Stephan couldn’t remember the last time he ever felt this comfortable, this content, this confident in himself.

A full year had passed since that day: a full year when the hunter who had spared his life told him about his step-mother wanting him dead. A full year since he ran into the deepest part of the forest and cried his poor heart. A full year since the forest creatures and seven dwarves helped him.

And only a few months since he met her.

The scent of cinnamon and apples filled the small cottage as Stephan sighed out happily with a loopy grin on his face, leaning against the windowsill. The freshly baked apple pie that looked perfect sat cooling on the windowsill next to him, its golden crust glistening in the afternoon sunlight.

When he had met her that one fateful day while walking with his forest creatures to find things to make for dinner that evening, Stephan believed it was love at first sight. The way the sunlight had filtered through the trees, catching in her hair as she bent to examine some herbs, had taken his breath away.

To Stephan, she was the epitome of perfection, the ultimate beauty and embodiment of grace. He adored her more than anything else, and his constant staring out longingly into the forest waiting for her to visit him proved it. The forest birds chirped softly in the rafters, sensing his anticipation and sharing in his hopeful mood.