DISCLAIMER: Once Upon a Time and its characters are the property of ABC. No infringement intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This idea came to me after thinking about what Henry would wish for when he blew out his candles in Rumple’s nightmare/dream. It morphed from there into this epic tale with full on back stories and information that you the reader probably will only see glimpses of throughout the story. I hope to finish it quickly but my time isn’t always mine to dedicate. I hope you enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.
WARNING: Character Death, a LOT of it. Most of it will not be described in detail but in the Prologue there is an in-depth look at the death of a main character. Dark themes such as war, torture, assassinations, and death arise often in this story.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
FEEDBACK: To daughter2artemis[at]yahoo.com
Wish Verse
By In-Betweens
Prologue
Wishes.
Making wishes by blowing out a single candle on top of a cupcake or several mounted on top of a birthday cake.
Being granted wishes by fairy godmothers who want to help you or evil magic folk who wish you harm.
Wishes in general.
Everyday people make them in passing. They wish for that person's shoes, or that person's lunch or they get extreme and wish for a person's entire life.
Lately wishes were all Henry Mills could think about.
As a younger boy he made a dozen wishes a day. Sometimes he'd wish for a dad or for extra ice cream after dinner. He'd even wished on occasion that his mom wasn't his mom. The first time he'd wished that Regina Mills wasn't his mom was when he was six. It had been an accident. He hadn't meant it.
He made that wish after they had gotten into a fight over a silly TV show. He had just wanted to watch television for another hour. There was a movie on that went passed his bedtime and he had really been enjoying it. He didn't understand why his mom couldn't just let him watch the end of it. He had finished all his homework and studied for the math test he had the next day. There was no reason why he shouldn't be allowed to watch the show.—Even if it would end at eleven thirty; almost four hours passed his bedtime.—it hadn't been fair.
So he'd yelled at his mom as he stomped up the stairs—because she hated it when he stomped his feet on the stairs—that he wished she wasn't his mom after she had inevitably won the argument.
He was six and angry and didn't recognize the pain in his mother's gasp or the hurt that reflected in her watery eyes.
It had been silly and stupid and he'd regretted it an hour later after his mom had come to tuck him in. He'd ignored her. She'd kissed the top of his head, straightened his blanket, and whispered that she loved him. She said that even if he didn't want her as his mom she was proud to have him as her son. He'd crossed his arms, huffed, and turned his head away because she knew just how to make him feel even worse about his outburst. She knew just what to say to make him realize he had been silly, but he hadn't taken back his wish.
He should have taken back his wish.
The very next day he went into school and had an allergic reaction to a piece of strawberry shortcake a father brought in for his son's birthday. He had trouble swallowing and his face and hands felt really hot. His neck got itchy. Then he had trouble breathing. That's when it got really scary.
He had to go the hospital. And he was scared the whole ride there. Ms. Blanchard was with him but all he kept wishing was that his mom was there holding his hand. He just wanted his mom. She could make it better. She always made him feel better when he was scared or sick or upset. She'd hold him and kiss him and promise that things would get better and they always did. She was his personal super hero righting all the wrongs in his life and he adored her, even if he got mad at her for not letting him stay up to watch TV.
The EMTs gave him a mask with oxygen and a lot of shots. His mom came to the hospital and she looked so scared until she saw him. He had stopped crying by then but as soon as he saw her tears he started crying again and didn't try and hide it. He may be a big boy now but he was scared and needed his mommy. She ran over to him, one of the few times he'd seen her run in her work clothes and heels.
The last time she'd done that was when he had tripped on the sidewalk on his way back from the Sherriff's station with Graham. They'd gotten ice cream while she had one last final meeting for the day. He was four. She'd been outside talking to Marco the wood carver when he'd tripped and skinned his left leg and both his palms. He'd screamed really loud because a pebble got stuck underneath the skin of his palm and it really really really hurt! She'd dropped her folders and ran right over to him. She'd even ruined her white shirt when she'd picked him up and carried him upstairs so they could wash the cuts, get the pebble out, disinfect it, and wrap them up. She let him have extra ice cream that night to make him feel better since he'd dropped his ice cream cone during the fall.
