⁰ ↪ • prologue •
snow white stood on her balcony in deep thought. after the events of her wedding, namely the queen's interruption, she couldn't stop worrying about the fate of her children. her two daughters. her hand slipped down to hold her noticeably bigger stomach.
it had been a surprise to both her and her husband. both were expecting only one child but they quickly adjusted to the change, making the necessary adjustments - another crib, extra toys, etc. snow was positively sure that her unborn children were both girls; she had sneakily borrowed her late mother-in-law's necklace to double check.
she was determined to do everything possible to ensure the future of her babies. her mind had been hardwired into mother-mode, all she could think about was their fate.
her thoughts were interrupted when a pair of arms snuck their way around her waist, pulling her back into a familiar chest. charming placed a kiss on his wife's cheek before noticing the far-off look in her eyes.
"what's wrong?" his eyebrows furrowed in concern.
snow shook her head in attempt to brush off his worries, "nothing."
however her husband was more intuitive than to believe her, "you're thinking about what the queen said again, aren't you? snow, please. i can't keep having this conversation. you have to let it go. we're about to have two babies."
at this point, she spun around to face him. "i haven't had a restful night since our wedding."
they were staring intensely at each other, seemingly begging the other to stop arguing.
"that's what she wants - to get in your head. but they're only words. she can't hurt us." charming tried to reassure her.
snow scoffed at this, "did you forget she poisoned an apple because she thought i was prettier than her? you have no idea of what she's capable of."
he sighed in resignation, "what can i do to ease your mind?"
she smiled slightly, knowing she was on her way to the affirmation she needed; the guarantee that her girls would be safe. "let me talk to him."
charming's eyes slowly widened as her words finally sunk in. "him? you don't mean-"
"yes. i do." she broke him off, wanting to finish their debate and visit the one person who could give her her desired information.
but her husband didn't seem to agree with her as he began to shake his head and verbally express his distaste at her idea. "no, no, no. it's too dangerous," was his firm reply.
"can you promise me that our children will be safe? can you guarantee it? because he can." her tone was now more desperate than resilient.
the prince seemed to notice this and finally agreed. he was admittedly worried for his children, just as snow was. "alright. for our babies."
that night snow white, prince charming and a guard made their way through a tunnel that led to the dungeon. the guard walked ahead of them with a torch held in his outstretched hand.
as they reached a set of doors, he turned back to face them. "when we reach the cell, stay out of the light. and whatever you do, do not let him know your name. if he knows your name, he will have power over you. rumpelstiltskin. rumpelstiltskin! i have a question for you." he demanded to the hidden figure trapped in the cell in front of them.
a crazed giggle came from the shadows as a wrinkled man with glittering skin stepped into the light, "no, you don't. they do. snow white and prince charming... you insult me. step into the light and take off those ridiculous robes."
the prince and princess pull the hoods of their cloaks down to reveal their faces. the man in the cell - rumpelstiltskin, the dark one - smiled excitedly at them. "that's much better."
the two kept their expressions impassive, charming deciding to speak up first. "we've come to ask you about the-"
he was once again interrupted - this time by the caged man. "yes! yes! i know why you're here! you want to know about the queen's threat."
snow stepped closer to the bars separating them, "tell us what you know."
he smirked at her. "ooh, tense, aren't we? fear not!" his sudden exclamation made her jump slightly and his smirk widen as he continued, "for i can ease your mind. but... it's going to cost you something in return." he negotiated. striking deals were his area of expertise.
immediately charming refused, turning to his wife to convince her not to fall into the dark one's trap. "no! he's just a waste of time." his attempt was weak and he knew it wouldn't fully sway her.
"what do you want?" snow questioned, her curiosity kicking in.
rumpelstiltskin narrowed his eyes in fake-thought before his left index finger shot up and he grinned at the couple. "oh... the names of your unborn children?"
"absolutely not!"
"deal! what do you know?"
charming glanced at his wife beginning to feel irritated at her disregarding his opinions. the dark one had already began answering her question so he could do nothing to prevent the deal made between them but listen.
"the queen has created a powerful curse. and it's coming. soon, you'll all be in a prison. just like me, only worse. your prison, all of our prisons, will be time. time will stop, and we will be trapped. someplace horrible, where everything we hold dear, everything we love, will be ripped from us while we suffer for all eternity. while the queen celebrates, victorious at last. no more happy endings." he revealed to them, almost sounding happy at the concept.
snow's mood had dropped lower than when they first entered the jail, now even more concerned for the fate of her children. if everything they ever loved would be ripped from them, what would happen to them? "what can we do?" she breathed out.
rumplestiltskin tilted his head to the side and said simply, "we can't do anything."
her head snapped up to look at him, "wha-who can?"
his gaze fell from her eyes to her stomach, "well, one of those little things, growing inside your belly." he reached his hand out to touch her stomach until a sword hit it away.
