Rumpelstiltskin sat at the edge of a creek in the forest by his village, crying. Until he felt something drop on his limp leg, he slowly brought his head up from his propped up knee, he was hesitant to see what it was maybe it was a spider or a snake, but he only found a yellow daisy laying on his leg, it was a pretty little thing the yellow was one of the brightest he had ever seen. He wondered how it got there, so he looked up a little higher to see a pair of little sacked covered feet, that barely poked out from a torn and tattered tan dress, he continued his slow ascent with his eyes until he found a pair of bright hazel ones staring right back at him, from the kindest and sweetest faces he had ever seen on a girl. His tears slowed and he whipped them away. The girl knelt down infront of him, curiosity written on her face, like words written in a book.

"Why are you crying?" Her child voice softly asked.

Rumpelstiltskin's eyes widened, never before had he heard such a sweet voice. She had cropped red curly hair, she must be running away, girls weren't allowed to have short hair and the only reason a girl child would cut her hair was to disguise herself as a boy to get away from the people she would be running away from. And he knew all about running away, he was a coward. He swallowed deeply he couldn't answer her with the frog in her throat.

"That is a little complicated to explain," he said "to a child." She merely smiled.

"At least try," she said sitting down "everyone needs an ear now and then."

The glint of her eyes made him believer her. Rumpelstiltskin had a hard time not trusting this girl, but she looked like he once did when he ran from the war he was forced to fight in, which ended with his leg being injured and enabling him to work real jobs. He picked up the daisy from his leg then back at her. She looked like she had been running for sometime, possibly not able to stop to get food or drink, the skin around her eyes were dark which told of many sleepless nights. He had to do something for her.

"If you come with me to my cottage I will tell you."

"First tell me here," she insisted knowing he wouldn't tell her when she reached his cottage. Rumpelstiltskin sighed, this child seemed to be very perceptive.

"My son," he started hesitantly " is turning fourteen soon. Which will mean the troops will take him for the army and I am afraid he will die! The worst part of it is...I am too cowardly to do anything about it."

Tears started to streak down his face again, the thought of losing his boy heart the very core of his being. His son was all he had, he didn't have money, no land, no title, and no courage. If his boy would be taken from him he would truly be alone. He started to hide his face from the girl when he felt her hand on his rugged cheek. He looked up, to see her smiling kindly, she stood and then held her hand out to him, he hesitantly took the small hand. He knew she was allowing him to take her back to his cottage, so he picked up his walking stick took her hand and lead her to his village. They walked for a bit before they reached a beaten path which he lead her down. The two entered his village just around an hour after dawn. His son was outside chopping wood, his regular morning chore, his son looked up.

"Papa!" He cried and ran to him, his son threw his arms around his waist in a hug.

After a few moments of the embrace, he moved his son away and knelled before him with his hands on his boy's shoulders. "You see this girl," he motioned to the child and his son nodded "I want you to take her inside give her some food and drink, then let show her a place to sleep before completing your chores."

"Yes, Papa," he chirped before taking the little girls' hand. As they walked away, he heard his son introduce his name and ask hers. In response the little girl said, Blythe.

Rumpelstiltskin smiled, of course the child would have the name that meant joyous. He set to work on the rest of the logs, after the logs where finished, he went to his loom and started spinning wool. It was hours later before he heard Blythe's voice again.

"You know you are not a coward," she whispered. The voice made Rumpelstiltskin slightly jump, but while he was working he knew he had to keep himself steady or he would loose the thread. "Do you mind if I sit and watch?" He simply nodded and continued to work. Blythe sat quietly watching with a sincere smile on her face the entire time. It was only after he finished spinning the wool when he asked her what she meant.

"You have great courage, Bale told me about your wife dying and leaving you to care for him by yourself, that took courage a lot of people do not have." She complimented. Rumpelstiltskin's eyes looked at her incredulously, the words out of babes' mouth. However, she wasn't done yet. "Your courage, is your kindness, you may not see it as much, but to those that you help we see it tenfold."