Just like then she covered him in kisses and hugged him so tight he wasn't scared anymore.
He slept a lot that day but when he was awake he heard the doctors asking his mom questions about her allergies and his father's allergies. She had told the doctor that she didn't know. That was odd. How could she not know what she was allergic to?
He had participated in a school wide science assembly the day before. At the assembly they learned about DNA and the 'cool' things it did. How it gave you your eye color, your height, your skin tone, good or bad eyesight, and all sorts of interesting medical stuff.
The assembly before the science one had about tolerance, kindness, and accepting things and people who are different from you. There had been talk about different types of family and how it didn't matter if there was only one parent at home—whether that be a mom or a dad or a grandparent or uncle or even a guardian—that family was always family because of the love in the home not the blood.
His mom never talked about his father and that was okay. He didn't really ask after that first time when he was four and wanted to know where to send his father's day card since they made them in class. His mom got really quiet for a while as she stared at him. She picked him up and sat him down on her lap, tilted his chin so he was looking up at her and not down at the card he had made that he'd wrinkled with how tight he was holding it, and she told him that his father was far away. He'd asked if he was ever going to come back and she'd looked down at the card he was holding and whispered that he wasn't.
He'd been upset and sad and Regina did her best to keep him happy. She asked him about the card and he'd showed it to her and they talked about how much she loved him. They made dinner together that night and he remembered laughing a lot and smiling and thinking he didn't need a dad. Not when he had his mom.
The assembly told them that it didn't matter if your family was different. It didn't matter if your blood wasn't the same as your parents' or if you had two parents—two moms, two dads, or a mom and a dad.
They said it didn't matter but as they talked about DNA and blood relations and how you get brown eyes instead of blue or blonde hair instead of red or were allergic to strawberries instead of blueberries. DNA mattered.
It mattered. It made other families a family. But not his.
While the doctors and his mom thought he was sleeping they talked about adoption and how his mom adopted him. She wasn't his birth mom. She didn't share his DNA. She wasn't blood related to him so she didn't know if he was allergic to anything else.
Lying in the hospital bed pretending to sleep his heart raced and he felt all sweaty again and felt like he couldn't breathe. It didn't make sense and it made him sad and angry. The monitor started beeping funny and his mom and the doctors came running in and he didn't pretend anymore. He turned and wrapped his arms around his mom's waist and pressed his face up against her stomach and apologized. He apologized and apologized and apologized as he cried into his mother's stomach and squeezed her tight. Even the sound of her heartbeat against his ear didn't comfort him like it usually did.
Because for Henry it all went back to that wish. He'd wished that Regina wasn't his mom. And the very next day Henry learned that Regina Mills wasn't his mom.
Not his birth mom. Not the mom he thought he had. Sure she was still the same but they didn't share blood and that made them different. Made their family even more different then just not having a dad and a mom.
Things were different now. Now he knew things he didn't know then. His mother wasn't only not his birth mom but she was the Evil Queen and his birth mom was The Savior. There had been a curse over the people of Storybrooke and he had been the one to convince Emma to break the curse. She broke it by kissing him. True Love's kiss broke the curse and everyone started to remember. Then Mr. Gold brought magic to Storybrooke and everything was as it was supposed to be. Except everyone was really mad at his mom about the curse because they could remember so he'd made Emma promise to protect her. She was still his mom.
So Emma did. Emma protected his mom and his family got a lot bigger. Then it got smaller because Emma and Snow were taken away because of his mom but he got to live with his grandpa for a few months. Now Emma and Snow White were back and his family was even bigger now.
He had Emma, her parents Snow White and Prince Charming, he had his new granddad Mr. Gold and his dad Neal. He also had his mom but he didn't see her much anymore because she was the Evil Queen and was the reason everyone in Storybrooke didn't have their happy endings, but she was still his mom. He loved her and wanted her to be good. She had been doing well before Cora showed up and framed her for Archie's murder. He had gotten mad at his mom for killing Archie. Archie had been his friend when no one else was and he'd been really sad and angry to lose him. He told his mom he never wanted to see her again—again.
He had been wrong though, they all had. His mom hadn't killed Archie, she was still good. But before he could apologize and tell her that he still loved her she'd started working with Cora. And Cora wasn't good, she was even scarier than his mom and Mr. Gold put together. She had to be stopped.
