Whipping Boy
Chapter Thirty-Six
Rogers stayed at Lily's apartment over the next three days as he struggled to recover from what remained of his injuries and his pain Gothel hadn't healed, the chronic headaches which continued to plague him on account of the witch messing with his mind to pull away his memories and to keep him in his zombie like state, as well as while fighting off the withdrawal symptoms from the plant toxins Eloise had dispersed into his system. At last, Gold came to pick him up in his car to take his partner home so that Rogers would finally feel more at ease.
Neither of the men spoke much as the senior detective drove, and Weaver didn't push Rogers to talk knowing that he wasn't ready to. Neither did Regina, Zelena, or Tilly whenever they had come to visit with him since they left with him from the hospital. They all understood Rogers would talk when he was ready and with whom he was the most comfortable to share what he had been through. So instead, they quietly focused on the road ahead, or listened to the faint music playing over the radio Gold had turned down low.
When they finally arrived in front of the apartment building where Rogers and now Tilly lived, Gold turned off his car and turned to his partner to talk as he spoke quietly saying, "Before we go inside, I thought you might like to know that I've taken the liberty of finding a new place for Tilly to live since you're now on the mend. I realize you gave her a key to your apartment for while you were on your sabbatical because you were worried about her living in that shipping container down at the train yard all alone, but she won't have to continue living there now that you're back. I've spoken with her and she's…"
The younger man suddenly interrupted him when he answered, "She doesn't have to leave… if she doesn't wish to. I may have just given her the key for while I was gone, but I have a spare room and anything else she may need right there. If she needs anything else, I can get it for her. That is, if she doesn't mind sharing the living space. Tilly doesn't deserve to be thrown back out just because I've come back. I owe her at least that much for helping all of you save my life."
"I had a feeling you might say something like that," Weaver replied proudly upon suspecting Rogers would feel this way in regards to having the young woman stay with him despite not knowing she was really his daughter, and finally opened his door to get out, then walked around the car to the passenger side in order to help his friend get out as well before they headed inside and took the elevator up to Rogers' apartment.
"I might have told you this already, though… my mind is still a bit hazy, but I… I wanted to thank you, Weaver," Rogers said again when he then turned to face his partner once they reached the door of his apartment, before he stuck his own key in the lock to enter inside. "I'll offer my thanks to the others too, but since I have you alone at this moment… I just wanted to make sure you knew how grateful I am to you for getting me away from Eloise and saving me from her as you have. And I'm sorry for ever doubting you were a good man before."
Gold smiled and then he responded, "You're very welcome, Rogers. Though I wasn't always a good man and there are days even now I still don't believe I am. I know I certainly didn't make it easy for you to trust me, but… I appreciate your sincerity and kindness. As well as your friendship."
His partner nodded, then he finally opened the door and was surprised when Tilly suddenly appeared before him as she jumped up from behind the island inside the kitchen while she cried, "Surprise! Welcome home, detective!"
"She thought you might appreciate a small party to celebrate your return," Gold spoke when Rogers looked over at him with apprehension upon seeing balloons, streamers, and a banner hanging up in his living room which read, Welcome Home. "Although, the celebration isn't supposed to be for another hour yet when everyone can be here. Nor was it meant to be a surprise. We didn't want to startle you."
"He's right, and I'm sorry," Alice quickly apologized while she looked unrequitedly into her father's eyes. "It's just that I'm really happy you're home again. I wanted tonight to be special for you, despite what you might still be feeling from all that's happened to you after you came home the last time."
Rogers smiled in gratitude and then with sincerity he answered, "No, of course… I'm grateful. Tilly. This is very kind of you all to do for me. So… thank you. Will you both be staying then until everyone else gets here?"
The senior detective began to pull off his coat, then looked over at his partner again while he replied, "I've nowhere else to be the rest of the day. Why don't the two of you play a game of chess and I'll get to work on something for supper."
"I've got the chessboard and its pieces all set up," Tilly happily exclaimed as she walked over to Rogers, then guided him into the living room where it sat upon the coffee table in between two pillows on the floor for them to sit on while they played. "Like usual, you can be white and I'll be black."
