A New Song

Little Rose Red, barely 11 years old, stood on the balcony of her cousin, Snow White's castle, in the small guest room next to Snow's that she often occupied when she came to visit her cousin. She'd been with Snow, at her side, ever since her mother, Queen Eva, had died a few short years ago. She wasn't about to leave her now, especially not when, in 2 days time, Snow would have a new mother in a lovely woman called Regina. She shifted as she stood at the edge of the balcony, just barely tall enough to see over it and rest her arms and chin on it, and looked out into the dark of the night. Regina was 18 years old, that was only five years older than Snow was, she'd felt it would be better for Regina to be a sister than a mother to her cousin, but Snow was enamored with the woman, just adored her and could already see her as a mother figure. She didn't like it, but she couldn't bring herself to say it so plainly to Snow. SHE still had both her parents and poor Snow had lost one already. To say anything and risk upsetting her or causing the wedding to be put to a hold would upset her cousin even more to lose a second chance at having a mother.

She couldn't help but feel sorry for Regina, the woman tried to smile, but she could always tell that it was forced, that she seemed alone and afraid and unhappy. Her uncle Leopold always went on about how he wanted the people of his kingdom to be happy…yet he was making Regina unhappy in marrying her.

She could tell, because she could see a figure riding a dark horse away from the castle right that moment and could see it was Regina. She was trying to escape and a traitorous part of her hoped that Regina would manage it. It was such a clear sign she didn't want this to happen, that Regina was willing to run away in the middle of the night, and she just hoped whatever the woman decided to do would make her happy in the end.

She smiled softly, thinking about that, happy endings and true love and everything Regina had told Snow that Snow had told her. Her cousin was very poor at keeping secrets, she knew that, it was why she always ended up in trouble with the kitchen staff or the cleaning servants, Snow would always giggle and tell others about the tricks she'd pull on them and it would get back to her parents or uncle or the staff and she'd be reprimanded for it. But what Snow had told her about the things Regina said were lovely. She wasn't usually a fan of things as sappy as happy endings and true love, it was a nice story, but she had seen enough of the people around her to know that it only happened sometimes. Snow always saw everything as if people were good at heart, that they should have second and third and fourth chances and that not one would ever do something to hurt another person. SHE was more realistic, she had seen men fight, she'd seen women crying from being hurt, she'd seen little boys pushing girls around, she'd seen girls biting little boys. She saw many things when people thought she wasn't paying attention, the world was full of good people, yes, but it was also full of BAD people too. Snow seemed to think everyone was good, but she knew everyone could be both or even just be bad.

If…if true love and a happy ending DID exist for her though…well, that would be nice. But she wasn't going to spend the rest of her life pining and dreaming of it. She WAS only 11 and the thought of boys and kissing was just disgusting to her still. Besides, she was a princess, one day she'd be a queen whether or not she had a king or a prince at her side. She didn't need a boy to be a good ruler or a strong woman and any man that tried to woo her or whatever that was called would have to let her be. She saw how her mother had had to change, a little, compared to what she knew of Sirens, to be accepted at court. She saw how Regina would have to change too, to be queen. She knew Regina loved riding horses and wasn't very good at doing hair and things like that, but she'd have to stop because Queens didn't ride horses like Regina did and Queens, especially mothers, needed to do their hair properly.

It was weird and she didn't like it.

She'd want to marry someone who would just let her be who she was. Someone who made her better without actively trying to change her. Someone who just…made her want to be a better and stronger person without making her feel like she HAD to be that to keep their interest.

She let out a sigh and turned to go to her bed, it was late and tomorrow would be the day before the wedding and there would be A LOT to do. She didn't understand the point of weddings either, they were just a large spectacle, if two people loved each other, why did they need a ceremony and to prove it to other people with it?

Adults made no sense.

~8~

Rose sat across from Snow as the girl had her hair brushed by Regina the next morning. She was on a chair with a piece of cloth in her lap, a needle and thread in her hand as she tried to string it through the needle but kept failing…over and over and over. She didn't understand the point of embroidery or stitching either but it was apparently expected of proper young ladies. Snow and Regina were on the edge of Regina's bed, the woman's jewelry box sitting out in front of them but a little to the side on the bedside table. Rose eyed the soon-to-be queen as she brushed Snow's hair in a near methodical way, as though she were merely going through the motions instead of genuinely enjoying the bonding time.

