A/N: Here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it.
Faster than anyone could even blink Rumpelstiltskin was at his daughters table who was now crying and was hiding against Henry who was lightly rubbing her back, trying to calm her down but clearly at a loss on what to do.
"What happened?" demanded Rumpelstiltskin.
"I don't know," began Henry. "One minute she was eating her lunch and the next she was screaming."
"Liam, Marina," came Hook's voice as he walked over. "Why don't we finish our dinner over here and give your new friend a minute."
"Okay daddy," stated Liam as he and his sister got up and Hook grabbed their plates and put them at another table.
Henry slowly moved Rosalinda and him over a bit more, Rosalinda still crying into his shirt to allow room for Rumpelstiltskin who after quickly glancing around didn't see any signs of danger took a seat next to Rosalinda.
"Rosalinda," began Rumpelstiltskin keeping his voice as calm as he could despite the situation. "It's okay, papa's here."
"Papa?" asked Rosalinda as she turned to face him.
"That's right princess, I'm here," stated Rumpelstiltskin using his memory of all those times he would comfort his son to help. "Your safe."
"Papa," stated Rosalinda as she flung into his side and Rumpelstiltskin held her gently as he could in his arms.
Rumpelstiltskin knew without a doubt everyone in the diner was now watching the exchange but he couldn't care. All he knew was something had his daughter beyond terrified.
"Papa," began Rosalinda. "I want to go home."
"Okay," stated Rumpelstiltskin as he reached into his pocket still holding her against him and stood up.
He made his way over to Hook who looked up at him and thrust out a $100 bill even though he knew it was way more than the meal cost but at the moment he didn't really care and looked over at Henry who was talking to Granny. A few seconds later, Henry was boxing up all of their lunches. After he was done, he made his way over to him and after muttering a quick goodbye to his siblings and Hook, followed Rumpelstiltskin to his car.
Rumpelstiltskin placed his daughter in the back and quickly buckled her in, before getting into the driver side and Henry got into the passenger's seat. Rumpelstiltskin turned on the car and began making their way back to the house. When he got there, he got out and was about to take Rosalinda into the house when he heard her mutter something.
"What was that princess?" asked Rumpelstiltskin.
"Horsey," stated Rosalinda pointing in the distance where he turned to see Thanatos as a horse making his way over to them.
"Who is that?" asked Henry moving so he was standing right beside him.
"Henry, please take Rosalinda into the house for a minute please," asked Rumpelstiltskin.
"Sure," replied Henry gently taking Rosalinda from his grandfather and headed into the house.
"Horsey," lightly cried Rosalinda.
"You can see him later princess," stated Rumpelstiltskin. "Right now I think we should get you inside and maybe take a small nap. You've had a pretty busy morning."
Rosalinda gave a small nod and Henry gently carried Rosalinda into the house and headed up the stairs and when he saw that there wasn't a room set up for her yet, made his way into the room that he could only assume was his grandfather since he actually never been upstairs to see it. Gently he place Rosalinda onto the bed and looked around for a book to read before deciding just to read from the storybook he had.
"You wanna hear a story about your mother?" asked Henry.
Rosalinda nodded and after she was tucked in securely, Henry took a seat beside her on the bed and opened the book and began reading the story of how her parents met while making sure to edit anything that might scare the little girl. However, he was barely into the story before he heard the soft sounds of her fast asleep.
Meanwhile as Henry was putting Rosalinda down for a nap, Rumpelstiltskin made his way over to Thanatos who stood now.
"Is she okay?" asked Thanatos.
"A bit shaken up but otherwise she is unharmed," replied Rumpelstiltskin. "Any chance you say what happened?"
"No, I didn't want to draw unneeded attention to her possible captors that I wasn't close enough to see. I just felt her distress."
"So why are you here then?"
"Because rather you like it or not, I am her protector, and I've already failed her once, I won't fail her again."
Rumpelstiltskin choose not to reply and turned to make his way into the house and upstairs where he made his way into his room and saw Henry was closing his storybook before turning to face him.
