Disclaimer: I own none of the characters besides my OCs. Before I start, I would like to give thanks to Pixargirl for her help and support in me and this story of mine. You've done so much to give me the confidence and motivation to write this story. Now then...

Come the next morning, everyone woke up bright and early as soon as the beautiful sunshine blanketed the landscape. The dwarves slept okay, despite having to rest in various hard areas around the cottage. Dane slept just as good as well and he and Snow were ready to start the day together. However, Dane was reminded that he needed to join the dwarves in their work over at the mine. Although, he insisted on staying with her, he still had to earn his keep, at least in Grumpy's point-of-view since he still didn't trust neither him or Snow White.

Dane was most hesitant about leaving Snow White by herself in the cottage, even with the forest critters keeping her company, since he knew the Queen would come around eventually and try to poison the poor and naive princess. Dane didn't want to risk losing her already, not when they were just starting to like each other. For the first time in his life, a girl was finally into him and didn't want that to go to waste. Dane had no choice, though. He was made to wear that coat the Dopey and Sneezy danced in the previous night.

As he made his way over to the front door with Snow, he stopped to look at her directly in the eye.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright here by yourself?" He asked her again, feeling protective of her.

"Well, of course I am, silly. Why are you so nervous?" She asked him with a giggle.

"I-I'm not nervous, I'm just worry for you, you know." He told her.

"Oh, don't worry about me." replied Snow assuringly.

What suddenly caught Dane's eye and seemingly distracted him from the current dark subject on his mind was the assembly of cooking utensils by the windowsill.

"You planning on making something?" He asked her with a lifted eyebrow.

"Oh, yes! I'm gonna be making a delicious pie for all of us when you return." Snow answered with that innocent smile of hers.

"I'm sure it'll taste just fine. But seriously, be mindful of anyone and I mean, anyone. Because if there's any suspicious characters coming by requesting entry, don't let them in under any circumstances, understand? Because, I don't know what would happen if anything-"

Snow cut him off mid-sentence when she placed a soft kiss on his cheek, making him freeze and blush madly with his heart thumping like a Cherokee drum.

"...happened to you." He finished with a dazed and weak tone.

"I'll be fine. Now you go run along and have fun with the little men and come back to me soon, okay?" ordered Snow.

"I will." Dane finally snapped out of his love daze and maneuvered outside to go wait for the dwarves. The dwarves finally retrieved their pickaxes and headed out the door where Snow was waiting for them and came out one-by-one. Doc, being the so-called leader of the bunch, came first.

"Now, don't forget, my dear. Th-The old Queen's a sly one." The stuttering dwarf leader reminded her strictly. "Full of witchcraft. So beware of strangers."

"Don't worry. I'll be alright." The young princess reassured, lifting up his hat and placing a gentle peck on his head to give him some confidence. "See you tonight."

"Oh, oh, yes." giggled the leader dwarf more than ever in an almost lovestruck trance before forcing it aside with a little manliness to focus on getting to work. "Well, uh, come on, men."

Bashful approached her next, gingerly clutching his hat.

"Be awful careful, 'cause if anything would to you, I...I..." stammered Bashful nervously before she kissed him too.

"Goodbye."

"Oooooh, gooooosh!" He blushed a bright red as ever before it was now Sneezy's turn.

"And be sure to watch out...to wa...to wa...to wa-" He suddenly felt another sneeze coming on. Snow kissed him anyway. "Thanks. Ah-ch...ah-ch-ch...AAAAHHH-CHOOOOOOOOO!"

Dopey had just stepped out for his smooch and puckered his lips for Snow, expecting one on the lips when Sneezy finally sneezed in the former's direction, blowing the young dwarf back before he could receive his kiss. Snow giggled amusedly before Dopey came back up to her again with puckered lips. Instead, she kissed him on the head like the others. The silly dwarf was so solicitous over it that he wobbled forward as if he were in a trance. When snapping out of it and desperate for another smooch from the princess, Dopey darted over to a nearby window and snuck his way inside.

Once Sleepy had gotten his kiss goodbye and left to join the others, Dopey approached Snow once more and puckered his lips yet again. Confused as to how he got back over here like that so fast, she merely chuckled at the young dwarf's obsessive need for more kisses.

