Chapter Text
They did it, they really did it.
Even hours after Chloe and her had come back from the past, Red still felt like she was in a daze, a dream she would inevitably wake up from, with her mother yelling to order her guards to decapitate some unlucky soul. But the dream went on. Orientation day continued peacefully as, after Principal Uma’s small speech, and then the Fairy God Mother's much longer speech, the new and improved Queen of Hearts reunited with Cinderella as if they were old friends, which was more than likely the case in this timeline but still unfathomably strange to witness in person.
Thankfully, before she had to talk to her mother—who was now a stranger, though she was now kind, kinder than anyone else—Chloe took her hand and dragged her away, away from the complicated feelings she would have to unpack later when facing her mom. Red let herself get whisked away by Chloe, not without hearing Cinderella and Bridget banter about them before they vanished from their mothers sight.
“Have fun girls, we'll see you tonight !” Cinderella waved at them while Bridget shook her head smiling slightly.
“Oh come now, you know quite well we will be lucky if we see any of them before tomorrow morning.”
Red never heard Cinderella’s response as they finally left the noisy courtyard to instead enter a quiet hallway. Chloe slowed her pace to stop in front of a small alcove with a bench and sat on it, never letting go of Red's hand. Red rolled her eyes affectionately at her friend's—though admittedly, after everything they went through, friend felt too weak of a word—antics and sat down as well, bumping her shoulder with the blue haired girl.
“Never thought I'd see one day Chloe Charming ditch her mother in favour of kidnapping me but here we are.”
Chloe scoffed, but the smile Red could see slowly forming itself on her lips lessened greatly the impact of the reprimand that was yet to come.
“First of all, I did not ditch my mom, she's the one who told me to go see you and second of all, it's not a kidnapping if you're willing to follow me.”
“Yeah, true but you dragged me away with such authority, how could I ever resist you.”
Sometimes, Red still could not quite understand how her relationship with the princess had come to make her so happy, going from threats to feed her to a monster to risking their lives for each other, but she did not care, all that mattered was they were back in the present, together, in this perfect timeline.
“I was not authoritative!” Chloe let go of Red's hand to throw her hands in the air, so outraged she had to use her whole body to show it. Red tilted her head as she looked at her friend mockingly.
“Oh but you were…” seeing her friend had crossed her arms in a pouting gesture, Red gently bumped their shoulders together,”but don't worry, I like that side of you.”
Chloe raised her eyebrows, pleasantly surprised and amused.
“You're telling me Big Bad Red likes to be told what to do ? Who are you and what have you done to my friend ?”
“Ha-ha, very funny princess. I may have changed a bit these last few days but only you get to know and see that, got it ?”
This time, it was Red who took Chloe's hand in hers, and then the strangest thing happened. She was looking at Chloe, until she blinked and now she was thrust in a new scene, a new setting she did not recognize.
Red looked around stunned, not knowing what was happening. She scanned the scenery until she saw a huge white castle towering over the hill. Too busy trying to understand where she had seen the symbol plastered over the building, she did not see the people running towards her until they stopped, a few meters away from her.
Relieved to see people, Red was about to call out to the strangers, but the words died in her throat when she recognised them. In front of her stood two miniature versions of herself and Chloe. They looked like they were no more than five. And it seemed like they were fighting.
Red quickly realized the girls did not, or rather could not see her, so she stepped closer in order to check what the whole ordeal was about. Little Chloe spoke up first.
“Why did you take my sword ? Give it back, it's mine !”
Older Red winced at those words. It seemed that even here, she was a troublemaker. Meanwhile, Little Red was frowning too, holding the small wooden sword in her hands.
“I did not steal that sword, it was just lying there and I wanted to play with it! And why do you care, you were playing with your stupid brother !”
Well this is going as well as my first meeting with Chloe, Red thought.
After hearing that, Little Chloe’s eyes widened in realization, while Older Red was still confused.
“Ooooh I get it ! Do you want us to play together ?”
Little Red looked away and tried to act indifferent. It would have worked if not for her face turning the same color as her hair.
“...No that's not true.” Older Red groaned at her own inability to tell the truth.
“Yes you do!”
“Do not !”
“Do too!”
"Okay, fine I do !” After her seemingly painful admission, Little Red crossed her arms and let the sword fall, still looking down. Little Chloe carefully stepped toward her as Red watched attentively the scene unfolding in front of her.
