I don't know where the light and the purple magic and the life-eating shadow went when it blasted out of them. Watching Regina and Emma and Snow joining hands it seemed like they shot all the darkness and magic that had tangled us up for so long right off the face of the Earth. Maybe it went back to the Enchanted Forest. Maybe it burned off into the air. The dagger disappeared, the Blue Fairy disappeared, and we all lurched back to the town hand in hand, arm in arm, like soldiers wandering off a battlefield.

I think the third time Belle and I fell in love was my favorite. Maybe it was because all of Storybrooke seemed so much happier when we all found our way out of the woods that night. Regina, Emma and Snow got me and Belle to a hospital: no more magic healing. But it was okay. Belle and I ended up in the same room, side by side, and though her memory had indeed been erased, we started talking back and forth from across our hospital beds. I admit I used what I'd found out about her from our past times falling in love to speed up the process (I got Emma to bring in all her favorite books. And some red roses.) We started meeting for lunch in the mess hall. And staying up late watching TV in our room. And racing wheelchairs down the hallways to the annoyance of Dr. Whale. And when some nurses found us making out in a supply closet, they told us we were probably well enough to go home.

Snow has never seemed so young, or happy as she has in this last year, the year that's passed since that night in the woods when she killed Mr. Gold and accepted her daughter and stepmom. She's not the dark one, and she's not the fairest of them all: she's just a person who's trying to make better choices and forgive herself for a situation that got way out of hand. I can tell from time to time she's gripped by regret that she had to kill Mr. Gold to save me, and an even deeper regret that she trusted him in the first place. And yes, sometimes when she and Regina are in the same room there can be some awkward pauses. But you can ask James: she's got her happy ending. Her happy beginning, really. They're both looking forward to getting to raise the baby Snow's carrying (4 months along!). She gets to spend every day surrounded with her friends and family, which I'm glad to say includes me.

When people realized you could cross the town line without losing all your memories, we said some hard goodbyes. There were also a few people who climbed up the beanstalk into the Enchanted Forest: adventurers, warriors, pirates, and people who for one reason or another missed magic. Yeah, I don't understand them either. When we were sure everyone who wanted to had gone, Emma and the dwarves finally got out those chainsaws. There are no more beanstalks anymore. And we burned all the beans.

The trade off is that the town's line being open means we've said hello a lot more times than goodbye. Storybrooke is booming. Families, happy families fill the houses and businesses up and down mainstreet are taking off. Little bakeries and diners and movie theaters and pubs and cinemas are popping up downtown, giving Granny's a run for its money. We're also getting a lot more business- we've had to hire a staff of ten to manage all the customers.

But don't worry, I didn't go straight back to work from the hospital. Belle and I went on a really long road trip together. We saw the Golden Gate bridge and the Great Lakes and the Grand Canyon. We stayed up late dancing under the stars in Austin and ice skated outside Rockefeller center. That's what happens when you save up for car repairs for 28 years: you build a solid little road trip fund.

We got back to Granny's about a week ago after five months on the road. We're staying with her until we agree on a place walking distance from my diner and her library. Belle is restoring the library and bringing it up to date big time with her fortune inherited from Mr. Gold. (She was his sole beneficiary! I told her it was because he was her grandpa. Is that bad? Ah well.) Tonight we've been invited to Emma and Regina's for dinner. The first time Belle met them after that night in the woods, Emma explained our friendship by saying I helped fix her and Regina up. Sort of true? They definitely returned the favor, I'll say that much.

They're not in the mayoral mansion any more, they're actually closer to the Charmings. Regina didn't run in the last election, she's way more into baking these days. We feature some of her turnovers at Granny's, in her special packaging with a commanding crown logo. "Regal Pastries" if you're interested (I think she's working out a deal where Whole Foods might start carrying them soon). Their new house is closer to Henry's school, open and airy, a little smaller but a lot more relaxed, with a big porch and two rocking chairs and music and feisty banter floating out of the windows.

We can hear them bickering while standing on that very porch, and I shoot a little smile at Belle, whose eyebrows are way up. "Let's not ring the doorbell just yet." I whisper to her. My hearing isn't what it used to be, since I stopped changing when magic left, but I don't need wolf ears to overhear these two:

"Emma, could find the time to put some pants on today? Our guests will be here any moment. Excuse me, you don't own pants, I meant your jeggings-"

"Jeggings?"

"You know you like to provoke me with those insanely tight pants."

"This from a woman who wears silk thigh high stockings and lingerie to bed every night?"

"Speaking of which, you owe me a new teddy after you ripped off my- Henry! Did you finish setting the table?"

Belle stifles a giggle.

"Help me with the banner, will you kiddo?"

I ring the doorbell. We hear the family inside shuffle around and then thrown the door open.

"Red! Belle! How was your trip?!" Emma cries, hugging me, but I'm a little distracted. Above them, a little uneven but still shining, is a glittery banner reading "Welcome Home"

And that's just what this place, this town- these women are.

The End