She didn't understand why Regina was there, she'd seemed so keen to leave the castle just last night, the way she'd taken off on her horse into the night. She'd actually expected to wake up and see that Regina was gone and try to help a little with coming up with a story to keep her uncle from searching for her, maybe give her a head start. She felt like she (and probably Regina) were the only ones against this wedding happening. She didn't really know why she was so set against it, secretly though. It was probably largely to do with how unhappy Regina seemed to be even when she was smiling. Maybe it had a bit to do with the fact that she felt like her own mother was enough of a role-model for Snow that she shouldn't feel the need to need another mother in her life. Mostly it was just that, as Regina said about love, it was supposed to be true.

Her parents made it clear to her that, while they would expect (or at least hope) she would one day wed someone, that while they would give her suitors to pick from, if she didn't love them then they wouldn't force her to marry. It was the same for Snow as well. Their parents had both married for people they felt at least a bit of love for and had grown to love. They wanted their girls to experience something like that, true and deep love. Regina had only met the king days ago and on top of that her uncle Leopold had proposed the second he saw Regina. She'd heard him talking to his advisors about it, about how to reward the woman and when Snow asked him to ask Regina to be her new mother she'd heard him talking.

He was marrying Regina as a thank you and because he felt Snow needed a mother. He wasn't marrying her because he loved her, he was still very much in love with Eva she could tell. And that was wrong, the marriage wasn't needed. She knew a few kingdoms used marriage to act like a political thing, to make a treaty or create an alliance, but there was no reason for it here. Leopold wasn't at war with anyone, Snow would be a young woman in just a few years, Regina was too young, and it just felt SO wrong to her. Marriage should be about love and NOT a thank you and to force motherhood on someone.

"What do you think, Snow?" Regina asked and Rose looked up to see that, as her thoughts got away from her more and more, Regina had finished brushing Snow's hair and had done it up a little bit.

"It looks beautiful," Snow smiled as she looked in a mirror to see her hair.

"No, dear," Regina forced another smile, "You look beautiful."

"You are very pretty Snow," Rose added, "You as well Regina."

"Thank you dear," Regina gave her a more genuine smile for that. She noticed that if she and Snow gave her the same sort of compliment, that Regina was more genuine with her than Snow. She supposed maybe it had to do with the fact that Snow had told her secret to both her and Cora and Regina was a little upset about the broken promise as SHE hadn't said a word, but she wasn't sure.

She should be more genuine with Snow though, Snow was the one about to become her daughter.

"Do you need any help Rose?" Regina asked, nodding at the needle and thread she was still failing to string.

"No thank you," she tried to smile back though she was sure it came out as a grimace, "I'm…just not good at sewing stuff."

Regina gave a small laugh and leaned in as though telling her a secret, "Neither am I," she winked.

Snow's gaze drifted over to the jewelry box and she reached in to pick up a rather simple ring on a small gold chain, "What's this?"

"What?" Regina leaned back to her original sitting position, her expression falling when she saw the ring, Rose watching as she swallowed hard, "That's mine."

"Are you alright Regina?" Rose frowned, hearing Regina's voice waver.

"Yes," Regina cleared her throat, "I'm fine. Thank you dear."

Snow smiled and put the ring around her neck, looking at it dangling there, "It's pretty. Where did you get it?"

Rose tilted her head seeing Regina's expression fall even more, whatever that ring was and wherever she got it from, it was upsetting her very much to think on, she could see the tears in Regina's eyes as her gaze grew more distant. But then she could see a sort of anger, a bitterness, and a sorrow in Regina's eyes as they slowly drifted to Snow, the girl just sitting there smiling away as she examined the ring. Regina's hands clenched into fists beside her, her expression turning more heartbroken and dark, and so Rose hopped off her seat and walked over.

"You shouldn't wear other people's stuff Snow," she reached out to take the ring off from around Snow's neck, "It's rude," she stuck out her tongue too, trying to lighten the situation.

"It IS pretty though," Snow defended.

Rose nodded, "Was it a gift from your mother?" she asked Regina.

Regina shook her head from her thoughts and looked a bit frightened for a moment, "I don't remember," she sighed, "I can't remember who gave it to me," she told them, reaching out to gently take the ring back and placed it into her box.

