Work Text:
Once upon a time there was Sleeping Beauty, the Handless Maiden, the Swan Princess, and Prince Charming. Prince Charming is named Natasha, and Natasha is all the Prince Charmings. There are so many Prince Charmings, but she will always be the right one for the situation.
She has to be, of course.
That’s what the curse says.
They put the curse on all twenty-eight of them, and then all of them are one and only one. One Prince Charming, and every Prince Charming. Natasha kisses Sleeping Beauty awake and Natalia gifts the Handless Maiden with silver hands and Nat promises she will give her eternal love to the Swan Princess, and all is well.
And then the Ogre King Schmidt demands she kill and cook Sleeping Beauty for his supper and the demon Pierce says to kill the Handless Maiden and bring back his heart and the evil sorcerer Rumlow tricks her into swearing her eternal love to one of his men, and all is not well. Sleeping Beauty is trapped in Schmidt’s kitchen and the Handless Maiden is locked away in Pierce’s castle and the Swan Princess will be a swan again forever as soon as morning comes and Natasha/Natalia/Nat is all the Prince Charmings but she is not enough Prince Charmings–
And that is the curse, of course, the Witch Under the Wood tells her, smiling.
I am not enough, Prince Charming says, the Prince Charmings say, Witch Under the Wood, I am not enough and I MUST be.
Oh, child, the Witch says, the witch who is alone in her empty home and empty bed with the scars around the bedpost the same color as the scars around her wrist. Prince Charming has no scars like that. Prince Charming has twenty-eight scars like that. Do you think I was enough, when it was I?
But I must be, says Prince Charming.
But we never are, says the Witch. And the Witch is right, of course.
Of course.
But Natasha/Natalia/Nat is twenty-eight princes, and . . . and . . .
And we are three princesses, Sleeping Beauty tells her, looking out at her from between the bars of his cage with piercing certainty in his eyes. So tell us what you need.
Meat, and a heart, and eternal love, Natasha/Natalia/Nat says. And the Handless Maiden gives her the meat from his lost arms, and she feeds it to Schmidt. And the Swan Princess gives her the heart of his fallen love, and she gives it to Pierce. And Sleeping Beauty swears that his eternal love is hers, wherever she will take it and whatever she will do with it, and she hides it from Rumlow and gives it to the Swan Princess.
And then they all live. Not ever after, and not always happily.
But yes. Then they all live.