It wasn't difficult to convince Roland that going somewhere new was a good idea. All she had to do was kneel down next to him and ask if he wanted to go live somewhere else. He answered happily with a "yes!" but then looked down at the baby still draped over his arms. "But what about my sister? What about baby Neal? Can they come too?"

"No," she answered giving the girls cheek a small stroke. "They need to stay here where they can sleep. They'll be safe here, and you'll be safe where you are going too, but you don't just need a place to sleep, you need a place to play and be noisy and learn…do you want that?"

He looked down at the baby again but eventually nodded. "Can I come visit?"

She smiled. "Of course you can!"

After that she didn't waste time, it was going to be dinner time in a couple of hours, and she wanted Roland to be part of that. She took the baby from his arms, changed her, and packed up the little that Roland had there at the convent, before departing. The nuns waved good-bye, but it was too happily for her to be convinced that they'd miss having the young child with them. It was surprising, she'd watched Roland for a number of days at Regina's castle and never found him to be a hassle. Obviously, these women weren't cut out for long-term child care in more than one way.

She put Roland in the car and they made one final stop at Regina's to pick up whatever he wanted for "a week or so". "Is that how long before I see Daddy and Regina again?" he asked as he used one of Henry's old backpacks to put toys into.

She opened her mouth to answer but had to close it again. Should she tell him the truth? That she didn't really know? That they were already late getting home? What was she supposed to say to the boy?

"Well…it might be a little less, it might be a little longer. But you'll be comfortable until he's back this way, happier, don't you think?"

He nodded and finished putting his toys in the backpack. She helped him into it and he declared himself "ready". Roland and his things packed in the car she began to drive once more, passed houses and roads and trees and then more trees. She drove Roland almost out to the edge of town, deep into the woods where there was no electricity or homes. Only tents. And men who cooked over an open fire, never seemed affected by the cold, and smiled wide when they saw the small boy.

"Roland!"

"Little John!" he cried running over and launching himself into the air. The large man caught him and laughed as he secured him against his side.

"Where have you been, little man?"

"Everywhere! I went to Camelot!"

"I know that, I heard you are a hero! That you saved the whole town."

"What?! I didn't do that!"

"Says who?"

"Says me!"

"Maybe you are just talking to the wrong people!" The boy let out a giggle as John tickled his side. "Where's your father, kid?"

"He's gone, Belle brought me," he said motioning over to where she was standing and smiling at them. It was only then that John looked over and noticed her standing there. He kept his smile, but she could see it falter in his eyes, as if he knew that bad news was coming.

"Eh, Roland, why don't you run along, show the guys what you brought. We're about to have dinner."

"Deer?"

"Goose!"

"Yes!" he exclaimed wriggling out of the man's arms. "We never had goose at the church! Hi everyone!" he hollered running over to the merry men.

She heard distance shouts calling his name happily and she felt assurance slip through her body. She knew this was the right place to put him.

"Belle…" John muttered stepping up to her. "It's been a while, Robin's not…"

"What? Oh! No! No, absolutely not!" Little John sighed, and she instantly felt guilty. She should have known that would be the first thing that they'd think if she randomly turned up to deliver Roland to them.

"We heard news of a funeral in town but hadn't heard who it was for. When I saw Roland…"

"He's fine," she assured him again. "At least I think he is, the funeral wasn't for him. It was for Killian."

"Jones? Captain Hook?!"

She nodded, somewhat shocked that the news of what had happened hadn't made its way out here, but on the other hand she supposed she shouldn't be surprised. It wasn't as if they got the Mirror every morning and Robin hadn't even really had time to stop by and say hello to his children since Killian had died, it wasn't that surprising that he hadn't made it out here to tell the merry men. And they weren't like Will. Little John was their default leader and he didn't have a life or reason to go to town like Will had.

"Um…" she sighed and shoved some hair out of her face as she glanced around to be sure Roland was happy before arriving back at Little John. She wished that she wasn't the one to have to do this. She hadn't even really been there. "I don't really know what you know."

