Epilogue: Ever after

"The twins arrived on a cold night in February." The old man read in a tired voice, as he remembered that night vividly. "As Regina had predicted, they welcomed two little princesses."

"But then they had a boy!" A young child exclaimed.

The old man chuckled. "Yes. Yes, they did. They had a big and happy family."

"Did they live happily ever after?" A three-year old child with raven hair, brown eyes defined by perfectly-shaped eyebrows, and high cheekbone asked with tears in her eyes, her lower lip trembling slightly at the prospect of a sad ending.

"Yes. They did." The old man closed his storybook. He remembered offering it to his mother on the Christmas Olivia was born. Since then, he had diligently written in it. He was the guardian of the True Love story between the Evil Queen and her Prince Charming. He looked at the twenty children, who had been listening to the story with rapt attention. "And you're the proof of their love." He whispered to himself.

"Enough story for tonight! Time for bed!" His granddaughter announced as she walked into the room. She was a spitting image of his biological mother.

"But MOM! Just one more chapter."

"Tomorrow evening. Grandpa needs his rest." Isabella took the book from Henry's hands and placed it on the coffee table. "And you need to go to bed!" Reluctantly, the children left the room in the midst of goodbyes.

"Do you want me to take you to your room?" Isabella offered. Henry nodded. He was too old and tired to climb the stairs of the mansion by himself. He thanked his granddaughter as she helped him to the bedroom that had belonged to his mother and grandfather. A smile graced his lips as soon as he entered the familiar surroundings. "Do you need…"

"Thank you, Isabella." Henry interrupted. "I'll be fine."

"Good night, grandpa." She kissed him on the cheek.

"Good night, Isabella." He smiled. As soon as his granddaughter left, Henry made his way to his dresser, which proudly displayed memories of his life. He took the first framed picture and looked at a picture of himself graduating high school, flanked by his mothers. The next picture is of him entering college in Boston with Neal and David in the background, struggling to assemble the Ikea furniture.

He looked at the photographs one by one, each depicting milestones in his life: the happy and sad memories that had defined his life. Shortly after the college picture had been taken, Neal had died in a car accident while driving to a nearby town to ensure supplies for the growing town of Storybrooke. Emma had been devastated and had left town with her young son, Noah, in tow joining Henry in Boston. After a few months, she had reopened her bail bondsperson business.

Emma had died a year after the move, shot to death by one of the criminals she had been tasked to apprehend. Noah had moved with Regina and David, who had raised him as their son along with Olivia, their twin girls, Catherine and Sarah, and their youngest son, Thomas.

Henry's eyes filled up with tears as he looked upon the boy in his college regalia, with one arm wrapped around his adoptive mother while holding his diploma with his free hand. Unwilling to move back to Storybrooke, Henry had ventured out west, earning an MBA from Stanford before working for Silicon Valley for the next ten years. There, he had met his late wife, with whom he'd had three wonderful children.

Henry had ten wonderful years filled with happiness until tragedy struck again: his beautiful young wife, Cecilia, had died in childbirth along with his son. Grief stricken, Henry had moved back to Storybrooke with his family. He had never remarried.

Instead, Henry had worked to make Storybrooke prosperous. He had been elected mayor when his mother didn't seek re-election after her last child had left the nest for college. David had also stepped down from the Sheriff's office he had been running with Olivia and he and Regina had traveled the world. First, Europe where they had spent a romantic three months in Paris before visiting Italy, Spain, Greece, and Ireland. They had then visited Asia before their South American adventure. But as time went on, David had suddenly grown tired.

A doctor in Mexico City had given them the bad news: stage IV lung cancer. With a three-month prognosis, Regina had insisted they'd come back to Storybrooke, where Sarah, fresh out of medical school, had confirmed the diagnosis. With the magical help of Olivia, Regina had managed to give them five more years of relatively pain-free adventures. They had been able to play with their grandchildren, to see Catherine wed Rapunzel -who had arrived in Storybrooke after a magical mishap-, and to see Noah and Thomas finish college.

On a warm July night, David had collapsed in their kitchen. Faced with only a few days, he had begged Regina to take her heart back. But even if it had been possible, Regina had never considered doing so. Since the first day they had exchanged their hearts, they had known that their destiny was inexorably linked. They had died a couple of days later in each other's arms, surrounded by their loving family.

Henry looked at the last photographs of David and Regina holding Olivia's daughter. The little girl had been born just a month before the couple's death. Fresh tears escaped from the old man's eyes. He had lived a full life with the family he had longed for ever since he'd been a little boy.

Exhausted, Henry laid down on his bed and closed his eyes.

EC

He was running through the forest, happy and carefree. He could have sworn he had never been in these woods before but the place felt familiar. He stopped in his tracks when he arrived at a clearing with a farmhouse in the back. The house was more than familiar to him: he had seen it for years when he had entered Olivia's bedroom. His heartbeat quickened.

Henry ran down the hill leading to the empty paddocks. "Mom!" He yelled. "David!"

The brunette turned around and smiled at her son. "Henry!" She called before running toward him. Regina looked the way he remembered her: beautiful raven hair, olive skin that glowed in the sunlight, and dark eyes that were inviting to the people she loved and scary to her enemies.

"Mom!" He whispered as he scooped her up in his embrace. He could smell the familiar apple shampoo. "Mom!"

"Hello, Henry!" David had magically appeared by her side. He also looked healthy as if he had never had lung cancer.

"David!?" Henry exclaimed, before hugging his grandfather.

"Hello, kid!"

Henry turned around toward the voice. Emma was standing next to him with a smile on her face, wearing her famous red jacket with an arm looped around Neal's.

Henry knew he was dreaming.

But it felt too real… He remembered falling asleep on his bed at the mansion.

"Am I…?" The man asked in shock. He hadn't felt his death.

Regina nodded once. "Come. Tell us everything about our family."

With a smile on his face, Henry followed his parents to the small farmhouse from which he could smell an apple pie baking.

I hope you like the end of this saga! Maybe not what you had expected.

I posted Forgive Me in February of 2016 and exactly two years later, One Destiny completes this journey: 4 fictions, 417919 words, 2 years. Thank you for all of your support throughout this saga. I wanted to challenge myself and write an entire verse instead of one story and it was definitely harder than I had expected to keep the story straight and flowing. I hope this was as much fun for you to read as it was for me to write.

2018 is bittersweet since it will also be the end of OUAT. I haven't watched the show in quite some time. For me, it lost his magic in season 5 and I've been struggling to keep up since then. But I still read FF, look at videos and enjoy manips. I hope that this will never go away.

I'm already working on the next fic but as my life has become busier I may not be able to post entire 100,000-word fics every 9-12 months. So thank you in advance for your patience.