How he got his memories
It was a morning just like any other, the quiet sleepiness of a small town. Mr. Gold was repairing a glass slipper he had been lucky to find, mulling over recent events.
He was sickened at the blatant shows of affection with Mary Margret and David. He looked up as the bell on the door chimed, signaling the Mayor's son entrance into his dusty shop.
"Hello Henry, what brings you here to my humble shop? Looking for a trinket for a lady-friend?" Mr. Gold said analyzing the boy.
"No sir, but I want you to look at this to see if it is of any value. I found it in an old truck." Henry lied, handing him the old storybook.
"Really now, well let me see it." The man said taking the book. He flipped through the stories, and one mysteriously caught his eye. It was a spin-off of Beauty and the Beast. He quickly scanned the story, and an eerie sense of déjà-vu swept over him like a thunderstorm.
'Beauty and the Beast, huh? Interesting spin on it.' He briefly looked over at the clock, and he saw the old china set he had gotten from the Mayor. He gasped; an array of memories nearly blinded him with their intensity.
Tears were streaming down his face; he barely suppressed whimpering from the pain of it all.
The first word out of his mouth was "Belle"
Henry smiled, finally another remembered besides Graham.
"Good, you remember. Now you can help me and Emma with Operation Cobra. To get the townspeople to remember again." Henry grabbed the book, and ran off to get the others to read from it.
Rumplestiltskin walked over to china set, and picked up the chipped cup. He remembered everything, and his ice-cold heart wrenched to think of Belle's leave and ultimate death.
He couldn't help but wonder, if ever-so hopelessly, if she was here in Storybrooke. Oh, how he wished it! To maybe have the slightest chance to apologize for his actions.
Litte-did-he-know, that in the hospital asylum, Belle was thinking the exact same thing.
