Once Upon a Time 1. Chapter 1

**Once Upon a Time Season 4 Part 2 - Frost Bites **

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**Author's note: **

**First off, let me just say that I don't own Once Upon a Time, the characters, or anything else relating to the show. **

**Now, with that out of the way, here's a few notes about this story: it's part two in a three part series. You can read part one here: **** s/10344285/1/Once-Upon-a-Time-Season-4-Part-1-Cold-Front**

**Secondly, though this story is mainly set in the present, there are some flashbacks. Just for the sake of reference, said flashbacks take place roughly 400 years before the Dark Curse. The modern day elements begin one week after the events of part 1 of this story. **

**Thirdly, I love reviews, so if you like the story and think it's worth it to keep it going let me! And if there's any characters or plot elements you'd like to see added or addressed, let me know that too!**

**Thanks, enjoy. **

**CHAPTER 1**

**The Enchanted Forest, Many Years Ago **

The carriage careened through the woods at a dangerously fast clip, the horses sliding around trees and dashing through narrow passages, their passengers swaying helplessly behind them. Those unfortunate enough to be riding in that particular carriage on that particular evening were huddled together, for comfort as much as warmth. No one could quite pinpoint why, but something about the events leading to that carriage ride gave everyone the impression it would be the last night they'd ever spend together.

"How much further is it?" Anna clung to her father's jacket as she whispered the words, barely audible over the howling of the wind outside and the shouting of the carriage driver.

"Not long now," the king responded, looking at the vial of green liquid in his hand. It was funny, he thought; it had been less than an hour since Tiana had come into his room to tell him that Baba Yaga had overcome their defenses and was now coming to kill them, yet somehow that hour seemed to be lasting an eternity.

"Don't worry, dear." The king was brought back to reality by the sound of his wife's voice, calm and collected beside him. He could tell just by looking at her eyes that she was terrified, but she kept her tone remarkably even. Still, as he looked around at their motley crew he knew that the queen was more than aware of how dire their situation was.

He supposed he should have felt guiltier, letting his kingdom burn as he and his family - and their maid - rode away to safety… though he supposed they _would _have felt guiltier were the "safety" they were riding away to not the lair of the woman who was trying to kill them all.

"Father, tell me where we're going." This time it was Elsa, the king's eldest daughter, who had spoken. She was seated across from him, her right hand clutching the window and her left wrapped around Tiana's fingers. It was just the five of them… _only _the five of them. A kingdom of two million people and in a single night Baba Yaga had killed all but the king, the queen, their two daughters, and their teenage maid.

"We are going to put an end to all this… to save whoever we can," the king said. Again, he looked at the vial of green liquid. He flashed back to that morning, when the kingdom's magician had given it to him.

"_It's true love potion… very hard to come by. You must use it if all else fails… if the kingdom falls, you must go to the Vault and pour it in. It can defeat her. True love is the strongest magic of all." _ That magician was dead now, the king supposed.

"But how can we end this? That witch is the most powerful being ever created!" Elsa said. It was amazing, the king mused, how like her mother she was even at the young age of seventeen; she always kept her cool, never showed any cracks. She was composed, but also guarded. Not at all like Anna. His youngest daughter, thirteen years old, wore her heart on her sleeve and didn't care who knew it.

"It's time I told you. This," the king motioned to the small glass vial in his hand. "Contains true love. It is the only thing more powerful than her. It _can _defeat Baba Yaga… if we pour it into the Dark One's Vault."

"What? We can't go there! We must never go there!" Anna shouted, tears forming in her eyes.

"It's too late. We're already here," the king said, shaking his head as the carriage rolled to a stop. He was resigned to the idea that he would not live beyond that night… he only hoped that his daughters might not have to face the same fate he did. At his words the group looked out the window and saw through the thick, fast falling snow the one place they all dreaded most: the Dark One's Vault.

"It'll be alright, children, we will all be alri - " The queen's words were cut short by a blast of energy that smashed into the carriage, flipping it onto it's side and throwing the occupants violently to the ground. The five people inside watched in horror as the carriage began dissolving around them, leaving them sitting in the snow face to face with the very witch they had come to destroy.

"Baba Yaga," Tiana said, clenching her fists to keep the fear at bay. She needed to be strong. She had to be. The witch smiled, worms crawling out of her mouth and her jagged teeth gnashing up and down. She stalked towards the plucky maid, dirt trailing after every foot fall. She grabbed Tiana by the shirt and dragged her to her feet, sticking her nose in her face before speaking.

