A/N: This story takes place three years after "Going Home….Together".
Chapter One
"Come on, Bae!" Duer shouted while he and Roland ran a few steps in front of him and Baelfire sighed, rolling his eyes. He had enough trouble keeping up with his three year old brother, but adding eight year old Roland to the mix was enough to tire anyone out. His papa, Rumplestiltskin, had invited Regina and her family to spend Christmas with them, though it was called Wintertide in their world, and it was Baelfire's job to entertain the boys while the adults decorated his papa's castle. Henry wanted to come as well, but he caught a cold and Rumplestiltskin had him under bed rest for the last few days.
"Papa, how did you keep sane when I was this age? Or have the energy to keep up with me?" Bae thought as he half ran to keep up with his young companions and softly laughed.
"Yeah, come on," Roland shouted and Baelfire ran a little faster. He remembered how excited he was when it was time for the winter carnival and how much fun he and his papa had even though money was tight. He finally caught up with Roland and Duer when he picked his little brother into the air and placed him over his right shoulder. Duer squealed and wiggled as Baelfire playfully smacked Duer's bottom and Roland giggled.
"No, don't spank me!" Duer said while giggling and Baelfire laughed.
"Papa said no running off. You ran off. That means a spanking," Bae said with a smile and Duer went limp over his shoulder.
"Ok, I'll be good," Duer said while looking at the ground and panted. Baelfire moved him until he was sitting with his legs around Baelfire's side and Baelfire wrapped his arm around his little brother.
"Look," Roland said while pointing toward the village square and bright decorations shimmered in the sunlight. The air was cool and crisp with snow covering the ground, buildings, shops and trees and sounds of laughter, voices, singing and music filled the air. Roland held Baelfire's hand while they walked closer and Duer pushed up the knit cap his papa had made him. They walked by people while looking at the decorations and merchant stalls when Roland saw the pen with reindeers and pulled on Baelfire's hand. "Can we feed them?"
"I can't see why not," Bae said when he walked to the reindeer handler and saw he was selling small bags of feed for two gold coins a bag. After buying three bags, Baelfire led the boys into the pen and Duer stayed close to his brother. Even though he could be a ball of energy, Duer was shy and he held tightly onto his brother's hand.
"Henry said that Father Winter uses eight of these to pull his sleigh," Roland said as he looked at a large male reindeer with eight point antlers and the reindeer sniffed at the bag of feed.
"No, there're nine of them," Duer corrected. "He forgot about the one with the red nose."
"Mama says he doesn't count because he's not real."
"Yes, he is," Duer said, pouting.
"Do you two want to go home?" Bae asked, giving them Rumplestiltskin's LOOK.
"No," they said together.
"Good," Bae said as they fed the reindeer and Baelfire used a handkerchief to wipe off their hands. He wished he had some hand sanitizer as he smiled and they left the pen. They moved by people when a tall man bumped into Duer and spun him around.
"Sorry, Little One," the man said with a smile and Duer nodded his head. Suddenly Duer realized he had lost sight of Baelfire and Roland and bit his lower lip.
"Look at we found," a voice said when he turned to see four boys and the taller of the four boys walked toward him.
"Go away," Duer said while backing up then stopped when he backed into one of the other boys.
"My papa told me that your papa is demon," one of the boys said and Duer's eyes widened.
"No, he's not."
"If that's true," one of the boys said as he walked closer and Duer looked up at him. "That makes you a demon as well."
"Leave me alone," Duer said as tears rolled down his cheeks and the boys laughed.
"Go back to the fire, Hell Spawn. Father Winter would never bring presents to an unholy thing like you," one of the boys said as they started shoving Duer from one boy to the other and Duer screamed.
"Hey," Bae shouted when the boys moved back and Duer fell onto the ground. Baelfire had reacted immediately when Duer had let go of his hand, but seeing his little brother being bullied then sitting on the ground crying caused anger to bubble up inside him.
"What do you want?" the oldest boy asked.
"Get away from him," Bae growled, but didn't see the boys making ice crusted snowballs.
"Why? He's nothing, but a monster," the older boy said and Duer screamed when the other boys hit him with the ice crusted snowballs.
"Leave him alone!" Bae shouted when a loud crash of thunder filled the air and a large puff of purple smoke appeared. "Now you're in trouble."
The purple smoke cleared as they looked at Rumplestiltskin and slowly backed away. Roland ran to Rumplestiltskin as Baelfire scooped his little brother into his arms and Duer buried his face in his brother's shoulder. Rumplestiltskin had given Roland and Baelfire a mirror so he could watch over them and Roland had said Rumplestiltskin's name three times to summon him when the boys attacked. The boys shook while Roland stood next to Rumplestiltskin and puffs of cold air escaped from Rumplestiltskin's nose.
