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Chapter Text

Everything was red.

It was the only color that Morgana seemed to be able to see right now, there was nothing in front of her except blood.

Nimue’s blood.

Everything was so red, and Morgana just wanted to scream, because it was not what she wanted, but still she did stab her, and the blade, no the dagger, was in her hand, she was the one who used it on her after all.

She didn’t have the choice, she loved her, yes, she loved Nimue so much that it hurt, but it was not enough, it would never be enough because the Dark One was a monster, and because she was the only person who could stop her.

So she did it, she made a choice, the only choice which was truly right, but which broke her heart into pieces the second she decided to kill Nimue.

And now, here she was, with a dagger in her lover’s chest and blood on her hands.

And suddenly, there was another name written on the dagger.

Her own.

She screamed.

It was not supposed to end this way.

Chapter Text

Today, Ava was on a quest.

Oh this time, it was not about time travel, or the Waverider, or protecting the timeline from something the other Legends would have done (including her wife, or even herself), no today it was something totally different.

She was on a quest to find something special for Sara’s birthday which would happen soon.

And obviously, it didn’t have to be just a great gift, no, it should be the perfect gift.

She was Ava Sharpe after all, perfection was literally written in her genes, and her wife deserved what was best, and she didn’t know yet what she would offer her, and maybe that she was panicking right now because of this, but it didn’t matter.

She was a Legend, she was the co-captain of the Waverider, so yes.

She would find the perfect gift to give to the woman she loved.

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They said that the Queen of Hearts had no heart.

That she was sharp and ruthless like steel, that she was a witch and a monster, that she literally tore people hearts from their chests and crushed them.

They said that she kille d her mother and ran away from her home after that, with blood on her hands, they said that she jumped from one universe to another one by going through the looking glass and then conquered an entire kingdom by herself .

(But Anastasia knew better, and unlike anyone else, she knew the truth, she knew the story behind the Queen of Hearts’ legend, the real one, she knew what happened to the stable boy, and she knew how Rumplestiltskin tried to darken Regina’s heart and somehow both succeeded and failed in the process .

She knew everything and oh did she understand so well how Regina felt because she knew how it felt to have a mother who didn’t care about what she wanted and just wanted her to live the life she built for her.

E ven i f it was not what she wanted. )

And the red queen knew all the stories they told about her, but she also knew the woman who was behind them, she knew who she really was, she knew her and they didn’t.

Some things were true, other were not.

How funny that people said that she had no heart, considering the fact that the queen had stolen Anastasia’s own heart.

Chapter Text

She was shooting arrows when she found her.

Honestly, Nyssa was not really surprised, it was what Sara did when she was angry, when she felt she was going to explode at any moment.

She fought.

She fought against someone, or in that case, something, just so she could get the rage out of her.

And if Nyssa read her well, right now, she was really angry.

Well, she always was since she arrived in Nanda Parbat, wasn’t she ?

And she definitely understood why especially after all the things which happened to her.

“I don’t know who you’re trying to kill but I think that he or she is already dead by now, she said, looking at the target which was riddled with arrows.

Sara didn’t even smile at her attempt at humor, which was unusual, she always made an effort to smile or laugh at her jokes, even the bad ones.

(Well, especially the bad ones, she was not really known for her great sense of humor after all.)

- Sara, she finally said, hesitantly, how are you feeling ?

- Are you really asking ? Her lover answered her with irony and a trembling voice.

Oh.

So it was really that terrible then.

She came closer to her, and crossed her arms, while Sara was still shooting arrows on the target in front of her.

- What’s wrong then ? What happened ?

- I had news from Starling City.

Nyssa closed her eyes briefly.

She should have known it would happen someday.

- Is everything alright there ?

The blond snorted.

- Nothing is ever alright in this place. But no, nothing particular happened, it’s just…

Then, her hands began to tremble and yet she kept shooting, and shooting, and shooting, again and again and again, as if it was her pain that she was trying to kill.

- Sara…

- What ?

- You should stop it now.

- Why ?

- Because you’re crying, and I know you’re a great shooter but still… it’s not safe if you can’t see anything.

Sara sighed and nodded, letting Nyssa take her bow and her arrows away from her.

- It’s just… I miss them so much, my family, my friends… They all think I’m dead and I can’t… I can’t go back. I can’t see them again and it hurts so much it’s killing me.

She couldn't be both, she couldn't be who she was once and who she was now, she couldn't be a daughter, a sister, a friend and an assassin.

She couldn't be Sara Lance and Ta-er al-Sahfer.

I am here, Nyssa thought.

It should be enough.

It was not, obviously, and she knew it well.

She wiped her tears and tried to smile at her.

- I am so sorry, and I know that there is nothing I can do or say to make you feel better, but… I am here, right ? And I will always be here, if you need me.

