regina doesn't trust him at all, but it's not her place to decide who's going to safeguard Emma's new power so she keeps holding the dagger in front of Emma and waits for her decision. Emma looks at her for a strong second as if the correct answer will appears in Regina's eyes. "Ok," she says softly but she doesn't take the dagger. She steps aside and waits for Hook to grab it from Regina's hand. Emma feels that she's still perfectly in control of herself but she won't tempt fate tonight either.

Everybody seems to agree that it's a good solution, so they all say their goodbyes and split up. Hook leaves with the dagger to hide it, Emma goes back home with her parents, Robin heads to his camp to update his merry men about the Zelena situation and reunite with Roland. Finally, Regina is the last one to stay. She has to pick up Henry from Gold's shop but she can't get up the resolve to do so yet. She has to tell him that his birth mother is the new Dark One and she doesn't know how to do it.