Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time is not mine. Never will be. Only Ally is mine.
01-Broken
When last in the small not so sleepy after all town of Storybrooke, Maine there was a great deal of drama. A boy was poisoned and survived, a savior discovered the truth of the world around her, hundreds of people got their rightful memories restored, and a billowing purple cloud had descended over the town leaving no nook or cranny uncovered.
Luckily for the inhabitants of Storybrooke, the purple fog was not hazardous to the touch, and merely left everyone unharmed. Of course that did little to nothing to quell the panic in the hospital room of Henry Mills. Emma Swan, Henry's biological Mom and the savior of fairytale people everywhere was pale, and looked more than a little shell shocked at everything that had just happened.
Henry was finishing tugging his shirt over his head, while Rose, Henry's adopted older sister kept her eye on him, almost like she didn't quite believe that her little brother was truly there and okay. Ally Lucas was worrying her lower lip though, keeping her gaze focused out the window at the town.
Somewhere out there were her Mother and Gigi. The young girl clenches her one good hand into a fist to stop the shaking in her hand. Her cast on her right arm is due to come off any day now. That's not the thing that's taking up prominent space in her mind though. The curse has been broken. Everyone in Storybrooke now have their memories back.
Ally even has some very hazy recollections suddenly of a vibrant shade of red, and tall forests with light shimmering through the leaves of the trees. There is also a beautiful smiling face that she can make out as her mother's, and an odd sense of being utterly safe and protected, and most of all loved. Ally can't remember the last time that she had felt that way.
"So… that's it— the curse is broken?" Emma asks softly, almost as if she's not sure of what just happened.
"Yes, you broke the curse, and set us all free princess." Mother Superior says looking at Emma with an awed look. Her eyes rest on Rose disbelievingly quite a few times as well.
"I'm sorry, you are—"
"The Blue Fairy!" Henry cries excitedly from his place on the bed. The woman smiles at Henry, and nods her head casting Ally an approving look as well.
"Oh this is going to take some getting used to." Emma says running her hand over her face.
"Tell me about it." Rose says, gripping the blanket on the bed tightly enough to make her knuckles white.
"C-can we go— make sure that everyone else is okay?" Ally asks finally speaking, her worry and nerves growing too great to sit still any longer.
"Of course! We need to have the reunions now! I can't wait to see everyone recognize each other!" Henry cries hopping down from his hospital bed, and only stumbling just a little. Slowly the gathered group of people in the hospital room makes their way out of the ward and to the exit of the building.
The outside is so still its almost creepy. The only sounds that can be heard are the voices of the people around them. Henry has one hand in Emma's securely pleased to be with his mom, and his other is tightly connected to his best friend Ally's for he can practically feel the nerves coming off of her in waves.
Rose on the other hand keeps a few paces back from the little kids and Emma. She has been going through what amounts to a small identity crisis, since the curse had been broken. No memories had come rushing back to her, and of course Henry and Ally had the reason why. Rose had been a baby when the curse was enacted— a newborn in fact.
So this meant that she was supposed to still be in diapers, not a teenager and beginning to experiment with relationships for the first time. Her brother and Ally had told her who she was in the Enchanted Forest world they had read about so much, and all Rose could hope was that they weren't disappointed when they met her.
Coincidentally Emma was having the same worries as Rose. Her best friend Mary Margaret has turned out to be her mother Snow White, and her father is none other than Prince Charming or David Nolan. It was a lot for a twenty-eight-year-old to handle who had extreme abandonment issues.
The group made their way towards main-street at a steady pace, neither running nor walking to get where they're going. The only one of the small group that seemed terribly excited about all of this was Henry. He could understand why the rest were nervous, but he thought that at least some part of them would have been a little bit happy.
They had finally reached main-street where they finally could see more people. Ally's heart leapt into her throat and start beating at a mad pace. Two blocks away from them, she could see her Mom and Gigi embracing each other like she had never seen them do before. It was almost a desperate hug, but it was laced with love.
