"I can't believe you actually talked me into this." Rumple muttered as he and Rosemary continued their walk through the woods towards their destination.

"You owe me."She reminded her father. "You said you felt guilty, after what happened with Taran."

He sighed, giving in. "A promise is a promise. But I am warning you, this is a small trip. Nothing big, nothing fancy. I am not going to risk your life again."

She smirked at him. "Never say never, Dark One."

Out from behind a tree, was a man dressed in fine black leather suit with a large black hat on his head. He was smiling at the two.

"You must be the Mad Hatter my father's told me about." She said as she made her way to him. He took her hand and gave it a kiss, while Rumple grumble.

"And you must be the lovely secret daughter Rumple has never told about. Until now." Rumple rolled his eyes. Making the man chuckle. " I must say, you are a beauty. You must take after your mother." Rose pulled her hand away immediately, frowning. Hatter knew he had said the wrong thing, since both father and daughter glared at him.

"Watch it. I trust you will not spread word of my daughter's existence."

"And if I don't, you will take my home, my family, and my one of a kind hat. I know I know." Hatter said out of boredom as he flipped his hat into the air and catches it. He knew the drill.

"And what makes your hat so special?" She was told that his hat had magic and could something magical. But he wouldn't say what.

"It can transport you to other lands, worlds even." Rose was shocked and looked back at her father. Confused why he hadn't used the item to get to where her brother was. But her father's face didn't seem surprised. He had his hand up to stop her. He knew her thoughts.

"I've already checked. It doesn't go there." She was disappointed.

"Oh! That place again? Who would want to go to a world without magic?" Hater looked at Rose. "Please don't tell me you do." He wasn't impressed if it was true the daughter of the Dark One wanted to be in a place with no magic.

"Not for the reasons you think." Changing her tone to a more excited one "Putting that aside, where are you taking me?"

"Wait and see." He winked and threw his hat into the air. Before the hay could even touch the ground, it turned and turned into a portal.

"After you." He gestured for her to jump in. Rose smiled and have a glance at her father for approval. To be honest, Rumple did not want to. But he knew he couldn't say no this time. After nodding his head, he watched his daughter jump in first. Then Hatter, then him

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rose found herself in a dark room with doors all around her. They were all of different colors, sizes, and styles.

"So What do you think? Pretty amazing isn't it?" Hatter asked her. He was proud of his world.

"Amazing? It's brilliant! Terrific" She excitedly cheered.

"And Why have You been hiding such a happy child all this time? She would be a great help with Grace." After meeting the young girl, and very surprised to see she looked…. more human than mystical like Rumple. It eased his nerves very much. He even believed she would get along with his daughter Grace. Perhaps one day the two girls could play together while the fathers did their business.

"Personal reasons." Rumple stated.

"Annoying reasons, really. So where are we going?"

"You get to decide." Rose didn't expect that and stated at her father.

"I get to decide?"

"Me?"

"Yes"

"Your joking."

"No I'm not"

"You must be mad then."

"No. That would be me." The other man spoke up. Rose was feeling more excited by the second.

Until she frowned. Rumple saw.

"What's wrong? This is what you wanted." He reminded her.

"I don't know where to go. Have you ever had someone ask you what's your favorite book, but then you forget every single book you've read."

"No" they said. Both don't like reading.

"Well…. I'm going on a blank here." She confessed.

"How about this. Give me an idea of what you want to see and I'll think of a place." Hater offered.

"Okay. So…..so….. Take me somewhere….. Somewhere." She turned to the men with a smile. "Somewhere awesome."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After closing her eyes, the two men stood by her sides and lead her through a door.

"Can you feel the light on you eyelids?" Hatter asked her. She nodded.

"That is the light of an alien sun." She couldn't stop smiling. Anxious to see for herself.

"Are you ready?" Her papa asked.

"Yes! No! Yes?" The men couldn't help their smiles at the teenager's reaction. She slowly opened her eyes and found herself looking at what looked like a bright orange and red planet.

"Welcome to the rings of Arketene."

The Hatter took the father and daughter to the city that was located on one of the rocks floating in the sky. Was she made it to the city, she had forgotten that they were floating since everything seemed like a normal town. Minus the many different odd looking creatures she saw walking around.

