Chapter 37
Hi everyone! I wanted to address a question from chapter 35. I meant to answer it when I posted chapter 36, but I forgot. Miarev asked about a character description for Hanna. I didn't really have a child actor in mind when I wrote this. It was in Chapter 2, I believe, where I said Hanna and Emma basically look alike except Hanna has dark hair like Snow and blue eyes like Charming. I guess you could say she looks like the girl who plays teen Emma, but with dark hair :) Thanks so much for the question and sorry it took me so long to answer! If anyone else has questions or anything, ask away!
I promise to have one more chapter up before Christmas! I have kind of a fun idea I've been thinking about for awhile. I hint at it a little bit in this chapter. It goes off track from the story some, but I think it'll be fun! Anyways, I hope you like what I've written for you! Enjoy :)
"Hey Dad," Hanna said sleepily as she climbed up onto the barstool.
"Morning, princess. I managed to save you a few pancakes before Emma and Henry ate them all," David told Hanna with a wink as he set the plate down in front of her.
"Thanks," Hanna said as she dug right into her breakfast.
"Look Neal, your big sister finally decided to wake up," Snow said as she came into the kitchen holding her son.
"Morning Mom," Hanna said with a roll of her eyes as she put her fork down and turned to give her baby brother some attention. "And good morning to you too, Neal," Hanna said as she held onto his little hand and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Did you find anything in the census records, yet?" Hanna asked.
"The name the Snow Queen was using, Sarah Fisher, isn't in any of the records," David told her.
"None of them?" Hanna asked in disbelief. They had spent hours looking through those records and found nothing.
"Nope."
"Well, what does that mean?" Hanna asked.
"Well…" David started to say before his phone rang.
Hanna tried to listen. She could tell that it was Emma on the other end, but she couldn't tell what she was saying.
"Finish up your breakfast and go get dressed. We have to go to the station," he said after he hung up the phone.
After dropping Neal off with Granny, Hanna, Snow, and Charming made their way over to the station. Hanna wondered what it was that Emma had to show them. All she said on the phone was that it had something to do with the Snow Queen. Hanna wasn't sure what her sister had found, but she hoped whatever it was would help them figure out the Snow Queen's plan so they could put a stop to her once and for all.
Hook and Elsa were already there with Emma when Snow, Charming, and Hanna arrived. Regina and Henry walked in, followed by Gold and Belle a few minutes later. This must be pretty big if Emma called all of these people here.
Apparently, Emma had found an old video tape from when she was younger and still in foster care. She pressed play on the VCR and everyone waited to see what exactly she had found.
"Kevin, the camera is Emma's not yours," they heard the Snow Queen say on the screen.
"Emma, that's you," Snow said. You must be…"
"13, maybe 14…," Emma answered.
Hanna looked closer at the Emma on the screen. She was close to the same age Hanna was now. She couldn't believe how much they looked alike. Hanna saw some resemblance between them now, but this was like looking in a mirror…except for the hair and eye color. Hanna had dark hair like her mom and blue eyes like her dad, Emma was the opposite. Aside from that though, there was no mistaking that they were twins. This was really weird and made Hanna wonder what it would have been like if they had actually grown up together…
"Are you missing the part where she's with the Snow Queen?" Regina said.
"Emma you knew her before you came to Storybrooke?" Hanna asked.
"Apparently, my run in with her in town wasn't the only memory she erased," Emma said. They had found pictures of Emma with the Snow Queen in her ice cream shop when she had first come to Storybrooke. Emma didn't remember that either. "All that time in that foster home, or whatever that place was, it's gone."
They continued to discuss what they had seen on the tape and what they already knew about the Snow Queen. They didn't understand how she had even gotten to this world…obviously it wasn't with either of the curses. Gold didn't even know the answer to that. He had spent more time than anyone trying to get here. If there was anyone who knew how to get here, it would be him, but he didn't have the slightest idea. He would love to know how she managed to get here though. They knew the Snow Queen obviously needed Emma for something, but they didn't know what. They knew she was hiding in the North Woods, but they combed every inch of that place and couldn't find her. There was no trace of her at the ice cream shop or her house either. Everything was cleared out.
"She must be hiding something," David said in frustration.
