Okay, so I wrote this at three a.m. yesterday (or this morning) and I really hope it makes sense. I've been a big fan of Snow White and the Huntsman for a while now-despite Kristen Stewart's stilted performance-and I thought I would re-write one of my favourite scenes, adding in some things that I would have loved to see in the movie.

Anyways...Let me know what you think (but please, no flames; they are for fireplaces and not fanfiction)! ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Snow White and the Huntsman, it belongs to its creators; I just decided to play with the characters for a while so please don't sue me.

Gone

by Knowing Grace

I stared down at her body, still and peaceful in death, and knew that my life too was over. Gone...she was...she was gone. I took a swig of ale to dampen the grief inside of me, but the warm liquid tasted like ash in my mouth. There would be no comfort to be found in the bottle, not this night—nor any night after, either.

Gone. Just like her, the thought echoed in my mind, nearly bringing me to my knees as my heart shattered into a thousand pieces for the second time in my life. My wife had been beautiful and I had loved her dearly, but Snow...Snow had been all that was good and pure in the world. And once I met her, there was no power on earth that could have stopped her from stealing my broken heart. She had worked her magic upon it with her kindness, her selflessness, until it was almost whole again. And then the unthinkable had happened.

Gone. I stood there in shock, hardly daring to believe that one so fair, so alive was now counted among the fallen. In the flickering light of the candles she looked to be merely sleeping, her bright orbs hidden from my sight by her pale lids. There were even roses still to be seen in her cheeks. But, no. There was no breath in her body, no sparkle in her green eyes; no heartbeat in her chest. No life. Nothing. She was gone. All that was her was gone. Dead and gone...forever.

Just like Sarah.

On shaking legs I stepped towards the bier where she lay in regal beauty, just like the princess that she had been in life.

"Well, here you are," I murmured, my voice echoing off of the stone walls of the chamber, "all dressed up like you're going to wake up and give me more grief, am I right?" A chuckle escaped my lips, but there was no mirth in it. I took another mouthful of alcohol and dropped the leather flask with a grimace, heedless of the mess I had just made as the rest of the ale formed an ever widening puddle upon the floor. "You deserved better...both of you deserved better."

Stepping around the head of the raised bed, I came to a halt beside her, longing to touch her, but knowing that her flesh would be lifeless and cold. So, I clenched my hands into fists, hating the feeling of helplessness welling up inside of me. "When we first met I was nothing more than a drunken bastard wallowing in my grief over my long-dead wife. My heart was hard and I wanted nothing more to do with living because there was nothing left for me to live for." With difficulty, I swallowed back the lump that had formed in my throat. "And then you showed up out of nowhere and forced me to feel again; you just wouldn't leave me alone."

Giving into my need, I ran my fingers up the inside of her wrist, feeling each and every bone beneath her surprisingly warm skin. "I should have taken care of you...looked after you better. None of this would have happened if I had. Everything I touch always seems to end up damaged and...I can't-I can't fix this, just like I couldn't after Sarah. And now..." A nearby candle-flame fluttered, casting weird shadows over her ivory skin.

"I can't, I can't do this on my own. Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with you." A tear winged its way down my cheek, dampening my beard and I smiled—a hollow, pain-filled smile. "You became the queen of my heart. But none of that matters now, does it?" I reached out a hand and stroked her sable hair and it felt like silk under my calloused fingers. "You'll be a queen in heaven now, and sit among the angels."

Without thinking about what I was doing, I leaned over and pressed a light kiss upon her soft lips. A tear fell from my eye and landed upon her cheek, but I didn't wipe it away. No, instead I drank in her features, committing them to memory before I stood to my full height once more.

"Goodbye, Princess." I whispered as the pain became too much for me. Turning, I headed towards the door, unable to stay in that room with her corpse for a single minute more. When I reached the barrier, I paused, feeling an overwhelming desire to glance over my shoulder at the still figure lying upon the fur-covered bier. Then with a deep sigh, I stepped outside and let the cold night air freeze the empty hole where once my beating heart had been.

~ Finis