It took longer than I expected, but I couldn't stop changing little things here and there. It's hard to end a story you've been working on for a year! I'll be spending the hiatus writing, writing, writing, and while I have a list of story ideas, I'd love some prompts as well! One-shots or longer. I'm especially looking for Hooked Queen (though I'll take anything), so feel free to PM me ideas.

Much love to all of my readers! You all took a chance in reading my story, OC and all, and I'm grateful. I want to express my gratitude to all of you for taking the time to read, review, and message me: Thank you! :)

Enjoy.

Annie opened her eyes slowly. Her eyelids felt heavy. In fact, everything felt heavy. It was difficult to breathe, to swallow, and she was having a hard time focusing now that her eyes were open. Everything was so bright. She squinted, trying to bring something…anything… into clear view.

She felt a sudden pain in her throat and for a moment, there was a sweet darkness shielding her from the blinding whiteness of everything beyond. Then the immediate pain disappeared, but a remaining soreness had her reaching up to place a hand against her throat as she shut her eyes tightly to block out the light that had returned.

"Annie?"

It was the first sound Annie was aware of and though she couldn't place the direction it was coming from, the voice comforted her. She would recognize it anywhere – Regina. Wanting more than anything to see her family, she opened her eyes again, searching for a familiar face.

It took a few seconds for the brightness to finally fade into recognizable shapes, but when she turned her head to the side, it wasn't Regina's face looking back at her, it was Cora's.

Annie jerked back, screaming, but the screams came out as strangled cries that ripped through her throat painfully, so she stopped immediately. Instead she allowed herself to cry, a mixture of pain, fear and confusion.

But then Regina's soothing voice was back, and this time, there were comforting arms to go with it. "It's okay, Annie. It's alright, you're safe. Everything will be okay."

Still trying to figure out what was happening, Annie managed to turn, finding Regina seated on the edge of the bed she was in. She'd moved to wrap her arms around Annie in an attempt to calm her, and it was working, but Annie's head was swimming. It only confused her further when Regina looked up to Cora, who had stood from her chair.

"I'm sorry. Mother, could you—"

"I'll go get Daniel," Cora said softly.

"Thank you." Regina turned back to Annie as soon as the door had shut. "I'm so glad you're awake!" She wiped tears from her face, and Annie noticed she still had Daniel's ring on.

Looking around, Annie realized that she was in a hospital room and she struggled to remember what was happening. Had she fallen? But then why did her throat hurt so much? She reached a hand up again to grasp it and then remembered Cora. Why had Cora been in her room? And why wasn't Regina panicking about it? There was something else tugging at her mind, but trying to figure out why Cora was there and not in a jail cell was keeping her from remembering anything else.

"What happened?" Her voice came out raspy and choked-sounding, and tears sprang to her eyes at the pain it brought.

"Shhh, don't talk." Regina brushed Annie's hair back out of her face and tucked it gently behind her ear. "You'll hurt your throat. You've been in a coma for…well, it's been a little over a month now."

Annie sat up immediately, ready to protest when Regina shook her head. "Take it easy, sweetheart. I don't want you to hurt yourself. Your throat hurts because Dr. Whale removed the feeding tube when you were waking up. Don't you remember?"

Annie shook her head, fresh tears coming because of confusion this time.

Regina pulled her close and leaned back, pulling her legs up onto the bed as Annie curled into her side.

"You saved all of us, Annie."

Looking up at Regina in confusion, it was clear Annie didn't know what she was talking about.

"Hook took you to Neverland, and you faced Persephone," Regina explained. "You saved her and everyone else. You broke the curse my family didn't even know existed. Scheherazade explained everything to us when we got back. Oh, honey, Daniel and I were so scared! Daniel was with the council members looking for you and I was waiting with Killian when the world started tearing itself apart. But then there was this blinding flash of gold light, and a deafening noise to go with it, and we knew it was you; you'd managed to destroy the evil that had taken root. And then Daniel came with you in his arms, and you were so cold and lifeless; I thought for sure you were dead. But you weren't. We brought you back home, but you've been in a coma until today." She sniffed to hold back more tears and pulled Annie closer. "We've been waiting for you," she whispered.

Daniel entered then, the hope on his face morphing immediately into joy when he caught sight of Annie, wrapped in Regina's arms with her eyes open, looking back at him.

