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10 Years later~
Winter~
Regina looked up at the sky as she took a step outside the front door. Although she knew that it was passed dawn, she struggled to see light in the sky, so thick was it covered in hefty, woolen-like clouds.
The light from the still burning lanterns outside of the inn provided enough illumination for her to see snow begin to fall softly from the heavens. Experience told her that despite its current gentle nature, the frozen water was going to have packed an extra foot of itself on the ground by dawn tomorrow.
Regina sent a silent prayer for all travellers to journey safely and was brought out of her contemplation by a swift kick to the left of her naval.
Chuckling, the brunette placed her hand on her swollen belly and smiled lovingly.
"I know, I know. It's cold out here and you want to go back inside," she hummed, "Although how you can feel the cold from in there is beyond me."
Giving the snow one last look, Regina turned and reentered the inn. Her inn, she silently amended, smiling broadly. Her's and Daniel's.
Her smile became wistful as she thought back to all the years ago when she and Daniel had first arrived at the village that laid just a ways up the road; farther from her old home then she had ever gone before.
The villagers were kind and they quickly found work: both of them becoming stable hands. Regina's soft upbringing had made it a challenge at first, but she quickly adapted and soon became quite adept at her work.
As there were no available housing for them in the village, they sought shelter in this very inn; then run by a kindly old man. They quickly grew to adore the old man, though he never gave them his name; he preferred them to call him "Gramps" for some odd reason, but the name suited him, and neither Daniel and Regina had known their own grandparents and took to calling him such very easily.
Months after escaping Cora, Regina and Daniel finally got married in the little village: the whole town had attended, having loved the couple as if they were family, and Gramps gave her away in place of her father.
The winter that followed the happy occasion was a harsh one, and by spring time sickness took Gramps away to the after-life, though he went happily, with his adopted family in Regina and Daniel, seated by his side until his last breath.
After his funeral, the married couple was shocked to discover that not only had Gramps kept a will, but he had named the two of them as his sole heirs; leaving them the inn and all its contents. So moved and touched were they by his kindness towards them, even after he had left this world, that they decided to run the inn themselves and renamed it in his honor; Gramps' Inn.
It was a modest little inn; with two-stories, a pub, kitchen, and dining room on the first floor, an old stable on the side, and a small house in the back for the new innkeepers to live in. They soon moved their few meager possessions out of the room they'd been renting and into the small house and got right into business. The road the inn resided on wasn't a very busy road, but was well travelled enough that they made a decent profit and were very well off.
The fall of their first year, close to their anniversary, Regina found herself to be pregnant, and the next summer gave birth to a healthy, baby boy.
Knowing she missed her father terribly, Daniel allowed his son to be named after the man who would have allowed them to be together: Henry.
Years passed, the inn was prosperous and the brunette brought another son into the world four years after Henry. This one she named Leopold, after the man who helped her find her happy ending with Daniel.
Time flew by, and now the wife and innkeeper found herself a decade older, wiser, and happier than she had ever dreamed possible.
Once again, a kick brought her out of her thoughts.
She laughed and held her stomach. "All right, all right; I'll stop stalling and begin making breakfast. Will that satisfy you, my little princess?" She had no way of knowing if it was a girl, but she hadn't been wrong about Henry and Leopold, or Leo, as they called him, so she saw to reason to doubt her instincts now.
The child kicked her hand as if in answer and Regina chuckled warmly before making her way to the kitchen to begin making breakfast for herself, her family, and the few guests they had on another glorious morning in Regina's life.
Unbeknownst to the residents of the little inn, a group of five travelers was moving towards the establishment through the gently falling snow: three on horseback, one driving a small carriage, and one riding within.
As they pulled up in front of the inn, one of the knights, for indeed that is what they revealed themselves to be, pulled his horse to a stop next to the now open door of the carriage, hopped down and spoke to its lone occupant.
"Are you sure you wish to stop here, Milady? It is not so cold that my men and I cannot ride a little further," he asked respectfully.
