Maybe Once upon a time

Part 3

That evening had been a nightmare, then turned into a fragile dream for a moment, and finally ended into the nothing his life essentially consisted of. That was what Isaac Heller could not help but think, standing in his bedroom at the palace, after the abrupt interruption of the ball. Outside, the rest of the foreign guests were probably somewhere trying to save Robin Hood's life, but he had no role in that, especially now that without the power of his magical ink he was basically useless. He wasn't part of that story, but he didn't care. The only thing he was actually regretting was the dance he never got the chance to properly have with Cruella. For a moment, he dared to ask himself what would have happened if they actually danced and if they could have spent more time together. If, if, if.

What he didn't know was that similar questions were running through Cruella's mind as well, as he didn't know that she was closer than he could have imagined. In fact, she was pacing in front of his door with her usual irritation but yet also with a total unusual inward fear. The what-ifs had a slight different shade for her though; it wasn't anymore a matter of what would havehappened hours before, but actually a matter of what could still happen in that exact moment – if only she decided to reduce their distance, phisically and emotionally.

The main difference between them, was that her questions were still all left unsolved and that she knew that it was up to her seeking for the answers. Therefore, probably won over by her own frustration, she finally found herself knocking on the door, certain to be opened but stil not certain of what exactly do next. In fact, as predicted, he didn't hesitate much before opening the door, but then they remained for some moments just staring at each other in mutual surprise.

"Isaac, you have no book in hand, I am almost shocked" she started eventually, moving her eyes to his hands and, while doing that, casting a long look through all his figure. Usually a comment like that would have came out a bit sharp, but in that moment her irony only sounded somewhat weak.

As she spoke, he recovered from the surprise and regained the use of speech as well. "I didn't have the chance to bring many books with me. But maybe I could borrow something here from King Arthur's library…"

She nodded absent-mindedly. "Of course. Medieval legends and chivalric romance: how exciting!" she exclaimed in fake enthusiasm and, this time, her new attempt of irony was more successful.

Isaac smirked, but it was more for her attitude rather than because she agreed with her. Actually, he did love medieval settings and beside, had for example a soft spot for Italian Dolce Stil Novo poetry; honestly, looking now in her eyes, a particularly beloved line from Cavalcanti was appearing in his mind: "You do breach mine eyes and touch the heart". He could probably recite it all and even dedicate it explicitly to her, but he didn't. After all, despite the ambiguous premise, literature wasn't the topic they really wanted to discuss and they both knew that.

"Cruella, what are you really doing here?" he asked in fact, eventually.

The answer came out easily than Cruella herself would have expected, along with a casual shrug and an uncharacteristically almost fond look. "You still owe me a dance, darling."

He blinked, slightly taken aback, but soon she gave him other reasons to be surprised. In a matter of seconds, she entered the room without being formally invited in and, once she was at the centre of it, she snapped her firgers to use her magic, making an old radio appear and with that a familiar jazz motif start. His lips curved into a smile immediately recognizing the song as the very first they had danced together to, and that was not the only thing he was smiling for. He hesitated a bit before joining her, but just in order to take a proper look at her at some distance now: she was still dressed up as a princess, but the smirk on her face was mischievous and her chignon was a bit messy. That last detail was the one to mainly capture his attention and suddenly he knew what to do. He approached her slowly and, when he reached for her, just let one of his hands move behind her neck with the precise aim to let her two-colored hair fall loose on her shoulders.

"Maybe I am tired of dancing with a fake angel" he just whispered in explanation, before moving his hands around her waist.

She didn't answer but only nodded and chuckled softly, showing a rare real satisfaction. She was reading those words as a total acceptance of who she was, an acceptance that she didn't know she had been longing for. So, she placed her hands around his shoulders and started to let herself be guided by him for what theorically was their second dance, but that actually was their real first one. They danced and danced, that song and others, letting their bodies touch but all the while remaining silent; they didn't speak because there was no need to.

They couldn't possibly know how that adventure would have ended, if they would have finally left Camelot or, more simply, what would have happened between them from that. What they knew for certain was that something was changing and that that dance was a new beginning.

Maybe it was their own once upon a time.

THE END

It took me much more time than expected to finish this story, but it is finally over! I was really happy to read the reviews for the second part and I hope that you'll let me know what you think of this last chapter as well! See you soon with other stories, because even thought I have left Authella aside for a while, this precious ship is still on my mind;)