Shades of Blue

Rose Red smiled as she walked with her father through the village just outside the castle, looking at all the odds and ends and stalls in the market area. Her father liked to visit the people, take in their wares, show that he cared about them and their work. At least once a month would find him examining the items his kingdom could produce and sell, complimenting the various villagers for their commendable work. And this time she got to go with him! Her mother had refused to let her go the last few months, wanting to put as much time as possible towards her lessons with her music.

It wasn't going very well.

Her mother kept trying to teach her how to use her voice 'properly' instead of using her instruments. Well, that wasn't entirely true. They'd just started using instruments a week or two ago. Her mother was very pleased with the control she was getting in her music through the instruments, less so about her voice. She still struggled with that. But she had time to work on that, the instruments were good for now and she had promised her mother she would practice for an extra two hours if she let her go with her father just this once to the market. Her father had managed to convince her more than SHE had she felt, her father was always able to sweet talk her mother into being more lenient with her.

She HAD done very well with the instruments, he'd argued, before leading her off to talk in private. When they came back they both had soft looks on their faces and she was allowed to go! She was starting to suspect her father might have some sort of swaying magic himself if he could change her mother's mind like he did.

She was SO excited! Her father had mentioned to her to keep an eye out for something she might like as a birthday gift as her birthday would be next month. She was going to be 5 soon, she'd be one year closer to what Snow was! Though…Snow always seemed to be two years older than she was, but she'd be closer!

So she was very sure to keep her eyes wide and to be on the look out for something that she might want. She wasn't sure what it would be though, she wasn't really very interested in gifts, she never really wanted for anything more than what she had. But her father tried to get her to make exceptions for days like her birthday. She would do it for him then, because it made him happy to be able to provide for her, he said.

She glanced up at her father, hiding a giggle behind her hand as she noticed he'd gotten stopped by a particular vendor selling rather smelly, thin sticks of wood. Her father didn't seem to like the smell either, he was making the face he always made when he was trying to be polite but wanted to be somewhere else. He made that face a lot when the stuffy old men that kept trying to tell him how to run his kingdom came to speak to him.

She looked over to the side, tilting her head as something caught her gaze through a window of a nearby shop. She glanced at her father, making sure he was occupied before she stepped away from him and over to the window, peering in. It was near enough where he would see her if he looked over, but far enough away where she didn't have to smell the smelly sticks any longer. She moved onto her tip toes to be able to see into the shop. It was shop for glasswork, little bowls and plates and cups were set up inside, vases and goblets and crystal statues. But all those weren't what drew her attention over. It was a small figurine in the front of the window.

It was white, but with blue accents, and it looked like a nymph or sprite or some sort of lovely creature rising from a wave of water. It was beautiful and it reminded her of her mother, of the stories she would tell about rising out of the sea after a storm or in the moonlight. She smiled as she observed it, it was small, simple, but lovely…perhaps she should ask her father for that for her birthday?

She had just been about to turn and move back to her father's side when she was yanked back from the window, a foul odor invading her sense, ale and what smelled like a chamberpot that had been mixed with someone's sick.

She tried to pull away, but only managed to take a step and turn when the person grabbed her arm in a tight hold. It was a large man, portly, with greying hair around the sides of his head and moving into deep sideburns on either side of his head. His face was red, his eyes squinting, beads of sweat on his brow, his clothing stained with food and alcohol, he was missing a shoe too. She tried to yank her hand back, but the man had too tight a grip, one that was growing ever tighter and stronger despite how the man was swaying, still clearly drunk.

He reached for her with his other hand, his face contorted in a vicious sneer, and so she did the only thing she could do.

She screamed.

Her father, who had had his back to her and hadn't seen the man grab his daughter, spun around as an hair splitting, ear shattering scream pierced the air to see his daughter in the grip of another man and utterly terrified. He only managed to take a single step forward when something in the scream changed, a magic seeping into it. The scream grew louder, shriller, so piercing that those around her stumbled back, pressing their hands to their ears to keep the sound out. The glass around her, the windows and objects up and down the street began to shatter at the sound.

And the man…the man released her and fell back, his hands flying to his head as he let out a strangled scream.

