"We're here," Rose whispered tucking her hair behind her ear and staring at the clock tower that hands seemed to never move. There was relief in the pit of her stomach and she wanted to leap for joy with the sudden at home feeling she felt looking up around at the town square.
"Where's here?" Emma grumbled examining the map she had pulled out of her backpack. "I've never even heard of Storybrooke. It's not even on this map!"
Rose didn't answer just spun around and looked at the shops along the street. She was so sure this was where she was suppose to be, where they were supposed to be. "Isn't it wonderful?"
Her sister snorted and rolled her eyes as she stuffed the map back into one of her bag's pockets. "Wonderfully boring. It feels like we walked into a Home and Gardens magazine."
The place had a pleasant buzz of people, but was far from crowded. There was a diner on the corner and a bookstore down the road. It was like they walked into Mayberry. Emma already hated it as much as her sister seemed to love it.
Rose grabbed Emma's hand and pulled her toward the diner. "Let's get something to eat," she said cheerfully as they rushed across the street.
But something made Rose stop again. She turned toward the pawn shop and stared at it. "Let's go in there first," she said nodding at the pawn shop just down the road.
"But I'm hungry," Emma complained making her sister roll her eyes.
"I just want to look. It'll just be a second," Rose argued back just making Emma groan. "I'll take that as a yes."
Emma continued to complain as Rose opened the door to the pawn shop and listened to the little bell above the door announce their presence. An older man behind the counter glanced up from a large book he had been writing in. There was a knowing smile he had that made Rose shiver, but she tried not to show it.
"What did you want to look at, Rose?" Emma grumbled.
"You girls aren't from around here, are you?" the man asked with a slight accent as he shut the book that Rose decided had to have something to do with finances since he seemed to only be writing numbers.
"No, sir. Just visiting with our parents," Rose lied not having the skill her sister did as she glanced around at the interesting doodads sitting around the shop.
The man chuckled softly. "Now, you are a better liar than some, but you can't fool me. You two are orphans, are you not?"
The shock of his blunt statement made Rose knock over and barely catch a glass object on the shelf. Emma just stopped, she didn't turn around, unsure of what was going to happen if they gave themselves away.
"I think you're mistaken, Mister..." Rose said turning around and holding her pleasant smile that her sister hardly even shared.
"You can call me Mr. Gold," he replied with a smile. "And you know I'm not. But, lucky for you I'm not interested in sending you back to where ever you came from. I'm just welcoming you to Storybrooke."
Emma pursed her lips and stared at the older man as he walked around the counter, hobbling slightly and using a cane. "So what are you going to do with us? Lock us in the basement and collect the checks?"
Mr. Gold smiled. Well she definitely had her father's tact. Rose held up her hand to her sister and smiled at Mr. Gold in a way that reminded him far too much of their mother. "Please, sir. We don't want to go back to Boston. Maybe you could help us."
Gold smiled at the girls. Raised fourteen years without their parents and already so much like them. They were so important to his plan. They brought a little magic to this world and the curse is broken there will be even more.
He needs the curse to be broken to find his son.
"Why don't you talk to Granny at the diner, since that's where you're headed anyway. I'm sure she can help you," Mr. Gold told the girls.
"She won't- I mean- will we-"
Gold smiled at the dark headed girl and shook his head. "I think I'll be able to take care of the social workers, but Granny will be more likely to find you two a place to stay for the time being."
Emma stared at the older man as she leaned toward her sister and whispered in her ear. "I don't know if we can trust him."
"What choice do we really have? Just keep running? This is where were suppose to be," Rose countered with certainty in her voice.
Gold found her phrasing interesting, Emma found it annoying.
"How about we make a deal?" Gold offered, folding his hands together and leaning on the counter.
Rose and Emma both looked at him skeptically. "A deal?" Emma said slowly. "What kind of deal?"
"I help you two find a real home, a home that you've always wanted, and you two, you owe me a favor."
It sounded too good to be true, and in Emma and Rose's life that usually just what it meant. "What do you really want from us?" Rose said slowly.
