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Astrid sat in her chair at her desk, writing in her journal that Hook had returned to her which was the same one that was left on Neverland.

She was writing her full story of her life and was determined to finish it-- She didn't know if they would face another dark curse sometime in the future or if she'd lose her memory again, but she wanted to be prepared.

Emma stepped to her open door and noticed her twin still writing in that book. "Hey, A, how about you take a break and go to school or something?"

Astrid glanced up at the woman and scoffed in amusement, saying, "I'm nearly over three hundred years old. I don't need to go to school."

"But you're still a teenager, and teenagers still goes to high school in this world," Emma pointed out, "Plus, you might make some friends your physical age."

"No, I'm good here," Astrid shrugged while adding, "Our mom and dad don't push school on me like you, so I don't have to."

"Okay, if you insist," Emma also shrugged before suggesting, "Well, how about you help Hook and Belle with finding out how to free the fairies? You've been cooped up in your room writing in that book and doing whatever in the woods for six weeks now. You need to join society again."

Astrid lifted an eyebrow at her sister curiously and replied, "I'm good. I finally have been able to get a few weeks to myself in a long time, and I've had time to grieve over Peter's death. This isolation is good for me."

"No it's not," Emma sighed, "When are you going to learn, Astrid, that you don't have to do anything alone anymore? Come on. Slide your shoes on, get your coat. Join your family again."

Astrid simply remarked, "And I do hang out with my family, like with Henry when he's not doing Operation: Mongoose and then Hook when he's not with you and also with Riley when she's not in school or with her adopted family that she was placed with..."

Emma stepped over to the girl's desk and was fixing to take the leather bound journal from her twin until Astrid moved it away from her grip, saying, "No."

"What's so special about that book anyway?" Emma questioned while folding her arms across her chest.

"My whole life's in this journal," Astrid admitted, "If I ever lose my memory again, my real story will be right here for me to remember who I really am."

Emma nodded sympathetically just as Astrid stood up and moved over to her bookcase and placed the journal in between the two books Gone with the Wind and Pride and Prejudice.

The teenager then slid on her black combat boots and her black leather jacket, now strapping her twin swords to her sides and sliding her bow and quiver of arrows around her shoulders.

Her battle axe was currently hanging up on her wall next to her bed, but she also had her thirteen daggers hidden throughout her clothing on her.

"All right, lets go, Em," Astrid said and then punched her sister on the arm hard and raced down the hall and down the stairs.

She hopped off of the last step and grabbed her motorcycle keys off of the counter, fixing to leave until David stopped her.

"Be careful on that death trap, Kid," David reminded her about her new transportation.

"Hey, I have a dragon I fly on. Motorcycles are far safer than they are." Astrid also reminded him with a light chuckle.

"I don't see how you managed to convince us to let you have a motorcycle." David commented.

"Because I'm adorable," Astrid cheekily remarked, making her father chuckle and kiss the side of her head just as Emma stepped down the stairs and neared them.

"You need a lift somewhere, A?" Emma began to which Astrid simply lifted up her own set of keys at her and shook her head. "All right, see you later, Astro, Dad."

"Peace," Astrid called after her while David also called out, "Be careful, Emma."

Astrid then grabbed her helmet and lid it over her head and buckled the strap under her chin before also leaving out of the apartment and moved over to her black motorcycle parked in front of the building.

She started the ignition, the engine rumbling, and then sped down the road as she passed Hook and Emma walking side by side on the sidewalk with coffees in their hands.

The girl saluted the couple and drove past them, passing the Tower and waving at Belle who unlocked the library doors.

***

"You hungry?" Astrid spoke up once she walked into the Mayor's office and put the salad on her desk in front of the raven haired woman who was reading the storybook.

Regina looked at the salad placed in front of her and remarked, "Looks like someone found someplace other than Granny's for takeout."

"I do love her grilled cheese, but I know eating at the same old place daily gets to you," Astrid commented.

Regina chuckled, "You eat like a child."

