"Here you go, sweetheart," Mary Margaret said as she began to put Baby Leo down to bed. "I'll see you in three hours for your midnight shrieking. Yes, I will. Ohh. Sweet dreams~" she then cooed while tucking in her baby son.
"What do you suppose babies dream about?" Henry wondered as he and Evie began to prepare a basket together filled with plenty of treats.
"Bullfighting." David suggested.
"Laser tag." Emma added.
Evie smirked a little at that, feeling amused.
"That's not true." Mary Margaret pouted at her husband and daughter.
"I think they're joking." Henry told his maternal grandfather.
"Right," Mary Margaret said before she headed to the couch a bit wearily, but made it over luckily enough. "I'll recognize funny again when he's 3 and I've had some sleep."
"3? I see the optimism returning." David remarked hopefully.
Mary Margaret smirked warmly at that.
"Okay, chocolate, DVDs, ice cream. Red wine?" Emma said as she observed the basket. "That's one heck of a late-night snack, guys."
"It's for my mom." Henry simply explained.
"I don't drink and sheriff." Emma retorted, thinking maybe he was talking about her.
"His other mom who he shares with me," Evie piped up. "Amalie had some advice on how to get over a break-up even though she insists that Mom and Robin Hood should be together."
"Yeah, but unfortunately for Amalie, that advice doesn't mention about your boyfriend's wife time-travelling back from the past, but close enough." Henry commented.
"That's really sweet." Emma smiled.
"We hope she'll like it." Evie smiled back and nodded.
However, before anything else happened, they heard a knock on the window.
"What the...?" David muttered as that didn't go unnoticed by him right away.
Mary Margaret came to the window and opened it to see the aven, then checked it out as it perched on her arm, then she saw something attacked to the bird's foot. "It's a message. It's for Henry and Evie. It's from your mother." she then noticed before checking the message and held it over to the two siblings.
Evie took the message and glanced over it quickly along with Henry who took the news the hardest.
"She doesn't want to see us." Henry concluded softly and suddenly took off.
"Oh, Henry, no..." Evie frowned at that, about to go after him, but he was a bit too quick for her.
"I better go talk to him," Emma suggested as she looked at Evie. "Are you gonna come too?"
"Maybe in a little bit," Evie explained. "Mom might have shut us out before, but I wanna try one last time before I do anything to help Henry. Is that okay?" she then added.
"Of course, we'll meet up with you later." Emma nodded.
"No problem, Emma," Evie said with a small smile before she faced David and Mary Margaret. "You two take care of yourselves too, okay?"
"Sure, Evie." David nodded as he smiled back at the bluenette girl.
"Yeah, see you soon." Mary Margaret added.
"Love those guys even if my mother might not most of the time." Evie commented to herself before poofing herself away over to see her mother.
A little while later, Evie sat with her little brother in the diner who was trying to think while Kiara was talking to Ruby about meeting three little wolves in Misthaven, wondering where they came from and what they wanted with her, but Ruby honestly wasn't sure herself and just wanted to keep Kiara save from unknown wolves. Not to mention that boy Kovu who was very interesting to both her and Granny and often wanted to make sure he was "appropriate enough" to go out with Kiara since they both raised her like their own when she came from a family who worshiped lions while their family worshiped wolves.
"Henry, it's okay, Mom just needs a little personal time," Evie said, trying to comfort her brother a bit. "She has a lot going on and needs time to deal with them until we can see her again."
"She doesn't want to see me." Henry reminded and pouted.
"She's in a lot of pain over Robin Hood well, forever. Things have been tough on all of us as a family," Evie insisted softly. "She's trying to fix them so that we can all be together... Because she cares about you almost as much as she cares about me, blood or not."
"So why'd she tell us to stay away?" Henry asked softly.
"Because she thinks she's making things better." Evie insisted.
Henry just firmly pouted at that. "She's not." he then scoffed a little.
"Well, maybe I can try to talk to her..." Evie said thoughtfully.
And then suddenly, the lights went out and it was now dark as it was currently outside which told everyone one thing.
"What the hell?" Emma murmured at that as she and everyone else looked around in the darkness.
"Emma, I-I'm getting calls from all over," David's voice said Emma's radio. "It's a town-wide blackout."
"Yeah, copy that," Emma replied as she took his call. "I'm looking at it."
"I'll swing by to get you," David suggested. "We can check this out."
"Hey, kid. You want to come along on this one?" Emma offered to Henry. "We can call it Operation... Nightshade or, uh, Blackthorn or-" she then added, trying to appease him.
"That's okay." Henry declined softly as he thought he would be better off alone right now.
Emma looked sad about that and just decided to go and wait for David to see what she could do about this curious case. Evie frowned softly as she looked concerned about Henry, wishing there was something she could do to help her little brother. What could she possibly do though? She then suddenly seemed to poof away without anyone seeing her as candles were starting to be lit up.
"You don't think the wolves did that, do you?" Kiara then asked.
