Distant lightning lashed the moonless night air, momentarily chasing away the shadow in the dusky room, where Ruby-Rose lay on a cot—visible briefly—as short as the lightning flash.

An angry clap of thunder jolted her awake from her week-long slumber.

Someone loomed from the shadow, carrying a small oil lamp about her face. The face looked a lot like —

"Millie?"

The young girl stood an arm's length from the cot. "Ah, you're awake, Princess."

"You're not Millie." Ruby pushed up straighter, eyeing the cottage.

The girl smiled. Dark ringlets framed a face that was strikingly similar to Millie's, except her eyes—they were warmer, more honey. "No, your highness, I'm not Millie. I'm her sister, Gretel."

Highness? Gretel?... Am I still at Evergreen?

Ruby tried to get to her feet, instead, doubled over as pain sheared her inside. Her injuries from the battle hadn't wholly healed yet—what with her being preoccupied with the Well to heal her body.

She fell back on the bed, exhausted and aching.

"Are you okay, your highness?" The girl stood beside the cot, peering at her with the same tanned, mousy face as her friend.

"I'm fine." Ruby grimaced, bracing her ribs gently as they finally healed.

Can't believe I'm talking to Gretel!

Despite the past weeks spent in the Enchanted Realm; despite having seen and heard the things she had, and experienced the things she had, a part of Ruby still didn't entirely believe she was living in a fairytale. Or that she battled and won against an Evil Queen—who wasn't entirely, or inherently, evil.

"Where am I? Where's Millie? Sir Bashful? What happened to Snow? The battle?" So many questions that Ruby couldn't help but ask the girl.

"We are still in the Red Forest, but I am not suited to answer your questions. However, I can fetch my sister or the big knight if you wish."

"No need to fetch people for me, Gretel. I can go to them." Ruby rose to her feet, slightly unsteady. Her legs were stiff. The girl threw out her arm to support her.

"How long have I been out?"

"Almost a week, your highness," answered the girl.

"Why do you keep calling me 'highness'?"

Gretel looked at her, baffled. "Because you're the queen now, milady."

Queen? Me? Ruby shook her head. "Take me to them, Gretel."

"Right away, ma'am." Gretel eagerly held the lamp in one hand and led Ruby out into the fresh air that promised rain.

King Charming's army was still camping there. Tents stood tall and taut; men murmured as they sat around spots of fire, dinner in hand. Somewhere, someone was playing the flute. It's soothing music washing away some of their worries.

The men stopped eating to watch Ruby follow Gretel across the camp.

"How come they haven't disbanded yet? The army?" Ruby asked, nodding hello to a group nearby. The soldiers put their fists to their chests and gave her a bow.

"Your uncle refuses to return to his wife without the news of your health. His soldiers stay because he stays. Everybody was eager to see you wake. For a while, they didn't think you would... not after the demon from the mirror took over you last week."

Soldiers young and old, injured and healing, bowed or took a knee for Ruby as Gretel led her to the council tent at the back of the camp.

"... It is good to see you, your highness...."

"... we knew you wouldn't leave us yet..."

"... bless you..."

The walk overwhelmed Ruby such that she nearly stumbled into Sir Bashful who knelt before her, accompanied by his brothers that remained, including Sir Happy towards the back. He refused to meet her gaze, no doubt embarrassed that he'd almost slain the young royal while under Snow's influence.

"Milady," Sir Bashful peered up with teary eyes. "It is so, so good to—we have missed you." He cleared his throat and bowed again.

Ruby flung herself at the knight, wrapping her arms around the big guy's neck. It took the knight by surprise, for it was not a custom of their lands, to show public affection or express gratitude thus.

"It's good to see you too, Bash!" She said what he hadn't been able to.

Sir Bashful returned Ruby-Rose's embrace rather awkwardly before he stood and aided her up.

Ruby eyed his brothers, knelt before her. Besides the fact that they were all knights, they looked nothing like Bash. In her eyes, despite being scarred and rough around the edges, he was the most handsome of them all.

"I thought you had six brothers, Bash? I only see four." Ruby wondered if the other two had refused to switch sides.

Bash hung his head slightly. "I'm afraid it is just us left, milady. Two of our brothers—may fairies bless their souls—are no longer among us. These are the brothers that remain. Doc, Grumpy, Happy, and Dopey."

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Ruby said to the knights. The knights returned a nod, Happy included.

"It is what it is." Bash gave a pained smile. "Come. You must be eager to find out what you missed this past week."

After the lengthy talk with Sir Bashful and a few good men, including her uncle, King Charming, Ruby sat by the blazing pit in the center of the council tent. Rain pitter-pattered on the canvas; some drops that made it in through the chimney hole at the top of the tent sizzled about the flames. Ruby listened to that sound as her thoughts ran away from her.