The small princess unfolded the little rebel’s arms and held both her hands until she finally looked up.
“You could have just asked, silly ! We're friends, friends play together !” Chloe said with the brightest smile. Older Red's heart melted at the sight. Little Red looked at Chloe hesitantly.
“We are ?”
“Of course !”
“Then you will play with me ?”
“Yes ! It's so much more fun with you than my brother !” Little Red blinked, a bit stunned.
“It’s always more fun with you too… but only you can know that okay ?”
“Of course silly, that's what friends are for !” Chloe exclaimed as she held up her pinky in front of her.
Little Red hooked her own around the other, and then yelped in surprise when Chloe pulled her into a hug. After the small surprise of the embrace, she started laughing too.
“Yeah, friends forever !”
As she watched those adorable versions of her and Chloe, Red felt herself get pulled away from this place, and she blinked once again, she found herself to be back in front of Chloe, who looked as shocked as her.
“Did we—?”
“—See some sort of flashback of our new lives ? Yep that's exactly what happened I think…”
“Oh I was going to say we'd traveled back in time again but that works better.” Red cheekily said to lighten the mood. It worked as Chloe giggled adorably, just like her younger counterpart.
“You're impossible.”
“I know.” Red said with a cocky smile. As Chloe's laughter faded, she asked more seriously.
“It felt… weird seeing ourselves knowing we never went through this… I wonder how it'll be with the rest of our memories, will it slowly come back or will we have to be always careful of what we say, to not confuse our entourage ?”
Lost in her thoughts, Chloe let her head rest on Red's shoulder, who let her and wrapped her own arm around her friend without thinking, as the gesture felt natural like they had done it a thousand times before.
“Honestly I don't know but I'd say there's a good chance we'll have other memories if we already got one now. I'll admit, it will be hard to reconcile what we lived through before with what we will see but it's fine and you know why ?” Chloe did not answer, and waited for her friend's answer.
“Because we'll figure it out together like we did in the past and like we've apparently always done here. Deal ?”
Chloe smiled as she buried even more her head into Red's shoulder closing her eyes, as they both smiled contently.
“Deal.”
“At least now we know why our moms were not surprised to see us leave together.” Red laughed lightly. Chloe opened up her eyes and straightened herself up, leaving the warmth of Red's body.
The latter did not understand why she felt so cold all of the sudden. Indifferent, she simply ignored the strange reaction she had.
“True, I did not even think about it ! They must still be best friends in this timeline which is why we're childhood friends here.”
“Look at you figuring everything out ! My knight in shining armour.” Red really loved teasing her at every opportunity and Chloe did not seem to mind anymore, judging from her small smile.
“Well right now what your knight wants to figure out is if we're roommates, we'll worry about new old memories later !” She got up and held out her hand. “So, you coming ?”
“Always princess.” Red replied, taking her hand.
As they walked down the corridor to find out about the room arrangements, Chloe shook her head amusingly.
“So many nicknames, you know I have a name right ?”
Red shrugged. “It suits you, you know what I'll only use Chloe on special occasions, that's it.”
“Pff, special occasions ? As you wish, it's not like you would change your mind anyway.”
Red squeezed Chloe's hand.
“You know me so well”.
______________________
“I told you there was nothing to worry about !” Said a sarcastic voice in the silence of the night. Another one, offended, replied back.
“You never know ! They could have put us with total strangers.”
“Like you or our moms would have let that happen !”
“Don't lie, you would have hated being with a total stranger.”
“Mmmh perhaps, but you'll never know.”
Red and Chloe were bantering as they walked into the maze of Wonderland.
After discovering they were roommates, much to the girls' happiness, they spent the day discovering their new school and exploring the almost endless grounds. Not yet ready to take on either of their mothers, the duo decided at the end of the day to sneak away and go hide the pocketwatch without anybody noticing.
It was evidently too dangerous to leave it unattended or in their room. If someone found it, it could have disastrous consequences. The new question was now to decide where the powerful artifact should be hidden.
And Red already had the perfect hiding spot, which led the girls to enter Wonderland through the now eternally opened portal and go straight to the maze.
The tall hedges of the labyrinth loomed over them with a sense of familiarity Red had missed since entering this new timeline. A gentle breeze accompanied the girls as the kingdom's heiress expertly manoeuvred the seemingly endless paths of the place.
