With the curse now over and the Snow Queen dead, it was time to free Storybrooke from the Ice Wall that surrounded the town keeping the resident's inside. The Arendelle three stood with Hook, Emma, Henry Mary Margaret, Tom and John as they view the ice wall for the last time.
"Wow, that is a lot of ice" Anna said out-load as she craned her neck up to see the tall wall of ice in front of her.
"And it's time for it to come down" Elsa said stepped up to the wall with an air of confidence before stepping on the snow that lied at the walls feet, using her powers the ice wall crumbled to the ground and vanish revealing painted line that indicted the edge of town.
"Okay. Now can we go back home?" Anna said with determination walking towards the town line only for Emma's voice to freeze her mid-step.
"Stop! Don't take another step! That's the town line" Emma warmed the younger redhead making her own way to the town line
"Right. But I want to leave the town" Anna reminded her "Didn't I just say that?".
"The wall may be down, but I sense that some of Ingrid's magic remains" slowly the savoir reached out with her hand to meet an invisible wall that divided the magical town with the rest of the land without magic "Yeah, leaving this town has never been simple" Emma said turning to face the sisters "And Ingrid? She didn't change things. She wanted to be here alone with you and me. She wanted to make Storybrooke her ice castle, and clearly she wanted to protect it".
"So how do we get back home?" Anna eagerly asked the savior.
"Walking wouldn't get us there anyway. We're in a different realm" Elsa tells her sister trying to calm her down.
"We need to find a portal" Emma told the three "Or magic beans or something".
"Okay, now I'm lost" Kristoff added in confusion.
"Well, then let's get one of those things. We have to hurry" Anna cautioned to her sister.
"No, we don't need to rush. We need to be careful. Arendelle will still be there while we figure this out" the older sister tried to rationalize with the younger one.
"It might not" Anna told her sister looking at her fiancé "Did we forget to tell her?".
"A lot of stuff was going on" Kristoff defended himself before glancing back at the teenager "I mean, I still can't believe that John has a son" he says making the blonde captain roll his eye's at his old friends comments.
"Tell me what?" Elsa brought the attention from her sister back to her.
"Arendelle's been conquered... By Hans and his 12 brothers" hearing this John stiffened remembering the last time he met the 'Prince' he nearly got Amelia killed. In the end they had learned that the Prince had teamed up with Claudius to get to his wife. In return for Han's help, the elder assassin would give the Prince the resources he needed to keep people like Elsa out of Arendelle for good.
"Emma, we need to find a way back... Now" Elsa pressed the savoir hearing the news of Han's takeover in their absence.
"We'll do our best" Emma tells the Ice Queen in determination of getting her friends back home as Hook slowly slipped away from the border in inform Gold of the latest development.
With the Snow Queen's demise her spells went with her as Amelia handed the box that held her friends heart to Regina. The pair hadn't spoken or brought up what happened between them during the curse. The redhead wasn't quite sure herself.
Was it out of lust, love or hate?.
It was certainly something they did a lot of before the first curse as they took a break, out of their individual vengeance plot's taking out whatever frustrations they had on their minds. But then something changed between them as they got to know the other, she started to feel something more for the woman underneath the Queen than she ever dared to feel again.
Not even with Robin.
But that didn't matter anymore, it seems' that they had lost their chance of a happy ending together. Again.
Handing the empty box back they waited with bated breath as Regina shoved the heart back into the woman's chest. After a beat Marian gasped awake taking in deep breaths as she collected herself from the deep sleep to see Amelia, Regina and Robin stood over. Seeing her husband, Marian threw herself into his arms with the latter catching his wife burning his chin into her shoulder as he met Amelia's eye's in quiet desperation at the woman he loved.
It might've taken a while to realize it, but as she remembered the way she felt when Robin and Marian first reunited in the diner. It was heartbreak. Pure and simple.
Deep down she did still love him, but she knew she could never be good enough for him. She could never tell him that though, because that would only make things worse for them. Breaking the eye contact she made herself leave the reunion as she wiped away the tear the escaped her eye.
How the hell did she get here?
The question clouded her mind as she tried to push back the hurt she felt when she saw Marian in Robin's arms. The look he gave her. That stupid kiss. This one man was running rings around her head while the woman she loved could do nothing to help her. The bubble had well and truly burst on their reunion in the vault before the curse all the while she kept pushing her back to John.
Sat at the counter of Granny's with a glass of amber liquid in front of her. She tried to make sense of everything that was going on around her as she heard the bell above the door ring out and light footsteps approaching her before quickly taking up the space to her left.
"Unless you've got a bottle with my name on it, I want to be alone" she grumbles at the person that decided to join her. She didn't need a hope speech right now. Or anything. She just wanted the space to think how messy her life had truly gotten ever since she finally took that leap of faith towards Regina.
Maybe it was fate or destiny punishing her still. Maybe she just had really bad luck.
"I thought we should talk" she heard Marian speak up from next to her "Thank you, for saving my life….Twice, actually".
"Forget about it" she tells the woman "You should be thanking Regina not me" she brushed the woman off. She didn't do anything in the end. She had been so entangled in her own drama she had forgotten about the woman next to her, forgotten about her Uncle who she still couldn't trust despite his turned leaf.
She really needed to catch up on everything.
"I can't. Because Robin can't" Marain tells her "I see the way he looks at you, and you him. And I understand. For me, it's only been a short time that I've been away. But for him, years have passed. His heart moved on. He's in love with you, Amelia. And I think you're in love with him".
"Well, it doesn't really matter" Amelia tells her old friend as she took a generous sip of her drink "He's a man of honor. He made a vow to you, and he's going to keep it".