"Why is it that you love to play so much, Tilly?" Killian then asked once they were settled on the floor, as he made the first move with his rook like he always did. "I know you mentioned before how doing so had something to do with your father, but…"
Weaver listened closely to their conversation from within the kitchen while worked quietly, and Alice lowered her head to stare down at her pieces as she sadly responded, "Chess is more than just a game for me, as it was for him too. It was peace and… a reminder of what we once had together until I lost him. Playing reminds me of him."
She reached down to trace her fingers over her black rook while she continued, "My father always used to call me his little rook because it was… for some reason always my favorite piece. As for him…"
"To me… my father was always my white knight," she then added when she lifted her hand again and reached across the board to pick up Rogers' white knight piece. "He once gave me a piece just like this one and told me it would always help me to remember him."
"He sounds like he was someone very special to you," Rogers answered with remorse for her in his eyes and in the sound of his voice. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Tilly."
Weaver then swiftly stopped what he was doing as he looked over between father and daughter, especially when Alice suddenly took her father's hand in her own and laid the white knight into his palm, continuing to hold him while she looked into his eyes, then pleadingly she whispered, "Papa… come back to me. Please… I need you."
The detective looked deeply into her eyes as she desperately spoke to him, then upon hearing the girl's plea while he felt her gentle touch and the ivory horse in his hand, he gasped when memories of his true self all of a sudden began to flash through his head as Captain Hook fought to awaken from the back of Rogers' mind.
Once the flashes ended, Rogers gasped in shock once again while he stared away from those now looking down at him with worry after Gold had come around to stand above Tilly as she rose up on her knees nervously in wait for him to say or do something. Then before either of them could speak, the younger man finally lifted his head and stared into her eyes as recognition appeared to set in, while he smiled before he suddenly pulled her into his arms to embrace his daughter at last.
While he held her, Hook lovingly whispered, "I'm here, Starfish. You saved me."
"Papa!" Alice cried happily, as she embraced him even tighter upon hearing her father when he spoke one of his pet names he always used for her, then started to laugh out of joy and relief. "You're awake! But how… How are you here?"
"It's because of the power that is still inside you, even if you cannot wield it as Gothel wields her own," Gold steadfastly replied while he continued to look down on them, then Alice finally pulled back from her father and quickly wiped away the tears in her eyes so she could look up her friend as he spoke. "Your strength and power, not only as the Guardian, but as your father's daughter… is far stronger than you know, Alice."
He then reached out his hand towards his partner and continued, "Welcome back, Captain Hook."
Hook reached up to shake Gold's hand with gratitude and smiled smugly as he responded, "Crocodile. Thank you. For everything."
"Before you say so, so lightly… how exactly do you feel towards Mother Gothel?" the Dark One then asked him to test a theory he hoped to be true.
"I hate her with every fiber of my being," the pirate captain answered resolutely and smiled again, only this time simply out of sheer relief when a new recognition suddenly settled over him. "You both didn't just wake me up, but it appears you've also broken the spell she cast over me years ago. Her obsession spell… I'm free."
He struggled to rise to his feet with his daughter's help, then Alice replied, "I'm so happy for you, Papa. That's wonderful."
Hook could then see sadness appear across her face and in her eyes too, and laid his hand under her chin to gently lift her head up so she would look him in his eyes while he asked, "What is it, Starfish?"
"It's just that there's still one more thing that could keep up us apart," Alice responded sadly as she looked up at him. "The Curse of the Poisoned Heart. If the dark curse should break…"
"…then you and I won't be able to remain together," her father finished for her when he understood her fear.
All of a sudden, a knock sounded at the door, but before either of them stepped away to go answer it, Gold looked between Hook and Alice again while he answered, "One day… we will somehow find a way to break the curse keeping the two of you apart as well. In the meantime, enjoy the time you have together here and now… and try not to worry about the future."
The senior detective finally walked over to the door upon hearing a second knock and opened it to find Regina with a cake in her hands, along with Henry, Lily, Zelena, Chad, and Margot all standing outside of Rogers' apartment, then motioned for everyone to come in as he stepped aside so they could pass by him. Everyone immediately began to greet Rogers mostly, as well as Tilly and Weaver too. However, before Gold could close the door again, Jacinda appeared before him, followed closely by Lucy and Sabine.