He had no idea how to respond to what she said, and he did not get a chance to come up with something for at that exact moment a loud bellow echoed throughout the village, "Blythe you filthy slave! Where are you?"

She whirled on her feet, fear caused a tear to fall down her face. Rumpelstiltskin thinking as fast as he could shoved her inside, ordered Bale to put her into boys clothing, and shut the door. Then went back to his loom, he kicked the petal. By the time the people searching for Blythe came around he was so wrapped up in his work, his face was impassive. The men's horses stopped at right at Rumpelstiltskin's loom.

"Have you seen a little girl that is unfamiliar to you?" the man in the lead with expensive silk demanded to know.

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head, and continued to spin. The men paused, but eventually moved on. Once they were gone, he limped into the cottage. Blythe stood in the floor dressed as a boy, he reached for a sack filled it with bread cheese, before he wrapped up the sack he stuffed a flask of water then handed her the bag. Took her hand, then quickly looked back at Bale.

"Watch for the horsemen, and make sure you distract them if they are after us." Bale nodded. Then the pair took off into the forest and they didn't stop until they reached a really deep part. He knelt down to meet her eyes.

"Now you must run," he said "do not stop. And please do not let them catch you."

Blythe smiled "What a silly concept, or course they will catch me," she paused "but I will give them one hell of chase before they do." She kissed Rumpelstiltskin's cheek then took off running with her cloak flapping in the wind behind her. Rumpelstiltskin knew he would never forget that child and one day he knew he would go looking for her, but for now he had to worry about getting his own child out of the village before the soldiers come to take him away. And he knew they had to leave that night, he hoped everything would turn out well for both himself and Blythe.

6 years Later

Rumpelstiltskin sat in his house making golden yarn. There was very few costumers that day, and he hated not having distractions, when he didn't have them he would have flash backs of his son and his old miserable crippled life. And of that child, Blythe, he has not seen her since she was 13 years old, his son had told him her age after she left. He looked around his stone room, it was lavished with riches, this is what he got after he became the new Dark One and people became afraid of him. They handed things to him left and right, like he was a king. Yet, he wanted something more, he needed something more. The girl had been on his mind a lot lately, he should go find her, but where would she be.

He finished a strand, with the thought of her, then placed the gold yarn into a bowl filled with a elf liquid for finding things. As the string melted into the liquid a vision of a young woman with red hair, laying in a bad entered the water, her red hair was spread across the bed like water over a rock, she was chained to the bed by her ankle. A man, who he recognized as the duke of Yarkshire, Elmar, entered the room with a look that read evil intent.

"Goodmorning, my child, what has you lazing about so? Is it possible that you are having morning sickness," he chuckled as if he was having personal joke.

Blythe sat up, forcing a smile, as she looked at the duke. "Father, can I go outside today, please?" She had the same voice as he remembered, so sweet and sincere. His heart stopped, then speed up. But, even though she asked nicely her father became angry, "Outside? After what you did? You miscarried my SON!"

Rumpelstiltskin's eyes widened. Was Elmar talking about what Rumpelstiltskin thought he was talking about? Did the duke actually practice incest? It sickened him, to no extent. He knew a lot of nobles did condone it for the blood and name purposes, but as a peasant all his life he never understood. He listened as Blythe begged her case, and defended herself against the reason of not being able to carry, but her father wasn't allowing it. Elmar slammed the door in Blythe's face in a middle of a sentence. Rumpelstiltskin stood there watching for sometime, she started to cry. And he felt for her the same as he felt for her 6 years back. Then she did something he did not expect.

She cried out his name, "Rumpelstiltskin!" His heart stopped as his eyes widened "Rumpelstiltskin! Save me, please! Save me like you saved me so long ago!" She cried harder as she called for him and the tears doubled as he did not answer "Rumpelstiltskin! I miss you, please! Save me!"

He realized now way she ran away so long ago, her father was raping her even at such a young age, and he must have been doing so for a long time for her to run away from him. Blythe continued to sob. With a wave of his hand he ordered the bowls water went dark. He strode over to one of his magical cloaks it was a traveling cloak that took him to where ever he desired, as soon as the material touched his shoulders he was gone.

