Author's Notes: I do not own Once Upon A Time which is a show on ABC where I can safely say I didn't like about 90 percent of 4A. Anyway, I hope you have all been well. I have been sick for over two weeks which is why I haven't updated this story, so thanks for understanding. Thanks for the reads and reviews, I hope to get back to you all soon. Please let me know what you think and happy reading! Also, Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas.


When Beatrice looked down and noticed a yellow ribbon, she was unnerved.

When it didn't come off, that was a little more unnerving.

She quickly excused herself from Algebra II and made her way down the hall to the physics lab.

"No, you see, Mr. Smith, you are wrong yet again which is not at all unusual for you-" Merlin looked up. "Beatrice. Is something the matter?"

Beatrice held up her wrist to display the yellow ribbon.

"Alright, class dismissed. Do whatever it is you do when you think I'm not looking."

"What about our homework assignment?"

"Are you stupid? Don't ask me for bloody homework!"

Merlin walked over to Beatrice amid the class' murmurs. They stepped into the hall and he looked at the ribbon.

"Try to do something."

"What?"

"It doesn't matter. Anything."

Beatrice held her hand out to make an ice ball.

Nothing happened.

She stamped her foot to freeze the floor.

Again. Nothing.

She looked up at Merlin.

"I think we'll find this has to do with the Snow Queen," said Merlin.

Beatrice's phone buzzed. Before she could answer it, Merlin took it from here.

"Yes, sunshine, I'm with her. We'll meet you at the shop." He hung up the phone and handed it back to Beatrice.

"So?," asked Beatrice.

"It has to do with the Snow Queen."

"Of course."


A Long Time Ago

For some reason, Catherine had thought being a duchess would be less of an occupation than being the Ice Princess.

She had been wrong.

When one kept an eternal winter over her kingdom, it didn't make her subjects want to keep her company. Granted, her parting had gone well and they had explained Beatrice's concept of parliamentary democracy to much confusion, but ultimately acceptance. The Far North Kingdom would not have a princess for now. Her wedding to Alec had been the final act of her reign.

Then she had come to Padua. Alec was right in that it was a beautiful land, even if there was too much sunshine. The servants and the peasants bowed before her and there was a fete to celebrate the marriage and welcome her.

Then they didn't leave her alone. Every bloody minute, it was something else. "What should be on the dinner menu, Your Grace?" "What flowers for the ball?" "What about the East Wing window treatments?"

She really didn't care and it would not have been nearly so annoying if she wasn't certain each one of them already knew the answer they wanted to hear. Why didn't they just do it themselves and she could just read?

"Catherine! My love?"

Catherine rolled her eyes and put her book down. He heard Alec come up the stairs of the turret.

He frowned at the surroundings. "What are you doing up here?"

"I was just having a look around, you know." She motioned at the various dusty crates and wardrobes.

"Mmmm... well, uh, Mrs. Carson was looking for you. You have guests."

"Guests?," asked Catherine. "I have guests?"

She really was not in the mood to sit with the ladies of the village.

"Yes, three princesses from a land called Arendelle."

Catherine bolted up, surprising Alec with her enthusiasm.

"Arendelle? You're sure they said Arendelle?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Never mind that. I must go to them."


Now

"So this Snow Queen wants to cast a curse on Storybrooke?," asked Emma. She looked at Belle and Beatrice. "And she wants you two to be spared so you can be her new sisters?"

Catherine shrugged from her place on the sofa. "The story was that Ingrid froze Helga in some sort of accident. Gerda erased their memories from Arendelle."

"How do you erase memories from a whole kingdom?," asked Mary Margaret as she bounced Neal. The infant had been squalling off and on as Pamela kept casting sideways glances at the royal s she directed Roland in a quiet project.

"Rock trolls," explained Merlin.

"Do they sing?," asked Beatrice.

"And the curse is the same as the mirror?," asked David.

"Everyone will be condemned to be their worst selves," said Gold.