Nearly another hour passed by as each of their friends took turns asking Rogers how he was feeling and if there was anything they could do for him, along with lots more talk about how happy they were he was finally okay again after all he'd been through with Eloise, making it impossible for him to share with those who were also awake the truth that he was now as well.
However, once things settled down a bit as the conversations between everyone started to split up into several, Hook suddenly made his way through the crowd of friends and reached out to grab Regina's hand, then swiftly led her into his bedroom before he closed the door behind them so he could talk with her for a few minutes alone. Yet as she was about to ask what was wrong, he suddenly pulled her against him and held her close while he began to kiss her just as he had years ago before the Queen had broken off their relationship for his daughter's sake.
Regina didn't fight it as she gave into her own yearning, having wanted to be able to kiss the man she loved again for so long, until Rogers finally pulled back so he could stare into her eyes and before he could speak, she looked at him with confusion as she questioned, "Not that I'm complaining at all, Rogers, but… what suddenly brought that on?"
"I suppose the truth that I'm not just Rogers anymore, but the man who is still madly in love with a woman named Regina Mills," he replied with a big smile on his face. "Just as I have been for a very long time."
"Hook?!" she then uttered out of shock as she suddenly began to comprehend his revelation. "But how… You're awake!"
He laughed and then responded, "Alice woke me. Though that doesn't really matter right now. The important thing is, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere again. Gothel's spell she cast over me to make me infatuated with her… it's been broken as well. I'm ashamed by what I allowed her to do to me before, but I'm no longer her whipping boy and she won't ever hurt me like that again."
Regina embraced him again and held him in her arms while she whispered, "You were never her whipping boy, Killian. You're far too strong to be that. I even told her so. I would love nothing more than to keeping holding you like this all night long, but there's a party going on out there and you have lots of guests here for you. We should get back out there before they notice we're missing."
"And by the way…" she quickly added as they were about to leave the room again. "I do love you too, Killian. I never stopped."
"That's certainly good to know," Hook stated happily, then quickly kissed her once more before they rejoined their loved ones for the rest of the evening.
The next morning…
Hook awoke after another restless night despite finally becoming himself again and being free from Gothel's power over him, then drove to the precinct like he had done every morning before his sabbatical. However, once he pulled into the parking space outside of the station, he turned off the ignition and just sat inside his car while he once again became lost in his thoughts.
The truth was, he was reluctant to return to duty as Gold's partner on account of finally having read Sidney Glass' story about him in the newspaper several mornings ago. At last he understood why he had been given dirty looks by so many people in the hospital, especially from the cops he had seen while being treated there. And while he was more sure of the man he really was now that he was Hook once again, he was also still more shaken by all Gothel had done to him while trapped under her thrall than he could admit to his daughter, the woman he loved, and his partner.
However, the younger detective hadn't been sitting long, when Weaver appeared by his passenger side window and knocked gently against the glass to gain his attention. Rogers quickly unlocked and opened the door to him, then his partner sat down in the seat beside him so they could talk.
Upon eyeing the copy of the newspaper with the story about Rogers up on his partner's dashboard, Gold picked it up, then glanced over at him and said quietly, "Sidney Glass is a corrupt, sleazy reporter and lawyer whose paper is ostracized despite his and Facilier's efforts. I hoped you would recognize there's no truth to what he wrote about you, though I do understand your reluctance to come back to work. You needn't feel ashamed or believe any of the lies written here. Hook… you know you're not the man he's depicted."
The Captain nodded while he answered, "Aye. I do know it. As you do, but… no one else in there does. I've seen their looks and heard the whispers. What good am I to them and everyone in Hyperion Heights if they don't feel they can trust me?"
"But it isn't just that," Hook quickly added before Weaver could talk again. "I'm not so sure I can trust myself to be a detective, let alone your partner any longer. The things I have done… What I did while Gothel's slave, for lack of a better word… What I told you the day I left the Heights weeks ago still stands. I became her puppet because I was weak and I allowed her to get inside my head. Her magic she put inside me years ago may be gone and I may remember who I am, but despite what I've told our friends and my daughter, I'm not so sure she won't be able to hurt me like this again. You deserve someone better."
