Karen peered into the kitchen to check on Mike, "Are you alright?" "Yes Karen, thank you. I'll be alright." "Do you want to talk about it?" "No, not really. I mean, maybe later. I'm sorry, Karen. I didn't mean to be rude." "It's OK, Mike. I understand." Karen left the kitchen and went back in to talk with Jen and Kahlua. Just as Karen thought, Jen said she knew Snow was alive and that she was OK. She regretted not telling Mike, but figured he wouldn't have believed her anyway. In the main door came Snow, alone. Since most eyes were on her at that moment, she felt like she had to offer an explanation, "Edward said he wasn't feeling well and went on home to lie down." Duncan was concerned about his strange behavior the past few days and what Edward had told him the day after the party. He knew that Eddy was holding back something. "I'm going to check on him," as he went out the door.

Mike's back was turned to the door when he heard it open and then close again. The room was silent even after the person's entrance. It must be Karen. He appreciated her concern, but was afraid he wouldn't be much for company tonight, "I'd rather be alone for a little while, if you don't mind Karen." "I'm not Karen." Mike whirled around at the sound of the soft voice to find her standing there. She was so beautiful in her white dress, even though a little tattered from her adventures in the woods. His voice quivered a little, "Snow, I thought you were talking to Edward." "I was. And now I'm talking to you." Her tone was so confident, it made Mike even more nervous. "Mike, I haven't yet had the chance to tell you what my father told me in the woods." "But you told everyone, I thought? Just now." "No, this is something I didn't mention because I wanted to tell you first. Well, I actually had to tell Edward first." Mike lowered his gaze upon hearing Eddy's name. "It was only for courtesy's sake, considering I was breaking our engagement over it." He quickly caught her gaze once more with a questioning look, "Breaking the engagement? So you're not marrying Edward?" Snow smiled, "No, I'm not." Mike was speechless as he could hardly breathe much less speak. "The most important thing my father said to me was that he loved me very much and wanted me to be happy more than anything else. He said I shouldn't be worried about following any staunch rules, or what have you. He said I deserve to be happy in that I should find 'true love'. With that, he released me from the decree." At that point, it was Mike who began to feel the butterflies that so often graced Snow with their presence. "So you see Mike, I have to do just what you said, now. I have to follow my heart." Snow began to feel a lump in her throat and tears began to well up in her eyes as she turned slightly away and walked toward the counter. "I'm not quite sure how to do that, you know. I've had to follow the directions of others for so long-I've been following my head. The heart is a complicated thing-whereas following directions was so easy. I just want to be sure that I do the right thing. I don't know if I should follow my heart. I haven't had much practice." Snow wiped the tears from her face, she was annoyed that they were there. Mike approached her and gently put his hand on her shoulder, "Actually, you look like you'd be a natural at it to me, Snow." She turned to look at him and smiled, "I know this will sound strange coming from a girl in her wedding dress, but it occurred to me that we've never even been on a date." With boldness overcoming butterflies, Mike stepped right up to Snow, put his hand around her waist and his other hand under her cheek, "Where would you like to go, Princess? The world is yours." Snow put her hand on top of his resting on her cheek, "As long as you're there, that's good enough for me." He kissed her as he did that night of All Hallow's Eve. Snow, responding to his kiss, had no convictions now. She was no longer betrothed, nor did she have a decree to concern herself with. " 'ere ya are Snow. I've been lookin' for ya." Once again their kiss was interrupted by an 'intruder' into the kitchen, but this time it was the cheery tone of Stevie. "They all wanted me to come ask you 'bout breakfast, Mike. Not sure why they asked me, though. So how 'bout it?" "Ah, of course, Stevie. I forgot." He turned to Snow, "You see, originally everyone made up sack breakfasts of fruit and muffins to take on the search for you this morning. Well, I guess now everyone is looking more toward a hot one, looks like. OK Stevie. Tell them I'll get started on something right away." As Stevie left, Mike began getting out some eggs and Snow stopped him by touching his arm, "Mike, you're always such a dear cooking for everyone. Why don't you get someone else to do it this morning? After all you made all those sack breakfasts for everyone." Mike lowered his eyes to the floor, "No, actually I didn't make the sack breakfasts, Snow. Kahlua and Jen made them for me. I was---I was in the jail." Snow let go of his arm, "In the jail?" Embarrassed, Mike looked back at Snow, "Yes, they had to lock me up because I wanted to search for you last night even though it was dark. I was going to go out alone, if I had to. So they locked me up to keep me from going." Snow just looked into his eyes, not quite knowing what to say. "You see Snow, they brought back your veil covered in blood, and I didn't know what happened to you, Princess. I thought you were---well, I had to try to find you. I knew you were in danger. I was so angry last night-at them. They had to lock me up, or I guess they thought they had to. It was the longest night of my life, though--wondering where you were, if you were hurt, if you were still alive." He stopped, afraid he would choke if he spoke about it any more. Snow could read it in his eyes. He was going to risk everything, including his own life, to search for her. She felt her love for him bubble up inside her and virtually explode. She couldn't help herself. Although uncharacteristic for her, she wrapped her arms around Mike's neck and kissed him lovingly. Mike willingly kissed her back wrapping his arms around her in return. Suddenly, there was a knock at the kitchen door, "Mike? You need any help in there?" It was Yvonne's voice. She knew Mike and Snow were in the kitchen, so she didn't want to just burst in, but she also wanted to make sure they didn't need any help with the cooking. Snow giggled. Mike rolled his eyes, "Sure, Yvonne. That would be great--but in just a minute." He looked at Snow. "This is getting old, constantly being interrupted every time that--." He stopped. "You know what? It's this kitchen. It seems to be the most popular place in Waddington Willows. What about that date? Where do you want to go, just the two of us?" Snow smiled flirtatiously, "Why don't you surprise me, Mike. I'm sure I'll be delighted with anything you do." They looked at each other for a moment, "Why don't I help you with the breakfast, Mike?" "Oh, Princess, no. You have had way too rough of a night. In fact you should probably get some rest after breakfast. Just send Yvonne in here and go on in and sit down and rest, OK?" "OK, Mike." Snow sent in Yvonne and went back to sit with the other girls. "OK, Snow. We now know why you've been so quiet lately keeping this big secret. So now ya better start talkin'. We wanna hear all about it, girl!" Jennifer was bold and inquisitive. Snow told them about everything her father said in the woods and that she wasn't marrying Edward. She told them how it all came about. Snow pondered as she thought back, "It was all very strange at times." Kahlua raised her hands, "Wait a minute! Did you say that Eddy's eyes were green? You must have imagined it, honey." "That's what I thought, but it happened more than once, and it was very strange-he wasn't himself, really. And Tweety acted very odd around him during those times as well, come to think of it." Jennifer put her hand on Snow's, "Snow, tell me exactly what he said and how he acted when you saw him with the green eyes." "Well, his demeanor was different. He was-colder. Plus, I suppose he seemed a little rougher than usual. At one point he took my chin in his hand, rather tightly...not an action typical for Edward since I've been around him." Jen took Snow's hand with both of hers and leaned in towards her, "Alright, I'm going to ask you a few questions that may scare you---but just bear with me, OK?" Snow looked at Jen confused, "OK." "Now remember when you were cut with that mirror shard? Yvonne said you and Stevie talked about the possibility of the attack coming from Margurite." "Yes, I remember, but the men took that shard away to the woods in a jar after Mike broke it." "But before that, the shard was in the fireplace and caused a smoke cloud that came into your room. When Edward lifted you outside, the cloud struck him, then disappeared." Snow gulped. Surely, Jen wasn't suggesting-- "Snow, when was the first time you saw Edward with green eyes?" Snow put her hand to her mouth, "Right after he woke up." "And Snow, what color are your stepmother's eyes?" Snow began crying burying her face in her hands, "They're green, oh God! What have I done? And Edward would sometimes call me 'dear'. Margurite called me 'dear'. Jen, I've brought her with me! I've put the village in danger!" Jen and Kahlua stroked Snow's hair while Kaz sat wide eyed at the thought. Sue leaned in to Jennifer, "Are sure about this?" "Yes, I've heard legends about people taking the eye color of their possessor, but I always thought it was just that-legend. I guess there's some truth to it. But then again, look where we are." Jen turned back to try and calm Snow down, "Shhh, it's OK. We don't want to alarm the others. We don't need them to know just yet. We'll figure this out, Snow." "Too late, there Jen." Dinger had overheard regardless. "Great, so ya brought yer stepwitch back with ya, did ya?" Snow looked up at Dinger horrified. "Gee, Princess. Thanks so much for the lovely gift!" "Can it Dinger!" yelled Kahlua forcefully. "She's been through enough without you shooting off your mouth!" But Dinger continued, "So that makes Eddy 'the queen'! Pretty fitting, when ya think about it." Kahlua wished Duncan were here to shush up Dinger. Duncan. Where was Duncan? "Wait, didn't Duncan go to Eddy's to check on him? He went to Eddy's alone!" "That's it, men. Let's go." Dinger was out the door before another word was said. "Hey, what's going on?" Yvonne rushed out of the kitchen followed by Mike when she heard the shouting. She was afraid it was a repeat performance of All Hallow's Eve maybe. Kaz looked at Jen as she got up. We have to tell Yvonne that Duncan is possibly in danger, thought Karen. "Let me handle this one, girls. Yvonne, can I speak with you for a moment in the kitchen?" Jen took Yvonne into the kitchen as Mike came over to see why Snow looked so upset and crouched down to her. Snow began sobbing again, "Oh Mike, it's her! And Edward! I've brought her to the village somehow! I've put everyone in danger-Edward, now Duncan!" He touched her face, "Snow, what danger?" "Margurite! She's taken over Edward-green eyes! She's here!" Snow put her arms around Mike's neck and buried her face in his chest, sobbing. Mike, confused, looked at Kaz. She nodded. He pulled Snow off of the chair and down to the floor so he could cradle her, "It's OK, Snow. We won't let anything bad happen." The worried look on Karen's face concerned Mike. There really was something very wrong, wasn't there?

"On three! One-two-three!" At Dinger's command, he, Ritchie, and Ivanhoe broke the door down at Eddy's hut, taking Duncan and Eddy completely by surprise. Duncan jumped up, "What the hell is going on?" Edward was sitting near the fireplace, still not feeling his best, "Good God, man! You could have knocked!" Dinger ignored their inquiries, "Are you both alright?" "Yes, what the devil is going on?" Dinger walked toward Edward, "We need to lock Eddy up. Sorry, man." "What did I do?" "Nothing. It isn't you. It's that-Margaret woman." "Margurite," Ivanhoe corrected. "Whatever. Let's go." As Dinger pulled Edward up by the arm, Duncan stepped in, "Wait a minute! No one is going anywhere till you tell us what's going on?" Dinger and Ivanhoe told them about Jen's theory on Snow's stepmother and the surrounding circumstances that Snow observed. Eddy's jaw dropped---he was speechless, and scared. "Maybe that's why I haven't been feeling myself lately. I get blackouts, things I can't remember-plus the dizzy spells." "Well, we can't take any chances. We gotta lock you up. I hope you understand" Edward nodded at Dinger's precaution. "But he isn't well, Dinger." Duncan continued, "That jail is no place for one who is sick-no matter the reason. He's our brother, man. Surely, there's another way. Why is the jail always your sole conclusion?" "No, Duncan, it's OK. Dinger's right. I don't want anything else to happen. It's obvious I can't control what happens when I blackout-or whatever. To tell you the truth, the past few days have really been a blur. Except for a few occasions, I don't even remember talking with Snow about the wedding or making the arrangements. It just--happened. I guess it was-that woman." This really scared Eddy, to not be in control of his own body. It terrified him. He didn't want anyone to get hurt. "Snow broke our engagement tonight. Under the circumstances, I think it was the best thing." Edward had mixed feelings on the issue. He still didn't know how he felt about Snow, but he knew that he didn't want anything to happen to her. And until this issue was settled somehow, he was going to keep his distance from her for the most part, just to be safe.

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Pacing outside the barn, Snow knew she was a few minutes early. Dressed in her favorite pink dress and wearing her honeysuckle perfume, she felt her butterfly friends flutter in her stomach. She even asked Stevie to 'bird-sit' Tweety for her, so nothing would disturb their date. Stevie promised Snow that he would not come to the barn for ANY reason. Mike had told her to meet him in the barn at 6:00 that evening. OK, it's gotta be time, now. She felt like she'd waited forever. She slowly opened the large creaky barn door, "Hello? Mike?" "Hello Snow, please come in." Mike had prepared all day for the date that evening. He was determined that everything would be perfect. He had already warned the men that the barn was 'off-limits' for the night. Kahlua graciously offered to take over dinner for the village so he could prepare the barn for he and Snow's date. Mike had asked Bart to clean the barn especially well that day and promised to return the favor. "Where are you?" "I'm up here, sweet Princess." She climbed the ladder to the hay loft to find there was no visible hay. Instead, on top of the hay there was a luscious layer of purple crushed velvet material that Mike asked Jen if he could borrow for the evening. Sprinkled over the velvet were petals of wildflowers, Snow's favorite. Mike was dressed handsomely in a dark colored sweater. Snow thought that these sweater garments looked especially nice worn by the men. Besides being warm and soft, they showed the broadness of their shoulders and thickness of their chests. Laid out in front of Mike were two covered dinner plates, and two empty wine glasses. Next to him, was a bottle of wine, a coffee pot and a basket with some other items. Encircling the entire loft were white candles. And in the air was a most pleasant scent-it was vanilla. She would have expected the barn to smell like horses, but it didn't. It was overwhelming for Snow-certainly the most romantic environment she had ever seen. "Good evening. You look absolutely beautiful, Snow." "Thank you, Mike. You look quite handsome yourself." As they gazed into one another's eyes for a moment, she rubbed her hand through the velvet material, "This is so soft. And you added flower petals. You're so thoughtful." "It's royal purple for royalty-for you Princess. And here." In his hand was a wild daisy. He gently placed the stem through her hair under her pink ribbon next to her ear. Snow smiled, biting her lower lip as Mike uncovered the dinner plates, "And-we have steamed asparagus, baked eggplant, and fresh grilled trout. Plus, the finest wine in the village," as Mike pulled out the wine bottle and began to open it. He poured them both a glass, "How about a toast." They both raise their glasses. "To your new life in the Willows-may all your dreams come true." Snow masked her surprise taking a sip of the wine. How did he know about her dreams? Did he hear it from one of the girls maybe? About the prince in her dreams? Snow tasted the entrée, "This fish is delicious." "Yes, Nigel actually caught this trout since Edward is-oh, I'm sorry. I didn't want to bring up anything upsetting-" "That's OK. I just hope he can participate in the bonfire tomorrow evening. I would hate for him to have to miss it. I feel so guilty about it all." "Now stop that. You are not to blame at all. Besides, tonight we are to think of nothing negative, alright?" "Alright, " Snow agreed with a smile. "It sure smells lovely in here-surprisingly so." "That's the vanilla scented candles. They are like regular candles but give off a scent of vanilla. They came in the last mysterious crate we received." "It still puzzles me how you receive those mysterious crates, Mike." "Yes, it puzzles me too." After feasting on the dinner, Mike pulled out of the basket a special covered plate, "How about dessert?" He uncovered a luscious looking cheesecake covered in strawberries. "Mike that looks positively scrumptious!" After dessert, Mike put the dishes into the picnic basket. "Now, I have another surprise for you." "Another one?" "Yes. Follow me." Mike made his way down the ladder, and Snow followed him. As she was about to reach the bottom, Mike pulled her from the ladder by her waist spinning her around and around as she laughed and squealed. "Sorry, I had to do that. I had such fun twirling you around the morning you came out of the woods, that I thought it would be twice as much fun under more relaxed circumstances. But---now for the surprise." Mike walked over to a familiar black box and fidgeted with some buttons. Suddenly, music began to play from the box. It was the same contraption that Raif had brought to the barn when she danced with him and he kissed her. She all but shuddered at the coincidence of Mike doing the very same thing. But Mike and Raif are nothing alike. Raif is haughty and demanding at times, where Mike is loving and giving. Mike saw the distant look on Snow's face as she stared at the player, lost in thought. "Snow, are you alright?" "What? Oh, yes. I'm sorry. I was just remembering, that's all." "Remembering? I know you didn't have one of these back home." "No, I was remembering when Raif brought me here to dance and he had borrowed that same music player. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so distant." Mike wore a somewhat shocked look. He definitely didn't want any aspect of their date to remind her of Raif-- that was for certain. He would rather turn the music off and 'hum' if he had to. "Here, I'll just get rid of this, then. I don't want any haunting memories to-" Snow went to him and gently put her hand on his arm, "No, that's alright. Why don't we make a new memory, Mike?" Mike turned back to look at Snow. Her deep blue eyes along with her lovely smile spoke volumes. He couldn't help but to kiss her. He kept it short and tender then asked her to dance. The first few songs were cheerful waltzes that Mike had to show her the steps to a few of them. The songs became much slower and he dared to pull her closer. Her eyes were at a level just under his chin. He lowered his head to kiss the side of her face, still holding one hand, and with the other on her waist. Snow wanted to get lost in the music--the moment, but something kept invading her thoughts-Karen. How did he feel about Karen? What was their date all about? She couldn't shake it from her mind. Mike's thoughts were also racing. He wondered if he should mention it now? Was this a good time? Why not? It was a good of time as any. But he hadn't even thought about what he would say-oh well, here goes. "You know, I must tell you that although you said that you didn't want me to attend your wedding, I really did want to go. Although, the thing about it is, I wanted to---be in it, you know? Um, I really don't know how to say this---" Mike swallowed hard. Snow was still so lost in her own disturbing thoughts, she hadn't heard a word Mike had just said, "Mike, I must ask you something." Mike was somewhat relieved that his next statement had a reprieve, "Of course, Princess." "I need to know about Karen." Mike pulled his head back to look at Snow, "Karen?" "Yes. I know you have some sort of feelings for her. You had a date with her not too long ago, I know that. And I see you two quite often talking and laughing. I even noticed that it made Dinger uncomfortable-and that makes me feel a little strange as well, to see Dinger not his confident self." She let go of Mike and turned to walk toward 24 Carrots, "It's just difficult to follow your heart when your heart's desire is possibly following something else-or someone." Mike wanted to tell her the truth. He approached her and put his hand on her shoulder, "Snow, I do care for Karen, as a very good friend. And I won't lie to you. Before you came to the Willows, I did have a crush on her-a big one. I tried many times to get her to go on a date with me, mostly to no avail. I think my favorite excuse of hers was 'I have to wash my hair tonight.'" "Snow giggled, "She actually said that?" "Yeah. You'd think I'd get the hint, eh? But I didn't. I kept after her. Funny thing is, she finally came to me and agreed to go on that date just after you'd come to the village. I'm not sure why she changed her mind. At the time she mentioned it, I was originally going to ask you over for coffee, but she and I went ahead and 'went out', so to speak. I never asked again once you came, Snow. And don't worry about the date, Snow. We had a nice time, but it was just friends laughing and sharing moments talking is all." She looked down at the fence, "But I still see you do that all the time, like you still have feelings for her." "Well I do-as a friend-a really good friend." "But, what are her feelings for you? What if she has feelings that you don't know about?" "I think Karen feels the same way I do, Snow. We're just close friends. You shouldn't be jealous of Karen, Snow." "Well, I didn't want to say I was jealous, but-" "Well don't be. You know I get pretty jealous, too sometimes-of you and Stevie spending as much time as you do together." Snow laughed out loud, "Me and Stevie? You're jealous of Stevie?" "Well yes-because he gets to spend more time with you than I do. You're always up there alone with him in your tree house. It drives me insane!" "Stevie always wants to read me a book and I let him. It helps me sleep, anyway. That's all. There's nothing else." "Well, then that's how you should look at Karen and I ---she's like my Stevie in a way, I suppose." Snow laughed again, "Karen is Stevie?" Mike raised his hands in surrender, "Please don't tell her I said that or she'll probably kill me! You know I just meant it as a comparison." "Yes, I know," Snow eyed him teasingly. Mike took her hand, "Now, since we have that cleared up, shall we dance some more?" The two resumed their position on the 'dance floor' as the song once again possessed a very slow pace. Mike remembered the statement he was about to make earlier and pondered whether or not he should try it again. Suddenly, Snow's shoulders shook as she giggled, unable to hold it back any longer, "I'm sorry. I just still can't believe you're jealous of Stevie!" Perhaps he should wait until next time to bring up the subject under the circumstances, Mike thought. After several more dances, both of them began to tire out. Mike went back up to the loft to gather the dishes and blow out the candles. He would gather the velvet material and candles in the morning once they had cooled. He took the basket with one arm and Snow's arm with the other. As they walked back to her tree house, they talked about the plans for the bonfire the next day. It should feel nice and warm with the chill in the air they felt now. They reached the tree house and Mike set down his basket. Snow turned in to him, close. He put his arms around her waist and she wrapped hers around his neck. He looked into her eyes for a moment then kissed her gently. As he kissed her, he pulled her in closer for perhaps a more passionate kiss. At that moment, a cold breeze blew through the village and Snow shuddered. Mike slowly pulled out of the kiss and rubbed his arms up and down her back to warm her, "My, it's getting colder, isn't it? You should be inside where it's warm." Snow sensed Mike's disappointment, and in all trusting quietly offered, "Would you like to come up for a while?" Although possibly the most tempting thought Mike has had in a long time, he smiled, "No. I know it's late and you need your rest. But I had a lovely evening, I thank you for the wonderful privilege of your company, Princess." He took her hand and kissed it. "Thank you ever so much Mike. I had the most lovely evening ever." He made sure she was safely in her house before he left the foot of the tree and made his way home.

