"Neverland has no kings, but it does have a god."
...
In which the devilish goddess of Neverland fights a demonic boy for her throne, but must set aside her emotions in the process.
A hundred-year romance ensues.
updates; every 1-3 weeks
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Following the Charmings deeming Hayden untrustworthy, the girl was left on her own, standing in the middle of the sidewalk as she watched the family head off without her. Mother, father, and daughter—Although estranged, they were a family. Even their paranoia towards her was just more proof of their bond. Part of Hayden wanted to run after them, prove her innocence, but how could she? Everyone had all their memories back, except for her. She was no longer Hayden, the rough around the edges town sweetheart, but Anastasia, the she-devil. And who Anastasia truly was was still a mystery to her.
Her emotions stirred. Anger with a hint of guilt boiled towards Rumplestiltskin, the Charmings, but also towards someone she couldn't place her finger on. She remembered her mother and her time on Neverland until she was twenty, the year she stopped aging. She was supposed to take over as ruler that year. Everything after that was bits and pieces of Ariel, Baelfire, pixies, and then she landed in the Enchanted Forest. Her memories were gone, but her rage still bubbled.
She didn't want to save Regina to help the Charmings. No, she wanted to save Regina because she was Henry's mother. Hayden Steele could have that reason. But, to the people of Storybrooke, Anastasia Amissa couldn't. And instead of being a mix of the two, they assigned her just one.
She wandered the streets, retracing her steps from before. She was heading back towards Gold's shop. She still felt drawn to it, despite everything. Still, going back would mean Gold had won.
"Anastasia?" She heard. Turning around, the hybrid found a teary-eyed Belle. Walking over to her, Hayden wrapped her arms around the princess, who gasped. "I don't think you've ever hugged me like this before."
"Twenty-eight years acting like a normal teenager can change you like that." Hayden laughed. The girl kept laughing into Belle's shoulder, before she felt something hot run down her cheek. When she pulled away, she pressed her fingers to her cheeks, seeing teardrops shine under her nails. She gasped softly at her hands, seeing she was crying.
"Are you alright?" Belle asked her. Hayden tried to pass it off as laughter again.
"I've been better." Hayden sighed. "This town loved me a few days ago. And now, here I am. Back to being alone."
"Hayden is just as much as you as Anastasia is," Belle argued. The hybrid shook her head.
"She's not," Hayden dismissed, sniffling. "Maybe she's what I could have been, but I'll always be like-like this."
"Like what?" Belle asked.
"Dark," Hayden answered. Memories of her childhood, her training, her mother, flashed in her mind. "Hurting people was something I was trained for. People will always see me this way!"
"It wasn't your choice! You don't have to leave who you were in Storybrooke in the past." Belle advised her. "What if that's what you could still be?"
"Hayden didn't have an ambiguous deal with Rumplestiltskin," Hayden continued to argue. "She didn't choke people with magic, either. And she wasn't this angry all the time."
