She walks in the darkness, shivering, the pouring rain has soaked through her clothes all the way to her skin, the water dripping from her hood and her hair, blinding her. Lightening strikes illuminating the large building in front of her and then she's left back in the darkness. She has no idea if it's a house or a barn. She stumbles blindly towards it. She has a knife tucked in her belt so she is not completely defenseless, still her heart beats faster and her hands shake as she prepares to knock. She places her hand on the handle of her knife hanging from her belt, just in case. She has no idea what she will face inside, but she doesn't have a choice. She is soaked and hungry. The forest is incredibly hostile tonight.

She knocks on the door and holds her breath. Then she waits. A man opens the door. He takes one look at her and he steps aside making room for her to come in. The heat from the room instantly reaches her face,as well as the smell of freshly baked cherry pie. She can hear the sounds of a crackling fire. Still, she doesn't walk inside right away.

"Come on in," he says sensing her hesitation."We weren't expecting anyone in this storm."

She sizes him up. Blond hair, blue eyes, friendly smile, relaxed broad shoulders, standing there, his hand holding the door open, not in any way dangerous or threatening, so she lets go of the hilt of her knife and steps inside.

"Do you need a room?" he asks.

She looks at him. "How did you know?" she frowns.

"This is an inn," he replies with a half smile. "This is what people usually come here for. That, and our pie." He is looking at her inquisitively, but her face is concealed by her hood.

"Oh," she frowns. "I didn't realize... it's dark out there, I didn't see a sign... I'm lost, I need a place for the night, but I can't pay you" she replies. Then she adds "I'm a princess, and as soon as I find my way back to my kingdom I'll make sure you are rewarded handsomely."

"A princess?" he replies. His eyes fall on her worn out boots, her soaked mended cape now dripping puddles of water on the wooden floor. She certainly isn't dressed like a princess. "We do not get a lot of royals in these parts. Where are you from?"

An easy enough question only she draws a blank. Where is she from? How does she not know that?

"I..." she stumbles. "I'm not sure..." she knows that she sounds like she is lying through her teeth. Like she is telling a half baked story because she clearly doesn't have the information to back it up. He should throw her out and shut the door in her face, she realizes. Or she should save herself the embarrassment , she could just turn around and get out before he throws her out. But it's so cold outside and his fireplace feels warm and inviting, and she doesn't want to go out there again. She is so hungry. She needs to explain, she needs to plead her case. She looks at him and she can't come up with anything to say. She could just randomly pick a kingdom and pretend she is from there, but she doesn't want to lie to him. "Look, I know it sounds like I'm making all this up, but I'm telling you the truth..." she says and she looks at him. "Please..."

Her hood slides back. Striking green eyes, red lips, cheeks flushed from the cold, long dark hair dripping wet. She must be freezing. He stands still for a brief second struck by her beauty, then he shakes his head slightly. He pulls a chair close to their fireplace, adds a log to the fire.

"We'll get you a room, " he says. "Let's get you warmed up first. Have a seat, you look frozen. Are you hungry? Would you like some soup?"

She still looks worried. She sits at the edge of the chair he offered. He comes back with a steaming bowl of soup and two slices of bread. She reaches for his hand. "I can't pay you for any of this," she mumbles.

He glances at her fingers on his hand. "Yeah," he shrugs, "you already said that, we'll figure something out" then he turns to the door. "Ruby!" he calls out. "We have company."

A beautiful woman shows up through the door wiping her hands on her red apron."Hello," she smiles. "Would you like a room with a view? Its a little more expensive but it's well worth it, you can see clear all the way to the edge of the forest..-."

"Yeah, about that," he interrupts her, "she will pay for the room after she gets back to her kingdom." Ruby looks at him and raises her eyebrows.

"Her kingdom?" she asks.

"She is a princess," he replies.

Ruby takes one look at the woman who is staring at her, waiting for her verdict. She glares briefly at the man, then she walks out of the room without another word.

"Excuse me," the man says and he follows Ruby out of the room.

