A/N: Sorry for not updating in a few days. I've been busy. I went to see The Lion King on Broadway (amazing!) and then to the beach, plus the Sims 4 CAS demo came out today and has been consuming my time. Unfortunately, I'm sick now and my brain refuses to focus much on writing, but I included a brief Snowing dream sequence since I've been dying to write them, just as much as some have you have been eager to read about them. Hopefully this long-ish chapter makes up for my previous lack of inactivity. As always, I do not own the OUAT characters.
On the morning that she and Emma were to be released from the hospital, Snow was greeted by a small gift box on her bedside table. Pale pink and elaborately wrapped with a bright red ribbon, the box had only a white card attached to it. Congratulations, it read simply. Curious as to who it might be from and what might be inside, Snow carefully untied the ribbon and lifted the lid.
What she saw inside made her blood run cold and time seemed to pause as she picked up the plump red apple and held it in her hand. Memories flashed through her mind at lightning speed and she could feel her breath quicken along with them, making it harder for her to catch her breath. Regina. But….how? She racked her brain, trying to think about what it all meant. Regina was in this world and she knew about Emma. But what about everyone else from the Enchanted Forest? Had the curse simply brought them all here? Charming, too? She felt as if she were drowning in her own thoughts, each piling atop the next and demanding her full attention. One thing was sure, though.
She and Emma were not safe.
She picked her up her daughter and held her close, the feel of her tiny body against her own helping her to calm some as she picked through the thoughts in her mind one by one. She refused to give into panic as Regina's gift was no doubt intended to make her do. This world had no magic, of that she was sure. But that didn't mean that Regina was powerless. As she packed she and Emma's few belongings, still holding the infant close, she wondered how Regina had found them. Was she so close that she had simply seen them, she wondered, before dismissing the thought entirely. If Regina had been that close, she would have already struck, not even waiting for Emma to draw her first breath. She shivered at the thought.
Though her head worried about Regina's presence in this world, her heart raced for Charming's. He was here! He had to be. All at once a thought seized her and heart began to ache. He may be here, but that didn't mean that he was alive, or unhurt. She had to believe that he was safe. She would have felt it, wouldn't she, if he were gone?
She shook her head. She couldn't think thoughts like that. They always found one another no matter how long it took. She could wait, if she had to. If it meant that she would see him again. She just hoped that she didn't have to wait too long.
Placing the crimson apple back into its small box, Snow tossed the whole thing in the garbage. She and Emma would be fine. She would do everything in her power to make sure that was true.
Vicky and the girls picked up Snow and baby Emma, the girls unable to stop giggling or squirming in their seats for the entire short ride. Vicky shot them warning glances in the mirror, but that only made them giggle and squirm all the more. Snow didn't notice. She had too much to think about—Charming, Regina, getting a job and moving out—and she was still exhausted from having given birth barely 24 hours before.
Once the car was parked, Lauren and Katie raced into the house and up the stairs. Snow, holding Emma in the new car seat Vicky had gotten for her—yet another thing to be extremely grateful for—and Vicky followed behind at a slower pace.
"SURPRISE!" The girls yelled when they all reached the room that Snow and Emma were to share, beaming smiles on both their faces as they stood in the doorway.
Smiling, Snow peered inside, her smile giving way to a look of surprise, awe, and gratitude. She could feel her face flush and tears pool in her eyes as she looked around, speechless. They'd turned half the room into a nursery for Emma, equipped with a crib and toys and everything else that Emma could need or want. It wasn't the nursery that Snow and Charming had decorated for Emma themselves, but it was so much more than she ever could have hoped. She set down Emma's car seat and wrapped the two girls into a hug.
"Thank you so much." She murmured sincerely, before turning to face Vicky. She wrapped the older woman into a hug that she hope conveyed at least a fraction of the gratitude that she felt.
"You…I…you didn't have to do this. I can't thank you enough." She managed to get out.
Vicky smiled at her warmly. "You don't have to. Just enjoy it, you and this cutie, here." She bent down to smile at Emma. "Everyone needs a little help sometimes."
Snow sniffed and nodded, wiping at her eyes. She cried so often now. She didn't know if it was this world making her overly emotional, or just Vicky's never-ending selflessness and kindness. She unstrapped Emma and picked her up to show her everything.
"Look, Emma." She spoke softly, happily. "All of this is for you." And no one will take it from you, she added silently. Especially not Regina. Not again.
That night, Snow lie awake in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Emma lie asleep in her crib, snuggled happily beneath a blanket, a smiling moon mobile staring down at her while the real moon's light shone through the bars of the crib. In the dark, with only the moon's light and the sound of Emma's soft breathing for company, Snow allowed herself to miss Charming as she didn't during the day. If she let it, the longing would swallow her completely, hollow her out, and so it was only during the night that she allowed herself to feel any part of it.
The ache for him crashed over her, steady waves of pain that began in her heart and thrummed throughout her entire body. She shut her eyes and the pain dulled as she fell asleep.
"You found me," Snow exhaled. She had so many other things to say, but those words sprung to her lips first, a simple, unsurprised fact. Had she ever doubted that he would?
"Always," He responded sincerely, and then their time for words was over.
He cupped her cheeks first, staring into those warm brown eyes that he would always know as home. The way that she lit up for him, the way that they lit up for one another, couldn't be described. It wasn't like coming home after a long day—it was like coming home after an eternity, an entire eternity lived without her, which was how every second away from her had felt. But she was here now, or rather he was here, but it didn't' matter. His arms went around her and hers around him and they clung to one another, melded into one, the barest sliver of space between them electric with anticipation. When their lips touched, the world ended and then was reborn, better, so much better, than it had been before. Colors were brighter, the feel of his skin under her fingers softer and warmer, and the taste of him. So familiar and yet so long awaited that it was brand new. Her memory had, she realized, done him no justice at all. He tasted of forest and spice and love. Because, yes, love had a taste but it was no use describing it. It was a taste that was felt, down to her bones and in her heart until it became a part of her, a part that she had no intention of letting go ever again. A rush of feeling—love and passion and purity—washed over them both and they basked in its aura together.
Snow felt dizzy with happiness when they finally pulled away from another, just enough to breathe but not enough to break their embrace. Her head rest lightly against his chest and she could hear the very real sound of the beating of his heart, in tune with her own, and feel his cheek resting on top of her head. She lifted her head after a long while—long, but not nearly long enough—and reached for his face. She brushed her fingers over his face tracing every dip, angle, and curve she could find. The stubble on his jaw scratched lightly against her fingertips. Charming turned to kiss her fingers, and then the inside of her wrist, her shoulder, her cheek. They were discovering one another all over again and it was a more powerful magic that stirred within them than any curse.
Snow paused as soft cries reached her ears and she looked around, expecting to find Emma. "Emma?" She murmured breathlessly, Charming's lips still pressing against any inch of skin that he could find.
"Charming, do you hear Emma crying?" She asked, reluctantly taking a step away from him.
He opened his mouth to reply, but the sound of cries drowned him out. Snow frowned faintly and he faded away, along with the gown that she wore and the long, dark locks that had framed her face. The interior of the castle, their castle, faded away, too, and she was left, stunned, standing in the middle of an unfamiliar road as great, roaring metal beasts roared past her on either side. And the cries only got louder.
Snow opened her eyes with a soft gasp and stood, groggily making her way over to her Emma's crib where the infant lie crying. She gently picker her up and cradled her in her arms like the precious thing that she was. She touched her own cheek with one hand, surprised to feel her own cheeks wet with tears.
"I miss him, too," She assured her daughter. "But this time we're going to find him."