"I've no doubt that you can," a woman's voice answered him, "But sadly I am not as strong as the four of you and must rest and stretch my legs, or else go mad from staying inside of this carriage for so long."
The Knight suppressed a smile, no doubt well aware of his Lady's hatred of being forced to sit still for any length of time. Bowing his head respectfully he said, "Very well, Milady. Shall you wait here whilst I see to our accommodations?"
"That's very kind of you, but I know how you and your men care for your horses and would like to see to them as soon as possible," the voice replied with a smile in her voice. "See to your mounts and I will see to our rooms."
Knowing better than to argue with his Lady's wishes, and truly wanting to tend to his horse whom he thought might have a loose shoe, the Knight simply bowed and replied, "As you wish, Milady," before offering his hand and helping her out of what she no doubt considered a travelling cage.
Bowing once again, the Knight saw to it that his men moved the carriage along side the available stable while his Lady made her way towards the inn that she now saw, from a sign hanging just above the doorway, was called Gramps' Inn. Smiling at the name she knocked on the door and waited as she heard movement on the other side.
A moment later the door opened to reveal an older but still very beautiful woman, with dark hair that had been cut and allowed to fly free just above her shoulders. She wore a modest dark red dress that allowed the Lady to see that she was heavy with child and she could tell from just a glimpse at the look in the woman's eyes that she was very happy at the prospect, and indeed that joy was reflected in her warm and caring smile.
The woman smiled even wider when she saw she had a visitor and bowed her head saying, "Good morning."
The Lady returned her bow with a small curtsy.
"And to you as well," she replied politely. "I'm sorry if it is too early, but my men and I were wondering in you have room in your inn for five weary travellers?"
Regina bowed again. "Indeed we do, my Lady," for indeed the woman at her door had to be a lady of some sort. She was dressed all in white, all her clothes were of high quality, though they were definitely travelling clothes, and her manners and form of speech were undoubtedly those of one who had been raised in court.
And, she thought, this girl, who could hardly be into her twenties, was definitely a sight to behold. Her hair, so dark it was almost black, fell in gentle curls around her head, framing a heart shaped face that was covered in skin that was so pale it could have easily been compared to the snow that fell all around them. Her eyes were hazel colored but seem to glow with a purity and kindness that the older woman had only seen a few times in her life.
She was beautiful.
"We have more than enough room for you and your men. Tell me, where are they now?" Regina asked politely.
The Lady nodded her head towards the stables. "They are tending to their mounts while I come to get our rooms."
The woman nodded back. "I see. Well, please come inside; we've have a nice fire going and breakfast is nearly finished if you would like to join us."
"We would love to," the Lady replied.
Moving aside so that she may enter, the innkeeper walked through the foyer, passed a staircase, and into a large room with a bar on one side, a large fireplace on the other, and tables and chairs strewn in between. True to her word, a fire was already ablaze and the Lady could smell the succulent aroma of the promised breakfast floating through the air.
Regina headed straight for behind the bar and the Lady moved to stand before her on the opposite side.
With a small grunt of effort, the innkeeper hoisted a large book onto the counter and began flipping through its pages.
Speaking as she looked through it, she said, "I have rooms for you and each of your men, if they desire a little privacy. I take it you came on horseback?"
The Lady nodded. "Yes. We have with us-" she did a quick count, "-Five horses and a carriage. I hope it's alright that my men have already made their mounts comfortable in the stables?" she asked bashfully.
The woman chuckled and waved off her concerns. "It's no trouble at all, my Lady, I'm rather fond of horses myself and would have hate to leave one out in the cold, if only for a short while," she finally came to an empty page, pulled a quill and inkwell and began making marks on it. "Five guests and five horses, you said?"
The Lady nodded.
"Got it. And how long will being staying?"
"Just today and tonight, I'm afraid," the Lady said, rather sadly, "We're in the middle of a journey and are only a few days away from our destination."