Ruby is in a bedroom fluffing up a pillow when he finds her. "I too am a queen in my spare time, would you like to see me curtsy?" she replies and then she pulls the covers back on the bed.

"Which room should I give her?" he asks, ignoring her sarcastic remark.

"The barn," she replies without even turning around to look at him.

"Ruby, come on, it is freezing cold out there," he replies.

"No, you come on. Her story is ridiculous, you know it and I know it, but you are going to give her a room anyway even though she is lying to your face?"

"There's a storm outside," he tries to argue, "what would you have me do, throw her out?"

Ruby shakes her head. "I get it David, she is pretty but I expect more from you. We can't afford to be letting people stay here for free. And she is nothing like your usual charity cases. At least they have the decency to tell the truth!"

"You can't know for sure that she is lying," he replies.

"Yes, yes I can," she replies. "Tell you what, I'll prove it to you...I'll give her the yellow room," Ruby replies.

"The yellow room?" he asks all confused."The room you are using to store the old mattresses?" he asks.

"Exactly," she smiles. "It is a room fit for a princess. Come on, follow me. I'll show you."

David follows Ruby to the yellow room. There's one bed in the middle of the room and on top of it Ruby has pilled up fifteen old mattresses. "Hand me a pair of sheets," Ruby asks. David comes back with sheets and two pillows.

"What exactly are you up to?" he asks.

"You'll see," she laughs and she brings a step stool. She climbs on the step stool and she makes the bed on the top mattress.

"What is this?" he asks.

"You'll see," she repeats and she walks out of the yellow room. She comes back and she is holding a single pea in her hand. She shows it to him then she shoves the pea under the bottom mattress. She turns to him triumphantly.

"Now we 'll know if she is actually a princess," she says.

"How?"

"Well if she is a princess used to luxury, she will be uncomfortable tonight. Only a princess would feel a pea underneath fifteen mattresses."

"Clearly she has been roughing it for a while. Maybe she is used to sleeping in the forest. This will prove nothing."

"Real princesses do not sleep in the forest," Ruby states emphatically.

"Princesses who run away do. I've heard of princesses becoming bandits, or warriors or pirates. Princesses can be a lot tougher than you'd think."

"Since when did you become such an expert on princesses? I've certainly never met one before in my life..."

"Everybody knows that," he shrugs. "Come on Ruby, do you really expect her to sleep on top of fifteen mattresses? What if they topple over and she falls down?"

"Oh no, she might bruise, her imaginary king father could come after us. Whatever will we do!" Ruby replies raising her hand to her forehead dramatically, then she crosses her hands and glares at him. "It's either that or the barn!" she snaps.

"I don't get it, why are you being so hostile?" he frowns.

"I don't like being conned by girls who flutter their pretty eyelashes," Ruby replies. "If she had said, please, I'm broke, let me work for a bed tonight, it would be different. Instead she thinks she can take us for a ride..."

He sighs. "She didn't flutter her eyelashes," he replies. "She was nice about it...Look if she was a con artist she'd have a better story..."

"Really? That's your argument? She is not a con artist because she is not any good at it?"

"Ruby...-"

Ruby rolls her eyes. "Save it," she says and she walks away.

David shrugs. He builds a fire in the fireplace in the yellow room. Ordinarily they charge extra for the use of the fireplace in the bedrooms, but if Ruby is going to make the princess sleep on top of fifteen mattresses, then keeping her warm is the least he can do. When he returns to the main room he finds the princess scraping the bottom of her bowl with her spoon. She's already eaten all her soup. She looks really embarrassed.

"Can I get you some more?" he asks.

She glances at his face then she looks down. He is nice and incredibly handsome, she thinks, too bad his wife isn't anything like him. She nods. "Yes, please. Thank you."

He refills her bowl and hands it back to her. "Your hands are frozen," he mumbles. He comes back with a blanket and he wraps it around her shoulders.