"Oh, Kiki, don't be silly, this has nothing to do with wolves." Ruby sighed and shook her head at that.
"You never know." Kiara replied with a shrug.
Ruby sighed and shook her head at that. Granny smirked a little at that before she saw what looked like the dwarves wandering through town in the dark with their lanterns from the mines before she decided to see what they were up to and would try to get involved, leaving Ruby in charge of the diner in the meantime.
MEANWHILE...
Meanwhile, a knock came at the door to David and Mary Margaret's home and when she answered the door, there was Doug, Leroy, Granny, and Dee Dee who was huddled close beside Leroy despite her current age, but she was very much a Papa's girl and they soon let themselves come inside and Dee Dee only walked in because she followed Leroy inside.
"Why-?" Mary Margaret started to ask. "Well, just come on in, I guess." she then continued as they walked in anyway.
"Aww... Look at the baby~" Dee Dee cooed as she saw Baby Leo, smiling sweetly.
"Thanks." Mary Margaret smiled.
"Is what Dee would say if she could look at the baby, but she can't. Why? 'Cuz it's dark." Leroy then grumbled to Mary Margaret.
"Know what else we can't look at?" Doug added before listing his own grief from the blackout. "The Internet, TV, my clock."
"Dougie's right." Leroy agreed sharply.
"The power is out, ma'am," Dee Dee piped up to the woman. "You have to help bring it back."
"Me? I think you mean Regina, the mayor." Mary Margaret replied calmly.
"She doesn't want the job anymore. This is your curse," Granny clarified. "You are the mayor now."
"I am?" Mary Margaret blinked.
"We helped you take your kingdom back... Remember? So you could rule," Leroy reminded her. "Well, this is your kingdom now. So rule it." he then added urgently.
"Sista." Dee Dee piped up.
"No, no... That's not how that works..." Leroy said, putting his hand on her shoulder.
Mary Margaret blinked at them a moment, in shock from the firmness.
"We're going to the power company and you're going home," Leroy suggested. "You're too young to be out this late anyway."
"Aww... Papa!" Dee Dee whined.
"I agree, but I'm not leaving Leo alone," Mary Margaret told them. "So you'll have to let me get him set up." she then told them.
"Aw... Come on..." Dee Dee pouted.
"All right, take him along," Leroy shrugged, trying to resist Dee Dee's insistence of coming along. "The sooner the power gets on though the better."
Mary Margaret then went to get Leo ready for a jaunt outside.
"Go home to your mama," Leroy told Dee Dee. "This is grown-up business."
Dee Dee pouted at him before stomping her foot, then stormed off suddenly.
"Teenagers..." Doug sighed as Dee Dee had a bit of her own grumpy pout, taking after Leroy there.
"Yeah... Moradin forbid you have any daughters." Leroy advised Doug.
Doug grinned bashfully about that before shrugging.
"That's the one thing I'm not looking forward to," Mary Margaret gave a small smile. "Teenage mood swings." she said quietly.
"You'd probably handle it better than I could..." Leroy muttered before they began to leave.
"Why don't you go and make sure Dee Dee gets home safe and then all of you can meet me in a short while at the powerplant?" Mary Margaret suggested.
"Well... All right... Just remember, it's your turn to take charge of this town." Leroy reminded before he put his arm around Dee Dee who firmly pouted and crossed her arms.
Dee Dee was muttering to herself, seeming to be very grumpy with her papa right now. "Son of a Nutcracker..."
Mary Margaret nodded.
Leroy then went to bring Dee Dee back home to Nova before he would meet the others at the powerplant as requested. Dee Dee pouted as she soon came back home and decided to go straight to her room after coming back home, taking her phone as a source of light.
"Is the power situation getting sorted?" Nova asked Leroy softly.
"Mary Margaret's about to handle it," Leroy told her with a small nod. "We're going down to the powerplant with her and it should be back in no time. It can't be that hard, right?"
Dee Dee laid down on her bed as she took out her phone and checked to see if any new messages would come in before she giggled. "Nicholas and Ava, that candy addiction's going to get you in trouble someday." she then said before looking for any messages from Henry.
Nova nodded. "I'm sure she will." she smiled a little.
"Then I'm gonna head back there with Happy and Granny, stay safe," Leroy said before kissing her goodbye. "Let's just hope there are no more evil snowmen around."
Nova kissed him back.
"I'll see you girls later." Leroy then said before he headed back to his truck.
Henry had texted Dee Dee to let her know about Regina.
Dee Dee sat up as she looked through the text before pouting a little. "Are you going to be okay?" she then asked with a couple of heart emojis.
'Not sure yet.' Henry replied with a heart emoji in return.
"Aww..." Dee Dee frowned before texting back. "I wish I could come over or if you could come over here."
'I'm not really up for doing much tonight yet... I didn't even go with Emma on the thing she went to investigate.' Henry told her.
'I'm sorry, Henry...' Dee Dee replied with a sad puppy dog-eyed emoji. 'I'll leave you alone if you want.'