Into the Market place they went. They, mostly Rose and Hatter, tried out the foods and items the places were offering. Rumple was watching Rosemary enjoying herself. She was even getting along with the new companion. He did still feel guilty of what had happened with Taran. And he knew there was nothing he could do to bring him back. He also knew that this trip wouldn't make her forget, but it could help to distract her for the moment.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After being so distracted, Rose accidentally got separated from her father and Hatter. The Dark One will not be happy. She was then bumped into a young girl with what looked like ancient carvings on her cheeks. The little girl was frightened.

"Oh! Hello. Are you okay?"Rosemary asked. Believing the little girl was lost. But the girl ignored her and continued running away. Before she could go after her, two men with identical scars on their faces and what looked like royal robes came up to her.

"Have you seen her?" One asked.

"Who?"

"The Queen." After not getting a response, they left her alone and continued their was going on and Rose decided to follow the direction the young girl went.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You lost her already?"

"Hey! You said nothing about babysitting her. And besides, why should I? Your daughter is old enough to take care of herself. She is a woman." Rumple was not liking that the man was in a not caring attitude and taking his time eating and drinking. Completely content while Rumple continued to glare at him.

"SHE is a young GIRL. Not a woman"

"She's a lady."

"Who is alone in an unknown place. She has not even contacted me!" He was thinking about the Horn he gave her. Did she even have it?

"Which means, she doesn't need it. Let her be, Rumple. She'll be fine." The Dark One grumbled. If he had his was, he'd force everyone to the sides to make it easier to find his daughter.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What are you doing behind that trash can?" Rose asked the girl she saw earlier. The girl was scared that she was found.

"I'm hiding." Her voice was a soft whisper. "You don't recognize me?" She looked at Rosemary confused.

"I'm not a local here." Rosemary explained.

"I don't believe you!"

"Believe what you want. But what I am saying, is true." Rose made herself sit next to the girl and gave her a warm smile.

"I've never been here before. I saw you, and thought you could use some help. So what's on your mind?" The girl hesitated a bit. Uncertain to trust this person. But she felt that she needed to talk to someone.

"I am the queen here. And it is tradition that every 10 years the Queen sings a song to the gods, in front of everyone. I am really scared."

"Everyone is scared what they are little. I use to be terrified of getting lost. Use to have nightmares about it."

"What helped?"

"My papa. He'd tell me every night that he would always be there. At my side to save me. And if I ever did lose my way, I would know that he would find me. No matter what."

"And you were never scared again?" Rose laughed gently.

"Oh I have been scared lots of times. But being afraid is alright. It helps us to be braver. Now then, why are you scared of singing this song?"

"Getting it wrong, really. Making the monsters angry."

"Monsters?"

"The gods protect us from them. It keeps them happy and in a calm mood." Rose felt that there was something fishy behind this.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And she was right.

She eventually found her father and Mr Hatter. They had joined he rest of the villagers to the arena where some others in similar clothing as the young queen were taking turns to sing to a large ancient looking statue.

"Is that supposed to be their god?" Rosemary asked.

"How'd you know about that?" Hatter asked surprised she knew.

"The queen told me."

"The queen?" Both men asked, but were quietly shussed by the others.

"I ran into her. Helped her out a bit too."

"And you didn't get anything in return?"

"Papa!" Rose rolled her eyes. Of course her father would be asking that.

"Wow! She really is nothing like you." Hatter laughed. The people and creatures around the arena lifted their hands up with different objects in their palms.

"What are they doing?" Rose asked.

"Giving offerings. Gifts of mementos to the mummy." Hatter answered.

"Mummy?" Now there was a mummy too?

"The mummy is the monster. Hiding behind the statue. It's a secret so it doesn't scare the public." Rose looked at him in disbelief.

"How could they do that?"

"It's not our world. Not our problem. Now quiet." Rumple told her.

But it did become their problem when the statue started to growl. Shaking the ground and making everyone, but the trio and queen, leave the place.

"That's our que to leave." Rumple announced.

"No! We can't just leave. This place is in trouble!" Rose argued.