She looks down again. She tries to eat her soup slowly this time, but she is still really hungry so she ends up practically eating the whole thing in three spoonfuls. He refills her bowl and brings her more bread. She is eating slower now and she can't stifle her yawn. The crackling fire is lulling her to sleep.

"Let's get you to your room," he smiles.

The sound of his voice startles her. She must have fallen asleep.

"Thank you," she mumbles.

"Come on," he says and he leads her around the corner to the yellow room. Her eyes open wide when she sees the stack of mattresses on top of the bed. She turns to look at him questioningly, and he can't stand the intensity of her gaze. She doesn't ask any questions. He doesn't know what to say to her, doesn't know how to explain this. He wishes he had stood up to Ruby and put a stop to her little experiment.

"Goodnight," is all he says and he is about to leave the room.

"Wait," she says. " You are incredible kind to me and I might not get a chance to thank you later."

"You are welcome," he replies."Wait, what do you mean you might not get a chance...why, are you going somewhere ?"

"Look, I don't mean to cause more problems between you and your wife, so I'll be out of here first thing in the morning."

He looks at her confused. "My wife?" he asks. "Who, you mean Ruby? Ruby is my sister."

"Oh," she looks at him closely, "she doesn't look anything like you," she blurts out before she can stop herself.

"Yeah, we get that a lot," he shrugs. "Where are you going to go anyway?"

Her heart skips a beat. He seems genuinely concerned. She shakes her head and looks down. "I'll figure something out," she replies. Her hand is fumbling with the edge of her cape. She looks so lost.

"Well, you don't need to be in a great hurry, you can stay here as long as you need, business is incredibly slow this winter, " he replies."You can stay as long as you like."

"Thank you," she whispers. He walks out and shuts the door behind him. She takes off her boots and her cape and places them on a chair next to the fireplace, then she arranges the rest of her clothes close to the fire, to dry them up. She climbs up on top of all the mattresses and she huddles under the takes a few minutes for her sheets to warm up. She lays there in the dark thinking of today's adventure and she can't help smiling. He is not married, she thinks and just like that she drifts off to sleep.

3 days earlier...

"Sorry I'm late," the Evil Queen bursts through the door in the hall of ceremonies interrupting Snow and Charming's first kiss as husband and wife. She rushes towards them throwing their knights away with just by move of her hand.

The crowd gasps.

"Oh, no, it's the Queen!" Doc exclaims.

"She is not a Queen anymore," Snow replies unsheathing Charming's sword with one swift motion and pointing it at Regina. "She is nothing more but an Evil Witch!"

"No, no, no, don't stoop to her level, there's no need" Charming says pulling her hand down slowly, taking his sword back. "You are wasting your time, you've already lost and I' won't let you ruin this wedding..." he says, standing in between the Queen and Snow White.

"Oh, I haven't come here to ruin anything, on the contrary I've come to give you a present."

"We want nothing from you!" Snow yells.

"But you will have it. My gift for you on this happy happy day is a string of endless stories. You think your love is so special, you think your love is so pure, you think you were meant for each other, you think that people will forever remember you as a prince and a princess who truly loved each other... Well, I'm here to change that. I planned on cursing the entire kingdom but I decided to focus the curse just on you and those closest to you... Every story carries pain and you get to experience it all. From this day on you will tumble endlessly from story to story, infinite stories, infinite possibilities, infinite pain. You will no doubt find each other and the moment you share true love's kiss you will loose each other again and again and again until you give up, until you let go, until you are broken and lose all hope, until you decide that you are better off alone! People will point to you and say this is what happens to a princess and a prince when they dare defy the Evil Queen. Now, what do you say, shall we get started? Once upon a time...-" the Queen yells and she tosses black dust to the floor. Smoke rises from the ground, so dark and thick, it completely blinds them.

"Charming!" Snow sobs as he pulls her in closer. She grabs on to him and holds on as tight as she can, "don't let go, don't ever let go!" she says crying, because she can no longer see him.

"Snow!" he yells because he can no longer feel her, he can't see her, can't hear her voice, "I will find you...I will always find you..."

And now...

