Emma sat at her desk in the sheriff's station, cradling her brother in her arms. She kept a close eye on her parents, who were glaring hatefully at each other through the bars of their shared cell wall. Emma had magically chased away Regina after her violent confrontation with Mary Margaret. Anna had fled from the station to distance herself from Kristoff. Elsa leaned against the side of the desk. "What are you thinking about?"
Emma looked up at her friend and answered honestly: "True love's kiss." Elsa only raised her brows in response. "It's supposed to be able to break any curse. It was my love for Henry that broke the first curse this town was under. The original dark curse," she explained.
"Oh." Elsa's eyes widened, though she said no more, waiting for Emma to continue.
"What if ... true love's kiss could break this curse?" Emma wondered aloud.
"But everyone hates their true loves right now," Elsa replied, looking over to Mary Margaret and David. "And those of us who aren't affected ... There's no one I love. Not in that way. Anna loves Kristoff, but ... " She trailed off, knowing the rest didn't need to be said. She stood silently for a moment, before a look of realization crossed her face. "Your love. Killian."
Emma bit her lip. "I don't know that ... " She wanted to say she wasn't sure she felt that way for Killian, but it would have been a lie. Instead, she finished: "He's cursed, too."
"But you're the savior," Elsa insisted, "what if the curse didn't affect his love for you?"
"Do you think that could be possible?"
"It's worth a try. Right now, it's the only idea we have."
Emma sighed and gave a barely perceptible nod. She rose and handed Neal to Elsa. "I'll go find him."
...
It wasn't difficult. He was at the dock, as he'd said he would be. She kept her distance and called out: "Killian!"
He turned abruptly, eyes wide. "Emma!" He started to move towards her. She held up her hand, and he halted.
"Do you ... hate me?"
"No! No, love, the curse ... it didn't touch me."
She closer still. "Are you sure?"
He nodded frantically. "Come here. Please, love." The need in his voice broke her. She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. He pressed her to him.
"Elsa was right," she mumbled into her shoulder. He pushed her back, keeping his hands on her upper arms.
"What?"
"She said that since I'm the savior, your ... love for me wouldn't be affected by the curse." She didn't meet his eyes, worried that he would contradict her, saying he didn't love her. Rather, he smiled.
"Brilliant." She looked up, returning his smile. His expression turned to one of concern. "How is everything?"
She stepped back slightly, his hands falling from her arms. She shook her head. "It's terrible. Everyone hates everyone. It's just like the Snow Queen said it would be."
Killian sighed. "Thank the gods you're all right. Let me help you?"
Emma nodded. "You will. At least, I hope you will."
"Anything you need me to do, name it."
"Kiss me." His brows raised and eyes widened. "True love's kiss can break any curse," she explained.
A broad smile crossed his face at what was essentially a profession of love. But it fell when he realized the flaw in her plan; a flaw she couldn't have anticipated. "In New York - " He began, but she cut him off.
Emma laid her hands on his shoulders, offering him a soft smile. "I didn't have my memories. I didn't know who you were."
He pulled away and turned from her. "Aye. You didn't have your memories then and now ... I don't have my heart."
She grabbed his shoulder and spun him back towards her. "What?"
"The crocodile," he spat.
"Gold? He has it? How? Why?"
Killian's jaw clenched. He realized the only way to make her understand would be telling her the whole story. "I wanted my hand back, for our date. The only way to get it was through him. So I offered him a deal." Emma nodded, knowing Gold had been involved in restoring his appendage. "He'd given Belle the Dark One's dagger as a wedding gift. At least, that's what he wanted her to think. It was a fake." Emma's eyes widened. "I told him I wouldn't let her in on it if he reattached my hand. He agreed." Emma nodded once, urging him on.
"But that hand ... It turned me back to the man I was before I met you. Hateful, violent. I went to Gold to get rid of it, offering the same payment. Gold said he's switched the daggers, given Belle the real one. So the only way he'd return my hook was for me to help him with something. He wouldn't say what." Emma shook her head, familiar with Gold's vague ways.
"He has this hat. It ... consumes magical beings. He made me help him use it on this old man. Afterwards, he modified a tape of what had happened so it looked as if I'd acted alone. He threatened to show it to you if I ever crossed him." Emma dipped her head, saddened by the thought of Gold using her against Killian
"Then, you went to him to get rid of your powers. I knew he meant to use that hat on you, so I tracked down the house he'd sent you to. I wanted to save you." Killian paused, collecting himself. "He caught me at the gate. Trapped me. Once he realized you hadn't gone through with it, he ripped out my heart. Told me he'd use me to get to you." Emma exhaled sharply. Killian wanted to stop here. Wanted to keep her in the dark about his role in the curse's success. But he couldn't keep it in.
"Yesterday ... He forced me to use the hat on the fairies. He didn't want the curse stopped, gods know why." He shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Emma. I - " She pulled him to her.
"It isn't your fault." She pushed him back just enough to meet his eyes. "We're going to get your heart back."
...
Emma was shocked to find Gold in the first place she looked - his shop. He was standing behind the counter, seemingly without a care in the world. "Gold." Emma said his name coldly. He looked up and smiled at her, until he realized Killian standing behind her.
"Miss Swan. Captain. I must say I'm surprised to see the two of you together."
Emma ignored his statement. "I know what you've done. What you made him do." A flash of shock crossed Gold's face. Neglecting to order Killian to keep his predicament from Emma had been a major oversight. "Where is his heart?" Emma leveled a dangerous stare at him.
"Somewhere safe. Don't you worry."
"The only safe place for it, is in his chest. Now where. Is. It?" Emma intentionally set all the items in his shop to shaking, reminding him of her power.
"Careful now, Swan. We wouldn't want anyone getting hurt."
"Oh I would very much like for you to get hurt. But if you give me Killian's heart, maybe you won't." The objects shook more vigorously. Gold looked around, his eyes betraying hints of fear. He reached under the counter and pulled out a box.
"Here. I suppose I'm finished with it anyway." Gold found himself regretting not crushing it as soon as he was able. He went to open the box, but Emma transported it to her hands before he could touch it. He took a step back in surprise. Emma immobilized him, knowing he could retrieve the heart just as easily.
She opened the box slowly, Killian looking over her shoulder. She breathed in when she saw his heart, red and beating, lying in front of her. She grasped it as gently as possible in one hand and dropped the box to the floor. She looked at Killian, his heart heavy in her hand. He smiled at her, giving her all the encouragement she needed. She pressed it back into his chest and he gasped. He grinned and went to embrace Emma, but she held up a single finger. He froze, perplexed.
Emma turned to Gold and took away the charm freezing him in place. He glared at her. She choked him without laying a hand on him. His eyes bulged. "If I were the monster that you are, I would kill you right now. But I don't want that in my heart. So take this as a warning: If you ever harm someone I love again, I will kill you, my heart be damned." She dropped him to the floor and moved to stand over him. He looked up at her, struggling to catch his breath. "And don't make the mistake of thinking you can defeat me. I've embraced who I am now. And that makes me more powerful than even you planned on."
She strode away from him, head held high. She grasped Killian's hand; his eyes were locked on the crumpled Gold in shock. She practically dragged him out of the shop. A few steps down the sidewalk, she turned to him.
"Okay. So that's over with. Now, let's break this damn curse." He gave her the brightest smile he'd ever worn. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her. When their lips met, a pulse of white light spread over Storybrooke, and they knew. They knew before they broke apart that they'd done it. They'd saved the love in Storybrooke with their own.