Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT or any of its characters.

Author's Note: This is an AU where Snow was born and raised as the daughter or a farmer, and David the son of a shepherd, of course. Both are peasants. Thus, Snow was never born a princess, and Regina never became her stepmother. It's rated T for now, but it'll eventually contain M content. I definitely want to make this a multi-chapter fanfic, if I get (at least) some follows, favorites, and/or reviews. Indeed, if people are interested, I'll definitely keep writing! (I'll find time to write despite my busy university schedule.) I already have plans for what's going to happen, so I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do!

In addition, I would like to dedicate this to my best friend/partner-in-feels/roleplay husband, Bethany. I know how much you love shepherd David, and it entirely inspired me for this, so I sincerely hope you love it!

Oh, diary. I hope to find true love one day. I was told it was the most powerful magic of all. It can create happiness. Doesn't everyone deserve to-…

"Snow? …. Snow? Snow! I thought I told you to milk the cows an hour ago!"

The quill slipped from her fingers in a startled motion, ink splattering everywhere onto her brand new diary. The very one she had spent the past few weeks amassing enough gold to purchase it, and now a page was entirely ruined. It felt like wasted gold coins had slipped through her gentle fingertips as well.

"I'm sorry, father!" she spluttered out quickly, rising and straightening herself up as best as she could. "I didn't realize I had been writing for an hour."

There it was, that discouraged look that shimmered prominently in his eyes, the heavy sigh that always ensued from his dried lips, and the arms crossing over his chest to appear slightly sterner than a little gaze would be. It was a look she was oh-so used to. After all, her father often found her doing something other than she was supposed to do.

Perhaps it was because this life, this life of farming, endless chores, and torching sunburns (ironically, her skin as white as snow, her mother had once said, didn't tan – it burned) wasn't meant for her. Surely she could handle watering crops and help take care of the animals, but it was all too much for her singlehandedly. Her father wanted this life for her. He wanted his only child to be a proud, successful farmer, to take over the farm all on her own, but that wasn't who she was – who she would ever be.

He sighed again, the look he had in his eyes making her scrunch her nose out of fear of what he had yet to say to her. "I need your help, Snow. I cannot take care of a farm by myself. Not since your mother passed."

"I know," she uttered a little sheepishly, her stomach feeling like it was twisting into knots. "We both know I'm not very good with many of my chores, and I know you want me to take over the farm one day, but I don't think I could do it. I'm a better seamstress than I am at—…"

"You want to be a seamstress?"

"No! No, that's not what I was saying. I meant…" she sighed, the words feeling as though they were stuck in her throat. Now really wasn't the time to whine and act like a little girl. She was a grown woman, and her father needed her. That was all there was to it.

It seemed happiness was so close, yet also so out of her reach.

"I meant that I may be good at other things, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try harder to be better at the things I'm not good at."

Her father finally smiled warmly at her, so brightly that it warmed her heart, and his arms unlacing to wrap tightly around her small figure made her smile as warmly, if not a little more. She had always been her father's little girl. Some things never really changed. Breathing in the scent of his clothes, the tightness of his arms enclosing around her, his soft voice floating in the air around them… It truly did make her feel like a little girl again.

"Thank you," he murmured softly, hugging her a little closer, and she held him tighter against her for a moment. Only after a moment pass did she pull away from the embrace to look properly at him. "I'm going to milk the cows, as you asked."

Her footsteps were soft and light against the old wood of their cottage as she walked away, avoiding the unnecessary loud creaking floorboards they needed to fix, and she was about to step out the front door when she heard the familiar sound of her father's voice echoing behind her.

"Wait, my dear Snow?" She halted in placed, turning to face him with a very inquisitive look. One that would surely remind him of her mother. "You are a wonderful farmer. Your mother would be as proud of you as I am now." He seemed to trail off in thought, and she could only look at him with a tearful smile that reached her eyes that were as green as the pasture outside until he spoke again. "You remind me so much of your dear mother. Who, like you, truly was the fairest in all the land."

There were no words that could describe how much that meant to her. Tears glistened against the sunlight, and she ran towards her father to envelop him in a hug without any second thoughts. She had looked up so much to her mother before she had passed away, and told be told that she reminded her father of her… There was no greater joy that could have possibly filled her pure heart. In fact, she was so speechless, that she couldn't utter a single word. Even once her father had pulled away.

It was the sound of his voice that broke her from her trance. "Snow?"

"Oh, yes. I'll be back soon. I prepared a meal for us earlier, if you're hungry."

It was the last words she uttered to him as she ran out to their barn to milk the cows. It was well past dinner when she was finished, and by the time she had locked the few sheep they had in their pen and checked up on their crops, she came home to find candles still lit and her father sound asleep in his room.

As things would turn out, her father never woke up the next morning, and she was left to manage their farm on her own. Alone and unhappy in a life she didn't choose for herself.

Life truly wasn't fair.

A tedious few months had passed since her father's death. The farm was in a worse state than it had been before his passing. Most of their crops had died. She was barely making any gold. Everything seemed to be going worse, worser, and worsest. But, Snow White was the most stubborn woman around. Despite how the thought of giving up and selling the farm numerous times had crossed her mind, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not after her father died. He would have wanted her to keep trying. So, that is exactly what she was going to do.

It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun was shinning brightly in the clear blue sky, glistening against her lock ebony locks, the leaves on the trees rustling with the gentle breeze, while birds fluttered happily in the air. It made her wish that she too could fly so carelessly without a single worry weighing on her shoulders. A life of happiness, of a husband by her side, of pitter-patter of little feet following close behind them…

All thoughts seemed to fleet from her mind the second she caught a figure next to one of her sheep. Her heart raced, the burlap sack of fresh vegetables she was holding dropping instantly to the ground as she ran frantically towards the scene that was unfolding before her very eyes.