For some reason the group seems almost rooted to the spot watching as David and Mary Margaret appear— actually more like Snow and Charming now. Snow and Red hug, happy at being reunited. The seven dwarfs appear as well, and for the first time, Ally can really see them as that.
It looks to be a grand old reunion, but there's a fear there as well. Ally keeps her eyes on her mother and Gigi and watches as her mom becomes tense again and visibly upset. Deciding that she can't stay still and watch any longer, Ally shakes out of Henry's grip, and takes off running. It's a little odd with her cast, but that doesn't stop her.
Everyone is still distracted with the fact that their memories had come back to notice the running girl until she cried. "Mom!" Ally cries. She's only about twenty feet from her mom at that point and the group perks up at the new voice. The woman in question inhales sharply, before turning around, and catching the small body hurling itself at her.
Desperate fingers grasp at each other, and sobs wrack the frame of the girl that Red holds close to her. "Ally." She breathes, tightening her grip on the daughter that she barely recognizes. Sure Ruby has 'memories' of ten years of Ally growing up, but the last time Red had seen her daughter she was so small, that she could carry her in her basket still.
Tears are quickly blurring Red's vision. She doesn't startle when she feels the familiar hand of Granny on her back. She knows that this must be freaking her out to some extent as well. A muffled sound comes from the girl in her arms, and Red pulls back enough to get a good look at her tear stained face.
"What was that?" She asks softly, reaching up to softly wipe away her daughter's tears.
"Y-you came back to me…" Ally sniffles. Pain lances through Red's heart at the sadness and relief in her daughter. She can't believe that she caused all of that.
"That's right, I'm here pup. I'm here." She says, lifting the ten-year-old into her strong grasp, and moving them over to Granny.
Ally gives Gigi a wobbly smile and the old woman uncharacteristically has a few tears race down her cheeks, as she squeezes the hand of her great-granddaughter for what feels like the first time again. All three of them know that Ally is too old to be held like that, but they don't care.
For the first time, in a long time Ally feels at peace, and protected. Everyone had been watching the reunion of mother and daughter with happy, if not somewhat bewildered eyes. Like Red and Granny, the last their true selves remembered the girl as was a small, dark haired, happy toddler.
Watching the scene had sent an aching in Snow for her own flesh and blood.
"So, what do we do now?" Red asks, her daughter still in her arms.
"Now? Now I find my daughters." Snow says trying to think of how she is going to find them. Her heart aches for the injustices that have been done to her family— to all of their families, but hers has been wronged the most.
"So it's true." Emma's voice breaks through. Everyone stops and stares at the savior. Ally wriggles down from her mom's arms, feeling that she should be on the ground for this. Red grasps her hand tightly though, not ready to let go.
Mary Margaret or now Snow steps towards her daughter, and cups her cheek before pulling her into a tight hug. Emma doesn't return it, and anyone watching can see how overwhelmed and uncomfortable with this she is.
"You found us." Mary Margaret breathes. David joins in on the hug, adding that much more stiffness to Emma's posture.
"Grandpa?" Henry speaks up from behind the group. Charming— David stiffens for a moment before laughing.
"Yeah kid, I suppose so." David says drawing Henry into the hug. Rose stands back from the group feeling her stomach twist as she watches the reunited family. This is the family that Henry deserves, one that's full of good people and happiness. Rose isn't so sure that she could ever belong there, there's a darkness inside of her that while not acted upon, stems from hurt caused by her mother— the Evil Queen.
"Rose?" Henry questions, breaking the moment for the family, and startling the girl. Rose pales, she had been perfectly happy to be ignored and glossed over, but of course her brother would ruin that. Is he even her brother anymore?
