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Astrid stood in between Henry and Hook as they plus Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Snow, and David stood at the town line near the ice barrier.

Riley spoke up with slightly wide eyes, "Wow. That is a lot of ice."

"And it's time for it to come down." Elsa replied before stepping forward and blasted her own ice powers at the wall, the barrier soon vanishing and now gone.

"Okay. Now can we go back home?" Anna spoke up curiously as she was fixing to cross over the town line.

"Stop! Don't take another step!" Emma quickly said, stopping Anna in her tracks, "That's the town line."

"Right. But I want to leave the town." Anna pointed out, "Didn't I just say that?"

"The wall may be down, but I sense that some of Ingrid's magic remains," Astrid spoke up.

Emma nodded in agreement as the woman added, "Me too. Yeah, leaving this town has never been simple. And Ingrid? 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 inquired, afraid that they would never see their kingdom again yet still remained hopeful that they would return.

Riley and Astrid shared a knowing look, both knowing that Stormfly could take them home to their land.

"Walking wouldn't get us there anyway," Elsa added, "We're in a different realm."

"We need to find a portal," Emma replied and furrowed her eyebrows as she added, "Or magic beans..."

"Okay, now I'm lost," Kristoff remarked in confusion.

"Well, let's get one of those things. We have to hurry," Anna added until Elsa commented, "No, we don't need to rush. We need to be careful. Arendelle will still be there while we figure this out."

"It might not," Anna began and then looked over at her fiancé, "Did we forget to tell her?"

"A lot of stuff was going on," Kristoff replied with a light shrug and in amusement.

"Tell me what?" Elsa warily asked.

"Arendelle's been conquered-- by Hans and his twelve brothers." Anna admitted as she faced her sister again.

Elsa scoffed and glanced over at Astrid and Emma before saying, "Emma, Astrid, we need to find a way back... now."

"We'll do our best," Emma assured.

Astrid and Riley shared another look as the blonde debated on telling them about her beloved dragon and the ability to portal in and out of all realms.

She sighed heavily and finally admitted to them, "There is a way, actually. I, uh, have this dragon named Stormfly. She can travel between realms."

Kristoff's eyebrows shout up curiously and in surprise, saying, "You- You have a pet dragon here?"

Astrid nodded, simply replying, "I acquired her from my other home land- Berk- and raised her since she was a mere babe."

Anna squeezed her sister's arm in assurance and happily started, "So, we have a way back to Arendelle now? Yay! Right?"

"Yes," Astrid nodded again as Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff shared a look between one another and smiled in relief.

***

Gold appeared in front of Astrid as she looked up and over at him, the two standing in the woods below her large, impressively-built treehouse way above them in the tree above them.

"You took away what I needed to complete my plan," Gold began, his dagger currently in his right hand, "And magic can't hurt you because of my dead brother's spell."

Astrid smirked, simply commenting, "What can I say? I'm awesome that way." She kept her focus on his dagger carefully, her hands lingering near her own swords strapped at her hips.

Gold smirked also and remarked, "We shall see about that." He disappeared and reappeared just an inch in front of her, plunging his hand through her chest and grabbing her heart.

She gasped and grunted some as the girl watched him carefully, Gold adding as he took out her heart which now glowed in his hand, "Seems you protect everyone else's hearts but your own."

Astrid sharply gasped as the Dark One squeezed her heart some more before she let out breathlessly, "P-Peter would never forgive you if he was still here."

"Shame he's not here, huh?" Gold remarked, his face emotionlessly. "Now, since that pirate's heart is no longer assessable to me, seems you'll be doing my bidding from now on."

Astrid's jaw flexed as she glared at the man in front of her and shook her head, saying, "Just leave my family out of your insane bloody plan."

"You're in no position of making any deals with you, dearie," Gold remarked, "Now, your friends from Arendelle... I want them out of here. Make sure of it."

"Hook told me that Belle knew Anna, and Anna must know you and your secret. Otherwise, you wouldn't really care if they stayed or not." Astrid began, putting two and two together.

Gold smirked and simply replied, "Now go. And if you fail, then I'll let you helplessly watch

me kill your loved ones."

Astrid glared even harder at the man but complied to him, adding, "Just know, Stiltskin, I get what I want, and I will win. Good will prevail. Always."

"Maybe so, but I won't be here when it does," Gold replied and vanished in a cloud of red smoke.

The teenager sighed and lowered her head sadly just as her best friend dropped down from a tree and landed in front of her.

Riley questioned, "What're we gonna do?"

"I guess I send them back to Arendelle." Astrid answered, "And then we come up with a plan to get back my heart, and end this bloody plan of his once and for all."

Riley grabbed her friend's wrist and stopped her from leaving as the brunette shook her head, saying, "You can't do what the Dark One says. Fight it. We have to warn the others."

"I can't... He has my heart," Astrid muttered, "How can I?"

"You'll find a way," Riley assured, "Believe me. You always do. I believe in you."

Astrid smiled a little and nodded, sighing, "Thanks, Riles. I guess we should go and warn the others that Gold's got my heart and what he's planning."

Riley nodded and looped her arm with the blonde in front of her as she stepped by her side, commenting, "Let's bring down this Dark One."

But Astrid felt Gold using her heart from where he was now at and made herself disappear into a cloud of green smoke.

***

Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Emma, and Hook day in a booth at Granny's and all looked up when Astrid entered inside of the diner who spoke up, "Hey, Dad, Emma, come over here and celebrate. I mean, I know I'm not the Savior and just the Creator, but I've just saved the day."

Emma furrowed her eyebrows after sharing a look with the pirate beside her and told the Arendelle trio, "Hang on. Don't get your hopes up yet."