Mr. Gold chuckled and grinned. "Let's just say that having two new faces in this town isn't something that happens often. Just helping out."
"I have a feeling that's not something you're known for," Emma mused with a raised eyebrow.
"I just have a feeling about you two. I'm sorry, but I never caught your names," Gold added, ignoring the comment from the blonde twin.
"Emma, and this my sister Rose. Emma and Rose Swan." The sisters stood strong together, and Gold wondered how strong they stood apart. He had a feeling separating them would be much more work and difficulty than he had the power to deal with at the moment.
Twins born from true love. The curse didn't stand a chance now that the saviors had arrived. Regina didn't stand a chance now that the twins had arrived.
"It's a deal. You get us a real home and we'll owe you a favor," Rose said with finality making her sister groan.
Mr. Gold smiled and nodded. "You should go ahead to the diner and talk to Granny. I'm sure I'll see you around town."
The girls didn't argue and there really wasn't anything else to look at or talk about. Emma lead the way out but as Rose made it to the door, Gold cleared his throat. "Rose is quite a pretty name. Is it short for Rosa or Rosalie?"
The hazel eyes glanced toward the old man and she bit her lip. "Rose Red. It's short for Rose Red. Apparently my parents thought a color would be an appropriate name."
"Rose Red," Gold repeated as though he was tasting the name on his lips. "You know, that's a lovely name. Reminds me a little of something..." He then put a finger in the air like he just recalled something. He reached into the glass case beneath him and pulled out a large book with leather bindings. "I think you would enjoy this."
Rose stepped away from the door and looked at the book with the words Once Upon a Time on the cover. It was oddly enchanting. "It's very nice, but I don't have money..."
"Consider it a gift," Gold replied. "The two of you bring out a rather generous side of me."
Rose kept staring at the book. "Hey, are you coming?" her sister called standing in the open door again.
She pulled the book off the counter and stuffed it in her backpack, giving Gold a smile that would most likely touch his heart if he had one. "Thank you, sir."
With that, the girl was gone, running after her sister as she pulled her backpack on her shoulders. She had had no idea how much she was like her mother. Regina would see it as soon as she met the girl.
Emma looked at her sister as they walked down the sidewalk toward the diner. She held a glow that she didn't recognize in her before. Her fair cheeks were pinkened by more than just the cool Maine air and she seemed to hold a small smile that was definitely not there the night before.
Emma tossed her arm over her sister's shoulder and smirked at her. "Why do you like it here so much?"
Rose smiled back at her. "I just have a good feeling..."
Granny was a... spirited old woman who the twins seemed mildly afraid of as she ranted about how two young girls just walking around town with no parents to answer to was completely madness. "They're children! Just children! Children need authority, they need safety. A strong hand and a soft heart!" She kept going about poor orphans and how dangerous the world was for young girls like them to be on their own.
Ruby, a young woman who apparently was the only person who had any real right to call Granny, well, Granny. She kept throwing in her own two cents about the girls having a real life and adventure something she never got. They were fourteen and already had seen more of the world than most of Storybrooke.
When they found out that Gold was the one that sent the girls to them, it turned into a whole other story. They had to find the girls a place to live, somewhere other than the Inn.
Both girls had grown tired of the bickering. It was obvious now that they were more concerned about Gold having a hand in their endeavor at Granny's made it a little harder to decide what the best thing to do with them was. Emma had grabbed her book out of her bag and was now ignoring everyone as Rose stared out the window with her own thoughts. The diner was buzzing with people and Ruby and Granny seemed to easily keep up their argument between taking out orders and putting them in.
"Mary Margaret!" Ruby greeted with the sound of exasperation. Rose looked up to see a young woman with dark cropped hair walking though the door of the diner. She looked up at her friend expectantly as Ruby rushed over and pulled her to the window where she and Granny had been arguing for most of the day. "Tell Granny that being free is adventurous and exciting."
Granny snorted and pointed her spatula at her through the small window. "Not when you're fourteen."
