New York City, 7 Years Later…

"Papa!" cried out an excited little girl with hazel eyes and brown hair. She stormed into her parents' bedroom five o'clock early that morning still wearing her pj's. The sun wasn't even up and the little's girl's energy could be felt in full force, "Papa, papa, Come on Papa, we gotta go. Get up!"

She nearly tripped over her father's dress shoes as she climbed up eagerly onto her parents' bed. Belle stirred a little beneath her husband's arms which were still wrapped around her. With a groggy voice Belle said to him, "Your daughter is awake."

The daughter continued in her playful provocation in an almost song-like tune, ignoring the exchange of murmured words between her parents, "Pop-pop-pop-pop-papa!"

Rumple groaned back to his wife with eyes still closed, "Before sunrise she's your daughter."

"Come on Papa!" Lily said, tumbling onto her father. She lost her footing and began to quickly fall off their bed. Lily let out a small gasp, "Woah!" when suddenly her father grabbed her, catching her in time before her feet had a chance to hit the floor.

"Hmm, like mother like daughter," remarked Rumplestiltskin, turning onto his back with a smile as he lifted his daughter back onto their bed.

Lily leaned over onto her father's belly and with hands on his chest peered closely into her father's face. He cracked open his eyes and saw reflected back to him a miniature version of Belle. It wasn't until he noticed Lily's slightly angry eyes that he saw himself as she said to him, "Hey, you promised! We had a deal!"

"Alright, alright, alright. You're right. I'm up, I'm up, I'm up," Rumple repeated trying to reassure his daughter. He gave out a yawn as he slowly sat up in bed.

"What on Earth did you promise her?"

"Nothing, just some father-daughter stuff. Don't worry. We'll be right back."

"Hurry up Papa, or we're gonna miss it!"

"What are you doing hurrying me for? You're still in your pajamas."

"Oh," Lily said looking down at her attire. "Right." She immediately hopped off of their bed and stampeded back toward her bedroom.

They both quickly got dressed; Lily in a cute long-sleeved top and leggings and Rumple in his usual dress slacks and dress shirt. Belle got up with the rest of her family and shuffled her way towards the kitchen to start on breakfast. She saw the two make their way toward the exit when she stopped them. "Woah! Unh uh! Where's your jacket?" she asked, looking directly at her daughter.

"I've… uh…" stammered Lily looking wildly around for a coat of some sort when her father plucked her jacket from off the coat rack and handed it to her. "I've got my jacket Mama," said Lily as if she had it with her the entire time, quickly procuring jacket from her father.

Rumple smirked as he leaned upon his cane, opening the front door for his daughter to their condominium home. He looked over at Belle and assured, "We'll be back. I promise." Closing the door and following after his excited daughter.

… …

The father and daughter slowly climbed the emergency stairwell all the way to the top of the roof. As soon as they emerged from the exit, Lily turned to her father, "Ok. Now can you show me magic?"

"Be patient. It's coming shortly. Turn around," instructed Rumple pointing at the sky behind her. Just as Lily turned around a golden orange beam hit the clouds cascading it's sunlight onto the many buildings below and causing them to sparkle. It was an absolutely gorgeous sight to behold and it nearly took Lily's breath away. She approached the edge of the rooftop with her mouth ajar, resting her arms on the solid perimeter as she continued gazing at the sun rising.

"It's beautiful, but it's just a sunrise," Lily remarked slightly disappointed. "I thought you were going to show me something magical."

"This is magical. Not many people get to see the sun rise. You see, it's not just any sunrise. The sun holds onto our dreams and our happiness, that's why it's always warm, giving, bright and hopeful." Rumple came up behind his daughter and hung his protective hand over her shoulder as they stared at the sunrise together. "And even though the sun sets and disappears in front of you, you must believe that it will rise again. That's where the magic is because magic is fueled by hope and without hope, you're lost. The first step to understanding magic is to know that it exists, you just have to know where to look."

… …

Both Rumplestiltskin and Lily came back home to find breakfast already prepared. They followed their morning routine as usual. They all ate breakfast together and when Belle asked where they went off to, Lily replied, "We watched the sunrise."

As soon as breakfast was over, Belle scooted Lily along to her bedroom to get ready for school and by then Rumple would finish reading the newspaper downing the last few drops of his cup of coffee. He'd collect the morning dishes and set them into the dishwasher to be cleaned. By the time he was done with that he'd take over getting Lily ready, making sure she had all the materials she needed for school that day. Belle would quickly get ready to work at NYU's school library. Lily waited for her parents to get ready, plucking a book from the large library of books they had in the living room area and plopped herself on the couch to read.

Rumple arrived back to their bedroom to finish getting ready to work at a nearby Pawn Shop he would walk to every day. He slung a tie around his neck and limped over to the mirror to see himself more clearly to tie it when Belle stepped forward. "Allow me," she said with a smile. He faced her and reciprocated the smile. "So…" she began to say as she started the Windsor knot.

"So…" he repeated back.

"…when are you going to take me on one of your adventures?"

"What do you mean? Last year we went to Sydney and the year before that we went to France."