"Can I help you there?" came Snow's voice as Ivanhoe was arranging the wood for the bonfire for that night. "I don't know. Bartolome just went to take a break. I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself." "Nah! And these are my work clothes, besides. How about I pass the wood to you from the wheel barrel?" In a 'chain' type fashion, Snow passed Ivanhoe log after log as he carefully put them in place for the fire. "What do you miss most about back home, Ivanhoe?" He thought for a moment, "Well, besides my family, I suppose I sort of miss walking through the town with all of the people selling their wares and such. Sometimes it's rather cheerful to be around a large crowd of people, although I wouldn't want that all the time, mind you. But that was the first thing that came to mind. How about yourself?" "I miss the castle the most I think. I loved peering over all the balconies overlooking the countryside. My father has been gone over a year, so I found much comfort just roaming the large castle corridors and wondering what was around the next corner. When I was a child I would play that a dragon was around the corner and that a brave prince would be there to slay it and save me. Sounds silly, I know." "No, it doesn't sound silly at all, Snow. It's actually very charming. And I would think that I would probably miss living in a castle myself. We had a very nice home. It wasn't a castle, but I do miss it sometimes, just the same." "Did you fight in many battles?" "Yes, actually. I reported directly to King Richard. We saw many battles, some faired victorious and others not so well." Ivanhoe shared some of his battles with Snow until Bartolome returned. In talking, the three soon discovered that they had quite a lot in common to talk about in customs and heritage. Bartolome mentioned finding the 'new world' with his brother, a concept almost unthinkable to Snow. She of course never imagined that there were any other lands out there so far away from her own-that is until she woke up in Waddington Willows.

"You know, I've been thinking." "'Bout what?" Jen replied, as Kaz laid back on Jen's floor rug. "About the woods. Ever since Snow came out of those woods alive after being out there all night--that crest of hers. She said it protected her. She said it 'glowed'." She sat up and looked at Jen, "I wonder if there would be any way to use it. You know, everyone's curious about that village on the other side of the mountain. I wonder if we could use it somehow. You think we could get out of the woods? Make it out alive at night?" "That'd be somethin' you'd have to talk to Snow 'bout, Kaz." Jennifer looked at Karen with much curiosity, "Why all the questions centerin' around leavin', Kaz? You goin' somewhere?" Karen laid back down, "No, just curious. That's all. Hey, has anything strange happened with Eddy, lately at all? He's been in that jail two days, now." Jennifer sighed, "No, nothing has happened. He said he doesn't even get dizzy spells anymore." Karen continued to stare at a spot on Jennifer's ceiling, "Maybe they can let him out. It's cruel to just leave him in there." "Well, they're going to try one last test. They have to leave him alone with Snow." Karen sat up again, "Alone with Snow? That's awfully dangerous. Isn't it?" "Yes, but it's the only way to tell. Margurite always seemed to emerge when they were alone, mostly. Besides, Snow will stay on the other side of the bars and the men will be just outside the jail in case she yells. They're going to try it this afternoon so hopefully Eddy will be able to attend the bonfire tonight." "Well, I sure want to be there for that, then." Jen smiled, "Of course. Everyone does."

"Anything happen, Snow? Anything at all?" Duncan pressed. "No. We were a little nervous about it at first-not knowing if he would fly around the cell or what. But no, nothing. I never even saw him with green eyes--ever." Kahlua was concerned that Eddy wouldn't be able to make the bonfire that night, "Well, perhaps we could let him out and just keep a close watch on him, then-at least for tonight." Dinger shook his head, "I don't know." Duncan offered to Dinger, "What if we assigned two men to be with him at all times. " "Well, I guess that sounds OK. But at the first sign of trouble-and I mean anything-we gotta lock 'im up. Got it?" The men let Eddy out and he and Snow smiled at each other. He walked on to his cabin with Killion and Nigel, the two men that agreed to stay with him. He wanted to get a good hot bath, obviously. Snow spotted Karen walking back to the main hut with Dinger, "Karen, can I speak with you for a moment." "Sure, Snow. Dinger, I'll catch up." "This is really awkward for me Karen." "Nah, just spit it out, dear." "Well, I just wanted to see what your feelings were toward," she paused, "Mike." "Mike? He's a really good friend. What do you mean, exactly?" "Well, I know that you two had a date recently and-" Karen interrupted laughing, "Oh, wait a minute-OK, I see where this is going. Oh, hun-you don't have to worry about me chasing Mike if that's what you're concerned about. We're just really good friends that enjoy talking with one another. We got close when we planned out the herb garden together." "You did?" "Yeah, it was great fun and Mike is a great guy. But don't worry your pretty little head. My man just walked toward the 'grub station' over there. Mike is safe from Kaz's clutches-at least for now." Snow gave a confused look. "I'm just kidding Snow!" "Well, it's just that I see you and Mike together quite often talking and laughing and---" "Oh yeah, that's just harmless flirting is what that is. I'm a hopeless flirt, you know. Ask anyone-well, on second thought, don't ask anyone. But, regardless-stop worrying! Causes wrinkles! Come on-let's go get some chow!" Karen grabbed Snow's arm and they both headed toward the main hut where lunch was being served. Snow felt better about everything after that. She even felt that the recent tension between she and Karen had let up regarding the whole Margurite issue and Edward. Snow hoped that Margurite really was gone forever. She was, wasn't she?

The sky was unusually clear that night. Snow swore she could see every star in the sky. How beautiful the fire looked in front of a black sky of stars. Mike approached her with a tray of fresh rye bread. How does he do it? He can find time to cook just about anything! She took a piece of bread and held his gaze for a moment, flirtatiously. Maybe the "flirting" tactic of Karen's is something she should try on Mike more often. It seemed to work for Karen. As Snow watched Mike offering bread to the others, she noticed Jen snuggle up to Ribold near the fire. There you go! Why couldn't that be she and Mike? He is so giving, but at the same time, he is 'giving' to everyone else, leaving Snow sitting here all by herself. She thought she might just go snatch that tray out of his hands and---what's this? She noticed Mike offering the bread to Karen and her all-'flirty-like'. There they go again! That 'flirt' thing! Golly! That's what I'm talking about, thought Snow. She glanced over and saw Stevie sitting, reading his book by the fire. OK, then. Fine. Two can play this game! Snow quietly crept over to Stevie and snatched his book from his hands, "Whatcha readin', Stevie?" She danced around giggling and waving the book around out of his reach as he tried to get it. Seeing that this is a game, he played along, still trying to get the book back. Finally, as she turns to round the corner of the bonfire, he grabs her around the waist, lifts her up, and twirls her around. Snow, still clinging to the book is squealing and laughing. Mike caught the game out of the corner of his eye and sets down his tray. Of course, it became an all too familiar scene when Stevie picked Snow up and twirled her around as Mike so loved to do. Finally, Snow and Stevie both tumble to the ground laughing. "I give! Here's your book, Stevie!" Snow stood up and made her way back to her seat still laughing and brushing the grass off of her dress. She looks up to find Mike eyeing her curiously, "What was that all about?" Snow thought, hmm, looks like her plan worked like a charm. "Nothing. Just having a little fun with someone not so busy." "Busy, huh?" Just then Mike dipped Snow as though he were about to kiss her. Snow, being embarrassed to kiss in public, playfully wriggled to get free. She succeeded, and as she landed a hard 'thud' on the ground, she began to laugh hysterically. Mike eyed her with raised eyebrows as he picked up his tray. "Hey Mike, you didn't slip her some of that homemade booze of yours, did ya?" laughed Nigel. Suddenly, there was a commotion on the other side of the bonfire with Karen and Dinger. Kaz is shouting and hitting Dinger. As some of the others make their way over there to see what's up, Snow looks up into the smoke cloud above the bonfire. She screams "It's her! It's her! She's there!" Mike is startled by her scream and drops his tray of bread. He tries to help her up. She's crying and looks at Mike-oh God, no! Green eyes! "Green!" she screams. She shoves him away and falls back to the ground. Mike kneels down to try to comfort her. Ivanhoe comes to assist him in helping her up. She's fighting the both of them. "What is it? Is she OK?" Snow looks around to the voice. It's Edward. Snow gives a blood curdling scream and blacks out, falling to the ground. Edward blinks his brown eyes from the bonfire's smoke. "She OK?" Later, as Snow awoke moved off to the side of the commotion, she saw Kahlua and Jen throwing bread into the fire, she saw many of the men fighting and was frightened. Mike noticed she was awake and went over to meet her. Kahlua ran up to Mike, "Is there any more bread in the kitchen? What about bread dough? We have to get rid of it!" Snow coughed out, "Bread dough---who 'kneads' it!" In catching her own pun, Snow laid back onto the grass laughing hysterically, kicking her feet into the air. Mike peered down at her with a look of surrender. "Why don't you let me take her home, Mike?" Mike turned around, "Oh, Ivanhoe, that would be so kind. I have so much to take care of to make sure no one else gets a hold of this 'stuff'." "Sure. No problem. Dinger found Karen, and so he's taking care of that for now. I'll just make sure Snow gets home safely."

"I can't go up there! She's up there! She'll try and kill me!" Snow trembled as she and Ivanhoe stood at the foot of her tree house. "Snow, you need to sleep this off. It's having a bad effect on many of us." "But I can't go up there. I'm scared." "Snow, there's no one up there." "Can I stay with you?" "I don't think Mike would like that very much." "Oh, Mike-Shmike. You can tell me about Robin Hood!" "Oh, dear. It will take me a moment to explain this one, but---I suppose." As they began to make their way to Ivanhoe's cabin, the tree house door slowly opened. Peering down from the darkness were two small glowing lights-green in color. Ivanhoe was supporting Snow's weight on his shoulder with her arm around his neck as they entered his cabin,. "I'll guess it's the ol' chair for me tonight, eh." He gently set her down on the bed. "Ivanhoe, did you ever fight any dragons back home?" Her words were slurred as she rocked back and forth on the bed, "Snow, there are no such things as dragons. Where did you hear that?" As he turned from adding wood to his fire, he found Snow slumped sideways on the bed, fast asleep. "There now. You just stay there and sleep this off. I hope there are no after effects for you in the morning." It was difficult to fall asleep in his rather hard wooden chair, but as he watched the princess slumber, he smiled at her and soon found that slumber himself.

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After thanking Ivanhoe for his kindness in letting her stay in his cabin, Snow made her way home back to her tree house. She didn't remember anything of the night before from the time after she returned Stevie's book to him in teasing him at the bonfire. Ivanhoe had told her of the ergot poisoning in the bread that was served. Mike must just feel terrible, Snow thought--making bread that made people sick. She knew it wasn't his fault, but she knew Mike pretty well nonetheless, and knew he must have felt bad about it. She made her way up the ladder and opened the door. She nearly stumbled over the obstacle in the kitchen area near the door. How sweet, Snow thought! Mike must have left it for her last night. She would go right away and thank him in person for the lovely basket of fruit in her tree house. She grabbed the large red apple on the very top and headed down the ladder.

"No, sorry Mike, " Killion held his head to try and steady the dizziness he was still feeling, not to mention that his nose was still throbbing from the previous evening's events. "With that ridiculous 'ergot' junk, I don't remember much about last night--much less being able to keep an eye on Edward." Mike scowled and turned to Nigel, "What about you? You two were supposed to keep an eye on Eddy last night. Now he's missing and has been all night for all we know. Thank God Snow stayed with Ivanhoe last night rather than alone in her tree house." "She did?" Killion said with the sound of a congested nasal passage, "I thought you wouldn't be too happy about something like that." "Well, Ivan said Snow had a bad feeling about going home from the beginning. Besides, Ivan is a gentleman. I trust him." "What about the river?" Nigel offered, "Maybe he's fishing this morning." Mike nodded, "Perhaps. Can you go and check? I'd like to go and see how Snow is. It's getting pretty late in the day." Nigel and Killion both went to look for Eddy. Mike was taking off his apron when he felt something bounce off of his back. He turned to see Snow throwing an apple into the air and catching it. "Good morning, you thoughtful sweetheart." "Good morning, Snow. " She wore a huge smile that Mike found exhilarating, "You're such a dear. See, I even brought part of your gift with me." "I'm not sure what you're talking about a 'gift', but I'm so glad to see you're looking well." "Mike, you can't fool me. I know you're just being humble. Would you like to share your gift with me?" Mike wore a baffled look, "Gift?" "Now, are you going to just keep denying that you left me that beautiful basket of fruit in my tree house last night, Mike?" She started to take a bite out of the apple she had brought with her. "Fruit? Snow, no!" He grabbed the apple out of her hand and threw it on the ground. Snow stood confused. "I didn't leave you a basket, and Edward is missing-has been all night. I wouldn't want to take any chances on that fruit, Snow. OK?" Snow looked down disappointed, "Alright. I understand." Mike realized and reached for her hand, "Snow, I'll give you a hundred baskets of fruit if you want me to, love." Snow smiled and looked up, "Can I just have YOU in a basket?" "You can have me anywhere, Snow." Suddenly feeling a bit awkward, Snow inquired "Did you say that Edward was missing?" "Yes, Nigel and Thomas went to check on him." "Ivanhoe said this whole thing was caused by something wrong with the bread?" Mike rubbed her arm, "Ergot poisoning. Kahlua told us about it." "Do you know where she is? I'd like to ask her." "The girls are helping to tend to Karen. She didn't fair too well last night, either."

"Here you are! We've been looking for you everywhere, Eddy!" Nigel gave a sigh of relief as he and Thomas came upon Edward at the river. "Sorry, guys. I've been here." "How long? We didn't see you all night." "Don't know. I don't remember much about last night. Killion, what happened to your face?" "Long story. What do you mean you don't remember? Did the bread affect you too?" "Bread?" "Yeah, the rye bread that Mike was passing around the bonfire. Kahlua said it caused 'ergot' poisoning. They say it can give a person hallucinations and the like. A lot of people were really affected by it." Edward shook his head, "I didn't eat any of the bread. I don't know what's going on. First thing I know is I wake up here. What if it's HER again? I decided to just stay here so I can't hurt anyone, I guess." Nigel and Thomas looked at each other. Nigel gave Edward a quick stare to be sure his eyes were brown. "Let's go on back, Eddy. We need to tell the others." "Well, at least let me catch something for dinner first. I can't hurt anyone out here." "You sure Eddy?" "Yeah, just give me a while." "Alright, we'll come back for you later, then."

