Work Text:
The glass coffin was still here.
In the heat of the moment, all priority was set on defeating the evil queen. There was no time for anyone to think about how Daring couldn't wake Apple from her sleep. But in the aftermath of everything, Apple found herself at the scene of the crime.
The hushed whispers of student gossip echo in Apple’s ears. Daring didn’t wake Apple up. He’s not her prince charming. Apple absentmindedly stares at the coffin as the words repeat in her head over and over again.
She snaps out of her trance as a squirrel scampers up a tree. A broken branch lies on the ground, it's fairly large, big enough to hold, big enough to swing. The thoughts swirl inside Apple and settle as she takes a step towards the branch.
It's not particularly heavy, but it's sturdy. Apple strides back to the coffin.
She spent her entire Highschool, her entire life, believing that she had to follow her destiny as it was written for her. Denying anything that strayed from the path. She's meant to be the Queen. Her mother’s advice: “As queen it does not matter what you want , you must follow as written, and all will be right with the world. We do not get the luxury of straying from the path.”
She lifts the sturdy branch, and with as much might as she can muster, brings it down upon the glass lid. Crack! A fracture appears in the glass, not yet shattered completely, but a few more swings could do the trick.
Raven chose her destiny, she denied her mother. Ashlynne and Hunter too, they chose to love each other despite what might happen. And Darling. Her refusal to just be a damsel in distress. Apple always admired that. Admired Darling.
Every memory of Darling that Apple held dear swelled inside her. Tears begin to form in Apple's eyes, from the unfairness of it all. Apple raised the branch and all her anger was released into the next swing. The glass cracks stretch even further across the entirety of the coffin lid.
Every memory of Darling is followed with denial from Apple. Daring is her prince charming. He's who she's destined to be with. So why? Why was Darling the one who woke her? CPR, that’s what Maddie said. But the thought still lingers in Apple's mind. More tears form as anger swells in Apple again. All the wasted time. If only Apple had accepted what Raven was saying in the beginning. That she could change her destiny. Every longing moment Apple had for Darling, what it could have been. When they were in Wonderland and Darling saved them disguised as the White Knight, Apple wanted nothing more than to run into her arms and kiss her. A kiss. Darling’s kiss. The one that woke her up.
Apple lifts the branch once more, she sees her cracked reflection in the glass, her red eyes and the tears streaming down her face. She brings the branch down and her reflection is shattered into hundreds of tiny glass pieces that now litter the forest floor.
Apple collapses in tears, dropping the branch and she feels the shards of glass beneath her hands. The glass presses into her palms, uncomfortable but not enough pressure to cut her.
If destiny can be changed, could Apple be with Darling. Would Darling even want that? She was just doing what she had to, to save her friend from dying. She would have done it for any of her friends, right?
In the reflection of glass Apple sees a figure approaching behind her. She recognizes within a second the swirls of white and blue hair, the way in which she carries herself when she walks. Refined, with the grace of a princess, but the strength of a fighter settles on her shoulders.
“Apple?” Her voice is filled with concern. It makes Apple's heart swell with all the longing and pain over the years.
Apple looks up, eyes red and swollen, and she wipes her tears from her cheeks. She says nothing, she can't muster the words. And Darling's eyes are filled with so much confusion, Apple only wants to give her an explanation but every word falls stale on her tongue.
Darling approaches Apple with careful steps. She kneels down on the grass next to Apple, not seeming to care about the glass shards. She reaches out a hand and wipes a tear from Apple’s cheek, but she lets her hand linger, lets her hand travel farther up Apple's face, to where the back of her head meets her neck and Darling pulls Apple into an embrace.
“You smashed your coffin,” Darling chuckles.
“I was angry,” Apple sniffles and lets her head rest on Darling's shoulder.
“You don't have to explain. But ya know, this is a new Ever After, one where we can write our own destiny’s.”
“Everyone says that, but what if it backfires? What everyone's story ceases to exist?”
“Let's say you’re right. But even if you are, the way I see it? Even if our stories disappear, at least we got to live the ones we wrote, the ones we chose, while we’re still here.”
Apple thinks on that for a moment. If her story stops existing, would that be a bad thing? It's a story she doesn’t really want anyway. And a story she gets to write, even just for a moment, if she gets to live it with all her friends, with Darling, maybe that's a story worth fighting for.
Apple lifts her head off Darling’s shoulder and turns to look at the shattered coffin.
With a newfound hope in her voice she says, “Well I already shattered my coffin, might as well write my own story seeing as I have a head start.”
Darling takes Apple’s hand and helps her to her feet. Darling smiles and plants a kiss on Apple's forehead. “I don't know if we get a Forever After, but at least we'll be the ones writing it.”
They head out of the forest, hand in hand, toward a story of their own choosing.