This time it wasn't Emma that saved the day though, it was Snow White. She'd stopped Cora but because Snow White stopped Cora his mom was mad. Really mad. Everyone was scared, even him. He didn't know what it was that Snow White did to stop Cora but he couldn't let his mom kill her for it. Snow White was Snow White, she couldn't die.
Besides! His mom was trying to do better, to be good, and to be his mom again. If she killed Snow White then it would all be over, he could never forgive her.
So before school was over Henry skipped class so he could get the help he needed from Mr. Gold. He told Mr. Gold he needed something magical. He brought his allowance with him. He knew that wasn't how Mr. Gold worked since he knew he was Rumpelstiltskin but he didn't know what kind of deal Mr. Gold could want to make with him. He was only ten after all. He only really had his comic books and his allowance that were worth anything of value.
"Well, Henry, what a surprise. What can I do for you today?" Since Mr. Gold found out that Neal was Henry's father he'd been nice to Henry. But Henry knew there was still something off about Mr. Gold. It was the way that Mr. Gold looked at him. He wasn't ever really happy to see him. It was the same way that his mom looked at Snow White before the curse broke. It was like he had to play nice even though he really didn't want to.
"I need a way to make sure my mom can't hurt Mary Margaret." Henry told his grandfather as he looked around the shop, his eyes scanning over the items of the shop. They all had their magical properties back since Magic was in Storybrooke. He just didn't know what he needed.
"I'm afraid I don't have anything that can help with that, deary. Your mother is quiet set on getting her revenge." Rightly so in Mr. Gold's opinion.
"She can't though! She can't!" Henry was desperate. Mr. Gold only ever made deals with desperate souls and he was as desperate as they came. He couldn't let his mom kill Mary Margaret. If she killed her then she could never have her own happy ending. "Please, you have to have something. Anything that can help!"
Mr. Gold leaned heavily on his cane for a moment as he studied Henry's wide pleading eyes. He glanced towards one of the display cases that had a display of coins of all different styles and types. The silver, gold, copper, and stone coins were all mounted with on blue velvet cushioning.
"Perhaps there is something…" Mr. Gold trailed off as he slowly limped his way behind the counter.
Henry's eyes traveled to the same display case and he rushed over to it, his hands pressing against the glass as he looked at the shimmering coins that Mr. Gold put on top of the glass display. Henry watched as Mr. Gold waved his open palm over the coins, circling around them all twice before he stopped, and picked up one specific coin by pinching it tightly between his fingers.
Mr. Gold held the coin up to Henry's eye level and pulled it away just before Henry could take it. "This is a very special coin Henry. It can help you grant one wish. But only one wish."
"How do I make the wish?" Henry asked, eyes riveted on the sparkling and magically shimmering silver coin.
"Like you would with any coin. You throw it in a fountain of course. Or in this case the wishing well."
Henry nodded his head, he could do that. That seemed really easy. He reached out for the coin again but Mr. Gold pulled it back.
"You know Henry that all magic…"
"Comes with a price. I know! I know!" Henry didn't mean to seem rude but he really needed that coin and he knew that all magic came with a price. He was the one that told others that more often than not. This would be worth it. The consequences would be worth it. Henry peered up into Mr. Gold's eyes, his hazel eyes shimmering with hope and desperation. "Please…"
Mr. Gold seemed to consider his options for a moment, his eyes looking out the shop windows before he looked at Henry and placed the magic coin in Henry's waiting palm.
"What do you want in return?" Henry asked as he stared at the image of a merman with a trident above and below the water, the waves on the coin practically splashing him with water.
"Nothing." Henry eyed him curiously so he explained. "I owe your mother a favor."
Henry nodded his head, Mr. Gold always came through with his favors, he kept his deals. As he looked down his eyes caught the image of the coin once again. He turned it over to the other side and saw an owl etched into the metal. It was turning its head to look at him when he turned back to King Trident.
