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Chapter 2

Others have magic that they can reach deep down inside and learn once they realize their abilities. Just look at everyone Rumple had taught. Emma, Regina, and Cora. All 3 were born with the magic they have but it took work to unlock it. They had to really work and focus to bring out the magic. Zelena and Elsa were definitely different. Their magic was almost, in a sense, the main layer of who they were. It was always there, exploding out of them as babies. Rather than pulling at their magic to reach it, they had to work at ways to tame it, to control it. Zelena learned this quickly, it wasn't a magic fueled by the elements, but Elsa's was even more puzzling. In the past, when Rumple locked her up it was due to Elsa's lack of control and unpredictability. It seemed though with the attack on the library that she had somehow learned to focus the power better than before.

Rumple would stop at nothing to save his Belle. He knew he would probably need some help. He hated asking for help but knew he couldn't leave anything to chance with this situation. He watched as Elsa cast a frozen heart upon Belle. He watched her near ice-cold body nearly collapse in front of him. The second he realized what Elsa was doing it was as if his own heart froze.

He had made his way back to his shop where he called to meet with the select few that if he were to call anyone a friend, they would be the closest thing to that. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but if Belle considered them that way, he too would do the same. One by one they entered the shop, all of them breaking out their heavier coats since the chill had set in early in the morning. Regina, Emma, Prince Charming, Hook, and Robin Hood all received calls from Rumple that seemed very urgent. Snow stayed back to care for Prince Neal.

Regina was the first to speak up. "So, what mess is our little town in today? Who did you make a bad deal with, Rumple?"

He didn't respond to that remark. He knew that they had to work fast. It wasn't a coincidence that when Belle was struck in the heart he could feel it. Their true love was so strong, especially since the vows, that he was truly feeling the chills and the ache of her frozen heart. Even he couldn't explain how their love came to be that bonding but he was glad he could sense it because he was certain she was still alive.

"Belle is in danger." He stood in front of the group, all eyes were engaged in his story. They all loved Belle. Who wouldn't? She was so kind to everyone. "The Snow Queen is in Storybrooke. Which I am still trying to figure out how she got here." He shot Emma and Hook a look, not yet hearing every little detail of their time travel adventure, but guessing this might have been from their trip.

Emma noticed the look and in true Emma fashion spoke up. "Hey, if anything came back with us through that portal, it's Zelena's fault. Not ours." She glanced over at Regina while stating this as well, hoping the Evil Queen would be able to blame her sister for Marian being in town instead of Emma and Hook.

Things were complicated now for Regina and Robin since Marian's return, but they were trying to figure it all out. Marian is Roland's mother but Robin felt a sort of love for Regina that he didn't have with Marian. "What's done is done, so now we just have to work to fix it." Regina said back very calmly, she was trying not to be mad at Emma but to focus on her relationship.

"All I need to know is, were you in my vault?" Rumple decided to take control of the meeting so they didn't lose more time.

"Aye, Mate. You put us there since you didn't quite understand how to send us back here." Hook spoke.

"Somehow the container she was trapped in must've been pulled through with you." Rumple stated.

"You mean the vault where you placed things that you didn't understand or you knew you couldn't defeat or control? So they brought back something that even you can't control?" Regina had heard of the Dark One's vault but never had the privilege of seeing it. If the Dark One wanted something locked away then it was worth staying that way. "The Snow Queen as in Queen Elsa? Her story is a little before my time but I heard that she froze entire villages within minutes and that after the death of her sister she truly lost control of her powers and went on a violent rampage."

"Which is why her own village asked me to take care of the situation. I had met Elsa just before the rampage she went on that lasted for years, because even The Dark One can't just wave a finger at her and turn her into something that can be crushed. Before that, Elsa called upon me because Elsa blasted her sister's heart with ice, freezing it. She said it was an accident. After about a day, her sister had completely turned into ice, a statue, that shattered when Elsa let out another burst of ice from her hands over the anger at her sister's...situation. Shattered into a million pieces. I tried every spell I could think of to try and warm her sister's heart but nothing seemed to work."

"What price or deal was there for you to save her?" Charming had been curious knowing that Rumple never just helped someone.

"I had witnessed the power that Elsa had and the way her sister could keep Elsa calm and controlled so, in order to keep her power at bay, I was willing to let that be the deal." Rumple admitted.

"So, how did you stop her before?" Emma questioned. "Can't we just do it again?"

"Just like I couldn't unfreeze her sister's heart, i can't unfreeze things affected by her magic. These aren't spells that one creates and can teach to others, it's a power. I realized that no amount of heat or fire spell that I could produce would work, so instead of destroying her, I had to find a way to trap her. It took me a while but I was able to produce a container, similar to Pandora's Box that we trapped Pan in. I tricked her by making her think I could bring her sister back and lured her into the trap." Rumple felt for the first time that the group in front of him was actually believing him without doubting that he was telling the truth. So, this is what trust felt like.

"Can you build another container?" Charming asked.

"Not being in the Enchanted Forest, I don't know how long that would take. Right now though we have something more important to figure out. Elsa has Belle. She took her a little while ago." Rumple stopped, considering the look of worry on their faces already...but he decided to tell them everything. "Elsa blames me for the death of her sister, even though it was her own doing and she is very unhappy about being imprisoned for so long. She froze Belle's heart before taking her away. So our biggest concern now is finding Belle so I can try to reverse that problem."

At that moment, Rumple grabbed his chest and collapsed to one knee. The pain came quickly and in the same instance, it was gone. He couldn't tell if it was a sign that Belle was getting worse or if Elsa was torturing her.

Regina moved to her old mentor's side, "Are you okay?"

