DISCLAIMER: Once Upon a Time and its characters are the property of ABC. No infringement is intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: 15 bonus points to lunarknightz for suggesting this challenge. Rules/Instructions:
Write a fic about a character as a senior citizen. For the sake of this challenge a senior is 60+ years of age. Other characters may be involved, but it must focus on one. They may be seniors by natural or magical means, doesn't matter :D It must be a character we have already seen in the show! Fic must be between 200-500 words.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
FEEDBACK: To Geekgrrl.lurking[at]gmail.com
By The Light of The Silvery Moon
By Geekgrrllurking
It was a rare blue moon, clear and bright and full of promise.
Red smiled. It seemed appropriate somehow, now that the time had come at long last. Her lifelong battle with her true nature had all came down to this final submission. By all accounts she had lived far longer than most of her kind. Far longer than Granny even.
She ran a hand through her silvered hair and closed her eyes. How she missed that old woman still. Red sighed and stared into the fireplace a while longer.
Snow had finally succumbed in the spring, her battle with Alzheimer's a difficult ending to a full adventurous life. She had never known, never suspected the depth of Red's feelings over the years and for that she was grateful. After all just because wolves mate for life didn't mean that Snow had to commit to her. Red was reeling from discovering who she was and Snow was on the run from the Evil Queen. They had been young, needing comfort and love and found it in each other's arms.
But Red was not Snow White's true love, and it pained her to this very day.
Still, Red loved her, protecting Snow and her family for life, gladly. An honour she never begrudged. Instead she filled her nights in other ways, and ached for those times when Snow would slip and look at her in that way, with heat and passion just bubbling under the surface.
The bittersweet taste of what might have been.
Missed opportunities, wasted chances, there were too many to dwell on, over her eighty odd years. Snow was gone and soon, so would she.
A beam of moonlight fell through the window and Red felt the old familiar stirring deep inside. The wolf was calling her, beckoning to come out and disappear into the night.
It was time.
Red stood slowly, slipping the old familiar cloak from her shoulders. She made her way towards the door, stopping for one last look at her favourite picture of Snow White. The hair was still short and a shock of white but the eyes were warm and clear. It had been a good day, they had laughed and remembered the old days. Snow had hugged her so tight as she left. Henry's daughter had been there and took the picture, sending her a copy. Red sighed softly, and placed a soft kiss to the glass frame. It wouldn't be long now and she would feel those arms holding her tight again.
The moon rose higher and Red felt her heart begin to beat faster. Her gnarled hand reached out, turning the handle and opening the door. Her family's legacy would end with her, tonight. She took a calming breath and stepped out into the night. The door closed behind her with a soft click, and she waited for the beast to overtake her.
Red lifted her head, and smiled, sniffing the crisp autumn air. She had always loved the fall.
The End