As their arms were linked together, Chloe let Red lead the way, and allowed herself to gaze at the Wonderland sky. Where in Auradon, you could simply admire the starry night, here, a myriad of colours adorned the darkness above her. Fireflies and other stranger but no less beautiful creatures flew around them, in a random yet harmonious choreography.
Wonderland being closed off to everybody just a day earlier, Chloe had never once imagined she'd be lucky enough to one day witness such a spectacular view, in the company of no less than her friend, the princess of this unknown kingdom.
She occasionally sent glances towards Red, who was happily humming some melody while walking with her eyes closed, so confident in where she was going that she did not need to look where her steps were taking her.
Right now, Chloe could truly appreciate Red in her own element, her real turf, free from the burden she always carried with her as the daughter of one of the most evil villains Auradon had ever known.
Suddenly, Red opened her eyes and looked back at her, which caught Chloe by surprise. She felt a bit embarrassed at being caught staring so intently at the redhead but Red did not comment on it nor seem to care anyway. Instead, the rebel wanted to talk about something else.
“By the way… I forgot to tell you but thanks for earlier.”
Chloe, who was still recovering from her embarrassment, automatically answered.
“You're welcome ! That's totally norma-,” she started to say before she halted both her speech and and walk. She angled herself so she could look directly at Red and cocked her head, confused. “Wait, what are you thanking me for ? I don't remember doing anything, I mean, not since the ‘Office Incident’ ? You already thanked me for it.”
Red shook her head negatively, she was not referring to this, though she was still immensely grateful Chloe had decided to trust her with the spell book, thus showing her she was not like the old version of her mother.
“It's about when you dragged me away from my mom after Uma's speech, remember ?” Red said, not yet used to giving her thanks.
“I vividly remember you telling me it was ‘kidnapping’ and being annoying about it, so I don't see how it warrants a thank you.” Chloe crossed her arms, amused to see where this conversation was going.
“Yeah yeah I did say all that but… shit, why is it so hard to just say what I want to say ?” Red was growing frustrated with herself, opening up was not one of the skills she had honed under her mother's terrible reign.
Sensing Red's growing distress, Chloe dropped her smirk to focus on the girl in front of her. She gently took her gloved hand in hers, reassuring.
“Come on you know I don't bite.” Red weakly laughed at that, and finding her strength with Chloe's help, she admitted the truth.
“Just… thank you for leading me away from my mom earlier. I know she's now the nice Queen of Hearts, a mother who supposedly raised me lovingly, but every time I look at her I can't help but see the monster who made my whole life a living hell… I'm scared I'll flinch away and give our secret away if I stay too close to her for now.”
Red felt lighter after her admission, the thought of freezing and fucking up in front of her improved mother had tormented her all day, but saying it to Chloe made it more bearable.
“Oh Red…”
The Wonderland Heiress should have guessed what would happen next.
Seeing her partner in time in so much pain, Chloe could not help herself but throw her arms around Red's shoulders in a tight embrace. Momentarily caught by surprise, Red's arms were dangling helplessly on each side, before her brain reconnected and she hugged back just as fiercely. Appeased, she even let her head fall onto the princess’s shoulder, burying her face into her neck.
She let out a sigh that made Chloe shudder and hug her more protectively. The knight felt her heart beating faster but decided to ignore the implications for now. Right now, Red needed her.
“I'm so sorry you had to go through this. I wish we had met earlier so I could have protected you.”
Red interiorly smiled at the idea of a tiny Chloe Charming holding her wooden sword in defiance of her Queen of Hearts. Chloe continued on.
“But I'm here now and I'm not leaving, so if you need me, I'm here okay ?” Red nodded in Chloe's neck. At last she detached herself, and Chloe immediately missed the warmth.
“Got it. And, for what it's worth, you can talk to me too, even if I'm not as good a listener as you.”
“Don't worry I'm sure you'd do a great job.” Chloe paused, uncertain if she should talk right now about her concerns, but Red encouraged her silently with her eyes.
“Truth be told, I kinda have the same problem with my mom, not at the same level of course ! I would never dare trying to compare our situations…” Red nodded to indicate she understood what the princess meant, “it's just weird. In a way, she doesn't feel like the mom I grew up with after I met her teenage version. She was so jaded and anti monarchy and now she's all about being a queen and me being the perfect heiress, it's- I can't reconcile those two people as the same person I guess.”
