Eric woke up beeing kicked, and was soon full awaken by Snow's moans beside him. A quick look at her face, dimly lightened by the moonlight, told him what he already knew. She was having another nightmare. And by her restless manner and the agony in her face in woulnd't be long until she started to scream and atract the attention of everybody in the castle.

Not that he minded, really, but that night he had been so exausted that while he layed in her bed and waited for her to sleep, he had fallen asleep himself, and if she screamed and the guards came in with God knows whomelse and saw them in this situation, well, it wouldn't be very flattering.

He came the closest he could to her, and wrapped his arms around her tightly, which made her stop squirming so bad, but her face was still the one of someone suffering.

He then remembered a lullaby his mother used to sing for him when he was a kid, and how it always somehow soothed him.

"I left my baby lying there

Lying there, lying there

I left my baby lying there

When I went to gather blaeberries

Ho bhan ho bhan haithri o ho

Haithri o ho, haithri o ho

Ho bhan ho bhan haithri o ho

When I went to gather blaeberries"

By the end of the song, Snow's face was peaceful once again, and so it remained all the following nights that he sang to her.

Snow arrived the castle while it was still night, and used the little time she had until morning to sleep. Or try to at least. Every time sleep came, so came the nightmares, only this time it wasn't Ravenna or any kind of dark magic that threatened her. It was a lifetime of unhappinnes, or images of Eric leaving or even worse, Eric with another woman.

Gladly for her, morning didn't take long to arrive, and the first rays of sunshine entered her room along with Greta, that rushed to her bed, wanting to know had her last day with Eric had been.

Snow smiled sadly at her friend and sighed.

"The bright side is I don't think William will make that bad of a husband" she said to her entwined fingers on her lap, which made Grets sigh in defeat and take her friend's hand in solidarity.

"Be strong, Snow, and have faith." she said, beeing rewarded with a small smile.

They talked a bit more, and Greta informed Snow of the dwarves and William's arrival.

"It turns out they went on a small task to try to find an end to this, but unfortunately they failed".

Snow nodded slowly and asked Greta how long they had until the wedding.

"Four hours" Greta said "Do you want your bath now?" she asked, and when Snow nodded she went to fecth a maid to run the bath.

Shortly after Greta's departure she heard a knock on her door

"Come in" she said, and William appeared, surprising her.

"William! What are you doing here? Don't you know the tradition?" she said, trying to sound happy, but failing. Her voice sound tired and defeated and the hours of stolen sleep didn't help much.

"That's only for real weddings, Snow, not this scheme I threw you into". he said with roughness, directioned only to himself.

"Don't penalize yourself, William, we already went trought this, and I've forgiven you." she said

"How can I not, Snow? My foolishness only made you suffer. You, the person I care the most and the last one I'd ever hurt." He said, despair easy to distinguish on his voice. "I just don't deserve you." he said, and Snow felt pitty for him. She now knew how hard it was to love someone and not beeing loved back, and it hurt. And she couldn't really blame him for his stupid acts. Right now, if anyone offered her an easy way to have Eric back, she would surely take it.

She smiled at her childhood friend in simpathy. "You'll have time to make it up, Wiliiam, you're a good man you've always been. You can't condemn yourself forever for one mistake." she said, ad it made him smile a bit. "Now, go get dressed, we'll see each other later." she tried her best to give him a encouraging smile, but doubted the grin that escaped her coud encourage even the bravest man. He nodded in return and left the room closing the door behind him.

Four hours passed like four minutes. Time did fly when you are busy, and today, Snow White would still have touble managing things if she was split in two.

She took a bath, got her make up and hair made, got dresed and was interrupted over and over again about several wedding details. She answered the questions everyone made her without actually paying attention. She didn't cared whith the small details, and even though she was constantly pressed to reveal the identity of her groom, she refused to do so.

It was as though because she didn't voice it, it was still not true. As if some kind of miracle could still happen and Eric could still have a chance. She knew it was foolishness, but she couldn't help but wait until the last minute for everyone to find out.

When only half an hour separated her from her fate, Snow, who had been indifferent all day, begun to grow nervous. She couldn't stop moving, and her hands sweted, and there was a enourmous weight on her chest she couldn't get rid of.

Sho took one enourmous flower arrange that had been place on her table this morning and went out of the room, using the piece to hide her face and parte of her body. The dress skirt wasn't so volumous, so she didn't really had any trouble walking around the castle with it, and hiding behing a wall or a pillar whenever she spoted someone coming. She went to three exits before finding one less crowded and decided to take her leave.

Once outside the castle, she lifted her dress and ran, not relly sure if she would come back.

Eric had his attention divised by two crucial things at the moment: arriving the castle as fast as he could and praying. He had never been much of a religious man, but once Snow had told him that throught the many years she spend locked out in the tower, she would often pray when she felt scared, because it helped her feel safer.