Astrid shrugged, saying, "Hey, I may be three hundred, but I'm still a teenager." She then held up two bottles of root beer and added, "Want to drink one?"

"Is that root beer?" Regina inquired surprised.

"Yup, I got two. One for you. Thought you could use a break," Astrid answered.

Regina looked at the girl in amusement and asked, "A break from what? Dead end after dead end? This sorcerer or author- whatever he wants to be called- doesn't want to be found."

Astrid gave her a hopeful look and tried to sound optimistic for the woman, "It's only been a few weeks."

Regina nodded in agreement and replied, "Exactly, and I've conquered entire realms in less time."

Astrid changed the topic while searching around the room, "Hey, you have a bottle opener? I know my mom had one in here when she had this office..."

"You have magic, Astrid," Regina reminded the girl, "Use it."

"I will not waste my all-powerful magic for the unimportant stuff," Astrid pointed out in amusement which made the former Evil Queen chuckle.

Astrid then opened a drawer until Regina stood up and started, "No, not that one!"

The blonde noticed a taped up page from Henry's storybook, which was a picture of Robin and Regina kissing when they were a bit younger and in the Enchanted Forest.

Astrid picked up the page carefully and faced the woman with furrowed eyebrows, also starting, "Did you take it from the book?"

Regina shook her head and admitted, "It's not from the book. Robin found it. Before he left with his family, it appeared to him."

"It's not part of your story. What is it from?" Astrid asked curiously.

"Robin thought it was hope-- a sign that things would work out for me..." Regina answered with a light sigh and a shrug, "Turns out, it was a cruel joke."

Astrid put the page down on the desk and glanced down at the floor in slight sadness before softly asking, "And have you heard from him?"

Regina looked up at the girl in front of her with slightly watery eyes and shook her head, saying, "No."

That's when Hook, Emma, and Belle rushed inside of the office as Astrid asked, "Whoa, what's going on?"

Hook stopped beside his daughter and answered first, "There may be a way to get the fairies out."

"Yeah, I found an incantation. It's part of a spell in an ancient tongue I've never seen before-" Belle added.

"Which made translation a challenge," Hook cut in.

Belle spoke back up and finished, "But I did it! I found a professor of Linguistics from Oxford, and he just emailed me with the translation. It's an ancient ceremony, but, uh, one that will bring them back."

Belle handed the paper over to Regina and added, "I just need you to enact it."

"A ceremony, huh?" Emma spoke up, "What do you say?"

"Tick tock," Astrid remarked cheekily while nudging the pirate in his arm, "We've got some fairies to save."

***

Astrid placed Merlin's round box down on the stone in front of them while Belle handed Regina the dagger of the Dark One as she asked, "Can you do it?"

Regina nodded, "Yeah." The group stepped back from Regina who started the ceremony then.

Astrid's hands glowed a golden glow as she put up a shield around her family in case things were to go wrong.

Once Regina stopped moving the dagger around the box, a light erupted from it and a wave of power made them step back and cover their eyes.

Once the light was gone, they noticed all of the fairies free and in front of them. Astrid lowered her shield and helped Blue up, Emma asking first, "You okay?"

Blue shook her head and admitted, "No, but I'll live. But being in there with... Thank you."

"Actually, you should thank her." Astrid pointed out as she gestured over to Regina who nodded and replied, "Welcome back."

Blue nodded, "Thank you."

Astrid suddenly felt a dark energy in the atmosphere and glanced around, noticing a black smoke forming a figure fly away from them.

Bloody hell.

***

Astrid stood off to the side, alone in a booth, at Granny's while everyone else mingled and celebrated the fairies' return.

She noticed Regina and Henry approach Blue at her own booth as Emma moved over to them also.

The teenager remained seated and scribbled in her journal until Hook joined her and sat across from her. "Alright. What's wrong, AJ?"

Astrid looked up at her father figure and smiled innocently, saying, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"For six weeks, you've been distancing yourself from everyone and isolating yourself-- You've been writing more in that book there..." Hook began reluctantly, "What's going on, Kid?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just me. I haven't been isolating myself." Astrid denied again but mainly to herself.

