Ch.4: A Broken Curse

        After it seemed that Henry had died, Katherine was able to save him, breaking the curse, which woke everyone up. When that happened, the Blue Fairy in the room advised Regina to find a place to hide. And so, she did so after telling Henry goodbye, and to not listen to those that might tell him that she doesn't love him.

        Outside, on the street, Snow White and Prince Charming found each other.

        "Snow!"

        "Charming."

        They rushed over to each other.

        “You found me,” Snow White stated.

        “Did you ever doubt I would?” he inquired.

        A moment later, they were kissing.

        Meanwhile, Regina was sulking, at home, and Belle and Rumple were in the woods.

        “Wait,” Belle said, as Rumple continued walking through the woods, her behind him a ways.

        “No, no. We’re very close,” Rumple said, heading for the well in the woods.

        “Rumpelstiltskin,” she called to him. “Wait.”

        He turned around to face her, when she said his real name.

        She walked over to him to stand in front of him.

        “I remember. I love you.”

        They hugged.

        “And I love you, too,” he said, as they hugged. Then he pulled away. “But hey, they’ll be time for that. There’ll be time for everything. But first, there’s something that I must do.”

        He continued on walking and she silently followed him.

        They stopped, once they reached the well.

        “What is this?” she questioned him.

        “This is a very special place, Belle. The waters that run below are said to have the power to bring back what one has lost,” he explained to her, before tossing the entire container of true love potion into the well. Then the purple true love potion began to leak out of the well and throughout the town.

        Katherine was still at Henry’s bedside.

        “Henry, what’s going on here? If the curse is broken, then why didn’t they go back?” she questioned, knowing that Henry had thought that once it was broken, everyone would go back where they belong.

        “I don’t know,” he admitted to her.

        A moment later, they saw purple stuff coming towards the town, and they knew something was coming.

        Rumple and Belle were still in the woods, Rumple informing her that he was bringing magic to Storybrooke.

        “Why?” she asked him.

        “Why? Because magic is power.”

         After the purple fog disappeared, everyone remembered who they were and were reunited.

        Rumple was still at the well with Belle.

        “My darling Belle, you have to tell me what happened to you,” he said, though he assumed who the culprit was that did that to her.

        “I was abducted,” she informed him.

        “Regina,” he stated, knowing only one person that would do such a thing to her.

        “She locked me away until the curse, so I’ve been in the asylum ever since.”

        “For 28 years? All these years, you’ve been here, alive.”

        “Is that why you did this?” she asked him. “Why you wanted magic? For revenge?”

        “No,” he denied. “But it might come in handy.”

        “No. No.”

        “I cannot let this stand. I will not let this stand!”

        “Look, promise me. Promise me you won’t give into your hate. Promise me you won’t kill her. Promise me we can be together.”

        He touched the side of her face.

        “I promise.”

        A moment later, they shared a kiss for a couple moments, before they hugged.

        Henry, Katherine, the dwarfs, Snow White, Prince Charming, Granny, and Ruby were still talking on the street. That's when they saw a bunch of people running through the street, a ways away.

        A moment later, they were met by Archie.

        “There you are. I need your help. Come. Whale’s whipped them into a frenzy. They’re going to Regina’s house. They’re gonna kill her.”

        “Great. Let’s watch,” LeRoy commented.

        “No. No matter what she’s done, killing is wrong.”

        “He’s right. Please. She’s still my mom,” Henry said to Katherine.

        “We have to stop them,” Katherine said.

        “If the Blue Fairy is right and magic is here, Regina could have her powers back. They’d be marching into a slaughter,” Charming told them.

        With that, they headed for Regina’s house, to save their lives if need be. Katherine knew if she didn’t have her magic back, they’d be saving Regina, instead. She knew by personal experience that no one deserved to die, and it sucked to die.

        Rumple entered his shop with Belle.

        “You wait here, Belle. I’m gonna find you something to wear. You’ve spent enough time in those rags.”

        “Thank you,” she replied.

        He went to the back of his shop and pulled out a container that held a sort of necklace, once he had put leather gloves on. It was a medallion connected to a chain like a necklace. He’d gotten it from a flying creature called a wraith, one way or another.

        Whale arrived with the people and banged on Regina’s door.

        “Open up. Open up or we’re coming in.”

        Regina opened the door.

        “Can I help you?” she asked him with a smile.

        “That smirk isn’t gonna last forever, Regina. You took everything from us, and now�",” he began.