"next time, i cut it off." charming snapped at him
"tsk tsk." rumplestiltskin tutted him with a small wag of his finger. he turned his attention back to the pregnant princess, "the first born child is our only hope. get it to safety. get the child to safety and on its twenty eighth birthday, the child will return. the child will find you and a final battle will begin."
snow took a step back at his revelation, "what about our second child?"
he gazed off to the side for a moment as he considered his answer. "her future is unsure. but i know one thing to be certain: she has power unheard of, greater than the power inside me. she will be the one to fight the darkness. it will be the fight of her life. even i have not the power to see the outcome."
"but will they be safe?" she had so many questions about the possible fate of her children. being titled a saviour and a battler of darkness couldn't be easy for any unborn baby.
"that, dearie, is up to you and them." he winked at her, completely demeaning his previous statement.
prince charming straightened his posture and narrowed his eyes at the deranged prisoner. "we've heard enough. we're leaving."
he held snow's arm and began leading her back the way they entered.
"hey! no! we had a deal!" he climbed onto the bottom row of bars, pushing his head through the gaps to shout at them. "i want their names! we had a deal! i need their names! give me your daughters' names!"
charming stopped walking to look back at him, "daughters? we're having one of each."
rumplestiltskin's wide eyes moved to the mother-to-be, "missy-missy... you know i'm right. tell me, what's their names?"
snow inhaled a deep sigh and answered him while staring at her husband, "emma and evie. their names are emma and evie."
"emma... evie..." the jailbird breathed in relief, jumping off the bars to slide down the opposite wall.
once again, snow stood on her balcony, her thoughts on her unborn daughters. the blue fairy had revealed a way of escaping the effects of the curse - an enchanted tree stump that would be fashioned into a portal - but the catch was only one person could go through it. thus came the plan of sending pregnant snow through by herself to raise her daughters and, on their twenty eighth birthday, she would assist the eldest in breaking the curse.
it seemed that she was the only one against this plan as everyone had agreed to it when the blue fairy proposed it in the meeting.
hearing a noise behind her, snow turned to see charming enter the room. she made her way over to him and held onto his arms, "i don't want to do this."
he shook his head, staring at her with unshed tears. "it has to be you."
"i'm not leaving you." her reply was quick and final.
charming smiled at her stubbornness but continued to persuade her to concur with the plan, "it's the only way. you'll go in there and you'll be safe from the curse."
"he said it would be on her twenty eighth birthday." she sniffled, tears starting to leak down her cheeks.
he smiled again, this time weaker than his first. "what's twenty eight years when you have eternal love? i have faith. you'll save me as i did you."
snow shook her head before grabbing his shoulders and pulling him towards her for a kiss. when they break apart, her face looks distraught - alerting him that something was wrong.
"what is it?" he hurriedly questioned.
"the babies. t-they're coming."
prince charming stood beside the bed where his wife lay screaming in agony. she was in labour, the babies were coming earlier than they were expecting.
"no! i can't have these babies now!" she cried out. her hair had began sticking to the sweat and tears on her face.
"doc, do something." the panicking prince pleaded the dwarf. his hand found snow's and he squeezed it to try and reassure her that he was there, and he would help. "it's going to be okay. the wardrobe is almost finished, just hold on."
geppetto, an old but proud man, ran into the room. he skidded to a stop in the doorway and pointed behind him - gesturing to the way he came. "it's ready." he spoke with an italian accent.
charming went to lift his wife into his arms to carry her to the wardrobe, their final hope.
doc put a hand on his arm to stop him, "it's too late. we can't move her." he informed him gravely knowing what this meant. their plan had failed.
after a few minutes of screaming and pushing from snow, her first daughter was born. doc cleaned her with a nearby soaked towel, wrapped her in her blanket and handed her to her father. the prince smiled down at his daughter watching her open and close her mouth, and wave her tiny hands around.
snow watched them from the bed leaning back with a tired smile. she was about to request to hold her daughter when a sharp pain shot through her. "ahh!" she yelled again.
doc moved back to his former position: reminding her to push and guiding her second child out.
a few moments later, cries filled the room as the small child was taken into doc's arms, cleaned and placed in a similar blanket to her sister's. he then carried her over to snow, who was quick to take her.
charming made his way over to her so they could both marvel at their children. they were beautiful. they seemed tiny snuggled into their knitted blankets, a gift from granny. both were white but had each girl's name embroidered on their respective one.
the new parents sat in silence watching their daughters, tears had spilt from both their eyes but they paid them no mind.
snow glanced at the window and noticed a violent cloud of purple smoke heading straight for the castle. she looked back at her daughters before remembering their previous plan. "the wardrobe. it only takes one."
charming shut his eyes and released a deep sigh. "then our plan has failed. at least we're together."
