Annnnd I'm back! And a little bit of resolve? Or at least a character mini-arc-realization? Who knows. Halloween took me a full week to recover but it was fun. I 1000% overdid it on about every level possible. My candy hangover cannot be described with words. Thank you for all the kind words and reviews! There were a lot of them! Toby is fine, btw. Time is always slower in Sarah's world when she's in the Labyrinth, so everything back home is A-Ok. As for the rest of the concerns... I have a lot of words written but we are halfway through to the end/answers/S+J angst ending! (Seriously though there's a lot more story AND I'M NOT SORRY ABOUT IT) Good luck y'all. And THANK YOU, as always!

What Happened Afterwards

It sprang to life, lighting up again, and she almost dropped it in surprise as a vision of herself appeared, her face, in a crowd. But it was a much younger Sarah, wearing -

She was wandering, in a dress. She was too little in a grown-ups world, completely lost. She watched herself, twirling, as warped faces and warped bodies swam around her -

Sarah held the orb closer, looking deep.

- Wearing the gown. It was the ball. The dance. Her heart jolted.

(This? This is how I'm solving the Labyrinth? Always back to this…)

It was every princess fantasy… Every dream I ever wanted…

But she hadn't felt what she wanted to feel. She hadn't felt grown up. She hadn't felt special. Or happy. She'd just been lost, and afraid, and naive, and -

(This again? but I remember this, we just talked about this, and I've thought about this countless -)

The melody came back to her, slowly. Not the words, she couldn't remember them, something about… About falling. Falling, the way she'd fallen in and out of the dream. She could almost hear it…

The crystal held her captive as she watched herself wander.

(Wait. Is this his memory, or mine? He put it together, so -)

(It… Must be his. But if that's true, where is he?)

(There!)

She watched, fascinated, as he appeared, in bits. She'd never really seen his face, only caught glimpses of him -

(Just like when I went back home… I only saw sightings of him, the reflection of his face in a window, in a crowd at a game, always far away, never there more than once…)

But here she could see him, or at least flashes of him from the back or the side, he was watching, looking for her, then hiding. He would see her, and then disappear, making her hunt. He used other people to hide behind, vanishing if she got too close, a flash of his smile as she searched, watching her look.

He -

(He's having… Fun? Is that it? He looks like he's having fun… Watching me. Ok. Weirdo. This is what I need to see? Your memory of messing with me? Is that all this is or are you gonna -)

And finally…

(There he was.)

All of him, standing still, watching her. Sarah's breath suddenly escaped her in a pluming spiral.

(Why did I just…)

It was just his face, his normal face, but it was… Maybe his expression…

(His expression?) She frowned. Why did he look like that? He'd been smiling and weaving away from her, disappearing and following her, but he froze suddenly, still watching her, and he looked… Serious, a yearning lingering about his face, a… Longing. (Longing?) He lowered his head slightly to fully see her, observing her from a distance, wanting -

(That can't be right.)

The memory moved forward and she saw her past struggle against the crowd, searching for… Well, him. She'd seen a glimpse of him and she knew she was here to… Do something, find Toby, beat another spell, defeat the Big Bad Goblin King, but she was completely out of her element and depth. Sarah cringed as her younger self pushed between dancing couples, fighting, looking - and then there he was, and her breath was gone again.

(Why am I doing that? It must be the cold.)

He stepped from the crowd, almost… Rescuing her, taking her hand and -

She forgot about the cold. About the cave, the crystals, everything… Sarah stared, watching with a gaze that was older, and… Maybe it was the way his eyes held hers, with a deadly aim and a command, trapping her. Maybe it was the memory of him, his presence, the way he reached for her both as a order and a request, taking her hand without asking, yet he wasn't forceful… Surrounded by wobbly grotesque caricatures of people in a thick dream space, he was real, and solid, and his hand was a reassuring lifeline, strong and familiar, a rescue. Because it was a dream, but he… Wasn't. He just moved, and she moved with him, nervous yet following without question… Like… Like it was planned. Like it was already…

Falling -

Like it was supposed to have happened.

(No, but I could have said no, if I wanted to… I could have broken away… But I didn't…)

(I wouldn't have.)

She'd been frozen amidst the dancing couples on the floor as he'd taken her -

(Just like you're freezing now! Hurry up!)

