Rocky Road

Piper stood beside Gold in his shop, giving Emma and Hook a less than amused (less than pleased in Hook's case) look as they stood before her with Elsa between them. They'd come to the shop bright and early, hoping to get to Gold before she got there it seemed, judging by their tense expressions to see her there. She'd stopped by Granny's to get him some light breakfast and a warm drink, taking it to him at the shop before she was going to head to Town Hall where her cousin was holding her first meeting as Mayor. Gold had wanted to be at his shop bright and early and give it the once over, making sure no one else had stolen from him. Emma had come in, asking questions about Elsa, whether or not Gold knew she'd been in the urn, whether he knew who she or the woman's sister, Anna, was.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," Gold stated, "But I've never seen her before in my life."

"So how'd she end up inside your urn inside your secret vault of terror?" Emma countered, her eyes narrow in suspicion.

"Look," Gold sighed, "If you really want to know how she wound up there, she's standing right beside you, Miss Swan. Why don't you simply ask her?"

"She did," Elsa offered, "But I can't remember. Something happened to my memories."

"Well, an all-too-common affliction 'round these parts. Pity."

"Emma," Piper looked at her niece, "At least half the objects in this vault came over with the various curses, some of them belonged to prior Dark Ones. Others were mere leftovers that the curse could not place in other places."

"Exactly," Gold nodded, "I can't know the history behind everything here."

"Only if there's something in it for you," Hook glared, "Right, mate?"

"Watch your tone, pirate," Piper shot right back, "Or shall we discuss how your redemption is based solely on what is 'in it for you' in regards to Emma?"

She still wasn't fully convinced that he was trying to change his ways out of the 'goodness' of his heart as opposed to gaining points and favor with Emma. Until she was sure that the man truly was worthy of her niece, she was going to keep a watchful eye on him.

"If you haven't forgotten," Gold added, "I've lost my son, Pip is the only person I have left in my life. As hard as it may be for you to believe, I actually care about her family, because it's important to her," he gestured at Piper, "If I could help, I would. But I can't, because I have never seen this woman before."

"Don't forget about my super power," Emma warned, "I'll be able to tell if you're lying."

"How about I do you one better?" Gold challenged, "Let's simply have Pip use the dagger on me."

"No," Piper shook her head.

"Why not?" he looked at her, "Miss Swan wants proof. And I'm happy to cooperate."

"Well I am not," Piper turned to Emma, "You want the truth Emma, you have been standing there this entire time, you walked in here with the suspicion that Rummy was lying to you and using your power from the start. So tell me, is he?"

Emma was silent.

"As I thought," Piper nodded, "I shall not be using the Dagger on Rummy, nor," she shot Hook a look as he opened his mouth, "Shall I allow any of you to use it instead. I trust Rummy, I trust that he speaks the truth in this, it is up to you whether you trust ME."

Emma took a breath as Piper held her gaze, as though daring her to say, after everything she had done for the woman, for Mary Margaret, for baby Neal, for their family, that she didn't trust her still.

"Fine," Emma murmured, "He checks out," she said, more to herself than the others.

Piper smirked at that and gave a curt nod as Emma and the others turned to go.

"I wish you best of luck finding her," Gold called out after them.

Piper sighed as the door shut, "Very cunning play on words, Rummy."

Gold smirked at that, "I've had centuries of experience Pip."

He HAD been telling the truth, he had never seen Elsa before this moment…she'd been trapped in the urn before he'd even had a moment to glimpse her in person.

She glanced over at him, "And you promise that no harm shall come to my family for this?"

He nodded, taking her hand, "You have my word, Pip, they are now my grandson's family on top of yours," he pressed a kiss to the back of her hand, "I have…deals pending, ones that should work out to be most beneficial."

She leaned in, pressing a kiss to his lips instead, trusting him. He had explained to her the necklace, told her that he knew of Elsa, even how she had ended up in the urn, why she didn't remember how it happened. But he had requested that she...not outright lie to her family, but that she give him time to see if certain things would come to fruition, if he might be able to use what he knew to further their question to cleave him from his Dagger first before saying anything. And she agreed, so long as her family was not going to be endangered by withholding that information, she would hold her peace. At the moment, freeing him from the threat of being controlled by others was far more important than helping an ice princess regain lost memories or find her sister. She couldn't care less about this Anna woman, she DID care about her true love and his freedom.

~8~

Piper couldn't help but smile as she approached the Mayor's office of Town Hall, especially when Mary Margaret came into sight with Neal cradled in her arms, greeting various people as they entered, "Snow," she walked up to her.

"Rose," Mary Margaret breathed, sounding relieved to see her, "Thank you for coming."

"Of course I would come," she pulled away from giving her a brief hug, "I have not gotten to spend nearly as much time with my nephew, may I?" she gestured at the baby.

"Oh…no, it's ok," she smiled, "I got it."

"You planning to run your first fireside chat holding a newborn?" David's voice spoke as he walked over to tell her the meeting was ready to start.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Mary Margaret nodded, "Mothers are natural multi-taskers."

"That may be, but you're juggling a lot right now."

"That's true," Mary Margaret admitted, "I have to say, I'm starting to have more and more respect for our court jester every day."

"Yeah. Rupert was special…"

"If you two are quite done reminiscing," Piper cut in, though not harshly, "Snow," she turned to her cousin, "Be assured I shall block entrance to the office if I am not allowed to hold my nephew for more than a moment."

Mary Margaret looked down at her son and back at Piper, starting to shift a bit.

