OUAT ch.25
*Thank you to MilliePrue-BellatrixLestrange for kicking my butt into gear with her we miss you PM! To be honest I lost my muse with ONCE but not anymore! I will try to update as soon and as much as I can but I have to let you guys know that I am still in high school and have advanced placement classes and homework to do and later when school starts I will have sports and maybe work going on. Just know that I will try my best! Anyone go to SDCC?*
It was the hospital that called Ruby and Granny, not Regina. And it was Ruby that had to be strong for Granny. Not the other way around, as they drove to the hospital. After parking and asking for the room number that Clarion was in, Ruby and Granny walked towards the room. Ruby slowed and let granny hold onto her as they saw through the glass and to the sleeping girl in the hospital bed. It was numbing to see her so still since she was so sprightly almost all the time. Granny's strong hand griped Ruby's smaller and thinner one as Ruby opened the door to Ree's hospital room. Henry looked up from his seat next to the bed with a large book in his lap. He gave a small smile to the two of them before shutting the book and looking to Ree. Granny burst into loud sobs and walked over to Ree's bedside and cried over the little girl. Looking at her now she looked even smaller, granted Ruby always knew she was but the white sheets and the large monitors made her look smaller and even frail.
"What happened? The nurse only said she collapsed and was in the hospital." Ruby asked while walking towards Henry. Henry looked to Ruby with sad, broken eyes and spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Magic." Henry wiped his eyes and Ruby rubbed his back as they all watched granny worry over the sleeping form of Clarion. Neither of the women believed him though, they both knew Henry thought there was a curse on the town. They would just have to ask a nurse or the doctor when they came.
It wasn't long before Regina and Emma walked in, Henry immediately jumping from his seat, rushing towards the two. Regina felt her heart soar when she saw henry rush towards them, but felt her heart drop to the ground floor of the hospital as Henry hugged Emma instead of her as she had hoped. Regina shook it off, but couldn't ignore the growing annoyance and hatred towards the blonde woman on her left. Then again she thought of the situation they were in and felt her heart break and fresh tears sprung in her eyes. Granny and Ruby stood tall and firm as Regina entered, both unaware of what was really going on. Emma led Henry into the hospital room again without a word, but Henry wouldn't let go of her and stayed attached to Emma until she approached the bed. The room was silent except for the slow, steady beat of the heart rate monitor, and Emma felt as if she would collapse from the stress, the new found information about the curse and the impending fight waiting for her afterwards.
"You guys were right about the curse..." Emma looked at Henry. "-I should've believed you…I'm sorry." She turned back to the hospital bed and fixed the portion of Ree's hair that Granny hadn't. She felt a tear fall from her eye and then pulled herself from Clarion's bedside. She hugged henry as Regina slowly approached and Granny and Ruby left the room.
"You've got 10 minutes, so say what you gotta say." Emma said, the raw annoyance was raw as she spoke towards the woman.
"You know where to meet?" Regina asked, staring at the form asleep in the hospital bed.
"Yea. Don't be late." Emma said, while she and Henry walked out after Granny and Ruby. Outside, Emma started talking to Henry about what she needed to do.
Regina sighed, and took a deep breath before approaching Clarion. She leaned on the mattress and stared at her sleeping form, willing her to wake up. She wiped at tear as she tried to speak.
"I'm sorry baby girl. I'm so sorry." Regina sat on the edge of the bed and held her limp hand in her own. It was a silent and maybe even peaceful moment despite the circumstances before Regina was interrupted during her time with her baby girl.
"Pity isn't it?" Regina turned to see the man that disturbed her standing in a dark part of the room; of course she could still make out who it was. Jefferson walked towards the bed and stood so he was across from her while saying, "There's nothing more horrible than not knowing whether or not you'll see your child again." Regina stood and tensed as he stood before her.
"Jefferson now is not a good time." She said hoarsely.
"For you. Well for me it's the perfect time. I'm here to collect…Now where is she?" He asked calmly. It was infuriating that Jefferson would come to her at a time like this…she snapped.
"Emma was supposed to eat that apple. She didn't. As far as I'm concerned that makes our deal null and void." Regina looked down at her child and tried to calm herself.
"I did what you asked me to do and now you're going to screw me over again?" Jefferson leaned in as he spoke.
"Look at it however you want Jefferson. The fact is I'm done with you." Regina looked to Jefferson and stared.
"But I'm not done with you." He said with that voice that made it seem as though her was up to something.
"What are you going to do?" Regina challenged. "Kill me? I know you want to, but I also know you can't." She said triumphantly.
"Do you?" Jefferson challenged back. Regina scoffed.
"Yes. You don't have it in you." Regina backed away from Jefferson when she saw the nurse enter. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to save my daughter." With that she left Jefferson alone as she went to meet Emma.
