A Tale of Two Cousins

Rose Red paused as she approached the door to her cousin, Snow White's bedroom in the girl's castle. She was staying with her cousin and uncle Leopold at the moment, the three of them residing in the Summer Palace for the season. The king's new wife, Regina, was staying in the other castle while they were there. She thought it was odd, that her uncle would leave his new wife behind, but he had said that he'd wanted the new Queen to have time to grow used to the main castle that they lived in before having her journey to the Summer Palace. He also wanted her to be able to grow used to the servants and the people that she'd be ruling over. The people would never accept her or grow to care for her as they had the prior queen, his beloved Eva, if she was not around for them to see and interact with. She thought that was a little unfair that he should leave Regina to meet the people on her own, but Snow had been so excited to come to the palace and, it was the first time in years that they were travelling there that Snow was happy for it. The Summer Palace had been one of Queen Eva's favorite places to go with Snow and the girl hadn't felt the same about the castle since her mother had passed.

She hadn't known how her cousin would really react to being in this place again once she was really there. Snow had gone on and on about how, while they were there, she wanted them to make the castle nicer for Regina for the next time she'd come there with her father and her. She had talked about all the different things that she couldn't wait to do with Regina there next time that she was almost afraid that Snow had forgotten the times they used to be there with Eva and, once she saw the castle again, she'd be sad once more. She hated when her cousin was sad.

Snow had gotten a little sad when they arrived, thinking about her mother, but she had perked up more than she was expecting her cousin to do. The children of the villagers that lived around the castle had helped perk Snow up even more. She was always so cheerful around others that she could play and interact with…

And that was one of the reasons she was coming to her cousin now.

While Snow was very happy around the other children…she wasn't.

It wasn't that she didn't like the village children in the sense that they were 'beneath' her…it was just that she didn't like the village children at all. They were…well, they were all very distant with each other. The children loved Snow, they had the best time around her and they were always laughing and smiling and having fun. She could tell because she could hear them from her bedroom window or the music room during times when she promised her parents she would continue with her lessons on her own…or the times she told Snow to go have a good time with them on her own.

It was only when SHE joined her cousin and the children that things were different. The children were still very amicable to Snow, were slightly so to her, but they tended to focus more on Snow than her. Which was just as well, she didn't really care to interact with the children really. There was still fun to be had but there was just…something off, she tried, very hard, to connect with the other children, to connect with anyone really but it only ever happened when it came to Snow. She was her cousin, her family, and it was like a second instinct inside her that Snow was the only one worth spending time with.

Her parents had warned her about what that meant, it meant her Siren half was growing stronger. They were an apathetic race to all those outside their blood, the blood connected them and their blood family was the only one they cared about. They had told her that when the feelings arose, a sort of disinterest, an uncaring quality seeping into her thoughts when it came to others, to try and make an effort to fight against them. They wanted her to try and make those connections outside her family, to…care about others.

She knew it wasn't their way of saying they didn't like who she was, her father loved a Siren regardless of her personality towards others and she knew her mother loved her father and had come to love his brother and her sister-in-law as well because they were important to the man she loved. She knew that they weren't trying to tell her that she was wrong to be who she was, that being a Siren, at least partly, was a bad thing. They both loved her just as she was and had sworn to the stars that they would always love her, no matter what she turned out like, or how much like a Siren she might become.

They were just…scared, for her, for her future and what others would do. She was the heir to her father's throne, she would be queen one day. It would be up to HER to care about her people and her kingdom and she needed to be able to care about something outside her family in order to do that. It could be beneficial, in a way, to look at a kingdom with some distance, to look at it as a whole instead of caring for every single person in it, sometimes sacrifices had to be made for the sake of the kingdom and sometimes certain people suffered for it to happen. Her parents didn't want her to come across to the people as uncaring or cold or disinterested

And that's why she was there, standing outside her cousin's room, staring at the door. She could hear Snow just on the other side of the door, singing softly, likely dancing with one of her stuffed animals as was her custom late at night just before bed. She hesitated to knock though, trying to determine if she really wanted to do this, if she was really about to ask her cousin to help her in a certain endeavor. But Snow was always so helpful and open to helping, she loved it, doing good, and well, if she couldn't turn to her cousin then who could she turn to?