"But where?" Emma asked.
Hanna had a thought and looked up at Henry, who gave Hanna a nod in return. He was thinking the same thing she was.
"What about her ice cream truck?" Henry suggested.
"Whoa, Snow Queen has an ice cream truck?" Emma asked.
"I'm a kid I notice these kinds of things," Henry said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"We split up into groups then," Charming said as he gave everyone instructions on where in town they should look. They were all determined to find that Snow Queen.
Much to their dismay, the only instructions Hanna and Henry got were to go home with Snow. Hanna actually didn't mind this time. She needed to talk to Henry. She wanted to know what he and Regina were up to, and she wouldn't leave him alone until he finally told her the truth.
"Okay, spill it," Hanna said to Henry once her mom finally left the room. She had him cornered and he had no excuse to leave this time. She was going to get him to tell her what he and Regina were up to once and for all.
"What are you talking about?" Henry asked with a raise of his eyebrows.
"What are you and Regina up to?" Hanna asked outright. She was done dancing around the subject.
"Why do you think we're up to something?" Henry asked her.
"Uh…because lately every time I ask you what you do while you're at Regina's you get this weird look on your face," Hanna said with a roll of her eyes. "When I usually ask you that, you always have some sort of answer, like you watched movies and ate dinner or something. Now, you just change the subject."
"No I don't," Henry said as he shook his head.
"Yeah you do….you make that look you always make when you're trying to hide something," Hanna told him.
"I…I don't…" Henry said as he made the exact look Hanna was talking about.
"You're doing it right now," Hanna said with a laugh as she pointed to his face.
Henry just rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Henry, you may be able to lie to everyone else, but you can't lie to me," Hanna told him. She waited for him to answer, but he didn't. She had him and he knew it.
"Come on, Henry," Hanna said with a sigh. "We're best friends. We tell each other everything. What's going on? Please just tell me."
"Alright fine," Henry said finally giving in. "But you can't tell anybody."
"I won't. I swear," Hanna told him seriously.
Henry leaned close and began to tell Hanna everything. Regina had come to Henry for help. She wanted him to help her find the author…the author of the storybook he and Hanna had read hundreds of times. She thought maybe the author could change her story…give her a happy ending. He told Hanna all about his plan to work in Mr. Gold's shop and do some looking around while he was there. He was hoping he could find something that would lead them to the author. Hanna was just relieved that Henry had finally told her. She thought Regina had earned the right to her happy ending. Hanna promised to help in any way she could, and Henry promised not to hide anything from her again.
Hanna was sitting on the couch watching TV when Emma finally came home. Their dad had been home for a few hours, but said Emma was still at the station with Elsa and Hook.
"Where is everybody?" Emma asked as she sat down on the couch next to Hanna.
"Sleeping," Hanna said as she turned her attention away from the television and towards her sister.
"I thought you weren't suppose to be watching TV?" Emma asked her with a smirk.
"Like I said, everyone is asleep," Hanna said with a grin. "At least I think they are…no one has come out to bust me yet so…" Hanna added with a shrug of her shoulders. She was pretty sure her parents were sound asleep, plus she had the volume down really low so they probably couldn't hear it anyway.
"Whatever," Emma said with a roll of her eyes. If Hanna did get caught, maybe she would have to do more filing at the station, which would leave less for Emma to do.
"So, did you find anything today?" Hanna asked.
"Found a freezer full of files on me in the Dairy Queen's ice cream truck," Emma told her.
"Really? What was in them?"
"Just old art projects, essays, and a card I had written her. It's weird…you don't keep stuff like that unless you care for someone…" Emma said as she tried to remember her time living with the Snow Queen.
"Do you think maybe she did care about…" Hanna started to ask.
"I don't know. It doesn't matter," Emma said as she shook her head. "We found a scroll too."
"What did it say?"
"It said 'the name of the savior is Emma and the savior shall become Ingrid's sister.' She actually believes in this prophecy…we think she's looking to replace her sisters," Emma told her.
"What does that even mean?" Hanna asked. She was confused. How could Ingrid replace her sisters? What had happened to the sisters she already had?
"The Snow Queen had two sisters before, who died. One of them was Elsa's mother. She must be trying to replace them with Elsa and me," Emma said.
