They rode farther into the forest until they finally stopped. They pulled over onto the side of the road. Rumple climbed out of the carriage and helped Belle out. Rose started to exit the carriage as well, but Rumple stopped her.

"Rose, you stay in the carriage." She pouted.

"Why? I wanna come."

"I know, sweetheart, but this isn't something you should witness. Stay in the carriage and don't leave for any reason. We shouldn't be long." She pouted again, but settled back into the carriage.

"Okay, Papa." Rumple stepped back and waved his hand. A purple glow surrounded it and the carriage. He approached it again.

"I've put an enchantment on the carriage. No one will be able to see it but us. It's very important that you stay inside the carriage until we return. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Papa."

"Good girl. We'll be back soon." He kissed her forehead and turned towards Belle. He gestured for her to follow him. They disappeared into the thick woods. Rose was alone in the carriage. She couldn't even leave the carriage to play with the horses. She didn't like it, but she always did what her papa said. She's never once disobeyed him and she wasn't going to start now. If she left the carriage and he found out, she feared he would never let her outside the castle walls again. She turned her attention to the doll she brought with her. The doll had long black hair and deep green eyes. It was always her favorite, but she couldn't explain why. It just was.

When she was bored of the doll, she turned her attention to the forest. She hoped to see more of the little creatures that lived there. She then saw a rabbit with brown fur hop onto the road. Rose held her breath and watched it. She knew rabbits were very timid creatures and the smallest sound would scare them off. It stood on its hind legs and sniffed the air. Rose loved the way its little nose and big ears would twitch. It quickly darted back into the woods. Rose soon heard why. It was the familiar sound of horses trotting.

Rose looked down the road and saw the source of the noise. It was a large black carriage pulled by four black horses. There was a man in black armor holding the reigns. His face was covered by a black cover. Rose was unsettled by the sight and instinctively ducked down as it passed. The carriage was followed by two more men in the same armor on two other black horses. The carriage then stopped. Rose felt nervous. She knew she was protected by the enchantment that made the carriage invisible and the gold bracelet that blocked out anyone's magic, but she couldn't help the strange feeling of dread that flooded over her when the carriage door opened. A woman stepped out of it. She wore a long red coat with black leather pants and boots. Rose felt something familiar about the woman, yet she had never seen her before. Apart of her knew she should fear this woman and not interact with her. One of her soldiers approached her.

"What is it, your majesty?" The woman approached the carriage and looked in it's direction. Rose wondered why. No one else should be able to see it.

"There's something here. Hidden with magic." Rose's eyes widened in fear. The woman knew the carriage was there. Rose suddenly felt in danger. She slid to the other side of the carriage seat to get away from the woman. Something told her to run. Jump out of the carriage and run and find her papa. She looked out to the forest. It was thick and foggy. She didn't know how she was going to find him, but she knew she needed to. She put her hood on and grabbed her doll. She looked back to the woman who was a lot closer. Without a second thought, she slipped out the other side and took off. "There! Get her!"

Rose looked back and saw two of the soldiers chasing after her. She turned back and began to run faster. Her only thought was to find her papa and Belle. Suddenly, the roots of the trees moved beneath her feet. They came alive and tried to grab her. When they got close enough to her, they were repelled by the enchantment on the bracelet she wore. No one's magic could touch her except her papa's and he didn't seem to be anywhere around. She needed to find him soon.

Rumple and Belle were on their way back to the carriage. Rumple didn't accomplish his task of killing the thief. He claimed he missed his shot. Belle knew the bow never missed its target and he missed on purpose. The thief, also known as Robin Hood, had a pregnant wife and Rumple wouldn't let a child go fatherless. Not like he did or his father before him. He would never admit that, of course, but Belle knew.

"So, what are you going to tell Rose?" He looked to her.

"About what?"

"You know, the thief. She knows that you came to find him. What do you plan to tell her? Are you going to let her know that her papa let him go?"

"I don't see why she should know anything of this. She's a child. She'll soon forget about this whole endeavor and move on to the next thing." Belle wanted to respond, but something caught her ear and she stopped.

"Did you hear that?" Rumple stopped and looked to the young woman.

"Hear what?" Belle heard shuffling in the woods. It didn't sound like an animal wandering. It sounded like running.

"That." Belle took off. Rumple was confused, but followed anyway. Where was she going? What did she expect to find? Belle ran until she stood upon a small hill. She listened for the running sound. She heard it right before she saw who was running. She saw it was Rose and she was being chased by two men in black armor. Belle ran as fast as she could down the hill. One of the soldiers took out his sword as he got closer to Rose. He lifted it and slashed down at the child. Just in time, Belle made it to her to pull her out of the way, but the sword cut across her back. Rose scrambled out of her arms and looked down to see it was Belle.