Ruby is in the kitchen frying eggs, David is putting on his boots by the door when the woman walks into the room.

Ruby throws a quick glance at David and then she turns to look at the woman. She has dark circles around her eyes and she can't stifle her yawn.

"Good morning," Ruby smiles brightly. "Did you sleep good?"

"It was very kind of you to give me a room for the night, thank you," the woman evades the question and then she yawns again.

"Yes. But were your accommodations comfortable?" Ruby asks impatiently.

"They were..." the woman hesitates. Both David and Ruby are looking at her. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but there was a lump on my bed, I couldn't catch a wink of sleep..." she replies hesitantly.

Ruby gapes at her. David bites the inside of his mouth to prevent himself from bursting out laughing because the incredulous look in Ruby's face is just priceless.

"Forgive us, princess" he says, ''we have many empty rooms. Your bed tonight will be comfortable, I promise."

Ordinarily Ruby would be glaring at him but she is still staring at the woman in shock. How did she feel a pea under fifteen mattresses?

"Well, if I'm going to stay here longer, I mean to earn my keep," the princess replies softly, "Anything I can do to help?"

Ruby glances quickly at David and then she looks back at the woman.

David recognizes the sparkle in his sister's eyes. What is she up to now?

"Do you know how chop onions?" Ruby asks pointing to the onions hanging at the pantry door .

"I do," the princess replies. She sits on a stool by the kitchen table.

The princess spends the next twenty minutes tearing up while chopping onions. She chops them into neat small pieces. She has definitely done this before. Ruby glances triumphantly at David. How can she be a princess if she knows how to chop onions?

And that's how their game gets started. Over the course of the next two months the princess is unknowingly participating in a complicated game of dares. Ruby asks her to perform the most outlandish tasks, figuring a princess wouldn't stoop that low, wouldn't know how to do these things. Will she help her skin a rabbit? Will she help David set traps for the rats in the basement? Will she help her pluck a goose? Will she climb on the roof with David to fix the roof leaks? Can she collect five different kinds of edible weeds? Will she chase the piglet that run away? Will she help hunt the weasel that keeps killing their chickens? Over and over the woman steps up, she does everything Ruby asks. Ruby insists that she can't possibly be a princess. David on the other hand is asking her questions, questions only a royal would know. She can answer all of them. She can identify most of they royal crests, she knows most of the Enchanted Forest dialects, she has interesting opinions on the strategies each of the kingdoms followed during the ogre wars, she is familiar with the most important fairies, she knows the subtle differences in the trade laws of the Southern and the Northern kingdom, she understands the financial burdens the royals impose on the farmers, she knows the steps to several complicated dances most commoners haven't even heard of. If she is not a princess she has certainly had an impressive education.

In the end Ruby and the princess are best friends, they are always laughing and giggling when they are alone. Ruby no longer cares whether the woman is a princess or not but she keeps playing the game because it gives them something to do. It's a long cold winter and there are hardly any guests in the inn. And David, well, David loves her. He loves everything about her. She is guarded, quiet, extremely grateful for all the help she is receiving. But then Ruby will ask her to help him with something hard and unusual. And she will be quick to comply with whatever task Ruby has come up with, no matter how difficult. He loves it when she comes along to help him out. She is funny and smart and delightfully feisty at times, she is down to earth and quite honest except when asked questions about her past or her kingdom. She tries hard to answer but really she seems to remember nothing about where she came from.

"What's the score?" Ruby asks after the princess has said goodnight and gone to bed. David is locking up for the night.

He shrugs."No idea, you were the one keeping score, but I'm winning. She is definitely a princess."

"Maybe we should forget the score, and you should just be brave enough to ask her the one question that really matters," Ruby looks at David intently.

"What question is that?" David frowns.

"Would a princess marry an innkeeper?" Ruby asks and she walks out of the room before he gets a chance to respond.

He stands there looking towards her bedroom. He could. He could just knock on her door drop to his knees and ask her to marry him. He looks around at the inn. It's not much. They are barely making ends meet. All he has to offer her is a heart full of love, and even though he knows that's enough he feels like he owes her a bit more than that.