Astrid made her way over to the counter as Hook and Emma approached her and stopped in front of her, Emma asking first, "What are we celebrating?"

Astrid shrugged and kept an easy grin on her face, saying, "Oh, since, Stormfly has to rest from her journey back from Berk, I found another portal that leads to Arendelle."

Emma's eyes widened as three of them then drank out of their cups after clinking them, Emma asking, "You found a portal?"

"Well, I found Gold, and he told me where to locate one-- A door in the ballroom of the lakeside mansion."

Hook raised an eyebrow at his adopted daughter in suspicion at the mention of the Dark One as Astrid added, "Yeah, it appears our Rumplestiltskin turned over a new leaf."

"Apparently, dozens of leaves... Are you sure we can trust him?" Emma warily inquired.

Astrid looked at her and commented, "Positive, Em. Have a little faith in your sister. He's truly changed— plus, he gave me a long-winded explanation about the portal... about how it brought the Snow Queen into this land, which I don't recall, but the important thing is, it works. All they have to do is walk through it."

"Then we should go," Emma nodded.

"Aye. You guys should go do that. I, alas, can't because I have to see Robin and Roland off and say goodbye to them and all..." Astrid began and trailed off somewhat.

Emma nodded again before stepping back over to the Arendelle trio who still sat at their booth while Hook remained in front of the teenager as he asked in concern, "AJ, what is it? You okay?"

Astrid forced a smile and nodded with a small shrug, saying, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be okay?"

Hook shook his head and voiced his concern and suspicion, "Because you're acting stranger than usual. Plus, you and I both know what Gold is up to and planning and that he has, in fact, not changed."

Astrid smiled and assured, "It's nothing. I'm fine. Let it go, Hook. I, uh, I'll see you around." She had grabbed his arm while she was talking, which suddenly started to shake in fear.

Hook looked down at the action as Astrid held a pleading look in her eyes before she let go and walked away from him.

Hook knew something was wrong, and he knew Gold was at play here, so he followed after the girl.

***

Hook entered inside of the clock tower and noticed Gold clutching Astrid's heart in his hand tightly as the said teen was on her knees in pain. "Crocodile!" He took off running up the stairs.

"Just who I was hoping would show up," Gold remarked while the magic hat did its light show as its stars began to align with the sky's stars. "Astrid. Take his heart."

Astrid stood up, her eyes watery, but face expressionless as she began to move towards the pirate.

"AJ, fight him-" Hook started, "At least, just long enough so that I can get your heart back for you, Kid."

"I can't... He's got my heart..." Astrid withdrew one of her swords and spun it around in her hand impressively before she swung it towards the one handed man who moved out of the way quickly.

"I know." Hook withdrew his sword and then began to fight his daughter, their weapons moving against each other's fluidly and swiftly, in an effortless way.

Astrid cartwheeled sideways and landed on his other side in a crouched position after swinging her leg out and tripping the pirate who landed on his butt on the floor.

"I- I'm sorry." She held her sword to his neck as she now stood over him, the blade shaking terribly.

"It's okay. I understand, Kid." Hook nodded at the girl who glanced over at Gold watching the two and back at her father figure.

"Take his heart." Gold commanded in the glowing heart in his hand as he squeezed it once more. "Now."

"No!" Astrid struggled, her whole body trembling, as she tossed her sword aside. "I won't. Go ahead and kill me."

The Dark One sighed impatiently and was fixing to crush her heart in his hand until the three heard Emma yell, "Gold! Stop!"

"I'm sorry, I can't. I've waited too long for this and I'm too close." Gold spoke up as he froze Snow and Emma in their place at the door by his magic while going back to crushing the girl's heart.

Astrid fell to her knees as Hook wrapped a reassuring fatherly arm around her, her gasping in pain. "Crocodile, stop this! I'll give you my heart myself." Hook spoke up.

"N-No..." Astrid began with a shake of her head in slight desperation.

Suddenly, Gold stopped squeezing her her heart and looked confused and asked, "Why can't I crush your heart?"

"Because I commanded it." Belle spoke up next to Astrid and Hook whilst she held the Dark One's dagger. "Drop the heart. Release them."

Emma and Snow weren't frozen in place anymore and the magic in the hat suddenly stopped above them while Gold also released Astrid's heart which Hook caught in his hand.

"Now, you can take us to the town line. Because we need to be alone for what comes next." Belle finished as Gold transported her and himself to the set destination, leaving the four alone.

Astrid gasped in relief and leaned back in her adopted father's chest as he kissed the top of her head. "You're okay, AJ, you're okay now."

Emma and Snow ran up the stairs and noticed the two and approached them, Snow immediately asking in concern, "Astrid, are you alright?"

"Yeah," Astrid started while sitting up and looking up at her mother and glancing over at Hook with a sort of hopeful- fond smile on her face, "Hook saved me... and Belle saved us."

Hook smiled some before commenting, "Hey, I'm there for you, Kid."

"I know," Astrid grinned.

Emma helped her twin up to her feet with the help of the pirate beside them before Emma nodded at him and spoke up, "Thank you for saving my sister."

Hook nodded as the teenager hugged him quickly and let go with a light laugh; Snow then pulled her teenage daughter into a tight hug, relieved.

Astrid laughed even more in the embrace, letting out, "I'm okay, Mom, I'm okay. Really." Hook gave her heart back to the girl who shoved back in place in her chest.

Riley ran up the steps with David then as the two stopped where the four was at, David asking Astrid first, "You alright, Kid?"

Astrid nodded with a small smile, assuring them, "I'm good. I am. Let's get out of here." She stopped at the box that contained Merlin's hat and picked it up, putting it in the inside of her jacket before following after her family.

She then walked in between David and Snow who both wrapped their arms around her as the six of them walked down the street.

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