"Is he alright?" Rumplestiltskin finally said, but never took his eyes off the boys and Baelfire walked closer. Rumplestiltskin saw the blood trickling down Duer's left ear and some small cuts on his face and neck and Rumplestiltskin felt his heart slamming in his chest.
"He's going to kill us," one of the boys whispered and two of the other boys were crying.
"I do not kill children," Rumplestiltskin growled then saw villagers looking at them and placed his hand on Baelfire's shoulder. Roland held onto Rumplestiltskin's side when Rumplestiltskin waved his hand and they vanished in a puff of purple smoke. The boys looked at each other then ran off in different directions and looked over their shoulders, hoping he wasn't following them.
Rumplestiltskin's Castle – the library
Multi-colored fairy lights sparkled off the decorated pine tree sitting in front of the large window and Bunfin sat on the top branch of the tree. The small, green fur monkey was making faces in one of the silver glass balls then titled its head side to side and Belle smiled up at the small monkey.
"Bunfin, come down," she said as the small monkey spread its wings and flew down to her and she held the small monkey in her arms. She still felt angry when she thought of how Bunfin suffered under the hand of Zelena, the Wicked Witch of the West, and thanked the gods that Rumplestiltskin was able to save Bunfin from Zelena and restore his wings.
"This place looks amazing," Emma said while looking around the room and sipped on some hot chocolate.
"It looks like something out of a storybook," Regina said with a smile and they laughed. Emma nor Belle believed they would be spending holidays with the Evil Queen, but Regina had really changed since giving up her throne and married Robin.
"Where did Rumplestiltskin go?" Emma asked when the purple smoke filled the room and Bunfin made soft, worried noises. The purple smoke faded as they looked at Rumplestiltskin, Roland, Baelfire and Duer and Belle saw the anger in her husband's eyes. "What happened?"
Rumplestiltskin took Duer from Baelfire when Rumplestiltskin stormed out of the room and Belle handed Bunfin to Emma, following Rumplestiltskin out of the room. She followed them up the stairs then down the hallway when they came to the nursery doors and she ran in front of her husband, opening the doors. Rumplestiltskin moved pass her when he walked to the small bed and sat down. Duer buried his face against his papa's shoulder while Belle walked closer and knelt down next to them.
"Rumple, what's going on?" Belle asked as she reached over to stroke Duer's hair and Duer whimpered.
"Some boys attacked Duer," Rumplestiltskin growled and her eyes widened.
"Why would they do that?"
"Because I'm hell pawn," Duer sobbed.
"He's what?" Belle asked, looking confused.
"They said he was hell spawn," Rumplestiltskin growled then told her what he had seen in the mirrors he had given Roland and Bealfire and Duer placed his head against his papa's chest.
"Why would they say such a terrible thing?"
"They said Papa was a demon and so am I," Duer sobbed. "I don' wanna be a demon."
"You're not, Darling," Belle said while stroking his hair and Rumplestiltskin wrapped his arms around Duer.
"Then why did they say so?" Duer asked as he looked up at his papa.
"Have I told you what a curse is?" Rumplestiltskin asked and Duer nodded. "Well, when Bae was a boy, I was tricked into taking a curse that turned me into the Dark One."
"Henry told me about him. He was naughty, but he wasn't a demon," Duer said and Rumplestiltskin smiled.
"Well, a lot of people thought I was."
"Why did you want the curse?"
"I didn't want the curse as much as I wanted the power. See, at the time I took the curse, there was a war with the ogres. Children were being sent to fight them and one of the children was supposed to be Bae. Now, I didn't want to lose Bae. That is why I took on the curse. I wanted to be able to use the power to bring the children home and stop the war."
"You mean like in the story of the brave spinner?" Duer asked then smiled. "That was you?"
"Yes," he said and kissed the top of Duer's head. "The problem was, like with all magic, I had to pay the price for using the power."
"And that's how you turned into the Dark One?"
"Yes, but Bae didn't like me being so naughty. He wanted us to go somewhere else. It was a land with no magic, but I was scared."
"Why were you scared, Papa?"
"I didn't want to let go of the power. See, I wasn't the same man I am now back then and having the power made me feel brave and important."
"But you are brave," Duer said and patted his papa's chest.
"I know that now, Darling. Another reason why I didn't want to leave was I thought Bae wouldn't want me as his papa if I was scared and powerless and would leave me all alone. I learn later on that I was wrong."
"And, with a little help, Papa was able to break the curse," Belle said and Rumplestiltskin smiled at her. "After the curse was broken, you were born. So you are not a demon."
"Neither are you, Papa," Duer said and Rumplestiltskin hugged him. "Does that mean Father Winter will come here?"
"He has since you were a tiny baby, Dearie," Rumplestiltskin said.