"I don't want him to be with me out of obligation. I want to be chosen. If his heart leads him to me, fine. But if it does what I suspect and leads back to you... I will step out of the way" Marian goes to leave the woman in peace before she felt a hand on her arm making her stop and sit down on the stool next to her.
"The day you died.." Amelia started as her eye's met Marian's. The pain and grief that lied underneath her green eyes.
"I felt something I hadn't allowed myself to feel in years. I am truly sorry for what happened to you" she tells the woman that had so willingly offered to take her in when her world shattered "I wish I could say I could've done something to stop it, but I was far too gone to care what happened to your or Robin in the end. All that mattered was to find my revenge, to find the next target, the next contract...the next star" she trailed off with a scoff.
"Did you find it?" her friend asks her.
The redhead stilled as she thought through the question. She swore she had answered that question a thousand time before.
Yes, she completed her mission. Like Regina had pointed out to her a number of times. Her former Brother's were dead along with the ideals and teachings they held about how the world should be, of how she should be, including her own father.
She had taken Monteriggioni from them, and the money that came from re-opening it as a trade post. Only for it be scarified for the lives of its people.
The Brotherhood that had taken everything from her was now nothing but a story for parents to tell their children of creed of protectors that wore cloth instead of all it took was for her heart to darken.
As long as her heart kept beating, the Brotherhood continued to live through her. She would be the last Master Assassin to ever walk the realms. As long as she breathed their ideals and teachings still lived in her head. She had failed.
"No" she admitted out-load for the first time "but it did get me here talking to you again" she tells the woman next to her with a tight lipped smile "That's gotta count for something right?" she asked before continuing.
"I can never love Robin that way he loves me because I would destroy him in the end. For years he looked past the things other's hated me for, he stood by and said nothing. We tried to be something more, only for me to push him away when the opportunity for change came up to see if I would really let go it all go and focus on a life with him and Roland or continue digging myself deeper into darkness"
"I'll probably always love him. But for his own survival and my own sanity I can't love him the same way he does. He doesn't need to choose you Marian because there isn't a choice to make anymore".
"Like there is between Regina and John?" she asked the woman next to her.
"Maybe not anymore" she answered shooting the glass of amber liquid down her throat.
The Arendelle three, John and Emma retreated back to Granny's to try and come up with a way to cross across the realms and fight Han's and his brother's off Elsa's throne. They had called the one person that could give them a clue only for the resident assassin to quickly shoot down the savoir and hang up. Apparently she was busy.
The former Captian had no idea with what, all he knew was that she and Regina were going to wake Marian back up now that the Snow Queen was dead. All he knew was that he wanted to get back to Arendelle as soon as he could, with or without his wife and son, to give Han's a lesson he would never forget.
From next to him Kristoff looked at his friend with furrowed brows as he scowled into the mug in front of him, a look he'd never seen on the captains face even when they were being chased by wolves.
"You thinking pretty hard there Cap" Kristoff asked the man "Everything okay buddy?".
John went to reply only for the door to the diner open to Hook "Swan" he started as he saw the blonde at the booth with the Arendelle residents and John "Come celebrate, for I may not be the Savoir, but I've just saved the day" he announced to the whole diner making them all look up at the pirate in anticipation.
"Hang on" Emma brought the four back to reality as she stood from her chair that had been pulled up to their booth "Don't get your hopes up yet" she told them before leaving them to speak to Hook privately leaving the four in silence as they wait for Hook's good news.
"John" a sweet voice he knew as Anna's gently press him seeing his troubled look "What's wrong?". Looking at all three of them before he answers.
"How would you feel if I went back to Arendelle with you guy's?" the words leaving his mouth as he felt the pressure of the question trouble his mind.
A wide smile grew on the naive Anna's face as she practically jumped in her seat "Oh my goodness, that would be wonderful! Han's won't see you coming, you remember how scared he was of John" Anna looked between Elsa and Kristoff "Oh and Sven's missed you so much" she continued.
"Hey!" the ice picker exclaimed in offence.
"- and don't get me started on Olaf-" she started to ramble in excitement but she stopped herself realizing what the elephant in the room "Wait…"
"There it is" Kristoff chimed in seeing what his fiancée had finally realized earning a glare from his sister in law across the table.
"What about Amelia!? And Tom! Have you spoken to her about this, she won't want to leave now".
"Anna's right " Elsa sadly agreed with her sister giving the man a look of sympathy "She won't want to leave, she and Tom are happy here, they have a family here, a life".
"Even I've seen how happy she's been and I haven't seen her in thirty years" Kristoff added in slight exaggeration "I think I've seen her smile more times in the day or two I've been here than in Arendelle".
"Kristoff!" Anna scolded.
"I meant if I came with you guy's. Just me" John clarified.
"You'd leave them behind?".
"Our marriage been over for a while, they're better off without me and I don't belong in this world".
"John, we'd love for you to come with us, but you need to talk to Amelia before you make any final decisions" John nodded at the Queen of Arendelle as Emma returned to the booth, knowing he needed to decide soon.
Amelia and Regina sat on a park bench as they watched the Hood family feed the duck's in the lake. And smile grew on the redheads face as she saw Roland loving every second of it. He finally got his family back, and that was all that mattered.
"They look happy" Regina observed from Amelia's left.
"Having Marian back in his life, it means so much to Roland, to both of them" Amelia mused to the former Queen as she continued to watch the family before her.
"I understand. At the end of the day, our children come first" there was more behind the sentence than the former Evil Queen was letting on.
"Regina…" Amelia started turning her body to face her.
"He's Tom's father" she argued to the redhead who nodded.
Amelia turned back to watch the small family interact with the ducks in the lake. Roland's laugh carried through the air back to them.