'Maybe we could meet up tomorrow, or you could come over?' Henry suggested.
'That sounds nice... Hopefully the power is back on by then too.' Dee Dee replied, sending a few more hearts to sound like she cared through her text.
Henry gave a tiny smile.
'And to think I was in the middle of a brand-new dance.' Dee Dee then added with a sweat-drop emoji.
'You were practicing?' Henry asked, with a surprised emoji.
'Mm-hmm... I'm a good girl~' Dee Dee replied with a halo'd emoji.
'Well, I'm at Granny's so would you want to meet me here or at Grandma's apartment?' Henry asked her.
'I can come to Granny's if you don't mind,' Dee Dee replied. 'It's a great comfort and warm atmosphere.'
'Alright, I'll see you soon?' Henry checked.
'You can count on it. It's a date!' Dee Dee beamed as she sent a couple of soda emojis as though to pop champagne bottles like they were a couple of adults.
Henry smiled a bit at that, though blushed at the 'It's a date!' bit.
'Should I bring anything?' Dee Dee then added.
'Just yourself' Henry told her.
'All right ;) i'll be sure to look presentable at least.' Dee Dee replied, seeming to smile and blush hopefully.
'Alright, I'll see you soon.' Henry replied with a heart emoji.
Dee Dee then beamed as she hugged her phone and kissed the screen before she hopped out of her bed and began to pirouette out of pure joy in her heart. Henry sat and waited; he couldn't head back home just yet until Granny returned anyway. Dee Dee continued before she dashed down the stairs and went to get something. Nova made sure there were candles lighting the rooms a little.
"Pardon me, Mama~" Dee Dee said, passing by Nova as she went to get something she kept hidden.
"Where are you going?" Nova asked her, calmly.
"Just wanna get ready for... Uh... Something..." Dee Dee smiled bashfully.
"And what is that?" Nova asked glancing over.
"Nothing?~" Dee Dee replied innocently before taking out what looked like a snowflake barrette to wear in her hair.
"That is very pretty sweetie," Nova smiled. "Are you planning on wearing it anywhere special?" she then asked.
"Oh... Um... I was hoping to see Henry actually..." Dee Dee said bashfully.
Nova hummed thoughtfully. "And would you be coming home later or returning to Mrs. Nolan's?" she asked then.
"I'm not sure right now..." Dee Dee said bashfully. "Should I come back home so Papa doesn't get mad?"
"Well if you can make sure you call me before you go to sleep," Nova said with a small smile. "You could have a sleepover as it's not a school night."
"You don't mind?" Dee Dee asked hopefully and merrily.
"As long as you keep in contact and promise me nothing funny will go on... I'll allow you to." Nova nodded.
"Nothing funny will go on," Dee Dee promised. "I just wanna show him my new dance."
"Alright, text me when you arrive." Nova told her.
"Yes, ma'am." Dee Dee nodded as she got ready to go then.
Nova smiled a little.
Dee Dee hugged her and nodded. "I'll see you later then." she said softly.
"See you later." Nova smiled and hugged her back warmly.
Dee Dee beamed, then went outside the door, then went to go over to meet up with Henry as promised.
Meanwhile, at the Storybrooke Power Inc, the others were gathered around Mary Margaret and Baby Leo as it was time to get down to business. However, the others with her proved to be rather annoying.
"Is she fixing it?" Leroy asked.
"I've got a fridge full of iffy clams. Just read the manual." Granny warned Mary Margaret.
"The manual's in Japanese." Doug reminded.
"Well, just do something."
"Maybe Marco should be helping with the power. He's the handyman."
"Geppetto? You think? I mean, I'm not sure handcrafted Tuscan wood carvings are really gonna save the day."
"Dr. Whale?"
"He's a doctor, not an electrician!"
"We don't need help!" Mary Margaret told them.
"You think? I mean, I'm grumpy now. Imagine me in the morning without a coffee maker!" Leroy retorted.
"Or a computer or stop lights, TV, DVD, CD, DVR, DVD-" Doug added.
"Stop saying letters!" Mary Margaret then yelled. "Look, I am not magic... I have had eight hours of sleep in the last week, I am breastfeeding, and I am exhausted! I don't need this," she ranted. "I may have cast a little curse, but I did not ask to maintain a metropolitan electrical grid... Oh, and get this... I'm starting to get why Regina was evil... It wasn't her! It was you! You have survived your entire lives without light bulbs! Buy a flashlight!" She then continued to rant, frowning.
The other three just looked like scared children who had just been scolded after Mary Margaret had ranted at them. Mary Margaret watched them go.
"Man, if that's her after having a baby, I'm not looking forward to Dee Dee going through puberty," Leroy grumbled. "She's too young for that."
"Isn't she reaching her teens like the rest of us?" Doug reminded before getting shoved suddenly. "OW!"
Mary Margaret soon helped up the teenage dwarf.
"Thank you, ma'am." Doug said with a small smile.
