What's 28 Years?
Once upon a time...
In a land far, far away, time was ticking. The dark curse was near. It would send many to a land where there are no happy endings and everyone is miserable. That was all anyone knew of this curse that the queen cast upon the land. That and that it would supposedly end in twenty-eight years due to Snow White's baby having the ability to break this dreadful curse.
The problem is, pregnant Snow must leave her dear Prince Charming behind. She must go through this magical wardrobe made by Geppetto that will take her to this land with no happy endings or magic before she's cursed with everyone else and the wardrobe can only take one. Their souls are so entwined that to be without each other for so long is as if the queen ripped their hearts out and crushed them anyway and she wasn't opposed to doing that literally.
It must be done. They must save everyone and this is the only way. The queen cannot win in her bitter quest for vengeance.
Snow's first contraction started and the queen already started the curse. Geppetto better hurry with that wardrobe.
Geppetto ran in just in time to inform them that the wardrobe was ready.
Charming grabbed his cape and put it on Snow.
"Stay warm and remember me." Charming said.
"I can never forget you as long I breathe, even after I stop." Snow replied.
He then handed her the baby's purple and white blanket which had Emma embroidered on the side. They went to the room where the wardrobe stood. The closer Snow got, the stronger her tears became.
"I love you!" Snow exclaimed.
"I love you too." The two kissed.
"We will find you." Snow said as she got in the wardrobe. As he closed the door, Snow remembered the words her sweet husband said to her earlier. "What's twenty-eight years when you have eternal love?" The door shut.
The queen's army bombarded the room, followed by The Evil Queen Regina herself.
"Where is she?" The queen yelled.
"You're too late. You won't win. Good always wins."
"Nooooo!" The queen was filled with rage and there was really nothing she could do about it now. The main one she wanted to hurt, escaped the curse.
-v-
Snow made it to the land with no magic. She came through a tree trunk and there was someone she didn't expect to see.
"Pinocchio? How did you get here?" Snow asked.
The boy looked down at his feet ashamed. "The wardrobe, it could really take two people." Pinocchio revealed.
"The lie. The betrayal." Snow thought but there was no time to really process it because there was a contraction again and it was much worse. "She's coming!"
"There's a light over there. Maybe there are people." Pinocchio pointed to a short distance.
They slowly made their way to a nearby diner. It was a lot to process at the moment but from what they could process, this place was strange!
"Help! Someone! My… mom's in labor." Pinocchio exclaimed.
"I'm a doctor!" A man announced and came to Snow's aid. He made her as comfortable as he could in a restaurant and yelled out some orders for people. "What's your name?"
"Snow White."
The doctor looked at her with a raised eyebrow but decided not to comment about it. Soon enough, Princess Emma was born.
"Do you have a name for her?" The doctor asked.
"Emma." Snow gazed down at her beautiful little girl and could see herself and her husband. This was the hardest thing she ever had to do but she knew it was worth it.
"Beautiful baby." A woman's voice said.
"Thank you." Snow then looked up from Emma, surprisingly, it was a familiar face. It brightened Snow's day just a little more. "Giselle!"
"Snow! I never thought I'd see you again." The bubbly and beautiful red head said.
"I wondered what happened to you but I guess I know now."
"I guess you finally found your Prince Charming."
"Yeah…"
"Where is he? Why are you here? Did you come out of a sewer too?"
"A wha-"
"Oh! It's a nasty hole thing. It's so nice see to you again, nice to see a friend from home."
"Same here."
"This world isn't like ours. It can be just awful. They don't believe in true love or happy endings or anything. People get divorced. It's so sad. Good news is, there are no ogres and they have electricity and indoor plumbing. It's their own magic." Giselle looked over to a handsome brunette in his forties and two girls, a fourteen year old curly haired brunette and an eight year old curly red head. "That's my husband Robert and my daughters Morgan and Andalasia (Andi). We'll help you. I know what it's like in this world for the first time. It's very scary."
