Chapter 80

Hi friends! I think I've gotten myself out of my writing slump. Thank you to the guest and Ebble for leaving reviews! Those always give me the motivation I need :) Here's the next chapter for ya! Hope you enjoy :)

Another nightmare woke Hanna. Her sister was killed by the hooded figure again. Hanna was pretty sure the Evil Queen was somewhere in the nightmare too, but she couldn't really remember. Hanna went downstairs to get a drink of water. She must have been getting use to these nightmares, because she didn't even feel the need to bother her mom and dad this time. Hanna quietly made her way into the kitchen and got a glass from the cupboard. She went to the sink, filled it up, and drained the glass within a few seconds. She filled the cup again and drank it a little more slowly this time. She walked over to Neal's bassinet. He had his thumb in his mouth and held tightly to his pacifier with his other hand. Hanna smiled. That kid couldn't make up his mind if he liked that thumb or the pacifier more. Hanna looked over to her parents' bed and noticed her mom's side of the bed was empty. Her dad was snoring away, but where was her mom? The living room was empty, and the light was off in the bathroom. Hanna decided to go check anyway. She opened the bathroom door, but her mom wasn't there. Hanna thought maybe she was upstairs. Hanna set her glass down on the counter and quickly, but quietly, went back upstairs. Emma's room and the bathroom were both empty. Hanna just came from her room, but decided to look anyway. Nothing. Here mom wasn't here. Hanna felt her heart start to race. She went back downstairs and saw that her mom's coat was still hanging by the front door. Both sets of car keys were there too. Hanna ran to her dad.

"Dad…" Hanna whispered. He continued to snore. Hanna shook his shoulder and spoke a little louder. "Dad…" Hanna shoved his shoulder even harder. "Dad, wake up!"

David flinched and sat up quickly. "What? What is it?" He looked around, then focused on Hanna. "What's wrong? Did you have another nightmare?"

"Well, yeah, but…it's Mom. She's not here."

David looked to Snow's side of the bed. "She's not in the bathroom?"

Hanna shook her head. "I checked everywhere. She's not here. Dad, she took her. The Evil Queen. She took Mom. I know it." Hanna could feel the tears starting to fill her eyes.

"Okay. Just relax." David put his hands on her shoulders. "We're going to find her." David looked around the loft, trying to decide what to do. "Put on your shoes, and get your brother. I'm going to call your sister and Regina."

Hanna nodded. She ran to the door and slipped on the first pair of shoes she could find. Then she ran back to the bassinet and carefully picked up Neal. She wrapped him in his blanket. He dropped his pacifier, so she quickly grabbed that too, then went to the door where her dad was waiting. He had Neal's diaper bag slung over his shoulder and just hung up the phone.

"Emma and Regina are going to meet us out front with a locator spell. Let's go." David put his hand on Hanna's back and led her out the door. They stepped into the hallway and found Snow coming up the stairs.

"Mom!" Hanna ran to her and wrapped her arm around her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, sweetie." Snow held Hanna and Neal close.

David put his arm around her. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Snow nodded. "Let's go inside."

Hanna carefully put Neal back into his bed, then went to her mom. "What happened?"

"I…" Snow started to say before someone poofed into the room…well a few someones.

"No one was out front so we came here," Regina said.

"Mom, are okay?" Emma asked.

"Was it the Queen, Grandma?" Henry asked.

"What is that in your hand?" Killian asked.

Snow stared at the vial of liquid she held.

"Let's just give her a minute," David said. He took her hand in his. "Snow…you're safe now. Can you tell us what happened?"

Snow took a deep breath. She told them the Evil Queen brought her to the woods and gave her the vial. Inside was something terrible…something she was going to inflict on the whole town if Snow and Charming didn't willingly give her their hearts.

"If we don't give in to her, she'll use that on everyone?" David asked.

Regina reached for the vial. "So what is it?"

"She told me to figure it out, and that if we didn't give over our hearts within 12 hours, she would use it on the whole town," Snow said.

Emma reached out for the vial, and her hand began to shake.

Hanna held onto her her sister's hand. "Em, it's okay."

"Are you alright?" Snow asked.

"No," Emma said. "But I have an excuse. Haven't you heard? The Evil Queen is trying to kill my parents."

"You said we were alive and well in your vision of the future," David said.

