Two chapters in one night! I'm doing this for you guys, because of the huge long wait last week :( and I think my mom also forgot about me being grounded... she hasn't been getting my electronics this week before she goes to bed... oh well. Ha! I don't mind! Feedback helps, so please leave a review!
Henry woke to a soft knock on the bedroom door. He opened his eyes to the blinding morning sun shining through the blinds of the window and suddenly remembered where he was - at Granny and Red's house.
"Henry," Red softly spoke to him. She was leaning at the threshold of the doorway, leaning against the doorframe, looking at Henry, who was shielding his eyes from the brightening light. "How'd you sleep?"
She stood up straight and sat down on the edge of Henry's bed.
"I miss them." He told her. Red nodded in agreement.
"I know, me too. Well hey," she stood up and waited by the door. "Granny made pancakes for breakfast, if that will cheer you up." She smiled when she saw that made Henry's face sort of light up more. He sat up, but hesitantly, wondering if it would be right to be happy on a day where his mother and his grandparents were stuck in the Enchanted Forest (he just knew they were still alive!) while his other mother, a.k.a his great step-grandmother, was trying to take him back all for herself. Hey, at least he was being protected by a wolf.
Henry finally decided to follow Red out the doorway into the kitchen of the sweet smell of pancakes.
David, Snow, and Emma were getting tired of walking through the fields and forest. They had been traveling for at least a little over an hour.
Emma stopped walking and sat down under a tree, leaning against the trunk. "All in favor of stopping and setting up camp here, say I."
All three of them said "I" in unison. Snow and David sat down under one tree and put their backs against the tree, also sort of leaning into each other.
It went silent, just taking in the smell of the forest and the trees and nature. The sky was a nice, clear blue above, and the tree leaves and branches were so beautifully wide and hanging over them, providing shade. Small flowers were blooming in the grass surrounding them. Emma picked a pink and yellow flower out of the grass, twirling it as she was deep in thought. Then she looked up.
"Hey, I don't know if this is a weak subject for you, but do you remember when you were telling me about what Cora did and how Regina now hates both of you for Snow telling on her?"
Snow and David nodded.
"I was just wondering, why does Regina hate David too? I mean, I'm pretty sure he had no part in that, right?"
Snow spoke up. "We didn't even know each other existed until way long after that."
David chuckled, and Snow continued. "Regina has just been jealous of the love we share."
David turned to her and smiled, and Snow returned a loving smile back to him. Emma watched their actions, and she almost couldn't blame Regina. The love Snow and David shared was definitely true love.
"Since I ruined Regina's chance of being in love forever, now she's trying to ruin mine."
It went silent again as Emma took that in. She looked over at her parents tree and watched them wrap their hands together and Snow rest her head on David's shoulder. It would be a good enough spring day to ask this question.
"I haven't read Henry's book yet, just maybe a page or two, but... I was just wondering... how did you guys meet?"
David and Snow lifted their eyes to meet Emma's. It had been difficult for her to learn that all of this fairytale story was actually true, and now she's faced with the whole land of the fairytale world, magic, and the Evil Queen's mother, and now that she learned her parents are the real Snow White and Prince Charming, it might be even more difficult to accept that and adapt to it immediately. Snow wanted to be called "mom" by Emma more than anything, but telling her daughter about everything her and Charming went through when they met was just as great.
Snow turned to David, then looked back at Emma and sighed.
"Well... where do I start?"
"How about I start?" David joined in. Snow confirmed with a nod, so he continued.
"I had a twin brother named James. I had never even met him in my entire life, because my parents never told me about him. James was a prince who lived in a castle with King George, my father, while I grew up as a shepherd with my mother."
Emma smirked. "You? A shepherd?"
David nodded. "I've heard James was a real jerk, but like I said, I never met him. One day, Rumplestiltskin gives my mother and me a visit, telling us my 'twin brother I never knew about' is dead. He was also known as a great hero who could fight with a sword easily, so I had to fill in for him in killing a dragon. He said I just had to go with the hunting group, but not to fight. I had to do this for King Midas, a rich king who King George was promised gold and other riches if we brought King Midas the head of the dragon.
"I had no choice but to go, so I went and we brought back the head. It was actually me who trapped and sliced the dragon's head right off, but that didn't matter. It turned out that King Midas had a daughter who was looking for a brave man to marry, and they could unite the kingdoms to one, rich kingdom and we could get the gold. Her name was Abigail. Guess who she was in Storybrooke."
Emma had no idea. "I dunno. Who?"
"Kathryn," David told her. He continued telling the story. "So anyway, my father gave me no choice but to accept the proposal and marry Princess Abigail. I had to-"
"Wait," Emma interrupted. "If you married that princess, then how are you and Mary Margaret married?"