Snow returned to her tree house after getting the run down on ergot poisoning from Kahlua. She sat on her couch pillows and admired the Daisy she had put in a vase-the one that Mike had put in her hair on their date the other night. She noticed one of the petals had fallen from it. She felt all 'grimy' from the bonfire last night, as she hadn't bathed yet. She knew Karen's cabin was out of the question and the others were probably already using their baths for the same purpose. Snow figured the best place to go would be the guest bath in the main hut. She grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the main hut. When she arrived, it was all but deserted. The only one in the main cabin portion was Bartolome reading. "Hello, Bartolome. Is that one of Stevie's books, there?" said Snow as she entered the hut with her clothes. "Yes. I really didn't have anything better to do, believe it or not." He saw the clothes in her arms, and he winked at her playfully, "Mike isn't here at the moment." "That's alright. I'm just here to take a bath. I imagine all the others are occupied." "Let me know if you need any help." "Don't worry-I'll let you know." She giggled as she closed the door behind her and began to run the water in the tub. Good, it's warm, she thought. As she was about to undress, something caught her eye in the corner of the room. She approached the object on the floor next to the full-sized mirror. She gasped, then calmed herself. I'm sure that's just a similar looking jar. That can't be the same one-Dinger buried it in the woods. As she picked up the empty jar, it felt dusty in her hands. She quickly set it down and brushed off her hands. The dust that was on her hands was brown. It was not dust at all-it was dirt. As she stood up, she was facing the mirror. The reflection she saw took her breath away. She was frozen in terror. She couldn't speak, she couldn't scream. It's her! She's there in the mirror! But it can't be--maybe it's the ergot. Snow turned around. She gasped. There was Edward with those haunting green eyes. She hadn't heard anyone come in. The door was still closed. She shut her eyes and turned back to the mirror. She's still there! It's her! Edward's reflection in the mirror was not Edward---it was Margurite, the queen!

"What do you mean he's gone?" Duncan raised his hands, "Wait, let me get this straight. You found Eddy at the river. He didn't remember anything before waking up in the woods--anything about last night, and you left him there? Then you came back for him later and he was gone-IS gone!" "We looked everywhere," as Killion sat down on a large chair in the main hut. Mike quickly asked, "Where is Snow?" Bartolome glanced up from his book, "She just went in to take a bath a minute ago, just before you lads came in." A terrified scream came from the direction of the guest bath. All of the men went running toward it. Mike threw open the door to see Snow in Edward's grasp. He had her arms in his grip and was pushing her toward the mirror. As he looked in their direction, they saw those dreaded green eyes. Edward went to shove Snow into the mirror. Mike lunged to try to stop him from crashing her head into the glass. To his surprise and everyone else's, they went right through the mirror as if it were an open window, disappearing. Edward fell to the ground, coughing. He hadn't gone into the mirror. Duncan ran to the mirror, but saw nothing but his own reflection. He called out, "Mike! Snow!" Nothing-no reply. Duncan and Nigel picked Eddy up as he held his head, staggering. He looked at Duncan with his brown eyes, "What happened?" "The queen! That's what happened. She was here again." "Wait a minute!" Shouted Nigel, "What the devil happened to Mike and Snow? They just disappeared." "I don't know." Nigel went running out of the hut to check the side of the building to see if they had come out the other side. "Are they gone forever?" "I'm not sure, Killion. I wish I knew what was going on myself." "Look at this." Killion picked up the jar sitting next to the mirror. "Isn't this the same jar that Dinger buried in the woods that had the broken mirror shard in it? It's empty." Duncan ran his hand over the surface of the mirror for any sign of them. There was nothing. Just a cold piece of glass.

Kahlua's, Yvonne's and Jen's jaws dropped as Duncan told them what happened in the guest bath. "We're getting a team together and are going to begin searching everywhere. I've not told Dinger. I'd rather wait until Karen wakes up at least. He has a lot to worry about right now. I'd appreciate it if the rest of you would not tell him just yet." The others nodded. The team was made up of Duncan, Nigel, Killion, Bartolome and Stevie. Mainly, because they saw what happened and Stevie because he may have a lot of insight to where Snow could be. Their first stop would be the place in the woods where Stevie found Snow. There were a lot of mysterious occurrences around that area, such as Snow seeing the strange mist. Besides, since they found the jar in the bath that was supposed to have been buried in that spot in the woods, they figured that it was best place to start. They had to hurry, as it would get dark fairly soon. They took two horses and the remaining three went on foot.

"'ere-this is it, guys!" Stevie called to the others when he reached the clearing where he had found Snow. "Mike! Snow!" The men started calling out as they looked around. There was no sign of them anywhere. "Over here, guys! I could use some help! We're over here!" The men followed the voice in the woods to where Mike was sitting-- his head bleeding and an unconscious Snow lying in his arms. "Mike, thank God!" Duncan kneeled down to him, "What happened, man?" It was apparent that Mike had been crying, "I pulled her away, and we landed over there in those leaves." He pointed to a spot just meters away--the very spot Stevie found the original mirror shard. "It was like nothing I'd ever seen. One second, I'd lunged for Snow and Eddy, and the next second we were in this strange room, like a basement. And there were all these bottles on tables with colored liquids and smoke coming out of them. And then I looked and saw that Margurite had Snow clenched her hands instead of Eddy. She had these long hideous fingernails. She dug them into Snow's arms making her cry, begging her to stop." Mike rubbed her arms where there were multiple red cuts on both of them, then he wiped a tear with the back of his hand, "I looked back and saw the place where we had come. It was a mirror. I could see all of you in the guest bath, even Eddy. I could hear you calling me. Next to that mirror was another one where I could see the woods. The lunge from the mirror had knocked me off of my feet. When I got up, this huge black crow attacked me." He reached up to his forehead and touched his head where it was bleeding. "I knocked the crow across one of the tables and got up. When I did, I saw Margurite blowing some sort of powder into Snow's face. She started coughing and wheezing and then she fell to the floor grabbing the queen's dress for support. The queen shoved her away laughing. Snow fell towards me. The first thing I could think of was to grab her and jump through that mirror where I could see the woods. That's what I did." Mike began crying, "But I can't wake her up. She must have put some kind of spell on her with whatever that powder was. She won't wake up." He lifted her head and gently patted her face and hands, "Snow? Princess?" He pulled her into him and gently stroked her hair, "We have to do something-we have to get her to the village and break this spell." Duncan turned to Bartolome, "Untie the horses and bring them over here." Bartolome brought the horses. They put Mike holding Snow on one of them and headed back to the village.

"No, not with the women. I want her with me." Mike instructed as they reached the village. "Look, it's Mike! An' he's got Snow!" pointed Jen as the men came into view of the Willows. They helped Mike get Snow into bed. "I don't care if I have to sleep in a chair for a week, she's staying here," Mike protested to Kahlua and Yvonne's urgings that she stay with one of them. "Let's try some water. Anyone gots any smellin' salts?" inquired Jen as Yvonne went to get some water. "I think Karen might have some in her cabin." "No Mike. We just cleaned her cabin and there was nothing like that in there. What about something from the kitchen? Any ammonia?" Mike draped an extra blanket over Snow, "There's some with the cleaning supplies in the storeroom." Bartolome came back with the ammonia. They tried it, but to no avail. Mike was raving, "That bitch! That's it! I'm going back to the main hut. If I can get back through that mirror, I'm gonna kill her!" Jen gently squeezed his arm, "Mike, calm down..." "Wait, where's Eddy? This is his fault anyway! He should be--" Jen grabbed his arm harder this time, "Mike!! Calm down! This isn't helpin'! Mike, you wanna be strong for Snow. She needs ya right now, dear. She might be able ta hear ya, ya know. That kind of stuff happens all th' time. People in comas an' stuff can hear their loved ones talkin' to 'em." Kahlua put her hand on Mike's shoulder, "Perhaps she just needs to sleep it off. I'm sure in the morning she'll be bright-eyed as usual." Mike wanted Kahlua's words to be true so bad he could taste it. That evening, the others left Mike to care for Snow. Mike brushed her cheek with his hand. He touched her soft rosy lips. He constantly checked to make sure she was still breathing. He whispered, "Snow, I can't lose you. Please come back to me." He could feel himself begin to cry, but he didn't want to do that. In the small possibility that she could hear him, he didn't want anything to dash her hopes, "Can you hear me, Princess? I don't know if you can, but there's something I want to tell you. I wanted to tell you the other night on our date, but it just didn't seem to be the right time. We were talking about Karen and Stevie and---Snow, I wanted to tell you that I love you. Well, not just that, but-your wedding. What I was trying to say was-I wanted to be there---but be in it, be part of it." He paused and took her hand, "I wanted to be the one marrying you, Snow. It should have been me, not Edward. I'm not sure how, but it should have been. I wanted to tell you all of this so badly-I know I should have told you the other night in the barn but-well, I just should have-that's all there is to it. I wish I would have, Snow. So, you see Princess, you have to wake up so I can tell you this in person-well, when you're awake. Fairy Princess, I AM your prince after all. Well, I really want to be-not for just a costume, but in real life, Princess." Again, he fought back the cry, "Sweet Princess, come back to me." Sitting next to her, he laid his head next to her hand. And as he breathed her in, he fell asleep.

The next morning, Mike was awakened by a knock at his door. Stevie came bounding into Mike's cabin, "Any news?" He was followed by Jen and Kahlua. "She's still out. She didn't move a muscle all night long. I'm so worried about her." He realized, "You know, in all of this insanity, I totally forgot about supper last night." "It was taken care of--don't ya worry. Kahlua here just baked some potatoes and served the fixin's 'buffet style', " smiled Jen. "But you must be starved yourself. Why doncha let us go get ya somethin' ta eat, Mike?" "No, but thanks. I can't eat. Not with her like---this." "Mike, ya know I just remembered something last that I wanted to tell ya," chirped Stevie exitedly. "In the story 'Snow White' when the queen put a spell on her, you know it was the prince who kissed her an' woke her up! Maybe Eddy could--" Mike interrupted, "No way! That's ridiculous! I'm not letting that monster anywhere NEAR Snow!" "Wait," thought Kahlua. "Stevie has a point. Maybe we SHOULD go and get Eddy? It couldn't hurt to try. We'll all be here to make sure nothing bad happens." "No. Something bad could still happen. You don't know what she's capable of." "Wait a minute." Jen stopped them. "Didn't ya say that ya saw the queen in the mirror? Ya saw her with you an' Snow, an' yet ya saw Eddy still back in th' mirror wit' Duncan and th' others, right?" "Well, yes." "Well then I think maybe Eddy's not taken over by th' queen no more then." "But Jen, I'm not willing to take that chance." Kahlua folded her arms, "Then perhaps you'd rather take the chance that Snow will sleep forever and ever. Is that what you want?" Mike sighed and looked at Snow, "Where is he, anyway?" "They locked him back up after what happened. He's in the jail." Without turning his eyes away from the Princess, "Alright. But I'm not leaving."

Edward entered the cabin cautiously. He saw Mike standing by Snow. When he turned and saw Eddy, he had to turn and walk away to try and hide his anger. "Mike, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anyone. It was her. You know I would never do anything to hurt Snow." Mike kept his eyes away, "Yes, Edward, I know. I'm just upset about this whole thing is all. And the idea of you kissing Snow isn't helping matters much." Eddy looked at Kahlua. She nodded. Edward approached Mike's bed where Snow lay motionless. Mike couldn't help but to turn and watch over this particular event. Edward leaned down to kiss Snow. He gently kissed her. Nothing happened. Edward looked at Kahlua. She shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe it takes a minute." "No, no. I know wha' it is!" Stevie strided over to their side of the room. "In th' story, she was awakened by th' kiss of 'true love'. The prince was her true love, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a prince to wake up Snow, right? It just needs to be her true love." Edward turned and looked at Mike, "I agree. This is your job, mate!" Mike looked around at the others who were smiling and nodding. He slowly approached where the sleeping Princess lay, as Edward crossed back to the door. Mike swallowed--not that he had any spit left at that point. He looked at her face-that angelic face. Her eyes-he so wanted to see her beautiful blue eyes again. Mike leaned down to her face, slowly. He hesitated, then gently kissed her.

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Although it was always a sweet experience to kiss Snow, this particular kiss was not one of the most enjoyable ones. Mike was too scared-scared that she wouldn't wake. And then what? What would wake her? He lifted his head from her lips and watched her. Nothing-no movement. Mike touched her cheek, "Snow?" Kahlua touched Mike's shoulder, "Maybe it takes a minute." "No," he turned to Kahlua, "I knew it was too good to be true. Her life may have been based on a fairy tale, but obviously it's not one anymore. What if I've lost her-forever?" "Mike, nonsense. I'm sure that we can find the answer." "Where? What else can we possibly do?" "Well, pancakes sound good. I'm really quite hungry." Mike whirled around on one foot at the sound of her voice. At that moment he saw the two most beautiful blue eyes he's ever seen looking back at him-and that warm, friendly smile of Snow's directed solely at him. "Snow!" He dropped onto the bedside and took Snow into his arms and held her tightly. He held her so tightly, Snow had to make an extra effort to breathe. But she would never say anything--she simply laughed. The room cheered. "OK, let's go get those pancakes for Snow." Kahlua announced as she began shooing everyone out of the cabin to leave Mike and Snow alone. "That means you too, Stevie," as he stood smiling at the two--happy to see that his friend was alright. As the last guest left the cabin, Mike took Snow's face in his hands and looked into her eyes, "Snow, I cannot tell you how scared I was. I was afraid you wouldn't wake up. I was afraid I'd lost you forever. I don't know what I'd do Snow. I don't. What would I do if I couldn't see your smiling beautiful face everyday? Hear your singing, look into your eyes, touch your skin?" He took her hands in his. They both had tears in their eyes, "Snow, do you remember what happened in the guest bath and then in the mirror?" She nodded, "I was so frightened. I dreamed she was coming after me the whole time-that is, except when I heard your voice, Mike-only I'm not sure if I wasn't dreaming that too." "I did talk to you Snow. I'm sure you weren't dreaming. What did I say in your dream?" Snow lowered her eyes, "Um, well, lots of things, really." Mike raised her head with his hand, "Like?" She stuttered, "Like-that you wanted me to come back. And-you mentioned our date in the barn, I think." "Is that all?" "Well-" Snow felt a shudder of fear in remembering Margurite. She grabbed Mike and hugged him, "Please hold me for a while, my love. I'm frightened. I can still see her in my head. She'll be back for me, Mike. I know she will. I can feel it." "I'm not letting go of you, Snow. And I'm not letting you stay alone. You'll stay here with me until we know she's gone forever, alright Snow? I can't stand to see you afraid, my Princess." He held her for a while and rocked her back and forth. He had to find a way to destroy the queen. He and Snow would never have peace, never have happiness until Margurite was gone. He pulled back to look at her. He wanted to comfort her, to make her feel safe and not frightened. He smiled and rubbed his nose on hers, then rested his cheek against hers. Snow felt like warm honey was running all through her as she closed her eyes to savor the moment with her 'true love'. But she had to know if her dreams had been true. Had those things she heard really happened or were they all in her head? She dared to break the moment to ask, "How did you wake me from Margurite's spell?" Mike pulled back and looked at her, "It was Stevie who reminded us that the kiss from Snow White's 'true love' awakened her in the fairy tale-the tale we are all so fascinated with because it is your life's story." He chuckled. Then it really happened, Snow thought. She had heard every word in her slumber-every word as it had been spoken in true life. She heard Stevie, Kahlua, Jen-and Mike. She had heard all that he said about her, about Edward, about the barn, about the wedding-their wedding. She wanted desperately to tell him. She remembered his regret that he hadn't told her his feelings in the barn. She didn't want to regret not telling him as well. "Mike, I-" "Here we go! Pancakes per your request!" Stevie cheerfully burst in holding a tray with two breakfast plates of pancakes and syrup. "Knock, Stevie. You're supposed to knock! Sorry about that." Kahlua said apologetically as she followed him into the cabin. "Aye, sorry. But I know ya said ya were hungry." He set the tray on the bed. "Yes, Stevie. Thank you. I am." Snow smiled as she pulled the tray up closer. "OK, Stevie. Let's go have breakfast ourselves. See you two later." Mike added as they were leaving, "Thanks for everything, Kahlua." She smiled as she closed the door behind her. Snow tried her best to eat slowly so as not to look like a pig in front of Mike. She was just so famished. At one point Mike noticed a bit of syrup on her lip. Too enticing to resist her already sweet lips now covered with maple syrup, he boldly reached up, put his hand behind her neck and pulled her in to kiss her. He surrounded her lips with his, gently licking the syrup from them. Taken by surprise, Snow halfway wanted to respond to such a passionate kiss from Mike, but was too preoccupied with wanting to get rid of her mouthful of pancakes-not too appealing she would imagine, for a kiss of passion. She giggled and pulled back, covering her mouth as she chewed and swallowed the pancakes. Gosh, she wished she weren't so darn hungry! Is this what Jen meant by men being in the "mood" in the mornings? "Sorry, Princess. You're just too sweet to resist." Mike let her finish the rest of her breakfast in peace.

Finally she had gotten her bath, Snow thought as she entered her tree house after having bathed at Jen's after breakfast. She giggled as she remembered Mike arguing with Jen about not leaving her side-even for her bath! Gee, I wonder if there was an ulterior motive there, she thought. "Nah!" She said to herself sarcastically. She noticed that the fruit basket had been removed from her house, and in its place was a bag of homemade cookies from 'you know who'. "Goodness, I guess he's trying to get me fat-replacing fruit with cookies!" she laughed. "Oh, poor daisy." She then sadly noticed the flower Mike had given to her on their date had lost three more petals. "I wish you could live forever." She dug into the bag of cookies. She simply couldn't resist sweets-especially Mike's. Along with the cookies she found a rolled piece of paper. She unrolled the note and something fell to the ground. It was a bracelet. She picked it up. It was handmade of coffee beans---each one hand painted a different color. It smelled wonderful-like Mike's coffee. The note read: 'To my true love-you will forever be in my heart. Love, Mike' She slipped it on immediately and then dashed off to find him in order to thank him "properly".

