Emma-
Emma sways on her feet, it's been a long day and its not over.
She sinks into a empty booth, wraps her hands around her coffee cup, for comfort as well as warmth. She watches as David hands Tink a blanket borrowed from one of granny rooms, Tink still shivers despite the blanket, its freezing inside Granny's but it was the closest building and has blessedly frost free pipes.
She doesn't look at the unmoving inhabitants, their frozen forms painted orange in the artificial light.
Regina lies on her back on a table, cushion behind her head, blankets wrapped round her still form. Mary Margaret hovers by her, unsure. They should move to the parlour it would be more comfortable but the diner has two exits, the parlour only one. When, if, Regina wakes, there is no way of knowing who she will be, if her magic will be bound by the fairy dust that failed the first time, will work, the diner is slightly safer Emma thinks.
Mary Margaret walks away from Regina's side, Emma watches her wordlessly as she grabs mugs and starts filling them, the merry men will be cold she says, we should get more blankets she tells David, he nods glances at Emma and Regina before leaving the room. Emma thinks she could go help her mom but doesn't move, tries to pull magic to her again and again but still nothing.
She needs Gold but he has disappeared, vanishing as soon as Regina fell. Damn that man, she presumes he has gone to find Belle, the first question from his lips as Emma screamed at him, her fingers running over Regina's neck searching for a pulse, then he was gone.
The merry man are scouting the town, checking the buildings with the most damage, she had requested a small group go to Gold's house to find Belle, she wonders now if this was a mistake, perhaps she should have gone but she hadn't wanted to leave her parents, selfish, just as Gold had been, she couldn't blame him for wanting to find Belle but right now he is their best hope.
She feels as frozen as the townsfolk, helpless and cold.
Robin-
Regina had left her heart with Snow and David before her self imprisonment, Robin pushes the door to the loft, he hopes it is still there, he needs it.
The room is cold, Robin stands over the crib, his heart breaking as he looks at the little Prince quiet in his bassinet. The boy has a blanket wrapped around him, tucked over but not under, Robin thinks the the blanket was draped over the child after his body was frozen.
He is not a man who cries easily but he wants to weep now, wishes to sink to the floor and sob, for the town, for the people frozen like this child, for Regina's boy behind him, for all the souls still warm and moving in this town, the horror of it all. For the fear on his wife's face and the leaden guilt in his stomach.
His boy's hug still warms his bones, "heed your mama, stay here and remember no matter what I love you" words whispered, his boy pressed close, resolve slipping away the longer he stands with his son safe in his arms, hearts beating together.
He still feels the nails digging into his wrist, her words ringing in his ears "but you don't love me".
Such hurt on her face and anger in her eyes "you blame me for leaving us, your family but now you do the same and worst still, you do it for her, the woman who murdered me".
He could not deny it but he doesn't want to walk away from her like this. His plan is risky, this may well be their last conversation. "For the town, for all of you" he tells her.
She doesn't believe him, pulls away "what happened you?"
"I have changed" admits it to her, to himself for the first time.
"I loved you Marian, truly with all my heart but when you died, I died too"
Its the truth, that arrogant man, leader of the Merry Men, was a man who took too many risks, made too many enemies, who thought himself untouchable, until he fell and he fell hard,
"I had to survive for Roland and I did but I am not the same man. I do love you" pulls her into a hug, the first time he has truly touched her since her return, tucks her head into him
"I'm sorry" words that do not convey the sorrow he feels at his failure to love her like he once did, when she was his only love.
"I'm sorry" the inadequate words breathed into her hair, lips pressed against her forehead,
"I'm not the man you fell in love with and you deserve so much more than I can give you".
Robin pulls himself back to the present, vows that he will survive, that he will be there for Marian in whatever capacity she allows and in time, they will rebuild their friendship.
He may have changed but Marian remains the same strong, loving and fair woman she has always been. He has broken her heart but to stay with her, deny his heart, betray her every day with its secrets, to break her heart a little more each day, is a cruelty he will not bestow on her.
Belle Belle jumps back shocked by Rumple sudden appearance, the girl next to her shudders and shuffles back against the frozen wall, as far as her chains will allow her, head down, chin tucked against her chest, hands clenched.
"Belle" Rumple hisses "get away from her, she is dangerous" his hand reaches towards Belle but she twists away from his grasp, takes a small step back, body fully turned towards her husband, back to the girl, it's a protective stance.
"Belle" he repeats and she wonders if he will magic her away to safety, though where is safe in this town she doesn't know.
The thought of him moving her, against her will, has her jaw tensing.
"No" she says her voice carrying in the cold room.
"You don't understand" he comforts her, hand reaching out again.
Again, she turns her body from his touch, her words spring unbidden from her, "I know what you did, I know about the dagger". It's so not the main issue right now but it's the words that her fall quietly from her lips.
He doesn't look surprised, doesn't deny.
"Regina" he growls, balls his hands into fists, "I knew it, I saw it" he mummers.
Understanding dawns in her and the hurt grows "A vision" it's a statement not a question as is the next,
"That's why you didn't want to help her, hoped she'd die before she let loose your secret"
She's never liked Regina, hated her more than any other before but the depth of her hate is a shallow thing, does not burn or twist, is a sour taste in her mouth, unkind thoughts, mistrust and a dull impatience with the woman but Belle feels hate burn through her body now, flare and crackle like a lit match, its smoke burns her nose and she takes a step forward,
"you would do that now, after everything" her voice is calm despite the anger shaking her body, she feels calm, "you would let her die".
Belle takes a breath, Rumple is still but his mouth moves, opening and closing, pulling his next breath, he looks tired, his eyes dull. She feels no sympathy in her now, wonders if it will return as it always has before, a gentle understanding of his weaknesses, how he struggles with the two halves of his damaged soul, she is the glue that binds him together, together as they should be, man and wife. She shakes the thought away, it is too painful, she needs to remain strong,
"You lied to me, there was no need, you know that" she doesn't want to hear his excuses, what can he say?
A beat of silence, she cannot read the look on his face, he is not protesting, she wonders if it is only now that he truly realises what he has done and the shock if it has rendered him speechless. He wears no desperate look on his face, a look she has seen many times but a dull recognition of the true price of his deceit.
"You keep this girl imprisoned here, you will let her go" it's a command she gives him, her first one.
Rumple raises his hands he protests "cannot be done, she is a danger, you have no idea..."
Belle cuts him off, patience snapping "of course I do, she has elemental magic that she cannot control, she is the reason the town is frozen but right now our biggest problem is Regina, we" she gestures to the girl " all three of us need to go to Emma and the others and you need to put this right and for once you can tell the truth, all if it, not your version of it". Her sting hits its mark as Rumple recoils at her words.
"Belle, please, you have to trust me on this, setting her free, is a mistake".
"How?" She spits out "how could it possibly be worst? we all freeze forever? I'll take that over what ever the Evil Queen has planned. I believe that Elsa can help". She turns, a soft smile for the girl, encouraging, "I believe in you, I will help you and you will help us".
The girl had given her name to Belle moments before Rumple's arrival, back when she was getting somewhere, gaining her trust before the girl had retreated in fear.
This is their best plan, leaving the girl chained will accomplish nothing and what if the Evil Queen finds her here trapped? She will not leave the girl to such a fate, even if releasing her means revealing her presence to the town, least the girl will stand a chance.