"She really isn't like you. I'll tell you what. I give you ten minutes. If your not back where we came from by then, I'm gone. Farewell." He bowed and ran off with the crowd.

"Coward." Rose muttered and walked up to the queen.

"You alright?"

"I did it wrong. The gods are angry!" She cried.

"The gods are not angry. Only the mummy is."

"Mummy?"

"That's the real monster." Rose looked back at her father. He was still standing in his spot. "Papa! What do we do?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because you know everything. Legends and myths, I mean. Surely you know about this from somewhere." Rumpled stared at the two girls. The queen who looked no more than ten years old, holding onto his daughter's hand tightly. Knowing she could trust her. And Rosemary was looking at him him for help. He mentally cursed, knowing what he was going to do.

"I hate it when your right." She smiled.

Rumple explained that the mementos were a trade of sensitive value to keep the mummy from waking. Something of greater value might be good enough to stop it. The only personal item, besides his daughter, he had his dagger. But of course he would never give that up. So Rose was going to give up her a gift from her father. But she wasn't sad or hurt, she was proud to do it. Brave enough to do so.

So there was Rosemary, holding up her old stuff and overused bunny doll in the air., facing the mummy to come out from the now broken rocks of the statue.

"I've brought something for you. This is the most important thing in my history. It's full of stories and full of history."

Rumpled watched her and remembered when she was a baby, sleeping in her crib next to Baelfire. Her bunny next to her. At the time, it was big enough to be her pillow. He could remember when he and Milah played with her and the bunny.

"Full of a future that never got lived. Days that should've been but never were."

She remembered watching her brother fall into the portal. Her mother with the Pirate.

"All passed down to me." She continued. The mummy stopped moving and stayed still. It began to glow. Reaching its hand out. A gold sparkle appeared and flew from it's hand towards her bunny. The stuffed animal also started to glow.

"It's working." The young queen said, she was hiding behind Rose but peeked enough to see what was happening. Rose took it as a good sign to continue.

"This bunny is not just the past, it's a whole future that never happened. There are millions, billions of all days, everyday we lived, an infinity. All the days that never came. And they are all my families."

The mummy groaned in pain. Falling to its knees..

"What's happening?" Rose asked. Both confused and frightened.

"It's too much. It can't take no more." The queen explained.

"I expect so" Rumple spoke up, no standing by his daughters side. "There is a difference between what was and what should have been. There's an awful lot of one, but an infinity of the others."

Rose's bunny finally disappeared into gold dust. A tear fell down on her cheek. Giving a final silent goodbye to her precious toy.

"And infinity is too much." Rumple finished. They witnessed the mummy disappearing and the land stopped collapsing. Returning back to normal.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Queen gave her thanks to Rosemary and her father. She offered them anything they desired. Rose had said no, but Rumplestiltskin requested for a favor in return when he asks for it. The young girl happily agreed.

The trio returned to the castle. Tired from their trip and the surprise events.

"You just had to ask for a favor." Rose complained. But she was also not surprised he did that.

"It's your fault we stayed." He reminded her.

"The Dark One helping other lands. Now that is a story to tell." Glaring quickly at Hatter, the Dark One pointed his finger at him him with a threatening look.

"If you tell anyone. Any creature at all! I will deny it, find you, and kill you."

"But you'll lose a friend." Hatter pretended to act hurt.

"More like a partner in business." Rumple corrected him. Hatter waved him off.

"Same thing." He was amused. Hatter left to return home to his daughter.

Rumple turned to see Rose looking at a picture drawing of Baelfire. She was sad.

"I guess all memories are powerful." He mentioned, gaining her attention.

"You never know how much you'll need the good and bad." She gave a small smile.

"So you admit that the bad things in life can be be useful." He teased. Referring to his dark magic.

"Wel…. your knowledge finally came in handy for once."

"It's always handy!"

"Depends on the reason."

"One day, you will see from my point of view."

"When monkeys fly!"

Rumple laughed to himself. He decided not to inform her that there is a place where monkeys do fly. Maybe on another trip.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Thank you for reading!

I am so sorry for taking so long! I'm horrible, sorry T-T