"You're welcome, Doug," Mary Margaret nodded. "I'm sorry if I scared you guys, I'm just so exhausted with being a mother and now they say Regina doesn't want anything to do with being a mayor and the power is out all through the town."
"You are a busy woman, especially after being protected by The Seven Dwarves along with my mother out of jealousy," Doug admitted and nodded. "I have a lot to think about too... school, tests, graduation, Evie-" he then began to say before blushing with wide eyes. "Evening homework assignments, ya know?" he then quickly covered up.
"Uh-huh..." Mary Margaret replied, almost like she caught the last thing he actually said, but commented nothing of it to spare him of his teenage embarrassment.
"You know, uh, maybe I can help you out a little?" Doug then asked as he twiddled his fingers. "Science is one of my better subjects as I'm sure you're aware."
"Oh, believe me, I know," Mary Margaret nodded. "I remember you had a pet mold in my class and insisted that it only ate hydrogenated products."
"Well, you kinda made Science interesting in your own way, Ms. Blanchard, erm... Mrs. Nolan... Snow White? I'm not sure what to call you honestly." Doug replied before getting flustered and confused for a moment.
"Call me whatever makes you feel comfortable," Mary Margaret reassured him. "Evie tells me you're a very good helper."
"She does?!" Doug squeaked with wide eyes before he coughed and blushed a little. "I mean, she does? Well, I try to help her out even though she's already pretty smart herself in school."
Mary Margaret hid a small smirk. "Well, if she trusts you, then I can trust you too since I trusted your parents and uncles back in the day when Regina was after me," she said with a nod. "Do you mind also helping babysit?" she then added.
"Well, uh, I guess not," Doug shrugged as he came to check on Baby Leo for her. "I often look after Dee Dee for Uncle Leroy and Aunt Nova, they really adore her like one of their own."
"I'm really happy to know that," Mary Margaret smiled. "She's such a sweet girl."
"Indeed she is," Doug agreed. "Now then, let's get started, shall we?"
"We shall." Mary Margaret nodded as the two of them soon began to get to work.
A certain pair of teenagers were standing in front of the ice wall that had come to their town, seemingly out of the blue.
"What do you suppose it means, Elwin?" Lonnie asked the boy next to her.
"I don't know, but I feel like it's calling me somehow..." Elwin said as he stepped forward and put his hand on the ice wall, though to his surprise, it didn't feel so cold. "It's not that cold." he then said.
"Really?" Lonnie wondered before she touched it next and yelped. "That IS cold!" she then pouted.
"I guess the cold never bothered me," Elwin shrugged. "That's what I get for growing up in an ice cream shop."
Lonnie chuckled, a bit amused at that. "Yeah, I suppose that's a good point." she then had to admit.
"I just wonder what this could mean?" Elwin pondered.
"Probably best to let the adults handle it," Lonnie said before seeing approaching lights, then looked over her shoulder to see an incoming car. "I think Mr. Nolan and Miss Swan are coming now."
Elwin then also looked over as the car drove over and then came to a stop just before where they stood.
"Huh?" David asked as he and Emma came out of the car to see Elwin and Lonnie. "What are you two doing here?"
"It's kind of complicated to explain, but Elwin was led here somehow, and I wanted to keep him company," Lonnie explained before looking back at the platinum blonde-haired boy. "A lot of strange things have been going on with him lately and I just wanna help him."
"I'm sorry, Lonnie, but I'm not even sure myself with what's going on with me," Elwin admitted with a shrug. "It's like I was told to come into the unknown somehow."
"Hm... how very curious..." David remarked. "Anyway, we're here to see who could have left this behind."
"Any ideas?" Emma added.
All Elwin and Lonnie could say was that they did not know themselves and soon, they had some extra company. David used a flashlight to examine the ice wall until the extra company came by with a lantern and a teenage boy by his side.
"In case you were wondering, it goes the whole way 'round." Killian noted about the ice wall.
"Hook, I didn't know you were joining us." David said to him.
"I get a distress call from a fair maiden, and I'm on the spot." Killian defended.
"I was not distressed," Emma began to say, rolling her eyes slightly. "And you're saying this wall goes around what... The whole town?" she then added curiously.
"Indeed it does and it looks like we can't leave Storybrooke again." Harry nodded and then added.
"Doing more than keeping us inside, by the looks of that," Killian remarked until he saw the fallen powerlines. "Guess that's what caused the loss of power?" he then added.
"Look at you, becoming a 21st-century man," Emma smirked at the adult pirate before she tried to look for more clues until they would find the correct answer. "Yeah. It looks to me like whoever was putting up the wall wasn't trying to take out the lights. They were just putting up the wall."
"To keep us all inside Storybrooke." Lonnie added.
"But the real questions are who and why." Elwin remarked.
"Someone should go in and bring this person over so we can have a nice, easy talk with them." Emma suggested.
"Any volunteers?" David added.
Harry, Elwin, and Lonnie all shared a look until Elwin stepped forward.
"Elwin, are you sure?" Emma asked the boy.
