OUAT/VD: Unexpected Ending (Datherine)

Summary: Set somewhere after VD S8. Also, set in OUAT S5. Damon’s human, but hasn’t gotten old yet. He ends up in the Enchanted Forest a while after Kat does. When Kat comes upon an injured Damon, can she get him to Rumple’s castle, since she knows better than to go to the Evil Queen version of Regina? Can she convince Rumple’s past self to heal Damon? When Rumple helps them leave the Enchanted Forest world, they appear in Storybrooke. What will ensue between them, since Kat finally tells him the truth about her feelings for him, as well as her reason for breaking his heart all those years ago?

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        Damon landed on some grass. He’d died human he assumed, but wasn’t old yet. When he landed, he was on his side. He got himself onto his back. Then looked to see that he was in some unfamiliar woods. He’d ended up injured when he’d died, and it seemed his injuries had carried over to wherever he was now, so here wasn’t so bad. If he was already dead, it didn’t matter if he died here from his injuries, too.

        Kat was on a brown thoroughbred she’d grabbed from a field a while back. She’d ended up here after dying of old age. It seemed like it had probably been a week. She’d temporarily been in Storybrooke, which to her, was four years ago, so she knew where she’d ended up at. The Enchanted Forest. Which was why she’d been out searching for a magic bean. To get out of their magical world.

        She was riding through the woods, when she saw someone on the forest floor. It was dark now, so she couldn’t see who it was. Something in her told her to make sure whoever it was was okay, so she dismounted and approached, leading the horse. Then, when she was close enough, she saw who it was, and rushed to his side, kneeling down.

        ”Damon,” she said, and saw a wound where his lower side was. She then took her jacket off, tying it around his wound, before resting a hand on the side of his face. “Damon, open your eyes.” She patted the side of his face. “Come on, Damon. Wake up for me.”

        ”Katherine?” he weakly inquired.

        ”It’s me. Let’s get you out of here.”

        She put an arm around him, forcing him to his feet. Then helped him onto the horse, before going in the direction of a castle. She was pretty sure they weren’t far from Rumple’s castle, and the Storybrooke version of him had liked her. She needed someone, anyone to heal him. She wasn’t letting Damon die. Especially, in a place like this. And she didn’t trust Regina’s past self to do a thing for her or someone she cared about. Rumple though, she knew she had a chance with. 

        She approached the door to his castle, holding a half awake Salvatore up, and eventually made her way to a room with an archway.

        ”Now, what do we have here?” he said, sitting at the long dining table.

        “My name’s Katherine. You know me back in the land you’ll be joining Regina in when she casts the curse. You care about me. You’d do anything to help me. Right now, I need your help. Heal him. Please. I can’t let him die. I care about him,” she explained and asked of him.

        ”How do I know you’re telling me the truth?” he tested her.

        She thought for a moment what proof she could give him that would make him believe her, as she gently got Damon on the floor on his back, before getting to her feet again.

        ”You and I understand each other. We exchanged stories when we first met,” she informed him. “Your first wife was named Mila. Your son is Baelfire. When you went off to war, you got scared, so you crippled your own leg so you could be sent back home. You didn’t want to abandon Bae like your father abandoned you.” Then she added, “How do you think I know the Queen’s real name? Or about the Dark Curse?”

        He realized she was telling the truth. There were few that knew his real story. He had to have told her in the new land.

        ”Fine. I’ll heal him.”

        A few minutes later, he’d healed Damon. Now, she was knelt at his side, waiting for him to wake up.

        She looked at Rumple.

        ”Thanks. I’ll owe you a couple favors in the future. Now, I need you to get us out of this world. A portal or a magical object will do. Neither of us are from around here.”

        ”I can make a portal for you, but you’re right. You’ll owe me a couple favors in the future, dearie.”

        She gave a smile in thanks. Then looked down at Damon, as he woke up. 

        “Welcome back. You almost died.”

        He got to his feet, as did she. 

        “Where are we?”

        ”A castle. Don’t worry. He’ll get us out of this world. He’s also the one that healed you.”

        “I guess I’m not dead then. I thought I was from what happened to me before I ended up in the woods.”

        ”We’ll have time for me to explain when we get out of here. Right now, let’s leave,” she replied. 

        About ten minutes later, they went through a portal, which sent them to Storybrooke, she knew all too well.

        ”Where are we?” he asked.

        ”Storybrooke, Maine. Regina, the Evil Queen, created it for revenge against Snow White. Fairytales exist here and where you and I ended up at earlier, the Enchanted Forest. The one that saved you when I pleaded for him to is the Enchanted Forest’s version of Rumpelstiltskin. Here, he’s Rumple or Gold,” she explained.