But she couldn't make the orb fast-forward, and her mind seemed to be floating along with it, no matter how hard she tried to concentrate…

His eyes were doing that thing they always did to her, that look, like he was trying to bore a hole in her head. Those eyes were like a hunter's stalking his prey, but somehow they weren't that harsh, weren't that dark, they were just… Selfish, somehow. Not dominating, just holding her, claiming her gaze as she stared, unable to move away, not… Wanting to. There wasn't an inch of doubt in his being as moved, completely sure of himself, of her, of what he wanted and what he was doing, but he was holding back, she was sure of it, the way he carried himself… Confident and careful, but dancing with her as if she was already…

(His.)

(No. What? That can't be it. I'm… Projecting.)

(It's his memory, so why would I project that? That… Makes no sense at all…)

Makes no sense to fall…

(Pay attention!)

They were dancing. She frowned, turning the orb slightly, looking at it, noticing… Things. New things. The way he looked, his face wasn't smirking, as soon as he took her hand his expression had changed. He wasn't playing, he was… Solemn. No, it was different, it was a real expression… He was being earnest, his face silently sincere.

(Sincere? About a dance? About a song? A song I can't even remember?)

She watched the other dancers around them, the dizzying way they moved, their over-exaggerated faces -

(They're not real.)

It was true. She'd always known, she realized, sort of a constant assumption, quietly in the back of her mind.

(They weren't real. They were… I don't know, some kind of dream people, some sort of illusion, but they weren't real. They don't even have faces! They scared me, but I don't think they're even physical…

Which means…

He created a whole ball, with fake people…)

(Why? Just so we could… Could what? Dance together?)

Falling…

(What were the words…)

She tilted the orb again, disconcerted.

They danced and in the past she was distracted, trying to comprehend him and everything else at the same time. One second she was captured by his eyes, the next twisting her head to avoid the other dancers, drawing closer to him to try to get away from their whirling ghoulish counterparts, his hand tightening on her waist, pulling her nearer. It looked like he holding her captive, but he had been guarding her as well, protecting her from -

(No, I'm sure I'm seeing that wrong. Imagining - he was just messing with me. Trying to make me forget.)

She'd been all right for a moment, for one brief second, buying into the illusion, into him, his presence, had almost forgotten. But he couldn't make her forget her anxiety, her heart leaping, as if trying to escape her chest, like it did now when she panicked and couldn't breathe right. Her heart had always lurched uncomfortably around him, no matter what pretty illusion he'd given her. And he'd was so tall - her hair barely came up to his shoulder. She was just a child, and she'd wanted - she'd wanted an adventure, love, to be a hero in a story, but it was so much. Sarah looked at her past face, her young eyes, enamored - was that the right word? Enamored and scared by him - but -

He smiled at her, that Goblin King smile, one that said I win, you lose, and all she could think of was Toby - her, losing, losing Toby, because that was what he wanted, wasn't it? He doesn't want you, Sarah, he wanted to win. Right. Right?

And in the orb she fought against the spell, seeing the clock, panicking, wrenching them apart, grabbing the chair, smashing the dream -

His face -

(Wait. Go back.)

She dragged her finger across the surface and the memory blurred, going too far back and starting over completely. She held the crystal closer to her eyes as it began again, squinting, watching for him. He was dancing, he was dancing, he was singing, she saw the clock -

(blah blah blah I know this part -)

(This song again… Though we're strangers for now - )

She was tense, looking for the moment, the second just before where she ran away, fleeing, and - she saw his face.

(I'll be here for you… As the world falls down…)

There. His expression. He'd slipped again. Just for a second.

(What was that? That moment - that face. What is… That face. It's not bored, or smirking, or arrogant. He's not mad, or controlling, it's - I've seen it flash on him before. It's -

He's… )

She touched the orb and it paused, slightly pulsating in her hand.

(He looks… Shocked?

Look at his eyes.)

He looked shocked, and - (Wait. There's something else -)

Past-Sarah lifted the chair and he was swallowed by the crowd, by illusions of people that crowded around him and her, blocking them, forcing them apart. They went through him as he watched her, like colorful ghosts. He stared as she forced herself away, finding the chair, lifting it, shattering the dream, the illusion -

She caught one more glimpse of him before she did, and her heart sank.

(Sank?)

