He could have gone home. He could have gone back to his own castle once David left him, made himself busy with spinning or tinkering, he could have checked on Regina as he watched in the mirror for David to arrive and kiss Snow White, for the Curse to break, for Regina's plan to fail. But he didn't. He was growing to despise watching everything in the cauldron and crystal ball; it made his eyes hurt. And besides, he felt like these last few weeks had been leading up to more than just a seat alone by a crystal ball.

So he found Snow White and the dwarves who were busy polishing the coffin that held her form, laid out and covered with a blanket. Someone, probably Granny or Red, had changed her clothes for her. She now wore a delicate white garment that would have been too cold for the chilly air, but she certainly wasn't feeling cold where she was now. If the theories on the Sleeping Curse and where the victim's soul went to were right, she was lucky she wasn't burned.

He cast a spell of invisibility over himself and kept his distance, watching and waiting, watching and waiting. When he could, he summoned his crystal ball and looked inside to check on David, hoping for no more diversions from the Queen. He waited for him to arrive here, where he was, where she was. On foot it would have taken him days, with a horse it took him only a single day, one unendingly long twenty-four hour period, just long enough for the dwarves to put the finishing touches on a coffin, something miraculously build. Made of glass as well as timbers, he was, after all, a tradesman at heart, and he'd always be able to admire a well put together piece. Her coffin was just that. Glorious and beautiful, it might have paled in comparison to his Belle, but it suited the Princess. It was almost too bad that it wouldn't be used as it deserved to be.

It was snowing when he finally heard the hoofbeats of Charming's horse and even he had to admit it was a glorious sight, even if he knew that David's heart would break for just a moment when he saw it. When David finally came, he stayed out of the way, but let himself slip off the stump he'd been waiting on and come closer to see it all. This was, after all, a moment he'd been waiting over a century for, ever since he'd seen the connection that day in Cora's ballroom. The dwarves gathered around the coffin and turned when David flung himself from his horse. He approached quickly but stopped when the older one muttered "You're too late," his voice raspy with grief.

"No," David muttered as the dwarves stepped aside to let him see the casket. He put it together quickly enough, the dwarves, the coffin, the woman inside who didn't fog the glass with breath. Naturally, his assumption was death.

"No!" David cried predictably as the perceived truth overwhelmed him. He held his breath as David ran forward, to her side, and looked down at her frozen face, nearly the same shade as her gown. "Open it," he half asked, half ordered.

The dwarves stood still, keeping their ever-constant vigil. "I'm sorry, she's gone," Grumpy reasoned.

David lowered his head, reached out to touch the glass but disoriented as he was from shock his hand landed in an odd fashion. Grief could do that to a person. His heart bled for him. Even if he knew the girl wasn't dead, for the moment David did believe it. It hurt to lose people that were beloved to magic, good or evil.

"At least let me say goodbye," David finally reasoned, looking up at the dwarves with tears in their eyes.

They looked among themselves for a moment, Grumpy looking between his two brothers, but then they did as David asked and more. Instead of just granting him privacy to say a few words they removed the glass lid of the coffin. When it and the dwarves were out of the way, David stepped closer, fell to his knees before it, and lowered his head to kiss her without a moment of hesitation.

From all around he felt a powerful wind sweep over him. The trees rippled with it, the air cleared, the snow stopped…the whole damn day seemed brighter than it had before. Even the dwarves seemed to notice it. An interesting reaction, he hadn't planned on. The gasp, however, that Snow White let out as her eyes opened and the curse broke was textbook. The smile on David's face as he peered down at her…that was just as expected.

"You…" Snow breathed looking up at him, taking deep clean breaths of air before she reached up to touch David. "You found me."

"Did you ever doubt I would?" he asked taking her hand in his own to help her sit up.

"Truthfully...the glass coffin gave me pause."

"Well, you never have to worry. I will always find you," he whispered, cupping her cheek in his hand.

"Do you promise?"

"I promise," he whispered before kissing her again.

The dwarves were crying, hugging one another as he swept her out of her coffin and spun her around like something out of a fairy tale. If he was honest, they weren't the only ones crying. He was too. He allowed a single tear to roll down his cheek as he watched the scene unfold.

Over a hundred years spent planning a moment like this and all he could think of was Belle. He knew why he needed them, the role they played in his future as well as the future of the entire realm, but he couldn't help but cheer them on at least a little and wish them some kind of happiness, the kind he'd never had with Belle. But, maybe, just maybe, it was something that awaited him when he finally arrived in that new land and his son was before him once more.

"Nearly there, Bae…nearly there…"

Yep, again, it's short, but the thought of hitching this moment to the chapter before or the one after was just...no. This scene, whether you are a Snowing shipper or not, it's too important and iconic not to let it have the space it deserves. For that reason, I also didn't want to have Rumple watching it from his tower. This is sort of what he's been waiting for ever since the Seer first gave him the vision, watching in a cauldron or a mirror just wasn't going to be good enough. I wanted him to be there, to see it for himself. But I also wanted to do my best to keep it short and to the point, stripped of emotion. That's not because Rumple doesn't feel for this moment, the end shows that he does and also reveals the key. Happy and good as this moment is, it's painful because it reminds him of Belle. It's not sterile in the beginning because he doesn't feel; it's sterile because he's trying not to feel.

Thank you Grace5231973 and Jennifer Baratta for your comments on the last chapter. The next one has length to it, I promise. In 219 chapters there have to be a few that are super short. And just think, this is the long version! We see two different versions of this scene in season one, the long one, this one, at the beginning of the season and then a shorter abridged version at the end. I used the longer version because I don't think the versions are "different" I just think the editors said "they've seen this already just shorten it to get to the important stuff." And that important stuff is coming up next! Peace and Happy Reading!