Arrow ｡ Henry Mills [1]

THIRTY-SIX ➳ OPERATION MONGOOSE, PT. 3

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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
OPERATION MONGOOSE, PT. 3
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AFTER HIS MOTHER HAD DITCHED HIM TO DO HER ROBBERY, HENRY HAD MADE HIS WAY THROUGH THE WOODS IN HOPES OF COMING ACROSS A VILLAGE. His luck was good as he soon found one. And not only did he find one, but he spotted a flash of dark hair and Teresa's clothes, which mean it was his mother. "Mom!"

Regina rolled her dark brown eyes. "You have to stop calling me that. How do you keep finding me anyway?"

"I figured if my plan worked, you would be in Sherwood Forest with Robin Hood."

"I hate to break it to you, but Robin's already found his true love. And they're getting married today." Regina gripped his shoulders and shoved him toward the window of the tavern she had previously been in.

Henry's lips parted in shock as he watched his Zelena kissing Robin. He shook his head and took a step back. "No, no, no, no. This is all wrong. That's Zelena, your sist — " Henry furrowed his eyes when he turned away from the window and found she had left. He quickly jogged after her. "Wait, you have to listen to me!"

"I heard enough. I don't have a sister. My mother abandoned me when I was a baby."

"No, your mother abandoned Zelena. Everything's flipped, this must be Zelena's happy ending."

"Look, I have to go," Regina snapped. "And you should too, Snow White's and her hitwoman are looking for you."

Regina tried to walk away, but Henry jumped in her path. "Look, you can't tell me that you didn't feel anything when you met Robin Hood." Regina doesn't respond, but Henry knows his mother all too well and recognizes her expression immediately. "See, that's proof. He's your true love."

"No. It's proof that I'm not the kind of person who gets a happy ending. I'll never have true love." Her saddened expression is quick to turn into one of anger as she faces the annoying boy named Henry. "But you. You gave me the worst thing you can give anyone — hope. Now, I'd like to get far enough away that I don't have to hear Robin and Zelena's wedding bells proclaim their love."

Henry's eyes widen as he remembered what Isaac had told him. I know because I wrote it. And I know how it ends — with the loud tolling of bells at sunset. When you hear that sound, it'll mean we've reached the last page. The book will end, and everything will remain exactly how I wrote it.

He quickly jumps in her pathway before she can leave. "Wait, did you say wedding bells?"

"Yes. Now please, let me be."

Once again, Henry blocks her as she tries to walk away. "Bells! From the end of the book. That's what he was talking about. Those bells, this wedding — it's our last chance to stop this from becoming real forever!"