I left my apartment to try and find Emma or anyone who could tell me what had happened. I did find her, along with Elsa and Elsa's sister, Anna. Mary Margaret, David, Regina, Henry, and Anna's fiancé, Kristoff, were also standing on the main street and enjoying the snow fall.
"What happened?" I ask Emma.
"Ingrid sacrificed herself to save the town," Emma replies.
"She died a hero," adds Elsa and Anna hugs her. "Now, I think it is time to do something I finally can."
15 minutes later, we all are at Elsa's ice wall. Elsa walks to it and uses her powers to melt it with ease.
"Okay! Now can we go back home?" Anna asks, skipping towards the red town line.
"Stop!" Emma exclaims. "Don't take another step! That's the town line."
"Right, but I want to leave the town," says Anna. "Didn't I just say that?"
"The wall may be down," Emma steps cautiously closes to the red line. "but I sense that some of Ingrid's magic remains." Emma reaches her hand out and a light blue light appears when she touches where the town line would be five feet off the ground. "Yeah, leaving this town has never been simple," she says. "And Ingrid? She didn't change things. She wanted to be here alone with you and me. She wanted to make Storybrooke her ice castle, and clearly she wanted to protect it."
"So how do we get back home?" Anna asks.
"Walking wouldn't get us there anyway," Elsa replies. "We're in a different realm."
"We need to find a portal, or magic beans or something," says Emma.
"Okay, now I'm lost," Kristoff says.
"Well, then let's get one of those things," says Anna. "We have to hurry."
"No, we don't need to rush," Elsa warns. "We need to be careful. Arendelle will still be there while we figure this out."
"It might not," Anna says, and then gasps and turns towards Kristoff. "Did we forget to tell her?" she asks him.
"A lot of stuff was going on," Kristoff shrugs.
"Tell me what?" Elsa asks.
"Arendelle's been conquered," Anna explains. "By Hans and his 12 brothers."
"Emma, we need to find a way back...now," Elsa says urgently.
"We'll do our best," Emma says, and we go back to town.
Turns out, Hook found a portal to get Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff back to Arendelle. He said Rumpelstiltskin told him about it, and that he had turned over a new leaf. Emma did not buy it, and came to me.
"Something's wrong with Killian," she says.
"Like what?"
"When he was telling me about the portal Gold "found," he was just...not right. And when he was leaving he grabbed my arm like he was trying to tell me something but he couldn't."
"You think someone took his heart?" I ask.
"I don't want to think that, but I know when something's wrong. And something is definitely wrong."
"If someone had his heart, it's probably Gold," I say. "I mean, it would make sense too if he wants people to believe he really has changed, right? Convince you by getting someone you care about to tell you."
"Yeah, but I just can't figure out why. I mean, the curse is over. There's no threat to the town..."
"Maybe he wants to leave the town," I say. "I mean, he could've stolen dad's heart before the curse was broken, right? Gold probably couldn't have gotten around town without someone noticing something off while the Snow Queen was trying to enact her curse."
"And he wanted to curse to happen so that he could sneak out of town."
"Even if Gold didn't need anything done, he still hates my dad. He could just be keeping his heart for no reason. But if he does have his heart, we need to get it back."
"Yeah, I don't think Killian survives in any of Gold's plans," Emma agrees.
To follow up on the supposed portal, Emma, Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Henry, Mary Margaret, David, and I went to the mansion where the supposed portal was. There was a door there, and when Anna sees it, she immediately exclaims,
"Crocuses! Arendelle crocuses! Elsa, we're almost home!"
"Wait, maybe I should open it," Emma says. "Magic can be unpredictable."
"So this is it," Elsa reached out to grab Emma's hand.
"Appears so," Emma replies.
"Thank you for taking such good care of my sister," Anna tells us.
"It's kind of what we do," Emma smiles.
"It's our pleasure," Mary Margaret says. "Now, don't you all have a kingdom to go save?"
"We sure do," Anna sighs. "I hope Hans isn't too comfortable on that throne 'cause I'm gonna knock him right off the minute we get back."
"And the second minute we're back," Kristoff cuts in, "maybe we could get married? Just a thought."
"Emma, thank you for everything," Elsa says. "You've done so much. I could never repay you." She hugs Emma tightly and a tear slips out. When they are done hugging, Elsa approaches the door. "Please, thank Hook and Mr. Gold for us, as well," she says.
Emma opens the portal and there is a distorted view of a palace room through it. Elsa and Kristoff go through, and Anna hesitates a moment.
"I wish I had met this Mr. Gold," she says. "He seems super helpful. Who is he? I mean, who is he in the other world? Wait, let me guess. He was a fairy godfather, wasn't he?"
"Well, not exactly," David chuckles. "He was an evil sorcerer you're lucky you never met. Rumpelstiltskin."
"Wait, what?" Anna says, puzzled.
"You know him?" Emma asks. "He explicitly said he didn't know anything about you."
"Well, that's a lie," Anna says. "Not that I'm surprised. All he does is lie."
"So Gold was playing us the whole time," I say. "But why?"
Everyone looks confused.
"Good luck finding out whatever he's doing," Anna says.
"Thank you," Emma smiles at her. "Good luck with Arendelle, and your wedding."
Anna smiles, goes through the portal, and the door closes. There's a slight shake.
"Should a portal do that?" Mary Margaret asks.
"I don't think that was the portal," I say, and we run outside to see a purple light going towards the sky from the direction of the clock tower.
"We better get there, fast," Emma says.
Inside the clock tower, Gold is standing at the top, the sorceror's hat floating in front of him, and Hook standing there too, his heart in Gold's hand.
"Gold, stop!" Emma yells.
"I can't," he replies. "I've waited too long for this. And I'm too close." The sorceror's hat floats straight up, and explodes to form a purplish galaxy on the ceiling above Gold. "It's time," he says.
As Gold is entranced with the purple lights above him, he waves his hand to prevent Mary Margaret, Emma, and I from moving.
"Well, maybe not everything has went to plan. But this next part...I'm really gonna enjoy," Gold says, squeezing Hook's heart as Hook falls to the floor in agonizing pain. Gold tries to crush his heart completely, but he can't.
"I don't understand," Gold says. Hook slowly stands back up, regaining his strength. "Why can't I--"
"Because I commanded you not to," Belle says from behind him, holding the Dark One dagger in front of her. "Drop the heart." He obeys, and as he releases the heart, Hook grabs it himself. "Now release everyone," Belle says. Gold waves his hand and we are all free to move again. "And now? Now you can take us to the town line because we need to be alone for what comes next."
Belle and Gold disappear in a cloud of dark red smoke.