Chapter Text
Since the age of nine, Apple has known she cannot afford the luxury of desire or choice. It doesn’t matter that she dislikes wearing flats with heels that are inappropriate for her age. It doesn’t matter if she doesn’t like the apple pies her mother bakes. And, above all, it doesn’t matter that she loathes visiting the Charming mansion — home to the supposed "love of her life."
Sitting in the back seat of a red Ferrari, she discreetly tugs at strands of her hair while her mother, Snow White, meticulously details the dos and don’ts of being in a Charming’s presence.
"...And never, under any circumstances, refuse to do something the Charming children tell you to — especially Daring. Refusing will give him a terrible impression of you as a future wife."
Apple tugs a bit too hard on a strand of her hair upon hearing that phrase.
"But, Mom, Daring never really plays with me; he gets distracted easily..." She pauses. "Mostly by himself..." She finishes in a whisper.
"Then play with the other Charming siblings! As far as I know, they have a daughter, though I’ve never seen her..." Snow muses. "It is of the utmost importance that you be well-liked by everyone. Fortunately, children aren't demanding, so your annoying personality won't get in the way."
With that, Snow White ends the conversation. Apple, her eyes welling up with tears, turns her gaze toward the road, longing for a time when things might be different.
As the mansion doors are opened, Apple bitterly regrets having woken up that morning.
The Charming family stands gathered at the foot of the staircase. Daring — the eldest son, ten years old and the primary heir to his father’s company — and Dexter — the clumsy twin of a nine-year-old girl Apple has never met — stand side by side, watching as Apple summons all her courage to speak to them.
As Apple approaches them, she catches sight of her mother walking toward David and Deborah Charming.
A shiver runs down Apple’s spine.
She always feels as though her future is being decided for her while she is forced to play with two boys whose existence she couldn't care less about.
"Apple, Daring and I were thinking... well, if you want, we could play Rescue the Princess," Dexter says, in his usual bumbling manner. "I mean, obviously, only if you want to..." He flashes an embarrassed smile at Apple, quickly looking away.
Putting on the brightest smile she can fake, Apple agrees, knowing she will soon regret the choice. Who knows? Maybe this time she won't have to do something truly gross — like hunting for frogs, the way she did the last time she and her mother visited the Charmings.
"Great!" Daring unexpectedly grabs her hand and runs with Apple toward the garden, while Dexter follows more slowly behind.
In the garden, Apple is guided to a large maze with walls of greenery tall enough to hide an adult. Upon reaching the heart of the maze, a small lily garden awaits her.
Apple turns to Daring and is suddenly surprised by a long red cone with a satin ribbon tied at the top. "Here, this is your medieval crown." He turns to Dexter and picks up a large toy sword. "Dexter will be your guardian, and I’ll be the prince who saves you. You’ll stay here waiting for my rescue, while he stands at the maze entrance to fight me."
Apple has a sinking feeling about this idea. What if they forget her in there? Neither boy is cruel, but they’ve never given Apple reason to trust that they’d look after her under any circumstances—especially Little Mr. Narcissus.
"But that means I’ll be all alone in here..." Apple starts to protest, but then remembers the conversation she had with her mother in the car that morning. She takes a deep breath and says, "You know what? Fine. You can go."
The boys smile at her and run toward the exit. Before leaving, Dexter turns to Apple and says gently, "Don't worry, we'll protect you." With that, the "Charming knights" leave "Princess Apple" alone in her make-believe fortress.
As Apple notices how dark the sky has grown, she realizes it must have been about fifty minutes since the boys left her in the lily garden. Daring probably got tired of playing the prince and went off to play something else by himself, or got distracted by his own reflection in a pond and is still there. As for Dexter, he’s likely in his room playing some super-nerdy Lord of the Rings video game or something similar.
Trying not to panic at the thought of being trapped inside the maze, Apple starts thinking about how to get out when she hears the sound of footsteps crunching on grass and dry twigs.
When "Princess Apple" turns toward her potential rescuer, she comes face-to-face with a brunette girl about her height and age, with a few white and blue streaks in her hair. She notices a resemblance to the Charming siblings — especially Dexter — particularly in her blue eyes, which are the most sparkling she has ever seen. The thought stirs a strange feeling in her stomach.
Perhaps acting on impulse, the girl’s first reaction is to hide behind a bush. Apple, not quite understanding what is happening, breaks the awkward silence.
"Um, hi! My name is Apple..." She continues. "You must be Dexter’s twin sister, right? What was your name again...? I know it starts with a D..." She furrows her brows in thought. "Something like Diana or Daphne — definitely not Daniella..."
"Darling." She clears her throat. Slowly, the girl stands up and steps out from her hiding spot. "My name is Darling."
Now that she is out from behind the bush, Apple can get a good look at the girl in front of her. Darling has long, wavy hair — longer and fuller than Apple’s. Her mother would hate Darling’s voluminous hair; she had always hated her own daughter’s big hair. Darling is also slimmer than Apple, though she has the thick legs typical of girls who play sports. Does Darling play soccer like Apple? Or does she play a different sport?
Apple doesn't realize she's staring at the girl until she notices a look of discomfort on Darling's face. This makes Apple blush slightly, causing her to look away.
"So, what are you doing here in my garden?" Apple, now recovered, prepares to explain the situation, but is interrupted by Darling. "No, you don't even need to answer; seeing you wearing my hennin hat tells me exactly what happened." She takes a deep breath, as if holding back an anger concealed beneath all her shy-girl facade. Apple wished she could say she understood that feeling. "Daring and Dexter brought you here because, earlier today, I made the mistake of trying to stop them from getting near my precious lilies."
Frustrated, Darling studies the girl before her for a moment. Her analytical gaze makes Apple feel completely seen through.
