Author's Note: Wow, I didn't mean to take so long to work on this story. Sorry for the delay! Hope you enjoy this chapter.

"Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it."

― J.M. Barrie

Snow holds her daughter's limp hand within hers and tries not to let the grief consume her. Emma's hand is cold, icy to the touch, and though she isn't dead—thank goodness for that—her chest isn't moving and the warmth in her cheeks is gone. Such is the power of the poison apple, though Snow can't help but wonder how Emma came in contact with Zelena in the first place.

Regina had told them she had protected the town as best she could with various defensive spells, but Zelena had managed to slip through the cracks. Now, it's too late to fix things. Emma already had been hurt and it is only a matter of time before the Wicked Witch made her move.

"Emma." Snow whispers, lips in a tight line as she uses her free hand to pull one of the comforters up. They'd moved Emma from her apartment and brought her to Snow's, if just for the sake of having her closer to them.

"It'll be okay." She feels the need to say, though she knows that Emma might not be able to hear her. "We've got you."

The Wicked Witch couldn't kill Emma so she had done the next best thing—forced the Savior out of commission.

"Snow?"

The former Queen turns her head to see her husband standing in the doorway, eyes downcast and filled with fear. They'd faced a sleeping spell before but neither one had ever wished to experience it again and there's something terrible about being useless, about how they can do nothing for their daughter but watch over her.

"How's Henry?" She manages to ask, the image of her grandson's face filled with tears coming to her mind.

Charming sighs softly, coming to stand by his wife and daughter. Pain laces his expression and with fondness, he pushes a strand of Emma's hair out of her face.

"I told him his mom collapsed from exhaustion."

Snow's frowns; it isn't the most convincing lie.

"And be believed you?"

"I think he's still in shock." Charming shrugs. "Ruby is looking after him. In a few hours though, he'll want to see her."

Snow nods, processing the information. Then, lips in a tight line, she squeezes her daughter's hand, wishing that there were some way to fix this herself. But, she knows this spell well and knows the only remedy.

True love's kiss.

"What can we do?" She asks, voice cracking as a few unshed tears well up in her eyes. "If Neal was her true love—"

"We'll figure this out." Charming reassures her, placing a soothing hand on her shoulder. "We just have to have hope."

"I know." Snow replies softly.

She just wishes that there were some other way—something to do beside sitting and waiting. Her daughter will sleep forever unless they can figure out who her true love is or find another way to break the spell.

But, for now, Snow just has to content herself with keeping vigil over her daughter.

Right now, her family needs her.

"Zelena!"

Hook screams upwards, eyes focused on the blackened sky as night descends. He feels like he's been calling for hours, but still, the Wicked Witch has not decided to grace him with presence and that pisses him off more than he realized.

He still can't get the picture of Emma's still body out of his mind. He thought, for one brief, heart-stopping moment, that she had died. In that moment—the one that seemed to dragged on for an eternity—he felt his heart shatter into a million pieces and it was in that moment that he realized that without Emma—without her by his side—he would become a shell of his former shelf, a servant to the fury and darkness within him.

But, she isn't dead and that's what matters.

He still has a chance to fix this.

"Zelena! Come out—!"

"Enough, enough." Out of the shadows, the Wicked Witch steps onto the dock, her heels clicking on the wood below. Her lips curl upwards in a smirk and she chuckles a bit as she takes in his desperate expression. "Having a rough day, Hook?"

"Reverse the spell." He orders, growling and brandishing his sword.

"Oh? Is that supposed to make me scared?" She laughs, the sound echoing in the night. Then, expression sobering, she added, "You know I can't break that spell."

"You cast it—" He accuses and she nods her head.

"Surely, even you know what spell it is." She takes a few steps closer to him and smiles smugly. "The only thing that can break it is true love's kiss."

"You made her take the apple!" He shouts, rage blinding him.

"That I confess to." Zelena answers frankly. "But at the end of the day, she took a bite of it." She grins darkly. "And now I win."

"I'll stop you." He threatens.

"You, Hook?" She asks, astonishment coloring her tone. Her eyes sparkle in amusement. "Oh, that would be something to see." She snaps her fingers and his sword dissolves into water. She places a hand on his shoulder and he tries to jerk away, but finds her grip too tight.

"Let me go." He hisses.

"You want to play the hero?" She ventures. "Then, do it. Kiss Emma."

He shakes his head, eyes widening in disbelief.

"I'm not her true love and you know that." It pains him to admit it, but he knows it for a fact. He kissed Emma in New York and she'd kicked him in return. True Love—it wasn't meant for people like him.

"Honestly?" Zelena unhands him and takes a few steps towards the same shadows she came from. "It wouldn't matter to me if you are. I win regardless." She smirks. "You can either kiss Emma and steal her magic or you can let her sleep for all eternity."

She begins to fade away.

"Zelena, stop—!"

"Your choice, Hook."

And then she's gone in a puff of green smoke.

"Thanks, Belle." Charming says before quickly hanging up and pocketing his phone. He runs a hand in his hair, sighing, before walking into the bedroom. It's been three hours and Snow hasn't left their daughter's side. He wonders what's going through her head and if she's recalling her own experience with a poison apple.

"Anything?" Snow murmurs, her gaze never leaving Emma's face.

"Belle and Rumple are looking into whether there's a loophole." He answers, coming to press a kiss to Snow's cheek.

"Loophole?" Snow echoes.

"Emma couldn't have known fully what she was doing when she took a bite of the apple."

Snow's eyes quickly widen, traces of hope alight within them.

"She couldn't give consent to be put under the spell." She deduces. Then, brow wrinkling adds, "But it shouldn't have worked if that were the case."

"Well, Belle thinks that maybe the spell might not be able to work fully, that there might be a way other than true love's kiss to break her out of it." He comes to sit on the edge of the bed and touches his daughter's frozen hand. He grimaces.

"But we don't know for sure." Snow mumbles.

"No." Charming shakes his head sadly. "We don't."

There's a knock on the door.

"That can't be Henry yet, could it?" Snow asks in alarm as Charming rises from the bed. "What will we tell him?"

"The truth." Charming replies grimly. "If that's what we have to—"

He opens the door, only to see Hook in the doorway, eyes downcast, shifting uneasily from one foot to the other.

"Hook?" Charming addresses him; unsure of why he's here.

"I need to tell you something." Hook states grimly, his eyes coming to rest on Charming's gaze. "It's about Emma."

Charming opens the door wider.

"Come in."

That's when the truth finally comes out.

Author's Note: Last chapter will be posted soon. Please review if you have a moment! Hope you enjoyed.