A/N: Prompt: Begin with "Today is the end of the world"

"The End"

Today is the end of the world.

Maybe that's a bit on dramatic side, but nothing else seems to fit with how I feel. We lost a great ally, a fantastic friend and the best man that I will ever meet. My emotions were on a roller coaster ranging between intense anger, sorrow and complete shutdown. Anger at who had done this- an evil queen living up to her name. She couldn't change, and she wouldn't change even though he tried to help her. The sorrow was easy enough to place. I was so sad I would never hear his umbrella click across the linoleum of the diner as he came in for his club sandwich. I would never see his eyes light up as we discussed Pongo, my mustang or anything that hit our fancy for the day. Even more so, I was so sad and regretful that I never understood what he had meant to me until it was too late. That's when my emotions would turn off. It was better to feel nothing to feel that hurt. That pain in realization that I would never hear his voice again.

He was the only guy who could turn a battle with his words, no other weapons. He was amazing in that way. Where everyone else used swords or magic, he only needed words… just his beautiful and meaningful words.

My eyes linger over all the other faces around me and I can still feel Granny's hand at my back, giving me some kind of comfort. There are so many people here; so many who he had touched through his life as both a cricket and a man. Marco more than anyone else here. Marco laid his umbrella at the headstone and I caught a sob in my throat before it could pass my lips. He always carried that around, it was a slap in the face to me to see it over a headstone that held his name.

Granny's hand smoothed down my back as she heard the suppressed sob. She leaned toward me in a semblance of a hug.

"Do you need to go?"

"No," I said back and put on a determined face, "I will stay. I need to stay."

"Okay," Granny nodded and stood back at my side again as Marco finished his beautiful sentiments to his friend and mentor.

As the service came to a close, Mary Margaret and David invited everyone to their home for something to eat and to keep close together. Everyone began to walk away, Granny and I stayed behind. Marco looked back at Granny and me with an unasked question. I kept my eyes on the cold headstone, but could feel Marco's impatience.

"Go ahead with him, Granny," I asked and nodded toward him, "He needs you right now. You are one of his oldest friends."

"You need me too," she pointed out and she made me want to smile at her stubborn streak that I had inherited, "You're my granddaughter. That trumps friend any day."

"I need to be alone with him," I added and looked Granny in the eyes. I knew mine were misting up and I tried to explain to her through a look what I had never been able to say through words.

"I see," she smiled sadly and let out a large sigh. Granny hugged me tightly and then began to walk away from me and toward Marco, "I will keep a plate for you."

"Thank you, Gran," I said politely even though I knew I wouldn't be hungry later and watched her walk with Marco and the last of the guests through the forest edge and back to town. Once they were all out of earshot and I couldn't see them anymore, I turned my attention back to the grave.

You know what they say. You never know what you have until you lose it. Archie was like that. He was always there, always helping, always a comfort. It didn't seem right that he was now buried under all the dirt and soil. It didn't seem right that he had to leave all of us- leave me.

"I found something new about myself today," I said out loud to the grave though I knew he couldn't hear me. Not anymore. I knelt over the newly shifted soil over his grave and wrapped my arms around myself. My eyes closed softly as I thought of him, "I found out that you were right. I did find love again."

A tear streaked down my face and dripped from my chin to my leg. My breath was shaky and my chin wouldn't stop shaking from the intense sadness. Even the wolf in me howled and whined at the loss of the man just as it did the moment Emma and I had found him in his office.

"With that said, I have to ask… why?" my voice cracked and I shook my head as I faced the stone as if it was his face, "Why is it that when I find that I love you… you're gone?"

In the woods a silence settled as if the woods and forests themselves mourned for Archie as well. Then out from the silence, a small sound reached my ears. It was soft and I couldn't make it out at first, then it grew. I opened my eyes just slightly and chuckled sadly. It would be a cricket song to reach me now of all times. Maybe I was more than a little biased, but I remembered he had the most beautiful cricket song back in the Enchanted Forest.

"I missed you the moment I knew you were gone," I continued and tried to calm my tears, "I miss your voice the most. Don't get me wrong, you're cuter than you think, but I have to say your voice is your best attribute."

Still nothing, but the cricket song and I close my eyes.

"Archie, I don't know what to do. You were our guiding light in this town. Now what are we going to do? What am I going to do?"

I rested my head against the cold stone and leaned forward to kiss the top of it; a final goodbye to a friend and a man that never knew that he held my heart.

"I wish…" I stopped myself and shook my head before I began again, "I just wish we had another chance. Another chance at a new beginning. I love you, Archie. I'm sorry I never got the chance to tell you face to face."

I found the strength to stand again after a few minutes and wiped at my face. I touched the umbrella and then slid my fingers over the stone one more time. I turned from the grave and began the trek back into town again. There didn't seem like much hope or joy was left were it had been. Everything that I knew and held dear seemed so miniscule and unimportant. It scared me, but it made sense.

Because, my world ended today.

END