Mike was just finishing the dishes. It was the least he could do after the ladies made the breakfast for everyone so he could spend that time with Snow. Suddenly, an arm was wrapped around his neck from behind him. The arm wore the bracelet of coffee beans and he rubbed it. He turned around to face her and she lifted the bracelet to her lips and kissed it, "Thank you for such a beautiful gift-much better than a basket of fruit." He in turn took her hand and also kissed it. "Do you know why I shall cherish my new bracelet?" "Why?" he smiled. "Because it was handmade by my true love." She put her arms around his neck and moved in closer to him, her face only centimeters from his, "Do you know what else?" Mike shook his head. "No pancakes this time." She smiled and leaned in to kiss him. With his arms around her waist, he pulled her closer into the kiss. "Oi, Mike I found some more dishes in the cabin. Sorry, I guess I just missed them." Snow pulled back, giggling. Well, she thought. It was bound to happen-always does. Mike didn't look so amused as he took the dishes from Stevie with a muffled 'thanks' through clenched teeth. Stevie bounced back out the door and into the dining hall. OK, so the kitchen was obviously not the place for-well anything really, thought Mike. Perhaps it's time for another date. That evening he had already made plans for the dinner for everyone, but tomorrow night? Yes, perfect. That was the night. He would tell her everything. "Snow, do you have any plans tomorrow night?" Snow side-glanced him flirtatiously, "No." "Well, how about dinner at my cabin, then? There is much we need to talk about." "There is, huh?" "Yes, Princess. There is." He took her hand with her bracelet and kissed it. There was a soft knock at the door. Eddy peeked his head in cautiously, "Hello, just wanted to get a coffee refill." "It's alright Eddy, you can come on in." Mike poured him a refill. Edward gave them both a friendly smile and promptly left. Snow turned back to him, "I'm glad you all let him out of the jail." Mike sighed, "Yes. It wasn't fair to leave him in there. Besides, I think there is truth to what Jen said to me. Since we had Margurite with us in the mirror, and Eddy was left behind in the bath, I really do think he is free of her." "So where do you think she is now?" "Well, I'm hoping she is still in the portal, because that's how I'm going to get rid of her." Snow gasped with concerned surprised, "You are? How?" "Don't worry about it, Princess. I don't want you to be afraid, alright?" "But I am worried, Mike. Whatever you're thinking, I'm sure it's dangerous. You have to tell me or I'll just be sick with worry." He kissed her forehead, "Alright." Mike went over and pulled a small canvas bag out of the back of one of the drawers. Out of the bag he pulled out a bundle wrapped in a large dishrag. He unwrapped the dishrag to display an oblong-like shaped object. It was an avocado green and was very bumpy. She reached out to touch it. It was cold and hard, like metal. "Careful, this is a dangerous object." "It looks almost like a vegetable." "Yes, I know. But believe me, it isn't. It's called a 'grenade'. You mustn't say anything. If Dinger knew I had it, he'd kill me." "How'd you get it?" "There were a bunch of them in one of the 'mysterious' crates. Dinger usually gets them all-but he missed this one. I thought we should have one that wasn't in his possession, just in case of an emergency. Well, to me this seems like an emergency." "How does it work? How can you use it to get rid of Margurite?" Mike demonstrated, "You pull this pin out, throw it as far as you can toward your target-then run and duck for cover, because after a few seconds it will explode." "Explode?!" "Yes, therefore blowing up the portal itself. She can't come back if her doorway is gone. There has been plenty of rain, so there shouldn't be any fear of fire." Snow stood wide-eyed at the thought of 'blowing-up' any part of the woods. Mike took her face in his hands, "I know it's a bit extreme, Snow. But I don't want this woman coming between us anymore. You mustn't say anything to anyone. You know this is something they wouldn't allow." "But this could get you into terrible trouble with Dinger and Duncan and everyone." "I know. That's alright. Besides, it's always better to ask forgiveness than permission, you know." He laughed. "When will you go?" "Tomorrow after breakfast. Then nothing will spoil our date. By then, I'll have things all settled with Dinger and the others." "Optimistic, aren't you? I'm going with you. Then they can blame us both." "No, absolutely not. It's too dangerous, Snow. You're not coming with me." "But Mike, it's dangerous for you too." "I know. But you've never handled one of these before." "Have you?" "No." "Well, then?" "Snow-" "How do you know she's still in the portal?" ""Well, I don't. I just hope she is. I'm pretty sure that she has to have a medium to travel through, like the mist you saw, or the mirror shard that Stevie found. That's how she got into the village, and proceeded to take over Eddy. Duncan already shattered and disposed of the large mirror in the guest bath, so I don't think she'll be coming back through there. She's there waiting for us in the portal-waiting for you. That's why I can't let you go with me. You're staying here where it's safe. I love you. I have to make sure you're safe." He kissed her forehead again and wrapped up the grenade, "Well, I guess I'll finish up these last minute dishes that Stevie brought." "Snow?" Stevie returned to the kitchen. Speaking of Stevie, Snow thought. "I've got Tweety, 'ere. I forgot all about 'im. I was goin' ta give him to ya earlier. I took really good care of 'im." "Tweety! Thank you Stevie." She lovingly cradled the bird and kissed its head. "Are you ready to go home, Tweety? Let's go." As she carried her pet out of the kitchen, Mike looked on with just a hint of envy that Tweety was going home with Snow, and he was not.

Even though Mike wanted her to stay with him until the issues with Margurite could be resolved, Snow insisted that she stay in her tree house. She'd keep the whistle nearby, but she didn't feel right about staying alone with him. Although, she wanted to very much, she was afraid of what the others might think about it. That evening, as she watched her little bird flutter about in her couch pillows, it reminded Snow how the butterflies would flutter in her stomach so very often, especially when she was with Mike. But they weren't there now. She was nervous, worried. "Tweety, I'm so worried about Mike. I don't want him going out there in those woods without me-with HER out there, ready to pounce. I got everyone into this mess in the first place. I need to get them out." She plopped back onto the pillows. "I'm the one she followed here. I should be the one to get rid of her." She thought for a moment as she turned her beloved bracelet around and around on her wrist, smelling it's rich fragrance. "That's it then. I shall take care of this myself. I'm not afraid of her, anymore. I'm too angry, now." She sat up to see her daisy had lost two more petals, and it irritated her all the more. She stomped up to her bed loft and turned in early. She had a big day the next day.

Snow awoke early, before dawn, and got dressed. "You stay here. This is a dangerous mission, Tweety." She crept down her ladder and made her way to the main hut, careful that no one saw her. Just as she suspected-no one there. She quickly went into the kitchen and pulled out the drawer-good! It was there! She grabbed the bag and carefully put it into her knapsack for her journey. She took her time slowly as she made her way to the portal in the woods. She wasn't quite sure if it were due to her uneasiness to return to that spot or because she wanted to scope the woods for the queen's presence anywhere. There it was-the clearing. She stopped just short of it when she saw it-the mist. Margurite was still there. She didn't dare enter the clearing. She quickly fumbled through her bag for the grenade. She carefully held it in her hand wondering how large of a "blow" would it cause? How much time would she have to run for cover? It didn't matter. The portal would be gone--the queen would be gone. She put her finger through the pin and pulled.

"I knew I should have locked the thing up, " thought Mike as he ran to the spot in the woods where he knew Snow had gone. When he found the grenade missing that morning, he knew what had happened. It's his own fault-he should never have shown it to her. He should have known she would try and remedy the situation herself. He knew how guilty she felt about bringing Margurite to the Willows. He just hoped he could get to her in time--get to her before she used it. He hoped he could get to her alive.

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"Snow, it's Mike! Where are you?" Mike had reached the clearing, but there was no sign of Snow. Good. Perhaps he had beaten her there. It wasn't too late. "Snow!" Mike? Snow thought. Was that Mike she heard in the distance? "Mike?" "Snow, where are you?" God, he was in the direction of the clearing. She had just thrown the grenade and ran from there. It was going to blow any second! She ran towards him, "Mike, get down! Run! Get away from there! Mike!" They met and Snow grabbed his arm to run with him. Just then the woods exploded from behind Mike sending both of them flying backwards, leaves and branches showering them.

"Wha' th' hell was that?" Dinger shouted as the rest of the village stopped mid-bite in their breakfast. Kahlua had been a little annoyed at Mike for asking her to cook breakfast for everyone two days in a row with no warning. But he said it was very important. With Mike and Snow both missing at breakfast, she had to trust that what he had to "do" really was something important, and not just an attempt to be alone with Snow again. "It sounded like an explosion!" cried Jen. Dinger sprang up, "I know what it sounded like. I'm getting my gun. I need a team of five to go with me. Duncan, Bartolome, Ritchie, Nigel, and" he looked at Edward, "and Ribold. You five come with me." Eddy nodded to himself as if he understood why Dinger didn't choose him. The men followed Dinger to his hut to get his gun. He also got guns for the other men. They ventured into the woods to find out what the explosion was.

Snow awoke to the smell of burnt leaves and bark. Lifting her head from being face down in the thicket, she coughed to get the dirt and moss out of her mouth and nose. She had to struggle to wrestle free from all of the branches that had fallen on top of her. "Mike! Mike where are you?" she coughed hoarsely still spitting out sand granules. Snow crawled along the leaves and tossed off branches and twigs, searching, yelling-but received no response. "Mike!" Why did you have to come after me, Snow thought? If only you'd have been just a few seconds later. Snow saw a patch of color, "What's that?" She ran towards it. It was Mike! She dropped by his side and frantically began to tear away the branches and twigs. She pulled him out of the leaves and onto her lap. His head was bleeding. He must have been hit by an object in the explosion-perhaps a large branch. "Mike! Mike, please wake up!" She blotted his head with her dress. They were both so dirty from the explosion itself. She wiped the dirt from his face with the tears that fell on his cheek from her eyes. "Mike, darling! Please, just open your eyes!" She hugged him to her chest, "Stupid grenade! Why did I come out here with that thing! You're so stupid, Snow!" She scolded herself until her sobs would no longer let her. She just cried as she held him to her, stroking his hair as he would very often stroke hers. "This should be me-not you! I should be the one who's hurt! This is all my fault-bringing that witch here! Why? Why did it have to be you! Why!" The team had heard the voice and followed it quietly. Not quite knowing what it was, Dinger rounded the corner of the brush where he heard the noise, "Freeze!" Snow slowly looked up into Dinger's gun barrel just inches from her face-she didn't even flinch. "Snow? Mike? What's 'appened?" Duncan rounded the corner to find the two on the floor of the woods. He crouched beside Snow, "Snow, what happened?" "He's hurt. Duncan, please help him!" Ritchie and Ribold helped carry Mike while Snow leaned on Bartolome for support-still shaken by the explosion.

When they returned to the village, they put Mike to bed in his cabin. Dinger demanded to know what all was going on and why was there an explosion in the woods. Snow refused to tell Dinger anything about what happened after he got in her face demanding an answer. She agreed to tell Bartolome after he had cared for her in a very gentle nature in the woods. He then shared the story with the others. Duncan spoke his peace to everyone, "Look, we all know it was a mistake for them to have planned something like this, but I don't want any of you to pester them about it. Is that understood? I'm sure they've learned their lesson." "Well, one thing's for certain-we need ta make sure they don't got any more grenades!" Duncan nodded at Dinger's words. He would be sure to ask Mike as soon as he awoke-he and not Dinger.

Karen had dressed Mike's wounds with Jen's help as Snow looked on from across the room. Jen kept an eye in Snow's direction, "Karen, I'm a little worried 'bout Snow. Doesn't she seem a little odd ta ya?" "She's probably still in a little bit of a shock is all. She'll be alright." Kahlua entered the cabin, "Hey, how goes it? How's he doing?" "Well, he hasn't woken up yet, but he got a nasty bump, so it could be a while till he does. The bleeding has stopped, though which is a very good thing. I think he'll be alright shortly." With Mike still asleep, the girls had to convince Snow to go wash up and get some sleep. Some of the men would take turns watching Mike through the night. They had to keep an eye on him to be sure he didn't have a concussion. Snow said a short prayer before she went to bed. As she went up to the loft, she sighed as she noticed that her daisy from Mike had only one petal left.

Early the next morning, Snow came to Mike's cabin. She was greeted by Bartolome. "How are you feeling, Snow?" "Better. Thank you for being so kind, Bartolome." He smiled at her and nodded. Snow noticed that Mike's appearance had improved as well. He now showed a little more color than before. Bartolome said he'd leave her alone now that she was here with Mike. Snow sat by his bedside. She brushed her hand through his hair and touched his cheek. "It seems as though our roles have become reversed, Mike. Now you're there and I'm here. The thing is, I doubt that a kiss would wake you." But Snow tried nevertheless, more on impulse than anything. She gently kissed him. Just as she thought, he had no response. "See, I knew it wouldn't work. You're not under a spell are you?" She wiped a tear from her face. "Mike, I don't know if you can hear me like I could hear you, but I have to try. Please come back to me, Mike. I need you-I can't lose you! Please come back to me." She gently put her head on his chest and felt it move up and down from his breathing. At least this was a comfort to her. She heard the cabin door open and raised her head. It was Karen. Snow was grateful for Karen's skills in dressing Mike's head wound. Karen smiled, "How's he doing?" "He looks better today. He seems to have more color." Karen began to prepare a fresh dressing for Mike's head on the other side of the room. As Snow sat holding Mike's hand, his eyes began to flutter. He moved his head and moaned. He opened his eyes and raised his hand to his bandaged head, "Ow, God, what happened?" Snow gave a huge sigh of relief, "Mike! Mike, thank goodness! How do you feel?" He turned his head and looked at Snow. The expression on his face was that of casual intrigue, "Hello, beautiful." Snow smiled very big, "Hello." "What's your name, love?" Snow giggled, grateful that he couldn't feel too badly. He felt well enough to kid with her, "I take it you feel OK, then?" "Quite well with such a lovely stranger at my bedside. Are you new to the Willows?" Snow shook her head smiling. Wasn't it just like him to carry a jovial setting as far as he could. Karen was concerned in what she was hearing. She frowned as she approached the bed, "Mike, do you know where you are?" "Yeah, Karen. I assume I'm in my cabin-at least it looks like my cabin. Right?" "What's your name?" "What sort of question is that?" "One I have to ask-what is it?" "Mike Lovall." "Do you know who I am?" "Yes, Karen-of course." Karen hesitated, fearing what she was about to hear, "Do you know who she is?" motioning to Snow. "No, sorry-can't say as I do. I've never seen her before. Is she your sister?" Karen was afraid to turn around-afraid to look at Snow, but she did. Snow wore a very confused look. "Snow, do you know what 'amnesia' is?" Snow shook her head. "Well, it's a fairly commonplace occurrence after someone sustains a head injury where they often don't remember certain things." She turned back to the bed, "Mike, what's the last thing you remember?" He stretched up his arms and yawned then propped himself up on his elbows, "Well, I don't know-I guess planting that herb garden. Oh, yeah-and you and that blasted pig!" he laughed, but stopped short when he saw that Karen wasn't laughing with him. She turned back to Snow who still wore the same questioning expression, her eyes begging for an answer. "Most often it's only temporary." Karen felt awkward saying that in she knew that most cases she had read about were not temporary-only a few. Snow swallowed and blinked her eyes, "Are you trying to tell me that he doesn't remember who I am?" She had to choke out her statement, barely able to speak the thought out loud. Karen replied softly, "It looks that way, Snow." Snow stood frozen for a moment, unable to move. Her lip began to tremble and curled into a pout-something she had not done in a while. Up until this moment she had no reason to. Mike looked at the both of them trying to comprehend the situation, "Is there something wrong?" Snow looked at Mike and began to slowly back away from the bed, her eyes wallowing up with tears. Karen stretched her hand out, "Snow wait-" Snow began to cry as she trembled. She quickly backed up, in a hurry to get out of there. She put her hand over her mouth to try and conceal her whimpering. As her reasoning left her she had forgotten the door was closed, her back slamming into the cabin door. She quickly turned and tried to open the door. In a panic, she desperately fumbled with the latch but couldn't get it to open. Karen approached the door to help, but before she could reach her, Snow yelped as the latched opened and she dashed out the door.

She could barely see the ladder through her tears as she climbed up to her house. Again, in a panic she had trouble opening the latch to her house. She collapsed onto her pillows sobbing, her shoulders trembling in a convulsing manner. She couldn't breathe--she was gasping for air through uncontrollable sobs. She even looked to be sure there wasn't a mist in the room as there had been that day in the woods when she couldn't catch a breath. But there was nothing, just the pillows of her couch. She could see Mike in her thoughts, all racing before her. She remembered all the laughs, the glances-the kisses, as few as they were. Could all of that really be gone? She heard it with her own ears. Her true love didn't even know her name. She wished there was a mist-she wished it would just suck the life right out of her. For what life had she now without him. So weak from crying she couldn't even lift her head from the pillow as she looked at her flower in the vase. Through a misty eye, she watched as the daisy's last petal floated gently to the ground.

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Snow awoke to a violent knocking at her door. "Snow! Snow, are ya in there?" It was Stevie. At that moment all the memories came flooding back to her mind. The explosion, the injury-the amnesia. She'd hoped it was just a nightmare-but it wasn't she realized, as she became more awake. "Yes, Stevie I'm here. Come in." Stevie opened her door, which she failed to lock. When he saw her, a wave of relief washed over his face, "I've been worried about ya Snow. Karen told me what 'appened. I'm so sorry, Snow. I've been knocking a while. I thought you was hurt. Are ya alright?" Snow sighed in a monotone voice, "I'm alright Stevie." "Ya been gone for hours. Everyone's wondrin' where ya been." "I've been right here. But I'd rather be alone right now, if it's OK. I'm just not feeling very well." Stevie studied her face. He had never seen her look so sad. "Are ya sure ya want to be alone, Snow?" Snow managed a weak smile, "Yes, please." "Alright then. I'll let everyone know you're alright." Snow watched Stevie shut the door behind him. She admired his cheerfulness. She wondered if she would ever be cheerful like that again.

"That poor dear. Snow must be just crushed!" Kahlua milled the situation over in her mind after Karen explained what had happened. "I don't know what to do," Kaz continued, "I don't think there is anything we CAN do. We just have to wait and see if Mike remembers things on his own. If not-it will be like starting over." "We will need to fill him in on important things like new rules or situations-things like that." Dinger warned, casually. Kahlua glared at him, "Oh, and so I suppose his relationship with Snow was just not one of those "important" things, right? I'm sure Snow would appreciate hearing that." "You know I didn't mean it that way Kahlua. I ain't gettin' involved in no one's personal affairs. I'll leave that to the women-no offense of course," he added quickly with a glance at Karen. Stevie entered the main hut, "Snow's still in 'er tree house. I really wanted to talk to 'er, but she wants to be alone." Kahlua glanced at Karen, "I wonder if she'd talk to me or Yvonne?" Karen shook her head, "It's probably better to give her some time. Imagine what a blow she just took." "How's Mike doing, besides his memory?" Nigel inquired as he removed his pipe. Karen shrugged, "Fine, now. He's just behind a few months. So if you asked him to do anything recently, you'll probably need to ask him again. But I don't want him doing much of anything for at least a few days-maybe just some light cooking if he wants. But no wood chopping or the like. He needs some rest." The door to the main hut opened. To everyone's surprise, it was Mike, "Hi, everyone!" "Hey, Mike!" Through the round of 'hello's', Jen whispered down to Karen, "Does he know he has amnesia?" "Yes, I told him." "Does he know about the relationship he doesn't remember?" "Not exactly." "Are ya gonna tell him?" "I guess all I can do is try." Mike looked over in Karen's direction and smiled. She returned the smile. For the rest of the afternoon, the men began to catch Mike up on the recent occurrences and decisions about the village-just about anything that did NOT involve personal relations. Karen began to go over in her mind what she would tell Mike. There were probably many things about his relationship with Snow that Kaz didn't know. She could only tell him what she did know. Throughout the review of past events by the men, Karen caught Mike side glancing at her often, smiling. God, she thought. Here we go again! Perhaps, this was going to be harder than she thought. After the discussion had moved on to less serious points, like Raif's worst drunken stupor, Karen got up and went into the kitchen for some more tea. Mike followed her.