Mary Margaret looked at both of them. "What on earth are you talking about?"
Both Ruby and Granny motioned to the booth where two girls sat together with empty plates in front of them. The dark haired girl watched shyly as the blonde didn't seem to care as much about discretion.
"Meet Emma and Rose. They need a home," Ruby deadpanned before turning to Margaret with a bit of humor in her eyes. "It's like placing puppies."
"We're not puppies," Emma snapped.
Mary Margaret liked at the girls spunk, even if it came with a whole lot of attitude and even hostility. The other sister seemed to try and reel Emma back in. "Mr. Gold sent us here. We're just... we're just trying to find some place to stay," Rose said much more gently.
They seemed to be very close, yet very different. They balanced each other very well. "What about you Mary Margaret? You have time to raise two teenagers?" Ruby said sarcastically, not noticing how it affected the girls' demeanor to be talked about like they weren't there. Rose's shoulders slumped slightly at the sound of finding them a place to stay seeming impossible while Emma sat even stronger like she was searching for a fight.
"Oh, I don't know," Mary Margaret said immediately taken back by the idea, but also not wanting to hurt the girls either.
"Don't you have a spare room, Mary Margaret?" The three woman all turned to see Mr. Gold standing behind them, giving nothing away with his face. "The girls are pretty good at taking themselves, at least I assume they are or they wouldn't have made it this far."
Emma rolled her eyes and hit her sister's arm. "Great, we've gone from needy puppies to self sufficient cats."
"Will you shut up? You're not helping anything," Rose hissed at her sister.
"You're the one that dragged us here," Emma shot back earning an even harsher glare at her sister.
"Girls, don't fight," Mary Margaret shot at them with surprising sternness silenced Rose's next come back before it could pass her lips. The girls looked at Mary Margaret shocked, but did as she said.
Gold did everything he could to keep from laughing. It was true. Everything was falling into place and so quickly Regina may not even get the chance to stop it.
"I had no idea that you were so maternal," Mr. Gold mused as Mary Margaret gave the girls a warning look that was laced with gentleness.
They really weren't sure how it happened, but Mr. Gold succeeded in convincing Mary Margaret that the right place for the girls was with her. The girls didn't argue, but they didn't really think they had a choice. Still, the woman seemed nice enough.
By the time they left, Mary Margaret seemed to be very confused and concerned about what had happened and how the two girls ended up along with her. What did she know about foster two teenagers, young teenagers? The thought was terrifying. The idea of anything living, more than the occasional house plant living under her care was terrifying.
Plus Emma already proved to be difficult. She had rougher edges than her sister, but she seemed to trust her sister's decisions. Rose seemed to be the one that looked for the hope in her situations. She really wanted to believe that they were going to be okay.
"I-I only have a room upstairs with one bed... We can get another in the morning, but if one of you wants to take my bed you're welcome to it. I'll take the couch," Mary Margaret offered as the girls stood up awkwardly near the door of her apartment.
Rose shook her head. "It's alright, ma'am. We can share a bed. We're pretty used to it."
Emma thrust a thumb at Rose and smirked at her. "She kicks."
"You snore."
Both girls giggled in a way that made Mary Margaret smile. "So," she said moving deeper into the apartment over to the refrigerator in hopes that the girls would at least leave the doorway, which they did. "You two are fourteen?"
"Fourteen today, actually," Emma told her as they took seat at the bar.
"Today!" Mary Margaret said with honest surprise. "Well happy birthday. Which one of you is older?"
Both girls shrugged. "We don't actually know," Rose told her scratching her ears. Her ears seemed to be really bothering her and Emma knew why.
"Why don't you just take them out?" Emma asked her sister with a concerned look.
"Because then I can't talk to her," Rose replied glancing at Mary Margaret sadly.
As the girl pulled back her dark hair, that's when she noticed it. There were thin, barely noticeable hearing aids folding around the back of her ears. Before Mary Margaret could stop it, a small gasp escaped from her lips. But the girl didn't take any offense to it. Instead she just gave a sad little smile.
