《Artemis || OUAT》96. Murder Most Foul

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Peter was standing in front of his wife's coffin as did everyone else, all holding umbrellas to block the rain from soaking them.

He held an arm around his five year old's shoulders as the two of them watched people place arrows on top of the coffin.

They then stepped up to the coffin last and placed their arrows on top also while Peter felt numb and empty inside but held together for his son.

He stepped back a foot, now standing in between Hook and David while continuing to keep a comforting hand on Zephyr's shoulder as he remained in front of his father.

Everyone began to disperse while Snow stepped over to Peter's side after David led Henry and Hook led Zephyr away.

"How are you holding up?" She began softly, tears in her eyes, heartbroken over the loss of her daughter.

Peter sighed, "I'm not. I made so many mistakes, but loving Astrid and being with her was one of the best choices I had ever made... and I took it for granted."

Snow nodded in understanding and moved her hand over her son-in law's own hand, "She loved you so much. Don't ever forget that."

Peter glanced over at her and nodded, his jaw flexing some, "It's my fault. I brought him here. I thought I was protecting her... I failed."

Snow gave him a sad look, not knowing what to tell him then as she was grieving also.

"I just wanna say goodbye alone, if that's okay," He then murmured as Snow nodded and half hugged him before saying, "See you at Granny's."

She walked away from the grave with one more glance towards the gravestone, leaving Peter alone now.

Astrid's grave had the name 'Astrid Jones' engraved on it.

They thought that last name suited her best , being how she was raised more by Hook since she was just a baby.

"I'm so sorry, love," Peter softly said, a single tear falling onto his face, "After everything... even all the bloody deaths we've had, I should've believed in us, in you. But this time, it feels like you're actually gone now... And it hurts like hell. I can't do this without you. I need you, Charming."

He kissed two fingers before placing them on top of the coffin, another tear falling, "I love you forever and always, Astrid Jones..."

Peter removed something from the inside of his jacket and now held her favorite dagger in his hand and placed it on top of the coffin with the arrows.

"Always and forever." He let out while another tear fell onto his face as he slowly turned and rejoined his wife's family.

***

Peter now sat in an empty booth as he stared at nothing in particular while everyone else mingled at the wake in Granny's, exchanging stories of Astrid Jones.

But he had tuned it all out as everything sounded so distant to him.

David and Snow stepped over to where he sat as David gained his attention, "Peter?"

The said twenty year old snapped out of his daze and looked over at his love's parents.

"Look, I know that there's nothing we can really say, but we just want you to know," David assured him, "You don't have to go through this alone. None of us should have to. Astrid would want us to be a family, be together."

Peter sighed and stood up from his seat, "With all due respect, you guys don't want me back here. Not after what I did... I'll just pack my stuff and leave."

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Hook overheard and stopped on David's other side, speaking up, "What about Zephyr?"

Peter lowered his head in sadness, and murmured, "He's better off without me. I killed his mother. I don't- I can't bloody lose him, too."

He glanced over at where Zephyr was sitting in a booth beside Alexandra and Roland and glanced down at the floor.

"She deserved so much better than myself." He admitted quietly, "She didn't deserve to die. And I can't come back. I can't be redeemed."

Snow sighed, "Redemption isn't a destination. It's a journey. You- We just take it one day at a time. Astrid would want all of us to live, to keep fighting."

Peter looked back at them but glanced away and shook his head, "I can't do this right now."

He started to walk away from them until Hook stopped him by grabbing his arm, "You think you were the only one who bloody cared about her? We all did. You made a mistake. Face it, don't run from it. Grieve. Be there for your boy. He needs you now more than ever. He just lost his mother."

Peter inhaled deeply before nodding and walked over to where his son sat with his friends.

***

Zephyr ran inside of the Blanchard apartment, tearing off his plaid button-up and slung it on the floor, letting out, "Whhhhyyyyy?"

Peter walked in and moved over to the five year old, "Everything will be okay, Kid."

Zephyr had tears in his hazel eyes as he rushed over to his father and buried himself in his arms, "I want my mommy..."

"I know, Zep," Peter murmured, moving a comforting hand on the back of his boy's head, "Me too, but we'll get through this. She would want us to."

Zephyr nodded in the embrace but continued to cry as Peter continued to comfort him, "These things, they don't break us. They make us who we are."

He glanced up and noticed a familiar blonde standing a few feet from them before she vanished.

***

Emma sat at her table in her home across from her mother with Henry next to her.

"There has to be someway we can bring Astrid back." Emma started, her eyes watery, "A spell or curse or something... Peter came back after being killed by an Olympian Crystal."

