Aah, where's Emma? Did she make it? We'll see soon enough, I promise, but first we need to head to another place in Storybrooke.

"Thanks for helping me with these", Belle said. Maryse smiled at her before placing another object on the counter in front of her.

"No problem at all", she responded. "I like it here. There are so many things belonging to all of these different fairytale characters; it's like a great big fandom shop."

"A what?"

"Like a shop where you can buy things that are mentioned in books and such", Maryse responded, opening the box she had found and lifting up the one of the small, ebony chess pieces. "Who did this belong to?"

"That used to belong to Snow White's father", Belle said and walked over. "Rumple told me last time we were here."

Maryse looked up and saw the shadow that passed over the brunette's face.

"We'll get him back", she assured her. "Don't worry."

"I'll try not to", Belle said with a smile, before walking over to the opposite counter and flipping a book open, making a note in the margin regarding the chess set. Maryse carefully placed the chess piece, a knight, back in its place and closed the box, before kneeling down to put the item on one of the counter's shelves. Just then the doorbell chimed, signalling someone entering the shop.

"Belle?" said an unfamiliar female voice. Maryse rose again, just as a wide smile spread on Belle's face at the sight of their visitor.

"Ariel?" she said and hurriedly walked out from behind the counter, embracing the red-haired woman. "Where have you been? I was worried I'd never see you again?"

Maryse smiled at the reunion before looking at the two men who had been accompanying Ariel to the shop; Hook and Wolfgang. The latter nodded in her direction.

"I've been looking for Eric", Ariel explained, still held in Belle's embrace. "He's been missing since we all returned."

The two broke apart and an uncharacteristically solemn Hook walked forward.

"We were hoping we could find something of his here", he said. Belle frowned momentarily.

"Oh, of course", she then said, realizing what the pirate meant, "to see if he's in Storybrooke."

"Have you seen anything of his?" Ariel asked.

"Me and Maryse only just started sorting through things", Belle admitted, nodding at Maryse, who waved at the red-haired woman. She smiled back and Maryse walked out from behind her counter.

"It's wonderful to meet you, Ariel", she said. "I've heard so much about you. Are you looking for something belonging to Prince Eric?"

"Yes, have you seen anything that might be his?" Ariel asked. "He's from a maritime kingdom, so lots of his stuff had to do with the sea."

"Well, not yet", Maryse said, "but don't worry. Let's just start looking and I'm sure we'll find something."

Ariel smiled and joined Belle in searching the items inside the glass-counters, while Wolfgang pulled Maryse along to the backroom, followed by Hook.

"What's this about?" she hissed at him.

"We suspect Eric's not alive", Wolfgang responded, keeping his voice low. Maryse stared at him, then at Hook.

"What? Why?"

"Because he's not here and Ariel didn't find him while searching the other realms, either", Wolfgang answered. "Honestly, the only way he can be here without someone having seen him is if he was turned into one of those monkeys the Witch keeps about herself."

"You might be wrong about that", Maryse said and yanked her arm from his grip. "Now let's start looking for something that might be his."

Hook, having wandered off slightly, suddenly chuckled.

"I've been wondering where you went", he said and picked up a small, cylindrical object.

"A telescope?" Maryse said as he pulled out the extension.

"Yes, I lost it when I was last here", the pirate said and placed the object in front of his right eye. "Ah, this is better."

"Why would you need them in here?" Maryse asked as he started to sweep his gaze through the room. "It's much easier to..."

Hook stopped, his grin faltering before he slowly removed the telescope from his eyes.

"You look like you've seen a ghost", Wolfgang remarked.

"Maybe I have", Hook answered, before pushing past them and walking over to a hanger of clothes. He pushed them aside, revealing a purple cloak with a large, circular clasp on a mannequin. The clasp was engraved with some sort of sea creature; its upper body humanoid, its lower like a squid.

"Belle!" Maryse called through the door. The two women out in the shop immediately looked up and came hurrying towards them. Ariel gasped at the sight of the cloak.

"That's Eric's", she said, then frowned. "How did you know that was his?"

"I... I wasn't sure", Hook said, lifting the clasp to study it closer. "I saw the sea creature clasp and remembered he was from a maritime kingdom."

