Disclaimer: I own Rose, Mason, and the plot. That is it. Nothing else. Nothing.

A/N: This is another chapter that is in the past, in the Enchanted Forest. I'm not sure if anybody reads these, but if they don't this won't make sense, so the joke is on them.

Chapter 16

Rose

I paced the floor of my room, trying to figure out what to do. There was a lot of past between Killian and my parents, and not the good kind, the kind that included them all holding hands and dancing around the campfire.

What to do, what to do. If I told my father first, he would probably go and kill Killian. But if I told my mother first, slowly got her on my side, then she might be able to stop him. And if she didn't come onto my side, well, I could run faster than her and I had magic.

I nodded my head determinedly to myself and walked to the door. Do the brave thing and bravery will follow. That was what my mother had always taught me. Maybe she would be so impressed that I actually listened to her that she wouldn't throw an instant fit.

I could do this. I wiped my sweaty palms on my dress and opened the door, walking down the hallway to my parent's room. I knocked cautiously, knowing you could never be too careful of what was going on in there. Personally I had never walked in on them, but Bae had told me stories, and I kept getting more siblings, so I could conclude that it was something that happened quite often that I never, ever, wanted to see.

"Come in," Mother called. I opened the door and found her in the bed, my newest brother cradled in her arms.

"Hi," I greeted her. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Mother said suspiciously, looking at me. I toned down my formalness.

"That's good," I nodded, rubbing my hands on my skirt. God, why was this so hard. Just spit it out. They were hardly ones to judge about unconventional love. "Say, Mother, that I was in love with someone,"

"You are?" She asked eagerly, sitting up. I winced.

"Hypothetically," I said. She nodded, though I could tell by the way her blue eyes, the same ones that I inherited, were watching me that she was having none of this hypothetical business.

"Okay," She said. "Hypothetically."

"Right," I took a deep breath. "And let's say, hypothetically, that this person may not be exactly what you and Papa want for their little girl."

"Well, your Papa doesn't want anybody for his little girl, so that's not too hard to imagine," She said. I frowned.

"Well, hypothetically, let's say that this person and you guys have a little bit of a bad past," I said. "What would you do?"

"Well, I'm hardly one to throw stones at an unconventional love," Mother said. "And I would say that for you to fall in love with this person, they obviously would have changed some." She looked at me for a second. "This hypothetical man wouldn't happen to be Killian Jones, would it?"

"How did you know?" I asked her, my eyes wide. Too late I realized that she may not have known and I just affirmed her guess.

"Sweetie, you're hardly subtle," She said. "Leaving letters around from him where your father can see them is perhaps not the brightest move ever, however."

"So, you're okay with it?" I asked her.

"If he makes you happy, then yes," She said. "I know as well as anybody else that sometimes True Love doesn't happen quite in the form that other people want it to, but it still cannot be denied."

"Thank you," I sighed in relief. I hadn't realized how much I wanted her approval until now. I walked up and hugged her. "Love you."

"Love you too," She said, kissing my forehead and wrapping an arm around me. "I wouldn't tell your father without me there, though,"

"Of course not," I scoffed. "I may not be subtle, but I am not stupid."