OS 8 : There is fire everywhere (I will save you) (GlassLawBeliever).

Author's note : Soulmate!AU, S7, canon divergence. It also takes place in the same universe and continuity as I wish I never met you and I never believed in magic (I was wrong).

- Défi de l'enfer de Dante : Défi des âmes-sœurs : Âmes-sœurs 2 : Vous avez une horloge qui fait un compte à rebours jusqu'à ce que vous rencontriez votre âme sœur.

- UA Challenge 10 : UA!Âme Sœur.

- Ships farfelus : Henry/Ella/Hansel.

- Défi 12 de Sarah et Voirloup : écrire sur le fandom OUAT.

- Vrai ou faux : Écrire sur une personne amoureuse de son ou sa meilleure amie.

- Qui est-ce : Écrire sur Cendrillon.

- Vingtième expression infernale : Bloody Hell

- Fusion : Fusionner 7 défis.

Hansel had two counters on his arms once upon a time…

But it was only before his sister and him got lost into the woods, it was before his life went to hell because a bloody blind witch wanted to eat them (and bloody hell, they were kids for fuck's sake, they didn't deserve any of that, did they ?), it was before that crazy woman suddenly decided that she would burn his arms while trying to kill him, and hell, without his sister using her magical powers for the first time, without even knowing what she was doing, he would be dead by now.

And, after they ran away from that monster, back home, back to their father who had been trying to find them for weeks, after he had stopped screaming and crying because of the unbearable pain he was enduring, and after his big sister had succeeded to cure him, well, the best way she could, after she stopped the fire on his arms, he had finally seen it.

His arms were burnt for forever, nobody would be able to make disappear the scars that the fire would leave on him, and he would always suffer from them, because Gretel was still not strong enough in magic to make the pain fade away, and most of all, his counters…

His counters were gone, he couldn't see them anymore, didn't feel them at all, they were just… gone for forever.

He would never know, he would never know who his soulmates were, because a witch had tried to kill him and eat him, and it hurt so bad, it hurt as much as the fire did.

He had two soulmates, and he would never know who they were, he would never know it by himself.

Gods, why was it happening to him ?

What did he do to deserve that exactly ?

§§§§

Their father dies when they are eighteen and sixteen, and they part ways the day after.

Gretel wants to learn magic, she wants to be powerful, she doesn't want to be scared anymore, she wants to be able to fight back the witches and sorcerers who might want to destroy her, she wants to protect her family, she doesn't want to be weak again, like she was when they were still kids, and Hansel understands, he really understands that, since he wants that too, that's the reason why he learned how to use a sword, he doesn't want anybody else to make him endure what the blind witch did to him.

That doesn't mean he likes the fact that Gretel is going to be a witch, but he respects her choice, because she is his sister, and hell, she means the world to him.

He doesn't know what he would do if he lost her…

§§§§

And then, he changes his name, decides that he won't be called Hansel anymore, because Hansel was a scared little boy who couldn't save himself from the monster trying to kill him, and he doesn't want to be him anymore.

He will be Jack now, and gods be damned, nobody will ever make him feel powerless again, he swears it.

§§§§

Jack the Giant Killer.

Maybe that he could succeed to be that hero that Henry seemed to see in him.

§§§§

It was easy to fall in love with Henry Mills, Hansel rapidly figured out.

Henry was his friend, his best friend, the only friend he ever had, and he was brave and heroic, and kind and all these things, of course he had fallen in love with him.

He had no freaking idea of who could be his soulmate, they never talked about that, he didn't show him his arms, the truth is that he never showed them to anybody since… the accident, even though it was not really one, and well Henry, just like him, did have other things to think or talk about, like exploring the New Enchanted Forest, and he never bothered to ask him the question.

Too bad…

He would have known that his name was written on one of Henry's arms…

Maybe that a little part of his heart hoped that he would be his soulmate, but it was not like Henry had told him anything about that, it was not like he had felt something, and it was not like he had his words either, did he ?

And then…

Then, Henry had met Ella, and Hansel had knew that he was completely fucked up.

§§§§

He truly expected to hate Ella, the first time he met her, well maybe not hate her totally, it was not her fault if she was Henry's soulmate and that he wasn't, but he didn't expect at all to like her, to really appreciate her.

And he totally didn't expect to fall in love with her too…

Oh, seven hell…

He was definitely fucked up, wasn't he ?

§§§§

Gretel dies.

Gretel dies, killed by one of the witches from the coven of the eight, and suddenly, it's easy to be angry again, it's easy to be Hansel again, to be that scared boy who just wanted his sister to be safe, except that things are different now, he is not scared anymore, just angry, in pain, willing to have revenge on them, he is an adult with rage in his veins, an adult who just couldn't save her.

He knows Henry wouldn't want that, he wouldn't want him to want revenge, but Henry didn't live what he lived, he doesn't know what he went through, he just can't understand that the fire on his arms is the same fire that burns now in his eyes, and it hurts, it hurts so bad, it's like being a child again, and the only thing he wants is the pain to stop.