Snow clasped her hands together and leaned her chin against them, her elbows on the table, "The gods brought him back as a favor for helping get rid of Hades."

Emma ran her hands over her face before Henry spoke up, "She told me that if anyone ever needed her, they could just pray to her and she'd be there being she was a goddess... But I tried, and she didn't show... She's gone."

Emma moved a comforting hand over her son's hand and then got an idea, "Maybe we can't summon Astrid, but what if we could summon a different god?"

Snow caught onto what her daughter meant and also realized, "Zeus was the one who brought Peter back. Maybe he can bring Astrid back as well."

"How do we do this?" Henry inquired, "Hold hands and pray to Zeus?"

Emma shrugged, "It's worth a shot."

The three of them started to hold hands and prayed to Zeus.

The said God of Lightning suddenly appeared a few feet from them, "I already know what it is that you wish for."

"Can you bring my aunt back?" Henry questioned him pleadingly.

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Zeus inhaled deeply, folding his hands in front of him, "I cannot. The Olympian Crystal destroyed her soul from this world. I could bring her back to life, but she wouldn't have a soul, and without a soul, it wouldn't be too good especially when she has a lot of power."

Emma's expression changed to dismay as she murmured, "Isn't there anything to bring her soul back as well?"

"I'm afraid not-"

Henry then realized the god's words and pointed out, "You said her soul can't return to this world... Are you saying we could reunite with Astrid in another realm or universe?"

Zeus smirked a little, "Fate has a funny way of working itself out, doesn't it?"

He tilted his head to the side slightly before adding, "Now, you might want to stop Peter because he's leaving Storybrooke and taking Zephyr with him, and what's coming, you'll need both of them. Good luck."

The god then vanished before their eyes as they shared a look between one another.

Emma made her nephew's crossbow appear in her hand magically, "Let's go find them."

***

Peter loaded up some supplies on Stormfly, placing a hand on the side of her face, "Let's start over."

Zephyr moved his hands over the straps of his backpack on his shoulders, "Papa, why do we have to leave? This is where our family is."

Peter bent down to meet the boy's height and placed his hands over his arms, "I'm taking you home, somewhere you'll be safe. I can't lose you too, Zep."

The five year old slowly shook his head, "N-No. We can't leave. Not like this. Mommy wouldn't want this. She'd stay and fight— come whatever... Papa, be a hero in the light."

"I'm giving you your best chance, Kid," Peter murmured, "We will see them again, but for now, we have to go. Okay?"

Zephyr shook his head and slowly stepped back from his father, "We don't give up on family. Mama taught me that."

Peter sighed and moved his fingers underneath his son's chin and let out, "Someday— Someday you'll understand."

"I'm sorry." He magically made his five year old go to sleep and caught him in his arms, now carrying him.

Peter climbed on the dragon and now sat on her saddle, still holding Zephyr, "Stormfly, let's go."

But before he could leave, he noticed the ghost of his late wife, "Astrid?"

"Do better, if not for me, then for Zephyr." Ghost Astrid spoke up, her voice somewhat distant, "I love you and I forgive you. Forgive yourself..."

A single tear fell down Peter's face as he let out, his voice thick with emotion, "I'm sorry, love. I don't know how to be the hero you see in me. Every time I try, I-I fail... How are you here?"

"I'm always with you in here." Astrid sadly smiled, a tear falling down her face, as she moved a hand over her heart, "You have to let me go. It's okay, Huckleberry."

Peter shook his head desperately, "How can I? You were my home, my family. Without you, I feel completely alone."

Astrid stepped over to him, glowing even more than before, "I love you forever and always. Promise me you'll do better. You'll try."

Peter reached out to her, and just as their hands started to touch, she disappeared into a bright light, "No, no... I love you, Charming."

He inhaled deeply before moving a light hand over the back of the dragon's head, "Bring us home, girl."

But before Stormfly could fly them away, they suddenly heard Emma shout over to them, "Peter! Don't!"

"You can't stop us from leaving, Emma." Peter told her, "Besides, why do you want me to stay? You said-"

"I say a lot of things when I hurt or get upset. I just lost my twin." Emma cut him off as Henry and Snow ran behind her and stopped on both sides of her, "Like it or not, we're family, and families stick together. You're my brother-in law. Don't leave. Stay and fight."

Peter heavily exhaled, "I can't. I'm sorry."

Henry stepped forward and spoke up, "We think we may have found a way to bring Astrid back. We spoke to Zeus."