Sara smiled softly.

- Thanks Nyssa, she said, before kissing her and letting the other assassin hug her.”

It was true, she was stuck here.

But at least, she had her, and it was something.

Chapter Text

Rapunzel was not here when Belle fell asleep because of the magic on the distaff’s spindle.

No, she was locked up into a tower with a witch when it happened, when her father cursed the queen of the kingdom to sleep for a century until her death, until her body lost every single drop of blood it contained.

(Obviously the witch didn’t tell that to Rumplestiltskin when he made this deal with her, no, it was only when he left the tower that Rapunzel learned what her real fate would be.)

She was here, and there was nothing she could do, because Belle, the woman she loved, was the Beast and an absolute monster.

People didn’t know the truth, obviously, she knew, her father knew and the king knew too, before she killed him, but people…

People said different things.

They said that the queen had a sister, a twin sister, mad and cruel.

People were wrong, oh so wrong about her.

Because she was the real monster, and Rapunzel wished, oh, so hard, that she wasn’t.

Because if she was not, if she was just a witch, if she just had powers and not this other personality who wanted nothing but death, blood and destruction, then, things would be so different.

Then Rapunzel wouldn’t have to be trapped here, far away from her father and her friends, knowing that her friend and lover was slowly dying and that she couldn’t save her.

Unless…

She was learning magic too.

She was a witch now.

Maybe that she could find a way.

Maybe there was one.

And if there wasn’t, well…

She had nothing to lose, right ?

§§§§

Except her innocence maybe.

No, it was not true, since she lost her innocence the day she saw Belle’s real face, the day she understood how dark and twisted her heart was, when she saw the monster behind her pretty face.

So, when she killed the witch of the tower, she didn’t feel any regrets.

She just wanted to be free.

And save the woman she loved.

She just wanted her love for her to be enough.

Was it too much to ask ?

Maybe it would be, or maybe it would not be enough at all, but as she flew far away from the tower, with the witch’s blood on her hands, she didn’t care.

§§§§

She was so beautiful.

It was not something new for Rapunzel, she always knew how beautiful Belle was, but now…

Now she also knew the other version of her, who loved to kill people and drink their blood.

It was Belle and it wasn’t.

It was the Beast.

It was a version of her that Rapunzel simply couldn’t love.

So when she kissed her, she prayed for a miracle, hoping that it would be Belle who would wake up and not the Beast, when the queen opened her eyes.

And if it was not the case, well…

Then, Rapunzel would use the spindle on Belle herself.

Chapter Text

Magic could sometimes have a strange sense of humor, Regina figured out.

When she cast the Dark Curse, she wanted Snow-White to suffer for all eternity, she wanted to ruin her life, and to separate her from her husband and her daughter seemed to be a good beginning.

She didn’t know back then that the spell Rumplestiltskin gave her would add something else, another detail she didn’t expect at all.

That she would end up married to Snow-White, who was Mary-Margaret Blanchard now, just like she was Regina Mills.

Ah ah.

So after being married to her father, now she was married to the woman she hated the most in the universe and who hated her as well ?

Snow was definitely not the only one who was punished in this situation.

But something was different.

Mary-Margaret was not Snow-White.

Mary-Margaret was not the passionate princess who fought against her to get her kingdom back, no she was just a teacher, and… her wife.

And she loved her.

It made things worst somehow.

Because this life the curse created was not real, but Mary-Margaret thought it was, and during these twenty-eight years, it had been real in a way, and true, so true that sometimes Regina wished that she could forget too, forget her pain, her anger, forget who she really was, and forget all the horrible things she did and was still doing as the Evil Queen.

But she couldn't, obviously.

So she pretended, pretended to be the mayor of Storybrooke, she pretended that she loved Mary-Margaret, she pretended so many things that were not true.

And if in the end they became reality for her, nobody had to know.

Chapter Text

Sometimes, Sabine felt like this, all of this, was not worthwhile.

Her desperate fight to succeed to keep her head out of the water, while Victoria Belfrey was doing everything she could to ruin her life, as well as Jacinda’s, trying to expel them from this apartment, while it was already complicated enough for them to pay the rent.

(A rent that, obviously, Jacinda’s step-mother was always trying to increase every time she could.)

So, there were moments where she had the impression that she couldn’t do it anymore, that one day or another, everything would suddenly crumble and fall apart and she wouldn’t be able to stop it.

Moments where she thought that she was not strong enough to fight.

(Oh she was really far, the brave and strong princess who once helped a frog find its beloved, who leaded the Resistance against Lady Tremaine and a coven of evil witches.)

But then, suddenly, everything was erased when Jacinda came back to the apartment, and she made her worries disappear, at least for a time, with a smile or a kiss, before holding her in her arms.

