Notes: Thanks for all the feedback (reviews, followers and favorites). A few commented on the missing separation between hospital scene and flashbacks/memories. When I started the story I pondered how to do it and finally I decided to not distinguish between the different timelines. Even so it can be confusing and difficult to read; I chose this way to show how memories invade our daily life and how the flashbacks and the dialog complement each other. Hope you enjoy the story anyway. By the way, the memories aren't in chronological order.
Konako: Can you guess which drawing I used as inspiration for a flashback? Hope you like it
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"Where is she?" They had followed Granny for hours through the forest and with every passing minute Snow grew more anxious. She had seen the little traces Red had left for her, making sure that even without Granny's help Snow would have been able to follow her.
"We'll find her." Charming tried to reassure her and it had worked the first time he had said the words with hope and a smile on his face that was meant to encourage her. But now, after the third time it was nothing but an empty phrase and it only helped to aggravate her even more.
"The question is, if she's still alive when we find her," Leroy muttered loud enough for the others to hear.
Her fist clenched, Snow stepped closer to Leroy. "Don't say that," she hissed, glaring at him. She was scared and angry and her body trembled with the emotions she could barely contain.
Before she could reach him, Charming stepped between them, his arms outstretched to keep them at bay. "I'm sure he didn't mean it like that."
"I'm just saying we have to be realistic."
She lunged for him, tried to reach him, but Charming was in front of her, blocking the dwarf with his body. "Charming, step aside," she said slowly through clenched teeth. He was her husband, but if necessary she wouldn't spare him.
"Shut up." Granny suddenly ordered, silencing everyone immediately. She tilted her head slightly to the side, a movement that reminded Snow painfully of her missing friend.
"I hear her breathing."
Granny was old, but her body was still remembering the wolf and it was difficult for Snow to keep up with the old woman as she ran through the wood.
She panted and she could hear Leroy breathing heavily behind her when Granny finally stopped.
A few feet in front of them lay Red on her side, her back turned to them. The scene seemed eerily peaceful and for a second she thought that maybe Red was just sleeping deeply, just like she did after a night of running on a full moon. But the night before had been a new moon, the time of the month when Red's abilities were the weakest.
And she had sent her into a trap.
"Red." She fell down on her knees next to her, ignoring the pain that shot from her knees into her upper body.
Gently Snow grabbed her shoulder to turn her over and onto her back.
Her eyes were shut tightly and her face was contorted in pain. "Red?" Gently she placed her hands on either side of Red's face, brushing her thumbs over her cheeks. Her skin felt waxen under her fingers. "Please, open your eyes."
"She's bleeding." Granny, who had knelt down on her granddaughter's other side, lifted Red's shirt, revealing her stomach. There was a lot of blood, the angry looking bullet wound still oozed blood. "I need your shirt." Granny commanded and without hesitation Charming took off his shirt and handed it to her.
She pressed it against the wound and Red twitched under her touch, groaning.
"Red, can you hear me?" Snow patted her face slightly and finally Red opened her eyes.
There was so much pain in them, their darkness pulling Snow in, but there was although recognition and it made Snow smile with relief.
Red's mouth was moving and Snow lowered her head till her ear was close to her friend's mouth.
"Sssnow." The plea was more a breath than a word.
Snow nodded her head vigorously. "I'm here." She felt a feeble scratching on her knee and looked down to find Red's fingers twitching. She was too weak to raise her hand and Snow grabbed it and squeezed it.
"Why is she so weak? She's never been this weak before when she was hit with silver." She looked at Granny in search for an answer.
"I found something." Grumpy yelled and ran over, in his hand a silver dart. It was one of the darts veterinarians used and it was smeared with blood.
Snow reached out to take it, but Granny's hand on her wrist stopped her. "Be careful, it's Wolfsbane."
The two women looked at each other. They didn't need words to communicate how severe the situation was. Snow's grip on Red's hand tightened and she held onto her, afraid of letting go.
"I'm going to kill him for this." She promised.
"There won't be a next time. He will never hurt her again." The harshness in Snow's voice made Belle shiver.
Belle shook her head with a sigh and she rubbed her forehead. Her headache from earlier was returning again full force. "There will be a next time. Maybe it won't be King George, but there will always be someone else, a new danger, a new threat and one day it will get one of you killed."
"You went out there to get yourself killed." The statement was made calmly and it weighed heavily in the silence that followed.
