Emma grabbed her coat and stalked out of the house, wanting to slam the door, but instead used all of her willpower to rise above the temptation. Just because she was mad at Hook doesn't mean she had to wake the baby as well. She loved Hook and she definitely loved their baby, Hope, but she needed to get out of the house for a few hours. She stormed in the direction of Granny's, letting her anger carry her on the familiar path while she brewed over her fight with Hook. She couldn't even remember how the fight started, it felt like a storm had been gathering the last few days, and today was just the day the lightening struck. Emma shook her head and pulled out her phone. She was about to call Snow, to see if she wanted to meet at Granny's, when a voice behind her said "Frustrating isn't it?"

Emma whirled around but there was no one on the street, the street lights illuminating the road behind her. She paused, waiting for a figure to form out of the shadows, but none came. She gave one last sweeping look over the sidewalk. Deciding her frustration was toying with her hearing, Emma turned to resume her walk down the street. She took all of two steps before she realized that someone had materialized leaning against a fence a few yards in front of her. The stranger was lean and tall, but his features were obscured by the shadow of a nearby tree. She reached for her gun, only to realize she'd left her holster at home. From her many run-ins with people or creatures who could teleport like that, she knew running was likely no good, so she squared her shoulders and asked, "Who are you?"

Emma still couldn't see the man's face, but she could hear the smile in his voice as he responded, "An interesting question, but not one pertinent to this conversation."

Emma waited for him to go on, but the silence just kept stretching until she snapped, "What do you want to talk about." She was tired, frustrated, and in no mood for annoying magic tricks.

Still with that smile in his voice, the man said "I want to talk about you Emma. You've been through so much over the years. Breaking the curse, finding love, becoming the Dark One… but tell me, how do you like your happy ending?"

Emma chose to ignore the question, "Who told you about me?"

"My dear Emma, no one had to tell me about you, I've always known you. You're one of my two favorite versions."

Emma's head tilted slightly, "Versions of what?"

"Versions of you, dear."

Emma's eyes strained against the shadows covering the man in front of her. Her mind caught on his last word. "Rumpelstiltskin?"

"No, I'm not the Dark One." He leaned forward slightly, but his face remained sheathed in shadow, "I can do things he can only dream of."

Emma shuttered slightly, "What do you want?"

"It's not what I want, dear. It's about what you want."

"I have everything I want."

Again, that damn smile could be heard as he said, "Do you, dear? Storming down the street after a fight with the captain. Is this the life you imagined?"

"He's my true love, of course we'll fight, but he's still my happy ending."

"He didn't have to be."

"What are you saying?"

The man's head tilted, "Isn't it obvious, dear? I'm saying this is the happy ending you chose. Sometimes our first choice isn't the right one, and we don't get to keep those. Like yours, all those years ago. Do you remember?"

An understanding flickered in Emma's eyes, but he went on anyway, "Tallahassee, with Neal. You would have sold the watches, and then gone on to live an honest life together, until Henry came along, and then your quaint two would have become three."

"What do you want?" Emma growled.

The man ignored her, "What a life you three would have had, quiet, peaceful, and so very loving." He paused, letting the image sink in, "But that wasn't to be, so your story led you here, to Storybrooke. Where you found your family and eventually fell in love."

"And I have no regrets, I love Hook, and my parents, and my kids, so what the hell is your point."

"That's your happy ending Emma, the one you chose… in this realm."

"So what?"

"There's another realm, just as happy, but different from this one. Well, obviously there are lots of other happy realms, but the one I'm talking about, the one I'm going to show you, is the only other realm where you are as happy as you are here. Because I know how happy you are, how much you love your husband and the rest of your family. I know how content you are, despite moments like these. You wouldn't have it any other way."

"You're damn right I wouldn't." Her hands were curling into fists, defensive of the life she has.

"But there is one other realm, where you are just as strong, just as passionate, where you're with your parents, and Henry, and all the other fairytale characters you love. Where you're as equally in love as you are here."

She snarled "I would love Hook in any realm." Even though she knew that wasn't true, had been to a realm where they had never even met.

"I didn't say anything about Hook, did I?"

"What-"

"Sorry Emma, but your time for questions is over. Now I'm going to show you."

"If you think, even for a second, that you can," but the stranger lifted a hand, and just like that the ground vanished from under Emma, and she was falling…