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Hope you enjoy this next chapter xxx
After staring at Bigby for a painfully long moment Snow jumped to her feet. She had no idea exactly what she was doing, but if this camping trip had taught her anything, it was to trust her instincts. This was too confusing. He said she could smell his feelings and sense him more than others because there was some kind of connection between them, but now he's telling her that he's felt like that since they met? She wasn't going to deny to herself that she had some feelings for Bigby, but they were her feelings, kept private and protected. She was happy that way, much less opportunity for disappointment and heartbreak.
But for him to have feelings for her was impossible. Sure she had been closer to him that most other Fables, but that didn't mean much. She was cold and distant and never once encouraged this kind of behaviour! If her past had taught her anything it was to rely on herself and she would be just fine. The second she started letting other people in she would be hurt and there was no way she was letting that happen again. She realised she was pacing around the fire and she caught sight of the blanket she had been wrapped in. She sighed a little as she thought of his concerned face when she had awoken. Or when he had brushed her tears away that afternoon. She shut her eyes and remembered standing in his tiny kitchen, the words "I'd never leave you" rumbled in that reassuring tone of his. She was an idiot. How did she not see it before?
She realised she had been having a little monologue in her head for quite some time, all the while Bigby had been watching her, waiting for a response. She had no idea what she was going to say but it seemed Bigby was already prepared for the worst as he rose to his feet. "Snow its fine...I shouldn't have said anything." He smiled weakly and she thought her heart was going to break just looking at him. "I need a bit of air" he said and she started towards him trying to figure out what it was she needed to say to him. "Bigby please!" He waved her off and headed out towards the forest, the area around them was pitch black and all of a sudden he was gone.
His scent still lingered a little but it made her feel guilty and sad, not like the usual comfort she normally felt. She slowly sat back down next to the fire and stared at it, wondering how this could be fixed or had she just lost her Sheriff. She wiped her cheeks finding tears had been rolling down them freely. This wouldn't do. She had to talk to Bigby and tell him...what? She certainly didn't want to lose him. He was the only person she could really rely on. That's what terrified her of pursuing the feelings she knew she had for him. What if it all went wrong? Then she'd have nothing and she'd spend another hundred years or so picking up whatever was left of her heart again.
She rubbed her fingers in circles around her temples and tried to shake off the impending headache she could feel growing. Then she began to wonder. What if it all went right? She had no idea what exactly that would be like but she didn't hate the idea. A night out in the Mundy once in a while, not having to bury herself in work because there was someone to go home to? She suddenly imagined Bigby in her apartment, sitting on her couch smiling at her and she couldn't help but smile back. It would take her a while to settle in to the relationship and they'd have to go slowly...but it made her feel happy, now she knew how he felt. The darkness pressed all around her and she wondered where Bigby was. A chill ran down her spine so she retreated into the tent and firmly pulled the zipper down to the bottom, hoping she would be safe, praying he wasn't too far away if she needed him. As she drifted off she smiled knowing he would always be there if she needed him.
Her dreams were punctuated with odd events that she couldn't quite grasp. Her wolf senses messed with her mind as she chased unknown prey through forests, digging deep into the thick earth, desperately trying to find what she was hunting. She felt endlessly hot as though she were trapped in a fever, jumping from one dream to another, wishing she could work out which reality was real. As she began to wake she could hear birds chirping, and she felt cold and stiff despite the warm sleeping bag. Then she became painfully aware she didn't have the sleeping bag and when she slowly opened her eyes she became found that she wasn't even in the tent anymore. Not daring to move, she glanced around the area and found she was quite alone; her body face down on the hard ground of the forest. Groaning, she pushed herself up suddenly realising there was a reason why her limbs felt foreign to her. Her hands had turned into paws, covered in shiny black fur, a tail swished somewhere behind her and as she looked down her nose; it had become a rather impressive snout. She tried to back away from it all, panting and whining a little but there was no way she was getting out of this dream. Her tail thumped into a tree behind her and she spent a moment chasing it, until she realised how ridiculous she must have looked and grinded to a halt.