Her arms crossed over her chest Belle stared at Ruby, waiting for a reaction from the other woman. Ruby had come to the library to apologize for chaining her up the night before and even though Belle was still mad about that, the reason why Ruby had done it was weighing so much more on her mind.
Ruby couldn't look her in the eye, shifting from one foot to the other. When she finally met her eyes there was a smile plastered on her face that Belle knew well. It was the same she used as a waitress when dealing with annoying customers.
"That's over. I didn't kill Billy and that's all that counts." Ruby said, her eyes pleading with Belle to drop the topic.
She could do that and they would go back to the easy friendship they had developed, meeting over food and films and enjoying their time together, never digging too deep, afraid of what they would find. But the pain and despair in Ruby's eyes made it impossible for Belle to go back to that.
"This isn't about Billy, is it?" Belle hadn't been able to find sleep over this question. Ghosts of her own past and the nagging question why a person like Ruby, so ostensible in love with life, had been so determined to get herself killed, had haunted her.
"You didn't even care if you really killed him."
The fake smile vanished from Ruby's features. "We all have to pay for our sins." The conviction from the night before was back in her voice and the lack of emotion caused a shudder to run up and down Belle's spine.
"No one deserves death."
"Even if they killed countless men?" The words rolled like thunder through the room and Ruby watched her closely for a reaction.
Ruby probably expected shock, disgust and maybe fear, but Belle didn't feel any of them. She only felt compassion for her friend.
"I'm sure you didn't kill them in cold blood."
The calmness and acceptance confused Ruby and she blinked as if awakening from a dream. But the confusion was short lived when Rub shook her head. "That doesn't matter. They're dead and nothing can bring them back." Her voice quivered, her walls finally crumbling.
Careful as if she was approaching a frightened animal Belle stepped closer. "It won't bring them back if you get yourself killed," she said softly.
Ruby took a step back, her back hitting the counter and her fingers dug into the wood. "But it will stop the pain. For 28 years I didn't feel this pain. I was free of this guilt and now it is back, stronger than ever. It's overwhelming and I don't know how to cope with it." A sob escaped her throat and Ruby covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes, big and pleading, asked Belle for help and with a few steps she was next to her.
She took the weeping woman in her arms, rocking them both back and forth. Even though she knew words form hundreds of books, there wasn't a single one that would take the pain away and so she did the only thing possible.
She held onto her.
"What do you expect me to do? Let the bad win? Because that would be so much better." Snow asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"That's not what I meant." Belle's patience was waning. Snow misunderstanding her on purpose infuriated her. "But just because you're the good guys doesn't mean you will always win, especially if you run into every fight without thinking first." Belle raised her voice as well as she stood up to be on eyelevel with Snow. "I expect you to think before you or anyone else goes into a dangerous situation. Use your fucking brain," she yelled.
Snow stared at her, her mouth slightly open. Suddenly she started to laugh, breaking the tension that had filled the room for so long. It took her a moment before she could inhale deep enough, without starting to laugh again. "I never heard you curse before. I didn't know you even knew curses."
Belle blushed and bit her lower lip, her anger disappearing as well. "That's all her doing." She tiled her head, pointing at Ruby. "That's her bad influence," she said tenderly.
Snow nodded. "She can curse like a sailor." Her smile vanished and her dark eyes glistered with tears. "Red never cursed. That's all Ruby." She took a deep breath, like the next sentence was hard to voice. "I'm the only one who still calls her Red. Even her grandmother calls her Ruby." Her eyes went to the book in Belle's arm.
"What are you reading?" Snow asked.
Ruby looked up from her book, blinking against the sun before she realized that it had been Snow who had interrupted her.
A smile spread over her face as she recognized her friend and Red jumped up, the book forgotten to hug her.
Snow closed her eyes, relishing the embrace.
It felt like coming home. It always did, and a small part of her felt regret when Red let go of her.
They sat down on the small coffee table that was placed in front of the diner and Snow pulled her coat closer around herself. "It's cold." She complained. Winter was over, but even though the first sunrays burst through the cloudy sky it was still chilly. The sun and the fresh air were probably the reasons why Ruby had chosen a coffee table outside the diner to read.
Ruby smiled. "You've always been too sensitive to cold." She teased her goodheartedly.
"And you always kept me warm." Snow replied softly and eyed the coffee in front of Red. With a roll of her eyes her friend pushed it into her reach.
"Thanks." Snow took the styrofoam cup with both hands. The coffee was still hot and it warmed her as she took a sip. Content she leaned back in her chair, watching her friend. "I didn't know you like to read."