"Thank you." Snow smiled. Her prayers were answered. "This is Pinocchio and Emma… It feels really good to see a friend."
-v-
In the car…
"What an interesting carriage." Snow said.
"They call it a car." Robert said.
"It's a very loud world." Snow said.
"We live in New York, you haven't heard loud yet. If I believed in coincidences, I'd say being at the same place at the same time is one of them but I don't. I think life just has a way of putting you right where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there." Giselle said.
"If you lie, will your nose grow?" Andi asked Pinocchio.
"Andi, you shouldn't ask people if their nose grows." Giselle said.
"Do I have to answer that?" Pinocchio questioned.
"No." Robert replied but really wanted to know. "You know, you should probably change your names, especially Pinocchio, kids will make fun of him like Rudolph."
"Can I change my name while we're here? I don't want to be made fun of like Rudolph." Pinocchio asked.
"Sure. Pick one." Snow replied.
"Forest." Pinocchio responded.
"Not unless you want people yelling at you to run all the time." Morgan laughed.
"Huh? Okay… Wayne."
"That's a keeper!" Andi exclaimed. Since she was Pinocchio's age, she would be a good source to help him navigate in this world.
"So how do you two know each other?" Robert asked.
"I hid out in Andalasia for a while when I was on the run from my step-mother and Giselle let me stay with her." Snow replied.
"Yes. Red introduced us."
"Red Riding Hood?" Robert questioned.
"How does he know Red?" Snow asked.
"There are stories about a lot of people from our world and many others here. Not quite sure how they got them but they're very popular, not all true either. You'll see. I don't think you'll like your story very much."
"What does it say?" Snow asked.
"For starters, they think you're naïve enough to accept food from a stranger and you're much more resilient than they make you out to be."
"You're right, I survived everything else that I've been through so I can survive here."
-v-
They arrived in New York, what a culture shock. The Philip house was a comfortable size and had four bedrooms. They gave the forth room to Snow and the children.
"How can I ever repay you?" Snow asked.
"Don't be silly. You don't owe us anything. Besides, remember you saved me from that troll? And when I almost fell in that hole? Or when I almost fell…" Giselle started.
"You fell a lot." Snow pointed out.
Giselle almost tripped over the rug. "Some things never change."
"There are some things you will need here, like a social security card, medical insurance, a job." Robert explained. It was all foreign language to Snow and that was all over her face. "You know what, I'll just make it happen and give it to you. What name will you use?"
"Snow White."
"But you-"
"I know what you said in the car thing but it's my name. I want to keep it. I need to hold on to something."
"So is White apart of your first name?"
"Of course, what else would it be?"
"They have last names here. It helps people identify you and your family, I guess. If you use White as your last name then Emma's name would be Emma White." Giselle attempted to explain.
"Okay…" Snow replied.
"He'll handle it." Giselle said before Robert left the room. "As far as the job, you can work with me. I have my own dress shop. It's also called Andalasia."
"Wonderful… Looks like you found your own prince."
"Yeah. Prince Edward was nice but I didn't know what love really felt like until I met Robert and Morgan. She's my step-daughter you know but it doesn't matter. Step-mothers aren't all bad."
Snow laughed a little. "Yeah I know."
Snow went to her room with Emma where Pinocchio, now Wayne sat sadly.
"What's the matter?" Snow asked.
"I know you don't want me here. My father lied to you, now you're stuck with me."
"Sweetheart, I'm not angry with you. Listen to me, we are in this together. From now on, we're a family and I will protect you as I will protect Emma. I understand why your father did what he did. I wish he didn't lie but I understand." Snow hugged him. "Are you okay?" Pinocchio nodded. "Now, are you sure you want Wayne to be your name from now on?"
"Have you heard the story of Rudolph? I'm just glad my nose won't grow here."