"And what I said to you on your first day as my partner still stands as well," the older man finally replied in sincerity, as he looked his friend square in his eyes. "I saw in you a man with a moral core. You are a good man and a damn fine detective. And now it isn't just a glimpse I see in you any longer. I won't accept any other partner other than you, Hook. I've been defending you whenever I hear someone say something against you, but if the other cops can't find it in themselves to accept what's in that story as anything more than a bunch of lies, then let them be damned."
The pirate stared at his former enemy in surprise by his conviction and trust in him, then when he didn't say anything, Gold questioned, "So… shall we go in and see what's in store for us today?"
Rogers smiled and then responded, "Thank you, Gold."
A few hours later, both men were sitting at their desks catching up on paperwork since there were no crimes for them to report to and not much else going on which required their assistance. But unfortunately, the afternoon didn't continue to go like they hoped when much to their surprise, Gothel walked into their office with a cool, smug look on her face and stopped short of Rogers' desk while Hook immediately stood and backed away from her.
"Just what the hell are you doing here?" the Dark One asked darkly when he stood as well and glared at the villainess before them. "Have you come to turn yourself in for the multiple crimes you've committed against my partner?"
"You and I both know you won't arrest me despite what I've done," Gothel answered smugly while she looked between both men, though she stopped her eyes on Hook. "You won't bother wasting your time because you know I have the magic to be able to escape any time I want."
Killian looked at her while he angrily replied, "If you've come to gloat, then save your breath. Whatever hold you had on me before is gone and I won't fall for your deceptions again."
She smiled at him cruelly upon seeing for herself that her spell over Rogers had been broken, as she then responded, "So it is true then? Welcome back, Captain. I must say I'm a little surprised, but then our daughter is far more powerful than even I knew. I should never have underestimated her. I realized Alice had woken the night she came to my apartment to keep me distracted so your friends could kidnap you in hope of bringing you back. Only, I realized it too late and now… here we are."
"Papa, I wanted to come…" Alice started to say while she neared the office once she walked into the station to see how Hook was feeling after his first few hours back at work, until she suddenly froze as soon as she stepped foot inside upon seeing the witch standing there between her and her father. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing here? Did you come to hurt my father again?"
"Alice… it's all right," he quickly answered her. "I'm okay. Just go. We'll talk later when I get home."
However, Gothel spoke up again as she slowly crept closer to Hook saying, "Don't worry… I was just about to leave myself. It's so sweet that you've wasted no time in becoming father and daughter again just like before. And you're even still living together."
The Captain continued to glare at her coldly as she neared him, then swiftly roamed her hand along Hook's cheek and down over his chest until he suddenly shoved her back to get her away from him. At last, Weaver stepped around the desks and continued to pull Eloise away from his partner until she was no longer inside their office. Neither detective saw her passing off a piece of paper with a message on it to Tilly as the witch was pushed past her.
The girl from Wonderland stared down at it in confusion until Gothel called out to her daughter, "Soon you will choose to join me willingly if you truly do care about your father's health, Tilly. Or rather… Alice. Goodbye, detectives."
"Was she just threatening you?" Alice asked fearfully when she looked over at her father again once the villainess was finally gone, then quickly dropped the paper into the waste basket on the floor by her feet not caring about what it might have said, before she started walking towards him to give him a hug.
However, the moment they touched, Hook suddenly gasped in pain and collapsed to his knees as he reached up to his chest upon feeling the poison in his heart become activated once more. His daughter immediately backed away as far away from him as she could without leaving altogether to make sure he would be alright, while she cried out for him in fear. Thankfully, Gold was right there and quickly rushed to his partner's side to try to help him.
"How is this possible?!" Alice cried angrily. "There's no magic here. Not while we're still cursed?! My father should be okay!"
The senior detective looked between his closest friend and his daughter worryingly and then whispered, "It's exactly as I feared."
