A/N: Well, I'll bet you thought this day would never come, but here it is, only two years too late-the final chapter. Thank you so much to those of you who have stuck with me all this time, to Addicted1 for sending me a message months ago that gave me the confidence to stick with my original planned ending for this fic, despite the fact that I'm not entirely sure that I want to continue with this verse, and to tonguemarksonmymirror for convincing me that it's worth finishing. I know most of you have probably moved on with your lives by now, but if you do read this, please, please review. It would really mean a lot to me.
(Also, I apologize for the lowkey Supernatural reference.)
1979-Glennville, Maine
The spring wind was cold against Helena's arms and cheeks as she tore through the Roskin family's backyard in the direction of the object of her desire. Tiny rocks on the cement prickled the soles of her bare feet, but she didn't care. All the other children were either drawing with chalk on the back porch, where Henry had told Helena to stay and color until he got out of the shower, or playing in the sandbox. For the first time that day, the Big Wheel was resting against a fence towards the back of the yard, vacant, just waiting for someone to get on it.
Helena grabbed the handlebars of the Big Wheel, leaned all her weight on the backs of her heels, and yanked it away from the tree. Failing to take note of the crack in the base of the handlebars, the two-year-old climbed on, placed her bare feet on the pedals, and began churning as fast as her legs would go in the direction of the house. As she approached the side of the building, Helena abruptly swerved to make a sharp right. When she did so, the handlebars and the front wheel went flying off of the toy, and Helena's body hit the wall before landing in the dirt with it. Her freshly torn left kneecap and chin throbbed. She wanted to pull herself up but was immobilized by the pain. She looked back at her leg and saw that sand had gotten in her wounds. And that's when she became aware that she was crying.
X X X
"I must say, Ms. Stable, I'm even more impressed with you than I always knew I'd be. For as long as you can remember, you have struggled to pull yourself up from nothing. No money. No power. No support. And not only have you managed to survive in a world that has been no less than unjust to you, but you found it within yourself to believe in magic."
"Isn't magic the reason that all those other things happened to me?" asked Helena as she drew closer to Mr. Gold's counter. "Aren't you the reason why they happened?"
"I'm sure you've heard by now that all magic comes with a price."
"But why am I the one who's paying it? Why me? Why my brother?" Mr. Gold pursed his lips. "And of all the people you could have chosen to break your curse and save your entire world, why would you go with the son of a stable boy?"
Instead of answering Helena's question, Mr. Gold countered her with an inquiry of his own.
"Has anyone told you why it has thus far been assumed that Henry is the savior?"
"No."
"Because when I crafted the scroll beholding the dark curse, I used a single drop of a potion made from strands of each of your parents' hair on the parchment. The dark curse can only be broken by a product of the same love that helped to sustain it. Shortly before the curse was cast, I took care to inform a prince who just so happened to be acquainted with your family that the only person with the power to break the dark curse would be the child of Daniel and Regina. Because Henry was the only child who had yet been born to the happy couple at the time, naturally everyone made the mistake of assuming that he was the savior I had in mind."
Mr. Gold reached under his desk to retrieve a wooden box. When he looked back up, he saw that Helena's face had already begun to go pale with realization.
"Don't act so surprised, dearie. Your brother may have arrived in Storybrooke knowing the truth about where he came from, but it was you who rescued Cinderella from her wicked stepmother. You reunited Prince Phillip with his sleeping beauty. You helped Hansel and Gretel find their way back to their father. You led Snow White to her Prince Charming. You separated Regina from the wicked witch. And you even managed to make a little magic of your own."
"What are you talking about?"
"Bringing the sheriff's memories back, of course. True love's kiss can be very useful in times like this."
"So Graham…he's my true love?"
"And my wife is mine," Mr. Gold responded with a hint of irritation. "But her memories hardly come flooding back every time my lips touch hers. Neither do Mr. Nolan's, or Ms. Blanchard's, and their love for one another is both true and pure. The magic didn't just come from the kiss, Ms. Stable. It came from you."
Mr. Gold pried open the tiny wooden box he had just set on his desk. He opened it to reveal a key that in color and size very closely resembled one of Mayor Mills's heart-shaped keys. Only the head was shaped like an open book.
"You shall find the answers you seek in the darkest depths of the library," he said, placing the key in Helena's hand. "They are guarded by an angry beast that few have dared face, and fewer still have lived to tell the tale." Helena's face grew even paler. "Which reminds me," Mr. Gold added. "You'll also need this."