“I am staying, she said when Sabine was very close to breaking down, and I will not let you down.”

Yes, as long as Jacinda was here, her rock and her anchor point, Sabine would not give up.

She never would.

Chapter Text

King’s Landing was a prison and the Red Keep was the cage in which she had been locked up.

Sansa knew it since they day she saw her father get killed, when she understood that nothing would be the same again.

She was nothing now, she was nothing at all, except a bird in a cage.

But sometimes, she succeeded to forget the bars around her.

Thanks to Margaery.

When the rose was here, next to her, it was as if she was not a prisoner anymore, as if she was able to forget where she was.

When Margaery combed her hair, when she talked about anything and everything, except the raging war, it was as if everything became again the way it was before.

The cage was still here, around her.

But with Margaery, she almost felt like she could spread the bars and escape.

Chapter Text

They called her the Beast.

Ah ah.

Maybe she was after all.

She had blood on her hands, even before she became the Dark One, when she was still human, or thought that she was, didn’t she ?

When she was a werewolf, and didn’t even know it, she killed people, hell, she killed her own fiance and ate him, even if it had been just an accident.

It didn’t change the fact that Peter was dead and that it was her fault and she would never forgive herself for that.

Now that she was the Dark One, things were even worst.

Because there was the darkness, every day and every night, not just during the full moon, no, now the voices were here, in her head, and she couldn’t shut them up, now she was in control but it also meant everything she would do with her magic would be her responsibility.

When she was still a werewolf, she didn’t know what she was doing.

Now she did, oh yes she did and it was just worst than it ever was before.

So, it was not surprising that she ran away from everyone she ever knew or loved.

So she could be able to protect them from what she became.

§§§§

She was not supposed to be here.

People didn’t usually go to the Dark Castle, and yet, here she was.

And Ruby had no idea of the reason why.

It was not like Belle wanted to kill her, and even if she did, well, Ruby was the one who got the only thing which could, apparently, she was exploring the world, and only found her castle by accident.

An explorer.

Ruby liked that.

She also wanted to see the world once upon a time, before knowing what kind of monster she really was, before…

Before everything went to Hell because of her and because her grand-mother never told her the truth.

And now, she was another kind of monster, and the woman who sometimes went to her castle when she needed a place was not even afraid of her.

It was really weird but not unpleasant.

And besides, it was nice, to have someone again.

§§§§

Belle left and came back.

She always came back even if she had an entire world to explore and discover, and Ruby admitted it, she was afraid that one day she wouldn’t.

She didn’t know yet, how things would turn out.

That one day, Belle would kiss her and break her curse.

And that one day, they would explore and visit the world together.

Chapter Text

There were moments where Regina wanted to kill Cora.

This was one of them.

She loved her mother, once, years, decades ago, before she saw what a monster she was, before…

Oh but now she knew it, she knew it well, for a single reason.

Cora poisoned Snow-White.

Her mother had given a poisoned apple to Snow-White, to the woman she loved, because…

Because she didn’t want her to be happy, because she wanted her to marry some prince or some king she didn’t know, and it was not fair .

She knew Snow-White since they were children, since the day she saved her from death when she was on that horse, and after that, years passed, they became friends, and then they fell in love, and…

And Cora just had to ruin everything.

And now the princess was cursed, under the sleeping curse, sleeping even though she seemed to be dead.

So yes, the princess swore it to herself as she kissed Snow-White and woke her up, she would do it.

O ne way or another, she would kill her mother.

Just to make sure s he wouldn’t ever try to steal her happiness away from her again.

Chapter Text

Aurora didn’t want to sleep anymore.

After what Maleficent did to her, after the magical slumber she fell into because of her damn spindle, after Philip’s death, after everything she went through with Mulan, Emma and Mary-Margaret.

She didn’t want to go back into the red room again, she didn’t want to get burnt.

She remembered it, she remembered it well, she remembered the pain, she remembered her fear too, she remembered how it felt to be stuck there for hours without being able to escape.

Sometimes, she thought that she would never be able to sleep again.

It would have been easier, she wouldn’t have been forced to face the flames every night, hearing herself scream in an empty place where nobody could hear her.

When she slept, she was always alone in her dreams.

And she didn’t dream at all, there were just nightmares in her sleep, the red room and the flames.

At least, when she woke up, she was not alone, Mulan was here, next to her, with a reassuring smile on her face, hugging her if she needed it, assuring her that she would always be here, ready to fight for her, just like Aurora fought every night against the nightmares which plagued her mind.

When the warrior was here, the princess almost believed it, she almost believed that she would be able to do it, to succeed to defeat her nightmares and her fear, that one day, she would get out of this damn red room for good and never come back.

With Mulan on her side, nothing was impossible for her, right ?

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She would hate her for that.

