Chapter 7: The heart is a lonely hunter

Rose Red had never liked to wear black. For her the color symbolized death. She had to wear a black dress when her mother had died. And today, she had to wear one again, this time for her father's death.

Rose loved her father. He had shown the utmost devotion to his family and kingdom. But, he had also been selfish, just once in his life, he had been selfish. Rose had seen it, but she was too young and her words fell to deaf ears. She knew her father loved Regina, but not as much as he loved his daughters and nothing compared to how he had loved his late wife. She had seen from the start and had tried to talk to his father about it, but he just told her that she was too young and still didn't understand how the world worked.

But, besides all that, Rose had truly loved her father. He understood her wish for freedom and had supported her on her journeys. She was sure that other kings were not that understanding with their children. Every time she had come back from a journey, he would be waiting for her at the gates and welcome her home with a warm hug. He would listen intently to her tales, and would offer his input about what she had learned and where she should head next.

And now, here she was, besides her father's grave, tears rolling down her face, twirling a red rose in her hand. Snow was at her side on her knees, crying her eyes out with despair after placing a white rose on top of the grave. Rose put her flower besides her sister's, kissed her finger and placed her hand on the grave.

"I love you dad. Thank you for letting me be myself." She put her hand on Snow's shoulder and squeezed. "Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for being our father."

After those words, Snow got up and hugged her sister tightly. While the two sisters cried and mourned together, Regina approached them. She gave her condolences to the two princesses, hugged them and held one of their hands in hers. She told them that they could count on her for anything, that she would always be there for them. They hugged again, and Regina took her leave. She knew the two sisters needed sometime alone with their father's grave to mourn.

The Queen made her way to her chamber. There, the mirror asked if the princesses suspected anything. Regina shook her head. She knew Snow was oblivious to what had really happened to her father, but she didn't know if Rose was suspicious.

She knew that Rose had a special kind of magic that the girl herself didn't quite understand. She had sensed when someone had vanished from the Enchanted Forest. Maybe she had felt something weird in her father's passing. But for the moment, the young princess was more preoccupied with her sister and their shared grief. And Regina knew that Rose would leave soon for another journey. After all, that girl longed for freedom like a bird.

While she was consoling the girls, she had been tempted to kill Snow White then and there. But she knew that Rose would have protected her sister. And she didn't want to fight the redheaded woman; she wasn't to blame for her sister's mistakes. She made a plan with the mirror's help; find a hunter to kill Snow White. But first, Regina had to make sure that Rose left the kingdom. As long as Rose Red was near, Snow White would be impossible to kill.

Emma came down the stairs and saw Rose sipping her tea while reading a book. She also saw a bouquet of flowers and groaned. She picked them up and threw them in the trash. Rose was about to say something, but Mary-Margaret beat her to it.

She told the two women how she had a one-night stand with Dr. Whale. They were surprised at that revelation, but they were happy that her friend was taking the next step to forget about David. Mary-Margaret denied having to forget anything to do with David and assured them that her thing with Whale was just one night.

While they were finishing breakfast, Mary-Margaret told them that she had called him. Rose snorted.

"Wow, you are bad at this." Emma nodded, agreeing with her friend.

"If it's a one-night stand, you don't call."

Mary-Margaret defended herself, saying that's he was new at this and that she had felt bad. Emma told her that she was doing nothing wrong, and the conversation turned to her feelings for Graham. Mary-Margaret told Emma that everyone saw it but her. Emma turned to Rose and the young woman nodded her head with a big smile.

"You are so oblivious to your own feelings, that it is ridiculous."

Mary-Margaret was trying to explain to Emma how her barriers might block more than just pain. Rose shook her head and turned to her.

"Don't bother, M&M. I've been trying to explain it to her a thousand times, but she never listens."

Emma looked at the two teachers speechless.

After classes were done for the day, Rose went to fetch Mary-Margaret, so they could go home together. Once she arrived at the class, she saw Graham there. She smiled at the sheriff.

"Hello, Graham. What are you doing here?" She asked him while approaching her friend.

"Yes. I know you too." He said with wide eyes.

Rose raised an eyebrow and looked at Mary-Margaret. The other woman shrugged her shoulders, she didn't know what was wrong with the sheriff.

"Yes. Of course, you know me. I don't think that our first conversation was easy to forget."

"No. I mean that I know the two of you from before." He said with a troubled expression.

