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XXI
Snow lays down on her back, following every instruction the Medicus gives her. His dark hair falls in his eyes as he sits down, but he barely seems to notice.
"Righty-ho, then, your Majesty. Close your eyes." he says calmly, his voice holding a soothing tone, that makes her feel safe. She closes her eyes and relaxes. "Now, I need you to picture your nightmare, and then the part that doesn't scare you as much as the rest."
Her eyes fly open, and she looks at the Medicus in shock. "The entire nightmare is bad. I do not have a favourite part."
The Medicus smiles and shakes his head. "I don't want you to picture your favourite part. I want you to picture the part that is less scary then all the rest."
Snow sighs and closes her eyes. "Fine. I guess the part at the beginning, where I look at Eric, is not as bad as the rest." She tries to picture it, shivering as she does.
"Can you make it clearer?"
"You can see it?" says Snow surprised, opening her eyes.
The Medicus has his eyes closed, but he opens them right after her. "I can. Don't ask questions, you won't understand the answer. Now, keep your eyes closed, and picture it, as clearly as you can. Do not open your eyes or we'll have to start all over again."
Snow nods, and closes her eyes. She hopes with a passion that this will work. She wants her life back. She wants nothing more than to marry Eric. It is something she wants more than anything else.
"You really love him, don't you?" asks the Medicus.
"Yes." she whispers, forcing her eyes to remain closed, even though she is dying to know how he does it, snooping in her kind like that. Can he see everything?
"Well, that's good to know. We can work with that." She feels him inch a little closer to the table. "I'm going to touch your face now. It won't hurt, I promise." Snow takes a deep breath. She trusts him. She feels his long fingers gently press on her temples, and she promptly feels something warm enter her from the connection points. The warmth spreads from her temples to her head and the rest of her body. She briefly wonders what is happening. "What you're feeling now is me, pouring in through our connection. My essence. It won't go anywhere private, I just need a solid link to the nightmare...yes, I can see it, now. You're looking at Eric, his eyes filled with love and despair." It takes Snow moment to realize that his voice does not come from the outside, but from within herself. He is talking, yet her ears never register his voice. "Part of the connection. You can hear my thoughts when I send them to you. But I need you to focus now, okay? No distractions, just listen to what I say."
"Alright." she says, faintly aware of the fact that her mouth never moved an inch.
"Guide me through the nightmare, step by step. Don't do anything else. Just think of it like this: you're showing me around in an ancient museum, telling me the back story of the nightmare. Show me around. Tell me the back story. But don't live it. Alright?"
It takes Snow three tries to distance herself from the dream. The first two times cause her to break down crying, and they are forced to start again. But the Medicus is patient and understanding, and gives her all the time to recover. But he third time, she succeeds in distancing her emotions and simply telling him what he sees.
"Finn. He is in that space, that room. I am lying on the floor. I cannot move. Eric is just a few feet away from me, begging for my life. Never his life. Never his. Only mine. He does not care about himself."
"OK, but keep going. Move on to the next scene." the Medicus says softly. "I'm here with you every step of the way."
Snow moves on to the next scene, simply observing the people in front of her. "Finn pounces at me. His face is horrific. He seems to enjoy it, every second of it." The scene moves more rapidly now. She recites everything step by step, even the most gruesome details come out of her mouth like it's just a silly fairy tale.
At the end, the Medicus lowers his hands and sighs. "I see." He rubs his face and his eyes look tired and worried. "Well, I understand why you're having trouble getting over this. It's really horrific."
Now that he is not occupying her mind anymore, her horror returns. The images are more frightening than ever. She wraps her arms around herself and rocks back and forth slowly, trying to remove them from her mind. "Can you help me?"
The Medicus looks up, grinning widely. "Of course I can!"
"Well, you are quite full of yourself, are you not?"
"I have a right to be!" the Medicus says, tapping her nose, bringing a smile to her face. "I've been doing this for over 10 centuries, so I think I'm allowed!"