"I am not denying your ability to rule and be a mother at the same time," Piper reassured her, thinking that was what was bothering her cousin, "I am merely reminding you that you have family and that you cannot hold onto him forever without your arms tiring," she held her arms open, "If you wish for me to promise you the position of third in line to hold my child, should ever I have one, I am not above offering that in exchange for holding my nephew during the meeting."

"No," Mary Margaret shook her head, "No, no, you're right," she smiled though it was tense, "I'm being silly. And it's…it's not like anything can happen, I mean, you'll be right there, standing right there, right next to me, in sight at all times and…it'll be fine," she nodded, stepping closer to Piper, slowly, very slowly, handing her son over to him.

Piper eyed her oddly for that, both what she said and how slowly she was giving over holding her child when she had been so quick and at ease doing it that night at the diner, "Many thanks," she murmured.

"Be thankful," David remarked, moving to put an arm around Mary Margaret's shoulders, "You're holding him more than I've gotten to," he joked, earning an elbow to the side from his wife.

Piper ignored him, just looking down at Neal as he cooed up at her, catching his hand with one of her fingers, letting him grip it, a soft smile coming to her face. She glanced up only a moment to follow Mary Margaret and David into the office.

"That's…really weird," she heard David whisper to Mary Margaret.

"What is?" Mary Margaret whispered back, though not quite so quiet.

"She almost looks human when she holds him."

"She IS human David," Mary Margaret told him fiercely.

David held up his hands in surrender, backing away as Mary Margaret picked up a paper from the desk with what appeared to be an itinerary printed on it. She glanced at Piper, who made to lean against the side of the desk, Neal securely in her arms, and took a breath, focusing on the circle of people that had gathered in the room, Robin Hood and his family in the back, the Dwarves, Granny, Archie, and a few others, all there to act as her makeshift council.

"Hi, everyone," she greeted, sounding almost forced-chipper, "And welcome to the very first Mayor's fireside chat. For too long, this office was a place to be feared. Well, I want every citizen to feel welcome and included here. So, if you could just refer to the meeting agenda I've printed, there are…"

"Uh," Archie spoke up, "What's this about an ice wall?"

"Oh, that's, uh, item four," Mary Margaret smiled, "We'll get to that in a minute and…"

"I vote we skip items 1, 2, and 3," Grumpy groused, "Show of hands?"

All the hands shot up instantly, making Piper scoff at their impatience but allowing Neal to distract her from commenting, the boy was tugging at her necklace and the last thing she wanted was for it to break and teleport them to Gold's Shop and give Mary Margaret a heart attack.

"Yeah, that's…oh, fine," Mary Margaret nodded, "No, I can…I can be flexible. The ice wall is nothing to worry about. For the time being, it does surround the entire town…"

"What?!" someone shouted.

"The entire town?" Archie gaped.

"Are you serious?!" Grumpy snapped, his booming voice making Neal start to cry.

"Shh," Piper murmured to the boy, humming gently to him to quiet him, not even noticing Mary Margaret turning to her, about to take the baby away the second the first whimper started.

Mary Margaret took a breath, watching her cousin a moment longer, before swallowing hard and focusing back on the meeting, "Everyone calm down. The wall isn't hurting anyone."

"We've been through all this before," Grumpy huffed, "I ain't worried about the wall. I'm worried about who made it."

"Item five!" Mary Margaret smiled, pleased to be somewhat on track, "Her name is Elsa. She's a friend."

"Is she the one that froze my truck?"

"And made that snow monster that almost killed Marian?" Granny frowned.

Marian blinked, surprised to have been mentioned, "But…I…I'm fine," she promised, "Really."

Piper glanced up at her, a small frown on her face. For someone who had been shouting that Regina was a monster for trying to kill her, she was awfully forgiving of someone else that had tried to kill her too…

"I've spoken to Elsa," David spoke up, moving to stand by his wife, "And I promise you we will have all of this under control very soon. And there will be no more danger of any kind."

"So, if we could all just circle back around to item one," Mary Margaret smiled, "We can all discuss…"

"Marian!" Robin suddenly cried out, making them all look back in time to see Marian sway on the spot, a white streak appearing in her hair before she promptly collapsed, "Marian!" Robin tried to shake her awake, "Marian!"

"Well…" Piper blinked as the small group leapt up to try and help the fallen woman. She glanced down at Neal who was just looking up at her curiously, and played with his little hand, completely unfazed by the commotion around them, "That was unexpected, was it not?"

~8~

Piper frowned as she watched Mary Margaret pacing around the Mayor's office…two feet in front of her feet as they rested up on a small coffee table before her. She wasn't sure if the woman was pacing because of the woman freezing to death on her couch or the fact that Neal had screamed bloody murder when Mary Margaret had tried to take him back before. The first could be possible, Marian WAS lying on the couch, a thin layer of frost starting to form over her, her lips turning blue, and that would be enough to put a damper on even Snow White's spirit. But, then again, Neal was her son and the boy seemed to be fond of his 'Aunt P' as Henry enjoyed calling her, getting to have a hold of him for the moment. Mary Margaret had reached out to take him and he'd allowed it, but the second he looked over and saw her on the other side of the room he started crying and screaming…till Mary Margaret had deposited him back into her arms with a frown.

She couldn't help it if her nephew liked her and the little tunes she hummed to him. And she wasn't even using her magic on him, just giving little silly tunes and songs that she remembered from her childhood. Funny little songs that she and Snow had made up when they were younger. No magic at all involved.

Maybe the boy was just tired of only having his mother hold him. If David's words were to be believed, then he hadn't gotten to hold the boy much either Mary Margaret had that tight a grip on him.

