Soon after, Emma began to gain consciousness. She looked around, seeing her car in a ditch, and she opened the door and climbed out. Walking onto the road, she couldn't see the Snow Queen anywhere. Where did she go?

She looked around again when she heard a voice coming from behind her.

"Emma," the Snow Queen called out.

Emma turned around. "Stay back," she warned. Her magic was still out of control. She didn't know what damage she could cause.

"Wherever you're headed, turn around and go home. You are in great danger."

"I'm not going to listen to you about danger. Now get out of my way!"

"My sweet girl, I am not the one you should fear. Rumplestiltskin is. Whatever he's promised you, it's a lie."

"How do you know he promised me anything?"

"So I was right," the Snow Queen said and began to walk closer to Emma. "You mustn't trust him, Emma. He doesn't do anything unless it benefits him. He doesn't care about you. He would kill you to get what he desires."

Emma stared at the Snow Queen. "You know what I think?" she asked. "The fact that you don't want me to go means something. It means I'm going."

"I won't let you."

"You're not going to hurt me. You need me." Emma turned around, but the Snow Queen materialised on the other side of her to block her from leaving.

"Don't do this," the Snow Queen begged.

"What the …" Emma let out, wondering how the other did that. Then it dawned on her. "You're not here." She reached forward and poked her hand through the middle of the Snow Queen's body. It went straight through, and the Snow Queen disappeared in a cloud of snow flurries. Emma pulled her hand back, and the Snow Queen's image appeared again.

"If I could be, I would. I'm trying to protect you, and that is the truth."

"I don't care what you say. That's the truth." Emma walked through the Snow Queen's image – causing her to disappear again – as she got into her car again. She backed out onto the road again and began to drive off.

Regina was coming down the stairs of the Blanchard loft and headed to the kitchen counter, where Mary Margaret was cleaning up some dishes. She walked over to the counter and sat down on one of the stools.

"How's Henry?" Mary Margaret asked, looking up at Regina.

"Reading comic books, refusing to sleep, so I think okay," Regina replied. "Or at least his version of a brave face." She looked down, then back up at Mary Margaret. "Thank you, by the way, for earlier. He has enough problems without bringing my mess of a life into it."

Mary Margaret eyed her carefully. "By mess, you mean Robin Hood? Did you guys, uh …" she started to say, but Regina scoffed at the thought. Mary Margaret sighed. "Oh, come on, Regina! You don't need to be ashamed."

"Well, I know I don't have to be, but I am."

David approached the counter and looked over at the two women. "Is everything okay?" he asked them.

Regina moved her head to look at him. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "Well, shouldn't someone be out looking for Emma?" That was why she had brought the locator potion over to them. So it could help them find Emma.

"Didn't Mary Margaret tell you? She called. She figured out a way to get rid of her magic."

"Get rid of it?" Regina repeated. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "And you're okay with that?"

"We support our daughter."

"We are not talking about an old pair of Jimmy Choos here. So, please tell me you're joking."

"It may seem drastic," Mary Margaret replied, "but it's the only way Emma can be sure never to hurt anyone again."

"This could be the worst idea you've ever had. And you hired the Wicked Witch as your nanny," Regina told them.

"We think it would be good for her. We …" David began. "She could be normal."

Regina sighed. "Let me ask you something. Do you know what I regret most?"

"The countless innocent lives you destroyed?" David asked.

Regina glared at him. "That I didn't support Henry when he realised he was special." She turned to look at Mary Margaret. "You, of all people, should remember because you started it all when you gave him that storybook. It opened up a whole world for him. But I was so scared of losing him that I tried convincing him he was crazy. And that being normal would make things better. But, thankfully, he had the good sense not to listen to me."

Mary Margaret sighed after listening to Regina. "Regina's right," she told her husband. "David, we've been rationalising, and you know it. But, we cannot let her take away what's special about her."

David sighed. They were right. "I know."

Mary Margaret walked around the counter to the dining table to pick up Emma's red scarf and the locator potion. "Then let's go get her," she said. But, when she reached the table, the scarf and the potion were gone. She turned around to look at David and Regina. "Regina, your locator potion …."

Regina turned around and looked at the table to see the same thing Mary Margaret was looking at. "It's gone!" she finished.