"It's okay. I'm just sorta hard of hearing. I can hear fine with these," Rose told her tapping her ear. "They've sorta been acting up lately though."
Emma frown. "Cutting out again?"
Rose just shrugged it off like it was nothing. She did her very best not to let it bother her, even when other kids would tease her when she was younger. Honestly she was lucky to even have hearing aids. It took four years, but at least she had them.
"Do you sign?" Mary Margaret asked them as Rose continued to fiddle with her ears.
Both girls nodded. "Had to learn. Emma too," Rose said sadly. Finally she sighed and frowned. "I'm sorry, I wouldn't mind talking more, but my ears are really itchy..."
Mary Margaret smiled and nodded in understanding. "I wouldn't mind learning," she told the girls, earning a slightly confused look from both of them. "Sign language. I mean if you're staying here, I should learn."
Rose blinked at this woman. No one had ever asked her to teach them. Any foster parent that wanted to speak with her demanded her hearing aids in or would speak through Emma. No one had actually even acted like they wanted to talk her other than to demand her round.
"Really?" Rose asked, her hazel eyes wide as her sister's.
The surprise and the look in both the girls' threw Mary Margaret. "Of course. I'd love to learn."
"Okay," Rose said with a nod and a smile that seemed impossible for her to hide. Mary Margaret couldn't possibly know how much it meant to her that someone was actually trying
"Is it okay if we go to bed?" Emma asked stretching her shoulders. "We've had a long night... and day... and night..."
The young woman smiled. "Of course. If you need anything, I'll be-" she motioned toward the bed not far away, partially hidden behind a curtain.
That night Emma slept while Rose read. She turned every page, reading it by the light of a dull flashlight. It was a story of fairytales, but mostly Snow White and Prince Charming. It was their story entwined with so many others. It was the story of their plight with the evil queen. It was how hard they fought to be together, how much they loved each other and how their true love would always prevail.
But then the evil queen told them about a curse she planned. A curse to take away all their happily ever afters and tear their lives apart. The only chance they had was Snow and Charming's child. Which ended up being children. Twins. Daughters.
As she flipped the final pages, her heart stopped at one of the hand drawn images. The only way for the curse to be broken was sending the babies through a magical wardrobe. Snow and Charming were suppose to go through while she pregnant, but the twins came early and they had no choice but to send the babies through alone. The two babies wrapped in blankets. The blankets were what caught his attention. Both white, one with purple stitching, one with red. The names... the names were.
Rose slammed the book shut and snatched her backpack into her hands, digging though its contents until she pulled out a white blanket with red sticking. The stitching was the same as in the book. Rose Red.
In her silent world, there was a voice that came through again. It was gentle and motherly, and Rose now knew why.
The curse is real, my love. It's up to you and Emma to save us.
The voice no longer frightening to Emma. In fact she found it comforting. She knew who's voice it was now. Somehow through the curse, her mother, Snow White, could speak with her. Maybe she was crazy. Delusional. But for some reason, it was comforting.
Rose held the blanket close to her. Can Emma hear you? Can you talk to her too? Rose tried to ask the voice, unsure if it would actually work.
Her world is louder than yours. I believe in you, Rose.
The voice of her mother may have believed in her, but she knew that if she ever dare to tell anyone about the book or the curse not even her sister would believe her.
As comforting as the voice of her mother was, the burden of a secret easily kept her awake.
Gold was alone in his home sipping a glass of auburn liquid. He paced the floor of his dining room, stopping in front of the large bay window and looking out to the clock tower. A smile formed on his lips as he watched the hand of the clock tower move.
A dark chuckle cackled from his lips as he raised the glass in a toast. "Time's ticking away, Regina."
Still, he knew that the clock was also ticking for him. He knew the prophecy regarding Rose Red, the one to take the dark one's power. Red Rose, the next dark one?
Thank you to AllannaStone and Spike847 for reviewing the first chapter. I absolutely love reviews!