She had just opened her mouth to ask Mary Margaret what was the matter or to sit down before she wore a hole in the carpet…when she winced.

"Rose?" Mary Margaret was on her in a split second of seeing it, "What's wrong?"

"I believe Robin and Regina are here," she muttered a moment before the door opened and the two walked into the room, Regina dressed far more casually than any of them had ever seen her, in black trousers and a vest with a grey shirt and her hair tied back.

Piper sighed, shifting Neal to hold him more firmly in one hand, rubbing her head with the other, only for Mary Margaret to pick him up securely in both her arms. The boy, thankfully, having been lulled to sleep a minute or two ago and sleeping so as not to start screaming again for which she was thankful. She had spoken to Gold about her headache earlier, the small one that had struck her when Robin and Marian had been outside with Regina at the diner. He'd seen her discomfort and brought it up to her. From what she knew, from what HE knew of Sirens, which was admittedly quite a bit more than she herself knew given his centuries of experience and volumes of information in his library, what she was hearing with Robin and Regina was the fact that their songs indicated the two were soulmates, a more perfect pairing than even True Loves, a more harmonious blending of songs. It was as though two songs merged into a more complete one.

With Marian around, as a True Love of Robin…if the stories of their 'epic love' was to be believed, her song was trying to harmonize with Robin's while his was still interwoven with Regina's and it was creating just a mess of music in her head. She wasn't entirely sure just how much True Love Robin and Marian could have had what with Roland displaying no magic that she knew of. From what she understood of True Love, it was rare, yet it created magic. And when true love created a child, the child had magic. Or a child had magic because the parent had magic, but neither Robin nor Marian had magic from what she knew. But that wasn't any of her business whether they had true love or not, all she cared was that she get used to their songs and quickly so that it wouldn't be quite so loud in her mind.

"How is she?" Robin called, leading Regina over.

"Not good," David sighed, "She's getting colder."

"Regina, thanks for coming," Mary Margaret smiled at her.

"Don't thank me till I've done some…thing…" Regina trailed off, spotting a painting on the wall of a bird where black and white dragonflies had been before, "Whose idea was that?"

"Oh, I thought I would put my own personal touch on the office," Mary Margaret told her.

"Well, you've succeeded. Hideously."

"And unless you would like a woman permanently frozen to your couch," Piper cut in, "Which I imagine would be quite a bit more hideous, perhaps we should focus on the forest maid?"

Robin shot her a look for calling his wife…ex-wife? Wife? The Forest Maid, but focused on Regina, "Is there anything you can do?"

Regina stepped closer to Marian, breathing out deeply, "This is strong magic. I…I can't stop it, but maybe I can slow it down?"

They all looked up when Emma, Elsa, and Hook came hurrying into the office, having heard from the town gossip that was Grumpy that someone had collapsed at the meeting, "What happened?" collapsed was certainly NOT the same as turning to ice though.

"Perhaps you should ask your new friend," Regina glanced at Elsa, "After all, it was her monster that attacked Marian."

"Well, to be fair, we did provoke the beast," Hook defended.

"But this isn't my magic," Elsa added, "Someone else did this."

"Oh, and we're supposed to trust you?" Regina scoffed.

"You can trust me," Emma cut in, "If she says it was someone else, it was."

"And you know this HOW Emma?" Piper gave her a look, "I do believe you implied, numerous times, that Elsa is the only one with magic like this."

"It doesn't matter who did it," Henry cut in, feeling the tension rise, "What does matter is how we break the spell."

"The only way to cure a freezing spell is an act of true love," Elsa offered.

Regina swallowed hard at that, "True love's kiss."

Every eye turned to Robin…every eye except Piper who was leaning back on the chair, her eyes closed, rubbing her temples, "Well, then there's no time to lose," he muttered, kneeling beside Marian and quickly pressing his lips to hers…but nothing happened, "What's wrong? Why isn't it working?"

"I've seen this once before, when Frederick was turned to gold," David frowned.

"Who the hell's Frederick?" Emma shook her head.

"Long story," Henry waved it off.

"Read the story," Piper added, knowing from having glimpsed it in the storybook that it was in there as well as having lived it. She'd watched the shepherd that was meant to be her cousin's true love in one of the Dark One's magic mirrors, wanting to see what he'd do about the wedding to Princess Abigail, whether he'd go through with it or fight for Snow White. She'd seen him, seen him deny Abigail, fight a Siren of the Lake, and free a golden statue of a man for the princess. It appeared though that Emma hadn't bothered to really read the book at all.

"So, the cold is acting as a barrier?" Robin shook his head, "Is there nothing we can do?"

"Well, every curse is different," Regina leaned in, trying to get a better look at Marian, "I need more time to study this one."

"I'm gonna go find who did this before it happens again," Emma turned to go.

"Well, I hope you bring backup," Regina muttered.

Emma stopped dead and turned back to her with a glare, "What the hell was that supposed to mean?"

Regina looked up at that, "Well, between the snow monster and the cave-in, seems like the Savior needs saving these days."

"I think you're bitter and you're taking it out on the wrong person."

"And I think the title of Savior has gone to your head," Piper added, getting a bit snappish herself as her headache grew worse, "Or has your excursion in the past not taught you that?" she looked around the room, "Truly I cannot be the ONLY one thinking this may be Magic's way of righting the imbalance that was caused in the past can I?"

"My wife is not an imbalance," Robin frowned, though his eyes flew to Regina as she winced at his words.

"She died in the past," Piper remarked bluntly, "She died then, Death will come for her here. Perhaps this is merely her time."

