We Open At The Close (Fuck True Love) By KinzieFreakingKensington Entry for The Final Round of The Fandom Games
The dream was the same. Dark hair, framing a beautiful, sculpted face. She smiled, although it was sad. She whispers something that I can't quite hear, can't quite remember. It feels like good wishes, like a promise, before she pushes her arms out from her chest, thrusting. I go flying back, though when I look back, because I always do, a bright light pierces a wall of dark emerald fog. I've seen it so many times now, that I know its tinted the faintest violet. It cuts off as I wake up, as it always does. It's always the same, over and over again.
I know who she is, the woman. I know she's important, and yet, I can't remember. I try, and every time I reach for the memories, all there is is darkness. There's something missing. A piece of my memory, almost a year of it, is completely gone. Sometimes I wonder if Henry feels it too, but I can't ask him. Something stops me, as though someone covers my mouth with a steely hand, every time I want to so much as breathe a word about the woman. So I don't. I just tell him we're going on a road trip, to place I haven't been to in years. He thinks it'll be fun, just a fun road trip during his week off from school for spring. I remember how to get there. A little town in Maine.
StoryBrooke.
We're walking around the town before I realize we've driven just over seven hours. The welcome sign causes a tingling sensation over my skin, the town line. That's when the town itself seems to explode before us, starting only with a toll bridge, running over a small brook. It's really something. Beautiful, and yet, it's a hidden gem. We spend the first day walking around the town, visiting all of the shops. There's a beautiful, old antique store run by a man named Mr. Gold, who seems oddly familiar. Not friendly, really, only familiar. For dinner, we stopped at Granny's Diner. The waitress staff is friendly, and it turns out that the upstairs is a bed and breakfast. Tomorrow is a holiday known as miners day here, which Henry seems to think sounds fantastic, and according to Ruby, our waitress, it seems like a sort of carnival. Yet for the whole day, there's still something unsettling, washing over me. This feeling of being pulled, out towards one of the roads leading more towards the residential areas of town.
Once Henry is asleep, I'm back in the chilled night air, wandering aimlessly. There's a deserted mansion, over to the right. It's huge, as though owned by a prominent figure, yet there's no sign of life. This whole thing is rather strange, but I... Want to know. I want to know why it feels like I've walked up to that door countless times, why I seem to believe there's an apple tree in the backyard, nurtured by a tender, loving hand.
I want to know why my feet know a path that my brain doesn't, tearing me away from a dimly lit road, only to wrap around trees that all look the same, and yet all seem to be different. I feel different, here. My body isn't lost in the woods, I'm lost inside my body. And for the first time, rather than ignoring the truth, I want to know why.
And then I find her.
She's cold, and hard. Frozen in dark gray stone, with vines creeping up what appears to be well- sculpted boots. A perfectly lifelike representation of the woman appearing in each and every one of my dreams, only this time, made out of rock. I look around quickly for a name, any sort of recognition for who she is, yet there is none. I feel like... No. I know that I know her. I know we've met. And I damn well know we were important to one another.
“God damn it, who are you!” I shout the words, because these past few months of being unable to remember anything have been driving me insane. There's something there, its just hidden away. I know that's the case. My hands slam down into her shoulders, not because I want to hurt the statue, her, whatever, but just because I'm fucking frustrated. I'm tired of groping for answers, and it would be so much easier if someone was here to tell those things to me.
The tingling sensation spreads from my fingers, to my arms, and then up my shoulders. It's warm. From there, it seeps forward, into the stone and the rock moves. It, she, crumples down. There's an explosion behind and around us, some force that's barely visible pushing outward against another, equally as invisible. The slightest breath escapes her mouth, and I offer her a hand.
“Miss Swan?” She rubs at her temple with one hand, bracing herself with the other.
“Yea. Um... Who are you though. How did this happen? You were stone a second ago.” She pauses a moment, before she laughs, taking my hand and pushing herself to her feet. She's unsteady, and I don't understand, but I don't want to freak out just yet. Something about this exchange just feels right.
“I'm Regina Mills. This was... Magic.” She uses the term warily, as though she's expecting me to bolt. In truth, I really, really want to. Magic? There's no such thing. Not outside of magic.
“Nice to meet you, Regina. So, how did you turn into a rock?” We're walking back, towards the town.
“I... got in a fight. In order to win, I did what had to be done. That would be the simplest way to put it, I suppose.” She seems unamused by my question. As though I should have known that. Hell, for all I know she's a damn statue and I'm just high off of lack of sleep. “So, Miss Swan-”
“Emma.”
“Emma. Why did you come here, if I may ask?” Can I tell her?
“Why do you need to know?”