"I suppose you are the one who warned the king and queen I was coming? Why else would they bring a worthless servant girl on their pathetic escape mission?" Tiana's eyes began to water as she inhaled Baba Yaga's breath, a sickening mixture of blood and sweat. "Perhaps I should kill you first, then?"

"Go ahead," Tiana challenged, fighting hard to keep her voice from quivering and giving away her complete sense of terror.

"Or…" Baba Yaga dropped Tiana to the ground, blasting her with a spray of black magic that threw her across the field into a tree trunk. The witch scratched her head, matted clumps of lice filled grey hair falling to the ground. "We can start with the youngest and work our way up." With that Baba Yaga whirled around and faced Anna, summoning another blast of magic.

"No!" Elsa shouted, leaping to her feet. "I won't let you!"

"Foolish child," Baba Yaga said, laughing furiously. "Love is weakness. You will watch as I kill your sister and you will know that there is nothing you can do to stop it!" The witch raised her hands again, summoning the most horrific form of dark magic she could find. With one final cackle she willed it towards Anna and watched with satisfaction as it smashed into… Elsa.

"Elsa, no!" Anna said. Her sister had thrown herself in front of her moments earlier, sacrificing herself. She crawled out from under her sisters lifeless form and held her in her arms. "Please, please don't leave me!" Anna cried.

The king watched helplessly from the remains of the carriage, remembering the magician's words to him that morning and desperately hoping that they were true: _"True love is the strongest magic of all."_

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**New Orleans, Present Day**

Belle French was troubled; troubled because a week prior she and Regina Mills had set out on a road trip to rediscover themselves and had been locked out of town altogether; troubled because Rumple had given her a list of obscenely cryptic clues to go on and had expected her to make sense of them; and troubled because somehow she had actually agreed to go on a road trip with the Evil Queen.

"I got you a hamburger," Regina Mills said as she opened the car door and handed Belle a greasy paper bag stuffed with fast food. It had been three days since they'd gotten to New Orleans, a week since they'd left Storybrooke, and their diet in all that time had mostly consisted of fast food and take out.

"Thanks," Belle said, opening the bag and taking her own food out before passing it back to Regina.

"Any luck finding this 'Doctor Stevens'?" Regina asked, taking the list of clues from Rumple out her pocket and reading it again.

_New Orleans_

_Anna and the maid_

_Baba Yaga_

_Doctor Stevens _

"Nope. We've tried six hospitals since we got here and none of them have a Doctor Stevens on staff, or have even reported anything strange going on… not that we'd even know what constitutes 'strange' in this case," Belle joked, taking a bite of her hamburger.

"Right… well according to 'Skip', the rude peasant who served me our food, there's a Doctor Stevens who treated his aunt at a hospital a few miles out of town. I figured we might give that a try before torching this town," Regina said, making her opinions on New Orleans perfectly clear. She stuck the key in the ignition and the two women headed off to finally find Doctor Stevens.

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**Storybrooke, Present Day**

Emma Swan was seriously begin to rethink her life choices as she sat around the small table in her apartment with her parents, Snow White and Prince Charming, Captain Hook, a waitress who moonlit as a werewolf, and the Dark One discussing how they were going to survive their town being plunged into an eternal winter.

"OK," Emma said, silencing the bickering fairytale characters that surrounded her. "Belle and Regina have been gone a week. The ice encasing the town is getting thicker every day… and it's blocking out our cell phone signals."

"Which means we can't talk to Belle and Regina to give them any more clues," Ruby added.

"Exactly. Now I've read this book cover to cover," Emma motioned to the book that Belle had given her concerning the original Dark One. "And it's mostly a collection of stories and folk legends about Baba Yaga… there's nothing really concrete in here."

"So… why did you call us all here?" Hook asked, seeming slightly annoyed… come to think of it, he'd been seeming slightly annoyed since the day he'd been attacked by the Snow Queen.

"Because… not _everything _in here is useless. Mr. Gold and I have some new information to share," Emma said, motioning to Gold.

"The woman we are up against is called Baba Yaga," Gold explained. "Nobody knows where she came from, but she is the original Dark One… the most powerful Dark One… and now, it seems, she's woken up."

"But why now? Why after all these years?" Snow asked.