Emma already knew it, but it wouldn’t stop her from doing it, because she had no other choice, right ?

(Yes she did, she could make another choice, a better choice, the right choice, the choice that the Savior would have made.

But she was not the Savior anymore, and here and now, she was the Dark One.)

So yes, Regina would hate her for what she was going to do to her, but…

But she was dying and there was nothing else she could do, except, except…

Except turning her into the Dark One.

And wasn’t it so ironic that weeks ago Emma chose to embrace darkness so Regina wouldn’t have to fall back into her old demons, but that now she chose to do the opposite ?

So it was true, magic really was a poison, and every Dark One had in the end a reason to give in to the darkness, Nimue wanted her revenge, Rumplestiltskin wanted to save his son, and she…

She wanted to save the woman she loved.

She understood now, oh she understood so well, and it was so wrong, it was so wrong and she knew it but she couldn’t let her die, she couldn’t lose her, not after everything she went through, not after all these people she lost.

She deserved her happy ending, even if it was in the worst way possible, and she was the Dark One now after all, so even if the voice in her head told her not to, the voices of the shadows in front of her said something else.

So, she didn’t hesitate.

I’m sorry Regina, she thought as darkness invaded and corrupted both of their hearts.

I’m so sorry.

Chapter Text

Belle didn’t really believe in tarot or in clairvoyance in general.

So when one day, years before she met the Dark One, before the Dark Curse, before Storybrooke, a fortune teller read her cards, she didn’t really have faith in it.

Especially when she was told that one day, a savior would enter into her life.

A Savior.

Why exactly ? She thought.

She didn’t need to be saved, right, she could handle herself just fine, thank you very much, so back then, she didn’t really understand what she meant by that, and just forgot what she heard.

It was not like it would ever be important, right ?

Later, when Rumplestiltskin showed up, she thought that it was him, that he was their savior, even though he was doing this, saving her kingdom, just because it was interesting for him.

But it was not him in the end, and it was just years later that she finally understood who really was the savior in her life.

Emma Swan.

She was the Savior after all, not just hers, but everyone’s.

She knew it now, Emma was the savior, it was true, and she was her savior, because she loved her.

And the seer had been right finally.

Chapter Text

There were roses everywhere.

Well, since she was in a flower shop, Sansa was not really surprised, and when Margaery saw her, she smiled at her.

“Hey, the Tyrell said to her before kissing her.

- Hello, Sansa answered, also smiling at her girlfriend.”

The redhead then looked at the roses around them, and her smile widened.

She remembered their first date together, weeks after her break-up with Joffrey, and she remembered also all the roses and different flowers Margaery brought to her just because she could, and because she knew how much she loved flowers, and because she thought that Sansa deserved what was best.

So, every time she saw her at her flower shop, or with flowers, she remembered this day, and also all the other ones where Margaery showed her how much she loved her.

She smiled to herself.

By the Seven, she loved her so much.

Chapter Text

Catelyn had to admit it, she was stressed.

She was not surprised by this fact, after all it had been years since she dated anyone, hell, since Ned and her got together, and then got married, she hadn’t been with anyone but him.

Then, years later, when her and Ned divorced, she thought she would never find love again, that it was definitely over for her.

The universe proved her wrong in the most unexpected way possible.

She definitely didn’t intend to fall in love with Alannys Greyjoy, who also recently divorced her husband (it was for the best, considering who Balon Greyjoy was), but there, in this wilderness that the Iron Islands were, she had fallen in love with her.

They were not together, not yet, but soon they would get their first date, and…

And Catelyn was very afraid.

Even if her children reassured her, it didn’t change the fact that she was scared to make things wrong, again, and that it would just end and not last.

But, as Alannys smiled at her, her fear instantly disappeared.

Everything would be alright, she had to believe it.

Chapter Text

It was not real.

None of it was real, right ?

Emma told this sentence to herself so many times that she stopped counting, but in the end, it didn’t change the fact that real or not, this world, this universe of paper and ink Isaac and Rumplestiltskin created was their prison, a place they couldn’t escape from.

Just like the tower in which the queen of the Enchanted Forest locked her up.

Ah yes…

The queen.

The evil queen.

A part of her wished it was still Regina, because in that case, it would have hurt, but at least, it wouldn’t have seemed wrong.

Because Regina had been the evil queen once upon a time, and even if she was not anymore, a part of her would always bear the mark of the darkness which was still in her.

But Snow-White…

Snow-White was not supposed to be the evil queen, she never was, even when her heart was darkened briefly because of Rumplestiltskin’s potion, she never did it completely, she was not definitely corrupted.

So yes this was wrong.

This was so wrong that her mother became the evil queen, and forgot that she was her daughter.

And it was so wrong, so wrong in so many ways, and Emma just wanted to scream.

