A/N: Hey, guys! Welcome to the new chapter! In the previous chapter, we saw the events from Doc's point of view. Insecure and helpless as never before, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't neither help his brothers nor find clues as to how to awaken Snow White after she bit the poisoned apple. We will now look at the events from the point of view of Grumpy, the only character in the movie to have a character arc. Let's begin.

Chapter 3: Grumpy: Relentless Regret

-Grumpy's POV-

(''Midna's Desperate Hour- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess OST'')

Where should I start? We were all devastated when we found Snow White lying lifeless on the ground, and I realized that the apple she ate was poisoned. The Queen in disguise had tempted her to taste it, and this reminded me of those legends.(1) That's not the point, though. The first time we met Snow White, I didn't even want to host her in our house, but I gave in and allowed her to stay. I regretted bitterly of being so cold to her before she died and not admitting how much I really cared about her before it was too late. I remembered when my brothers and I went to work. She always gave us a kiss on the forehead in turn, and when I was kissed... it was a good feeling. When the animals warned us and Sleepy realized the Queen had found her, I realized we had to save her, but we were too late. Since her funeral that terrible day, all I could do was cry with my face between my hands, with regret in me for not being kind to her, and now, it was too late. I couldn't save her. ''I'm so sorry, Snow White... if only I hadn't been so cold towards you...'' thoughts like this invaded my mind and never stopped.

After several minutes of mourning upstairs with my brothers, I went to the kitchen, where birds and squirrels showed me something on the windowsill. Oh, God. It was a gooseberry pie with my name on it, almost ready, except it wasn't baked in the oven. I can't believe that after everything I'd done to her and even though I'd been so cold to her, she'd made one just for me. She loved me, just as much as she loved the others, and she probably wanted to surprise me. I put the pie down on the table and burst into tears again. What had I done? I didn't want her to die, let alone do such a thing, I too have my limits in coldness.

Happy, worried by my absence, went down the stairs, and was saddened when he saw the gooseberry tart. In desperation, I told him I didn't know if our brothers or Snow White would forgive me, and he told me that it wasn't my fault and that if she had made the tart for me, then she knew that as much as I didn't want to admit it, I cared about her. My legs felt heavy as lead and I fell to my knees, crying on Happy's chest and taking him by surprise. Doc and the others also joined me, worried, and reassured me saying that it was not my fault and that they were not angry with me. We ate the gooseberry pie for lunch, but as much as we love it, we couldn't think of anything but the princess, and after dinner, I decided to go to sleep much earlier than usual, surprising my brothers. I went up the stairs, put on my pajamas and went to bed without saying goodbye to any of my brothers and without saying good night to them.

The next day, Doc showed us the schedule of the weekly shifts for housework and work in the mine. He knew that Snow White would not want us to leave the house as she found it the first time. But he decided that Sneezy would never take the shift to do the dusting because it would be too much for his sensitive nose, and a sneeze could turn the whole house upside down, so he spent that shift helping one of us once a week so that could keep himself busy. The timetable was as follows:

Monday: Doc would make the beds, I would wash the dishes, Happy would do the dusting, Sleepy would set the table, Bashful would go to the mine, Sneezy would wash the windows and Dopey would do the laundry.

Tuesday: Doc would do the dusting, I would wash the windows, Happy would wash the dishes, Sleepy would have gone to the mine, Bashful would have done the laundry, Sneezy would have set the table and Dopey would have made the beds.

Wednesday: Doc would set the table, I would do the dusting, Happy would do the shift in the mine, Sleepy would make the beds, Bashful would wash the windows, Sneezy would wash the dishes and Dopey would wash the windows.

Thursday: Doc would do the work in the mine, I would set the table, Happy would make the beds, Sleepy would do the laundry, Bashful would dust do the dusting, Sneezy would make the beds and Dopey would wash the dishes.

Friday: Doc would do the laundry, I would go to the mine, Happy would wash the windows, Sleepy would wash the dishes, Bashful would set the table, Sneezy would do the laundry and Dopey would dusting.

Saturday: Doc would wash the windows, I would make the beds, Happy would do the laundry, Sleepy would do the dusting, Bashful would washed the dishes, Sneezy would do the shift in the mine and Dopey would set the table.

Sunday: Doc would wash the dishes, I would do the laundry, Happy would set the table, Sleepy would wash the windows, Sneezy would help Bashful make the beds, and Dopey would do the shift in the mine.

