Chapter 20: Broken
Rose burst into Henry's room, panting from running all the way there. Emma looked at her surprised.
"Where were you? Mary-Margaret said that you left to go meet Gold."
Rose nodded but was looking around. She frowned when she couldn't' find Henry. Emma noticed who her friend was looking for and smiled.
"He's okay. He woke up just moments ago, he is just changing."
Rose sighed in relief and smiled at her friend.
"So, what happened?" Asked Rose confused.
Emma explained how she fought a dragon for a bottle of true love, and that once she kissed Henry, he woke up and the curse was broken.
"Wait, so the curse was real?" Said Rose with wide eyes.
"Yeah. Hard to believe, right?" Then Emma frowned realizing something. "But, if the curse was real, then you are Rose Red."
"What are you talking about? I'm just me. Same old Rosalind Kingsley."
At that moment a voice came from behind her and the two women turned around to see Henry watching Rose with a frown.
"You don't remember? But, the curse is broken. You should have all your memories back."
Emma seeing that Henry was getting upset tried to smooth thing over.
"Why don't we go find the others? See if they remember?"
Henry nodded eagerly and Rose just shrugged her shoulders, not really understanding what was happening. They got out of the hospital and found everyone in front of Granny's hugging. Mary-Margaret said that she wanted to find her daughter and that is when Emma spoke up.
"So, it's true." She said.
Mary-Margaret and David turned to her and after looking at her with tears in their eyes. They hugged her and let the tears fall. Henry joined hem when he called David 'grandpa'. They started talking about how Emma had broken the curse, but then Henry gasped.
"But, if you all remember who you are…" He and Emma turned to Rose who had stayed behind.
Everyone looked at Rose too, and the woman feeling uncomfortable, gave a small wave. Mary-Margaret grinned and let out a sob. She went to Rose and hugged her tightly.
"Red. I'm so glad you are okay."
David and Ruby joined the hug.
"Red 1"
"Rosie"
Rose still didn't know what was going on, and why everyone was acting so strange. So she patted their backs awkwardly.
"This is nice and all but… What are you talking about?"
Mary-Margaret, David and Ruby stepped back and looked at Rose with wide eyes. Emma sighed and Henry cleared his throat.
"It seems that Rose hasn't recovered her memories from the Enchanted Forest." He said with a frown.
"I don't' understand. The curse is broken. We all remember. Why doesn't she?" Asked Mary-Margaret, looking at her sister with fresh tears in her eyes.
She had just got her memories back, she had found her daughter and after so many years, her sister was back. But Rose Red still wasn't herself.
"Yeah. That's a good question. You know what another good question is?" Interrupted Leroy. "Why are we still here?"
The dwarfs started to ask a series of questions, when the reverend mother walked up.
"Magic. It's here. I can feel it." She said with a smile.
"Then, do you know why Rose doesn't remember anything?" Asked Henry curiously.
Everyone turned to look at the nun, waiting for an answer. But she shook her head.
"I don't know. If she had been affected by the curse at the same time as us, she should be 28. She should also been part of Storybrooke. The curse affected her differently. My best guess is that whatever happened in those two years is the reason for her memory not coming back. But there is someone that may be able to give us some answers."
Everyone shared a look. They knew exactly who that person was. The Queen. But Emma had another idea, and looked at Rose intently.
"It was Mr. Gold. He was the one who brought magic to Storybrooke. Why?" She asked her friend, who gave her a surprised look. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"Well." Said Rose concentrating. "I remember that when you and Regina left the hospital the second time, a man approached me and gave me a bag and told me that Mr. Gold wanted to see me. When I got there, I opened the bag and it was an apple turnover. I went inside the shop, took a bite and then nothing."
"Why would you eat it?" Emma said scolding her friend.
"Why shouldn't I? It was a dessert with apples. You know I love those." Said Rose defensively.
"So, you still like them." Said Mary-Margaret with a smile.
Maybe Rose didn't remember her other life, but Rose Red was still in there. That gave Mary-Margaret hope to get her sister back.
"You fell under the sleeping curse, like me." Said Henry. "But, if you are awake is because someone gave you a true love's kiss. And it wasn't your sister. Do you remember where you woke up?"
"Mr. Gold's shop. Right?" Said David with a smile.
"Yeah." Rose nodded. "I woke up in the back room, and he was there with me. But when I saw that it was the morning, I went directly to the hospital to see if you were okay."
Rose looked at Henry with a soft smile. Henry nodded back and gave her a quick hug. Mary-Margaret smiled.
"Then, maybe he brought magic back to wake you up?"
The reverend mother nodded.
"It's possible that he believed that he needed magic for true love's kiss to work."
"I'm grateful that he woke you up, but I don't' believe that's the only reason. Is he still in the shop?" Emma asked.
Rose shrugged her shoulder. She left in a hurry, so she couldn't know if he had left. Mary-Margaret took the chance to try to talk with Emma about the big issue, but Emma wasn't ready for that conversation. While they were discussing it, they saw a bunch of people running and Dr. Hopper approaching them.