So, with that in mind, she quickly rapped on the door, the singing inside cutting off abruptly before the sound of feet rushing to the door grew louder. A moment later the door was thrown open to reveal Snow in her nightgown, a stuffed animal in hand, smiling at her.

"Rosie!" Snow beamed.

"Frosty," Rose countered, her lip quirking when she saw her cousin give a small huff at the name.

"What are you doing here?" Snow tilted her head, before gasping, "Are we going to have a stay over?!"

Rose smiled more at that, their stay overs, where one would sleep in the other's room for the night, often no sleep at all happened as Snow would chatter long into the night unless no one was there for her to talk to. She liked sharing those nights with her cousin. She liked being alone more often than not but…recently…she had been feeling lonely and Snow was the best friend she had ever had and always made her feel less so. Normally their stay overs only happened the first night they were reunited after parting or the very last night before one of them would leave but, sometimes, they would have them through their visits and stays.

"No," Rose shook her head, "I…I had a question for you."

"What?" Snow asked, still smiling, "You know you can ask me anything Rose," she reached out to take her cousin's hand, squeezing it in encouragement.

Rose looked down at their hands a moment, she didn't usually like when other people touched her, but Snow, her family in general, was an exception to that, it was comforting when Snow did it, "I know," she murmured, returning her gaze to her cousin, "I wanted to ask for your help."

Snow laughed a little at that, her cousin could really draw things out couldn't she? "I thought so," she told Rose, "But WHAT?"

Rose looked away, down the hall, shifting slightly which made Snow's smile fall and laughter fade. Her cousin was rather big on maintaining eye contact, she was always so…confident. When she spoke to adults or even others, Rose would look them dead in the eye no matter how tall they were, which often made THEM look away to have such a direct contact. And she hardly ever shifted, was normally so oddly still that it could be disconcerting at times…unless she was uncomfortable. It was a tell, she knew, one that Rose did when she was either guilty, didn't want to admit to something, or was generally uncomfortable.

She couldn't think of anything that her cousin had done lately that she'd feel guilty about, she'd been at Rose's side nearly the entire day. Nor could she think of something Rose wouldn't talk to her about, she had always impressed on her cousin that she could talk to her openly about anything at all. So it had to be something else, something besides that, that was making her uncomfortable.

"Rosie?" she asked, squeezing Rose's hand after a long moment of silence.

Rose sighed and looked back at Snow, "I…want…the other children…to…to like me."

Snow blinked at that, "What?"

Rose only barely bit back a groan, "I don't think they like me much," she tried to explain, "I don't want to not be well liked when I am queen. I want…I want my people to like me, like they do father and Uncle Leopold. I don't think the children do and I…I need to know that I can be liked or if…"

"If?" Snow squeezed her hand once more.

"Or if I'm a monster."

"Rose!" Snow gasped at that, "Why would you ever think you were a monster?!"

Rose nearly gave her a look for that, "I hear what the other children call me Snow," she told her cousin quietly, "I know people are not very…accepting of mother, they seem to…to fear me," she admitted quietly, "I don't want to be feared."

Snow's eyes widened at the last whispered words of her cousin, able to see a small hint of tears in the girl's eyes before she pulled Rose into a tight hug. Her cousin had never expressed a concern over that before, had never said what she'd like others to feel around her. She heard the whispers about how odd her cousin was, she stopped them as best she could and, for so long, Rose hadn't seemed bothered by them, hadn't acknowledged them, but it seemed she had been affected after so many years of hearing them hissed behind her back.