Peter Pan lifted an eyebrow at that and looked down at the teenager, "It's impossible. Her soul can't be revived."

"Yes, from this world." Snow pointed out, "She can live on in another universe."

"How?"

"Stay and help us figure that part out." Emma told him, adding, "Don't take Zephyr from the only family he knows."

Peter glanced down at the sleeping five year old and thought back to his wife's ghost, "No. Let her go. She deserves at least that."

He tapped the dragon's head gently as Stormfly leapt in the air and flew away, circling and then speedily flew into a portal in the sky.

Emma sighed as Snow murmured, "He'll return. He just needs time."

***

George glanced over at his cell door, "A visitor? To what do I owe the pleasure?"

David glared at home and dragged him out of the cell, "You killed my father!"

"Well, technically... I merely ordered him killed." George corrected him, adding, "I wondered if you'd work it out." He smirked, "Oh, and sorry to hear about your daughter's death."

"You're an evil bastard. He didn't deserve that." David muttered, "Just like Astrid didn't deserve her death."

"That's true," George remarked, "Your daughter was a good person, and your father was a good man in the end. I offered him temptation and he withstood it. I'll bet he was imagining your little face when you opened the front door and found him standing there, sober, victorious, with your brother in his arms." He laughed some, "Instead, you'd got some news he died a drunken failure."

"Stop talking." David told him and threw down a knife in front of the man while withdrawing his own, "Now fight for your life... if you think it's worth it."

George smirked and picked up the knife and swung first as David dodged it, both fluidly deflecting each other's moves.

David was slammed into the wall, but soon, he knocked the knife out of the George's hand and flipped his knife in the air and caught it, now holding the blade at the former king's neck and held him against the wall.

David was thrown off of George as Hook shoved George into his cell and shut the door, the shepherd letting out, "The hell?"

The pirate glanced behind him with a shake of his head, "No."

"That bastard admitted he killed my father." David commented and pinned Hook against the wall with the knife against his neck, "If you take this from me, I will never, never forgive you!"

"Yes, he killed your father..." Hook started, "But he also told you about his final moments... that he resisted temptation."

"And it didn't work!" David yelled at him before stepping back, adding, "He still died. I thought he didn't fight for us, but he did. He fought with everything he had. He did the right thing. Astrid did the right thing. And it wasn't enough." He started crying, "So what if Gideon comes back stronger and kills Emma, too? What if being Prince Charming isn't enough and I start losing, and it keeps going and I lose everything that matters to me?"

Hook licked his lips some and nodded slowly, "All right. Step aside." He moved back over to the cell door, "You can kill this man if you think... it'll make you feel stronger. Then think about Astrid. Think about your father. They wanted to look you in the eye. Do you want to be able to look back?"

David's hand holding the knife shook as his eyes watered before he stepped back and dropped onto his knees, sobbing some.

"It's all right." Hook got on one knee in front of him and slowly took the knife away from him, tossing it aside, before moving him into a brotherly hug in reassurance.

***

Hook moved over to David who looked out at the ocean on the docks, "You okay?"

"I think so," David murmured before facing him and added, "I owe you an apology. You were the noble one, not me. And I'm sorry it cost you more than I realized it would. And I'm sorry I risked what you're making with Emma."

"So you think I'm good enough for her?" The said pirate started.

"You've done the hardest thing anyone can do. You've changed. Astrid always believed you could." David replied, "And today you saved me from making a terrible mistake, and I... I don't know if I'm gonna be able to pay you back."

"As luck would have it, I might have an idea." Hook commented, "There's one way for you not to lose your family, and that's to let it grow." He cleared his throat some, "David, may I have your blessing to ask for Emma's hand in marriage?"

There was a brief pause between the two as the pirate awaited for his answer.

When David then smiled, "Of course." Hook laughed some as the prince added, "Of course, you have my blessing."

"Well, that, that is a relief." Hook replied.

"Well, I mean, it's up to Emma of course, but, yes, you have my blessing." David continued, placing his hands on the pirate's arms.

"Thank you."

"I didn't realize you were so old-fashioned." David remarked as Hook lightly said, "Well, I am over two hundred years old, mate."

David also chuckled as the two started walking back to their homes, "Right. Right. Were you really that nervous?"

"Why would I be nervous?" Hook inquired, "Prince Charming doesn't set the bar high at all."

David smiled, "No one tell Snow the news until it's official."

"I appreciate that, David." Hook replied as David nodded, "Yeah."

The said pirate added, "I appreciate all of it." David grinned and patted his shoulder as the two then walked down the pier.

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