Everything I Do, I Do It For You
Chapter Ten
"Whatever you're thinking, mate… it had better work to knock that wall down so we can get Emma out of there," Killian said to David again after silence had fallen over them until they were just about back at the town line, while he continued to grasp tightly to the crook in his hand. "Because I doubt this shepherd's crook has the kind of power we need to do that. How is it going to help us?"
"It has a different kind of power actually, but its power isn't necessarily why we took it from Peep," Emma's father answered him worryingly. "At least not to use to break the ice wall down. I need you to trust me, Hook. I believe Elsa will be able to break through her ice, if she trusts we have a way to find her sister."
The pirate Captain sighed and then he replied quietly, "I trust you, David. Though I'm not sure I have enough faith in this stranger who endangered Emma in the first place. Certainly not the kind of faith in her you have."
As they finally arrived back at the wall and then quickly got out of the car to rush over to it again, David glanced back at his friend while he responded, "Well, we're about to find out which of us is right. Try calling her again over the walkie."
"Emma?" Killian pleaded with the woman he loved through the device now in his hand once he handed the crook back to David, so he could pull the walkie talkie from his pocket again to be able to call her. "Emma… please come in."
"Hey!" a female's voice suddenly called out to the men, when Ruby once again wearing her red cloak, came rushing out of the woods surrounding the town line like Hook had appeared among Emma and David earlier that evening, startling both David and Killian as the Prince immediately shined his flashlight straight on the shapeshifter until they discovered who she was and then lowered it again, while she came over to join them. "Sorry… I was just going for a final run in the woods in my wolf form before I leave town in the morning. At least… until I came upon this ice wall that goes all the way around. Where did it come from?"
David raised his flashlight again to shine it at the wall while he answered her, "From the woman who is currently trapped inside one of its crevasses with Emma. She's a stranger to Storybrooke and she might have caused this, but I don't believe she's a threat."
Hook looked between them while he replied more urgently, "None of that matters right now! Only getting to Emma matters."
"You're right," Charming responded to the Captain with a nod of his head, then he reached out to take the talking device back from him again so he could continue to try to talk with the sister of his friend he knew years ago. "Emma? Emma… can you hear me? Elsa? Are you there? Please answer. I need you to trust us right now."
"I'm afraid Emma's too cold to talk," Elsa fearfully answered him at last, when it was her voice that came over the walkie instead of Emma's. "I'm trying to keep her awake, but she's… she's freezing cold. Have you found Anna yet? Please tell me you're here."
The sheriff looked at Killian again worryingly and then spoke through the radio to the Queen of Arendelle saying, "We're here. Elsa… Listen to me. I need you to find a way out."
Elsa looked down sadly at the woman slowly freezing to death beside her while she worryingly replied, "I need Anna."
"Well… we don't have her right now, but we have a way to find her," David responded to her again, as both Killian and Ruby fretfully kept their eyes on the Prince trying to get through to the woman with ice magic. "And we will, but right now, you're gonna have to do this on your own."
"I can't control this," she continued sadly from inside the ice.
Charming lowered his head and stared down out in front of him to avoid looking over at the worried faces beside him, while he calmingly answered, "I know how you feel. Y… You're trapped. It's a battle you can't win, but it's exactly the kind of battle you have to fight. Or you'll die."
Elsa shook her head as she replied sternly, "No, I won't. I'll survive. But Emma…"
"Survival isn't enough," the Prince responded again more confidently upon remembering something the Queen's sister had told him back when he had known her, that had stuck with him all these years. "You have to live."
"Where did you hear that?" the woman he was speaking with asked him in surprise upon hearing her sister's own words quoted to her through someone else.
David assuredly answered her, "You know where."
Elsa then questioned, "Anna? You knew her?"
"Yeah, I did," he replied to her again. "She helped me once, a long time ago, become who I am. She saved my life and yours, and now I need you to save Emma's. I didn't know much about Anna, but… She wouldn't want you to live alone in an ice cave, which is where you'll be if you don't melt that ice. Now do it!"
Elsa began to breathe heavily in and out as her own fear threatened to consume her, but she lowered her eyes to look down at Emma again while the younger woman was struggling to keep her eyes open and on her as well. Then at last, the Queen from Arendelle stood up again in front of the wall before her, as she raised her hands to summon her magic within her in order to break the ice away enough so she could free Emma and herself. Emma weakly sat up once Elsa's powers suddenly began to flow from her hands, although she struggled against the ice that didn't appear to want to give way, still not knowing that it wasn't her powers which created the giant ice wall in the first place. However, she finally blasted through the ice when a small hole began to open up within it, just large enough for her and Emma to crawl through to get back to her family.
"It's working," Killian stated anxiously when he saw the ice begin to give way at Elsa's efforts, then he bent down to look through the opening in the ice so he could see inside and saw the woman he loved again at last, as he swiftly called out to her. "I can see her. Emma!"
As quickly as she was able, Elsa helped Emma to get out off the cave as they both crawled through the hole, then once the Savior reached the outer end of the tunnel, Killian and David immediately reached out to help pull her through the rest of the way while Killian cried out in relief, "Emma!"
As he did so, David anxiously said to Hook again, "Let's get her home. Warmed up."
Emma's legs immediately collapsed beneath her as she struggled to stand up again in front of him once she was finally freed, although Killian swiftly pulled her into his arms and tightly held her while they embraced one another. She reached up to lay her hand over the back of his head feeling her own sense of relief to see him again as well.
"Are you okay?" the Captain asked the woman he loved again softly while he continued holding her against him, attempting to offer her as much of his body heat and his strength as he could, as she could only nod in order to assure him she was alright until she collapsed against him again, before Killian picked her up into his arms so he could carry her back to the patrol car.