But she could guess why she'd said nothing till now. Her cousin was always looking out for her despite HER being the older one, Rose was always trying to protect her. She wouldn't tell her about something that was upsetting her no matter how many times she told her that she would always be there to listen. Rose hated upsetting her, she'd rather play unaffected in front of others than let them know they were getting to her.

"Oh Rose," she murmured, "They don't fear you."

"They do Snow," Rose's voice trembled, "I know they do. And I don't want them to."

Snow nodded, "Then we'll change that," she pulled away, "We'll change it, I promise."

~8~

"Are you sure this is going to work Snow?" Rose asked as she followed her cousin down the steps of the Summer Palace, tugging at the dress she was wearing.

It was poofy, the shoulders were puffing out, the skirt seemed layered with too-much tool, and it was…pink. She preferred darker colors, blues and purples and greens, dark reds, not…pink. But it had either been this light pink color or a rather flaring other shade of it and she had picked the one that hurt her eyes less.

"Of course," Snow smiled at her, taking her hand for the last few steps, "You trust me don't you, Rosie?"

"You know I do, Snow," Rose told her, squeezing her hand back, "You are my best friend, you would never do anything to hurt me."

Snow positively beamed at that, at how her cousin truly belied it, it meant so much to her to know her cousin felt that way, "As you are mine," she told her, "So trust me when I say this will work. I think what made the other children wary is that you always dress in such dreary colors, this is brighter! It's softer, they'll like you more for it."

"I don't really want people to like me just because of how I dress, Snow," she remarked, "I want them to like ME."

"And they will," she promised, "This is just the first step. They can't get to know you if they're afraid to approach you. Now," she stopped just at the end of the path that would lead outside the walls of the palace and into the village beyond, turning to face the blonde, "Have you practiced what I told you to?" Rose nodded, "Show me."

Rose sighed but fixed a smile on her face.

Snow only barely managed not to wince at the sight, her cousin was grinning far too much like the Cheshire Cat from the stories of Wonderland, it was too wide and forced with too much teeth showing.

"Um, it's…good," she offered, "But try a little softer," Rose just blinked at that, "Try it without separating your lips," she instructed. But it wasn't much better, it somehow managed to look more devious that way.

And that was odd to her, she was sure she'd seen her cousin smile before and thought it lovely, she just had to find THAT smile and she was sure the other children would think Rose warmer than they did. She wouldn't lie to her cousin and say she hadn't heard the whispers that the other children, and even some of the adults, had called her cousin behind her back. She was always sure to throw a glare to those people, make it a point for them to know she'd heard them and was NOT pleased with it. They usually quieted down, kept their words softer and away from Rose's ears…but it didn't mean they'd stopped saying those awful words.

She let out a small breath, before a thought hit her, "I know!" she cheered, making Rose jump and her laugh a bit, "Remember when we were out in the fields, and we were watching the clouds after you set the mice free in the kitchens and we escaped our lessons?" Rose nodded, starting to smile at the memory, "There!" she pointed at Rose's mouth, "Smile just like that and people will love you Rosie."

Rose's smile immediately dropped at that, "Don't call me Rosie, Frosty."

Snow rolled her eyes at that but kept the smile on her own face, "Come on," she turned to lead her cousin on, half skipping as she reached the edge of the village. She gave Rose's hand a squeeze and nudged her cousin with a pointed look till she started skipping with her clumsily. She stopped only when they turned a corner to the market and spotted a few other boys and girls playing a game with little marionette ragdolls, "Hello!" she cheered, hurrying over to the small group, just a handful of the children she usually played with when her cousin was otherwise detained, but that was probably for the best, better to start Rose off slowly after all.

"Princess Snow!" the three girls that had been standing by the two boys quickly curtseyed while the boys bowed to the princess.

"Princess Rose," one of the boys offered hesitantly, the group giving her a more begrudging set of greetings, their eyes never leaving her even as they moved, as though wary of her.

Snow tried not to let that deter her, "May we join you?" she asked with a bright smile.

"Both of you?" a girl in pigtails asked before realizing just how poorly mannered that was, "I mean…"

"Yes," Rose spoke up, glancing at Snow and back to the children, "We…would like to play."