        “What? You’re gonna kill me?”

        “Eventually. But first you need to suffer.”

        She walked out onto her porch.

        “Listening to you has been enough suffering for all of us.”

        She shoved him away. She looked at the crowd of people.

        “That’s right. You wanted to see your Queen? Well, my dears, here. She. Is,” she said, attempting to change her dress code into the black clothes she’d worn back in the enchanted forest, but nothing happened. It surprised her that it didn’t work.

        “She’s powerless! Get her!” someone shouted.

        “What?” she questioned.

        Whale got her against the outside wall of her house.

        “Where were we?”

        Katherine arrived and went towards where they were.

        “Let her go!”

        She got to the porch and Whale looked at her.

        “Why should I listen to you?”

        “Because I’m still the sheriff and she didn’t bring magic here.”

        “Because she saved you,” Charming added. “All of you.”

        “And no matter what Regina’s done, it doesn’t justify this,” Snow White added.

        “We are not murderers here,” Katherine reasoned, looking at Wale.

        “Yeah, well, we’re not from this world,” Whale reminded her.

        “Well, you’re in it anyway,” Katherine reminded him.

        Charming got onto the porch.

        “Okay, Whale, we’re done.” He stood between him and Regina, facing Whale. “Back off.”

        “You’re not my Prince.”

        “Who are you, Whale?”

        “That’s my business.”

        “Well, my business is making sure this town doesn’t go to hell, so whether or not I’m your Prince, isn’t the issue. We have a lot to figure out, and this isn’t the way to do it.”

        Snow White stood on the porch, next to Regina, looking at the crowd.

        “And Regina’s death won’t provide any answers. She needs to be locked up. For her safety, and more importantly, for ours.”

        After Snow’s reasoning, Charming put her in one of the cells at the station.

        “So, I’m a prisoner now.”

        “If the curse is broken, why didn’t we go back?” he demanded of her.

        “Because there’s nothing to go back to. That land is gone.”

        Snow whom was standing by him, said, “We should get Gold.”

        After Katherine, Henry, Snow, and Charming left, Regina started trying to do magic to get the door open, but nothing happened. Then Rumple appeared.

        “Magic is different here, dearie,” he informed her, as he walked over to her cell.

        She looked at him.

        “I noticed. I assume this is all your doing.”

        “Most things are,” he replied.

        “Get to it, Rumple. What do you want? You here to finish the job?”

        “No, no, no. You’re safe from me.”

        “I feel so relieved,” she stated.

        “I made a promise to someone that I won’t kill you.”

        “Who could illicit that from you?”

        “Belle,” he answered her.

        "She's alive."

        “You are a dreadful liar.”

        “I could’ve killed her, but I didn’t.”

        “You did much worse than that. You kept her alive so you could kill her when it suited you. A fate worse than death. Which, dearie, is exactly what I’m going to do to you.”

        He grabbed her arm and put the medallion in her hand, and pressed down so it would make an impression.

        “Is that�"?” she began.

        “Yes, dearie. The one thing no one can escape. Destiny. I promise this one will be particularly unpleasant.”

        He let go and she pulled her arm away. Then she looked at her hand.

        After summoning the wraith in the woods, Rumple went to his shop, where he put some tea on.

        Katherine, Snow, and Charming entered.

        “How can I help you?” he asked.

        “How about you tell us what you did,” she said.

        “You’ll have to be a little more specific.”

        “You know darn well what we’re talking about,” Charming said.

        “You double crossed Katherine. You took the potion from her,” Snow said.

        “You did who knows what to this town,” Charming said.

        “Worst of all, you risked Henry’s life,” Katherine reminded him.

        “Well, that is quite a list of pretenses, now isn’t it?”

        “Maybe I don’t need answers from you.”

        He went around the counter to stand in front of her.

        “Let me answer your questions with some of mine. Did Henry survive?”

        “Yeah,” she answered.

        “Is the curse broken?”

        She was silent.

        “Looks like you should be thanking me.”

        “What was the purple haze you brought?”

        “You know, magic,” he answered.

        “Why?” Snow asked.

        “Not telling.”

        Suddenly, there was almost like an earthquake for a moment.

        “What the hell was that?” Katherine questioned.

        Charming went to the door to look, and Snow followed suit. When they did, a sound of something was heard.

        “This is my gift to you,” he answered Katherine. “That is going to take care of Regina.”

        “Katherine, come on,” Snow called.

        “We need to take care of this,” Charming told her.

        “We are not done,” Katherine said.