"Yeah, not good," said Beatrice.

"We need to take precautions then," said Snow. "We need to get away from our loved ones so we don't hurt them."

Beatrice looked to Gold.

"No, you're right," said Gold.

Mary Margaret frowned. "She's right about what?"

"That's between us, dearie."

"You know we hate when you guys do that, right?," asked Emma.

Venus spoke up. "May I make a suggestion?"

Merlin groaned. The others looked at Venus curiously.

"And I might remind you before you answer that, I am a goddess."

"Okay..." said Emma.

"You can't fight hate with hate. You can only fight hate with love. If you all have any hope of fighting this curse, it's going to be through love."

"Yeah, that's good," said Emma, "but what about stopping the Snow Queen?"

"Because it's that easy..." said Merlin.

"Well, maybe she needs love," said Venus.

"Bit late for that," said Catherine.

"Well, we keep giving Regina chances," said Beatrice.

The others stared at her. Gold made no secret of hiding his smirk brought on by paternal pride.

"I'm just saying, Regina cursed us all for almost thirty years, everybody wanted to give her a second chance. Maybe the Snow Queen deserves a second chance."

"Yeah, the only difference is Ingrid is the one trying to kill us all," said Emma.

"And Regina's changed," said Mary Margaret.

"Right, I just remembered I need to text Joseph," said Beatrice getting out her iPhone.

"She's been plotting with the Snow Queen about Beatrice," Belle said pointedly.

"Oh," said Beatrice. "He's across the street."

"What do you mean across the street?," asked David.

"He took the annex in the sheriff's office," said Beatrice.

"What?!," exclaimed Emma spinning around to look out the window.

"Oh, he also says that he can tell you had a reuben for lunch," said Beatrice.


Emma burst into the annex surprised to see Joseph, Mulan and Ariel.

One wall appeared to be covered in papers looking like something out of an insane asylum. Mulan appeared to be staring at a laptop, Ariel was going through her phone.

Joseph sat on top of a desk with his hands steepled as he stared at the crazy wall.

"What's going on?," asked Emma.

"I hired Mulan, Ariel and Marian," said Joseph.

"You can't hire people."

"You seem to have Hook loitering about the place. He's even gotten a new outfit. What can we infer from that?"

"I can hire people, I'm the sheriff."

"You hired a pirate. That's not very responsible. The man is essentially a career criminal."

"He has a point," said Ariel.

Emma motioned at the two women. "And what are they doing?"

"Ariel is processing the surveillance coming in from the field."

"What surveillance?," asked Emma.

"The surveillance Marian's doing of Regina."

Emma's jaw dropped. "How is that even a good idea?! And I asked you to find out who the woman in the hospital was!"

"We're working on that as well," said Joseph.

"Hey, Joseph," said Ariel bringing the phone over, "Marian just took this picture of Regina going in the inn."

Joseph took the phone. "Through the restaurant entrance?"

"No, through the back."

The phone buzzed.

"Oh, that is interesting," said Joseph.

"What?," asked Emma.

"Lestrade says Robin just came into Granny's."

"So what?," asked Emma.

"Well, they're obviously having an affair."

"You don't know that!"

"Meeting at a hotel in the middle of the afternoon? Yeah, I kind of do and I find myself oddly disillusioned by the whole thing."

Emma silently considered. "Look, whatever Regina and Robin are up to, that's their business."

"Well, Marian's going to figure it out since she's following Regina," said Ariel.

"Well, call her off," said Emma.

Mulan frowned. "Whose side are you on?"

"I'm not on anyone's side-"

"Because it sounds like you're on the side of the guy cheating on his wife," said Ariel.

"There's no sides!," Emma said plaintively as Mulan and Ariel stared at her.

"Though somebody should get over there and do something before Regina and or Marian blows up the place," Joseph suggested.

"You don't want to?," asked Emma.

Joseph shook his head. "That's not really what I do."