"I'm not going to give up on her," Robin shook his head, "My son can't lose his mother a second time!"

"Does he even remember losing her a first time?" Piper countered, though it wasn't lost on her that he'd mentioned Roland's loss and not his own, "I do not believe a woman that appeared only days ago disappearing will severely scar him. Tell me, does he even understand she is his mother or does he still look upon Regina with that title?"

The room fell silent at the harsh truth of her words. Those that had been there during the Missing Year, they remembered how close Regina and Roland had gotten despite how much she bickered with the boy's father. Roland had warmed up to her even more in Storybrooke after their memories came back. The boy would see a woman that had saved his life the first time she met him and then been there for him for an entire year as more a mother than a random woman he knew only from stories that appeared for a moment and started shouting at everyone around her.

"I'll find who did this, I'll get them to reverse it, I'll be fine," Emma stated, saving Robin from having to say anything, "I won't screw up again, ok?" she was starting to get really annoyed with Piper constantly bringing up the past and the price of Magic and everything, as though she didn't feel bad enough about it.

"Well," Hook tried to help, "I like that battle plan, so I'm with you, Swan."

"Like hell you are," Piper stood up, "I shall go with Emma."

"Why?" Emma glared at her, "Think I'll mess this up too and save Hitler on accident?" she threw Piper's words back at her.

"Because if I do not leave this room now, my head will explode from the cacophony that two soulmates' songs being disrupted by another is causing in my head," Piper deadpanned.

"Soulmates?" Mary Margaret stared at Regina and Robin with wide eyes.

"Fine, whatever," Emma shook her head, not wanting to deal with this, not wanting to have yet another injury she'd done to Regina piled on top of her because, as if it wasn't bad enough that she'd caused Regina to lose her true love to his now-not-dead wife, now she was finding out she'd actually caused her to lose her soulmate and, just from the word, she could tell it was probably a bigger thing than just true love, "Piper you're with me, Hook you take Elsa to the sheriff's station. Keep her out of sight. Once people get word of this, they're gonna be calling for her head…"

"I'd rather save yours than hers," Hook told her.

Piper scoffed at that, "Exactly what a hero would say," she bit out, sarcasm heavy on her words, making Hook glare at her. But there was no lie in her words or implication. A hero, someone who was truly trying to do better, would accept that Elsa was in danger and try to save her, especially now that someone else was going to protect Emma. A villain would be more concerned with the object they valued most. If Hook were truly trying to be a good person, he would protect the one that needed protecting more, Elsa, not go with Emma when she was already protected.

She would do the exact same for Gold or her family, protect them over a stranger, but she never proclaimed to be trying to better herself or be good or turn over a new leaf. She was a villain, and she accepted that, Hook was lying to himself if he truly thought that he was moving in the right direction to becoming a man, a 'hero,' worthy of Emma.

"There's someone dangerous out there…" Hook tried to defend himself.

"And I have already said I will guard Emma," Piper countered, "With my life is implied. And I am quite certain her dear father, as deputy, would allow her to investigate without him, yes?" she looked at David.

"Uh, right," David nodded.

"Hook just go," Emma huffed, "I don't have time to argue with you about this so can you for once just do what I say?"

She didn't even wait to see what he would say before she turned and stormed out of the room, Piper and David after her.

~8~

A deep sigh of relief escaped Piper as she walked through the woods on Emma's right, David on her left, heading for the Merry Men's camp as per Emma's request. She felt much more at peace now that she was out of that room with Robin and Marian and Regina, she truly had no idea how three people could cause so much noise in her head to the point that she actually had to leave the room from the discomfort of it, but it happened. Now she was in the open, with the sound of nature around her, and just the familiar, faint music of the two beside her. It was better, much better.

She would have preferred to be around Gold however, his song was a greater comfort to her, but this would do for now.

"Robin and Marian's tent's up ahead," David remarked, "So…" he glanced at Emma, "What exactly are we looking for?"

"If whoever cursed Marian has the same powers as Elsa, maybe they left a trail," was all Emma said.

"So we split up and we look for anything cold?"

"Yeah."

"Well, shout if you need help, and I'll…"

"Ok," Emma cut in, "Yeah. I got it."

Piper watched as David moved over to start investigating some of the other tents, glancing at Emma, "If you think I am separating from you, you are as great a fool as your father."

Emma let out a deep breath at that, "Yeah, I figured," she muttered, "Come on, it's up here."

They drew nearer to the tent, when Piper reached out and stopped Emma, frowning at the tent, before putting a finger to her lips, she could hear a song coming from within the tent and, as far as she knew, given the horde they'd had to push through to get out of Town Hall, all the Merry Men had gathered at the Hall in support of their fallen Merry Woman…so who was in the tent?

Emma frowned, about to ask her why she'd stopped…when something clattered inside the tent. Emma tensed, pulling her gun from its holster and crept closer. She looked at Piper and nodded towards a thick tree just a few feet away, a meaningful look in her eyes. Piper gave a curt nod in response, moving to hide behind the tree, peering around it and watching as Emma moved before the tent's entrance.

"Whoever's in there, come out!" she ordered, waiting as a young man with short hair, dressed in black with a matching leather jacket stepped out, "Who the hell are you?" she eyed him, "What are you doing in that tent?"

"It depends who's asking," the boy replied with a thick accent.

"The sheriff's asking."

The boy grimaced at that, "I never did like sheriffs very much. Though you do seem like the decent sort, so I'm guessing you're not gonna shoot a man in the back."