David looked around but noticed that they were missing someone. Elsa. She must have taken the locator potion to find Emma herself. "Where's Elsa?"

Emma arrived at the seaside mansion. She parked her car in front of it and got out. She walked to the gates and stopped, looking up at the building. The place where she was supposed to meet Mr Gold. As she looked at the building, the lights grew brighter. She then looked down at her hands. Her magic was still uncontrolled, and it was still affecting her surroundings.

Taking a deep breath, she walked up the steps and towards the mansion – hoping to find Mr Gold.

Thankfully, Regina was able to use some magic to track down Emma. Mary Margaret, David and Henry were standing with her on the road in the countryside. And they were all looking at a set of tire skids on the road. Tire skids that headed off the road.

"You're sure these are from her bug?" Henry asked.

"Oh, yeah," Mary Margaret answered. She was glad that her tracking skills were becoming useful again. "She definitely spun out here and then got out of the car and then got back in."

"Anyone else out here with her?" David asked.

"No." Mary Margaret shook her head. "It's just her footprints." She looked down at the tire prints that headed off into the distance. "Come on. These are so fresh, we can carry on, on foot. She can't have gone far."

She and Regina were walking off down the road while David and Henry stayed at the back. She looked over at Regina. "So, before we were interrupted, you told me about Robin Hood."

"Well, there's not much to tell," Regina began. "It's not going to work out. It's the story of my life. Whatever's working against my happiness is more powerful than I am."

"Why does it have to work against you? Look at David and me. We have faced impossible odds numerous times, often because of you. And yet, we've always worked out. Do you know why? Because we have hope."

Regina scoffed at the word. "You get a quarter from the Hope Commission every time you say that word. Admit it."

"I'm serious," Mary Margaret said.

"well, it's easy for you to say you're a hero. Whenever you need help, it just magically shows up, like Henry's book."

"Yeah, I think that when you do good, the universe takes care of you. That's why it showed up."

"Well, it doesn't matter why. Your wishes are rewarded. Mine are crushed."

No. I refuse to believe that happiness is impossible for you to achieve. You've come too far. And, yes. You may be sleeping with a married man, but guess what? So have I."

Regina sighed. "I've done far worse than that."

"Which doesn't mean that you can't earn forgiveness. A chance at grace, I have to believe that."

"If you do good hoping to be redeemed, is it good? Maybe evil is born, and that's just who I am."

"Regina. You saw me grow up. You know how selfish and shallow I could be as a child. You know what I've done since. You have seen my heart. You know it's not untouched. You are not all evil, and I am not all good. Things are not that simple."

"Well, whoever's guiding all this seems to think it is. You're the hero, and I'm the villain. Free will be damned. It's all in the book, and we both know how it plays out."

"Mmm, maybe. But maybe not. Your stories went poorly because you made bad choices. But now you're making good ones. It may not happen as quickly as you want. But if you stay the course, your happiness will come."

"You honestly believe that?" Regina asked.

"It doesn't matter what I believe. What matters is that you do."

In the Storybrooke Library, Will was having a look through the storybook and saw a picture of the Evil Queen. He studied it carefully, then looked up at Robin. "She's something, all right," he mused. Much like his own Anastasia. It was funny how he fell in love with a Queen, and so did Robin. "If Evil Queen's your type, which I get, by the way." He walked over to a row of books and started to look at them again. "You're still together, then?"

"That is not relevant."

"Hey, no judgements here, mate. I was the one who told you to follow your heart." Now, he had to follow his. Maybe it would lead him back to Anastasia, but how to get there. He was in Storybrooke. She was in Wonderland. Or, so, he hoped. It had been weeks since he last saw her. Or was it months now? He didn't like to think about how long he was away from Anastasia. He didn't want to think of her being alone.

"I just want her to be happy, even if she thinks that's impossible," Robin said, looking at some books. One seemed to be calling to him. "Wait!" he exclaimed and pulled it out from the self. It was a brown leather book, the same shape as the storybook. He turned it around to read the title, but he was disappointed when he read it. "'1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SL Repair Manual'," he read. Not the book that he was after. He put it back on the shelf where he got it from. "All due respect, Will, I'm beginning to think your magic library theory might be a tad off. Any book we want is hardly going to be stacked beside …" He pulled a small, thin blue book off the shelf and read the title. "… 'The Cat in the Hat'." He stared at the cover and the illustration. "Why would a cat want a hat?"

