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When Hades saw her, he swore it was like seeing her again for the first time.
Zelena looked a little frightened, but otherwise unharmed. It seemed as though Rumple and Pan had kept their end of the bargain, and for that Hades was eternally grateful. He breathed a sigh of relief, fighting back the tears that pricked at the corners of his eyes as he ran to her and made a silent vow that he’d never leave her side. Not for anything... not ever again.
Nothing was said between them as they made their way back to his chambers. Instead, they walked in a pleasant silence together, each comforted by the presence of the other at their side. She hadn’t been held captive for long, but the event was more than enough to shake his usually steady resolve. It was his fault, he realized. All of it was. If he hadn’t insisted on keeping the contract he’d held over Rumple’s head, Zelena would have never been in danger in the first place. The sense of guilt it stirred within his heart troubled him.
When they arrived at his place, Hades stood by the door and motioned for her to walk ahead of him. She smiled, and graciously accepted his invitation. The room he slept in was large, the bed piled high with pillows and dark colored blankets of various shades of grey and red. Unable to resist, she immediately wandered over to it and sat down, relieved to finally be off her feet. She was well and truly exhausted from the chaos the day had wrought and she was afraid it was beginning to show.
“You know, I thought I might have lost you earlier,” he said, breaking the silence they’d so comfortably settled into. He sat down on the edge of the bed beside her, and gently took her hand in his. She seemed so small to him, so
fragile
in that moment. Hades was terrified that even the slightest misstep might break her.
“I’m okay, Hades... really I am,” she said, a soft smile beginning to form. “If it wasn’t for you, I’m afraid I’d still be trapped with those two meddling brats. I suppose I owe you a thank you for that.”
Hades sighed, his expression growing somber as his eyes fell to the ground in front of them. The way he saw it - if anything, he owed her an apology. What could she possibly have to thank him for after what he’d caused?
“If it wasn’t for me, you would have never been in danger in the first place,” he said. “They were after me , Zelena… not you.”
She said nothing, but squeezed his hand softly in support.
It was all she could think to do at the time.
Hades looked up at her a moment later, and the weariness in his expression cast a painful light on what he’d experienced in her absence. He was broken. His normally bright and alert eyes looked tired, the whites tinged a faint shade of red in the corners. His frown lines seemed more pronounced and heavily shadowed than usual, and his lips refused to break the scowl they’d fallen into the moment he’d begun to speak. When she’d saw him at the diner the other night, he’d looked vibrantly youthful… happy, even. Instead, the man who sat beside her looked haunted… older , somehow.
In that moment Zelena realized she missed the soft curve of his smile more than anything. She would have given everything she had to banish the gloom that’d overtaken him, if he’d allow it.
“Hades…” she said softly, trailing off without knowing how to continue. Instead, she reached out to him, her fingers coming to rest against his cheek. He was warm - abnormally so, she noted - and he’d flinched the moment she’d touched him. She frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said, closing his eyes to her. “I just…”
He shook his head slightly, his face twisting into a pained expression as he trailed off. He felt as though he’d been careless with her safety, and carelessness could have no place in matters of the heart. The very thought of it hung heavy in his mind and refused to let him find peace amongst the anger and guilt that prevailed.
Hades sighed, leaning into her touch despite himself. She made him feel grounded, he realized - she made him feel safe. With her, he almost felt human. Vulnerable. Hopeful. It was dangerous. A single touch from her hand held power enough to bring him to his knees and set his heart alight. He found himself lingering and reliving those moments like they were the air within his lungs, and he felt as though he’d surely come to ruin without her. Gods, did he ever love that woman. There’d be no denying it after all they’d been through. To think of how close he’d come to losing her….
He struggled to find words to articulate what he was feeling, knowing full well that she deserved an explanation from him. In the end, he could find none. Words, he feared, could never hope to adequately convey what he needed to tell her. Instead, he opened his tear-stained eyes and looked to her, his bright blue ones searching hers for a sign of something - anything - he might have to go on. Her lips curled into a faint smile as he did so, and in that simple gesture he found himself again.
“You’re safe now, Zelena,” he said softly, his hand reaching out to brush away a strand of hair that’d fallen out of place. It was what he’d meant to say when he’d first laid eyes on her that day; it was what he should have said all along. “I won’t let anyone hurt you… I promise.”
Her smile widened as she watched him, heart soaring at the thought of the possibilities that awaited them. He loved her… of that, she was sure. She saw it in his eyes, as clear as the stars shone in the night sky that blanketed their hellish Storybrooke. Every last gesture - every sacrifice he’d made for the two of them to be together in that moment - had been borne out of the love he’d held in his heart for so many years. It was the love that the two of them shared. The thought of it might have scared her if she’d had any room left for fear, but in that moment she had none. She was safe, she realized. With him, she’d never felt anything but.
“I know, Hades,” she said, finally moving to lay her head on his lap.
She was tired.
Hades’ hand came to rest upon her shoulder, as soft and reassuring a presence as ever, and she slowly exhaled a breath she wasn’t entirely aware she’d been holding.
‘This must be what home feels like,’ she thought, as she felt herself drifting off to sleep.
She’d never slept more soundly than she did sheltered in his arms.