He opened a large wooden box from underneath the counter, withdrew a sword, and placed its handle in Helena's clammy palm.
"I…" Helena swallowed. "I don't know how to use this."
"Fret not, Ms. Stable," said Mr. Gold. "There is one person in Storybrooke who remembers how to defeat this particular beast. I believe you know her."
"Eleanor?"
"Actually, she quite prefers to be addressed as Princess Aurora."
X X X
Daniel could barely touch the cold mashed potatoes the nurses brought him and Henry on their plastic trays for dinner that night. Even in his normal, conscious state, he could still hear hoofbeats pounding through an open field. He could still smell the scent of hay mixed with dung and wet grass. He could still feel the dirt between his fingers, and the smooth brass wedding ring on his left hand. He could still see Regina's smile, taste her sweet lips. Regina taking his hand in hers and leading him out to the field to look at one of their horses. Regina resting against his shoulder as they stood there, letting the wind caress their cheeks. Regina screaming as the purple smoke drew nearer, crying into his shoulder. Drawing him into a kiss as the smoke engulfed them.
"Daniel, eat some more," Henry instructed. Daniel nodded and complied.
It was all backwards now. Regina and horses were his reality, and this cell was his nightmare.
Though Daniel couldn't help but feel that he was still forgetting something important.
X X X
A few minutes of franticly asking about the wayward princess's whereabouts found Helena dashing in through the open door to Granny's, nearly knocking Ruby over into the booth where Jefferson was sitting and uttering a quick apology as she brushed roughly against the shoulder of another patron.
Just as the girl whom the whole town knew as Eleanor took the box containing her takeout order from Granny and turned away from the counter, she came face to face with Helena. Her face drained and took on an irritated expression. Several customers stopped and looked over.
"What do you want, Helena?" asked Aurora.
"Is there a problem here?" Ruby asked as she slunk behind the counter, looking as if she was preparing herself to reach for something. That was when Helena remembered she still had a sword in her hand.
"There's no problem," said Helena quickly. "I was just wondering if you might be able to teach me how to use this." Aurora raised her eyebrows and studied Helena carefully. "You know…to slay the beast."
Aurora's eyes widened. Helena nodded, confirming the princess's suspicions. Aurora wordlessly followed her out of the restaurant, giving the takeout container back to Ruby to give to someone else.
As the two women exited the restaurant, it occurred to Helena that Granny or Ruby might still have half a mind to call the police, but seeing that the police was Graham, and Graham had just regained his fairytale memories and was in love with her, that seemed like a safe enough risk to take.
X X X
Family dinners consisting only of the women in the Gold family seemed to be all too commonplace nowadays. Mrs. Gold couldn't imagine what her husband could be working on so late at night, and how it could be more important to him than spending time with his wife and daughter. He had never been like this before Henry and Helena had come to Storybrooke. Or had he? It was difficult to remember.
"Are you feeling alright, Kayla?" she asked.
Kayla forced a smile and nodded, worried for her father but confident that whatever he was doing served a far more important purpose than enjoying her mother's cornbread would have. She glanced at the head of the table-the spot where he was supposed to be sitting-and noticed a stack of papers on his chair. She put down her fork and bent to pick them up. All papers printed out of their black and white printer. All advertisements for airlines, hotels, and car rental companies.
"Mama, what are these for?"
Mrs. Gold frowned as she reached for the traveling brochures, then turned pale as she realized what they were.
"It's probably nothing," she muttered as she tucked them away, silently praying that her husband would soon be home to explain to her why he would ever want to set foot out of the only town they had ever known.
X X X
"How do you know?" Aurora finally asked.
"I always knew," said Helena. "I just didn't believe."
Aurora wordlessly followed Helena to the library, watched Helena unlock and open the door, and went inside.
"What are we looking for?" asked Aurora.
"The darkest depths, apparently," said Helena.
Helena began walking through rows of books. The library was fairly small and well-lit, and there appeared to be no doors to adjacent rooms, other than the one that Helena knew only led upstairs to the clock tower. As she was passing one wall, she glanced over at a shelf of what appeared to be how-to manuals for various types of farming equipment, caked with dust. Most of them had visible hardcovers and were embossed with gold titles on the outside, but one was encased in a pure black dust jacket. Helena frowned and began to pull it down from the shelf. A few moments later, she dropped it to the ground.