Then she thought of Anya yet again. She had popping up in her mind all to often lately.
"I never told you about Anya" Amelia suddenly said to the woman next to her.
"Please tell me it's not another conquest of yours, my sister was never enough?" she drawled out rolling her eye's.
Amelia tapped the brunette on her shoulder making Regina to turn her head to her. She was met by the assassin's pointer finger in her face "Get your mind out of the gutter Queenie" Amelia lightly scolded the woman poking her nose which was swatted away by the former Queen "She was my sister".
The new fact seemed to take the woman taken aback, she had never mentioned any sibling she may had had and Romeo never mentioned another child during their short time together.
"Adopted sister" she quickly corrected the woman before she could reply "Romeo and I found her in the forest outside Monteriggioni, completely alone with no memory of how she got there. After some debate, she was allowed to stay and trained alongside me as Romeo's second apprentice
"We grew up as sisters and as close as them" she told the former Queen as the brunette saw the smile that grew on her face as she talked about a girl she had no idea that existed until now.
She had no idea why she would've kept something like this from her after all this time, but if she only became comfortable talking about it now the former Queen wanted to know everything about this..Anya. She could see how much joy it brought to the redhead.
Only for that look of joy to quicker dull as she continued her story "Years later we were sent on a contract, like we had a hundred times before. But this time she didn't come back with me" the brunette saw that flash of hurt that went through the redhead's eyes as she told her story.
"Turned out our target had killed her family before she found us. We also found that she a grandmother that still lived. She also wanted to stay, with the man she had fallen in love with who had helped us".
"-I remember being so angry at her for leaving me, for choosing love and family over the Brotherhood. Over me" she gulped back the tears that threatened to fall. It still stung like a knife to the heart at the sense of betrayal.
"Melia..."
"I think the reason I was so angry was because I didn't take my chance to do the same thing. She took a leap of faith into the unknown and I envied her for it. For taking a chance of a life away from the Creed. It drove me mad that she could do that and I didn't. That I had to live up to this, ridiculous prophesy that was made about me before I was even born. It felt like I couldn't leave because I would letting my family down if I turned my back on it".
"What are you trying to say?".
"It means" she paused wanting to take a page out of Marian's book from their earlier conversation as she looked into the eyes of her soulmate "I choose you. Not the Brotherhood. Not John. Just you. Like I should've done years ago".
She couldn't hep but feel taken aback by the assassin's declaration, she had been waiting so long for her to say the words, she thought she would never say them. Never choose her over the husband she had chosen over her.
"But Tom? What would this look like to him?".
"It's gonna be messy, complicated situation, which it is. And I can't promise you it would be smooth sailing. But if I went back to my life with John, I'd be living a lie. The best example I can set to my son is to live truthfully...To follow my heart and take a leap of faith... To you" she said taking the storybook page out of her pocket, unfolding it and presenting her with the picture of her Regina in a passionate embrace.
"Auntie Lia! Help! Auntie Lia! Help!" a small voice suddenly called out to her making her and Regina to look up to see Marian on the ground with Robin hunched over his wife in panic.
Shooting onto her feet the redhead sprinted to the family, skidding on the grass to come to a quick stop as Regina caught up behind her. Gently taking Roland by his shoulders, his aunt held his close as she and the former Queen got a closer look at his mother. Her heart tugged in her chest seeing the frost that covered her face and the streak of white hair returning to her long brown hair. She looked in pain.
"I thought she was cured!" Robin exclaimed to the sorceresses that had helped him thought the whole ordeal of the Snow Queen as he looked to the redhead beside him for an answer for his wife's sudden turn.
"She should be" Amelia argued "The Snow Queen's gone, so should her magic" the redhead tried to reason with her friend as her eyes darted back and forth trying to find an explanation. She didn't understand.
Crouching down next to the redhead the former Queen placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, as she took a look herself. "There must be some remnant of that spell still inside her. Even by now her heart should be infected" she explained to the thief and assassin.
"So, there's no hope?" he looked towards the witch and assassin in desperation to help his wife.
"There may be another way" Amelia suddenly said to her friend as she stood back up. She remembered the messages from Emma earlier that she had only just read looking at Regina for support "The ice wall is down, she could leave Storybrooke".
The former Queen could only nod along with the redhead's theory and continued as the woman became flustered pulling at the root's of her longer hair knowing that her solution would come as a steep price for her. She wouldn't let Marian out into a world completely alone. Someone would have to go with her.
She had to lose her closest friend in the entire world to save his wife.
"She can cross the town line and enter a world without magic. Without magic, the harm to her would end".
"S... S-So let's get to the town line!" he concluded going back to his wife only for Amelia to catch his wrist to pull him back up to face her. He didn't understand what that meant.
"Robin" Amelia's sternly called out to him making him look straight at her with his full attention "You need to know it's a one-way trip" she says looking in her best friend's eye's "There's a curse on the town line, and once you leave. That's it" her voice choked up at the thought of losing her friend.
"So, you're saying..." he trialed off as he realize he would have to leave her.
"I'm saying that we can't just send Marian into an unknown world" she said the words that needed to be said "Someone has to go with her. You and Roland. And once you do go... You can never come back".
At the town line Amelia sat in her car as she watched Robin say goodbye to the Merry Men before he left for good. She tried to call John, but he couldn't be reached which only made this all the more worse. Regina offered to come with her, but she declined needing to say goodbye to her loyalist friend in the world alone not noticing her passenger door open and someone slip in.
"I hate goodbyes. Don't you?" Gold said as he made himself comfortable next to her.
"If you've come here to gloat, I'm really not in the mood" she tells the man "So, what do you want old man before I throw you out of a moving car?".