Rose watched the gentle look in Regina's eyes as she looked at the ring, she knew she was lying. She didn't doubt that Regina remembered exactly who gave her that ring and why, but she didn't say that out loud. For some reason, Regina's expression just then reminded her of when Snow brought up Daniel the other day at Regina's dress fitting. Maybe he'd given her the ring and, if that was true, she understood the sad expression, Regina had lost him and that had to hurt.

~8~

Rose was sleeping in her bed, the night before the wedding, the entire day having worn her out quite a bit. There were messes of final fittings and help with the centerpieces that Snow volunteered them both for. She had to try on her shoes, make sure she knew the dances that would be played, and then they had to do an entire run through of the wedding to ensure that she knew what her role was. It wasn't all that hard, she threw flowers (of all things, ROSE petals) along the aisle before Regina would walk down it. The flower girl as others called her. She and Snow had been given options, one would be the flower girl and the other carry the rings. Snow had, of course, immediately jumped at the chance to hold the rings that would symbolize her new parents' union and then HAD to bring up that her cousin was the one with the flower name so it was fitting that Rose be the one to throw the flowers everywhere.

She was ok with it, it was a special day and she could put up with flower jokes and puns and digs at her name for the sake of her cousin. But it had been a very long and trying day and all she wanted to do was just sleep till the ceremony and get it over with. She'd done it brilliantly though, her plans going accordingly, being asleep moments after her head hit the pillow…

Until she found herself blinking awake.

It was odd, it wasn't a jump awake, like in a nightmare, it wasn't even a slow awakening. It was just…waking. She was asleep one moment and opening her eyes the next but without the shock of something startling her awake either. She frowned, blinking slightly as she tried to work out what had woken her before she slowly pushed herself to sit up. She looked towards her door, eyeing it a moment before tilting her head and closing her eyes, listening.

And then she heard it, a faint song, a new song. It was a rather interesting one too, a little too interesting as she found herself getting out of bed, slipping on her little slippers and a small robe before she headed for her doors. Leopold trusted everyone in his kingdom, or at least in the castle, so there weren't any guards outside her room at the moment, there were some posted at the end of the wing though as it was the royal wing. Only she, Snow, Leopold, and Regina had rooms in this wing, and only they were allowed to enter it. So why had she heard a new song? It shouldn't have been possible that someone was there or she would have heard it building up as they passed her room. She could hear things, the songs of people, of their souls, and this one had appeared suddenly, had been what woke her initially.

And now she was curious to see what it was and who it was. The song was very nice, too, made her feel a little tingly and warm as she followed it down the hall to a small staircase up to where Regina was dwelling. She was in one of the side towers of the castle, till she wed Leopold tomorrow. She knew that whoever was up there with her had to have magic, for the song to suddenly appear and to appear without any guards being alerted? It had to be magic. And that was interesting. She and Snow had snuck into Cora's rooms where she and her husband Henry were staying once or twice after they learned Daniel had disappeared and seen Cora doing magic. It always interested her, different types of magic, ever since she found out she had magic of her own, she wanted to know about others. She didn't want to learn how to use other magics, her songs were enough, but she was curious about the other forms of magic out there.

She could tell by how…old the song felt, having a sort of ancient quality to it, that the magic user up in Regina's rooms had to be very powerful and had their magic for a very long time.

She reached the top of the stairs, having gone up them slowly and quietly so as not to disturb Regina and made her way towards the doors at the end of the short hall, now able to hear voices, muffled though they were through the other side. She couldn't make out what was being said, but she could hear another voice in there with Regina's before they went silent.

"Eavesdropping is rude dearie," a voice said behind her, but she didn't gasp or spin around in shock, she'd heard the song fade from inside the room and sound louder behind her a moment before the voice had spoken.

She turned slowly though, eyeing the man before her. He was tall, thin, with wavy hair down to his shoulders and what looked like gold flecked skin, or really small scales of gold as skin. His eyes were wide and colored, almost unnatural and his grin revealed some rather bad teeth, but he was dressed like a lord, and seemed a little too gleeful to be a regular man.

"Who are you?" she asked instead, "And why did you come to Regina's room and nowhere else? If you can magic yourself here…"

"How do you know I didn't go stealing from the treasury?" he grinned, "I could be a thief in the night."

Rose blinked, "Because I heard your song HERE and not somewhere else."

The man blinked at her this time, "Heard my song?"

Rose nodded, "It's a nice song."

"Nice?" he scoffed, giggling at that, "I'm hardly nice dearie."

"Well you're not all that scary either," she countered, crossing her arms and looking up at him.