Mr. Gold clasped the top of his cane with both hands as he leaned on it and gazed at Henry thoughtfully. "You hold the coin in your hand and up against your heart and speak the wish aloud before you flip the coin and let it fall in the wishing well." Mr. Gold grabbed a coin from his pocket and flipped it with his thumb so that it spun around twice before he caught it again. He handed the quarter to Henry and encouraged him to flip the coin.
Henry practiced three times before he finally could flip it properly instead of it just falling off his finger.
"Thank you." Henry smiled as he looked from the coin up to Mr. Gold.
"You're welcome, Henry." His eyes shone with true gratitude that Mr. Gold almost stopped him, almost. Just as Henry made it to the shop doors Mr. Gold gave him one warning. "Be careful, Henry. Be very specific with your wish."
Henry peered back at him, holding tightly onto the coin ready to do anything to protect it. "I will." He promised before he left the shop and got onto his bike. He needed to get to the wishing well and quick, before his mom did something else.
Henry Mills in general tried not to make wishes but it was hard. He was just a kid and he wished for silly things that didn't matter. But then he also wished for big things, things that other kids probably didn't wish for. The accidental wish about his mom was why he didn't make wishes anymore. Why he tried not to anymore.
And now as he stood at the Wishing Well with Mr. Gold's magic coin in his hand his mom was the reason why he was desperate for a new wish to come true. His mom was why he needed to make this wish. He needed to stop her from killing Snow White, if she did then her heart would be black and she couldn't love him for real.
Henry looked over the edge of the wishing well down towards the bucket and the water that rested beneath. He leaned back and pulled the coin out of his pocket. He stared at it for a moment, the sun making it seem like gold rather than silver. King Trident was raising his trident up towards the clouds making them cover up the sun on the coin and the water lurch violently with big waves. The Owl on the other side twisted it's head around and around as the branch swayed with the wind from King Trident on the other side of the coin.
He licked his lips as he closed his palm around both images. He brought his clasped hand up to his chest and held it over his heart. And he thought. He thought about what he needed to wish for. Mr. Gold said to be specific. He closed his eyes.
What he wanted was for his mom not to hurt Ms. Blanchard but he also wanted his mom to be happy. He didn't want his mom to hate Snow White anymore. He didn't want his family to be torn apart. He just wanted everyone to be happy.
His eyes snapped open. Happy endings. That's what he should wish for. He wanted everyone to have their happy endings and the reason they didn't have their happy endings was because his mom cast the dark curse. He just needed to wish that she never cast the curse and then everyone would be happy again. Everyone would have their happy endings and everyone would be in the Enchanted Forest where they were supposed to be. That was it. That was his wish.
"Henry!"
Henry turned away from the well when he heard his name echo through the forest.
"Henry!" That was Emma.
"Henry! Where are you?" And David.
"Henry!?" And Neal.
He had to hurry. They'd find him soon.
He walked as close to the wishing well as he could, grateful there was a small rise in the ground so he could still flip his coin in the right way. Standing at the well, his finger already posed and coin sitting ready to be flipped, he spoke his wish aloud, "I wish that my mom, Regina the Evil Queen, never cast the dark curse that Rumpelstiltskin the dark one gave her so that everyone stayed in the Enchanted Forest with their…"
"Henry…" Henry gasped as he turned slowly to his right, in his fright he flicked the coin, and it flipped up into the air and then started to fall down towards the well, his wish incomplete.
"Mom!" He swallowed nervously as the black and purple smoke cleared away and his mother was standing right in front of him. Her eyes were puffy and there were wrinkles around her eyes and forehead like when she had a headache or was in pain but didn't want him to know. There was a piece of paper in Regina's hand that Henry hadn't noticed before.
"What are you doing here Henry?" Regina looked around the otherwise empty forest, though the echo of the search party reached her shortly.
"I, I…" He frowned upset that his wish hadn't come true. They were still in Storybrooke. "I came to make a wish."
"Oh, what did you wish for?" Regina asked as she moved to step closer to Henry, except as she stepped forward everything around them started to shake, and she lost her balance and fell to one knee.
Regina looked around as everything stopped shaking and she began to stand up, her eyes moving to Henry immediately. "What did you wish for Henry?!" There was an urgency in her voice now, worry and maybe a bit of fear.
Just by the tree line Henry saw Emma and David and Neal come to a stop.