Will stared at him, watching as Robin placed the book back on the shelf. "I've seen stranger," he told his friend. Like Wonderland.

Sighing deeply, Robin returned to the table, where the storybook was lying. He flicked through the pages. Maybe there were clues elsewhere in the book. Clues that he may have missed. But there wasn't. He then had a look at his bag and opened it, where he saw a folded piece of paper. Paper that looked like it came from the storybook itself. Odd. It wasn't there before. He took it out. "This wasn't here before," he mused out loud.

Will turned his head. "What wasn't here?" he asked.

Robin began to unfold the paper. "Not sure," he said and looked at the illustration drawn on it. It amazed him. And he knew who would love to see it. "This is … Incredible!"

Will stared at him. "What is it?"

"I need to reach Regina," Robin said, and he took out his phone and dialled Regina's number.

"Hello," Regina's voice came from the other side. "Who is this?"

"Regina, it's Robin. I've just found something you have to see right now."

"Right now? I'm sorry, but I'm in the middle …" Regina's voice faded, and it sounded like she was talking to someone else. "I'll be right there."

In the mansion, Mr Gold was in the ballroom. He closed the doors, ensuring the room was secure before setting his sights on the small, circular hat box on the table. He picked it up and thumbed over the details before placing it back on the table's surface.

"Finally, what we've always wanted will finally happen," came the voices inside his head. "Finally, you will have what you have always wanted."

Mr Gold could also hear Emma call out to him through the mansion. All in due time, he thought to himself. He took out his dagger and waved it over the top of the hat box. Stars and purple smoke engulfed it; moments later, the Sorcerer's hat appeared again.

He picked it up and carried it to the middle of the room. He turned it on its side, allowing a vortex to emit from its opening, and aimed it at the doors. The doors that Emma would hopefully walk in from. Getting back up, he walked over to the sides. He had to be careful. One wrong step would mean he would end up being sucked into the hat.

Emma walked towards the closed doors of the ballroom. She could see a golden light through the cracks of the doors. "Gold! Are you in there?" she shouted.

"There's no need to shout," Mr Gold said from behind her. "I'm right here."

Emma turned around. She walked closer.

"You'll forgive me if I keep my distance?" continued Mr Gold. "It would appear your powers are growing increasingly out of control."

"Yeah. It was a rough night," Emma said with a nod. "So, what do I need to do?"

"I've already cast the spell inside that room. All you have you do is step through the door. Is something wrong?"

"It's just … I ran into the Snow Queen."

Mr Gold stared at Emma and was silent. How did the Snow Queen meet Emma when she still should be in the forcefield he surrounded her with? "Did you?"

"Well, sort of. It was a projection or a hologram or … I don't know what it was. She said I shouldn't do this, that you were trying to hurt me."

"All right," Mr Gold mused. That did sound like something that the Snow Queen would have done. "So now we know who doesn't want you to do this, the villain. Sounds like an argument for it, or maybe that's just me."

"That's what I said."

"But you still have doubts."

"Do you blame me?"

Mr Gold shook his head. "No. I don't."

"Is it safe? Will I be okay?"

"No magic is without risk. Even magic that is used to take away magic. Look, this is very much your choice, and, of course, it was also your idea."

"But it's gonna stop me from hurting people?"

"That much I can promise, yes."

Emma turned around and looked at the doors behind her again. Then back at her hands. "What would you do?"

"I wouldn't go in there for anything."

"What? Why?"

"Because, Emma, I'm not like you. I'm a man who makes the wrong decisions. Selfish decisions. No matter how noble I wanted them to be."

"But you spent all that time looking for Neal. You sacrificed yourself to save the town. You married Belle!"

"And each time, I meticulously undid all the good. Neal is still gone. The town is still in danger. And Belle, for better or worse, she knows who I am. And that's the man who always chooses power. It doesn't matter how much good I do; it doesn't matter in the end. Evil wins, and I lose everything that matters to me."