A Long Time Ago...

Catherine entered the parlor as the maid finished serving tea to the three princesses. Alec followed closely behind.

"Your Highnesses," Alec began, "my wife, Catherine. The Duchess of Padua."

The young woman stood. There was a tall blonde, her younger sister and a redhead.

The not so tall blonde spoke first. "Your Grace, I am Helga. These are my sisters Ingrid and Gerda."

"Ingrid," said Catherine. "You're the heiress to Arendelle, are you not?"

"Yes," she said softly. "You've heard of me."

"I know a very little," said Catherine, motioning for them all to sit down.

They did.

Helga seemed to be the conversationalist in the bunch. "We traveled to the Far North first, but your ice palace was empty."

"Except for the snowman," muttered Gerda.

"Right," said Helga. "Olaf explained that you had married and moved here."

"You gave up your powers?," Ingrid asked, ever so tenuously.

"Well, a certain fairy had designed a so-called blessing to make certain that I couldn't keep my powers after my marriage," said Catherine. "I didn't so much give them up as put them in trust, so that they may be used again someday."

"He mentioned someone called Beatrice," said Helga.

"Of course he did," Catherine said with a sigh.

"Your highnesses, if it's not too much trouble, if you could keep the existence of someone called Beatrice to yourselves, we would be in your debt," said Alec.

"Who is she?," asked Gerda.

Catherine exchanged glances with Alec, then looked back at the princesses.

"She is a powerful sorceress whom I hope to meet again," said Catherine.

"But if she helped you get rid of your powers, we need her-" said Gerda.

"No, she-" Catherine paused. "Why have you come?"

There was silence.

Ingrid began softly. "I have the power of the ice. I can't control it. It's getting worse."

"Show me," said Catherine.

Ingrid shook her head. "I don't want to hurt anyone."

"You won't." Catherine motioned for her to try.

Ingrid concentrated and a small flurry appeared in the room.

"See, it's not the ice itself that harms, it's the heart," said Catherine. She glanced at Alec. "I'd like to invite you to stay here with us. I could teach you to control your powers."

"But we need her back in Arendelle," said Gerda.

"Gerda," said Helga, "if this is something Ingrid needs we have to find a way to make it work."

"Surely you two can account for her absence," said Alec. "I'd be happy to escort Princess Ingrid home myself when she's learned all she can from my wife."

"No." Ingrid stood. She shook her head. "I can't be separated from my sisters."

"Ingrid..." said Helga.

She stood and began to leave.

"Ingrid," said Catherine rising, "if you don't learn to control your powers, they will control you."

Ingrid left and her sisters followed suit.


Now

Beatrice had her hand on the doorknob as the foyer light flicked on.

"Where do you think you're going?," Belle demanded.

Beatrice turned around as Belle marched towards her.

"I was just going..."

Belle raised an eyebrow.

"To see the Snow Queen..."

"Beatrice. We went through this with Zelena. You need to let your father and grandfather handle this-"

"Yeah," said Beatrice. "We did go over this with Zelena and I know I tried to kill her, but in the end, she killed herself, didn't she?"

"What are you saying?"

"Look, I know I had my little homicidal thing, but-"

"But nothing," said Belle.

"But I didn't even know her then."

"Beatrice, what are you saying?"

"Yeah, she did a lot of crappy things, but then again, I know a few people who have done crappy things. She never really had a chance, though."

"That doesn't excuse her actions-"

"Her mom left her in the woods, okay? Do you think if you had left me in the woods I would have turned out like this?"

"I would never have done such a thing-"

"Yeah and not everyone's so lucky. We got to be friends right before everything went horribly wrong and you know what happened in the end? She killed herself."

"That's not your fault."

"She killed herself because she didn't think anyone cared and you know what? She was right and I have to live with that."

"Beatrice, you can't blame yourself for her actions."

"Ingrid wants two sisters. You only come up with a stupid plan like this if you don't have a better way to get friends. Frankly, it's something I understand."