        ”Why did you do that? Why even attempt saving me? You told me you never loved me.”

        ”Because I did love you. I lied, since Klaus was on his way, and I was afraid that he’d kill you just to hurt me more. I had to make him believe I didn’t love you. You would’ve ruined it if you knew the plan. I couldn’t let you die. Even as a human,” she informed him.

        He wasn't sure what he should say to that. If she was telling him the truth now, then he knew what he'd done to her in the past wasn't at all justified. He'd hurt her in the past because of her hurting him, but if she'd only done it to spare his life from her greatest enemy of all time, he'd repaid her by being hurtful and cruel. He knew that going inside her head and tormenting her had been the cruelest thing he could've done to her. He knew it, because two years after, he'd gotten a taste of what it was like to watch your mother die. Both in the real world and inside his hell the Phoenix stone had given him. The plus in the real world was he'd been able to pretend not to care as a vampire. Since his own mother's final death, he'd regretted what he'd done to her. He wasn't sure if she'd want an apology or listen if he did apologize, though. It had been more than a few years since then. She didn't know what she'd expected from him after telling him the truth, but she hadn't expected his silence. This wasn't the Damon she knew, but he'd been a vampire back then. He'd also had a lot of hatred towards her. She wasn't sure what to expect from him now that he was a human. 

        She put a hand on his arm, beginning to head for the town. 

        "Let's make ourselves at home. Shall we?" 

        She gave a smile. 

        "Sounds like a plan," he replied with a smile back, glad to break the silence. 

        She took her hand off his arm, as they walked next to each other. 

        "I think most of them will be at Granny's diner like usual. I wasn't here long enough to find out if everyone remembered who they really are, but I assume they do. I bonded a little with Regina's son last time I was here, so he told me everything Regina and Rumple didn't tell me. Granny is Red Riding Hood's grandmother. Here, Ruby is her name. She's also a wolf." 

        "Anything else I should know?" he inquired. 

        "Charming and Snow White had a daughter, I guess now 20 or so years ago back in the Enchanted Forest. She's supposed to save everyone's happy endings. They call her the savior. She was made the sheriff when I was last here. I'm sure there's others now if the curse was broken that Regina created, though. I made some friends with a few of them here when I was a vampire.”

        “Why leave then?” he wanted to know, since it seemed that she’d found something during that time here.

        “I heard from outside of this small town what you were up to, and that you had opened up that tomb. I had to leave to clean up that mess if possible. And maybe I missed you, even if I didn’t admit it back then,” she informed him.

        She stopped in front of the diner.

        “This is it. Think of this like the Grille back home. Granny’s a good cook, but it’s also kind of a bar.”

        She entered with him. Then went and sat at the bar section of the diner.

        “You’re back,” Ruby greeted, remembering back when Katherine had been in town. “And you’ve got company.”

        “Yes. I am. Kind of a long story. We’ll both just have a shot glass of Bourbon. Same as when I was here the first time.”

        She sipped the shot glass that was put in front of her, while he did the same, before downing the rest of it. Then, when she’d finished, she took a look around at the fairytales in the diner. She could see the same people as before, but she could tell that things were different. With Traveler magic, even though she didn’t want to use it, she couldn’t help but to sense almost hopelessness. Something she’d never felt last time she’d been here. It wasn’t the happy vibe that she remembered from her last temporary stay.

        "Ruby, do you wanna tell me what happened?"

        “You arrived at the wrong time. It appears that Emma didn’t just take the darkness into herself, but she also gave it to Killian. Hook. She was saving his life back in our world. She made a plan though, since Hook had his sights set on vengeance and doing its bidding with trying to take out the light. She put all of the darkness into herself. She believed that she could do it. Put it inside of herself and then take herself out,” she informed her.

        “Self sacrifice, saving everyone but herself. I’ve heard that before,” Kat replied. “Explains the feeling. Look, we just went through a portal from your world to here. Even if Rumple isn’t a Dark One anymore, I owe him a couple of favors. His past got us out of your world, but also saved Damon’s life here. I owe him.”

        “He won’t be any help to you in his current state, but you should talk to Belle. Maybe you’ll be able to save him. Those of us that want to help him, don’t know how to. You know how much darkness he’s been through most of his life. You two connected when you were here last. Maybe you can find a way to save him, before time runs out. That darkness in his heart, whatever’s left of light in his heart is fading. It’s left him in some sort of coma.”

        “Well, then I guess it’s time to save Rumple,” Kat commented, before finishing her shot glass of Bourbon. She then looked at her eldest childe. “There are rooms upstairs if you need to lay down. Or you can spend time getting to know these people and the town. I’m going to drop in for a visit. I don’t think you as a human can make any trouble.”

