Author's Note: Hi, everyone! Thank you for taking interest in my story. I deleted this one before because I didn't like where it was headed. Today, I revisited it again and suddenly found the inspiration to continue. For those who have followed this story before, you might notice some tweaks I have made, but they are necessary changes to make the story flow better.

To old and new readers, welcome! And I hope you'll enjoy this little adventure of mine.

1 | Snow

Rain was a constant in the small town of Storybrooke. It added tranquility to the already peaceful town, making the cozy coastal area easy to call home. Its residents woke up with the sun and retired when the moon rose. Everything and everyone moved like clockwork. It was too relaxed a town that the police force often find themselves with nothing to do. The only excitement that happens is whenever Will Scarlet gets one drink too many and finds himself in awkward situations.

But all that was about to change when a woman, who was wearing nothing but a thin nightgown and a dress robe, stumbled into town before passing out at the edge of the forest. There was a storm coming in that night, so the torrential rain has not been kind to her and her risk of catching pneumonia was off the charts.

The deputy was going through his rounds on that section of town the night he got the call from his sheriff. One of the miners had called in a panic, saying that they have found an unconscious girl they didn't recognize as they were coming into town. Turning the siren on, he sped towards the location. When he got there, Leroy's truck was parked beside it, and the seven miners were trying to figure out how to safely carry the girl into the truck. When he arrived, they looked at him with relief.

With a flashlight in hand, the deputy made his way to their huddle. His heart stuttered at the sight of the pale, soaked woman in dirtied clothes. He gave one of the miners his flashlight before he easily picked her up in his arms, worrying when he felt her temperature.

And that was when David Nolan first set his eyes on Mary Margaret Blanchard.

Most people his age were leaving town in search of something better. A small town was no place for big ambitions, but David Nolan never had the luxury of having big dreams to begin with. He needed to stay and take care of his mother. But he didn't mind. He loved Storybrooke. He loved that he knew everyone in town and called them by name. He loved his job, he loved his friends. Life was good.

In their small town, there were only a handful of mysteries they have yet to solve: how Mr. Gold knew every single item in his shop, what was in Granny's grilled cheese that made it so addictive, and who was the town prankster who kept sneaking into the town library after hours and messing up Belle's arrangement?

"Who has that much time in their hands?" Graham Humbert, his co-deputy, had huffed.

However, all that changed when a crazy woman decided to have a long stroll in the rain and contract pneumonia, possibly with the idea of dying within the confines of their hospital. David watched the flurry of activity around her hospital bed and wondered in what century the doctors and nurses of Storybrooke General were in the same state of panic.

Footsteps coming up to him made him turn his head. "I came here as fast as I could," Emma Swan, the town sheriff, told him. She was out of breath, her ponytail slightly coming loose, as she placed her hands on her hips. "How is she?"

"Her pulse was weak when we got here," David reported solemnly. "Doctor Whale says he's going to try his best, but what else is he supposed to say?"

"Do we know who she is? Did you find any ID on her?"

He shook his head. "She had nothing but the clothes on her back."

"Poor girl."

Emma then whipped out her phone, pressed a few buttons, before bringing it up to her ear. "Graham, I need you to check for any missing person reports. Not just in Maine. Female, early twenties, long black hair."

David drowned out her voice as he continued to study the pale girl on the bed. Was she running away from something? Was someone out there trying to hurt her? Where did she come from? Does she even remember anything? Hundreds of questions were running through his head before Emma nudged him to get his attention.

"You go home," the blonde ordered. "I'll take it from here."

"Wait," he said, turning his body to face her fully. "I want to talk to her."

His boss raised her eyebrow at him. "And why?"

"I found her."

"Technically, Leroy did."

He scowled. "I brought her to the damn hospital. She could've died out there."

Emma continued to study him before shrugging, "All right, chiseled chin. You can question her in the morning. By the looks of things, we won't be able to talk to her until tomorrow comes."

As they started walking down the hallway, he corrected her, "We? I said I'll talk to her."

"I'll be there to supervise."

"I'm not a child."

Emma snorted. "You're acting like one."

"Also, did you really just ask Graham to search for missing person reports?"

She took a long pause. "Yeah."

"With this town's ancient technology, we'll be lucky if he finds anything by next month."

She laughed. "Please. We'll be lucky if Graham finds the Internet connection first."

Mary Margaret found herself sitting on a hospital bed that early afternoon with no recollection of what happened the night before as she stared at the side profile of the most gorgeous man she had ever laid eyes on. If the universe gave her more treats like this, she might consider changing for the better. He was looking at her medical chart, and she wondered silently if he even understood what it said. There were a couple of nurses frequently walking by her bed, and by the looks of it, were busy checking out the hot deputy sitting on her bed instead of their patients.

