Hey,

Chapter 9 of Return home is here, I hope you guys like it. It's a bit shorter, but I think that's better than nothing. Enjoy it, I'll update it sooner with the final of season 2 with an Annabeth twist on things. So I'll be getting to my season 3, since Annabeth would change things. At least that's what I think.

Enjoy,

TempeGeller

Chapter 9: A new home

Annabeth noticed that the arm was still covering her shoulder, it felt good yet the voice behind them didn't like it. She knew that voice. The voice belonged to her father. As she pushed the arms of her shoulders, she took a step away from him. She had no idea what to say to the man standing in front of her, what did she need to say to Rumpelstiltskin? Her face colored even more red in shame, especially when she noticed Emma and her mother. She waved at Emma for only a moment, knowing that she had an opinion on this situation. Slowly Rumpelstiltskin moved towards her.
"Get away from my daughter…" He raised his eyebrow. "Or I'll take away the other hand."

"Your daughter has a choice where she goes." Hook replied. "Crocodile."
"Just stop it!" Annabeth turned to Hook. She rolled her eyes as turned to Rumpelstiltskin. "To you the same thing, I'm 19 years old. I'm not a child anymore. I don't need my father telling me where to go. Just let him be."
" You heard her! I was comforting her…" Hook smiled "She needed my support."

"And I don't need a friend on thin ice either, who uses the only words I say to beat back." Annabeth turned to him. "I subject you stay quiet too. Or I will you show just how cold the water is."
"That actually sounds…" Hook paused as he saw Annabeth's eyes cursing him. "Quiet okay."
"Are you okay, baby?" Belle rushed to her side. She pulled Annabeth in her arms. There was a look on her face that she'd seen before. A sadness in her mother eyes, she was sure she had found out something about her past. Annabeth was surprised that she was comforted. She was happy to see her mom, feel her arms around her body. "You are a product of the pure love, sweetie. Know that."
"So it's not true?" Annabeth smiled "Dad didn't ask you to come with him in exchange for peace with the ogers? You were not his housekeeper?"

"That's true." Belle didn't let Annabeth go. "Yet love often grows in an unexpected place. I saw your father as the man he was, not the thing everyone saw him for. The way we have met might not be perfect, yet it's just a way. My father is prejudiced, he can't see your father for the way he is."
Annabeth stared at Rumpelstiltskin, she took a step away from Hook. She stepped to him as she saw an emotion in her father's face. Slowly she moved closer to him. It was a natural movement, a hug. When she released him, she saw tears in his face.
"At least one of my children will talk to me…" He smiled "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, dad." She noticed that Belle has stepped close to them and was hugging her too. It was weird to be so close to two people. She never had a family, someone looking for her. As she stared at Emma, a part of her face changed.
"Sorry." She said as Annabeth pulled her in a hug. "I told them about the foster home thing, it slipped. I didn't want to tell, yet it just.."
"So…"
"We know." Belle stared at her. "I feel sick knowing anyone would hurt you in that way, the hardest thing I feel is that I couldn't protect your from this people. I'm your mother, I'm supposed to protect you from everyone. Yet you seem so taken care of, I can't believe that anyone would ever hurt you in such way. I'm supposed to protect you…"
"It's okay, Belle." Rumpelstiltskin put his hand on Belle's back.
"Mom." Annabeth was pulled in between the two of them, like they needed her to take the pain away. In between them, it was a sure thing that Annabeth, their child, would never be harmed. That was the exact way they wanted it, yet in life you could never make sure that anyone got hurt. Belle didn't want to do anything, in fact she loved her daughter so much. Annabeth was the thing she wanted in her life. Annabeth and Rumpelstiltskin were all she needed to be perfectly happy.
Belle saw the baby in front of her, the baby she had hugged all these years ago. When her life had been standing still, she had grown up in to a beautiful young woman. Yet the young child had not always been treated honestly. Belle could have given her things, that some people had taken from her. The scars on her hand wouldn't have been there, if she had raised her. And if they were, they would have been created by an accident. Yet, if Belle had raised Annabeth, she would still be an infant. Yet, that she and Rumple would have the chance to raise her from infancy on. It would have been amazing to see her first steps, her first laugh. She had missed her first book. It brought tears to her face. Annabeth's life had gone on and she had missed it. She had missed so much. And the person that stolen all of this precious moments was Regina, there was a person she could blame. Yet Belle didn't feel the anger to do so.

As they started to walk away, Rumpelstiltskin turned to Annabeth.
"How old were you when you walked?" He smiled
"I guess 11 months." Annabeth smiled "I was told that I didn't walk so much, than ran to the stereo to turn it off and pull the books of the table, that was until they were placed on a higher table."
"What about your first kiss?"
"I didn't have that yet." Annabeth stared to the ground.
"Well the boy who wants to steal that away, has to have a very serious talk with me. "Rumpelstiltskin laughed. "No one is good enough for my dear daughter."
"I can pretty much decide that myself." Annabeth smiled at her father, his hands reached for her jaw. She didn't move as his brown eyes stared at hers. Belle was still pretty close to her. The both of them felt protective of their daughter.
"You aren't always a good judge of character." He stared to his feet. "I think…"

"I am sure I'm not fully aware of your past." Annabeth turned to Belle and Rumpelstiltskin. "But that doesn't mean that I can't figure out who I see as good, I am pretty sure when I feel a good nature, there's something good inside. I feel about you, dad. I feel about mom and I feel it about Hook."
"I'm not sure if she's wrong Rumple." Belle turned to Rumpelstiltskin. "And it doesn't matter, you're not going to harm him. We should work together, he's with us."
"Indeed." Hook smiled "As long as Annabeth is on your side, if she's not crocodile, I'm no sparing you. It's Annabeth keeping you safe now."

