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mb-blue-roses · 3 months

Text

That reminds me rhat I wanted to post my fic - I don't feel like posting the Ao3 link, so I'll drop the fic under the cut!

Reunion of Fire and Ice

1.5k words

Summary: After the Fairytale Detective insists he goes and sits down with his sister like the adults they both are, Ross Red finally makes his way to the kingdom of Snowfall to reunite with Snow White.

Ross Red makes his way through the kingdom of Snowfall, a flame-red jacket pulled around his shoulders. Dark red fur rests around his shoulders, and he gazes at the city around him. Well, his sister's kingdom is certainly thriving. He can't help but be proud of his sister, seeing the people that mill about and chatter regarding anything and everything. A cool morning breeze blows through the town. Ross holds a bag of freshly-baked breads and other breakfast foods, recently purchased from a vendor in the city. He figures it isn't a good idea to show up to an impromptu family reunion without something on hand to make it smoother.

He raps on the castle's front door.

No answer.

He raps on the castle's front door again.

No answer.

He raises his hand to pound harder on the front door, trying to draw someone to open it. Then it creaks open.

"Who's knocking at this time of the morn-" the figure in the doorway snaps, before stuttering out- "R-ross?"

Snow White, the sister he hasn't spoken to in over a thousand years, is standing in the doorway. He can't help but flinch a bit under her cold stare. There's something unreadable in her eyes. Unable to find the words, he holds up the bag of fresh breakfast. Snow gapes at him for a moment, then turns around with a snap and jerks her head in a gesture to follow her. So he does.

His shoes squeak on the tile as he follows his sister through the elegant halls. Eventually, they end in a comfortable and less ornate dining room.

"What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" Snow asks sharply. Ross slams the food on the table defensively, hissing, "What? Can't I just try to see my sister?"

"It's been over a thousand years, Ross!"

"I know you want this reunion just as much as I do, Snow!"

Surprisingly enough, Snow is the one that backs down first. She hesitantly sighs, "You're right..."

Ross busies himself with spreading out the assorted foods, so that he doesn't have to look his sister in the eyes. He can't bring himself to look her in the eyes, as much as he wants to see her response. She remarks, "Let me guess. This was the detective's idea."

Involuntarily, Ross snorts.

"So that's a yes," she states in reply.

The room settles into an awkward silence. Snow's foot taps on the ground, and Ross shuffles thing around the table. He glances up, and looks out the window. The sunlight reflects off a little bit of snow, and the flourishing kingdom makes him smile at his sister's competence.

"Your kingdom seems to be flourishing," he remarks, "That's good."

Snow coughs, clearly trying to disguise a laugh, before she tells him, "I'm not the queen of Snowfall, Ross." "You... aren't?" he asks, startled. He would've expected her to be the ruler of this kingdom. He couldn't think of anyone else, there was no way their father was still in power.

"Who is, then? Surely not Dad?" Snow chuckles again, and then a voice rings out from the doorway.

"...Prince Ross? What are you doing here?"

Ross whirls around. Gerda, now a young woman, stands there. Her hair is loose, and she's wearing a night gown with a blanket around her shoulders. She rocks back and forth on her heels, watching Ross with a confused expression.

"What... what are you doing here, Gerda?" he asks in return. He can hear Snow snort in amusement before Gerda raises an eyebrow at him and says, "I... live here?"

He gapes at her for a moment, his jaw open as he tries to process. Gerda lives here? In the castle? Fascinating. He parses through his thoughts, attempting to form a response. He's saved from that by Gerda asking, "Anyways, how are Rapunzel and Belladonna doing?"

"They're doing well," he answers, "Belladonna has finally stopped insulting me when we are alone in the same room."

Gerda's face scrunches up in amusement. Ross offers her a hesitant smile. Then he asks, "Well, how are you doing then, Gerda?"

Gerda opens her mouth to reply, but then there's a rapping on the wall behind her. A young man, around Gerda's age, steps up to stand next to her. His hair is a soft blonde color, his eyes an icy blue. He presses a kiss to Gerda's cheek, and she blushes. The man asks, "May I ask how you know my wife, sir?"