"I was reading the story of how you met Belle," stated Henry when he saw his grandfather's curious look. "I edit out a few details, not that I got very far into the story."
"Thankyou Henry," muttered Rumpelstiltskin.
"Is everything okay?" asked Henry. "Who was that horse."
"Come downstairs and I'll explain," stated Rumpelstiltskin not wanting to accidently disturb his daughter.
Together the two of them made their way downstairs and took a seat in the living room. Rumpelstiltskin began to explain everything he had learned about Thanatos and his purpose. After he was done, the both of them sat there in silence for a bit, each in their own thoughts.
"Do you think you can trust him?" asked Henry breaking the silence.
"At the moment, I'm unsure but so far he hasn't done anything to make me think he means her any harm. Mind you I don't plan on letting him alone with my daughter any time in the near future. Besides I have reasons to believe he might be a necessary if I want to keep Rosalinda safe. He was able to find her when I couldn't," stated Rumpelstiltskin.
"I can't make any promises since half the time the pen decides what I write on its own but if it ever reveals anything about who took her or him I'll let you know. I'm just sorry I didn't tell you about the prophecy when I first discovered it."
"It doesn't matter now," stated Rumpelstiltskin having long since forgiven Henry for the small part he might have played in him losing his daughter. "She's home and she's safe now, and nothing is going to change that."
"Okay, I think I should be getting home. I'll keep you posted if I discover anything."
"Thankyou Henry."
Henry nodded made his way out of the house, leaving Rumpelstiltskin alone in his house. Slowly Rumpelstiltskin made his way upstairs and headed towards where his daughter's nursery once had been. Rumpelstiltskin stared at the close door that after Belle had passed away he could never bring himself to open due to the pain of seeing the beautifully decorated room that his wife had made for their daughter to grow up in. Gently he turned the door knob and slightly cough when the dust linger in the air.
With a simple wave of his hand, he allowed his magic to remove and clean the room of dust before entering and just taking in the room. Seeing how much work Belle had put into even the tiniest of details from the brightly colour wallpaper of cute cartoon animals in friendly non-threatening poses, to the simple but elegant white wooded furniture. He sighed knowing that most of everything in the room would need to be thrown away and replace and felt the saddest that his daughter hadn't gotten to spend more time in this room.
Rumpelstiltskin suddenly remember how he had felt all those years ago when Milah had abandon him and his son and he was forced to find some way to support and protect him son alone. While now he had his magic and his reputation made it so most wouldn't face him directly, he still couldn't help but feel just as lost. How was he not only supposed to keep his daughter safe, but also raise her so she wouldn't just run away like everyone else did when they see the darkness that follows him. More than ever, he wished he could bring Belle back but he knew that it wasn't possible. Even if he felt it was safe to leave Rosalinda alone long enough to go search for her in hell, there was no way he would be able to restore her life. He couldn't split his heart for her because even if it was possible as a dark one, he would be forcing his curse life onto his wife and to see someone as pure and good as Belle becoming dark like him would be worse than living without her. No, much like he had with Bae, he would have to figure out a way to raise his daughter on his own.
Rumpelstiltskin sighed before he waved his hand, and the furniture he knew his daughter wouldn't need any longer such as the changing table and crib vanished to be placed in his shop for someone he sure would buy eventually. He then turned to the dresser that was in the room and after removing the baby clothes, he began to go through all his daughter new outfits into the dresser. After he was done he glanced over at the clock in the room and decided he should go wake up his daughter otherwise she would never sleep tonight. Exiting the room he took one final look before deciding that rather he might not know how he was going to handle raising Rosalinda on his own, he once again made a vow that he would do whatever he had to make sure his daughter's life was what every little girl could ever wish for, and he would even find a way to protect her from his darkness. He owed it to his son, his wife and to Rosalinda herself. This time he would do whatever he had to do to keep his family safe, even from himself if the need arise. So with that silent vow, he exited the nursery and headed towards his daughter to wake her up.
A/N: There you go, sorry it took so long, writer's block. More on the way.