Author's Note: Warning for extreme angst. Also, if you love Regina, this story may not be for you.


"How can you not believe there's a curse?" he questioned, his voice raspy and weak as he spoke to Archie for what was probably the last time. "Don't you remember when I was Regina's son?"

Archie's look was blank, as it always had been. At least he tried. He was one of the few who put up with Henry and didn't call him crazy to his face. In Henry's mind, Archie was his only true friend. "But Henry, you're too old to be her son," he pointed out, trying to use logic. "You're ninety eight."

"But the curse," Henry insisted, before a cough racked his body. How ironic, that he would die of old age while everyone he knew literally hadn't aged a day. "Archie, you have to believe. Someone has to break the curse. You have to try."

Archie smiled, but it was sad, and the disbelief was evident in his eyes. "I'll try, Henry." He was just trying to reassure him, and Henry couldn't blame the psychiatrist. The only one he could blame was Regina. She'd cast the curse; she'd tortured everyone in town. Sure, she'd given Henry a chance to leave when he was no longer a cute, innocent child. He'd taken it, traveling all over the world in search of Emma or a clue of how to break Regina's curse. There had been none.

"Archie, you have to promise me one more thing." Another coughing fit overcame him, and Archie gripped his hand, reassuring Henry that he wasn't alone. Even though he was the only one who aged, and the only one who believed, he'd never quite been alone. He'd always had Archie, from when he was young all the way up to now.

"Anything, Henry."

"Don't forget me?" Maybe Archie would remember him, would notice how his life was fading from the memories of everyone else. Maybe, Archie would finally believe in the curse, and would succeed where Henry had failed. Maybe, Henry's life wouldn't be in vain; and failing to find Emma wouldn't mean the town was cursed forever.

"I could never forget you, Henry," Archie promised. He meant it; but would his willpower be strong enough to fight against the curse? Henry could only hope so.

While Archie's promise might not be enough for him to break the curse, it was enough for Henry to let go and finally stop fighting. "Never … never give up," he whispered. He faintly heard the machines start to beep, but they weren't as important as Archie was. Henry was leaving, but Archie would never be able to escape, unless he was somehow able to remember. "Never stop fighting." Henry closed his eyes, not hearing Archie's protests, or the continued beeping of the machines. All he could feel now was freedom; the same freedom he hoped the rest of Storybrooke would one day achieve.


Scarletclarinet beta read for me, and is on Tumblr. Thank you so much for helping me with this! Also thanks to my sister who read it as well.