"Because your daughter let the Snow Queen out, which released Baba Yaga's powers as well has her own."

"But how is that possible? How does freeing one woman from a prison mean another one suddenly has magical powers and a desire to kill everyone in Storybrooke?" Charming asked, frustrated.

"Miss Swan, I believe you have a story to explain that one." Emma opened the book and began reading.

_"The witch was only to be defeated at the height of her power, on a cold winter's evening after she had wrought total destruction upon the world. The land of Arendelle, which has since faded to myth and legend, was once the most powerful kingdom in all of the realms until Baba Yaga appeared to destroy it. From the fiery ashes of the kingdom the King, Queen, their daughters, and a maid escaped, travelling long and far to the Vault of the Dark One, where they planned to kill savage witch. Though they did not succeed, an act of true love was enough to keep the Dark One from continuing her reign of terror. At great cost the witch was banished to another land, her dark magic intertwined with light and sealed away forever in the Matrix for all eternity… yet legend persists that one day this dark being will rise again, and that on that day only the Queen of the Snow shall possess the power to defeat her."_

"What the bloody hell does that mean?" Hook asked, annoyed at the cryptic tone of the story.

"It means…" Rumple began to explain. "That Baba Yaga once came close to having total power over all the realms. This land of Arendelle was a real place, a place that she destroyed. She killed millions of people before being stopped… before being sucked through a portal to this land."

"This land?" Charming asked, now more confused than ever. "How is she here? And what the hell is this Matrix thing?" In answer, Rumple held up the golden container that had once imprisoned the Snow Queen.

"This is the Matrix. It is an enchanted prison capable of containing the most powerful magic. The Snow Queen created it and had herself imprisoned in it."

"Why would she do that?" Ruby asked.

"Because it was the only way to stop Baba Yaga. Don't you all understand? The Queen of the Snows _was _the little girl. We can't know how, but somehow, on a night long ago, she did something very brave - something very loving - to counteract Baba Yaga's magic. An act of True Love is the most powerful light magic, and the Dark One's is the most powerful dark magic. If the two were to become fused, to be used at the same moment on the same person, the users would be linked together by magic. One could not exist without the other."

"So this 'Queen of the Snows' did something that magically linked her to Baba Yaga who _somehow _ended up in our world and the Snow Queen knew the only way to stop her from destroying the universe was to trap herself in an all powerful magical prison… which also trapped Baba Yaga somehow…?" Charming asked. Rumple and Emma nodded.

"Well that's bloody more confusing than before," Hook said. Snow was about to open her mouth to interject something when there was a knock on the door. Emma looked at her watch; four in the morning. Who would be there at that hour?

Snow got up to open the door, tea mug in hand. She sipped it as she unlocked the various deadbolts and unhooked the chain. She twisted the knob and opened the door. The mug clattered to the floor. Emma and the others rushed to her side to see who it was. Five jaws dropped simultaneously at seeing the Snow Queen standing in the doorway of Emma Swan's apartment. With a weak smile the woman spoke, twisting her blonde braid nervously.

"Right then, this is where my part of the story comes in…"

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**Author's Notes:**

** -Did you like it?**

** -Reviews are welcome!**

** -Will Belle and Regina find Doctor Stevens and sort everything out?**

** -On a scale of 1 to 10, how confusing was the explanation of the Snow Queen/Baba Yaga thing? It'll be revealed in greater detail later on, it just seemed like information readers needed going forward.**

** -How awesome is Tiana? And of all the new characters coming this season, who's gonna be your favorite!?**

** -Will you actually keep reading this story?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Once Upon a Time Season 4 Part 2 - Frost Bites **

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

**CHAPTER 2**

**The Enchanted Forest, Many Years Ago**

"Please, please don't leave me…"

The king of Arendelle lay stunned in the snow, watching helplessly as Baba Yaga regained her strength and approached his two daughters. Fighting through the panic, he grasped at the sword on his hip, trying desperately with frozen fingers to undo the clasp. He fumbled for a moment, releasing the catch and drawing the weapon as Baba Yaga passed by him. She merely laughed as she saw him and raised a hand, freezing him in place with dark magic. Now all he could do was watch.

"Elsa, please come back," Anna whimpered, burying her face in her older sister's hair.