Hook gave her a disbelief look and repeated himself again slightly, "Tell me. What's wrong?"

Astrid sighed and quietly admitted, "I'm, uh, sort of losing my memory now. It'll come and go. I can be at home one second, and then I'm in the woods the next..."

"When did this start?" Hook asked in concern.

"When we got my heart back from Rumplestiltskin that night six weeks ago," Astrid answered, "It began that next morning."

"You think he casted a spell on it?" The pirate questioned as his daughter nodded and answered him, "No doubt."

"Bloody hell." Hook murmured.

"Don't tell them," Astrid sighed, "They've been having a pretty good few weeks so far. I don't need to add stress into their lives anymore."

Suddenly a loud roar sounded outside of the diner, making everyone jump and stand up in alarm once the building shook from whatever's loud, booming roar.

Hook and Astrid shared a look and ran out of the diner behind Emma, Snow, Regina, and Belle to see people running and screaming.

A giant, black, gargoyle-looking, winged creature was on top of the clock tower. "What the bloody hell?" Astrid breathed out in shock.

The creature flew at them then but the group swiftly moved out of the way and ran around the corner.

Regina spoke up in also shock, "Did that thing come out of the hat? I thought the spell was only suppose to release the fairies-"

"Maybe it's some kind of fairy-?" Snow suggested, making Astrid scoff at that but refrained from saying a sarcastic comment.

"We should put it back in the hat and figure out the rest later," Hook remarked.

Belle shook her head and replied, "We can't. Once something is freed, it can never be re-trapped."

Emma sighed, "Great. Our best defense against magical beasts follows the same rules as chickenpox?"

"Surely, the Creator, the Savior, and the Evil Queen can defeat a simple hell-beast." Hook spoke up.

"Can we stop the 'E' word already?" Regina sighed.

"Let's go," Astrid replied as she, Regina, and Emma walked into the street and faced the large, flying creature who turned towards them and flew in their direction, roaring. "All right, here goes."

The three of them used their magic on the beat, zapping it with their powers, until the creature screeched and flew away. "That was easy." Emma replied.

"We only stunned it... and a blast like that should have destroyed it." Regina pointed out.

"I was just getting used to things being relaxing around here." Emma started, "Belle."

Belle nodded and said, "I'll see if I can find anything about this thing in the library."

"Thanks. And Mary Margaret-" Emma began again until Snow nodded and cut her off, "I'll get everyone to safety. I'm on it."

"Wow. You guys really have this down." Emma said in surprise.

"Well, this isn't our first monster bash," Hook remarked while glancing over at Astrid beside him as she looked around in confusion.

Astrid shook her head and walked away until Hook caught up to her and stopped her, starting first, "You don't remember what just happened, do you?"

Astrid furrowed her eyebrows and replied, "No. Did I tell you about the memory problem I've been having?"

Hook nodded, saying, "Aye. You, Emma, and Regina just fought a hell beast and then it fled. Now, go catch up with your lovely sister and the Queen to stop that creature."

Astrid took out a black sharpie and scribbled two words on her left wrist as Hook watched in slight confusion at the action.

He then noticed 'hell beast' scribbled on the wrist and knew she was just trying to keep remembering their current objective.

"Okay." Astrid sighed and ran after her sister and Regina, the three walking to the Mayor's office.

***

Astrid revved her engine some more and then suddenly drove her motorcycle beside her sister's yellow bug that held Emma and Regina inside, the winged beast quickly following behind them.

Emma glanced out of her window to see Astrid pull back and was now driving behind their vehicle just as the creature landed on top of Emma's roof with a thud.

"Hang on! We're almost there!" Emma shouted as she sped up, pressing her foot on the gas even more.

Astrid leaned left and switched lanes and sped up on her cycle, gaining the creature's attention. "Hey, ugly! Catch me if you can!"

The creature leapt off just as Astrid went even more faster down the road towards the town line with it now chasing closely behind her.