Blythe clung to her bed pillow when she heard a whoosh of air, she sat up to see a dark figure standing in the corner of her bedchamber, instead of crying out, she just clung to the pillow. The cloaked person sauntered forward, she couldn't see the persons face, but when the figure dropped a shriveled up daisy she wasn't afraid anymore. Blythe got on her knees then pushed back the hood, his skin was a gold and his hair was nicer and he smelled cleaner, dressed nicer, and his eyes were different, but she knew who he was, she knew this man to be her Rumpelstiltskin. Shakily her hands reached out to his face and stroked his cheek, his hand came to place it over hers.

"Did you come for me?" Her voice cracked with the request.

"Magic comes with a price, what will you be willing to pay for me to take you from here," he said it not to enslave her, but he wanted to hear her say that she wanted nothing more than him.

She did not let him down, "Yes, anything."

With a flick of his cloak they were gone from the bedchamber, the shackle couldn't handle the strength of his magic. They reappeared in a meadow full of daisies, the look on Blythe's face made it worth it for Rumpelstiltskin. He stood watching as she pranced around the daisies like she was a child, she rolled down a hill getting her dress dirty. Then she came running back after almost an hour, at full speed she was trying to tackled him, but he caught her mid air and on impulse swung her around. Gently he set her back down on her feet. Blythe laid her head down on his chest and breathed in his smell, it was an old familiar scent that was left on the boy clothes he gave to her to save her life. He gently placed his hands on the girls shoulders not quit sure what to do.

"You know, I have thought of you every day since you helped me," she said making her breath heat up his chest. Once again she had him speechless, just like 6 years back, when he was that pathetic human, this thought angered him, yet not matter how angry he was he could not push her away.

"I am taking you home," he wrapped his cloak around her, they were gone.

The days that passed were unlike anything Rumpelstiltskin was used too, he doted upon her, and she fell in love with the new him. They spent every minute together, yet it was just a platonic relationship for Rumpelstiltskin, after being changed into the dark one he didn't know the ways of being a man as he once did, and the thought of what her father did to her made him think that the idea of love making would make her grow sad. That was the last thing he wanted to see on her face was sadness, he adored her smile to much to even try. One night as he was seeing her to her chamber, she grabbed his arm.

"Will you not spend the night with me Rumpelstiltskin?" That child- like voice made his heart stop. He really could not tell her no, yet he could not tell her yes.

"I am afraid I do not know what you mean, Blythe," he lied.

Her eyes got watery and sad, "Let me show you then," she pulled him into her room and locked the door.

The next morning Rumpelstiltskin awoke to Blythe humming to herself while she brushed her hair, he looked around unsure of what happened the night before. He caught himself shaking, he looked down at his hand to see some of the gold from the curse of the dark one to fade away. A smile spread his lips, the ones she had kissed last night, Blythe was making him fight the dark ones curse back. It was the innocence of her love that was doing it, he could tell. He stood up from the bed and walked to where she was brushing her hair, he took the brush and stroked it down her locks, it was just as soft as it was last night.

There came a rapping at his door, so he dressed telling her he would be back, then went to answer the door. It was a customer.

"Rumpelstiltskin," the poor man said "I need a help, this evil witch stole my daughter Rapunzel and she has locked her away in a tall tower, is there anyway you could get her down?"

Rumpelstiltskin thought for a moment, before answering, "No I cannot, but I can set in motion for a prince too, if you give me some of your wool this shearing season."

The man agreed without hesitating, the guy left happily, and Rumpelstiltskin went to pack. Blythe found him minutes later packing.

"Where are you going?" She asked gently.

He looked at her, he was going to tell her his business should stay his own, but knowing that he was going to leave her alone for a little while softened him he said, "I am leaving for a little bit to do some business that requires my skills, I will be back, and you will be safe here."