"No, I mean… little excursions like you do with Lily."

"You mean, like a date?"

"Well, yeah. Just the other day, at the Parent Teacher Conference, I met another mother and her daughter Samantha is in the same class as Lily. I'm sure if I give her a call, she could watch Lily for a night while we went out… Just you and me?"

"That would be nice," he said with an elated grin.

"There…" Belle remarked finishing the knot. "Perfect," she said as she smoothed out his vest.

He lifted up his arms resting his hands over hers and leaned forward giving her a peck. "Just like you," he replied. She leaned forward placing her lips delicately on his prolonging the second kiss.

… …

Two-thirty came and Belle promptly left the school's library to pick up her daughter at the elementary school nearby. As soon as they parked in front of their condominium, Lily led the way back to their home. Like clock-work, Lily would toss her bookbag at the entranceway and run ahead of Belle into the home. Along the way, she would grab the book by the couch she was reading from earlier that morning and perch herself by the living room's bay window. It was the perfect place to watch for her father as he walked the familiar path home from work. So she sat there reading, looking up every so often for her father to come into her view.

Belle looked on admirably, crossing her arms with amusement as she observed her daughter reading. "What game shall you and your father play this time when he gets home?"

She looked up and suddenly Lily saw her father round the corner of the adjacent building, making his way toward their direction. Upon seeing her father, Lily let out an excited gasp, dropping the book that was on her lap and ran immediately into her bedroom. Without answering her mother, Lily grabbed the Native American headband she made at school and placed it on her head running past her.

After noticing her daughter's new attire, Belle confirmed to herself, "Ah… Pirates and Indians."

By the time Lily came to the front door her father opened the front door. She unsheathed a toy sword from the umbrella stand nearby and pointed it directly at her father, "Halt! You're entering the sacred land of my people. You must fight your way to earn your entrance!"

Rumplestiltskin smiled and then on cue, fell perfectly into character, accent and all. "Aargh!" he cried out with exaggeration, falling to his knees to stand at her level. He lifted his cane and held it like a sword playing along with her. "Don't you know who I am? I'm the Dreaded Pirate Roberts," Rumple said with flamboyant gestures, "my looks alone bring most foes to their knees, but I see that you are unaffected by its' allure."

Belle looked on listening to the banter and chuckled with amusement at her husband. Rumplestiltskin looked up at his wife briefly and continued, "My dearest Princess Tiger Lily, forgive me for trespassing upon your land. Won't you grant me passage just this once? I'm afraid my beloved has caught something dreadful."

"Dare I ask, what illness has she fallen prey to?" Lily asked, tapping her plastic sword against his cane a few times.

"I'm afraid…" he said taking a grandiose pause from the innocent sword fighting to touch his chest, "…she has caught… The Giggles." Belle's laughter echoed the hallway as she looked on. "As you can see," he pleaded with Lily, "I'm afraid it's quite serious."

"How will you save her?" Lily asked curiously.

"Well, I'm going to…" Rumple said, dropping his cane and quickly grabbing his daughter, bringing her in for a ferocious hug, "take her by surprise! And then I'm going to kiss her… like this." Rumple then demonstrated his remedy by picking up his daughter and lacing her face with kisses.

"Aargh! Papa! Stop, stop, stop! Okay Ok! I grant you safe passage."

After setting his daughter down, he hobbled over to Belle and greeted her with a kiss, "Hello dear. How was your day?"

"Good, I um, learned a new computer program today at the library. You know, I think I'm actually getting the hang of it."

"Well that's good. Sounds like progress." He looked around and slapped his hands together, rubbing them together as he asked, "Any thoughts about what we're gonna have for dinner?"

"Not really. I was going to wait till you got home to decide."

"No matter," he said waving his hand, "I'm sure I can whip up something for all of us."

Belle gathered Lily's bookbag by the door and they worked on her homework together while Rumple worked his culinary magic in the kitchen. Dinner was made and they sat together at the table discussing events of their day. When dinner was over, Rumple collected the dishes to clean. Belle read a book while overseeing Lily's bath. Belle flipped a page in her book as Lily splashed some water around in the tub. "Mama?"

"Yes, my love," Belle said looking up from her book.

"Could you read to me 'Beauty and the Beast' tonight? There's something I want to double-check because a girl in my class was telling me about the movie version of it and I told her that that's not what happened in the book."

"Of course. I'll be happy to," said Belle gladly.

After the bath, Lily readied herself for bedtime and Belle searched the bookshelf. Rumple finished cleaning the dishes and dried his hands with the towel. As he stood in the kitchen he smiled to himself, listening to Belle recount their tale to their daughter. However wrong the tale from this world depicted their lives, he strangely appreciated it. It was another life and the removal from magic made him glad he was rid of it. He was able to distance himself from the nightmare he once was. He tossed the towel onto the counter and slowly walked over to Lily's bedroom, listening ever so intently.