The shock was there, and then - something else, something deeper under that, it went across his whole expression, melting through his eyes, but only for a second, a flash, and then it was gone before she could name it. Suddenly there and then not, his usual mask again, his screen of arrogance and indifference as she ran from him, and then she was gone, falling, the dream people falling up, the dream crumbling in, shattering with the chair and the wall - she was pinwheeling, tumbling into darkness, down, down -

(And then I fell into the garbage dump, and -)

But the memory didn't become the dump. It was just - the dream, shattering, breaking apart, flying away, and then it was him, the Goblin King, alone and sitting in a window, covered in glitter, shards of crystal, staring into the distance blankly.

(A window? Why a window? Where is he? It looks like the palace…)

He looked at nothing but landscape, his face the same, but his eyes still far away, lips parted, arms slightly uplifted, still raised from where he'd been holding her, as if trying to catch up with his surroundings. Then he shook his head slightly, running his hands through his hair, like he was ruffling feathers. He laughed, scoffing at something, himself perhaps, or the dream, but he froze mid-chuckle, confusion running over his features as he continued to look off.

The confusion turned to a dark expression, almost murderous, and he frowned, eyes flashing. He crossed his arms and stood, walking away from the window, then doubled back, looking out. Finally, hands on hips, he stared angrily as he conjured an orb from nowhere, and a new vision of her appeared. In the crystal, a tiny Sarah fled the dump and his frown increased as he flipped the orb back into nothingness. Now he crossed his arms, glancing at a clock in the room. Sarah had been running out of time, but… She'd had enough to make it. He chewed his lip, grabbing his crop, bending it as he thought, a preoccupied expression mixing in with the anger.

Sarah watched as his entire manner reversed, anger contouring back to confusion, then melting into…

The Goblin King moved further from the window, his face obscuring partially in the shadows, and she squinted, trying to make him out. He grabbed another orb and waved his hand over it, bringing up the dream, watching it with a microscopic view, almost as she'd been doing a moment ago, watching himself, nodding, seeing her, tilting his head at her movements, muttering something she couldn't see or hear, but his eyebrows were drawn together furiously, watching, watching -

She shattered the dream and -

(There!)

(It could be the shadows, or… My frozen imagination, or maybe I'm just seeing what I want to… Well, not what I want to see, but -)

But she knew what she saw. She'd worn the same tired expression on her own face for a year, its emotions etching into hers as she waited, searching -

He looked -

Hurt.

That was the word. It had flashed over his face in the ballroom and now it melted across him in the new memory, despite the gloom, despite the glare he wore, the curtain of hair, the glitter. Hurt. She could see it all over him, in his eyes, the way his mouth froze, his hand gripping the orb even tighter. Hurt that she'd left him, that she'd rejected everything he was offering, that she chose to leave when he was -

He hurled the orb into the depths of the room, then straightened, face once again carefully arranged into aggressive impassiveness, and the whole crystal started over, back to the ballroom. She didn't need to watch it again, and the orb peeled away from her numb fingers, clattering slightly as it rolled away into the depths.

(Hurt.)

(… Hurt. Hurt? At… What. Me running away? That can't be… Right. His face…

Hurt.)

Her own face, pinched against the cold and concentration, mirrored his.

(What does that mean? He was hurt I left? He didn't want me to leave? He didn't… Want me to leave?)

Her heart sank at the understanding as she fumbled with it, trying out the thought again.

(He didn't want me to leave. Or… He didn't think I would. Look at his face… His face says…)

(Stay…)

Stay? Stay where? He was the Goblin King, she was a puny human, and besides, he couldn't be hurt, or sad, or whatever his face showed. He didn't feel… Things. He was beyond… Those emotions, she couldn't affect him like that, it didn't make sense. It was just a dream, a pretty distraction, so she would forget Toby, so she would…

(Lose…

… I was supposed to… Lose…

Lose to a perfect dream, a dream that had everything I wanted, everything I could ever want…

Look at what I'm offering…)

She sat, numb, staring at nothing but ice.

(Why?)

Why did he want her to stay? Stay? (Who said anything about staying? Why would he want that? It was - impossible - no, that's not… Not what's important.)

She shoved the thought aside. What was important was the Labyrinth, and not dying. So If this was the Ice Queen, why did she need to see that? It made no sense…

Makes no sense to fall…

Falling… Falling in…

(In what?) God, she had more questions now than when she'd started. She looked at the orb, flashing far across the floor.