Ten centuries? This man has lived for a thousand years? "I – really?"
"Yeah! I've been around a long time. A very long time. I've seen some things. Secrets that must never be spoken." His eyes glaze over for a moment. "Anyway!" he says, quickly shaking his head. "Sit up, and relax. We're gonna try to fix you."
Nervous about what may be coming, but certain about his honesty, she relaxes on the bed and smiles at him. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to replace the bad pictures with good ones." He sits in front of her and places his hand on the sides of her head. "Relax. I won't do anything, I promise. Take a deep breath. I'm going to count down from five, and when I'm done, you'll fall asleep and I'll talk you through the process." She nods, relaxing a bit. "Five. Four. Three. Two. One. And fall asleep." Her entire body immediately relaxes and she feels his hands on her arms, gently laying her down.
"Can you hear me, Snow?"
She does not know if she answers him, but he keeps talking. "Good, very good. Now, what do you want most of all? In the entire world?"
That one is simple. She wants to marry Eric more than anything in the entire world. She wants to live her life with him. She wants to have a family with him. "Good, good, that one should be easy to do. How do you want your wedding to look like? Tell me."
The Medicus POV
The girl is really quite extraordinary. Her ability to trust a man so quickly is quite impressive, and her beauty was incomparable to any other girl he'd ever seen. He had never forgotten his one true love, but this girl is something.
But now he has to focus. He penetrates her mind and connects with her again, and gets ready to show her the pictures of her dream wedding and her family. "I want a small wedding. Just me, Eric, William, the Dwarves and Elijah. Oh and Greta. I want to wear a simple white dress, and Eric in his Huntsman clothes, cleaned up and smiling. I want to be so overly happy. I want to see William smile and I want him to approve." She rattles on and on and he gives her the pictures, the images, the feelings. He replaces the rape images with the happy images.
Slowly, the creases in her forehead soften, her constant frown being replaced by the soft smile on her face. "Eric." she whispers. The pictures flow by as he replays her wedding over and over again, until she is crying with happiness. She's back. The nightmares are gone. The trauma is gone. Finally.
"Okay, that's enough. I'll count down from five and you'll wake up. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Wake up."
She opens her eyes, her dark eyes shining suddenly, it makes her face light up in a way the Medicus has never seen before. "Was that real?" she asks, her eyes wide and joyful.
"No. But it can be. Now you're free of those nightmares."
"I am free of them?"
"Yep." Suddenly, the man felt her arms around his neck. The queen of this land was hugging him. He'd never been hugged by a queen before.
"Thank you. Thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to me."
The Medicus smiles surprised. He has to admit, he was not expecting this kind of response from her. "It's what I do, Your Highness."
She lets him go immediately, as if remembering her own position. "I apologize. I am simply very grateful."
He smiles and touches her cheek once. "Call me whenever you need me. For whatever. My skill set is larger than just this. Goodbye." He opens the invisible doors to his ship and smiled at her one more time. "Geronimo." Then he shut the doors and left the kingdom again, searching for other adventures, new mysteries to solve.
Snow POV
Another lash of wind and the Medicus is gone, leaving her with a light heart and a smile on her face. She is better. Snow can feel it, to her bones, that the pain and horror is gone and all that is left now is a deep longing. A very deep longing, a longing that tugs at her heart, that she can hardly place.
Alone in this cold, windowless room, she looks inside her heart, which is surprisingly easy. This session has not only cleared her head, it has also cleared her heart. She knows what she wants now. She jumps up, straightens her dress and runs out, in search for what she wants. Who she wants.
Eric.
Their room is not far from the Healer's room and so it does not take her long to get there. The door is already open and she bursts in, shouting his name. No answer. Alright, so he is not here. She runs to the window and throws it open. Down on the courtyard, she sees Greta walking. "Greta!"
Greta looks up and a huge smile appears on her face, along with a blush. Everyone is watching. "My Queen!"
"Have you see the Huntsman?"
"Yes, milady, he is in the Throne Room. He wished to be left alone there until you came back!"
