Chapter two! Enjoy guys!


As the years went by, Rumple watched his children grow, Bae helped him with the wool and Anna kept the house in order and cooked the meals. They were both getting taller and Rumple found himself missing his little boy and girl. They were both growing to be fine teenagers, Bae's shoulders were broader, and he was becoming a better man than he had ever been and Anna's hair grew long past her waist in long dark curls much like Milah's used to.

He noticed every day that Anna looked more and more like her mother; like a cruel reminder of his failure. She grew more beautiful each day, her green eyes sparkling with mischief. Though he could tell losing her mother, even at such a young age, affected her much more that it affected her brother; she wasn't as happy and carefree as she once was.

She would often get into fights as she was never one to suffer fools lightly. Her tenacity and wariness around anyone as she grew made Rumple nervous, but she was relaxed enough around Bae and himself when she was at home, so he wasn't all that worried about her.

A 14-year-old Anna sat at the table, waiting for her father and brother return home before their supper got cold when she heard the sound of horses in the front yard. She ran outside to be greeted with a brigade of soldiers circling her with their horses, "What do you want?" She shouted boldly, keeping her chin up though she was shaking.

One man, who she could only assume was their leader by the grand red covering on his armor and horse, trotted up to her, "Where's your brother, girl?" He snapped, ready to get a move on. He had brown hair and a scar running across his lip from his ear to his chin with sharp blue eyes; he looked menacing, but the girl wasn't scared.

Anna feigned innocence, "What are you talking about? I have no brother, it's just my papa and I." She lied smoothly. The man growled and his horse reared back, trying to scare her; it didn't work but she did step back, "I have no interest in your lies, wench! I know there is a boy here and he is of age to join the war!" Anna's eyes widened, 'no she couldn't lose Bae too.' The man smirked, "And if we can't have him, we'll take you instead!"

A hand grabbed the back of her tunic and she was lifted onto a horse. She screamed and tried to fight but she was not nearly as strong as the soldiers. Her hands were bound, and she was stuck on a horse with the callous soldier, tears springing to her eyes; she was terrified.

"What is going on here?!" a familiar voice called, and Anna cried out in relief, "Papa!" Her father stood a few yards from the tree line in front of the cottage, unfortunately, so was Baelfire. The leader suddenly grinned and gripped her face roughly, "I told you there was a boy here." He sang, his breath fanning over her face, stinking of rum and bad eggs. She recoiled and spat in his face. He growled and backhanded her, sending her flying from his horse.

"Anna!" Baelfire shouted and ran to her, only to get cut off by the soldiers' horse, "Not so fast boy, you've been skipping out on the draft." His face broke into a grin, revealing crooked and dirty teeth, "And we're gonna take your sister as payment, until you join." He reached down to grab the girl by her hair but she bit his hand and slapped his horse, sending it off into a gallop into the woods before the captain could get control of it.

"You will most certainly not be taking me anywhere!" She shouted at them, her eyes flashing, "I am a lady!" Bae ran over to her, undoing her bindings, "You should not have done that, Anna." He told her in a hushed tone and she groaned, "I was defending myself, Bae." The solider was talking to their father, but they couldn't hear. Anna knew her father was of the timid sort, that's why she did all the shopping and bargaining; she was not timid like her father, he told her she got that from her mother.

Rumple looked down in defeat and nodded, causing the man to grin and call his men away. The army returned from the forest as quick as they arrived. He hurried over to his children, limping as fast as his cane would allow.

He cupped Annabeth's cheek gently, "Are you alright, Anna?" She shrugged off his hand, "I'm fine, Papa. What happened with the captain? What's going to happen to Bae?" She asked, clinging to her brother as if he would disappear completely.

He sighed, "There's nothing I can do, I'm afraid. Bae has to leave tomorrow for the army." Anna's face crumpled, "No! I can't believe you won't do anything, you coward! He's your son!" She shouted and ran into the house, throwing herself into her bed and underneath the covers to hide from the world.

Outside, Baelfire looked at his father with mixed emotions in his brown eyes, "I'm sure she didn't mean any of that, Papa. She's just upset." He looked towards the hut, "I'm going to go check on her." The boy made his way to the cottage and Rumple watched him go, his hand tight around his walking stick; he was going to take the stranger up on his deal.

Bae sat on the edge of his sister's bed, not sure how to comfort her. She peeked her head out of the blankets and threw herself at him, sobbing into his chest, "Don't go, Bae! I can't lose you too!" her muffled cries surprised him, they didn't talk about their mother's death often.

But he held her close and shushed her, telling her it would be alright. She slumped against him and he lay down with her, much like he did when they were younger; her head on his chest and him drawing circles on her back to calm her.

Night had fallen, and Anna had long fallen asleep, shuddering breaths every now and then. Bae hadn't moved from his spot on her bed; he was looking towards the door, waiting for his father, who had never returned from outside. He sincerely hoped he hadn't taken that stranger up on his offer.

Bae's eyelids grew heavy and he fell into a deep sleep, snuggling with his sister for the last time; he didn't know when he'd see her next, with him going off to the army. He could only wish that this whole thing was just a bad dream and when he woke up, everything would be as it should be.

OoOoO

Anna was in her willow tree, looking up at the moon; except she wasn't. She knew this of course because she didn't recognize the forest around her. She looked around, noting the vines and thick, heavy air that seemed to weigh her down; it wasn't like the cool, light night air she was used to.