The two friends looked at each other, and Mary-Margaret told Graham to sit down. He asked if they believed in past lives. And the two women looked even more confused.

"Well, there are a lot of theories about it, but nothing that can be proven." Said Rose, while trying to remember what she had read about the topic. It was a very common theme in history, past lives and eternal life.

Mary-Margaret looked at the sheriff and asked him if he had talked to Henry. She told him about the book, and how Henry thought that they were all fairy tale characters. Graham seemed to be thinking about it. Mary-Margaret saw how he was sweating, and she felt that he had a fever. She told him to rest and that tomorrow he would see thing more clearly.

Once he left, the two women looked at each other with the same look. A mix of confusion and worry.

Snow was running away from the knight. She went straight to the small creek that her sister had told her about and whistled. It was a tune that Rose had shown her. She said that if she ever was in trouble to whistle that tune, and Rose would be there as soon as she could to help her.

Snow knew that Rose had just left that morning for a new journey, so she would be there soon. While she waited, she took out paper and pen and started to write a letter for Regina, just in case Rose was too late. When she was almost finished, the knight caught up to her, this time without the armor.

Rose wasn't there yet, so Snow asked the hunter to give the letter to the Queen, as a last wish. The hunter was reading the letter, getting absorbed by the words, when he was tackled to the ground. He was pinned to the floor by the youngest princess, who had a dagger to his neck.

"You won't lay a finger on my sister." She said with venom in her voice.

The hunter was very surprised. This woman not only had been able to sneak on him, she had him pinned and with a dagger to his neck. He went to move, when he felt a slight pressure in a delicate area. When he looked down, he saw that the princess had another dagger positioned straight at his groin.

"Don't even think about moving, or it's bye-bye to your little friend."

Snow gasped. She knew her sister had had to learn how to defend herself in her journeys, but she had never expected that level of hostility. She stood up and begged her sister to get off of him. Rose turned her head to her and after seeing the look on her sister's face, she stood up but kept her dagger in her hands, just in case.

The hunter got up and rubbed his neck. The young princess wasn't as delicate as her older sister. She knew how to fight and how to survive. He had already made a decision about Snow White and knew that her sister would take care of her. But if what he had heard was right, Princess Rose Red never stayed in one place for long. SO he raised his knife and cut a bamboo stick and turned it into a whistle. The hunter didn't miss the way Rose Red tightened her grip on her daggers when he did it. He gave the whistle to Snow White.

"I know that your sister will stay with you for a while." He looked from Snow to Rose, who nodded. "But when she leaves, blow this whistle and someone will come to help you. Now run."

Snow was confused and was about to say something, when the hunter told her to run again, and she did. Rose turned to him with a soft smile.

"You are a good person. I will stay with Snow for a while, but I will have to leave again at some point. Thank you for helping her." She turned to follow her sister. "Be careful with the Queen. She won't take kindly to this betrayal. Look after yourself." And she disappeared into the woods.

She caught up to Snow, grabbed her arm and made her stop.

"White listen to me. I will stay with you for a while. I will show you how to protect yourself, how to hunt, build a shelter. I will show you how to survive." She grabbed both her arms to make sure her sister paid attention to her.

Snow nodded and hugged her sister. She was the oldest, but at that moment she felt so small, so helpless. She was so grateful that her sister knew what to do in this situation. Without her, she didn't know what she would have done.

"Come on. First of all, we have to get further away from the castle." She offered her a hand, and the two sisters made their way deeper into the forest.

Rose and Mary-Margaret were having dinner and talking about their day. Both women were worried about the sheriff. He hadn't seemed to be feeling well that afternoon.

"I'm sure that after a good night sleep he will be much better." Said Mary-Margaret with a soft smile. Rose nodded and smiled back.

"So, how have been the first days of teaching?" She asked, trying to change the subject. Rose laughed.

"The kids can be a handful, but I found a way to keep their attention. I try to accompany every lesson with a tale. We are covering Ancient Egypt now, so I tell the kids stories about the different gods. It seems to do the trick. Today, I told them about the-" She stopped suddenly and looked out the window. Mary-Margaret looked at her confused.

"Rose, are you okay?" But Rose just frowned.

She just had a weird feeling. Like when music is cut off suddenly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just thought I heard something, or stopped hearing it to be more specific." She said with the frown still on her face. After a couple more second, she shook her head and smiled at her friend. "It must have been my imagination."

The two friends kept their conversation going, unaware that Storybrooke had just lost a life.