Red shrugged and lowered her head as if she was ashamed. "I've only started recently," she mumbled.
Snow tilted her head to read the cover of the book. "Mysterious Island?" She knew that book, but the choice surprised her.
"Belle thought I might like Jules Verne."
Of course Belle, she seemed to be the source of a lot of changes in Red recently. "If you're interested, I could point you in the direction of a few interesting books," Snow offered.
"That won't be necessary; Belle already gave me a list that will take me years to handle." Snow tried to hide her disappointment when Red declined her offer.
Snow watched her friend closely while Red played with the cover of her book. She wondered when everything had changed, when Red and her had drifted apart. Had it been when Belle came to Storybrooke whilst she and Emma had been stuck in the Enchanted Forrest, or had it all started earlier. Ruby and Mary Margaret hadn't been real friends, their personalities and interests too different, but the same could be said about Red and Snow and still she considered her her sister.
They weren't bounded by blood, but by something much stronger.
She yearned to have it back.
"It's been too long," Snow said and at Red's confused and questioning gaze she added, "Just the two of us."
She found the same regret and sorrow, she felt, reflected in Red's eyes. "A lot has changed. There's always been a new threat and I know you needed time with your family."
"Hey." Snow leaned forward and grasped Red's hand. "You're my family too, don't you ever forget that."
She waited till Red nodded hesitantly. "You know what? As soon as it gets warmer we should go camping, just the two of us." Snow added and was rewarded with one of Red's bright smiles.
"Everything is so different now and sometimes I'm not sure if my life in Storybrooke was the illusion, or if the Enchanted Forrest was just a dream," Snow confessed to Belle. "She always anchored me." Once again her hand reached out to grasp Ruby's hand.
"It's difficult. The curse and Storybrooke have changed all of us." Belle sat down again. "From some it took more than from others and still as wrong as the curse was, I'm thankful for the opportunities it gave me. Opportunities I never even dreamed of and I can't regret that."
"Hey"
Belle looked up to find Ruby smiling at her. She hadn't heard the door to the library opening; she had been too absorbed in the book she was reading.
"Oh hey, I didn't hear you." She said, her eyes already lowered to her book again.
Ruby stepped into the room. "You didn't come to the diner for lunch and Leroy said that the library was closed today. I was worried and I brought you something to eat." She held up the small basket, she had brought with her, for Belle to see.
"I'm fine. I just needed to do some research," Belle answered.
"I can see that." The table, Belle was sitting at, was overcrowded with books, most of them arranged in piles, a few of them opened and arranged around Belle who had a notebook in front of her. The pages of the notebook were filled with her neat handwriting, some sentences high-lightened with one of the colorful highlighters Ruby had given her.
"What's your research about?" Ruby sat down on the only free edge of the table and opened the book next to her. Most of them were about fairytales, but there were others about biology, psychology, physiology and even philosophy as well.
"Love," Belle mumbled and without Ruby's enhanced hearing she wouldn't have been able to decipher it.
"That's a complicated subject."
"Very." Belle sighed and rubbed her right temple. After all those hours of research it became more and more difficult to make any sense of her writings. Instead of clearer, everything became more and more confusing.
Without thinking Ruby placed the book back onto some random pile.
"Stop, that's the wrong pile." Belle stopped her and Ruby pulled the book back and against her chest as if her hand had been burned. "On that pile belong the books I've read. Over there!" She motioned to another pile on which Ruby was supposed to place the book. Ruby followed her order dutifully.
"You've read all that books already? When did you start your research?"
"Yesterday, after my date with Rumpel."
Ruby's eyes widened. "That's been 24 hours ago. Did you even sleep or eat?"
Belle shook her head and bit her lower lip in concentration. "I didn't have time for that. This," she pointed at her notebook, "is way more important." With her pen she pointed at one of the high-lightened sentences. "Love can change, or die, I get that, but True Love is different, isn't it?" For the first time since she had entered the library Belle looked at Ruby for longer than a second.
Ruby shrugged, obviously uncomfortable with the subject. "I'm not sure I'm the right one to ask, my story is one of the few without true love. You're the expert here."
"True love is supposed to be for eternity; if it isn't, it can't be true love." Her hands combed through her tresses, disheveling her hair even more. "But it has to be true love." She sounded more and more desperate with every second. Suddenly her face lightened up and she sat up straight. "Maybe it was a spell that would explain it."