Millie sat next to her on the bench and passed a hot drink to her friend.

Behind them, Sir Bashful had returned to aid Ruby's uncle with the plan to take his army back home. They had routes to plan and provisions to secure for the men who had made it through the battle, including the men from Snow's army. They were to go back home to their lands with Ruby as their monarch.

That was the other thing Bashful had filled Ruby in on. That after the demise of Snow White, she was the last remaining royal for the house of White. She will have to be coronated to secure her reign, so that no other kingdoms could lay claim.

She could hear the snippets of their discussion, Sir Bashful and Uncle Charming, with a few other men. When to hold the coronation of Ruby-Rose. A task her uncle had happily said, "It would delight my wife to take charge of Princess Ruby's coronation."

"You seem lost in thoughts, milady. What was it like for you in the Well?" Millie tossed another piece of dry wood into the dying fire.

"All I remember is the darkness and how long it took me to find my way out." Ruby sipped her drink, staring as the flames welcomed fresh fuel. The drink tasted a bit like hot chocolate, with a hint of roasted hazelnut. It warmed her weary heart and frozen toes. The thought of the Well had made her blood run cold.

Ruby would never tell Millie the Well hadn't wanted to release her. It giveth and it taketh. Ruby thought dryly. It didn't think she should return to the living plane since she had already fulfilled the purpose it had made her for. She'd had to argue why she should be allowed to live. It had taken her a week to convince it to sever its ties to her; that she was no threat if she didn't know how to get back.

Ruby was no longer the conduit. She was just another average fairy. It had taken her nearly seven days to convince the Well she meant no harm. Seven days was an eternity down there. Enough for a lifetime. She still had her other gifts, however, the gifts of the four elements, making her the strongest fairy of them all.

Not that it mattered to her. All she wanted was to get back to her life. To mum and Robbie. She was going home as soon as she could figure out how. She threw her drink back and stood. "I want to see Snow. Take me to her."

A short walk in the rain brought Millie and Ruby to the very apple grove where Ruby had brought an apple back to life. There, under the biggest apple tree, was a strange sight. A see-through casket made of ice stood, and within it lay Snow White; preserved for all eternity by strange magic.

Millie stood beside Ruby. "With her dying breath, she asked to be moved here. That this was the one place she had known happiness when her child was born; when she had a family. That, for years to come, those who look upon her may learn a cautionary tale."

"Why did you do it, move her here, and put her in that?" Ruby wondered if this sight had inspired the one in her stories.

"Everyone deserves peace in death, Ruby. And I didn't put her in there. She did. I merely had the knights move her here."

Ruby approached the casket and peered down at the woman. She didn't know what to say, so she crouched down to the earth and placed her hand upon it. A single bloom of ruby-red rose grew from the ground. A rose Ruby plucked and placed upon the grave. "Hopefully, she'll find some peace now."

Ruby turned to her friend, a hard look on her face. It was now or never. "Millie, I don't want to be Queen. I want to go back home. See my mum and my brother. My friends..."

"Am I not your friend, Ruby-Rose?" Millie asked, hurt.

"You are. You're my only friend here, Millie. But this isn't my world. I will never fit in."

"Greatness doesn't need a mold, milady. You do not need to fit in. You just need to be, and lead."

"I'm not a leader."

"Not what I've seen."

"I don't belong." Ruby eyed the ground. "I'm no queen."

"You hail from these lands, Ruby-Rose. This is the only place you truly belong." Millie gave Ruby's hand a gentle squeeze. "But I do not blame you for missing the other realm. I can send you back if you wish."

"You can?" Ruby suddenly perked up.

"It was my granny who brought you here with her wielding. I am sure the same wielding can send you... home." Millie smiled ruefully.

"I want to see my family, Millie."

"I understand." Millie held out her palms and closed her eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"Returning what is yours." Upon Millie's palm, a heavy, familiar book appeared. "I was keeping it safe for you."

Millie held the book out to Ruby.

Ruby shook her head. "I want you to keep it."

"I do not know how to read this, Ruby-Rose." Millie sounded baffled.

"I'm sure we can fix that." Ruby offered her hand. "Let me teach you how. After all, I did promise."

"A passage ritual? Of course, why hadn't we thought of that before." Millie's eyebrows arched up in delight. She hurriedly placed the book on the ground and held Ruby's hands, eager to learn the art of reading so she could read the stories her friend had grown up with.

Thus Ruby-Rose II, who was in fact Ruby-Rose I, passed her knowledge of the written word, a knowledge that would soon allow other possibilities in Millie's world.

Once done, Millie rushed to test her newly acquired skill. She picked up the book and flipped through the pages, astounded that she could make sense of all the inky symbols. She poured over the content page until she came upon a title that sounded familiar.

