Disclaimer: I own like, no one. Snow is the only one of whom I have any legal ownership.
Snow Falls
Epilogue
She found him in the library, where she had known she would. He stood near the large window, staring down into the chocolate room, as if sorrowfully watching the ghosts of memories run past him. He held the top of his cane with both hands, and his back was straight. His head was turned away from her, so that all she could see was the way his hair fell across his cheek.
She cleared her throat, alerting him to her presence, though she was sure he was already aware. He turned away from the window and looked at her, but said nothing. So she was the first to speak. "Hello, Willy," she said softly.
"Hello, Snow," he replied, voice an equal whisper. Then he went over to sit in the couch circle.
She waited a moment before sitting down beside him. Silence reigned for a number of minutes until she decided to once again break the ice. "I don't want to go home," she said quietly.
"You have to," he said. "You know that."
"I know," she said. "But I don't want to go back to my parents. They're going mad, and my life is falling apart at home. I want to stay here with the Buckets. And you."
"You can't," he said, silently crying. "I can't make them change their minds, and even if I could, I wouldn't. I know that allowing you to stay would be the wrong choice in the end." He brought his hand up to her face and cupped her cheek, turning her head to him. She, too, was crying. "You're going to grow up to do something spectacular, Snow, I just know it. And I would only be standing in your way."
"No, no you wouldn't," she assured him, voice almost pleading.
"You may think that now," he told her, "but five years from now...you'll see." He released his cane and placed his other hand on her cheek, pulling her in for a kiss. As their lips met passionately, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hung from him limply.
And then, just as suddenly as the kiss had begun, he broke it off, releasing her face and practically throwing her away from him. She relinquished her grasp as well, and understood that it had finally come to an end. She stood up straight and brushed herself off, clearing her throat in the process. Then she said, "I love you, Willy Wonka."
"I love you, too," he said. And then he added, with a small smile, "Bambi."
She, too, gave him a smile. But that was all, because in the next moment, she ran from the library and out of the factory into her waiting limo.
And she never returned again.
Fin. The blood is the life, Sikerra.