"Sure I'm sure," Elwin nodded. "This thing called me over when I was trying to clear my head since I had a lot to think about for myself, so... I think I should volunteer." he then explained.
"Well, all right, if you think you know what you're doing." David replied.
"I don't really know, but I'm ready to brace myself and head off into the unknown." Elwin admitted as bravely as he could.
"Well, I admire that bravery and strength, Elwin," Lonnie smiled. "After all, that's what my mother did to win the war against Shan Yu."
Elwin blushed a little at Lonnie's admiration before he took a deep breath and came forward. "Well, here goes nothing." he then said.
"I would go in too because I'm brave, but I'm not afraid of ice or anything, just so you know." Harry grinned, trying to impress Lonnie.
"That's okay, I believe you." Lonnie replied, sounding a bit exasperated in his company as Elwin continued further and Emma gave him her walkie-talkie just in case.
"And find out why they wanna keep us in." David added.
"Kill us all one by one," Killian gave his opinion. "It's what I'd do."
Lonnie groaned and sighed a little as she could see that Killian and Harry were going to somehow give her trouble due to being pirates who had thoughts blacker than their supposed hearts. Voices started to come from the radio as David went to answer it and Emma kept Harry and Lonnie company in the meantime.
Elwin came inside the ice wall, looking around until he saw someone else in there who appeared to be the mysterious stranger in Storybrooke. "Hey. What's your name?" he then greeted as calmly as possible as the woman faced him.
"My name is Elsa." The stranger replied calmly.
"Okay, Elsa, it's okay..." Elwin said in a soothing voice. "My name is Elwin and I was just wondering what you are doing out here?" he then added calmly.
"I'm looking for someone... My sister. I can't find her," Elsa soon explained before showing the necklace. "This was hers. I found it in the store filled with things. Where is my sister?" she then asked.
"You have a sister around here, ma'am?" Elwin asked.
"Yes, I can feel her here, but I don't know where." Elsa nodded and explained.
"Well, I'll try to help you if you tell me a few details," Elwin replied before he asked another helpful question. "What's her name?"
"Anna." Elsa simply stated.
Elwin nodded to that. "Anna, right... do you have any last names with that?" he asked, just to check.
"Of Arendelle." Elsa then suggested.
Elwin blinked but figured that was better than nothing. "Alright, well, we'll start looking, but you should come with us as in me and everyone else on the outside." he then suggested.
"Are you sure?" Elsa asked, still cautious.
"Yeah." Elwin said with a friendly smile.
"...your smile reminds me of someone I once knew a very long time ago." Elsa commented.
"Really? Who?" Elwin wondered.
"...I don't remember right now, I'm very lost in this kingdom," Elsa explained softly. "But you remind me of someone I once knew a very long time ago."
"Then maybe I can help you find these mysterious people since I'm trying to solve a mystery of my own," Elwin explained. "I love my mother and all, but I sometimes wonder more about myself. Everyone in this town has their own stories to tell as the descendants of Fairy Tales, but I don't know what mine is and I don't know why, but my mother won't tell me and she just wants me to help her sell ice cream."
"Then I suppose could somehow help each other out." Elsa suggested.
"I think I would like that, Elsa." Elwin nodded.
It looked like the two were about to trust each other and get along okay, until suddenly...
"Edwin!" Killian's voice called out.
Elsa and Elwin soon looked startled and confused at first at the sudden shouting.
"His name is Elwin, Mr. Hook." Lonnie corrected the adult male pirate.
"Captain. CAPTAIN Hook," Harry corrected sternly. "My dad didn't go to pirate college for four years to be called 'Mister'."
"Not now, Harry, though he is correct about that." Killian had to admit.
"Stay back," Emma warned the others from outside the ice wall. "The smallest scare could probably scare whoever's causing all of this."
"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" David called out as he brought out his gun.
"Elsa, it's okay." Elwin soon said, trying to keep things calm.
Elsa soon gasped and panicked, becoming scared which then caused her to lose control of her powers as the ice wall began to grow again.
"She's just trying to find-" Elwin tried to warn the others as he felt empathetic towards Elsa in her situation, grasping the woman's hands as an attempt to comfort her.
The ice wall then got bigger as snow and ice fell around as Elsa felt too overwhelmed very quickly as the ice wall soon separated them all for the worst.
"Elwin!" Lonnie cried out in fear and concern for the teen boy trapped inside the ice wall.
Some snow fell from the ice and caused everyone to end up on the floor, stunned.
"Oh, Elwin..." Lonnie frowned in concern as she sat up for a moment.
"Now what do we do?" Harry wondered.
Emma was about to get out her walkie-talkie until she remembered she didn't have it. "Dad, call Elwin on the walkie-talkie." she then suggested to David.
"Elwin!" David called as he whipped out his own walkie-talkie. "Are you in there?"
"We need to get him out of there." Lonnie said urgently in concern.
"I'll get him out." Killian offered before he approached the ice wall and started hacking at it with his hook.
"Dad, I don't know if that's gonna help." Harry warned.
