Roni

Chapter Twenty Nine

Ten days since the tragic incident with Lady Tremaine, Gothel and Rapunzel that will forever be embedded into all of their lives. Now, the heroes are on their way back to Storybrooke, Emma has Ella, Regina and Snow scrunched in her tiny bug while Cinderella is driving Henry and Lucy in the car behind them.

Zelena actually flew home two days after the situation, because she couldn't wait to see Robin and she knew her help was no longer needed. Rumple, who Emma is still very pissed at, took a flight with Zelena as well because he couldn't wait to see Belle and Gideon either. He did admit that Victoria was threatening Belle and Gideon's life and that's exactly why he was being so sneaky. He claims he was trying to help Henry with nudging him toward Jacinda and while Regina just smiled and nodded along, Emma was not so convinced, but that's the Dark One, always working on his own agenda while the heroes worked their asses off.

All Lucy has been rambling on and on about this past week is how excited she is to go to Storybrooke with her entire family and meet everyone else. Luckily for her and her mother they really didn't suffer too many injuries considering the car collided with Henry's side. They of course were inflicted with some minor bruising and a couple of deep cuts. However, Henry was the one who took the brunt of it all. In the end, he actually suffered from a concussion, bruised ribs and a broken left arm.

As for Gothel, she did tell the heroes they were free to leave, but the moment they were about to, Anastasia had a horrific break down. The poor girl woke up to her mother dead on the floor beside her, a strange woman hugging her for dear life and all in a place that was so strange and very unfamiliar. Rapunzel did her best to describe everything to her sister, but that only made matters worse. So, Gothel was forced to put Anastasia to sleep until they could figure out what to do next.

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"She's never going to accept that we killed her mother," Rapunzel cries as she holds an unconscious Anastasia in her lap, rocking her back and forth.

"We will have to keep trying to convince her it was for the best. That woman was pure evil, you saw how black her heart was," Gothel tries to reason with her frantic daughter on the ground to help soothe her worries.

"She may never come to terms with the reality," Regina begins explaining, hoping to help this family out in their time of need. "Even if she says she understands, that's a lot to process for a young girl. Her mother sent her sister away, she herself passed away and her long lost sister enacted a curse to find a heart to bring her back to life. Now she is in a different realm with a bunch of strangers trying to justify her mother's murder?" Regina pout, brows furrowing in dismay. "I know this may not seem...right, because it's not the truth, but I think Gothel should give her new memories."

"Regina, lying is not the way," Snow exhales.

"Even if Anastasia accepted all of that, she would always feel a void...a hole in her heart from her mother's death and everything else that happened while she had passed. She will be miserable and being the daughter of Lady Tremaine...who knows what will come of that."

"Regina's right mom. She gave Henry and I new memories after Pan enacted his curse and even though they weren't true, it really was a great time of our lives. Moments that I still look back on and smile," Emma gently explains to the crowd of people, hoping this will help ease some of the tension.

"You would be giving a young girl a chance at a better life and a happy home, I think Regina has a point," Zelena agrees as well.

"Wh-what kind of memories?" Rapunzel curiously asks while she continues to slowly rock her sister in her arms.