As he continued to struggle through the pain still holding firmly within his heart, Rogers weakly turned his head as he questioned, "What is? Aah!"
"I told Regina… I feared if you should both wake, that Gothel would most assuredly retaliate against you and all of us for thwarting her plans for you, and now she has," Gold replied with concern for both Rogers and Tilly. "I'm so sorry, Hook."
"This is my fault," Alice uttered despondently as she backed away a few more feet, until she suddenly ran back inside to grab the paper Gothel had slipped to her and swiftly ran off, but not without apologizing to her father first. "I'm so sorry, Papa. I'm sorry."
The Captain struggled to stand again with Weaver's help while he weakly cried after her shouting, "Alice! Alice!"
When Gold bowed his head, yet continued to hold his partner steady while Hook remained on his feet, he then stated, "Come… let's at least get you back home where you can rest for the rest of the day. You need to rebuild your strength and allow your heart time to recover."
"No… just take me to Roni's," Rogers responded in frustration, then allowed his friend to guide him through the precinct so they could leave and head to Kelly & Roni's Pub. "Please make sure she's… alright."
Later that evening…
After Rogers had tried several times to reach his daughter on her cell phone to talk to her and to assure her he was alright again, Alice finally answered his call and listened as he spoke to her. She too assured him that she was okay as well, then told her father she would move out and return to living in the shipping container by the train tracks. However, Killian pleaded with Alice to stay at his place and said he would find someplace else for himself until they could cure the poison in his heart. Reluctantly, Tilly agreed to ease her father's mind.
"I love you, Papa," she whispered sadly, while the girl from Wonderland and other places stood just outside of the bar and looked in at her father sitting at one of the tables inside through the window, then finally hung up the phone and walked away.
Though she had hung up before he could say the same in return, Hook lowered his phone away from his ear to hang up as well while he downheartedly answered, "I love you too… My Little Rook."
After the man she loved continued to stare down at his hand with hopelessness in his eyes for a few minutes more, Regina finally came over to sit beside him, then pulled him into her arms to hold him in an effort to comfort him in the little way that she could. As she did so, a tear slipped down from the corner of his eye, which he quickly wiped away before another could fall and finally pulled back to look into her eyes.
When he did so, the Captain pushed aside his feelings of despair and anger towards the witch who had hurt him one last time after Regina spoke again as she said, "Oh Killian… I'm so sorry."
But he shook his head and darkly replied, "It's still just Rogers, Regina. Not Killian and not Hook. It's the cursed name I was given and while I may remember who I really am now, I'm still cursed. I still can't be with my daughter. Our fight against Gothel and Facilier is still not over, so until they are defeated and these curses are broken once and for all, it's still… just Rogers."
"Wait!" Regina suddenly called out to him after he stood and started to walk away to leave for the night, then Hook turned around to face her again. "You're looking for a place stay until you can be with Alice again, so… come move in with me."
"What?" he questioned while he stared at her in confusion.
The Queen sighed and walked back to him again as she continued, "Please… move in with me. You need a place to stay and now that you're awake, you know that I love you just as I did years ago before the curse, and before I ever allowed Gothel to get into my head too. Do you want to know why I broke up with you back then?"
When he simply continued to stare at her, she spoke again saying, "It's because she threatened Alice, Rogers. Gothel told me she would kill your daughter if I didn't break your heart. I didn't want to, but I knew you would blame yourself if she died. I couldn't risk it."
"So, you allowed me to blame myself when I believed that what went wrong between you and I was my fault instead?" Hook sadly asked while he looked into her eyes, as she feared he was angry with her until spoke again. "I wish you would have told me this back then. Because I never would have let you go had I known the truth."
"We will protect Alice from Gothel and her coven until we finally find a way to defeat them together," he then added as Regina looked at him again with surprise in her eyes, until Rogers suddenly pulled her in close so he could kiss her, while Henry Zelena and Chad both watched them from behind the bar and smiled upon seeing them a little happier.
When he pulled back again, Regina smiled at him as she asked, "Does this mean you're going to move in with me then?"
Hook laughed and then sincerely he responded, "If you really meant what you said about sharing your apartment with me, then I accept. I love you too, Regina."