"Belle and I are taking a trip" he informed his niece "I came to bid you and Regina farewell".
"Have you been under a rock you call the pawn shop? There's a curse on the town line. If you leave, you can never come back".
"Hence the goodbye" the confession made Amelia turned her head to look at her Uncle to see that he was serious "But before I go, could you pass something on to my great-nephew? Tell Tom I'll miss him... And his and Henry's charming attempts at snooping around my shop".
Amelia scoffed at the man as she shook her head "Of course you knew".
"Oh, I knew. He hasn't quite inherited your gift at subtlety yet. Perhaps you can tell me why" he asked her.
"They were looking for the impossible... A happy ending. The storybook has Regina written as a villain, and villains always lose, so... He and Henry thought you might have a clue as to who the author is so I can politely make him change that".
"Intriguing idea. But, alas, I've no clue as to his identity" he informed his niece seeing the disappointment in her face.
"I know. Villains don't get happy endings".
"It would appear in your case, that's not quite true" he goes to remind her "For you were never truly the villain. You spent year's pushing Snow White two steps ahead of her Majesty's scheme's. There was still light in your darkened heart, even if not many people got to see it" he continued as they watched Robin say goodbye to his friends and allies.
"And yet I'm here about to send my best friend into the unknown. I don't exactly feel like I'm winning at anything" she snapped at the man before taking a breath "You and Aunt Belle seem... Settled. How were you able to get one?".
"Because I took it. And, quite frankly, you should, uh, stop moping and do the same thing. I mean, if this Marian died, and John walked away, all would be well. Would it not?" he questioned her
"-You could go back to your Queen after years of back and forth without the guilt of the unknown of what happened to him after he fell into the sea, knowing you've done your upmost to keep the vow you made to him after he saved you with true love kiss".
Hold on. Her mind made her pause. How did he know that? Only for the scene before her to push it to the side.
"That's not me anymore" she answered through angry tears that welled in her eyes "I've come a long way from being the Black Widow. And John won't walk away, not that easily anyway".
"Being good doesn't mean good things will happen" he stated to her.
"This sounds like the old Rumplestiltskin talking" she drawls out turning her head to face him "I thought you changed".
"More like evolved" he corrected her "Coming back from the dead and being a slave to the Wicked Witch tends to do that to you. But if you don't think villains can get happy endings, just watch me take one. There's no author of my fate, no storybook with my destiny. I've been a villain a thousand times over, and yet I'm about to get everything I desire".
Reaching over the handbrake he take her hand that was resting on her leg on comfort, gripping her hand with his that same way Romeo used to when she was younger making him look back at him.
"And..as unbelievable as it sounds, I want the same for you" he looked at her like her father would in time of comfort, that made her heart lurch more at the touch of sentiment that came from the man.
"You're right. That is unbelievable" she tells him making him chuckle at her.
"Every day since I found you again, you've reminded myself more and more of my dear sister. Her determination, her stubbornness, there were even times I thought I saw her walking through my door's instead of you" that made the waterworks in her eyes burst as she quickly tried to hide the tear from the old man as he carried on.
"But more importantly you had her strength to move forward. Use that to your advantage and maybe, just maybe you'll get everything you have always desired" the assassin let her Uncle take her hand, bring the back of it to his lips, before leaving a fatherly kiss on her knuckles before placing it back on her seat leaving the assassin on the task at hand.
Wiping the tears from her face and composing herself she steeled herself to open her door and walk towards her oldest friend who had been waiting for her with the Merry Men waiting patiently at the side of the road.
As she approached the small family, Roland ran from his mother's side towards her making her crouch down and pick the small boy in her arm's to bring him into a loving embrace as she buried her nose into his woolen hat.
The small boy buried his head in her shoulder as held him as tight as she could knowing it could be the last time she would hold him like this. It wasn't just his father she had fallen for. It was the small boy that she had watched grow that would call out to her for comfort like he should've been able with his own mother.
Feeling a pair of eye's on her she opened her eyes to meet Marian's. She was in pain, she could see it each time she winced. She knew how it felt to have the ice slowly crawling towards her heart. It was excruciating. But through the pain the woman managed to give her a small smile.
Robin looked anywhere but at the redhead holding his son, the same way she had done thousands of times. Roland adored her. Which all the more painful as they would have to part with the woman that gave his son so much joy whenever she was around.
Setting him back onto the ground the former assassin knelt on one knee in front of his mustering up the brightest smile she could make for the four-year old as she held his small hands in hers.
"Did Papa tell you about your big trip?" she asked him making him nod at her with a "You're gonna love it there. There's tall buildings that go into the sky".
"Like giant's?" he asked her in excitement.
"Taller than giant's" she laughed at the boy's excitement keeping a smile on her face as her heart broke. She would love to see the look on his face as he looked up at the skyscrapers that surrounded him "Promise me you'll look after your Mama and Papa. They'll need you to be extra brave for them in this new land".
"I swear Auntie Amy" he promises her as he puffed his chest up with pride, showing her how brave he could be. Her heart swelled at the boy promise. He sounded just like his father.
Amelia held out her pinkie finger towards the boy, she had managed to teach him in between everything "Pinkie swear?" Roland let out a laugh wrapping his around her's before throwing himself back into her arms, wrapping his arms around her neck, she held the back of his head before placing a kiss on his crown.
Encouraging the boy to go back to his mother she stood and took the last few steps to face Robin "The uh..diner I told you about is just a few miles down the road" she mentally scolded herself for choking through the tears that were threatening to fall once again.
He nodded at the redhead "Right. Uh, Amelia..." she ignored him and continued, it was the only way she was going to get though this.
