Chapter 2 I wrote directly after watching the Cinderella episode. I'm updating this rather quickly, huh? LOL Don't get used to it.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*Enchanted Forest*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Where are we going?" She yelled as she stumbled over another tree root, desperate to keep up with Rumple. She couldn't stand when he was far away. Made her chest hurt if he was gone too long. But still he plowed on like there was nothing there. Graceful as ever he moved through the undergrowth as if he was the one born in the forest, not her.

"To town. Need a few things." He called back to her, not once stopping or hesitating as he stepped over another root, simply barreling through the forest, like it would move out of the way for him.

"Oh." She froze. She couldn't go there. It was dangerous there. The woods curled around her, roots climbed higher to keep her still. It would hurt, though. Hurt to be away from him. "I-I can't go there."

"What?" Rumplestiltskin asked stopping finally and looking back at her.

"The woods are my home. I can't leave for the town. The people there, they're evil. It's not their fault, they just are. I can't go there. That's why I keep tripping. The woods are telling me to stay." She whispered softly as one root crawled up her side to gently wrap itself around her waist. "I can't go."

"Forget the woods. I'll keep you safe." He pointed out gently. He couldn't leave her here again. It worried him too much. Couldn't stand to be separated from her. He had to keep her with him.

"I can't. It will only get worse, I can't leave. The forest, the woods they're protecting me, keeping me here. They don't want my voice stolen. If I go into town my voice will be taken. I can't go there." She repeated softly, sadly lowering her head.

"Yes, you can." He argued, quickly making his way back to her, through the undergrowth and roots and limbs that now struggled to keep him from her, but he wouldn't be stopped, and finally he stood right in front of her. She looked up in surprise and for a moment he was sorely tempted to kiss her, to press their lips together and take away her breath as she did to him, all the time.

"But, the woods…" She whispered softly, and before she could argue anymore he wrapped an arm tight around her waist and suddenly they were gone in a puff of blue smoke, making the woods fade and disappear from his sight.

"Are only a problem if we walk."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Story Brooke, Maine*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Why'd you invite him?" Henry asked frowning as he watched Mr. Gold limp away slowly, towards his pawn shop.

"Because Henry, Mr. Gold is a good person, no matter what anyone else says about him. He really does mean well." She lectured gently as she pushed back a bit of his hair to smile sweetly at him. Henry rolled his eyes.

"He tried to buy a baby."

"And what do you think adoption agencies do? They sell babies. How are they any better?" She shot back making Henry pout. "Henry, no matter what you may think of Mr. Gold, he does at least deal fairly with people. He never asks for something that isn't worth what he gives you."

"A baby is worth more than money." Emma growled, suddenly filled with distrust for this new woman.

"To some. To others, A baby is worth everything they own and more. But what is the price of a ruined future to those who are ill prepared? And what of those who keep their children and don't want them? Wouldn't you pay a fortune to keep that child away from such a future? I'm not saying it's right to call a baby property, but I can understand why he would offer to buy a child." She explained softly glancing at Henry with a warm smile.

"I guess. But what about when someone decides they don't want to sell their baby?"

"Then they shouldn't have made the deal. Never bargain away what you don't know." Ren answered looking Emma dead in the eyes. "If you're pregnant don't agree to get rid of your child until you've held it in your arms. Babies are a blessing, and the bastards who give them away deserve to suffer for not understanding what they have. If you were told you'd get a sac, but not what was in it, would you sell it for 10 dollars, just because the sac was dirty?" She asked, before turning to look back at Henry. "I'm not saying Mr. Gold does things that are wrong, but I'm saying what he does he does to try and help others."

"You only say that, because all you can see is the good in people." Henry pouted. Ren smiled and gently kissed his forehead.

"No, I say that, because I once made a deal with someone much worse than Mr. Gold and have been trying to rectify that ever since." Ren whispered gently, before standing up. "Come on, enough about this. Let's get some ice cream, like old times, mm?" She offered with a smile. Henry nodded and quickly took hold of her hand, then reached out for Emma's.