Meanwhile…
Alice walked throughout the neighborhood under the cover of night as she made her way down beneath the community garden through a tunnel until she found herself within an underground cavern, where she found Mother Gothel and her three sisters waiting for her to arrive.
"I finally understood your note you passed me at the station," the girl from Wonderland stated coldly as she glared at the villainess, not really caring about the other witches at the moment. "Your map of this place took me a little longer, but the message itself quickly became clearer as soon as the poison in my father's heart flared again like years ago. I hurt him. I could have killed him right then."
"Just be grateful that you didn't," Gothel answered her cruelly. "So by coming here tonight… does this mean you accept your role as my daughter and agree to join me and our sisters?"
Tilly pulled out the paper her mother had given her and read its message aloud, "If you wish to save your father's life, join me or the poison in his heart will soon kill him. Only I can save him now."
She then crumpled it in her hands and dropped it on the ground while she continued sadly, "I can't be responsible for killing my father. Is it true? If I do agree to join you in whatever misguided plans you have for all of humanity, will you really cure the poison that's killing him?"
"Once you help us, we will help him," the leader of the coven replied to her smugly, then reached out her hand for her daughter to take in agreement.
"Fine…" Alice retorted out of disappointment in herself for giving into her mother's demands, even if it was for the sake of her father. "What do you need me to do?"
Gothel smiled cruelly as she responded, "Just take my hands and do as I say. Soon, the world will be just as it should be."
That same night…
Lucy worked with Dr. Facilier to cure her own father of the poison he too had been cursed with just before the dark curse fell over the heroes and villains years ago, while Regina and Hook fought to restore the memories and belief in the man who had the heart of the truest believer within his chest. At last, they both succeeded as Henry became awakened too.
However, it wasn't long after Alice, daughter of Mother Gothel and Captain Hook as she was born from both sides of the looking glass, reluctantly agreed to join the coven so the tree nymph could cast her final curse on the world, that the heroes discovered their plans and that hook's daughter had been forced to become a part of it.
A battle between the heroes and Gothel along with her sister witches soon began when Hook, Gold, and Robin fought for Alice's life, while Regina left her bar in an attempt to defeat Gothel on her own in the belief she had failed to restore her son's belief and to protect the man she loved. However, the nymph was far too strong for her. Regina was unfortunately knocked down several times before Henry finally arrived and saved her life, then broke the curse with true loves kiss.
Regina's son held her in his arms while he whispered, "I'm sorry it took me so long to get here."
"Oh, Henry," his mother answered, when Alice entered the garden alongside Robin and Rumplestiltskin once the Hook's daughter awakened from under Gothel's own trance so they could make their stand against the villain and stop her once and for all, as Henry helped his mother stand up again and turned to face Gothel while Regina ignited a fireball within the palm of her hand. "I'm just glad to have you back. And my magic."
"It's not enough, Regina," the nymph replied smugly, as she easily snuffed out the flames which the Queen fired at her, then started towards her and Henry to return with an attack of her own.
However, she spun around quickly when Gold stepped forward while Alice and Robin followed close behind him and he responded, "Maybe. But perhaps your daughter's magic will be."
Regina quickly uttered in relief, "Gold."
"My daughter's with me now, Dark One," Gothel answered the Dark One while she turned and started walking towards them, then turned her eyes on her. "Come here, Tilly."
"She was never with you," her friend and detective continued when Alice shook her head out of fear. "And now she's gonna be the one who stops you."
Tilly immediately turned her head to glance over at the man beside her upon hearing what he had just told the woman standing against them, then she curtly retorted, "What? No. I can't fight her. She's a monster. She's too strong."
And that was when her fear became very real, when her father… the man who had been Detective Rogers until only a short time ago, appeared behind his daughter standing weakly only a few feet away, holding his hand heavily over his heart while the poison within it began to flare again the closer he walked to her, as he unfalteringly replied, "Not half as strong as you, Alice."
"Papa, please," Alice pleaded with him when she, Robin, and Gold all turned around in surprise to find him there knowing the risk of what he was doing, then she started to back away when her fear grew as his agony only intensified the closer he got to her.
