I guess this one could be linked with chapter 1, but you can read it as a separate piece.

There was barely any light in the prison cell she was placed to await her punishment. It was hard to keep track of time seeing it was moving at excruciatingly slow pace. She couldn't tell the day from night but she figured it's been days since the curse broke and Rogers locked her up. The cold was seeping in from somewhere, settling in her bones. The filthy blanked did nothing to help. Apart from Regina with her speech full of intertwined angry, pitying and delighted remarks, only her mother came to see her once. Drizella wondered how she got out of the whole mess unscathed.

She heard footsteps. They were uneven, feet dragging on the floor. Being alone with her thoughts was becoming bothersome at best, but a visit from any resident hero, or even worse her mother, might just drive her mad. She heard the person enter the small room. Her head was bowed, eyes locked to her cracked fingernails. She refused to show interest in her visitor.

"Ivy?"

She closed her eyes suddenly grateful for the darkness. She didn't think he'd come. Alone. One word from Henry stirred inside her the emotions that she's been trying to drown. She knew he was alive and well. They all were. Her mother had informed tauntingly. That insipid woman. Like she ever wished him dead. The poison was merely a means to an end. What transpired after, well… that was the mistake that cost her greatly.

"I came to check if you needed anything."

She ignored him. It wasn't the reason he was there, so the introductory small talk was really ridiculous.

Henry didn't expect her to be talkative. But he was patient. She was not moving nor making a sound. If he didn't know he would have thought he was there alone. He slumped in the chair and opened a water bottle. Maybe he should have brought one for her. But his mom assured him she was being treated justly and he had no reason to distrust that.

"You probably don't know this, but I have been cursed with false memories before… Cursed wouldn't be the right word, I guess. Gifted maybe. My mom, Regina, gave me new memories of a happy life, normal life with my other mom in New York. And it was amazing." he paused and smiled, "Then, I got my memories back and it all became jumbled up. It was hard to keep track, you know. But not for a second did I want to go back to my life New York."

Henry got up. The gray hoodie was hanging loosely on him. His sleep deprived eyes still had the hard time adjusting to dark. The poison was no longer in his body but the consequences of this different life were still plaguing his mind. The strain of it all was evident in his voice. "But now I find missing parts of this cursed life."

He waited, Ivy didn't respond. She started picking on the scabs the handcuffs left on her wrists. It hurt, it bled.

"Do you have something to say to me?" he approached the cell. He had spent time reevaluating things. He had once dealt with his mom's troubled past, her curse, her seething anger. His willingness to forgive her, his love for her brought her to light, she had told him. But that was different. He was a child and she was his mother. He's an adult now. He had a family of his own. The stakes were much higher… All this was over his head. It felt he knew nothing at all, stumbling through life.

The keys rattled and the door to her cell opened. She looked up. He looked angry and tired. It was different than the anger she saw in him before the curse. It wasn't fueled by righteousness but something else.

"How long have I been here?" her voice sounded alien to her, rough. She hasn't spoken in a while.

"A week almost."

She nodded and focused back on her wrists. Her lips twitched upwards. He sure took his time.

Henry pinched the bridge of his nose. The void of her interest was irritating, "Fine. I'll be the one to say it, if you want me to. "

She clenched her jaw, like the gesture would shut the truth from coming out. Fear took over her and she wished the next moment would never come.

"You could have said something. I would have followed you… I don't know… helped you. I know there's a part of you that wants to do things the right way. I felt it. Tell me I'm not a complete idiot for thinking you were genuine with me."

Something jerked inside her. The emotions, the desperate cry that was forced not to leave her throat. If she opened her mouth, she might not be able to sustain control. Be cruel to be kind felt even worse than it sounded.

"Don't make me give up on you. Say something!" he pushed the cell door. Drizella yelped. It hit the wall. The pieces of plaster dropped on the ground, "I'm sorry."

The silence lingered in the air, thick and heavy.

"Don't… Your hero complex's getting the better of you." finally, she uttered in the most restrained manner she could muster. What was there to say really? 'Don't apologize. I am the only one who did something wrong.' Nothing could make things better. Confirming his hopes would only bring more misery to both.

"I love you. Or I was learning to." he swallowed his pride and confessed. He locked back the cell, "But I don't have the luxury to be selfish and… what I'm saying, to the Ivy you let me get to know, is goodbye."

The salty tears slid down the cheeks and watered her lips. She turned away and whimpered as the sound of his footsteps was dying out.

I've started a job that's keeping me quite busy so I'm not sure when the inspiration and free time will coincide again. Thanks for keeping up with my writing and I'm sorry it's mostly depressing.