A long rope-like cord, which had somehow been secured to the unusually packaged book, quickly retracted, rattling as if it had been zipped open and catching Aurora's attention moments before the entire bookshelf swung open on a hinge. Behind it were wooden double doors decorated with a sizable, viciously red emblem of a human heart. Not a traditional heart symbol. An actual human heart.
"I guess we know who had this built," Aurora commented, her voice wavering uncharacteristically as Helena opened the wooden doors and revealed an old-style elevator. "It looks like it only goes down. One of us is going to have to operate the elevator while the other one of us goes down to face Maleficent."
"How can we be sure that Maleficent is down there?"
"Henry caught a glimpse of her when he was trapped in the abandoned mine. She'll still be in her dragon form."
Helena's breath caught in her throat as Aurora held out her hand, presumably to take the sword.
"No," said Helena. "I'm the savior. I have to go down."
Aurora nodded and stepped aside to allow Helena to climb over the half-door of the elevator. Helena looked down the metal grate beneath her feet at the darkness below, and felt for the key Mr. Gold had given her in her pocket.
"Don't be fooled if she flies away. She always swoops back around."
Helena nodded and gripped the handle of her sword even more tightly.
I have to do this, Helena thought. This has to be me.
"And one more thing," said Aurora. "If you see any sharp objects down there, stay away from them."
And she began to turn the crank.
The elevator frightened Helena as it rattled steadily on the way down, slowing down abruptly a couple of times on account of rust accumulated over twenty-eight years. Or maybe it's rickety nature was by design, she realized, to further deter people from discovering what was down here.
She could already hear the grunting and sniffling of a massive creature, even before the contraption brought her to the bottom of the shaft. The primal noises echoed more loudly off of the walls of the cavern than Helena would have thought possible coming from a single creature, no matter how large.
But when Helena stepped out, Maleficent was nowhere to be seen. All she could make out in the dim glow of her pocket flashlight was a winking scepter, lying on the ground in front of her. Carefully, Helena reached down picked up the long staff and looked into the glass ball on top. It shimmered fiercely. And then a face appeared. A woman's face, resembling Virginia's, but with the weathered look of twenty-eight years gone by.
"Helena?" the voice rose from the object in her hands, a sweet, faint echo carrying the comforting tone of middle-aged wisdom. "Helena! What are you doing out so late, sweetheart? If you don't get home soon, you'll miss dinner."
Helena's voice cracked in spite of herself. "Mommy?"
"Yes. That's right. Where are you? Don't you want me to teach you how to bake?"
"Yes," Helena whispered. "Yes, I do!"
The face smiled, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes deepening as she did so. Then she began to sing softly.
"Baby don't you cry, gonna bake a pie. Gonna bake a pie with a heart in the middle. Baby don't be blue, gonna bake for you, gonna bake a pie with a heart in the middle…"
As a tear began to slide down Helena's cheek, she suddenly became aware of a sudden sweltering breeze coming from overhead.
"Gonna be a pie from heaven above. Gonna be filled with sweet apple love."
Helena slowly tore her gaze away from the scepter and saw two purple nostrils, directly in front of her just a dozen feet away.
"Baby don't you cry, gonna bake a pie, and hold you forever in the middle of my…"
Helena gathered all the emotional strength she possessed, took the scepter, and hurled it, sharp-end first, in the direction of the dragon's face. The dragon stealthily leapt to the side, giving Helena the opportunity to run away and duck behind a stalagmite to avoid the fiery exhale.
X X X
Jefferson smiled as Granny set a small chocolate sundae in a cup in front of Grace's booster seat. The two-year-old immediately grabbed the cup in her hands and began licking the ice cream, much to the amusement of the old woman near her.
"Will that be all for you tonight?"
"Yes," said Jefferson as he handed Grace a plastic spoon. "Check, please."
Jefferson did not even look up when Mr. Gold came up behind him, though his already unsettled mood grew even more sour.
"You seem a bit restless tonight, Jefferson," said Mr. Gold. "Witnessed anything strange?"
Jefferson sighed. "What did you do this time?"
"Me? I've done absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, dearie. I was just on my way home to plan a little trip with my wife and daughter."
Jefferson made no attempt to mask his surprise at the notion.