"I know you're afraid," Rogers continued.
She stepped back again while she sadly responded, "You're hurting yourself. You're growing weak."
But her father never stopped despite his gasps for breath while he struggled through his anguish and answered, "No, I'm finally growing strong. You make me stronger."
"Yet every step you take, your heart grows weaker," Gothel replied cruelly and smugly as she relished in Hook's pain.
"You can do this," Rogers responded again once he was finally standing beside his daughter and breathed heavily while he reached out to take her hand in his own, as Alice looked at him with admiration and the newfound strength he had hoped to instill within her. "I'm here with you."
Rogers raised his prosthetic hand up to his chest as he continued to fight the pain, then Robin swiftly reached down to take her other hand as well and answered, "And so am I."
Henry and Regina smiled at them from behind the villainess between them as Gothel replied angrily, "Don't be a fool. Join your mother and defend your home."
"You are not my mother," Alice responded to her stalwartly when her confidence within herself continued to strengthen. "You want to ruin me the way the world ruined you. But I'm not like you. I'm not an outcast. I'm not an orphan or a street rat or some crazy girl who's lost her way. You chose hate."
"But I choose love," she added, recalling how she had looked over at her father again while tears slipped down her cheeks and saw him smiling at her proudly, before she turned back to face the woman claiming to be her mother once more.
When Gothel knew she had failed to turn her daughter to her side, the tree nymph became angry and suddenly unleashed all her power within her against Alice, Hook, Gold, and Robin. However, the young girl from Wonderland and other places at last had the strength she needed to fight for those she loved against her mother and unleashed her own power against Gothel in return. It didn't take long before Alice's light magic defeated the villainess, as her power transformed the evil woman into a dead tree, until the Guardian stepped forward once again to give the tree a little life and beauty.
The young woman stepped forward and grew a multitude of hyacinth flowers all around its trunk while Tilly whispered to her mother sincerely, "I'm sorry your life twisted into something you never meant it to. I promise I will do better. For everyone."
Regina started towards Hook when the battle was over upon seeing him falter in Gold's arms, but as she passed his daughter to do so, she stopped for a moment and reached out to touch her arm while she said quietly, "You did your father proud, Alice. Try not to worry, we'll find a way to save him too. I promise."
Gothel was at last defeated along with her entire coven. Her dark curse had finally been broken, Henry was cured from his own poison by Dr. Facilier, who was later killed himself by Rumplestiltskin of the Wish Realm, Sidney Glass fled Hyperion Heights upon finally becoming a free man to disappear once again, and the heroes were reunited once more… all except for Alice and Hook.
However, one final battle no one expected took place a day later when the worst version of Rumplestiltskin made himself known. Henry's wife and daughter were taken prisoner, two versions of Henry, the man born from the Savior and the Dark One's son, Baelfire and the other from the Wish Realm like Hook and the villain who came after Gothel, went on a journey of self discovery to regain their happy endings. And Gold made one final sacrifice in order to save Hook's life when the poison in his heart finally took its ultimate toll after Rumplestiltskin nearly won by trapping every hero in their own nightmarish story. Hook and Alice were at last together again with no fear of any poison keeping them apart, and while Gold had died, he too received his own happy ending when he was finally reunited with Belle at last, as a reward for selflessly giving his own heart to his closest friend so that Hook could live happily with his daughter once more.
When all was said and done, Regina cast one final curse to bring together all kingdoms to Storybrooke so everyone could become united together in one realm. In the end, Regina was crowned the first ever elected Queen of the United Kingdoms as she was named, the Good Queen. Zelena and Chad lived together within the Emerald City of Oz, young Henry from the Wish Realm found his happy ending among family who loved him, Henry, Ella, and Lucy lived happily among their largely grown family as well, and Emma and Killian lived their happy ending together with their newborn daughter, Hope. As for Alice and Robin, they were soon married and Alice's father was there to walk the girl from Wonderland down the aisle as he hoped to be. And finally, Queen Regina ruled happily for many, many years with Hook of the Wish Realm by her side as they too, lived happily ever after.
The End