"Fine, ice cream." Emma growled taking hold of his hand walking with them. She felt odd, holding Henry's hand, She knew they probably looked weird, but when they walked by the police station and she spotted Andy smiling at them, she felt a little better.

"Hello, Deputy Swan." Andy called as he strolled over a smile planted on his face and growing wider, until he saw Ren who seemed to get suddenly stiff at the sight of the town sheriff. "Becky?"

"Erm, hello, Andy." Ren whispered softly, shifting slightly as he stared at her. "Sorry, meant to send you a letter."

"Of course, you didn't." Andy growled, his gaze turning from shocked to angry quickly as he eyed the british girl. "Your accent's thicker."

"Thank you."

"It's not a compliment." He barked out still glaring at her. Henry cleared his throat softly. "Sorry, Henry, didn't mean to snap." He said suddenly rebuffed by the 10 year old. "Sorry, Becks. It's just, you disappear without so much as a 'see ya,' and now you're back like it hasn't been 5 years. Like you didn't leave at all, without so much as a warning."

"Didn't know you needed a warning." Ren hissed back looking away to eye the pawn shop, her gaze distant. "I just, I just wanted to see Henry again, and 5 years was long enough." She stated before glancing down at Henry. "We were just going to get ice cream," She stumbled softly over the words, her gaze traveling everywhere around Andy, seeming to be focused on not looking at him. "Would you like to join us?"

"No, thanks. I have to go." He growled suddenly side stepping her, Andy didn't stop as he walked, just plowed through quickly, seeming eager to get away from Ren.

"What was that about?" Emma asked frowning after her new boss. Couldn't be good, at any rate.

"Oh, you know, exes." Ren said with a sigh, before promptly walking on, leaving henry and Emma to catch up.

"They used to date?" Emma asked staring after Andy.

"Yeah, They were together for forever. They were dating when I was little and I used to think they'd get married and take me from Regina, but then Ren dumped him when he proposed. After that, she left." Henry explained with a shrug. Like it was the most normal thing in the world. Like everyone dumped people when they proposed.

"Wait, she dumped him, because he proposed?" Emma asked chasing to catch up with Henry who was trying to catch up with Ren.

"Yeah, I didn't really understand it when I was little, but Ren said it was because he was an idiot." Henry answered. Said young woman was standing in front of the diner, waiting patiently for the two of them with a warm smile.

"Stop to gossip about me?" Ren asked as she ushered them inside with a warm smile. "That's very naughty, Henry." She chastised gently.

"I was just telling the truth, Ren. I was telling Emma about you and Andy." Henry stated as he walked over to sit down at one of the tables. Emma and Ren slid in across from each other, Ren sliding next to Henry as Ruby came up with a grin.

"Andy and I are in the past and there's no need to mention that particularly dreadful relationship, ever again." Ren stated decisively. "Hey, Ruby."

"Hey, Sapphire, What's up? I thought you were in England doing some tour or something?" Ruby asked with a grin, notepad ignored in favour of talking to the spirited singer.

"I was, I just missed town, and figured, why not?" Ren said with a giggle. "I heard you were going to Boston?"

"Gran had a heart attack, so I decided to stay."

"Figures, doesn't it?" Ren asked with a laugh, making Emma cringe at her rather blasé way of brushing off near death problems.

"Anyway what's you're poison?" Ruby asked.

"I'll have plain chocolate ice cream, Henry will have the same, with cinnamon sprinkled on top, and Emma…?" She asked turning to look at Emma as she rattled off the order.

"I'll have the same as Henry." She answered with a shrug. Ruby nodded and turned to go place the order.

"So, how do you and Henry know each other?" Ren asked with a warm, disarming smile. For a moment Emma was reminded of Regina. But when she looked into those emerald irises, she could see genuine curiosity, and no hostility.

"Oh, she's my birth mother." Henry supplied easily without even hesitating. Emma glared at him silently, the kid certainly enjoyed bringing that up.