"The Oracle said things could kind of change as we went along, but the only thing that was certain was that I died."

"Speaking of death, I think I know what this is." Regina walked over to the plant that sat on the table near the font door. She opened the vial and poured a single drop onto it. The plant instantly turned black and all of the leaves died.

"What kind of potion is that?" Hanna asked.

"It's not a potion. It's water," Regina told her.

"Oh, I knew it. Never trusted the stuff. Rum would never do that," Killian said.

Emma looked closely at the plant. "What kind of water?"

"From the River of Lost Souls," Hanna said.

Regina nodded. "She's right…Gold. The Queen is working with Gold. He brought it back from the Underworld. And now if you don't give her your hearts, she can destroy the whole town."

"We're not going to let that happen," Emma said. "Let's meet at my house in a half hour. We'll figure out a way to stop her."

Hanna came down the stairs after changing out of her pajamas and brushing her teeth. Her parents were in their room speaking in hushed voices. She walked closer to listen to what they were saying.

"I don't know that we'll ever get back to normal," her mom said. "The Evil Queen's finally got us."

"Do you really think that?"

Snow sighed. "Oh, Hanna I…"

"You're not going to give up are you?"

"No sweetie of course not." Snow pulled Hanna into her arms. "We'll find a way."

"We always do," David said. "Try not to worry, okay?"

Hanna gave her dad a small smile. She knew they were just pretending for her sake. They were worried. Hanna felt like she was going to lose it any second now, but she was going to try and hold onto hope for them. They could find a way.

"Are you ready to go?" Snow asked.

Hanna nodded. "Yeah."

"We'll drop Neal off at Granny's, then head over there." David picked the baby up from his bassinet, and they all made their way to Emma's.

"You don't seem shocked that Gold brought some of this back and gave it to the Queen." Emma nodded towards the vial that sat in the middle of the table.

"I'm not," Belle said. "He's not acting like the man he could be. I wish I could help. I've looked through all my books for any information on how to neutralize water from the River of Lost Souls, but I'm afraid there's nothing. I'll keep looking."

Just as Belle left, Blue walked in. "I'm sorry to interrupt. I came as quickly as I could. David called and told me what happened."

"Can you help?" Snow asked.

Blue shook her head. "Unfortunately, I don't have a way to counteract the Lost Souls water."

"So we either let the whole town die, or the Evil Queen gets exactly what she's wanted," David said.

"Maybe. But there is a bit of magic that just might be powerful enough to imprison the Evil Queen. It's a sapling."

"A baby tree?" David asked.

Blue nodded. "It was created by the first spark of a true love. It's incredibly rare."

"Have you got one?" Killian asked.

"We had one, back in the Enchanted Forest," Blue told them. "We assumed that it was left behind in the curse, but now we think it might be lost somewhere in Storybrooke."

"There has to be some like magical way to find it, right?" Emma asked.

"There is…a spell that could point the way with a sort of beacon. But it wouldn't be visible just to us. If Gold, or the Queen, or even Zelena saw it, they would know exactly what it was."

"Then we'd have a race on our hands," David said.

"Maybe not," Regina said.

"What?" Emma asked.

"The Evil Queen and Gold's alliance, there, um, may be more to it than business." Regina sighed "Rumple and I…there was always a certain amount of chemistry."

Emma's eyes went wide. "Regina…"

Hanna made eye contact with Henry. They both picked up on what Regina was insinuating.

"I know. I…know," Regina said. "Nothing ever happened, but I think we can use this to our advantage."

Regina wrote a letter to Zelena from The Queen telling her to meet her at Gold's shop. Regina knew if Zelena saw the Queen and Rumple together it would make her jealous and hopefully distract them all long enough to find the sapling. Regina would make sure her plan worked, then go with Snow and David to find the sapling. She needed Emma to get some things from her vault before the Evil Queen got to it. Hanna and Henry went with Emma and Killian to get what Regina needed.

