Chapter 32: Manhattan
Emma couldn't believe what was happening. She went to New York with Gold and Henry to find Mr. Gold's son, who turned out to be Neil. The man that she loved, the man that framed her and let her go to jail and Henry's father. She had to make a decision about bringing Neil to Gold or not, but she couldn't think clearly. She needed to speak with Rose.
"If you can't get me out of this hellhole, please kill me." Was what Emma heard when Rose picked up the phone.
"What? Rose are you okay?" She asked worried. She heard a groan and some shuffling.
"Don't listen to her." Mary-Margaret's voice came over the phone. "She is just pouting because the doctors want to keep her longer for observation."
"Well, I feel sorry for the doctors." Chuckled Emma, she remembered how bad of a patient Rose could be. "Could you put me on speaker? I need to talk to Rose, and I could use your opinion too."
"Of course. You are on speaker now. What's wrong?" She said worried.
Emma told them what happened, how they found the address, how the mysterious son tried to run away and that Gold's son was in fact Neil.
"You are kidding me! Neil? The Neil?" Said Rose in shock. Mary-Margaret looked at her with a raised eyebrow and asked who was Neil.
"He is Henry's father." Said Emma with a small voice. "Now I have to decide if I bring Neil to Gold and Henry, or let him go."
"Please, don't ask us to tell you to keep it from him." Said Mary-Margaret with a frown.
Emma insisted that she just wanted to protect Henry, and Mary-Margaret asked her who she was really protecting, Henry or herself. Emma sighed and kept pacing.
"Rose, you haven't said anything. What do you think?" Said Emma defeated.
"I think you should tell him." Said Rose with a sigh. "He deserves to know. You and I know how hard it is to grow up not knowing your real parents. You never start wondering. Even if you told Henry Neil's dead, he will always wonder what he was like."
Emma was about to say something, but Rose interrupted her.
"This is not about you, or Neil or even Mr. Gold. This is about Henry. Put him first."
"Thanks guys. I'll think about it." Said Emma hanging up.
Mary-Margaret and Rose looked at each other.
"Do you think she will bring Neil to Henry?" Asked Mary-Margaret with a frown.
"Not a chance." Said Rose putting away her phone. "She had already made a decision when she called. We made her stall for one more minute."
"I just hope everything turns out okay." Said Mary-Margaret with a sigh.
She grabbed her thing and left Rose's room. She had to go talk to David about all this.
After a short while, Regina entered Rose's room with a forced smile. Rose looked up from her book and smiled at the Mayor.
"Hello. You are the Mayor, right?" She said with a smile setting her book aside. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Just seeing how you were doing." Said Regina with a smile that turned slightly to a frown. " I was hoping you could help find something that belongs to Rumpelstiltskin."
"That's supposed to be Mr. Gold, right?" Said Rose with a frown. "I'm sorry but I don't remember anything from the last year. But, have you tried his pawn shop? Maybe what you are looking for is there."
"I'm sorry about this. Really." Said Regina waving a hand over Rose's head, putting her to sleep.
Regina made everything in Rose's bag float around her. She was looking for a clue. She was sure that Gold had left the dagger to her, even if she didn't know what it truly meant. Then she found it. A small piece of paper with some numbers on it. She turned to leave not before giving Rose one last look. Regina truly didn't want to harm Rose in any way. But this was more important.
Regina, Cora and Hook stood in front of the library. Hook asked what they were supposed to find in a library and Regina sighed in frustration.
"Rose would have left the dagger to someone she trusts. She would assume that anyone trying to find it would target her, because of her involvement with Gold. She is smart, don't underestimate her." She said glaring at Hook. "There were only two possible people she could leave it to. The wolf or the librarian. Lucky for us, she left it with the bookworm."
"Why not her sister?" asked Hook.
"Rose wouldn't leave the dagger with Snow. She is too good and would refuse to be close to something like that. And Rose would never risk her sister's safety. Even if it meant putting someone else in danger."
"Impressive, Regina." Said Cora with a smirk.
They entered the library and Belle stood up immediately seeing them.
"I'm sorry, but you can't be here." She said trying to keep her voice from showing how scared she was.
"We are here to check out a book. Isn't that the purpose of a library?" Said Regina with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, but I also have reserved the right of admission. So please, leave." She said pointing to the door. She wasn't going to back down. She wouldn't let them scare her into submission.
"That's cute." Said Cora and waved a hand making Belle disappear. "Well, that should give us some time."
They started to searched for the book, and they finally found it. It was leather-bound journal. One of Rose's. They opened it, but they couldn't make sense of anything that was written on it.
"I told you she was smart. Only she can read this." Said Regina throwing the book on the nearby table.
A paper came out of the journal and Hook opened it.
"Yes." He said smirking. "We may not know how to read the book, but I sure know how to read this."
He showed them the map that had fallen off the journal.
Rumpelstiltskin entered a clearing with a campfire burning. He heard a voice behind him and turned to see the seer from those years ago, now a grown woman, stepping out from behind some trees.
Rumpelstiltskin got her on a magical chock hold, after the seer told him that he couldn't have escaped his fate, not even if she had told him all the details of that night when he injured himself. His intention was to kill her, but not before getting as much information as he could.
He asked her about Baelfire. She told him that he would find him, she told him about the curse, but it was not enough for him. Then she offered him her power as a seer. Without thinking much about it, he grabbed her hands and light enveloped them. The Dark One wasn't able to make sense of what he was seeing.
"The future is a puzzle with many pieces to be sorted. In time, you will learn to separate what can be, from what will be." Said the seer.
Rumpelstiltskin then understood that the woman just wanted him to take that burden from her, not to help him, but to free herself. Even if it killed her.
"Yes, but as gratitude, I offer you two pieces of the puzzle." She said before he could leave. "A boy, a young boy will lead you to him. But beware, Rumpelstiltskin, for that boy is more than he appears. He will lead you to what you seek. But there will be a price. The boy will be your undoing."
"Then I'll just have to kill him." He said with a shrug.
He turned to leave, but the seer called to him.
"Wait. The last piece I can tell you. One more child, one more child you will have, and they will accomplish great things. They will bring you what you desire, but beware. Magic will be powerful in them. They could be not only yours, but everyone's demise."
With that the seer died, while the Dark One looked at her with a frown. Another child, could that be the key to getting his son back?
AN: Hello everyone!
As I said before, I suck at consistency. Sorry! T-T
Between work and university, I'm pretty swamped. The first chapter in a while and it's very short. I'll try to have the next one up sooner.
Thank you for all the reviews! I read them all, and they make my day!
I do watch every chapter on Netflix while I write. I remember what happens and have everything outlined in my head, but I like to watch and see what Rose would do in the scenes.
It's great that you all like Rose! I try to make her as real as possible. For some she may seem a little Mary Sue, but that is not my intention and you will see that she is not perfect in a few more chapters. She will get her memories back soon. Care to make a guess about what happened to her for those 2 years?
As always, thank you for taking the time to read my story! :)