Snow smiles. The Throne Room. Perfect. "Thank you!" Snow calls back smiling and she slams the door closed. She has no time to lose. She has to get to Eric and tell him that she is better now. She has to be with him. Running as fast as she can through the hallways of her castle, her heart light and her face pulled in an endless smile, she can feel the longing grow stronger and stronger with every step. She needs him. More than anything else in the world. Before the Great Doors of the Throne Room, she stops, and catches her breath.
"Milady?" one of the Guards says. "Are you alright?"
"I am perfectly fine, Roderick. Leave us. Please." she says, her eyes hardly straying from the door that keeps her Huntsman away from her. The Guards look at each other, confused. "That was a direct order, Guards." she says, more sternly.
"Yes, Your Highness." They take their leave immediately, and Snow steps forward, smiling. This is it. This is the day that everything changes. She is surprisingly nervous. Her hands touch the doors and they swing open easily, revealing her Huntsman sitting on the steps in front of the throne, his head in his hands. He does not look up until the doors close loudly.
"Hello, Eric." she says softly, and she smiles.
"Snow." he whispers, rising to his feet gracefully. "Has it worked?"
She approaches him, a teasing smile on her face. He seems to be restraining himself. "Why do you not take a look for yourself?" she says, stopping a few feet away from him.
He runs towards her and wraps her in his arms. "I was so worried. Are you alright now? Is it over?"
"Look at me and tell me." she whispers against his chest, her heart pounding against her ribs. He releases her slightly, only enough to lean back and look at her.
"You seem happier."
"I am."
"So, it is over?"
"It is over."
He bursts out in sudden laughter, and swoops Snow up in his arms. The feeling of her stomach dropping at the movement makes her squeal, but the kiss he presses to her lips makes her heart almost jump out of her chest. "Snow." he whispers. "Snow."
"I love you, Eric. I love you so, so much." she whispers, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Eric sets her down and leans his forehead against hers. "What happened? What did that man do?"
His warm breath ghosts her face and she closes her eyes. Here in his arms she feels safe. "He replaced the images of the nightmare with newer, better ones."
"Which ones?"
Snow hesitates. Should she tell him? "Just…happier." She pushes herself up onto her tiptoes and presses her lips to his, a fire burning in her stomach. A fire practically unknown to her. "Come with me, Eric." she whispers. Her fingers lace through his and she starts pulling him away from the Throne Room. Maybe the fire is unknown to her, but she knows what she wants.
"Where are we going?"
"Back to our room." she whispers, her eyes gleaming with desire and he smiles at her.
"Are you sure?" he asks while she pulls him through the hallways, her stomach coiling.
She stops, turns and jumps him, crashing his lips on his. "I have never been so sure of anything." His pupils dilate slightly, and then he kisses her again, while walking on, guiding her to their room.
As the door opens, Snow knows. She knows what will happen next, and it scares her and excites her. "I love you, Snow. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." He sets her down on the bed. "Wait just a second." He walks to the cabinet, opens a drawer and pulls something out. Snow watches him with fascination. What is he doing? He sits down in front of her, on his knees, looking up at her. "Snow White," he begins, and then breathes a laugh, "God, I have rehearsed this so many times and yet I am so nervous. Snow, my lady, my love. I have loved you from the moment you entered my life. You saved me from myself. What happens to you, happens to me and I want to be with you forever." He opens his hand and there lies a beautiful, golden ring. "Marry me. Marry me, make me your husband, make me the happiest man alive. Please?"
Snow sits stock still for a long moment, carefully remembering every word he has just spoken. His face is hopeful and open to her, and her heart literally melts in her chest. "Yes." she whispers, taking his open hand in both of hers. "Yes, Eric. Of course I will marry you." His eyes light up his entire face, and to Snow, it is the most beautiful thing she has ever seen.
"Snow," he whispers, taking her left hand and sliding the ring over her ring finger, "I will love you forever," he kisses the ring, "and ever," he kisses her lips, "and ever."