King Ethan fell to his knees as he too was affected by his daughter's scream…but she was his daughter, and he somehow found the strength to push himself to his feet, half throwing himself towards the girl till he fell beside her, reaching out, ignoring the agonizing pain in his head having uncovered his ears, to pull her into his arms, holding her close, offering her comfort and safety.

Almost instantly her scream ended as she buried her face into his chest, sobbing, her eyes scrunched closed as he held her. He panted from the effort of getting to her side, closing his eyes a moment to rest his head to hers, feeling his daughter shaking and trembling in his arms, her sobs breaking his heart, able to hear the true terror in her voice, feel her fright in how tightly she gripped him.

He looked up only when he heard the whispers begin, his eyes narrowing into slits as he saw his people starting to gather around them, staring in horror at the destruction she had caused with just her voice. All the glass on the street had shattered and rained down on some, cutting quite a few, those nearest to her were still on the ground, struggling to get up, some…like the man lying prone before them…dabbing at their ears as blood trickled out of them. He could see them looking to his daughter, the fear and anger in their gazes.

She was a four year old girl!

She had been grabbed by a drunkard and was scared, she had just reacted as any child would and, just because she had more power to her scream, they were staring at her as though all of this was her fault.

He quickly stood, Rose held tightly in his arms, "Take him," he ordered two of his guards that had rushed over, having been on their way when they saw the man grab the princess but been too late, nodding at the man on the ground, still unmoving, before he turned and strode out of the market, his head high, his expression daring any of them to come to him as their king instead of the father of a very frightened girl.

~8~

"The way they were looking at her!" Ethan muttered harshly as he paced before the fireplace of his study, Ilayda sitting in an armchair watching him with a frown on her face.

She had been in the castle, showing Eva, who was visiting, the gardens, when Ethan had run in only hours ago with Rose in his arms, the little girl practically unconscious, her energy spent, tear tracks staining her cheeks.

They now knew what had happened, the drunkard that had dared grab the princess having woken in the dungeons and been interrogated over his actions. The guards had questioned the patrons of the tavern that had been just beside the glassworker's shop and discovered the man had been there quite a while, ordering drink after drink and growing increasingly hostile, till the tavern owner threw him out. The man had seen Rose standing there and, they didn't know what possessed him to, grabbed her. According to the guards in the dungeon, the man had been grumbling and muttering about a ransom or something.

In his drunken state he seemed to think that kidnapping the princess to demand a ransom was a wise idea.

How very wrong he was, Rose took care of that herself…the man would never hear again.

But Rose, poor Rose, she had been so frightened she'd cried herself into sleep by the time they reached the castle. Ilayda and Eva had taken her to the girl's room and tucked her in, hadn't left the girl's side till she'd woken and been hugged by her mother, another round of tears lulling her to sleep again.

He had explained to the two women what happened, from his point of view, and described what happened after Rose had stopped screaming. He told them of the whispers, of the looks, the way the people had stepped away from him when he tried to carry his daughter away…not out of respect for him as their sovereign, but fear of their princess.

"You cannot blame them entirely," Eva tried to play mediator, standing beside the armchair, "I am in no way condoning it," she held up her hands when Ethan sent her a glare for her words, "I merely mean, from what THEY experienced…it had to be quite a frightening event."

"Imagine what it was like for Rose," Ethan spat, turning to glare into the fire.

"They are not used to her magic," Ilayda spoke, though she sounded more like she was trying to keep herself calm than justify how their people had reacted, "They do not understand her."

"I thought you were giving her lessons," Eva looked at Ilayda, "You said they were progressing."

"Not fast enough it seems," Ilayda sighed, feeling as though she had failed her daughter, that she wasn't as good a teacher as she hoped she might be. She had lost her magic as a siren in leaving the sea, she couldn't instruct her daughter as well as she needed to control her magic, she was trying though…but it seemed it wasn't enough, "She should be able to control her voice by now," she looked at Ethan, the same fears she had had when she began the lessons coming up again, "This should never have happened if she had control of her magic."

"But she doesn't," Ethan sighed deeply, "Perhaps it is time to look to our other options," he shook his head, not having wanted it to come to this, "There must be some way to…to control her magic, to bind it somehow, something that can help her until she has had time to truly gain control of them."

