Rewrite the Stars ★ Henry Mills

Chapter Thirty Nine

"I'm gonna ask Tink how close we are to Pan's compound. I don't wanna be surprised by any lost boys on patrol." David said. He and Mary Margaret were walking side by side in front of Alex, Neal, and Emma.

"Good idea." His wife replied. Alex hadn't realized the two were on speaking terms. David walked to the front of the group, and Alex and Neal followed him.

They walked for a while in a comfortable silence. Yes, Alex was close with most of the people there (maybe not the pirate, but most of the people), but Neal and David were probably the two people she was most comfortable with (besides Henry of course). They had both had special roles in her life-before-the-curse, and she knew she could trust them.

Suddenly the sound of foliage rustling caused them to stop abruptly, and everyone pulled out their weapons. One thing Alex had quickly learned in Neverland was that trouble was around every corner... and boy was she right. Regina and Rumple emerged from out of the bushes, causing Emma to gasp and exhale.

"Well, if this is your version of a rescue party, we got here just in time." The ex-queen said, looking at the group. Alex looked at the pair, the fact the two were together reminding her of how dire the situation was.

"Okay, what the hell are you two doing here?" Alex asked, putting her sword away.

"Well, same as you, except we actually have a chance." Regina responded. Alex rolled her eyes at that, finding the sentence highly offensive. Regina gestured to an object in Rumple's hands. "Pandora's box. It could trap Pan for eternity simply by opening the lid."

Neal turned to where Emma and Alex stood and lowered his voice. "You didn't tell me my father was with her."

"We didn't know." Emma responded.

"It's not exactly expected." Alex added, glancing at the pair again.

"Wait, your father is the Dark One?" Tink asked, looking between the two. Well this was turning into a lovely gossip session.

"Yeah, and he's not getting anywhere near Henry." Neal said, looking at his father with a serious expression.

"Bae..."

"Why? What are you talking about?" Emma asked.

"There's a prophecy that says that Henry will be his undoing. He didn't come here to protect him. He came here to kill him." Alex's eyes hardened, glancing at the man with her hand around her sword firmly. Alex had many reasons to hate Rumplestiltskin. This just put about 1 million more on her list.

Regina stepped away from the man. "That's why you didn't want to find Neal before you got Henry back? Because you knew he'd spill your secret."

"Everything I did was to protect Henry, to rescue him from Pan." He said calmly.

"It all makes sense. You left before we even made shore." Emma said pointing her sword at him.

"You wanted to get to Henry first..." Snow added, raising her bow.

David unsheathed his sword. "To be on his own..."

"So no one could stop you..." Hook said bitterly.

"So you can kill him." Regina finished.

"It's not gonna happen," Alex said sharply, her voice serious and deadly, "not unless you go through all of us first." And Alex meant that sentence with every bone in her body.

~~~

"You're making a mistake. I don't care if the boy is destined to be my undoing. I won't hurt him." Rumplestiltskin said calmly. The calmness was infuriating to Alex. She didn't understand how he could discuss something that important so calmly.

"Because that sounds just like you." Regina said sarcastically.

"When have you ever put anyone over yourself?" Alex asked, glaring.

"Without me, you will fail. I'm the most powerful amongst us."

"That's why we can't trust you." Neal said, staring at him. Alex glanced at him, studying his emotions. She knew first hand that if anyone knew how untrustworthy Rumplestiltskin was, it was his son.

"If I could give you my dagger, I would. But I can't."

"But you can give me Pandora's box. I don't have to trust you if I could stop you." Neal said harshly. The words seemed to hit the man deeply.

"Son..." Rumple said, before pausing and then finally reaching out to give Neal the box.

"Look at me," Neal said, grabbing the box but not taking it from Rumple yet, "you so much as lift a finger to perform magic, you're gonna spend an eternity in this box."

"Let's go." Emma said, as they all started to walk away. Alex followed David so that Neal could have a moment with his father. She looked back, staring at the two. It was both sad and amazing how much damage magic could do... and seeing the effects made Alex hate her's more.

~~~

Laney and Baelfire were laying in their hideout, staring at the ceiling. There was nothing particularly interesting about the ceiling, but the two teens still stared at it nonetheless. They tended to do that a lot. Stare at the ceiling while laying in a comfortable silence, until one of them broke the silence that is.

That night it was Lainey who broke the silence, her thoughts having wandered into thoughts that she couldn't seem to escape.

"Bae..." The girl said softly, and the boy turned to look at her, though she continued to look up.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Do you think— do you think that I'm a bad person? Because of my magic?" She asked softly, a teardrop falling down the side of her face and grazing her ear as she lay there.

Baelfire's heart broke for the girl, and he sat up worriedly. "No, God no, Elaina. Why would you even think that?" He asked, making his way to the girl, who had now sit up.

"Look at everyone we've known with magic, Bae. Your father, my mother, Pan- me. Look at all of the chaos and destruction that people like me have caused." The girl has tear filled eyes as she stared at the ground, refusing to meet the eyes of the boy she adored.

"Laney, you've never-"

"I've killed people, Bae." She exclaimed, her voice breaking. "I've taken lives. I'm a monster. I'm like her." Bae pulled the girl into his arms, her body shaking as she sobbed into his chest.

The couple sat like that for what felt like forever, each sob breaking Bae's heart. Eventually she started to quiet down, and Bae kissed the top of her head before pulling away slightly, keeping the girl in his arms.

"Elaina, look at me," he said, nudging the girl's face up gently. "You didn't want to hurt those people. You were manipulated and forced to do things by people like Pan and your mother. You are not a monster... You're sweet and kind and funny and beautiful. You are so so perfect and- and I love you."

Elaina's eyes filled with tears again, but this time happy ones. "Y-you love me?"

"You and only you."

"I love you too." She said softly, their noses touching. And then they kissed.

~~~

okay dont come for me IK THIS CHAPTERS SHORT. highschool admissions have been taking forever with COVID so thats been a fun little mess.

what i'm going to probably end up doing with this chapter is once i've posted the second half and then started working on the next episode, i'll end up merging the two (idk if that makes sense, but you'll see ig) stay safe, y'all! ~<3~