I Will Always Find You
Summary: Four ways Snow White and Prince Charming did not meet...and one way they did.
A/N: This is my first foray into fanfiction in a long while and I hope everyone enjoys these little twists on how our beloved Snowing could have met but for four decisions made. Please review so I know if I'm doing these characters justice :)
Disclaimer: OUAT and all of its characters are the property of ABC...all I own is a fake peridot ring that I may have bought simply because it looks like Snow White's...
I. A Shared Sorrow
"Do we have a deal?"
The young couple glanced at each other, an entire conversation of sorrows and hope passing wordlessly between them. In their arms two infant boys slept peacefully, unaware of the fate the decision about to pass their father's lips would seal.
"Yes."
The stranger clapped gleefully, an unearthly expression of delight lighting his inhuman features.
"Excellent! Now which babe should it be?" he questioned, finger circling in the air. A lifetime of vague images flashed through his mind, the future possibilities of his choice spiralling in his mind's eye.
As his circling finger slowed, it hovered over the boy in the father's arms with menacing intent, ready to choose. But in a small moment of weakness his finger snapped over to the left, alighting upon the child held by the young woman; a flash of memory of a boy crying out for his father as he was pulled into a swirling vortex of magic rendering him incapable of tearing the other boy from the father's arms.
"Him."
Snow crept quietly along the darkened corridor, the hem of her black dress swishing noiselessly over the tiled floor. Behind her, a sliver of light shone through a partially opened door accompanied by the muted sounds of conversations, subdued in nature as befitting the sombre tone of the evening's events. The queen of a neighbouring kingdom had succumbed to illness and the nobility of all the realms had gathered together to pay their respects.
Snow had never before met Queen Ruth but by all accounts she had been a wise and loving ruler, the outpouring of grief among her kingdom's subjects matched only by that of the husband and son she had left behind. It was this permeating sorrow which had caused Snow to escape the main hall, uncomfortably reminded of the still lingering grief she felt every day towards the mother she had barely known.
A soft sound caught her attention and she paused, head tilted to the left as she tried to determine its source. A moment later, she gently pushed open a door on her right as a second noise reached her ears. It was unmistakably the sound of tears, though whomever they belonged to was trying desperately to ease their flow as the accompanying sound of deep breaths echoed in the room.
The space before her was cloaked in shadows, the only illumination provided by the moonlight filtering in through the open doors to the balcony but it was enough for Snow to make out the vague outline of a hunched figure sitting against the far wall, shoulders shaking with every sob.
"Are you alright?"
The figure jerked in surprise, hands coming up to rub furiously at reddened eyes as Snow moved slowly across the room, unable to stay away from someone so obviously in distress.
"I'm fine," came a hoarse young voice tinged with rudeness, "What are you doing here? You shouldn't be in here."
Now standing, the figure became bathed in moonlit and Snow could clearly see the person whose grief she had disturbed was the kingdom's Prince James, his handsome visage unmarred even by the drying tear tracks upon his cheeks. A small flush suffused Snow's cheeks. Her father had kept her relatively sheltered from the young men of their kingdom and even with their redness, the prince's eyes were the brightest blue she had ever seen. Even so, the abruptness of the reply raised her ire and overcame her initial burst of shyness.
"I'm sorry, I did not intend to disturb you," Snow replied stiffly, determined to remain polite, "I heard crying and I only meant to make sure there was no one hurt. I'll leave you in peace."
She spun on her ankle, determined to flee but was stopped by a heavy sigh.
"Wait. I apologise for my manner of address, I should not have spoken to you that way."
Snow slowly turned back around to see a slightly sheepish expression on James' face followed by a spark of something she could not identify as he took in her full countenance for the first time.
"If my mother heard me address a young lady thusly, especially one as lovel...as compassionate as you seem to be, she would have scolded me something fierce," he explained, loss colouring his every word as his sentence trailed away to nothing. His head dropped, partly unwilling to fully show her emotions the mention of his mother had invoked, partly because of his aborted attempt at a compliment.
Her anger quelled by the sincerity of his apology and heart softened by his regard for her beauty, Snow once again approached the prince. This time she stopped mere feet away from him, unsure of how to offer comfort to the hurt young man before her and if he would even accept such a gesture from a stranger. A moment's indecision passed before she drew a deep breath and began to quietly speak.
"I lost my mother when I was very young and though I have no clear memories of her, I still feel her absence every day. The loss of one's parent creates an ache that no other can fill and I am truly sorry that you have to live with that sorrow as I do."
James raised his head questioningly, captivated by Snow's gentle voice.
"But after the sharp sting has faded, I am sure that you will take comfort in the fact as I do that as long as we remember them fondly, our departed loved ones will have never truly left us."
Head tilted down, it took Snow a moment to realise that the prince was staring at her with something akin to awe. Shifting uncomfortably under his scrutiny, she tried to focus anywhere but upon his face but was unable to stop from returning her gaze to his to gauge his reaction to her words.
Silence stretched between them for what seemed like an eternity, two souls connected through an understanding no-one who had not suffered through the same loss would understand and something else, a connection indefinable in its infancy but potent enough to render each of them helpless to its pull.
"Thank you Hope."
James' simple and sincere sentiment echoed in the space between them, their eyes still locked together with an intensity which stole the very breath from Snow's lungs.
"Hope?"
Snow raised an eyebrow in askance at the bestowed name.
"For that is what you have given me, hope that while she may be gone from this world, I will always carry my mother within my heart," James explained, hand coming up to rest against his chest.
"I have a name you know," she replied with amusement, the small smile blooming across her ruby lips concealing the rapid increase of her heart's rhythm at his earnest expression.
"I don't care, Hope suits you."
A grin lit up James' features with his words and in that moment, Snow was sure she would let him call her anything he wanted if meant that she would be able to bask in the glow of his smile every single day for the rest of her life.