"Last I heard Emma was the Dark One and Robin was staying in town with Regina while they tried to figure out where their memory of what happened in Camelot went. We helped herd the wandering Camelotians into the campsite a few weeks ago but beyond that…"

"Well…the short version is that the curse is over!" she offered cautiously as good news. May as well start with the good part. "Turns out that Emma wasn't the only Dark One, she made Killian one in Camelot, which we only remembered when we got our memories back, by the way, and a few days ago the curse ended. Emma escaped without a scrape but Killian…I don't know. I wasn't there, everything I heard came from Henry, but Killian didn't make it."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

She shook her head. Killian had been…an acquaintance, perhaps. At best. They'd never exactly been friends and their meetings had become more of an effort in tolerance, though they had gained their trust in the end. She was sad that he was gone, but she wasn't crushed the way that she'd been when Neal died. "I'll pass on your condolences."

"Why is Robin not here to accept them personally?"

"Ah…because he's not in Storybrooke at the moment." And now for the bad news.

"Another adventure."

Another adventure? Was that really what this was? "I'm not sure I'd call it that. Emma was determined to get Killian back, so she went to get him in the Underworld."

"Which means half the town is gone again, including her majesty and-"

"And about a half dozen other people we love."

"So what else is new? Besides the fact that you aren't with them this time."

She shook her head. "It's complicated." And if she had known that it was going to be longer than the day that Rumple had said she would have gone with them whether he liked it or not. But she'd trusted him to trust Emma and Mary Margaret and David. judgment his trust that was broken. Just theirs.

"Listen…Robin's daughter was born a few days ago-"

"Daughter? The witch was only supposed to be a few months pregnant!"

"Yeah…Emma sped up the pregnancy. The reasons why are long and also complicated but they don't really matter anymore. What is important is Roland and the baby."

"It's a girl?" John smiled with something like excitement.

She nodded and let herself beam as well. "Yeah it's a girl. Robin hasn't given her a name yet!"

"How can he? He doesn't know her well enough yet."

He doesn't know her, that same excuse that Roland had given her and Mother Superior. "Right…" She was beginning to think this was some kind of tradition she'd never heard of before. But odd as it was to her she had to remember that, like the way she'd come into this world, her name didn't matter, what was important was the safety and welfare of Roland and his sister. His sister, she was confident, was fine. And Roland looked happy out here in the woods with his friends, the people he'd known since he was small, but she had to be sure before she left him.

"Listen, a few days ago the kids were in a bit of danger from Zelena and some other dark forces. The danger has passed, the darkness is gone and Zelena was sent back to Oz, but that doesn't mean that there isn't danger lurking around every corner in Storybrooke."

"You want to know if Roland is safe with us? With his family?!"

"It's not personal," she excused at the accusation. "The kids have been staying with the nuns in the convent, that's where the baby is now, with little Neal. Roland isn't cut out for that life and they aren't prepared to deal with a child his age full time-"

"But we are," he quickly assured her. "The boy is one of us, he was born into this clan and we've cared for him all our lives, that won't change now. The girl is with fairies and that's fine, I trust your judgement, but there is no reason why we wouldn't stand by and keep him safe. We always have and we always will...for both of them."

She smiled and over his shoulder watched as one of the men hoisted Roland up onto his shoulders. Roland beamed and put his small hands over his forehead and turned to "steer" the man. Five minutes and she already knew this was the right place. This had been a good idea. "I believe you," she assured him as the man sat Roland down and they began to inspect the fire pit. It didn't mean she was ready to bring his daughter here, she still stood by that decision, but she was feeling confident this was right for Roland.

She probably should have left right then and there, but the fire pit had reminded her of another conversation she'd just had. "You know…he's the right age for school. Do you know if Robin enrolled him or..."

"That's not our way," John answered. "We'll teach him what he needs to know."

What he needed to know…what did Roland need to know? Right now he appeared to be learning how to make a fire and that was great for living in the woods! But he wouldn't always live in the woods, would he?"