Ruby is out shopping in the morning. David is fixing the back fence.

"Do you need help?" the princess asks.

He jumps. "I didn't hear you," he laughs.

"Sorry," she smiles."Didn't mean to startle you."

"It's fine. Could you hold that in place for me?" he asks pointing to a large wooden board.

"Sure," she replies and then she turns to him and asks "What's the score?"

He almost smashes his finger with the hammer. He turns around to look at her. "The score?" he asks hesitantly.

"You know. The game you guys play. Do I act royal enough to be a princess. Who is winning?"

"You know about that?" he asks hesitantly and he searches her face carefully. Is she angry? Is she upset? She is smiling back at him. "I'm not sure," he replies.

"Well you never doubted me, even though my story doesn't make any sense, so I think you should win," she says and she very much enjoys the stunned look on his face.

He hammers the board in place because he is not sure what to say next.

"So, what's the important question you are supposed to ask me?" she asks.

Again he turns to look at her. "About whether princesses eavesdrop? I think we all know the answer to that!" he smirks. She laughs, then she punches him in the arm.

"Do princesses get violent?" he continues. "Just learned the answer to that one as well!"

"Look, you don't survive an evil stepmother and an assassination attempt without a fair amount of eavesdropping!" she replies.

He looks at her, eyes wide open. "A stepmother? An assassination attempt? What else do you remember?"

She is still laughing. She looks at him. "What?"

"You just said that you survived and assassination attempt by an evil stepmother!"

Her turn to look shocked. "I said that, didn't I?"

"You did!"

"I wasn't thinking, I just blurted it out."

"This is incredibly serious. Can you remember anything else?"

She leans on the fence and closes her eyes, trying to force her brain to cooperate. She draws a blank. "I don't," she whispers, she bumps he head against the fence. "I wish I could remember, I wish I could figure this out and then I wouldn't be a burden, I could help you guys with the bills and...-"

"You are not a burden," he interrupts. "You are not."

"Look, you are incredibly kind but I've stayed at your inn for two months, and if I had somewhere else to go, you know I would but...-"

"I don't want you going anywhere else," he starts saying. He takes a deep breath. Time to tell her. "About my question," he starts to say, "there's something I need to tell you but I feel that...-"

"The Queen is coming to town!" A breathless Ruby exclaims and they both jump and turn to look at her. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"

"Which Queen?" David frowns.

"Queen Regina of the Northern kingdom. David! Could you go to the market for me?"

"Didn't you just come from the market?" he asks.

"There is going to be a small fair in honor of the Queen. I want to bake an apple pie. Could you go get me some more apples please? Can you imagine if an actual Queen tastes my pie?"

"Sure, I'll go," David shrugs. "Do you want to come along?" he turns to the princess.

Ruby watches her face light up at his invitation.

"Yes," she replies. He smiles back and offers his arm and they walk away together. They look picture perfect. Why doesn't David make a move, Ruby wonders. Maybe he needs a little push towards the right direction. Ruby knows just the thing. She walks back to her room and pulls out her dresses. She picks a white one. This one will do nicely, she thinks.

David is about to pick a juicy apple from the fruit stand at the market. The princess grabs his hand and pulls it back.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" he turns to ask her. "What is it?" he asks all worried because her face is white and her hands are shaking. She takes a step back.

"What's wrong?" he asks and he places his hand on her shoulder. "Did something scare you?"

"No apples," is all she can manage to reply.

"Ruby wants to bake an apple pie. We'll never hear the end of it if we don't get her apples," he tries to joke but she is still pale, shaking her head.

"Gooseberries then?" he asks.

She nods.

"Gooseberries," he concedes.

"What happened?" he asks when they are on the way home and she has found her voice again "What did you feel? Did you remember something?"

"It was the strangest thing," she frowns, "I saw you reach for the apple and I panicked, like you were in immediate danger," she explains.