The children seemed skeptical of that, Princess Rose hadn't been one to 'play' with anyone but Snow White in all the time the two girls had been at the palace.

"What were you playing just now?" Snow inquired, not giving the children a chance to try and back out of it.

"We were just finishing, really," a young boy, the youngest of the group, said, "We were going to play Wordings."

Wordings was a game the children were encouraged to play, where the goal was to take one word and, without saying the word, give clues to others enough to guess what that word was. You could use like-words, or descriptions of it, whatever you could think of without outright saying the word in question.

"That sounds…interesting," Rose tried to muster a smile for the children though, given how they glanced at each other, she doubted she'd succeeded in making it soft enough.

"May we join you?" Snow took over once more.

"Of course, Princess," the tallest of the girls gave Snow a smile in return.

Rose glanced at her cousin as the small group of children looked between her and Snow, she could tell just from their looks that they would have rather JUST Snow played with them, but Snow had linked arms with her and didn't seem about to let go in the near future, so they were stuck all together.

~8~

Rose was tired, so tired, no…more like weary. She had absolutely no idea that it took so much out of a person to play a game with other children…and they weren't even DOING anything! They weren't running around or playing a chasing game, they weren't causing a commotion or tossing toys, they were sitting there on a few crates beside a small bakery just talking.

And yet she was exhausted.

She was trying to do everything Snow had told her. She was trying to sit like a delicate princess. She was trying to smile all the time. She was trying to appear interested and invested in the game, in the children around her. She was trying to pay attention and really play the game, to offer the best substitution words she could to keep the game going. She was trying so hard to not groan or roll her eyes or sigh or just leave like she'd wanted to hours ago. It was just…boring, and the laughter of the children was annoying her, though that could have been because the topic of their laughs were all stories they shared with Snow that they were just remembering here and there, stories she had no idea about or had any part in. And the words that they were using, she was trying not to let herself start to see the children as 'inferior,' she knew that she had had better tutoring than many of the village children had, but some of the words were so easy to guess yet no one else had.

She was trying not to guess to quickly and seem like she was 'superior' to the children, but she was trying not to not answer at all, and it was…it was so much work.

She felt like crying, she really did, she just…she wanted it to be over, she didn't want to do this anymore, the more she sat there the more uncomfortable she was getting, the more upset she felt and yet the more she had to hide it.

And Snow, bless her cousin, she was a wonderful friend but she was so invested in the game that she had hardly noticed how her cousin was shifting in discomfort and looking back towards the entrance of the market more and more. Her cousin could be a little oblivious at times, and she had never hated that more than she did right now. She wanted to leave, but to leave mid-game would be rude and wouldn't make the children like her any more than they already didn't, and she needed Snow to help her come up with an excuse to leave. If they left together it wouldn't be so bad…

"Rose?"

She looked back over at the sound of Snow's voice to see her cousin smiling at her expectantly, "Yes?"

"It's your turn," one of the boys huffed…or barely managed to refrain from it as it wouldn't be proper for them to get testy with a princess.

"Oh," Rose nodded, "Um…" she looked around for a word that she could use, something common and nice and simple, like Snow had suggested a while ago…but she was just so tired and her head hurt and her body ached and the dress itched and she just…

"Odorous," she started, rambling words off the top of her head, "Wet. Red. Important. Warm. Draining. Leeches. Pain. Falling. Injuries. Staining. Women. Murder. Death…"

"Rose," Snow cut into her list, her voice firm.

Rose blinked and looked at them, seeing the children staring at her with wide horrified eyes, shaking their heads, disturbed by her words. She saw it then, the looks in their eyes, their eyes that were saying exactly what they wouldn't voice to her face…

'Monster.'

So she got up and ran.

