The lifeless body of Gothel disappears soon after it hits the ground. Her crimson cape with gold lining is the only thing which remains on the lush green grass. What was she afraid of we'll never know. I admit after all she's put us through in the last twelve hours would be enough for anyone to be scared of Jacob wielding a sword. The frantic words coming out of her trembling lips were doused with fear. Someone was pulling her strings and she sought the opportunity to get what she always wanted. The price to pay was the manuscript and eventually, my happiness.
Jacob drops the sword and takes out the keyring. In a matter of moments, he finds the key to the lock on my chains and both my wrists spring free. The skin covered by the metal cuffs is a little red but it doesn't sting. The cuffs were tight but they didn't hurt. I massage my wrists to get the blood flow back to normal before looking up. I know Jacob has been staring straight at me for the past two minutes but I wasn't ready to look up because I was afraid of what I would see in them whether it be love, compassion or my own insecurity reflected in them. I raise my hand to the side of his head.
"How did you escape and how did find me?"
"I had a little help from seven little friends to break out of the cell," he answers keeping eye contact. "Once I was free it wasn't difficult to guess where she would take you. I know everyone better than they know themselves because I created them. You, on the other hand, are a complete mystery."
A warmth rushes to my cheeks. I must be redder than a tomato right now. Jacob places a hand on the small of my back and pulls me closer to him but I push him away when I hear an evil snicker. Rumpelstiltskin – his presence here is discomforting. Rumple has been Gothel's accomplice all along. He might know who is behind it all and yet again he might not if he was her puppet. Either way, I did not complete my end of the bargain and he's here to take me away as his servant. I know it but I don't want to leave.
"What do you want, imp?" Jacob asks him coldly as he shoves me behind him when he notices Rumple's presence.
Rumple paces to and fro, keeping his distance. My heart beats faster with anticipation. The agreement I signed before coming here is coming back to bite me. I would regret doing it if it wasn't for the fact it has been the best week of my life. If I hadn't signed the wretched scroll, I wouldn't have come to the Enchanted Kingdom and I certainly wouldn't have met Jacob.
"May I remind you, as you would have it, magical contracts have to be honoured to the end," Rumple says, waving his arm and producing an unrolled scroll of parchment. "The terms she signed to clearly state once the deal is complete, she will be returned to her place and given the second half of her reward."
"I don't want anything from you. I want to say here – this is my second request."
"I'm afraid things don't quite work the way you picture them, dear. If you don't go back home, the deal is as good as broken. I warned you what would happen if you decided not to honour your part of our deal."
How can I forget such an important detail? If he declared the contract void, Rumple would take back the first favour he did for me – in this case giving back Ames his sickness, which means he'd die in a few years' time. Even though I can say we're not romantically involved right now, he's still my best friend and I care what happens to him. Adam and Lyla still depend on him and I know his belief about letting them grow up with strangers.
If I do honour my deal and leave, I would be separated from Jacob. I doubt Rumpelstiltskin would agree to send me back here without making another deal first. Saving the happily ever afters of others means destroying my own happy ending. Now I understand the sacrifices heroes make in stories I came across. Sacrificing my hopes and dreams would mean nothing without love and courage.
"I could offer you a new deal if you want," Rumple says when I don't comment on his last statement. "You can stay here and forget our old deal. Your friend would live and you get out of it scot free. My only demand is to give me your firstborn. I'm willing to wait, don't worry – she's worth the wait."
I remember now how Rumpelstiltskin's story goes. The miller's daughter is taken to the castle with the premise she could spin gold out of straw. For three nights in a row, she enlists Rumple's help to achieve her task. Only the third time round, the poor girl had nothing to give him so he asked for her first born. The tale ends when the queen discovers the manikin's name and Rumple is split in two. I don't see that scenario playing out here. Nothing can get me out of this mess except for myself. The ball is in my hands and I know what I must do unwillingly.
I turn around to look into Jacob's beautiful green eyes, getting foggier and foggier as tears start to well in my own. I place both hands flat on his chest and rest my head just underneath his chin. How can I explain with words why I'm doing this and how I feel? This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Normal sixteen-year-old girls worry which dress to wear to which party or which college to apply to when school resumes after summer but not me. I'm different. I guess I always knew I was special but I didn't know how.
"Quinn, no," Jacob manages say with a broken voice. Masking his facial emotions isn't enough to stop the sadness coming from deep down his soul.