"And you have the map I gave you? A..And the money, so that should be plenty to get you started, but feel free to call anytime. Day or night".
"Yes, but..." she stopped him once again.
"Good. Then you should go".
"Thank you" he sincerely told her seeing how much she was struggling to compose herself as her hands twitched from the anxiety. Her eyes twitched to Marian who was started to struggle.
Marian groaned out in pain struggling to stand up straight as Amelia and Robin jumped to hold her up "She needs to cross the line. Now" Amelia pressed the thief.
"Okay, you guys, go" he tells his wife and son "I'll be right behind you, I promise. I just... I just need a moment, okay?".
"Of course," she tells Robin before meeting Amelia's gaze "Thank you" Amelia could give her friend a smile and nod before she turned with Roland in her hand. The mother and son walk through the barrier.
On the other side Marina took in a healthy deep breath as the effects of spell disappeared in the land of no magic.
"Mama!" Roland called up to his mother in happiness before she picked him up in her arms and spun him around, she looked back to see nothing but empty road on where her husband and Amelia should be.
"Robin?" she called out a look of panic etching her face.
"Your family are waiting. Go" Amelia tells the man who looks at her in heartache.
"Right" he sighs out starting to make his way towards the line only to stop.
Turing back he saw Amelia holding her head up high and a stiff upper lip like she had always done when faced the greatest of adversaries. Only this time it wasn't an enemy. It was her only friend in the entire world. Only her eyes gave away the pain she felt.
Taking the woman by surprise the thief rushed forwardher taking her head and face in his hands and planting his lips in her's for the first time in years in a passionate, yet heart-breaking kiss and made her composure break fully as she grabbing jacket to kiss him back feeling hot tears fall down her face before resting their foreheads together with their eye's closed, trying to tell the other how much they truly cared for each other on for the words to fail them in the moment.
"I..." he tries to start tell her only for his last words to her get cut off.
"I know" she quickly stopped him from saying something that would completely break her. She knew. She always knew.
Taking his hands off her face she brought them down to trap them between their chests as she gripped them as tight as she could to try and ease the ache in her heart.
"This isn't goodbye" she sternly tells him as her eyes met his "Do you understand? This isn't the end of the line. I need my best friend. I will always need you".
"Always milady." he promises before taking a step backwards the town line. Her eye's fluttered shut not wanting to see him go over the line as she felt a warm hand leave on of her own. Holding on her left had she took a hesitant step forward as he stepped through the barrier to his wife and son on the other side.
She fought with herself from selfishly pulling him back as she felt his fingers slip from her's, he held on until the last possible moment before he was over the line in the land of no magic.
"Papa!" Roland's voice made her eyes snap open to see Robin on the other side with his son in his arms as he looked back to the spot where Amelia would be only to be met with nothing but road trying to look for her. If he could see her he would see the tears finally flowed freely from her eyes.
The former assassin made herself turn her intending to walk back to her car and get herself as far away from the town line only for her weakened knee's to buckle from the from under her, the sobbing woman felt a pair of arms catch her before she met the wet hard ground.
Will Scarlet held the broken woman in his arms she buried her head into his chest as the strangled sob's racked though her body. Her hands gripped the thief leather jacket as he tried to comfort her as he saw someone quickly closing the distance between him and the town line only to see his friend already on the other side walking away.
He was too late. Robin was gone. All John could do was watch the small family walk away from the town line arm in arm as they sought out a new life outside Storybrooke as his heard his wife's cry's of anguish being muffled into Will's chest.
"John-boy" Will gently called out the to Captain bringing the man out of his out of his thoughts as he held the man's wife in his arms. With a nod the thief passed his wife back to him as her hand instantly sought out the sense of security she felt whenever her first love held her close.
The sobs turned into whimpers as she clung to his chest as he whispered reassurances into the crown of her head.
Further down the road Regina stood in-front of her car watching John console his wife after having to say goodbye to her oldest friend in the world as she clung onto her husband as if he was the only thing stopping her from falling apart.
When Amelia told she needed to be alone she went to find John with the Arendelle residents in the diner and made him get into her car and race him to the town line.
Even if they couldn't make it in time for the Captain to say goodbye to his friend, he could be there from stopping the redhead from falling back into her old self from the heartbreak.
As they neared the town line seeing Robin stepping through the border, the Captain had opened the passenger door before she could come to full stop, despite sprinting the last few hundred yards to catch his friend, he had come up short as his wife collapsed into Will Scarlet's arms before she fell onto the ground.
Her heart broke at the scene after the conversation she had just had with the red head. There was no way she could get in between what they had, even if she did choose her in the end. She would have to made the decision for her this once.
Pulling out the storybook page from her pocket she unfolded it to the picture of her and Amelia outside the tavern that night before ripping it apart, discarding the page in pieces onto the road before climbing back into her car and driving away.
At the mansion Hook had found with Gold's help the Charming family, plus Tom and the Arendelle Three let themselves into the large home as they searched for the portal that would take them home.
They were led by to two excited and curious young cousins into a ornate living area full of furniture as they looked around in wonder in disbelief that this place even existed in Storybrooke.
"This place is amazing" Henry said out load in amazement, when he saw something through a door way into an adjoining room. The pre-teen tapped Tom's shoulder gaining his friends' attention twitch his head to the side silently telling his older cousin to follow him.
"Mom, we'll, uh, be right back" the boy's ran through a doorway ahead of the group to find a door in the middle of the ballroom that led nowhere decorated with symbols.
"Hey, guys. Wait" Emma called after the pair as the others followed them to see the portal that would return the others to Arendelle.
"Well, Emma, I think this is it" Mary Margaret told her daughter as they adults followed the boys into the room to find the door.