"I hate to admit you're right, but I'm desperate to save one of your friends." Killian admitted as he continued to do so.
"Well, this is a little embarrassing." Harry muttered to himself.
"What if we lift?" David offered as he came beside Killian, going to do just that.
"Don't!" Killian told him urgently. "We're not giving up."
"We won't, but this is not getting us anywhere." Emma reassured him as she approached the two men.
"Well, I'm open to suggestions." Killian retorted.
"Magic made this thing. I think we're gonna need magic to unmake it," David vowed. "And I'm not gonna stop fighting until we do."
"Oh, please hold on in there, Elwin." Lonnie whispered tenderly.
"It'll be okay, kiddo," Emma said as she put her hand on the teenage girl's shoulder. "I don't know how exactly, but we'll get him out of there, one way or another."
"I really hope so," Lonnie sighed as she faced Emma. "He's... a really good friend to me." she then added before blushing as she seemed to be covering up for something.
"I wish I could've known a group of kids like you guys in Storybrooke when I was in and out of foster homes for most of my life," Emma said with a small smile. "Though one of you always reminded me of someone from a long time ago."
"Really?" Lonnie wondered. "Who?"
"This girl Mal who seems to have run away from home a long time ago," Emma explained. "I can't explain it, but... she kind of reminded me of someone who felt like my sister and friend until we were separated... her name was Lily."
"Pretty name." Lonnie commented.
"Yeah." Emma smiled softly before sighing a bit.
"What happened?" Lonnie wondered. "Did she get adopted or something?"
"It's a long story, but... let's not focus on that right now, okay?" Emma suggested.
"Well, all right," Lonnie nodded. "I hope Elwin doesn't freeze to death."
Emma also nodded as that sounded like a good thing to hope for, but she just wasn't sure how long it would last in this crisis.
"Wow," Elwin muttered as he then stood up, touching the small cut on his forehead. "I got to give it to you, you put on quite a show, You wanna tell me what this is about?" he then asked.
"No. Just that I'm very powerful, and you and your people... You need to be more careful," Elsa told Elwin, trying to remain calm, but was still a little scared on the inside. "Keep your distance."
"I think I can guarantee that, so if you want to, you know, hit 'undo' on that, then... we'll get right on it," Elwin suggested. "Are you okay though?" he then added out of concern.
"I... Not right away. Bring me what I want, and then I'll consider freeing you," Elsa told Elwin until she answered his next question. "But I... I'm not sure I quite like this place so far... I'm sorry about what I did though."
"Your sister, right?" Elwin asked as Elsa nodded at that before he continued to speak to her. "Well, um, it's kind of hard to look for someone from in here."
"Elwin!" Lonnie's voice suddenly exclaimed, startling both Elwin and Elsa, though more so Elsa than Elwin. "Can you hear me?"
"What is that?" Elsa asked once she saw the walkie-talkie like it was some sort of alien instrument.
"Uh, well, it's, um, something used for talking for people outside here without writing messages to each other like carrying pigeons," Elwin tried to explain as best as he could. "Sort of like a cell phone."
Elsa looked both curious and amazed as she took a look at the device. "Cell phone?" she then wondered.
"Oh, boy... is it this hard to raise a child?" Elwin muttered to himself, realizing that Elsa had no idea what his modern technology was all about since he and the other descendants had it their whole lives unlike their parents and grandparents in The Enchanted Forest.
"Elwin, are you okay?" Lonnie asked desperately and nervously. "Please say something."
"Lonnie? I'm okay! Can you hear me?" Elwin soon answered as calmly as he could over the walkie-talkie.
"Tell them to get Anna." Elsa urged the teenage boy.
"I'm in here with this woman. She's looking for her sister, Anna. She thinks that Anna is in town because she found a necklace of hers in Mr. Gold's shop," Elwin explained as calmly and carefully as he could over the walkie-talkie. "She wants us to try to find her before... before..." he then added before facing Elsa curiously.
"Before I freeze this town and everyone in it." Elsa threatened coldly (no pun intended).
Lonnie looked over at the adults. "We need to get an answer from Ben's dad's place." she then told them.
"Of course it would be Gold." Emma commented.
"He's on vacation though." David remarked.
"But his son isn't." Harry said with a sly smirk.
"Hopefully Ben can let us in then." Lonnie suggested.
"Better than nothing." Emma added.
"Don't worry, Elwin, help is on the way." Lonnie promised on the walkie-talkie.
"Thanks, Lonnie," Elwin said with a small smile. "Your mother would be very proud of your attempts in teamwork and fighting for what's right. That's how she won the war after all."
Lonnie smiled back, sniffling a bit as she felt happy to hear that from Elwin, especially since she really looked up to and admired her mother and her mother's legacy, vowing to try to become the next "Girl Power" action girl in her own story.
"Now let's go before Elwin freezes." Emma suggested as they soon left the ice wall for now.
"Would you really freeze this town and everyone in it?" Elwin asked Elsa with a concerned frown as all they could do right now was wait for the others to come back for them.
