So yeah I know I left the last chapter in a cliff hanger but some people are still PM'ing me about Cora so I can't exactly continue the chapter when I'm still on the fence on what way to go.

Like last time I had an update I done a little one-shot so since y'all liked that I guess we're doing it again :P


Emma Swan was twenty years old and having the time of her life.

Her and Neal had been dating for four years now so today shouldn't have been any different, only it was their one year anniversary. That obviously didn't make any sense but they never celebrated their yearly anniversaries before but this year Neal was going to give her a surprise and actually do something special for the day.

Neal got a job in a baker, mostly just cleaning, so he could save enough money to take Emma on a date where they wouldn't have to steal.

He only had to work a week to save enough for a fairly classy date and he even managed to permanently borrow a cake for the occasion! Okay he stole it but Emma didn't have to know that.

He met up with Emma at the barn they were staying in. The old farmer who owned it was deaf in one ear and hadn't shot a trespasser in over thirty years so they were safe there until they were caught.

She was talking away happily to one of the chickens there as if it were her best friend. Neal laughed at his adorable girlfriend, she was so strange and unlike any other girl he met. He leaned against the door and just watched her as she kept talking to the farm animal, oblivious to the new attention she had drawn.

It amazed him how she was so pure of heart at times like these. It was hard to explain but Neal could actually see that chicken listening to every word his girlfriend was saying, she actually connected to a brainless animal! The fact that she also believed the chicken was listening made her seem so child-like and innocent which shocked him since he knew about her past, she was orphaned at such a young age she couldn't even remember her first day there.

It was like she had never been hurt by anyone but he knew she had been hurt so it made him feel honoured that he was the word that pieced her broken heart together and made it stronger.

He vowed never to hurt her and take away her innocence.

By that he meant her attitude because they already swiped her V-card in a long time ago and he still says to this day, doing it in a carriage will change your life forever.

It was then when he was watching her that he decided he was going to tell her the three words he never imagined telling anyone.

It wasn't the L word, he would tell her that eventually but this was more important than that. He was going to tell her about his past. He would wait until she finished her dinner, take her hand in his, look into her beautiful eyes and just say,

I'm Rumpelstiltskin's son.

"So what you two chicks talking about?" He joked as he sat beside her then pulled her on his lap. She rolled her eyes at his bad puns but they had been together for so long she was used to it by now.

"Oh my god, that was so lame even for you." She giggled and playfully shoved his chest.

"Let me guess, you're bonding over the loss of both your eggs? Is it that time of the month again, Emma?" He laughed harder when her face when bright red and she shoved him harder this time. Usually he never joked about her lady problems but she always got so embarrassed talking about them that he couldn't resist.

"What the hell, Neal! Don't talk about that, that's woman stuff!" She crawled off his lap with a pout and waited for him to finish laughing. Her pout slowly started to turn into a full on glare when he wouldn't shut up and actually fell backwards into the hay laughing so much.

"You're sleeping in the carriage tonight." Emma got up from her sitting position and stood above him with her arms crossed.

Neal eventually stopped laughing but couldn't keep the smile off his face. He looked up to see her towering over him with an unimpressed look.

"I bet you wont be saying that when you see what I got you." He went behind her and wrapped his arms around her thin waist. He gently swayed her side to side until he felt her shoulders relax.

"Is it a tampon?" She snapped which just made him start a laughing fit again.

"You're on a roll today, sweetie." He kissed her cheek which made her drop the glare and smile then went outside to the carriage to pick up the cake that was carved into a big number 1. He carried it carefully inside to her and gave her a quick wink.

"Happy official one year anniversary, babe."

She put her hand over her mouth to stop the whimper that was threatening to come out. Neal's face fell when he realised she was about cry and nearly dropped the cake trying to go over to her.

"God I'm so sorry, Emma. I can throw this out if you want, I should have known you didn't like celebrating corny crap like this. What can I do to make it up-" Before Neal started rambling Emma quickly interrupted him, moving her hand back to her side.

"No, it's perfect." She whispered, tears threatening to spill over on to her cheeks. "It's just. this is the first time I've ever celebrated something with someone else. Usually its just me alone on my birthday, wishing I wouldn't having to spend another year alone and then you do something like this and..." She trailed off looking at her feet and feeling ridiculous about getting so emotional.

Just outside the barn it start to rain but the sun was still shining past the grey clouds.