"Oh, that's pleasant~!" Ren chirped happily. "Glad you could find her, Henry." Ren said softly with a ruffle of his hair. Emma blinked in surprise, Ren reacted nothing like how Regina had. No anger or fear, just simple acceptance.

"So, you know Henry pretty well, huh?" Emma asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Yeah, for the first five years of his life, we were thick as thieves." Ren stated with a warm smile. "I used to tell him fairy tales and read stories to him, even helped him start building a little castle on the beach." Ren eyes glazed slightly taking on a dreamy look as she recalled the past.

"Yeah, then you left." Henry cut in bitterly. "Why did you leave?" Henry asked shooting her an accusing look. "You never did tell me."

"I-I had to Henry." She answered gently. "It just felt like the right time, and it hurt to be here. And the whole situation with Andy was terribly awkward." She said softly dropping her gaze slightly, Emma frowned, she was lying, at least about the Andy part. "It was painful, it was like walking around town and having my head full of quick sand. I couldn't think, couldn't draw, or write. Could hardly sing. I just had to." She whispered softly petting Henry's hair. He still looked a little crushed, but he was still listening to her.

"Then the accident happened, and that rather cinched it." Ren whispered softly, another sad faraway look entering her eyes. "I couldn't stay here after that. And really who could? I had to leave. It was either leave or stay trapped." Ren said with a shrug.

"And you came back, because?"

"I had to. I had had enough of traveling. And I missed the town. Missed you, Henry. I even missed…" She trailed off looking away, she looked a little choked up, but she got control of herself. "Point is, I'd had enough traveling and being a rock star. Didn't you want me to come back?"

"Yeah, but you left. What's to keep you from leaving again?" Henry asked pouting as Ruby walked up to drop off their food. The door dinged as another guest entered. Ren and Henry were facing away from the door, so they didn't see Mr. Gold walk in, but Emma did. She also saw how he didn't notice Ren and instead began to walk over to a seat across the diner, his limp seemed much more prominent now.

"Oh, Henry." She cooed softly wrapping her arms around him tightly, her voice catching Mr. Gold's attention. Emma noticed the way he did a double take and suddenly shifted his direction to a table in the corner out of Ren's line of sight. "I won't leave again. I could hardly stand to leave the first time, why would I leave again? Andy's not about to go proposing to me, again." She pointed out with a teasing smile. Emma kept her eyes on Mr. Gold and noticed him wince at the mention of Andy.

"Well, there's at least that." Henry said, cheering up slightly as he dug into his ice cream, Emma and Ren tucked in as well, as a comfortable silence fell over their table.

"So, Andy and you broke up, because he proposed, why?" Emma asked, noticing that Mr. Gold was still listening in on their conversation, he flinched again at the mention of Andy. Interesting, to say the least.

"When Andy and I began our relationship, I told him I wasn't interested in ever settling down." Ren explained easily, pausing to take another bite of her ice cream. "He agreed and we began dating, I told him on several occasions, that I would never love him, and that if he tried to make me I would dump him." Ren continued, wiping a bit of ice cream from her mouth. Mr. Gold was practically leaning towards them to listen in.

"So, when he proposed?"

"I dumped him. I told him, he ruined everything and then dumped him." Ren said with a shrug, pure truth written in her eyes. There was no loss of love behind her eyes or longing, now, just simple statements of fact.

"And the accident you mentioned?" Mr. Gold rubbed his leg, drawing Emma's attention.

"Ah, on my way to the airport I was nearly hit by a speeding car. Mr. Gold, the pawn broker, he was kind enough to save me. I left after. It was unfortunate, but I couldn't let the accident make me late for my plane." And there it was, a straight, plain, to the point lie. Henry glanced up at her as well, glancing back and forth between Emma and Ren.

"Yeah, I read that in the papers. That you left right after." Henry stated glancing back at Emma.

"Yes, that's right." She nodded, and it was a lie.


End Chapter 2~ Woo, one more down. Now, all that's left is to figure out what else will happen in the show that will make me change my story! Stupid people, you're not supposed to explain how they caught the bad guy till season 2! ERG! Way to give me some time.