She did it, in her cell, for hours, she screamed again and again and again because she knew that there would be no way out.

She had nothing left now.

No powers.

No freedom.

No allies.

Just herself, the tower and her memories.

And also her regrets and her guilt, because, because…

Because her mother becoming the evil queen was not the only wrong thing in her life, there was also the way their universe was truly becoming real, the way Heroes and Villains was not just a book anymore, but their world.

And…

And there was something else.

Henry…

Henry was gone.

He was not in the Enchanted Forest, or in Storybrooke, or anywhere in the world, she felt it, she felt it in her heart, the same way she knew almost everything about this world (she was connected to it, she had been the Savior after all, and she was the only one who remembered), and she didn’t have her magic anymore but she still felt it despite that.

Her son was gone, gone forever, he had been erased from reality by the Author, and she would never see him again.

And nobody would care, nobody would know, because nobody remembered.

She couldn’t even mourn her son properly because no one knew him anymore, because he never existed at all and she was the only person in the whole universe who remembered him.

He existed in her mind and at the same time he didn’t, because she remembered the two timelines, which collided together all the time, slowly driving her mad.

Because…

Because she remembered her life in this universe too, and if she was Emma Swan in the normal world, there, here and now, she was just Emma, the Savior who was supposed to defeat the Evil Queen but who just got defeated and captured.

She was both of them, and it hurt, it hurt so much to realize that she failed in two universes and that there was no way for her to go back.

She lost.

That was all.

§§§§

The lines blurred.

Emma…

Sometimes she couldn’t tell with absolute certitude what was real and what was not.

It had been weeks or months (she didn’t know exactly, they were stuck in a book, time didn’t really pass now) since she was there and she felt her mind cracking, she was alone, and she remembered, she remembered everything, and there was nothing she could do except think, think, think.

Think about her parents who were together but who didn’t love each other anymore, because Snow-White loved someone else and because David was literally heartless.

Think about Henry, who would have been able to do something if he was still here, and it was the reason why he was not, because Isaac feared him and knew what he could do and did Rumplestiltskin know what happened ?

Probably.

He was the one who decided to rewrite reality itself for his own benefit after all.

She thought about her son and all the innocent lives she couldn’t save in the two universes.

I am so sorry.

I am so sorry I failed you all.

§§§§

“Hello Emma.”

Maybe loneliness was not the worst thing after all.

The queen was here, and it was the queen yes, it was not her mother, just a twisted and corrupted version of her, and she both loved her because she had been her mother once and she hated her for what she became.

The other Emma, the woman she was not but that she remembered, just hated her.

It would have been easier that way, to have just hatred in her heart and nothing else, no remnants of a sincere love which couldn’t exist anymore because she couldn’t love a woman who killed people and crushed hearts, turning them into ashes.

The same ashes which invaded her mouth every time she remembered that her mother was gone for forever.

When the evil queen smiled, Emma’s heart broke.

It was an awful smile, and it reminded her of all the times where her mother smiled at her with kindness, understanding, tenderness and love.

She would never look at her this way again, right ?

There was nothing in her eyes except death, emptiness, anger, fury, revenge and the darkness, of course.

It was Snow-White and it was not.

It was just a monster.

And Emma wanted to scream at her for daring to steal her mother’s face and break her heart in all the most painful ways.

She didn’t answer.

The heroine she was supposed to be in this universe would have done it to defy her, to show to her enemy that she didn’t win.

The daughter she was not anymore didn’t want to face this impostor who was not her mother.

When the queen left the room, Emma didn’t contain her screams of despair.

§§§§

The Savior was intriguing, the queen thought.

She was her prisoner since so many times, but still there was a flame in her eyes, her resistance was weakening day by day but it was still here, burning.

Snow-White smiled knowingly.

She would break her one day.

She swore it.

§§§§

She was losing her memory.

Things were mixing up in her mind, and sometimes she didn’t remember things, or she remembered the wrong one, those which didn’t happen, she was Emma Swan from Storybrooke, but she was also Emma, the broken Savior, the orphan, the girl who wanted to save the world but just got her wings burned.

Now she was in chains, and sometimes she didn’t even know who she was anymore.

Her mind was burning and she knew it well.

And she wanted it to happen, she wanted to burn completely, she wanted her memories to disappear forever, and burn, burn, just burn, just so she wouldn’t have to endure this excruciating pain which tore her whole being since so many time.

She just wanted to fall down in fact.

The two Emma wanted to, they just wanted to forget.

She understood Jefferson so well now.

How could you live with two lives in your head without losing your mind exactly ?

She knew she couldn’t.

§§§§

Who am I ?

Who am I ?

Why can’t I remember this ?

Why ?

Why is this happening ?

Why don’t I want to remember ?

Who am I ?

WHO AM I ?

