Finding You Always

Save Me

Chapter 181: Save Me

Joe flipped the closed sign on the diner door, as he watched the clouds in the sky swirl dangerously above the city.

"Damn...have you ever seen a storm like this?" Frankie asked his husband and Joe instinctively put an arm around him.

"Nah...this ain't normal. I can feel it in my bones," Joe replied.

"Joe...what is it?" Frankie asked, noticing the peculiar look on his face.

"You know, when we got married, it was the best day of my life and I thought this could be okay, even after they denied us the chance to adopt," Joe mentioned.

"Yeah...it was my fault. Guess being a cop means nothing if you got into trouble in your teens. Never knew they'd go back into my past," Frankie said shamefully.

"You were a kid, love and it was a stupid technicality. Doesn't change how much I love you," he said, smiling at him.

"But then we met David and his little girl and I saw two people that needed to be taken care of. So we did...for two years. I knew they were special the moment they walked in here," Joe replied.

"Me too...then they got their family back and still needed us," Frankie said fondly.

"I got this feeling in my gut, Frankie. Maybe it's the cop in me...but something tells me that they need us...they need family now," he added.

"Then let's go find them," Frankie agreed, as they left the diner, hand in hand. And somehow, deep inside, they knew they wouldn't be back.

The ominous clouds churned above the city, getting darker and darker by the minute. Lightning could be seen flashing inside the brewing mass of cumulus matter and what had begun as a small system seemed to be quickly growing. It was slowly blanketing the city and it was already drawing the attention of the entire populous of Seattle.

"And if you're just joining us, you're probably seeking answers for this sudden storm. Our radars are functioning properly and this sudden storm is a bit of a mystery," the meteorologist reported, as Jacinda watched the report on her phone.

"This doesn't make any sense," she commented.

"It makes perfect sense if you'd just believe," Lucy chimed in. The brunette sighed and looked over at Henry. His eyes were fixated on the clouds above and he looked a little pale.

"Henry...what's wrong?" She questioned.

"All of this...it's all real," he realized. Lucy's eyes widened.

"You remember?" she asked.

"No...but it's all so familiar," he realized.

"He's right..." Ivy offered, as she approached with Ana and both had clearly been crying.

"Ivy...what happened?" Jacinda asked.

"Mother...she's gone. She sacrificed herself for me," Ivy cried, as Jacinda hugged her.

"Gone? What do you mean?" Jacinda questioned. Ivy sniffed.

"She's dead...she sacrificed herself to save...to save us," Ivy said, realizing what she was saying. She had almost said that she sacrificed herself to save Ana, but she knew that wasn't accurate. Her mother had given her life for her as well.

After years of believing that her mother didn't love her, years of jealousy over Ana, and hurt about her mother's favoritism, which had morphed into hate, her mother had made the ultimate sacrifice for her. And Ivy wasn't sure how she felt about that. Now that there was no target for her hate and jealousy, she was just left feeling empty. Regina had once warned her that this is what revenge would leave her with, if she managed to survive her quest to quench that revenge. Snow and Charming had even tried to counsel her mother at times, trying to get her to see what her mother's favoritism was doing to her daughter. Regina's advice and Snow and Charming's counsel had always fell on deaf ears. Or so she thought. Until just moments ago, she would have sworn that she hated her mother and her mother hated her. And to find out that the case was neither left her feeling lost. Add to that, she suddenly had an incredible amount of guilt, for she had allowed Gothel to use her and may have very well contributed to the apocalypse that seemed to be upon them.