Author's Note: This is just a collection of short stories about Solange before she became the Snow Queen. This first chapter is a little different from the rest because the others aren't flashbacks. I hope you enjoy them!

Disclaimer: I own neither the world nor the characters of the Ever Afters series.

"Sol!" My sister ran over to me, arms open wide. I scooped her up in a hug.

"I was only gone a couple of days, Punzy!"

"It was FOREVER!" she exclaimed, squeezing me tight. "So what happened?" She let go and looked at me, eyes dancing with excitement. "Tell me everything! How you defeated the ogre, your journey through Atlantis, and-" She grinned. "How things are with Sebastian!"

"There's nothing between me and Seb, okay?"

"Suuure," she said in a way that meant she really didn't believe me.

"I'm serious!"

"Oh, fine, if you want to just ignore true love!"

"It's not true love! It's just friendship!" I insisted.

She huffed. "Okay, you're just friends. Happy?'

I laughed. "You know I'm happy whenever I'm with you!"

"Me too." She plopped onto the ground and patted next to her. "Now tell me!" Smiling, I sat down.

As soon as I touched the earth, I was yanked into the present. My sister stood before me, worry and sadness etched on her face like one who had seen the worst that the world had to offer.

"Hello, Sol," she said, but gone was the exuberant girl I had once known.

"Hello, Punzy," I replied. I was not the same either and sometimes I was not entirely sure if I had changed for the better.

"I'm sorry to make you remember what we once had, but it is imperative that you stop this madness."

"Memories are things of the past," I replied derisively. "Only the present can hurt me."

She looked at me for a second. "Do you truly believe that?"

Of course I didn't, but most of my life I'd had to bury my feelings and put up a front of ruthlessness, hatred, and cunning. I had done things that would make most people have lifetimes of guilt, said things that destroyed the "sticks and stones" theory, and thought that perhaps in another time, my life could have been different. Remembering only brought pain, though, so I had made myself forget. Made myself never think of what I had been. Until today. So I looked at her and buried my feelings, weighing them down with hate until I felt no more. Then, calmly I replied. "Yes, yes I do."

She sighed. "I do not wish to do this sister, but you leave me no choice." She closed her eyes and for a second I thought she would implant me in another memory but instead the only door in this small room opened. I was surprised. The only people who knew about this meeting were she and I, and I had placed magical seals all around.

"That shouldn't be possible," I muttered, stirring my magic to fight.

Then someone stepped through the door whom I'd thought was gone forever and my whole world fell apart.

"Solange? Is that you?"

"Seb?"