Narrowing her watery eyes, she slipped down the tree and looked around, "Annabeth, it's good to see you again." Eyes wide and grin even wider, the girl turned to see a familiar blonde boy leaning against the tree opposite her, "Peter!" She shouted, throwing herself at him. He caught her in his arms and held her close as she nuzzled into his chest, "I missed you, Peter!"

He chuckled, his hand coming up to play with her curls, "I missed you too, Anna." She pulled away with a smile, looking around again, "Where are we? How am I here? Why am I here?" He laughed at her rambling, "Slow down, Anna." She took a breath, still grinning like a fool, waiting for answers to her questions. He held out his hand, "I'll show you." She grabbed his arm and he snapped his fingers, transporting them in a cloud of green smoke to a cliff side overseeing a beautiful bay with gorgeous waterfalls.

Annabeth giggled, amazed, "Peter, it's amazing! What is this place?" He returned her smile, waving an arm across the scene, "Welcome to Neverland!" She looked up at him, confusion coloring her eyes, "How did I get here? I thought you said this place was a myth."

He shrugged, "I live here, sometimes children come here in their dreams; but only certain children." She tilted her head, "What kind of children come here?" Instead of answering, Peter sat on a bolder and posed a question of his own, "What happened before you fell asleep?"

Her brows furrowed, "Well, Bae was comforting me." The boy frowned, "Why? What happened?" Anna swallowed, "He's going away to fight in the ogre wars in the morning," Tears welled up again, "I don't want to lose him like I lost my mother." Peter's frown deepened, "I'm sorry, dear." He stood and took her in his arms again.

"Only children who feel abandoned and alone can come here." Anna broke away from him, "I don't feel abandoned or alone! I'll still have my papa." Peter grabbed her by the shoulders, "A man who would let his only son be taken from him, a coward. You're here for a reason, Anna. Do you really think he'll be there for you?"

She frowned, her brows furrowing, "I- my papa loves me! He said he would never leave me!" Anna tore herself away from him, "I would like to go home now, please."

Peter gave her a hurt look, "Don't you want to see what else is here? I could show you around." She shared his look, looking at him with sad eyes, "I'm sorry, Peter, but I want to go home." The boy nodded and took her by the shoulders again, "If that's what you truly desire, I will send you back."

He leaned in and brushed a kiss on her forehead, "I hope to see you soon, Annabeth."

OoOoO

Her eyes snapped open and she looked around. The jungle was gone, and she was in her bed again; Bae was still there, curled up at the edge of the bed. It was still dark outside the window, but the dawn was beginning to break, and she looked over at her brother. She smoothed back the brown hair matted with sweat from his forehead, "I don't want to lose you, Bae."

She sat like that until she heard the horses in the distance, then she shook her brother awake, "Wake up, Bae. We have to go! Bae!" He woke with a start and caught her shoulders, "Anna, what's going on?" She shook her head and pulled at his arm, "Bae, we have to go! The army is here!" His brown eyes went wide and suddenly the door burst open and soldiers poured in. They grabbed both siblings and pulled them apart.

"No! Bae!" Anna struggled against the soldier that held her, "Leave him alone!" In her thrashing, she knocked her head back into the man's face, making him cry out. As soon as she was loose, Anna made for the soldiers who held her brother, "No! I won't let you take him!" She pulled on their arms in a weak attempt to loosen their grip on her brother.

However, a strong arm grabbed her by the ponytail, yanking her back. She looked back and caught the eye of the man she had knocked in the face. She took pleasure in his broken nose but then grimaced as he pulled at her hair again.

Once they were properly handcuffed, the two were escorted outside and as they had seen how Anna had fought, the captain said that her spunk could benefit the army. They were led to a circle of horses, their heads up to give the illusion that they weren't scared; well, Anna wasn't scared, she was angry.

One of the men standing with the horses went down with a cry, startling the captain and the siblings. The man fell, revealing a dark character, dressed in a long robe. The captain fell to a knee, "Dark One." Anna and Bae exchanged looks of terror; it seemed that Anna's fire had burned out and was replaced with icy fear.

The captain rose, "No, who are you?" the Dark One let out a giggle, "What, don't you recognize me?" he lowered his hood revealing a sparkling being with bulbous golden eyes and an ugly grin, "Rumplestiltskin." The captain whispered in awe. The siblings looked at each other again; surely this thing couldn't be their papa.

Anna tried to take a step forward but was pulled back by Baelfire, "Papa?"

The being looked at her with a soft fondness in his golden eyes, "Anna, Bae." He said with a familiar warmth and Anna couldn't believe it; it was their papa! Then he looked around at all of the soldiers and, faster than they could react, he attacked, killing them where they stood. The soldiers holding the siblings left them, springing into action. Bae held his sister close, hiding her face from the gory scene.

But Anna saw it all, her papa wasn't the coward he once was; he was the Dark One now.

Once it was all over, Bae released his sister, but she kept her arms around him, "Papa, what happened to you?" Rumple looked over at the two, "You're safe now, don't you feel safe?" Anna shook her head, "I'm frightened." She pressed closer to her brother, "I'm not." Came the raspy reply, "I've protected what belongs to me. I'm not scared of anything!" the Dark One grinned maliciously.

Bae backed up, keeping Anna close to him, "Bae, I'm scared." She whispered, teary eyed and looking at their father, "I'm scared."


Again, lemme know what you guys think and if you want more! There's plenty left to upload!

Until next time Lovelies,

~Shikamaru'sLove