„What are you talking about, man?", Robin frowned, much like most of the others, until Alice started beaming.
„Papa's right!"
„Oh my God, it's true!", Henry confirmed, „Your heart... it's Rumple's! Rumple, from our realm, I mean... your realm."
Finally, everybody else seemed to remember and welcomed this unexpected turn of events with cheers all around.
„So then, what", Ariel was skeptical, „you... you want me to take your heart back to Storybrooke?"
„Aye. Take it, give it to Regina. Tell her it's always been hers."
[At the same time in Storybrooke]
„I love him", said Regina.
„I beg your pardon?", the queen asked.
„I love this man! Did you just hear that? It's brilliant! He's outsmarting them all! Not even I would have thought of that!"
She rolled her eyes. „Get a room..."
„Very funny... I'd love to, if only I could! But, anyway... Mermaid... bring me his heart!"
[Back in the Wishrealm]
„But how, I mean... how can I just ‚take' a heart?", she asked, slowly getting scared, looking at the pirate's chest as if it was crawling with worms and maggots. No one had prepared her for something like THAT!
„Easy!", said Zelena, „Like this!"
She reached into Killian's chest with a spirited move, making him gasp and wince in pain, and pulled out something that had more of a resemblance with a piece of coal than a heart, and yet, it was beating alright, the light, his love for Regina and his daughter slowly fighting its way through the darkness of the former Dark One.
„Here!", she handed it to Ariel.
„Ey, you be careful with that!", Killian warned her.
„He's got a point", said Henry, „That thing is my mom's most treasured possession..."
Extra carefully, she placed the heart into a satin satchel and closed it by pulling the cord.
„And while I swim back to Storybrooke to deliver this..."
„... We wait", said Snow.
***
[Storybrooke, about a week later]
With a heavily beating heart, she reached out her hands and the mermaid placed the wet satchel in them, and through the soaking wet, cold fabric she could feel the warmth of its content, pulsating.
Instinctively, she pressed the satchel against her own heart, allowing herself a few moments of the feeling of finally being reunited with the man she loved, even though... of course it wasn't the same.
„Thank you...", she whispered.
„Uhm... you're welcome", Ariel felt a little odd, seeing the woman that she had known as the ‚Evil Queen' for most of her life so emotional, soft and tender like that, and she didn't quite know what to do with it, „Do you think you will need me any further?"
„No", said the other Regina, „Your work here is done."
The original Regina raised an eyebrow and gave her that special look, upon which she cleared her throat and added: „And, uhm... thank you!"
Regina nodded, proud of her other half. „I agree with what my... odd twin just said. You deserve our deepest thanks, Ariel! If our men got to escape the queen, and if now we're one step closer to getting them back to Storybrooke, this wouldn't have been possible without you."
YOU ARE READING
The Life We Will Fight For
RomanceSequel to "The Life We Left Behind" - Regina's happy ending is almost within reach: she's deeply in love with the Wish Realm version of Killian Jones and has just found out that she is expecting his child. But before she can tell him the happy news...