~8~

Snow White knocked gently on her cousin's bedroom door, waiting for Rose to let her in…but no noise came, not even a call from her cousin, so she gently pushed the door open, peeking in around the door, "Rose?" she called, frowning when she saw her baby cousin lying on her large bed, her back to the door, curled up in a ball right on the edge farthest from the door, seeming to be clutching a pillow in her arms. She let out a gentle breath and made her way over, moving to sit on the bed, crossing her legs and looking at Rose's back, "What happened?"

Rose sniffled, making Snow's heart break at the sound, "I'm sorry Snow," she mumbled, "I tried…"

"I know you did," Snow reached out to put a hand on Rose's shoulder, "And it was working. You were doing so well and then…well…and then you weren't…" she rubbed Rose's arm a moment, "What happened?"

"I don't know," Rose admitted quietly, "I just…I was tired and I wanted to leave and I…it was the first thing that came to my mind," she sniffled again, her voice cracking when she spoke again, "What does that say about me that 'blood' was the first thought in my head?"

"Oh Rose," Snow crawled closer, laying down behind her cousin and reaching out to hug her tightly as Rose began to cry, something she knew had to mean her cousin was deeply upset, Rose hardly ever cried like this.

"I am a monster Snow."

"No," Snow shook her head, feeling tears forming in her eyes, "You're not a monster, Rosie, you're my cousin, you're my best friend, my sister, you could never ever be a monster."

"But I am. Mother's a Siren and…"

"And that doesn't mean anything," Snow told her firmly, "Your mother loves your father SO much Rose, she loves you too, she loves me. And you love her, you love your papa, and you love me too, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Rose sniffled.

"Then you're not a monster," Snow determined with a note of finality in her voice, "A monster can't love, all the stories say that, monsters can't love. But YOU do, Rose, you do love, and as long as you can you'll never be a monster."

"You're the only one that thinks so."

Snow sighed at that, knowing that Rose didn't mean the only one at all to think it, but the only one compared to the other children, "They don't know you like I do Rosie. Their opinion doesn't matter at all."

"But it does, doesn't it?" Rose shifted slightly, turning over to face Snow as the girl scuttled back, letting go of her cousin so she could move, "They're going to be our people one day. And they'll think I'm a…"

"Don't say it," Snow cut in, wiggling a little to pull a small handkerchief out of her pocket, reaching out to wipe Rose's face from the tears that had spilled down her cheeks, "They don't know you Rose," she repeated.

"And they never will," Rose sighed, "They won't want to."

"We'll change their minds Rose," Snow promised, "We WILL."

Rose was silent for a long while, looking to the side, more at the corner of her pillow than her cousin, before she finally spoke again, "No, we won't."

"We…"

"No," Rose looked up at her, "I…don't want to," she decided, swallowing hard.

"I don't understand," Snow shook her head, "You said that you wanted them to…"

"I know," Rose sniffled a little, "I want them to like me, Snow, I do…but I want them to like ME. I don't want them to like a…a…mask," she said, for lack of a better word, "I don't want them to like someone I'm pretending to be instead of the REAL me."

Snow searched her eyes for a moment or two, before sighing, "You didn't like my plan," she realized.

"I appreciated it," Rose reached out to touch Snow's hand, making her smile, "I appreciate how much you care for me Snow, that you want to help me. But I don't think dressing in pink and smiling and playing games is going to help me in the end," she sighed herself, "I…didn't like it. It wasn't me. Pink isn't me, smiling all the time isn't me, picking words like 'bunny' and 'dollie' isn't me," she tried to manage a small smile, "I think you see that whenever we cloud watch."

Snow gave a small laugh at that, "I do," she agreed, "I just thought…" she shrugged, "I thought that maybe if they saw the softer side of you, they'd like you more."

"That's just it, Snow…I…I don't…" she swallowed hard, "I don't think there is a softer side to me."

"Rose…"

"I think it's…it's fading away," Rose admitted in a quiet whisper, "Every day I feel…harder?" she couldn't think of a better word, "Every day, I look in the mirror and I see more of mother in me than father. I…I feel softer around you, around uncle Leopold, around my parents, but…that's it," she shrugged slightly, tears in her eyes again, "I'm just…I'm scared Snow," she said, finally getting to the point of everything.