"Have you ever seen him?"
"Have I seen him?" he asked with wide eyes then giggled. "I saved his life."
"You did?!" Duer and Belle asked with wide eyes.
"Have I never told you that story?" Rumplestiltskin asked as he placed his hand against his chest and gasped.
Rumplestiltskin's Castle – Years ago
Snow fell in thick flakes while Rumplestiltskin looked out the window and placed his hands behind his back. His mind drifted back to happier times when he and his son would go out and play in the snow and his son's laughter echoed in the empty chambers of his heart. Sighing, he closed the window then waved his hands to make the curtains slam shut and he wiped the tears from his eyes.
"Enough," he growled as he walked to the large stone fireplace when he felt like he wasn't alone and frowned.
"Come out and say hello, Dearies," he said through his teeth then turned and saw two small elves walking out from behind the black wood couch. The pointy tips of the elf on the left's ears peeked out from the bright red neck length hair and a green archer's hat arched back on his head. He had a round face, chubby cheeks, a small nose, thin lips and shiny green eyes. He also had a round body and small fingers and chubby legs. The elf on the right was a few inches taller and the pointy tips of his ears peeked out from the brown neck length hair and a green archer's hat arched back on his head. He had a lean face, a long nose, thin lips and shiny blue eyes. He also had a lean body and legs and long fingers. Both were wearing green velvet tunics, black leather belts, green linen trousers and black leather boots.
"Greeting, Dark One. We are Jingle Berry and Jolly Lark," the elf on the right said with a small bow and Rumplestiltskin sighed, rolling his eyes.
"What do you want?"
"You see, Sir," Jingle Berry said while removing the archer's hat. "We have need of your help."
"You need my help?" Rumplestiltskin said while arching his eyebrows up and walked closer.
"Yes, Sir, you see, he's missing," Jolly Lark said.
"Who is missing?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"We are talking about Father Winter," Jingle Berry said.
"I see," he said with a cold look in his eyes. "Not interested."
"Don't you care that children will not be getting presents?" Jolly Lark demanded and Jingle Berry gave him a shocked look.
"Jolly Lark," Jingle Berry hissed through his teeth.
"I told you this was a mistake," Jolly Lark said, glaring at Rumplestiltskin. "He is nothing more than a heartless monster."
"I have never denied that, Dearie," Rumplestiltskin said then tapped the tip of his finger against his lips. "If I do help you, what's in it for me?"
"We will be your servants," Jingle Berry said and Rumplestiltskin giggled.
"I have no need of servants," he said then started pacing. He thought for a few moments then pressed his lips together and titled his head to one side. "Do you have anything of his I could use to help locate him?"
"Yes," Jolly Lark said when he walked closer and handed Rumplestiltskin a ice blue velvet hat with white rabbit fur trim and a white wool ball was sewn on the tip of the hat. Rumplestiltskin held the ice blue velvet hat in his left hand when he moved his right hand over the ice blue velvet hat and a gold light spread over the ice blue velvet hat. The elves' eyes widened as Rumplestiltskin moved his right hand back and forth then sighed. "Well, can you find him?"
"This is very old magic…even older than mine," Rumplestiltskin said then held the ice blue velvet hat in both hands and blinked his eyes a few times.
"Then you can't find him?" Jingle Berry asked.
"I didn't say that," Rumplestiltskin said when he handed the ice blue velvet hat to Jingle Berry and walked to the large black wood cabinet. He opened the door when he removed a crystal ball and closed the door. Walking back to them, he smiled and held out the crystal ball. "Hold this in your hands."
Jolly Lark held out his hands as Rumplestiltskin placed the crystal ball in Jolly Lark's hands and smiled.
"Now, I need you to think about your master. Just him and no one else," he said and Jolly Lark nodded his head. Jolly Lark looked into the crystal ball when a blue mist swirled inside the crystal ball and Rumplestiltskin knelt down in front of him. "That's it, Dearie."
The blue mist grew thicker then shimmered as Father Winter's face appeared in the crystal and Rumplestiltskin frowned.
"Try to see if you can show me where he is," he said and Jolly Lark nodded his head. The image moved as Rumplestiltskin looked into the crystal and saw Father Winter was in a cell in a room of ice. The image faded as the elves looked at him and Rumplestiltskin stood up, taking the crystal ball out of Jolly Lark's hands. "Well, he is in trouble. Question is…how did he get there?"
"So you know where he is?" Jingle Berry asked while Rumplestiltskin walked to the black wood cabinet then opened the door and placed the crystal ball back on the shelf. Closing the door, he looked at the elves while pressing his lips together and blinked.
"Yes, but I am going to need some help," Rumplestiltskin said as he waved his hand and they vanished in a puff of purple smoke.
