The baby had woken, and Snow left to tend to him. Emma looked over to Killian, unsure of what to say. There was obviously way more to the story, but just the fact that she'd chosen to lock him into that mirror for eternity had her questioning everything she thought she knew about her – about them.
As usual, he read her emotions. "We'll get the rest of the tale, love, and then we can delve into what it means."
David had run out to get everyone sandwiches and to pick up Henry from school, so they had some time while her mother and Belle laughed over something Neal was doing. Emma looked up at Killian, but found she was unable to meet his gaze. He was trying to reassure her, and all she could think about was that she had betrayed him.
He rolled his head back and sighed, and then dropped down beside her. "Look, you can't blame yourself."
Emma shook her head. "I just need to know more." She looked up at him again, this time looking for signs of anger in his face, but she didn't find anything other than concern there. "What if we find out things were even worse than what we know about now?"
He reached his arm around her, his hook gently rubbing against her shoulder, and dropped a soft kiss onto her hair. "We do know that I'm here now, and some people might take that as a good omen."
"True." She allowed a small grin and leaned her head against his shoulder, finding some reassurance in the solid reality of the man by her side.
The apartment door opened and Henry came in, followed by David. Henry ran over to Emma first and asked if she was okay. Her father had pretty much filled him in on everything and he had a ton of questions.
"Seriously, kid, you know as much as we know. Mary Margaret still has to finish filling us in."
"And you're going to have a baby!"
Emma nodded. "Looks like it."
Mary Margaret and Belle brought Neal over, and Henry goggled at him. "He got big!"
Snow grinned. "Yes, he did. Do you want to hold him?"
"Sure."
They all settled down to eat, and after making sure they were all ready, Mary Margaret continued her story.
"We were all there when she confronted you, Emma. And you were so strong…"
"You must choose, Emma," the Snow Queen told her. "If you don't want to leave your pirate I can free him so you can be together, but the people of this town will pay the price."
She had already frozen them. They were all standing around her like statues, their eyes locked forward, seeing but unable to move. Only Elsa and she were unaffected. "How can you do this?"
The woman looked at her with so much sadness in her eyes. "My spell showed the true nature of the people here. Do you really think they're worth saving? They all lie and cheat and take from each other. They use you and act like you owe them. I'm just offering to give you what will make you happy."
Emma looked into the mirror, seeing Killian staring out, yelling her name over and over. But she couldn't hear him, just could see his lips forming her name," Emma…Emma!"
"Choose, Emma."
"How can I?"
"It should be simple. Do you love him?"
A tear formed a pathway down her cheek, followed by a second and a third. She swallowed hard, and turned to face the woman. "Of course I do."
"Then choose him."
"And what would you get out of that?"
"At least I would know that you turned down my offer for the sake of true love. But if you were to choose the inhabitants of this town instead, then you would be selecting me and what I can teach you. Nothing and no one would be able to stop us. Elsa would come as well, because what else would she have?"
"You're wrong!" Emma said. "I was brought here to be the Savior, and I have to believe that my destiny is more important than your crazy desire to force us into your family."
Elsa moved to stand beside her, reaching to grasp her hand. She was not alone.
"I choose them, because that's what I have to do."
"Be honest, Emma. You are taking my offer because you know I will put you first. Your parents have another child, so they don't need you anymore, and your son has another mother."
"No," Emma said. "I care about all of these people, and I won't go with you, not ever."
"Nor will I," Elsa said.
"Fine!" The Snow Queen waved her hand at the mirror, and the glass frosted over, obscuring Killian. "There you go, Emma. You can live out your life in this town without the person who loves you the most, and your child will never know his father or the world I could have made for us."
Emma could no longer hold back the tears that streamed from her eyes, but it was done. She felt the firm grasp of Elsa's hand urging her on. Emma nodded, and as one they raised their palms and blasted the Ice Queen. So much power! She'd never felt anything like this before. She and Elsa continued the onslaught, until, finally, there were just the two of them standing together, looking at the thick frozen monument that now stood before them.
The Ice Queen was trapped inside a wall of magic that they had created.
Slowly, behind them, the people of the town began to move. The spell was broken. Elsa beamed at her. "We did it!"
Emma had been burned by overconfidence before, but this time, it felt right. The amount of power that had surged through her was not like anything she'd ever experienced, and the spells had been broken. Everyone was unfrozen, and nobody was fighting.
"I think we did."
Her parents were there, hugging her, and so was Henry.
But where was Killian?
The mirror still stood. Still frosted. Elsa looked at it warily. "Why didn't this spell break?"
"Because, Dearie, this is your spell, not hers." Mr. Gold was there, and for the first time seemed to be affording her some respect.
"So I should be able to break it, right?"
"Miss Swan, if you attempt to shatter that curse, your beloved will surely die."
Emma's heart sank. "You can help me."
"Alas, no," He shook his head. "And don't get me wrong – this isn't because of any past rancor between your dear captain and myself, it's simply that this spell was created from a great personal sacrifice, and the only thing that can break that is an act of true love."