Thank you Helena Menezes for reviewing! Belle is very strong and I wish we got to see what was going on with her in Storybrooke in the show.
Thank you Queen of Light 17 for reviewing! Yeah, this story is all about family, so it's important that they stick together. That is kinda the meaning behind OUaT I think. Family and love can concur everything.
Thank you Grace5231973 for reviewing! To me, Iris is like the perfect blend of Rumple and Belle. She's got a lot of her mother's book smarts and kindness, but also a lot of her father's rash behavior and power.
Thank you Alex Beckett for reviewing! Maybe one day they can meet.
"Oof!" Iris grunted as she landed on the ground once more. The little girl was covered in dirt and looked a little worse for wear after several hours of sword training with her older brother. Neil looked hardly phased at all as he stood a small distance away from her with a stick lightly held in his hand. Iris picked up her own stick as she stood before she brushed herself off and gave him a look that almost sent shivers down his spine. She looked too similar to their father sometimes and it only reminded Neil of the possibility that he may never see his father, son, or True Love again. Neil looked away from Iris' intense look, letting his sister take advantage of the opening. Iris rushed forward with her stick sword raised, crying out as she ran to attack him. Neil was swift with his own stick, landing a blow into her unprotected stomach as he side stepped her.
"I'll never learn anything if you keep hitting me!" Iris snapped at him, pouting as she rubbed her stomach and glared at her brother.
"No, you won't learn anything if I don't hit you," Neil said as he spun the stick in his hand and gave her a pointed look. "You're the one that wanted to learn Iris. We can always stop now if you don't like my methods of doing things."
"No," Iris squeaked, going wide eyed as she clutched her sword tightly against her chest. "Mama barely let me do this! I don't want to stop!"
"Then prepare yourself," Neil said as he raised his stick sword once more. Iris nodded and raised her sword only to have Neil rush forward to attack her. Iris closed her eyes and raised her sword fearfully, having never had her big brother attack her head on before. Iris opened her eyes went she heard her brother grunt and land on the ground. Neil was panting and winced as he tried to sit up.
"Big bwother!" Iris cried as she rushed forward to her brother's side. Neil smiled weakly as he patted her on the head.
"I'm alright," he grunted as he struggled to sit up. "Just didn't think your magic would have been this strong."
"Magic?" Iris repeated, confused by his words.
"That's right. Mom doesn't want you knowing about magic," Neil mumbled as he stretched his arm to help the injury along. "But we are children of the Dark One, so we have to know about magic, you know."
"Dark One?" Iris frowned, having heard the name whispered around her before but having never actually known what that was. Neil sighed as he looked around for any sign of Belle before he turned to his little sister.
"Alright kiddo, it's time someone tells you about our father," he said in a hushed tone as he gave her a serious look. "But this has to be a secret from Mom, okay?"
Iris nodded eagerly, wanting to know everything about everything her brother knew. Neil glanced around once more before he started.
"It all began in a land called the Enchanted Forest," he murmured, already seeing just how entranced the girl was with his story. He paused, unsure of how much detail he should go into with Iris being so young. Shrugging off his worry, he decided to just go ahead and tell everything that he knew. "Papa and I used to live in a land of magic together called the Enchanted Forest. All of the fairy tales that you've been read are actually based off the things that happened in the Enchanted Forest. All of the fairies and creatures and witches and princesses and magic were there in the Enchanted Forest. Papa and I weren't good at magic at all like witches and fairies were, but we knew about it and knew that a lot of powerful people could use it. Papa was a weak man back then and a lot of people made fun of him for being weak, so Papa decided to go and become stronger by becoming the Dark One."
"What's a Dark One?" Iris asked, eyes wide with curiosity that Neil smiled at.
"The Dark One was an all powerful being that Papa managed to defeat and take the powers of, so he is the Dark One now," Neil explained as simply as he could so the six year old would understand. "But the Dark One's power is like a curse that can't be broken."
"True Love's kiss," Iris said eagerly. "All curses can be broken by True Love's kiss!"
"And how do you know something like that?" Neil chuckled, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Auntie Ruby told me," Iris admitted happily. "Big bwother, if Mama and Papa kiss will Papa not be cursed?"
"I don't know Iris," Neil shrugged as he looked to the sky. "I don't know if Papa even realizes how much he loves Mom and True Love's kiss can be a little tricky to get right."
"Mama and Papa should kiss so Papa can be better again," Iris said as she stood.
"Where you going, kiddo?" Neil asked as she began to walk back to the shop.
"To tell Mama that she should give Papa a big kiss so he can get better!" Iris called as she began running towards the shop to find her mother.
I'm terribly sorry for not posting last week and I'm ever the more sorry that I won't be posting for the rest of November. I'm participating in NaNoWriMo again this year and want all of my writing focused on that so that I can come to you all with a brand new novel published and ready for viewing. With that said, I will see all of you December 6th with a brand new chapter.