"It will not work," Ilayda murmured, "I have been inquiring over objects such as that," she shook her head, solemn, "They would not work on her. As she grows, every day, her power will grow stronger. It will reach a point where her voice will overpower any objects that could dampen it. This is not like other magic. Just in speaking aloud she is exercising her voice, she is calling forth her magic. If we silence her, she cannot practice. If she cannot practice, she cannot gain control of it. And I will not have our daughter silenced."

"Nor will I," Ethan agreed, "But if we cannot weaken her magic, what else can we do?"

"Take it away."

The adults fell silent at those three words, at the voice it came from. They looked over to the door of the study to see Rose standing there, pale, her eyes red, in her little white dressing gown, a deep frown on her face, tears gathering in her eyes once more.

"Rose…" Ethan began.

Rose just sniffled, "Take my magic away," she told them, her face crumbling, "Please. Take it away. I don't want it."

"My sweet girl," Ilayda moved over to her daughter as she began to cry, picking her up in her arms and holding her tightly, trying to soothe her, "Your music is what makes you special…"

"It's what makes me bad," Rose shook her head into her mother's neck, "I'm a bad person."

"You are nothing of the sort," Ethan moved to his wife and daughter's side, "Why would you say that?"

"It's what they say," she looked up at her parents, her frightened expression breaking their hearts, "I hear them. They whisper but I hear them. They…they call me demon child and…and little monster and…" she sobbed, "I don't want to be a monster. I don't want to hurt people."

Her parents looked at each other over her head and back to her, "Rose, what happened today was an accident," Ethan leaned forward, trying to look at her but she looked down, "It wasn't your fault."

"I hurt the man," Rose closed her eyes, "I screamed and he got hurt. And the pretty glass is gone, it fell on people, cut them, because of me," she looked at her parents, "I don't want magic that hurts people. Please," she looked between them, "Take it away."

"Rose," Ilayda murmured, stroking her hair, "That is…the magic that would be needed. I do not know that it even exists."

Eva hesitated, seeing the look that Ilayda and Ethan exchanged, one that said they wished they could help their daughter and were devastated they had no way to do it, before she spoke up, "I may know someone that could tell you if it does," she offered, making them look at her, "I have a…friend, an adviser, a confidant. I can ask her to come, to speak with you, if you would like?"

The King and Queen looked at each other a long while, then to their daughter clinging to her mother, and sighed, Ethan looking over at Eva with a small nod, "Please."

~8~

The throne room was empty the next morning, save for the King and Queen, the princess sitting on her father's lap as they waited for Eva's contact to arrive. The woman had had to return to her kingdom to meet with her friend, but told them she would do her best to have her contact meet with them that morning, all they could do was wait.

Just as the light began to creep through the windows with the dawn, a blue light mixed in with the golden hues, a blue light that flittered in through one of the large windows and to the middle of the room.

Ethan tensed at the sight, standing and placing Rose on his throne, taking a few steps forward as the blue light drifted closer to them, and gave a measuring glance as the light faded to reveal a fairy, the Blue Fairy, one of the most powerful around. Eva had not been lying, if there was anyone that would know if any of this was possible, it would be her.

"My Lady," he gave the fairy a bow of the head.

"Your majesty," the Blue Fairy spoke, her gaze drifting to Ilayda and Rose for a moment and back, a look of slight reluctance on her face mixed with discomfort, "Queen Eva has informed me that you had inquiries about your…child," she supplied though she seemed to have wanted to use another word instead of it, "About her magic."

"Yes," he looked over his shoulder and held out a hand to Rose, who hopped off the throne and slowly made her way to her father, taking his hand but standing a little behind his legs, peering up at the fairy, hearing her mother rising as well, "Rose has…had difficulties learning to control her magic."

"And how long has she been practicing?" Blue seemed to look down her nose at the child.

"Almost a year," Ilayda offered, moving to Ethan's side, keeping Rose between them, "She has not improved as quickly as she should."

"Yes, well, it is difficult to hold a half-siren to the standards of a full one," Blue remarked, "It is equally difficult to gauge what is proper development for one that whom we have so few examples to take from."

Ethan's jaw tensed at the hidden meaning in the woman's words, that it was essentially Rose's fault in being what she was that she couldn't master the magic, but also that it was THEIR fault for creating her in the first place, "Is there any way to…help her control her magic?" he asked, wanting to know that before they asked what Rose had requested, "A way to…bind it so that she might learn to control it first?"