Silence covered the main hut when Snow entered. All jovial conversations and laughing turned to silent whispers and looks of sympathy. It made her stomach churn to have all eyes on her like that. When she was singing for the group, it was fine--but not like this. Stevie jumped up and headed towards her, "Aye, Snow! Glad to see ya up 'n around. Feelin' better I hope?" She smiled politely and nodded. "Ya must be starved. I'll get ya something. What would ya like?" Snow eyed a basket of fruit on the table and headed right for it. "That apple right there looks perfect." As she took the apple in her hand, Stevie grabbed it from her, just as Mike had done, Snow thought. "What is with you folks in this village not wanting me to eat fruit!" "It's the apples, Snow," offered Travis. "See in the story, Snow White was poisoned by an apple." The realization shone in Snow's eyes, "Ohhhhh, now I get it!! And all this time I thought you all were just crazy!" Around the room you could hear giggles and chuckles. "Stevie I think that one is OK for her to eat, " laughed Kahlua. Stevie smiled and gave Snow back the apple. She bit into it hungrily. Kahlua continued, "Of course, I wouldn't have recommended you take one from Eddy." This time the whole room burst into laughter. "Ha, ha-very funny Kahlua," snarled Eddy over the laughing. "Ya want something to drink?" Stevie offered to Snow as she tried to swallow the bite in her mouth to answer him, "Yes, thank you. Is there any tea?" "Oh, I'm sure there is. Come on." He innocently grabbed her hand and hurriedly ran toward the kitchen. Just as they reached the kitchen door, Stevie added, "Mike can get ya some tea." Snow stopped dead in her tracks causing Stevie to almost lose his balance. "Mike is in the kitchen? Never mind--dumb question. That's OK Stevie. I'm really not that thirsty after all." "Snow, it's alright. Karen's in there." Snow's eyes got really wide at that thought. Her statements became more emphatic, "Stevie really, no-never mind. I don't want any tea! NO!" as he proceeded to drag Snow into the kitchen.

"Need any help love?" as he watched Karen searching for tea bags. "Well, yes actually. Where did you put the-" she stopped, remembering his amnesia. "Oh, forget it. It was just last week. Don't worry about it, I'll find them. I'm glad you're here, though, Mike. We need to talk." Mike smiled and offered a flirtatious tone, "We do, huh?" Crouched down by the cabinets, Karen closed her eyes at the 'overly friendly' tone in his voice. She strained to remember the way things were before Snow came, the way Mike used to flirt with her on a daily basis, asking for a date, pleading with his eyes. Now, here they were--together again. It was like dejavu to Karen. She stood up and faced Mike. His eyes showed a combination of curiosity and hope at what Karen was going to say. "Mike, I think I should fill you in a little bit about what has happened since you and I planted the herb garden." "But, I thought that's what the guys just did?" "Yes and no. They told you about the more village-related issues, but-well, not the personal ones." Karen thought she saw a glimmer of hope in Mike's eyes, and turned away from him toward the sink. You had a relationship-a very lovely one at that--- with Snow, Mike." "With Snow?" "Yes." Karen began opening drawers looking for the herbal tea. "Is that her real name, Snow? What's her last name?" Karen stopped, knowing this would raise a question, "White." "Snow White---are you kidding?" "No." Karen proceeded to explain Snow's arrival to the village and the problems they had with Margurite and Eddy. She told him frankly that the reason he had amnesia was due to his and Snow's plans to get rid of Margurite. Mike listened to her story quietly, nodding every now and then. He had no reason to doubt her, especially with a village full of people who could back up the story-as wild as it was. "What kind of relationship did Snow and I have? How deep was it?" "Well, I don't know," Karen sighed, wishing she'd been nosier for once in her life. "Is that why she seemed so upset the other day?" Karen nodded. Mike took a step in her direction, "Well, what about you, Karen?" Kaz shook her head, "What about me?" "What's the scoop on you and Dinger? You two still-seeing each other?" Slamming a drawer, frustrated in not finding the herbal teas, "I'm not the issue here, Mike." "Here, most of the time I've kept the teas over here, " he pulled out a drawer on the other side of the kitchen revealing a combination of different teabags. "I'd still like to know Karen." "Mike, you're not listening to me. Snow is-going through a lot, emotionally. I mean one day she has this wonderful healthy relationship, which I know for a fact that she desperately wants, and then the next day the guy doesn't even know her name. How would you feel?" "OK, I see your point. Well, she's a pretty girl. I'm sure we could arrange a date, possibly. What about our date, by the way?" Karen grunted loudly and then looked up, "Why do I even bother!" The kitchen door opened with Stevie dragging an objecting Snow through the door, "NO! Stevie, I said no!" Stevie looked at Mike, "We came to get some tea for Snow, 'ere." Snow immediately directed her eyes to the floor not wishing to look at Mike nor Karen, then quickly spat, "I'm not thirsty." Mike took a fairly long look at Snow. Even with her not looking directly at him, he could see the beauty in her face, her clothing. He noticed how her lips were curled into a pout-quite appealing, he thought. "Tea? Of course." Mike cheerfully poured her a fresh cup and offered it to her, "Here you go." "Thank you," without looking at him, Snow quickly grabbed the cup and dashed out the door. Stevie followed her, although she was still quite annoyed with him for dragging her in there. Karen looked at Mike who wore a perplexed look at Snow's speedy exit and she offered, "She just needs some time, I think. That's all. She's really not usually like that.....usually."

That evening, Snow couldn't sleep. Regardless of the warnings, she decided to take a late night walk. Although it was cold, the chill in the air was comforting to Snow. The crisp air smelled clean and fresh as she wrapped her shawl around her. She found herself at the back door of the kitchen, where she had bumped into Mike so many times in the past. She noticed the baskets sitting outside the door-the ones they used to take to the orchards to put the freshly picked fruit into. She recalled the day she reached for that peach, and ended up falling into Mike's arms, just like on her first day in the Willows. She ventured into the kitchen where things were neat and tidy as usual. She ran her hand over the countertop and along the cabinets as she recalled their kiss on All Hallow's Eve. She remembered the many conversations they had here in this kitchen as she could almost hear them in her mind, and of course how they were always interrupted when he kissed her. Feeling the tears begin, she shook off those thoughts and decided to look for one of those special herbal teas Jen invented to help one sleep. As she searched through the cabinets, what she found in one of them was Mike's homemade wine. "Hmmm. Nah, I shouldn't." As she was about to put it away, she stopped and stared at it for a long time. "Oh, what the heck. It's not like I have to answer to anyone at the moment." She poured herself a generous cup and continued to look around the kitchen. After about three more cups, her scavenger hunt eventually led her to the storeroom. Nothing interesting whatsoever, thought Snow. However, she came to a tin can that rattled when she picked it up. She took it with her as she closed the storeroom door and stumbled back to the kitchen. She opened the can to find it full of coffee beans and little paint vials. At the bottom was a crumpled piece of paper. She clumsily straightened the paper. As she poured herself a fourth cup of wine, she began to read the note. It was an unfinished note to her. 'To Snow, my love.' Just to see these words and knowing Mike wrote them, she felt her eyes begin to tear and she couldn't see well enough to read the rest of the note. She put the note in her pocket, closed the tin and put it under one of the cabinets in the kitchen. That's when she spotted it. Over in the corner carefully draped over a chair-Mike's apron. He was hardly ever without it. She gently touched it, then put her hand to her mouth as she let out a soft whimper. She took and cradled the apron in her arms for a moment, burying her face into the garment as it absorbed her tears. It smelled of Mike, of course. She put the rest of the wine back away, wadded up her shawl, grabbed her cup and headed back outside toward the barn. She opened the barn door enough to slip inside. She went over and sat down next to the little baby colt. "Hello, 24 Carrots. How are you this evening?" Although his eyelids were heavy, he was still awake. She polished off the rest of her cup of wine, "Couldn't sleep either, huh?" She leaned back against the colt's pen, looked up into the loft and remembered her date with Mike. She thought back to the lovely smell of vanilla, which of course was not there now as she wrinkled her nose. She looked around the barn and remembered their dance. After a few attempts, she got up and walked over to where they had stood. As she thought back to the music playing she closed her eyes and relived the steps once again. She lifted her arms into a dance position as though he were there in front of her and began to dance around the floor. Although she was much clumsier now having had four generous cups of Mike's homemade 'wine', it didn't matter, she could still see it all in her head as it happened that night. Then she thought back to the conversation they had about Karen. She remembered what Mike said-about how he had pursued a date with Karen. About how he was actually pursuing Karen before Snow came to the village. Now, it was like things had started over again. It was back to that point in Mike's perspective--before he knew Snow. He was with Karen in the kitchen tonight. God, he wants Karen again! Why not? He doesn't even remember Snow, now. He doesn't remember their date, their talks, their hugs, their kisses. He doesn't remember All Hallow's Eve, or her falling into his arms in the orchard, or waking her from the queen's spell with a kiss-nothing. She touched the string of coffee beans that adorned her arm. He doesn't even remember making me this bracelet, she thought. She grabbed her bracelet of colored beans and ripped it from her wrist, spraying painted coffee beans all over the barn floor. He remembers nothing. She's nothing to him now-as if she never existed-never. Snow was sobbing uncontrollably as she dropped limply to the floor. She had to cry. She didn't want to stop crying. She just let her tears fall as they may. Maybe they would flood the barn and drown her, Snow thought. "M' lady, are you alright?" Startled, Snow looked up to see Bartolome looking at her with much concern. She could barely talk, "What are you doing here?" Bart kneeled down to Snow, "I couldn't remember if I had locked up the horses. I came to check and I heard you crying. Would you like some help getting back home, Princess?" Princess. He called her Princess. She wondered why, as only Mike called her that-or used to call her that. She doubted that she would ever hear him call her Princess again. She smiled at hearing it come from Bartolome, remembering his kindness to her through this whole ordeal as he took her hand and helped her up. She was very unsteady on her feet, and Bartolome could tell she had been into some kind of drink. He began to unwrap her shawl to put around her but Snow grabbed the shawl, "No, thank you. I'm not that cold at the moment." He smiled and led her back to the tree house, as she held the wadded up shawl in her arms. Halfway there, he felt Snow go limp on his arm. Quickly, he grabbed her under her waist to keep her from hitting the ground too hard. She had passed out cold. There was no way he was going to be able to get her up that tree, he thought. As he picked up the princess into his arms, her shawl fell to the ground. As it lay unsprawled, he saw the reason she protected it so. Wrapped inside of it had been Mike's apron. Sympathetically, he shook his head as he leaned down and collected the garments. He then carried her to his cabin where he tucked her into his bed. Beautiful girl, he thought-such a lovely glow she has. As he touched her face he whispered, "I'm so sorry about Mike, Snow. I hope you don't let it get you down too long. In my opinion he is really missing out. If he doesn't come around, believe me you won't have a problem finding someone who's just as willing to love you, Princess. Believe me." He watched her sleep for a moment, then he kissed her forehead, "Goodnight, Snow."

Morning's light broke through Bartolome's window waking the sleeping Princess. Bart had been awake a few moments, "Good morning, Princess. I take it you slept well? Good thing I didn't have a pea under my bed, eh?" Not understanding his meaning, she simply smiled and yawned. Wait a minute? What am I doing here, though Snow? Bartolome saw the confusion in her eyes, "Not to fear, Snow. You were having a rough evening. I found you in the barn when I went to check on the horses. You must have gotten into Mike's wine. Do you remember that?" Snow nodded. "You weren't in any condition to climb up to hour house, so I let you sleep here. I hope that's alright. How are you feeling?" "OK, I guess. My head hurts." He laughed, "I can imagine it does. Would you like me to get you some tea to help ease that?" Snow smiled and nodded, then grabbing her head in pain from simply moving her head. He laughed again as he went to the door. "Bartolome, thank you for your hospitality. It was very considerate of you." He looked at her briefly, then smiled, "Anytime, Princess".

Snow was still very tired from her evening walk and 'related events' from the night before. She thanked Bartolome for walking her home, struggled her way up to her house, opened the door with much effort and plopped into her couch pillows--her wadded shawl sprawling out next to her. Not wanting to move for a while, she noticed something that caught her eye. Interwoven with her shawl, a white garment. She sat up and picked up the strange cloth-it was Mike's apron. "Yes, I forgot! Oh dear, I should return this." But as she held the apron up to her cheek, she could see him in her mind--could hear his voice. She could smell all those wonderful familiar smells in the garment-the kitchen, the coffees, the teas...and of course, Mike. She felt as if she had been forced into another time-a time where her true love no longer knew her, a time where all her dreams were gone. She held the apron to her and rolled over on her side. She felt something crumpling beneath her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a note. "I forgot about this, too." She opened the crumpled paper and began to read. 'To Snow, my love. Words cannot express my true feelings, but I must try nonetheless. In this journey through life, the most precious thing we have is love. Although in life we are destined to take crooked roads and wrong turns sometimes, as long as we have love in our lives-anything is possible. For love is life they say. And if that's true, then you are my life, Princess. You are my love and my heart. If I could be granted one wish in life, Snow-it would be to have you as a part of my life forever. It would make me the happiest man alive to have you forever in my life-to have you forever as my wife.' A tear fell on the paper as she closed her eyes and hugged the note to her chest. Although it didn't appear to be complete, even abandoned perhaps, Mike wrote it about her. That's all she knew. He wrote that he wanted to marry her. And he wrote it before that horrible explosion-while he was still her true love. Would she ever find that again? No-never, thought Snow. Mike was a stranger to her now. Things could never be the same.

As Mike prepared lunch for that day, he pondered Karen's words. She had made it clear that she was still seeing Dinger and had no immediate plans to change that. Perhaps he should find out more about Snow, about the relationship they'd had. He really did wish he could remember. She was so sweet and gentle-and beautiful. The 'real' Snow White! Mike just couldn't get over her being a 'living fairy tale'. He was almost glad to have missed the trouble they'd had with the queen, though. What was her name-Margaret? Poor Eddy. I'm glad that's all over, Mike thought. Karen had told him of Snow's decree and how she'd originally sought after Eddy. Mike laughed to himself. That's probably why the queen went after him. Mike was fascinated by how Snow had seen her father in the woods and he'd released her from her decree. That had to be a hallucination, hadn't it, thought Mike? Well like Karen said, the strangest things happen here in the Willows. Still, he wanted to get to know Snow better...perhaps they could start over. As 'luck' would have it, Snow was designated to set the table for lunch that afternoon. Mike wondered if Kahlua possibly set the whole thing up since she had worked out the schedule that morning. As Mike turned over the meat in the oven, the kitchen door opened slowly. A shy Snow peeked her head in, "May I come in?" Mike almost laughed at her extreme courtesy, "Of course, love." Love?? Did he just call her love? Had to be my imagination, thought Snow. She let the door close behind her, "Kahlua said I was to set the table today." Mike wiped his hands on his apron, not his usual one at that. "Yes, I thought she mentioned that. Thanks for your help, Snow. I'd offer you an apron, but this one is my spare-and filthy at that. Mine seems to have just sprouted legs and walked away," he laughed, then stopped short when he noticed that Snow seemed very nervous and was not laughing. She couldn't look at him now, knowing it was her that had stolen his best apron. 'Snow, you thief!', she thought to herself. "Snow, I know that things are strange right now. Believe it or not, I really wish I could remember more-remember anything. But I'd really like to spend some time with you-get to know you." Snow couldn't help but look at him now. "Karen told me that we had a relationship, but she didn't know very much about it to tell me. So, that's where you come in." "Me?" "Yes, Snow." He approached her and took her hands in his, "It seems that you're the only one here who really knew the man I had become. Now, I'll need your help in getting me to where I was." Snow couldn't hide her tears, "Mike, I'm not a child." "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to speak as though you were. What I meant was, I need your help in getting US back to where WE were." Snow turned away and began to gather the flatware to set the table, "Mike, you don't know me at all, now." "Which is exactly why I'd like to spend more time with you, Snow. Maybe things can get back to where they were, eventually." Snow put the back of her hand up to her mouth as if she were warning herself not to burst into sobs. She gathered up the flatware in her arms, "I'm not sure if it can ever be the same, Mike." She quickly went through the door into the dining area. As she began setting the table, Kahlua and Karen could noticeably see she was crying, or at least was trying not to. Karen started over to her. Kahlua put her hand on Kaz's shoulder, "No, don't. I think it's best for her to just have a minute." Karen nodded. As Snow was finishing the table, at that moment her worst fear had come true. She didn't have enough place settings-she was going to have to back into the kitchen. Feeling like a total clown, she re-entered the kitchen. She stopped and just leaned up against the kitchen door looking at Mike. Upon seeing her, Mike set down the cooking pot he'd just taken off the stove eye and looked at her in return. Snow suddenly burst into giggles, "Here I was-making this grand and dramatic exit. What I failed to do was to make sure I had the correct number of place settings!" Mike smiled and approached her. Again he took her hands, "Why not, Snow? Why can't it be like it was? Can't you guide me?" Snow looked down at their hands, "But don't you see? I'm so much more advanced in this whole thing, you know. In that--as you can guess, my feelings for you are so much deeper than yours that---" she stopped and just shook her head. He lifted her head and looked into her eyes, "That what?" "That it could take a lifetime for you feel the same way I do." Barely able to speak, she whispered, "That's how much I love you." Mike was very much taken aback by her words and the depth of feeling in her voice. There was a knock at he kitchen door. It was Nigel relaying a message, "Hey, troops are hungry in here! They want to know when to expect the 'grub'?" As Snow ducked away and around Mike, he yelled through the door, "It's just about done!" Gathering the remaining flatware she needed, "Well, I won't bother you any longer. I just need to get a few more place settings." Mike gently grabbed her arm as she was about to leave with the flatware, "Snow. I really do want to talk some more-about all of this." She smiled and gently replied, "Alright, Mike. We will."