"Well, alright." She said kissing him again. "But that's the last..."

Dopey zipped away out of sight before she could finish her sentence and just like before, he snuck back in through the house with the speed of a cougar in just three seconds flat and came back begging for another. Snow shook her head and laughed, gently pushing him away towards his brothers and Dane.

"Oh, go on! Run along!" She chuckled.

She and Dane waved each other goodbye as he and the dwarves departed down the path in the direction of the mine, singing their little tune. Dane decided to join in on the song just for the heck of it. Grumpy came up to her last, clearing his throat rather loudly to get her attention.

"Now I'm warnin' ya. Don't let nobody 'er nothin' in the house!" Grumpy warned her sternly and grumpily, of course.

"Why, Grumpy, you do care." She grinned before grabbing the hot-tempered dwarf, who began to resist and try to wrestle himself free, and gave him a smooch. As Grumpy marched off, he slowly came to a stop to feel that warm, fuzzy feeling inside from the kiss, but he shook himself free of those thoughts to remain tough and have no interest in mushy nonsense. But he didn't see where he was going and ended up walking face-first into a tree. He regained his bearings and continued walking, only to fall into the river this time. He hit his head under the bridge before returning to land, clothes soaking wet and shoes squeaking with each step.

"Goodbye, Grumpy!" called Snow White from afar, but he paid no heed and marched off all snooty-like.

For the remaining hours of the day, Dane and the dwarves all worked inside the mine tunnels, digging with their pickaxes into the earthly walls, working their hands to the bone. Now Dane was no expert at this, but it took a few tries for him to actually find anything that glows and glitters. Granted, it was a really messy jobs, especially for beginners. Luckily, it's not a coal mine, since the workers were vulnerable to the black lung.

"I really don't think we should be leaving her alone." Dane spoke up, worried for the girl's life.

"Oh, stop worrying. The princess is doin' fine on 'er own." replied Happy.

"Yeah. She can handle anything." agreed Bashful.

Minutes went by until Dane came upon a small diamond. He showed it to Doc to make sure it was real and, sure enough, it was indeed. Dane took it from him, planning on giving it to Snow, which Doc teased him over. After another hour or so had gone by, Dane and the dwarves were all dragging a mine care with a rope as a team when Doc noticed something up ahead.

"Hey, look!"

All of the animals were stampeding over to the group with birds grabbing at their shirts with their beaks and deer pushing them from behind. Dane tried as well to fight off the hysterical critters grabbing at him in such a crazed manner.

"T'aint natural!" shouted Grumpy, trying to get the birds off his beard. "There's something wrong! They ain't actin' this way for nothin'!"

Dane began to think that perhaps the animals were actually trying to warn them. Visions of the poisoned apple and the old Queen's wrinkled, claw-like fingers grasping it and holding it towards Snow White flashed back in his mind like a dark memory that wouldn't leave him alone. It finally made sense.

"The old Queen must have found Snow White!" He screamed, causing all the animals to settle down and the dwarves to stare at him and each other with horrified shock as the realization came to them.

"The Queen?! SNOW WHITE?!"

"The Queen will kill her!" screamed Grumpy with a sudden fear and determination. "We gotta save her!"

"Yes, yes, we-we gotta save her!" Doc hollered, panicking.

"She'll kill 'er!"

"What'll we do?!"

"Yes, w-what'll we do?!"

"Come on!" Dane shouted as he pulled out the hunting knife and charged outward towards the cottage with the dwarves immediately following suit, astride some deer, as they full-on raced through the trees, racing against time to make it back to the cottage before the Queen could do anything to the poor princess. Dane prayed in his mind that she hasn't been killed already by the time they got there. Storm clouds rolled in, drenching the land with rapid rainfall and strong gusts of wind.

When they reached the cottage, Dane saw an old beggar woman in a black cloak leave the cottage, cackling maniacally. Dane's fear was replaced with burning fury when he knew right away that it was the Queen in disguise and that deed had done. When she caught sight of them fast approaching, she took off running into the woods and Dane and the dwarves chased after her, ready to put an end to the wicked ruler once and for all. Dane didn't care how powerful she believed she was and she may be the ruler of this land, but she just robbed him of the one girl that didn't hate or made fun of him.