"Hmm…" Blue hummed, "It would be difficult to say. As a human she will never have the control a true Siren would. The magic would grow stronger while her grasp of it struggles to keep up. A voice is a tricky thing to control," she looked at Rose a long while, seeming to debate something, "There is nothing we could do to help her control it."

Rose frowned at that, moving a little more behind her father, there was something she didn't like about that fairy lady, the way she spoke…she knew the lady didn't like her either. She couldn't shake the feeling that the woman had just lied to them…but why would she? Maybe she was just trying to find something bad about the lady…

"And, given what you have said, her control would not match her magic for quite some time," Blue continued, "Too long to ensure that the event I was told of not happen again before such a time."

Ethan let out a heavy breath at that, glancing at his wife who gave him a solemn nod, "Rose has requested that her magic be stripped," Ethan told Blue, "Is there a way to accomplish THAT?"

Blue's eyes widened slightly at that, looking back down at Rose peeking up at her from behind her father's legs, "I do believe there is," she said quietly, seriously, almost…absently as well, before she glanced at the king and queen once more, "It will be a dangerous undertaking though. To strip someone of their magic, it is always dangerous."

"But it will work?" Rose asked before her parents could ask what dangers would be present.

"It will," Blue nodded.

Rose looked at her parents, squeezing her father's hand, "I don't want it," she repeated.

Ethan sighed, "Will she be well in the end?"

"Oh yes, of course," Blue nodded, "She will be at peace."

Ethan swallowed hard, "What must we do?"

~8~

Night had come far too quickly in Ethan and Ilayda's opinion. They had spent the day doing as the Blue Fairy instructed, setting things up for that night when the ritual to strip Rose of her magic would take place. While they weren't doing that, both of them had sat with their daughter, wanting to make absolutely sure this was what she really wanted. There was still a chance she could learn to control her magic, with practice and dedication, she could learn to harness her magic…

But Rose was frightened of what she could do, she had only meant to scream in the market, to alert her father or the guards she was in danger, she hadn't meant to hurt anyone. And now the people were afraid of her, they hated her, they would never trust her not to hurt them if she had power to hurt them like that and had no control over it. She didn't want it to happen again and this was the only way to make sure it wouldn't.

It was selfish to say, but a small part of Ethan and Ilayda were…not quite as against this ritual as they knew they should be. It was the tiniest part, something left over from when Rose had been in her mother's stomach. They had spent so long thinking their child wouldn't have the magic the Sirens possessed, because her other had been cut off from the sea. Finding out she possessed magic had been a joy and a fear for them. Joy as it meant her heritage wasn't lost to her, but fear because…there hadn't been a half-siren before her, and they didn't know what it would mean for her, for her magic, and it seemed they had been right to fear. They never ever wanted her to have experienced what she had, to lose control or be afraid of herself, to view her magic as a curse instead of a gift.

And that was what had happened. A small part of them wasn't against this as it would be something that would allow their daughter to be happy, to feel safe and secure. They just wanted their daughter to be happy. They would no more force her to keep her magic when she didn't want it than they would try to force her to be rid of it if she DID want it. Whatever SHE wanted, so long as she was sure, so long as she would be ok, they would support.

Now they were standing in the garden of the castle, the full moon high above in the sky, the stars twinkling like diamonds in the blackness, a faint blue hue to them that came from the light the Blue Fairy gave off as she floated before them, leading them over to an oak tree. It was the perfect place for the ritual, the fairy had told them. The garden, she and the handful of other fairies she had called for assistance would need to be surrounded by nature and life, and they would need a tree with deep roots. They needed an area devoid of weeds, in the open air, and somewhere closed off as well, somewhere that others wouldn't wander or interrupt, and so the garden.

"Sit there," Blue instructed Rose, gesturing to the base of the oak tree, a small splattering of roots sticking out from the bottom of it, making the smallest of openings for her to sit between the roots, "You must be grounded," she explained, "The roots will direct your magic out of you and into the ground, it will spread to the flowers and trees, returning to nature from whence it came."

Rose frowned at that, her magic was from the sea though…

"And us?" Ethan asked, Ilayda in his arms as they stood behind the fairies, "What should we do?"

"Step inside the castle," Blue instructed, "We must be uninterrupted, with only the child before us. The spell will seek those on the ground, direct to those connected to it. You must be within the castle walls, protected by stone."