"Explain what?" Before Belle could rush into the back of the library to retrieve more books, Ruby grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Belle you're scaring me." She guided Belle back to her seat and sat her down on it before she crouched down in front of her. "Did something happen on your date? Did Gold do something?" There was a light growl in Ruby's voice that caused Belle to meet her concerned eyes. She placed a hand on top of Ruby's that was resting on her knee.
"No," she shook her head. "It was lovely and he was a real gentleman as always." Her voice sounded sad, like she had lost something dear. Ruby's hand under hers stiffened, but she was way too confused to think about it. "Everything should have been as always, but it wasn't," she continued, talking more to herself than to Ruby. "I didn't enjoy it, instead I kept looking at the clock. He kept asking me about books and that has always been nice, but yesterday I kept wondering when I could go back to the library to continue the book I'm reading or why you weren't there. Why weren't you there?"
Ruby smiled and titled her head. "You know that Granny insists that I do the bookkeeping for the Inn every Wednesday."
Belle nodded, her mind already again occupied. Suddenly she looked up, her eyes brimming with tears as she grabbed Ruby's arm with all her strength. "What if everything was an illusion, if it was never real?" She was scared of the truth she would have to face. Her head was swimming and she felt lightheaded. "If it wasn't real, if it wasn't True Love, then everything was useless. I've been locked up for years for nothing." She felt Ruby's hand against her forehead, a cooling touch to her burning thought and she leaned into it. "I'm scared." She confessed.
She didn't resist when Ruby pulled her closer and her head rested against her friend's stomach. Her steady breathing and the hand that combed through her hair were soothing and Belle closed her eyes.
"Everything that happened brought you here and I can't be sorry about that." Ruby whispered and in her sleep deprived mind Belle thought that Ruby was right.
Being right here wasn't so bad at all.
"You won't find an answer tonight. Tonight you need food and sleep."
"That sounds nice." Sleep sounded alluring, but her mind was still spinning with the most confusing thoughts. "But I can't, not until I found an answer. I need an answer."
"And you will find your answer, but not tonight," Ruby said determinatively. Her voice grew softer when she continued, "When I was a little girl and Granny tucked me in, she always said a phrase she had learned from her grandmother. 'Und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, dann leben sie noch heute."
„What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that tomorrow is a new day."
"Tomorrow is a new day." Belle repeated the words. After two days like the last ones the sentence seemed foreign on her tongue.
Snow nodded with a sigh. She too felt the toll of the last few days. "Hopefully it will be better than the last two."
"It will be." Belle smiled. "She should wake up anytime now. Whale said everything looks fine even so he isn't sure what a normal blood pressure or heart rate is for a werewolf."
"That's great." Snow's eyes lit up. "I've never been so scared before to lose her." Her eyes darkened again. "Only once…"
The crying had stopped a day ago and first Snow had been relieved and had hoped that everything would get better now. But now she was worried even more and almost whished that Red would cry again.
Everything was better than this lifeless version of Red.
Crying she could handle, she could be there for her and try to comfort her.
Right now she felt useless.
She had tried to get her to talk or even eat and drink, but nothing had helped. Red just lay on their makeshift bed, staring straight ahead without seeing anything at all, lost in her own world of pain and death.
She had waited till they had found a cabin and weren't in direct danger anymore before she broke down, the death of Peter and her mother finally catching up with her.
Snow had sat down in the corner opposite to the cot, observing her friend closely and with every passing hour her fear grew.
She had heard of people dying out of despair and she was afraid that Red might die too, that she might never get up from that cot again.
She was afraid of losing her.
She got up from the floor, her muscles protesting after hours spent in the same position and walked over to the bed. Carefully she lay down next to her friend, facing her.
Red was looking straight through her, never acknowledging her.
She laid her arm over Red's waist and pulled her closer, her friend's body unresponsive to the touch. "I know you are hurting," she whispered, her own voice trembling with tears. "And I wish there was something I could do to take your pain away, I really do."
She waited for a sign, anything that showed her that Red was still with her, but nothing changed.
"I need you. I won't survive without you. Please come back to me."
And suddenly Red blinked.
Then she blinked again and for the first time in days she looked at Snow, really looked at her.
"Snow?" her voice sounded hoarse and fragile, but it was the most beautiful sound to Snow's ears.
"But she pulled through for me," Snow continued her voice filled with pride. "That's how she is. She always puts others before herself."
"I'm afraid that one day it will cost her her life," Belle interjected.
Snow opened her mouth, probably to tell her that this wouldn't happen, but something stopped her.
The blood was rushing through her ears and her heart was pounding painfully against her chest, the sound of the battlefield faint in the distance as she looked up at the knight standing above her, while she was sitting on the cold wet ground.
