No, I didn't die. Wouldn't be much of a story if I did, would there? I collapsed, and my Papa caught me.
"Elizabeth, why did you do that?", he asked me.
"To protect my family."
My Papa turned to Regina. "Can you heal her?"
"Maybe", she said, "But why should I? If she dies, then they can't steal her magic and take over the world."
"Regina!", said Snow, "It's the right thing to do."
"No", I said, "It's not. If I wanted to be healed, I wouldn't have done it in the first place. Goodbye, Papa."
And then the world went black. I heard the rest of what happened from Baelfire later.
"Regina, please", said Bae.
"Give me one reason why I should care."
"Because she's family."
"Yeah, I realize we have the most dysfunctional family tree ever. Not good enough."
"Henry would want you to."
Regina looked at him, long and hard.
"Fine", she said, "I'll try. But no guarantees."
She put her hand over me and did some magic. The wound closed up, and the bleeding stopped.
"You fixed her", said my Papa.
"I closed the wound, but she's lost a lot of blood", said Regina.
"Well, someone has to save her!"
"Light and dark magic work differently", said Regina.
"What the hell does that mean?"
"Only very powerful magic could save her now."
"True love is the most powerful magic of all", said Snow.
My Papa looked at me for a little bit longer, and then he seemed to understand. He took the locket and placed it back on my neck. I was healed, but I was still unconscious. And Isabella and Charlie still wanted to kill me.
...
It was Charlotte who saved me. Isabella and Charlie had gotten distracted, and Regina broke Charlotte's restraints. She got up and drew her sword - Why did she have a sword? - and threw it at Isabella. In the time she was distracted, Regina went up and ripped out her heart. She started to crush it, but Belle stopped her.
"There has to be a better way."
Regina sighed, and instead she told Isabella to rip out Charlie's heart and give it to her. She then told both of them to disappear and never return. She summoned a box, and locked both hearts in it. Then she made the box disappear, presumably putting it in her old castle.
As for me, it was a while before I woke up.
...
"Elizabeth?"
I opened my eyes.
"Charlotte! How long was I out?"
"A week."
"A week?!"
"Yeah. But not much happened."
"Well... you're here!"
"I am."
"But you need to leave. You're not safe here."
"Elizabeth, you're my family."
"Fine. But don't die."
"I could say the same to you."
I smiled. Charlotte helped me up, and we exited the tent. Everybody seemed happy to see me awake, especially my Papa.
"You saved us", said Prince Charming, "Why would you risk your life for us? You had magic, you could have just disappeared."
"I did it because you people are my family. And I would to anything for my family."
"Anything?"
"Yes. Anything."
A/N: You didn't really think Elizabeth would die, did you? And don't worry, you haven't heard the last of Isabella and Charlie. There will, however, be other things to face beforehand. Keep reading!