Ethan tensed at that, not liking the thought of not being there for his daughter, "Rose?"

Rose looked at him, swallowing, not liking that either, not…not really liking this entire thing, but…if it was the only way to get her magic out, "I'll be ok papa," she whispered, "You and mother go."

Ethan nodded hesitantly, turning to go, when Ilayda paused by the Blue Fairy, "If any harm befalls her…" she warned, not even needing to finish the threat for Blue to nod.

"It will hurt," Blue nodded, "To remove anything will hurt, but the end shall be worth it. All shall be safe when this is over."

Ilayda took a deep breath, giving her daughter as gentle and reassuring a smile as she could muster before letting Ethan lead her off.

"Now," Blue waited till she and the four other fairies were alone, "We shall begin."

Rose gasped as she felt something snap out and grab her wrists in a tight grip the second Blue flicked her wand, "What…why…" she looked down to see the roots of the tree had moved to wind around her wrists, holding her down.

"It will hurt," Blue repeated, "We must make sure you do not move from this spot," she eyed the frightened Rose, "You do wish to be free of your magic, do you not? To not be a danger to those around you? To not harm anyone?"

Rose swallowed hard at that, "I do…"

"Then be as still and quiet as you can," Blue told her, lifting her wand and looking at the four others, two on either side of her, "Ready?" the fairies nodded, "Begin!"

~8~

Rose would never be able to recall exactly what happened next, not with clarity, not without others telling her what they knew so she could piece together what fragments existed in her mind.

Whenever she thought back on that moment, all she could feel with any clarity was pain, excruciating, agonizing, all-consuming pain.

She had screamed, despite the Blue Fairy's warnings to be still and silent, she had screamed. For what else could she do? She felt as though her soul were being ripped to shreds within her, that something deep inside her was being pulled to the surface, pulled out of her…and it hurt. It hurt so badly. She couldn't process anything beyond that. It felt like she was on fire, like there was something raging inside her, burning her from within, turning everything inside her to ashes. There was something in her clinging to her, not wanting to let go, and the fairies were pulling, but it wouldn't give up and she was caught in the middle.

She had screamed so horrifying and pained a noise that, from what she had been told, her mother had flown out of the castle on a rampage to get to her child and protect her, her father close behind.

A fairy lost their wings that night.

A rather stupid fairy that gave off a pale orange glow had tried to get between her mother and her…her mother had literally ripped the wings from the fairy's back to get past her and to the tree where she was still held down by the roots.

Her father would tell her that it was the most terrifying moment of his life, seeing the state she'd been in as they rushed into the garden, unable to bear her screams any longer. She had been held to the tree by roots around her wrist, but her body had been arched at an unnatural angle as the fairies continued to try and pull the magic out of her, her eyes rolled back into her head, the roots cutting into her wrist and making them bleed, veins protruding in her neck from the strain of it all.

The second they had reached the line of fairies, made it past the orange one, the spell had to be cancelled or risk it backfiring on the fairies or taking her parents into it.

There had been some sort of fight, some sort of shouting between her father and the Blue Fairy when she'd collapsed against the tree, but still held down by the roots that her mother was trying to hack at with her bare hands to get her out. She wasn't sure exactly what was exchanged, but her father had been furious, had ordered the fairies away and her released.

Blue hadn't seemed happy, from what her mother said, but her father hadn't cared. Blue had tried to tell him that the spell could be cast only once and, because they interrupted, her magic would never be able to be pulled from her again. They had condemned her to suffer with her magic for the rest of her life.

Lying in her room right now…she couldn't begin to feel sad or scared about that.

Her parents had gotten her free, banished the fairies away, and called the physician. She had been pale, unmoving, hardly breathing. The physician had told them she was lucky to still be alive, the trauma she had undergone, the strain on her body…she would have died had they not stopped the ritual when they had.

She closed her eyes, snuggling deeper into her pillow, trying not to wonder if the Blue Fairy had known that when she started the spell. She had to have, her mind reasoned, she knew the spell, she knew how to cast it, she had to know what would happen!