§§§§

How did this happen, Emma asked herself during the brief moments where she still remembered, was it happening because of Snow-White’s magic ?

Or was it just a consequence of Isaac’s twisted and perverted universe ?

Did the author know back then what would happen to her ?

(Did it matter anyway since she couldn’t even make him pay for that ?)

§§§§

It was so fun to play with the Savior.

Snow-White felt it, magic was fashioning Emma’s mind and turning it into something else.

She didn’t know what yet.

But she was eager to discover the new changes in her prisoner, besides the face that she didn’t seem to remember her or the reason why she was here.

Or who Snow-White was or what she did to her.

Oh yes.

It would be so much fun.

§§§§

She was both somehow.

She was Emma Swan and the other Emma, and her memories collided together, mixing up until they formed an incoherent and absurd whole.

She was still a warrior, the Savior, but…

But she was not Emma Swan anymore, and Snow-White was not her enemy, but she was not her mother either.

She remembered, and she didn’t, and it didn’t fit it at all.

But she didn’t care.

Her pain was gone at least.

And she loved Snow-White, right ?

Right ?

§§§§

She wanted her love.

She wanted her love so much that it burned.

She wanted her.

It should have been wrong, and it was, but in her broken and rebuild mind, it was not.

She loved her, she loved her so much, and she didn’t know why, but she didn’t care, she just loved her, and now, it felt so right.

When she kissed Snow-White for the first time, the witch knew suddenly.

She knew she won.

It was quite amazing, the queen figured out, that she had succeeded to corrupt such a pure and good soul as the one the Savior possessed once upon a time.

But Emma didn’t think about it, she just kissed her, and forgot, forgot, forgot definitely and the pain disappeared, and somehow she both lost and won.

From now on, she would never fight anymore, she would never try to escape.

She would stay here in this tower, for forever, with the woman she loved.

It would be her happily ever after.

And at the same time, it wouldn’t.

Chapter Text

There was a reason why Mulan ran away from her home.

Her father.

She loved him, really she did, but he wanted her to get married, and she didn’t.

She didn’t want it, she wanted to have a different life, she wanted to be a warrior, to fight and she knew that she would not have been able to if she accepted to do what he wanted.

She wanted to be free.

So she fled, she fled as fast as she could, as far as possible, because she didn’t see any other way out.

She was free now, in a different kingdom, another court, far away from the fate she never wanted.

Everything was so different, here she could be herself, she could fight for people who needed her help, or for the members of the royal family.

And, in this kingdom, there was also someone else.

Aurora.

The princess and future queen, and Mulan expected many things when she came in this place, but not to fall in love with her.

And definitely not to be loved in return.

After all, maybe there would be a wedding in the end.

But this time, it would her choice .

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The Menagerie was on fire.

And Sansa Stark was smiling.

Finally, after all these years, after all these pain, all these sufferings, after all the horrors she went through in this horrible place, it was over.

Yes, she left the Menagerie years ago thanks to Yara and the other Crows, she escaped, and it had been years since she wore one of these dresses made of silk Petyr Baelish forced them to wear, but the pain was not gone, not really.

Until now.

She thought about Lady, her wolf would have loved to see it herself, to see the monsters who got her killed being destroyed for forever.

Now, the place where she had been a prisoner during years was reduced to ashes, there was nothing left, and the man who tried to ruin her life was burning too.

And it was Yara Greyjoy’s doing.

The redhead smiled at her before taking her hand.

“Thanks.

Yara smiled too and just shrugged.

- I promised you I would didn’t I ?

Sansa’s smile widened.

- Yes, you did, she said before kissing her.”

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This was an unusual situation.

When Daenerys Targaryen bec a me queen of the seven kingdoms, she didn’t expect this at all.

She expected a lot of things, different reactions, people wanting her as their queen, or the complete opposite, remembering the mad king and fearing she would be just like him.

And she also expected to have to get married, to have many suitors, but she expected men .

Not a woman.

But, as she learned it quickly, Margaery Tyrell was definitely not any woman.

First, Renly, then Joffrey, and finally Tommen, so why wouldn’t she be queen again ?

Daenerys had been surprised first, then amused, but in the end well…

Why not ?

She was the queen after all, she was a dragon, she could do as she wanted.

So she tried, she tried and in the end they fell in love.

She just hoped that together, they would succeed to be good queens.

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Sansa was in love.

She loved Margaery since a long time, definitely before she escaped from King’s Landing thanks to her and her family and ended up with her in Highgarden.

She had been afraid first, because she had been in love with Joffrey once, and she lost everything because of him.

How could she be sure that Margaery would be different from him in any way ?

But now she knew, she knew that she could trust Margaery and love her, that she would never hurt her the way the king did when he was still alive.