"Lunch is delicious as usual, Mike," as Killion picked some meat out of his teeth. "At least you haven't forgotten how to cook." Kahlua gave him a hush look as she glanced at Snow who had been almost afraid to look up at anyone all night except Stevie. "Aye, Mike--delicious,' agreed Raif, "What is this-duck?" "No, rabbit," Mike said proudly. That new pen you men built is great. Those two fat ones were so easy to catch in the pen-the calico and that furry white one." Snow spit her water onto her plate and proceeded to choke on the rest, coughing. The women all looked at Snow quickly with concern knowing that was her favorite rabbit. Still coughing, Snow frantically stood up and backed away from the table, causing her chair to crash to the floor. She turned and ran out the door before anyone could say a word. "What happened? Is she choking? We'd better go after her." "No, Mike," sighed Karen, "It's just that you cooked her pet rabbit. Whitey was her favorite." A look of horror spread over Mike's face in the thought that he'd messed up things already. He loudly blurted out, "Well, then why the hell didn't anyone tell me that before I cooked the blasted creatures!"

'This can't be happening!' Snow thought as she ran into the woods. She could barely see where she was going through the tears in her eyes. "I'm so tired of crying!" she yelled as she stopped at the river. She stopped in the same spot she saw her father in the reflection of the river that day-her wedding day. She wondered if she'd ever see that day again. "Daddy! Where are you? I need you so much right now! Are you there?" She looked over the rock and into the water, but only saw her own reflection. She sat back and spoke quietly, as though he could hear her anyway, "Things have gone so wrong, Daddy. I did what you said. I disregarded the decree and found my true love. But now, he doesn't even remember me. He doesn't remember his own self, either. Everything the village went through, everything WE went through. He remembers nothing. So where is my true love now? It can't be here." She was sobbing but no tears would flow. "I can't even cry anymore, Daddy. I've run out of tears." Snow sat and stared down the river a while. She watched the gentle waters flow downstream carrying with them the leaves from the trees. Snow wished she were one of those leaves to be carried off, carried away from these troubles. She wanted to escape. She wanted to be anywhere but here. Snow got up and proceeded into the woods. She ventured through the brush with purpose. She had a direction-she was headed back to where the portal had been.

As she entered the general area where the explosion had taken place, there was still a hint fragrance of burnt leaves and wood. There was no mist, and Snow couldn't even tell where the original tree was where Stevie had found her. "Where are you!!" Snow screamed at the top of her lungs. "This is all your fault, Margurite! I'm not afraid of you! Show yourself, you witch!! I know you're here-you're always somewhere, aren't you? Come out! I'm here, stepmother! Why don't you take me? You want me so badly-here! Take me! I'm right here! Where are you? I know you aren't dead, you witch. There's no way to kill you, is there? So just come get me-you want me so bad! I have nothing here-so come on! I'm ready to go home! I'm ready to face you! I'm not afraid of you! You hear me? I'm not!" Snow dropped to the ground in exhaustion, crying. "I just don't belong here. That's what it is. That's why all of this is happening. I just need to go home-no matter what is waiting for me. I should just go home." A touch on her shoulder startled Snow, as she quickly turned and looked up. This wasn't someone from the Willows, Snow thought.

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The sun was in her eyes, and she couldn't quite see who was standing before her. Snow just knew that it wasn't one of the men from the Willows---the frame was altogether different. As she tried to use her hand to shield the sun from her eyes, the figure noticed her struggle and took a step sideways to stand between her and the sun's blinding rays. "James! What are you doing here?" "Everyone's been lookin' all over for you! You ran out of the dining room so fast. Are you alright, Snow?" "No, not really. But I hope to be better soon." James didn't quite understand her meaning, but helped her to her feet nonetheless. As he did, her troubled state caught her off guard and she stumbled. He grabbed her by the waist to steady her, "Not too steady on your feet, there. Do you feel OK?" He looked into her blue eyes, noticing her beauty and youthful innocence. "Yes, thank you James. I've just not had a very good week, is all." "I understand, Snow." He pondered the fact that he had doubted her heritage being straight out of a fairy tale. Now that he saw her so closely, he was starting to believe it. "Are you ready to go back to the village?" She steadied herself, and sighed, "Not really-but I imagine that you will take me there anyway." James stopped and looked at her with concern, "What is it, Snow? Is it really that rabbit that has you this upset, if you don't mind my asking?" Snow figured why not tell him the facts. He'll be leaving in a day or so anyway. "No. It's just that it still bothers me terribly that Mike doesn't know me anymore. He used to know how much I loved Whitey and protected him from being slaughtered for meals. Now, it's like he's a whole different person. He's not the same Mike I knew." "Well, Snow-if I could give you my opinion as a total outsider here." She nodded. "I think he's the same person, only he's just lost track of time-you know what I mean? He just needs someone to refresh his memory." Snow pondered this a moment. "Now, you ready to back? Everyone's looking for you." She smiled and nodded once again.

As they approached the main hut, Stevie ran to Snow "Snow! I have ta show ya somethin'!" He grabbed her arm as she waved goodbye to James. He dragged her all the way over to the rabbit pen. "Stevie, really-I don't need to be reminded that Mike cooked my favorite rabbit!" "No, Snow-that's just it. He didn't . Look!" There in the pen was Whitey safe and sound. Snow squealed with delight, "Whitey!" Stevie continued, "Yeah, I jus' found out from Nigel that they found another white rabbit in th' woods this morning-a rather plump one. When I came to look-there was Whitey! I'd know him anywhere after watchin' you 'old 'im, Snow. I knew that you would want to know right away." She picked up the rabbit and cradled it in her arms, "Thank you, Stevie." She leaned over and kissed him gently on the cheek. Stevie had never remembered such a sweet and gentle kiss from Snow before. Meanwhile, Mike had seen Stevie drag Snow across the yard and followed to see what was up. He overheard Stevie's good news about Whitey and made a mental note to NEVER cook that one. But more importantly, he felt a strange familiarity when he watched Snow kiss Stevie. Was it---jealousy??

Snow sat in a large lounge chair and enjoyed the festivities after dinner that evening. She tried to feel at home as she did just a week ago amongst her good friends in the Willows. Snow sighed during a lovely melody on the mandolin by Bartolome. He smiled at Snow as she clapped vigorously once he had finished. After a wonderful performance on the flute by Duncan, Karen asked Snow to come and sing. Her voice like a bird as she did her rendition, Mike looked over at Karen with a smile of approval at her choice of entertainment. Karen returned the smile. Snow looked over just in time to see Mike smiling at Karen and her smiling back. Snow stopped before her voice cracked, unable to continue with her song. Karen glanced at Snow fearing that she had thought the worst from she and Mike's glances. Snow excused herself claiming some sort of 'night air' laryngitis and left the hut. Karen was about to follow, but was beaten by Stevie, quickly following behind Snow.

"Did ya want to be alone again, Snow?" Stevie caught up to Snow as she headed back to the tree house. She smiled at him, "No, Stevie. Why don't you come and keep me company for a while. Do you have a book with you?" He smiled happily and quickly pulled a book out of his jacket. She nudged him, "Now how did I know you'd have one?" "Oh, an' I think you'll really like this one, Snow. It's about these two people who get lost in like a time warp. An' they go back to the medieval days, you know where there are knights and kings and all that stuff like back in your time, Snow." "Sounds lovely, Stevie." Snow got a fire going in her little fireplace and the two of them sat amongst the couch pillows as Stevie began to read his book aloud. Snow was deep in thought. She would hear a sentence or two every now and then, but for the most part she was lost in her own world. Though in Stevie's company, Snow still felt lonely. She missed the company of a loving companion-she missed the butterflies in her stomach. Where had they gone? Although Stevie was a sweetheart and a good friend, that was just it-he was a friend, a playmate of sorts. Lulled by Stevie's words, Snow began to drift off to sleep. She could see Mike talking to her. She could hear his voice. They were in the barn, in the loft with the soft purple velvet and the lovely scent of vanilla. She snuggled up to him as he put his arm around her. She smiled as he would whisper wonderful little things to her. She nuzzled her face up to his neck giving him little kisses. Stevie's words began to slow down. His attention became distracted as Snow snuggled closer to him. He lost his place on the page altogether when Snow began kissing his neck. Not quite knowing what to do, Stevie just looked at her. She was so lovely, and looked so peaceful lying there next to him. She reminded him of Ray's girlfriend Connie back home, although he felt a stronger bond with Snow. Stevie wasn't sure what to think about Snow's actions. He felt confused. He was enjoying himself, but didn't know what to do now--how to react. "Snow, are you awake?" Snow made no reply. She simply lowered her head back down and rested it on Stevie's shoulder. Forgetting about the book, he set it down and turned to face Snow on the pillows as she repositioned herself next to him, still asleep. What are these feelings, thought Stevie? He didn't know what to make of them. He didn't even know what his feelings for her were, exactly. He reached up and touched her cheek as he had seen Mike do before, then brushed back her hair as it had fallen onto her cheek in her sleep. He couldn't leave, as he knew that would wake her up. He decided to simply stay until they both awoke and then he could go. He whispered, careful not to wake her, "Snow White, is your dreamland a fairy tale, too? Then maybe I'll see you there, eh?" He closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.

Karen caught Snow after breakfast in the main hut, "Snow, can I speak with you a minute?" "Yes, Karen?" Kaz sloshed the coffee around in her cup, "Well, it's about last night." Snow averted her eyes to the floor. "Snow I think you misunderstood something you saw. You didn't leave the hut because you were sick, did you? I know what happened. You saw Mike and I look at each other. Am I right?" Snow nodded, "I know it's a silly thing Karen, but I just couldn't continue singing. I've not been myself lately." "I know, Snow. You've been through a lot-I understand. But I needed to tell you this---Mike looked at me and smiled because I had just asked you to sing. You know, to him it was the first time he heard you. He was giving me his approval on my choice for the entertainment-namely you, Snow!" Her eyes lit up, "Really?" Karen nodded. Snow waved her arms in frustration, "And there I go botch it up by running away! He didn't even get to hear me at all, hardly." Karen laughed, "I'm sure he'll have lots of chances."

"Alright, tell us again about this 'Thanksgiving' holiday. You say it's a custom over in the states?" Raif asked Yvonne as he continued the repairs to one of the cabins. "Yes, when the pilgrims first landed on the new world's east coast, they endured a very long and hard winter. The Indians came to their aid teaching them the best ways to plant crops for the harvest, to season and can food to preserve it for winter consumption, and even the best way to hunt for the animals in the new land. The pilgrims showed the Indians their appreciation by inviting them to a large feast after their first successful harvest. They gave 'thanks' for surviving the winter and for the harvest being so fruitful-hence 'Thanksgiving'." "Who are 'pilgrims'?" inquired Bart as he stopped sawing on a board. "They were the first real settlers from Europe. They had gotten fed up with England." "Here, here!" barked Duncan. He smiled at her as the other men chuckled. She gave Duncan a playful glance and then turned to Bart, "In fact, it was about a century after you discovered the new world." Bartolome smiled as he looked around at the other men, "And don't you forget that men. I discovered the new world all by myself!" Yvonne jokingly slapped him on the arm, "You know what I mean!" He grabbed his arm as if he were really hurt, "Oh ho! So that's the thanks I get for discovering America, eh? See if I ever offer you another country again!" Ritchie nursed his finger after he'd hit it with a hammer, "So, we're going to have one of those big 'feasts', are we? I assume you've told Mike, right?" "Yes, I have. He knows all about it." He clarified, "Now you did tell him AFTER the amnesia, and not before, right?" "Yes, Ritchie. I told him after."

"OK..here's the only problem I see with this Thanksgiving feast, ladies," began Mike as he spoke to the women, "Simply put-we don't have any turkeys in the Willows. And I know that you stressed the importance of the turkey in this holiday" "What 'bout wild turkeys? Surely there are wild turkeys in th' woods" offered Jen. Mike thought for a minute, "Hmmmm. Wild turkeys. I never thought about that. I don't know if we've ever seen any here. I'll talk to the guys and see what we can come up with. But the rest sounds just fine. We have plenty of food stores. I think it's a great idea-a good way to kick off the winter season." Yvonne added, "You know we have to have festivities-music, dancing. I'll even share the story of Thanksgiving with everyone that night since most folks here are probably not very familiar with it." Snow looked up in thought curiously, "Hmmm, that gives me an idea-actually." Mike gave a look to Snow, "I hope you'll be singing again Snow. I'd like to hear an entire song this time." Snow blushed immensely. Karen had explained to Mike what happened. She bit her lower lip, "Actually, I have another idea-a special one. I really should go and plan it out. I'll see you all later." She dashed out the door, hoping that she had left before her face turned totally red.

"Stevie!" Snow found Stevie over by the rabbit pen attending to Fred. At the sight of Snow, Stevie immediately thought back to the previous night in her tree house. What a beautiful memory, he thought. He then glanced down at Fred and was taken aback at the rabbit's obvious ability to quickly adapt to his new role of being a 'breeding' rabbit. Stevie was suddenly embarrassed that Snow would come at that particular moment-but there wasn't much he could do about it, now was there? "Stevie, how would you like to help me with a little 'entertainment' idea I have for the Thanksgiving dinner festivities?" "Sure, Snow. Like wha'?" How would you like to put on a small play?" "A play! That'd be fab! What kind of play?" "Well, Yvonne is going to share the story of Thanksgiving. Since we don't know all that much about it, I was thinking perhaps we'd just do something simple, but something funny that will make everyone laugh." She giggled, "Of course, that is unless you're averse to acting like a "clown'?" "A clown? Oi, no. I'm always a clown, Snow!" They spent the afternoon putting their heads together on an idea for the play. After a little rehearsal, it was almost dinnertime. "Snow, I left me book in your tree house. You mind if I go an' get it?" "No. Of course, go ahead." Stevie didn't want to be late for dinner. He dashed up the tree and into the house. There it was, right where he'd dropped it the night before when Snow had him so distracted. On his way out, something familiar caught his eye on her counter. "Mike's apron! Golly, Mike's been lookin' all over for this! I'm sure he'll be real glad to get it back." He grabbed the apron and dashed off to supper.

"You know, Mike, you've been doing an awful lot lately. Maybe you should let someone else cook for a while. You know Karen wants you to rest. For a while now, folks have been sharing the cooking duties, you know, " offered a concerned Duncan as he helped Mike in the kitchen. "Really? Hmmm-something else I don't remember." Stevie burst into the kitchen cheerfully, "Mike! Look!" Mike gasped, "My apron! Where ever did you find it?" "Snow had it. Not sure why." Duncan looked away, embarrassed for Snow's sake. Mike nodded with a confused smile, "Oh, OK. Well, thanks Stevie." "Sure thing, Mike. I knew you'd be glad to have it back." Stevie dashed out of the kitchen as Mike and Duncan looked at each other. Not quite knowing what to say, Mike put the apron on and began his work for supper. "Here, I'll set the places." Duncan gathered the flatware and went out into the hut. Mike crouched down to get out a cooking pot when something fell out of his apron pocket. Lying on the floor was a note. He stood up and unfolded the note, and to his surprise it was his handwriting-although he didn't remember writing it. 'To Snow, my love. Words cannot express my true feelings, but I must try nonetheless. In this journey through life, the most precious thing we can have is love. Although in life we are destined to take crooked roads and wrong turns sometimes, as long as we have love in our lives-anything is possible. For love is life they say. And if that's true, then you are my life, Princess. You are my love and my heart. If I could be granted one wish in this life, Snow-it would be to have you as a part of my life forever. It would make me the happiest man alive to have you forever in my life-to have you forever as my wife.' As he read the note, his heart grew heavy. He had never in his life known a love so deep. He had never felt that way about anyone, although he wanted to have those feelings desperately. It was almost as if the words on that paper were written by someone other than himself. Maybe Snow was right. Maybe he did turn into a different person. All the experiences in the village and with Snow perhaps gave him a deeper perspective on life, gave him character, made him a better man-a man he didn't remember, a man he wished he knew.

