Snow White

Chapter 29

Hey,
As always, thanks for reading.
Hope you had a really good holiday and enjoyed Halloween.
Please vote and comment.
Enjoy,
Annabelle_the_reader
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Snow White stepped out onto the first snow that year, after years of no snow, the whiteness and the softness made her feel like she was walking on a cloud.

Her footsteps crunched beautifully as she ambled across the ground towards the forest. She had escaped the prison and was now free with Harry for however long they needed. The future wouldn't be easy, but it would be easier than her immediate past.

'You have no idea how cute you look with all those snowflakes in your hair,' Harry murmured as they walked, Snow White leaning on him slightly with the effort of walking.

'And you look cute with hypothermia. I hope to God you can get a real coat while you're in this weather,' Snow teased and Harry smiled, knowing that no matter what happened, Snow White strived to stay as positive as possible.

'Show me your scars,' Harry whispered carefully and kindly and Snow knew that he knew. He knew because, as Snow was hurting from her time in the prison, and henceforth he knew that she would be in pain.

Snow rolled up her sleeves, huffing slightly as she did so. 'They're just scars, Harry.' Snow mumbled in return, looking a them in disgust. 'They're the permanent reminder of how strong I am. The scars are the reminders that something tried to hurt me, but I was stronger than the pain was: I was left with only a scar.'

'But the pain hurt you so much, Snow.' Harry said urgently, as if begging her to see the sense Snow never once wanted to believe. 'Margarita hurt you so much. And the Gone did nothing to help you until I helped them.

Harry let her hand drop violently to her sides, but Snow just confidently blinked up at him, because he was so clueless about love and about friendship and about forgiveness when someone doesn't understand you. 'I have no scars to remember the happiness the Gone gave me so much more than the grief. It's sometimes hard to forget pain, but harder to remember sweetness.'

And with that, Snow walked off faster towards the Gone's camp, because at least there they didn't question everything she did. The Gone just trusted that Snow would make the right decision and if she didn't, then they would go down together.

As soon as they entered the forest, Harry stopped her and leant her against a tree. He could tell she needed a rest since the moment they set off, but this was the first opportunity they had so far. Snow didn't have the energy to do anything but fall wearily into his arms, cold and exhausted.

Harry grabbed some water from a cup beside him and gently tilted her head backwards, 'Drink, Snow, it's water.' He said softly, almost lovingly.

Snow flinched slightly as he gently, but forcefully, moved her head upwards and backwards. Through the blood pounding in her ears, Snow barely heard him repeat sternly, 'Drink.' He commanded again.

When Snow shook her head no, Snow felt Harry's fingers at her lips, sliding a cool, refreshing liquid across them. 'Snow...' He groaned, but she barely heard his words, licking her lips of the cool, refreshing taste. It was truly perfect.

Then, realising that she had swallowed some, Harry offered her some more, which she eagerly lapped up. Eventually, she had swallowed two more mouthfuls of this water with tremendous effort.

'Good girl.' Harry mused, but his voice seemed gentler than usual. Then he hung back to collect some food and gently pushed it between her lips. Snow panted with the effort of eating and the weight of the pain in her stomach lifted slightly.

She slowly came back to indefinite consciousness as Harry allowed her a few more sips of water. Her eyes peeled open to gaze at his green ones, like a forest, just like her own eyes. 'Thank you...' She breathed, slowly regaining consciousness.

'I think that's enough for now, we don't want to give you indigestion. We have to teach your body how to digest and survive again.' Came a voice behind him blandly, not bothering to acknowledge her thankfulness, but Snow could see the smile glimmer in his eyes. She looked around Harry to see Peter, holding a plate of food for him to give her.

'Hey.' Snow whispered, barely audible.

'Hey, Snow,' He smiled almost sadly and Snow nodded at him, unable to move or breath her thanks. Now that hunger was not the primal though of her body, other parts of her body begged for her attention. Her sore, raw hands which had been pulled back behind her body in her cell and her body stiff from the same position for three days.

'We're gonna stay here for the night, but then we have to make a plan. Margarita won't give up, so we won't stay here for even a week before we attack the city. I have enough local supporters and knights with me and the Gone will help us as well.' Harry told her and then walked into his tent to talk battle strategy with the knights.

Before Snow could talk to anyone else, she walked around the fire to slump down in the space next to Peter. As she had expected, he was leaning against one of the logs, twirling a knife between his thumb and forefinger.

The embers of the fire were burning out, it's flames barely billowing a small slither of light into the forest floor. Peter watched the flames dance, as if they were reflected in his eyes. He had always adored fires, but when the Gone had been celebrating the return of Snow White, he was the only one responsible enough to stay guard as they slept.

Peter had barely slept since Snow left. He held his arms around his stomach and stayed awake. He didn't want Snow to return to camp and catch him sleeping. Snow did not come back for some time when she was imprisoned and even though Peter was incapable of rescuing her alone, he still stayed awake.

The Gone members around them snuffled and snored loudly, their heavy breathing making them jump occasionally and flick their heads into the quiet forest. Something about the silence unnerved her, it was as if someone was watching and waiting. It was almost eerily silent.

'I know where you were.' Peter said eventually, breaking the perfect silence. He didn't look over at Snow, as if he didn't need to see her reaction. They both knew that if she denied it it would be lying. 'I saw you with Harry. When you first escaped, I wasn't sure whether you'd ever come back to the Gone.'

'Why didn't you come after me then? Why didn't you stop me?' Snow questioned solemnly, frowning at Peter who looked more disappointed and forlorn than she had ever seen him.

'Because I thought you went to talk to him willingly. I didn't want to drag you back. I was waiting for you to have the dignity of returning.' Peter replied sourly, realising now that Snow had no intentions of returning or helping him and had remembered the extensive levels of enjoyment when she was with the prince he hated so much.

'I'm sorry,' Snow mumbled, but he shook his head. 'But I have to marry Harry, otherwise he'll try to kill you as revenge-'

'I know.' Peter interrupted sadly. 'From the moment you told me you were Prince Harry's fiancé I knew that I would loose you to him.'

'I'm sorry for letting you love me, I'm sorry for letting you believe we could go on forever like that. It was just wishful thinking,' Snow sighed, close to tears about the entire situation.

'Don't apologise for providing me with the privilege of loving you.' Peter smiled sadly, but his eyes never lied and couldn't hide his joy of her return. 'I promise, from this day onwards that whatever happens to me and you, I will wait for you forever.'

'I promise that if I ever leave, I will always, always come back.'