(Why this memory? Why the Ice Queen? What am I supposed to see?)

(The little boy Kay couldn't see the truth, he couldn't see because he was blinded by anger and lies -)

(So… I was mad, mad at being lied to, at being left behind. I blamed him for… For forgetting me. For leaving me! And he did!)

(But he tried to… Make me lose. So…)

Her brain ached against the cold and the logic.

(So maybe if he didn't know how to stop me winning, he tried to get me to give in. He… Didn't know what was going to happen. Maybe this is about… Forgiveness. I saw him in the memory when I left, and he was hurt, and I was hurt when he left me a year ago, so maybe… It's about misunderstanding.)

What had he said? (You weren't supposed to win… You were supposed to lose…)

Maybe it was about… Letting go. Of anger, betrayal, of everything she'd felt, alone, because he hadn't meant to, didn't know…

(So what were all those images about that he showed me earlier? When I yelled at him? Him, being alone, as he lost his magic? How was that supposed to do anything?

Was… He trying to get to me? To reverse what was happening? To help me?)

Her heart sank again as the thought hit her.

(Help me. He was trying to -)

(But why didn't he say so?)

(Were you really listening? He doesn't say his feelings very well, Sarah, in case you hadn't picked up on that. Think about what you saw. He was alone, on the other side, trying to rule a breaking kingdom that he lost, to fix a home that he'd helped destroy, a drying bog, hoards of goblins, crumbling ruins and…)

The crystals around her came to life, suddenly flickering badly, like a dying lightbulb, the room hazardly flashing. It was his memories playing out again, showing the dying Labyrinth as he'd paced. There were the goblins, the decay, and him, reading books and papers, and she'd seen all this earlier but - there had been another memory. One more she'd forgotten. The mirror.

Her heart didn't sink so much as stop. A Goblin King, alone, his hand pressed against a mirror.

A large silver mirror.

(… Mine?)

She watched as he smashed the same orb again and again, his magic fading, as he walked, alone, in a Labyrinth that wouldn't respond, as his kingdom crumbled around him, as he looked over spells to bring her back, as he faced a mirror and tried to talk to a girl that couldn't hear…

A girl that tried just as hard, wasting away on the opposite side, a mirror surface and a world away, straining over her own books, warping his own kingdom against him as she tried to find her way back as hard as she could, as she wished and wished, creating a world that would bring them together -

"Oh no." The words fell from her mouth, swallowed in the crystals.

(I didn't know - when he showed me earlier, he was trying to tell me - he wasn't trying to make me feel bad, he was trying to show me! He was trying just as hard as I was. He didn't mean for me to win. He didn't want all of this for me either. And I don't think… He knew. Until… It was too late.)

Sarah felt sadness melt through, the anger and hurt turning to clear pain. Tears brimmed and she didn't even try to push them back, she couldn't, they just fell, her vision blurry then clear, then blurry then clear, then just blurry, it was all blurry.

(I was supposed to lose…)

(I had to go…)

(I was going to come back…)

(I wanted…)

(I won his Labyrinth, but he didn't know any more than I did what was going to happen, he didn't want me to win, he didn't plan on that… And I was selfish, and so was he, and I was a child, I just wanted…)

She didn't know what she'd wanted but it wasn't… Sarah hadn't wanted to leave forever, she hadn't wanted to be alone. She'd needed to come back, and so she'd wished, wished as hard as she could, studied and given everything she had to come back, to find - them - to find him -

"I - w-wanted - to f-ff-ind - you - I w-wanted t-to c-come b-back - I - d-d-didn't - realize y-" She choked out, turning to him.

To his form. His eyes were now closed, his skin a crystalline white, lips a contrasting dark blue -

"No!" She threw her hunched body at him, grabbing his face as his head rolled to the side. Her eyes were burning as tears pushed out, they were hot and bright, everything was -

Bright…

Sunlight. Sunlight, dim, cloudy sunlight, but sunlight. Warmth. There was warmth in the air. The crystals had split apart in the ceiling and at the end of the cave, opening, steam pouring from them.