"He is", Ariel said with a smile, "or was. And now he's here."

Belle was also smiling widely and gave her friend a quick hug before the former mermaid walked up and embraced Hook. Maryse smiled triumphantly at Wolfgang, only to find his brow furrowed with worry. A chill ran down her spine and her smile faltered as she looked back at Hook. The pirate did not look happy at all. In fact he looked terrified.

Regina wondered how her heart must sound wherever Robin Hood had hidden it. From what she was feeling without it in her chest she believed it must be hammering as if she had just run a marathon. Her hands gripped the end poles tightly as she glanced down into the chasm. From her end it was impossible to tell where Emma was, as the pines growing beneath the bridge were denser on her side of the river below. However, from the looks on the faces of their two companions, she had a hard time believing that something good had happened.

She could not help but thinking about how David and Mary Margaret would react when she came back to Storybrooke without Emma. The alliance they had managed to work with since Neverland would be flushed away and, most likely, Robin would follow them once he heard about this. She would not blame him. How could she have been so damned foolish as to place them in this situation? There were so many other scenarios where she could have forced Emma to act on instinct without sending her to her impending death!

A creaking from below caused her eyes to widen and she could hear the two on the other side give a surprised shout. In the chasm Emma was rising up towards them, standing on top of the remains of the bridge, animated into a moving tower that grew like a tree from the ground. The blonde kept her palms down, focusing her power, but her face showed nothing but sheer surprise. Regina forced down her own surprise, and happiness at not having killed the Saviour, as the tower climbed higher.

"You go, Emma!" the young man on the other side suddenly cheered. "That's brilliant!"

The tower grew towards Regina and allowed Emma to step off, back on safe ground. Her eyes were wider than Regina had ever seen them.

"I... did I just do that?" the blonde asked.

"Yes", Regina responded, "when all I wanted was for you to retie the rope."

Emma did not seem to notice what she was saying; instead she turned towards the tower, still staring at it.

"It was like you said; instinct."

Regina glanced over at their companions and flicked her hand, surrounding them in purple smoke to bring them over to their side. The boy was grinning like a mad man while the girl looked stunned. She, however, eventually turned to Regina.

"Why are you angry with her?" she asked. "She did it; why does it matter how?"

Regina felt surprised that the girl could actually tell that she was angry. True, she had quite an intimidating glare to send out, but now she was fighting to retain it, keeping a rather neutral look. Had her voice betrayed her? How had she even been able to hear it; last time she spoke the girl had been on the other side of the chasm!

"I'm not mad because she didn't listen to me", Regina said, before waving her hand at the still standing tower. "I'm mad because... look at all this potential inside of her, and she's been wasting it!"

Emma blinked and looked back at Regina.

"Yeah, maybe you're right", she admitted. "This... this felt... good, in a way."

"That was not something either of us would have been able to do, by the way", the boy admitted, pointing at himself and his companion. "At least not me."

"Well, I think we're done here", Regina said and waved her hands again, sending them all back to her vault. Emma still looked dumbfounded, but the boy next to her was chatting away about how brilliant she had been.

"You didn't think she could do it, did you?"

Regina spun around and found the girl still standing there.

"Of course I did", she answered. The girl looked amused.

"I saw the look on your face when she fell", she pointed out. "You thought she'd been unable to do it and you blamed yourself for it. I did too; I thought you'd killed her."

"Well, look who was right", Regina remarked. For some reason the girl smiled even wider at that.

"Yeah", she said, "you definitely proved me and Chris wrong and if you can do that, I don't see a reason why you can't do it to everyone else. Including Zelena."

Regina's eyes widened in surprise.

"Why would you say that?"

"Because I think maybe you need to believe it yourself", the girl answered. "Believe that you can overcome whatever darkness there's been in your past, that you can prove people wrong, because from what I saw today you clearly can."

She turned to walk out of the vault and up the stairs.

"What's your name?" Regina asked, drawing her attention again. "I never asked, did I? It's awfully rude of me."

The girl smiled.

"Arianne."

Emma's alright, and Regina seems to be bonding with... Brianne? Now that's a bit unexpected...

Before I forget I also want to thank you all for the recent reviews; they were really lovely :)