Both David and Mary Margaret pull back from Emma quickly and their gazes flick to land on the young teenager with pink streaked hair. A muffled sob breaks out from Mary Margaret, and she launches herself at the girl, wrapping her in her arms tightly. Rose is so shocked, that she returns the warm embrace, trying to remember the last time she had one with her mother… it must have been when she was small.
"Oh god— I remember having you, and taking care of you as a baby. We were together! Then— then she took you away! She took you and any memory of you, and raised you herself! You were all I had left!" Mary Margaret sobs. David slowly walks over and hugs both of the girls, though his grief and anger is close to the surface after hearing what had happened to his youngest daughter, the one that he didn't even get to meet before the curse was enacted.
"T-this is so weird." Rose says tremulously. She could still hardly believe it herself from when Henry and Ally had told her earlier. She was the younger twin sister of Emma. She was the youngest daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, the baby that got caught in the curse, the one who wasn't the savior.
It was overwhelming to say the least. "What did you do to your hair?" David asks suddenly running his fingers through the pink streaks.
"Um… teenage rebellion?" Rose says a little uncertainly. How exactly do you explain that to people who are now going to be your parents, or well have always been them?
"We had the Evil Queen as a mother." Henry jumps in quickly to defend his sister.
"Good point." David says with a laugh. Emma had been watching the scene with someone akin to disbelief and horror. When she had wished for a family all those years ago, she didn't know that she was going to get one, or such an oddly dysfunctional one at that. Looking over at the Lucas' family Emma thought that at least someone stayed who they should have been.
"I can't believe you're my nephew… that just feels wrong." Rose says making a face and shivering at the thought, after she is released from the hug. Henry sticks his tongue out at that as well.
"Let's just stay siblings then." He says, before looking at the three adults around him. "Can we?"
Seeing the nervous looks on both of the kids face makes Mary Margaret, Emma, and David feel bad.
"Of course." They all answer almost at once. There is silence for a good minute or so, before its broken again.
"Well Emma did it, she saved you." Henry says with a big smile on his face as he beams up at his mom.
"She saved all of us." Mary Margaret says with a loving smile on her face as she looks at her oldest daughter.
"I… well…" Emma says looking extremely flustered.
"Uh, then why are we still all here?" Leroy asks, speaking up for the first time with a grumpy look on his face.
"That my friend, is an excellent question." David says looking around the town, unsure why the people hadn't been returned back to the Enchanted Kingdom.
"Well what was that smoke?" Mr. Clark or more aptly named Sneezy demands. The crowd is beginning to get a little hysterical at this point.
"Who did this? What was that smoke?" People are questioning each other and beginning the first stages of a panic.
Suddenly Mother Superior joins the crowd again, and Henry and Ally let out relieved breaths. If anyone will know what's going on around here it will be the Blue Fairy.
"Magic. It's here. I can feel it." She says ominously. Emma grabs Henry and pulls him closer, as David puts a hand on his youngest daughter's shoulder. Ally looks up at her mom worriedly as Ruby pulls her flush against her.
"Mom?" Ally asks worriedly.
"Hush pup." Ruby says softly.
"Magic? In Storybrooke? You're the Blue Fairy. Do something magical." Henry says beginning to get excited.
"It's not that simple Henry. No wand, no fairy dust… matters are complicated now." Mother Superior says grimly.
"No kidding." Rose says rolling her eyes. The distasteful looks of Mary Margaret and David are not lost on Rose for the expression.
"Let's go to the person responsible for bringing it— the Queen." Leroy speaks up again the angry look on his face, growing in severity.
"No— wait. It wasn't Regina." Emma says, pretty much shocking everyone in the street.
A few minutes later finds everyone walking down main-street in the direction of Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop. It's a little disconcerting and worrisome how quickly the happy reunion had turned into a small mob bent on revenge. Henry and Rose were walking close together with Ally having only joined them a few minutes ago, for Ruby was worried about ever letting her daughter out of her sight again.
