2038 — Counterparts

The atmosphere could be described as nothing other than tense and desperate as Regina mixed the final ingredient into the dark purple potion. "Done," she pronounced, holding up the goblet with the completed potion. There was little more than two mouthfuls, just enough for her and Henry. She carefully set the goblet down on the workspace and turned to Henry. "This is it."

"It is." Henry's voice was choked and hoarse. He moved towards her and held her close to his body. Regina felt him shaking, and returned his hug with equal fervor.

"We have to do this," she reassured him, though whether her words were meant to convince him or her she was not altogether sure.

"I know." Henry was solemn. He pulled her closer and nuzzled his nose in her hair, deeply inhaling her scent. After the full month it took to brew the potion, it was finally time. The price was heavy as Regina explained, yet it had to be paid. There was no other conceivable option. Yet at the same time he did not want to leave her. They'd been together twenty years, and he felt it was only the start of the lifetime they should have shared, but now it had to be drawn to an abrupt close.

Henry inhaled deeply once more before beginning, "Even though I have you here in my arms, I still can't believe you're really here, really you."

"Henry," Regina murmured, pulling back slightly until she could see his face.

"I don't know what I ever did to deserve you—" when Regina looked like she was about to protest, Henry placed a finger over her lips to silence her "—but I love you more than anything."

Regina's heart melted as she looked at her husband, her partner in life, and her true love. "I love you more." She smiled sadly at him.

Henry's heart nearly broke. The decision was tearing him apart, but in the end, he had no choice. For the magic to work, they would pay a heavy price. They would forget who they were and loose all their memories. Their happily ever after was to be ripped away from them, but they had no other choice. If they did not, if they remained as they were, her death would be in vain, and neither Henry nor Regina were willing to let that happen.

Magic always comes with a price. Ever since he was eleven years old, he'd heard people say that. His mom. His grandparents. Emma. Rumplestiltskin. Logically the statement made sense. After all, everything has a price, tangible or not, and magic was no exception, except with magic, the price was non-negotiable and unavoidable.

Magic always comes with a price. He was responsible for repeating that phrase almost as a mantra, and he'd witnessed the heavy toll of magic before. He himself paid steeply for magic before, but for the first time, when he was thirty-seven, he finally understood what it meant. Truly knew how terrible the price could be.

Magic always comes with a price. Henry never thought the price would be literally everyone he cared about. If Regina was correct about her speculations, he would remember nothing. Not of his wife of twelve years. Not any of his five children. Not of her, laying cold in the ground, for whom he was sacrificing everything, to ensure she did not die.

"This will work," Regina said aloud. She, too, was thinking of the price. She recalled a distant memory, yet for all the years that had passed since then, she still remembered her sorrow sharply. Her sorrow at having to leave Henry behind as the curse, her curse, overtook Storybrooke, but having no other choice or else Henry would simply vanish from existence, and that was unfathomable.

"It has to," Henry agreed. Neither of them could bear the thought of loosing everyone they loved, including each other, only for the magic to fail. No. It had to work. There was no alternative. They both left the doubt lingering in their minds unsaid.

Regina poured the purple potion into two purple vials and handed one to Henry. She lifted the glass up as if to make a toast.

"Cheers," Regina said, though she felt no joy.

"Cheers," Henry echoed eerily softly.

They simultaneously brought the vials to their lips and drank the potion. The world vanished with a puff of purple smoke. The vials shattered on the floor.


AN: Sorry this is such a short chapter, and please forgive my mistakes because I wrote this on my phone (while waiting to see Chris Evans!).