Rumple spent the rest of the afternoon in his tower. He had some work to finish up, but he was also thinking about Belle's suggestion for Rose's birthday. Rose would enjoy going to a fair. She would get to leave the castle and have some fun. She'll get to see new and exciting things. It would be her best birthday thus far. He still worried a bit about letting her out. Things got a bit hairy last time when Regina discovered her. There was no way for her to know that Rose was his daughter, but there was no telling what she knew. The woman was truly evil. The Evil Queen. He was more powerful than her. He taught her almost everything he knew. No matter how hard she tried, she could never defeat him. It was impossible. If they were to cross paths again, he could protect Rose and Belle. He would never let any harm come to them.

It was nearly dusk when he finished his work. Dinner would be in less than an hour. Knowing Rose, she would be in the kitchen helping Belle cook. He had some time to kill. He decided to work on his own present for Rose. He had decided that he would make her a special locket. He spun the bright and pure gold that Belle had used on her unicorn to make the string. He opened a drawer and pulled out the string, the heart-shaped locket, a small bottle with a glowing purple potion inside, and the Dark One's dagger. He had always kept the dagger in his own possession. The Dark One in someone else's control could be dangerous, but if the Dark One had full control of his own will, that was even ore dangerous. He was about to do the one thing he never thought he would ever do; give someone else his dagger. He knew Rose would never want to hurt him. She didn't even know the dagger existed. Many people didn't. Anyone who ever heard of it thought it was nothing more than a myth and Rumple wanted to keep it that way. Rumple popped open the potion and dropped a small drop on the dagger's blade. A tiny drop was all that was needed for the potion was the one thing he was never able to bottle before; true love. He was able to form this potion from strands of Snow White and Prince Charming's hair. They had the truest love in all the realms, which made the potion that much more powerful. He waved his hand over the dagger and a purple smoke surrounded it. The smoke shrunk and floated to the heart-shaped locket. The locket opened and the smoke landed inside and the locket closed. The locket then glowed for a moment. The dagger was locked away in the locket and it would stay there. The magic would maintain as long as the wearer of the locket had love in their hearts for something other than themselves. Rose had more love in her heart than anyone Rumple's ever met. She even loves her birth mother who wanted her dead. He knew Rose would maintain the magic in the locket for years to come. If only she knew how much he trusted her and loved her enough to willingly give her this. He strung the locket onto the gold string and placed the gift in a velvet box on his desk. The box would maintain the magic in the locket until he gave it to Rose. Once he put everything back in it's place, he left his tower and went down for dinner. He saw Rose and Belle setting the table.

"It appears I'm right on time." Rose smiled and ran to him.

"Papa!" He caught her and picked her up. He noticed the crown of flowers on her head.

"I see you managed to finish your crown, flower."

"Yeah. I made one for Mama too." He then saw that Belle also wore a crown of flowers upon her head. He smiled at the sight.

"I see. And you both look lovely." Belle smiled at him.

"Thank you. You know, she wanted to make one for you, but I told her you wouldn't wear it."

"And you'd be correct." Rose pouted a bit.

"But Papa..."

"Sorry, flower. I'll do many things for you, but not that."

"Fine." He chuckled at her and kissed her cheek as he placed her on the floor. They sat at the table and ate dinner. Rose went on about the different flowers that she used to make her flower crowns and how long it took her to finally make one. She then went on about an odd dream she had about baby elephant that used his abnormally large ears to fly with a talking mouse. After dinner and everything was cleaned up, Rumple and Belle put Rose to bed. They kissed her goodnight and headed for the library where they would rendezvous every night. As soon as they entered, Belle turned to him.

"So, what did you decide?" He chuckled.

"A bit anxious, aren't we, dearie?"

"I just want to know what you decided, because..." He raised his hand to stop her.

"I know. You made your point very clear this morning. And, yes. I have made my decision."

"Alright. What is it?" Belle held her breath in anticipation. She still had a feeling that he would say no. She tried not to get her hopes up too high, but she really wanted this for Rose. Surely he would do it for her.

"I've thought about this all day and I've examined the situation from each angle. And..." He paused. Why did he pause?

"And? What?" He smirked at her as he turned away.