And with that, he turned and took off…only for a shrill whistle to fill the air, making his muscles seize up instantly, driving him stumbling to the ground, rolling onto his back and frantically trying to cover his ears, the veins in his neck starting to buldge from the strain…

"Enough," Emma called and the whistle ceased.

"Bloody hell!" the boy gasped, "What was that?!"

Piper walked over to him, standing at his side and peering down her nose at him, "That would be me, hello," she gave a small wave in a wiggle of her fingers.

"You?" the boy seemed about to scoff at that.

"The Pied Piper," she gave a mocking bow, "At your service."

"Bloody hell…" the boy gaped at her, his eyes wide.

"Emma!" David called, rushing over, though he had one hand to his ear, clearly he had heard the whistle too, "What happ…who's this?" he nodded at the boy.

"And who are you?" the boy rolled his head to look upside down at David.

"He's the sheriff," Emma answered.

"I thought YOU were the sheriff," he looked at her.

"We have two," David responded.

He groaned, "Two sheriffs? Bloody hell. That's not even fair, is it? AND the Piper? What, are you trying to kill me?"

"Maybe if we knew who YOU were?" Emma crossed her arms and glared down at him.

The boy sighed, crossing his arms to mimic her though he remained on the ground, "My name's Will Scarlet. I used to be a Merry Man until me and Robin Hood had a bit of a falling out."

"So what are you doing in his tent?"

"Well, I heard what happened to Marian. Terrible thing. But I kind of know something that might help."

"And what would that be?" Piper eyed him, "Clearly it is not something that would benefit HIM or else you would be trying to deliver the message TO him instead of loot him."

"Ooh, you wound me," Will rolled his eyes, "I'm a thief. Always been a thief, always gonna be a thief. Means I'd loot my mother if I gots to," despite his words, none of them believed that last remark, "And when there's a blackout like the other night, do you know what a thief does?"

"He goes to work," Emma shrugged.

"Exactly. So, I'm working me way down main street when I break into the ice cream parlor and see the strangest thing. There'd been no electricity for hours, but still all the ice cream was frozen solid. How does something like that happen do you reckon?"

Emma looked at David and Piper for that, though they all knew the answer.

Magic.

~8~

Mr. Gold hardly glanced up as the bell to his shop jingled, too focused on examining one of his trinkets under a microscope, "I must apologize, but I'm really rather busy today."

"And here I was hoping for a warm hello from the family man, Mr. Gold," Hook's voice rang out, putting Gold in a sour mood instantly.

"This is still a place of business," he muttered, "So unless you have something to offer me, I'm afraid I can be of no further help."

"Well, as it turns out, I do have something to offer you," Hook waited till Gold looked up at him, "My silence. See I know that you lied to Emma."

"Is that right?" he smirked.

"Mmm," Hook nodded, "I've hunted you a long time, my old crocodile, and I know you better than most. And I know how manipulative you can be, how you twist your words and deals. You found some way around Emma's power."

"Have I?" Gold seemed more amused by that now.

"And you dragged that bloody Piper into it too," Hook's eyes narrowed, "Emma would believe her over you any day."

The smirk that had appeared on Gold's face morphed into a dangerous glare, "That's a very dangerous insinuation."

"It's not an insinuation at all, mate."

Gold let out a small, smug laugh, "I think you're forgetting something, mate," he mocked, "Pip…is part Siren. Her family will always come first. Unless they turn on her, she would kill ME to keep them safe."

He knew that was the truth, true love or not. It was…complicated, for Sirens, to have a love and have a family as well. It was especially complicated for Piper being that her family was literally on one side of the spectrum and he was on the other. Heroes and Villains, they were constantly at odds and Piper had been forced to walk a fine line to keep both at peace. Right now they were in a precarious balance, both sides were equally important to her.

Snow White was her blood family, as was Emma and Henry yet she hadn't been able to bond with them as she had with her cousin. And then there was HIM, her true love, who had known her as the Piper she was today and accepted her for what she was as much as for who she was.

They were balanced, in her heart, he could feel that beating in his chest, he could almost feel the phantom sensations of what she thought of both sides of them. But it was a strained feeling to maintain, having both sides at odds. He had made it easier on her, had promised her, made a deal with her that he would not endanger her family, that he would protect them, anything to see her happy and eased. And that meant more to her than she let on.

The Heroes had made no such promises to her, Snow White might have, but not her Charming prince, not her daughter, Henry wouldn't even think of harming him. But the heroes hadn't sworn to her like he had that they would not cause him harm.

One wrong move, one lie, one foul intent…and Piper's Siren-half would react. If he betrayed her, in any way, her Siren side would be hardened against him, her heart closed off to him. She would kill him without a moment's hesitation to protect her family. The only reason it hadn't happened with Zelena was the fact that the witch had been controlling him, that he had been trying to thwart her at every turn as much as he could. Luckily he had no intentions to do anything of the sort of his own free will. But equally, if the heroes betrayed her, if they turned on her, attacked her, she would be hardened to them, family or not, and turn against them as easily as the winds could turn in a tempest.

And the amusing part, to him at least, was that the heroes had no idea at all. He doubted even Snow White had considered the possibility that her own cousin could become her bitter enemy. They didn't consider that, heroes never did. Well, neither did villains for the most part, but he was old and he was careful and he thought things out.

Not that it actually mattered, he had no plan to ever break Piper's heart, true love was rare enough, a woman like Piper, that would be more likely to commend him than reprimand him for his ways and for who he was, they were even rarer. She was the one treasure, besides his son, that he never wanted to lose and so he would never allow himself to go down a path that would hurt her in the end.