There were a lot of mistakes to atone for in Storybrooke and Ruby alone wasn't the only one who had to make amends. Leading the small pack of 'good guys' as Henry and Ally quickly dubbed it, much to the still freaked out annoyance of Rose.
Emma looks thoroughly frazzled at the front of the group with David and Mary Margaret glued at her sides. The only reason Rose escaped that totally horrifying confrontation was because the situation that they were all in was a little dire, and she was still a teenager and effectively had not done anything life threatening like go through a magical tree into a whole different world for twenty-eight years.
The kids were being closely watched by the wary eyes of the dwarves along with Ruby and Granny, this wasn't the time or place for children, but there was nothing that they could do about it at the moment, and there was safety in numbers.
Everything was going relatively smooth until a dull roar began up behind them. "Come on!" A man yells as the group rushes across the cross street behind them. The sudden yell causes Ally, Henry, and Rose to jump. Rose shakes her head not wanting to show how much her nerves are shot after everything that happened today.
"Snow." David says warily watching as Archie comes running up to the group out of breath, and red in the face.
"There you are. Come with me. I need your help. Dr. Whale's whipped everyone into a frenzy. They're going to Regina's house. They're going to kill her!" Archie cries.
Henry and Rose flinch and look worriedly to Emma and the two adults that are now supposedly their family. Ally grabs a hand from both Henry and Rose knowing, that still after everything that's happened that she's still their mother and that means something to them. Ally can forgive her mom, so at some point they should be able to forgive theirs… maybe?
"Great, let's watch." Leroy growls, earning a few nods and agreements at his words.
"No. No, we cannot stoop to her level. No matter who she is or what she's done, killing her is wrong." Archie argues back.
"He's right. Please. He's still my mom." Henry says looking quite terrified of the fact that people are gearing up to kill his mother. Rose nods her head in agreement while swallowing thickly, all the while fighting with that darkness inside of her.
"We have to stop them." Emma says firmly, leveling looks at all of the newly awoken fairytale people, her own parents included.
"If the Blue Fairy is right and magic is here, Regina could have her powers back. They'll be marching into slaughter." David says. Ally and Henry wince at the word choice, not quite knowing how to put the reality of the Enchanted Forest World and this world together.
The group breaks off into a run then, in the direction of Mifflin Street and Henry and Rose's house, probably old house now. Ruby and Granny makes sure to keep pace with the kids so that they don't get lost or hurt in all the panicked action. Deep down in Granny's bones she wanted to kill that evil witch who put them all in this place, but just seeing the teen and two kids made her temper simper down some.
In any other reality, Henry would not exist and her Ally would probably have grown up to be friends with Emma and Rose. The worst part of that reality is that she may not be alive to see how great of a person that her Ally grows up to be. On the other side of the group the same thoughts were churning around in her head.
Most of it was focused on her daughter though. As much as she hated the Evil Queen for taking everything away from her— so much time. She still had to own up to the fact that there were more important things in life, such as taking care of her daughter, something that her cursed self didn't do a good job of, by looking at her affection starved pup.
It turns out that the group barely gets there in time, much to the chagrin of the mob and the relief of Rose and Henry. Ally was relieved to, but it was mostly because she had regained the feeling in her hands from where her friends had squeezed them to death.
"Let her go. Let her go, let her go!" Emma yells pushing through the crowd and shoving Dr. Whale away from Regina. Henry and Rose were watching the situation unfold with rapt eyes while Ally sunk back into the protection of her mother and Gigi.
"Why should I listen to you?" Dr. Whale demands, looking like he was going to explode any second.
"Because I am still Sheriff." Emma says glaring out at everyone. Ally and Henry catch each other's eye, and agree that it was a good point.
"And because she saved you. All of you!" David announces stepping up onto the porch alongside his daughter, looking every bit like the King he actually was, all that he needed was a crown and maybe a sword. Rose's fingers itched to sketch the proud pose of the man she could scarcely believe is her father.
