"David…" A note of dread crept into Snow's voice.
He sighed. "I'm going as fast as I can." Taking his eyes off the road for only a moment, he grasped Snow's hand in his. "Gold wouldn't hurt her. I know that much."
"I doubt she'd give him the dagger," Emma chimed in, tightening her grip on Killian's hand. "I knew that look on her face too well."
Killian nodded in agreement. "Belle is kind, but she's not stupid. I doubt the Crocodile's comforting words will ever work on her again."
Emma watched the trees blur into a dark green mass out the window. They were getting closer to the town line.
Suddenly Snow's voice cut through the silence. "Is that…?"
David slowed and drove the truck to the edge of the road. Emma looked out the windshield and saw a huddled mass in the middle of the road, just in front of the line.
Snow jumped out of the car, releasing the frigid air into the car. Emma looked at Killian and sighed, releasing his hand and following her mother's lead. "Emma!" Snow cried, reaching the person as her feet hit the pavement.
Emma ran to her mother, stuffing her chilled hands into her pockets, and stooped over Belle. Her chest was moving. She was breathing. However, her face was stained with tears and her hair was all over the place, ripped out of its perfect alignment in many places. Lying just in front of her was the Dark One's dagger.
"What happened?" Emma wondered, looking up at her mom.
Snow examined the scene with her eyes widened in horror and surprise. She looked over Belle's form and then turned her head. She looked over to the right side of the road and paused.
"Mom?"
Snow walked to the edge of the road, right where it met with the grass, and bent down. She reached her hand to the ground, picking up something small that glinted in the truck's headlights.
"What is it?" Emma walked over to her and met her halfway.
Snow held up a silver ring, covered with dirt in some places. Emma looked back at Belle and noted that a pale ring of skin replaced the wedding band she once wore on her left ring finger.
"Oh, God," Emma whispered. She looked at the town line, marked in red. The dagger, the ring, the tears… "She must have sent him over the town line."
"She saved us," Snow said in awe, though her eyes betrayed the compassionate sadness she was feeling.
Emma sniffed, the cold starting to take a toll on her. She nodded at the car. "Come on, we'd better take her back to our place. It's freezing out here." She leaned over and shook Belle's shoulder. "Belle?"
Belle's eyebrows furrowed together and she inhaled a deep, shaking breath.
"Belle." Emma shook her again, a little harder. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked with confusion first at Emma, and then at Snow. She opened her mouth to speak, but Emma beat her to it.
"No time to talk, you need to get warm. Come on." Emma grabbed onto her arm and helped her to her feet. "Are you okay?" she asked, looking into her eyes and grabbing onto her shoulders.
However, Belle didn't seem to comprehend anything she was saying. Her eyes seemed dazed, and Emma wondered if she was in some kind of shock or frozen by the cold.
A car door slammed. "Need any help?" Killian offered, appearing in front of the truck.
"We need to get her warm as soon as we can." Emma gently squeezed Belle's shoulder. "Hey Belle, can you walk to the car?"
She nodded blankly, though Snow and Emma held onto her as she moved her feet toward the truck. Killian rushed to them, holding out his hand. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Tell David to turn the heat all the way up," Snow offered.
Killian took one look at Belle and clenched his jaw, his eyes hardening. He gave a sharp nod and jogged back to the car.
Belle got to the car fine and even climbed inside, though she wouldn't respond to anything else. Emma climbed in next to her and Snow sat on the other side so that Belle was nestled in between them. Killian sat up front with David and pointed the air vents to the back.
Snow put an arm around Belle, casting a worried glance at Emma. Belle shivered and sighed, closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the seat.
"Is she going to be okay?" Snow asked in a low voice.
Emma shrugged. "Being out in the cold for that long can be dangerous."
"How long was she out there?" David asked as he turned the truck around.
"Maybe an hour, maybe more. It's hard to tell. But it's been at least an hour since she and Gold left."
Snow shook her head. "We should have come sooner."
Emma nodded. Savior of Killian and of the entire town, and here she was, shivering, possibly in shock, and probably sick. "I think I underestimated Belle."
"I think we all did," Snow put in.
Killian nodded slowly. "Rumplestiltskin deceived her more than any of us."
"Why did she ever trust him?" Emma wondered, looking at Belle's peaceful expression. She had always thought it was the strangest of pairs: the immortal Dark One and one of the nicest people she had ever known.
Snow sighed. "She was in love, Emma."