disclaimer: We do not own any of the OUAT characters. Just our added characters.
Extra info: This story has two writers. One of us writes Helena and the other writes Amy. You will notice a difference in how Helena's and Amy's perspectives are portrayed, we wrote them like we ourselves notice/see things. Fair warning: we are insane. Enjoy!
Helena could not remember what all Snow and Charming got up to after this point, but she knew that the dwarves were part of it. Staying with the dwarves should put them in the right places. So, Helena took Red to the dwarves' cabin. Well, technically, Red took Helena there, because Helena had no idea where to look. She knew it was in George's Kingdom, but that was it. Once they were there the dwarves told them what had happened so far, while Helena listened, nodding slowly, putting the pieces of Snowing's story together. Really? Their ship name? Shut up, it's easier than saying both their names. However, Red fretted endlessly. Understandably, she was worried for her friend.
"Don't worry. They will find each other. They always do and always will." Helena said one night.
The sisters were in the room Snow normally stayed in. Not that it was technically a room, it was not closed off from the rest of the house, but it was more secluded, giving anyone in it more privacy. Helena absently wondered why a group of seven dwarves would have a slightly more secluded room in their cabin. But Red was her focus at the moment. Red was sitting on the bed as Helena knelt in front of her.
"You don't know that," Red said
Helena decided not to mention the fact that yes, she did know that. "Just trust me, I have a nose for these kinds of things."
Red gave her an unimpressed look.
Helena cleared her throat. "Sorry, bad joke. I'm serious though, I'm good at these sorts of things. What Snow and Charming have can't be broken. No matter what pulls them apart they will always find their way back to each other."
Red tried for a small smile. "I didn't know you were such a romantic."
Helena simply sighed. "I don't know if romantic is the right word. I believe in the power of true love, but that doesn't have to be romantic love. A mother can love her child, a sister can love her sister, a friend can love their friend, and that love can be just as true and pure as true Romantic love." Oh, gosh, please don't make true love's kiss be how Helena gets back.
"How?" Red asked, her eyes portraying that her question was not directed at Helena's statement.
"'How' what?"
"How do you do it? How do you live the life you've lived and still be this kind? With these kinds of convictions? I don't understand."
Helena was silent. She could remember being asked the same question a year or so ago. But then, the person had meant her life. Helena was not living her own life right now. How do you explain that it is because the life she lived was not the one Red thought she had? She dreamed of Rieka's memories most nights and in so doing had a decent picture of what the girl's life had been like. Not a happy one. Yet, she had been kind to the few people outside of the pack that she met. Like that one hunter.
"Having someone to love will change a person." Helena gave the same answer she had given the first time and left it at that, hoping Red would accept that answer.
It was clear the older wolf wanted to ask more, but she held her tongue.
Red tried to be a steady presence for Snow as she searched for her Prince Charming. That was her job as Snow's best friend. But it was hard. With her wolf senses, she could feel all the emotions in the room as they shifted. Normally this was not an issue because she was used to people not having such dramatically changing emotions, but now it was a little overwhelming. She had never been the best at controlling her emotions and having to deal with everyone else's was difficult. Snow would go from hopeful to near depressed in seconds and the dwarves were no better. The only one seemingly unaffected by Prince James's fate and the Queen's demand was Rieka. She would stand in the corner silently listening as everyone debated what to do and how to get Prince James back. Red knew that if she could feel everyone's crazy emotions Rieka could and probably stronger too. But instead of letting them affect her, Rieka just stood there with confidence.
After a whole day of arguing, Snow decided to sacrifice herself to The Evil Queen for Prince James. As she stormed out of the hall Red tried to follow to stop her, but Rieka prohibited her. Grabbing her around the arm and holding her in place.
"Rieka, let me go. I have to stop her."
"No, she has to do this."
"Oh, now you have an opinion?!" Red turned on her sister. Her sister who had sat there and not said a word all day.
Rieka let out an audible sigh. "Red, it's Snow's choice. You have to let her do what she feels is right."
Red deflated, knowing the younger wolf was right. It was Snow's choice. Still, it hurt knowing she would never see her best friend again.
When everything turned out okay, with Snow and Prince James happily engaged and planning to take back both their kingdoms, Red wanted to hug Rieka and tell her she was right and true love had won out. But Rieka was nowhere to be found. Red looked everywhere she could without leaving Snow and the others behind, but she found no trace of her sister.
Helena ran. She had to. Being the strong pillar in a storm of other people's emotions had cost her. It always did. Normally she would go to Emma when that happened, but Emma was not there. So, Helena fled to the woods. And lost herself in the child-like joys of climbing trees and building forts out of fallen branches.
Surprisingly, it was Granny who found her.
"Now, you listen to me, Mr. Stick, you are going into here and you are going to hold up the roof if it's the last thing I do!" Helena hung upside down from a tree branch more than twenty feet off the ground. She had decided to make a tree house today. It was both harder and easier than she remembered. Being stronger helped in many ways, but being bigger and heavier was not helping. She had to make her tree house both larger and stronger than she ever had when she was a kid.
