Life
By JailQueen
A/N: The idea for this little story came from two pictures of Rumplestiltskin and Sansa which someone had put text under containing the idea of her asking him to get rid of Joffrey.
Warning: Character death, mutilation (not graphic) and some darkness.
Disclaimer: I do not own either Once Upon a Time or Game of Thrones
Prologue: Sansa is given a name by a stranger in town and told to call the name when she has nothing left to lose and is in great enough need.
The glass reflected the sadness in her eyes. The candle light flickered as in wind but didn't reach the passing memories of her mind or the darkness that lingered there. So simple. Everything had once been so simple and so clear. She remembered looking into her future and seeing only light and colours. The colours were all gone now, and the little light she had was out. Out with the light and all that remains is shadows in the dark. She remembered her face as it was, beautiful and full of life. Her beauty now lost along with everything else; her family, her future and her dignity. Everything she felt was disappointment and grief over a life no longer hers.
Her hands were shaking and in them she held a torn piece of parchment. The paper was yellow with age and the ink smeared by her tears, but still readable. A name was written there. The only thing she had left was this name and the promise that had come with it. Promises, promises, promises. She turned her face from the dark window, cursing herself and the choices she'd made. Tears fell from her eyes as she shut them tight and enclosed the note in her fist and pressed it to her heart.
Into the darkness she whispered, "I have nothing to give, so take everything. I don't care anymore as long as I get my wish. Give me this one thing and I'll give you anything you want." She opened her eyes and drew a deep breath. "Rumplestiltskin."
The candle blew out and the emptiness that had filled her heart for so long gave way to a scintilla of hope as she looked about the room. The curtains moved in wind not brought by any natural source and the room filled with the smell of old books and the forest. Out of the shadows walked a man, hooded and cloaked in what seemed the darkness of night and all about him reeled power of the old ways. Sansa drew a sharp breath and but refused to give in to fear as he grinned at her, showing discoloured teeth. With hands like the claws of the mighty eagles of olden days he brought down his hood and fixed her with an appraising look. As if drawn magic her fearful eyes found his and she could not bring herself to look away. Golden grey eyes, shining with the might of ages and a wisdom only gained through having lived far too long, and she knew he could grant her request. Fear left her along with hope and the last remainder of the child she once was, and everything that remained was what she would have to become to see this through.
Rumplestiltskin smiled a mischievous grin and narrowed his eyes. "The would-be-queen calls for me?" The mockery in his sharp voice was muted almost to whisper as he spoke, and in his eyes danced a frightening playfulness. "What do I owe this honour?"
"I wish to make a deal." Her voice shook despite herself and she took a deep breath that did nothing to steady her. Rumplestiltskin tilted his head and frowned but the grin remained on his lips. In the half-light he appeared almost translucent and the moonlight reflected in his nebulous eyes. "You have nothing I need or want, dearie."
"I would give you everything if I had anything other than my life to give." Tears fell from her eyes in frustration and she took a determined step towards him. His eyes widened expectantly as he clasped his hands under his chin and she continued, her head held high. "I would have given you anything. Anything you wanted. Gold, jewels, I would have stolen them all and given them to you if I only could have. I would give you this city and all the people here to do with as you please but I cannot. I have nothing to…"
Rumplestiltskin held up a finger, stopping her midsentence. "Ah, but you do have something. Something perhaps not precious to you but is indeed to me. Something invaluable."
"What?" Sansa wiped away her tears, her face felt like it didn't belong to her, nor did her hands.
"Well, your life dearie." Rumplestiltskin's grin faded and the playful light in his eyes turned cold. "All you have is your life, so that will be my price. All you have to give and nothing more, does that not seem fair for such a request as yours?"
"I…" Sansa shut her eyes and bringing her hands up to cover her betraying mouth she turned around to face the dark window. Shuddering breaths escaped her cold fingers and she felt she was no longer crying, but smiling. She opened her eyes and saw a face she did not know look back at her. Her hands dropped to her sides and she laughed for the first time in months. The shadowy shape behind her moved closer and she turned around and faced him, the grin back on his face and the playfulness in his eyes.
"All I have for all I want." She spoke clearly now, all uncertainty gone. "That sounds more than fair if you give me everything I ask for. Give me vengeance and I will give you my life. Do we have a deal?"
Rumplestiltskin bowed his head and placed his hand on his heart. "That we do." He raised his head and regarded her newfound coldness with apparent amusement. "How would you like it dealt?"
"Bring him to me and make as weak as he made me." Sansa gazed out into the dark and added with a smirk, "And bring her also."