        “I believe I’d rather stick with you. You, I know, even if I don’t fully trust you all the time,” he replied to her, and got up when she did.

        "What are we waiting for, then?" she questioned.

        Kat entered Rumple’s shop, but she didn’t see anyone immediately, so she went to the back of the shop, Damon following. That’s when she saw him on the bed in the back of the shop, Belle on his bedside.

        “I’m here to at least try and help,” Kat told her, making her look at her.

        “I didn’t know you were back.”

        “I haven’t been here long. Don’t mind Damon. I don’t think he wants to be surrounded by strangers from another world. I heard that the last of the light in his heart is fading. I want to find a way to help if I can. His past self saved Damon’s life. I owe him. Not only that, but we had an understanding the last time I was here. I considered him and Regina friends. Damon and I are both human, but I’m descended from Travelers. In your world, gypsies. My daughter told me before she died years ago. I did an unforgivable thing with it when she told me, because she wanted me to live, despite me wanting to just let fate do what it wanted to do to me. Now, I want to use it to help. When my daughter and I reunited, all I wanted was to be her mother. I couldn’t be the mother she wanted, because I lost that part of me eons ago. Ever since I died and ended up in your world though, I’ve been trying to be better, because that’s what she wanted me to do. Survive and be a better person than I was as a vampire,” she explained. Then she added, “I may not have the magic any Enchanted Forest fairytales have here, but I have knowledge of 500 plus years with witches. I think I can figure something out. I’ve always believed like you that there’s always a loophole. Just point me in the direction of his potions and I’ll figure it out.”

        They hadn’t really known each other much four years ago due to her ordeal back then, but she’d figured out that she usually didn’t break her word or promises, so she figured she could trust her enough to help save her true love, no matter what. And so, the search continued on as to how to save him.

        About a week later, Kat sat on his bedside with a crystal in hand. Since they hadn’t found a fairytale way to save him, she’d decided to do this the old-fashioned way. She figured it could work. She’d met Freya Mikaelson back when she’d been Dahlia’s prisoner. She remembered that crystal both of them had worn, which had kept Dahlia from fully draining Freya of her magic. She figured if something like that could absorb Dahlia or Freya’s most powerful magic, then one could be used to contain the darkness within his heart. She had to try. She’d never taken a fairytale’s heart out though, but she assumed it to sorta be like all the times she’d ripped out someone’s heart literally as a vampire. Just without the whole death thing.

        She successfully figured out taking his heart out, and held the special crystal above his heart that she held in one hand. When she did, it began to work. All of the darkness began to be absorbed into the crystal, leaving his heart for good. Then, when all of it was inside the crystal, she set the crystal necklace onto a close by table, before nicely putting his heart back into him.

        “Rumple?” she called, hoping that he’d wake up soon, a hand on the side of his face. She didn’t want him to die or lose whatever goodness was still inside of him. She cared, despite all of these years that she’d been absent from the town.

        After a few minutes, she saw him wake up, and took her hand away from his face.

        "Well, aren't you an unexpected surprise," he greeted, and she got to her feet, before helping him up from the bed. 

        "I died a while ago. Then ended up in your world. A while after that, I found a very much human and really injured Damon. I decided I didn't have anymore time to waste, looking for a magic bean for a portal, so I convinced your past self to save him and get us out of your world. So, I kinda owed you a couple favors, even if you're no longer the Dark One. I know a powerful witch. She's always had a crystal that absorbs very powerful magic, so I used a crystal of my own." She held up the necklace from the nearby table. "You're completely free from all of that darkness." 

        "I guess I should thank you, then," he replied. 

        "Yes. You should. I'm not planning on walking around with a crystal of darkness, so I'm going to trust you with it, instead. I don't need to tell you to hide it somewhere safe."

        She handed it to him, before leaving the shop. Then she decided to deal with another potential minor issue. While she'd been in their world, she'd gotten to know Hook's past self pretty well. She thought after losing someone to her own destruction, he could use a real friend. She figured he probably didn't really have one in this town. After all, when she'd left as a vampire, she knew Regina hadn't had any, so she assumed he'd be the same. 

        She entered the diner, scanning for the pirate she figured she knew so well, and saw him alone at a booth. She then approached and sat across from him, once she'd borrowed a bottle of alcohol from on the bar counter. She then set the bottle down on the table, before pouring some of it into a shot glass. 

        "Thought you could use a friend now that I'm free. Know who I am, Captain?" 

        "Should I?" he inquired, his shot glass still in hand. 

