Happy Endings

Eight years later…

It had officially been twenty-eight years since the dark curse was cast. Much had changed. Life was beautiful for everyone.

Regina and Robin had an adorable little boy with her fabulous black hair and his beautiful blue eyes who they named Henry after her father who raised her. He had that snarky sarcasm like his mother and loved the earth like his father. Most importantly, he adored both of his parents and unlike how they grew up, he knew exactly what it felt like to have an abundance of love. His family was amazing.

Emma and Neal had another baby, a girl named Hope. She's five now and looks more and more like her big brother every day. Despite her name, she could be a bit of a pessimist at times and being the youngest, she could be a little bratty. Regina said she gets it from Snow but she still was very sweet.

Emery was a lot like his big sister. He also liked to pull the uncle card on Bae and try to boss him around even though Bae was a year older than him. It never worked.

Roland who was twelve and the eldest of the children was a lot like his papa. He liked the outdoors, was kind and honest, though he didn't care much for that rough lifestyle he used to live. Not just because he became accustomed to living in a castle and living a royal lifestyle but even though he was a lot like his father, he felt he always made the difficult choices rather than ones that may have been more sensible.

Jane took after her parents as well. She was highly intelligent. She was more so into science rather than magic, in that way she was a lot like her big brother Neal. She was also just as open hearted as her mother and only saw the best in people. Like her father, once she set her mind to something, she didn't give up until she accomplished it.

Pinocchio and Andi's children, Haven and Salem picked up the love of art from their family. They were very blunt and honest. Actually, all of the children were in their own way.

Baelfire was quite the precocious ten year old. His Charming genes were strong in his personality. He was aware that he had the heart of the truest believer. Who knew what that meant exactly but they did know he was powerful. They just didn't know how whatever power he had worked.

All the children were growing up nicely and they were all pretty close. The castle had never been so lively. Jane, Salem and Haven were visiting for a couple weeks at the castle as they did often.

Bae, Hope, Emery and Henry just finished one of their magic lessons with Regina. They wanted to learn, they were very capable and Regina liked knowing that they could protect themselves if they needed to. Afterward, they went and found the other kids and played hide-and-seek. Hope was it and she hated being it because she always had a hard time finding everyone. That's kind of ironic. Perhaps the Charming, finding people genes didn't kick in yet.

Bae went to hide in his room. He opened that old magical wardrobe which at this point was just a wardrobe so that he could hide in it. It should've been empty but what he found was a big brown leather book. He picked it up and the title read, Once Upon A Time.

"Where did this come from?" He wondered. He forgot all about hiding and went over to sit on his bed and opened the book.

"Once upon a time, there was a cowardly man called Rumpelstiltskin," is how the book began. On the right page there was a picture that looked strikingly similar to the only Rumpelstiltskin Bae knew.

"Grandpa?" He questioned. What kind of book was this? He flipped to a random page and read…

Prince Charming raced to find his one true love Snow White. Cursed by the evil queen, he found her in a glass coffin surrounded by the seven dwarfs who were saddened by the princess' death. Heartbroken by the death of his love, the dwarfs opened the coffin and he kissed her goodbye. In that moment, a wave of energy went through the land. Snow White's eyes opened.

'You found me.' Snow White said as she sat up in her coffin.

'Did you ever doubt I would?' Prince Charming asked.

'Truthfully, the glass coffin gave me pause.'

'You never have to worry. I will always find you.'

"You call that hiding?" Roland questioned as he entered the room with Hope taking Bae's attention from the book. He was helping Hope find everyone.

"Oh, I forgot." Bae replied.

"What are you reading?" Roland asked.

"I found a book.' I think these are the stories about, I don't know, everyone." Bae flipped through the book. "From the look of things, they're not all good."

"Let me see." Roland said and Bae handed him the book. He flipped it to a random page and read it aloud. "The Evil Queen gave Snow White the poisoned apple and she fell to the ground…"

They looked at the associated illustration.

"The Evil Queen, is that grandma?" Bae questioned and the three looked at each other.

"Grandma's not evil." Hope stated.

"Well if that's grams then who else would the queen be? It looks like her." Bae said.

The other kids who were already found entered the room.

