"I'm going to work to win your heart, Snow," he told her, or maybe he was warning her. He saw her suck in a breath. "I want you and I want forever."
An AU of ABC's Once Upon a Time by KayleeThePete in which the breaking of the curse sends everyone back in time to before the curse was even thought of, with only trace memories of the lives they lived in the original timeline left to them. The story follows Princess Snow White of Everland and Prince James of Seaborn as they meet and fall in love in a world that is at once very like and very unlike that of the original timeline, with a new range of obstacles to their relationship.
May be found here
on FanFiction.Net or here on Archive of Our Own.
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Angsty Surviving Twin: James, whose twin brother David died before the beginning of the story.
- Amnesiac Resonance: None of the characters remember the events of the original timeline, but all of them feel a pull towards their partners from that timeline and all of them remember a few details without quite knowing why. To use only one example, Snow suddenly develops a marked distaste for apples despite their having previously been one of her favourite foods.
- Arranged Marriage: Snow and James are initially introduced as a possible prospect for one, as an alternative to a proposed marriage to King Midas' daughter Abigail, and Aurora is betrothed to Prince Phillip. In both cases, though, the betrothal is not forced and can be called off by either participant as they choose, although Phillip and Aurora's parents insist they at least try to see if they can make it work first.
- Badass Bookworm: Liam, King George's chief general, who is really Victor Frankenstein.
- Beauty to Beast: King Gaspard of Rosewood, who was horrifically disfigured in a carriage accident in his youth.
- Birds of a Feather: Snow and James. Also Belle and Gaspard.
- Childhood Marriage Promise: Snow and James made one.
- Cool Big Sis: Snow tends to fall into this role for other characters, most notably Red and Ella.
- The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much: Thomas tells James that, if Gaston (who was exiled for his attempted rape of Belle) ever appears in Riverdon, he is likely to die "resisting arrest" or by "food poisoning".
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Lumiere may seem like a bit of a fop, but he's a keen observer and skilled spy with a knack for ferreting out the truth.
- December–December Romance: Between Granny and Henry Senior.
- Double Consciousness: Liam and Red discuss their problems with this due to their having regained their memories of Storybrooke later in the story.
- Dreaming the Truth: Snow and James' memories of the other timeline appear in dreams.
- Enforced Cold War: Between Snow and Regina, as they hate each other but are prevented from actively fighting by the fact that they both care for King Leopold and neither of them wants to make him unhappy by fighting.
- Forgotten First Meeting: Snow and James knew each other when they were little kids, and they were actually best friends before Snow's father decided not to come back to court. It takes them a while to remember, but in the end they realize who each other is. Their parents did not forget, though.
- Friend to All Children: Both Snow and James are very fond of children and get along with them remarkably well.
- Good Parents: the main characters' parents are really good. Even those that are horrible in the series.
- Happily Adopted: Pinocchio by Gepetto and James and his twin brother David by King George.
- Like Brother and Sister: This is the Seaborn princes and Liam's relationship with Belle, paralleling Gaspard's with Red, Snow and Aurora.
- Marry for Love: James wants to, but is well-aware of the political complications that prevent him as the heir from doing so, and Thomas, as a younger son, is able to do so.
- Modest Royalty: Snow, James, Thomas and most of their friends are described this way.
- There is actually one town where royals that want to get away from all court things can go to spend the time, where they are unlikely to be disturbed.
- Orwellian Retcon: Mostly averted, as the author has kept much of the story the same despite having been contradicted by the show itself as it went on, but played straight with the names of Regina and Leopold, which were altered when the show revealed them.
- Rape as Backstory: Belle, who is still deeply traumatised and refuses to leave her library as a result of Attempted Rape at the hands of Gaston. Liam is afraid that this might also have happened to Red. It didn't. This also appears in Regina's backstory between her and an unknown man before her marriage to Leopold.
- Rescue Romance: Snow and James first meet when he helps her fight off a gang of bandits. Played with, as she was doing a reasonable job of protecting herself. Subverted later when Ella and Thomas, who first meet after Thomas' older brother James has helped Snow rescue her.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Snow is actively involved in the life of the town, friendly with the peasants and quite willing to be put to work at the inn if necessary. Most of the other princes and princesses shown are similar, with Princess Abigail implied to be a notable exception. When Abigail actually appears she proves to be competent and willing to work as well.
- Spare to the Throne: Prince Thomas of Seaborn, James' younger brother, is one of these. James used to be, but has been forced to step up into the role of heir with the death of his twin brother David.
- The Spymaster: King Gaspard is notorious for having one of the most wide-ranging spy networks in the kingdoms.
- Undying Loyalty: Liam towards James, which makes things awkward when Liam remembers his past as Doctor Whale in Storybrooke, who didn't feel anything of the sort towards Charming there.
- Wham Episode: 'Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood', in which Liam and Red remember their past in Storybrooke as Victor Frankenstein/Doctor Whale and Ruby and it is revealed that there are others who remember their lives in the original timeline too.