"Crocuses!" Anna gasped in excitement recognizing the symbols on the door "Arendelle crocuses! Elsa, we're almost home" Anna said going to open the door only for Emma to stop her.
"Wait, maybe I should open it. Magic can be unpredictable" Emma warned the younger woman stopping her from opening the door back home an back to Hans.
Elsa took Emma's hand into her as they prepared for their departure "So this is it".
"Appears so" Emma sighed sad to see the woman leave with her family.
"Thank you for taking such good care of my sister" Anna said to the savior.
"It's kind of what we do" Emma tells the younger of the pair.
"It's our pleasure" Mary Margaret added as they heard footsteps from the other room. The group turned to see John and Amelia join them.
"Sorry we're late" John apologized as they filed into the room hand in hand having returned to town from the border. The group could see her blood shot eye's as they remembered where she had just come from.
"No, you're just in time" Anna said approaching the former assassin and engulfing her hug that went "We heard what happened, are you okay?" she quietly asked the former assassin.
"I'll be fine" she told the younger woman before separating to look at the sisters "Now, don't you all have a kingdom to go save?" Amelia addressed the sisters.
"We sure do" Anna answered "I hope Hans isn't too comfortable on that throne 'cause I'm gonna knock him right off the minute we get back".
"Give Han's an extra knock from me while you're at it" the Assassin tells the younger woman with a playful wink.
"Oh I will" Anna eagerly agreed as she stepped away from the assassin.
"And the second minute we're back, maybe we could get married? Just a thought". Kristoff asked his fiancee as he stepped forward to remind her of their impending nuptials.
As Anna said goodbye to the others, Kristoff approached the older redhead. He was the first person she had met after leaving the Godspeed. I was like she was meant to meet him and give Sven the only food she had.
"I'm sorry I'll miss the wedding" she tells him.
"I know. But you're happy here" he tells her. She didn't understand what that meant, but it didn't mean it wasn't true.
"I am" she tells him with a sad smile.
"Bye Natasha" he fondly tell her before bending down slightly to engulf her in a warm embrace, a choked laugh escape her at the name she came up with to keep him safe from anyone that might've been following her.
"Goodbye Kristoff" she says into his shoulder as she held him "Give Sven a carrot from me when you see him. And give Grand Pabbie my love as well, tell him I understand what he told me. He'll know what I mean" she says before they pulled away. "Have a great life Kristoff. you deserve it".
"Will do Amelia" he tells her before they watched Elsa and Emma say farewell.
"Emma, thank you for everything. You've done so much. I could never repay you." she tells the savoir pulling her into a loving hug. The pair had grown close over their shared fear losing the people around them because of their gift.
Parting from Emma the Queen strides over to the redhead she had met over thirty years ago that blindly followed her into the unknown all to keep her and Anna safe from the man that would see to their downfall she used to call family.
"Stay safe Elsa" she tells the Ice Queen that welcomed her when she had nothing "No more running" she reminds the Queen in front of her.
"Only if you do the same Amelia. You should be proud of the life you made" she says glancing towards Tom and the others "Even if you don't think you deserve it sometimes".
"I will" the former assassin tells her before the Queen wraps are arms around her. The tears threatened to fall once again as she had to say goodbye yet again to.
"It's time" she announced to the group as she separated from the redhead "Please, thank Hook and Mr. Gold for us, as well" Elsa said them before Emma approached the door and opened it to reveal the portal it held within it's frame.
Once Upon a Time Ago she would've done anything to get back to Aredelle, but her heart belonged in Storybrooke for the time being, even if it's without one of the people she cared about the most.
Elsa was the first to head through the door only to pause at the threshold as her eye's found John who hadn't said a word of goodbye to the other's "John" she gently reminded the man that had wanted to re-join them in Arendelle as soon as an opportunity came up. It was here. He needed to say his goodbyes now.
With a small nod the Captain knew what he had to do only if it caused more pain for all those involved.
"Give me a minute" he tells her and the Queen and and Kristoff walked through the door into Arendelle leaving just Anna waiting for him.
"A minute for what?" the former assassin looked as her husband in confusion as the Charming family watched the couple as John bowed his head down unable to look her with the decision he had make without her.
"Amy, I'm sorry" he said slowly meeting her eye "If Robin hadn't just left, I would've told you sooner" he started as Tom walked over to his parents.
"Told me what?".
"I'm going to Arendelle with them" he sighed out in heartbreak as the other's looked on in confusion and concern for the redhead.
"W-what?" she shook her head at the man as he as her throat closed leaving her speechless as he took her hand encouraging her away from the other's.
Hearing his father's words he felt a hand David gently take his shoulder to encourage him to give his parent the space they needed, without any interruptions from them.
"Amelia. I don't belong here, I never have" he spoke in harsh whisper "You've been miserable since I've been here" she heard him say "I know you feel obligated to be with me, but you need to let me go, I can see how much you love it here. You need to be here. Your family needs you".
"And when exactly did you come to his grand decision" she scoffed out as fresh tears left her eyes.
"During the curse, Robin pointed out everything as we fought, and I couldn't argue with him. I would never ask you or Tom to come with me that would be up to you, but if I'm going. I need to go now".
"And Tom?" she asked him hearing the hurt and anger behind her words "What about him? Our son".
"I think you can see he doesn't need me; I can't keep him away from his family when he's spent so much time without one, this is something I need to do. You were right, I shouldn't have come back".
"John please.." she pleaded with the only man she loved.
"Amy, this is this the right thing to do, you know that" his voice finally broke leaning his forehead against hers "I love you".
Letting out a deep sigh as she felt tears fall from her eye's once again "I love you too".
