Welcome to the first chapter of the **revised** Warm Hearth, Cold Snow. I've added more detail and corrected some bothersome grammar mistakes. Hope you like it! Oh, and please comment!

Emma

One of the clearest memories I have of the orphanage is the time someone with a kind heart payed for us to go to the zoo. It was literally the happiest day I had ever known. The animal that impressed me the most was the snow leopard. Its coat was stunning, and the hidden strength you could see in everything it did amazed me.

This is one of the thoughts that rushed through my mind as I look at the figure in front of me.

Snow-white hair, piercing blue eyes, pale skin. Definitely has never been in Storybrooke before. With my experience, anyone new here meant trouble. I look questioningly at Hook, who raises an eyebrow in response.

"Who are you?" I ask cautiously. I don't want to come off as too offensive, just in case she wasn't an evil witch. She probably is, but why risk it?

"My name is...that doesn't matter right now." the woman replied, a little shakily, I noticed. "I'm looking for my sister, Anna. Although this doesn't look like Arendale at all..." That's when it happens. Blue ice spreads from her feet like water, freezing everything in its path. I yell in surprise, my eyes widening. The woman looks at me with a horrified expression for a second, then takes off running. Hook shouts and rushes after her. I hold my arm out to the side, blocking his movement.

"Wait." I tell him.

"Swan, if you haven't noticed, she just nearly froze us over." he responds. "I don't think waiting is too good of an idea. She's just another villain. One we are letting GET AWAY."

"Just...trust me." I say absently, watching her blue-clad figure get farther and farther away. Why would I let her go, you ask? I was asking myself that same question, to tell you the truth.

Maybe it was because I didn't know whose side she was on.

Or maybe it was it was the complete terror I had seen in her eyes.

I grab Hook's hand and tell him we have to spread the word about this new danger, then start walking to Granny's. I had seen Regina sitting two booths in front of us before rushing out to face the ice witch. I had to talk to her about some things.

Hook

As I watch the ice witch run away, I want to do nothing more than chase after her and demand her to tell me the things I needed to know.

But Swan says wait. So I will wait. Not for long.

I feel like stabbing myself. I should have recognized her. How many times had I told myself to search for her? I had to know the truth about what happened. But then Mila had come, and my life had changed. How could I have forgotten my family? But now that witch, that Elsa is back...

There is no way I'm letting her slip through my fingers again. I stop for a moment, letting the memories wash over me. Some are soothing, but the one I focus on, the one with that witch in it, stings me like acid rain. No. I need answers. I need reasons.

"Come on." Swan grabs my hand. "We have to tell everybody." I grunt in agreement. There is no time now to search for her. I will wait.

But not for long.

Today the thing came back.

I didn't mean to kill the hot dog man. I was just begging for food, and he started yelling at me. Then I felt the all-too familiar tingling come back, and it just...came out.

When the police came, I was long gone. I had crept back to my hiding place. My stomach grumbled. I had not eaten for days, but I knew there was no way to I could eat with the humongous knot in my throat, anyway. I kept picturing the man's face, contorted forever into a picture of fury.

Did he have a family? With children? Was he a nice father, the kind that you missed when he was gone? Would the mother want to cry when she finds out he's dead, or will she hold her tears back, be strong for the children, and only mourn for her lost love behind closed doors?

Will they move on?

These are the questions that run through my head as I contemplate the life of the man I have killed. Accidentally, yes, but any sadness that stems from that incident is my fault. His blood is on my head.

"I thought it had gone away." I choke, tears burning as I try my best to hold them back. I curl up in my box, trying to get comfortable. I imagine that my brother was still alive, and was here with me. He would tell me that everything was okay. He would make up some kind of joke, to make me smile. He could always make me smile. Then he would enfold me in his arms, and I would fall asleep, feeling warm and safe.

But I didn't deserve to be happy, after all I've done to that man and his family. Today, the notion of my brother, of being safe, was so ridiculous it was funny.

The tears wouldn't stop. I try to wipe them off, only succeeding in smearing the tears all over my face. A chill wind swept in, making me cold. Finally, I just stopped trying to make myself feel better and let all the despair and misery inside me come out. My wails mixed with the shrieking of the wind. A snowstorm was coming.

One that I had created. Again.

Why am I such a monster?