Her eyes were still streaming and she gasped, the light nearly blinding her, then turning back to him, trying to keep his head up, her hands were too numb, she couldn't feel his temperature, she couldn't feel a pulse -

"N-no - I - I'm s-s-s-" (I'm sorry, please, just wait -) Sarah blinked away the tears and tried to breathe in air, her chest tightening. (Chest. Maybe I can feel his heartbeat through his chest -) Something pressed against her hand, his head into her palm. His eyelids fluttered against her fingers, blinking slowly open to find hers.

"I'm s-s-s-s-" She tried, her voice splitting as well as chattering.

"You're… Crying again." His voice was a whisper.

Steam poured off the orb as she gestured at it with her free arm. "I - yes."

"… Stop."

"It… I'm - trying." She swallowed. "L-let's g-g-get -"

"Just… Give me a moment." He breathed, closing his eyes, his head falling back against her hands again.

"I'm - s-s-s-sorry -" She couldn't stop weeping. A very tired part of her brain knew it was exhausted tears, the worst kind, the ones that wouldn't stop until she'd sobbed every last drop out. Something warm wrapped around her fingers and she blinked to see his hands grabbing hers. She tried to weakly shake him off, to force his barely warm hands back under the cloak, but his grip was beyond hers and he simply held on, refusing to let go.

"It was not… Your fault."

"Y-yeah I know b-b-b-" She began. (But I'm still sorry -)

"You… Will listen." He said it softly, and she knew it was a request, but she also had no energy to deny him, or point out how he shouldn't be speaking having almost hypothermia-d his way into oblivion -

He sighed. "You… Weren't supposed to win. You were… Supposed to… To lose, to bargain, to do… Something. But you won." His voice was quiet, a murmur above hers.

Sarah's emotions couldn't keep up as she stared at him, trying to comprehend.

(I won. I won and I wasn't supposed to. I don't understand you, or your logic, your emotions that you let slip out and then pretend never existed…)

(You give me so many riddles and then separate, different answers, you ignore me and then tell me you've been waiting - what do you want, Goblin King? You offered me the world at 16 and I'm not even ready now to handle my own Labyrinth, so… Can you really blame me?

I don't know what question he wants or I don't know the answers…)

"So… I was the… Fool, because… I gambled, and lost. And you won. And then… This happened. I tried… To fix… To find you. To somehow…" He gestured to the crystals, which were flickering badly against the sun. His images flashed, freezing, then faded, jumpy. "It all changed, it was slow, so slow… I didn't heed it, and then - It was too fast, I lost control… Of everything, I couldn't even - I couldn't even find you to warn you, I didn't realize what was happening in time, I tired the mirror, I wasted magic on spell after spell, I sent Didymus, but… I couldn't get you back. I couldn't… You… You broke it but it wasn't your fault, and you were… Alone. But not alone in… Being alone. I wanted… I tried…"

Sarah looked at his crystals as he spoke, avoiding his eyes. (And then I yelled at you for not explaining yourself. Because I'm clearly so great at communicating. Goddamnit, brain.) "I - I'm s-s-s-sorry I -…" (Was an idiot.) "I d-d-didn't l-listen." She finished. (And almost let you freeze.)

He chuckled, steaming laughter drifting up. "I am… Sorry I didn't speak… Sooner. But you still… Solved whatever… It was."

(Please. I watched your weird fucking orb memory and cried. Literally a baby could've done what I did. Toby could've done that. The orb. The stupid orb.) "It w-was j-just a m-memory. It w-wasn't really a h-h-h-helpful a-answer."

"But… Not if you… Asked the right questions… Perhaps?"

"… M-m-maybe. But i-it w-w-was just the d-dance. O-ours."

"Ours?"

"Y-yeah. I-it was y-your memory."

"And what was… The answer?"

"The - s-s-solution? It w-was f-f-orgivness. I - I think. Th-that's the answer - in t-t-the f-fairy tale. Or s-s-s-something l-like that." She tried to roll her eyes through the tears. It was a slushy attempt at best.

"And what… Was the question?"

(The question?)

His eyes were open now, dark and light, measuring her.

(The question to the answer? What had it been? The question was what did I need to see, what did I need to realize, because Kay in the story needed to realize that Gerda loved him and that was the answer he needed to know, love -)

Sarah's breath stopped, and she blinked.

(No, that's just the story. The little boy also forgave the girl and apologized and did a lot of other stuff, and the puzzle meant… It meant eternity, that was the puzzle, so - so this has nothing to do with… That. Besides, I had like 20 questions after I was done watching you throw orbs everywhere. I wanted to know the lyrics to the song, I wanted to know why this particular story, so that wasn't the question, the question I wanted to know was why -)

Sarah stopped.

