After Henry (Once Upon a Time)

Chapter Twenty-Two: Awake

Countryside, Illinois...

Henry: My eyes were finally opened wide. That was when I saw Amy and Ivy for who they really were and how much they meant to me. My mother and beside her the woman I cared deeply for. 

Yet, as painfully and contradictory as it may sound, someone else was missing. My firstborn daughter, Lucy and her mom, Cinderella, who for better or worse became my life partner and although I didn't love her truly and only stayed with her so Drizella and I wouldn't bring a baby with a target on his back into this world, she was my life companion and I cherished her deeply, grew to love her as well, although that love wasn't passionated.

"Henry..." Drizella whispered with a big wide smile yet the shining of it didn't disguise the sliding tears for she as well was conflicted with her own thoughts and feelings. Afraid I was going to be pissed of about the moments we spent together, when I was far away from my family and rather in her arms. Yet, how could I be angry? When those were the best moments of my life.

Waking up from the curse didn't change what I felt for Cinderella or Drizella, it was more like waking up from a long eternal sleep, which taunt me with the pain of losing my old family to the flames of Death, only now I had the chance to realize how it was all a lie, how my other family was alive. 

Other obstacles emerged, me and Drizella, no matter what I sacrificed to protect our love story from happening and bring a targeted child, sired the next most powerful magic being ever and villains would get the baby from me. 

The baby. Maybe I should just stop calling it that way. I knew it was going to be a girl, the prophecy said it, a girl destined to be the guardian. I guess Ivy was going to get what she wanted the most and name her "Clara" just as we discussed before, while driving all the way here.

"Clara is simple." I remembered her words. Plus, it means "the one who has a keen sense of humor." Considering how not just her parents but the all family is sassy as hell, that was a very fitting name!

"I missed you, kid!" Emma yelled in jubilee, holding me tightly. 

"Me too, mom." I returned the feeling, returning the gesture.

"Henry?" Ivy was so nervous she might just have exploded.

"Drizella..." I whispered. "I missed you." I replied, relieving the tension that was boiling up inside the room and without further ado our lips jointed in a magical tongue intertwined kiss that we wished to share for too long.

"I'm sorry for all of this, Henry I know how you miss your family and you probably still love Ella. Either way, it's your choice and Emma was right, we can't take it away from you." Ivy explained, making me proud of how far she's come, from the envious selfish girl to the the one with the heart of gold.

"Hey, it's okay. You're right, I miss them, I can't wait to be reunited with them, but there's something you should know. Ivy, I only chose to build a life with Cinderella hoping that would serve as a distraction to Lady Tremaine. She was convinced that we were soulmates and about to bring a magic baby to life, one that she wanted to take for her own purpose. I couldn't let that happen, so I chose Cinderella thinking it would fool your mother into thinking I didn't love you."

Ivy looked relived, thrilled as well as terrified and sad.

"You really love me? Since...."

"Yeah, since the first moment we met."

"Henry...I don't know what to say. All this time I thought you didn't want me, that you didn't care about me, only when you were cursed, when actually you were doing all of this to protect our baby even before it was born." She sighed with such a wonderful big smile that not only lighted her and my face but also the entire room. "Our child...Who my mother wants?!" She asked, now taken by the antsy situation we were in.

"Yes, but we're going to fix it, with Emma by our side and us, no evil will hurt our girl!" I told her, in a positive speech.

"Girl? I was right!" She added, now more relieved, choosing the hope that my words breathed inside her, now I was finally in myself, the little kid was awaken, the boy who told others never to give up.

"Yes, and we'll name her Clara, just like you said."

"I look forward to it." Ivy added, locking her lips into mine, in a blissful kiss.

"Without wanting to interrupt, love birds, but as for the trial, we need to find a good lawyer for Ivy so she can stay out of jail."

"Yes, now I understand why mother wanted me to stay in jail. She even fooled me saying she wanted me to stay the least time possible, arranging a lawyer who could help me stay in jail for only nine months."  

"The time she needed for the baby to be born in jail, after that it was irrelevant for her if you got out or not, she had what she wanted and keeping you in jail was just the plan for making sure you and Henry didn't spend time together. Henry's belief wouldn't come back, the curse wouldn't be broken and we wouldn't have a chance to help you out." Emma followed the line of thought.

"This means breaking the curse might be the best way to stop Tremaine, we don't even need to find a lawyer if we bring back everyone's memories!" I said, hopeful as always.

"Hold on, kid. We don't even know how to break this curse. You only got your memories after kissing Ivy many times and finally believing that you had a family with me and her."

"Your mom is right, Henry...We did kiss a lot and the curse wasn't broken, only memories were brought back." Ivy whispered with an awkward smile that mom laughed at in a gentle way.

"Tremaine really did a number on us."

"Yes, giving that she had the dark one's help it doesn't surprise me." Amy reminded of my grandpa's betrayal habits.

"Unless we don't find memory potion to wake everyone just like I woke Emma up, we have to think about breaking the curse after we win the trial and I stay away from jail."

"Exactly. As for the lawyer, Rogers said he would locate one, let's hope he can really help us."

"Wait!" Everyone looked at me as if I had Eureka written all over my forehead. "We shouldn't play defense all the time, what we need is someone who can go up against Tremaine in court, we should take a page out of her book and be the ones putting her in jail so she'd stop hurting us instead of just trying to keep you out of jail, Ivy."

"That's a good plan, but who would help us find dirt on Tremaine? I don't know if you realized, babe, but mother is Victoria Belfrey in this world, a powerful CEO."

"I know just the one. A person close enough to her, whose been hurt for too long and the only reason not to act is because she's scared or maybe doesn't have the means to, but we can help at that."

"No way..." Ivy whispered, almost figuring out who I was talking about.

"Yeah. We need to find Cinderella in this world."