Rumplestiltskin bowed his head incrementally and disappeared into the shadows with a giggle sounding more childlike than demonic, but made all the more disturbing because of it. Sansa walked to her mirror and studied her changing face. Her eyes were red from crying, no longer scared and hopeless, but cold and determined. She pulled the ribbons from her hair and let the red locks tumble over her shoulders. She took of her pale blue gown and walked naked over to her wardrobe from which she collected a plain white dress. She pulled in on and in the moonlight she looked like a phantom in white and the coldness of her soul enshrouded the chamber.
A cloud of purple smoke gathered in the centre of the room and she turned slowly and smiled at the sight before her. Kneeling on the floor was Joffrey and Cersei, eyes terrified and dumfounded. They tried to move but seemed incapable, as if invisible bonds held them. Joffrey caught sight of her and tried to yell but no sound came out his mouth and Sansa smiled again.
"Welcome." Sansa spread her arms wide and Joffrey tried to yell again, his face contorted in rage. "Oh, were you trying to say something, my prince." She smirked at his wrath and crouched down in front of him. "Then speak."
Whatever enchantment keeping him from talking broke and he snarled, "What is this, you insolent cunt? You think you can hold me and my mother prisoner?" Cersei shoved him with her shoulder and looked at him desperately as well as angrily.
"Did you want to speak as well?" Sansa snapped her fingers in the air in front of Cersei's face and the latter blurted out to her son, "Joffrey watch your tongue. We are in the throes of magic and must take heed."
"Magic! Her? Mother, have you lost your mind?" Joffrey snarled at Cersei before turning back to Sansa. "Release me or I shall have you killed. Better yet, I will have you tortured, raped and mutilated for this humiliation!"
"Be quiet." Sansa leaned forward and spoke silently and Joffrey's jaws snapped shut by her quiet order. Cersei edged towards her with a would be gentle smile on her lips if it wasn't for the hardness and fear in her eyes. "Sansa, my dove, for what you've been made to live through at the hands of my son I am eternally sorry. But please, he's just a boy, a child even; he does not know what pain he has caused…"
"You let us go you bitch!" Joffrey screamed cutting of his mother's attempt to worm their way out. Cersei was about to speak again when Sansa rose. Looking down on them she whispered. "Be quiet both of you."
She felt the power of the deal race through her and fill her with borrowed magic. "I am the would-be-queen and at my hand you will face you end, my love Joffrey. I made a deal you see. A deal in which the price guaranties that you will never hurt me again." Joffrey stared at her, tears leaking down his face and Sansa regarded him with disgust. "To think I once believed myself to love you. Tell me, did you ever even care for me?"
"Y…Yes…Yes of course I love you! You are my lady Sansa. My queen!" Joffrey stuttered and Sansa couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of his statement. "Nice try, my love. Perhaps you're not as stupid as I gave you credit for."
Sansa began pacing in thought and walked around them slowly in a circle. Cersei was looking after her and Sansa turned to her with a smile. "Did you want something, milady?"
"What are you going to do to my son?" There was a fierceness in her words and they carried with them a command and grace her son would never possess. For all her flaws the one thing that could not be denied about the Lannister lioness was her grace.
"I haven't decided yet." Sansa continued her pacing, for a moment catching sight of a shadow in the corner of her eye, and stopped when choice became clear. She turned to her tortures and sat down across from them, the answer so obvious and the game so pleasurable at the look of fearful respect she received from the two. "For so long the two of you have drained my life of taste and colours, so let us colour it in red and with the taste of blood. You have taken everything from me but my life. You took my childhood from me, the light from my memories and you have turned me into someone I hate. You have turned me into you, my love and my queen. You have chewed me up like a piece of meat and now it's your turn."
Sansa rose from the floor and walked over to the window. A red sun was rising over the ocean and its rays coloured the clouds in a brilliant shade of magenta. The light warmed her face but not her heart. She looked over her shoulder and said, "Your mother gave you life Joffrey, it is time you repaid her charity. Cersei, eat your son. Devour him until there's nothing left and you die with him."
Sansa turned back to the sunrise and listened to the sound of tearing flesh and the crushing of bones. No screams, no weeping and no regrets, for she would not allow them. Out of the shadows he came, her sorcerer and saviour. Out of the shadows he came and placed a gentle hand on her freezing shoulder and she turned to face him, feeling only relief. She was done and now she could rest. He smiled at her and she closed her eyes with a sigh as her life drifted away until all that remained was a golden mist.
Rumplestiltskin pulled a bottle from within his cloak and uncorked it with a graceful movement of his hand. The mist swirled into the crystal glass and Rumplestiltskin held it up in front of him. He tilted his head and smiled almost sadly as he looked at the sparkling golden mist, shining as brightly as the first star in the evening and as beautiful as the eyes of one's true love. Everyone's life is priceless to someone.