"You're really awake!" He moved quickly across the room, pulling them both into a hug and kissing Annie's forehead.

Annie smiled brightly at him, but then her attention was caught by Cora, hovering uncertainly in the doorway.

Daniel saw where she was looking and said, "It's okay. She was under the same curse as Persephone. She's not the same Cora you remember, Annie. She has her heart back; her ability to love."

"I'm sorry," Cora told her, taking a hesitant step into the room. "I know that doesn't change the fact that I tore your family apart, or that I sent you away, but I'm truly, truly sorry. I only hope that someday I can make it up to you and you'll be able to forgive me."

Annie nodded slowly and allowed a small smile; one that Cora returned immediately. Daniel started to stand up, when Annie suddenly grabbed his left hand, pulling it toward her and examining the ring that now circled his ring finger. She looked between him and Regina quickly. "You're married?" she whispered, and coughed a few times as a result.

"Not quite yet," Daniel laughed. He smiled at Regina.

"We wanted to wait until you woke up," she finished. "We couldn't do it without you."

"Alright, it's time for rest," Dr. Whale said, stepping into the room. "It's late and she needs to get her strength back."

"But she just woke up. Can't Daniel at least stay with her?" Regina pleaded.

"I don't imagine that would be a problem," he agreed. "As long as you don't excite her too much. She really does need her rest," he told Daniel pointedly.

"I promise I won't."

"Okay, then."

Regina stood up and bent to kiss Annie's forehead. "I'll be back tomorrow. Henry and Tootles will be so excited to hear you're awake!" She paused in the doorway for one last smile before she was gone.

When Dr. Whale had exited the room as well, Annie looked at Daniel. "A month?" she whispered, and Daniel nodded.

"People will be happy to hear that you're awake. Killian especially, though I'm not sure how I feel about that," he said, raising an eyebrow.

She smiled, hearing the teasing tone even behind the brotherly concern.

"He's been coming by as often as Whale will let him to check on you. Everyone's been coming by, though."

Annie settled back into her pillow with a smile, growing tired even though she'd just woken from a month of sleeping. "Tell me about them," she whispered quietly. "I missed a lot."

She let herself relax as Daniel filled her in on everything that had been happening in the town while she'd been asleep. Persephone had been reunited with her sister; a happy reunion that had been centuries overdue. Tootles had started calling Daniel Daddy, much to his and Regina's delight. Jefferson and Regina had mended their friendship and were gradually building it back up to what it once had been. Regina had been asked to resume her position as mayor, which she'd agreed to do once Annie was better; the family had been spending the majority of their free time in Annie's hospital room, waiting for her to wake up. Cora was doing everything she could to make up for the years of suffering she'd caused Regina and Daniel. The lifting of the curse had changed her completely, and Daniel had to admit, she now made a wonderful addition to their family. Emma had started seeing August again, which had Annie smiling. It was slow-going, but it was going well, and they both seemed happy. Ruby and Graham were dating now and Annie chuckled, causing another small coughing fit. Even Brian and his family had decided to stay in town a bit longer. In fact, Brenna and Regina had become fast friends and Daniel suspected they'd end up moving to Storybrooke permanently.

"And of course," Daniel smiled, "Regina and I are getting married as soon as you're better, so you'd better hurry up."

Annie laughed again, but found it didn't hurt as much this time.

"The council of our home world also wants us to meet with them once you're well, but they said there's no rush." He smiled widely. "Things are finally the way they're supposed to be," he told her, "and it's all thanks to you." He settled back as Regina had. "Now get some rest," he told her. "You'll have a lot of visitors tomorrow, I'm sure."

She nodded and found that it was rather easy to fall asleep with the knowledge that it had worked; everyone was home and safe, and balance had finally been restored.

Daniel hurried after Annie early the next morning, glancing behind him as she walked across the parking lot of the hospital.

"Annie! Annie – don't you think you should at least tell them you're leaving?"

Annie smiled over her shoulder at him. "Worried we're going to get caught, are we?" She turned back to face front as she pulled her hair into a ponytail. "If I told them I was leaving, they wouldn't let me go."

"Well maybe that would be for the best. You only woke up 8 hours ago."

"Yes, but I already told you – whatever healing abilities I had in childhood must have kicked in once I woke up. I feel fine. Perfect, actually."