"And what is your plan?"

"I'm going to be her friend."

"Beatrice, she's too dangerous and you don't have your powers."

"Right, because it would be a mistake to go deal with an all powerful magical being without having any magical powers myself."


A Long Time Ago

"Reinette," said Catherine as her daughter came into the parlor.

"Mama." She curtsied and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek.

"You slept late," said Catherine.

"She did only arrive late in the evening," Alec pointed out. "How is Princess Eva? I trust the marriage is back on track."

"Indeed. King Leopold wishes to fix a date for next summer," said Reinette.

"Gods help him..." said Catherine.

"Mama..."

"And what of your entanglements?," asked Alec. "Ought I expect to hear from any suitors?"

"I was thinking of paying a visit to Avonlea."

"Avonlea? But that's Sir Maurice's land," said Catherine.

"Yes."

"But I thought you didn't like him."

"Well, sort of."

"Well, sort of? What does that mean?"

The door opened. The butler bowed.

"Your Grace."

"Yes, what is it, Rosings?"

"There are visitors in the front hall who wish to see Her Grace. Their Majesties, the King and Queen of Arendelle."

"Oh, do they now?," asked Catherine.

"Catherine..."

"Oh, no, let's send them in, shall we?"

"Who are these people?," Reinette asked after Rosings left.

Catherine and Alec stood. Reinette followed suit as the King and Queen entered.

Their majesties waited. Reinette looked curiously to her parents wondering why they had not yet given the king and queen the respect of a bow and curtsy.

"If you're waiting for me to show you any favor, you may as well stop," said Catherine.

"Catherine, I-"

"How dare you think you can speak to me in such a familiar tone."

Gerda sighed. "This is my husband, Agthar."

"Ah, so what did you get out of it?," asked Catherine.

"Excuse me?," asked the man.

"It's not what you think happened," said Gerda.

"Well, let me see if it's what I think," Catherine began. "Two elder sisters vanished, the youngest ascends to the throne and a memory spell is cast by rock trolls to make certain no one in the land can remember either of them. It sounds like a coup d'etat, it looks like a coup d'etat. I It must be a coup d'etat. can't imagine why you've come to the person who can expose you."

"It wasn't like that," said Gerda.

"Really? Then what was it like?"

Gerda swallowed. "Ingrid killed Gerda-"

"Oh, isn't that convenient?"

"She didn't mean it. It was an accident. She couldn't control her powers. I locked her away in an urn that we got from a fairy."

"Let me guess, the Blue Fairy?," asked Catherine.

"Yes."

"The one I said not to deal with?"

Gerda was silent.

"And what is it you want now?"

Agthar spoke. "Our daughter. Elsa. She has the power of the ice."

"Maybe you should just trap her in an urn..."

"We hope it won't come to that," said Gerda.

Alec shook his head in disgust. "That's your daughter you're speaking of."

Agthar continued. "We've hidden her powers from our people, kept her isolated, but it's getting worse."

"I can't think why that would be," said Catherine.

"This isn't funny," said Gerda.

"I agree. You locking your daughter away from the rest of the world is not funny in the slightest."

Gerda stiffened. "Can you help us?"

Catherine sighed. "I'll make you the same deal I wanted to make before. Send her to me and I can teach her to control her powers."

"So far away-"

"It's the only choice," said Catherine. "And it's yours to make. You may leave now."

Gerda and Agthar looked at each other, then made their way out.


Now

Belle walked behind Beatrice as they went into the Snow Queen's lair carrying some tote bags.

"Be careful," Belle said for the hundredth time.

"I've got this."

"Stop."

They looked up to see Ingrid standing in front of them.

"Whatever magic you have with you, it can't stop my plan," said Ingrid.

"I wouldn't be so sure," said Beatrice, rifling through the bag.

Ingrid raised her hands again. Belle looked nervously between her daughter and the sorceress, stepping ever so slightly forward as Beatrice pulled out a bag of chocolates.