“Yeah I get it, it's like the opposite of me with seeing my mother the villain and then Bridget the sweetest girl I've ever met.” Chloe nodded, grateful Red got what she meant.
“Our world's kinda upside down for now but, we'll figure it out together, right ?”
They smiled at each other, happy to be facing this together right at this moment. The silence flotted between them, each girl unsure of what to say next. Those three days in the past had left them incredibly close for people who had just met, but it did not change the obvious fact that having just met, their friendship was still in its awkward beginnings.
Finally, Red made a decision and hooked back her arm with Chloe. Perfectly happy to get back on a lighter note, Chloe let the rebel lead her again to their mysterious location.
Despite not knowing exactly where they were heading, Chloe could feel they were near the center of the labyrinth. She still had no idea why though.
A few moments later, Red stopped them in a clearing. Right in its center stood a bush sculpted in the shape of a giant heart. Other bushes surrounded the central piece and they were designed to resemble guards protecting the heart.
“Okay let's hurry before anyone sees us, especially if my mom is wondering where the hell I am.” Red made a slight movement of her hand which opened the heart in two revealing a secret safe containing many treasures and artifacts belonging to the royal family.
Chloe gasped at the sight. All of the objects looked enchanting, but nothing felt like it compared to the pocket watch in term of power.
“You're sure this is where to bury the pocketwatch ?” Chloe asked nervously. Red nodded confidently.
“Yep, here in the Wonderland Royal Vault. It’s the perfect place to keep this hidden. Except us and my mom, nobody knows of its existence.” Chloe breathed out in relief, appeased at the idea of at last letting this adventure behind them.
“And no one can undo the good we’ve done.”
Red carefully put the pocket watch in the middle of the vault, letting the object stay hidden from prying eyes and villainous intents. With another move from her hand, she closed the vault and turned back to face Chloe. With one hand cockily put on her hip, she declared. “There. Your mom’s safe…”
“And your mom’s nice.” Chloe finished the sentence, satisfied. They knew they had a long road ahead still, but right now it did not matter. Chloe put her hand up and Red high-fived her back, proud of their exploits.
Suddenly, Chloe felt struck by a wave of insecurity. Now that nothing forced them to interact anymore, would Red still stay by her side ? After living through all this ordeal, Chloe felt a little bit stupid for thinking that, however, she could not shake the feeling away.
“And we’re…” Chloe trailed off, anxious of hearing the answer. If Red felt her turmoil, she did not show it but still reassured her nonetheless.
“Aww Boo. Are you officially asking to be friends ? You’re still such a chivalrous knight, always so polite !”
Red felt an impulse to grab affectionately Chloe's chin, and so she did, giving into her unexpected desire. Chloe froze as she felt her heart pounding against her ribcage. She had tried to ignore it, ever since the girls' first conversation, with Chloe's cheeky pun followed by Red's sarcastic rebuttal.
She had tried to ignore it when Red had saved her life at the lagoon, and then in Merlin's office when she offered her new shoes. It was futile to try and fight it now. Chloe was sure of it, she had feelings for Red. To add the cherry on top, fate chose this instant to pull her into a flashback from the new timeline.
It was brief, and held only a few fragments from the entire souvenir, but the emotions coming out of it were clear enough for Chloe to grasp the message. She saw herself reading a letter Red had sent her when they were apart and then put a kiss mark near Red's signature. Then, she witnessed their reunion, and how her other self would seek the comfort of the redhead’s arms.
It could not be made any clearer. No matter the timeline, Chloe Charming would inevitably fall in love with Red of Hearts. The realisation sent her back to the present, her heart still hammering in her chest as she reeled in the new information. Luckily for her, only she had been transported into the memories so Red remained blissfully unaware of the storm invading Chloe's heart. Armed with the new courage she would need in the coming weeks, Chloe pushed back everything for now and focused on controlling her voice to let out an answer which would not betray her thoughts.
“Okay and that’s never gonna change, but I'll still try and get my mom to relax a bit on the rules now that I know about her rebellious teenage self.”
“You ? Relaxed ?” Red laughed in disbelief.
“Hey, it’s hard being the daughter of a hero, you’ll see.”
Red scoffed, thinking about the tyrant she lived with for years. “Come on, how different could it be ?” Chloe shrugged and linked their arms back together as if nothing happened.
“We'll see you rebel, we'll see.”