"I've heard tell of the wolf driving people mad, but I've never seen it like this."
Helena answered without looking for the speaker. Too busy trying to fix her stick into the right position. "It's people that drive me mad. People and their constantly changing emotions."
"Come down, child, before you fall and kill yourself."
Helena laughed, "If I were going to kill myself, I would have done it already. Leave me be, I'm trying to build a tree house."
"I don't care what you're doing. Stop hanging upside down!"
"Upside down?" Helena laughed again. Lost in the childish insanity that sometimes affected her when she lost all tether to the people she loved. "No, Helena is sideways!"
"I don't know who you are but you clearly need help. I was looking for Red but, maybe I should stop here for now."
"Red?" the name brought some semblance of herself back to Helena. She cared for Red. She had to get back to Red. Protect. Protect. Protect. How long had it even been? Helena had lost count of the days. As if by some joke, the stick finally fit into place, completing the tree house. Helena swung upright and made her way down. Jumping the last ten feet, breaking her fall with a roll, and coming up in front of the speaker. She was a short old woman with gray-blonde hair and she carried a crossbow in her hands. Granny. Helena thought.
"Good idea," she said. "We should get back to Red. Who knows how long it's been and how much we've missed."
Granny felt left behind. The young woman in front of her seemed to go from insane to completely in control of her wits in seconds. Even still, Granny could not understand much of what the girl said. Wars, poisoned apples, big fancy weddings. The girl seemed to jump from one thought to the next without a single prompt. Barely five minutes after the girl descended the tree, she proclaimed herself ready to go.
"Wait, where are we going?" Granny was not one to question the crazy world around her, but this was a bit much.
The girl stopped and closed her eyes for a few seconds, eighteen to be precise. "Sorry," she said. "I'm moving too fast. Hi, my name is Rieka."
Granny narrowed her eyes. Rieka? Rieka meant 'Wolf Queen' in some old languages. Was it a coincidence that a child of the moon was named that?
"Just call me Granny, everyone does." She said.
Rieka smiled and nodded. "Right then! Let's go, we need to get the Red!"
Traveling with the strange girl turned out to be somewhat entertaining. She answered Granny's questions without much fan fair, something Granny appreciated. Finding out she had another granddaughter had been a bit of a shock, but Granny was not one to get tripped up by news like that. She used the time to get to know the girl. What she found was the amusing part. Rieka could be very serious, she was a great warrior and had great control over her wolf. She knew things Granny never had about being a wolf. Yet, on top of all that, she could be extremely childish. Not in the way that made her hard to be around, no, she was childish in a way that made her even more likable. She would be talking about the differences between a bow and a crossbow one second then rush off to poke a mushroom the next, simply because she thought it was fun. But Granny noticed as they got closer to the castle Rieka acted less fun-loving and more serious with each mile. Though, when they arrived Rieka did insist on sneaking into the castle just for the fun of it. Curious, Granny followed her.
Sneaking into the castle proved easy. Helena would be informing Snow of that once they were settled. It was almost midday, so Helena headed to the dining hall with Granny following her. The few servants they passed simply smiled a greeting to them. Once outside the large double doors to the dining room, Helena stopped to listen.
"But, Red, you might miss the wedding." Snow was talking
"I know, and I really don't want to, but I should go look for her," Red responded, her voice conveying her remorse over the subject.
"You know she's wilder than you, she could have just wandered off. I'm sure she'll come back on her own."
"She's not a lost puppy! She's…!"
"Red," Snow cut her off. "I know you're worried, I am too, but she can take care of herself."
"Who are we looking for?" Helena asked. Already halfway across the room. Snow and David sat at the head of the large dining table, Red sat to Snow's right, and there were a few dwarves scattered around, but not all of them.
"Rieka!" Red was across the room in an instant, tackling Helena to the ground in a hug. Everyone else looked on with fond smiles, once they got over their initial shock of the younger wolf sister's appearance.
"You can't just disappear and show back up like that!" Red said, whacking Helena in the shoulder from her perch atop the other wolf.
"Uh, I literally just did." Helena laughed as Red continued to show her displeasure. Thankfully, Snow came to her rescue.
"Rieka," she said, appearing beside the two wolf sisters. "It's good to see you again. You must tell us where you've been, but for now, come alone, there is much to fill you in on, you almost missed our wedding!"
"Dang, I was hoping to avoid that," Helena muttered
"What was that?" Snow asked while Red gave Helena a look. "Red, do get off her, she probably can't breathe."
"Oh, nothing." Helena said, giving Red a 'Don't you dare' look as she got up. "I'm very happy for the two of you."
"That's not," Red started, but Helena interrupted her.
"Oh, Granny! I think I found your lost granddaughter."
Hey, guys, so I know this one was kinda all over the place. As you can see, my character goes mildly insane in the middle there. I wrote it that way because I often fall into that state of mind. It's something I have to fight off almost every day. My Family (i.e. my friends, because my blood family doesn't help), My real family helps pull my way or out of that state pretty often and since I do not have any of them with me, I would inevitably fall into my insanity. So, sorry for those who find my brain hard to follow. It's hard for me too.
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