Hanna sat in Emma's bug with Henry while Killian went into the vault with Emma. Hanna's mind was racing. Her stomach was in knots, and she didn't know what to do. Her parents tried to convince her otherwise, but she knew they were losing hope. They wouldn't give up, but it was getting harder for them to believe that they could outwit the Evil Queen this time. Hanna tried to convince herself that this would work. That her parents would find the sapling and stop all of this from happening. They would be safe, the town would be safe, and together they would find a way to stop Emma's vision from coming true. The harder Hanna tried to believe that everything would work out the way they wanted, the more she was convinced the Evil Queen and whoever that hooded figure was would win. All Hanna could think about is losing her parents to the Evil Queen today, and then her sister dying when the vision came true. Hanna didn't know what she was going to do without them if all of this actually happened. She couldn't bear the thought.

"They're going to find the sapling," Henry told her.

"But what if they don't? What if the Evil Queen gets there first? I don't know what she plans to do but…"

Henry held onto her hand. "Hanna, they're Snow White and Prince Charming. Remember their story…the Evil Queen has tried to separate them before. But no matter what she tried, they always found each other. Grandpa woke Grandma from the sleeping curse. They were separated by the Dark Curse, but still found each other even when they didn't remember who they were. We helped Emma break the curse, and they found each other again. Then Grandma woke Grandpa from a sleeping curse. Again and again they find each other. No matter what. Hanna they're going to do it again."

Hanna nodded and tried to take in everything Henry just told her. He was right, no matter what the Evil Queen threw their way, they always came out on top. They always found their way back to each other. Hanna had to have hope. She had to believe. It's that belief that always allowed her mom and dad to find each other. Hanna pushed all of the negative thoughts from her head and was going to make herself have hope.

Just as Emma and Killian loaded Regina's things into the trunk, the Evil Queen appeared in front of the vault. Hanna and Henry scrambled out of the car. More people from town were coming towards the vault too.

"People of Storybrooke," The Queen said. "My people."

"We are not your people," Hanna called out to her.

Emma grabbed ahold of her arm. "Han, don't"

Hanna pulled her arm away. "My parents are going to stop you. They're going to find…"

"The sapling?" The Queen asked. "They did find it, but I broke it."

Hanna shook her head. "No…"

"Yes," The Evil Queen smiled. "Now where was I? Oh yes. I'm so glad you accepted my invitation because this is about you. If Snow White doesn't show up in the next five minutes, I'm going to share a little treat with you all. A taste of water from the River of Lost Souls."

Regina walked up beside Emma. "You ready?"

"I actually am." Emma held up her hand, and it was steady.

Regina turned to Hanna.

Hanna nodded. She would do what she could to help.

"Alright, it's time," Regina said.

They held out their hands, but before they could do anything…

"Wait!" Snow called out.

Hanna watched her mom and dad walk through the crowd towards the Evil Queen.

"Well, well, well. Look who's right on time," she said. "I should've known you'd show up. Even without your precious sapling."

"We don't have the sapling, but we don't need it," Snow said. "It's done its work. We know our love is more powerful than anything you can throw at us."

"And to save the people of Storybrooke, we're willing to do what you ask. It's a sacrifice we need to make," David said.

Snow reached out for her husband's hand. "We're going to do the right thing."

Emma's eyes went wide. "Dad, Mom?"

Hanna shook her head. "You can't."

Snow and David turned to their daughters.

"Girls listen," Snow said. "Most people go through life never knowing where their paths will take them, but somehow we always do. It's always to each other, then back to you two."

"But you can't just sacrifice yourselves like this," Emma said.

"We can stop her." Hanna used her sleeve to wipe away her tears.

David wrapped his arms around her. "It's going to be okay."

"Mom, there has to be something we can do."

Snow gave Emma a small smile, then reached out her arms and pulled her close. "We have to do this."

"We have to protect these people," David said.

"But Dad…"

"Enough of this," The Queen said. "I don't have all day. Give me what I want before I vaporize the town."

Snow and David gave their girls one last hug before turning towards Regina.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes," David said. "Lift the protection spell."

Regina held out her hands and waved them over their hearts, removing the spell she placed on them the second they found out the Queen came to town.

Snow and David turned back towards the women who wanted to destroy them.

The tears streamed down Hanna's face. Emma wrapped her arms around her and Hanna held her sister close as the Evil Queen walked towards their parents. Hanna jumped slightly and Emma's grip tighten when the Queen plunged her hands into their chests, ripping out each half of their shared heart.