Leaning down and planted a sweet kiss on his wife's lips for the last time before letting go of her hands he found Tom tear filled eyes he didn't hide the ones that had already fallen.
Going straight to the teenager he last saw as a growing child, his son threw himself into his father throwing his arms around his father's larger frame, not ready to goodbye to him so soon after meeting him again.
"Look after your Mom okay she's gonna need you to be strong for her. That's an order" he tells his son as Tom nods into his shoulder.
Taking his sons face into his large hands he once again saw all the thing he had inherited from his mother, which only made him even more. It was all her, much to his relief.
"You have no idea how proud of you I am" he tells him "Just know that this is for the best, okay, no matter what happens know I love both of you so much. This isn't forever. I'll find you again" with that John planted a kiss on his son's forehead before letting him go and walking toward the door.
Pausing at the threshold he looked back to see that Amelia hadn't moved from her spot as David held Tom back before looking at the Charming family giving them an appreciative nod of a silent thank you, before walking past Anna and through the door as the other's looked at the former assassin.
"Amelia-" Mary Margaret went to reach out to her friend only for the redhead to easily to doge her touch and walk out of the room with Tom quickly following behind her leaving Anna to inform the other of the lies her Uncle had been telling them ever since Elsa had showed up into town.
How the fuck did she get here?.
The question once again clouded her mind as stood at the docks as she urged the sound of the water to ease her mind, from the day she had had. Not even the chilled air of the night helped as she held her wedding band that John had slipped into her pocket before leaving.
Not only had she lost the only two men she had loved over the years. One due to his own wife being cursed and the other thinking it was right thing to do. She had possibly lost the one person she wanted to be with.
Worst of all she didn't see something she should've seen a mile off. Her Uncle had gone behind her's and everyone else's back to try and cleave himself from the limitation that tied him to his dagger, so he could leave the sleepy town with his magic still intact. Because that was all that mattered to the old man in the end. Power.
Thankfully Belle took the situation into her hands as she stopped him from crushing Hook's heart before forcing him cross the town line with his real dagger. Banishing from the town full of fairy tale characters.
In her pocket held the torn pieces of the storybook page that Regina had left on the road near the town line of them. She had given up from her.
How the fuck did she miss that?
"Hey" Emma's voice floated through the air as she held something large book in her hands "I thought I'd find you here".
"Whatever you want Swan" Amelia started "I'm not in the mood for a hope speech" she tells her as Emma takes a place next to her.
"Weird" Emma breathed out "Regina said the same thing, and I think you're mistaking me for my mother. I wanted to see if you needed a drinking buddy" Emma offered her a silver hip flask that looked awfully like the one Hook carried around "Don't worry it's not Killian's".
"I'm good" she polity declines. Drinking and open water was never a good combination, even for assassin's. The number that had died of drowning after a night out was disturbingly high.
"You know you did the right thing today, letting them go" the savoir started earning a frustration sigh from the redhead.
"There it is" Amelia chimed in rolling her eyes at her "It's hereditary, isn't it? Neal's first word is going to be: 'Hope'".
"Probably" Emma shrugs at her "And it's not a speech, it's a compliment".
"Lucky me right?" the red head drawled out, leaving the pair in silence.
"Henry and Tom found something exploring the mansion earlier" she informs the redhead next to her changing the subject
"Let me guess. A game room? A pool?" she listed thinking of all the things two boys could find in a mansion.
"Take a look for yourself" Emma tell her handing her one of the blank book to the assassin.
Her brows furrowed in confusion as she see's the blonde had her Henry's storybook.
"Henry's Storybook?" she questioned her recognizing the brown leather hard back book that held all their stories.
"Look again, use your x-ray vision if you have to" she teased the woman with a smile earning a pointed glare from the former assassin before she opened the book in her hands only to find all of the pages all empty of words and illustrations of their past lives.
"They're all blank" she says thinking the pages were playing a trick with her. Emma saw the woman's eyes quickly turn gold as she searched for what the punchline of the joke was.
"The guys found a whole library of them in the mansion. We think its the authors house".
The blonde's words made the redhead take a double look at her to see if she had heard her right. As she felt something spark in her heart for the first time that day.
Hope.
"You know" it wasn't a question as she looked at the woman in surprise.
"I know" Emma confirmed with a smile "Consider Operation Mongoose my top priority. I made a promise I intend to keep. Everyone deserves their happy ending. Especially yours and Regina's".
Amelia couldn't help but feel the laughter bubble form the back of her throat as she remembered what Regina had told her about Snow. The savoir had given her the hope she needed again to move forward again after coming to another halt. The tears now left her eyes were tears of joy, and not heartbreak.
They had hope. She had hope. That's all she needed.
"You okay?" Emma asked her as a bubble of nervous laughter left her throat.
"Yeah" she breathed out as the laughter faded "For once I'm okay. You Charming's really do get money from the hope commission, don't you?" she suddenly asks the woman in suspicion.
"What?" the blonde asked her in confusion.
"Never-mind" she huffed as her Uncle's words from earlier came back to her.
"if you don't think villains can get happy endings, just watch me take one. There's no author of my fate, no storybook with my destiny. I've been a villain a thousand times over, and yet I'm about to get everything I desire".
As much as she appreciated Emma's help, she didn't want the author to change her story. Her story had made her who she was today. She didn't want some author who didn't know her re-write her happy ending when she knew how she was going to get it.
She wasn't going to let fate or destiny to control her life anymore. her destiny is what she wanted it to be. And she wanted it to be with the woman she loved. Always and Forever. And she only had a limited time to do it in before her opportunity closed for good.
"I need to go" she suddenly tells Emma shoving the story book back into her arms, her feet started to move as the blonde hastily followed her.
"What is it?".
