Storm Song || OUAT x GoT [ON HOLD]

𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔢𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱

broken

storybrooke, maine

– NOW THAT SHE KNEW THE TRUTH, RAYNE ABSOLUTELY DESPISED BEING LEFT BEHIND. It was for the best, Emma assured her. Someone needed to watch over Henry, and despite what she knew to be true, knowing was not the same as the security of having all her memories back. So she settled for glaring at Regina on her way out, a fire in her eyes that would not soon be dimmed. She ran her fingers through Khal's fur, trying to disperse her stress as Dr Whale and the nurses continued to flurry about. She wondered who she had once been. She wondered if she actually meant anything to Regina before all this, or if all of the love she and her mother shared for each other was just another lie. Another fake layer that would be ripped away soon enough and leave Rayne with nothing. She pushed the thought away, no longer pleased with the pastime of musing over her past life. Although, according to August, she didn't even have one. Now there was a thought that stumped her. Rather than dwelling on it, though, once Henry was stable, she headed outside for some fresh air.

Darkness had fallen, and stars glinted in the sky. The streets were silent but for the wind, the panting of a dog, and Rayne's boots against the sidewalk. She wasn't sure how long she walked for. Five minutes? Fifteen? An hour? Her mind wandered so far it was a wonder she managed to bring it back to her head at all. Either way, she finally came full circle just after dawn, and found herself back at the hospital doors. What she saw when she stepped through them dug a 200-foot pit in her stomach.

She burst into Henry's room where nurses were running about and the machines were all blaring with rather alarming sounds that she'd only seen on TV before. "Fuck. Henry!"

"Miss Mills, please step back." Dr Whale warned over the shouting and bustling.

"But Henry- Is he-"

"We don't know! We're trying to fix this. Please let us." He turned back to his work, and as she was pushed around a few times by passing nurses, she had no choice but to retreat back through the door and watch from behind glass as her brother slipped further and further away from her. And then a terrible stillness filled the room. The machines stopped, the nurses halted their panicking, the shouts were dulled to heartbroken murmurs. Dr Whale's eyes met Rayne's with a terrible sort of finality in them... and her heart shattered. It dropped to the very floor at her feet and broke into too many pieces to repair. For a second she felt like she was choking, and then a loud sob tore itself from her throat. The first tear fell, and then there was no stopping them in their onslaught. She cried and sobbed and blubbered, unaware of anything but that her chest hurt, and there was a cold, unwelcoming floor beneath her knees now, and Khal was whining at her side.

Eventually, everyone had cleared out of the room but for a couple of nurses turning off the machinery inside. Rayne still sat on the floor, no longer crying, but the occasional tear still rolled down her face. It wasn't fair. How had she lost everyone in one fell swoop? Her brother was gone and her mother was responsible. It was too much to bear. She didn't notice Emma and Regina until the latter's hand found its way to the girl's shoulder. She didn't pull away. She didn't have the energy, nor the will for it. She watched Emma enter the room, crying as she spoke words no one else could hear.

Slowly, Rayne found herself gripping Regina's arm, the two of them supporting one another as they managed to pull themselves through the door into Henry's room. Regina broke down crying before she made it to him, and that opened the floodgates for Rayne once more, though she remained silent.

And then Emma placed a kiss on the little boy's head.

Those closest to the pair were the first to be hit by the magic that flowed outwards. That meant Regina and Rayne and Whale and Mother Superior. Henry shot upright in bed with a gasp.

"You did it." Regina spoke, relieved and astounded.

Rayne stumbled away from her adoptive mother, feeling as if there was a tempest raging around her head. Henry was alive. He was awake. She'd just witnessed magic for the first time since arriving here... and everything she'd forgotten came crashing back. It was like a punch in the face but oh, was she grateful for it.

"Henry." She hurried forward to embrace him, something he was all too happy to return. He might not know her story, but he knew theirs. No matter what, she was his family now. Barking filled her ears, and Khal ran up, jumping to press his paws up on her shoulders, tail wagging and tongue lolling excitedly. "Khal!" She was happy for his comfort, but also so, so confused. She didn't have a dog. And yet, and yet, and yet. Staring into his eyes, she realised they glinted with familiar hues of black and red and mahogany, and there was a great and terrible fierceness glowing behind them. "Drogon?" He barked again, clearly pleased to be recognised.

"Henry?" Emma questioned nervously as confused-looking nurses began to filter in. "What's happening?"

"The curse." He realised. He looked to Rayne for confirmation.

She nodded. "Yeah. She broke it."

"That was true love's kiss." Mother Superior told them.

"No. No!" Regina looked absolutely miserable and horrified.

"If I were you, Your Majesty, I'd find a place to hide."

"Henry." teary eyed, the queen moved forward to grab both her adoptive children's hands. "Rayne. No matter what you think, no matter what anyone tells you, I do love you. Both of you. Whether it was the curse that brought us together or not. I don't care. I. Love. You." with nothing more to be said, she slowly backed away and fled the hospital.

After a short bit, Henry turned to Rayne. "So... who are you really? I never found your story."

She smiled softly. "No, you wouldn't have. I'm..." she hesitated. Don't let your guard down. Don't expose yourself to harm. But this was Henry. She loved him, and she trusted him, no matter her secrets and her past. "I'm a princess. I come from a land very far from the Enchanted Forest. And I'm afraid that's all I can say for now."

"Do you have another name?"

"I-"

"Wait." At the mention of the Enchanted Forest and other lands, a thought had occurred to Emma. "Henry, if the curse is broken, why didn't everyone go back?"

He frowned. "I don't know."

The sound of breaking glass brought their attention to a nurse staring out the window in horror. "Are you okay?" Emma asked worriedly. A thick cloud of deep purple that blew through the town, approaching with frightening speed. "What is that?"

Rayne's voice fell to a whisper. "Magic." her gaze was somewhat fearful, and yet reverent too. "It's magic."