Belle had been at the castle for two weeks. After the incident with losing Rose, Rumple kept a close eye on the two of them. When he was in his tower, he would watch them from his crystal ball. If he left, he would check in on them a charm bracelet he gave Rose. He didn't want to use mirrors because he knew the Evil Queen Regina would be watching. She was the last person he wanted to know about Rose. He knew she would use any weakness he had against him. He could easily get rid of her if he wanted to, but he needed her to cast his curse so he could find Baelfire.

Belle was enjoying taking care of Rose. The child didn't have a lot of demands. She mostly just wanted some attention. She would have Belle play with her, read to her and talk to her about anything her little mind could think of. She knew how the girl felt. She didn't see her father like she wanted to. Belle would never see her father again. She saved her people, but at a high cost to her. She would never see her family and friends again. She would never know another person besides Rose and Rumpelstiltskin. She would miss her father, her friends, and oddly enough, she would even miss Gaston. She didn't want to marry him, but they've known each other since they were kids. Thinking about it made her sad and she would cry herself to sleep every night. She cried a little too loudly for Rumple. One night, he marched down to the dungeons to confront her.

"You know, when you so eagerly agreed to work for me, I didn't expect you to miss your family quite so much." She stood and wiped her tears.

"I made my sacrifice for them. Of course I miss them, you beast!" Meanwhile, Rose had gotten out of bed and went in search of her father. She had a bad dream and wanted to stay with him. He wasn't in his room, so she went to look for him at his spinning wheel. He would spin if he couldn't sleep or was working on something. She opened the large door and saw a man, but it wasn't her father. The man held a large bow with arrows on his back and he wore a hood. Before Rose could react, he looked over at her and removed his hood.

"Hi, there. What are you doing in here, child? Is the Dark One keeping you here?" Rose didn't know what to do. Rumple always told her if she heard someone breaking in to just hide. She never came face-to-face with anyone. No one ever got past the entrance hall. The man slowly approached her. "It's okay. I won't hurt you. I can help you. I can take you away from here."

"I see that's not all you planned to take." The man looked up and saw Rumple and Belle entering. The man turned his attention to the Dark One.

"Only meant to take what I needed. Looks like I need to return someone's child. Isn't kidnapping a bit of a small time crime for the Dark One?" Rumple felt a small tinge of anger. He didn't kidnap her, he rescued her. He saved her life. No one knew that and he wasn't going to tell this thief that. He noticed the wand in the man's hand.

"Just as stealing magic is a reckless decision. It can do nasty things if you aren't careful." The man looked at the wand, then back to Rumple.

"Well then. It's best to stick to what I know then." He stuck the wand in his quiver and pulled out an arrow. "Do you know what this arrow can do to you?"

"Has to hit me first." Rumple then disappeared. The man looked around for Rumple. Rose used the opportunity to run over to Belle. She picked up the child and held her on her hip. Rumple then reappeared on the other side of the room. The man pointed his arrow at him.

"Shouldn't be a problem. A fire from this bow always finds its target. Don't you just love magic?" He pulled back the string and released it. Rumple disappeared again and reappeared behind the man. The arrow pierced Rumple's chest. Rose squealed as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. Belle brought Rose's head to her shoulder so she couldn't see the sight. The man started to walk away. "I know I do."

"As do I." Rumple appeared in front of the man and pulled the arrow out of his chest. He made with disappear and giggle. Rose pulled her head out of Belle's shoulder and saw that her papa was okay. "But you should know, dearie, that all magic comes with a price. And in your case, that's me."

The man was surrounded by a cloud of purple smoke and disappeared. He was chained up in the dungeon. Rumple walked over to Belle, who was still holding Rose in her arms.

"What have you done with him?"

"Well, I've locked him up of course. No one steals from me and gets away with it. He is to be dealt with later."

"What do you mean 'dealt with?'" He looked down at Rose, who was resting her head on Belle's shoulder. He didn't have that conversation in front of her. He could see the sleep in her eyes. He looked back up to Belle.

"Never you mind. It's late. Go back to your room and get your rest. You have a lot of work to do tomorrow and I won't have you sleeping on the job. I'll will put Rose back to sleep." Belle handed him the sleepy child. It was a lot of excitement for her in such a short amount of time and she was so overwhelmed, she was tired. Rumple dismissed Belle and she went back to the dungeon. Rumple took Rose up to her room and tucked her in. Rose looked up to him.

"I'm sorry, Papa." He looked down at her in confusion.

"Whatever for, flower?"

"Letting the man see me." He shook his head and gently stroked her hair.

"It's okay, sweetheart. You didn't know he was here. The important thing is that you're safe. He didn't hurt you and that's all that matters to me." He kissed her forehead and stood up to leave. "Now, go back to sleep."

"Can you stay with me?" He could never say no to her. He would give her any and everything she wanted, no matter how ridiculous or simple. He sat on top of the sheets and she snuggled up to him. He wrapped an arm around her and held her close. As he waited for her to fall asleep, he started thinking about the thief in the basement. He knew about Rose. Rumple never made any indication that Rose was his daughter, but he couldn't take the risk. The thief wouldn't leave this castle alive.

I know this one was kinda short, but just care with me for right now. Things will get more interesting in the next chapter, I promise.

Also, I want to thank everyone who read this and reviewed it. I love that you guys love the story. I noticed that one of the reviews stated that Rose doesn't act her age. Let me explain that. In my past stories, I've had the tendency to create very young OCs that are what I like to call "freakishly intelligent." I know that two, three, and four year olds don't act and talk the way I portray them. This is because I may get a little caught up in the story's plotline and dialogue that things get a little mature with the kids.

I know that Rose talks like a ten year old, but I do have her do things that four year olds do like playing with dolls, drawing pictures, and wanting to help with adult things. I will try to turn the dial back on her dialogue a bit, but I hope that it won't make you guys like the story any less.

Thank you to MyraValhallah for leaving the review. I respect and encourage constructive criticism. If anyone else has anything they think will help the story along better, please don't hesitate to tell me, but if you're just gonna bash the story, don't bother. I don't have time to deal with your crap. If you don't like the story, then don't read it. Simple as that.