"You did it," David then spoke to Elsa proudly once he and Ruby helped the other woman out of the ice as well. "You saved her."
The Queen smiled at them at first, until she remembered it was her fault Emma almost died and she sadly responded, "Yes, I did. But I also endangered her. You owe me nothing."
The Prince looked at her with assurance and gratitude in his eyes as he answered her, "I owe your sister everything, and what I said was true. She helped me, and now I'm gonna help you. This isn't over. We're gonna find Anna."
"Thank you," Elsa replied to him in gratitude as well while she laughed in relief, then looked over at the dark haired woman with them once Ruby started to help her down until they were all safely back on the solid road again. "All of you."
"You're welcome," David responded, but then quickly raced back to the wall upon remembering they still needed the shepherd's crook, which he had leaned up against the ice earlier so he could help his daughter, and grabbed it before he raced back to join the others already inside the car that Emma had struggled to start despite her shivering, since Hook didn't know how to, so she could turn on the heat to try to get it warmed up. "We're going back to our place so we can get you warmed up, Emma. Hold on. And then, Elsa… we can talk about how we're going to begin looking for your sister. And we will find her. I promise."
Once they arrived back at the Charmings' apartment that was dark since the power was still out, Killian immediately began to care for Emma as he sat her down in the most comfortable cushioned chair within the loft and tenderly wrapped multiple blankets around her with David's help to try to warm her up more than the heat in the patrol car had begun to do. He then sat down on the floor beside her and rubbed her hands the best he could with his one, while Henry offered to make her some hot cocoa with cinnamon. Emma quickly apologized to her son for not being able to help him much earlier, as he assured her it was fine and that he was going to be okay.
Killian wrapped his arm around Emma's shoulders to hold her against him again, while the Savior looked up at him worryingly upon finally noticing the gash continuing to bleed out a little on the right side of his forehead, then she reached out from beneath the blankets to tenderly touch his head as she asked softly, "Are you alright? What happened?"
The pirate who loved her gently shook his head and assured her, "I'm fine, love. It's nothing. Really. Your father and I were both a little banged up when the ice came crashing down over us, just as you were. I'm far more concerned about you right now."
"Killian?" she whispered again out of frustration because of his lack of interest in caring for himself like he always was.
"Hook actually pushed me out of the way when the ice crashed down on top of us, so he ended up taking the brunt of the fall," David sternly answered for him, as Ruby walked over to them with a first aid kit in her hands and set it down on the floor beside her when she knelt down so that she could begin to treat both of her friends, while David remained standing nearby with Elsa. "He never let his pain get in his way while he worked to help get you out of there, Emma. I haven't said it yet, but I'm grateful for what you did tonight, Hook. For Emma. And me too."
Killian simply nodded as he glanced up at the Prince again, then retuned his focus on Emma while he continued to rub her shoulders for more warmth. At last, the power suddenly came back on again and as it did, David quickly walked into the other room a moment to get the heater, then brought it out so he could set it down in front of Emma to continue to help her warm up.
The Savior quickly thanked him, then she turned her head to look up at Elsa as she asked her, "Elsa… are you alright?"
Elsa nodded, until she looked between them again as she replied, "Actually… I'm still worried about Anna. How did I wind up here, if she didn't? If she didn't, of course. And if she isn't here, then how are we going to find her? I've lost her necklace too."
"Hook found it actually," David responded, while he pulled the jewelry from his jacket pocket and handed the necklace over to the Queen. "In the snow after the wall's collapse."
"Thank you," their new friend happily whispered when she took it back from him. "I'm so happy I still have it. But how do we find Anna?"
David walked over to pick up the crook he had laid against one of the posts and came back over to her while he answered, "We'll find her with this. The woman whom this belongs to used to use it to brand those she terrorized in our land before we came here so she would always be able to find them, no matter where they were if they tried to run or hide from her. When I knew Joan… or Anna rather, Bo Peep branded her too. I used it to find Anna once. We can do so again."
He handed it over to the Queen and told her to look within the center of the crook where it curved as she thought about Anna, but when nothing appeared to happen, Elsa stated, "I don't see anything."
"It should work," the Prince replied with a sigh.
"Is it broken?" Hook asked him with concern.
Elsa looked between them worryingly as she questioned, "Or does it mean something happened to her?"
"Wait…" Emma then stated upon hearing the softest sound she had ever heard coming from within the center of the crook. "What's that sound?"
"Is that a heartbeat?" the Queen asked again after they all listened harder, then began to hear a steady heartbeat coming from the magical staff as well.
David smiled as he responded, "It is."
The Savior looked at her friend again as she continued, "We might not know where your sister is… But we know the most important thing."
"She's alive," Elsa finished for her, with relief in her voice, just as Mary Margaret returned home with Neal in her arms.
"Who's alive?" the Princess asked curiously as she walked in the door, then looked surprised when she noticed the woman she didn't know standing beside her husband with a shepherd's crook in her hands. "Oh… Who are you?"
David immediately answered her, "Uh… this is Elsa. We're gonna find her sister. That's what this family does. We find people. We always do, because we really… really don't like to give up."
He looked at his wife again and added, "Elsa… this is Mary Margaret. My wife and our son, Neal. Emma's our daughter. Hook and Ruby are good friends, and Henry here… he's Emma's son."
"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," the Queen from Arendelle replied in sincerity. "I may not have my sister here with me, but I am grateful to have found you."
"Welcome to Storybrooke," Ruby responded and smiled, as did everyone else too.