Rose's eyes snapped open when an odd light lit behind her eyelids. She sat up on her bed, gasping and staring in fear at the blue light forming in her room. She shuffled back in her bed, reaching out for a small bell that had been placed on her bedside table to summon her parents or the guards, her voice, from all the screaming, had gone hoarse, she could barely talk after her parents carried her to her room. They had been with her as much as they could be the last week she'd been ordered on bedrest. They told her aunt and uncle, told Snow, that she had practiced too much, used too much of her magic trying to keep what happened in the market from happening again and exhausted herself.

Just as her hand reached the bell, it went flying in the hair and right into the hand of the Blue Fairy…now standing at human height at the foot of her bed.

"You won't need to summon your guards," Blue stated, setting the bell down on the edge of her bed frame, "You're in no danger from me…for now."

Rose frowned at that, pulling a pillow before her like a shield and clutching it tightly.

"Sirens are dark creatures, Rose Red," Blue began, sounding as though she were trying to impart a lesson, yet also sounding as though she was disappointed she had to be there and imparting it at all, "But you are not all Siren, you ARE half human. Embrace that part of you, focus on that, do NOT allow the Siren in you to take over."

"Why?" Rose managed to rasp out, her voice healing a little more to speak quietly with someone, but not well enough to shout.

"Our methods failed," Blue stated simply, "We could not pull the dark magic out of you. It is still within you, and it can still influence you. You must not let it. Heed these words, Rose Red, if you ever use your power, willingly and consciously, to harm another human being…" she shook her head, "You shall find yourself counted among the villains, and you will be defeated, as all villains are, by the heroes…perhaps even by your very cousin," Rose's eyes widened at that threat, "Snow White holds the purest heart in the land, she shall become a magnificent hero and you? If you choose the path of darkness, if you use your magic to harm…you shall find yourself alone, hated, feared, and with no one, not even Snow White, standing beside you," she eyed Rose a long while, "Take my warning to heart Rose Red."

"Did you know?" Rose called as the woman glowed blue and became smaller, clearly ready to depart.

"Know what?" Blue inquired.

"The spell…it was going to kill me?"

Blue eyed her for a long moment, "Of course we knew," she stated, confirming Rose's suspicions, "It was a dangerous spell in general. To remove someone's magic. But to remove a magic like yours, so deeply entrenched in your Siren biology? We knew."

"Why…" Rose shook her head, tears in her eyes to know that…that the Blue Fairy was really going to let her die under the guise of trying to remove her magic.

And it was then she realized…Blue had been careful in her wording. She had said there was a danger to remove magic. But she hadn't said it was more dangerous for magic like HERS. She had said that she would be at peace in the end…but had clearly meant it as resting in the peace of death. They never had any intention of helping her control her magic, she realized now, Blue HAD lied about having a means to help her control her magic…because they didn't want her to control it, they wanted her magic gone.

They had said she wouldn't be a danger to anyone any longer if she went through with the spell, and it was true…she wouldn't have been around to harm or endanger anyone.

"Why?" she repeated more firmly.

"Sometimes, to prevent a great evil occurring, sacrifices must be made," the Blue Fairy informed her.

Looking at this little girl cowering in the bed…she almost couldn't believe, wouldn't have believed if she hadn't seen the vision herself, that this girl would grow up to become the true love of the Dark One, that she would become his greatest source of strength and power. Love made many stronger, even those consumed by the dark…she couldn't let that happen. She couldn't let the Dark One become any stronger than he already was, not after her last attempt to weaken him with the loss of his son was nearly successful.

"Remember my warning," Blue rose higher into the air, "Choose to harm another…and you shall forever be a villain."

Rose's lip trembled as she watched the blue light fly out of her room before she turned and curled up in her bed, clinging to the pillow as she felt tears escape her.

She didn't want to be a villain. She didn't want to be one, not when Snow was going to be a hero.

Because heroes and villains were enemies!

And that meant…one day…she would become Snow White's enemy…and she couldn't bear that.

She turned and buried her face into her pillow as she sobbed, making a promise to herself then and there that she wouldn't let that happen, she wouldn't become the villain! She would practice, as hard as she could, every day, every spare second she had. She would practice and she WOULD get control of her magic. She would stay away from the villagers, she would stay away from the other children as much as she could. If she wasn't around them then they couldn't get hurt.

And she vowed, she swore, she would never use her magic, consciously and willingly, to harm another person.

She wouldn't.

She would not be the villain.

She would not be Snow White's enemy.