"no." snow shook her head, refusing to give up when there was still another option - albeit it was a terrible option but it was all they had. "you have to take her. take emma to the wardrobe."
"are you out of your mind?" charming answered, his eyes had moved from his daughters to his wife's.
she reached out to hold his face with one hand, the other still holding evie. "no, it's the only way. you have to save her."
his hand had covered hers as he still refused to listen to her reasoning. "no, no, no. you don't know what you're saying."
her smile was shaky as she started to cry again while responding to him, "no, i do. we have to believe that she'll come back for us. we have to give her her best chance."
the look in charming's eyes told her he had agreed with her. she smiled sadly at him, holding evie out for him to take while she said goodbye to her firstborn.
"goodbye, emma." she kissed her on the forehead, knowing she won't see her again for a long time.
"goodbye, evie." he kissed her on the head, knowing he wouldn't make it back to her before the curse hit them.
they swapped the babies again and shared a last kiss. charming made his way to the door, picking up his sword on the way. he spared one last look at his wife and youngest daughter before finally leaving.
snow glanced back at evie in her arms. the child had fallen to sleep and, snow noticed, her eyelids fluttered while she did.
the reality of her situation had at last hit her, snow released a loud, sorrowful cry. in it she let out all the emotions she was concealing.
it took her a few seconds to compose herself but she found the strength to force her body off the bed and out the room. as she stumbled through the long halls of her castle, she kept a tight grip on her baby - scared that if she let her out of her sight or released her grip, she would disappear or be taken from her.
arriving at the room which she knew contained the wardrobe took longer than it should've. her strength was slowly leaving her and giving birth twice didn't help matters.
the door was kicked open, the inside of the room was a mess, and a familiar body lay face-down in it's centre.
"no!" she yelled, her strained voice sounding more like a rasp. her feet carried her the small distance from the door to charming's body and she collapsed beside him.
placing her baby in a wicker basket she plucked from the floor, she turned her attention to her true love. holding her breath she leant down and kissed him. pulling back, she waited for a sign that he would wake up but nothing happened.
"please. please come back to me."
hearing footsteps approaching the room, she scrambled for her baby - putting herself in front of her to hide evie from view.
regina, the evil queen, entered the room, a victorious smirk on her face. "don't worry dear. in a few moments you won't remember you knew him, let alone loved him."
"why did you do this?" snow asked. her voice cracked when she spoke but she couldn't care about it.
regina leant down to stare at her enemy in the eyes, "because this my happy ending."
two guards walked into the room, bringing the queen's attention to them.
"the child?" she questioned them.
the one on the right stepped forward to answer her with his head bowed, "gone. it was in the wardrobe, and then it was gone. it's nowhere to be found."
she scoffed and turned to snow instead. "where is she?"
"she got away... you're going to lose. i know that now. good will always win." a hopeful smile now made it's way onto her face. there was hope, charming was her hope, emma was her hope, evie was her hope.
"hmm, we'll see about that." regina waved her hand and snow watched as a wicker basket appeared in her arms.
"no!" she leapt forward but was caught by the guards who held her back. "don't hurt her please. don't hurt my daughter, regina. please leave her alone."
her stepmother raised an eyebrow at her pleading, "oh, don't worry. she will be left alone. she'll have nobody to love her or care for her. she'll never know who she really is. her life will be miserable. because of you." she clicked her fingers and the basket disappeared, with it evie wrapped in her blanket.
"no! where did she go? what have you done?" snow thrashed in her captors' grasp, her movements more frantic than ever.
"what have i done? i did that girl a favour. i kept her from knowing you. i prevented you from ruining her life. by doing it myself." she smiled and gestured to the guards holding snow.
suddenly something hit her on the back of her head and she fell forward. her eyes slowly began closely as she slipped away, the last thing she heard was the laughter from the evil queen echoing in her head.