Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
Snow led a weeping and shaking Red through the forest, both women clinging to each other. Red tried to look over her shoulder at what had once been her dear friend Peter, and Snow gently tugged her on. "Come on, Red. We have to get you to safety before the Huntsmen come for you. We have to find..."
"Rumplestiltskin." Red's voice was so quiet that at first Snow didn't understand her. Red took a breath, and looked Snow in the eyes. "I need to get to Rumplestiltskin."
Snow gasped in disbelief. "Red, that devil is the last thing you need now!"
"Snow, don't argue with me! I need to get to him!" Red gripped Snow's shoulders tightly, her face tight with desperation. "Please! You don't have to come if you don't want, but I'm going to him." With that, she set off down the path. Snow stood for a moment, warring with herself, and then ran after her. Red smiled as she caught up. "Thank you."
Snow smiled at her. "You helped me, I help you. That seems fair, doesn't it?" Red nodded, grateful, and they continued down the road, finally arriving at Rumplestiltskin's castle. Red ran up the drive and pounded hard on the locked doors, while Snow hung behind, more than a little nervous.
Rumplestiltskin was sitting at his spinning wheel, idly turning it round and round, when the loud knocks reverberated through the castle, startling him from his reverie. He growled in annoyance and went to the front door, throwing it open in exasperation. Before he could berate his visitor, she wailed in grief and threw herself into his arms, sobbing. "Red? What…Red, what ever is wrong?" He noticed Snow White watching with a thinly veiled look of surprise and disgust on her face, and he gave her a glare of pure rage. Snow blanched, and then sighed. Rumple turned his attention back to his lover. "Red, what happened? !"
"I…wolf…killed…Peter I…me…" Red gave a screaming laugh and began to sing in a cracked voice. "Who's afraid of the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf, who's afraid of the big bad…"
"RED!" Rumplestiltskin was starting to get seriously worried. "What. Happened."
Snow stepped inside, shutting the doors behind her. "She found out she's a werewolf." Rumple gaped at the fugitive princess, and gave her a look that clearly said "Tell me everything." Snow took a breath and began to explain the events of the past few days to him. As he listened, he led Red over to the couch, pulling her into his arms and stroking her spine in reassurance. "She killed a man, Rumplestiltskin, and now the Huntsmen are after her. She asked me to bring her here."
Rumplestiltskin nodded his thanks, and then turned his attention to Red, placing his hand under her chin and lifting her head up so he could look in her eyes. "Love, why all the tears?"
"I'm a monster, a killer, inhuman! No one could ever love me!"
"And what do you think I am, Red Riding Hood? A virtuous magician? I'm the bloody Dark One, for gods' sakes! And I happen to love you quite a lot."
Red shook her head quickly, the tears still flowing. "No, you fell in love with a girl, not a monster. You didn't know what a creature you were bedding, you didn't know…"
"Actually, I did." Rumple's calm, placid voice did more to make Red's hysterics stop than anything ever could. Rumple stroked her face, his voice soft. "I have known since the first time we made love. Where do you think your Granny got the cloak from?"
Red gawped at him. "You made it?" Rumplestiltskin nodded.
"Yes, and I had another man deliver it and claim that he made it. Some want to be wizard named Baum, I think. He was surprisingly easy to manipulate."
"Why didn't you just deliver it to Granny yourself?"
"Because she never would have accepted anything from me, even if it meant protecting you. I knew what you would become when you started…err…umm…" he made a face, trying to figure out how to phrase his next bit delicately, when Snow interrupted.
"When she started her bleeds?"
She was treated to the rare sight of the Dark One blushing. "Yes, those. So I made the cloak, so my Red could make it to our meetings."
Red frowned. "But, what about all the times I was with you during a full moon? I never…changed."
Rumplestiltskin giggled. "My love, I am able to do more than spin straw into gold and make deals with princesses. So long as you are within these walls during the full moon, you remain human. No matter how dressed-or undressed-you may be." Red giggled, and Rumple smiled, and then cupped her face in his hands, speaking in a serious tone. "And before you ask, I love you. Not because you and I are both considered monsters by many, but because we know that there is more to monsters than meets the eye. I didn't fall in love with the Big Bad Wolf anymore than you fell in love with the Dark One. I fell in love with Red Riding Hood."
Red gave him a bright, relieved grin before kissing him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling his body tight against hers. He kissed back, raking his fingers through her hair.
Snow smiled, and then slipped out of the Castle, silently vowing to never tell anyone what she had just seen.
After all, a girl has her secrets.