A thief! In broad daylight?! Why would a thief be foolish enough to do such a thing?!

"Hey!" she yelled angrily. Without thinking twice of the person who was next to her sheep, she, quite literally, tackled him or her to the ground. They rolled over in the grass together, eventually stopping when it – he, rather – was on top of her and pinning her down against her will. She hadn't even noticed that the sheep had run off after being so startled.

Oh, no. All she was doing, surprisingly so, was stare into the bright blue eyes of the man who she assumed had been trying to take her sheep. Or worse.

In that second, it felt like the entire world had vanished from around her. This… This was a feeling she had never experienced before. It was all so strange, yet so thrilling at the same time. She was staring at every single little one of his facial detail. The way his lips were pursed into a straight line, how his bushy, sandy blonde hair was filled with a few strands of grass, the way their gazes had locked so easily… The mere thought made her heart skip a beat.

Thankfully, it didn't take very long for her to remember that this man had intruded on her farm, and he currently had the upper hand.

"You're a…girl?" he finally questioned in complete shock, and she could only smile deviously as her hands scoured the land around her, one of them enclosing around a large rock.

"Woman," she corrected, clocking him across the face with the rock mere seconds later. He yelped and fell next to her to the ground by the force of the impact, a hand over the gash she had involuntarily created. She'd likely regret that later, but she had no idea who this man was! Maybe he had been trying to hurt her sheep! "What were you doing?" she spat out angrily.

He didn't answer her at first. His attention was fully focused on the rather large cut on his chin, his finger seeming to be inspecting if it was bleeding or not. Unfortunately, it was. "Well?" she inquired again, arms crossing over her chest.

"Are you crazy?" he retorted, the unimpressed look he was giving her almost sending shivers down her spine. "I was petting your sheep before you tackled me!"

Oh.

Well, wasn't that humiliating. And embarrassing.

"I'm so sorry!" she frowned, kneeling down to inspect his cut more closely. "I thought you were trying to-…"

"In broad daylight?" he replied, giving her a questioning look, as if he already knew what the rest of her sentence was without having to hear it. "I'm a shepherd. Not a thief. And if I were a thief, I'd know better than to steal a kind lady's sheep."

That comment nearly made her want to clock him again. Nearly. "Oh, aren't you a real Prince Charming," she retorted, completely unimpressed.

"I have a name you know."

"Don't care. Charming suits you."

He grinned cheekily at her, and that too made her nearly want to clock him again. Despite how he didn't exactly deserve it. All he had been trying to do was pet one of her sheep when she assaulted him. Her farm was rather close to the path that led to the market, and he must have noticed them from afar. Or heard them. In either case, it had been an innocent gesture, and she had injured him for it.

"I can take care of your wound for you. It's the least I can do," she added, but he was sadly quick to refuse her offer. Deep down, a part of her wanted to spend as much time with him as possible, but she knew that would never be. She had clocked him! He was likely never going to see him again after this. Who in their right mind would speak to someone who hit them with a rock the second they met?

"The least you can do is tell me your name," he cheekily added, a grin still plastered on his lips.

For the first time in the past few months, she smiled again. Very faintly, but it was still noticeable. Even her best friend, Red, hadn't managed to make her smile during the rare times they saw one another. "I'm Snow. Snow White."

"It's very nice to meet you, Snow White," he stood, brushing the dust off of his already tattered clothes. "I thought this farm might've been abandoned. It's…"

"In bad condition, I know," she sighed, glancing around her for a moment. The sight was a rather…pitiful one to witness. "It's been difficult to manage the farm by myself after my father died."

"Ah," he exclaimed, clasping his hands behind his back. "I'd be happy to offer my assistance, but I might be mistaken for a thief again."

He smiled smugly, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes at that. "Charming, Charming."

"I have a name, you know. It's David."

"David," she repeated, another small smile curling on the corner of her red lips. "It's nice to meet you, David."

Not another word ensued between them after that. They seemed to be too captivated in each other to find the words either wanted to say. Or, at least, that's what she wanted to believe. They had just met. These were foolish things to think about.

"I should be getting back to my crops," she awkwardly mentioned to break the silence between them. "I'll be fine."

He didn't seem convinced, but he also knew better than to impose. Something she was already grateful for. "If you ever need anything…"

"You'll find me?"

Would they always finish each other's sentences?

"Always."

She smiled again. "I almost believe that."

There was something different about the way he was looking at her. He looked reluctant to leave, and saddened even, but he still bowed politely before her with a smile that made her heart skip a beat. "Goodbye, Snow White."

"Goodbye, Charming."

This couldn't possibly be a goodbye that would last forever, could it? Snow found that she was already so secretly intrigued by him, by his love of sheep that had brought him here in the first place. She wanted to know more about him. She wanted to discover where he lived, if he visited the market often, his favorite hobbies… But, she knew that could never be. Not when she barely had time of her own in between all the chores she had to do. It took the entire day, sometimes even longer, all on her own. She didn't have time for happiness – for love.

Without looking back, a sigh slipping so easily from her red lips, Snow took a moment to turn and walk away. The hefty burlap sack she had dropped earlier was heavy to pick up, but her heart felt even heavier. In fact, despite how she knew better not to, she couldn't help but eventually look back towards where David was walking, wondering if they would ever see each other again. If he would find her as he promised.

She could only hope that they would.