Annabeth glared at him, an evil look was send to him. Almost like she was trying to tell he just said something wrong. She didn't say anything, yet her eyes held a thousand words. She turned around as she headed away from the docks, away from Hook. She was followed by Rumpelstiltskin and Belle. It only took her a short second to return her gaze to Hook, for only a second. Emma put her arm around Annabeth, Belle put her arm around the other shoulder.
"Annabeth…" Belle stared at her. "Where are you staying?"
"I'm staying at Granny's."

"We have a spare room in our house." Rumpelstiltskin touched Belle's hand. "you're welcome to stay there if you want. We won't bother you."
"I don't think that's smart." Annabeth stepped away. "I very much like my privacy."
"Sweetie, you can't stay alone with everyone in this town." He pleaded. "And you can't possible keep staying in that small room. Someone has to stay with you."
"I'm not really ready to live with my parents." Annabeth stared at Belle. "I'm so sorry, mom."
"I understand." Belle nodded her head. "But I agree with your father, you shouldn't live by yourself. Not because of his reason, you need someone who understands you."

"Someone like me…" Emma hooked her arm in hers. "We should find an apartment together, I'm sure that your father won't demand rent."
"Off course I can't demand rent of my own daughter." Rumple smiled "But you miss Swan…"
"Do you want your daughter to live with the savior or in that room all by yourself?" Emma smiled "Because I'm not paying any rent."
"Off course…" He smiled as he searched through his pocket. "apartment two room, you look after my daughter. If something happens to her, miss Swan. You know about the warning I send to you about Belle, this thing is the same for my daughter."

"Dad!" Annabeth turned to him.
"I think it's a good idea, Emma." Belle smiled "I won't be as worried about Annabeth if she's with you Emma. You'll look after her, I mean she's 19."
"I will…"

"Technically I'm older than Emma." Annabeth smiled "I was 4 months when she wasn't even born."
"Well, you lived for 9 years in a cursed town." Emma smiled "I'm older."

Emma lay down in the bed, she hadn't expected furniture when she came in. The walls were purple, the room was kind of big. It was right next to the apartment of her parents, even though she didn't know there was an apartment right next to it. The apartment had access to the roof, it was twice the size of Mary Margaret's apartment.
"If you want…" Annabeth stared at him. "I can blackmail my father in dropping your parent's rent."
"Well, it wouldn't be to unwelcome." Emma smiled "So how are you?"

"Well, okay." Annabeth smiled "And totally not okay."
"You are terrified." Emma stared at her. "Aren't you?"
"I am." Annabeth stared. "Terrified of my father."
"You are?"
"I am." Annabeth turned away. "How can I even admit that I'm scared of him? He's been nothing but kind to me, yet those words of Moe."
"you shouldn't listen to him. Moe is full of shit." Emma turned around. "Seriously. He shouldn't be allowed to talk to anyone."
"But he's right about everything else. About the…"

"Just because someone gets the circumstances right, doesn't mean they understand the love." Emma replied. "He has good in him, I mean you are good. Maybe you and Belle are the very thing that keep him good. You shouldn't fear him, he's not going to hurt you?"
"Well, I know he's not going to harm me." Annabeth turned away. "I just don't know who he was in fairy tale land, I mean people fear him. They fear him for a reason, plus there is the whole my brother hates him thing. There has to be a reason…"
"Well you should not take someone else's opinion on him. How do you like him after spending time with him?" Emma smiled "Doing your magic thingy or whatever he teaches you."
"He's nice to me and he believes in me. So I like it." Annabeth smiled "But I like spending time with my mom better, read sessions are the best."
"You and Belle are just equally awkward." Emma smiled at her.
Annabeth turned around as she heard the sound of an opening door. Footsteps came closer and as the door opened, it revealed Henry. Henry stepped inside and he stared at Emma and Annabeth. He had to admit that Annabeth really looked like Belle, she had the same eye color as Belle. Annabeth was his aunt, she was his father's half-sister. He stared at the book.
"I don't get how you came to be…" Henry stared at Annabeth. "There's no mention in the book of you or your mother having a child."

"So whoever wrote the book had no idea about Annnabeth's existence." Emma raised her left eyebrow. "But they did know that Belle and Rumpelstiltskin were a couple. Is it just me or should everyone be creeped out that someone wrote down everything that happened in that land. Expect Annabeth."
"Well..." Annabeth smiled "So do we have to think about the plan?"
"You have to find out what the plan is." Emma stared at her. "You have to make Hook talk, he loves you and we need to know what Tamara and Greg are planning. Can you do that?"
"okay…"

Annabeth stepped on the ship, she saw Hook standing behind the wheel of the ship. He was staring at the blue air, almost like he was trying to get a solution for what was going on. She took another step, almost knowing that he would hear her, yet he didn't turn around. She didn't know what to think about him, he tried to kill her mother. That was something she could not handle. She saw something in him, she saw a friend in him. There was no way she could ever fall for him, her young age kept her from that.
"So…"
"Anna." He smiled. "Just the person I was looking for…"

"What do you need to do for them?" She stepped to him. "I know you want the dead of my father, but they want everyone dead, including you and me. That can't be the thing you want."
"You're right, my life is way too important for me." He nodded. "You are right about that."
"So tell me?"
"I need to bring Regina to the library and to the dragon. I need to tell her." He showed a bracelet. "That this was her mother's, it's not her mothers. It takes away what magic can do. They think something is down there that can help them."
"What's down there?"
"They don't know." He stared at her. "They have a plan, but there not sharing. I don't even know if this actually belongs to their plan. Maybe they want to get Regina."
"Regina?" Annabeth took the bracelet. "Can we break the magic?"
"no."

"Then there will have to be someone else." Annabeth smiled. "We'll have to put their plan against them. There will be a trap waiting for them."