"Snow White and the Seven Dwarves? That is the tale you were telling me about, is it not? Does it talk about the battle you won, Ruby?"

"No, I'm afraid these stories are far more children-friendly than the real-life, Millie," Ruby replied.

Millie gasped again, her finger lingering on the title 'Little Red Riding Hood'. She peered up at Ruby. "Is that not what you called me in the tunnels?"

Ruby started walking back to camp. "It is. Though, I'd say it may be very different to your actual life, Millie."

Millie followed, pouring over the titles in delight. She gasped again. "Oh my, fairies. Hansel and Gretel have a story too!"

"Something tells me you may know all these stories one way or the other, Millie."

Millie quickly turned to her kin's story and upon seeing the name of the writer, burst out laughing. "Oh, he did not!"

"I beg your pardon?" Ruby stopped walking

Millie held the page for Ruby and pointed at the name. Hans Christian Andersen.

"What about it?" Ruby asked, intrigued.

"Christiana was our mother's name, and Ander, our father's. I believe this is my brother, Hansel's doing, Ruby-Rose. He's always loved stories. As a boy, he would beg me to tell him a new one every day. Or he'd force us to sit by and listen to one of his crazy ones." Millie resumed walking. Ruby followed.

"When he was wee, he made this silly one about a Princess who couldn't sleep because there was a pea beneath her mattress. He got the silly idea from when Gretel complained something was digging at her, and it turned out to be a pebble Hans had thought pretty and saved, hidden under their mattress."

Millie laughed. Ruby grinned.

Ruby flipped the pages back to the contents page and pointed out that story. "Then I think we know who wrote these stories. The ones I grew up with."

Millie gasped again as she read the title out loud. "The Princess and the Pea? Oh, Ruby-Rose, this is the greatest gift I've ever received. And our custom dictates I must return something of value to you."

Arriving at the Evergreen Cottage, Millie rifled through granny's trunk until she found what she was looking for. The pair of enchanted mirrors, the same pair that had allowed granny to see and talk to Millie and her brother and sister when they were younger.

"Here. This is for you, Ruby-Rose. Although I hope you will change your mind about going, I do not wish you to forget us."

Ruby took the small ornate hand mirror. "What is it?"

"Look upon it!" Millie urged.

Ruby looked into the mirror and saw Millie smiling back at her where her own reflection should have been. When she peered over, Millie had an identical mirror in her hand.

"No matter where you go, you can always call upon me, or I may call upon you."

Ruby stood amazed. The mirror in her hand and the one in Millie's hand had to be the ones mentioned in the Beauty and the Beast. It was Beast's window into the world he could no longer be part of. It was fitting since Ruby wished to abandon the Enchanted realm where she did not think she fit.

She hugged Millie tight. "Thank you, for everything!"

"You must visit, Ruby-Rose."

"I'll visit as often as you bring me."

Millie pulled away, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Now, I cannot send you back without someone to take your place here. We cannot leave the throne empty."

"So what do you propose?"

Millie smiled. "I know somebody who looks exactly like you, Princess. I will bring her here, in your place. But there is something you should know, Ruby-Rose. Fairies cannot survive long in the human realm. Your essence will not work there. You will be vulnerable."

"I cannot go back permanently, can I?"

Millie shook her head.

"How long will I have?" Ruby asked, her heart wrenching inside.

"I can grant you a year to say your goodbyes."

A year? Ruby bit her lip to keep it from trembling. "A year would be better than nothing."

"As I thought." Millie nodded, whispering, "I will send you tonight once the camp is asleep. And remember, should anything go wrong, call upon me." Millie eyed the mirror in Ruby's hand.

Ruby-Rose thus had a year to say goodbye. A year to make memories that would last her a lifetime in the Enchanted Realm. And a year was definitely better than nothing, so she agreed to play another swap. Swore on her mother's life that she'll be ready to return as their Queen in a year.

Millie peered up at Ruby, hopeful. "Shall we join the men one last time to celebrate our victory, my Queen. They deserve that much for their sacrifice."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Ruby, eager to get to midnight so she could return home one last time, held her arm out for her friend. "Let us celebrate."

WC: 2797 TWC: 39, 377

[A/N: That's it, my pretties, the story is finished. I had a blast writing it. It's been incredible to see this story grow each chapter, and I've really appreciated having you come along on this wildly grimdark fairytale ride with me. I aimed to write a fantastical story inspired by Snow White, and somewhere along this journey, a few other fairytales came into play. I do not regret it at all.

I hope you enjoyed my take on old classics. Thank you for reading. Your feedback is invaluable to me. It will go a long way in helping me improve/hone this story so it can be a better version of itself, so do consider dropping me a line if you get a chance. Or simply let me know if you liked this story.

Until the next fairytale comes calling, I'll now go back to my contemporary romance.

May the fairies bless you! 💚]