Reunited at Last

The Knock at the Door

A/N: This is a rewrite of a story I started working on last year as a birthday gift for regalhoodie17 on Twitter. She asked me to write an AU where Regina and Robin's daughter breaks the curse and is reunited with her parents. That is still the premise of this story, I just changed a few things—namely, who cast the curse—when I got an idea that really grabbed me last month. The original version is still up on my tumblr and this version is still dedicated to her.

A big thank you to Eva (glindalovesshoes), who got a thousand DMs on Twitter as I explained the new direction I was planning for the story to her to make sure it wasn't something that just excited me. And thank you to her for giving me a few ideas and for beta'ing this. You are absolutely the best!

I hope everyone enjoys this new take. –Mac

*****

Dark gray clouds rolled across the water surrounding the palace, looking like a fast-moving storm. Light flashed inside the clouds every so often and a rumble that sounded like thunder echoed in the distance, growing louder as they approached. The young girl standing in a large window, though, knew it was not a storm that approached the palace but a powerful force that threatened everyone and everything she loved.

Princess Diana stepped away from her window, hugging herself as she did so. She looked down at the beautiful white gown she had been so excited to receive that morning. It was an exact replica of her mother's dress and it made her feel so grown up to wear it, to celebrate her special day. Now her birthday was in ruins and she no longer cared what she wore as their doom approached.

The doors to her bedroom were thrown open and she turned, relieved to see her mother striding into the room. Her pale blue skirts billowed around her as she walked quickly, her dark curls falling loose from the bun she had worn earlier. While she held her head high, there was a haunted look in her brown eyes, though, and it made Diana's stomach do flip flops.

"Mama?" she asked, stepping forward. "Is it really coming?"

Queen Regina nodded as she knelt before her daughter, running her hands over Diana's arms. "I'm afraid there's no stopping it."

"Where's Papa?" Diana asked, wanting both of her parents there. Even if they couldn't stop it, she knew being in their arms would make her feel a little less scared.

"I'm right here, sweetheart," her father said, closing the door behind him. He hurried over to where Diana and Regina were huddled together, falling to his knees as he wrapped his arms around them. Prince Robin kissed his daughter's forehead before pressing another one to his wife's head.

Diana clung to her parents as she glanced out the window again, noticing the clouds now engulfing the palace. Her heart beat faster and her stomach churned as she asked in a shaky voice: "What's going to happen?"

Regina pulled away, gently cupping her face as she looked her daughter in the eyes. "The curse is going to take us to another land that is far, far away from here."

Diana glanced around the bedroom that had been hers since she was a baby. It had given her more than enough room to grow and she couldn't imagine not seeing it again. How would she sleep in any other bed but her big four poster one with curtains she could close to create a little world of her own? Or watch the butterflies painted on her wall flit around as her mother had enchanted them to do? What about all her toys--from her beloved stuff horse she named Rocinante after her mother's stallion to all the dolls she had in the large dollhouse Geppetto had made for her? Did she have to leave behind the bookcase filled with her favorite books? And all her beautiful outfits too?