"I've dreamt of this moment for so long, Snow White. I'd wake up still feeling the grit of your crushed heart clinging to my palms." The Queen stared at the halves of Snow White's heart. "But that ending isn't poetic enough, is it? I want to give you…my pain…the pain of being alone," the Queen said. "And since I couldn't quite accomplish that by killing you…I've come up with something much more cruel."

Hanna looked up at her sister. "Emma?"

Emma shrugged. "I don't know."

The Evil Queen shoved each half of the heart back into their chests. Hanna gasped when her mom collapse to the ground. Her dad instantly went to his wife's side.

"A sleeping curse?" he asked with a laugh. "That's never kept us apart before."

"This one has a little twist." The Queen waved her hand and Snow disappeared. "You say you always find her. Well, start looking, shepherd. And let's see what happens when you do." The Evil Queen waved her hand and sent herself away.

"Where is she?" Hanna asked. "Where did she send her?"

"I don't know…" David ran to his truck.

"Dad, wait!"

Emma and Hanna chased after him, but he was already driving away.

"Get in the bug, Han," Emma said.

Hanna ran towards Emma's car and got into the passenger side. Her hands were shaking as she buckled herself. Emma sped after him. They could tell he was heading towards the loft, but by the time they reached him, he was already coming out of the building and running back towards his truck again.

Hanna rolled down her window. "Dad!"

"She's not there," he told them. "I'm checking the woods. Where she sent her before."

Emma drove as fast as she could and tried her best to keep up with him.

The truck screeched to a stop. David got out and ran though the woods.

The girls finally caught up to him and found their mom laying in the coffin. The one she was in the first time he woke her.

"Dad!" Emma ran up to him.

"You found her." Hanna's heart rate started to slow down now that they knew where she was and her dad could wake her.

"I don't think a kiss is going to do it this time," Regina said.

"Just let him try," Emma said.

Hanna nodded. "It'll work."

David removed the lid from the coffin. He reached down and placed a kiss on her lips.

Hanna smiled when a burst of true love shined out from her mom and she opened her eyes. Hanna let out a sigh of relief. He did it. Then, all of a sudden her dad collapsed to the ground. Her eyes went wide. "Dad!"

"David? David?" Snow climbed out of the coffin and went to her husband. "What happened? What did she do?"

Regina knelt down to check on him. She waved her hands over his heart. "She put a sleeping curse on your heart…the heart you share. So now you share the curse. When one of you is awake, the other will be asleep. So as long as the curse is unbroken…"

Snow shook her head. "We'll never be together."

The look of despair on her mom's face broke Hanna's heart. She turned to her sister. Emma held out her arms and Hanna went to her. "What are we going to do?"

Emma held Hanna close. "I don't know. We are going to fix this though, okay?"

"How?"

"I don't…I don't know." Emma's hand started to shake again.

Killian took ahold of her hand. "It's gong to be okay, love."

"We need to get him home," Snow said.

"I've got it." Regina waved her hand and brought them all to the loft.

Hanna looked towards her parents' bed and found her dad laying their peacefully as if he were sleeping. Her mom instantly went to his side. Hanna walked closer so she could hear what she was saying.

"Hey, Charming. Remember when I said I wanted things back to normal? Well, look at us now. Maybe this is our normal."

Hanna shook her head. This couldn't be their normal. This couldn't be how their story ended. It wouldn't. Hanna was going to make sure of that. She turned and bumped into the bassinet. Neal. He was still at Granny's. He's been there most of the day. He should be here. Hanna walked over to Emma. "I'm going to go get Neal. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, I'm fine." Hanna waved her hand and sent herself to her brother.

Granny was sitting on the couch with Neal on her lap. She was telling him a story.

"Hi Granny." Hanna sat down next to her.

"Oh I didn't hear you come in," Granny said.

"I just poofed myself here. I hope that's okay."

"Of course."

"How was this little guy for you today?" Hanna leaned closer to her brother. "Hi, Neal." Hanna smiled when he reached out his arms for her. She picked him up from Granny's lap.

"He was good as usual. How did everything go today? The town is still here, so I'm guessing you found a way to stop the Queen?"

Hanna snuggled her bother close and shook her head. "Not exactly." Hanna explained to Granny what the Queen did to her parents.

"Oh Hanna, I'm…"

"It's okay," Hanna stood with the baby and put him in carseat. "We're going to find a way. We always do." She quickly wiped away the tear that fell down her cheek, then picked up Neal's diaper bag. "Is everything in here?"