"But Belle believes you can change."

"And I love her for that. But I fear she's quite likely wrong." He would always have the voices in his head telling him which decisions to make and feeding on every bad emotion he would ever feel. "But you, Emma, you don't need to change because you do the right thing. Always."

Emma was silent, then looked behind her again. She approached the doors just as Mr Gold was going to leave her alone. She turned back. "Gold," she said, stopping him. "Thank you."

"Yeah. Of course. We have no choice," Mr Gold said, then turned to leave Emma alone.

Hook arrived at the seaside mansion. He could see Emma's car parked outside, but Emma wasn't inside. Or anywhere to be seen. She must be inside the house. His heart sank. Has she already done it yet? Has Mr Gold harmed her?

"Swan!" he called out, hoping she would hear him. He ran towards the steps, but Mr Gold was waiting for him.

"Watch your step, Captain!" Mr Gold warned. "The terrain's a little rough around here."

Hook stared at him. "Get out of my way, Crocodile. I'll die fighting before letting you use that bloody hat on Emma."

Mr Gold waved his hand at Hook and magically threw him back to the metal fence behind him. He then moved his hand again, and vines sprung up around Hook's side, holding him in place. Very tightly, too. Now, Hook couldn't move. He couldn't escape. "Death can wait. How about before you depart, I treat you to a front row seat, and we can watch her use that hat on herself?"

"No," Hook said, struggling to get free. But he wasn't able to.

"Oh, and in case you were counting on Emma getting your message, don't," Mr Gold said, holding up Emma's phone.

"No," repeated Hook.

"I'm not one for loose ends. Don't worry. You will get over her. Just like you got over Milah," Mr Gold said as he approached him. "You remember Milah, don't you? Now, how many centuries did that take? Oh, it matters not. This might even add a little fuel to your fire. Don't tell me you haven't missed the taste of vengeance."

"She's the mother to your grandson, Gold! Don't do this!"

"I wish I didn't have to. But I need Miss Swan. Surely you understand that."

Behind the building, on the other side of where Hook and Mr Gold were standing, Elsa ran after the scarf that she had dosed with the locator potion. "Emma!" Elsa called out, hoping that she would hear. But there was no answer. "Emma!"

The scarf flew to a door and floated down gently beside it. Elsa looked at the door and tried to open it. But it was locked. She placed her hand over the handle and used her magic to freeze over the lock, breaking it. She then pulled the door again to open it and went inside. She hoped that she wasn't too late.

She looked through all the mansion's rooms until she saw Emma staring at a pair of doors with a bright light coming from behind them. "Emma, stop," she said.

Emma turned around. "Elsa, what the hell are you doing here? You have to leave, now!"

Elsa shook her head, watching as Emma backed towards the twin doors of the ballroom. "I'm sorry. I won't let you do this."

"My powers are out of control. There's no other way. Please, go now!"

"No. You didn't give up on me, even when you nearly froze to death in that ice cave. So I'm not giving up on you now. I know how scary it is to hurt someone you love. I've lived in fear of that my entire life. But giving up on your magic is not the answer. There is another way."

"Yeah, you told me about how Anna's love saved you, and that's great. But guess what. My version of that with Henry didn't work. This is all I have left." Emma turned around and looked at the wooden doors. She took a deep breath. She reached out and was going to touch a handle. But Elsa stopped her.

"I was wrong. It wasn't just Anna's love that saved me."

Emma turned around. "What are you talking about?"

"When I landed in this strange town, I was certain that without Anna, I was doomed. But I got control over my powers again without her."

"How?"

"I didn't know until today until the same thing happened to you, and it finally hit me. It's not only Anna's love or Henry's love that can save us. They accept us for who we are, and that's important, but it's not enough. It's on us, too." Elsa stepped closer to Emma. "You have to love yourself, Emma. The good and the bad. The only way to truly be in control over your powers is to embrace them. Because this, this is who you are." Elsa reached out to grab Emma's hand.

Emma stared at her and then her hand. "what are you doing?"

"It's time to stop being afraid."

"But this could kill you."

"I will take that risk if you will."