She had gone to her cousin for help in being accepted by the children, because she had seen how her father and uncle ruled their kingdoms, with kindness, a firm hand, but a gentle heart, a softness for their subjects, and they were loved by the people. She had started to realize that she was pulling away from the other children, from everyone outside her family, more and more as time went on. She knew it was her mother's half in her, but it scared her.

Because some things that used to make her smile, didn't anymore. Things that others said that had hurt her, didn't faze her any longer. Things she used to care about…didn't seem as important.

And it scared her, badly, the…the apathy that was starting to settle in her heart and mind. If it was starting now, while she was still more a child than an adult, what would she be like as an adult? What would she be like as a Queen?

What would she be like as a cousin?

"I don't want to become hard to YOU," she told Snow.

That was what terrified her more than anything, what if she grew older and the most important thing in her life, her family, were suddenly people she hardly cared about? What if she cast her cousin aside? What if she…what if they became enemies because of HER?

She didn't think she could survive losing Snow like that.

"You never ever will Rosie," Snow whispered, scooting closer to hug her cousin once more as Rose started to whimper, holding her tight as she let her cousin cry on her, knowing she needed this, needed this reassurance, "You are my sister, you are my family, and I will never ever let your heart harden that much. Ever."

"You can't stop it though Snow," Rose told her, "Mother said…"

"I don't care," Snow shook her head, cutting in, "Your mother is a full-blooded Siren Rose, YOU are half," she pulled away to look her cousin in the eyes, "You're only half, which means your heart will only harden half as much."

"But…"

"No," Snow said firmly, "No, I'm right about this Rose, and even if I'm wrong, family is important to Sirens, right? They're the…the MOST important thing, yes?" Rose slowly nodded at that, "Then you will never ever become hard to me, so long as we're family, you'll always be a big old softie around me."

Rose gave a small, sniffling laugh at that. She couldn't picture herself ever being a 'big old softie' but it was…it was a comfort to hear. Though her tiny smile fell slightly, "What if I'm more like my mother than my father? What if I DO end up more like a Siren? What if…what if because I'm half it means my heart can become harder than even mother's?" she had seen how terribly some full-blooded humans could treat each other, the true hurts they could inflict, what if the combination of human and Siren in her was what made her a real monster, "What if I become too...dark?"

"I won't care," Snow promised her, "You will always be my cousin, Rose, always. No matter what you do or what you become, how dark you might be, that will never change. Never."

"Thank you Snow," Rose breathed, starting to smile again, "Thank you for accepting me as I am."

"There's no other way to accept someone," Snow shrugged, speaking simply, "You can't accept only part of someone, not if you love them, if you love them you accept everything about them," she gave leaned in more, hugging Rose again, the two of them just laying there, "And one day, Rose, one day you'll find even more people to accept you for exactly who you are," she giggled a bit, "Maybe even a prince," Rose crinkled her nose at the thought of some prissy prince falling in love with her, making Snow laugh, "One day people will see you for who you really are, and they'll love you as much as I do. I promise."

Rose snuggled into her cousin's arms a little more, a smile coming to her face. She…hoped so, she hoped that it would happen just as Snow said, that one day she would be accepted for who and what she was.

But…until that day came…her cousin was enough.

A/N: I really wanted this chapter to be the first flashback, I really wanted to show that Piper didn't always feel comfortable with what she does and what she is and what her name inspires. As a child she didn't want to be feared, it wasn't till she was older, till she experienced just how harsh the world could be in the Enchanted Forest, that she started to realize what Regina had, fear can be an effective tool :(

I'm glad you guys are excited for the story! I really cannot wait to get through it :)

Some notes on reviews...