"Ha!" Baba Yaga spat, a tooth falling from her mouth and a stream of blood running over her lips and falling into the snow. "You see where 'true love' gets you. Now your father can watch as I kill both of his daughters." Anna looked around in a panic for some sort of help; her father was standing and awake, though she'd seen he was magically frozen in place. Tiana appeared to be alive, though she was unconscious. Finally her eyes fell on her mother… and the pool of blood that was forming around her head.

"Stop, please!" Anna shouted, trying hard to keep her voice from quivering. "Haven't you done enough?" Anna raised her arms and motioned to the landscaped around them; a harsh winter that Baba Yaga had created to keep the royal family from escaping… so far, it appeared her plan had been successful.

"Not nearly enough, child," Baba Yaga said with a wicked grin. "Besides, you know what they say: revenge is a dish best served cold!" With that she raised her hands to the sky and summoned her magic. It swirled around in her palms for a moment before she gently blew on it. Tiny black tendrils oozed towards Anna and Elsa, wrapping around them tightly, encasing them, and ultimately… leaping off of them.

"Stop." All eyes turned in shock to Elsa as she piped up, a solitary, weak voice barely audible above the howling of the wind. Baba Yaga watched in horror as Elsa raised herself off of Anna's lap and stood up, facing the witch head on.

"That's impossible. I killed you. My black magic never fails!" The witch spat the words at Elsa as she raised her hands again, summoning more of the magic she'd used to kill the girl the first time. She shot the powerful blast at her with little effect.

Though frozen, the king could see these events transpiring and a small glimmer of hope began to rise inside of him as he remembered what his magical advisor had said: True love is the strongest magic of all.

Elsa cracked a smile as she summoned magic of her own. Her left hand began to glow a bright color, vibrant like the sun, while her right hand was encased in a dark shroud. She cupped her hands together and the two mixed, shooting straight at Baba Yaga in a fierce magical attack. The witch was thrown backwards, rolling through the snow and staggering to her feet next to the Dark One's Vault.

"No! You can't defeat me! I will rule you all! I am the Dark Witch. I will kill you for what you've done." Baba Yaga's body shook in rage, the magic coursing through her veins and turning her skin a sickening black color and her eyes a ghoulish red. Magic seemed to vibrate in the air around her, leaping off in tendrils and floating back in towards her.

Suddenly Elsa felt herself vibrating in the same way, though her skin was not tinged in the same way. She began to glow from the inside, so blindingly bright that her sister had to shield her eyes. The two magicians stared each other down as their magic built, until finally Baba Yaga could not take the intensity of the darkness inside her. She screamed and the magic exploded off her body in all directions, mowing down the forest for miles and extinguishing all life… except for that of the Queen of the Snows.

Elsa's light magic had reached its breaking point as well and had been released in a magical attack even stronger than Baba Yaga's. As the dark slammed into the light the light overcame it, extinguishing it and leaving Baba Yaga panting for breath lying in the snow while Elsa only grew in strength.

"You will leave this land and never return," Elsa said, standing over the witch. Her skin still glowed so brightly that Baba Yaga could not look at her without her eyes being burned from her head. "Go. Now." With these words Elsa turned and rushed back to her family. With a flick of her wrist she unfroze her father, and with another she awakened Tiana. Together, the royal family reunited around the form of the queen… who was dying.

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**Storybrooke, Present Day**

"Snow, stay back!" Charming pushed his wife gruffly out of the way and raised his sword at the Snow Queen standing before them.

"I don't think that will be necessary…" Rumplestiltskin said. He waved his hand and with a single motion David's sword dissolved into the air. The Snow Queen breathed a sigh of relief. "It appears our friend here has gotten control over her powers… at least for the moment."

"Come in, dear. You must be freezing," Snow said, not recognizing the irony in her words. She invited the young woman into the apartment and wrapped a blanket around her, sitting her down on the couch. Ruby brought over a cup of tea for her, which she drank down quickly.

"Care to tell us just what the hell's been going on out there?" Emma asked. She loved her mother, but her caring attitude drove her up the walls sometimes.

"I'm sorry. I'm truly, truly sorry for what's happened. I never meant for any of this… well, you see… I'm not really very good at this…" The Queen trailed off, looking down at her feet and twitching her hands nervously.

"Why don't you just start with your name?" Snow suggested, offering her a hand to hold.

"Elsa. My name is Elsa. I'm the princess of Arendelle… or at least I was. It appears that time has brought me to a new land."

"Yes. A land called Storybrooke," Snow explained.