Seeming satisfied, the girl turns to a small shelf of gardening supplies, grabbing a shovel and a pair of gloves while completely ignoring Apple's presence.
She then moves toward a plant seedling tucked away among the gardening gear. She stoops to pick it up but stops abruptly. Just as Apple thinks she’ll have to find her own way back, she hears a voice — so quiet she initially thinks she imagined it.
"You can help me, if you want."
As if already expecting a refusal, Darling takes a moment to process the "yes" Apple gives her. For some reason, Apple felt she wouldn't be able to turn down any wish of Darling Charming's.
"I don't really know how to help, actually... I've never seen a flower garden in person." Apple finds herself feeling embarrassed by this innocent lie. What did she mean, she'd never seen a garden? Of course she had.
At the home of Briar Beauty — her dearest friend — there was a gigantic rose garden featuring many different varieties. Apple remembered seeing Rose, Briar's mother, tending to her roses so lovingly. She used to say that roses were the connecting link for the entire Beauty family, which was why they were chosen to represent the luxury brand Briar's grandmother had created years ago.
Apple would often find Briar and her mother tending to the roses whenever she visited. Rose’s question was always the same: "Want to help, my little petal?" The girl would always politely decline. Her mother would have a fit if she ever imagined her daughter getting dirt on one of her expensive silk dresses.
For a moment, she hesitates, thinking of the scolding she might get from her mother. Involuntarily, she strokes her baby-pink dress. Darling seems to notice, as she gently takes Apple's hand.
"Don't worry, I'll teach you. I promise you won't get even a speck of dirt on your clothes."
Reassured, Apple kneels down beside Darling and waits patiently for instructions.
"Well, since I don't want you getting dirty, it's best to avoid letting you use the shovel..." Darling purses her lips and knits her brows, thinking about what to say. "Apple, could you trim the anthers off the open lilies? It's that inner part." Darling moves the flower seedling that was in front of them closer and points to three long brown tubes inside the bloom. "But... well, I just need you to be careful. The pollen that part of the plant releases is extremely potent; if it gets on you, we'll end up with the exact opposite of what we want."
"Sure! I promise to be careful." Apple stands up and walks toward the shelf of gardening supplies. She grabs a paper bag and a pair of scissors with blue handles — the paint is peeling, clearly showing they’ve seen a lot of use. Apple finds a pair of red gloves and carefully slips them on.
Stopping in front of the flowers, she begins the process.
"Why do we have to remove the anthers? Doesn't that hurt the flower?" she asks, delicately snipping each one off the nearest bloom.
Darling stands up, holding the seedling, and walks over to Apple. She observes the girl's concentration; for someone so young, she is incredibly skillful.
"The anthers are what we call the male part of the plant, which is why the pollen is located there." She crouches down, gently sets the seedling beside her, and starts digging a hole in the soil. "When that pollen falls onto the petals, the plant thinks the reproductive process is complete and wilts faster." Once she finishes digging, Darling holds the seedling gently, places it in the hole, and softly pushes the loose soil back in around it.
Apple nods to show she understands and turns back to the cluster of flowers.
As she feels Darling rising from the ground, she instinctively pulls away. Consequently, the poor girl drops two anthers onto her dress.
Feeling tears of despair well up in her eyes, Apple begins to stammer.
She turns toward Darling, whose look of confusion quickly gives way to one of understanding and sympathy when she spots the small yellowish stain on the precious baby-pink dress.
"Darling... I... You have to... How do I get this out...? My mother can't even imagine that I stained this dress," Apple says, struggling to speak.
She watches as Darling removes the light blue gloves she was wearing and places her hands affectionately on Apple's shoulders.
"Apple, my dear, everything will be fine. We can..." She glances around, trying to think of something. "We can fix this; we just need to go up to my room and I can ask for help, but I need you to take a deep breath."
As if spellbound by Darling, Apple takes the deepest breath she can, feeling two solitary tears roll down from her large, doll-like eyes.
Darling takes Apple's hand, who is unable to think clearly at the moment, and guides her through the maze toward her room.
Once inside Darling's room, Apple is quickly led to the suite, where she is taken aback by the bluest bathroom she has ever seen in her life.
From the fixtures to the flooring, the entire bathroom is decorated in a different shade of blue. Apple had always found the color beautiful, but, to her, there is a limit to excess.
Distracted by the avalanche of blue hues, Apple only realizes Darling has her hands on her dress when she hears a triumphant voice declare that the problem is solved.
"I just needed to get the pollen off with a lint roller, and — voilà — dress saved." Darling smiles shyly at her and continues, "Don't worry, Apple; any remaining traces will come out when the dress is washed, I promise."
Moved and impressed by the magic Darling worked on the fabric, Apple offers the greatest form of thanks a nine-year-old can imagine: a tight hug.
With her face dried of tears and wearing the utmost seriousness, Apple breaks the embrace and grips Darling firmly by the shoulders.
"Darling Charming, I hereby declare you my knight. Thank you so much for what you did today; I will never forget the help you gave me in my moment of greatest despair."
Blushing from head to toe, Darling whispers a "you're welcome" and smiles uncontrollably at the declaration.
The two spend the rest of the afternoon together, until the fun is finally interrupted by Snow White calling for her daughter, saying it is getting late and reminding her that she has drama class early the next day.
Darling and Apple say goodbye with another tight hug, but that isn't enough for little Apple, who gently kisses Darling on the cheek when she thinks no one is looking.
She doesn't understand why she didn't want anyone to see, but she decides not to dwell on it as she steps away from Darling and walks toward her mother.
With a final backward glance to say goodbye, Apple watches the quiet Darling gently stroke the cheek where Apple had planted a kiss. They smile shyly at each other and say goodbye one last time.