"You, what did you do!?" David accused, looking pointedly at Regina as he also pointed his gun.
"Henry!" Emma then noticed Regina as well. "Get away from him!" Emma demanded but was held back from charging over to them by Neal's arm.
Henry frowned, this wasn't what he wanted. He wanted everyone to be happy and especially his family.
Suddenly the ground started to groan and tremble around them again. This tremble lasted for a few seconds but was enough to knock Emma over into Neal's arms and Henry into Regina's.
"I've got you." Regina promised as she pulled Henry flush against her body to keep him upright. He was further down on the slight incline by the Wishing Well so his head only reached her stomach.
Still, Regina had trouble keeping them both up so she maneuvered them towards the Wishing Well so she was leaning against it to keep herself and Henry off the ground like the three stooges in front of them.
Across from them David struggled to remain standing and looked like he was awkwardly doing a line dance without a partner while Emma and Neal appeared to be dancing a horrible rendition of a tango.
"What the hell is going on!?" Emma called out over the groaning noise that grew louder and louder with each passing minute.
Beside Emma David's finger, already tight on his gun, tightened just a bit more. The sound of the gun shot was drowned out by the rumbling noise the ground was making and Emma's yelling for Henry. David couldn't keep his balance any longer and fell, the gun skidding away from him as he hit the ground hard.
Henry hugged Regina's waist tightly to keep upright, his eyes wide and fearful as he watched Emma, Neal, and David all fall to the ground, all three struggling to get back up. He was safe though, because his mom had him. She would keep him safe. She wouldn't let anything happen to him, she kept him grounded and on his feet.
Something warm splashed across Henry's arm and neck. His mom's arm that was tight around him slackened suddenly. He looked up at his mom, his chin pressed against her belly and saw her eyes peering down at him. He stared, confused, as her eyes lost something pivotal, the spark that was always in them whether she was sad, content, angry or happy was disappearing. He didn't understand! Why?
"Mom?" He asked softly. Suddenly, his mom's arm no longer tight around his waist but flat and heavy against her side as she canted to the left.
Regina fell. Her body collapsed limply to the ground with a rough thump; her back against the Wishing Well. Her fall caused Henry to fall to his knees as she no longer helped keep him standing. He rolled down the slight incline with the force of Regina's fall, the shaking ground helping him fall further.
"Henry!" Emma called out as she crawled closer to him, reaching her hand out for his foot. Her fingers just touched his ankle when he moved out of reach.
Henry kicked away from Emma's hand and went over to his mom. His mom's eyes were open and staring out at the woods, her head tilted at an uncomfortable angel. "MOM!" He screamed as he crawled, his fingers clawing into the dirt as he pulled himself back up to her as small pebbles and stones bounced and jiggled as they slid down the slight incline.
When he reached her, she was lying on her side, one arm outstretched and the other bent behind her the piece of parchment in her hand long forgotten. He shook Regina's shoulder to try and wake her up but his hand touched something wet and warm. He looked down at his hand after pulling it away from her black vest and stared. His hand was covered in red. In blood.
The ground continued to shake around him. The tremors becoming more violent as Emma made her way over to Henry and Regina.
"Henry!" Neal and David yelled as they watched Emma move towards mother and son.
"Damn it Regina, let him go." Emma finally pulled herself up to Henry and Regina, using her elbows and knees to army crawl up to them. As she got closer her eyes zeroed in on a steady flow of thick liquid seeping into the soil. She tracked it up to the ground just beneath Regina.
Her eyes widened as she snapped up to look at Regina's face, her eyes open and unseeing. She lost her footing and ended up sliding back down the slight incline. Her breath left her in a whoosh.
"Regina!" Emma screamed and reached out, forcing herself back up towards the fallen woman and their son. Emma grabbed at Regina's foot and hauled herself up towards her, Henry still kneeling just off to the side.
"Regina, come on Regina, you can't do this." Emma muttered as she looked for a pulse. Her heart hitched when she couldn't find one. "You can't do this to us, to the kid. Come on!" Emma ripped open her black vest and then tore open her button up shirt that cost far too much money to find where the blood was coming from. If she could just put pressure on the wound and start compressions it would all be okay. She just needed to see where the wound was. Find the wound. Stop the bleeding. Start compressions. Simple.
