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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE-Back in Storybrooke, The Savior Swan

I hurt my brother. I bloody well hurt my brother. Kendra looked down at the shower of sparks, still flowing from her hands, as she retreated into her cabin, taking the trunk of potions that Rumple had provided with her. Kendra placed the trunk onto her bed and opened it. She rummaged through the various incantations to try and find ones with healing abilities. Nothing. Of bloody course I lack the capabilities to learn anything having to do with healing. Colette would be able to fix this.

Kendra picked up an empty bottle and threw it across her quarters, watching as it shattered against the wall. A piece of paper, neatly folded lay within the shards of broken glass. Kendra trudged across the room, frowning as she knelt down to pick up the parchment. Her name was neatly inscribed across it, with an arrow marked through it. Oliver? She carefully undid the seal, and read it.

Dearest Kendra,

I doubt you will ever read this, because I am too much of a coward to actually hand it to you. I don't even know how to do this, so I am just going to start from the beginning. We have grown up together, as best friends. I loved the days when we were younger. You, Liam, Neal, Colette, and I would always have the best adventures out in the courtyard or the forest. I have always been happy with us being friends. I have to confess though, two years ago, when we were dealing with our parents from the past at the same time we were trying to attend a ball, something changed for me. I have never seen you look as beautiful as you did that night. Even though you were stressed out, you still managed to shine out on the ballroom floor. As far as I was concerned, you were the only one in the room. After you started taking lessons from Rumplestiltskin, I could tell that your confidence grew tremendously. You became even stronger, braver, and more stunning than you have ever been before. To be honest, I have kept asking you to teach me how to sword fight, not because I really want to learn how to, but because I just want to spend more time with you. I am not asking you to give up what you have with Leif. I just needed to tell you how I felt before I lost the chance. Kendra Swan Jones, I love you, and I just want you to return home safe. If anyone has the ability to do this, it's you.

All my love, see you soon,

Oliver

Tears slowly rolled down Kendra's cheeks, causing her makeup to run. Why the bloody hell am I crying? Kendra twisted the ring Leif had given her around her finger, slowly slipping it off. Why am I even thinking about this? I don't have feelings for Oliver…Kendra looked at a sketch of Colette, Liam, Neal, Oliver, and herself sitting on the small vanity in her cabin. Or do I?

Kendra looked at the neat handwriting that spanned the page. His graceful lettering that had come from the years of writing tutoring that both of them had received was evident. The page was clean and without error. Oliver must have rewritten it several times in order for it to exist in such a state. How long had he been working on this? Kendra wondered to herself as she reread the letter, trying to soak up every detail. Why had she never noticed how he felt before? Sure she was never one to express her feelings too openly, but evidently neither was he.

Her eyes kept falling to the place where he had written her full name. The elegance that seemed to land on each letter mesmerized her. Kendra Swan…few people actually knew her middle name and even fewer used it. Does Leif even know my middle name? Hearing her middle name had always had a calming feeling to her. Killian always used it to comfort Kendra, calling her "his little Swan" after her mother. What she wouldn't do to be back in their arms pretending none of this had ever happened. The fact that Oliver would go through all of this trouble to make her feel like this, must mean that he really cared about her…

Colette would know what to do. She would probably tell me to follow my heart, dreams or something like that. Kendra placed the ring next to the drawing and walked over to a cabinet, pulling out her diamond tiara. Is this what I want? To be tied down to a crown as a queen? That is where I'll end up if I stay on this path with Leif. I'd end up a queen that is a danger to all of her kingdom and loved ones. If I choose Oliver, I would be able to stay in Misthaven as long as I wanted. I would get to be around all of my family, but what is Liam going to say when he finds out that I let his fiancée die? My best friend. Rumple was right when he says all magic comes with a price. Mine is that I can never be with anyone. Ever.

Kendra retreated back to her bed, crying herself to sleep. She was cold, hungry, alone, and a danger to everyone around her. All of her efforts to stop the sparks from cascading from her hands had failed. She couldn't control all of the magic she possessed. She had become a monster, just like Rumplestiltskin once was. Her mother had always told her that evil isn't born, it's made. Kendra would just be another villain, without a happy ending…

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