David sighed. "I'm not done yet Emma..."
Emma gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry."
"So I had to live with King George, and if I ended the marriage, he said he would go to my mother's house, burn down the farm - and we were very poor too - and he would kill my mother as well, and I loved my mother very much." David gave Snow's hand a squeeze, remembering their first wedding they had in the honor of his mother.
Snow gave him a small smile. "Go on, get to the good part."
David chuckled. "Yes, that is a good part. One day, Princess Abigail and I were traveling to the other palace, and I decided to take the scenic route. All of a sudden, we found a tree blocking the path, and once I found out it was cut down, a thief had gotten my small bag of jewels out of the carriage, which had a ring my mother had given me. She said that true love follows the ring wherever it goes. I had to chase the thief alone on horseback, and when I finally knocked them off their horse, I went to them, and that was the first time I had ever looked into the eyes of the most beautiful, most fairest woman in the world."
"Aw!" Snow grinned up at him and gave him a chaste kiss. Emma smiled at the love they shared right there. Then she remembered what David just said.
"Wait, Mary Margaret, that was you? Why did you steal something from his carriage?"
"I thought that was the queen's carriage! No one ever went on the scenic route."
"So anyway," David interrupted. "I kinda called her a girl, so she slammed me with a rock and rode off with my horse. That is how I got this scar on my chin right here." He pointed to the faint scar on the side of his chin.
Emma's eyes widened at Snow. "Woah, you were sorta a badass back then."
Snow glared at Emma. "I still can be. I just choose not to. And hey, he deserved it. He called me a girl!"
David rolled his eyes. "I corrected myself about a minute ago at least. Anyway, I eventually had to actually set a trap for her to walk right into, which sent her up into a net high in the forest at the treetops."
"Oh boy, was that ever comfortable." Snow murmured sarcastically.
"That was where she first called me 'Prince Charming'."
"He also would keep telling me he has a name. Of course, but Charming was the perfect name for him." Snow leaned into David's arms and he went on, both perfectly content.
"We both agreed to get my jewels back from the trolls she sold them to, so on we went. On the way there, I wanted a small little drink of water from the river near where we were, so I went to get a sip, and BAM! she pushes me into the water, and just leaves me floating down the current."
Emma stared at the sweet innocent elementary schoolteacher, finding it impossible to vision those things.
"Snow escaped, and she got caught by Regina's men, but if it weren't for me, they would've gotten her and killed her. Instead, I killed most of them with a bow and arrow from a distance."
"Hey, don't take all the credit, I killed a lot too." Snow argued.
"Okay fine, with "Ninja Snow's" moves, she karate kicked them and all that..."
Snow rolled her eyes.
"So on the troll bridge, all was good and I was about to get my jewels back, but then I accidentally said something I wasn't supposed to say, and we got in a big fight with a bunch of trolls. Snow thought all was okay finally, so she almost left, but I had gotten caught by a few more, and I was about to be cut to pieces if it hadn't been for that lovely woman to come save me with her little fairy-dust that turned the trolls into cockroaches. It was there on the troll bridge that I'm pretty sure our love was found."
Snow and David looked at each other with those adoring eyes that Emma couldn't stand it. They were destined to be together.
Snow made adjustments. "I don't think it was first at the troll bridge..."
"What do you mean?"
"I fell in love with you before, trust me." She smiled again. David kissed Snow softly on the cheek before continuing.
"So I had gotten my jewels back and I soon had to go find Abigail and the rest, and Snow had to go back into the forest and hide in her little corner of solitude, hiding from Regina's army. But before we departed ways, Snow did something that just made me almost grab her right there and kiss her."
Snow blushed, knowing what he was talking about.
"Oh great," Emma joined in. "What did you do?"
Snow looked at Emma. "I kinda stole Charming's ring from him and tried it on my ring finger..."
Emma rolled her eyes at her mother. "Well that's one way to make a guy love you forever."
"She did look beautiful that day, standing there in her ragged clothing and messy hair, wearing my ring that was supposed to belong to the woman I proposed to." David stroked Snow's cheek with his hand, blue eyes looking into emerald eyes for a moment.
Emma didn't want to interrupt, but she wanted to know how all this worked out. Sorry. "So what happened?"
They snapped out of gazing into each other's eyes and looked at Emma. Along with looking up, they noticed it was getting a little darker.
"I think we should be calling it a night." David suggested.
"Where are we sleeping?" Emma asked. "We didn't bring any tents. Can we just finish the story?"
