Danielle was very quiet that day at work. Usually she was humming or talking to Mr. Gold or sometimes even talking to herself. But today she was so quiet that Mr. Gold actually poked his head out of the office to see if she was alright.

She was sitting on a stool behind the display cases, elbows up on the glass, chin resting on her knuckles, eyes fixed on the glass mobile. She was so silent, so still…

"…Danielle?" He asked. She didn't even blink so he walked over to her. "Danielle?" Still nothing. Swallowing, he placed his hand on her shoulder and gently shook. "…Rose?" He whispered.

Danielle jerked and blinked hard. She shook her head and looked up at him. "You say something boss?" she asked.

"Are you alright?" he asked, very concerned. "You've been so quiet today…"

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, rubbing her eyes. "I had a rough night last night. I… kept having these weird dreams."

"Oh?" he asked, pulling up a stool. "Do tell."

"Since when did you become interested in dreams?" she asked.

"About seven seconds ago," he said with a smirk. Danielle smirked back.

"Well… I… I think I'm younger," she began. "And I'm in a castle. And there's this couple. The lady looks… Well I look like her, and the man… He looks kinda like you but… different."

"….And what happens?" Gold asked.

"It's like… It's like I'm their daughter, I guess..." she continued. "But they call me a different name, they call me Rose. I had different dreams like it but they had the same couple, and they called me the same name. They chased me through the castle and played games with me… We played in the snow, or had picnics in the summer… But they don't feel like dreams. They feel like… like memories…"

Mr. Gold watched her, looking at her like he was deciding something.

"…You probably think I'm crazy, don't you?" Danielle half smiled.

"Oh, I don't think that at all," he said. "After all, some people believe that dreams are memories… from past lives."

"Past lives?" she asked skeptically. "You believe in other lives?"

"…It's a possibility, I never rule anything out." He said. "But I wouldn't stress the idea too much. If it really becomes a problem then maybe you should go see Dr. Hopper."

"The shrink?" Danielle asked. "My mom sent my brother to him because she thought he was crazy, now you think I'm crazy?"

He chuckled. "You're not crazy, and neither is your brother. You both just have very creative minds. But Hopper could help you perhaps interpret these dreams and get to why you're having them."

Danielle sighed. "…I'll think about it."

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"So when did you see your father last?" the Huntsman asked.

"Um, four years ago," Rose said. "My mother took me away because she thought it wasn't safe for me to be around him. He was at our home..."

Rose and the Huntsman sat outside of Jefferson's house. Jefferson and Grace had gone to town to buy food. They didn't expect to see them there when they returned. The Huntsman's wolf sat obediently at his side.

"Do you have some memory of the place where he lives? Up north, down south? East, West, anything?" the mas asked.

"…North," Rose said. "There was snow every winter. And it was in the mountains, near a forest. And then a town was a few miles away."

The Huntsman looked at her for a long moment. "…It ah… It wouldn't happen to be a rather fancy castle, would it?" he asked. She glanced at him and nodded. "…So your father is the Dark One?" Rose nodded again, not looking him in the eyes. Would that mean that he wouldn't help her? "Well that does present a problem…" he said.

"Please sir," Rose begged. "I don't know where I am or where my father is or how to find him. If you help me, he can pay you in all the gold you could want."

"I care nothing for gold," the man said. "I want to be left alone, with the wolves."

"He can probably help with that," she said. "Please. I need to find him, sir, he's the only one that can rescue my mom."

The Huntsman was silent for a long time. Rose waited. Wondering what he would say.

"…First off, don't call me sir," he said finally. "Second, we travel swiftly and quietly, and we only stop for meals and sleep. Do you understand?"

"Yes. Yes thank you, thank you so much!" Rose smiled wide, her heart filling up with hope and happiness for the first time in four years. He nodded. The wolf seemed to smile too. Rose was finally going to see her father again.

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Danielle hadn't seen her brother in almost two weeks, so when Henry walked into the shop that day, she didn't even hesitate. "Henry!" She cried joyfully as she ran around the display cases and hugged her little brother.

Henry was shocked to see her again and he hugged her tight smiling. "Danielle! What are you doing here?"

"Well I work here," she smiled. "Mr. Gold offered me a job. Oh, I'm so happy to see you Henry." And she hugged him again.

"It's great to see you too," he smiled and hugged her tight.

"My, my, what a happy reunion," Mr. Gold smiled as he came out of the back. Danielle smiled but Henry was a little nervous as they drew away. "What brings you to the shop, Henry?"

"Umm... Just browsing," he said. "I was thinking of getting something for Ms. Blanchard…"

Gold helped him find something, a bell, for Ms. Blanchard, and after the purchase took place, Henry asked to speak with Danielle outside.

"We really need you back home, Danny," he said, using the nickname he gave her when he was little. "Mom is really angry all the time and the house has gotten messy since she hasn't gotten anyone else to clean…"

"Well if the only reason I'm wanted is because I clean up, then maybe Mom should hire a maid." Danielle said. "As much as I want to go home so we can hang out again, I'm actually pretty happy here working for Mr. Gold and living at the inn."

Henry sighed and hung his head.

"…She still sending you to the shrink?" she asked.

Henry nodded. "Yeah, to Jiminy Cricket." He said. Danielle gave a confused look before she remembered his weird obsession with the fairytales. She hadn't paid much attention but she knew he thought their mother the evil queen and that hadn't gone over well with Regina… She sighed and shook her head.

"Look, I don't really have time for fairytales. I've gotta get back to work," she said.

"Wait!" the boy said and he pulled something out of his backpack. It was a book, a very large, brown book with golden letters that spelled out "Once Upon A Time".

Danielle sighed again. "Henry, I just said—"
"I know, I know," he said. "But just read it when you have the time and then give it back to me. And make sure no one takes it." Henry thrust the book into her arms and then ran off.

"Yeah, ok, bye, love you too!" Danielle called after him. She looked down at the book, rolling her eyes. She stashed it behind the cash register for later.

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Both the Huntsman and the wolf were silent as they moved through the forest. At the beginning of their journey, Rose had been fine with the silence. But after four years of being locked up in a dungeon with nothing to do, she began to realize how much she hated not having anything to do. Huntsman said they were going to travel quietly, but that didn't mean silently, right?

Rose quickened her pace so she walked next to him. He didn't look at her, just kept his focus on the path ahead. She looked up at him for a minute, studying him, before she cleared her throat.

"…So… When do you think we'll reach the castle?" she asked.

"About a week," he said bluntly.

"Oh…" she said. Silence. Well that went nowhere. Maybe another question. "Um… Do you think he could still be there when we get there?"

"Don't know."

"Oh…"

Silence.

"…Ha-Have you ever been that far north?"

"No."

"Oh..."

This was going nowhere, still. Rose swallowed. Maybe a more personal question.

"Where are you from?" she asked. He sighed and stopped, his wolf stopping with him.

"Look, I said we're going to be traveling quietly and quickly. I spend very little time around people, I don't like people, so I don't like questions. I'll ask you just this once to not bother me or you can look for someone else that will find your father, understand?"

"Yes sir…" Rose said, hanging her head.

"And I told you not to call me sir," he said and started walking again. Rose looked at the wolf.

"Is he always this grumpy?" she asked and went to catch up with the Huntsman.

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I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!

I AM BACK FROM MY HIATUS AT LAST! Thank you everyone who kept messaging me and bugging me to put up new chapters, and i promise, i am going to try to be more regular about updating my stories. I'm half way done with the next Daddy chapter and i have another story i want to upload soon. so thank you everyone who waited so patiently for me to get off my lazy butt.

hugs and loves

darkonesroses