Over the next few weeks, life in the castle began to feel normal. Geraint, Enid, and Morraine moved to the nearby village, and not long after that Devon decided to see if he could start a life there as well. They still came to the castle often, and the other joined them in the village frequently as well. For those who stayed at the castle, it began to feel like home sooner than expected. The children especially enjoyed the size of their new home, and had to be told often to not slide down the banisters.

For Roberta and Hilda, it was time to enjoy all the finer things life in a castle meant. Rumple and Tiger Lily saw to it they had every possible comfort, but it was becoming increasingly clear their time to enjoy it would not be as long as everyone wished. The sisters had been elderly for as long as Rumple had known them, although Rumple had not let himself see the signs that their bodies were failing. The fact was minuets had turned to hours, then days, then years. It had all passed so quickly that it was easy for Rumple to convince himself time couldn't have left it's mark on them yet. When it became too obvious to ignore, he offered to make them young again.

"Imp hasn't aged a day since I healed him. I can turn back the clock for you both."

But they had refused.

"It's the way of humans, Rumple," Roberta told him. "We're born, we live a little while, and then we die. You're going to live so much longer than humans." Rumple had of course noticed his aging process was slowing dramatically, and in their old village Tiger Lily had had to make herself look older when she went out. "Perhaps even forever. And you'll meet so many people. It wouldn't do to keep everyone you love alive, and their children and grandchildren. Hilda and I have lived a long, long time, and we can look back on lives well lived. When we're called to the afterlife, we're ready to go."

"But we'll always be watching over you," Hilda added. "You and Tiger Lily have been such blessing in our lives. If we can be glad of anything we've done, it's having you as part of our family."

Rumple honored their wishes, but it was hard when they found Hilda had passed away in her sleep when they went to check on her one morning. Roberta, never apart from her sister in life, followed her a few days later surrounded by those she loved. They were buried in a secluded area of the castle grounds, and Rumple made sure flowers bloomed over their graves in any weather. Their loss was felt by all, but Bae, being so young, took it especially hard. He barely ate, and not even Archer could convince him to play. Rumple found him huddled in his room crying one day and took him in his arms.

"I know, Bae. I miss them too. They helped take care of me since I was a baby. But they aren't gone, you know. That part of us that makes us who we are- nothing can destroy that. You know love is the strongest magic there is too, and magic can never be destroyed. Love lives on inside our hearts, and always will."

Bae nodded tearfully into his father's chest.

"I feel like they're still here sometimes. I can still smell them."

Rumple knew exactly what Bae meant. He himself had smelled their cooking in the kitchen, and sometimes at night he felt a hand caress his head and smelled lanolin. To some, it was the odor of sheep. To him, it was the fragrance of people who had loved him.

"You see? They didn't really go anywhere. And we can make sure they're never gone by remembering them. We're never going to forget them are we?"

Bae shook his head at that, and hugged his father tighter. After that, Bae seemed to feel better, and began to eat and play normally again. Still, there had been too many goodbyes. Rumple decided it was time for a hello. The last few times he had spoken with his mother, he had not felt his instincts warning him she could not be completely trusted. She didn't seem to be clinging to the darkness as if it was some form of protection for her. Now the darkness around her seemed more like chains she wanted free of. Knowing the man her son had grown to be, and knowing she had a grandson, had helped give her the strength she needed.

"If you could do it over, if you could change your own fate instead of mine, would you?" Rumple asked one night. She hesitated only a moment.

"I would still have done whatever it took to keep you safe, and that means I would give up whatever I had to about myself, my fate and what power this darkness brings as well. If severing your fate saved your life I don't regret that. But I regret everything I did that kept me from being there with you. So yes, if I could sever my fate, I would."

"Then that's what we'll do. I'll get that sheers somehow, and you can come home."

It would not be quite as simple as Rumple would have hoped. He asked Tiger Lily about the sheers, and she explained he would have to take it from the Fates.

"At one time, the Fates let the Fae protect the sheers. They'd been stolen too many times. But then your fate was severed. Suddenly there was a person who they no longer held any influence over. They kept the sheers with them after that. They vowed there would never be a person capable of changing another's fate again."

"But the Seer I met in the war knew my future. She knew I'd have a son soon, and that Dale and I would survive."

"Seers see the results of the choices you will make," Tiger Lily explained. "But only the Fates can truly know what will happen in any life. They won't give that up."

Rumple knew that somehow he would have to get that sheers, at least temporarily. After all this time, it still seemed the only way to save his mother. The Fates were never going to just allow him to walk away with them, but he had to try to convince them somehow. If it meant saving a member of his family, it was worth any risk.