Ooh things will be quite different in this story, especially because Piper is with Gold in this one and fully aware of and on the same page with him in terms of the Dagger and freeing him. But we'll have to wait and see how the 'banishment' might come about or what might happen with the Queens of Darkness }:)

Piper will have some issues with the Queens of Darkness, but it'll depend on if she's on their side or not come their entrance to the story }:)

For this story I plan to update daily though I'm not 100% sure what time I'll be updating just yet. I originally updated at 6:30 Eastern Standard Time because that was when I was waking up for my job and leaving the house, but as I'm currently unemployed, I may make the time more around 8 or 9 in the morning instead, but I'm not entirely sure just yet :) I am determined to have it be daily though ;)

Lol, I think it was a little bit to annoy Marian her holding Neal, sort of like 'go ahead and scream about monsters, but your Queen Snow trusts ME with her child, what are you gonna do about it? Yell some more?'

That is a very interesting theory! I can see that being a very key one with Belle, I agree :) I have a sort of backstory for the Dagger and the Darkness in this story planned out, but I think you're theory is really something that belongs in the actual show it's awesome ;) There have definitely been a lot of things in Season 4 that made me question how the writers let things happen or if they let others put in ideas or critiques. Like, the whole Zelena and Robin thing, the writers are STILL defending that it isn't rape, when it very, VERY much is and I'm just like…are they actually saying they fully believe what they had Zelena do wasn't rape? Or did they write themselves into such a bad hole without realizing that what they were having portrayed was really rape and are now defending it because they really don't want to admit they went that route? :/ There are also some things, like the never ending stream of parallels, that I think they need to really tone down on at times, or other things (like swapping Regina's and Snow's story in the finale) that should have been original and not just a swap that I wonder if they let anyone have a say in before filming :/ Overall Season 4 wasn't my favorite and a lot of things that happened near the end really made me question whether I want to watch Season 5, but I'm going to try and do what I ask readers to do when I put in a heartbreaking twist, to trust the writers and hope they have a trick up their sleeves :)

I agree, Emma's apologies to Regina felt a little empty to me too :/ To me, you can't really and truly apologize unless you regret what you did and would never ever do it again because it hurt someone. Emma's implied that she would do it all over again and make the same choice, so she can't really apologize when she would just do it again :( Piper and Elsa will have a few talks about being Monsters yup ;) And that's true, if Piper takes out Marian it would save her family a lot of danger, unfortunately, she's not aware of just how much a threat she is at the moment :(

I'm glad you're excited :) Lol, that sounds like a very cool OC ;) I think, the moment with Gold, is more his emotions really getting to him during a very devastating time :( It's like, for all the bravado around others and a genuine feeling of being ok being the 'monsters' of the stories in a larger sense, there's always a moment here or there, when the consequences of being a 'monster' are just so powerful and devastating, that they feel a brief moment of not wanting to be one because being one in the first place was what caused events that led to them being so pained :( Similar to that moment of doubt that heroes feel about whether or not they're doing the right thing or if they've turned into villains. In that moment, he felt he was a monster, and that being one had taken his son from him. But it passes and he's left with the feeling of being a monster is what gave him the chance to FIND his son and avenge him and that being a monster isn't always a bad thing. Piper was silent, a lot because of this flashback and other lingering things to come. She knows what it's like to have someone constantly tell you you're not something that you are, whether you're ok with what you are or not. She let him have his 'moment of pity' but if it had lasted longer, she would have talked him through it ;) Oh I have a twist for Robin too though we won't see an actual flashback from it. I took the episode where Robin first meets the Dark One as being before Snowing met (as Roland would have just been born when Snowing happened), and Piper was only there with Rumpelstiltskin a short time when Robin first broke in and Marian was pregnant so she likely wasn't there when Robin first met the Dark One ;) But I do have an explanation for the blonde Robin that we'll see later :) As for the cane, if Piper's there, she might take the place of his support instead of him needing to use a cane :)

Aww thank you! I'm very much hugging back ;)

I'm so sorry about your friend :'( I offer my deepest and most sincere condolences to you and their family :'(