His sword, that had killed countless of her men, was glistening in the sun.
She looked over to the battlefield, where her friends and Charming were still fighting and realized that no one would come to help her. The knight had separated her from them on purpose and when she had realized her mistake it had been too late.
Even though she couldn't see his face behind his helmet, she knew he was smiling. Like a panther with its prey, he had played with her, letting her believe that she had the upper hand. She had been arrogant, thinking she could take the Evil Queen's first knight. The same knight whose name and that of his magic sword were whispered in fear.
And now she would pay for her stupidity with her life.
Her eyes went to Charming who fought against two soldiers in the distance and the knight followed her gaze. "He won't save you."
No, he wouldn't.
He hadn't even noticed that she was missing.
The knight raised his sword and Snow took a deep breath, her chest too tight for all the emotions that whirled through her.
She knew it would be her last breath.
There was a flash of red and then the knight was gone.
Above her was only the clear blue sky.
She blinked.
And then she blinked again.
She heard muffled sounds, grunts and hisses and then the breaking of bones. It caused her to look to her right and that was when she saw her.
Red.
She was standing up, favoring her left side, her arm holding her right side. To her feet lay the knight, dead, his head turned an unnatural angle.
Red was smiling when their eyes met, but it turned in a wince when she took a step. Snow rushed forward and wrapped her arm around Red's waist.
"You're hurt." Blood was oozing through Red's fingers.
"It's nothing." Red waved her free hand, regretting it instantly when she nearly lost her footing and only Snow's grip kept her from tumbling.
"You've never been bleeding this much before." She led Red to a trunk nearby and sat her down before she knelt in front of her. "Let me see." She ordered as she took Red's hand from the wound and pulled the fabric of her shirt apart to get a better look.
She hissed. It didn't look like a normal cut, the area around it already burning red with infection. There had been whispers about the magic of the sword and how even a scratch from it could kill the strongest man. Her eyes searched Red's face and even though her friend smiled at her, she could see the normally sparkling eyes clouded with pain. "We have to get you back to the camp as fast as possible."
Snow tore off a strip of her own shirt and pressed it against the wound. The fabric was turning red way too fast for her liking. She concentrated on tearing more of her shirt into strips to dress the wound. Her fingers were trembling and her eyes were burning with unshed tears.
Red's hand covered hers and she looked up. "Why did you do that? I would have found a way to defeat him," snow wanted to know.
They both knew she was lying, that she would be dead without Red.
"You're alive and that's what counting," Red answered calmly.
Snow's eyes traveled to Ruby's chest. Under the blanket, covered by the hospital gown was a scar that would forever remind her of her guilt and she was afraid that a new scar would add to the weight that was already resting on her shoulders.
"You're right," Snow finally answered as she sat down on the edge of Ruby's bed. She never let go of Ruby's hand. "If we don't look after her, one day she will get herself killed." She looked from Ruby to Belle.
Belle's eyes widened in surprise that Snow involved her. "We?"
Snow nodded and Belle could tell it was hard for the other woman to accept the fact that she alone wasn't able to protect Ruby.
"I never wanted to hurt her." Snow whispered, her eyes glistening with tears.
Belle leaned forward in her seat till she was able to cover Snow's hand with her own. "I know and so does she, but sometimes she tends to forget how important she is to the people who love her."
"Yes, she can be really stupid."
They both laughed about the little joke, happy to be able to release some of the tension.
"I think it's the first time we both have something like a real conversation." Snow noticed. "She kept us apart." Ruby had always managed to keep the two women apart. She never had invited Snow to one of their girls' nights and Belle had never been asked to join one of their meetings.
Belle nodded. Ruby tended to hide parts of herself.
Belle watched Ruby's wolf-pendant, dangling from the rearview mirror, as it moved with the motion of the car. It was soothing and helped her to forget the queasy feeling in her stomach. She leaned her head against the window enjoying the cool.
"We're there."
Belle opened her eyes, only realizing then that she had closed them in the first place and found Ruby's Camaro parked on front of the library.
Ruby turned off the lights and turned in her seat to look at Belle. "I should have never taken you to the Rabbit Hole." It was dark and Belle wasn't sure if Ruby looked amused or worried.
"I had very conclusive arguments for taking me." Belle grinned, proud with herself. It hadn't been easy to convince Ruby to take her to the bar.
"You begged." Ruby reminded her.
"I have my charms." Belle clarified with a wink and flipped her hair over her shoulder in a flirting manner.