"How much longer do you all intend to stay out here?" she questioned timidly looking over their tents and fire pit. It was cozy and she understood being attached to it and traditions…but they were here now. This wasn't the Enchanted Forest. There was more for Roland to learn than just how to make a fire. That might have been alright at home, but here? "I mean…it's going to get cold soon, colder than it is now, wouldn't you be better off in houses instead of tents?"

"We are men of the woods," John answered respectfully without a hint of insult. "I think it would kill our spirit to live anywhere else."

"Robin doesn't live in the woods, he lives with Regina."

"Robin has found love, he's found a new source for his spirit. We haven't found anything like that here."

He was confident, but there was an edge to his voice that made her sadden. She loved Storybrooke, truly she did. If someone had told her growing up that she would ever find home in a place like this she would have laughed. Of course, she'd liked the Enchanted Forest too, and it would always be "home" in some way, but given the two options she'd choose Storybrooke over and over. She liked the opportunities it awarded her. She couldn't imagine being here and not finding it as comfortable as it was. She couldn't imagine feeling like they would have, especially knowing their leader was comfortable somewhere they weren't. Their lifestyle was just odd for Storybrooke, maybe it was what was holding them back.

"Perhaps you need to think about a life that doesn't include Robin, think about what's best for each of you other than the group."

Little John chuckled, which naturally turned into a belly laugh. "We've never thought of ourselves as individuals, it's just not who we are. But we have been thinking lately, and talking. It hasn't escaped our notice how happy Robin is and how pointless our own lives feel…there's been talk about going back to the Enchanted Forest, resurrecting what we had of our life there. It was…better than this."

Going back to the Enchanted Forest. Going back…without Robin? Without Roland and their newest companion?! It was clear that the idea was not an easy one for John to handle and he wasn't the only one. She didn't even know if going back to the Enchanted Forest was possible, but it was devastating to think of them being gone completely, unable to fit in here and run off.

"Are you sure that's the right thing to do? You haven't even been here a year!"

"We're sure. Some things you just know and home…we know it's where the heart is. Even here in the woods we all know that our hearts are far away and that means home is too."

She felt a lump form in her throat and her head told her to say something but couldn't think of the words that she should try to convince him otherwise. Maybe there wasn't anything to be said. Between here and the Enchanted Forest she'd choose Storybrooke, they had the same right to choose the Enchanted Forest. It was a sad fact, but it was the truth.

"Well…at least wait, talk to Robin when he gets back. If going back is what you really want, then I'm sure he'd support you. And I'll do my best to find you a way back."

John beamed as he looked at her. "That's kind of you. Until then you have nothing to fear, Roland will remain here with us until his father returns. And you are welcome to visit as often as you like, he speaks highly of you."

That made her beam even through what she'd learned. "Thank you."

Okey Dokey, sometimes I write safety chapters into my own fictions. That is, chapters that plant a seed in a character's mind that may or may not come to fruition so that later in the series if something should come out of it I can point to the safety chapter and say "Ha! No need for editing because I already planned for it. This scene initially existed only for the Merry Men. Because out of nowhere they just decided to go back to the Enchanted Forest, and I get it in the wake of Robin's death...not so random, but random enough that it bothered me and I wanted to prompt it. But later, around the time I was writing this chapter, a spoiler emerged. You might know the one. It was the script picture from 6x08. And though it was difficult to read, what people could make out was "Belle wants to leave with her unborn son" (or something along those lines). I decided to add just a little bit more into this chapter for this spoiler. Just in case. And now I'm glad I did. Plus, I have always said (and I'm still hoping I'll be right) that the end game for Rumple and Belle will be them leaving Storybrooke together to really have a fresh start. Love it or hate it, just my theory.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Fox24, Grace5231973, and Teresa Martin, for your comments on the last chapter. I really appreciate the way that others still like the main idea of Moments, which was always to fill in these blank spots where we don't get as much information. I'm happy you are liking it. Peace and Happy Reading!