Nothing was going to stop him from getting is revenge. Dane chased after the disguised monarch, not caring how wet he got from the rain. The chase led them up a rocky mountain. The Queen finally stopped when her escaping path terminated at the edge of a cliff, leaving her with nowhere else to run from the angry teen and his dwarf friends.

"I'm trapped." She gasped.

Then she found an idea. There was a giant boulder next to her that looked just loose enough to push on. Grabbing a nearby stick, she wedge it underneath the large rock, intending to crush her pursuers to death with the boulders. She cackled with maniacal glee when the dwarves froze in terror as they were about to face a grisly fate to the wicked Queen. Dane, however, didn't stop.

The Queen silenced her laughter abruptly when she felt a pain in her chest. She froze when she saw that Dane had driven the Huntsman's knife deep into her chest and stared directly into her, burning his grieving hatred into her fading eyes. The old Queen gagged and convulsed, coughing up blood into his face before the boulder started to topple towards them. Dane quickly lets go of the knife's handle and out of the way in time for the boulder to collapse right on top of the dying Queen, both crushing her body and causing the edge of the cliff to break apart from the giant rock's weight, sending the Queen plummeting far below to the ground.

Dane wiped some of the blood from his face when the dwarves gathered around him to witness the dead Queen on the ground. It was finally over. The evil Queen has been vanquished at last. Dane noticed a pair of vultures circling toward the ground to feast upon the dead monarch. But then they remembered Snow White. Returning to the cottage, they found her prostate body laying lifeless on the floor and a red apple with a bite in it sitting close to her hand.

Dane and the dwarves wept with grief. As they set up a funeral for her, they shed tears as they mentally scolded themselves for having left her alone, knowing that the Queen would eventually find her. Dane was the most messed-up about it all. He wouldn't forced the dwarves to let him stay with her and he would've protected her, but he failed. He failed her. He failed to be there and protect her. He blamed himself. He couldn't eat or sleep. The first girl in his life that actually cared about and she gets killed with a poisoned apple.

So beautiful, even in death, that the dwarves could not find it in their hearts to bury her. Dane helped them fashion a coffin of glass and gold and kept an eternal vigil at her side. Months passed through the seasons from fall to spring and the dwarves all surrounded Snow White's coffin with bouquets and gathered around with the critters, hats off and payed their respects.

The tear-stricken Dane slowly approached the dead princess and wordlessly apologized for not being there to save her from her doom. Remembering in the end of the story where the Prince revives her with a kiss, Dane attempted just that by bringing his head down and giving her a kiss on the lips. Then he rest his head onto her chest. After a few seconds, he swore he felt a heartbeat.

Slowly, Snow White's once-closed eyes finally blinked open and she arose from her sleeping position to stretch and rub her eyes. Upon seeing her awake, the dwarves and animals all lit up with surprise and joy when they saw her alive. Dane, especially, since he had grown so close to her the most. Snow White smiled when she saw Dane and they both shared a loving embrace and passionate kiss.

"I knew it was you." She whispered gently.

"Now we know to be more careful next time." Dane spoke a bit jokingly, albeit strictly.

"I know. I'm so sorry, Dane." said Snow remorsefully.

They came in for another kiss and everyone around them danced with happiness and celebrated the princess's revival. Dane carried her bridal style before setting her down to her feet. After learning of the Queen's death, Snow knew she had to return to the castle and invited Dane to come with her. He then agreed. Snow White bent down to kiss her dwarf friends goodbye.

"Goodbye." She told them, giving them all a kiss on the head. "Bye, Grumpy. Goodbye. Oh, Dopey."

Even Dopey. Dane said his goodbyes as well and said they were welcome to visit them in the castle any time they want. The couple both walked back to the castle together where they explained to the villagers that the Queen was finally dead and Dane was the one who killed her. Everyone rejoiced now they could no longer live in fear of the dreaded monarch ever again.

Snow White and Dane got married on the spot and when she became queen, Dane had become her king. Dane never felt any happier in his life now that he had a lovely maiden by his side. They ruled the kingdom peacefully and lived happily ever after.

And there is the end of the Snow White story, folks. Now that this story is finally done, can anyone guess which one is going to be next? Find out in the next chapter. Till then, see you next time!