WHO: Snow White and the cubs. WHEN: Last night! WHERE: The lighthouse WHAT: Snow and the cubs arrive and they head off to the Inn. (I kept things vague on who were the rescuers/and their interactions, so if you would like one of your folks to have been there, let me know!!) WARNING: Talk of character death. :(
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"Oh, Bigby. What do we do now?"
Snow let herself feel Bigby's loss for just a moment, long enough to send her to her knees at the expanse of glass shards that was once her husband. The witches from the 13th floor had been plotting silently amongst themselves how to return him to his body and then restore him from glass, but Brandish had other ideas. It was so strange that one little tap with the hilt of his sword could shatter nine lives just like that. She avenged her husband, and that was more than she could ask for, but she still yearned for it.
She'd had more happiness these past few years — between the cubs and Bigby — that Snow had thought her heart, once a shriveled cold thing in her chest, might explode. Ten years ago, she'd been so lonely and never happy, and if you'd asked her what she'd be doing in ten years, raising a litter of children was not among them. She'd suffered losses for so long that she should have known it couldn't last for long. Who would she lean against now?
The shuffling of feet alerted her that someone was intruding on her space. Couldn't they see she just wanted to be left alone? Snow White as used to trading in one world for another. Portals and dimensions were nothing new for her, but she was used to actually attempted travel. This was strange, and the group of people who welcomed her and eased her to her feet were nothing but helpful. The first of her children, Winter, popped through the portal next, and it continued until the last one seemed to be nothing but a gust of air. Ghost. Once all the children, save the two who had been missing back home, were surrounding her, Snow felt like she might shatter into a thousand pieces. She was going to have to tell them about their father, but not now. Not until they were alone.
"Where's daddy?"
"I'm hungry."
"Wasn't it daytime?"
"They didn't let me make portals yet. It wasn't me!"
"Where are we?"
"A lighthouse, dummy."
"Why's mommy been crying?"
"What happened to your arm?"
They were only children, but they deserved to know what happened. The rescuers guided them to a bed and breakfast, a quaint yellow building that reminded her of summer and better days. Snow felt Ghost take her hand, remaining silent, and Winter took the other. They seemed to know that something was wrong. She imagined that winds could always tell, after all. As soon as they were all settled in, she drew them all to the bed in her room to tell them the bad news. She'd never been one to refrain from giving bad news, but she couldn't help but soften the blow. The Big Bad Wolf was popular, almost as popular as she was. He couldn't die completely, could he?
"But mommy, in all the stories, bringing a loved one back from the dead never turns out well." Ambrose was always the most level-headed of her kids. "And aren't we the people in the stories?"