"I have it?"
"Yes, Mom, it was right there in my own handwriting," Emma said.
They were back at the loft. David had called her to let her know that Regina's memories had been altered as well, and that she had no more of a clue about what happened than anyone else in the town did. Belle had returned with them, deeply worried that Rumpel's disappearance was tied in with the events. Emma didn't doubt it for a moment.
"What exactly is a memory stone?" Mary Margaret asked.
"I can explain it," Belle said. "The Rock Trolls make them from the memories that have been hidden from you. A long time ago, some of my memories were hidden because I'd seen my mother die."
"Did you get them back?" Emma asked?
Belle shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. The stone was lost, broken, before I could use it. And the stone can only be used on the person whose memories made it. So in this case, it's Mary Margaret."
"But why me?"
Emma removed her jacket. It felt so warm in the loft, and she was starting to get queasy again. "Let's just look for it. Once we find it we will get the answers we need… and I'll be right back!" She ran to the bathroom and hoped that this time everybody else didn't follow her in there. By the time she emerged, they were whispering.
"You guys, no need to act weird. It's just a baby thing."
"You're having a baby?" Belle asked.
"It would seem so." Hook answered her before Emma had a chance. He was grinning again. Stupid idiot pirate. She was probably knocked up because he'd taken advantage of her while she was distracted by his blue eyes or something.
"Emma!" Belle ran across the room to embrace her, and for some reason it made her want to cry. Hormones were a bitch. Emma hugged her back and marveled about how much easier it was becoming for her to accept the friendship of the people in this town.
She pulled away and smiled at Belle. "Let's get to finding this thing. What does it look like?"
"Mine was blue," Belle said. "And about the size of an egg."
"Hummingbird or golden goose?" Hook asked her.
Belle eyed him warily. "Chicken."
"How about we stop discussing and start finding," David suggested.
"No need," Mary Margaret exclaimed. "I have it." She held out her palm, holding the smooth, glassy stone that glowed white, like a pearl. She blushed lightly. "It was in my jewelry box."
"What do we do now?" David asked.
"The troll told me to make a tea with it, and that after I drank it my memories would be returned," Belle said.
Mary Margaret was already in the kitchen preparing the drink, and Emma sank down on the couch, glad for a few minutes to rest. Killian was next to her almost immediately.
"Can I get you anything, love?"
She yawned. "I'm just so tired."
"Mate!" he called out to David. "Should we call the doctor to come and check on her?"
"I'm fine!"
For the first time all day, her father looked at Hook without something menacing in his expression. "Mary Margaret was always really tired with both babies. It comes with the condition."
Killian still looked uncertain, so Emma gave him a reassuring pat on his shoulder. "I guess you've never been around anyone pregnant before, huh?"
"No."
"Three hundred years…?
"Most of it spent on Neverland with a tribe of prepubescent lads."
"And Tinkerbell," Emma said. She regretted it almost immediately. That was something she definitely didn't want to think about right now. Thankfully, her mother chose that moment to announce that she thought the tea was ready.
Hook really didn't want to leave Emma's side, but Snow White had swallowed the beverage, and was decidedly wobbly. He joined the prince to help catch her, and they placed her on the sofa next to Emma. Not that David really needed any assistance, but Hook was feeling uncomfortably unnecessary.
Snow opened her eyes and looked past her husband, narrowing her gaze on him. "Hook, you're back!" She turned to Emma, beaming. "He's okay – you did it!"
"Did what?" Emma asked
"Where did I go?" Hook asked.
"Oh, sweetheart," Snow took Emma's hand. "Things were bad. So very bad. The Snow Queen turned everyone against each other. It was horrible."
"And you all?" Hook asked.
"Everyone was affected by it, even David and me." Snow told him. "It was awful."
"And what of the Snow Queen," Hook pressed on. "Was she defeated?"
"Give her time!" the prince said.
Well, their détente hadn't lasted long. "Fine, mate. You ask the questions."
"No, it's okay," Mary Margaret said. "I think…I think I'm not supposed to tell everything. The Rock Trolls took the memories on purpose, because they didn't want everyone to know what they'd done to each other."
"So what about Killian," Emma asked. "Where did he go?"
"Oh, Emma," she said. "That was the worst part. The Queen wanted to hurt you so that you would go with her." Snow looked up at Hook and he could see the pain welling in her eyes. Fear gripped him, an unusual emotion for him, even when faced with his own mortality. But this concerned Emma.
"Tell me," he gritted out.
She tightened her grip on Emma's hand. "She was so evil and you were in her way. We all spent months trying to stop her and the games she was playing with our emotions with her spells. But she couldn't make you give up on Emma. So she took you."
"Where?" Emma asked.
Mary Margaret shifted her attention back to her daughter. "The Snow Queen said that you would never leave with her if you thought there was any hope for happiness in Storybrooke, so she trapped Hook in her mirror and told you that you had to choose. Emma, if you decided to free Killian, she would freeze everyone in the town, or you could choose to save the town, and leave with her, trapping him in the mirror forever."
"Bloody hell!" Hook exclaimed. The truth of it made his blood run cold. "So the reason you were so surprised to see me here…"
Snow nodded, openly crying now. "She chose to save us."