"What's going to happen to the rest of us?"
"That, dearie, is entirely up to you. Not only you, of course. But everyone in Storybrooke who shares a commitment to making a better world for their family, no matter what it takes."
Jefferson looked from Mr. Gold to the line of vanilla ice cream that ran from his daughter's nose to her chin, broken only by her smile. Two big green eyes looked up at him lovingly. Aerona's eyes.
"It's the best thing we can do," said Mr. Gold. "Don't you agree?"
And then the pawnbroker walked away.
X X X
Alone in her apartment, Virginia whistled a comforting tune to herself as she juiced a fresh lemon with the sole intent of using a tiny bit of it to add flavor to the apple pie she was baking (though how she had learned that trick she could not recall). It wasn't like Helena to be late for dinner, which was just enough cause for concern that Virginia made up her mind to step out and go look for her friend if she hadn't returned by the time the pie was cooling. Virginia took comfort in the fact that Helena had promised to eat with her one last time before departing. She wasn't one to go back on her word.
Before Helena came along, Virginia had never known life outside of her mother's grasp. But she had once, perhaps a long time ago, known love. Known trust and tenderness. When she tried to remember it, it confused her so much it caused her head to ache. But she knew it had been there.
X X X
As Helena crouched in a crevice in the rock, clutching the handle of her sword for dear life, she snuck a daring look at the scepter on the ground.
The handle was fine, but the glass orb-the first magical thing that Helena had ever seen in her life-had been smashed to bits.
Helena wiped tears from her cheeks and shook her head. How unfair it was, that she and her brother had been torn from their loving parents. People who never would have forced Henry to give up his childhood to preserve what little he could of Helena's. Who would have helped them both up when they had fallen down. Soothed their fevers. Told them that it was all going to be okay.
X X X
Daniel and Henry lay silently in their cots, both men too restless to sleep, but unsure of what to say to one another about how they were currently feeling, when they heard a key turn in the door of the cell. Both of them sat up, confounded by the realization that their dinner trays had been taken away hours ago, and that the halls were normally dead silent at this time of night.
When the door opened, Daniel was so startled by the sight of the quirky curly-haired man in the purple coat and black top hat that he warily stepped closer to Henry. Henry didn't seem afraid at all, but equally surprised.
"Jefferson?"
"I expect I'll live to regret this…" Jefferson peeled aside his coat and took out two simple, sharp daggers. "But I am officially on your team." He handed one of the daggers to Henry. "You bastard."
X X X
It was quiet. Too quiet.
Aside from the faint sound of something thumping, there was no noise coming from anywhere in the mine shaft. Helena couldn't hear the long, slow breaths of the dragon, or the heavy sound of her wings flapping anymore. Had she tired herself out? Had she given up the hunt? Helena quietly inched forward, then sat up.
It was a bad move. As soon as Helena sat up, a large head whipped in her direction, and two emerald eyes lit up with wonder. Helena leapt from her crevice, clutched her sword in her hands, and stepped back, suddenly noticing a shiny, crimson trickle down the dragon's right wing. She had injured the animal when she'd thrown the scepter after all. That was why Maleficent wasn't flying.
But Maleficent wasn't trying to kill her, either.
Helena tried to steady the heavy sword in her trembling hands as she watched the dragon. Maleficent was biding her time. She knew she could take Helena. But she also knew that the sword in Helena's hands could seriously injure or kill her. She was focusing on the weapon. Once it was thrown, it could be dodged, or even destroyed. Helena only had one shot. After that, she would be left powerless.
"You know Aurora's awake, don't you?" Helena shouted. The large pupils widened to the size of serving platters. "The sleeping curse is broken. I already know how this story ends. You die. You fail."
In response, the dragon opened her mouth and let out a long roar that rattled the cave, throwing fireballs in random directions, and illuminating the wall behind her. For a fleeting moment, Helena glimpsed a flash of gold, and a carving of the same human heart emblem she had seen on the door to the elevator.
X X X
Helena's mind reeled as she tried to cling to the image of what she had just seen on the wall, in the light of the monster's breath.
"Aurora and Philip found each other!" Helena yelled. "And they're going to live happily ever after!"
The dragon roared again, not as loudly as the last time, but still with enough rage to produce flames. This time, Helena paid attention to the wall behind the dragon. Below the heart emblem, was a huge golden archway.