Out of nowhere, the beast slammed its hand forward, which caused Astrid to swerve and made her motorcycle skid sideways, nearing towards the town line.

Astrid rolled off of her bike and was on the pavement on her back; The creature then stopped just above the girl still in the air and roared loudly.

"I'm sending you back to hell!" Astrid smirked and blasted the beast all the way across the border, it disappearing into black smoke.

Emma slammed on brakes and both Regina and herself exited out of the vehicle and rushed over to the teenager on the ground. "You okay!?"

Astrid sat up and was hoisted up to her feet by the two women now standing on each side of her. "I'm good."

"Why did it go after you? It should've went after me, being I was the Evil Queen," Regina began in confusion.

"Hey, I've done some bad things, too," Astrid sighed, "My heart has some dark potential in a sense."

Emma hugged her sister in relief, letting out, "You could've died..."

"But I didn't," Astrid pointed out, "Plus, that bat is gone now, and we've got one less problem to deal with now." She nodded at Cruella and Ursula standing beside their car outside the town line.

The three of them now faced the border and watched the two villains carefully. Emma held the Snow Queen's scroll in her hand.

David's police car suddenly pulled up behind them next to Emma's bug, Snow and David rushing over to them. "Emma, Astrid!"

"Are you all right?" David asked in concern first while Snow hugged both their daughters together.

"Yeah," Both Emma and Astrid let out.

Snow then glanced at the two villains outside of the line who still couldn't see them. "So, Cruella and Ursula were telling the truth?"

Regina nodded, "It would appear so." Emma then went to hand over the scroll to her until Snow stopped her.

"No, wait, Emma. I think this is a bad idea. Look, they may have told the truth this time-- That doesn't mean they can be trusted."

Astrid gave her mother a surprised look and voiced that surprise aloud, "Mom, this doesn't sound like you. You believe the best in everyone."

Snow nodded, "I'm also a realist."

David also nodded in agreement with his wife and commented, "Emma, Astrid, she's right. Things were just starting to get back to normal in Storybrooke."

Emma glanced over at their father in shock and replied, "You too?"

"Look, we don't know anything about these two." Snow added, "They could be looking for redemption, but they also could be as evil as Mr. Gold. Or Zelena. Or worse."

Emma began, "That could be, but they just helped us, and we made a deal."

Snow shook her head and replied, "Doesn't matter. It's a bad idea. They're villains."

Regina then spoke up in agreement with Astrid and Emma, "You're right, they are. They're horrible. But not as horrible as I once was. And if I deserve a second chance, so do they... How can I sit here looking for my happiness and deny two others the chance at theirs?"

Astrid also added, "My sister and I are with Regina. We let them in. We had a deal. A deal is a deal."

Regina took the scroll and tossed it over the border, making Ursula and Cruella turn around and pick it up.

The two villains got inside of Cruella's car and drove over to them and across the town line but stopped at the five of them.

Regina fake smiled and greeted them, "Welcome to Storybrooke."

Cruella also gave a fake smile and replied, "Thank you, Regina. You won't regret it."

"We better not." Astrid spoke up for Regina who only nodded in agreement with the girl. The two villains smiled and drove off and into town.

Astrid felt her memory slipping again as she squeezed her eyes shut tightly for a millisecond, her fists clenched.

She then picked up her motorcycle on the ground and hopped on, revving the engine, and commented, "I- I got to go. See you guys later."

The teenager then sped off before her family could even question her and, instead, gave one another a puzzled look.

Once Astrid reached the small town again, she turned down a road and pulled into the parking lot of a gas station and parked.

She entered the bathroom after dropping her helmet to the floor, moving over to a mirror to see her reflection.

Her hands now gripped the sides of the sink as she studied her blue eyes and took deep breaths.

"My name is Astrid Hofferson or Jones... My parents are Snow, David, and Hook. My sister is Emma Swan..." Astrid repeated what she usually says to help jog her memory, her eyes now watery.

"My- My best friend is Riley and nephew is Henry Mills..." She continued, "My true love was Peter Pan whom isn't alive anymore."