"Well…you'll stop her right? You're not her sister," Hanna said, almost in a panic. She was starting to get angry. Who did this Snow Queen think she was anyway? She couldn't just come into town and take Emma. Hanna wouldn't let that happen. Emma was her sister, not that Snow Witch's.
"We'll stop her Han, it'll be fine," Emma said as she put her arm around Hanna. She could tell she was starting to worry.
Hanna just nodded her head. "Did you find anything else?" she asked.
"No," Emma lied. They had also found out about the spell the Snow Queen was planning to cast on the town, but Emma didn't want to tell Hanna about it…at least not yet. She didn't want to give her sister anything else to worry about.
"Emma?"
"Yeah, Han?" Emma said, hoping Hanna didn't sense that she was lying.
"Do you ever think about what it would have been like if we had grown up as sisters?" Hanna asked. She had been thinking about that a lot since she saw that tape this morning of Emma when she was younger.
"I do sometimes, yeah," Emma told her with a smile. She had thought about it before…what it would have been like if Regina had never cast the curse, growing up in a castle with her mom, dad, and sister. Even though Emma thought about it every once in a while, she wouldn't trade the life she had now, not for anything.
"At least we would have been the same age and you wouldn't boss me around all the time," Hanna told Emma with a grin.
"Oh I still would have bossed you around. I'm the oldest. It's my job," Emma told her.
"No, I wouldn't have let you," Hanna said as she shook her head.
"We probably would have bossed each other around and gotten into a whole lot of trouble," Emma told her with a wink.
"Yeah you're probably right," Hanna said with a smile. She loved her life now, but it was fun to imagine what could have been.
"Mom, do I really have to go with you to this thing?" Hanna whined as she put her coat on.
"Yes," Snow answered.
"Ugh," Hanna moaned. Her mom was making her go to this stupid Mommy and Me class.
"Come on, it won't be that bad," Snow tried to assure her. "And you get to hang out with Emma afterwards…without me or your father."
Hanna did like that her parents were starting to loosen up on her grounding, but she did not want to go to this thing. She didn't have to do anything, it was just for her mom and Neal, but Hanna still didn't want to go. She grabbed a book though, and followed her mom out the door.
"Emma!" Hanna said when she saw her sister finally walk in…that past hour felt like it lasted forever. She jumped up and went over to her. "You just missed the goodbye song," Hanna said with a grin.
"I got the gist of it from the title," Emma said.
"Just be glad you weren't here for all the songs," Hanna said with a roll of her eyes.
Emma laughed. "Is baby bro ready?" she asked her mom who had just come up to them.
"Yes. Oh, just a few things—uh, diaper bag, stroller, milk…" Snow said as she handed the bottle to Emma.
"He sure has a lot of stuff," Emma said.
"Well, I wanted to give him everything," Snow told her.
"Emma!" Ashley said as she came up to give Emma a hug.
"Oh, Ashley, look at you—the baby whisperer," Emma said as she returned the hug. "So this is what you do here—you give sleeping tips, sing songs, and…"
"Oh it's more than just that. It's like having a support group. I mean, being a first time mother is not easy," Ashley said.
"First-time mother?" Emma said as she looked at her mom.
Hanna looked up at her mom too. She never thought about it, but this was the first time their mom had actually raised a baby. It some sense she was a first-time mother.
"Emma…Hanna, of course I'm not a first time mother," Snow told her daughters.
"Well, you kind of are," Hanna said with a shrug of her shoulders.
"You've never raised a baby before. You just put one through a magical wardrobe," Emma said with a laugh.
Hanna thought about adding "and left one in a bassinet all alone while a curse was being cast," but she didn't want to hurt her mom's feelings.
"Emma! Hanna!" Snow said. She didn't want her girls thinking she saw herself as a first-time mother, because she didn't…not at all.
"It's okay. I get it. It's all new for you," Emma told her. "This is exciting—Mommy and Me classes and songs and first steps and all. It must be really exciting."
Hanna could tell Emma was getting upset. She looked down and noticed what was happening to the bottle in her hand.
Emma noticed everyone was staring at her. "W-what?" Emma asked.
