Chapter 18: An apple red as blood
Rose entered the apartment with a smile on her face. Mary-Margaret was reading a book and looked up to her friend with a grin.
"By your face, I assume the date went well?"
Rose approached her, and sat beside her on the couch with a big smile on her face.
"It was great." Rose frowned and looked around. "Where's Emma? I was expecting her to jump on me the minute I arrived. She's not exactly fond of Mr. Gold."
"She's not back yet." Said Mary-Margaret shaking her head. "But don't mind her. She is just being protective. I think you two are great for each other. So, tell me how it was."
Rose retold her night to her friend, who had a big smile on her face. Mary-Margaret was happy for Rose. She might not be lucky in love, but she was glad that her friend had someone that treated her right.
When they finally decided to call it a night, they realized that Emma wasn't back yet. Mary-Margaret called her phone, but she didn't pick up. Rose came out of Emma's room with a frown. She told her friend that Emma's things were gone.
The next morning they were having breakfast, when Emma entered the apartment. Emma was expecting a reprimand from Rose, but it was Mary-Margaret who took the first step. She was already angry, but when Emma said that she took Henry, she was furious.
"So, you don't want people to rely on you, but you took your son? Now, that sounds like a stable home for him. What the hell is wrong with you?"
Emma tried to defend herself, saying that she wanted the best for Henry. At that Rose snorted.
"Yes, because running is your answer to everything. Admit it Emma, you were doing what you thought was best for you. You weren't thinking about Henry."
Emma was ashamed. She felt like she was receiving a scolding from her parents. She had always heard that it was the worst hearing ʽI'm not angry, just disappointedʼ, and now she was hearing it from two of her friends. She didn't know what to do.
"Oh, I don't know. You're his mother – that's your job. So, you figure it out." Said Mary-Margaret still angry.
Snow White, the dwarfs and Granny were discussing how to enter the castle where David was being held. They heard a sound and all turned their weapons to it. From the bushes emerged Red Riding Hood and Rose Red. The two women stopped when they saw all the weapons.
"Don't shoot. It's only us." Said Red with alarm.
Grumpy told her that she had something on her chin, and she wiped out the blood there, while Rose chuckled. They had encountered a couple knights on their way back and Red had taken care of them. Rose thought it was amazing and Red was a little embarrassed about receiving praise for that. Snow asked them what they found out, and the two friends looked at each other with a frown.
"Your Prince is still alive." Said Red.
Snow noticed that something was wrong, and when Red said that they heard that the Queen was there, Snow turned to her sister with a frown.
"I can't be sure." Said Rose shaking her head. "There's too many people. I don't think her sound is one of them, but it could be masked among everyone else's. I think we better be prepared for the worst."
Snow nodded and insisted that she was going to keep going. She told the rest that they could leave, but everyone refused.
"As if I would let you do this alone, White." Said Rose putting an arm around her sister's shoulders.
Snow smiled and grabbed her sister's hand. She was glad that her younger sister was there. She knew that their chances increased with Rose fighting on their side.
"Okay remember the plan. Rose and Red will signal us when they are at the gates ready to go. Then we will shoot a flaming arrow to signal the fairies and make our entrance scaling the walls. Once inside, you will take care of the knights, while I go search for Charming."
Snow was recapping the plan they had come up with. Everyone nodded. Rose turned to her sister with a grin.
"Be quick to come, or we'll have all the fun." Red said with a smirk.
The two women left, with Red shifting after a couple of steps. They arrived at the entrance and positioned themselves. Rose nodded and Red let out a howl. They saw the arrow and the two entered the castle. They made sure to let out the civilians and prevent the knights to get out. They made their way to the courtyard in time to see the rest being surrounded by more knights. The fairies took care of them with their dust.
Everyone heard footsteps approaching from behind them and saw more knights coming their way. Rose and Red in her wolf form nodded at each other. Red's fur was sticking up, and she was snarling at the knights, making them stop on their tracks. Rose turned to the rest and smiled.
"Don't worry. The Red team's got this."
Rose took out her twin daggers and Red jumped at the knight closest to her. Rose threw one of her daggers to a knight and disappeared in a puff of red smoke, only to reappear where her dagger had stricken down the knight.
The two women kept fighting like that. The wolf biting and tearing the knights apart, and the redhead teleporting all over the place. The only thing you could see was a blur of black fur and flying daggers followed by red smoke.
The dwarfs were watching the scene with their mouths wide open, Granny had a proud smirk on her face and Snow didn't know what to think. She knew that it was necessary if she wanted to get to Charming, but she had never seen her sister kill anyone or use her magic in the open.
Snow shook her head. She didn't have time to think about that. Her sister and Red were giving her the best chance to get to Charming, and she was not going to waste it.
Once they took care of all the knights, Rose and Red went to find the others and Snow told them about what happened. They went to the main room in the castle, where Snow started to unload all her weapons on the table. Everyone was trying to tell her not to go, or at least not go without some kind of protection. Their pleas were futile, Snow had made up her mind.