        "Okay. So when I met your past self when I ended up in your world, present you didn't get those memories. We had a connection before we parted ways," she realized and informed him. Then she introduced herself, saying, "My name's Katherine. Look, you and I are alike. I seeked vengeance on someone for 500 years, but failed. I also loved more than one person in my long life. I know what it's like to lose people. I lost my whole family. It wasn't exactly my fault, though. I was a scared girl that found out that monsters existed, so I ran to escape impending death. You, on the other hand, don't need to blame yourself. I've heard everything that happened. I'm sorry, but remember. This was her own decision. Her own making. You couldn't have saved her. She saved everyone by getting rid of all that darkness. Sacrificing herself was heroic, selfless, and honorable." 

        "Doesn't mean there wasn't another way. I could've saved her, I should've, but I let myself embrace the darkness I fought centuries to not give in to. I was weak," he replied. 

        "You weren't weak. With that much darkness, nobody could've fought it. Not even me, most likely, and I'm probably the strongest one here. Don't let the misery eat you up, Hook." 

        "Then why do I feel like it?" 

        "It's just guilt. I've had enough experience with that. I lost my family 500 plus years ago, but I only cared about my mother. She was my friend and protector. She took as much abuse as she could from my father so that I wouldn't be his target. He was a mean drunk every night. After I found them, I blamed myself for her death for a very long time. In the present century, I lost my daughter, which I felt was on me. I felt guilty. If I had kept tabs on her, instead of being terrified of dying rapidly of old age from a cure, maybe she wouldn't have been bitten by a half werewolf hybrid. I could've saved her, but she just wanted me happy. Then I died shortly afterward. But none of us can take it back, even if we managed going back in time to stop it. Thinking the way you are now, it's not anything good. It'll drag you into a dark path. I nearly self destructed. The only thing that saved me was someone running across me during that dark time in my life. Pearl became my best friend. She helped me learn to deal with the grief," she shared with him. "I may be from outside of this town, but we share a similar story." She then told him, "If you ever need or want a friend, I'm here. Nobody should be alone in this. However, I should probably go find someone. He came here with me, and I didn't make him in my image centuries ago for him to get himself into more trouble than usual." 

        She got up, leaving the bottle on the table and shot glass. Then she headed out of the diner to find her ex she still loved. She never stopped loving him, even though he'd stopped loving her years ago. Since there weren't many places for a human Damon to go, she assumed where she could probably find him, since he hadn't been at the diner. 

        She found him in the woods on a log, drinking from a bottle, and sat next to him. 

        "I thought I'd find you here, since you weren't at the diner," she commented. "We didn't really get a chance to talk. You know, I didn't care much about her, but I'm pretty sure she'd want you to live your life to the fullest. Nadia wanted me to do the same before she died, and look at how I turned out." 

        She gave a smile at the end. 

        "If you want to talk, then I have something to say, even if you don't want to hear it," he told her, not wanting to talk about his grief with Elena's death, but also deciding to take a chance in apologizing. Something he'd never been big on in the past. 

        "What is it?" she inquired, not knowing what to expect. He'd said a lot to her before she'd died, after all last time.

        "I know a lot of time has passed, but I think I should say that I'm sorry. What I did to you when you were dying is unforgivable. You didn't deserve that kind of torment any more than me." 

        "Apology accepted, but I forgave that a long time ago. What made you actually apologize, though? What happened?" 

        "Turned out, our mother didn't die when we thought she did. She turned, instead. Our mother turned out to be a Ripper. She got sent to a prison world along with her questionable friends. When we found out about all of this, despite my judgement, we got her and her friends out of there. After her terrible taste in a boyfriend linked himself to her, she took a chance to end him after what he did to both of us. He apparently, already unlinked them. We didn't know that when she stabbed herself. I know what it feels like now, losing your mother. I was cruel when I didn't have to be, before she died. I said the worst things I could've. She may not have been the mother I remember, but she was still my mother. I chose to pretend not to care. You could say I got the chance for a real goodbye when I was put in that Phoenix stone, but it's not the same," he informed her. 

        "I'm sorry. I never wanted you to feel what I felt centuries ago for my mother. My father I didn't care for, much like yours. At least she got to try being a mother, though. Even if she was different," she replied. 

        "Yeah, well, we don't get to choose who our parents are," he replied. 

        "Quite true," she agreed. "We can choose where we go from here, though."

        "Maybe we can start with a little distraction, even if it's just for old time's sake," he replied with a smile, dropping the empty bottle to the ground, having finished the half empty bottle he'd started with. He was sorta hoping a distraction would help, and right now, she was it for him. 

        "I'd like that," she replied with a smile. 

        A moment later, they were kissing. 

        Months after their moment in the woods, they got back together, him having fallen back in love with her. They even found a way out of town with Regina's help, so they left town.