Slowly, Emma took a hand, reached it to Elsa's, and grabbed it. Upon contact, their hands flowed bright, emitting a bright light from both of them. Emma looked around. She couldn't feel her magic being out of control anymore, and she sighed in relief.

Outside, Mr Gold and Hook were watching. They both saw the bright glow shine through the windows before it disappeared. Mr Gold stared at the mansion, not saying anything, and it was Hook broke the silence. He was glad that Emma hadn't gone through with what Mr Gold had wanted. He chuckled. "Oh, I'm guessing she didn't go through with it. So sorry."

Mr Gold turned around and glared at the pirate.

"Oh, but I do love the look of loss on your face," Hook continued and then laughed gleefully.

"I may not have the Saviour, pirate," Mr Gold told him. "But I assure you, today won't be a complete loss. I need to fill that hat with power, yes. But that was only part of the equation. Because I need something else – the secret ingredient. One I didn't know about until an associate clued me in. A heart."

"Well, if you need my help procuring it, know the only help I give you is with your demise," Hook snapped.

"Oh, you're going to help me, all right. You see, this spell? It's going to finally separate me from the dagger, so it no longer holds power over me," Mr Gold told him. So no one could ever control him. So he could have all the power he wanted and no limitations. It would make him more powerful than any other being in the universes. And all the realms. No one would dare cross him again. Or the Doctor. He would make sure of that. "But to cast this peculiar spell, I need the heart of someone special. Someone who knew me before the dagger. Before I was the Dark One. There are only a few people left alive that fit that description now. But I only need one." Mr Gold approached Hook slowly. "And this one will do quite nicely."

Hook shook his head. "No! No."

"Yes. As luck would have it, dearie, you are one of my oldest friends. You have the heart that I need," Mr Gold said, and he plunged his hand into Hook's chest and pulled out his heart. He looked at it as it glowed red in his hand and watched it beat.

"Get on with it, then," panted Hook. "Just do it."

"Now, now. I promised you we'd have some fun first. You're going to do everything I say because you're my puppet now. You'll find another way to fill that hat with the power it needs. And then … Then I'll kill you."

Hook was released from his constraints because Mr Gold had ordered him to run inside and grab the Sorcerer's hat. The spell had died down, and now, it was back in its circular box. As he ran inside, he was met by Emma and Elsa, and he ran over to Emma. "Swan! Are you all right?" he asked and hugged her tightly.

"She didn't do it," Elsa said. "She didn't take away her magic."

"Wow. I've never seen people so happy about me not doing something," Emma commented.

"We'll find another way to defeat the Snow Queen. Together," Hook said as he leaned into Emma again and kissed her deeply.

Moaning into the kiss at first, Emma pulled away. "Easy, tiger, we've got company. I didn't know you were such a fan of my magic."

"Why would you say that, Swan?" Hook asked. "I'm a fan of every part of you."

Emma looked back at Hook. "Are you alright?" she asked. Something seemed off about him.

"Of course, love. Why?"

"If you look at me harder, you're gonna drill a hole in my head."

"I'm just relieved," Hook said, looking around the room. "You should go outside. I have a feeling many worried people be glad to see you." He placed a hand on her back as he started to walk with her out of the room.

Emma smiled at him as she walked out the door, followed by Elsa. But Hook didn't go with them. He stayed behind as he watched them leave. He had to be alone. He had to do something for someone. But he didn't want other people to know what he was looking for.

Hook turned around, and looked at the closed doors of the ballroom. Approaching them, he pushed them open and saw that the Sorcerer's hat had gone into its circular hat box again. It was laying on its side but it was safe to pick up now. Approaching where it laid on the floor, he picked it up as he stared at it. Making sure there was no one around, he tucked it under his black leather jacket then began to leave the ballroom.

Will had left Robin alone in the Storybrooke Library, and now Robin was sitting at a table. He had the storybook open in front of him as he frantically looked through the pages and searched for what he wanted. And when he did, he couldn't believe at what he had seen.

Regina walked through the doors, and she saw Robin sitting alone. She approached him. "I got here as fast as I could. What's so important that you couldn't say over the phone?" she asked.

Looking up, Robin got up from his seat. "I'll show you in a second, but first, you remember this?" he asked, gesturing to the storybook in front of him.