By this point, Snow is doing nothing to stifle her laughter. The blonde man rolls his eyes, clearly amused by her reaction. Gerda's giggling as well, though it appears she doesn't have as much context for the situation as Snow does. Snow beckons the two of them further into the room, and they both move further in. The man leans on the counter, slotting himself easily in the corner of the small counter. Gerda, meanwhile, pulls out a stool and sits next to him. When both kids (they're adults, he knows this, but in his mind they're kids) are settled, Snow claps her hands. Ross can't help but stare. Gerda's married? He never knew her all that well, considering how little time they spent together and the fact that he was more focused on Rapunzel at that time, but it still surprises him. Nudging him to get his attention, Snow starts, "Ross, this is my son, Gwyn."

Ross is left speechless yet again, his head spinning. Based on Snow's movement, she's likely telling Gwyn that Ross is his uncle. He has a nephew?! He missed so much while was estranged. Likely, he was the king. Blinking away his thoughts he asks, "How long have you had a son?!"

"My entire life," Gwyn replies with a shit-eating grin. Gerda snorts loudly, before blushing and covering her face with her hand. Gwyn smiles and leans into her. Wait a minute...

"Does that make Gerda my niece-in-law?" he asks.

Gerda nods, taking Gwyn's hand.

"You also have a nephew-in-law. I'm married to them both, and them to each other," Gwyn says, at the same time Gerda mumbles, "Where is he? He's usually the first one up..."

Before Ross has a chance to process any of that, and almost as if mentioning him summoned him, another young man comes into the kitchen. The cane in his hand taps against the wooden floor as he sleepily enters, rubbing at his eyes. He approaches the table, saying, "G'morning everyone. Where'd this come from?"

"The uncle I just learned that I had," Gwyn answers, jerking his thumb to point at Ross. The man's head snaps up, and he looks at Ross with a startled expression. After staring blankly at Ross for a moment, he seems to make some sort of mental connection. He says, "Oh, you're the one who took Gerda to Floralia a few years ago. My name is Kai."

Kai offers Ross a handshake, which he respectfully accepts. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Kai, my name is Ro- Wait, how do you know about that?"

Kai chuckles awkwardly, his free hand finding its way to the back of his neck. He answers, "Well, Gerda's been my best friend for most of my life. When I saw you leaving the village with her, I wanted to make sure she was safe. So, I followed you. I... didn't get very far, and the detective saved me. She was at our wedding, actually."

So everything comes back to the detective, and an improbably tangled web of connections. Huh.

After a moment of awkward silence, Gerda hops off her stool. She strides over to the table, kissing her other husband on the cheek. Gwyn follows suit, and Kai turns bright red. Seeing the display of affection brings an uncharacteristically fond smile, unbidden, to his face. It reminds him of how he and Rapunzel were, in the early years. A small, but loud, part of him misses that. It also reminds him of how that frog prince (James, was his name?) and Snow acted before Ross left his family behind over it.

As the happy trio talks and serves themselves from the dishes Ross spread out on the table earlier, Ross himself turns to his sister. When she turns to him, he twists his head to look at Gwyn. The king is laughing, his face scrunched up in delight as his husband kisses some butter off his nose and his wife sneaks a sausage off his plate. Then he turns back to his sister and asks, "Was he with..."

"Yes. It didn't work out, and he's dead now. We were divorced for a few hundred years before that."

There's a lot of unanswered questions there, but she doesn't seem inclined to answer them. He can respect that. After all, he did show up at her house at eight in the morning after over a thousand years of no contact.

"We should join the kids," Snow says, and so they do. Questions can wait.

#dark parables #ross red dark parables #snow white dark parables #gerda dark parables #gwyn dark parables #kai dark parables #gwyrdai #<- im nothing if not predictable #obligatory 'takes place in an au where ttatt didn't happen and they all got married instead' tag #rapunzel and belladonna are both mentioned #fanfic #dark parables fanfic #Arty_Girl_Writes

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