He told them how the people were going to Regina's house to kill her. Leroy didn't see anything wrong with that, but between Archie and Henry, they convinced the others to go help Regina. Even if it was to keep the people safe from her magic.
Once they got there, between Emma, Mary-Margaret and David dissuaded the crowd and brought Regina to one of the cells in the sheriff station. Once she was locked, she told them that the Enchanted Forest didn't exist anymore. The others frowned and left to find Gold.
Once they left, Regina tried to open the cell with her magic, but couldn't. Mr. Gold entered.
"Magic is different here, dearie."
After some small banter, Regina asked him what he wanted, if he wanted to kill her.
"No, no, no. You're safe from me. I made a promise to someone that I won't kill you."
"Who could elicit that from you?" Then she realized and smirked. "Oh, Rose. So, she remembers and makes sure that you remember your promises."
"You are a dreadful liar." He said slowly.
"What do you mean?" She said truly confused. "The curse is broken her memories are back, just like everyone else's."
"You don't know." Said Gold with a frown. "She doesn't remember. It's like the curse hasn't been broken for her. But, maybe that is because she fell under your sleeping curse, just before the curse was broken." He said with venom in his voice and a glare.
"What? But, but she was here, she's awake." Then she looked surprised at him. "You? I mean, I know you loved her and it was clear to me that she loved you. But, true love? How are you even capable of it?"
"Well, dearie. Love is the most powerful magic of all. Why shouldn't I have it?" Then he glared at her and a snarl appeared on his face. "But now, now she will have to face the consequences of the sleeping curse. All because of you."
"No. She wasn't supposed to eat it. It was for Emma. After Henry, the pastry was at the hospital, I didn't give it to her." She said with a frown.
Regina may have said that she would take Rose out of the way if she interfered, but her and Gold knew that that would never happen. She had a soft spot for the redhead. She would never do something to intentionally hurt her.
"Ah, but you made a dessert with apples. Do you really think that she wouldn't take a bite, even if it was for Emma?"
Regina's eyes widened, remembering that Rose had always loved treats with apples, especially the ones she made for her. How could she have not thought of that? She should have made something different, like mix the apple in a drink or something like that.
"So, yeah. This is all your fault. And she was lucky to have ended up meeting Emma, or the curse would have been broken, and she would have been lost to everyone. She could have suffered a fate worse than death. Which, incidentally, is exactly what I've got in store for you."
He grabbed her hand a pressed a medallion on it. Regina gasped and looked at the medallion. Gold saw the look of realization in the Queen's face and smirked.
"Yes, dearie. The one thing no one can escape, destiny. And, I promise, yours is particularly unpleasant." He told her with a mocking smile.
Emma put Henry in Ruby's car and turned to her parents. That was still weird for her. Her parents, who she had spent her whole life trying to find, where there, around her age and Snow White and Prince Charming. How could someone process that?
Mary-Margaret jumped at the opportunity to talk with her daughter.
"Gold can wait. I can't. I mean, you're my daughter, and… I want to talk to you. I know that we have talked. But, we didn't know that we were talking. And we talked about things we probably shouldn't even have talked about. One-night stands and the like." She said quickly, to not be interrupted.
David looked at her in surprised and asked about the one-night stand. Mary-Margaret dismissed him saying that it wasn't important and that they were cursed Rose looked at David with a raised eyebrow.
"Are you really gonna say something to her about a one-night stand when you were married?" David turned to her and looked down in thought. "Need I remind you that for a brief time you even tried for a baby?"
"Thanks, Red. You always have my back." Said Mary-Margaret with a smile.
"Is Red a nickname from this other world?" Rose asked in confusion.
That made the rest frown, and look at Rose with worry and sadness. Rose was getting uncomfortable with the looks and Emma noticed. So, she decided to get back to what they were discussing even if it was hard for her.
"Here's the thing. No matter what the circumstances, for 28 years I only knew one thing. That my parents sent me away." Mary-Margaret and David frowned at that. "You did it for everyone, because that's who you are. Leaders, heroes, princes, and princesses, and that's great. And amazing. And wonderful. But it doesn't change the fact that, for my entire life, I've been alone."
"Hey!" Said Rose indignantly. "Your entire life? If I remember correctly, we have been together for the last 7 years."
"That's true. Sorry, Rose. You have been the only constant in my life that hasn't left or betrayed me." She smiled at her friend gratefully.
After short discussion, that left Mary-Margaret and David feeling horrible, they decided to look for Gold.
They entered the shop and Mr. Gold looked up at them with indifference, until he saw Rose enter last and close the door.
"Are you okay, darling? You left in a hurry, and I was a little worried for you."
"I'm okay. Thank you, and I'm sorry for leaving so quickly. I was worried about Henry. But he's okay, and apparently I don't remember a whole other life I'm supposed to have." She said shrugging her shoulders.
Gold was going to answer, but Emma interrupted. She didn't like the relationship between her friend and the man in front of her to begin with, and the man's action weren't helping, no matter how well he treated his friend.
"Tell us what you did."
