The dust was finally lifting from where the Dark Swan had made her final stand against Regina. The Charmings and Henry had watched, along with the rest of the town, scared and concerned and feeling helpless in midst of two great magics vying for Emma's life. Storybrooke was not left undamaged. As the smoke and ash lifted, there in the street was the clock tower, on its side where it had been struck down. And beside it, an unconscious Emma. The final blast of light magic had pushed the dark in Merlin's direction where he had sealed it in a bright red stone. The force had sent Regina flying backward into the side of a building. Both women lay in the ruin, still and silent.
Slowly, the onlookers began to move, coming out of the shock of what they had witnessed. Mary Margaret and David gathered themselves up off the ground and ran to their daughter still laying where she fell. Henry followed close behind.
"Emma! Oh no no no no, please no!" Mary Margaret was trying to choke down her panic as she and David knelt beside Emma and gently lifted her head to rest on his arm.
"Emma? Wake up honey. I know you're in there. Please Sweetheart, you've come so far, open your eyes please." Mary Margaret pleaded with Emma, touching her face, waiting for any sign that her daughter had made it through the exit of dark magic.
"Mom? Please wake up!" Henry pleaded.
"Come on Emma, show us how strong you are." David spoke softly to Emma, struggling to stay strong himself.
Hook ran up to the Charmings in time to see Emma inhale abruptly and start to cough as her body began to come back to life. Her eyes flew open, startled by the sudden wake.
"Emma! Oh thank God! It's ok Emma, shhhhh, You're ok! You're safe." Mary Margaret tried to soothe her daughter from the sudden jolt. David and Killian were surrounding her, speaking softly, like Mary Margaret, trying to reassure Emma that she was safe.
When Emma opened her eyes, she could feel the difference inside her. She felt new, free, yet almost empty. She took in the people surrounding her. Her parents, Thank god they were alright, her son, and Killian. She silently counted her blessings that the people around her all looked like they were in one piece. But she did not breathe easy yet. Someone was missing.
"Regina, where is she?" Emma propped herself up with the help of her mom and dad.
"The blast, it must of thrown her back, I don't see her." Now that her daughter was awake, Mary Margaret's concern turned to Regina. She had grown so fond of her brunette's presence, the thought of her being hurt or worse was unbearable. And she knew Emma would never recover.
Emma began to frantically scan main street, along with Henry and her parents.
"Emma, love, take it easy, you've been through so much! I'm sure she's fine!" Killian pleaded with Emma, trying to embrace Emma so that he could steady her.
"You don't know that Killian! This is Regina we're talking about! We need to find her right now so get off me!" Emma would not be handled. She needed to see Regina. Needed to see that she was alright. She'd saved her, she'd really done it, now Emma needed to make sure Regina was alright.
"REGINA!" Emma yelled at the top of her lungs. Her throat was hoarse and singed from the smoke but she kept calling out for her.
"MOM!! OVER HERE!!" Henry screamed at Emma. She twisted on her boot heels to see Henry running over to a side street some distance from the clock tower.
Emma started running toward Henry, as she approached, she saw part of a red jacket buried in a pile of rubble. The closer she got, she started to see pieces of her savior's body sticking out of the pile that was the side of the building. Henry had begun digging Regina out from the debris. He was desperately tossing broken boards and mangled pieces of brick from his mother's body. Emma immediately started helping, trying desperately to put the adrenaline and panic into the effort of freeing Regina from the mess in which she had landed.
Regina came into view and Emma's heart froze in terror. Regina was covered with cuts and scrapes. The skin she could see was already starting to change colors. Emma gently checked for a pulse and nearly cried when she found one. She was alive!
"Regina! Listen to me Regina, you did it. You brought me back! I'm right here so you need to wake up now." Emma grabbed Regina's shoulders and gave her a little jostle. She didn't know the extent of the Queen 's injuries so she couldn't flat out shake her as much as she wanted to.
"C'mon Regina, I need to see those beautiful eyes of yours." Emma looked up at Henry. Her face told him that she was starting panic.
"She's not waking up!" Emma was frantically thinking of what she could do to get Regina to respond when Henry spoke up.
"Mom, kiss her."
"What?!"
"Seriously, kiss her! You know true love's kiss always works. Mom is still in there, she just needs to wake up to her real true love!" Henry looked at Emma expectantly but saw only a look of shock mixed with flushed cheeks.
"What? I'm a teenager. I'm not blind!" A smirk crossed Henry's face before looking back down at the woman who raised him.
Emma looked at Regina , said a silent prayer, and placed a hand tenderly on Regina's cheek. She leaned in, closing the gap between them and placed a small but loving kiss on her lips.
For a split second Emma thought she might have been wrong. There was no sudden stream of air and light like what had happened when she'd kissed Henry.
She was about to say something to Henry when she felt Regina move beside her.
Emma watched as sheer white streams rolled over Regina's body like mist, twisting and curling softly around her limbs, extending to Emma. The mist had encircled both Regina and Emma in a silky cocoon of light magic.
Regina opened her eyes and found herself staring up into Emma's concerned features.
"Emma?" Regina looked at Emma's face turn from worry to relief and started taking in her surroundings. All she could see was white.
"What is all this? Emma, how do you feel? Did it work?" Regina was gathering herself now, coming out of her fog. She started to sit up with some help from Emma, she turned to face Emma and realized that she was in pain.
"Hey take it slow please. You got thrown pretty far. We need to get you to the hospital." Emma fussed over Regina, so happy that she was alive.
"Emma, answer me. Did it work?" Regina was in pain but she needed answers.
"It worked Regina. You did it. You saved me." Emma smiled as she said the words out loud. She watched the woman she loved process what she'd told her. She kept her eyes on her as a realization dawned in those brown eyes. Regina's hand slowly went to her face, her fingers hovered over her mouth,
"Did you....Did you kiss me?
"Yes I did. I kissed you and you woke up Regina. It was the best feeling I've had in months."
Regina stared at Emma, taking in her words and letting them sink in to her reality. She looked between Emma and Henry and began to fully appreciate the fact that she was alive and now looking into the eyes of someone who truly loved her. The kiss had proven it to her, no doubts, no second guessing if she was worthy enough to be loved for exactly who she was, just the one, simple, strand of truth. This was her family.
"I knew you would save me Regina. Just like I know with all my heart that I love you." Emma was still supporting Regina, helping her stay upright without too much strain so she felt the tension in Regina's body relax against her a little bit more a few moments after she'd said she loved her. It was a good sign to Emma.
"I knew you would save me too Emma. In so many ways you have saved me. I love you too."
Emma met Regina's mouth one more time with a soft kiss, a little longer than the last. She wanted to remember the feel of her. She needed to keep this moment forever in her memory because she knew it was the start of something incredible.
Emma felt a light hand on her shoulder, bringing then both out of their own world they'd been in. Mary Margaret knelt down beside Regina and David was behind Emma.
"I'd say welcome to the family, but, I think you've always been a part of it anyway!" Mary Margaret said with a smile. All Regina could do was smile back.
"Ok.. let's get you both to the hospital to get checked out. I need my daughters happy and healthy please." David helped Emma and Henry lift Regina gently to her feet while Mary Margaret cleared a path through the growing crowd.
And together, the family carried Regina through the grateful and cheering townsfolk. The darkness was gone. Emma was back and the savior had saved the day.