However, a week later, we completely gave up our shift in the mine to stay close to Snow White, which means that on Monday, Bashful would help Happy do the dusting, on Tuesday, Sleepy would help Sneezy set the table, on Wednesday, Happy would help Dopey washing the windows, on Thursday, Doc would help Bashful do the dusting, on Friday, I would help Doc do the laundry, on Saturday, Sneezy would help me make the beds, and on Sunday, Dopey would help Doc wash the dishes. During the Saturday of that same week, I heard shouting from upstairs, and discovered that Doc, having learned from me that the apple Snow White ate was poisoned, spent hours and hours browsing through all the medical and poison books to find to solve our problems and a way to awaken Snow White, but in vain. I went to him, a little worried, followed by the others, and our older brother told us that he felt he had let us down. He had tried to keep his nervousness and his research secret so as not to give us false hope, but now he felt unable to help us, and when he told me that the princess was only fourteen, my heart stopped, as she was way too young to deserve this fate. We then decided to build a coffin of glass and gold adorned with gems for Snow White.

(''Midna's Desperate Hour- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess OST-s'')

(''Loss of Me- Final Fantasy IX OST'')

Over the course of the days, I would often wake up in the middle of the night after a few hours of sleep, and like Sleepy, I couldn't sleep. Sometimes, like him and Bashful, I would cry in my sleep, because I was too regretful for the way I had treated Snow White. She did so much for us, but if I admitted that I cared about her earlier, I wouldn't feel this way. In addition to losing sleep at night, I spent time isolating myself from my brothers and not staying in the same room they were in except for housework, often leaving the house but always staying within ten paces, with animals that sometimes they approached me, and although my brothers were used to my antisocial behavior, they began to suspect something.

Another two weeks passed, and it was Thursday. I was in the bathroom, the place where Sneezy often stayed when he wasn't feeling well or wanted to be left alone. I looked at the water of the water tub from which, as Snow White wanted, we washed our hands before eating, and looking at my ugly face frowning on the reflection, I punched the water a couple of times, knocking it to the ground and wetting my face, then I fell to my knees, covered my face with my hands and sobbed. Oh, how much I missed that girl, and since I had admitted that I loved her only at the last second, when it was already too late, I thought that as a punishment, I had to live in regret. A frustrated scream came out of my mouth and I grabbed my neck with my fingers, right under my beard. It's an extreme gesture, perhaps, but it was a reaction that came spontaneously to me because for what I had done, I felt like an imbecile.

The door opened, and my brothers stopped me before the situation could escalate. Doc and Dopey grabbed me by the armpits, while Happy grabbed my wrists. ''Jiminy Crickets!(2) Grumpy, what's the matter with you?'' he asked.

''You know, we're worried about you.'' said Doc.

''I just miss her, OK?!'' I snapped, then I realized I had raised my voice too much and spoke more quietly. ''It's about Snow White... I miss her so much... I've been really cold to her, and I haven't even realized how others see me... if only I hadn't been so mean to her... by now, it's been a month since her death, and I never admitted how much I loved her before her death. For my sin, I will be condemned to live the rest of my life in regret!'' I whimpered, starting to sob again.

''Come on, Grumpy! I'm sure Snow White would forgive you!'' Sneezy told me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

''Sneezy's right. We'd forgive you too!'' added Doc.

''Sorry if I worried you. It's just that by now, for what I've done, I feel so stupid that I might strangle myself. I can't even look you in the face anymore.'' I murmured, as I bit my lip so hard that it bled.

''I don't think it will help you, Grumpy. Neither you, nor anyone else.'' Bashful said.

''Let's face the facts. There's no way we can save her, and there's nothing we can do.'' said Sleepy, so disheartened. He was right, there was nothing to be done.

Weeks went by, and the leaves began to turn yellow, orange and red. But no one forgot what happened to Snow White, and as I said, I still suffered from a relentless regret that I saw as punishment for my actions. Although my brothers said they forgave me and that Snow White would do the same, I had my doubts, and always questioned my morality. The more time passed, the worse our mental state got, and the more I felt I would collapse. All those nights when I couldn't sleep, I saw almost all my dwarf brothers awake, but thinking about what Happy first and then Sleepy had said, they were right, and that made me feel worse. What will we do?

(''Loss of Me- Final Fantasy IX OST-s'')

A/N: Grumpy appears to feel guilty about his actions before Snow White ate the poison apple, and is now fully aware of how much he cares about her and the other dwarfs. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and see you next time! Bye!

(1): In many mythologies, the apple is the symbol of sin, temptation and falling into sin, for example, the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis, in which they were punished after Eve was tempted by the snake to eat the forbidden fruit.

(2): In the scene where the dwarves return home, their exclamation in the English dub is a reference to Jiminy Cricket, a character from Pinocchio. Coincidentally, three years after the movie's release, the Disney adaptation of Pinocchio was released as the second Disney Classic.