And here and now, in Highgarden, far away from the war, the iron throne and the game of thrones, she could be happy at last with the woman she loved.

And as she taught her how to swim, the rose swimming like a true siren, kissing her underwater, Sansa smiled.

She was really happy and free now.

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Akko was…

Excited would be the best term to define her this day and… all the other one to be completely honest.

Yes, it was Akko being Akko and nothing else, nothing unusual.

And as she bounced excitedly, Diana looked at her with fondness in her eyes.

She was used to it, used to her girlfriend acting this way, she knew her since years after all, and despite the passage of time, she never changed, always being excited about almost everything she loved, cared about or which interested her.

It was really refreshing.

It was a normal day, and they were just going to see a fairy circle, nothing really extraordinary for Diana, they lived in a world of magic after all, but Akko’s enthusiasm never faded during their journey.

And as she kept talking with excitement about what they were going to see, and how much happy she was, Diana couldn’t help but smile.

She just hoped the witch would never change.

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It had been so unexpected.

Years before, if someone ever told her that she would fall in love with Zelena, the wicked witch of the west , Belle would have laughed.

It would have seemed so absurd back then, they were enemies, she hated her, and the witch was partly responsible for Neal’s death, the dark curse Snow-White and David had to cast, she held captive the man she loved, and so many other things.

But…

But years passed, Zelena changed, Belle had seen her transformation herself, and now, she was a totally different person, now she was a mother (even if she became one in the worst way possible) just like Belle, and they were both alone now, and they were friends too, and…

And Belle was in love with her.

She shouldn’t have been surprised, she has been in love with Rumplestiltskin once, before everything fell apart.

She had always been good at seeing good in people everyone else saw as monsters.

She just hoped that this time, it wouldn’t end the same way.

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She never expected her to be her happy ending.

Before the curse was broken, in what seemed to be another life, when she was still the evil queen (and they called her the good queen now, things were so different from now on , and she was still not sure she deserved this title), when Emma Swan entered into her life, she had no idea it would end this way.

That she would fall in love with her enemy’s daughter and be loved by her in return.

That they would raise a son together, and become a family , that they would end up married.

And rule the reunited kingdoms together as queens.

And, as they danced together in the ballroom, Emma smiling at her with love in her eyes, Regina smiled too.

No, it was not the happy ending she expected.

But she wouldn’t have changed it for anything in the world.

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Cora was a serpent, Eva knew it now that she was dead and knew that the princess was the cause of her death.

She always knew it, somehow, and she was very aware that she was one of the reasons why she became this way, because she had been oh so unfairly cruel toward her, and now…

Now she was dead and Cora was going to do everything in her power to break her innocent little girl.

It was not fair.

And she was responsible of it.

She could have been different, she could have done better, be better, but she didn’t and now she was paying for it, because she broke the life of the miller’s daughter and humiliated because she had been jealous of her once.

She remembered the rage in her eyes, the fire and the flames, and she finally realized that she should have been more careful with her.

But it was too late now.

They were not so different back then after all, they both wanted power, and both got it by using different ways.

She could have loved her in another universe, maybe, they could have been friends, or more, if only she didn’t…

She was the one who destroyed everything.

And now, there was nothing left but ashes and regrets.

They were both monsters.

And now their daughters would pay for what they did to each other.

She never even told her that she was sorry, Eva figured out.

Not that it mattered now in any way.

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Yara Greyjoy didn’t know how to embroider.

Well technically speaking she knew it, she learned to embroider once, she had to, years ago, before the war, before the rebellion, before two of her brothers died and the third one was taken away from the Iron Islands and to Winterfell.

And then she stopped, became her father’s only heir, and was fashioned into a warrior, a fighter.

It was for the best, really.

She had never been good at this.

And she definitely still was not.

She sighed.

Just like Arya Stark, and unlike Sansa, the ironborn hated embroidery, and the only reason why she was learning this, learning to embroider again, and didn’t already throw her work overboard was because she was doing this for Sansa.

For the queen in the north who shared her crown with her since they fell in love and ended up together, both ruling the north together, she wanted to do it so she would be able to share this activity with her.

Oh, they already did things together, activities that Sansa loved, or that Yara loved, learning to each other things the other woman didn’t know, or doing things they both liked, but this was special, it was one of Sansa’s passions, and Yara wanted to show her that what was important for her was important for her too.

She pricked herself accidentally, and grimaced.

It would be a long road, but she would succeed, she swore it.

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Snow-White somehow expected Regina to kill her during almost her entire life.

Back then, in the Enchanted Forest, when she was still her step-mother, it almost happened so many times that she thought she would never survive.

But she did in the end, and…

And well maybe today would be the day where Regina would kill her.

Because she was going to give her a heart attack because of what she just saw.