"Godiva truffles," said Beatrice. "Mom was thinking ice cream, but then we thought it might be dumb since you have an ice cream shop. Also, I know you and my dad and grandfather kind of got in a fight there and it's a little blown up, but I think we could get estimates or something. We usually get Leroy for stuff like that and putting up our Christmas lights.

"You brought me chocolate?," asked Ingrid.

"Yeah, also chips. Popcorn. Soda. Starbucks was already closed when we left so, sorry."

"Why?"

"Because we thought you could use some company," said Belle.

"You thought I could use company?," Ingrid said skeptically.

"My grandmother, Catherine," Belle began, "she mentioned you had two sisters. You were close once."

"Gerda locked me away," said Ingrid bitterly.

"Well, that sucks," said Beatrice.

"I'm sure she felt bad."

"I don't have a sister," said Beatrice. Ingrid looked up at her. "I have a half brother. He's sort of a jerk sometimes."

"Oh, you mean Henry's father?"

"Yeah."

"He never leaves anything in the tip jar."

"Seriously?," asked Beatrice. "Lame."

"Beatrice..." said Belle.

"I'm just saying." She looked back at Ingrid. "So, basically, here's what usually happens, somebody comes up with an evil plan and they get defeated and life sucks for them when I think all you're looking for is someone to hang out with and like we're really good at hanging out."

Ingrid looked skeptical.

"Also," Belle added, "my husband thinks he'll be immune to your curse and if you plan for us to just hang out for eternity, he will most likely have a problem with that."

"Well, then," said Ingrid, "what kind of chips?"


A Long Time Ago

Alec entered the parlor and shut the door.

"I have news, my dear. From Sir Maurice."

"Who was under attack from ogres last I checked so why do you look excited?," Catherine asked as she put down her book.

"Ah, yes, the ogres are vanquished."

"How was such a feat accomplished?"

"Belle made a deal with the Dark One."

"Oh, did she indeed?"

"Her people were to be saved and she has gone to serve as the Dark One's caretaker."

"Caretaker?," asked Catherine. She scoffed. "Is that what they're calling it these days?"

"Maurice writes to beg my assistance to free Belle from such an arrangement."

"And will you?"

"Somehow I think the whole matter may slip my mind..."

Catherine stood and embraced her husband, giving him a peck on the lips.

"And what was that for?," asked Alec.

"I only wish that our granddaughter will be as happy as I have been with you."

"It wasn't all plain sailing."

"Well, that would have been boring," Catherine said with contempt.

The door opened and the footman entered.

"Sorry to disturb, Your Graces, visitors from Arendelle."

Alec groaned. "This never goes well."

Catherine sighed. "Do we even let them in?"

Alec nodded towards the footman. "Send them in."

A few seconds passed and the visitors arrived.

"Hi," said the young woman. "Your Graces..."

"Who are you?," asked Catherine.

"I'm Princess Anna and this is my fiance, Kristoff. We heard you could help us, not heard, read, found out-"

"Help you with what?"

"Right. See, my sister, Elsa has some ice powers and-"

"Your sister, Elsa?," asked Alec. "I don't understand. Your parents were here years ago about Elsa."

"Right, that's because my aunt sort of froze us for decades..."

"And what is it you wish to know?," asked Catherine.

"Right, so, my aunt sort of cursed me and I sort of put my sister in an urn..."

Catherine shook her head. "Why did we even let you in?"

"Now I can't find the urn, though."

"Well, I don't have it," Catherine snapped.

Anna looked to Kristoff. "Do you maybe want to help me here?"

"I think you're doing fine on your own."

"I don't know if your mother happened to mention me, but I don't look upon it kindly when sisters imprison other sisters because they have ice powers," said Catherine.

"Bit of a pet peeve of hers, really," said Alec.

"But I didn't mean it-"

"But you did. Just as your mother did."

