treacherous ❪ ONCE UPON A TIME ❫

i. once upon a time

Judging by the wood in his hands, he was planning on making a fire himself. He scanned her figure and let out a sigh of defeat. "That fire is terrible. You will freeze to death. I will make us a new one."

Surprised at his sudden change of heart, Anastasia's shoulders relaxed and she gave him a curt nod. "Alright." She cleared her throat. "My name is Anastasia."

"I'm James."

Her features softened. He did not look like he was planning to harm her so her lips tugged into a friendly smile. "It is a pleasure to meet you James."

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THREE YEARS LATER

Watching Charming and Snow White get married was bittersweet.

They got their happy ending. It was the least they deserved after everything they went through to be together. But Anastasia's heart burned at the sight of David looking at Snow with his blue eyes full of admiration and love. It was the exact same way her former lover once looked at her.

She never held any romantic feelings towards David but the resemblance between him and James often made her sick to the stomach.

Anastasia was happy too. She stopped caring about revenge and love and focused on her family instead. The lesson that family were not always the people you share your blood with was a tough one to learn. But she realized she needed to stop dwelling on the past and focus on the future.

The Evil Queen was the only real threat to her happiness. Her thirst for revenge against Snow White was a threat to the entire kingdom. So, Anastasia was not that surprised when the bitch ruined her stepdaughter's wedding when she barged into the castle right after they became husband and wife.

"I shall destroy your happiness." Regina promised the couple. "Even if it is the last thing I do."

She gracefully walked back toward the doors while everyone watched in complete silence. The tension in the air was thick.

"Hey!" David exclaimed, which made the former queen stop and turn around. He threw his sword straight at her from across the room and just as it was about to pierce her chest, she vanished and a cloud of smoke took her place.

Anastasia let out a shaky breath and looked away from the place where Regina used to be to look at the couple. David wrapped his arms around his wife in a comforting manner while giving her a worried look over her shoulder.

If Regina promised something, it was safe to say that it was probably going to come true. She let no obstacle stop her when it came to ruining Snow White's life.

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STORYBROOKE

Audrey felt like time in Storybrooke stood still.

Maybe she only felt that way because she was so alone. She was a widow with only one real friend who spent more time in the sheriff's station than in her own house. That fact alone was ridiculous because she could name all the criminals in that town on one hand.

"You could just let me go, you know?" Olivia asked from inside of one of the two cells that they had. "I could go home to my kid and you could go home and sleep."