I had this idea of writing something which occurred immediately after all the characters were sent back to the Enchanted Forest.
Its only a one shot but I hope it is least worth reading
Please leave your reviews, and feel free to point out any typo or grammar mistake
Thank you
:)
The purple cloud engulfed everyone in Storybrooke. They felt as if they were being swept away from the ground. Regina could not help but to instinctively extend her gloved hand towards her son Henry, who had already crossed the line, who had already forgotten all about her and all the years she had taken care of him. Belle, on the other hand, had nothing to lose. Rumple was dead, and she had none left now. The seer was right- the boy was indeed his undoing. However, the boy was never Henry. The boy that was destined to be her lover's undoing was Peter Pan. Rumple has accepted his fate, and had died. Belle just stood there, frozen. Everyone just stood there frozen. They just stood there, watching Rumple and Peter dying. When she saw Rumple dying, she felt as if someone had stabbed her in her heart. It was a pain she had never felt before. He died in front of her, and she just watched. She wanted a family with him, she wanted to have children. She wanted to be happy with him. He was her happiness. He was her everything. Now that he was dead, there was nothing to go back to. She closed her eyes. The smoke took them away from Storybrooke, back to the enchanted forest.
When Belle opened her eyes again, she felt something cold and hard under her head. At first, she thought she was on her bed, as usual, but then she realized that it was not the case. She was someplace else, someplace she did not know.
Slowly, she sat and scanned her surroundings. The realization finally hit her- they were back in the enchanted forest, and Rumple was dead.
"How are you feeling, Belle?" she heard a feminine voice asking from behind.
She turned around and saw Red and Ariel.
"I… I am alright, yes." She lied, as she got up.
"Where are the others?" She asked.
"Over there" Ruby said, pointing to a large group of people far away.
"When we came back, we got lost, and we still haven't found Regina and Snow yet."
"Let's join the others." Ariel suggested.
All three women joined the rest of the inhabitants of Storybrooke.
"I never thought I would be coming back here." Neal said, as he looked around him.
"And I have nothing left here, my whole life was…"
"Back there." The blue fairy finished his sentence.
"Did you find my wife? Have you seen her?" Charming suddenly said, as he realized that Ruby and Ariel were back without Snow.
"No, but she will be fine. We haven't seen Regina as well." Ruby said.
"Well, nothing is the same as it used to be. The enchanted forest is not the same anymore." Prince Eric said, as he came next to Ariel and took her hand in his.
"I can try to locate them; I have a good sense of smell." Ruby said to Prince Charming.
"Please, find my wife. I don't want to lose my daughter and my wife in a single day."
On hearing this, Hook could not help but to feel a deep ache in his heart.
The thought of never seeing Emma again was unbearable.
"Okay." Ruby replied as she morphed into a wolf.
"Be careful." Granny told her.
Regina opened her eyes lazily. What time was it?
She ought to get out of bed and get ready.
However, she quickly remembered the bitter truth.
She was back in the enchanted forest.
They were all back.
And she had lost Henry.
She looked besides her and saw Snow.
"Oh no, Snow." She shook Snow but the latter remained unresponsive.
"Snow White, wake up!" Regina almost yelled.
Snow slowly opened up her eyes.
"Charming, baby, no… More sleep…" Snow White said, and yawned.
Regina could not help but to slap her, which brought her back to her senses.
"Regina, what are you doing in my bed?' was the first thing Snow said. Then looking around her, she finally recalled everything.
"We are back…" Snow whispered, almost to herself.
"Yes, we are…" Regina replied.
Snow looked once again around her, but the others were nowhere to be seen.
"Where are the…" Snow started but a loud noised interrupted her.
The expression on Regina's face changed.
Snow has never seen the queen so frighten.
"What was that?" Snow asked.
"Let's move away from here, let's find the others now." Was all Regina Mills replied back, but she sounded really scared.
Both women started to look for the rest of Storybrooke's inhabitants.