"What are we doing?" Emery asked. They all gathered around on the bed and chairs in the room.

"Reading. I think this may be our family's history. There are other people in here too."

"It's not real." Hope said.

"How do you know?" Bae asked.

"Because grandma's not evil. I just said that." Hope replied.

"Yeah. Hope's right. Why would my mom poison Snow? That's crazy." Roland said.

Bae took the book back and just flipped through the pages one by one, just so they could look at the pictures.

Henry took the book and closed it, a bit disturbed by what he saw. "Let's go play."

"Mom!" Bae called as he saw Emma walk past the room. She walked backwards then entered.

"What's up?" Emma asked.

"Are these stories true?" Bae asked though he was sure they were. He handed her the book and when she touched it, every story in the book flashed through her mind then she instantly dropped the book and stood frozen for a moment.

"Mommy?" Hope called wondering if she was okay.

"Sorry. I'm fine." Emma picked up the book.

"Are they true?" Bae repeated the question.

"Uh…" She didn't know what to say. She knew it was true but undoubtedly, knowing that would crush the children's belief in a few people they loved and looked up to. She saw Snow pass the door. "Mom!" She called.

Snow entered the room. "Yes sweetheart?"

"This book, the kids want to know if it's true." Emma handed her the book. Snow skimmed through it then closed it. The children awaited an answer. As long as it was taking for them to get it, they kind of figured it out.

"Wow. There really is a book. Okay…" Snow was thinking the same thing as Emma but she felt like she had to tell them the truth. "It's true."

"All of it?" Roland asked disappointedly.

"Oh boy." Snow thought. Regina passed the door. She should tell them herself. "Mom!" Snow called. Yeah, major progress had been made over eight years. Regina came into the room. "This book has all of our stories in it. All of our stories."

Regina had a look of concern on her face. "Let me see that." Snow gave her the book and she turned to a random page in which she happen to be on and read… "Kill them. Kill them all. No mercy. Find me Snow White," said The Evil Queen. She slammed the book shut. She looked up to the children staring at her like she was a stranger. "You told them?" She whispered to Snow.

"If we don't, someone else will and they'll use it against them." Snow replied.

Regina sighed. "Sometimes people can lose themselves, lose sight of what's important, what's right. Sometimes people fall into darkness and have a very hard time finding their way out of it. I so happen to be one of those people but eventually I found my way back and I didn't do it alone." She went down to the children's level. "It's true. I've done some really horrible things but I'm not that person anymore. I'm still the same person you all know and love and who loves you." Henry got up and hugged her. "You all still love me right?"

They all just nodded. Then she headed for the door.

"Grandma. Can I have the book back?" Bae asked.

Regina didn't really want to give it back but she did then she, Snow and Emma left the room.

-v-

Later, Snow and Regina were in the common room then Emma came in with two books.

"You got it. Someone's trying to turn the kids against me." Regina said.

"I doubt it. Bae said it just appeared." Emma said.

"Nothing just appears." Regina was seriously bothered. The kids adored and looked up to her more than almost anyone. All of that could be ripped away with one stupid book. "I own up to the things I've done but I just didn't think I had to worry about the kids seeing me as some evil queen."

"Mom, they love you, nothing's going to change that." Snow said.

"There's more." Emma held up another book that looked like the other only it was titled, Tales from Other Lands. "This has stories from Neverland, Wonderland, Storybrooke, the land with no magic… Apparently, land without magic isn't exactly an accurate description." Meanwhile Emma flipped to a page in Once Upon a Time. It was the page about her parents' wedding.

The first page of it was beautiful but she knew that. She had been hearing that story all her life. Then she turned the page…

In the doorway, stood a figure all in black. The Evil Queen…

Emma continued to read to herself until she got to…

"I shall destroy your happiness if it is the last thing I do." Emma read aloud. "Wow, you were bitter!" Regina looked at her. "Sorry but 'if it's the last thing you do?' That's… psychotic."

"I'm well aware of my mental state at the time. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one in the book." Regina said.

Emma flipped through the other book. "The real Peter Pan story is in this one, so is everything that happened to Neal after he left here, Lilo and Stitch, 100 Dalmatians..."