"Storybrooke. I like it." Elsa seemed to perk up a bit at this.

"Now, could you tell us how you ended up trapped in that… thing?" Snow motioned to the golden container that Elsa had been trapped in.

"I… I… I don't fully remember. Things are hazy for me, still."

"What do you remember then?" Emma said, getting frustrated. It seemed to her that random cases of amnesia seemed to be an increasingly troubling issue in their town.

"I remember the night in the snow… the night that I fought Baba Yaga. The night that… that my mother died," Elsa said, memories springing into her head more and more quickly. "I defeated her, but there was a price."

"Isn't there always…" Emma muttered under her breath. She took a seat next to the young woman on the couch, which seemed to put everyone else slightly more at ease.

"I imprisoned myself, didn't I?" Elsa asked, the memory suddenly dawning on her.

"Yes. You put yourself into the Matrix, which passed to the next Dark One, and eventually to me," Rumplestiltskin explained.

"But that's not possible. I was only supposed to be sealed away for twenty years. Just long enough for Baba Yaga to die without her magic. How… how long was I in there?" Elsa asked, her voice shaking.

"About four hundred years," Rumple said. She stared at him wide eyed, not speaking for a long time. Finally Emma broke the silence.

"I think it's best if you tell us everything that happened… your side of the story," Emma said, taking her other hand.

"Yes. That seems as though it would be best," Elsa agreed, thinking about the best place to start. "A very long time ago, my kingdom, Arendelle, was at war with Baba Yaga. She had defeated all the other lands in the Enchanted Forest and we were the last chance to save our world. Our armies were falling to her, but my father had a secret weapon… or at least he thought he did."

"A weapon capable of defeating the Dark One?" Charming asked.

"Yes. The only thing capable of breaking the curse: True Love." Rumplestiltskin shifted uncomfortably in his seat at this, remembering the night so long ago that Belle had first kissed him; the night he almost chose love over power; the night he regretted. Luckily, Elsa began talking again before he could get to feeling too bad for himself. "She found us at the Dark One's Vault and attacked us. She was going to kill my sister when… when…"

"You saved her?" Snow asked, trying to help her fill in the blanks.

"Yes. I sacrificed myself for her. At least, I tried to."

"An act of true love…" Rumple said, thinking about how her powers fused with Baba Yaga's. "You used the greatest light magic to fend off the greatest dark magic, and somehow the two fused. You and Baba Yaga became magically connected."

"Yes, that's right. I… I defeated her, but she escaped… escaped to this world. A land without magic. And she took my sister with her." Suddenly the whole picture came back to her. The fight with Baba Yaga, losing her sister and the maid, her mother's death. She broke down into tears, sobbing into Mary Margaret's shoulder.

"You thought she would die of old age without her magic to preserve her, so you imprisoned yourself in the Matrix until she died," Rumple began explaining, ideas clicking into place. "But since you were magically bonded, her magic persisted slightly into this world and kept her living… that's why you had to stay in there for so long. But how?" He kneeled down in front of Elsa, trying to look into her eyes. "How did she get here? And why did she take your sister with her?"

"And where are they all now?" Charming asked.

"My guess? New Orleans." Hook said, remembering what the Snow Queen had mentioned before when they'd met her initially.

"Which means…"

"Which means we just sent Belle and Regina into a fight against the most powerful witch of all time," Emma said, pulling out her phone and praying that they weren't already dead.

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**New Orleans, Present Day**

Doctor Stevens' office was stuffy, small, and stuffed with what Regina Mills guessed to be every paper that had ever come across his desk. Because of this, the two women visiting him that day were forced to stand in the corner and pray silently that no stacks of papers decided to topple over and crush them before their meeting with the doctor. They're worked their way into the hospital pretending to be reporters, but they knew that cover wouldn't hold up for very long.

"They're in here, Doctor Stevens," Belle her a female voice outside the office say. A moment later the doorknob twisted and the good doctor entered, his faithful assistant, Samantha, stepping into the room as well.

"What can I help you two ladies with?" The doctor asked. He was polite enough, though both Regina and Belle could tell from looking at him that he had a million other things he'd rather be doing.

"We're just wondering if anything… strange has happened in your hospital in the last few days?" Regina asked. Belle took out a notepad and paper.

"Can't think of anything off the top of my head, no," Stevens said, eager to get the two women to leave.