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It was a good 40 minutes of silence and solitude in the hospital room for Granny, Ruby and Henry. The latter was asleep in a hospital bed opposite Clarion's. Ruby was seated in a chair outside the room, Granny however, was planted to Clarion's left and was continuously talking to her and fussing with her hair. But then the monitor began to let off rapid beats and Granny was on her feet and the nurses were rushing in, along with them. Granny was ushered out by the nurses despite her loud and somewhat vulgar protests. Across town, Emma had just untied Regina and was in mid-stride when both women received a call. Emma turned to Regina and pulled her phone from her pocket, Regina did the same.
"It's the hospital." Emma said as her and Regina answered their phones. Back across town, everything had calmed down and they were now unplugging the machines and taking Clarion off the respirator. Henry was in such an emotional state that Ruby had taken him from the room and to the cafeteria. Granny was in ruby's chair and holding Ree's hand in her own and cried into the bed. She didn't hear Regina or Emma outside the room or and Mother Superior exit and talk to them.
"I'm sorry, we did everything we could." told Regina and Emma.
"We were too late." Mother Superior said. Emma walked in slowly with Regina following close behind. When she heard Regina's heels, Granny stood up and nodded to the two before walking out with tears streaming down her eyes. Regina pressed her hand on the glass wall as she watched Ree, motionless. Emma went and flopped down into the chair Granny had been in and held Ree's hand while petting Ree's hair. Regina cried into 's chest as Henry, Ruby, and Granny waited outside the room and looked in. Emma wiped her tears and sniffled as she stood up, but before she walked away to allow Regina her time with Clarion, she leaned over the still little girl. She fixed her hair one last time and tried to calm her shaking body as she leaned further over the bed.
"I love you Ree." She planted a kiss on her forehead, but before she pulled away, noticeable warmth spread through her body and left her when she pulled away from Ree's forehead. A large breeze proceeded and blew back Clarion's and her hair and even Regina and 's.
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Clarion's POV
I felt like my head was going to explode as I lay in the cold floor, the mirrors still surrounding me. I don't know how long I was there but when the pain finally subsided, I sat up and felt as though I was being pulled from under 500 feet of water. My breath was catching and I felt even colder before I landed on something soft. I then realized that I was on a bed and that I wasn't breathing. I let out a large gasp and opened my eyes to see Emma standing over me with a tear stained face.
"I love you too, Emma…."
"You did it." Regina said with a smile. Then she realized…"You did it." She said angrily.
"Ree?" Emma asked.
"I think you broke the curse." I said happily. She smiled.
"Emma?" I asked, relief washing over me after I realized I was no longer in the circle of mirrors. She immediately enveloped me in a tight hug. It gave me a strange feeling, I felt my whole body warm up and then it stopped when she pulled away from me. But when she did, she jumped and backed away to the glass wall. I looked around a saw I was in the hospital, Regina was staring at me with close behind her, Henry, Granny, And Ruby were outside. However, I couldn't help but notice how they were all staring at me with wide eyes and scared faces. Henry however, had a large smile on his face and broke from Granny's grip when I looked at him. He opened the door and did a run and jump onto the bed to give me a hug.
"You're alive!" He said happily. I pulled out of his hug and looked at him questioningly.
"What do you mean? Was I dead?" I asked. He returned my questioning look and nodded. Then he smiled and whispered in my ear, "You look like yourself now too." He smirked before getting off the bed to stand by me. I couldn't help but give everyone a questioning look.
"What happened to me?" I asked Emma first and then looked around the room to Regina. Granny and Ruby walked in, with what I realized was my old backpack. Regina shuffled forward to my bedside and sat down cautiously. I tried to scoot closer to her to give her a hug and ask her what was wrong but she scooted away a little.
"Emma?" I tried instead. She snapped out of whatever funk she was in and stepped forward. I saw Regina snapped out of her own daze as she saw Emma get closer.
"You passed out after you ate that turnover." She said slowly, glancing at Regina with an icy glare.
"And? What did I pass out from?" Emma looked at Regina while she answered.
"Regina, put poison in the apple turnover, she meant for me to eat it. I'm sorry, Ree, it's my fault as well. I let you eat it, maybe if I hadn't-"
"Then you'd be asleep or dead." I answered. I tried to hold in my shock at Regina.
"How did you wake me up?" I asked, ignoring Regina's looks.
"True love's kiss." Henry answered. All the while he had been flipping through his book looking for something. When he did, he picked up the book and set it on my lap. "You're you now." He said, pointing to the picture of the fairytale me. Regina snatched the book up and looked at the picture before flipping around.
"Clarion we need to go." I looked up and saw Granny and Ruby standing a bit awkwardly behind Henry. Emma stood and brought Henry with her. Regina stood and snapped the book shut and stood up and put her hand on my shoulder.
"I hope you mean with me." Regina said with an edge in her voice. Ruby gently pulled me from the bed, but Regina just held onto my hand instead. When Ruby persisted, Regina walked around the bed and hugged me to her side.
"You're not taking her. She's my daughter and no one is going to take her from me." She said icily.