“I'm the mayor. This is my town, and I like to know what's going on within its borders.” Funny, when she was a statue, I wanted to ask her a million and a half questions about why my memory is dark. But when she's awake, well, that's a different story. I want to challenge her, and to be blunt, I want to piss her off. It's weird.
“You were a statue, for God's sake, Regina. How do you know anything that's going on.” She looks like she's going to laugh again. Either that, or burst out in tears. I would rather the first of the two options, if I'm honest.
“You came here looking for answers, didn't you. Can't remember anything. How incredibly you, Miss Swan.” She shakes her head, pushing open the gate to the massive white mansion I passed earlier. “Is it true?”
“Uh... Yea. Kinda.” She rolls her eyes. She must think I'm absolutely stupid. Or crazy. Hell, maybe both.
“Do you want answers?” We're at the door, staring at one another. It feels like a bad case of deja- vu.
“Sure.” She invites me inside, offering a glass of cider in the same breathe she tells me to make myself at home. We make our way to the basement, where she withdraws a small, blue vial of weird- looking substance, holding it up. “This will give me back the last year with my son?” She falters.
“Its not going to be what you're expecting.” She seems honest, so I drink the liquid anyway, straight out of the bottle. It tastes kind of like cherries, which is awkward because it's blue.
There's a sharp pain behind my eyes, and the room spins for a moment before I'm standing upright again. An entire year- you would think the memories, the sharpened visuals, would come back over a time span of a few minutes, not all at once.
“You killed your sister.” Regina nods. “The wicked witch of the west.” Again. “Before that, you cursed Me, and Henry, so that we wouldn't remember.”
“I would hardly call it a curse-”
“Regina, you turned yourself to stone, for fuck's sake!”
“I did what had to be done to protect our son!” Ours. He's always been ours. I can see she's hurt,she's angry.
“I'm not angry with you. I just want to know why the cap on our memories.”
“It was a safe guard, in case Zelena didn't die, and I...”
“If you did. I get it. If we didn't know anything, she wouldn't come after us.” My brain hurts. This woman's going to be the death of me, I swear. “So what of the others...”
“An unfortunate side effect of the sacrifice, that they forgot everything too. I couldn't stop everything my sister threw at me.” She draws in a breath, and I can tell she's worrying. We've always been great at reading one another.
“Let's tell Henry. Or wake him up. Whichever.” She's startled. “It's better than leaving him in oblivion. We tried that last time, and he was upset with both of us when he finally found out. Let's avoid that confrontation this time around.” She nods, withdrawing another blue vial. Memory potion. Ironic that I had forgotten.
We're not even half way to grannies when it seems like the entire town is marching down the road in an angry mob to cut us off. Fantastic. My parents are leading it, the ever- perfect Prince Charming and Snow White.
“Emma!” They're ecstatic, and so am I. We hug briefly, before Charming is already shoving a sword in Regina's face. This is really starting to get old. He needs to stop jumping to conclusions about her. It's really never her fault anymore.
“What did you do? The town is falling apart! This has to be another of your curses!”
“How would I know, I was turned to stone for the past five months!” I intercept, as I used to.
“Look, David. It's not her fault. She really was turned to stone, after defeating Zelena.” He brandishes the sword once more before drawing it back, though no one here seems happy. There's a rumble, knocking us all around just a bit, before the ground settles out. “What the Hell was that!”
“The town is unstable. Someone's previous form must have been holding it together with magic.” Rumpelstiltskin. Mr. Gold. My son's grandfather.
“You're going to blame me, for the town falling to the ground? Really, Rumple. I thought better of you. Why not come up with a spell to fix this mess.” He leaned on his cane, only just a bit.
“Someone would have to go around, clearing the mixed magical energy that's fluctuating through the city.” Regina opens her mouth, as though to offer, when he cuts her off. He's still exactly the same. They all are. “Not you, dearie. Yours is in this mess too, you would only make it worse. If it was going to be anyone, it would have to be Emma. But we don't have time for that.”
“The town will be ash and dust before we could finish, and us along with it.” David finishes the statement, before anyone else can. And he's already reaching for his sword. As though fighting will fix the world falling apart around us.
“Mom!” Henry's here. I hug him, before turning to Regina, taking the vial.
“I want you to drink this, Henry.” He does, without asking. The ground is shaking again, when I see recognition in his eyes. He remembers too.
“Mom!” Regina looks happy. It's the first time that's been the case, in a really long time. She looks at me with those eyes, and I know what she's thinking. She wants to thank me. But he's her son too. When the ground shakes, it ends our moment prematurely. Damned priorities.
“What do we do! We clearly can't stay here!” Leroy, or Grumpy, whichever you prefer.
“What's happening to the town?” Henry asks, turning toward his brunette mother.