"… 'Beast had disappeared, and she saw, at her feet, one of the loveliest Princes that eye ever beheld, who returned her thanks for having put an end to the charm, under which he had so long resembled a Beast'… 'Beauty,' said the lady from her dreams, 'come and receive the reward of your judicious choice; you have preferred virtue before either wit or beauty, and deserve to find a person in whom all these qualifications are united; you are going to be a great Queen,' and with the stroke of the fairy's wand all that were in the hall were transported into the Prince's palace. His subjects received him with joy; he married Beauty, and lived with her many years; and their happiness, as it was founded on virtue, was complete. The End," said Belle to her daughter as they laid side-by-side on her bed. As Belle closed the book, she looked up and saw Rumplestiltskin hovering in the doorway, leaning against the door frame.

He smiled amorously at the two when Lily asked, "Mama?"

"Yes?"

"How did you and Papa meet? Was it like this fairy tale?"

Rumple entered the room and answered for Belle. "My dear..." he said, coming forward and sitting down at the end of her bed, "… this story speaks volumes in more ways than you realize. Not just to our relationship, but to others as well. That's why this story has transcended time and space. Everyone can relate to it on some level."

"How did you and Mama meet? What happened?" wondered Lily. Rumplestiltskin paused looking over at Belle, who returned his look with a blush. Speechless, Belle leaned over and kissed Lily on the head. She got up from the bed, taking the book with her and turned waiting for Rumple to respond. Rumple scooted closer to his daughter, "That…" he said taking Lily's comforter and tucking her in, "…is another story for another night."

Rumplestiltskin bid his daughter goodnight and turned off her light. He carefully closed her door so as to not disturb her and found that Belle was watching him from the couch on the other side of the room.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Nothing… I just… today was literally the happiest day of my life." Belle reflected as she stared down at the book in her hands. "One day… we're going to have to tell her the truth. About us. About who we are and where we came from. She deserves to know."

"I know, but today…" said Rumple as he hobbled over to his wife by the couch. "…is not that day."

"Sooner rather than later, I hope?" she replied as they got up and readied themselves for bed.

… …

A scream pierced the night. Not just any scream, a little girl's scream. Their little girl… Lily. Belle sat up straight in bed and called out to her husband in a fearful whisper, "Rumple! Rumple! An Intruder! Lily!"

Rumple immediately got out of bed and grabbed a special key from his bedside drawer. He quickly unlocked a special hidden compartment containing a hand gun and grabbed it. "Rumple?!" Belle said in fear.

"Stay here. Keep covered," he ordered calmly and seriously. He limped toward their bedroom door and quickly opened it, brandishing his gun first. He exited the bedroom and checked every corner of the condo, turning lights on as he went. He looked around… nothing.

"Belle!" called out Rumple, but the way his voice quivered at the end…

Belle came out from their bedroom and rushed over to find Rumple had fallen to his knees in their daughter's bedroom. "Lily!" cried Belle in devastation. She sunk to her knees beside her husband to discover the gun that was once in his hand on the floor in front of him, replaced by a knife and handwritten note.

Rumple stared down at the note as if burning the message into memory:

"Rumplestiltskin and Belle,

Your daughter sorely requests your presence back in Storybrooke.

Sincerely Yours,

Arthur"

"Who's Arthur?! Do we know an Arthur?" Belle cried out, ransacking her brain for any recollection or history or encounter with a person named Arthur.

"Not from this world," Rumplestiltskin said solemnly, his voice wavered softly out of shock. "We have to go back."

… …

Hello! Welcome to "The Author" and thank you for reading! To those of you who are new I highly recommend you read "Lily". I do make a few references in this story's universe that happen in "Lily". However, I can't make you do anything, so if you read something in "The Author" and you're like, "Hey! That didn't happen in Season 4…" Let me stop you. I made that up in "Lily". I tried to be as canon to the characters as possible, but heck, I'm not perfect. Leave me a review anyways, and let me know what you think!

In "Lily" this chapter used to be called "The End… Or is it?" and was changed to "Arthur" when I deleted it from "Lily" and moved it over to "The Author". "The End… Or is it?" was meant to be a sneak peek into "The Author". So if you're reading this and you're like, "Hey, I've read this before." You're not seeing things. You have read this before. However, I did make some edits and adjustments so the ending is a little bit different.

In this chapter, "Arthur" – A couple of notable things, which you might have already picked up on…

-Lily and Rumple's interaction (in the beginning when they're waking up) is setup similarly to Simba and Mufasa's morning interaction from "The Lion King".

-When Rumple plays with his daughter and calls her "Princess Tiger Lily", that was a nod to Disney's "Peter Pan", when Peter, John and Michael and the rest of the Lost Boys go after Princess Tiger Lily to save her. (BTW, I REALLY loved the playful interaction I wrote for Rumple and Lily. It's my favorite section of the entire chapter). Which led me to think of Robin William's "Hook"…

-A big 'Thank You' to "Hook" and the abduction of Peter Pan's kids. It gave me the idea to base my sequel story to.

- When Rumple plays with his daughter and calls himself the "Dreaded Captain Roberts". At the time, while I was writing this chapter I was also reading Cary Elwes' "As You Wish" and was on a Princess Bride kick. Tip of the Hat to "The Princess Bride".

Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you next chapter!