Chapter 9: Broken
My body is trembling, vibrating with pleasure. Lacey moves up again, kissing the skin of my stomach until she reaches my face. I pant into her face with a silly smile on my lips.
"Hope your Granny didn't hear that", she says with a knowing look. I laugh.
"Oh my god, don't even say that." She brushes the hair out of my face.
"You're amazing", she says.
"So are you." We kiss and the heat starts to blaze again. I slide a hand down her body while watching her face. She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. The noises she makes are the most adorable, head spinning sounds I can think of.
In here the rest of Storybrooke disappears. The whole town feels upside down at the moment. There's now a full on war between Regina and Emma. Rumor has it that Emma's leaving town again. I heard Mary Margaret talk to her about it this afternoon.
Next thing we know little Henry is in the hospital. No one understands what happened, yet everybody knows about it. The news of that trio travels fast these days.
I didn't see Emma in here for a usual morning this morning, and later we hear it from Mary Margaret that the poor kid is sick. Very sick. He might not make it.
The diner is closed this Saturday and I ask Granny if we should go check on him. See if Emma's okay.
"We'll know in time. Emma or Mary Margaret will tell us. We're not first to know, Ruby."
"Yeah I know. I just feel so worried for Henry. He's such a sweet boy."
"Of course he is. Come on girl, Lacey can be alone without you for an hour", Gran says. She's been bugging me to go check out these new fabrics for the couches in the booths at the diner.
"Sure she can, but I could also help her. You used to say I never do enough and now you're dragging me away."
"I just want your opinion on the patterns, girl." Then she smiles. Granny's in a good mood today. She didn't used to ask my opinion on any kind of visual presentation.
"Really?"
"Yes of course. I'm sure you know more about today's fashion than I do."
"That's probably true", I say and laugh.
That's when it hits. For a couple of seconds I see rainbow colors and then it all comes rushing back with dizzying speed.
The cabin in the woods. My life with Granny, my constant fights with her over the red hood I never wanted to wear. It was so heavy and always in the way. Peter sneaking up to my window almost every night, stealing kisses through the window so Granny wouldn't know. The hunters, the fear of the wolf. Meeting Snow. Killing Peter and running away with Snow. Finding my mother. Killing my mother. The Evil queen, the wedding, the threat, the curse.
I look at Granny. She's just as perplexed as I am. Then she hugs me.
"Dear little girl", is all she says. She lets go and looks at me, cupping my face. I just smile at her, feeling like a cloud has disappeared from my head, leaving it all clear again. It feels so surreal, but at the same time every piece of the puzzle is falling into place. I'm Red.
I look up and see Snow and David walking over. Mary Margaret, who I always felt like I knew somehow. Now I'm looking at
"Snow!" I squeal and run over to give her a hug. I'm almost in tears. Time is suddenly standing crystal clear after being frozen for twenty eight years. She lets me go and looks at me. It's really her. My best friend. Then she runs to hug Gran and David embraces me.
"Good to see you again, Red", he says to me.
"Your highness?" Someone calls from behind us. We all turn around to see the seven dwarfs standing before us with Grumpy in front. They all bow for her and Snow runs over to receive a giant group hug.
"The curse… it's broken", Grumpy says when he's released again.
"It appears so", David agrees.
"So, what do we do now?" I ask. The feeling of everything rushing back like this has left me restless. My impatient nature has been uncovered. I hear footsteps approaching, but I can't take my eyes off all my friends that I suddenly got back.
"Now", says Snow and take a step back. "Now I find my daughter." She shares a look with David, just as Emma steps into my view.
"So it's true?" She says. Snow and David turn around and face her. Then Snow walks over, slowly like she can't believe her own eyes and with tears spilling over she hugs Emma, quickly joined by David. Emma looks as stunned as the rest of us, but for a whole other reason, I imagine. I watch my best friend embrace the daughter she hasn't seen since she was born. Again I have the feeling that it's all so surreal yet finally so true.
"You found us", I hear her say in a tearful voice.
Henry, suddenly all better, is standing beside me, watching the whole thing.
"Grandpa?" He says, making Snow laugh through her tears. Soon everyone is laughing.
I think back to all the times Henry have been sitting in the diner showing Emma his book of stories – our stories – desperate to make her understand. How I thought about asking him who I was. The kid did it. The Evil Queens curse is broken.
"Yeah kid", David says. "I suppose so." They include him the hug. Henry looks up at his grandpa – god that sounds so weird – and says: "She did it. She saved you."
"She saved all of us", Snow says. Emma struggles with her words, but Grumpy interrupts.
"Then why are we still here?"
"Let's go find out", David says.
Then it hits me. What about Lacey? She must have her memories back too.
I start running.
"Where are you going, girl?" Granny yells after me.
"I'm gonna find Lacey!" I shout back and run back to the diner, leaving the reunion behind me. There is a silly smile plastered on my face. I can't wait to hear what she has found out. Who she is. And I'm suddenly filled with this need to tell Snow all about her.
I get to the diner in no time and rip the door open.
"Lacey?" No answer. The diner is empty. I run upstairs, but she's gone. That's odd.
When I come back into the diner, Granny is just walking through the doors.
"Let's get some beers out Ruby, people are ready to celebrate. Did you find Lacey?"
I shake my head. "No, I don't know where she is."
"She'll show up in a minute. Take out some glasses will you?"
I start finding all the glasses good beer mugs, over the moon about being free again, and at the same time wondering why Lacey is gone all of a sudden. It worries me. And Grumpy's right, why are we still here?
I put glasses and mugs on the counter and walk over to open the door. That's when I see it. Purple smoke. I feel my veins turning to ice. It looks alarmingly similar to the smoke that brought us here in the first place.
"Granny, what is that?"
"What girl?" She comes over, and I can feel her fright too, like an aura coming off her, when she sees the smoke rolling up on the town with incredible speed.
"Close the door, get inside", she says.
"Granny…" My voice is shaking. The smoke is reaching our street already.
"It's gonna be okay, come here." She holds onto me and hugs me tight as the purple smoke washes over the diner, flows through the windows and engulfs us together with all the light in the world.