Elena walked to the small window and looked out at the forest. The trees were dark and wet, but they were hers. She didn't need a carriage or a glass slipper to feel whole.
In the spirit of that episode, here is a story about finding closure and the courage to step out of a painful past. Once_upon_a_time_6x03
"Why do you keep them?" a voice asked from the doorway. It was Leo, the village boy she had taken in as an apprentice. He was looking at the slippers with the curiosity of someone who had only known Elena as the wise woman of the woods. Elena walked to the small window and looked
She picked up one of the slippers. The silk was fragile, nearly translucent. In the spirit of that episode, here is
In her youth, Elena had been the "perfect" daughter of a merchant, destined to marry a man she didn't love to save a family fortune that was already crumbling. She had played the part of the dutiful girl until the night of the Midsummer Gala. While the rest of the village saw a grand celebration, Elena saw a cage. She had left her slippers behind, not as a trail for a prince to find her, but as a shedding of skin.
She had spent the next two decades in the northern woods, learning the language of herbs and the steady patience of the seasons. She became the woman people traveled miles to see when a fever wouldn't break or a heart was too heavy to carry. She was useful. She was free. Yet, she kept the chest.