"I'm not in the best mood right now, so I might have to... My sister is all I have." Elsa said softly.
Elwin looked nervous about that, but also a little sad for Elsa since it was clear that she was very sad and lonely ever since losing her sister. He sort of felt the same way as, even though he was adopted and loved his mother very much, he often wondered where he actually came from and why, but he didn't have any names unlike Elsa who knew her sister as it seemed to be just the two of them.
"You're not cold, are you?" Elsa asked Elwin since he was an innocent teenage boy.
"It's okay," Elwin reassured her. "The cold never bothered me anyway."
Elsa had a small smirk at that.
"So, the other day we saw a giant snowman in town... did you have anything to do with that?" Elwin then prompted and asked curiously.
"I'll do whatever it takes to get my sister back," Elsa replied bravely. "You weren't scared of it, were you?" she then asked.
"Well, that snowman looked more like a marshmallow to me." Elwin admitted with a small smirk.
"Well, maybe Marshmallow would be a good name for him." Elsa smirked back at that.
"Heh," Elwin grinned a bit. "I can tell you care about your sister a lot. I'm sorry about her necklace." he then added before noticing a small crack in the floor.
"Where is it?" Elsa then wondered.
Elwin looked over and pointed it out. "Looks like it fell into the ice here," he pointed out. "Maybe you could melt the ice to get it out?" he then suggested.
"I don't want to hurt people, but if things don't go my way, I tend to get upset and that makes my magic have a very negative reaction." Elsa replied softly.
"You can't control it, can you?" Elwin then realized. "What you said to the others on the walkie... It wasn't a threat... It was a warning, because you can't control what you're doing." he then added.
Elsa pouted about her necklace before giving Elwin a bit of a sly eye. "What makes you think you know me?" she then firmly pouted a bit.
"Because I know me, and I have powers, too, and I am not great at controlling them," Elwin told Elsa. "And it looks to me like you're the same way." she then added.
"You... You have magic?" Elsa asked Elwin, sounding surprised.
"Yes, I do," Elwin nodded truthfully. "From my birthright jewel that my mother says was around my neck when she found me. Even then I could handle the cold somehow." he then added.
"Is that right?" Elsa wondered.
"Yes, she just found me wrapped up in a basket on her doorstep in the middle of winter and like I said, she found me with my birthright jewel and somehow it protected and shielded me from the bitter cold," Elwin nodded as he explained more to her. "It's like I had to conceal and not feel."
"Interesting choice of words." Elsa remarked.
"I always thought so." Elwin nodded at that.
Elsa looked thoughtful before she spoke to the teenage boy again. "Anna helps. She... Helps me control it. So if I can find her, she can help me undo this. We can get rid of all this... The whole wall... When she's here." she then confessed as softly as she could.
"Well, I'm afraid I don't think Anna is around Storybrooke anywhere to my knowledge." Elwin admitted.
"Maybe your magic could help get us out of here." Elsa suggested hopefully.
"Oh, I don't know, it's a bit easier with my jewel like everyone else at The Jewel-Bilee, that was one of our school dances once we celebrated and realized who we were as Fairy Tale descendants," Elwin explained as he closed his eyes and held out his hands, grunting and trying to concentrate, but had a hard time doing so right now, but if anything, he breathed out cold air but it still didn't bother him like it would with any mortal person. "See? I don't have control over mine, either. Why don't you have a try now?" he then suggested.
"Oh, my..." Elsa frowned in concern before she sat down with him. "Tell me more about yourself in this town. So you were adopted?" she then asked.
"Yes, I was told at one point, and I never thought any less of my mother, but I often wondered where I really came from and why my own family would give me up," Elwin nodded as he explained more about his story to her that he knew of. "All I know is that my mother is the town ice cream woman, but I think I wanna do more than just selling ice cream and maybe be like my childhood heroes."
"Who would those people be?" Elsa wondered.
"The Guardians," Elwin explained, having a small glimmer in his eye. "They were created and chosen by The Man in the Moon to bring joy to the world and protect the dreams of children from The Nightmare King. The common Guardians, who I always loved playing with when I was a kid, were Nicholas St. North who was The Guardian of Wonder, Toothiana who was The Guardian of Memories, Sandy, the Guardian of Dreams, E. Aster Bunnymund, The Guardian of Hope, and my personal favorite, Jack Frost who was The Guardian of Fun." he the added with much gusto since he had been a big fan of these Guardians for as long as before he could even remember.
Elsa looked wide-eyed and thoughtful at the name Jack Frost, but she allowed Elwin to tell her more about himself.
"No one else really understood or knew about them, so I often played by myself," Elwin said softly as he rubbed his arm. "It was a kingdom of isolation and I guess I was the prince."
"I would say the King or Queen, but I say it sounded lonely." Elsa remarked.
"It really was." Elwin admitted softly.
Elsa looked very soft as well, so she put her arm around him to help comfort him.