It was Thanksgiving Day and everyone was busily preparing for the festivities for that afternoon. In the woods, Nigel and Ribold had found two large wild turkeys to everyone's relief. As Yvonne told everyone, "You can't celebrate Thanksgiving without a turkey!" The women insisted upon cooking the feast to give Mike a break. There was lots of fruit, vegetables, rolls, a homemade southern cornbread dressing made by Jennifer and fresh pumpkin pie that Snow surprised everyone with. As the women prepared the feast, Snow mentioned to them that the cooks in the castle used to tell her that she was the only princess they'd ever known who had an interest in learning how to cook. The feast was scrumptious. The conversation at dinner revolved mostly around the Thanksgiving holiday itself and the 'new world'. Bartolome was able to offer much historical information on the subject-how the world was discovered, the events leading up to the voyage, the trials they went through once getting there. Snow found all of it fascinating. Hanging on Bart's every word, they exchanged smiles and glances across the table. The exchanges did not go unnoticed by Mike. After dinner at Mike's insistence, Snow began the festivities with a lovely song which she finished in its entirety this time. Then after a few folk melodies on Mike's guitar, Yvonne introduced the Thanksgiving story to the group. At its conclusion, Snow announced that Stevie had a surprise for everyone on a 'lighter' note. She stood at the front of the hut, "It was mentioned by some that I should start stories like this---'Once upon a time', there lived a turkey named Gobbles." Into the main room from the back bedroom came Stevie dressed in feathers much like a turkey. He was walking to and fro hunched over and 'gobbling' like a turkey. Snow continued, "Gobbles lived on a farm with lots of other animals and was a happy turkey." Stevie began dancing about as he gobbled happily. There was much laughter around the room as Stevie soaked in the spotlight. "The farm caretakers were the farmer and his wife. " Stevie quickly put on Mike's apron and the hat he'd borrowed from Nigel. "There was only one problem-the farmer was blind." Stevie began to walk about the room pretending to be blind. He began to study the faces of the men in the room with his hands. At one point he poked Killion in the eye. As he approached Dinger, he warned Stevie "Don't even think about it, mate!" The room chucked. Stevie proceeded to stumble into the wall a few times and then tripped over a chair. Snow smiled at Stevie's antics, "Then one day, Gobbles saw the farmer with a scary-looking instrument." Stevie removed the hat and apron and became 'Gobbles' once again, looking at an imaginary farmer with curious caution. "In fact, it was the same instrument the farmer used to chop firewood. He carried it about the yard calling his name. 'Gobbles! Gobbles! Where are you? Here Gobbles!' Gobbles thought to himself that this couldn't be good." Stevie put his fingers up to his mouth in fear and shone a look of pure terror on his face. "As the blind farmer came near him, Gobbles stood perfectly still and didn't make a sound." Stevie did just that. "But the farmer stopped, sensing an animal was nearby. 'Gobbles, is that you?' So, in sheer panic, Gobbles did the only thing he could think of to do..." Stevie still standing perfectly still, let out a very hearty, "Moooooo!!" Suddenly, uproarious laugher filled the room. Snow in fact had to wait for everyone to quiet down in order to finish the story. "Thinking Gobbles was a cow, the farmer continued looking. Well, Gobbles knew he couldn't fool the farmer forever, so he began to think very hard on what to do." Stevie stood, resting his chin on his hand, appearing to think very hard. "He spotted a pumpkin over by the barn." Stevie pointed to the wall as if it were a pumpkin and excitedly ran over to it. "Then he leaned over the pumpkin and gobbled a few times." Stevie leaned close to the floor and gobbled. Snow took a step forward, "The farmer headed toward the sound of the gobbling. He stood near the pumpkin looking around, waiting for Gobbles to gobble again." Stevie looked up at the imaginary farmer. "Then he gobbled once more and quickly jumped out of the way." Stevie gobbled once and leapt through the air across the hut landing at Karen's feet, who was trying to keep her laughing as quiet as she could. "The farmer swung his hatchet toward the pumpkin thinking it was Gobbles and smashed the pumpkin all over the yard!" Stevie pretended to watch the farmer smash the pumpkin and ducked to avoid incoming pumpkin parts. "Disappointed that he hadn't caught a turkey for Thanksgiving, the farmer sadly brought his wife the smashed pumpkin. She was very sympathetic. Rather than scold her husband, she made due with what they had and made him a pumpkin pie instead. And Gobbles the turkey had a very happy Thanksgiving." Stevie jumped up and began to dance around the room, skipping and gobbling merrily. "The End!" Everyone in the room clapped and cheered. Stevie, still dancing around as Gobbles grabbed Snow's hands and began to dance with her. Eddy turned on the music player and everyone began dancing. It was a very enjoyable Thanksgiving for everyone.

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"Hey there little guy!" Snow smiled as she peeked into 24Carrots pen. "Look what I've got for you! Treats!" She pulled two large carrots out of her pocket. She gave one to 24 Carrots who accepted it hungrily. "Goodness, you'd think you were hungry or something?" The little colt dropped part of the carrot, "Gee, you're as clumsy as I am!" When Snow bent down to pick up the carrot for him, she saw part of the remains of the coffee bean bracelet that she had ripped off of her arm a few nights before. She clutched her wrist as she wished she hadn't done that. Maybe Mike would make her another if he knew about the tin full of beans. But it just wouldn't be the same, she thought. He doesn't remember. Snow noticed Nugget, the colt's mother, nudge closer to Snow as she eyed the other carrot Snow held in her hand. "Yes, Ms. Nugget. Of course I didn't forget about you, " as the mother eagerly grabbed the other carrot with her large lips. "Now don't tell me the men are starving you precious things?" "No way," came a voice behind Snow. "These horses get plenty of food around here. Humpf, horses? They're pigs if you ask me! I never saw one creature eat so much-except maybe Brutus!" Bartolome had brought in a saddle that he had just finished repairing. "Would you like to go for a ride, m' lady? I just finished the cleaning and repairs on this saddle. It's all ready to go. We could just take 'em for a spin for a while. What do you say?" Snow smiled, "Sure! I love riding. And these horses here in the Willows are so gentle. I'm sure it's all of the tender loving-kindness they get from all of you caretakers, here. You all take such good care of them." Bartolome prepared two horses with saddles, "Well, I would hope that you ladies are well taken care of as well. You are, aren't you? Because you all are far more important than these horses." Blushing, Snow said shyly, "Of course. Well, at least I know that I am. I'm sure the other girls don't have too many complaints, either." "Which one would you like to ride, Snow." "I'll let you pick Bartolome, since you know them so well." Bart put the saddle on the smaller of the two, "Here, I believe this mare is the most gentle. May I give you a lift?" "Certainly." He put his fingers together to help guide her foot to the stirrup. Once there, she turned her foot slightly to get onto the horse and her soot slipped out of the stirrup. Bart, still behind her as a 'spotter', grabbed her around her ribcage and back as she fell, her arms landing around his neck. "Oh, Bartolome I'm so sorry! I'm such a klutz!" Unnoticed by Snow as she gathered herself, Bart was momentarily awestruck for a brief second as he stopped to study her face. She was such a lovely girl--her fair skin, her blue eyes, her rosy lips. He had to shake off the brief thought that he wished Mike were still pursuing Karen instead of Snow since the amnesia. But, staying honorable to his Willows brother, he knew where Snow's heart truly lied. "Nonsense. It happens all the time. You just slipped is all. Are you alright?" Snow giggled, "Heavens, yes. Just my pride is hurt. That's all." And such a sweet and caring girl, thought Bart as he helped Snow onto the mare successfully the second time. Bart wondered if Mike knew what a lucky man he really was.

Bartolome took Snow through the parts of the woods that weren't too difficult to travel on horseback while also choosing the paths with the loveliest scenery. Her mare was gentle and calm as Snow enjoyed the breathtaking views of the woods around the Willows. Now that fall was approaching it's end and winter was coming into season, the blossoms and greenery had turned to the loveliest combinations of orange and gold and red. The gentle leaves rained down on them as they traveled through pathways and over small hills. Bartolome turned a corner to face a breathtaking view of the mountains, "I didn't get a chance to tell you last night how much I enjoyed the Thanksgiving play that you and Stevie put on. You both did such a great job." "Thank you! Stevie is such a doll! He just ran around like a court jester and it didn't bother him a bit. And I meant to tell you how fascinated I was with all of the tales you told about the discovery of the New World. It was all so amazing!" Bart smiled, "Oh, I have plenty more stories where those came from-some good, some bad." "I'd love to hear more, " Snow replied eagerly. As they roamed the lovely hills surrounding the village, Bartolome reminisced back and shared with Snow the times he had with his brothers in the New World. They crossed a bridge over the creek that was handcrafted with beautiful woodcarvings. "This bridge is lovely. Which of you men do such beautiful woodwork?" "Well, many of us are skilled in carving, but honestly that bridge was here before any of us ever came to the Willows. Funny, too, because it doesn't really look very old, does it? Come, I'll show you one of the small cabins built in the woods." "You have cabins built in the middle of the woods?" Bart crossed the bridge followed by Snow, "Yes. They were built for emergency purposes really. Dinger thought they might be useful if we ever had to leave the village for whatever reason. But they didn't finish making enough of them throughout the woods in order to make it over the mountains yet. It wouldn't be enough time before dark. Maybe someday we'll get around to finishing the project." Snow nodded, "Yes, since now they say there is a village over the mountain?" Bart laughed, "Yes, that's what they say!" They soon approached the cabin. It was small and quaint, Snow thought. Since it was getting close to lunchtime, they didn't venture inside. Snow kept the idea in her head, though. Fairly often she needed a place to gather her thoughts away from everyone. The tree house didn't seem to free her from 'curious guests' sometimes-mentioning no names of course. "Well, are you about ready to head back, Snow?" "Yes. I'm sure you're getting quite hungry, Bartolome." Bart laughed, "Well, we don't want anyone waiting on us-not that they would!" As they came around to the village Bart offered, "Would you like me to let you off at the main cabin so you can get washed up?" "Yes, please. That is, if you don't mind." "Not at all." They rode to the front of the main hut, near the door. Mike was beating a few carpet pieces off the side of the hut and saw them ride up. Snow brought both legs to the side of her horse. Bart caught Snow around the waist as he lifted her down from the mare then twirled her around to the steps of the hut. "There we go. Front door service, m'lady." "Thank you for the ride, Bartolome. It was lovely." "Anytime, Snow." Bart took the reins of the horses as he started walking them back to the barn. Mike's jaw dropped when he saw Bart twirl Snow off the horse. Not because of the action itself, but because of the memory it caused to leap into Mike's mind. He remembered! He remembered twirling Snow around and around and they were laughing. He didn't remember the circumstances, but he did remember the deep love he felt as he twirled her around and heard her sweet laughter in his ears. As Snow walked up the steps of the main hut, he rushed up to stop her, "Snow, wait." Snow was startled by his sudden appearance, but was not at all objecting. Mike all but stuttered his words, "Snow, just now when I saw you-from off the horse-I remembered! I remembered doing that-twirling you around. I remember, Snow." Snow was speechless as tears began to well up in her eyes. Mike took her hands in his, "I know it isn't much, Snow, but it's a start. And I know that things can get better-that I can remember more in time if you'll give me the chance. I know you're confused and frustrated. And I know you think things can never be the same-but they can. Please don't give up on me, Princess." Snow's tears now welled to capacity began to flow down her face. She gasped at what she heard and then sobbed her words, "Princess! You called me Princess. That's what you used to call me, Mike. When you stopped, it was just awful." He took her face in his hands then looked into her teary blue eyes, "Then I shall call you that from now on, Princess." He kissed her forehead, then glanced down at her inviting rosy lips, "Can I ask you a rather frank question?" Snow nodded. "Have I ever kissed you, Princess?" Snow nodded. "May I kiss you now?" Snow smiled and nodded. "Hello there," came a startling greeting as Nigel walked up to the hut. Mike managed a smile, "Hi Nigel!". The door shut. Snow was turning to go in as Mike caught her arm, "Oh, no you don't!" He gently led her back to where he had been beating the carpets. "Now, where were we?" He touched her cheek, gazing into her eyes. His gaze then traveled down her face to her lips. He leaned his face in towards hers. "There you are!" Karen came stomping around from the back kitchen door. "Yvonne's making that chicken and rice dish for lunch, but she can't find the spices." Mike thought for a moment, "Oh, yeah. They're kind of spread out." Karen just noticed his apron, "Hey, your apron. I saw you'd found it, but I forgot to ask you where it was?" Snow hadn't even noticed. Her eyes widened at the thought that she had forgotten to return it. How did he get it back? She would just die if he knew she'd had it, thought Snow. "Oh, Stevie brought it to me. I'm not sure where it was." Mike fibbed to calm Snow's fears. He knew she'd be embarrassed if anyone knew she'd taken the apron-especially him. Mike rolled his eyes, "I really need to make a spice rack for the kitchen. One of these days I'll get around to it. All right, I'll be right there." Once Karen was out of sight, Mike turned to Snow, only to find that she wasn't there. She had tiptoed away and into the hut without him even realizing it. "That little sneak! I'll just have to surprise her with that kiss one of these days."

Snow rushed back to the tree house after lunch. She looked in and around the spot where she had laid the apron. It wasn't there! The note he'd written to her before the amnesia wasn't there. She wanted to have the note in her possession, but more than that, she didn't want Mike to find it. She didn't ever want him to feel 'obligated' to her in any way. If there was any small chance that things could be anywhere remotely close to what they were, she wanted it to be because he had fallen in love with her on his own-without the help of memories told to him by others. How could she find out what happened to it? Stevie! She had to talk to Stevie! Then she remembered that Stevie was helping some of the men with repairing leaks in some of the draftier cabins for the winter. Drat! She would make it a point to speak to him later.

"OK, I know I'm such a bad, bad girl-but I couldn't resist!" Snow whispered after she had snuck a few more carrots from the kitchen for her barnyard friends. "Besides, with Jennifer away visiting her family, I knew that you'd all be missing out, so I brought some for everyone-even you, Thorn!" Suddenly, Snow felt someone behind her grab her around the arms, trapping them at her side, "Aha! I caught you red-handed!" came Mike's voice from behind her, not letting her move. "Now, let's see who the perpetrator is?" He turned his head around to catch sight of the side of Snow's face as she had turned to look at him. Mike gasped, "No! It can't be! It can't be the Royal Princess! Surely, this is an imposter! Her majesty would never steal from the kitchen!" Still trapped in Mike's grasp, Snow teased back at him in Jennifer's familiar southern accent, "But surely you could spare a few table scraps for those less fortunate in the kingdom, sir?" Mike put his face close to her cheek and whispered, his arms still wrapped around hers, "What's this? Surely, this is the voice of the most beautiful royal Princess, Snow. Has she made it her mission in life to see to those less fortunate than her?" Snow pouted her lips as she turned her face toward his, their lips only centimeters apart. She continued her southern accent, "Certainly, a gentleman like yourself wouldn't punish someone for trying ta help those who are less fortunate?" Mike nodded, "True, that wouldn't be very humane of me, would it? All right. I'll let you go. However, those things you have taken must still be paid for, miss. You're not getting away so easily this time." "But I haven't any gold, sir. How shall I pay for them?" Mike lovingly tightened his grasp around Snow, as he had been eyeing her rosy lips, "Hmmm. I have it. I shall let you go for a kiss in exchange, Princess. Agreed?" Snow smiled, "Agreed!" Mike removed his arms and Snow turned to face him. He slid his arms around her waist, "No wonder Jen was able to catch Ribold so quickly. An accent like that is likely to drive men wild!" Snow deepened her accent as she put her arms around his neck, "Drive men wild? Now wha'ever does that mean, sir?" To answer her question, Mike leaned in to kiss her when the barn door opened. Karen entered with a bowl of apple slices. Mike grunted and purposely fell back onto the barn floor. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to intrude." Lying there, Mike grabbed a handful of hay and threw it up in the air. The hay fell back down on his head and chest as Snow giggled loudly. Karen, trying not to laugh, continued, "I thought with Jen gone, that the horses may be missing out on the treats she brings them all the time. I just brought them some apple slices because we seemed to be low on the large carrots." Mike looked at Snow who giggled some more. "It's OK, Karen. Mike is just---um---really sleepy is all." Snow continued to giggle as Mike looked at her wantonly then threw a cheeky smile in Karen's direction, which she saw right through. Snow bit her lip, "Actually, I was going to check on Tweety, anyway. He's probably quite hungry himself." Mike peered at her with pleading eyes as if he were begging her to stay. Snow continued, "I've been thinking about attempting to build him a birdhouse of his very own. I just know I'll need help on a project like that, though." With that, she looked at Mike. He quickly got up as Karen began giving the apples slices to the horses, "Hey, you know what? I've been meaning to build a spice rack for weeks now. I'll bet it would be fun, or rather, more efficient, to work on the two projects together. " He glanced at Karen, then returned his gaze to Snow. "What do you think, Princess?" She smiled sweetly, "Sounds like a real treat, Mike."

"Tweety, you've just been so listless lately. Are you feeling alright?" Snow held the little bird in her hands. He looked happy enough but seemed to have no energy. "I know what it is, I'll bet. I'm always feeding you fruits and cereals. You've been getting no protein like when we use to fish with Edward. So just because I love you, you know what we're going to do? We're going to go hunt for worms! What do ya say?" Dressed in her work clothes and grabbing a pail, Snow and Tweety ventured into the woods in search of worms for the little blue jay. Snow found herself digging in multiple spots near the river till she found a small bunch of worms. "It just seems to be too cold for them, Tweety. Perhaps we should get you to eat chicken." Frowning, shook her head, "No, you're right. That's not a good idea. It's too close to the same family, sorry. Well, what about those nasty wood roaches that are always scurrying out of the woodpile? It would be wonderful to get rid of some of those. Do you think you could go for an entrée like that, Tweety?" Tweety began squawking loudly up in the tree near where Snow sat on the ground. "Well goodness, you don't have to get upset about it. It was just an idea." Tweety flew from the tree and into the woods. "Tweety, where are you going? Come back! I was only kidding about the chicken!" Snow heard a rustling noise. Then out of the corner of her eye she saw movement in the brush. Her memory flashed back to her wedding day when the bear tried to attack her. Then she saw it. WOLF! Slowly, it emerged from the brush, glaring at Snow, snarling. It's teeth were huge and seemed razor sharp. Snow couldn't run--it was too late. She couldn't even move or breathe or call for help. She sat trembling in horror as the large creature moved closer and closer, never hiding its teeth. Only a few feet from her, Snow wondered if this would be her last encounter, her last thought, her last breath.

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Snow was too scared to even cry as she sat motionless whilst the wolf snarled at her with its large sharp teeth and cold black eyes. She held her breath as she helplessly watched the wolf slowly coming closer to her with each step. "Max! Get back here!" No sooner had Snow heard the words from the stranger in the woods than did the wolf quickly turn and run in the direction of the voice. Cautiously, Snow stood up. She looked around, but saw no one. "Sorry, about that." Again, she heard a voice, but saw no one around. She remembered Karen talking about when Dinger did a similar magical thing in the woods where Kaz could hear him nearby but couldn't see him. "OK, very funny. I'm down here." Snow looked down to the source of the voice. Standing in front of her was a man---a very tiny little man. He did not even come up to her waist in height. He wore a woodsman's attire and a sheepish grin, "Sorry about Max. I raised him from a pup. He turned out to be a good guard dog-too good, sometimes. Name's Benjamin. Folks call me Ben." He lifted his tiny hand to Snow as a handshake. "I'm Snow." He shook her hand, "Nice to meet you, Snow." Max curiously began to sniff Snow. Ben could see the nervousness in her countenance, "Max, that's enough. You've already had a good long look at the poor girl. Leave her alone!" He looked back at Snow, "Wolves! What do ya do wit 'em, eh? Well, if ya don't mind my asking-what's a pretty girl like you doing in the woods all alone?" "Actually, I live in a village not too far from here. I was just taking a walk with my bird-who seems to have disappeared, " as Snow looked around. Ben looked into her pail and made a scowling face when he saw the wriggling creatures inside. "We were hunting for worms actually, for my blue jay. But he flew away when he sensed your wolf." She looked at the wolf, who was twice the size of his master. She hoped Max didn't have any old 'friends' still roaming the woods. Ben thought for a moment, "What village ya say?" Snow returned her eyes to Ben, "I live in the Waddington Willows. I've only been there a few months." "Oh yeah, the bunch o' guys who all look the same." Snow giggled, "Yes, that's it." "Yeah, I heard of it. Never met any of 'em though." Snow smiled, "Oh, they're very nice men-most of them, anyway." She quickly threw off a memory of Dinger forcefully grabbing her arm that first day. Ben rubbed his chin, "Now let me get this straight. You live in a village with a bunch of men? Just you?" She assured him carefully, "No, there are other women there, too. Well, a few of us at least." "Just a few of you women in a whole village of men, eh? Poor guys! Well, seeing as my Max here scared the daylights outta ya, how's about a cup of tea? My place is just around the bend. Or perhaps you'd like something stronger after a scare like that-some ale, maybe? I pride myself on the best homemade ale anywhere in these parts." Snow smiled courteously, "Thank you Ben. I'd love to normally, but everyone always gets worried about me if I'm gone too long." "Aye. I get it-they got a short leash on ya, eh? Well, next time, maybe. It was nice meeting you, Snow." "You too, Ben."