So yeah, he doesn't care about the price he will have to pay for that.

Those damn witches are going to pay the price too.

§§§§

He doesn't know there is a missing piece in Henry's and Ella's relationship, that something is wrong, that something is missing, someone, that they don't understand who it is, that they just don't know, and they spent years looking for that person, but they still don't know who it is, because he didn't tell them his real name and because he is a bloody idiot.

He doesn't know that's him, he doesn't know that he has a place where he could belong, but can't, not yet, because fate is a cruel bitch.

And then, the curse hits everyone, and he doesn't know who he is anymore.

§§§§

It's terribly easy too, to be Nick Branson, to be Lucy's father, Jacinda's ex, it's easy to be in love with Jacinda, because it feels right, even if they are not together anymore, but then Henry Mills bursts into his life, their lives,and suddenly, absolutely nothing makes sense anymore.

Until Facilier wakes him up, and then, everything makes too much sense, and it hurts again.

He is Nick, but he is also Jack and he is Hansel, and it's wrong, what he is going to do, but he doesn't care at all, because the witches of the coven are bad, and hell, maybe that he could forgive Drizella for killing his sister, since she was only trying to defend herself and save her own life, and was only playing along the rules of the sick game that Gothel had organized, and she did help them to find a way to break the curse, but about the other witches, especially Hilda, he just…

He just couldn't not do something, or at least try.

Hilda dies, and so does doctor Sage, or whatever her name was in the Enchanted Forest, but then…

Then Rumplestiltskin figures out everything, and suddenly, he is in prison, and the Dark One knows who he is really is.

§§§§

"Why did you do this ? The sorcerer asks him after making sure that nothing is filming them by now, and Hansel just fucking wants to cry.

- I just wanted to help you break the curse, by killing those who decided to cast it, and… I wanted revenge, I just to avenge my sister's death, to avenge Gretel.

Then, the wizard just started.

Did he… did he heard him well ?

Could it be… could it be him, really ?

- Your real name never was Jack, was it ? He asked him, just to be sure.

Hansel chuckled, but not in a happy way.

- Indeed not… My name is Hansel.

- That does explain everything ! The Dark One exclaimed without being able to stop himself, and Hansel raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Hell, so his own son was paired with the Savior and the pirate that he hated most than almost everyone else in the world, while his grand-son was meant to be with both Cinderella and a serial killer.

People in his family did have strange soulmates.

- What are you talking about ?

- Wait a minute, the sorcerer added, remembering something, your arms, they were burnt when you were a child, right ? When Hansel nodded he sighed. What kind of soulmark did you have, and where was it ?

- Counters, I had two on my arms, and when my arms burnt, they just… disappeared.

Oh…

Obviously.

The immortal sighed again.

- I see it now… and since you never told your real name to my grand-son and his wife, they never knew that it was you.

- I have no idea of what you mean.

- Hansel, he finally said. Henry and Ella… They are your soulmates.

Hansel froze.

Wait, what ?

- You.. wait, what did you just say ?

The sorcerer sighed a new time, feeling suddenly really tired.

How couldn't they see that, how couldn't they realize that they were linked together ?

- They are your soulmate, they have your name on their arms, they didn't tell you this because they didn't know it was you.

The young man froze again.

That…. was definitely not something he expected to hear, and yet, he couldn't help but think that it did feel right.

And yeah, it did explain a lot of things, and before this mess began maybe that he would have been happy to learn that but…

Except that…

- Even if it's true, after what I did… I am not sure that it means anything now.

At that, the policeman just burst into laughter.

- After what you did… Listen to me kid, what you did to those witches, was… absolutely nothing compared to what Regina or myself did in our respective lives, trust me. I mean, you did kill two witches, two extremely dangerous witches who did help Gothel to cast the curse, and by the way, as far as we know, they wanted to cast a spell which would have killed everyone in this world who doesn't have magic, and you were desperate too, and trust me I do know how to recognize a desperate soul, so… Yes, I do believe that when Henry and Ella remember the truth, they won't blame you for that."

Well… maybe that the sorcerer was right, and hell, he didn't really feel that guilty for murdering doctor Sage and not at all for killing Hilda, but it didn't change the fact that what he had done was wrong, and he knew that if Henry and Ella looked at him like he was just a criminal, it would break him.

But…

If they were indeed his soulmates, and hell, he still couldn't succeed to believe it, it had to mean something, right ?

And maybe, just maybe, if he didn't die before the curse broke, and if he did go to see a psychiatric, just like Weaver wanted him to, well he might be able to finally heal from what the witch did to him, and from his sister's death, well if something like that was possible.

Maybe that things could be different now, maybe he didn't have to be alone.

Maybe that they could make the difference, maybe that it was not too late.

And, as the curse broke, as he saw them again and give them a hesitant smile, and they smiled to him too, he felt like maybe it was true, maybe they could make it work.