"Wow, you're kind of mean," said Anna, taken aback.

"Wow, you're kind of grating my patience."

Anna looked at her fiance. "Come on, Kristoff. Let's go."

The pair from Arendelle left. Alec turned to Catherine.

"You're really just going to let them leave?"

"I've tried to help before and been refused before," said Catherine. "I'll be sitting here in another twenty years and they'll come back because her daughter has uncontrollable ice powers and honestly, I'm thinking of letting Beatrice deal with it."

Alec raised an eyebrow. "You're pawning off something on our unborn great-granddaughter?"

"She'll be the Ice Princess then. She can deal with it. Or let her father do whatever it is he does with people."

"Catherine, you don't really want to turn anyone into a snail."

"Don't tell me what I want."

"Right, my love, your temper is matched only by your beauty and your wit-"

"Don't flatter me."

He began to walk out.

"And where are you going?," Catherine demanded.

"To get those two back here so we can work out something. Did you see what he was wearing? That and the blond hair, he's just asking to get robbed."

"Alec..."

He opened the door. "I shall return shortly. Bowen, prepare my horse."


Now

Emma was surprised to get the call from Gold and Merlin, then even more surprised when she suggested she be the one to go in and talk to the Snow Queen but she figured it couldn't be that mad after she had spent the afternoon with the mess Regina and Robin had made of their personal lives.

Anything would actually be better.

"Guys?"

"We're in here, Emma!," Beatrice called.

Emma came in holding her hands up. She was surprised to see what appeared to be Belle, Beatrice and the Snow Queen sitting on a sofa watching a Macbook.

"What's going on?," asked Emma.

"We're just getting to know Ingrid better," said Belle.

Emma frowned. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, we're just watching TV, eating junk food," said Beatrice. "Girl time."

"Girl time?," asked Emma.

"Yes, Beatrice told me all about her boyfriend," said Ingrid.

"Didn't you try to kill him?," asked Emma.

"Emma, seriously, if we held it against everybody when they tried to kill anyone, well..." said Beatrice. "We'd run out of people to talk to pretty quick."

"You can join us," Belle offered.

Emma walked over and took a chair. "You're sure you guys aren't under some kind of spell?"

"I'm not going to cast my curse if that's what you're worried about," said Ingrid. "And I'll take down the ice wall and the other curse."

"What other curse?," asked Beatrice.

"The one where if you left town you couldn't return."

Beatrice shook her head. "Why would you do something like that?"

Ingrid shrugged. "It seemed right at the time."

"The important thing is she's going to take it down," said Belle. "Which we really ought to do soon."

"Oh, we can do it now," said Ingrid.


After they left the Snow Queen's lair, they were reunited with Gold and Merlin. They began the walk to the town line with Belle and Gold trailing behind Merlin, Emma, Ingrid and Beatrice.

"I don't understand why you agreed to this plan in the first place," said Gold. "I would have found a way to deal with the Snow Queen. You don't need to play nice with her."

"I didn't do it for her," Belle said sternly. "I did it for our daughter."

"Now I really don't understand," said Gold.

"She's upset about Zelena."

"Why would she be upset about Zelena?"

Belle sighed. "You have to admit, Rumple, she didn't have an easy life and it had a tragic end."

"She was insane. She hurt Bae, she hurt Beatrice, in fact, killed her-"

"You think I don't know that? Do you think I wasn't furious with her? We know what happened in Oz, she was Zelena's friend once, but she died friendless and without hope. Beatrice thinks that's why she took her own life and in part, blames herself for it."

"She shouldn't blame herself," he said quietly.

"That's our daughter, Rumple. She wants to help the friendless and the helpless."

Gold looked ahead of them as Beatrice walked with the Snow Queen.

"She takes on too much," said Gold.


A Long Time Ago

Alec rode Mandrake IV hoping to catch up with them. He got off when he saw a blinding white light.