"That's strange," he replies. "Apples aren't dangerous, unless...-"

"I know...I must be loosing my mind," she mumbles and she walks faster.

"No, I don't think that at all. I think we are getting closer."

"Closer to what?"

"Figuring out who you are," he replies.

"Where are my apples?" Ruby asks looking at the gooseberry filled basked he just handed her."Gooseberries? That'a not even close to what I sent you to the market for," she frowns.

"You are making a gooseberry pie," David replies.

"Am I now? May I ask why?"

David looks at the princess. "Because apples are scary," he shrugs and then he turns to face the princess: "I think you might have eaten a poisoned apple," he says and he watches her. "You said you stepmother tried to kill you...Do you remember anything about a poison apple?"

She takes a step back and touches her throat.

"I take the apple and he lives? Is that the deal you want to make?" she whispers.

"What?" he smiles. "Who lives? What did you just say?"

"What did I say?" she asks blinking rapidly. Her hands are shaking.

"Gibberish," Ruby replies. "What you said made no sense. Why does it matter who you used to be? If you are happy here, now, that's all that matters right? Do you want to help me bake my pie?"

"You are pushing her too hard to remember and she doesn't. You are scaring her. Forget about the past and tell her how you feel. It's not that difficult!" she whispers to David and then she follows the princess to the kitchen.

Ruby and the princess are getting ready for the fair. Ruby is wearing a bright red dress. The princess is wearing Ruby's white dress and it fits her perfectly. It brings out her eyes. David is waiting for both women by the door. When they come out he sees the princess in Ruby's beautiful white gown, her hair in loose curls framing her face. She looks absolutely breathtaking. David takes a step back and he forgets to breathe.

"Well? What do you think?" Ruby asks.

"About what?" he stammers.

Ruby rolls her eyes."I took in my white dress, now it fits her perfectly, I think that she looks really nice...-"

David shakes his head. "You can't wear that!" he states firmly.

"Excuse me?" Ruby snaps. "Why not? Explain yourself brother! Better yet, tell me what gives you the right to dictate what she will be wearing!"

David shakes his head fast and turns to face both women. "No, that's not what I'm saying...not what I meant at all. Wait!" he says. He heads to the bookshelf and pulls out a map. He opens it up at the table."Hear me out," he says.

"What does a map have to do with anything? You are not making any sense! " Ruby asks all confused.

"Look," he turns to the princess "you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life. And if you wear that dress everybody's eyes will be on you and we can't have that."

"Why not? Are you jealous?" Ruby asks still frowning.

David casts a quick glance in her direction then he looks back to the princess. He points to the map. "King Midas of the Eastern kingdom has one daughter, her name is Abigail, she is happily married and accounted for. The king of the Western forest has twelve daughters. All of them are accounted for. The king of this kingdom here," he points to the map "has two sons. This king here had a daughter. She is currently missing. The rumor is that she made a deal with the Dark One and she lives with him. In this kingdom there are five sons and two daughters. Over here" he points to the Northern kingdom, "the king's name was Leopold. His wife died and he remarried Regina the current Queen. He had a daughter from his first marriage and nobody know what happened to her. Two different kingdoms with missing princesses but only one with a stepmother. And Regina, is in our town today. Until you came here, there has never been a royal in our parts. And now a queen is actually here. You can't think that's a coincidence! I think that she is your stepmother. So you either skip the fair altogether, or you wear the plainest clothes you can find, cover up your face, blend in with the crowd, take a look at the Queen and see if you remember her."

The princess looks closely to the map where he's carefully marked out the borders and written down the names of kings and queens and their children. She places her hand on his arm.

"You did this for me?" she asks. "You spent your time figuring this all out for me?"

Ruby smiles and exits the room quietly.

"This is what you want isn't it?" he replies quietly. "Didn't you want to know where you were from?"

She nods.

"Except I'm afraid that it doesn't look good...-" he says and his voice trails off.

She doesn't reply she just looks at him. "Thank you!" she whispers.