"Well are you sure? It might have been something little, something you wouldn't even have thought was strange at first," Belle said. She didn't come all the way across the country to take "no" for an answer.

"Nope. Sorry to tell you ladies, things have been pretty slow around here."

"Well Doctor Stevens, there was that one thing with the -" Stevens flashed Samantha a look that told her to shut up if she wanted to keep her job. She tightened her lips and cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, something did happen?" Regina asked rising from her seat. She was wearing heels that gave her a bit of a height advantage on Stevens, which she appreciated. She towered over him and moved closer.

"Alright, there was _one _thing the other day with an old woman. A coma patient who's been in the hospital since before anyone can even remember woke up."

"And what happened to her?" Belle asked, scrawling things down on her paper as they spoke.

"She… checked out."

"Escaped is more like it!" Samantha burst out. Before Stevens could stop her she launched into the full story. "She threw a security guard through a wall and disappeared a few hours later. No one's seen her since."

"Samantha, go do your rounds. Now." Stevens pointed to the door and Samantha left, her head hanging low.

"Nothing of interest happened recently, huh doctor?" Regina said, rolling her eyes.

"I make it a point not to discuss my patients with nosy reporters… besides which, you never told me what newspaper you were from."

"The Storybrooke Mirror," Belle said, saying the first thing that came to mind.

"Never heard of it," Stevens said, getting suspicious.

"Yes well, it's quite small and -" Regina thanked her lucky star that her phone decided to ring at that moment. She whipped it out of her pocket and grabbed Belle with her other arm, ushering the young woman out of the room and following behind her. "We must be going. This is my editor." Without another word Regina slammed the door shut, leaving Doctor Stevens alone and thoroughly confused.

"Regina?" The mayor-turned-investigator answered the phone to find it was none other than Emma Swan.

"Yes, Miss Swan? Any new news to report?"

"Yeah, actually. Major news. You're not alone down there. Baba Yaga's in this world and if our theory is right she's awake and gunning to get to Storybrooke."

"Baba Yaga? I thought that was just a story. You're telling me there's an all powerful which in New Orleans?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't worry too much just yet though. We have a new… friend, and she's telling us that Baba Yaga should be out of commission. This girl's memories are hazy, but she seems to remember locking her into an eternal slumber when she came to this world." Suddenly Regina's mind flashed back to their conversation with Doctor Stevens. A coma patient who'd been there since before anyone could remember had woken up. Maybe they weren't as safe as they thought.

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet, Miss Swan. Something tells me we're about to be in a whole hell of a lot more danger than we've ever been in before."

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**Author's Notes:**

** -Did you like it?**

** -Reviews are welcome!**

** -Elsa: Bad guy or misunderstood. **

** -Are you looking forward to more Tiana/Anna stuff in the next few chapters?**

** -How will Baba Yaga being woken up in the present affect our characters?**

** -What do you think happened that stranded Baba Yaga, Anna, and Tiana in our world?**

** -Will you actually keep reading this story?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Once Upon a Time Season 4 Part 2 - Frost Bites **

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

**Chapter 3**

**Storybrooke, Present Day**

"Hook, wait. Can we talk?"

The pirate/reluctant hero turned in the doorway of Emma Swan's apartment to face the savior. Ruby stole one last glance over her shoulder before shutting the door behind her, leaving the other two alone in the room.

Snow had decided that, until Elsa fully regained her memories and could finish the last part of the story, it would be best not to leave her alone. Charming, Mary Margaret, and Ruby decided to take her to Granny's. Hook had planned on going back to the library to spend the night alone but… hey, plans change.

"Yes, Miss Swan?" he asked. He sounded almost robotic as he sat down on the couch opposite Emma.

"What, we're back to Miss Swan now? Christ, you're starting to sound like Regina," Emma joked. She poured the last of the tea into the two glasses in front of them and handed one to Hook.

"Look, 'Mr. Jones', we need to talk about what happened last week… about the kiss." Emma could hardly believe it had been only eight days since they'd returned from the past. She supposed, in retrospect, that it _had _been busy; the Snow Queen had shown up immediately after and Belle and Regina had left town… not to mention the fact that they were plunged into an eternal ice age.

"Yes, Miss Swan, let's talk about it," Hook said, raising the cup of tea to his lips. He sipped slowly, his gaze not quite meeting Emma's.