Hook actually frowned at his words though, making the smirk reappear, it appeared the captain hadn't thought of that little problem.

"And so," he leaned back, "Piper would not tell Emma anything that would endanger her. No lie was told."

And even that was the truth, he hadn't lied at all. Twisted the truth, but not lied.

"Well then," Hook tried another gamble, "Since you care SO much about the fish's family…" he gasped as he was slammed back into a pole behind him, sending the items that were hanging on it to the ground, clutching at his throat as Gold curled his hand into a fist.

"Call her that again," he threatened, releasing Hook to drop to his knees, gasping for air.

"Please," Elsa called, having been lurking in the back of the shop, hurrying over when Hook was thrown back by the Dark One's magic, "We're trying to keep Emma safe."

"Yes," Hook pointed at Elsa, "And since you care so much for your beloved Pip's family," the sarcasm seemed to make his accent thicker, "You'll help us find the person Emma's tracking before Emma does."

Gold looked between the two before he held out his hand.

Elsa stepped forward, a thick clipping of white hair in her hand, "This hair is from Marian. Someone cast a freezing curse on her. We need to know who it is."

"Well you're in luck," he muttered, "Magic can change forms, but never be destroyed. We'll simply return it to its natural state," he waved his hand over the hair, turning it into soft white flurries.

"Snowflakes," Elsa breathed.

Gold nodded slowly, feeling something familiar in that particular magic, "Magic similar to yours, dearie, though not quite the same. Much like a snowflake, each person's magic is unique."

"Poetic," Hook deadpanned, "How does that help us?"

"Well, magic seeks out like-magic," Gold remarked, "So if I set this free…" he lifted his hand and blew gently, sending the snowflakes drifting off, "It should find its way home, back to the person who cast it."

He waited, watching as Hook and Elsa quickly left the shop, following the flurries, before he grinned, his suspicions, ones that he'd had since the icewall refused to come down, now confirmed. He knew exactly who had caused the wall, and likely the freezing curse on the forest maid, and if he was right, which he was sure he was…then a rather large deal was upon him.

~8~

Emma cupped her hands on either side of her eyes as she peered into the ice cream shop that Will had been talking about, but it didn't look like there was anything out of the ordinary, "I don't know. Looks pretty normal to me."

"In a town where magic runs rampant, Emma, what things appear to be is hardly ever what they actually are," Piper reminded her. If the ice cream had been frozen even during the blackout then some form of magic had been used, which could open up possibilities for other magics as well.

"It was bleeding cold in there," Will defended, "I'm telling you."

"Because they sell ice cream," Emma turned to face him.

"During the blackout."

"Says the guy who's trying to avoid jail."

"I may be a thief, but I'm no liar and I can bloody well prove it," Will pushed past Emma and knelt down before the door, pulling out a lock pick.

"Really?" David scoffed, "You think breaking in again is gonna help your case?"

"Can you just be quiet a second, mate? I'm just trying to do this. Takes concentration. Bit tricky. It's all about…"

"Yeah, the tumblers," Emma rolled her eyes and nudged him aside, "I got it."

David blinked at that as Emma took the pick from Will, "You do?"

"Neal taught me a few things," she sighed, managing to get the lock undone and standing.

"Bit boring of a method," Piper remarked as Emma pushed the door open, the bells above them jingling.

"And how would you have handled it?" David gave her a look, "Shattered the glass with your music."

"Perhaps," Piper shrugged, "There IS something ever so enjoyable in the sound of shattered glass," she glanced around, "Though this is quite odd…"

"What is?" he glanced around, but still there was nothing out of place, "It doesn't look like…"

"If you were silent, you would hear how wrong this is," Piper cut in.

Emma held up a hand to stop David talking, frowning as she took Piper's remark to heart and listened, "It's quiet," Emma realized, "No compressor hum means no cooling system, and yet it's still freezing in here," she glanced at Will, "Smartass here was telling the truth. Something's not right here."

"Check the back," Will nodded towards a door in the back, "You'll see how right I am."

Emma and David glanced at each other before heading for the door, Emma pausing to give Piper a meaningful look and a nod to Will before they disappeared through it.

Piper turned just outside the door, her arms crossed as she eyed Will, the man seeming very unhappy with the fact that she was guarding him.

"By all means," she gestured him on, "Go about your business."

"What?" he blinked.

She just nodded at the cash register.

"Hold on…you're actually telling me to rob this place?" Will hesitated, "Is this a trick?"

"You are a distraction to my niece," Piper elaborated, "The sooner you leave, the sooner she can focus on what she began investigating."

She knew Emma would be irritated if she ended up going back to Regina and telling her that she found really nothing that would help all save an ice cream shop because she'd gotten distracted by arresting Will. Emma would want to track down the person who owned the shop, if Will's allegations that ice magic was used here proved true, but she knew Emma would also want to ensure Will was taken to the jail for stealing and it would cause the trail to run cold.

"So do what you must, and leave."

Will stared at her a moment, till she gestured to the register once more. He took a step towards it, still watching her, but when she did nothing, he ran to it, and pried it open, grabbing the cash inside and racing out the door.

Emma and David ran back out within seconds of hearing the bells jingle, "What the hell!?" Emma turned to Piper, "He's gone?!"

"I gave him leave to depart," Piper shrugged.

"And he stole from here," Emma huffed, making for the door to go after Will.

"And here I was of the belief that you wished to find the one that was draining Marian's life," Piper called, making Emma stop, "Or have you finally subscribed to my belief that this is Magic's way of restoring the balance?" Emma turned to her, frowning, "If you wish to use Will as an excuse to let the forest maid die I have no qualms about it, I would merely wish to know."