He smiles. "It was nothing, I just asked the merchants that crossed into town a few questions..."

"David, there are over twenty five kingdoms on this map," she replies. "That was a lot more than nothing...I'll go change."

Snow comes back dressed with the clothes she had on when she first got here, the hood from her cape carefully concealing half her face.

"Ready!" she says.

Ruby, still in her beautiful dress holding her gooseberry pie approaches the women who are holding pies and deserts in honor of the visiting queen. The princess holding onto David's hand tightly sneaks behind the crowd and steps on her toes trying to catch a glimpse of the queen.

"Gooseberry!" the Queen says and stick her finger in Ruby's pie."That's kind of old fashioned." She licks her finger. "Not bad," she says "but you should know that I prefer apple. Now, did anyone bake an apple pie? Because I will have an apple pie if it's the last thing I do..."

Ruby, bows and the princess standing behind her looks at the Queen's face. She is wearing an intricate form fitting black gown, her hair is up in an elaborate hairstyle. She looks up and the princess gasps.

"What is it?" David whispers. "Do you recognize her?"

She doesn't reply, she just starts running towards the forest. He runs after her. When she notices him following her she just reaches for his hand and keeps on running.

"What is going on?" he asks quietly when she stops briefly behind a large oak trying to catch her breath. She turns to look at him and once again she gasps and and she smiles at him and somehow this is the saddest smile she's ever given him. He can't stand seeing her this sad. He runs his fingers through her hair.

"It's you!" she says and she caresses his face with her hand.

"What's wrong?" he asks again.

She shakes her head and buries her face in his chest. Everything is wrong, she knows that now.

"Talk to me, whatever it is, we'll figure things out...-" he tries to say.

She nods and she takes both his hands in hers. He is smiling at her. She is being so bold, this isn't like her.

"Did the Queen see you?" she asks.

"The Queen? No I don't think so..."

"Good," she replies letting out a sigh of relief. "David, I don't know how much time we have..."

"Time for what?" he asks.

She shakes her head, tears streaming down her face. "I remember," she replies,"I remember."

"That's great," he replies. "Isn't that what you wanted?"

She nods.

"What's your name?" he asks.

She shakes her her head again. "I can't tell you, I can't tell you anything."

"Why not?" he frowns.

"I just can't. I want to tell you everything, believe me I do, but I can't. I can't," she whispers once more. " Do you trust me?"

He nods immediately, "I do."

She smiles through her tears. "I know you do. I came to your inn and gave you a ridiculous story and still you believed me..."

"I love you. I was going to tell you earlier, but I figured you should know who you were first. And now that you do, you don't have to tell me anything. I love you, and if you are in danger we can run away, we can leave all this..."

She nods, so moved because he is saying exactly what he said to her once before. He hasn't changed, he might think he is a meek innkeeper but the real David is in there bleeding through. She nods quickly, smiling through her tears."I love you too," she whispers. "I love you so much!"

"You do?" he says and the joy in his face makes her want to cry harder. She wishes she could go back, she wishes she could erase her real memories, then she could relish the joy of finding out he loves her for the very first time.

"I do. I've loved you since the first moment I saw you," she replies.

"Well you don't have to worry, I've made arrangements, we can go, we can hide, your stepmother will never find you, I'll keep you safe..."

"I know you will, Charming" she replies

"Charming?" he smiles.

"That's what I'm calling you," she smiles.

"I'm not a prince," he mumbles.

"Trust me," she smiles, her voice cracking, "I recognize a prince when I see one. When do you want to go?"

He looks at her surprised. He expected that he would have to talk her into running away with him, he didn't expect her to find her so ready, so eager, so trusting. "Marry me," he blurts out and then he shakes his head. He wants to do this right. He drops to one knee. "Will you marry me?"

She nods. "Yes, yes I will marry you!" she replies crying. He gets up and he leans in to kiss her. She pulls back and places her finger on his lips. "Not yet," she whispers. "Please, don't kiss me yet...I'm not ready..."