When the shirt fell away Emma saw the blood seeping out from Regina's chest, from a wound directly above the woman's heart. Her eyes stared, unblinking for several seconds. The world around her literally falling apart as her hands fell away. Her chest ached and her mouth was dry and it hurt. God did it hurt.
The bullet hit Regina's heart. Directly. A through and through. She had di..Regina had die…
She felt nauseous. She even heaved before she swallowed back the bile that rose.
Regina had died instantly.
Emma leaned back on her haunches, blinking slowly, a single tear falling from each eye. She forced her trembling hands to cover up the wound, as if Henry hadn't already seen it.
"Come on kid we have to go." Emma insisted as she turned to Henry, whose eyes were staring transfixed on his mother. "Henry, we have to go!" Emma shouted over the loud rumbling.
The trees creaked and some of the bark split as an earthquake roared around Storybrooke breaking glass and causing trees to start becoming uprooted, the epicenter of the tremors the Wishing Well.
"Mom…" Henry blinked once, tears falling from his eyes. "Mommy?"
It couldn't be. His mom was just sleeping. That was all! Just sleeping. Sleeping. And and cut herself. She just hit the wishing well when she fell and got cut. It wasn't a big cut. It wasn't. She was sleeping and had a small cut. That's it.
That was all.
She just needed someone to wake her up. He just had to wake her up like she woke him up every morning for school. That was what he needed to do. He needed to go over to her and kiss her cheek. Or her nose. Or her forehead. Or all three. Just like she used to when she woke him up for school. Or, or! He could tug on her hand. Or arm to wake her up. Like on Mother's Day.
This time. This time he wouldn't spill any orange juice on her clean sheets. Or spill on the toast he made her for breakfast. To surprise her.
She hadn't even gotten mad. She'd been so happy. And surprised by his efforts. She'd had tears in her eyes. He thought she was sad over his mess. He got so upset he started to cry, something he'd been doing a lot of. Because, because he just wanted to make her breakfast. He wanted to give her something special on Mother's Day. Just like any other kid would for their mom.
He became so hysterical that she'd needed to pull him up onto the bed—and it wasn't easy since he wasn't a little kid anymore. She'd sat him on the dry side of the queen sized mattress and held him close to her chest.
She'd whispered her thanks into his ear as she kissed the top of his head. She told him how much she loved him and appreciated what he was trying to do. That it was okay the toast was ruined. Now they could make breakfast together. Spend time together. But not just yet. Because he was still upset and wanted to listen to her heartbeat, his ear pressed down atop her chest as the slow steady drum calmed him down. Once he was better and the tears stopped they went downstairs and he helped his mom make apple cinnamon pancakes.
She just…she just wanted to spend time with him. Something she always wanted.
That was the last Mother's Day he'd done anything special for her. He hardly even bothered to make her a card the following three years.
But he could change that!
He could!
He could make her a card every day that told her how much he loved her. He would spend as much time with her as she wanted. All of it. He wouldn't even go to school anymore. She just needed to, to wake up! She just needed to wake up!
"Henry please, we have to go!" Emma begged as she tried to pull on Henry's arm.
"Emma! Henry, come on!" Neal shouted as he helped David stand up, both men moving two steps to the right and then another to the left to keep themselves off the dirt.
"NO!" Henry screamed and pushed away from Emma and went over to his mom. He pushed against her shoulders and tried to jostle her awake. "Mom. Mom. Wake up. Wake up mom! You have to wake up!" Henry pleaded his shakes becoming more violent as Regina's body swayed with each tug and pull but she didn't respond to him. To his please and tears. She always responded to his tears. Always. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, please wake up. Please. I'm sorry. I want to see you. I do. I want to, please! PLEASE MOMMY."
He tried not to think about her eyes, and how they were open but saw nothing. Or how her ears were there but they heard nothing, and how no matter how hard he shook her she felt nothing.
"I'm sorry Henry. I'm so sorry. We have to go!" Emma apologized, her cheeks wet with her own tears. She wrapped her arm around Henry's stomach and lifted him up into the air. She held him tight against her side as she tried to move slowly away from Regina and the wishing well.