Regina looked down at it. "Uh, the book you stole from me?" she questioned. Why did Robin have it? Why did he want it? "yes, I remember it quite well."

"You know I was a thief when you met me," Robin told her. "All right, so tonight, I came here looking, trying to find a clue towards that author. Towards your happy ending."

Regina tilted her head. "In the public library?" she questioned. "Robin, my happy ending is not a Stephen King book on tape."

"Hang on. But then the strangest thing happened." Robin took out the folded piece of paper from his pocket. "I found something. This." He held it put to her.

Regina took it, and she began to open it up. It was a page from the storybook. But not just any page. There was a picture of her and Robin – on the day she first saw him in the tavern. But instead of walking away, she was kissing him. But how could this be? "Is this us?" she asked. She couldn't believe it.

"Yes, inside the pub," Robin answered.

"I don't understand," she said, not taking her eyes off the page. "Is this from the book?" Her gaze turned to it. "Twenty-three, page 23, is it missing from the book?"

Robin turned to page 23 in the book and showed it to Regina. "No, no," he said. "It's already there, and it's you leaving me." He took the page from Regina and placed it over the book. "This goes to the same place. This is the meeting that we never had."

"what does it mean?" Regina asked.

"It means that your fate could have gone many different ways. It means you're not doomed to suffer. There's a bright future for you around every turn, even if you miss one."

"Well, where did you find it?" Regina asked, and she had a look around the library. "Is there another book? What shelf?"

"No.' Robin shook his head. "It was in my satchel."

"What?"

"Not at first. It wasn't there when I left, it appeared."

Regina took a breath. "Like magic," she whispered.

"It's a sign. And you can take it however you want, but to me, it's showing you possibility. Hope. That's not something that would ever happen to a villain, is it?"

Regina shook her head, then smiled.

"What is it?" Robin asked.

"I owe someone a quarter," Regina said before kissing a puzzled Robin.

In her lair, the circle around the Snow Queen was fading away. The spell that Mr Gold had entrapped her with no longer trapped her. She was free to move around as she pleased. She reached out to touch the forcefield, and it was gone.

She then moved over to her chair, where the box of three yellow ribbons was, and she looked at them. She then waved her hand over them, and they disappeared. Then, she looked at her left arm. Peeling back the sleeve, she saw one of the yellow ribbons tied around her wrist. The other two ribbons were now on the wrists of Emma Swan and Elsa. The two that would replace the sisters she had lost years ago. She smiled at it before placing the fabric of the ribbon against her cheek, remembering the good times it had brought with it.

She got up from her seat, and she stood silently. Now was not the time to get sentimental. She turned around and saw Mr Gold standing behind her.

"You look disappointed," she told him. His plan must have failed.

"Miss Swan did not behave as I had hoped. Did you have a hand in it?" Mr Gold asked.

"Of course not. My hands were trapped here the entire time. Although, as you said, the urn dust didn't last long, at all." She began to approach him, but Mr Gold stopped her.

"I'd keep my distance if I were you."

"You don't understand what's happening, do you? I wasn't the one who saved Emma. Elsa was. They are quite wonderful together, like sisters." The sisters they never had. That she never had."

"Your strange fixation holds no interest for me."

The Snow Queen chuckled. "But it should. And it will." She held up her left arm, exposing the yellow ribbon on it. "You see, these ribbons were of no use to me until this moment. They can bond three magical sisters together, but only if all of us are a perfect match."

"and what makes for this perfect match?"

"When all three have embraced their powers, which we now have. Thanks to you." The ribbon began to glow brightly on her wrist, and she smiled in delight. "Now I wield the magic of my three sisters. Now my mirror is complete. With this power, I can finally cast over all of Storybrooke. I could probably even defeat you." She placed her left hand on Mr Gold's. chest. "And decorate this place with your bones. Shall I try?"

"Dearie, I warn you, do not overestimate your power," Mr Gold said, and he turned around and began to walk out of the lair.

The Snow Queen watched. "And I warn you … do not underestimate it!" She then looked at the glowing ribbon again before turning to face the mirror. She looked at her reflection on the surface before aiming her left hand – and ribbon – at it. The glass cracked and shattered before a purple cloud of magic burst from the mirror and engulfed the room.