“It's being destroyed by waring magic.”
“Can't you stop it? You are the evil queen.” His words hurt, but it's what everyone else is thinking. She's the evil queen, she should be the one to sacrifice herself in order to fix all of their problems. It's corrupt justice, just like in this world.
“I... I can... Perhaps turn it into a portal, so that everyone can get to safety in the forest.” She'll die. And she knows it.
“In theory, it will work. But there will need to be one who stays behind, in order to keep the portal from closing prematurely.” Rumpelstiltskin, ever the bearer of bad news. I suppose it's his job, though. Every story needs an annoyance on the side.
“I'll do it.” Regina offers, and Henry hugs her.
“Mom, we're going to go to the Enchanted Forest, and ride horses, and go to balls, and fight dragons!” He's so excited, and I don't want to leave him. But as she begins winding magic through her hands, my stomach turns at the idea of walking through that portal.
“Emma, you're going to love it.” Mary Margaret, ever oblivious to everyone's feelings, other than her own.
“No. I'm not. My world is this one, here.” I don't have to crouch anymore to see eye- to eye with Henry. “If you go to the Enchanted Forest with your grandparents, you have to promise to write every week, kid. Tell us all about your adventures over there.”
“But mom-” I ruffle his hair, like old times, and roll my eyes. People are already filtering through the portal in groups, continuously traveling to a completely different realm.
“Don't whine, Henry. Your mother raised you better.” He's sad I'm not going with him, but he doesn't want to be here. He hasn't ever really fit in, in this world. We hug, one last time, and he hugs Regina too. The portal wavers as she fights back her tears, and I reach out. Following her lead with magic was always way too easy, and its the same this time. She turns her head back.
“What are you doing! Leave me here, Go with Henry. Your true love is-”
“Fuck true love, Regina! Fuck fate, and that load of bull- crap turning our destinies or whatever.” We're close together, magic roaring in our ears as the last of the people go through. “I can't go through this portal for the same reason you can't! I won't be happy, and you can never be happy somewhere where everyone looks at you as only the evil queen!” Henry waves, looking back, before he too disappears. He's last. It's over. The city isn't rumbling anymore, though it's aged to fallen bricks, ivy grown over them. Hundred of years, in just a few minutes. Magic really is something.
“Who am I, then. To you, if not the evil queen?” It's so quiet now, just the two of us, in a deserted town that never existed in the first place.
“Regina. Just Regina.” Silence. We're both sad, but were not alone. “Come on, let's go.”
“Where?” I just shrug. It doesn't matter where we go. Hell, we've faced curses, and dragons, and witches too. A little bit of traveling shouldn't be that big of a deal. We start off towards the bug, the only correctly- timed item in the immediate area. It would have sucked if we had to walk to the nearest city, so I'm glad my yellow death trap survived.
We're twenty minutes down the road when her hand finally rests over mine, and her forehead leans against my shoulder. Its about time she's started crying, and I'm glad she's comfortable enough to confide in me. Two years ago, when we met, this never would have been the case. I slow down at a stop light, tilting my head to place a light kiss to the top of her head. Fuck true love. This woman is all I need.
Boston is beautiful, this time of the year. Henry's latest letter has come in, and Regina and I are happy. I might propose to her, soon, but we;ve only really been together for roughly a year. It's been a hard first year, without everything she knows as normal, but she's adapting. Occasionally, she's too lazy to cook breakfast though, and I'm not going to lie. Magic pancakes are delicious. We're out in the park, curled up together on one of the benches overlooking the water, when two girls leave the veteran a few benches down, and begin walking towards us. One has what appears to be a drawing pad, and the other a large, spiral notebook.
“Good afternoon.” The one greets us. She's the one carrying the sketchpad. “We're working on a journalism thesis for our college, and we're wondering if you would tell us the story of your life.” Kids, with their crazy ideas.
“It's a rather extensive story.” Regina's hit the nail on the head, so to speak. The two girls look at one another for a moment, before taking a seat on the grass.
“That's alright.” The writer says. “We've got our whole lives ahead of us.” I nod, to Regina. What's the worst that could happen? Perhaps they'll write us off as crazy, with our tales of heroic adventures, and magic fantasy. Or maybe, they might just pass their class. Regina is the one who starts our tale. She does know the beginning part best, out of the two of us.
“Once upon a time, there was an enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know. One day, they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen.
Our world.”
Thank You everyone who supported me to get to the end of these games! I hope this piece gets me the title, but moreso that you all enjoy it! This competition has been tons of fun, regardless of the end result!
I would especially like to thank TedahFromTayla- my partner and friend (who I conveniently met through the games). Her work throughout the games has been awesome too.