She tried to remember what she had learnt about finding your way and using the environment, but her mind was blank as she stared around it this unknown part of the woods. All she could smell was her own panic and she began running downhill, no idea what she was going to do. Her paws carried her quickly this way and that until she was even more disorientated then when she woke up. She ran until she reached a small pond and looked around but it was still and quiet as the morning continued on. Tentatively, she padded over to the water's edge and peered over, emitting a gasp as she saw her reflection. Her bright blue eyes had remained the same, and Bigby was right, her glossy black fur shone in the sunlight making her look quite pretty, but she couldn't believe she was looking at herself! She was looking so intently at herself that her nose touched the water, making her jump backwards, pawing at her damp nose and shaking her head a little. She plonked down and her tail began beating on the ground with impatience. This was stupid, she needed to sort herself out or she would be spending the rest of her days lost in these woods.
She needed to find Bigby. He had probably returned to the campsite and found that she wasn't there. Even if he had managed to track her down to where she slept, her running around had probably held him up at least a little. She closed her eyes and tried to smell any scent of him on the wind, but kept getting distracted by the rumble in her stomach. Eventually she gave up and began trotting slowly through the trees, until she spotted something that made her feel very strange. A little rabbit was snuffling among some fallen leaves less than 20 meters away. Snow froze and tried to reason with herself that there was no way she could eat a rabbit just like that, but somewhat independently she had crouched low to the ground and felt herself get ready to pounce.
"You'll never catch anything like that!" The rabbit jumped about a foot in the air then high-tailed it into the undergrowth as Snow felt herself relax her pose and spin around. She felt a little cross, but it dissipated as she turned and saw Bigby towering above her, his tail wagging and his big yellow eyes fixed on her. "Where did you appear from?" She said a little nervously, but she stood square on her paws and met his gaze. "Just because you run around like a tornado doesn't mean the rest of us are incapable of a little stealth." She was tempted to argue with him all day on the matter, but all she could think was how pleased she was to see him again and that he was talking to her. She slowly padded forward, her tail pointing skyward and she ran her cheek along his leg. "Thanks for finding me." He huffed in a way she could only interpret as a gruff kind of 'you're welcome' and then she began pacing around in front of him. "So it would seem I've become a wolf at last. Good thing it didn't happen on the plane home right?" To her surprise he looked a little embarrassed, "Listen, I'm sorry you had to wake up alone like that, I shouldn't have left." She shook her head; she didn't want to get into it now. "Bigby it's alright, we have a lot to talk about but let's just sort this one step at a time." His head cocked a little and his tail wagged even more vigour sly as she spoke and she grinned at him.
They wandered through the forest, and although she was adapting surprisingly well to her four legs, she was a little worried that this might be a permanent thing, which was going to be a problem for her. As she walked she tried to imagine herself human again, but every time she opened her eyes, she was still being followed by her own tail. Eventually she gave up and huffed a little watching her feet. "It'll be ok Snow, we'll think of something..." Bigby said softly and she looked up at him and tried to convey a sense of gratitude towards him. After a few moments of silence she said, "Can you always tell how I'm feeling?" He nodded and looked at her, slowing almost to a halt. "I try not to. I don't want to invade your privacy...but you surround me all the time. It's quite hard to ignore Snow." She stopped walking too and sat down, her blue eyes peering up at him. "That would have freaked me out before but now...I felt like I was doing that to you and I know how hard it can be to block out that...scent. You must have been out of your mind to stay you old mutt" she chuckled and he nudged her with his giant snout. "Hey! Nobody nudges Snow White!" Bigby laughed and nudged her again. "Snow White better not start calling me a mutt!"
They laughed but suddenly Bigby's head shot up. "I've got an idea! We might be able to put you right after all!"