Snow chuckled. "It's pretty long. This is a good place to stop, but I guess I can continue it. So... let's see... oh yeah, me trying on his ring. That was when we departed ways, and Charming was to get married. I was still in love with him, even when I got back to the small cottage I was living in with Red."
"Wait, lemme interrupt for a sec," Emma cut in. "First, you knew Red for long time before the curse?"
"Yes, I did. She was my best friend in fact."
"And second... I forgot, so carry on." Emma smiled, laying down in the grass, trying to get comfortable. Snow and David looked way too comfortable over at their tree."
"Okay. So one day, Red told me my Charming," Snow looked up at David, and David looked down at her and kissed the top of her head sweetly. "was getting married in three days, and I had learned that I fell madly in love with him, so I couldn't get over it. She told me about this man who had great magical potions and powers that could do anything. I went to him for something that could help me, but instead, he gave me a potion in exchange of a piece of my hair."
"Wait," Emma interrupted again. "I'm sorry, but potions... a piece of my parents hair... the true love's potion... was that man Mr. Go- Rumplestiltskin...?"
Snow nodded. "Yes, but he gave me a potion that was supposed to make me forget everything about Charming and who he was, everything."
Emma gasped.
"Right when I was about to drink it, I got a letter, and it was from Charming." Snow looked up and kissed David's jaw, which was where she could only reach from where she was leaning her back against him.
"I sure am glad I sent that at that time." David grinned.
"The letter said to meet him before his wedding, so we could go off and live somewhere away from the kingdoms and with each other."
"So that's what you did?" Emma asked, making sure.
Snow paused. "Sort of..."
Emma closed her eyes. Somehow, her parents love story was getting to her deep inside. She wanted it to go like most fairytales go: happily ever after, the end. But she couldn't change the past, so she opened them again.
Snow explained. "I did sneak in his castle, but I didn't make it very far. I made it up to Charming's level, and I even watched him walk by."
"You did?" David asked suddenly. Snow looked up and laughed.
"Yes, I practically melted on the spot, which is what got me put in the cell next to this grumpy old fellow named, well... Grumpy."
"...one of the seven dwarves." Emma carefully answered for herself. Snow looked over at her.
"That's right. One of his brothers, Stealthy-"
"Stealthy?! There was no Stealthy!" Emma argued.
Snow stayed calm. "I'm getting there. So Stealthy got the keys and let Grumpy out, and I had talked to Grumpy about true love and why I was there, so he felt bad and asked Stealthy to let me out too. I followed them until they went into the courtyard, which was 'empty', but I knew it wasn't going to be for long. Sure enough, Stealthy was shot by a bow and arrow and I came marching in, threatening to light the castle on fire if they killed Grumpy too. I surrendered, and King George found Charming's note.
"King George wanted to talk to me, so he did, and he said that I go into Charming's room, and tell him I don't love him."
David closed his eyes at the pain of those words. Even those few words "don't love" were still a pain to his heart, even if the woman who said those words to him was the same woman squeezing his hand, and the same woman who he was stroking her hand with his thumb.
Emma looked mad. "Please tell me you didn't do what he told you to do."
Snow gave Emma a sad look, and Emma could read it easily. "Emma, King George said that if I don't do that, he'll kill his mother and burn their farm down. I had to."
She could feel her eyes water a little, so she blinked rapidly, trying to hold them back at the feelings and flashback of that horrible day. She could feel David place a lingering kiss on the top of her head.
"I had to..." Snow repeated. "I hated every single moment... except for when I stared at him packing before he noticed me in his room. Charming looked so happy to see me, and when he hugged me, I just felt so... so... alive, I guess."
She could feel her eyes watering more, creating puddles in her eyes.
"It's okay now," David whispered into her hair. "We're together, as a family. We survived those horrible days. Trust me, the days after were hard for me too, watching you not know who I was."
He was speaking louder, so Emma heard him that time. She put her hand on her face, almost like she was wiping stress off her face.
"You broke David's heart by lying to him, saying you don't love him, then you make him see you not knowing who you are? I think I'm done for one night."
After finding edible foods around, they found a way to all sleep comfortably. They stayed right where they were: Emma lying next to her tree in the grass and Snow cuddled in David's arms, except lying in the grass by their tree as well. Fortunately, it was the perfect temperature for them not to have blankets or pillows or anything. They were all comfortable, especially David's soothing words into Snow's ear right before they fell asleep.
"I made a promise to you all those years ago, and I've kept my promise every day since then. I found you."
A/N: Okay, gone to bed now. 2:50am :) Please tell me what you like or don't like, or what I should add to what happens to them, etc. ANYTHING! I'm open to suggestions! But I bet you'll like what I have planned for this story...