When they came back, the princess already felt something was different when Regina called her daughter “Emma”, and not miss Swan, and if she saw the emotions in her eyes, she didn’t understand what it was.

Until Emma kissed her.

And then, she froze.

What ?

They were together.

Her daughter and her nemesis were together and that was just…

How did this happen ?

When did it happen at all ?

She was not sure she wanted to know, but as she saw the way Emma looked at Regina, she knew.

She loved her.

She truly loved her, despite everything that happened, everything she did to their family, and Regina, if she was not wrong, well… she loved her too.

She was not sure she was okay with that, or that she would ever be, but all she wanted was her daughter’s happiness, and if she really was happy with her, then…

She could be okay, not yet, not right now, not at all, but one day maybe she would be.

She just had to make sure that Regina would never break her daughter’s heart, or worst.

Because if the evil queen did, then she would know her fury.

It was a promise.

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How did we come to this ?

Alexandra didn’t even know the answer to this question.

She remembered the truth however, she remembered everything that happened before Rumplestiltskin cast his spell when king Henry used the magical quill and the ink and rewrote reality itself.

She remembered the day the evil queen from another universe (it still felt absurd, even months after learning the truth) came to their world and destroyed it into pieces when she crushed the hearts of the sovereigns of the kingdom.

She remembered her hatred, her despair, and the way she saw Henry fall into darkness without being able to do anything against that.

Then Rumplestiltskin changed their world, and nothing was the same again.

Now, Emma was back, but it was not her, it was the other Emma, and she was trapped, with no memories of who she really was, and Alexandra finally had her friend back, but it was not her, how could she be okay with that ?

She was not, obviously, but she didn’t know how to do it, how to stop this masquerade, didn’t even know if she wanted to at all.

After all, things were like they were before, right ?

Snow-White and David were back, just like Emma, and Neal.

Except that it was not them, they were not real, and she knew it, but since their world was not supposed to be real at all, did it really make a difference ?

She didn’t really know.

Just like she didn’t know why she was in a relationship with Regina, the evil queen, in this new reality.

Rumplestiltskin gave her to her, probably thinking it would be funny to pair two people who hated each other.

Alexandra was not sure she could still hate her now, not when the queen didn’t even remember what she did, not when she was trapped and separated from everyone she knew and loved (and she deserved it, but her crime didn’t exist anymore, right ?) how could she hate her for that ?

It was ironic.

She made a vow once, to destroy the evil queen one day, and now that she had her, she didn’t know what to do.

Or even what to feel.

She didn’t love her, obviously, but she didn’t completely hate her either.

Maybe one day she would know what to do, and make the right choice.

But not today.

Today, she would just stay in the witch’s arms and try to forget what she knew.

It was for the best.

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Netossa wanted to scream.

It was not supposed to happen this way, to happen at all, she…

Now her wife was under the control of the Horde because of a damn chip and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it to stop what was happening.

The fact that Spinnerella, her wife, the woman she loved, didn’t recognize her anymore, was not herself, her eyes so empty and dark, that she was on a different side now, that she was going to attack her like she didn’t matter at all for her.

It was not true, of course, but now it was in a way.

And she was totally powerless against it and the chip.

Ah yes, the chip…

She wished she could trip it, find a way to deactivate that thing which took her wife away from her, but she couldn’t.

She wanted to take the chip herself, to pull it off with her teeth or with her nails just so Spinnerella would finally be free.

The chip was the key, the only thing which could free her, and Netossa couldn’t even take it away from her.

So when the other princess fought her, she fought back, promising herself just one thing.

She would find a way to get her wife back.

And the Horde would have to pay for what they did to her.

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Sansa remembered her pain.

She remembered the day Joffrey made her guards beat her and all the other one where he made her suffer one way or another, physically or psychically, because he thought it was funny to torture her again and again.

She remembered her father’s death and all the other things he did to her.

She remembered and she wanted it to stop .

Things were different now, she was not alone anymore, she had someone with her, an ally, in King’s Landing, she had Margaery Tyrell, somebody she could love and trust, with who she could make an alliance against Joffrey.

They would kill the king together.

They would show him that wolves had claws and that roses had thorns.

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Reincarnation…

Morgana De Fay knew this word by heart .

It was her life since centuries after all, living and dying, living and dying, again and again and again, so many deaths, so many lives, so many different names , Cassandra, Morgana, and now Eleonora…

S he had been so many different people and she remembered every single of them.

And now, she was trapped under another curse, in Seattle, and under another name, she was Eleonora Cassidy now, Weaver’s adoptive daughter, Neal Cassidy’s adoptive sister and Ivy Belfrey’s girlfriend .

And she remembered, she remembered and she would succeed to defeat Gothel and her coven, with Drizella’s help, together they would do it, they would find a way to break the curse and save everyone in this town.

She just knew it.