"I am self-righteous," I start, pausing to sob. "When...when Ames told me he was still going through with his draft to spare his brother the burden of extra years, I thought he was being selfish. Truth is I was the one being selfish. I didn't want him to leave because if he died, I would have been alone. Only now I realise what he was doing was brave. I have to go back."
"What are you saying?" Jacob says, grabbing my elbows. "If you leave, there will be no first born for us to protect. We'll find a way out of it."
He tries to look at me but I turn my face away, afraid of the disappointment and heartbreak I would read in his eyes. Tears flow freely down my cheeks now but no amount of crying can wash away my troubles.
"Forgive me," I whisper on tip-toe in his ear. I let my hand slide along his face, my fingers brushing the scar, knowing I'm scarring his heart the same way. I am a wolf in sheep's clothing who managed to get close enough from him to give me permission to do so.
This time when we kiss is not sweet and innocent like the one we shared on the bridge last night. It's full of passion, anger and begging – begging for me to stay. I don't know how to explain it but it feels like I'm where I'm meant to be. Call it written in the stars or destiny, something clicked like a missing puzzle piece.
The earth shakes beneath our feet. An earthquake? A warm rush, like the explosion of a bomb, leaves my body and ripples through the air in purple waves. The force of it recoils me away from Jacob, disoriented and dizzy even after the ground stops shaking. What was it?
Even Rumple is balancing out with his arms – he didn't cause this or else he wouldn't have been caught by surprise. When he puts his arms down, I take a step forward to leave but Rumple convulses and spasms to his knees.
"What's happening?" he asks looking at his hands, blowing away into the wind like ash. Soon his face also starts crumbling, muffling the scream forming on his lips. All that is left of him now is a pile of ashes on the stone floor. What could have triggered him to crumble into ash?
With our persecutors both gone, we are free. No more running from cottage to cottage, trying to find adequate shelter. No more huntsmen and wolves chasing us off. No evil mothers seeking for vengeance. I don't know what intervention made it possible but that's another battle for another day.
Jacob takes my hand and we hurry back downstairs. I don't complain he's going too fast, my feet scrambling to keep up on the slippery cement stairs. The sooner I get out of here the better. I might be Rapunzel in part but Quinn is the strongest of the two.
I am the first to mount the horse and when Jacob mounts in front of me, I wrap my arms around his waist, holding on tightly. We turn around to look at the tower before dashing off into the forest.
We travel for approximately half a day before once more we reach King Oswald's palace. When we arrive, the guards let us through immediately and a welcoming party is waiting for us outside the palace's main door. Jacob dismounts from the horse before he grabs me from the waist, lifts me and puts me down on the ground next to him.
William and Cinderella walk towards us as we make our way to the group. We take turns hugging as the King, the Duke and some of the palace workers came to greet us. It feels good to be back here, the place where I first discovered my happily ever after.
Everyone turns and walks back inside the palace to continue the celebrations, Jacob and I tagging along at the end of the line. With him, he's carrying the square, brown leather bag hanging from his shoulder and across his chest. He puts his hand into the bag and pulls out the tiara Prince Damien was keeping safe, the one I lost in the woods while escaping.
"How did you manage to find it?" I ask taking the tiara in my hands.
"Let's just say a group of seven interesting men found it while whistling their way to work," Jacob replies, smiling as I play with the tiara in my hands. "You know when you tried it on and I said you looked like a princess, I meant it. The tiara is yours."
"How can it be mine? I've never been a princess."
"Quinn might never have been, but Rapunzel has always been a princess and both are my Queen."
As we walk to the door, something transparent blocks our way and we rebound from it. Why can't we walk back inside the palace with the others? I get back to my feet and try walking back in but it has the same effect. As soon as my hand touches the door, it propels me off and I land painfully on my backside. Magic must have something to do with this.
"What's happening Jacob?"
"I don't know. Quinn, you're glowing!"
"Now is not the time to be flirtatious," I say with annoyance, throwing my hands up in the air. It is then I notice what he meant. I am glowing. My hands are emitting a white light - the same type of light I was enclosed in when I came to the Enchanted Kingdom.
"I'm going back!"
"What?"
"Something is taking me back home!"
My body continues to disappear in white light. I'm surrounded now. My vision is blurry and I squint, struggling to keep my eyes open in this intenseå light which surrounds me. I don't understand why this is happening. Rumpelstiltskin is gone and so is his deal. What is pulling me back?
I stretch my arms out into the nothing, trying to get hold of Jacob's arm but my hands are numb. I couldn't feel it if it were right on top of mine. There's nothing much I can do now. I shut my eyes and let myself be transported to wherever this lands me next.