Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone pertaining to Once Upon a Time, Disney, ABC and/or their associates. I just like the show and its characters. No copyright infringement intended. Not making any profit from this. So, please don't sue!

This story will revolve around the events that might have occurred in Snow White and Prince Charming's lives from the moment he wakes her up from the sleeping curse, till about the moment Regina sends them to Storybrooke, Maine. It will include elements already seen on Once Upon a Time (albeit perhaps a little differently, since I don't think I can keep constant track of every exact detail) as well as some other things/moments created by my own imagination.

A word:

I really want to do their story justice and honor these characters as best as I can. However, I will change the characters slightly. They will hopefully be darker and a little edgier. There will be cursing and sexual situations (hence the rating). The story itself might get a little AU since I have no way of knowing how things will pan out on the show in future; but it will begin and end with familiar events. Please bear with me on this journey, since it will likely be a long one.

(Also, please don't be put off by the fact that the first 3 chapters or so take place during a single moment. I will get the story moving a little faster as I go)

Thank you.

"Snow" Prince Charming whispered as he stumbled towards his beautiful princess encased in her glass coffin.

He was too late, the dwarf claimed when the prince demanded her delicate sarcophagus be opened. He was too late, his mind had screamed as the tears swelled in his eyes and spilled. He was too late, his heart hammered and raced inside his chest before the Prince felt like it too might falter and die without her. What was his heart without her? Nothing made sense without her.

The cold, blinding serenity of the icy forest seemed to be filtering into his bones. He was shivering. His breath was but a frosty, empty smoke. A numbing sensation spread through his limbs as he leaned against the nightmarish image of her frozen tomb; his knees no longer able to support the overwhelming weight of his grief.

His head dropped and he felt faint, but he would not move. He wanted to touch her. Wanted to touch her arms, her lips, the silky darkness of her midnight hair, pooling around her pale face like a shadowy halo; a dark halo of coal ringlets for his white angel.

The glass was stopping him. Yet it was the dizzying sensation of its tricky transparency that affected him most. The crystal seemed to mock him. Tricking his eyes into thinking he could reach out and touch her, but offering instead the smooth resistance of its surface in place of her tender skin.

The miniscule snowflakes started gathering atop the coffin, and as he stared into her peaceful, sleeping form he was suddenly enraged by the thought that the snow would cover his princess, and she's be forever lost under the thick layer of death. He would not let this happen. He would gather her into his arms and carry her away toward the warmth of a far away sunset, where he could feel the heat of her velvety skin once more.

Something touched his arm. One of the little men surrounding him was grabbing the fabric of his garments. The Prince didn't know whether he had said anything out loud that would betray his sorrowful, demented thoughts and the little men was trying to keep him at bay or if he was simply offering the comfort of a friendly hand to help him navigate his woes.

At that moment, Prince Charming, David, didn't care. She was his. Even in death, she was his. And, although he didn't feel strong enough to be able to fight these strange little guards if it came down to it, he would not give her up without spilling some blood first. Even if that blood ended up being his own.

"Open it" the Prince demanded again. The pain in his eyes shooting arrows at the bearded dwarf standing across from him on the other side of his Snow White.

Grumpy sighed. And he knew, by the look in the Prince's eyes, he knew that if he did not oblige this wounded man would not ask him again, but run him through with his sword if need be.

"She's gone" the dwarf tried to reason with him. But there is no reasoning with the mind of a desperate lover.

Prince Charming moved to open the coffin himself. Yet, even in his desperate state, he realized the slippery grasp of his numb fingers would not allow him to do so. The lid was heavier than he imagined.

He had fought so hard for her, come so far to be with her, loved her with the passion of the hopelessly in love, and yet here he was, unable to release her from this fragile looking cage. It had all been for naught.

Prince Charming trembled. And then, just as a condemned man on his way to the rope might beg the heavens for mercy, he too hung his head and begged. Begged for the mercy only touching her one last time could offer.

His anger and resilience crumbled all around him like the shattered walls of the weakened fortress of his love, and his voice was barely more than a whisper. "At least let me say goodbye"

(To be continued...)

Thanks for taking the time to read. Any reviews or comments will be greatly appreciate it! :)