Work Text:
The euphoria was starting to wear off, now. Her new hosts’ eagerness to help was nice; she wasn’t sure where she’d be if she hadn’t been able to find anyone to help her; she’d probably still be wandering through the forest, hoping she’d stumble into wherever her father was hiding or being kept hidden. Hopefully now, with their help, she’d find him soon. She sighed as she looked into the pond.
That’s not you, a voice whispered in her head. It’s just a pathetic fantastical lie.
Of course it’s me, Snow argued. Who else would it be? It’s not like changing my body changed who I am.
I’m sure your new ‘friends’ would disagree, the voice argued. What are you going to do when they find out you lied…
“It’s not a lie,” Snow said aloud, then looked around hastily, but none of the odd little beings from the cottage were in sight. She frowned down at her shoes and tugged on one, but it wouldn’t budge.
You don’t want to do that, the voice said. You don’t want to give up this gift, give up how beautiful…
“I was beautiful without you,” Snow told the shoes.
The voice seemed to laugh. If you believed that, you’d be able to take us off, it said.
“I do believe it,” Snow said stubbornly. She gave the shoes another tug, then toppled backward onto the grass, her fingers and feet stinging but the shoes still firmly on.
“I believed it before,” she said quietly. She glared at the shoes, but then she caught sight of her reflection again, and her stomach flopped uncomfortably. She had believed it before, she was sure, but now that she knew she could look like that…
She flopped backward in the grass and closed her eyes, shutting out the reflection.
“Red!” a more welcome voice called from the cottage, and she made herself sit up, though she carefully didn’t open her eyes until she’d turned fully away from the pond. “Red,” Merlin repeated, and Snow smiled despite everything at the enthusiasm on his face as he jogged towards her as fast as his short legs allowed. “We’re ready to—are you alright?”
No, Snow thought, but perhaps the shoes had been right about one thing, and what Snow thought didn’t matter anymore.
“I’m fine,” Red said, smiling at him despite the twinge in her gut. “Let’s go.”