Flashback
Regina was in her room, sitting in front of her mirror.
"My queen," the genie in the mirror said, "I hate to see you like this. You are losing a bit of yourself everyday but you don't even see that yourself."
"Shut up" Regina replied, her voice sounding even harsher than usual.
"I am going to visit a friend, but I shall be back soon." She added before disappearing in a purple cloud of smoke
Maleficent was sitting next to her black unicorn pony, and the latter playfully placed his head over her shoulder.
Maleficent smiled with genuine happiness.
Suddenly, she heard a whoosh coming from somewhere in the castle.
Maleficent knew- The queen Regina was paying her a visit.
"Well, I was not expecting anyone." Maleficent told the queen as she stepped into the hall where the queen has magically appeared.
"I just wanted to pay a little visit to a friend." Regina replied.
"I don't understand why you have decided to live like…" Regina looked around her, a disgusted expression on her face, before continuing "this, away from everything. You are everybody's fool. Everyone makes fun of you, Maleficent. The whole kingdom does make fun of what you have become, but you chose to live here, hidden." Regina said in a reproachful tone.
"I am ready to put the past behind be. All I want is to be happy, and I don't care what they will say about me. I used to be a good person once, and then, I was so obsessed by my idea of revenge that I forgot who I really was. Don't to the same mistakes I did, Regina. I am telling you this as a friend. I am your friend." Maleficent replied back.
"All I want is to be happy too, but only when Snow is dead." Regina replied.
Maleficent shook her head sadly, as she realized that her friend could not be reasoned.
"I need your sleeping curse." Regina said.
"That's why you did come then…" Maleficent replied.
Present
Snow and Regina were still waking and trying to find the others.
None of them could speak.
The pain of having lost their loved ones was still too fresh.
Suddenly, the same chilling sound was head and something monstrous appeared in front of them
"What is thaaattt?" Shouted Snow as a zombie like creature formed itself in front of them, and growling as if it was it pain.
"That is Maleficent, or rather what is left of her…" Regina explained.
The zombie like creature fully formed itself.
It was nothing but a scary skeleton, and its clothes were torn to rags.
Only her golden horns were intact.
Regina fell on her knees, sobbing.
"This is all my doing. I turned you into the monster you have become. You are in pain and that's my fault, so it's only normal and only fair that you kill me." She said.
However, as Maleficent charged, Snow placed herself in front of Regina and it was her who was injured instead of Regina.
"Regina! Now is not the right moment to have a death wish! We have to find the others, together!" Snow managed to say, despite of the pain.
Regina closed her eyes briefly, realizing that Snow was right.
"Forgive me, my friend." Regina said as she threw a fire ball on her former friend.
Two tears silently rolled on Regina's cheeks as she saw Maleficent's remains being reduced to ashes and dying permanently.
Regina's attention was drawn back to Snow, who was injured.
Using her magic, she managed to heal her.
"Thank you," Snow said.
"No, thank you, Snow." Regina replied back, and genuinely smiled at Snow for the first time after so many years.
At the same time, they heard a wolf panting behind them.
Ruby had found them.
Ruby quickly changed back into her human form.
"Ruby!" Snow said as she rushed in her friend's arms.
Belle felt as if her whole world had fallen apart.
She was surrounded by people yet felt more alone than ever.
Suddenly, she heard someone calling her name.
That was a voice she had not heard since a long time ago.
A voice that she never thought she would hear again.
She turned around and saw Mulan.
"I never thought I would see you again. Not after we freed the Yaoguai." Belle admitted to her old friend.
"Well, I hear that all of you are now back into the enchanted forest. I heard that the evil Queen is back as well." Mulan replied back.
"Yes, but she is not evil anymore." Belle explained.
"Lucky she isn't." Mulan said, "Because two evil witches would have been too much."
"Wha… what do you mean, Mulan?" Belle asked, perplexed.
"There has been a strange storm, and this has brought something evil here. Something none of us have ever encountered before. She calls herself the Wicked Witch of the West"