This dragon, powerful and terrible as it may be, was not the one who had created this cavern, or the town above it. She was not Mayor Mills.
"But that's not why you're down here, is it?" asked Helena. "You're down here to distract me from something else. Something that could help me break the curse that froze time in Storybrooke for twenty-eight years."
Suddenly, the large beast fell silent. She cocked her head to one side, which Helena could tell only from the shift in the luminescent glow of the irises.
"Is that really what you want, Maleficent? Maybe you remember being human. And maybe you don't like being trapped in this town any more than everyone else does. Maybe you wouldn't mind waiting for your snack until after I do what I need to do to break the curse."
The dragon inched forward. Helena raised her sword with caution, but it was unnecessary. Maleficent lowered her head and opened her mouth. Out rolled a fireball that vanished the moment it hit the firm ground, leaving behind a large, golden egg.
Helena moved towards the object, then waited until Maleficent had moved back several dragon-sized paces before kneeling down to examine it, keeping her sword at her side. She could tell by the metal framework of the egg that it was, in all likelihood, not a natural thing. She ran her hands up and down it's sides until she found a keyhole, then reached into her pocket and extracted the key that Mr. Gold had given her. The egg opened easily. Inside was a bottle filled with a smooth, pink liquid.
"This must be the potion Rumplestiltskin told me about. The one made from true love!"
"Excellent observation, granddaughter."
Before even looking up to see who was standing in the archway, Helena transferred the potion to her left hand and picked up the sword in her right. The archway began to glow, finally brightening the cavern. Helena could see Mayor Mills standing right in the center, below the heart emblem, with a faint but genuine smile on her face.
"Facing a dragon all on your own? I must say, Helena, you have your father's determination, and your mother's reckless nature. A shame it's been all for naught."
With a wave of her hand, Mayor Mills brought the potion flying out of Helena's hand and into her own. Maleficent let out a screech, opened her jaws wide, and headed in the direction of the witch. Cora laughed and waved her hand just in time, putting a freezing spell on the monster. When Maleficent's labored breathing ceased, another sound intensified. A rhythmic chorus of heartbeats, all echoing against the walls of their prison.
X X X
Fifty-five Years Ago, The Enchanted Forest
Despite the feather mattress beneath her back and the luxurious bedding that enveloped her, Cora felt disgusted as she ran her fingers across her firm, swollen belly. She had assumed that the weight gain had come from an excess of royal feasts with her husband and brothers-in-law and a lack of the manual labor that she had been so accustomed to for the brunt of her life. The true cause of her expansion was so much worse.
She had never wanted this. She had made a habit of sleeping with her husband a few times a month to keep him satisfied with their arrangement. Nothing more. A few weeks following her wedding night, when she began feeling nauseous and ill, she had assumed it was a result of the decadent palace food that her stomach wasn't used to. When her cycle never returned, she had assumed it was a happy side effect of the potion she had drunk to prevent herself from ever having children.
But apparently, the promised results of that potion hadn't been as permanent as she'd thought.
"How are you feeling today, sugar?" asked Cora's husband as he entered their shared bedchamber. Cora cringed inwardly. She hated it when he called her pet names. Particularly those associated with food.
"Well," said Cora. "I seem to be pregnant."
To Cora's further disgust, Henry gasped with delight and bent over to kiss her full on the lips.
"Are you sure? This is wonderful! I'll have to announce it to the kingdom at once!"
Cora scoffed. "Why should the kingdom care? It's not like our child is going to be the crown prince. Or princess."
"Eh, that's true. Unless our son or daughter happens to marry the heir to some other kingdom," Henry half-joked. Then he turned in and reached behind the wardrobe to pick up his riding crop, oblivious to the light that he'd just turned on in his young wife's eyes. "But I still think it's worth announcing. Don't you?"
"Yes," said Cora quickly. "I do."
"By the way," Henry sat down next to Cora on the bed and gently took her hand. "If we have a daughter, is there a chance we might name her Helena? After my mother?"
Cora shook her head. "No. If it's a boy, we shall name him Alan. If it's a girl, Regina."
Henry looked a little disappointed, but he smiled anyway. "Those are lovely names. Would you like to have breakfast in bed today, sugar?"
"Esme is already on her way from the kitchen. But thank you. Enjoy your day with the horses."