It was…another reason she'd let Will go. Without him there, he WOULD be less of a distraction for Emma, she would focus on her mission again as she knew Emma was determined to do. But, equally, in the small chance that Emma had truly come around and realized that Marian needed to die…well…Will being on the loose would give her the excuse to let it happen, she'd be chasing down Will while Marian slowly faded.

It was up to Emma what that choice would be.

"We're not letting anyone die," David, unfortunately, didn't see it like that, and stepped up to his daughter's side, "Will isn't the most important thing right now," he looked at Emma, "You can book him on petty theft later, right now, we need to help Marian."

Piper rolled her eyes at the man, he was so blind to the consequences of his daughter's actions it was almost remarkable that his kingdom had remained standing with his inability to take responsibility for actions or let his daughter take responsibility for hers.

"Will I even be able to find him later?" Emma shook her head, her mind so muddled and conflicting, "If I let him go now…"

David frowned at that, "What's going on? Emma, I'm your father. Talk to me."

Emma sighed, "It's just…everything, it's what everyone's saying, Regina, even you Piper," she glanced at her, "You're right, you're both right, it's like I can't save a cat from a tree right now. And every time I try to save someone, I just destroy someone else in the process. It's like I'm the anti-savior."

Piper let out a soft breath at that, Emma was at least admitting partially that she'd done the wrong thing in saving Marian, but she still wasn't sorry for it. She still wasn't realizing the magnitude of what she'd done. She hadn't just destroyed Regina's life in saving the woman, she'd disrupted Magic and Time and Death itself, and she still saw it so black and white. Which was a truly deplorable heroic trait she would have to help Emma understand would get her killed one day.

"You're being a little hard on yourself," David told Emma…only after throwing a glare at Piper for upsetting his daughter, "We all have bad days."

"Well, I'm having a run of them."

"I know. But you can't lose faith in yourself. Trust me."

"Emma," Piper sighed, moving over to her, "I do not agree with your decisions in the past, with regards to Marian, I find them dangerous and completely stupid," she said bluntly, making Emma wince, "But even I can attest to the fact that you are very much still the Savior. I doubt you would have been able to SAVE Marian if you were not, in fact, the Savior."

Emma let out a breath, about to say something more…when her phone rang. She turned away from them and pulled it out, looking at the voicemail she'd just gotten and playing it in her ear. David and Piper watched as she tensed, listening to the message, before quickly turning to them, "We have to go, now," she ran for the door, "Hook and Elsa are in the woods, they found the woman who did this."

~8~

Piper and David ran after Emma as she charged through the woods, heading for the location Hook had told her to go in his message, the two of them trailing behind as the blonde ahead of them ran at full speed.

They could see something in the distance, Elsa and Hook, with another woman, a blonde woman that Emma and David recognized as the ice cream shop owner standing before them, though the woman was now dressed in a long white gown. The closer they got the more they could see of what was happening, Elsa was frantic about something…and then they realized what. Hook was standing under a set of ice shards that were dangling above him, his feet trapped in ice holding him in place.

"No!" Elsa screamed, right as the other blonde lifted a hand to the ice shards, ready to let them impale Hook.

"Hey!" Emma cried, stopping her, "Dairy queen!"

The woman looked over, her eyes wide as she saw who had disrupted her, "Emma?" she breathed.

Emma tensed at the tone of her voice, like she was shocked and couldn't believe her eyes, "Do we know each other?"

The woman blinked at that, swallowing hard as she stepped back, "Of course not," Emma's eyes narrowed at that, feeling the lie in the woman's words, "Your reputation precedes you," she eyed Emma as David ran up to them, reaching them while Piper was still hurrying for them, the man coming to his daughter's side, "You really think that your magic is a match for mine?"

"There's only one way to find out," Emma glared and threw her hands forward, trying to focus her magic…and managed to send the woman flying backwards to the ground a few feet away.

David put a hand on her shoulder before dashing past to Hook's side, using a small knife to try and chip away at the ice. But it was too small and the ice was too solid.

The woman sat up on the ground, glaring, and threw her hand out at the ice shards, causing them to start to crack.

"No…" Hook breathed…when suddenly he and David were thrown to the side by Emma's magic just as the shards fell.

"You guys ok?" Emma called a moment later.

"Yeah, we're fine," David grunted.

"Where is she?" Piper reached them, panting, her hand resting on her stomach as she tried to get her breath, not entirely sure why she'd been so winded just running, "That woman?"

Emma looked around, her eyes wide as she realized that the other woman had disappeared, "She's gone," she hurried past Hook and David to the place she'd last seen the woman standing, "No sign of her," she sighed, "Not even tracks."

"She must have magic enough to transport herself then," Piper offered.

David pushed himself up and went over to his daughter, seeing her hands clenching into fists with her back to them, "What is it?" he asked her quietly, glancing back to see Hook checking on Elsa and Piper making her way over, "You ok?" but Emma was silent, "Hey, we're gonna find her. Don't let what anyone says shake your confidence."

"It's not that," Emma muttered, "It's this…Snow Queen," she offered, not knowing what to call her, "It's like she didn't just know Elsa. She knew me, too."

"You are the sheriff," Piper remarked, joining them, "And the product of true love, the Savior, the daughter of Snow White, a princess…" she eyed Emma, "It is quite a set of titles to have. I doubt anyone in this down does not know you by now, Emma."