The innkeeper took note of the Lady's sad face but chose to say nothing. Instead she said, "I see. Well, I wish you luck on your journey, whatever it may be."
The Lady simply smiled and nodded her thanks.
"Now, what name shall I-"
Thump!
Both women froze when they heard the sudden noise coming through a doorway behind the bar.
"Mo~ther!" a small voice wailed and the woman's eyes widened as they glanced at the doorway frantically.
Looking back at her guest, she hurriedly asked, "Do you mind?"
The Lady shook her head. "Not at all, go!" she urged.
The innkeeper nodded her thanks before dashing into what appeared to be the kitchen. She returned not a moment later, carrying a small boy who couldn't be older than four or five. He had light brown hair and was in the midst of bawling his eyes out.
The woman placed him on top of the bar, completely forgetting about her inn's newest occupant, and proceeded to dab at the boy's tears with a cloth as she cooed soothing words to him.
"Shh, it's alright Leo. You're okay," she said as she cleaned him off. After checking him over and seeing that he was, in fact, unharmed, she forced him to look at her and asked, "What in the world were you doing playing with the stove?"
The boy hiccupped before answering, "I-hic-I wasn't-wasn't playing. I ju-just wanted to help make-make breakf'st."
Regina smiled. "By trying to burn the inn down?" she half joked, half scolded.
"I wa-was trying to pu-put wood in-hic-in the stove! Bu-but when I opened the li-little door -hic- the fire s-spat at m-me!" Leo then began to cry all over again. The flames hadn't touched him, but they had scared him nonetheless.
The woman chuckled, slightly guilty about laughing at her son's misfortune, before pulling him into a hug.
"Shh~ it's okay, baby. The fire was just mad that you woke it up and snapped at you. It's fine, I'm not mad," she cooed, rocking him gently back and forth.
From where his face was buried in her shoulder the two women heard a muffled voice say, "I'll ne-hic-never go near the fire again."
"Oh sweetie," she said, moving his back so he could see her face, "Of course you will."
He sniffled loudly, looking so adorable that both women couldn't help but smile, and asked, "Why?"
"Because sweetheart," the woman said with a smile, "The only way to defeat your fear, is to face it. Do you understand me, Leopold?"
"Yes Mother," the boy replied with a watery smile.
As the two hugged again, neither noticed the strange look the Lady had on her face upon hearing the woman's advice and that the boy's name was Leopold. She had a vague memory of hearing that advice before. Said with a similar voice.
She took a closer look at the woman as the memory suddenly began to become clear in her mind. The memory of a sunny day. A galloping horse. And being saved by a beautiful young woman with long dark hair woven into a braid.
It had been over ten years since that day. A whole decade. And while this woman seemed to bear a striking resemblance-no. It couldn't be…
"Regina?"
Regina lifted her gaze from her son, and remembered that she had new guests for the inn.
"Oh yes, I'm sorry," she chuckled. "I have a habit of focusing on my sons instead of working…" she trailed off at the strange look on the Lady's face before something dawned on her.
"Wait, how did you know my name?" she asked, warning bells going off in her head.
The Lady looked ecstatic as she practically bounced in place and exclaimed, "Regina! It's me; it's Snow! Remember?"
'Snow?' Regina thought bemused.
Snow….
SNOW!
"Snow White?!" she yelled, her face breaking out into a grin.
"Yes!" Snow squealed.
Regina squealed as well as she ran around the bar as fast as she was able and wrapped the girl-turned-woman in a giant hug.
A/N: I decided to cut the chappie off here, otherwise I would be very tempted to do the entire scene, and I think it would've wound up being twice as long as it already is.
Never fear though! This Story is still talking my ear off from inside my head, and it will not shut up until it runs out of ideas for itself.
Which won't happen anytime soon. Know why?
Because I wrote this story (the first half of it at least; give or take) in bullet form one early morning (two hours before dawn) on college ruled lined paper, and after typing out nearly 7,000 words, I'm only halfway down the first page.
I wrote three.
Do you see what I mean?
Please R&R.
