Aboard the Jolly Roger, Neal was up on deck showing Henry how to steer the ship. Below deck, Rumple held his unconscious daughter close to him. She was still breathing and still alive, but Gold was worried for how much longer. She was so young and so small. It wouldn't be much longer until the poison reached her heart and took her life. He hoped they would reach Storybrooke before then. He couldn't imagine the pain she was possibly feeling.
Inside Rose's mind, Lily and the other Rose were with Rose. Rose used what magic she could to help numb the pain. She wished she could heal her of the poison, but she didn't she have enough magic to. Lily, not having any magic, did her best to make her comfortable. Rose shook her head in disbelief. She still couldn't believe what Rose did. That hook was meant for Papa, not her. While she's happy Papa wasn't hurt, Rose could possibly die. Rose didn't know what was going to happen since she changed the future so drastically.
"Rose? Rose?!" Rose snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of Lily's voice.
"Huh?"
"Is she going to be okay?" Their surroundings started to fall away and fade. "Are we going to be okay?"
"I..." She didn't know how to answer that. She couldn't see anything. No visions were coming to her. She didn't know what was going to happen, but she didn't want Lily to worry. "Yeah. We'll be okay. Emma's gonna help us. She will. She has to."
"I hope so. I'm scared."
"Me too, but it's gonna be okay. I promise." Just then, a bubble lowered between them.
"Hey. She's remembering something." Rose tilted her head in confusion.
"What is she remembering at a time like this?" The bubble was fuzzy for a few seconds before it cleared up. Rose was sitting at the kitchen table in the house in Storybrooke.
"Hey. It's one of my memories." Rose, or rather Lily, was eating her breakfast while Gold was washing up the dishes by the sink.
"Do you have everything for school, Flower?"
"Yes, Daddy."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Backpack?" She leaned down and picked up her Dora the Explorer backpack.
"Yep."
"Crayons?"
"Uh-huh."
"Pencils?"
"Yes."
"Paper? Notebook? Coloring book?"
"Got it!" She picked up her plate and brought it over to the sink. Gold took the plate from her and looked her over.
"Where are your shoes?" She looked down and saw she was only wearing her pink socks.
"Oh! I left them upstairs! I'll be right back!"
"Careful, Flower. Don't run on those stairs." Not hearing him, she raced up the stairs to her room. Quickly searching around, she found her shoes under her bed. Grabbing them, she ran back down the stairs. There were three stairs left before she slipped and fell down. She hit her knee on the second before before falling on the floor on her face. Picking herself up, her vision became blurry as her eyes filled with tears. Gold must have heard her fall because he rushed over to her side. "Lily! What happened?"
"It...hurts...Daddy." Her vision was blocked by her hands covering her eyes. Gold pulled her hands away from her face and wiped her tears. He looked over her face, then down at her knee. It was slightly bleeding, but nothing too serious.
"It's okay, Flower. You're okay. It's just a small cut." He took her hand and helped her stand. He then led her over to the living room and sat her on the sofa. He then left her, probably to get the first aid kit. Lily looked down at her knee. The cut wasn't big, but it stung really bad. Gold then came back with the first aid kit and a damp towel. He sat next to her and opened the kit. "Now, Lily. I told you not to run on the stairs. You could've hurt yourself even worse."
"I'm sorry, Daddy." He wiped the cut with the towel. He then dabbed a cotton swab in some peroxide. He gently applied to her knee. She pulled away and hissed in pain.
"That hurt!"
"I know, sweetheart, but this will help it heal." He dabbed a little bit more before he stopped. He then took out a band-aid and put it over the cut. "There we go. All done."
"I'm sorry I ran on the stairs, Daddy." He gave her a smile as he pulled her into a hug.
"It's alright, Flower. I'm just glad you didn't hurt yourself too bad, but you need to be careful. I tell you these things so you can stay safe. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Daddy." She clung to him for a while. She loved his warmth, his smell, his patience with her. She loved him. He was her daddy and he did everything for her. "I love you, Daddy."
"I love you too, my darling Flower." The memory ended and floated away. Rose and Lily were confused by it. Why did she remember that at a time like this? She was dying and she remembered falling down the stairs. Lily looked to Rose.
"What do you think that means?" Rose was just as lost as her counterpart. She then thought about something.
"Maybe it's...because Papa is keeping us safe. He's holding us and not letting us go. It's just like back then. He's doing what he can to help us. Maybe this triggered that memory. Why that one, I don't know, but at least she remembered something else about Papa." Lily didn't know what to think of it, but it made more sense than anything else. The space around them continued to fade. She hoped they would get to Storybrooke soon.
They finally made it to Storybrooke. David, Mary Margaret, and Ruby were all waiting at the docks for them. Neal carried the still unconscious Rose off of the ship. Mary Margaret gasped at the sight of the small child that she had grown to know and love in the Enchanted Forest.
"Is she?" Emma saw the worry in her mother's eyes.
"She's alive, but barely."
"Well, are you okay?"
"Yeah, we're alright." Henry approached them.
"I drove a ship." David raised an eyebrow.
"Did you, now?"
"Yeah. My dad showed me." Neal raised his hand.
"That's me." As he went to put Rose in David's truck, he noticed her locket glowing. Before he could say anything about it, it released a bright light. Pink and gold swirls surrounded her. Gold saw this and sighed in relief.
"Good. Her magic is active. She just bought us a little more time, but not much. We must get to my shop. There's magic there that can keep us safe. Quickly." Henry looked up at Emma.
"Let me guess; I get to go with Ruby?"
"You got it, kid." Ruby put an arm around the young boy.
"I'll be sure to keep him out of the crossfire." Mary Margaret let out a shaky breath.
"Thank you." Noticing his grandmother's nervousness, he took hold of her hand and gave it a slight squeeze.
"Don't worry. You'll stop Cora. You won't let her get to Rose. She won't get away."