Henry gave her another repulsive kiss before retreating, which Cora returned freely. Then, for the first time ever, Cora smiled as she stroked her lightly emerging baby bump. This unborn child may be causing her pain and suffering now, but someday, Cora was going to get her own kingdom for her efforts. The White Kingdom, the Golden Kingdom, and the Jade kingdom were each sorely lacking in heirs-with only one childless prince apiece. If any of those crown prince's wives soon became pregnant with a baby boy, that boy would become Regina's future husband. And if they only gave birth to baby girls…well…then Regina would just have to settle for being a loving stepmother.
X X X
"So this is where you keep them?" Helena asked. "All the hearts you've stolen?"
Cora clicked her tongue. "Helena, sweetie, I did not steal those hearts. As a matter of fact, most of their owners paid me dearly to put them someplace for safekeeping."
"Who in any realm would trust you to safeguard their life?"
"The gullible. The desperate. Those who value their lives above all else, such as royals desperate to live long enough to produce a devoted heir. King George of the Jade kingdom was particularly enthusiastic to give me his. Offered me all the gold in his coffers for the privilege. Aside from the fact that he went bankrupt for a time, it worked out quite well for him. I never had to call in any favors."
"But if you'd ever needed anything from him, or any of those other people, you would have threatened to kill them?"
"Certainly not. It's much easier to simply use their hearts to dictate their every move without them knowing."
A chill ran up and down Helena's spine as she became painfully aware of the fact that every heartbeat she heard, of which she was sure there were dozens if not hundreds, belonged to a living person. A person who had no idea just how much they had given up when they had surrendered their most vital organ to the witch.
"Do you have my m…" Helena swallowed. "Virginia's heart?"
"I never felt the need to take the hearts of my own family. Them I could control by other means. Though I did offer to take Henry's heart in exchange for his freedom."
"You're not his family!" Helena shivered with anger as she tried to steady her sword. "You tore apart our family!"
"It was your parents who sent you away."
"To protect us from you! You are the reason that my brother and I spent twenty-eight years with no one to rely on but each other!" Helena continued, realizing her thoughts as she spoke them aloud. "My mother never would have chosen to make me grow up in a world as cruel as hers. With only my brother to protect me, as powerless against those who served to break both of us as her father was to protect her from you."
"But alas," the evil woman stepped forward, "The tables have turned. Now, it's your turn to be the protector."
Helena looked around. "What are you talking about?"
In answer, the mayor waved her hand and lit up a torch just to the left of the golden arch, revealing a spinning wheel with a sharp spindle.
X X X
"Now what?" asked Henry quietly as Jefferson led them discreetly though the dark streets of town.
"You tell me. All I know is that Aurora and Helena went off to go deal with some beast."
"The dragon," Henry said softly.
"There are dragons here?" Daniel spoke for the first time since Jefferson led them under the bright red "exit" sign.
"There's one," said Henry. "Maleficent. She's trapped at the bottom of the mine."
Jefferson nodded. "I know how to get there safely. Follow me."
Once the group arrived in the library, they saw Aurora quietly guarding the elevator with a knife in her own hand. She was relieved to see Henry, and quickly updated him on Helena's situation.
"I need to go down there and help her," said Henry. "You should come too. You know Maleficent."
"I'll come as well," Jefferson offered, shedding his coat. "If there really is magic down there, there's a chance my hat could serve as an emergency escape route."
"Thanks." Henry turned to Daniel. "You stay here and run the elevator. Make as little noise as possible. If anyone tries to hurt you, go over that box over there, press the numbers nine, one, and one, in order, put the long thing up to your ear, and tell Sheriff Graham to come to the library."
Daniel nodded as Henry pressed his own dagger into his father's hand as Aurora brought the creaky elevator back up to ground level, allowing herself and the other passengers to step inside.
"Hey, Daniel?" Daniel looked at Henry. "Whatever happens…everyone who cared about you before the curse, is still going to remember how important you are to them after it's broken. Remember that."
Daniel smiled. "I will."
And they began their descent.
X X X
1979-Glennville, Maine
"Helena, Helena!"
Helena's trembling ceased as her big brother scooped her up in his arms and held her close to his chest. She could feel his heart pounding through his shirt, and feared for him, unaware that he was afraid only for her.
"Helena, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone."
Helena whimpered as her brother gently kissed her, on the top of her head where her hair was thickest, and scooped her up to carry her inside.
"What have you done this time, boy?" grunted Mr. Roskin.
