Cracks

[katleept.livejournal.com]

Working Title: Cracks
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: Once Upon A Time
Character/Pairing: RedSnow (Red/Snow)
Rating: PG-13/T
Challenge: This has been for a womenverse challenge. If you join, be sure to tell them Kat Lee of Team Flip Flops sent you!
Warning(s): Mild Spoilers, but none for the third season
Word Count: 1,242
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, none of whom are the author, and are used without permission.



There's a crack on the counter. It's been there as long as Ruby can remember, and from the look of it, it's been there longer than she would be considered to have been alive by an outsider, if Storybrooke ever had outsiders. She's only celebrated a little over twenty birthdays, and yet, she was born hundreds of years ago. She's hasn't lived that long, but sometimes, it feels like it.

She tries not to think about that crack, but sometimes, just like the difference in time, it bothers her. she's asked Granny about it, but she doesn't remember a time it wasn't there. Of course, the memories they do have of building the diner, her parents working in it, and Ruby first coming into it are all fake. Her grandparents didn't build this diner, nor did they decide to go into business for themselves. It was all the Evil Queen's making.

This diner shouldn't even exist. None of them should be here, not in this time or in this place. Ruby misses her old time. She misses the forest and the freedom of those ancient times, although there are certainly things to be said for modern day, like cars, music to which one can listen with only a touch of a button, and the clothes. There's a lot to be said for the clothes in this era, even if Granny raises Hell about Ruby's style of fashion. Ruby knows she's hot, and she dresses the part. She sees nothing wrong with that.

But there is a lot wrong around her, too much at times for her to handle. When she's working during these times, she tends to find herself somehow getting closer to that crack. Right now, for example, she's cleaning the counter, and her fingers are only inches away. She leaves her rag behind and touches the wood.

It feels ancient. She wonders if it is. How did the Evil Queen make all of these things? Did she uproot some ancient trees to make the diner and the things inside it, like this cracked counter? How did she play with their minds so easily? How did she give them all memories, convincing them that they had lived here in Storybrooke all their lives and that there was nothing amiss?

How did she make Red forget Peter? How did she make her forget the monster she is, the monster that ate her first boyfriend? How did she make them all forget who and what they were, who and what they really are? Ruby shakes her head. She doesn't understand magic, and although she does ponder it rather often, she's not at all certain she wants to. She has enough on her plate, handling her wolf, Granny, the diner, her string of boyfriends, and fighting to keep her friends safe, as it is. She doesn't need any more magical concerns in addition to all of those.

But still, she stares at the crack, and she wonders. How did it come to be there? Why is it there? Why would Regina leave in a crack in something she wanted to be so perfect? Was it a symbol, meant to be a sign of the crack in all their lives? The Queen wouldn't have done that. She wouldn't have wanted to have left anything behind that might lead them to wonder about the lives she'd made them lead.

But then, why was it there? Why didn't it go away? Could magic make it go away, or had magic caused it? Had there been a crack in Regina's power or her plan even then?

And why are there cracks still in their world? They have their memories back. They know who and what they are, what they had done. They know who they had lost. She knows she ate Peter. She knows she had killed her mother to save her best friend, who was and still is far more than that while never loving her in return. She knows, too, she doesn't regret it, not really. She regrets having to kill her mother (what daughter wouldn't?), but she doesn't regret the actual act because it saved Snow. She would do anything for Snow. Even now, she'll do anything for her, anything . . .

"Ruby." Gentle hands stop her own hands from working feverishly on the cracked surface. Her dark eyes blink as she realizes that's been scrubbing the wood like mad. She doesn't remember picking up the rag, but clearly she did as it's in her hand, that's torn in several places from the splinters in the cracked wood.

"Red." She looks up into the beautiful, loving eyes that fill her every good dream, not that she has many of those. She knew it was Snow from the moment her voice first broke into her reverie, but still, seeing her this close, feeling her skin touch hers, smelling her . . . It's all almost enough to make a wolf go mad, and her heart does speed up, a howl surging in her throat.

Mary Margaret smiles, leans forward, and places her lips on her best friend's painted mouth. She swallows her howl and transforms it into a moan as her tongue plunges into her mouth. Ruby pulls back. "S-Snow," she shakes shakily, and her friend doesn't remind her that she goes by a different name in this place. "We haven't closed yet."

"Then hurry up and lock up," Snow tells her, grinning. "Emma and David won't be home for another couple of hours."

Ruby knows what that means and hurries up to lock up, even as her mind whirls. Yes, her life definitely still has cracks in it. Her world is still cracked, and it's full of lies. Her best friend lies to her husband and child; she lies to her grandmother. In these rare moments they get alone, it almost feels like they're back in the forest with the grass beneath them, the sun or moon high in the sky, and only each other for miles around. Red wishes fervently it was like that again, but Ruby knows it never will be.

She flips the sign around after locking the door and turns out the lights as Snow's arms circle her waist. She kisses her neck, sending sparks and shivers throughout her, then turns Ruby around in her arms so she can see her face. Her lips touch hers again, gently at first and then more urgently, more demandingly . . .

Red lets herself go, burying herself in Snow, but still, her thoughts from earlier return to haunt her. She will do anything for Snow. Anything, even lie to her best friend, even love her in the gaps he leaves, even take her as hers only when she's willing to let her have her, even love her only in the dark, the light never again touching them. She will do anything for her, but she knows there will always be cracks in their relationship, cracks in their love that can never be sealed because Snow will never fully be hers.

She's glad the moon isn't out tonight. She's glad it's dark for now Snow won't see the tears in her eyes as they kiss again and again. Ruby lifts her onto the counter, right next to the crack in its surface, and all while never ceasing to kiss her, she knows, in the morning's light, she'll be thinking about cracks all over again.

The End