Blythe didn't argue, she wanted to do somethings around the house to make it cozier for him. So, Rumpelstiltskin started off on his journey to find a young lad that would fall in love with a pale long haired girl, that was sort of antisocial, when he got older. He sensed this boy was somewhere near his old home village Kalmenthil. He traveled with his cloak and stopped every now and then to drink and eat, the cloak sometimes needed time to recharge. It could go short distances like what he did to get Blythe, it was merely 10 miles away, Kalmenthil was half a continent. It took him a day and a half to reach his old village, he shadowed through the village, with nostalgia. Eventually he gave in to go see his old cottage, it was older and a little worn down, he lived flashbacks of him and his boy. When he was crippled he would limp around the cottage trying to catch Bale. Quickly he shook the visions out of his mind.

He continued his journey with a heavy heart, until he came upon the castle that held the boy, with a swift movement he put the cloak on and transported into the babes room, the boy was sleeping in a big crib, the child looked 2. This made Rumpelstiltskin's job easier having a younger specimen. The implanted ideas and information worked on a more conscious and subconscious level, if the child was older he would fight the thoughts, where as, as he is he will think they are his own when he gets older. It was at that moment when he felt something bad happen, his head pulsated with the vision of Blythe holding her stomach, it wasn't bleeding, but it looked slightly bigger. And then he saw his home come into siege. His heart stopped Elmar was going to take Blythe back, and apparently the magic baby that was growing out of normalcy in Blythe's belly. As quickly as he could he transported through the continent to get to his home, he had this tragic feeling in his mind that he wasn't on time. When he burst through the door, "Blythe!" He raced up the steps, she wasn't there, and there was no answer. But there was a note on her door:

Rumpelstiltskin

You took something that did not belong to you. So, I took something that did belong to you. One will be dead, by the time you reached my home, and the other will be gone, it is up to your timing on which is which. You have three days.

Elmar

Without hesitating he threw his cloak on, his magic dagger in hand, the next thing he knew he was in Blythe's room. He searched around the room, but Blythe was right where he first found her, but not in the same state, he already knew she was dead by the blood pooling the stone floor, he dropped to his knees and he clutched the dagger with his name in his hand, he had to see her one last time, so he dragged himself through her blood and pulled himself onto her bed. The sheets were as red as her hair and her eyes were dulled with death. The skin wasn't alive or glowing anymore, she was cold not warm. Tears slide down her face, but those tears turned to fuels for his anger and hatred. A baby's shrill brought his attention to a crib in a corner, it was a hunger shrill, they killed the mother so that they couldn't feed the baby. He was able to gain his strength through the need of his child and the anger he felt, he got on his feet and walked to the crib, the baby reached for him, the baby girl had hazel eyes, just like her mother.

Rumpelstiltskin's anger exploded into a wave of visible energy, he picked up his child and walked down the stairs to where he knew Elmar was waiting for him, unfortunately the ambush the human had waiting for him, would be dead before they saw him, he slung the cloak over him and his child, and appeared behind the first man his dagger in him before he could twitch, then he slit the other threes throats before they knew what happened or could scream. The blood from the guards flowed down the stone steps and he walked in it. He entered the chamber where Elmar was laughing and drinking wine until he saw Rumpelstiltskin alive and with the magic surrounding him like a barrier.

"What the hell are you doing alive?" Elmar cried in alarm.

With black eyes he stared at Elmar with hatred and anger, then he knew he should smile, Blythe would want him to smile. He rotated the dagger in his hand in a threatening way before saying "Your daughter owed me a debt, that she now cannot pay for, so I will just take the payment out of your skin!" He stepped toward Elmar threateningly and the smile never disappeared off his face.

Rumpelstiltskin placed his daughter in a king and queens bedroom chamber, he wanted someone that would be able to take care of her and give her what she needs, but he knew his way of living wasn't right for her, and the fact that she looked like her mother made him grudge her, which he also knew was bad for a parent. He was just giving her her best chance at life even though it wasn't with him. The last thing he did for her was give her a name with a gold blanket he had weaved for her. Her name embroidered into the corner.

He placed the blanket over his sleeping daughter, and then walked out of her life...The blanket read Joy.