Stevie spotted Snow coming out of the woods, "Snow! There you are! Tweety just flew over to me and I was worried, 'cause I thought he was wit' you." "I'm fine Stevie, but I wanted to talk to you. It's about Mike's apron." Stevie's smile faded as he remembered that he forgot to tell Snow about giving it back to Mike, "Oh yeah, I was gonna tell ya 'bout that Snow. Really I was. I just saw it in yer tree 'ouse when I went to get me book. I knew Mike 'ad been lookin' for it, so I brought it to 'im. I told 'im you 'ad it, so I'm sure he knew it had been in a safe place." Snow shuddered, "Wait a minute!!! You told him I had it?? Are you sure Stevie? Because he told Karen he didn't know where you found it." "Yeah, I told 'im alright. Maybe he just forgot." Snow was stunned. Oh my goodness, he knew! Why did he say he didn't know? She knew Mike wouldn't have forgotten that. Why didn't he confront her about it? Was he trying to spare her feelings? Snow hated that! See, he was protecting her already. The last thing she wanted was his pity, and the first thing she wanted was that letter back-a letter written by her 'true love' and not this imposter! Will she ever get him back? Will he ever remember? "Stevie, did you see a letter in the apron's pocket?" "No. But then , I wasn't lookin' for one, either." That's it, thought Snow. Mike had to have it and just didn't tell her. He'd been so nice to her that day. That's why. It's the 'pity' thing again. No! She didn't want it to be that way! She had to have a talk with him. When she got to the main cabin, she found out that he had just left the kitchen to go his own cabin for a bit. Perfect! She could lay all of this out without interruption. She could talk with him--alone.

Mike was reading alone by the fire when he heard a knock at the door. A look of sweet surprise washed over his face and his eyes lit up when he opened the door and saw her, "Snow, what a wonderful surprise. Please come in." Snow walked into a warm and comfortable room. Just the smell of it calmed her countenance somewhat. The smell of citrus leaves and cinnamon adorned the cabin. As Snow peered around the room, she saw different baskets filled with homemade potpourri made from a delicate array of dried flowers, apple slices, citrus fruit rinds, coffee beans, and spices. On his walls were crafty pictures that would also serve as potpourri but in an art form made from a various assortment of coffee beans, cinnamon sticks, leaves, dried flowers and fruit pieces all arranged in different shapes. The furniture was simple, but soft and comforting. On the various tables around the room amongst many of Mike projects 'in progress' were little log cabins made with cinnamon sticks and dressed up with coffee beans for stone roofs and dried flowers along the edges. A few were painted with white to give them a 'winter' look. Against one wall was a bookshelf with a few cookbooks and various novels of history mixed in with different jars of spices Mike uses in his potpourri and artwork such as cinnamon and nutmeg. "Your cabin smells wonderful, Mike." "Thank you, Princess. So do you." Snow had worn her honeysuckle perfume as she usually does. His compliment combined with his calling her 'Princess' melted her heart and she almost forgot what she came here for. But she was so taken with his artwork, she had to look at each wall hanging. Each one was encased in glass. This would probably serve two purposes, she thought. One is for beauty and the other would probably be to not attract bugs. "Did you make all of them?" "Yes. It's sort of hobby, I guess." "I love the log cabins, Mike." "Thank you. I'm working on an entire replica of the village. Once it's done, I'll put it on display inside the main hut. The men are going to make a hollow table with a glass top, so that the table will still be functional but you can see the village under the glass." "Mike, that's a wonderful idea!" "Your tree house is my next project, Princess." She rubbed her fingers across one of the roofs with the white 'winter' covering. "I love these winter cabins." "Of course you do, Snow. You're all over them, aren't you!" She gave him a teasing sideways glance, then remembered. "Goodness, I hope I'm not intruding here Mike--dropping in like this unexpected." "Nonsense, Snow. I always enjoy seeing you." Snow turned to him and frowned somewhat, not quite knowing where to start. "Snow, what is it? You look so sad, love." "I'm just not quite sure how to start. I---" She stopped and looked down at one of the little cabins. Anything to not meet his gaze. "Would you like to sit down?" "Alright." He motioned her over to a comfortable chair by the fire and he sat down in the rocker next to her. "What's on your mind, love?" "It's the apron-Stevie said you knew I had it, that he told you." Mike smiled knowingly. She continued, "I really was going to give it back. I was just having a rather rough evening when I took it." Mike continued to listen to Snow, watching her earnestly as she spoke. "You told Karen you didn't know where Stevie found it. You were just protecting my feelings, weren't you?" "Yes, Snow." "But Mike I don't want you to do that. I don't want you to feel obligated to have to protect my feelings." "Snow, I didn't feel obligated. I wanted to." Snow looked away, "Was there a letter in the pocket?" "Yes." She stared at the floor, "Did you read it?" "Yes." "See Mike, that's what I didn't want to happen. Everyone telling you what you used to feel and should feel. And then you reading that letter. I didn't want any outside forces having an influence on this-on us. It didn't before and it shouldn't this time." Her gaze was still glued to the floor, not wanting to look at him, "But it just keeps happening that way. You'll never know how you truly feel when everyone keeps telling how you should feel." Mike kept his voice quiet and soothing amidst Snow's tone on the edge of tears, "How do you feel, Snow?" "You know how I feel Mike. I've told you, which I really shouldn't have done." "Why not?" "Because it just clouds the issue. You can't love a memory that isn't your own-one that is handed to you by others. I have all of these memories and you don't. I wish I could just transfer them from me to you." Tears now began rolling down Snow's face, "I feel like this big burden on you, in that you feel obligated to spend time with me and talk to me and be with me. And I don't want it to be like that." Mike slowly came down from his chair onto the floor in front of Snow. She was staring into her lap trying not cry and failing at her attempt. On his knees, he raised her head with his fingers and brushed them against her cheek wiping one of her tears. He then took her hands in his, "Come down here for a second." He gently pulled her down to the rug next to him. Snow discovered that finally her butterfly friends had returned to her. Mike took her face in his hands and kissed her cheek, "I'm obligated to cook and do chores. I wasn't obligated to do that, Princess. That was my choice to kiss you just now. I make my own decisions in life, believe me Princess. All my life, I've waited for that 'perfect person' everyone says is out there. But I never found her. Then I came to the Willows, and here you were. It was like having that 'perfect person' they tell you about handed to me on a silver platter." "But Karen? I know that you liked Karen---" "Yes, I did. But she didn't return those affections. And she's a good friend now. But that just showed me that my true love was yet to come." He rubbed her fingers in his hands, " I know that it's strange that I can't remember our falling in love and it's also strange to you that I could feel this close to you without those memories. But believe me, I catch up fast. We guys have a talent for doing that, you know." Snow halfway smiled at his joking manner then blushed and looked down. He touched her cheek and she looked at him again, "But seriously Snow, it's true. When I woke up from the amnesia, I had a lot of things thrown at me, it's true. But it was like being, if you'll forgive the expression, a 'kid in a candy store'! Here was this most beautiful Princess just waiting to love me. Many times I really did think I was dreaming, I cannot even begin to tell you how often I thought that! I really do want to remember everything that happened. I wish it more than anything. Maybe I could see it through your eyes, Princess. Tell me everything. I want to know every word, every action, every unspoken glance." "But Mike, that's just it. Those would be my memories handed to you. They wouldn't be your own." Mike nodded, "Alright then, we need to make some more memories-starting right now." Snow tilted her head, "How funny. That's just what I said on our date in the barn." "Date? I've heard of this date. I'd like to try that again sometime. Can we? Did you enjoy our date in the barn?" Snow smiled sweetly, "Yes. But-" Snow blushed and looked into the fire. "But what, Princess?" She looked into his eyes with the boldness she'd searched for days to find in herself again, "But I'm enjoying being here more." Pushing away the doubts her mind held, Snow wanted this to be real so desperately. Her thoughts imagined him taking her into his arms and kissing her, just as he had done before the amnesia. Mike became lost in her welcoming gaze as her eyes glowed with the dancing flames in the fireplace, her lips shining in its light. He couldn't stand it any longer--he was going to kiss her. He traced the outline of her face with his fingers down to her cheeks. The butterflies Snow felt had turned into a warm tingling feeling from her head to her toes as she watched him study her face, her lips. He gently held her face in his hands and brought his face to hers slowly. Their lips met just for a few seconds. Snow felt so warm inside she was almost cold, as a crisp imaginary breeze blew through her. Mike didn't want to rush things with Snow and scare her away, so he slowly parted from the kiss, which he had to fight within himself to do. He wanted this first kiss to be a gentle and sweet beginning to something that would last forever, he hoped. "If that was an obligation, Princess, then 'obligate' me all day long." Snow smiled and wanted to hug him tightly, but instead just looked into his eyes. Almost as if he could read her mind, he slid around beside her, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. As they both sat facing the fire, Snow still felt the tingling welling all through her. She wished there were some kind of 'magic spell' that could keep them suspended in time like this forever-forever by the fire, forever alone, forever in his arms. She put her arms on top of his, and he pulled her in tighter. She felt so natural in his arms, Mike thought--like she belonged there, like she were a part of him. He kissed her hair as she rested her head against his neck. He resisted the temptation of kissing her some more and simply rubbed her arms with his hands. Snow felt herself being lulled to sleep. No, she thought. I don't want to sleep. No dream could be as wonderful as where I am right here, right now. As they both watched the dancing glow of the fire and felt the waves of warmth hit their faces, they were both lulled to sleep.

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Snow glided happily through the woods almost in a trance as she thought back to the previous evening. She would have given anything to stay there in Mike's arms forever. Even though the air was cold with a fresh smell of soon to come snowfall, she could still smell the warm citrus and cinnamon of his cabin. She carefully picked colorful leaves, pinecones, and any wildflower still blooming for a project she was going to start on for Mike. She was going to attempt, at least, to make a wall hanging for his cabin. Scented with her own honeysuckle perfume, she wanted to use every colorful aspect of the woods she could find. For this was Snow-a child of nature. Perhaps it would remind him of her, of how she loved wildflowers and the colors of the leaves at autumn time. Off to one side, she spotted a pile of particularly colorful leaves. She stood in the pile digging, as she felt the ground beneath her begin to move. Directly below her feet, the ground was sinking, dropping. Suddenly, there was no ground under her and she was falling. Her mind flashed back to the terrible memory of falling down that deep dark hole into the Willows as she had been running from the huntsman. She wasn't falling back into her own time again, was she? NO! Not now that things were looking so much brighter again for she and Mike. With a thud, Snow hit the ground. Wincing in pain, she rubbed her backside where she landed and looked up. There she could see the sky and the woods, as she was only about eight feet down. She felt a little better, fairly confident that she was still in the Willows woods, and not anywhere else. "Gee, nice of you to 'drop in'!" Snow turned to see Benjamin laughing at his own joke. "I say, that must be where that darn draft has been coming from. Blast! That's going to be a doosey to patch up. I was just making my rounds checking for winter drafts and I heard the crash. Are you alright, Snow?" "Yes. I'll be sore for sure, though." "Aye, probably. I'd help you up, but I don't think I'd do you much good." Snow laughed as she stood up and looked down at her tiny new friend, "That's alright Ben. I appreciate the thought. Where are we?" "This is a section of an old abandoned mine from years ago. I live here. Come, I'll show you around." He took Snow with his tiny hand and led her out of what appeared to be the upper cavern of a cave and down some stairs made of stone. The walls were of rock with tiny glistening sparkles throughout. Down the stairs were many hallways and chambers made of the same material and lit by stationed torches. "Did someone carve all this out?" "Yes, a long time ago. This mine used to belong to seven dwarfs-that's what I am, a dwarf. These dwarfs were my descendants. They carved out this mine in order to dig for jewels to trade for food and supplies. I'm the last one left from their lineage, so I inherited the mine. It's a good shelter from weather and wild animals, really." Snow was fascinated with all of the old mining tools lying around. In the corner she saw the end of what looked like some kind of track with a wheeled cart on it. Ben eyed her fascination, "That's their old mine cart. They used to ride it all over the mine going to and fro with the jewels they'd find. It still works, believe it or not!" "Do you still find jewels in the mine?" Snow asked curiously. "On occasion I do-have a few tucked away. I used to be a monk and live in a monastery--performed marriages and ceremonies and the like. But now I'm a woodsman more than anything else, so I fetch my own food. I really don't know what to do with a jewel when I find one. No where to trade it around here anymore, unless I travel over the mountains, which I don't like to do very often." Snow was curious to ask about the village over the mountains, but decided to save her question for later in respect to Ben's tour of the mine. He led Snow to a quaint chamber in the mine with a fireplace, stove and furniture. Over in the corner was a small bed. Lying by the fire was Max. He opened his eyes to look at Snow, then yawned and went back to sleep. "Yeah, fine watchdog you are! What if our guest here had been a bear, huh? Here ya are-sleeping on the job! Lazy wolf." He offered Snow a cup of hot tea which she accepted graciously, opting for tea rather than Ben's own homemade ale. He continued with his story as he took a seat with a mug of ale, "The dwarfs here a long time ago were skilled in a lot of things. They had a good deal going with the royal families around the kingdoms for a while. They were pretty close to this one particular kingdom, especially. I can't rightly remember the name. But after the king died, the queen employed the dwarves to make her mirrors for her." Snow shuddered, "Mirrors?" "Yeah. Rumor had it that they were 'magic' mirrors. But that's just a folk tale, really. They'd just dress them all up with different jewels here and there and carve fancy figures into the wood. I guess that's where I got it. I'm a wood carver, myself. I don't know if you've seen the bridge out by the stream, but I carved that a few years back." Still distracted by Ben's words about the mirrors, Snow managed, "Yes, I did see it. It's lovely." Ben took a sip from his mug "Thanks. Yeah, funny thing about that whole situation. It's pretty much a mystery except for all the legends. That ol' queen disappeared without a trace, just like her stepdaughter, the princess of that kingdom had disappeared just a short while before that. Folks were starting to think the kingdom was jinxed." Snow looked like she's just seen a ghost. "Ma'am, are you alright? Your face is so white! You look like you'd just seen a ghost. Is there something wrong with the tea?" Snow swallowed hard, "No. Are you sure you can't remember the name of that royal household? The one with the queen and her mirrors and the missing princess?" Ben thought for a moment, "Hmmm. Hang on a second. I still have all their documents. That's how I know all of this stuff." Ben went over to a trunk at the foot of his bed and pulled out a very old leather binder tied with string. He untied it and began sifting through old documents. They looked like scrolls that had been unrolled then pressed into the binder, their brittle edges still curling. "I don't get in here very often because this stuff is so old it falls apart in your hands. Oh, here it is-bill of sale for mirrors. Queen's name was Margurite of the House of White."

Snow awoke to a wet tongue lapping at her face. Positive that it wasn't Mike, she opened her eyes to see Max giving her friendly 'wolf' kisses. "Ack!" Snow turned her head, fairly confident that she had nothing to fear from Ben's pet any longer. Snow thought to herself that she was actually disappointed that it wasn't Mike after all. "OK, Max. That's enough. Are you alright, miss? You passed out cold, there." Snow sat up as she took a second to remember where she was looking around the room, "Sorry." Ben looked concerned, "We were talking about the mirrors. I lost you when I mentioned the queen, Margurite. Do you know of her?" "Yes, I've heard about her." Ben stood up, "Wow! How much do you know about the house of White? I never imagined I'd meet anyone who knew about the history of this area. Do you know about the missing princess, too? Because that was just rumor. I don't have any hard documentation on that-just stories passed down through the years." Snow half chuckled as she nodded her head, "Yeah, I've heard about her, too." Ben looked at her with excited eyes, "This stuff just fascinates me. History, kings and queens, magic. How about you?" Snow looked at the fire with widened eyes, still fairly dumbfounded, "Oh, I've had my share." She stood up as she watched Ben walk over to the opposite corner of the room. He stood next to a large object taller than Snow and covered with a large blanket. "There's a lot of history in this mine," continued the dwarf, "and this is one of the most interesting things still here." He pulled the blanket off to reveal a large full-length mirror. It was made of beautifully hand carved wood decorated with different types of stones and gems. Snow gasped at the sight. Ben smiled, "Beautiful, ain't it? This here was the last mirror the dwarves made for the queen. But since it wasn't paid in full before the queen disappeared, the dwarves reclaimed it and brought it back to their mine, here. Check it out, Snow! It's hundreds of years old, yet still looks new, doesn't it? Boggles the mind." Snow walked over to the mirror and stared at it, wide-eyed. She remembered this one! This was the last one Margurite had brought into the castle. It was the prettiest out of all of them. Even Snow remembered admiring it when it arrived. To Snow, she saw it just a few months ago, just before she went out that day with the huntsman. It still looked like it did then, still brand new. It was like time had stood still for it. But how? It had to be the magic in the mirror. She reached out to touch it, then shuddered as she changed her mind. As she looked at her reflection in the glass, her soul shivered. There was something not right here, as though the mirror was looking back at her. Suddenly feeling a chill go through her, she wrapped her arms about her, "Ben, I probably need to get back to the Willows. They're probably searching all over for me." Ben smiled, "Sure, I'll show you out. Are you sure you're alright? You still look rather pale." "Yes. I'll be alright. I probably should just go home and get some rest." As Ben and Snow left the room, neither one noticed the sudden gleam of light being emitted from the jeweled mirror.

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