(Why you didn't want me to leave.)

(Why you wanted me to stay, why you looked so hurt, why you created an entire perfect world for a 16-year-old human who should mean nothing to you, why you offered her everything, why - if you knew there was a chance she might win - why would you invite her in the first place to risk it all and finally -

(Why oh why would you would want her to stay -)

(But what no one knew is that the King of Goblins had fallen…)

Fallen… Falling… In love…

No. She fought for breath again. She didn't know. She didn't know what he wanted, and she didn't want to tell him the question or… Or hear the answer. She - because the answer could - she didn't - could be -

(No. I don't - I can't -)

The sun suddenly felt like it was burning her, she was hot and her blood was in her ears, rushing against the heat, her warmth rapidly returning and flooding her all at once, too much.

(I can't know this. I can't do this right now. I don't know. I don't. And I definitely don't want the answer to something I don't know. Of course I don't. How could I. That doesn't make sense. And I make sense. I solve crazy Labyrinths with my own fucked-up logic, using rules and studying stories and it all works and goes together in order and I have to fix this just like a fairy tale. It had a beginning and middle and an end, point A to point Z, Happily Ever After, with a million tropes and cliches that I know and I use and that's it. There's no time for something stupid like this, I can't hesitate over whatever this is, it's stupid. He wanted my brother and I wanted to be a hero in a fairy tale and we both paid the price and it's nothing more. Once Upon a Time all the way through to Z. That's it. it's about fixing this, it's not about me, or him, or - or us, or why he wanted me to -)

(Why he wanted… Me?)

(No. No no no. That is not my fairy tale. I mean, it's mine, but it's my fucked-up version that I'm trying to fix, working against isn't my story. I'm on a quest to defeat my crazy killer Labyrinth, I didn't come here to find my brother's kidnapper and -)

(And what? What is your fairy tale, Sarah? There was a beautiful young girl… And what no one knew -)

She forced the explosion of thoughts violently aside, suddenly acutely aware of everything. Her hot face and pounding heart, the light that was blinding her, the fact he still hadn't let go of her hands, warm fingers firmly trapping her cold swollen ones, his eyes that were watching her, holding her in their gaze just like they had in a ballroom so long ago, the fact that her tears were just now stopping, and wouldn't stop fast enough. She couldn't seem to get in the right amount air to calm herself down, and inhaling faster just gave her hyperventilation.

He was still looking at her, expecting an answer. (Fuck.) Her chattering was now quickly turning to stuttering. "T-the q-q-q-q-q-qq-question."

"Yes."

"I - it w-w-was - if I c-c-c-ould f-find y-you." Sarah gave her best attempt to sound controlled, like she wasn't lying. Which she wasn't. (Completely not lying. About anything. At all.)

He raised a quizzical eyebrow. "You… Already did. I… Knew you would… Find me."

(Shit.) "I - I d-didn't." She tried a causal shrug. (What did I say the answer was. Is he expecting more of an explanation. Was it something about forgiving him? Shit. Shit. I don't remember.)

He blinked lazily at her. "Always."

She didn't know what he was talking about, she couldn't even quite remember how to breathe for some reason. "Always… What?"

He let out a shadow of a laugh in the sun, his fangs catching the light and suddenly the moment broke. She stared away, blinking, her eyes watering as her head swum with confusion. (Everything hurts. Nothing makes sense. What just happened.)

"There's always a way out." He nodded towards the gap in the dripping crystals.

"Yep." Her words were like molasses in her mind. Speaking. How to speak. She cleared her throat. "It's that." (Let's go and not think, Williams, not think and no questions, never any questions, just don't think, just go, don't think, don't -)

He stood with a slight groan, pulling her up and still not releasing her hands, and she tried to step away, to put some distance between them before he could hear her stupid loud racing pulse -

Sarah took a step and slid crazily, grappling with his hands. The ice had begun to melt, and the floor was now a slippery puddle under her. He said nothing, just grabbed and swung her up, carrying her in his arms as he slid carefully across the ice. She was too tired to disagree, burying her head in her hands from embarrassment as he stepped over the crystals, in-between them, through a path and into -

The snow.