"Well," David Nolan as he introduced himself earlier said with an easy smile. "No head injuries, no bruises, and it looks like pneumonia is out of the question. You're quite lucky."

Mary Margaret let out an unladylike snort. "Lucky."

"Sorry?"

"I'm not lucky," she shook her head, playing with the edge of her blanket. "I won't be sitting here if I were."

David shifted in his seat after putting away her chart. "Okay. Why don't we start with something simple? Can you tell me your name?"

Anxiety coursed through her veins at his words and made her realize that it was a mistake talking to him. He was the police, a position of authority, someone who at some point might have had a direct connection to her.

"Can we please skip that question?" she asked quietly.

He looked worried. "Do you not remember or –?"

"No, no, I remember," she assured him quickly. "I just don't want anyone to know I'm here."

He studied her for a moment. "And why is that?"

She took a moment before replying, "It's quite a long story. You might have some other things to do, deputy."

He grinned. "Would you believe me if I told you that I have the whole day?"

"No."

His smile widened. "I actually do."

She was amused but refused to let it show. "I see."

He scribbled something down in his notepad before asking, "Did you plan on coming into Storybrooke or was it by accident?"

She chewed her bottom lip before choosing to tell the truth. "I'm actually here on vacation."

"Oh, really?" he asked in amusement. "Tell me more."

She nodded. "Yeah. I'll be staying here a couple of days, maybe a week, two at most. Then I'll be on my way."

"May I know your itinerary?" he grinned. "I've lived here all my life. I can tour you around."

She was thoughtful for a moment before saying, "I'm not here for a tour. I'm just taking a break from reality. Storybrooke seemed like the perfect place for some quiet time."

"Storybrooke usually isn't the first place people think of when they want to take a vacation."

She shrugged. "I'm a strange girl."

His lips turned up in a small smile. "Yeah, you are."

They looked at each other for quite some time before she shyly broke eye contact. "Is that everything you need, deputy?"

He closed his notepad before turning his body to fully face her. "Look. I'll give you a brief background about Storybrooke if that's all right with you. This is a quiet town, nothing much happens around here. As the police, we like to keep it that way. Safe streets are our priority. So when a mysterious woman wanders into town in the middle of the night, and we have no information on who she is or what her agenda might be, we get a bit… skeptical."

"As you should."

"So you understand where I'm getting at, right?"

"I do," she told him. "But as you said, this is a small town. I might come from the city, but I know for a fact that information tends to spread rather quickly in small towns. And it would seem like this town is particularly close-knit. I just don't want to have my whereabouts reach the ears of the wrong people."

"You mean the people who are after you."

She stiffened, and her heart began thundering against her ribcage. She tore her eyes away from his face to look at the door, almost waiting for her to show up and take her back. But the door stayed closed.

"Do you know something?" she asked quietly.

"No," he said, a smile playing on his lips, as he scribbled again in his notepad. "But you answered my question with your body language, so thank you for that."

"Deputy."

"Call me David."

"Please take me seriously."

His eyes looked up at hers at her statement. "I do take you seriously."

She looked down at her hands. "I'm not here to cause any trouble. I'm just staying for a couple of days. If I cause the slightest bit of misbehavior, I'll let you take me in. Just please let my name go for now."

"Slight misbehavior only warrants a few hours of community service. You don't have to worry about that," he told her. She continued to wait for him to say what she needed to hear. "And, okay, I'll let your identity go. For now."

A sigh of relief escaped her lips. There was silence between them for a couple of seconds before he placed a hand on her fidgeting ones. "Hey. If you need help, all you have to do is ask."

Her eyes watered at his statement but that was overpowered by the surge of warmth that washed over her when their hands met. She lifted her watery eyes to his, ignoring the sympathetic look in them as she said lightly, "I'm okay. I told you. I just need a break from reality."

He searched her eyes before asking, "Is someone out there trying to hurt you?"

She got lost in his eyes, and for a moment, she almost spilled the beans about everything. He just seemed so trustworthy and kind. A rare sight for her.

After clearing her throat, she answered with, "I am going to need some help with my clearance form. Would you mind taking care of that for me? Being in the hospital wasn't part of my itinerary."

He smirked as he pulled his hand back, and Mary Margaret tried not to voice out her displeasure. "Only when the doctor says you can go."

"You'll do it?" she asked in surprise.

"On one condition," he said, holding a finger up. "I'm going to take your word that you're going to stay out of trouble during the duration of your stay. Can you promise me that?"

She quickly nodded.

"I'm going to need a name. Any name. For the forms."

She looked around the room for inspiration before a snowflake origami plastered on the wall caught her eye. "You can call me Snow."

"Just Snow?" his lips quirked upward.

"Just Snow."