"Fine!" He pulled away from her assistance. He hated looking weak. He did skip over the part where he could feel the cold of Belle's frozen heart getting worse. That little piece of information was not something he wanted to share with the group just yet.

"Look Rumplestiltskin, we will do whatever we can to help get Belle back. God knows she has been there for us when we needed a hand or information on something." David had stepped forward along with Regina and offered a hand to help Rumplestiltskin up.

Rumple took the help this time.

"So, I am assuming we can thank our new town guest for the sudden temperature change as well then?" Hook said as he went to look out the shop window.

"Yes" Rumple replied.

"Well then, I guess we start searching for Belle, before it's too cold outside to do that." Emma gave one of her reassuring head-nods to Rumple. She wanted to help however she could, knowing he had helped in saving Henry from tight spots in the past.

"Or maybe we won't have to look very far!" Hook shouted to the group while stepping away from the shop windows. "Everyone get down."

With a heart pounding BOOM the group went flying into walls and counters of the shop. The windows shattered with a gust of wind. Snow started to blizzard inside. The front door burst open and there stood Elsa, looking very confident that she was in control.

"Well, hello everyone! Were you all discussing me? I feel like I should properly introduce myself since my dear friend Rumplestiltskin probably won't do it right." She took 2 steps forward and instantly Rumple and Regina had regained their footing and they were standing in the middle of the room. Magic ready to go from both of their hands. "I'm Elsa, The Snow Queen, is what I was called in our land. Since I was locked up for so long, I am not sure if any of you have heard of me."

"We've heard enough now." Robin said as he stood up and raised his bow and arrow.

Elsa gave a laugh as the wind in the shop picked up and a tornado of snow blew right in front of Elsa. When the tornado had disappeared, there in front of Elsa stood a very pale looking Belle. Elsa held Belle in front of her tightly. "Put down the magic and the arrow."

At this point the whole group was back on their feet with some minor cuts and bruises. Rumple looked over noticing that Robin was hesitating to lower the bow.

"Now is not the time to be a hero, Robin, lower your weapon." Rumple knew it would do no good to try and shoot her with an arrow and with the wind in the shop he couldn't risk the archer hitting Belle. He reached over to Regina's hand and lowered it as well. "Elsa, please, you said back at the library that I could try to fix Belle. How can I do that if you won't let me near her? I tried to help your sister let me try with my wife?"

The site of Belle shocked Rumple more than anything he had seen. Not only was she visibly cold, he saw the white streaks forming in her hair. He remembered his encounter with Elsa's sister and how her hair was completely white. He knew that time was not on his side.

David stepped next to Rumple. "Look, Queen, we have many others here in town just like you. They started out wanting vengeance or to do evil, some are even here in this room standing before you. We can all live together with no hard feelings about all of this if you would just let us heal Belle."

With that, Elsa used her free hand to summon a gust of snow that knocked David back, flying through the air, and slamming against the wall. Hook ran over to make sure he was okay.

"How dare you! How dare you compare me to anyone in this room." Elsa tightened her grip on Belle, making it hard for her to breath.

Emma stepped up just behind Rumple's shoulder. "Look, no one is comparing you to anyone here. He is trying to say it is a big misunderstanding. No need for anyone to get hurt. Killing Belle will not bring back your sister, or make the pain of her death any less."

Rumple knew that nothing anyone could say would change Elsa's mind. She was evil, a monster like he was. Only without her sister, there was no one to keep her grounded, no one to talk reason into her actions. He saw in front of him his biggest fear. This is the monster he could be, he would become if he lost Belle. She was his voice of reason, of truth.

Belle felt weak but she used this conversation between everyone to lock eyes with her husband as she mouthed the words to him. "Fire with fire." It took all the energy she had. Rumple nodded, but he didn't fully understand. She was beyond intelligent from all of the books she studied. She knew things even beyond his time from her studies.

While the two were having their quick, unnoticed conversation, Elsa responded to Emma. "No, you are right. But why am I the only one to suffer. I want Rumplestiltskin to feel the feelings that I am feeling for the eternity I am stuck feeling them." Elsa was stepping back toward the door. "Now, if you will excuse us."

"Elsa, WAIT!" Rumple couldn't just do nothing. He was the Dark One after all. He couldn't let her leave with Belle. Not twice. With the flick of a wrist he cast a protection barrier around the shop. Allowing no one in, or out. But he was unprepared for what to do next. Hoping to have more time to search for an answer as to how to stop her. "You can leave, Elsa, but not with her. I can't let you." Rumple took a very confident stance.

The blizzard like conditions picked up speed. While this was happening, Robin thought he had a shot. He pulled the bow and arrow back up. Knowing he probably couldn't come close to killing Elsa, but trying to get her to break her grip on Belle. He let go of the arrow. Elsa was very aware of this and turned very quickly so that the arrow would hit her hostage instead. It was as if it was in slow motion for Rumple as he dropped his concentration on the barrier spell in order to blast the arrow off course with another bit of magic. And just as it had happened in the library, Belle and Elsa were gone. A light snow stayed in the shop but the blizzard type winds were gone.

Rumple turned to the archer. "I am certain that you think you were helping, but when I say don't be a hero, I MEAN IT!"

Regina moved to position herself between the two, knowing the look on Rumple's face all too well. "Look, he was trying to help. No need for any of us to start taking out people on our own team."

"She's right Rumplestiltskin." David made his way over to the trio. "We are going to need all of us to figure this one out and keep the town safe while doing it." He addressed everyone in the room, "Is everyone ok?"

"Yeah, you ok?" Emma asked her father after seeing him fly through the air.

"Fine." He responded.

Rumple took in a few deep breaths, trying to detect the path in which they left, but again, nothing. How could she cover her tracks like that?

To be continued