"And, because no matter what Regina did, it does not justify this." Mary Margaret says taking a step up to be closer to the rest of her family.
"We are not murderers here." Emma proclaims.
"Well, we're not from this world." Dr. Whale challenges.
"Yeah, well, you're in it now." Emma fires back, not backing down for a moment.
Not taking any chances with his daughter David pushes Dr. Whale away from him.
"Back off. You're not my prince." Dr. Whale hisses at David, causing a confused look to fall over his face.
"Who are you Whale?" David demands, not liking that there is someone in Storybrooke that he doesn't know. It leads to too many uneasy situations.
"That's my business." Whale says before taking a step back.
"Well my business, is making sure this town doesn't go to hell. So, whether or not I'm your prince, isn't the issue. We have a lot to figure out, and this isn't the way to do it." David says easily taking authority over the situation.
"And Regina's death won't provide any answers. She needs to be locked up. For her safety and, more importantly, for ours." Mary Margaret says falling back into her role of warrior princess with ease.
Ally turns her head up at an odd angle to see her mother's face. "What's going to happen now?" She asks worriedly, not so sure that everything is quite the way it should be now that the curse is broken.
"I'm not sure pup, but I do know one thing. You're not leaving my sight until you're twenty." Ruby says quite seriously, while Granny rolls her eyes.
"B-but, that's ten years!" Ally cries, frantically trying to keep up with her mom's long strides as the crowd disperses as the royal family takes Regina away to the Sheriff's station.
It was extremely insulting for Henry and Rose to be shoved away with Ruby and Ally for the night while they figured out how to deal with the Regina situation. It wasn't that they didn't like Ruby, it was just that they didn't want to be separated from their new family this soon. It had only been a day since everything had changed, and everyone, the adults and the children are uneasy with all the changes that have happened.
The night before Henry and Ally were camped out on the floor of Ally's room with a giant blanket bed, so that the two of them could sleep next to each other. Rose was to share the room with the two of them but since she was older and with a later bedtime she was out in the living room of the inn with Gigi and Ruby.
Ally's head was swirling with all of the things that had happened today. Everything was different now even though she was back in her same bedroom that she had never left before. Her mom had actually come in and told Henry and her three stories to help them fall asleep, even though that did nothing but excite the two even more than usual.
"Ally… do you think that everything is going to be okay now that the curse is broken, and everyone has their memories back?" Henry asks after a lengthy giggling fit that the pair of them had broken out into just moments earlier.
Ally paused for a moment and turned her head to make out her best friend in the dim light of her room. "I hope so… people should be much happier now that they know who they were before. My mom— she looks sad though. It's when she looks at me Henry… only for a little bit, then she's all smiles again." Ally says softly, hoping that speaking about this aloud won't affect anything too much.
"I think that she's just sad that she missed so much time with you. I can tell that she loves you lots. Besides all the stories said how much Red's little girl was her life." Henry says with a reassuring smile on his face. Ally nods her head, even though she's still not a hundred percent relieved.
The next day proved to be a nightmare right out of the fairytale book that Henry and Ally coveted so much before the curse broke. The skies had darkened and the wind had picked up, and a deep coldness had seeped into the small town. Henry was afraid for his family. In Ally's opinion he had a right to be for history showed that his family was always at the center of every problem.
Without so much as a second thought Henry dashed out of the inn and into the street to go find his mom. Cursing Rose followed after him, with Ally trailing along with her. Ruby noticed the kids leaving a second too late, and ended up chasing after them, her heart jammed into her throat. She couldn't lose her daughter, not after she had only just found her again after all these years.
The small group makes it all the way to city hall, and it is glaringly obvious that whatever had happened was done. There was an eerie stillness in the air again. Henry burst into the room seconds before his sister Rose, and his best friend Ally. What greeted them and Ruby a second later was the sight of Regina standing in front of David who was being held to a wall and strangled with obviously magicked vines.