"But what if there's still something you don't know about? Aftereffects or—"

"Would you stop worrying so much?" Annie laughed. "I'm fine, Daniel. I promise." She stopped and looked around. "Do you drive? More importantly, do you have a car here?"

Daniel narrowed his eyes at her and she put her hands on her hips.

"Daniel, you're being ridiculous. I. Am. Fine. Now give me the keys." She held her hand out and smirked when he finally shook his head at her and pulled the keys from his pocket, dropping them into her palm.

"You can tell you've spent the last twenty-eight years with Regina. You're both so terribly stubborn."

Annie smiled. "I'll take that as a compliment."

They made a quick stop at the coffee shop and then it was off to the mansion.

Annie didn't bother to ring the doorbell when she found the door was unlocked. Daniel walked in behind her and closed the door while she kicked off her shoes and followed the sound of voices into the kitchen.

"Annie!" Tootles was the first to notice her and he abandoned his cereal to hug her legs. She ran a hand through his hair before giving Henry a sideways hug when he approached.

"Hey, guys!"

"What are you doing out of the hospital?" Regina asked, glancing at Daniel who was standing behind her. He shrugged his shoulders at her.

"Well it's almost nine," Annie told her casually, pulling one of the coffees out of the carrier as she set it on the counter. "I brought you your morning coffee, Madame Mayor." She grinned and Regina let out a laugh.

She took the coffee from her, setting it down with the others before she wrapped her arms around Annie, pulling her in tightly. "I love you so much," she whispered into her ear.

Resting her head on her shoulder, Annie closed her eyes. "I love you, too."

"Alright," Regina said, finally stepping back. "Now tell me, what are you doing out of the hospital?" She was back to her commanding tone, though she was pulling out an open chair for Annie at the table as she asked.

Annie shrugged. "You know. A Rapunzel thing. Self-healing and the like." She winked at Henry as she sat across from him and Daniel joined them as well.

"Rapunzel thing?" Cora asked from Tootles' side.

"It's a long story, grandma," Henry told her. "I'll tell you after breakfast."

"Annie?" Tootles asked. "Some of the other Lost Boys told me you're Captain Hook's girlfriend. Is that true?"

Regina choked on her orange juice and Annie grinned. "Well, I don't know," Annie told him. "I've been asleep awhile. Did you ask him?"

"Yeah, but he said I should ask you."

"Would you like some toast?" Daniel suddenly asked, thrusting the plate awkwardly at Annie, causing her to laugh at him.

Regina shook her head, chuckling. "I'm going to have to teach you the art of subtlety, dear. It's especially helpful in these situations, and you'll need the practice for when the baby comes." She calmly took a small bite of eggs as everyone around the table stopped to process what she'd said.

"You…you're pregnant?" Daniel asked, looking across the table at her.

The corners of Regina's mouth lifted in a smile and she nodded.

"We're going to have a baby?" he asked excitedly as he stood from the table.

She laughed, now grinning fully. "Yes."

Breakfast was abandoned as everyone stood up again, taking turns to embrace Regina and all talking at once. Tootles danced around happily and Henry high-fived him, both of them talking excitedly about another sibling. Annie hugged both her brother and Regina and stepped back to stand next to Cora, who was beaming at her daughter, watching Daniel place his hands on Regina's still-flat stomach.

"It's good to be home," Cora said. She looked meaningfully at Annie. "I'm sorry it took so long. This is what you should have had before; all of you."

Annie looked around at her family, Henry and Tootles especially, and smiled. "It wouldn't have been the same. This is perfect."

Regina caught her eye and smiled at her, gesturing her over again.

"You know Henry's going to make sure the whole town knows by the end of the day?" Annie asked, smiling.

"Yes, well, I was just waiting for the right time to tell everyone, and this seemed to be it. I don't care who knows, now." She brushed the bangs out of Annie's face, lovingly. "What do you say?" she asked everyone. "Should we finish breakfast?"

"I'm too excited to eat!" Tootles whined.

"Well, I haven't eaten real food in a month," Annie said, poking his stomach and making him giggle. "So I, for one, am hungry."

"And I have to eat for two now," Regina told him, shuffling him back to his chair.

Regina watched happily as everyone sat back around the table, only settling down enough to take bites between their conversations.

It had taken pain, loss, decades of darkness and misguided actions, but Regina had finally found her way back; her happiness. This was all she'd ever wanted.