"Thank you for your support. I love each and every one of you, but this is something I have to do… Alone." She said leaving the castle.
Everyone turned to Rose expectantly.
"Well?" Asked Grumpy. "Do something!"
Rose sighed and shook her head.
"Snow has made up her mind. There's nothing I can do to change it." Everyone frowned at that. "But if it will ease your mind, I'll talk to her."
She went to follow her sister. Snow turned around and sighed seeing that Rose had followed her.
"You are not going to convince me, Rose."
"I know." She said with a soft smile. "I just want to tell you to be careful. Don't throw your life away in vain. I'm sure that we can find him."
"I'm sure that we could." She said with a soft smile and sigh. "But I'm so tired of this. I don't want to spend the rest of my life wondering what Regina will do next. I can't live like that."
Rose nodded and hugged her sister. Snow hugged her back tightly.
"I love you, Red." She said letting go slightly to look her in the eyes. "I couldn't have asked for a better baby sister."
"Shut up." Said Rose with a laugh and tears in her eyes. "This is not the last time we'll see each other."
"A feeling?" Snow asked with a smile with tears running down her face.
"Yes, and you know my feelings are always right."
The two sisters hugged again, and Snow left to meet the Queen.
Rose Red was sitting in one of the chairs of the castle's main room watching the others pace around. Snow had left a couple of hours ago and everyone was restless. Finally, Rose sighed and stood up.
"If you are that worried, let's go find her."
Everyone nodded and they set out. Red was sniffing around trying to catch Snow's scent. When they were approaching Regina's old home, Rose frowned. She remembered that place. It was where everything started.
But then Rose felt something. Something she hadn't felt in a long time. She fell to her knees grasping her chest and breathing heavily. Red took noticed and went to her side, asking if she was okay.
"Something has happened to Snow. I don't know what it is. She's not dead, but…"
Rose couldn't finish the sentence. The others looked at each other and nodded. Red and Granny supported Rose, and they kept going on their search. Once they arrived, they split up to search the surrounding area. Finally, the dwarfs called out that they had found her.
Red checked to see if Snow was breathing, but found that she wasn't. Snow White was dead. Rose frowned at that. She could still hear her sister's sound. It was faint, but it was there. She told the others, but they didn't believe her. She stood up and started leaving, when Red stopped her.
"Where are you going?"
Rose turned to look at her friend with a determined look.
"She is not dead. That means that there has to be a way to bring her back, and I'm gonna find it."
Emma went back to the apartment after speaking with Regina, and found Rose working on her computer. She told her about her decision to leave and her conversation with Regina. Rose frowned and nodded.
"I get it. You are trying to do what's best for Henry. Have you told him?" She asked her friend.
"Not yet. I told him to come here."
"Okay. Then pack a bag and I'll pack the rest of our stuff and meet you back in Boston tomorrow." Emma looked at Rose surprised. "Don't look at me like that. If you leave, I leave. You need a friend now more than ever."
"No, Rose." Emma shook her head. "As much as I don't like it, you and Gold have something going on. I can't ask you to come with me. You deserve to be happy."
"So do you. And you didn't ask, so I'm doing what I want." She smiled at her friend softly. "It's not like we are leaving forever. You will come back to visit Henry, and I'll come with you."
Emma looked at her friend with a frown. She appreciated Rose going with her, but she hadn't seen Rose as happy as she had been in their time in Storybrooke. Mostly because of Mr. Gold, as much as she hated it.
Rose decided to leave and give some privacy to Emma and Henry. She arrived at the pawn shop. She took a deep breath and entered. She saw that Mr. Gold was in deep thoughts and smiled softly. She approached him and tapped the counter in front of him. He snapped out of his thoughts and smiled when he saw her.
"Hello, darling. What brings you by?"
"Well, Emma is going back to Boston today, and I'm going to leave tomorrow, once I have everything packed."
"What?" He said with wide eyes.
"Emma backed out of her custody battle with Regina and decided to leave to make things easier for Henry. And I'm going with her. She needs a friend and seeing as I'm the only one with a life outside Storybrooke, I'm going with her." She smiled at him softly.
"That doesn't mean that we won't come back. Emma will come to visit Henry, and I will come to visit everyone."
Mr. Gold raised an eyebrow at Rose's grin.
"I can always be persuaded to make this my first stop."
Mr. Gold smirked and leaned down to kiss Rose, when her phone rang breaking the moment. Rose sighed and smiled sheepishly at him.
"Sorry." She said picking up her phone.
"Wow, wow, Emma. Slow down. What happened?" Rose could hear that her friend was freaking out. "Wait, what? I'm on my way."
Rose hanged up the phone and turned to Mr. Gold with a worried look.
"Emma said that Henry dropped to the ground. She doesn't know what's wrong. She brought him to the hospital. I'm sorry. I have to go."
Mr. Gold nodded and watched her leave. He frowned. The price for Regina's magic had been paid.