"Of course," he replies taking a step back but she can see that her refusal did sting him a little. She moves forward and buries her face in his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I'm so sorry," she whispers, "but I need you to trust me."

"I trust you," he replies.

"Will Ruby be terribly worried if we don't go home tonight?" she asks.

He shakes his head. "No, she knows I have plans to take off with you if you are in danger..."

"You told her?" she smiles. Then she sits down and motions him to sit down with her. He sits next to her keeping his distance, a little confused. What did she mean when she said she wasn't ready? He was just going to kiss her, he wasn't expecting anything more. She senses his hesitation and she sits closer to him, leaning her head on his chest. He holds her tighter.

"What's your plan?" she asks.

He explains his plan in detail, the money he's saved, the routes they could take, the kingdom he thinks they should run off to. She closes her eyes and listens to the sound of his heart beating, the sound of his voice. She's missed him so much and this, this is the closest she feels she can get to him, without jeopardizing everything. She is not willing to let him go, not yet. She tells him that his plans are great, she tells him that she'd follow him anywhere, she'd do anything just so the two of them could be together.

He feels so happy and so afraid at the same time. He knows there's a lot she is not telling him, he knows her heart is broken and he has no idea what is the cause of it, he doesn't know how to fix it, he doesn't know what it is that he is doing wrong.

"Remember," she says softly," I will always find you."

"Find me?" he smiles."You don't need to find me, I'm right here."

"Of course you are, Charming" she smiles and tries hard not to burst into tears.

He smiles twirling her hair with his fingers. She doesn't mean to fall asleep, not when they are finally together, but she hasn't felt this loved and this safe in a long time and it is such a comfort to finally be in his arms.

David wakes up when the first rays of sunshine hit his eyes. She is laying in his arms still sleeping. He smiles. He feels so happy. Her lips are right there, beckoning for a kiss but he is going to respect her wishes so he lifts her hand to his lips instead. And then it happens. A flash of light, a tremor on the ground, a pulse of pure love and he is overwhelmed by the flood of memories that hits him. He sits up fast and looks at her horrified.

"Snow!"he calls out to her, "Snow, I'm so sorry, all I did was kiss your hand, I am so, so sorry!"

She opens up her eyes and smiles at him. "It's alright Charming," she replies. "It was inevitable, really..."

"No!" he yells as she disappears again, slipping through his fingers. "No, no, no, no, " he yells as the dark smoke rises around him. "I will find you, I will always find you!" he yells and he is on the ground, on his knees, crying, his heart broken in a million pieces calling, out for her in the dark. "Snow! Snow White! What did you do to her? Where did you send her this time? What did you do?"

From this day on you will tumble endlessly from story to story, infinite stories, infinite possibilities. You will find each other and the moment you share true love's kiss you will loose each other again and again and again until you give up, until you let go, until you decide that you are better off alone...

He can hear the Queen's laughter echoing in the distance and he is reaching for his knife when he disappears as well.

She is dancing in the ocean, swimming, moving her magnificent tale fast. No other mermaid ever comes up here to admire the sunset. She usually doesn't mind being alone except today. Today the silence is overwhelming, it's too much to bear. Perhaps she should forget waiting for the sunset and she should go back to the underwater palace, back to her sister. She is about ready to dive her head back in the water when he sees the large white sails of the royal schooner far away in the horizon.

"Humans!" she mumbles. She knows it's dangerous but she is feeling lonely and reckless, so she dives her head in the water and she swims closer to the large vessel.

He is standing on the deck of his schooner, his hands crossed on his chest, his feet planted firmly on the ground, staring absentmindedly at the ocean. This is his last trip as a single man and he plans to enjoy every minute of it...

Well, this is the beginning of my new story. Hope you liked it. Let me know your thoughts. I'm listening.

Also, what's your favorite fairytale? Is it a fairytale that could get the Snowing treatment? I'm not promising anything but I'm open to suggestions and ideas...

I'm going to make an effort to update consistently on Saturday mornings (US, Pacific time).

Coming up next, the little (Snowing) mermaid.