"I'm Rumpelstiltskin, dear," he smirked darkly, "I'm the Dark One."

"You're more glittery than dark."

Rumpelstiltskin blinked again and stared at her, "Glittery."

"And gold," she nodded, "I like that color."

"You like gold?"

She rolled her eyes and huffed, "I like the COLOR," she repeated, adults never listened.

"Why?" he tilted his head at her.

"Why do you like making gold?"

He grinned, "So you HAVE heard of me," he eyed her, "And yet you're not scared of me?"

"No."

"Really?" he gave her an incredulous look at that, he'd met grown men who cowered at his presence.

"I know what I'm scared of and it's not funny looking men."

He nearly scoffed at the 'funny looking' remark but inquired instead, "Is that so?"

"Are you here to hurt Snow White?" she blinked up at him.

"No," he frowned, not sure what that had to do with anything.

"Then why would I be afraid of you?"

"Because I'm dangerous?" he supplied, "I could easily snap your neck dearie."

"You haven't hurt me yet," she reasoned.

"But I could."

"But you haven't."

"But I could."

"So do it."

His jaw nearly dropped open at the challenge in her voice, but he saw a small smirk on her face like she knew she won, like she knew he wouldn't, "You are…an interesting little girl."

Rose shifted at that, "People say that a lot."

He frowned slightly, "You don't agree?"

"It's the WAY they say it," she glanced at him, "In a bad way."

He nodded slowly at that, he'd gotten many a 'compliment' in his life that was more an insult, "That must make you angry."

"No," she shrugged, "It doesn't bother me so much anymore."

"And why's that?" he eyed her.

"Cos one day they'll stop."

"And how do you know that?"

"I'll make them stop."

He straightened at that, the tone of her voice, there was an edge in it he wasn't expecting from what looked like a ten year old girl. There was a hint of darkness in her already, a hint that shouldn't have been in one that should be more innocent. It was intriguing to see, "Oh will you?" she nodded, "And how do you plan to do that?"

"That's for me to know and them to find out," she lifted her chin with a smirk.

"I like you dearie," he remarked, "You've quite a future ahead of you with a mind like that," he looked at her a moment longer, "There's a power in you too," he considered his words, considered her, examining her as though sizing up her potential, "You said my…song was nice?"

She nodded, "It makes me feel warm," she told him, a small smile on her face, "I like it. It's pretty."

He nearly laughed at that, the thought of him and 'pretty' in the same sentence was not something he heard every day, "Well then," he gave an extravagant bow, "Pleased to be of service," she gave a tiny curtsy back before yawning, "It seems to me you'd best get back to bed. It appears you and the queen-to-be shall have a busy day ahead of you."

Rose nodded, "Will you be at the wedding too?" she asked, thinking perhaps he was a friend of Regina's.

"Oh I wouldn't miss it for the world," he grinned, watching as the little girl smiled at that and walked back down the stairs as though it were an everyday occurrence to have a conversation with the Dark One and live to tell the tale.

Yes, interesting indeed.

~8~

The wedding had been just lovely, truly an exquisite affair for all the royals of the kingdom to attend, it was just a joy to be there. The kingdom had gotten to see a lovely new queen crowned, their king wed, their princess receive another mother. They had seen the start of a new era in a fantastically beautiful ceremony. It had given them all so much hope that, if their king could find love again, then so could they all find love too. It had given them hope that their kingdom would continue to flourish and their princess would grow, with guidance, into a magnificent Queen.

Rose Red stood to the side of the banquet hall, watching as Leopold sat at a long table, Regina beside him on his right, Snow on his left, an empty space beside Snow where she was sitting but she'd gone to get a small bun off a table on the other side of the room, or that's what she told Snow. Really it was that she could hear it, the song, Rumpelstiltskin's song and she knew he was there, just as he'd mentioned he would be. She had something she wanted to ask him, something odd she'd noticed about the wedding that no one had really commented on after Regina said the woman was ill but that didn't sit right with her. Cora, from all she knew, had been the biggest supporter of this marriage from the start. She struck her as a woman that would be there even on her deathbed to see Regina get married.

But she'd been mysteriously absent.

"Did you make it so Cora was gone?" she asked seemingly thin air as she stood there, making it look like she was taking a moment to observe the dancing going on before her, only to look to the side and see the man standing there next to her, appearing out of nowhere.

"What makes you think she's dead dearie?" the man grinned.

