A/N: If you have not watched past episode 7 of season 2 be warned. There are things in this chapter that I would consider spoilers. If you read this and have not watched that far please don't be mad at me. That is why it has taken so long. I am trying to get the next chapter done so you can just skip this chapter. Again. This is fair warning that there may be spoilers in this chapter.
Finally I am free from the cage on that wretched ship. I still don't understand how to control this magic, but I need to get as far away from the port as possible. I have been flying for about a day. I get tired, so I rest on a high branch in the canopy of the forest. As I settle in I hear teeth clicking. I look around and I see a squirrel start coming towards me. I decide it isn't the right branch to rest on so I fly a little farther into the forest. I land on another tree limb and rest for a little bit. I sit there for about an hour before I hear another noise, but it sounds far off so I don't move. Seconds later something hits me in the back. I am caught off guard, so I don't even register that I am falling out of the tree until one of my wings hits a branch. I try to fly, but my wing is now broken. This is it. I am going to die as a bird that fell out of a tree. I braced for impact and my death, but it never came.
I felt the soft warmth of whatever hat caught me. I open my eyes to see an older man. He is probably around the age that Rumplestiltskin was before he became the Dark One. I try to stand on his hands, but he stops me.
"Calm down little one." He smiles at me. "You are in good hands." He starts to walk through the forest. "I am going to bring you back to my home, and my wife and I will fix you right up." I relaxed after he says that. I am glad that I am in the hands of a seemingly nice man. I sense something different about him, though. We finally make it to this man's home, and a woman comes out. She is beautiful. "Dear, I found an injured bird that needs our help." The man says as the woman starts to carefully lift me from the man's grasp.
"You poor thing." She said to me as she cradles me in her arms. She walks towards the cabin as she continues to talk to me. Does she know that I am not really a bird? "My name is Crystal. The man who brought you to me is my husband. His name is Gerard." We finally cross the threshold of the cabin and she sets me down on the bed in the corner of the room. I look around to see a partially built rocking baby crib. I looked towards the woman, Crystal, again. I see a very small baby bump. She is pregnant, but she is just starting to show it. I would congratulate them if I could talk. Wait, maybe I can. Parrots can talk. I try to say something, but it comes out as a squawking sound. "Don't you worry, this is going to help you." Crystal said as she starts to do something with my wing. When she finishes, I look at what she has done.
She has splinted my wing. Hopefully it heals well. I watch the two interact across the room. The way Gerard looks at Crystal with such love and affection is beautiful. I want someone to look at me like that. Mika had promised me that I would find my true love. I just have to be patient. I have all the time in the world now that I have Mika's pocket watch. She said it would keep me young for as long as I wear it. The next thing that I have to figure out is how to get back to my human form. Even before that I need my wing to heal.
It took a while for my wing to finally heal enough for me to start trying to fly again. It was a joyous occasion. The brought me outside and I flapped my wings. I lifted myself into the air and flew around in the open air above the trees. But, there is something that pulls me back to the couple. I fly down to them and land on Gerard's shoulder. They look at me with curious expressions. They are probably wondering why I am back. It makes sense. They think I am a wild bird, but I enjoy their company. I stay with them, and I feel content and safe with them. I have decided that I will stay with them until I can figure out how to get back to my human self. It was a very long time until that happened. It was after Gerard and Crystal were already dead and gone. I have mourned the loss of their lives many times over, but their children had children, and I have been with them the whole time. I saw many of them grow up, and I also saw many of them die.
I wish I had been able to produce some sort of protective magic that tragic night. It was not meant to be, though. In my bird form I could not do anything but watch. I was brought to the roof by the granddaughter of Gerard and Crystal, Widow. We sat quietly as we watched her father and brothers head out to hunt down a wolf that has been terrifying the people living in the area. Before they can head out to find the beast, the beast comes to them. We watch as this huge wolf tears apart the boys and their father. Widow, trying to get away, falls off of the roof and lands in front of the vicious wolf covered in the blood of her family. I try to distract the canine, but it swats me out of the way.