"I just want to know if you're in this or not… for the long haul." Emma looked for some trace of emotion on Killian's face. So far, she saw none. "Listen, Hook. I've spent a lot of my life alone. The only other person I ever opened myself up to was Neal - and we both know how that ended up."

"Yes. He died," Hook said, matter of factly. She knew he could be blunt, but the way he was speaking now seemed… cruel.

"Yeah. What I'm trying to say is that this - you and I - doesn't happen for me very often. I… Hook, I'm kind of a mess myself and falling for you could… could be a mistake. So I just… I just need to know where you're at - because I have Henry to think about and I don't want him to get hurt. He doesn't deserve that and neither do I and I have to know you're invested in this and..." Emma fumbled awkwardly, looking for Hook to say something.

"I need time to think, Miss Swan." Emma's eyes went wide with anguish as he said the words. Hook set the tea cup down on the table with his good hand and rose, walking towards the door.

"Hook, wait. I -" Emma's words were harshly cut off as Hook closed the door behind himself, leaving the Savior alone in the apartment. She buried her face in her hands, berating herself for getting invested… for opening up.

It was just so… so unlike him. Killian Jones could be a lot of things, but he was never distant. He was never cold. He wore his heart on his sleeve and that had always made him easy to read. But now? Now he was acting as aloof as she herself used to.

She shook her head, blonde curls flying around, and rose. If she sat there alone all night she'd drive herself crazy. She needed to _do _something, and thankfully there was a pile of dishes in the kitchen just asking to be cleaned up. As she snatched up her own cup and Killian's she got to wondering what was more disturbing: the way Hook had acted, or the fact that all the tea in his cup was frozen solid.

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**New Orleans, Present Day**

"There's got to be _something _in here that can find them," Regina Mills mumbled to herself as she searched through her suitcase. Belle French sat down gently on the bed next to the bag and pulled a book out of the side, absentmindedly flipping through it.

"Tell me again what we're looking for?" Belle asked as she opened to the inside cover and discovered it was a book of spells. She tossed it on the bed with an air of contempt and a large cloud of dust rose up from the mattress. The two women had checked into yet another sleezy motel that night and Belle was beginning to see why they were so cheap. Not wanting to think about their rooming situation any longer she turned to help Regina search the suitcase.

"A magical item that can help us find whoever this 'Anna' girl is - and, hopefully, Baba Yaga," Regina explained. She'd thrown a few magical items into her suitcase just in case they needed them on their trip, but so far none of them seemed to fit the bill.

"What about this?" Belle grabbed a piece of tree bark from the bag and held it up to Regina.

"Gimme that," Regina snatched it from her hands and stuffed it in her pocket. "That's a piece of a tree from the Spellbind Forest. It's a magical power source that releases rays of the sun's energy."

"Right then, that won't be any help. Though I don't see how _any_ of this will be any help. Magical objects don't work in a land without magic… right?" Belle asked, confused.

"_Most _don't. But some can if they carry an enchantment with them," Regina tried to explain the complex process to her companion. With most people she wouldn't have bothered, but Belle had the unique characteristic of being exceptionally intelligent.

"How so?"

"Most magical objects use the residual magic in the air around them to power them, but some - like the one's I brought with me - carry their enchantment with them and can be used even in a place where there is no magic."

"Gotcha. So all of these will work because their function doesn't depend on anything external. The magic comes from the inside out and no new magic needs to come in."

"Exactly. Now if only one of these damn things could help us track this girl down…" Regina said. Belle grabbed another object from the bag.

"This one?" she asked hopefully. Regina shook her head.

"No, that's a Fairy Candle. It casts a teleportation field that allows those inside to travel a short distance away. Keep looking." Belle put the candle back in the bag and began rifling through it again, her fingers curling around an old, tattered rag. Regina did her signature eyebrow cock which she used to convey contempt.

"That, Miss French, is called a wash cloth. In this world we use them to clean up," Regina explained, treating Belle as though she was far dumber than she actually was. Belle simply rolled her eyes and pulled the cloth out, stretching it between her fingers.

"I know that, Regina, but this particular one isn't just a wash cloth… at least I don't think. Rumplestiltskin gave me one when I… worked for him. He said it would help me with cleaning. See?" Belle pointed to the corner of the cloth where two small initials were stitched in. "The cloth he gave me had these initials stitched in as well. My guess is whoever enchanted them branded them also."