"Belle!" Belle hissed and writhed from the pain in her back. Rose looked over and saw red seeping through Belle's cover. The two soldiers approached the two. Rose saw one holding the sword that cut Belle. It had a red tent along the blade. The soldiers spoke to each other.

"What of the woman?"

"Kill her. The queen only wants the child." Before either of them moved, they both disappeared in a purple smoke. Rose saw Rumple running towards them. Rose ran to him.

"Papa!" He picked her up and hugged her.

"Rose!" He put her down and looked at her. "What are you doing out here? I told you to stay in the carriage!"

"There was a lady. She knew the carriage was there. I ran. I was scared and I wanted to find you." There was only two women that could sense his magic and one of them was trapped in Wonderland. And by the look of the soldiers, it had to be Regina.

"Are you okay? Did they harm you?"

"No, but Belle's hurt." She pulled him over to her fallen caretaker. Rumple took a closer look and saw she was losing blood fast. He pulled Rose into his arms and turned her away from the sight. "Papa?"

"It's alright, flower. We need to get her back to the castle." He took Belle's hand and transported them back to the Dark Castle. They appeared in the main hall, but Rose saw that Belle was gone.

"Papa? Where's Belle?" He put her down and kneeled to her eye level.

"Don't worry about it. Everything will be okay." Before she could question him, he waved a hand over her face. He eyes went blank for a moment, then they refocused on him. She looked around and saw they were back at the castle. She looked back at him with confused eyes. "Papa?"

"Yes?"

"We...We're home?"

"We are."

"But..."

"I transported us home once Belle and I finished our business." She looked around for her caretaker.

"Where is Belle?"

"She's in my tower. She and I have some things to talk about. In the meantime, do you think you can change your clothes for dinner?" She nodded. "Good. Go ahead upstairs."

"Okay, Papa." She headed up the stairs. Once she was gone, he transported himself to his tower where Belle was laying on a padded cot. He used his magic to remove her cover and stop the bleeding, but he still needed to tend to the wound. She looked up at him as he approached her.

"Is Rose alright?"

"She's fine. Thanks to you." He helped her sit up. She hissed in pain, but still sat up.

"How bad was it?" He knew what she was referring to. She knew Rose saw her get cut down. She knew she saw the blood. No child should ever see such a sight.

"She was shaken up, but she's okay. I erased it from her memory." Belle felt a bit disappointed. It was a good thing that she wouldn't remember the blood and the gash, but she wouldn't know what she did for her.

"So, she won't remember anything?"

"She'll remember being outside the castle. She will, unfortunately, remember being chased. She'll even remember you saving her life." Belle was confused.

"But you..."

"I erased what she didn't need to remember." He didn't need to explain beyond that. Belle knew what he meant and smiled to herself. "I need to tend to your wound or it'll get infected."

"Okay." He took hold of the zipper on the back her dress. He used his magic to work around where the zipper was cut from the sword. He opened it up and revealed her back. He internally flinched as he saw her smooth ivory back with a huge gash going diagonally across it. He conjured up a small wet cloth and gently slid it along the length of the gash. Belle hissed in slight pain. He was as gentle as he could be. Once he cleaned the wound, he ran his hand over it and it started to close up.

"All done. The wound is closed, but it'll leave a nasty scar. You should take it easy for the next few days for it to fully heal." She turned and looked at him.

"Thank you." He stood and looked down at her.

"It's no matter." He noticed the damage to the back of her dress. "I don't believe that dress is of much use anymore."

"I suppose so. And it is a bit difficult to do my duties in." She needed something else to wear. He conjured up a new dress for her. It was light blue with brown lacings in the bodice and a white shirt underneath. He also produced white stockings and a pair of silver shoes.

"Perhaps this will be more appropriate." She took the clothing from him.

"I think this will do fine. Thank you." He nodded at her.

"Go ahead and change. When you're done, you can come down and start on dinner."

"Okay." He started to leave, but turned back.

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"You risked your life to save Rose, a child you're forced to care for. Why?" She shrugged her shoulders.

"Because I care about her. Being here with her, I feel close to her. I feel the need to protect her no matter what. She may not be mine, but I feel that I love her as if she were." Rumple simply stared at her. She loved his daughter. It didn't know how to feel. He had kept Rose away from people her entire life. There was finally someone else in her life and she loved Rose. It had only been two weeks. Belle could see his conflict. "Is that wrong?"

"No. Not at all. I'll...uh...I'll go check on Rose. Come down when you're done." He turned and left the tower. Belle loved his daughter and he didn't have a problem with that. Rose deserved to be loved. Belle could very well be the mother Rose wanted and deserved. She was smart, beautiful, and nice. She only needed to love Rose. She didn't have to love him. Loving and caring for Rose was all he cared about and Belle was more than willing.