"Yes you do." Ruby's voice was thick with emotion. Her head was lowered and in the darkness, only broken by the light of a lantern nearby, Belle wasn't able to read her features.
She waited a moment for Ruby to continue, but when she didn't, Belle spoke, "Well, I'm thankful you took me with you. I had a splendid night."
"I'm not sure if you still will thank me in the morning."
Belle waved her hand and huffed. She had had a few shots, but she could handle the light buzz she felt. Seeing this different side of Ruby was worth a little headache in the morning. It was nothing a few glasses of water and a painkiller couldn't cure.
She had seen a different side of her friend and it left her wondering why Ruby had hidden it from her till now. "It was nice to see this other side of you."
Ruby stiffened and leaned away from her as much as possible. "That's exactly why I didn't want to take you," she confessed.
There was a sadness in her voice and Belle wanted to reach out, but the defensiveness in Ruby's words kept her from doing so.
"Why? Because of the guys?" Over the course of the night, a few guys had approached them, offering to buy them drinks or asking for a dance. The intimacy with which they had talked to Ruby, how they had raved about a night of wild partying or an unforgettable night, made it obvious that Ruby had spent many nights at the Rabbit Hole and that she had enjoyed herself.
A feeling close to jealousy had coursed through Belle with every man that talked to Ruby, but her friend's reaction, how she tried to get rid of them as fast as possible had numbed that feeling and had replaced it with joy.
Joy, because Ruby preferred spending time with her.
"I don't go there anymore." Ruby broke the silence. "Red is the beast, but Ruby, she's been a different kind of predator."
"You have nothing to be ashamed of."
Ruby didn't react to her interjection and it seemed as if she was afraid she wouldn't be able to confess again if she stopped now. "I didn't have any real friends in Storybrooke before the curse broke. I know they talked about me behind my back, made fun about the waitress in her slutty clothes, the one who wasn't smart enough to be anything more than a waitress. But there was one thing I didn't feel insecure about and that was my body. At night, at the Rabbit Hole I could forget about everything. There I felt alive and powerful and free and I took what I wanted."
"Do you regret it?" Belle asked softly.
She heard Ruby inhaling deeply as she was staring straight ahead. Finally after a short eternity she turned her head to Belle. "No," she said quietly and then, louder this time, she repeated "No, I don't."
"That's good."
Ruby looked at her surprised and it caused Belle to smile. She leaned forward, watching Ruby as she closed the distance between them. Even in the dim light she could see her sparkling eyes, the red lips and her tongue brushed over her lips in anticipation.
Their lips almost touched and she could feel Ruby's breath tickling her lips. But in the last moment she chickened out, afraid that Ruby might think she'd do it for all the wrong reasons. Instead she titled her head, so her mouth was close to Ruby's ear. She felt the slight tremble from Ruby's body, wondering if Ruby wanted it as much as her.
"I'm not afraid or disgusted by any of your sides, Ruby. I never could be. You don't have to hide from me. You can go wild with me too."
Before Ruby could say anything she pulled back, opened the door and stepped out of the car and into the cold night.
"She keeps her different lives separated. Maybe she thought we wouldn't get along." Belle suggested to Snow.
"I don't know where she got that impression from," Snow replied with a grin that Belle answered with one of their own. Maybe they would never become friends, but they had found a way to cooperate.
"She won't like the fact that we teamed up against her." They both looked at Ruby who was still sound asleep.
"I don't care. If necessary I will chain her to this bed to keep her safe."
"That won't work. We already tried that once and she chained me up instead." Belle tossed in, surprising herself that she was able to joke about the situation.
Snow didn't seem surprised. Obviously Ruby or Charming had told her what had happened. "We'll find another way to keep her safe then." She yawned and rubbed her eyes when her exhaustion finally caught up with her.
"Why don't you take a nap? I'll wake you up, if anything changes," Belle offered.
Snow considered the offer, and finally she nodded. "I just want to rest my eyes for a moment." She stood up from the bed to sit down in the free chair next to Ruby's bed.
She crossed her arms over her chest and slid into a semi-comfortable position before she closed her eyes. "What about you?" she asked sleepily.
Even though Snow couldn't see her, Belle shook her head. She grabbed her book and opened the page where she had stopped reading. "I'm not that tired. I can stay awake a little while longer. Besides I have a book to finish."
For a little while Snow listened to Belle's voice as she read Ruby's favorite book, but it didn't take long before she fell asleep.
It was with the knowledge that Ruby was safe.