"Hey." He put the cake down beside them and lifted her chin up so she would look at him. "Don't you ever be afraid to let your walls down with me, Emma Swan. I've seen every part of you, the good and bad, and I still want everything to do with you. I know you think you always have to be the tough one in this relationship but let me comfort you once in a while, okay?" He gave her a small smile and that was all it took for her to wrap him in a tight hug. He soothingly rubbed her back and let her cry on his shoulder till his shirt was soaked right through.

"Thank you." She muttered into his shoulder, it was muffled but he heard the words as clear as day.

At first he didn't know how to respond so he just continued rubbing her back and kissing her head. He felt a strange, warming feeling in the middle of his chest. Was it love? The only people in this world he loved were his mother and papa. His mother was kidnapped by some pirate and he ran away from his papa when he became The Dark One. He knew if he told Emma about being related to an evil magical being he would lose the third person in this world he loved:

Her.

"You're welcome, Emma, and I'm gonna give you a better life than this. You'll see." He swayed side to side with her, it was like a dark yet beautiful dance. Their heartbeats were one and their pain was shared.

The grey clouds blocking the sun moved and there was a small rainbow in the sky.


After Emma had calmed down and wiped away any evidence of emotion the young couple sat down to share their cake.

Emma insisted Neal should have had the first bite since he was the one who 'bought' it and eventually she wore him down and he lifted a piece up to his mouth to eat when suddenly-

SPLAT!

Emma pushed his face into the cake and when he lifted his head all she seen was three holes, two for his eyes and one for his mouth and the rest of his face was just frosting. Now it was her turn to have a laughing fit.

Neal laughed with her and licked a bit of frosting off his mouth then decided to get payback and threw a large chunk of cake at her. She stopped laughing from shock and wiped the cake on her face.

"This is war." She gave a carefree laugh while throwing the cake that was on her face back at him and soon it turned into an all out food fight. It only took a few minutes for them to run out of cake.

They both ended up lying down together in the hay rolling around trying to smear more frosting on the other person. Emma ended up on top of Neal but she was too tired to do anything so she just put her sticky forehead on his.

"You know I won, right?" She asked him to make sure he knew she was the winner of that game they started. He knew how competitive she was so he just shrugged and let her have her moment.

"Yeah yeah, you're the best. All hail the mighty cake war champion." They laughed together and he leaned up to lick some frosting off her cheek.

"Mmm, it's actually pretty good."

"Sorry It's all over the barn." She smiled sheepishly. He looked around at the mess they made and there was the sticky treat everywhere; it was on the walls, on the floor and even some on the animals! It would be a funny sight if they didn't have to clean it later.

"Don't worry about it, I didn't want you too full anyway because I am taking you out on a date tonight. I actually got a job and got enough money to get a big fancy dinner for just the two of us."

Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked like a light bulb just went off in her head.

"Is that where you've been the past week? I knew you weren't going out to see friends, you don't have any!" She looked like she wanted to slap herself for being so stupid. He snorted at her observation and tickled her sides to distract her so she wouldn't get mad about him sneaking out.

"I resent that, lady."

The whole barn was filled with her squeals of delight and fear. Getting tickled was an odd thing, at first it's fun and playful but then it turns sour and you're fighting to breathe.

He ended up flipping them over before he stopped and held her body down with his. If this was any other night he would be carrying her to the carriage for a night of fun but this was a special occasion.

"Well look at that, you might be the winner of the cake war but I definitely won the tickle war."

She was panting hard underneath him trying to get her breath back.

"Geez, Emma if you keep doing that then I'm just gonna stay with you all night and leave the dinner." He grazed her ear lobe with his teeth and she couldn't hold back the giggle.

"Why don't we?" She said surprising them both. It wasn't like her to deny free food.

"Oh and what do you want me to do with the money? Actually buy our weekly shop." He joked.

"We could leave. That could be the start of the money for our new life!" She spread out her arms on the ground like she didn't have a care in the world. They had always talked about giving up thieving but times were tough and neither of them knew how to do anything else.

Neal gave her an amused smile and agreed with her. He did promise her he would give her a better life so what better time than the present?

"Yeah okay, sweetie. Get some rest, we need to be up bright and early for our weekly steal and after that we can talk about our new life." He rolled off of her and held out his arms for her to crawl into. She looked over to him with a raised eyebrow, it was weird for her to snuggle with someone even after all the time nonetheless that didn't stop her from sliding over into his warm embrace.

They fell asleep in each others arms dreaming about a better life that neither of them would get.


A/N: Some SwanFire never hurt anyone and if you liked this chapter, leave a review and there will be more updates like it.