"Mom?" Henry's voice is both at once loud and small, breaking through the tense atmosphere.
"What are you doing?" Rose demands a horrified glimmer in her eye.
"Henry, Rose, what are you doing here?" Regina demands, her previously victorious posture deflating slightly.
"What are you doing?" Rose demands, her voice pitching higher in hysteria.
"It's okay. You're safe now." Regina says, but no one is quite sure who she's talking about. The vines release David, and Ruby hurries over to help him off the floor.
"W-where's my mom… where's—" Henry starts but Regina cuts him off.
"They're gone. They fell through a portal. They're Henry… I'm sorry…" Regina says.
"No! You're not sorry. This is what you wanted all along!" Rose cries grabbing, her hair and closing her eyes shut, like that would make all of this nightmare go away.
"It's true you wanted this all along. You really are the Evil Queen. I don't want to see you again." Henry says, his voice wobbling slightly but firm.
"Rose." Regina says somewhat desperately looking to her oldest for some sort of answer other than the one that Henry is willing to give.
"I can't. I never even got to really talk to her— to either of them. My— mom and sister… I never got the chance…" Rose says shaking her head and shrinking back away from everyone, not sure what to do with the swirling mess that's inside her head.
"No, don't say that. I love you." Regina says looking at her two kids with a sort of aching looking that even Ally can sort of see.
"Then prove it. Get Emma and Mary Margaret back. And until then, leave me— leave everyone alone." Henry says his voice hard and firm once again.
"But where will you go?" Regina demands.
"With me." David says limping over to the three kids with the support of Ruby under his arm. It was a final sort of statement. The group of five left the office leaving Regina standing inside alone.
Once out on the street David straightened and took a step gingerly on his own. Before he could falter much though, Rose ducked under his arm to try and support him, even though she wasn't as tall as Ruby. David glanced down at the girl surprised that she had been the one to make contact.
She looked more like him in the facial features, but her hair was all Snow's. "Thanks." David says softly, smiling gently down at his teenage daughter. He can still hardly believe that they had managed to miss so much of both of their daughters lives, but at least with Rose, she was still young. She still needed someone, unlike what Emma seemed to be presenting.
Henry happily bounced over and started chattering with the pair as they slowly made they're way down the street to Mary Margaret and Emma's apartment, where they would be staying.
Ruby looked down at her daughter to see her worriedly staring up at her. "What's wrong pup?" She asks kneeling down to Ally's level.
"I'm worried." Ally admits quietly. Ruby reaches out a hand and pushes a stray strand of brown hair out of the kid's face.
"Why are you worried?" Ruby asks wanting to know what was eating at the young girl.
"Everything is changing, and people are getting hurt. Everything is different now! There's magic and people are much more willing to hurt each other! You're sad all the time, and I'm what's making you sad!" Ally cries letting go of everything that's been building up inside of her.
Ruby takes in a surprised breath. She had thought that she was doing a fairly good job at keeping her emotions pretty even around Ally, but now that looks like a fairy tale of her own.
"Pup, I'm not sad because of you. I'm just sad that I've missed out on so much with you. I wasn't the greatest mom before. I know that, it hurts me to remember this, but I promise you that I will be so much better for you now. Even if everything in the world changes, I promise you, that you will still have me. And Gigi." Ruby says fighting the sting of tears in her own eyes.
Ally looks at her mom for a long moment, before flinging herself into her arms. Ruby holds her daughter tightly and with a strong bout of strength granted to her the dark part of her, lifts Ally into her arms, and propels her onto her feet. Ally's grip around her mother's neck tightens, and Ruby carries her back to the diner, murmuring sweet nothings the whole way.
Once the pair are back in the familiar warmth of the living room of the inn, does Ally let go of her mom, and that's only so that she can snuggle in between her Gigi and her mother as the three of them watch Hoodwinked on the television, much to the amusement of all three ladies present.