"Right, enchanted wash cloth. What does it do, clean your car windows while you sleep?" Regina asked, clearly not impressed. She had plenty of magical objects in her possession, so it wasn't surprising to have a few less-than-useful ones mixed in with her regular stuff.

"No, Regina. Remember, it helps with cleaning. The enchantment makes it find things that are out of place."

"Great, well I'll call around to the local maid services in the morning and see what they're willing to pay for it," Regina sassed. Belle supposed, despite the fact that she was insulting her repeatedly, that her sass was good; it meant she was healing.

"Listen, it finds things that are out of place. In Rumple's castle that meant books, magical objects, a thief one time. All things that don't belong."

"Kind of like people from our world don't belong in this world?" Regina asked, Belle's point finally clicking into place in her mind.

"Exactly. I'm willing to bet that if we wait long enough this little piece of cloth will lead us to this Anna girl. That is, assuming she's not from this world," Belle said.

"Can't hurt to try," Regina confirmed. She took the washcloth from Belle's hands and placed it on the ground in the middle of the room. After a beat she sat back down next to Belle and the two women waited to see where they'd be headed off to next.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . **

**Storybrooke, Present Day**

"What the hell did you do to Hook?" Emma Swan asked as she kicked open the door of Granny's diner and pointed a finger accusatorially at Elsa. She was in no mood to be patient, amnesia or no amnesia. Whoever this girl was she'd done something to her boyfri - well, to Hook - and she'd be damned if she let anything happen to him after all they'd been through.

"Emma, slow down a second. What are you talking about?" Charming asked. He rose from his seat to get between his very angry daughter and the very confused amnesiac princess.

"Something's wrong with Hook. He's acting weird and everything he touches becomes ice cold… kind of like you," Emma said, maneuvering around Charming to stand next to the Snow Queen.

"Oh no…" Elsa said after a beat, thinking about what it could mean.

"What?" Snow said, stepping up and taking Emma's hand in an attempt to calm her daughter.

"The first day I was here… one week ago, when you all found me in the woods. I'd just been released from the Matrix and I didn't have any control over my powers and I… I touched that pirate's -"

"Hook! His… his name is Hook," Emma interjected, trying to calm herself.

"I touched Hook's heart with my magic," Elsa explained, fear flashing through her eyes. "I'm so, so sorry."

"You're sorry? Hook's dying and you're sorry?" Emma said, enraged.

"Emma, calm down. Elsa, what does this mean?" Snow asked.

"The frozen heart… beware the frozen heart," Elsa muttered, more to herself than anyone else.

"I'm getting pretty damn tired of these cryptic riddles people from our world seem to love speaking in," Emma said, tapping her fingers on the table. Suddenly another voice broke into the conversation.

"It's part of a song… a very ancient song." Rumplestiltskin rose from his seat several tables away and moved to join the party. "It tells the story of a boy and girl who come across a magical mirror. The boy is injured and captured by the Snow Queen with an ice crystal in his eye that makes him see only the ugly parts of himself. Only the girl's love is enough to thaw his frozen heart and save him."

"Beware the frozen heart…" Emma mutters, remembering what Elsa had said moments before.

"Exactly," Rumple said.

"But what the hell does that mean? Why is everything so complicated with you people?" Emma said, hopeless. She sat down in the booth, resting her chin in her hands. "It's a song, great. But it doesn't tell me how to fix Hook."

"I'm afraid, dearie, that it might not be as simple as 'fixing' him. The girl in the story could only save the boy through her love. Are you in love with our dear friend the captain?" Rumple asked, a touch of his old impish nature shining through.

"I… I don't know," Emma responded. If she was being honest, she didn't have any clue where she stood on her feelings for Hook.

"Well I suggest you find out soon… before all that's left of him is something to cool our iced teas with," Rumple joked. Emma was in no mood. She was about to suckerpunch Rumplestiltskin when Elsa suddenly piped up.

"Wait… I… I remember what happened."

"What?" Emma asked, annoyed at being jarred out of her conversation with Rumplestiltskin.

"I remember what happened to Baba Yaga… and to my sister."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

**Author's Notes:**

** -Did you like it?**

** -Reviews are welcome!**

** -Regina: is her sass hilarious or sometimes too harsh? **

** -Did you catch the reference to the original Snow Queen story?**

** -Will Belle and Regina Find Anna in time? Or will Baba Yaga get to her first?**

** -Will you actually keep reading this story?**


End file.

Once Upon a Time