The six-year-old boy let tears of guilt drip down his cheeks as he brought the two-year-old girl to the bathroom to clean her injuries, just like Mommy and Daddy used to clean his.
X X X
The spindle glistened as the spinning wheel, clearly enchanted, turned on its own. Ordinary thread went in, shimmering gold came out.
"That's Mr. Gold's," Helena observed. She felt herself drawn to the object, but maintained her ground.
"Maleficent's," the witch corrected her. "He lost it to her in a bargain, long ago, and while it still serves the purpose that it once served him, she added her own enchantments to it."
Helena's legs trembled as she fought to keep her grip on her sword and her gaze on her enemy.
"Don't worry, granddaughter. It won't kill you. Just put you in an infinite slumber that will leave you roaming the darkest depths of a foreign realm for all eternity. And trust me when I say that what awaits you if you choose to return to the surface of our fair town is far worse."
"What are you talking about?" Helena asked, still trying in vain to keep her eyes off of the enticing spindle, winking in the light of the torch above it.
"I haven't had occasion to use magic in many years, because I was the mayor of a cursed town of my own design. But once the curse has been broken, I'll have no choice but to start doing as you suggested, and crushing the hearts of those who choose to remain incompliant. Dr. Hopper. Mr. and Mrs. Gold. Kayla. Granny and Ruby Lucas. Leroy. Sidney. The owner of the stables, who, by the way, is your grandfather." The witch paused. "Graham." Helena's eyes widened. "That's what I thought."
Helena lowered her weapon, realizing that it would be useless against the one other mobile being down here. She thought about asking Mayor Mills if she really possessed the hearts of all those residents of Storybrooke (which seemed unlikely, because all of them seemed to operate with a normal range of emotions). Then she realized that with the magic that she had just obtained from the dragon's egg, and that the witch had obtained from her, it would be entirely possible for her to rip out as many more hearts as she wanted.
"What about my brother?" Helena finally asked.
"I had always imagined that he would be the one I'd have this conversation with. But he's never truly been a threat to me, has he?"
Helena knew that her brother would never leave Storybrooke without her. But she also knew what he would do if he was the one down here. In her position.
A strange wave of calm washed over the young woman as she dropped her weapon on the cavern floor and began walking in the direction of the spinning wheel.
Helena thought of all the friends she had made since arriving and town, and what the action she was about to take would mean for them. She thought of little Kayla, and the happy family she would get to keep. She thought of Mary Margret and David's impending nuptials, and Kevin and Aurora's love for one another, and Ashley's new safe home at the convent. Granny would get to keep her restaurant. Ruby would get to keep working for Graham. Graham would get to keep doing good and helping keep Storybrooke safe as best he could. So would Dr. Hopper. And Virginia would get to keep her independence.
Helena had spent her whole life unknowingly making sacrifices that would serve to protect this town. This was just one more.
She closed her eyes and spared one last thought for her brother, who had struggled to hold onto the reality he had known for so long, before reaching out and letting the sharp object graze the tip of her left index finger.
X X X
Daniel stopped turning the crank the second he heard the elevator hit the floor so far down below. He breathed a sigh of relief as he heard Henry call out that they were okay, and faintly heard footsteps echo as the rescue party rushed out of the contraption. Daniel wondered if he should close the door to cover up the elevator, but he wasn't sure how he'd get it open again when it was time to bring them back up if he did. He looked around for something to do, then noticed a book lying open on the floor, free of its pure black mismatched dust jacket. He picked it up in his hands and felt a startling flash of familiarity as his finger ran over the words On Horsemanship.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, followed by the turning of a handle.
"I'm sorry," Daniel began. "The library is clo…"
His voice faltered when the woman who knocked on the door stepped inside. He could hear nothing but his own breathing as she drew nearer. Neck length dark curls, almost black, framed a beautiful face. Dark, gentle, uncertain eyes, rimmed with the warm chestnut of Rocinante's mane. Full lips. Orange sundress. Comfortable brown boots.
"Hi," she finally spoke. "I'm looking for my friend, Helena. Have you seen her?"
Daniel shook his head. Virginia nodded, then took a few slow, reluctant steps in the direction of the door.
"I'm meeting her here soon," Daniel blurted out.
Virginia turned around and smiled, causing his heartbeat to quicken and ring in his ears even more fiercely than it already had been. Then she glanced down at the book in his hands and her eyes widened with curiosity.
