juliet •peter pan•

NINETY-TWO

THE ENCHANTED FOREST

"This has got to be the worst decision they've ever made." Juliet muttered to herself. 

The curse was bubbling in a pot that Regina supplied, and the four were looking over it. The plan was that David was going to sacrifice his heart so that they would go back to Storybrooke and warn Emma about Zelena. 

"It's ready." Regina remarked. Snow shook her head, holding onto David for dear life.

"No. There has to be another way to get to Emma." Regina sighed, turning to face Snow.

"There isn't. You know if there were, I'd have gone back to Henry. This is it. This..." She looked at David. "...sacrifice." David looked at his wife.

"Snow, we have to do this." Snow scoffed. David took both of her hands and turned her away from the cauldron to look at him. "You have to do this." 

"I can't." Snow cried. "I can't crush your heart. I can't lose you." David shook his head.

"You will never lose me." He assured her. "But this, this is our only chance. Think of our baby. Think of being a mother."

"Our child will never know its father." Snow lamented. 

"Of course it will." David replied. "Through you. We've always shared one heart. It'll only grow stronger when you look at that baby's face and see the love I have for you in its eyes." A tear rolled down Snow's face as she placed both hands on her husband's face. 

"I've loved you since the first moment I saw you." David smiled.

"And I'll love you until my last." The couple shared a kiss and Juliet looked away. Once they were finished, David turned to Regina. "Okay." He announced. "Do it." Regina stepped closer to him.

"I won't lie. This is going to hurt." Juliet took one of Snow's hands in her own to try to comfort her. "But it will work." She reached into David's chest and pulled out his heart. 

"Charming." Snow whispered, and David turned to look at her.

"Don't say goodbye." He replied. Snow sighed.

"I love you. I love you more than anything." Tears started to form in David's eyes.

"Which is why you have to crush it." Regina handed her the heart. Keeping her eyes on David, Snow held out her arm over the cauldron. Closing her eyes, she crushed it. David fell to the floor, lifeless. A lump formed in Juliet's throat. 

"This won't be in vain." Regina promised as Snow ran to David's lifeless body. "We will get back to Storybrooke. We will defeat..." Before she could finish her sentence, she heard a noise. The three looked up to see Zelena flying in on a broom. She sprinkled some green dust into the cauldron before landing. "Zelena." Regina sneered. 

"Did you really think you could enact Rumple's Dark Curse and I wouldn't know about it." Regina shrugged.

"No, but I didn't really care. You're too late."

"Actually I'm not." Zelena corrected her. She looked over at Snow. "I'm afraid you sacrificed your charming husband for nothing." Juliet clenched her fists. 

"Regina, he can't die in vain." Snow repeated Regina's words from earlier. 

"She's bluffing." Regina announced. "Once the curse is enacted, it can't be stopped." Zelena shrugged.

"I may not be able to stop it, but that doesn't mean I can't spice it up a bit." Juliet didn't like the sound of that. "How does a forgetting potion sound?" The smoke from the curse started to rise up from the cauldron. "Mm. Sorry. Did you need your memories in the new land? Were you planning to stop me? Or for that matter, recognize me?"

"We'll find a way." Snow grumbled. "Juliet knows who you are." Zelena frowned.

"In case you've forgotten, my daughter is ashamed of me." She shot a quick glance at Juliet, who was glaring at her. "She won't have the courage to tell you who I am until it is too late." Juliet folded her arms.

"Shows how little you actually know me, Zelena." Zelena looked hurt by that statement, but then went back to her facade. 

"You won't be concerned about me." She looked back at Snow. "You'll be too busy looking for your husband. You won't even know about his sacrifice. Just endlessly wondering where he could be. Always fearing the worst." She looked up at Regina. "Pay attention, sis. This is how you take away a happy ending." With that, she got back on her broom and flew away. 

Snow buried her head in her husband's chest for a few minutes to cry. As she sat up, it seemed like she had gotten an idea. She turned abruptly  to face Regina.

"Regina, I need you to rip out my heart." Juliet's eyes widened.

"Um, I don't think you dying would do any of us any good." Snow shook her head. 

"Charming's right! We have been of one heart since the day he woke me from the sleeping curse. If you split my heart in half, we can both survive." Juliet raised an eyebrow. 

"Snow." Regina started. "I know your love is strong, but this isn't like plucking a flower. How do you know it will work?" Snow smiled. 

"Faith! Belief. I believe my heart is strong enough for both of us." Regina bent down to her eye level. 

"But if you're wrong, you'll die." Snow grabbed onto Regina's hands. 

"Please. Please, Regina." She pleaded. "Do it." Sighing, Regina ripped out Snow's heart. Snow laid on the ground next to David. Juliet watched as Regina twisted the heart in half. Snow winced, but she didn't die. Regina quickly put both halves in Snow and David's chests. All three pairs of eyes waited for David to wake up. 

After a few minutes of waiting, David opened his eyes and sat up. 

"Snow?" He asked, out of breath. "Snow, what's happening?"

"You're okay." Snow cried tears of relief. "We're both okay." The two kissed, and for the second time in her life, Juliet was surrounded by the smoke that would take her to Storybrooke.