The wolf bites the girl's arm then runs off. I finally am able fly to her, and she is hyperventilating. I get as close to the girl as possible and nuzzle my head against her neck. It hakes a long time for her to calm herself down, but she has no energy. I want to leave and get help, but I don't want to leave her out here all alone. I decide to stay with her. I needed to watch over her. Widow was the last connection I had to my friends. I could not loose that. I stay with her until she wakes up the next day. She is able to stand up and dizzily walk into town where her wounds are dressed. She tells the townspeople of everything that had happened, and they let her rest.
It has been years since Widow was left an orphan. She married a man, who happened to also be the wolf that marked her all those years ago. Widow was also cursed to be a werewolf. They had a daughter named Anita. Once she was of age she showed signs of having the curse as well. Not long after Anita was born, hunters killed Widow's husband. She had to raise Anita all by herself, and I believe that she did a good job of it. Maybe she tried to suppress the wolf inside herself and Anita too much, but that is the only thing that I didn't agree with. Some more years later Anita ends up having a daughter, Red. Oh, she was the cutest little thing you ever did see.
In preparation for the time that Red would take on the curse Widow went in search of a wizard. She said that she has sought him out before and he would help her again. When she arrived back at the cottage she presented Anita a red cloak. It was said to prevent a werewolf from turning. Anita felt this was not necessary. She wanted her daughter to embrace her own wolf. This whole argument did not go well. It ended with Anita leaving. I never saw her again. We found out that the cloak did work, but only when Red was wearing it. As she got older she got more defiant. She would take her cloak off during the time of the wolf. It would almost always end in disaster.
One day, without even trying, I started to feel as if I had fingers. I was home alone, then. It was strange. I haven't been in my human form for over a century. As I look at all of my limbs I realize that I am dressed different than what I remember. I was dressed in a flowy, floor-length, yellow-orange dress, with a floor-length, blue-green hooded cloak. The inside of that cloak was a fur dyed to match the dress. It seemed so elegant. I remember that I had been dressed in peasant clothes. They had been dirty and rag-like. I like the change, but it didn't seem to make sense. Then again it had to do with my magic somehow. The slight weight on my neck reminded me of Mika's last gift. The pocket watch, which is supposed to keep me young as long as I keep it with me always, is still here. As I come to grips with my return to human form Widow comes into the cottage. She goes wide-eyed, and points her crossbow at me. I have not been able to speak in so long. Will I be able to now?
"Widow." I started. My voice crackles and scratches my throat. I turn to see the small bowl of water that I used to drink out of when I was a bird. I downed the sip of water and actually felt much better. "Widow, it is me." I point to the small water bowl in my hand. She finally realized that I was actually the parrot that had been in her family for a couple generations. She dropped the crossbow and ran to me, engulfing me in a hug. "Calm down dear." I said, still trying to get used to talking. I hugged her and rubbed her back.
"How can I calm down? My parrot just turned into a woman." She looked at me, and I knew that she was still very confused. I then started to tell her my story as we both sat down. I didn't tell her about Rumplestiltskin, but I told her about everything else. When I finished she just stared at me. Then she finally spoke. "You have had quite a life." I giggled.
"Yes, well, I guess I have." I looked down at the floor." When I first met your grandparents I promised myself that I would stay with their family until I figured out how to get back my human form. Now that the time has come I do not know if I want to go." She looked at me and placed a hand on my knee.
"Go, Ava. Go be free." I didn't know what to say. "You have served my family enough, and it is your time to find what you really want. You need to find the one that is out there for you, dear." I nodded and looked out the window. I realized that my life is just beginning. I can go anywhere and do anything now.
"You are right. I need to live my life and find the one that I am meant to be with." Widow smiled at me as we both stood up. "I will try to visit when I can." I said before exiting the cottage.
"Don't you worry about it. If your life leads you back here, then so be it. But do not change plans just to come back to visit." She smiled at me. I smiled back, but I was still hesitant. "Go" she said. "Get on with your life." I smiled and finally started to run off towards the forest and turn back into a parrot. It is the best form of transportation. It didn't know if I would ever see them again, but I felt in my soul that I would. It is finally time for me to get on with my life and find my true love.
A/N: Thank you for reading. Let me know what you think.