[A/N: DISCLAIMER: I do not own Once Upon A Time or any character besides Keeva and her family. Also, for the purposes of this story, Belle is not written in. I love her but her presence would cause a great disturbance. I hope you enjoy, please favorite, follow, and review!]
"She is cursed!" The village elders circled around the new mother and child. "Thermia, you may stay, but your child must go."
"She's a baby!" The woman wept, clutching the bundle to her chest. "She's just a baby." In her arms, the child stared up at the patches of stars visible through the windows of the small cottage. "She can't do any harm."
"Not yet," Thermia looked down at her child, pink eyes stared up at her. The babe refused to cry, she only smiled up at her mother. "But she will. We will give you until morning, but then she must be gone." Fear clutched at Thermia, tears spilled down her cheeks as the elders filed out of her home.
"My, my, what a predicament." A strange accent filled the cottage. Thermia stared up through her tears to see a peculiar man sitting on the kitchen table. His skin glittered in the firelight as he approached her.
"Who are you? Are you going to kill her?"
"Kill her!" he laughed "No, dearie, I'm not here for that."
"What do you want?"
"It's not what I want." Themia cringed as he ran his hand through the baby's shock of white hair. "It's what you do."
"And what's that?"
"Mm, protection. For your little girl. I can give you this," he pulled a pendant out his breast pocket, "It will disguise her until she is of age."
"I haven't any money." Thermia blanched.
"I don't want money."
"What, then, do you want?"
"Her. I give you twenty one years of loving motherhood, and then you give her to me." His fingers curled with his grin. "Or I suppose, you could walk her to the river and toss her in."
Thermia held her baby close. The little girl cooed lightly. "There must be something else you want."
"I'm afraid not, dearie."
"Swear to me. You will protect her."
He held a quill to the mother, who took it with a trembling hand and signed the contract he held. "I'll see you in twenty one years." He laughed, placing the necklace over the babe's head.
Thermia felt her stomach flop. The babe's hair turned from white to red, like hers, and her pink eyes flashed before turning brown. "Wait!" She called as the man took to leave. He glanced at her with a cheeky smile. "What is your name?"
His laughter set her teeth on edge, "Rumplestiltskin."
She stood in flurry of snow, her nose and ears ached with the cold. Wind whipped her hair as she chiseled at the ice that formed over lake. It was the worst winter in her memory. Blood dripped down her knuckles as ice cut at her skin. A breath of relief left her as the ice gave away and water came to the surface.
"Mama!" she called, stepping into their cottage, "I've managed to catch dinner. I didn't know we were expecting company." A man sat across from her mother at the table.
"Why don't you sit down, Keeva? It's almost your birthday." Her mother didn't smile, she only gestured to the chair in between the man and herself.
"Alright, then." Keeva approached very carefully, there was something about the man that made her feel in danger. She sat the string of fish on the table before sitting down.
"I've done something foul," her mother's gaze was far away, "and I'm afraid you will never forgive me."
"What is it?" She stared at the man's glittering skin and green eyes. "Who is this?"
He made a sound of what Keeva could only assume was excitement. "His name is Rumplestiltskin."
"Oh, mother, what have you done?" Her vision was spinning.
"When you were born, you looked...different. And it frightened the village elders, they thought you were cursed, Keeva. They were going to force me to give you up."
"Mother," she breathed out.
"And he gave you that necklace. To protect you, so we could be together."
Tears formed hot on her eyes, "So why is he here?"
"There was a price." Her mother grew pale, "You."
"I will not go." Keeva stood, raising an eyebrow.
"You won't have a choice, dearie. At the stroke of midnight, that bobble won't protect you any longer. Then the whole village is going to know who you really are. And your mommy," he laughed, "well, they'll hang her in front of everyone."
"I'll run, then."
"You can't hide from me, dearie." Keeva watched in horror as the clock hand moved painstakingly slow to the twelve. "Look at that!" Mirth filled his words. Something like hot water trickled down her. "Look at you!" He pointed and cheered. "We best be going, then."
"Mama!" Keeva grabbed her mother's arm as the man grabbed her. "I love you."
"You best be keeping that hood up."
Keeva looked down at her waist, where snow white locks had replaced red ones. "This is too much." She wanted to sit down, to let everything sink in, but Rumplestiltskin had a firm grip on her upper arm and was leading her through the piles of snow.
"Are ye cold, dear?" He asked, stopping in the woods. Chills had burst over her skin, and every step sent a bolt of pain though her shoes. She didn't respond, but he waved his hands through the air, suddenly branding a cloak. It was deep red lined with some sort of thick, gray fur. "That should do it." He pulled the cloak over her own thin, patched one. Warmth began to spread along her back.
"What do you want me for?" Drained, Keeva stared up at him.
"I need a maid." He spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Come on, just a wee bit farther." Keeva stumbled after him. Apparently, a "wee bit" was the equivalent of two hours. "Here we are." He stopped suddenly, Keeva stumbled into his back and fell into the snow.
"I don't see a castle." She muttered, brushing the cold powder off her sore face.
Her body was suddenly wrapped by his. She could smell traces of incense from his chest as he held her closer. "You might want to hold on." Closing her eyes, Keeva gripped his shoulders as they began to spin at an impossible speed.
They landed hard. Fighting for footing on the snowy terrain, Keeva crashed into the river. Shock forced her mouth open, her hands weren't moving right but she managed to grab a sharp rock on the bank. Crimson bubbled into the icy water as she pulled herself closer to the bank. Something like relief filled her as a strong hand grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the water. Gasping and choking, Keeva managed to get her breath back. "You've got to be more careful, dearie." With a wave of his hand, the water flicked off her body and her hair was dried. "You're not afraid of magic, are you?"
She shook her head and followed him to the large castle nearby. "Home sweet home!" He waved his hand and took a pose as she looked around the dusty, cobwebbed room.
"Why don't you use magic to clean?"
"Oh, I don't have time for that, dearie. This," he unhatched a big, wooden door. "Is your room." The room was barren, despite a small mattress in the corner and a candlestick on the floor.
"It locks from the outside." She blinked.
"Indeed." The strange man pivoted on his heel.
"Hang on." She removed the fur cloak and placed it in his arms. "I believe this is yours."
"You might need it." He handed it back to her. "It gets drafty at night."
Keeva stared at the strange man. Her new room was freezing, but she ached to lay down. He continued to watch her as she slowly sat down on the mattress. When he made no indication to move, she wrapped herself tight in the cloak and curled up in a ball, facing the wall. Her new, white, hair was everywhere. Feeling his presence still there, she willed herself not to break down. At some point, she succumbed to the pull of sleep.