"Perhaps this can wait until morning. I don't believe your frail heart could take it." She grabbed his arm and turned him back towards her.

"Rumpelstiltskin, you tell me right now!" He held back his laugh. He loved putting her on edge like that. Her reactions were priceless. It was even funnier when she would call him by his full name. He placed his hands on her upper arms and kissed her forehead.

"Calm yourself, love, for my answer...is yes." Her eyes widened.

"Yes?"

"Yes. You were right. I can't keep Rose locked away forever just for her to sneak out on her own. The last thing I need is for her to turn out like you." He chuckled at his quip.

"And what, exactly, would be wrong with her turning out like me?"

"Well, for one thing, look who you fell in love with. She may come home with an ogre." She placed a hand softly on his cheek.

"You are far better than any ogre, Rumple. Besides, they say that a lot of girls fall for men that remind them of their fathers. However their fathers treat them, they will look for a man that will treat them just as well. With what I've seen of how you are with her, I think she'll be just fine." He could only hope. "But in all seriousness, I'm glad you've decided to let her go. I think she'll enjoy that fair a lot."

"It isn't just about the fair, Belle." He sat down on the couch. She sat down next to him.

"Then, what is it?" Rumple took a moment to gather his words.

"I love Rose. She's my daughter and I want to protect her. And since I found her, I protected her by confining her to this castle. I've trapped her. Just like..." He turned his gaze down from her eyes, but she understood.

"Like your son." He nodded.

"I only wanted to protect him from harm. I held on too tight and now...now he's gone. He was miserable and he left. I don't want the same to happen with Rose. I don't want to lose her the way I lost Baelfire." Belle had never seen him so upset. He's never really talked about what happened to his son. All he ever said was that he was gone and lost. He's never even mentioned his name before then. Rumpelstiltskin was always known as the Dark One. A monster with a heart colder than ice. Belle saw who he really was. He was just a man who lost everything in a past life. A man who only took on the burden of being the Dark One to protect the only person he had left in his life. A man who was corrupted and tempted by the dark powers he possessed. A man who had nothing left to lose. A man who got a second chance at being a father and being in love. If people only knew half of those things, they wouldn't think of him as a monster. Belle lifted his chin and had him look her in the eyes.

"You won't lose her, Rumple. I may not know what happened with your son, but I can tell you it wasn't your fault. You did what you could to be a good father. Not everyone knows what to do as a parent. Even I'm not sure I'm doing a lot of things right with Rose, but I do what I think it right and that's all you can do. As long as you have your child's best interests at heart, you're being the best parent you can be. Things won't be perfect and bad things will happen, like losing your son. Even you have said that you would find him and see him again. When that day comes, you'll have your chance to do better and you won't ever have to worry about losing him again. And with Rose, she'll never leave you. She loves you much too much. She may venture out on her own from time to time, but in the end, she'll always come back to you." He looked deep into her eyes.

"How can you be certain of this?" She smiled at him.

"I knew there was good in you and I was right about that. I'm right about everything." He couldn't help but chuckle. She giggled. She was glad her little quip was enough to lift him from his funk. "But in all seriousness, you don't have to worry about Rose. She'll love you until the end of time and she'll never truly leave you. This outing will be good for the both of you. The first step to keeping her in is letting her out."

"And just when did you become a riddler?" She smirked.

"When you're in love with the King of Riddles, you tend to pick up a few things after a while." He gave her his impish grin.

"Well then, dearie, let's see if you can solve this next riddle. They can attack their unsuspecting victim, day or night, but their assault is always welcomed by the right one." Belle was thrown off by his new riddle. It seemed like a difficult one, but all of them do. He would usually come up with difficult riddles that had very simple answers. She thought about it for a moment as his smirked at her.

"I don't under...Oh!" In a blink of an eye, Rumple's lips were attached to Belle's neck, kissing, licking, and sucking. She couldn't hold back her surprised moan. He grinned against her neck.

"I believe...you just figured it out." Her words were caught in her throat and refused to come out of her mouth. All she could do was nod and pray to the gods that he wouldn't stop. "Do you agree...that the attack is welcomed?"

"Mmm." His grin grew wider.

"I'll take that as a yes." He continued to assault her neck.