"Why did these books show up now?" Snow questioned.

-v-

The next day, the family gathered for breakfast. There was an awkward vibe in the room, the children were quieter than usual but that didn't last.

"The family tree…" Bae started.

"I'm not taking this one." Emma said.

"So Peter Pan is grandpa Rumple's father…" It took Bae the entire breakfast to break down the entire family tree. Luckily, they didn't have to explain that much. He pretty much explained it to them, thanks to that darn book.

"What we've concluded from reading the books is, we have the most dysfunctional family in the history of every world." Roland said.

"I'm sure we're not the most dysfunctional." Snow said.

"Are you sure because we read some pretty sick stuff?" Salem questioned.

"Yeah, mom was forced to marry her mother's ex-fiancé. That's gross." Roland said.

They couldn't see the children letting these stories go any time soon.

"And there are no happy endings." Jane said sadly.

"No, there are no happy endings in the book but we don't need a book to tell us we have happy endings because we're living our happy endings. We have overcome everything we've done and everything those before us have done and we found happily ever after because we believed in hope and love and acted as such." Snow explained.

"Goodness does win in the end. That's important for all of you to remember." David said.

The children were a bit devastated that their family wasn't the picture of perfection they thought it was but since everyone who lived those stories moved on, maybe they should too but none of them could stop thinking about it. They would try though.

After breakfast, they went to play in the garden with the servants' children. They were quite close to them as well. Lonely was not in any of their vocabulary, except for Jane. Sometimes she got lonely at her parents' castle, that's why she liked to visit. Sometimes they would even go play with the children at the orphanage.

Cinderella, Thomas and their daughter Alexandra were visiting. Alexandra ran into the garden with the other children. She wasn't as fortunate to have so many children around.

"Hi Baelfire!" Alexandra smiled.

"H- H- H-" Bae stuttered, he couldn't even get 'hi' out. Roland hit him on the arm to snap him out of it. "Hi Alex." He finally said then Alexandra ran off. He always had a major crush on her. She was just as pretty and sweet as her mother. Ever since he was very young he would see her and forget how to speak for a moment.

"I guess you missed the Charming gene in that sense, huh?" Salem said.

Meanwhile, Snow, David, Cinderella and Thomas were having tea in the parlor and Emma and Neal were in the common room still being flirty with each other after being together eleven years and reminiscing.

"Remember when we used to sneak into the amusement parks at night? That was so much fun." Emma said.

"One thing I'm good at is finding ways to have fun. Snow would have had a heart attack if she knew we were doing that."

Emma laughed. "Yeah but I get the rebel gene from her. You still know how to surprise me after all these years."

"I have to let my princess know she's appreciated." They kissed then they heard Pinocchio call Emma's name. He must be picking up Salem and Haven. She looked to see him with an old friend.

"Nicole?" Emma questioned. She hadn't seen her dear friend since her nineteenth birthday. Her typically bubbly friend from her memory was not that today. She was disheveled and her usually high spirit was low. Emma went to hug her and tears began to fall. She had Nicole sit with her so Neal and Pinocchio left them alone. "What's going on? How are you here?"

"I should probably explain something to you first, a secret. My name isn't Nicole. It's…"

"Lilo." They said in unison.

"How did you know?" She was surprised.

"I've been putting it together and when you said your name wasn't Nicole I just knew. Why didn't you tell me? Did you know my stories were real the whole time?"

"No. My sister and I were on the run from the government so when Lilo and Stitch came out, I thought they were just trying to draw us out. I didn't tell you the truth because hiding from the government made me sort of paranoid."

"Why were you hiding?"

"Once the government found out I had an alien living with me, they were on our asses. We left beautiful Hawaii, ended up in New York and changed our names. Recently, that bitch Britt ended up working at my job. We were up for the same promotion but I was more likely to get it because I had been there longer and frankly, people liked me better. That's not hard. So she wanted to ruin me. She dug into my past until she found something. Then she turned me in."

"All for a promotion? What is wrong with her?"