Henry was still waiting at Granny's. Dee Dee soon left as she carefully made her way into town, using her phone light as her source of light before she came to knock on the door to Granny's to let Henry know she was there so she wouldn't just be barging in.
Henry glanced through the window and seeing it was Dee Dee let her in. "Hi." he greeted quietly.
"Salutations," Dee Dee greeted before she curtsied at the door. "Good evening, Henry. It's nice to see you."
"Come on, let's hang out." Henry smiled as he took her by the hand and came inside with her so that they could both occupy themselves while everyone else was busy.
Meanwhile, Regina was sitting by the fireplace as Evie suddenly poofed over, causing the dark-haired woman to jolt and blink in surprise.
"Hey, Mom." Evie greeted softly.
"Evie, what are you doing here?" Regina demanded. "I said I wanted to be alone."
"Well, I decided not to listen to you." Evie smirked innocently.
"Evie..." Regina said firmly with narrowed eyes.
"Okay, I'm sorry!" Evie then suddenly said since her mother's wrath startled her into wising up in her behavior. "I just wanted to help cheer you up."
"Thank you, my dear, but I don't think there's anything you can do to help," Regina sighed and frowned. "I was just going to put on a fire and maybe get some apple cider."
"Well, nothing wrong with that since I know your apple cider is the best one ever tasted," Evie reassured her mother before she waved her hands and a dark blue cloud appeared in her hands until she had some sort of kit in her hands. "I thought maybe you'd like a special treat."
"Oh, Evie, I don't wanna eat chocolate all night." Regina sighed at her daughter.
"It's not a candy box, Mom, it's a makeover kit," Evie clarified. "I thought maybe we could have a Mother/Daughter Spa Day since I have an eye for make-up and fashion."
"You always did have a flare for that, my dear." Regina had to admit.
"So?" Evie then prompted with a small smile.
"Well, all right," Regina smiled back. "I suppose we could do that."
"Huzzah!" Evie cheered and giggled. "I just don't want you upset about Robin Hood."
"It's a bit hard, especially with what Tinkerbell promised me back in the day since I had already lost your father," Regina admitted with a weary sigh. "I was just worried about getting hurt again since you know your grandmother forced me into marrying Snow White's father and had your father killed when you were a baby."
"I know, Mom, but let's not worry about that right now," Evie said softly as she put her hand on Regina's shoulder. "Let's have some Mother/Daughter time and I can show you how talented I really am with fashion and make-up."
"I don't know how you get all of that done by yourself when I had to balance work as The Mayor and raising you and Henry as your little brother." Regina remarked as she went to get the fire started for both of them.
"Well, having extra help helps and Doug helps me out," Evie commented. "He's not as skilled as I am, but he's a great fashion helper like when he helps me with some science stuff I don't fully get, but I'm one of Mr. Deley's top students."
"I think Doug likes a little more than just helping you though." Regina smirked.
Evie looked wide-eyed and blushed at that. "We're just friends, Mom," she insisted bashfully. "Besides, how would that look? The daughter of The Evil Queen and the son of one of The Seven Dwarves going out with each other?" she then added.
"Well, I don't know, you seemed hopeful for The Evil Queen and Robin Hood and if I remember correctly, you did support the daughter of Maleficent and the son of Rumplestiltskin." Regina retorted calmly.
"Well, yeah, that's true, but... I don't know if Doug even feels that way about me," Evie shrugged as she opened the kit to bring out some make-up to share with her mother. "Sometimes it's hard being a teenager in this world when you realize that you come from a long line of other untold stories. My mother is The Evil Queen, my aunt is The Wicked Witch of the West, my grandmother is The Queen of the Hearts... where does that leave me?" she then wondered.
"I just hope you have a better life than I did with my cruel mother, but at least your grandfather was supportive of me." Regina replied softly.
"Thanks, Mom." Evie replied.
"Of course, my princess," Regina nodded. "You're also very unique."
Evie smiled as that sounded very nice to hear before she showed her the make-up.
"And that just shows where you shine through the best," Regina then added as she smiled back at her daughter at the sight of the make-up. "Blue and red are your favorite colors, aren't they?" she then asked with a small smirk.
"They suit me like black suits you." Evie smirked back.
"Fair point, my daughter. Fair point." Regina chuckled in agreement.
"We should get a spa around here," Evie commented as she got ready to powder her mother's face as the fire provided enough light for both of them. "Why couldn't you make a spa when you created Storybrooke, Mom?"
"It doesn't work that way, my dear, but you're right, a spa would be nice, we'd just need people to run it since we all make this town what it is," Regina replied. "I mean, those elves who used to roam around The Enchanted Forest if not relocated to The North Pole work in a shoe store around here with One-Step Cobbling."
"Elves in the North Pole?" Evie murmured to herself. "Sheesh, what doesn't this town have?"
"Better postal service because sometimes I get Billy G. Gruff's mail instead of my own." Regina scoffed slightly.
Evie chuckled quietly at the name before she and Regina began to have their special spa day together in the meantime.