Ever.

A/N: Poor Rose :'( This chapter broke my heart, but I feel like it explains a lot of what came later in her life. The villagers being frightened of her, because they saw the little control she had over her magic as a child and how easy it was to hurt them with just a sound, seeing her growing older, knowing she was getting more control of it...what would she be able to do to them NOW? :( And her dislike and distrust of the fairies, all stems from Blue being willing to let her die, to trick her into this dangerous ritual 'for the greater good' :( I can say there IS a reason why she didn't recognize Blue when Snow summoned her to help Eva, why she wasn't frightened out of her mind or distrustful of Blue then, we'll find out what it is very soon. And also, the reason why Rose never actually attacked other people. On instinct, when she saw her cousin was in harm's way, she reacted, she couldn't help it, it wasn't a conscious decision to hurt someone, it was instinct. When she became the Piper though, that was when she truly made the decision to use her magic to hurt other people, not caring if she was going to be a villain any longer because 'being a hero' had gotten her only pain and if she was going to survive a dark world she needed to accept her darkness :'(

This might be a little darker than Blue would go in the show, but I fee like if she wasn't even going to try to help Regina before she went evil just because of who Cora was, so she might look at Rose not as this little innocent girl but what she was and what she would be to the Dark One one day :( And she always struck me as pretty shady in the show. In the story, with how she manipulated Baelfire to use the bean to get to our world, I take it as Bae was a source of strength to the Dark One and she knew he wouldn't give up his power to go with his son, she seemed to withhold all the information about the magic bean and the portal from Gold then (and might do it here too) which seemed like she wanted to separate them...but then, centuries later, here comes this little girl that's going to make the Dark One even stronger and she needs to get rid of her. In Storybrooke, with August, I think she was trying to weaken Piper by erasing August's memory of her, in weakening Piper she hoped to weaken the Dark One as well. Very, very shady Blue in this story lol }:)

Just a little warning. I'm going to be doing something a little different in the next two chapters. Since 'Heart of Gold' was mostly an entire flashback, what I'm going to do is the next chapter will be the New York chapter of what happened, and after that we'll get a semi-original 'episode' chapter before we continue into the normal routine, picking up with 'Sympathy for the De Vil' and then a flashback and so on ;)

Some notes on reviews...

Yup, we'll be finding out about New York in the next chapter ;)

Piper's revenge won't involve harming David nope, he might be a part of getting through to Snow how wrong she'd been, if she can make them both realize how hypocritical they were, but he's safe in general :) It'll definitely be more to do with Emma and Henry affecting Snow though yup ;) We'll be seeing August and Gepetto reunite very soon ;)

I'm not sure if I'll be continuing Star Wars or not as most of it would either be an AU of the original trilogy or rewriting the Animated series (which I haven't seen fully yet :( ) I might need to see the new movies coming out to see what I need to keep the same in the original trilogy and what can change with how AU it would be first ;)

In the story David never fell under the sleeping curse nope, Henry made one final attempt so he wasn't immune here :) I think some of it was definitely about her and not Rose, like clearly Piper does not care and eventually didn't care about how her darkness affected her, so it sort of falls more to Snow thinking how it affected herself a little, as well as what she remembered of when her cousin was scared :( I hope Cora was just lying about Lancelot being dead, but at the same time I feel like I'd be frustrated if she was. If she lied then why can't Zelena be lying about her pregnancy (when the writers, I've heard, are against having 'lies' of things they've confirmed as events already), if she didn't lie and they 'take it back' for his death, then why can't they find a way to change Zelena's pregnancy? Lol, I'm really against the pregnancy. Thank you for the picture, I haven't gotten a chance to get on my tumblr yet but I'll keep an eye out for it ;) Unfortunately, I don't think I can post it on my tumblr, I got an inflow a while ago of an anonymous person that seemed to want to flood my tumblr with story recommendations for other people and it really didn't sit well with me (since I can't read stories in the fandoms I write in, I couldn't really say if they were good stories or bad or put my opinion to them) so I've made it a thing where I don't post other people's stories (unless they're related to my stories, like using my OCs or things) on my tumblr from now on because of it, I'm sorry! :'( But I'm sure the picture is awesome! I love making manipulations for episode covers :) I tend to use basic Paint, but I'll definitely check that out :)