Thanks to the awesome RainMirror to beta chapter for me!

Thanks also for the people who reviewed, favorited, and followed!

Warning: Some language

Rumpelstiltskin observed his son sleeping. He looked so peaceful and well rested, without any sign of nightmares. He just got the call from the sheriff. At first he thought it was a very ill-mannered prank but Ms. Swan assured him it was not. Belle said she would come but he said he needed to be sure first.

Emma barked into the room as usual. "Gold, I thought dead is dead."

"Good day to you too, Ms. Swan! I thought so too but apparently there were too many times deaths were cheated around her, except for Bae's. I wouldn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. Would you rather see him stay dead?"

To his satisfaction, she looked chastised. "Of course not."

"Are you sure? You moved on awfully fast with that pirate just days after his death."

She looked offended. "Who I choose to love and spend time with is my own decision. You have nothing to say in that."

"It's a shame as I thought you and Bae were a match made in heaven, being the savior and the reason for the curse. It was fate, destiny, and dare I say true love as proven by the swan pendant. And he truly loved you until his dying breath."

She put down her head. "I really don't want to talk about this. How if we take it slow and see how it goes when he is awake? I hope there aren't any side effects to this sudden resurrection."

She had a point. He really hoped for Bae's sake that there would be no ill effects. He had suffered enough. "Fine by me."

"If there are any changes, please inform me. I mean it, Gold. We may not be together anymore but I still care for him."

He was touched by her sincerity despite her terseness. After she left, he pulled down a chair and sat next to his son. "Welcome back, Bae." He kissed his son's forehead and for good measures both of his hands. He then used both hands to hold the younger man's hand.

He opened his eyes and looked at a white ceiling. Where am I? He then noticed the IV and his hospital gown. In the hospital. But I feel fine, never felt better since… He tried to think of the last time he felt this good but it was strange that he couldn't remember.

He noticed a middle-aged man in a suit fast asleep on a chair with his head leaning on his bed. The man was holding his hand. He suddenly felt very thirsty. He moved the man's hand slowly to reach for a glass of water next to his bed.

The man was awoken by his movement.

"Bae, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Remarkably fine, considering. What happened to me? Was I in an accident? I don't remember anything."

The man looked hesitant. "Sort of. I'll explain more when you're better. Do you need anything?"

"Just that water." The man gave the glass to him. Upon receiving it, he thanked him.

"Do you need anything else?"

"No, not really. Did you just call me Bae?" He tried to think of his own name but he really couldn't recall. It was supposed to be a cause for worry. Somehow the fact that he was not too worried about it made him question his sanity. Perhaps I'm an escaped mental patient.

The man looked crushed."Don't you remember?"

"Well, it may sound crazy and maybe I am. However, since I opened my eyes, I can't remember anything. My name, my past, anything. Who are you?"

The man looked like he was about to burst into tears. "I'm Gold."

"Mr. Gold. That's a really good name. Were we really close?"

The man seemed completely dejected. "Yes, we were. I think you need to rest. I'll leave now and come back again later." He stood up and walked toward the door.

"Mr. Gold, is my name Bae?"

Mr. Gold looked hesitant. He spent an awfully lot of time thinking before he replied, "No, you just reminded me of him."

"What is my name then?"

Gold turned toward him from the door and replied, "Neal. Neal Cassidy." With that, he closed the door.

"Neal, do you really need to go?"

"I'm afraid I do, Henry. I don't want to impose on Mr. Gold too much."

"But he is…" He bit back the word your father. "But you worked for him so you sort of paid the rent."

"I think I owe him too much. My work's pay is nothing compared to the cost of my lodging. He also paid for my hospital bills. I want to stand on my own two feet."

"But he would miss you."

"I know. He treated me like his own son, Bae, who had just passed away recently. Poor guy. However, my life is in New York."

"My mom told you the address, didn't she? Aren't you worried to return to a big city like New York without your memory?" he asked accusingly.

"Yes, she did. In fact, I need to thank her. Everyone has been so welcoming but nobody told me anything about my past. Everybody clammed up when I asked them. I hope I wasn't a criminal or something before this."

"No, you were not. Far from it." He hugged his father. He kissed his right cheek then his left cheek, and for good measure, his forehead too. Nothing happened. Well, it was worth a try. "I'm going to miss you."

"Wow, buddy. A bit intense there." He ruffled his hair affectionately. "I'm going to miss you so much too. You could come and visit me in New York anytime. To answer your other question, no, I'm not afraid. I have the feelings that I'm used to living alone without anyone to rely on."

Hearing that his father often spent time alone, without realizing how true it was, had Henry's heart aching for his dad. Oh, how he really wanted to follow his dad. Emma was too busy with Killian. His adopted mom was busy with Robin Hood. His maternal grandparents were busy with their baby. Well, he could find Mr. Gold, but he didn't want to impose on his time with his new wife, Belle, too much. He burst out, "Can I come and live with you?"

"Oh, I wish you could. I need to get back to my old job first. Besides, you have two moms and grandparents too. I can't take you away from that. But as I said, you could visit me any time."

He felt dejected. If only he could tell Neal who he was to him. But all the adults prevented him. They said his memory should return naturally if it was meant to be. Don't force it. "OK."

"Don't be, sad. Let me buy you a hot chocolate. It's with cinnamon, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." Despite not having his memory, he acted just like the old Neal.

They were sitting and chatting talking mostly about life in New York in Granny's. Out of the blue, Neal said, "I had the weirdest dream last night. I dreamed that we were playing with wooden swords in the park. It was funny because I don't think I ever played with a sword in my life. We must've spent so much time together that I dreamed about it."

Henry felt his heart clenched again. So close yet so far. "Yes, we must have. You know, we could try that."

"I think you're just saying that because you know you're going to kick my ass since I'm not experienced at all. That's fine. Whatever makes you happy but not so soon after eating. Otherwise your two moms are going to have my head on a pike."

Well, things were not so bad. Perhaps Mr. Gold or Emma could restore his memory eventually. No matter what happened, it was better to have his loving father alive, even without his memory, than to have a dead heroic father.

Note:

-*Hide from Swanfire shippers* There is one more chapter to go to answer the questions about why Emma did what she did, the bonding between Rumpelstiltskin and Henry, plus what happened to Neal in the end. The reason why I write this story will be explained in the next chapter too.

-Please tell me what you think about this chapter.