As he pondered what sort of magic he was looking at, he felt himself pulled towards it with nothing to hang on to and no control of his limbs. He flew until he stopped on a slab of stone.

He looked around. Across the empty room were two young women who seemed to be using the wall on the far end to hold themselves up. One shorter, one taller. The shorter one had brown eyes and dark brown hair. The taller one had longer hair in a lighter shade and blue eyes. They both wore strange clothes.

"Don't say it," said the short one.

"I didn't say anything."

"Yeah, but you were thinking it."

"I wasn't thinking anything, either!"

"Don't say anything, I feel bad enough already."

"Why would you assume I'm going to blame you?"

"Oh, my God," said the shorter one when she set eyes on Alec.

Alec sat up.

"Oh, my God," said the taller one.

Alec coughed. "Ladies, forgive me, I'll be with you in a moment."

"We're fine. Take all the time you need..." the short one said quickly.

Alec noticed something on the ground next to him. Some sort of peasant child's toy, a straw doll with a blue coat. He picked it up as he helped himself to his feet.

"Does this belong to either of you?," he asked.

"No, never seen it."

Alec frowned. "Apologies, ladies. I'm being rude. I am Alec, the Duke of Padua."

The tall one opened her mouth to speak.

"I'm Jenna and this is my sister, Louise," the short one said, beating her to it.

"Louise?," the tall one snapped.

Alec eyed her.

"Right. Of course. The name my parents gave me," she said. "Apologies. Louise."

Alec decided to let that one go. The sisters seemed to cling to each other and the wall.

"Do you ladies happen to know where we are?"

"No idea," said Jenna, stepping forward.

"It's definitely a different realm," said Louise.

"How can you tell?," asked Alec.

"Just feels different. It's not the Enchanted Forest, though," said Jenna.

"You're not from the Enchanted Forest?," asked Alec.

The sisters looked at each other again.

"No, we're from someplace different," said Jenna.

"Where?"

Before they could answer, a stone door slid to the side and a redhead stepped inside. She wore a fine gown that with embroidery.

"Not quite what I was expecting..." she began.

"To be honest, this isn't quite what I expected, either," said Jenna.

"Hush it, dearie," she snapped. "Now, do any of you know where I can find Rumplestiltskin?"

Alec froze. Certainly whatever this witch wanted, she wasn't a friend of his. In fact, he very much doubted the Dark One had many of those.

"Literally no idea," said Jenna.

"Never heard of him," said Louise.

The redhead turned to Alec.

"I don't think I've heard of anyone called Rumplestiltskin."

"And I think you're all liars," said the witch. "Because I cast that spell to help me find him and I got you which means you know him. So start telling me the truth."


Now

Joseph walked into the sheriff's station annex. He was surprised to see Lila waiting in a chair.

"Lila."

"We need to speak."

She put a book down on the table. It was one he recognized as looking like Henry's storybook.

"Yes?"

"Robin Hood came to the library. It seems her majesty has some notion that events are controlled by some mysterious Author."

"Oh, I am well aware," said Joseph.

"After he left, this book appeared," said Lila. She opened the book.

Joseph walked over. She had opened the book to a story called "The Death of Sherlock."

"Oh, please," said Joseph. "You're not actually buying into this?"

"I find it alarming. You continue to ignore the danger that girl presents to you."

"What danger? There is no danger."

"Oh, sorry."

They looked up to see Beatrice standing in the doorway holding two cups.

"I'll come back," said Beatrice. "I was just going to bring you tea."

"Actually, she was just leaving," said Joseph.

Lila scowled as she walked out.

"What did you do?," Beatrice asked.

Joseph shut the book behind him as he took the up from Beatrice. "Nothing."

"Yeah, I have a mom. You did something."

Joseph shrugged. "Who can tell really? So, the Snow Queen is defeated?"

"More like amicably surrendered. It is going to be so cool having a friend with an ice cream shop."

"Cheers," said Joseph holding out his cup.

"Cheers," said Beatrice.