So he prayed, to all the Gods that could hear him, that they'd help arrive in time to stop that madness of a wedding that would ruin Snow's life. And his. And their child's.

"For God's sake" he yelled, desperated as if somehow his despair could make his horse take pity on him and go faster. He took a look in the sky and saw it should be close to 10am now, which only increased his agony.

The wedding was at 10 o'clock.

He cursed, and prayed all over again, but he wasn't that far, twenty minutes away probably, and that whole formality would probably give him some extra time.

So he rode and cursed and prayed.

Snow White reached the castle garden, that private section she loved so dearly, and tried to control her breath. She couldn't get married. Not today, not like this, not with William. Not when she was helplessly in love with another man, the man that fathered the chid she was carrying, and the one she was truly supposed to be with.

Was it not like that the way it is supposed to be? She endind up with her true love? The man that had countless time risked his life for her own, and lifted the spell that had taken her away?

She stopped her pacing around and let herself fall in a rock bench, and ran her finger through her hair, that now looked way more wild than it did when Greta had finished it.

She pondered about her options for a minute, until realizing they would lead the same way.

Running away today only put things foward, and she didn't know how much more disapointment she could take. Getting married today, even if it was not with the man she wanted, would somehow estabilize things, and she could definately use some peace.

She looked down at the beautiful white dress, especially designed for this occasion, and how the castle was beautifully decorated. And at last, she thought of the real reason she was doing all of this: her child. She could not, and would not, allow any bad comments about it, she would protect it and love it and give everything it needed. Starting, she sighed, with a name.

Getting up, she straightned her dress up and tried to tie back some of the hair strands that had fallen.

It was time.

It was time.

It was already 10 o'clock when Eric crossed the castle gates and not bothering dismounting, he countinued on horseback until he reached the back gardens, where the wedding would take place. He saw a bunch of chairs, all occupied, saw the dwarves in the front row, and a few more familiar faces, but no bride.

His relief was so big he almost fell off his horse, so he decided to dismount before that actually happened. As soon as his feet hit the ground, William appeared, very confused.

"Eric! You're here" he said, in a mist of a statement and a question.

"I remember" Eric said, and William's eyes almost popped out in surprise.

"All of it?" he asked, still unsure

"From the moment we met, untill the last word she said to me. And all the feelings in between." he smiled, and William took a deep breath, relieved.

He hugged the huntsman while appologizing, but Eric just decided to let things go.

"As long, of course you'll do me a small favor" he said

"What is it?" he inquired, very curious to know what Eric could have in mind at a time like this.

When Snow reached the back gardens, she was received with a mix of relief and reproval from Greta, who would be her maid of honor.

"For heaven's sake, Snow, where were you?"

She almost told her friend about all the stuff that was going on on her head, but she knew that if she voiced it there was a good chance she'd really give up. So she just shook her head, dismissing her absence.

"Just preparing myself" she said "Is everything ready?"

"You have no idea" Greta said, but before Snow could ask her what she meant, the girl vanished, and soon after she heard the music beginning to play and the Duke approching her, and offering her his am.

"Ready, my dear?" he asked, but she ignored the question and just accepted his arm instead.

She looked up at him and he smiled at her, reasuringly, and she tried to smile back, but all the happiness she saw in his look saddened her, for she felt as if she was fooling everyone, including herself. She looked down, and tears formed in her eyes, clounding her vision, right in time for her big entrance.

She took a deep breath to calm herself and looked up to see the last dwarf going in, which meant she was next.

She heard the song change.

People getting up.

And the tears came again.

She stood at the entrance of the aisle, with everyone looking at her, and she had those supid tears clounding her vision again. She saw William already waiting for her at the altar and the tears threatened to fall.

She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down, as she began to slowly walk.

I can't do this she thought, but continued to move either way.

She must have taken five steps when she heard someone chuckling and then the whole world stopped.

"You might want to open your eyes, princess." he said, and she did, just to certify she wasn't dreaming "We couldn't have you triping and falling on your wedding day, can we?"

She stood still, not believing what she saw. Eric, and not William, was standing in the altar, all dressed up, though the clothes seemed a bit small for him, looking as if there was absolutely nothing wrong.

"What are you doing here?" She asked slowly, her voice barely audible, and all eyes turned to Eric, who gave her the most beautiful smile.

"I remember." he said and her whole face lit up.

She bent down to pick up her dress and ran the rest of the way to him, landing on his open arms. He kissed her passionately, causing the presents to gasp, some in surprise, some in reproval and some in awe.

They were interrupted by a loud clear of throat, and they turned to see the priest, looking very red. Snow blushed and tried to get away from Eric, but he kept his grip on her firmly, and not looking the least embarrased.

"Umm, Can we start now?" the old man asked and both of them nodded.

"Very well. Dearly beloved..."

Yaaay, married at last!