Yeah, I'm back again... From now on, I'll try to write get these chapters out faster. I'm back to writing this and I promise you, you won't have to wait for months anymore to get a new chapter. So, without further ado, here it is, the long overdue next chapter.

Enjoy!

-Writer207

The seven-year-old boy was watching through the window, waiting for his uncle to arrive. His parents had told him to watch out for his uncle. If he or anyone else came around, the boy had to yell so his parents would hear it. He did not understand why strangers could be so important, but he had to do it. He would do it. There were many things his parents had taught him in his short life and one of those things was that, no matter what, he always had to listen to Mom and Dad.

Another thing he learned was to never ask difficult questions. For as long as he could remember, he had not lived in one house for too long. They always moved around and sometimes, they left in the middle of the night. As a result, there weren't many things the boy had for himself. There were just some sets of clothes and one doll; a brave knight with a sowed-on sword. The boy did not remember whether it was his mother or father that gave the knight to him, but the boy loved it and the stories that his parents always told about this knight.

Something moved outside. The boy perched up and watched the trees surrounding his family's cabin intensively. He did not have to wait long. A man in a worn red cape rode out of the bushes on a white horse.

"Mom! Dad!" The boy yelled, a smile appearing on his face. He turned his head to the inside of the cabin. "Uncle Philip's here!"

He jumped up and raced to the door. He opened it right as Philip got off his horse.

"Uncle Philip! Uncle Philip!" He yelled and ran towards the guest. Philip opened his arms and embraced him warmly. The boy did not let go of Philip, squeezing him tightly.

"Careful. Or else he might not catch his breath." That was dad's voice. The boy let go of Philip and allowed him to talk to his parents, though the boy stayed around to listen.

There was a smile on Philip's face as he extended his hand. "It's good to see you again, Frederick."

"Same here," Frederick said and he shook Philip's hand. The uncle went on to kiss Mom on the cheek. Uncle Philip looked nothing like Mom and Dad, but the boy did not think about it too much. Family did not have to look like each other.

"How did you get away?" Mom asked him.

"I rode away as fast as I could and didn't look back," Philip answered. The smiles slowly faded from their faces and the boy wondered whether it was something anyone had done. The silence was painfully obvious and the boy looked up to their faces, trying to figure out what was wrong and why the mood so suddenly changed.

"Are you ready?" Philip eventually asked them. He glanced at the boy. "I know it's hard, but…"

"You can keep him safe," Frederick said. "That's all that matters. Even if it means that we live separated for a while."

The boy wanted to listen longer because he wanted to know what his father and Uncle Philip were going to talk about, but his mother grabbed his attention when she talked to him.

"Let's go inside," she said, taking the boy's hand. He listened to her and was led inside. They walked to the old couch in the biggest room and Mom told her son to sit down while she was going to get something for him.

It took too long. It always seemed to take so long and quickly, the boy became bored. He stood up from his seat and moved to the nearby window again. It was warmer inside than it was outside but he still wanted to know what Dad and Uncle Philip were talking about. He couldn't hear them and Dad stood with his back to the cabin, but the boy could see the worry on Uncle Philip's face. He looked strict, but there still was a softness in his face.

When his mother came downstairs, she was holding a small duffle bag in her hands and walked towards him with it. "Here," she said and handed it to him. It was almost half his size and was kind of heavy, but it could hold it.

"You're going to hold on tight, okay?" she said, a bright smile on his face. "You're never going to let go of it."

The boy nodded and for the first time today, he noticed something was wrong. Everyone around him was worried for… some reason. There were stains on Mom's cheeks as if she'd been crying. Something was wrong, but the boy couldn't begin to understand what or how. He just knew not to ask questions and follow his parents' orders and advice, which has kept him alive and happy for as long as he could remember.

Mom took his hand again and together they walked back outside. Dad turned his head when the door creaked open and smiled at his boy. He looked at the knight doll in his son's hands and pointed at it.

"You're going to have to put it away," Frederick said. "You don't want it to get lost, now, would you?" He knelt to his knees and reached out with an open hand. Hesitantly, the boy handed the toy to his father, who tucked it away in the duffle bag.

"There," he said, "Much better, ain't it?" There was a smile on his face, but Dad looked sad. He was going to start crying any second. It confused the boy. He could not take it anymore, he was too curious.

"What's going on?" the boy finally asked. If the mood was already bad, it just worsened again. Maybe he shouldn't have asked.

"You're going to live with me for a while," Philip said, looking at the boy. "You, me and Audrey."

"Why?"

Mom and Dad looked at each other. Neither seemed to know what they wanted to say until Dad spoke.

"You'll be safe," Frederick said, "There are bad people coming for us. It's not your fault. Uncle Philip will keep you safe, okay?" He ruffled through the boy's blonde hair.

"And what about you?"

"We'll be safe," Mom said, repeating this a couple of time. If she wanted to say anything else to him, she couldn't. She was on the verge of crying again, and Frederick placed an arm around his wife's shoulder to comfort her. She looked at Philip.

"You take care of him, okay?" Mom asked Philip with a broken voice.

"Don't worry, Ella," Philip said. "I'll keep him safe."

His parents hugged their child one more time before Philip gently moved him away from them. He placed the boy up on the horse and from up there, everything seemed so big. It had to be how grown-ups saw the world.

"Hold on tight," Philip said and the boy grabbed the horse's neck. Philip climbed on the horse himself, the bag over his shoulders, and after one last farewell, he drove away.

Everything went so fast and the boy got scared, but soon he got used to the movements. It wasn't his first time on a horse, but that first shock was always there. Once he had gotten used to the rhythm, he needed to ask the burning question on his mind.

"Will I see Mom and Dad again?"

"Of course you will, Chad," Philip answered, "Of course you will."

Philip wished he could have kept this promise. Since Maleficent thought he and Audrey were dead, Chad living with them was the safest option. Frederick and Ella only thought of protecting their young son and giving him his best chance. It was always their intention to take him back once they were one hundred percent certain that they could raise their son without having to look over their shoulder all of the time.

A week or two later, Philip received news. Lady Tremaine's men had found the woman she once so cruelly called Cinderella and her husband, Prince Charming. They had locked the Charmings inside their little cabin in the woods and had set it on fire. Someone later found their corpses among the ashes as well as a magical glass slipper that had survived the fire.

He had yet to tell Chad that his parents were dead. For now, Philip spared the boy by not telling him what happened. If Chad asked for his parents, if he wanted to see them again, Philip would tell him. But for now, he stayed silent.

Since that day, Philip was unofficially Chad's father, and a father should always protect his children.