"There's something more," Emma shook her head, "It's like, when she said my name, I…I…I don't know. It sounded familiar."

"Well, we'll figure it out," David nodded, "But today you did good. You stopped her. It was a pretty impressive show, sheriff."

"That it was," Hook spoke, joining them, "But perhaps we should keep searching, find the villain's lair, as it were."

"So you can almost get yourself killed again?" Emma shook her head, "That's exactly why I told you to go to the sheriff's station."

Hook glared at Piper as the woman smirked at Emma's tone and snappish words towards the man, "Don't look so smug," he muttered to her as David walked off and Emma moved to check on Elsa.

"Why should I not?" Piper inquired, "I may tell Emma that you are not trustworthy, but you do a much better job proving it."

Hook's jaw tensed at that, knowing he had no response to that, Emma had told him to go to the jail, he'd ignored her, let her think he was listening, and then disobeyed her request. She trusted him to do as she said, and he hadn't.

"One day I will prove myself to you," he stated instead, knowing it would be the only way to be with Emma without the woman constantly trying to get between them and keep him away from Emma, "I will earn your trust and your blessing to be with Emma."

Piper nearly snorted at that, "A deal not even the Dark One would be able to help you with."

And with that, she turned and walked away, as far as she was concerned, the pirate would never be good enough for her niece.

~8~

Late that night would find one Mr. Gold sitting on a large rock in the woods, waiting in silence for his prey. He did not have to wait long for the 'Snow Queen' as Emma had dubbed her to walk past him. Nor did it take long for her to realize he was behind her and spin around with a gasp.

"Don't worry, dearie," he smirked, "It's only me. Sorry things didn't work out the way you wanted."

"They will," she said softly.

Gold considered her for a moment, "We shall see. And, uh did Miss Swan remember you?"

The woman's lips pursed, "No."

"That's good for you. Because it could happen. And you wouldn't want that, now, would you?" he eyed her, grinning as he stood up and stepped over to her, "Are you sure you don't want my help?"

"When I'm ready to make a deal, I'll come to you."

Gold chuckled at that, "A moment I eagerly await. Now," he glanced around, "You should find some shelter. It's getting quite frosty."

He walked backwards a few steps, before turning and disappearing through the treeline, smiling when he saw Piper standing there, the woman having listened to everything he'd said. He had been truthful to Hook, he would not lie to her, he would not betray her, he would always keep her in the know of his plans. She was his partner, in far more ways than one.

Piper smirked as they turned to walk off, "Was that last comment for my benefit?" she inquired, thinking of how she'd used the title of 'Frosty' to describe her cousin when she'd first met him.

Gold just wound his arm around her waist, "Perhaps."

"We must be cautious, Rummy," she added after a moment, "If she attempts anything else with Emma before you've made your deal with her…"

"She won't," he promised, "And…if she does," he sighed, "You've my leave to kill her before the deal can be struck."

Piper actually smiled at that, leaning on him as they went, reassured in his promise. From what he had told her, the deal could be one of the more important ones he'd ever made, the fact that he would stand aside and allow her to deal with the Snow Queen if she should target Emma again meant much to her. It was another reassurance that their bond was strong, that they still valued each other, that he had been truly telling the truth in saying he cared about her and her family. If he was willing to give up that deal for her…she couldn't think of any other proof anyone would need to know that he did truly love her.

"Good."

A/N: Hmm...still something a little off about Snow in terms of Piper and letting her hold Neal, odd considering how easily she gave Neal to her at the diner...I wonder what's changed... }:)

Some notes on reviews...

Oh the Shattered Sight Spell...I'm very much looking forward to that part of the story }:D

Could you point out where in the story I identified August as the Author? I might just be getting it confused with my Lyssa story but I feel like I've only made him author in the sense that he added a story or two to the book not that he wrote the book himself, I feel like I remember saying he was 'an author' in All That Glitters not 'the author' but I could be wrong or I might have made a typo that needs to be fixed :) It'll depend, when August returns, whether Piper actually knows what Regina's doing or if August would give her the page knowing that Gold is lurking ;) Though I can say that Piper and Ursula will have butting heads at times ;) But aww, don't pity me, I actually had a lot of fun writing the second half of Season 4, I've got it all worked out and I hope it'll flow smoothly ;)

Piper's definitely reached a snapping point of not wanting to associate with humans and just give herself over to her Siren side :( We'll actually see a very deep flashback coming where we'll see her make that conscious decision to stop fighting the Siren in her :'( But thank you! I went back and fixed it :) Yup, now that we know how Snow actually found out she was pregnant, I'll be tweaking just a small part of that chapter to fit, nothing major though ;) I agree, I feel like the writers let a lot of relationships sort of fall off the radar at times :( Like where did Neal go? I feel like he completely disappeared in the second half of Season 4, which was odd to me :/ And that's awesome about the dolls! From what I understand, my tumblr has a 'Submit' tab on the main page and you can select 'Photo' from a drop down menu and upload the picture. It might require an email address if you don't have a tumblr account, but I make sure that the personal emails don't show up for privacy reasons, just the name that is submitted with them :)

I can say Mary isn't Merida no :( I'm actually trying to stay away from bringing Merida into the story at the moment. As much as I absolutely hate a certain plotline from Season 4 (spoilers ahead) I can't help but think that Merida will end up being Robin and Zelena's child. With the red hair (Zelena) and archery (Robin) :( I didn't want to put her in and risk their child actually BEING Merida in the show. I really, really do not want that to happen in the show at all, I really am very uncomfortable with that plot the writers put in, but I just wanted to be careful for the moment ;)