A/N- Okay, so fair warning, this chapter is super sad. You have been warned. All rights belong to ABC, except the OC. I own her. Enjoy! :)
Two weeks later, Hope had managed to pull herself out of the house for the third time that week. She was trudging aimlessly down the street, kicking at the pavement with every step. She found herself on the docks, where Belle was waiting. Hope should have known. Belle waited here everyday, hoping and praying that Rumple would come home. That he'd be safe.
Hope believed he'd never come back. In her mind, Rumple was dead. She believed that Bae, Henry, and Elizabeh were all dead. So when the Jolly Roger pulled into port that day, she barely allowed herself any excitement at all. She didn't want to have her heart broken again. But when Rumple, Henry, and Bae stepped out onto the deck together, she felt something she hadn't felt in weeks. Joy.
"Papa!" she cried. "Henry!"
She flapped her wings once and boarded the Jolly Roger, eyeing Bae warily.
"Bae?" she asked softly. "Is that really you?"
He nodded tearfully, and the two embraced, both fighting back tears.
When they finally pulled away, Hope hugged Rumple, and then Henry.
Henry, having switched bodies with Pan, was incredibly uncomfortable, and unsure of how to react. He assumed that Hope was Henry's girlfriend, and so he did what he thought any boy would do in this situation. He kissed Hope.
Hope's eyes widened, and she jerked away from Henry, her hands in the air.
"Woah Henry, calm down. I know you're glad to be home, but you're my best friend, and I could never want to be with you like that," Hope backed away a bit, hoping to further her point.
"Right. Sorry," Henry replied awkwardly. "Just, erm, got caught up in the moment. That's all."
"Alright,'' Hope accepted. "D'you want to go over to Regina's and see if the book recorded your adventures?"
"Umm. . . Not right now. I'm. . . tired," Pan answered, trying to give a good reason for no one to find out what was in the book.
"Oh, okay."
If Hope hadn't been an emotional wreck at the time, she'd have known something was up the second she saw Henry on that boat. As it was, she was nowhere near her right frame of mind, and so she missed the signs that something was wrong with Henry.
She caught up with Rumple and Bae, and then found that she'd worn herself out. She was tired, and her depressed state of mind was starting to creep back in, and she didn't want Bae or Rumple to see her like that. So, she left them and went home. As it turned out, that was one of the worst ideas she'd ever had.
When she woke up from her nap, Belle, Rumple, and Bae were nowhere to be found. She left the house to go look for them, and what she saw would haunt her nightmares for years to come.
All her friends and family were lined up in the street, frozen in place, and Rumple and Pan were facing off. She leapt up and threw her wing open, desperate to get to her Papa before anything bad happened to him.
Her fist was able to get within two inches of Pan's face before he froze her, and she dropped out of the sky. She'd have a few bruises, but after the events of that day, she didn't care at all.
Rumple made his beautiful goodbye speeches to Belle and Bae. Both were clearly terrified, but they were unable to come to his rescue. Then, he turned to Hope, and her heart hammered in her chest.
"I regret leaving you most of all," he said, heartbreak evident on his face. "You're a good lass, and you deserved to have a father who would look after you and care for you. I'm sorry, but you're not going to get that from me."
He then stabbed himself and Pan, and they both disappeared. The spell broke, and Belle fell to her knees, sobbing her true love's name.
Hope got up and slowly walked to her mother, then sunk to the ground, wrapping Belle in her arms and wings. She then buried her face in her mother and cried until there were no tears left. She and Belle were still there when the second curse hit. The one that would take them back to the Enchanted Forest, a place neither of them ever thought they'd have to go again.
A/N- I know it was short, but I've not been too inspired about this story much lately. Anyways, I know it was sad, and enjoy's kind of a weird word, but I hope you were able to find some way to enjoy it. As always, have a blessed day, dearies!