"Rumple gave me some advise before he was banished. For once I'm going to listen to him" she said in determination.
"Do I need to be worried if it came from Gold?" she asked in concern as she tried and failed to keep up with the trained assassin. The redhead stopped and turned around to face her as she continued to confidently walk backwards. Whatever it was she was in a hurry to get there.
"For once Swan, you don't need to worry about me" she tells the blonde as she starts picking up her pace "I just need to go before it's too late!" she yelled back back before she ran as fast as she could to take her destiny into her hand for the first time in her life, leaving the blonde behind to watch her create the future she wanted.
Not the one the author had planned out for her.
Arriving back home late after an especially long day, the former Queen felt the glimmer of hope in her heart once again now that they had found the library of story books in the mansion. It was the author's house.
Setting her keys down by the door she flicked the hall lights on to see something on her dining room table down the hall. Taking her coat off she slowly made her way to the room turning the light's on to see the storybook pages she had torn up earlier and dropped onto the ground when she saw Amelia clinging onto John after Robin left.
Picking up a torn segment that illustrated their passionate embrace she saw that the whole page had been reassembled in order to re-create the picture of her and Amelia.
Stuck on to the page she had picked up was a yellow note recognizing the neat cursive handwriting and read it:
'I'm willing on creating my own destiny, if you are' -Ax
A choked sob left the Queen's throat as she stopped as her heart thumped at the note, she held onto the piece of paper tightly in her hand as she fought off the tear's that threatening to fall.
"I'd really appreciate it if you didn't rip it up again" a voice made Regina jump and whirl around to see Amelia stood in the hallway.
"Melia, what are you doing here" she huffed out in shock with a hand over her heart, praying for it to calm down.
"Back door was unlocked" she calmly answered with a shrug "Let myself in".
"No, it wasn't" Regina tells her, knowing it was locked.
"Fine I picked it" she huffed at the woman "You really need to get more locks for this place" the sentence made the former Queen chuckle to herself knowing it was something the redhead had urged her to do since the first curse broke, for a second it felt like they were back to normal, only for the Queen to remind herself of earlier that day as she quickly sobered.
"Shouldn't you be with John?" Regina reminded her.
"Not when you think I chose him after what I told you about Anya".
"You shouldn't be here Amelia" the Queen huffed out walking past the redhead as she stomped out into the hallway and away from redhead.
Letting out a sigh of frustration she blurted out the next sentence "If I wanted be to with John I would have gone to Arendelle with him".
Regina froze her back straightening on the her staircase before turning to face the redhead in disbelief.
"What?" she gasped at her.
"Robin knocked some sense into him during the curse. He left through the portal to Arendelle a few hours ago with the others. He's gone".
"W-Why?" she stuttered out to the woman below her.
"He saw happy I was here. We did nothing but fight, that's not healthy for either of us or for Tom, so he left to find a life in the Enchanted Forest again. I can't honestly blame him. I've been nothing but horrible to him when he was only trying to help us, he saw glimpses of the Widow when he wanted to move to Boston and start out fresh again. He doesn't deserve that after everything we went through. He deserves a second chance even if its not with me".
"The reason I told you about Anya was because I've been living with that regret for so long. For not taking that leap of faith outside that damn tavern like she did".
"I used to have nothing. And then I got this family" she breathed out "I got you. I've never regretted loving you. I am so sick to death of what-if's and maybe's. So, I'm gonna ask just one more time before I go and leave you alone forever" she tells the woman that currently held her destiny and heart in her hands. "Are you?".
The redhead watched as she brunette stared at her before a heeled foot made the first step back down the steps, the heels were the only thing she heard come from the former Queen a before she knew it she was stood right in front of of her waiting for her answer.
She finally got her answer as she felt the front of her jacket being roughly tugged forward until their lips met in a bruising kiss that signaled the start of something neither of them would never let go of again.
They would find their happy ending.
Together.
Six Week's Later
She felt like she was going to throw up. The seconds stretched as she waited in the hospital corridor in seat she could only describe as something that should be used as some sort of torture devise back home as she nervously turned the her silver Brotherhood ring on her middle finger over and over again.
She knew she should've brought someone with her. Swear them to secrecy. Maybe Belle? They had gotten closer since her Uncle's banishment. She would understand her need to keep things quiet. Snow was a liability in the secret department. Even her husband wouldn't be able to keep his self-righteous nose out of things. Henry or Tom were completely out of the question.
So that left her with only two options. Emma or Hook. And both were busy with the fairies and the author. The man's guilty conscious would be a burden and Emma was spending way too much time with her partner. It almost made the assassin jealous the amount of times the savors name slipped out of the former Queen's lips. She even teased her once, saying that if she liked her so much she should date her.
That did not go down well.
But everyone she could've brought were too busy or curious not to ask questions of why she was sat outside Dr. Whales office six weeks after her friend, 'ex'-husband and uncle left.
She couldn't risk it. This was something she needed to do on her own. She'd been stupid not to remember what could happen. But she was so wrapped up it drama it slipped her mind. Then her work trying to free the fairies, find the author and run her business just distracted her further. She couldn't even blame her new relationship with the Queen.
"Miss Montague" a nurse sweetly called out her name making her head snap up to the woman in uniform "Dr. Whale will see you now" she informed her with a warm smile as the former assassin slowly stood from her seat to head into the office, bracing herself for what she needed to be confirmed by Whale.
Here went nothing.
AN:
John Smith Will Return.
(Sorry. Marvel fan. if you haven't already guessed)
BIG chapter today! Onto the Queen's of Darkness next! Woop! Woop!
Pre-lude to the next half of the season to be posted soon-ish.
Can't wait to introduce you to my new OC!
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