        “Oh, I know,” Rumple replied. “You still owe me a favor.”

        Rumple watched them go.

        Belle came out from the back of the shop, a gray and white checkered dress on.

        He saw her.

        “Hey.”

        She stood in front of him.

        “You lied to me.”

        “No. I kept my word. I will not kill her.”

        “No, you toy with words. Like you do people. You’re still the man who makes the wrong choices. I thought you’d changed.”

        “In how long you’ve known me?”

        She began to storm out.

        “Belle, I�"I’m sorry.” She looked at him. “I am.”

        She closed the door behind herself.

        Regina saw the lights flickering and stood.

        “Who’s there?”

        A moment later, the wraith appeared and magically tossed the jail cell door aside. Then it reached a hand towards her and blue magic shown, as it began to take Regina’s soul.

        Charming arrived and grabbed a chair and hit it with it, as he said, “Hey!”

        The wraith tossed him aside and he landed against a wall. The desk began sliding towards him, but he was able to get out of the way. Snow was there, too.

        The wraith went back to sucking her soul.

        Snow approached with a bottle of something and a lighter.

        “Over here!”

        It looked at her and she used what was in her hand, which set it on fire. It made a noise and flew out the window.

        Katherine came from behind a desk, and watched it flee.

        Regina was on the floor, coughing.

        Katherine went over and helped her to her feet.

        “What the hell was that thing?”

        “A wraith,” Regina answered. “A soul sucker.”

        “Did I�"?” Snow started.

        “Kill it? No. It’s regenerating. It’ll be back. It doesn’t stop until it devours its prey. Me.”

        “How do we kill it?” Kat asked.

        “There’s no way. Can’t kill something that’s already dead.”

        “Then we have a problem,” Kat stated.

        “No. We don’t. Regina does,” Charming interjected.

        Regina looked at him.

        “What?”

        “David,” Snow said.

        “You’re going to let her die?” Kat asked. She couldn’t believe that he was saying this. She was new to town, but she knew Charming’s story well, and he usually wasn’t one to let someone die.

        “Why not? When it goes away, we’ll be safe.”

        “Let me ask you something. Where do you think that thing came from?” Regina replied. “Gold.”

        “I made a promise to Henry and I don’t break my promises. She’s not dying,” Kat told him.

        “If it can’t be killed, then what do you suggest?” Snow questioned Regina.

        “Send it somewhere where it can’t hurt anyone.”

        Once at her office, and after bringing Jefferson’s hat out, Regina asked her, “Did Henry really ask you to protect me?”

        “Yes,” Kat replied. “It’s not just that. My parents were killed many years ago. I wouldn’t want the same thing for Henry.”

        Snow and Charming came into her office with three brooms.

        “Torches for when it comes back,” Charming announced.

        Regina set the hat in the middle of the room on the floor.

        “This will open a portal to our land. All we have to do is send the wraith there.”

        “Oh, yeah. Just that,” Charming commented.

        “I don’t understand. I thought our land was gone,” Snow said, suspicious.

        “It is. Sending it to a place that no longer exists, well, that’s banishing it into oblivion.”

        When the wraith came, Regina had a difficult time in getting the hat to work. Then Kat put a hand on her arm, and it worked.

        “It’s coming!” Charming warned.

        They stepped away from the hat and the wraith was sucked through.

        Belle entered the back of Rumple’s shop, where he was spinning what looked to be wool.

        "Hey."

        He saw her.

        "Hey."

        “I went for a walk,” she told him.

        “I thought you didn’t want to see me.”

        “I didn’t. But I was worried.”

        “Well, the beast is gone, and Regina lives.”

        “So, you didn’t get what you wanted.”

        “Well, that remains to be seen.”

        She saw the chipped cup by the spinning wheel, and she picked it up. “You still have it.” She chuckled and smiled. “My chipped cup.”

        He stood and took it from her.

        “There are many things in this shop, but this�"this is the only thing I cherish. And now you must leave.”

        "What?"

        “You must leave, because despite what you hope, I’m still a monster,” he informed her.

        She rested hands on his shoulders.

        “Don’t you see? That’s exactly the reason why I have to stay.”

        The next day, everyone cleaned up the mess the wraith had made trying to succeed in getting Regina's soul the night before. While everyone did that, Regina concentrated on trying to get her magic to work now that Rumple had brought magic, but it wasn't working for her. Because of that, she had to get her mother's book from Rumple to get her magic to work, which worked for her.