"Remember, you still have to be selfless, brave and truthful. It's the right thing to do and if you don't, one day the consequences will catch up with you."
"I know."
There was a knock at the door and Snow invited the person on the other side in. It was Robert with a crib.
"This was Andi's. Figured you need this." Robert said.
"You're so kind. Thank you!" This was the sweetest gesture but it surely made her miss her home.
"We have a lot of the girls' old things that you can use and Giselle's always making new clothes. Do you sew and clean with animals too?"
Snow laughed. "No. I can talk to them. I assume you don't do that here."
"No but Giselle does. You're not quite what I expected. Perhaps as sweet, maybe as hopeful, not at all as naïve."
"I must see these books and this movie thing in which you speak and see exactly what they're saying about me."
"We can watch it now if you're up for it."
"Sure."
He handed her a small white device. "It's a baby monitor. You put it next to the baby's crib so you can hear if she cries from another room."
"Fascinating."
"You know, it's okay to let her go for a while."
Snow hadn't put Emma down since the doctor handed her to her.
"Right. I guess, it's that I've just let go of everything I've ever known so I'm holding on to Emma for dear life. Can't say she hasn't had time to bond with me." Snow kissed Emma on the forehead then put her in the crib. "Come on Pin- Wayne."
They went in the living room to watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Morgan turned on the television. It startled Snow and Pinocchio. They looked at each other.
"It's a television." Morgan informed and put the video tape in the VCR. The movie began. Again, fascinating but…
When it ended, Snow started laughing hysterically at the movie. "I'm sorry. Is that supposed to be me? Okay. I can't let you all think this is the truth."
"So what's the truth?" Morgan asked.
"Now you get to hear it from the real Snow White." Giselle said.
"Well, I wasn't my step-mother's servant and yeah she's crazy but she's not that vain. She really wasn't mean to me growing up, she was just kind of distant. She killed my father when I was eighteen and that's when I had to survive in the forest. I wasn't a child. That's crazier. I met Red first and stayed with her and Granny for a while. They showed me how to survive. Then I met Charming, I stole from him, my engagement ring actually."
"You were a thief?" Andi asked with wide eyes.
"No. I only stole from my step-mother which really wasn't stealing because it was really mine anyway and I thought I was stealing from her not him. Later, I stayed with Giselle, she reminded me to stay hopeful because after what I've been through, it's hard sometimes and it still is. When I went back to the Enchanted Forest, the queen arrested me. That's how I met Grumpy, in a cell and another dwarf bailed us out. There used to be eight of them by the way. That's when I moved in with the dwarves. So anyway, there was a lot going on so Charming and I couldn't be together, we found each other, lost each other, found each other again. The queen gave me a poisoned apple. I ate it because I thought it would save the kingdom but no she didn't dress up like a hag and trick me. So Charming kissed me to wake me, that part's right. We got married. I became pregnant."
"And you lived happily ever after?" Andi asked.
"Not quite. My step-mother didn't die, we overthrew her so she cast a spell so that we would all come here and be miserable and have no idea what's going on. Meanwhile, I escaped the curse with my baby and Pinocchio. To be continued."
"That version's kind of miserable." Morgan said.
"There are happy moments but it's not a fairy tale, it is real life."
"You must hate your step-mother." Robert said.
"No. I still love her or I love who she was. The most false thing about that movie is, it doesn't show her as a person. It shows her as a villain and she's much more complicated than that. She wasn't always that way but I'm the only one who knows that. I keep hoping she'll become the woman I met again. I'm sure the entire kingdom blames me on some level for all that's happened because I keep saving her and if she were dead, well they wouldn't be cursed now. But think of it this way, the evil queens are just the princesses who were never saved. Emma, Pinocchio and I will save all of them, no matter how long it takes."
Fun Fact: If you didn't know, Wayne was August's middle name on the show and it means "craftsman." Makes sense, right. Never knew why they decided to name him August so I went with Wayne.