"Regina we're going to keep her safe." Ruby said, holding my clothes out to me. I took them but couldn't move to put them on because Regina was still holding me tightly to her side.
"From what? I'm not afraid of whatever you have planned." Regina said defiantly.
"We're not the ones you need to worry about. Once everyone waked up from your curse they'll want revenge. And where will you be with no magic, people who would do anything for revenge, and your daughter acting as a weak link for you?" Granny said, stepping before Ruby. I looked up at Regina and she looked at me, I saw her tear stained face and dried tears turn into fresh ones. Silently I was angry with her, and then another side of me was hoping she wouldn't leave me. But then there was the fear of her as my memories rushed back to me. I shook my head no despite what I was feeling as I remembered that what stayed in common in both my memories was the want for a mom. I knew I was pleading with my eyes for her to not let me go since she gave me a quick squeeze and brushed my hair back, I saw a glance of it and saw it was dark blackish brown instead of light brown. She gave a heavy sigh and put a kiss on my forehead, and then I felt Granny pull me away. I realized what she was doing, and I protested. At first I said no quietly and then I saw she wasn't doing anything but stand there. I remembered her promise to me and tore my arm from Granny's grip and ran into Regina's arms and hugged her. She hugged me back and pulled away with both hands on either side of my face. She squatted down to my level and gave a heavy sigh.
"You have to go with Ruby and Granny. They'll keep you safe, because she is right." I felt tears sting my eyes. "The curse is broken and people will be made, the last thing I need is for you to be caught up in the mix." She wiped my tears and stood up straight. She gave me a hug and a kiss on the forehead.
"You promised though." I said, she nodded and pulled away.
"I know. But I need you to be safe, at least until everything dies down." She wiped away my tears again. "Then I will come for you. Ok?" I sniffled and nodded. "I love you baby girl." She said. I gave her a final hug, I leaned into her ear and said, "I love you too…mommy." I felt her hold increase in pressure even more, almost to the point of pain but I knew it was out of love.
"We need to go; people will be finding out whom to be angry at by now." Ruby said. I looked to Henry and Emma, and then Regina. She gave a small smile to me before I was pulled from the room; the last I saw of Regina was her walking towards Emma and Henry.
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The drive home was quiet, and even though I had been asleep for a while I still felt as though I could sleep for a week. I looked at Granny looking at the road and then the rearview mirror. I let out a scream that made Granny swerve before straightening out.
"What are you doing?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" She nearly yelled. I slowed my breathing and watched the girl in the mirror do so as well.
"I'm…I look-k. Look at me!" Ruby looked back and me and smirked.
"A little mini Regina if you ask me." I rolled my eyes and she let out a chuckle.
"We know kiddo. Why do you think we were staring at you as if you had grown three heads?" Granny said.
I calmed myself down, but couldn't stop myself from looking at the rearview mirror. I had long black/brown hair that was quite wavy and reached almost to my elbow. My eyes were brown too, but like a chocolate type of brown. Needless to say I did look like Regina, but I could tell I looked like my father based off of the pictures of him in the book. I rubbed my eyes of the sleep as we pulled into the driveway.
"Welcome home kiddo." Ruby said. I looked at the house.
"Home is where the heart is Ruby, and my heart is at home with my mom." I said. She put an arm around me and pulled me to her side.
"Well for now home will have to be here until Regina gets things sorted out." Ruby looked down at me as I looked to her. She smiled and we followed Granny into the house.
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It wasn't long before the purple smoke came. I was sitting in skinny jeans rolled up to my ankle, brown leather ankle boots that were tied in a bow and a white baggy long sleeve knit sweater with my wet hair in a raised braid. I was sitting with a cup of tea and nearly dropped it when I saw the big looming cloud. I heard I crash from upstairs and heard Ruby stop dead in her tracks. In seconds it enveloped the whole house, and then as soon as it had come, it was gone. I stood up and raced to my room and grabbed my coat and my kimchi blue lace mesh backpack which was actually white and brown with white lace despite the name.
"Ree what're you doing?" It was Ruby.
"I'm going to take a nap." I lied. I was really going to see what the cloud really was, and the only way to do so was to ask Mr. Gold or Regina. And my last run in with Gold was scary so I was off to see Regina. I put on my backpack and shut my door. I placed my pillows so it looked like I was asleep in bed. I looked out my window; I hadn't climbed out of this window in a while. I let out a breath and opened it wide enough to scoot out. When I had finally secured myself on the branch, I shut the window as much as I could and then climbed down the tree. I fixed my clothes and my jacket before walking to Regina's. What was there though wasn't what I was expecting.
*I must say it feels good to write again. Please review! But nice things please, I don't want to end up like Adam Horowitz who's getting all the bad reviews. Seriously, there wouldn't be a ONCE without the two of them and it's embarrassing and shameful to us all that there are ONCE fans bad mouthing them. Anyways, I need to find season 2 and I will do my best to update, but the next chapter may be a filler.