"NOOO. NO…MOOOOMMM!" Henry screamed as he reached out and grabbed a hold of Regina's arm, his fingers slipping down her bare skin because of the water—notbloodnotbloodnotblood—on his hand. They slid down her arm and coated it red before he held tightly onto Regina's hand, lacing his fingers with hers. Unwilling to let go. He couldn't let go. She was his mom.
She was his mom!
"Mom, mom!" Henry repeated as Emma pulled at him and his hand slipped through Regina's. He stared over Emma's shoulder, watching as they got farther and farther away from his mom and the Wishing Well. The water of the well suddenly jetted out like Old Faithful, showering them all.
"What the hell is going on? What did she do?" David's accusation ticked something off in Emma, while nothing seemed to get through to Henry. His eyes still on his mother as his lips repeated the word 'mom' over and over again.
"She didn't do anything!" Emma screamed as she glared at her father, her eyes peering down to the empty gun holster. Her eyes flashed with red rage. Her grip on Henry tightened afraid she might reach out and throttle her father for what he'd done, accident or not. He'd killed Regina. Killed her. He could have killed Henry. He shouldn't have been waving his gun around to begin with! It was stupid and reckless and had just cost Regina her life and Henry his mother and Emma her…she wasn't sure! But David's stupidity had just cost her something greater than she could immediately explain. Not fully at least. His actions had to be handled, he had to be held accountable for his actions. He'd just killed Regina Mills. He'd killed her for no reason. Shot her, forced Henry to watch his mother collapse in front of him, and Emma, dead.
'Dead…oh my god Regina's dead.' Emma was about to panic, to hyperventilate and murder David all at the same time.
But she couldn't kill him. Not right now. Now certainly wasn't the time for her to dwell on it much. She'd dwell on it later, when they were safe. Away from the wishing well and the earth quake and the ominous rumbling that grew louder and louder while the sounds of trees crashing and their bark cracking sounded all around them, trapping them.
"What about Regina?" Neal asked as they stumbled away from the Well. He pushed Emma and Henry back as a tree came down, blocking their secondary exit.
Emma pointed towards one of the few unblocked paths left, her other arm tight around Henry. "She's dead." Emma's voice was cold as she said it, eyes pointedly peering at David.
"What!?" Neal and David both exclaimed before David screamed, "LOOK OUT!" He covered Emma and Henry on the right while Neal did on the left.
Their only path left disappeared as the four story high tree crashed down ten feet in front of them.
"We have to climb over them." Emma stated, it was the only way out.
"Alright let's go." David took a single step towards the tree. His added weight caused the ground to crack open.
Steam rose up through the cracks in the wet soil. The water from the well continued to shower down on them as if from a torrential down pour. As the earth quake continued the ground itself started to give way all around them. The earth beneath them was no longer solid. It started to sink like the sands in an hour glass, pulling them towards the slender open hole, trapping them like quick sand.
The only sturdy ground was the ground around the Wishing Well soaked with water and blood.
Henry's eyes remained on the well as the adults around him panicked. They were trapped. There was no way out.
This was his fault. It was his wish that did this. Not his mom. His mom was innocent. It was him. This was his consequence. It was his price to pay…not his mom's.
"I'm sorry…" Henry whispered as everything around him started to sway like the ocean waves and branch on the coin had during the storm. His arms wrapped around Emma tightly, afraid he'd lose her too.
He swallowed thickly but still felt like he was going to get sick as everything went topsy turvy. The image of his mom lying by the Wishing Well as it rained magic water down on them fizzled away into a spiral of colors that became nothing but undistinguishable blurs as they swirled around and around and around in circles.
Everything came apart.
He felt like he was falling. Like Alice down the rabbit hole. It was as if he'd been spinning around in circles with Emma holding his hands and suddenly she let go. Everything moved and spun and felt unreal as he fell in slow motion.
His grip on Emma was gone.
He screamed.
He was alone.
He was stuck in the whirlpool of blurry nothingness falling deeper and deeper and deeper! Moving faster and faster and faster.
Until!
*THUMP*
Everything went black.
He hit bottom.
To Be Continued