Remember What We Had *Sequel to Remember the Rules*

A Human Awful Wonder of God

Rose's POV

Pietro and I were fast friends. We liked a lot of the same things and got along great. Sometimes I would catch him watching me and he'd look away with the reddest face. It was adorable.

(Of course, it wasn't like I watched him too or anything. I never noticed how his face lit up when the sunset hit just right through the glass clock face, or how his eyes sparkled when he laughed. Of course not.)

Sometimes when I lay awake at night, he would get up and sit by me and we would just talk about nothing until we were too tired to go on. When I told him my favorite book was Peter Pan and Wendy, he laughed. "I know. You read it all the time."

As things escalated between Emma and Regina, things got better and better I'm our lives. One notable moment was when Pietro let Belle out of the asylum. When I asked him about it later, he shrugged.

"Someone put her into a spot she couldn't get out of. I hated seeing her like that. No one should have to live in a cage, much less someone as good as her."

And that was the end of that. He spoke with more confidence than I'd seen from him in the past few months, and it was nice to see.

Pietro and I did everything together those last few months, even going as far as to sleep within a few feet of each other; if I thought about it, I realized that it was because we were terrified of losing each other. Spending so long alone was definitely not on my list of things to do again, and I doubted that it was on his. The only way I could make sure that he stayed by my side was if he literally stayed by my side. I wasn't opposed to the idea, obviously; what girl would be?

(Not like, romantically... Of course not. I wouldn't dream of it.)

And after all the crap with Katherine, I was beginning to doubt Emma- just the tiniest bit. I mean, she arrested Mary-Margaret. Of all the people to suspect of murder, she would be at the bottom of any list. Of course she got let out, but still. Pietro seemed a little too excited for my taste when I told him that. I got the feeling he didn't like Emma as much as I did, but hey. More for me, right?

But how had we gotten here?

I stood in the hospital room with Pietro, as always, by my side, watching this display of tense, shared misery between Regina and Emma. Henry lay in his hospital bed, dying and unconscious, then simply... dead. Then Emma kissed his forehead and the weirdest thing happened. Everyone started doing double takes, calling out unfamiliar names and hugging.

"Pietro? What's going on?"

"I'm... Not completely sure. But look! Henry's waking up!" He pointed at the hospital bed needlessly.

Henry's eyes fluttered open and he looked at Emma. "See? I told you you could do it."

Much flittering and mushiness ensued, but Pietro and I went as unnoticed as we always had. Then he put an arm around me and said something that shattered my whole world.

"Rosie, I don't think Emma saved us. I think she saved everyone but us."

*~*~*

Imagine that your heart was pulled out of your chest. Now imagine that a million people each smashed it with a hammer. Then they decided to light it on fire.

That's what it was like, knowing that Emma hadn't saved us. I didn't really know how to process the fact that I didn't feel anything. I was in so much pain that I was almost numb to reality. For so long, Emma had been one of the only things that added color to my life, and now she'd failed me in the worst way possible. The only real, solid thing in my life now was Pietro's arm around me and his voice in my ear. I had to believe that he was the only person that would never hurt me.