"They took Stitch and killed my sister and brother-in-law." Lilo started crying again. "Stitch told me not to save him. He told me to save myself so I jumped in that portal. I found your brother then he brought me here. You all should probably close that portal some way before the wrong person finds it and comes through… Anyway, can I stay? I have no place else to go? We're still friends after all these years right?"

"Of course, time nor distance can change that. We have plenty of room."

"Thank you!" They hugged.

-v-

Rumple and Belle came to pick up Jane but Rumple made sure to spend a little time with his eldest children before he left. He found Regina in the garden picking apples. He took one out of the basket and bit into it.

"How are you Rumple?" Regina asked.

"Pretty good… You know, after all this time you can call me papa." Rumple said.

"Papa? Not really something I'd say."

"Dad, whatever you'd prefer."

"It's weird."

"Why? We've come so far."

"I had a daddy, it's just… It's not that easy. I have a question. Had you known I was your daughter, would you have tried to corrupt my soul so that you could find Neal?"

"Had I known, I could have just asked you to help me find your brother so probably not but you know the curse influenced my decisions. Maybe I couldn't always show it but I cared for you even before I knew you were my daughter. I know you better than I know your brother. I love you as much as I love Neal and Jane."

"Yeah, I love you too Rumple. I may get to the dad thing at some point… By the way, Jane is well aware of your dark past now, you may have to talk to her."

-v-

Bae was in his room sitting in the bay window reading the books when he suddenly saw five different quills on the floor. Strange how things had been appearing lately. He found himself attracted to one quill in particular and he picked it up then The Apprentice appeared.

"Who are you?" He held his hand up prepared to blast him across the room and call for someone.

"Relax child. I'm here to help you." The Apprentice said.

"With what?"

"To help you understand your purpose and the power you hold. You chose the quill. As to be expected, you are the next author."

"What does that mean?"

"You have the responsibility of recording the most powerful stories to come. The last author abused his responsibility by manipulating and changing events."

"Okay… Don't change, just record."

"When the time comes for you to fully take on this responsibility, I'm sure you'll be ready. I also want you to understand the power of your heart."

"The heart of the truest believer."

"Right. Your grandparents: The truest love of all. Your mother: The product of that is the savior. You: The first born product of all of that makes you special. Emery and Hope are special in their own way and that will be revealed in time. No one knows much of what it means to be the truest believer but the power is in your heart. As long as you remain pure of heart, it will only grow stronger. You are the light that brings people together and can remove the darkness from any dark soul. Your heart itself could supply magic to an entire world, therefore you must always be protective of it."

"You realize I'm ten, right?"

"Ten and able to understand every bit of it. Your family will protect you for as long as you need them. Then you'll be able to protect yourself. Keep this between you and your family because the moment outsiders find out the power you hold is the moment you will be in grave danger."

Bae nodded before The Apprentice disappeared. "Mom! Dad!" He called. He had to tell them all of this.

-v-

The stories in the books took place over the course of centuries and none of the books with the truth have a happy ending. It's a wonder people even continued to believe in happily ever after or maybe they didn't and maybe that's why they didn't get them until now. The answer to every happy ending was love and though villains don't get happy endings, it is possible to change and learn from your past. Once you do that then you are a reformed villain, therefore happy endings are back on the table. Karma may come back to bite you occasionally but that's kind of to be expected.

The family, their closest friends and the servants gathered together for Emma's twenty-eighth birthday. Snow and David stood hand in hand and made a toast.

"First let me say, happy birthday to my baby girl. Thank you for being the vessel in which our happy endings came." David said.

"Twenty-eight years ago today, the curse began and all we could see ahead was darkness and loneliness. We were told that today would be the day that all that would change and that wasn't good enough for me. I was determined to have it broken as soon as possible. I am grateful for every moment I get to share with each and every one of you. We have all overcome the darkness and found our way back to ourselves, back to the ones we love." Snow looked at her Prince Charming. "Love is eternal and is the key to all happiness. As cheesy as it may sound, I will say it once more. Love conquers all. With love we can do anything."

Cheers to that. Everyone kissed their loved ones…

And they lived happily ever after.

For now...

Eternal Love II is up now... Eternal Love III will soon follow. That will be the last. Thanks for reading, reviewing, etc... Hope you enjoy the sequels as well.