❃
|Camelot|
❃

Violet, Hercules, Cleo, Merida, Mulan, and Guinevere were there to greet the citizens of Storybrooke when they arrived. When Meg made eye contact with Hercules, she ran over to him and threw herself into his arms, a smile on her face. "Herc!"

"Meg!"

Hercules broke the hug and looked at Meg's face. "You came," he breathed.

"I've been thinking about what your letter said," Meg confessed, "and I think there is a part of me that wants to make this work again. You thought I hated you, I thought you hated me, and it was all a big mess. But maybe we could...move past that and start over?"

Hercules smiled. "I think that sounds like a wonderful idea."

Henry was one of the last ones to go through the portal and once he was through, he began searching for Violet. But she found him first.

"Henry?"

Henry turned around to see Violet standing apart from the crowd with Cleo as the Firebird hovering above her.

"Violet!" Henry rushed over to her and pulled Violet into a hug. Violet wrapped her arms tightly around Henry.

"I missed you."

"I've missed you too."

Violet pulled back. "Did you get the letter we sent?"

Henry nodded and pulled a folded up piece of paper out of his pocket. "The part you wrote is right here. Luckily, I didn't have to sneak into the portal."

Violet smiled. "Yeah. Your moms would have been pretty mad."

Henry shrugged. "It would have been worth it."

Violet took Henry's hand into hers. "I've been learning how to be a healer. I never thought I'd be able to be one, but I'm actually enjoying the training. Want me to show you?"

"Sure!" Henry nodded. He told Emma where he would be before following Violet away to a small hut. Inside was a young woman with chocolate brown hair. When the door opened, she looked up at Violet and smiled.

"Hi, Violet. This must be Henry?"

Violet nodded. "Yeah. He and his family just arrived from Storybrooke. Henry, this is the one who's been training me to be a healer; Jane. Jane, this is my...friend, Henry."

"Hello, Henry," Jane waved.

"Hey."

"Violet has told me a lot about you. I've heard you're the Author?"

"Uh...yeah," Henry didn't really like it when people made a big deal about him being the Author. The only thing he had actually done as Author was write everyone out of Isaac's universe and then snapped the quill in half.

"Cool," Jane smiled. "People are always going on about how you need to be a warrior to be 'worthy'. I think everyone else is just as important. Without farmers, the warriors couldn't eat. Without healers, the warriors would die."

"Yeah," Henry agreed. "In Storybrooke, there's not really any knights in shining armor, so you kinda have to choose a different job."

Jane smiled. "This Storybrooke you and Violet talk about seems like a nice place. I arrived in Camelot just a few weeks ago, so I missed the Dark Curse. However, Arendelle was frozen for a few decades while I was living there."

❃

Queen Guinevere hosted a dinner for those from Storybrooke in the palace. Violet, Hercules, and Cleo were allowed to attend too, mostly because Henry and Meg wanted Violet and Hercules to be there and Cleo wasn't about to be left behind after trailing behind Hercules for the past several weeks.

Once the food was severed, Henry and Meg moved to sit with Violet, Herc, and Cleo. Emma and Regina were a little worried about Cleo sitting with the kids, knowing she couldn't keep secrets when it was for the best, but they didn't want to force Cleo to move from where she was, so they allowed it.

"So how is Storybrooke?" Violet asked.

"Good," Meg replied. "Regina and my dad found out their baby is going to be a girl. But my mom and Arthur haven't found out yet. They said they wanted it to be a surprise."

"Belle and Gold said that too," Henry pointed out, "and they ended up giving in and finding out."

"But your grandparents let Neal be a surprise," Meg reminded him.

"Yeah, but they couldn't remember the first eight months of the pregnancy until right before Neal was born."

"What about Roland?" Violet asked. "How's he?"

"He's fine. I think he misses you too," Henry admitted. "I mean, you kind of met during a near death experience with Hades, but he likes you."

Violet laughed. "Yeah. That was an interesting morning..."

❃

After dinner ended, most of the Storybrooke citizens had cleared out to help prepare for the battle against Hades. Belle and Regina had gone to ask around about the lake of fire, and the others were helping Hercules, Mulan, and Merida train soldiers. Henry, however, was not allowed to help train soldiers or be trained by the others, so he went with Violet to see Jane.

On the walk there, Henry was intently studying the ground so he wouldn't have to say what had been on his mind since the first visit to Jane's. But Violet knew something was up.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Henry lied easily, a trait he had probably gotten from his mothers.

"Was it what I said about you just being my friend?" Violet asked.

"...N-no."

Violet stopped walking. "Henry, I wasn't sure if...if we could make this work. I don't want to break your heart any more than I already have."

Henry looked up at her. "What about protecting your own heart?"

Violet pursed her lips, trying to figure out the best response, but Henry continued talking before she could, "Look, Violet, I just...no sort of love in my life is easy, you can ask Robin and Hook both. I've seen how hard it is firsthand, and I don't want anything to happen to you. If you stay here in Camelot and move on while I go back to Storybrooke, I won't have to worry about hurting you more."

"Forget about protecting my heart; it's already been broken. I can deal with loss."

"Maybe my heart's already broken too," Henry muttered. "We've both lost a parent, and we're going to lose each other once the battle with Hades is over. I just wish there was some solution."

"We can always use the time we've been given," Violet suggested. "This is like a bonus, Henry. Maybe it's fate trying to tell us something, or maybe it's just luck, but we have until noon tomorrow when Hades attacks. After that, nothing is promised, but at least we have now."

Henry smiled. "You're right. We have now, and sometimes...sometimes we need to take what time we have and accept what we've been given." Henry was well aware that he and Violet were much closer than they had been when he started talking, and he was also well aware that he didn't want to back away. "Sometimes, we need to realize that happily ever after doesn't mean forever, it's just whatever time we're given. And whatever time I have left here in Camelot...I want to spend it with you."

Violet's lips slowly turned up into a smile as she closed the distance between her and Henry, planting a kiss on his lips. When they broke apart, Violet rested her forehead against Henry's. "Your moms are going to kill you."

Henry smiled. "It will be worth it. Besides, I think my mom and Aunt Zelena are going to be busy killing Hercules first."

"Do you mean that?"

"What, the Hercules thing?"

Violet giggled. "No, about me being worth it."

"Of course. I would do anything for you, Violet." Henry pressed his lips to Violet's again, and for the moment, the looming thought of Henry leaving for Storybrooke was lost.