"Emma, the bottle," Hanna said as she pointed to the boiling bottle in her sister's hand.
Oh, uh," Emma said as she looked down at the bottle, which quickly stopped boiling. "It's just, you know, magic. I've been practicing to try and capture the Snow Queen. And I guess I must just still be a little revved up."
"It's alright, Emma," Hanna said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Are you ready?"
"Okay, yeah," Emma said as she reached out to take Neal from her mom's arms.
Snow pulled Neal away, not wanting to give him to Emma. She didn't know if Emma had her magic totally under control right now and she didn't want to take the chance.
"Mom…" Hanna said started to say just as Emma's phone rang.
Their dad had called and said there was something going on at the clock tower…something to do with the Snow Queen. Emma had to go, and said she'd have to take a rain check on babysitting.
"Mom, what was that all about?" Hanna asked once they arrived back home.
"What?" Snow asked as she put Neal into his crib for a nap.
"With Emma? You wouldn't let her take Neal," Hanna told her.
"Emma had to go to with your father to find the Snow Queen," Snow told Hanna.
"Mom. You weren't going to let Emma take Neal. I saw you," Hanna said.
"Hanna, I…I didn't mean to. It just didn't seem like Emma had her magic under control, and I just…reacted," Snow said with a sigh.
"Emma wouldn't hurt Neal," Hanna told her.
"Oh I know she wouldn't sweetie," Snow assured Hanna. "I just…I shouldn't have done that."
"Well, Emma noticed too, you know," Hanna said.
"I know she did," Snow said as she looked down. She saw the look on Emma's face right as the phone started to ring. Snow felt horrible. She didn't mean to react that way. "I'll talk to her about it."
Hanna just nodded her head and went to finish reading her book. She knew her mom didn't mean to react the way she did, but she did, and Emma noticed. Emma was just starting to truly accept them as her parents and Hanna didn't want Emma to take steps backwards because of this.
"Hanna, come on. We have to go," Snow said in a hurry as she came into the room carrying Neal in his carseat.
"Why? What's going on?" Hanna said as she listened to her mom and jumped off the couch to put her coat and shoes on.
"The Snow Queen has Emma trapped at the station," Snow told her.
They dropped Neal off with Granny and met up with Charming. As soon as they did, they heard a loud boom come from the side of the station. They ran around to see what had happened.
"Emma!" Charming yelled as they ran up to where Emma was standing.
"We were so worried," Snow said.
Hanna came up and stood beside her parents to see what had made that loud noise. There was a huge hole blown out of the side of the station and Emma stood amongst the rubble, unharmed thankfully.
"Wait!" Emma warned them as she held up her hands.
"Swan, what did that monster do to the sheriff's station?" Hook asked.
"The 'monster' who did this was not the Snow Queen. It was me," Emma told them as she looked down at her hands…not believing that she had actually just done that.
"What?" Charming said as he and Hook started to walk closer.
"Just keep your distance. I don't know if I can control myself. I don't want to hurt anyone," Emma warned as she turned to run away from those she loved.
"Emma, wait!" Hanna said as she ran after her sister. She didn't want Emma to be scared…that would only make things worse. She wasn't going to hurt anyone. "You're okay. You're not going to hurt us."
"Han, just stay away," Emma told her.
"Emma, please," Hanna said as she reached out to grab her sister's arm.
"Let me go," Emma said as she pulled away from Hanna, sending magical sparks shooting from her hands.
Everything happened so fast. Hanna covered her head to protect herself from the sparks that were flying from the lights. Then, she heard a loud noise and people yelling her name. The next thing she knew, something hit her head…hard, knocking her to the ground.
Hanna slowly opened her eyes. She heard her mom practically yell at Emma for what she did. It wasn't Emma's fault. She couldn't help it. Hanna saw the look on Emma's face…so did her mom…Hanna could tell she realized her mistake. She shouldn't have yelled at Emma that way.
"Emma," Hanna said as she reached out her hand for her sister, but Emma ran off. Hanna tried to sit up…she wanted to follow her sister. "Emma…wait," Hanna called out again. She wanted to help her, to tell her this wasn't her fault, but the pain in her head was too much. She fell back into her dad's arms as everything went black.