"I said gone," she frowned at him, "Is there gold in your ears because you don't listen well."

He should have been offended by that, should have struck her, cursed her, used magic or something as it wouldn't have mattered to him that she was a child, he'd done worse to other children in the past, but he found himself giggling at that, "You did indeed," he agreed though he said nothing about the second half of her statement.

"I heard Cora's song stop," she shrugged, looking back at the crowd, "Mother said that if it stops suddenly it means someone's either very far away and were sent there with magic or they're dead. There was no body…"

Rumpelstiltskin eyed her for that, the girl spoke of death and bodies as though she were talking about the weather, such a curious little girl, "Cora has been sent somewhere she can't control Regina's life any longer," he left it at that.

Rose nodded, "Where did she go?"

"Another realm."

"Which one?"

"Why do you ask?" he glanced at her, "Wish to launch a rescue party?"

"No," Rose said simply, "I want to keep Snow away from her."

"And why's that?"

"Cora's song has a note missing," Rose stated, "Her…heart is gone," she glanced at Regina, "I don't think people without hearts are good people. Snow shouldn't be around people like that."

"Keen observation dearie," he looked at her, impressed.

Rose just glanced up at him, "You helped free Regina?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

He blinked and, of a single moment he felt…guilt, he actually felt a genuine guilt over what he'd done. He knew Cora, he had gotten her to this point, he knew what Regina's role would be in the grand scheme of things to come, he was already plotting how he could control her life, mould her into the monster he needed her to be to do what he needed of her. Cora had been in the way, with HER controlling Regina's life there would have been no room for him to whisper in her ear and guide her. But now…now that Cora was gone, banished through a looking glass he'd given Regina by Regina herself, and now that he'd convinced Regina to stay and wed Leopold, he could do it. He could shape the woman into what he needed, keep her as broken as her mother had made her all for his plans to take hold.

And this little girl, completely unaware of his plans for the woman, of the evils Regina was sure to do, had just thanked him for helping her.

"Don't thank me yet dearie," he murmured in that moment of weakness.

Rose just shrugged and looked back at the party, before leaving his side without another word and heading to her cousin's side once more.

Rumpelstiltskin remained standing there though, looking at her from across the room. That little girl…he could tell there was something odd about her, something different. It went beyond her just being half-Siren, oh he knew all about the girl's bloodline and lineage. He had done his research about this family, he knew about her mother and father, her cousin. She reminded him slightly of the Sirens of the Sea he'd dealt with in the past, but only slightly, she was far warmer than them, though she appeared less scared of him, less startled by his presence. She knew who he was, what he'd done, the stories about him and she'd just carried on a conversation like it was nothing.

He knew it was a common trait among Sirens, they had a difficult time 'caring' in general about anyone outside their families, but that was unique to him, especially considering she was half human too. Still, that girl was interesting to observe. He could admit she'd piqued his interest with her comments and how she reacted to him, she seemed to be not repulsed by his skin, something a little offputting to others, and had no care for the dark deeds he'd done. It was a rare occurence to find a child like that, most ran screaming or froze in fear around him.

He tilted his head as he watched her interact with her cousin, the girl smiling and acting like a normal child, quite different to the persona she'd had around him only minutes ago. He was tempted, for a moment, to look into the future, into HER future, as was his ability, and see what the future might hold for the girl. He could tell she would become something unique but what? He could take a peek, he could sneak a glance, see for himself what she'd become.

But then he grinned and giggled and shook his head, no…that girl was a little too interesting to ruin the surprise. He'd rather see what came of all this, what would become of her, and be surprised for once. Besides, he had to focus on his newest pupil, Regina, and if he knew what Rose Red would become he might find his attention focusing on her instead and he knew in his dark heart it had to be Regina to cast the curse he'd created, she was the one.

As he'd thought before, Sirens were difficult creatures to find a care for someone, it would make it hard for her to cast the curse when she grew older, but Regina…she could do it. Yes…he'd much rather wait and see if his and Rose Red's paths might cross again one day and he was slightly surprised to find he was genuinely hoping they would.

She truly was quite the interesting little girl.

A/N: Hmm...seems the Dark Rose first meeting happened earlier than we thought }:)

Some notes on reviews...

Yup, he's a fireman, and the same brother that wouldn't give up the racecar too -sigh- I've sort of come to just expect some sort of fight around any sort of holiday at this point :(