After a short conversation in which Mr. Gold managed to turn the accusations around, they asked him what the smoke was. He simply said that it was magic.
"Why? To wake up Rose?" Asked Mary-Margaret with a frown, looking at her sister.
"That was one of the reasons, yes." He said looking at Rose, who smiled at him sheepishly.
"What are the others?" Asked David.
"Not telling." He simply said.
The conversation stopped when an explosion shook the shop. The lights on the streets were exploding.
"That is my gift to you. That is going to take care of Regina." He told them.
Emma told him that they weren't done, and Gold agreed reminding her that she still owed him a favor. They left the store, but Mr. Gold called out to Rose.
"Wait, Rose. Once this is over, we need to talk." Rose frowned but nodded. "There has to be a way for you to regain your memories."
"Okay. Once we make sure that Regina is not going to die, I'll come here, so we can talk." She said with a smile, but then frowned. "Why do you want her dead?"
"Once someone told me that love can make you do the evilest of deeds. I will spare no one that hurts the ones I love."
They arrived at the station and saw a creature extracting something from Regina. David hit it with a chair but it didn't do much. Finally, Mary-Margaret used a lighter and an aerosol and sent a flame its way. That made the creature flee. Emma asked what that thing was and Rose turned to her with a big grin.
"A Dementor!" She said happily.
"This is not the time to be a nerd, Rose" Said Emma in bewilderment.
"There's always time to be a nerd." Said Rose with a huff. "And what, Snow White can be real but not Harry Potter?"
"It's a wraith. A soul sucker." Said Regina out of breath.
Rose turned to point at Emma with an 'Aha!'. And Emma just rolled her eyes. Mary-Margaret asked if she had killed it but Regina shook her head.
"Kill it? No, it's regenerating. It'll be back. It doesn't stop until it devours its prey, me."
Then an argument began. David wanted the wraith to kill Regina, that way everyone else would be safe. But Emma refused. She had promised Henry that she would help Regina, and she wasn't going to break it.
They discussed how to proceed, seeing as it couldn't be killed. Regina suggested sending it somewhere else, where it couldn't hurt them. Rose chuckled, and everyone turned to look at her.
"Or you can cast a patronus." Emma groaned while the rest looked at the redhead with wide eyes. "Oh! Maybe next time it will be a Nazgûl." She said with a big grin.
"Ugh, Rose." Sighed Emma exasperatedly.
Rose was with David and Mary-Margaret looking for something that could be used as a torch. They found some old style brooms and went to meet Emma and Regina. Regina explained how the hat could open a portal to the Enchanted Forest. Mary-Margaret frowned and asked Regina how it was possible if their world was gone.
"It is. But, sending it to a place that no longer exists… Well, that's banishing it to oblivion."
The wraith entered the room and Regina was trying to make the hat work, with no success. David was trying to keep it at bay with a flaming broom and Mary-Margaret poured alcohol on the banister and set it on fire.
Emma touched Regina's arm to see the hat closer and at that moment it worked. The wraith got past David and went straight for Regina. Emma pushed her out of the way, and the wraith fell into the hat. But then Emma was dragged into it too.
"Emma!" Yelled Rose.
She jumped into the hat to follow her friend. She was followed closely by Mary-Margaret, who wasn't going to leave her daughter now that they were together again. David went to follow, but the portal closed. He turned to Regina in anger with tears in his eyes.
He asked where they were, but Regina couldn't answer. He went to attack her, but she used her magic to pin him to the wall. She was about to rip his heart out, when a voice was heard.
"Mom?"
Henry was there with Ruby. Henry and Regina were talking about how she was the Evil Queen and Henry didn't want to be with her. He asked her to prove that she really loved him by bringing back Emma, Mary-Margaret and Rose. Then he told her to leave him and everyone else alone.
David, that was now free of the restraints, approached Henry and said that he would take care of him from now on. They left with Ruby, leaving behind a heartbroken Regina.
Mr. Gold was at his shop, sitting on his spinning wheel deep in thoughts, when someone came into the back room. He turned and saw Belle with a sheepish smile.
"I heard what happened. I'm sorry about Rose, Rumple."
She came to his side and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her with blank eyes.
"What are you doing here Belle?"
"Rose was my friend, and when I was told that she not only hadn't recovered her memories, but that she fell into the portal with Emma and Snow… I was devastated." She had tears in her eyes. "I thought you would need a friend. Like I do."
Gold nodded softly, but kept spinning. Belle looked around the room, and smiled when she saw a familiar figurine.
"You still have it." Mr. Gold lifted his head and nodded. "Rose helped me figure out who I was and what I wanted to do. I think it's time to repay her."
Gold looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and Belle looked at him in determination.
"I'm going to find a way to bring them back. And the first step is research. Are there any books about magic here?"
Mr. Gold chuckled and shook his head. He knew there was no way to create a portal from this world. At least not until he knew how magic worked here. But he knew that Belle wouldn't listen.
"I don't know. But I would suggest the library."
Belle nodded and turned to leave.
"You will be together again, and her memories will come back. Have faith, Rumple. True love will always wins."