Granny nodded. "I just fed him. I'd say he'll be ready to sleep soon."

"Okay."

"Hanna, anything I can do…you don't hesitate to ask, okay?"

Hanna gave her a small smile. "Thank you." Hanna put the bag over her shoulder and picked up the carseat. "I better get him home." Hanna lifted her hand and sent her and her brother back to the loft.

Hanna set the carseat on the table and pick up the baby. He laid his head on her shoulder and started to suck his thumb.

"Oh sweetie, thank you for getting him," Snow said. She leaned down and kissed Neal on the cheek. "How is he?"

"Good. Just tired," Hanna said.

Snow took her daughter's hand. "How are you?"

Hanna shrugged. She could feel her tears starting to fall again.

Snow reached up and wiped them away. "It's going to be okay."

Hanna nodded.

Snow shook her head to stop herself from crying. "Okay. That's enough despair for one day. I'm going to wake your father. If you would please give this to him." Snow held out a piece of paper to Hanna.

"Of course," Hanna said.

Her mom walked over to the bed and laid down beside her dad. She leaned down to kiss him, but stopped. She looked at the mirror on the other side of the bed that was facing her.

"Are you okay, love?" Killian asked

Snow shook her head. "No." She got up from the bed and picked up the candle stick that was on the dresser and threw it at the mirror, shattering it to pieces.

Hanna's mouth fell open. "Mom!"

"She's watching us!" Snow continued to stare at the mirror.

"Mom, it's okay," Emma said. She walked over to the mirror and waved her hand over it, making it disappear. "It's gone. She can't see you anymore."

"Thank you." Snow laid down next to her husband and put her lips to his. A burst of light shined from him. His eyes opened, while Snow fell asleep.

"What happened?" David asked.

"The curse," Emma said. "When one of you is awake, the other will be asleep."

"That's the twist the Queen was referring to," Regina told him.

David looked to his wife. "No…"

Emma held onto his hand. "We're going to break it, Dad."

"We won't stop until we find a way," Regina said.

"It's going to be okay," Emma said.

"I know," David gave Emma a smile. "It's late. Why don't you all go home. We can start working on breaking this curse tomorrow."

Emma gave her dad a hug, then went to her sister and smiled at her baby brother. "He is out isn't he?"

"Yeah, once that thumb gets in his mouth, he doesn't last long," Hanna said.

She put her hand on Hanna's shoulder. "Are you going to be alright?"

"Yeah."

"Call me if anything happens, okay?"

"I will."

Emma gave her a hug, then took Killian's hand. "Ready?"

Killian nodded.

Emma waved her hand and sent them home, then Regina and Henry left too.

Hanna held out the note to her dad. "Mom wanted me to give you this."

"Thank you," he took the note. "Why don't you let me take Neal so you can ready for bed."

Hanna nodded and reached out the baby to him. She got a shower, put on her pajamas, and brushed her teeth. She picked up her hairbrush and was about to take it downstairs to ask her mom to brush her hair, but remembered that she couldn't. The nights Hanna washed her hair, her mom almost always brushed it for her. She sat down on her bed and began working through the tangled mess herself. The tears she was trying to hold in finally spilled from her eyes and flowed down her cheeks. Hanna tried to hold in her sobs, but they threatened to choke her unless she released them. She put her hand over her mouth to quiet the sound. She wanted to stay strong for her parents. She didn't want her dad to hear her. Hanna slowly maneuvered her way through the knots and by the time she was done, she managed to have a hold on her emotions. She went to the mirror and thankfully her eyes wouldn't give it away that she had been crying. As Hanna looked into the mirror, she remembered what her mom said earlier. She's watching. Hanna quickly waved her hand and made her mirror disappear, then she went downstairs to be with her dad.

He was sitting on the couch holding Neal, who was still sleeping. Hanna sat down beside him and he put his arm around her.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Dad. Are you?"

"Don't worry about me. Your mother and I will get through this."

"I know you will." Hanna got the blanket from the back of the couch and covered them up with it. She laid her head down on his chest and held onto her brother's hand.

David kissed the top of her head. "Try to get some sleep."

Hanna closed her eyes. Part of her hoped when she woke, everything would be back to normal and this would all have been a bad dream.