"Do I…" Virginia hesitated. "Do I know you?"
Daniel shook his head sadly. "No. But you will." He motioned for her to come stand next to him by the elevator, then opened the book to the first page.
X X X
It was eerily bright and quiet at the bottom of the mine, even with the flashlight in Jefferson's hand illuminating what the lit torch could not and the rucks crumbling beneath the feet of Henry and his comrades. Aurora gasped when she saw Maleficent standing tall on her haunches, as still as if she were made of wax.
"Something awful has been down here!" the princess cried. "Good magic can't do this!"
Slowly, cautiously, the party moved closer to the great golden archway, and in turn, rounding the corner into view of the dull spinning wheel, dormant but still entwined in thread and gold, and Helena crumpled in a heap on the floor beside it.
Before Aurora's mind was able to register what she was looking at, she heard the clatter of everything Henry was holding being dropped to the ground, and his anguished yell as he ran to his sister's side. She felt a brush as Jefferson came up behind her, wielding his flashlight.
"Helena!" Henry pulled his cold, limp sister into his arms. "Helena!"
"Is she breathing?" asked Jefferson.
"I don't know!" Henry sputtered.
"It's a sleeping curse," said Aurora softly. "We're too late."
"Helena?" Henry's hands shook as he held the body close to his chest, to all the world as lifeless as the stone beneath them. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."
Jefferson put a comforting hand on Aurora's shoulder when he noticed that the was beginning to cry, along with the man who he so wanted to hate sitting on the floor in front of them.
"I never should have let it come to this," Henry continued. "I should have been here to protect you." He placed on arm under her legs, preparing to stand up and carry her. "Please forgive me." He brought his little sister's head to his shoulder, then held back a sob as he planted a kiss on the top of her head, which let go in the unexpected jolt of a shock like electricity that hit his lips the second they made contact with her.
In the span of under a second, Helena's body grew warm, then came to life. And when she opened her eyes and breath returned to her lungs, the warmth spread out from her, washing across the room and penetrating every nook and cranny of the cavern, then rising up.
The miracle of true love spread out from the cavern to the ground, to every beloved home and shop and corner of Storybrooke and to the hearts of those who lived there. Granny awoke in her hotel to the sound of Grace gurgling quietly in the portable crib nearby, taking note first of the return of her residual wolf senses, then her memories. One by one, the residents of Storybrooke awoke, feeling as if they were just getting up from a very, very long nap. David Nolan turned over in his bed with the startling realization that he was in for a very awkward conversation with the woman curled up against his shoulder. Dr. Hopper was nudged awake by Pongo and felt more at peace than he had in years.
In the library, the relaxed young pair reading a book together were momentarily distracted by the wave of warmth that brushed them on the way to the town's borders. As soon as they were able to pull themselves together, they turned to look at each other, and the brown book fell to the floor as the stable boy and the stable girl embraced, their lips meeting after a long, undue parting.
A few miles out, a pawnbroker's wife nearly dropped the dish she was washing as she felt the same thing. Her life as a wife and mother and librarian, wasn't all there had ever been. Rumpelstiltskin imprisoned…curse cast…purple smoke…
"Good morning, Belle."
The woman turned off the water as she turned around and saw her husband standing behind her, holding his cane. She breathed a sigh of relief as she remembered she'd been waiting for him to get home, then allowed him to kiss her forehead before pulling back. He had a lot of explaining to do. After all, he had never even asked her to marry him, cursed or uncursed. And now they were here, in this town full of people who he had allowed the evil witch to keep trapped for twenty-eight years.
"Rumplestilskin," said Belle softly. "What have you done?"
Both man and wife turned around when they heard the sound of a teacup being dropped. Kayla was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, shards of porcelain at her feet.
"What did you…call him?"
At the bottom of the mine shaft, Helena was receiving welcoming hugs from Henry, Aurora, and even Jefferson.
"What just happened?" asked Helena.
"It's the curse," said Jefferson. "I think you guys just broke it."
"So they did."
All four of them turned in the direction of the soulless voice and reached for their weapons as its bearer held up the bottle of pink liquid.
"It's all right, children," said the witch of hearts as she turned the bottle over in her hand and unscrewed the cap. "You've given me all the power I need."
And then pressed the bottle to her lips and began to drink.