She did it so she could be useful. She wasn't doing any good here in her father's castle anyway. There once was a time when Belle would never dream of leaving the kingdom, a kingdom that would someday be hers, a kingdom that had been torn apart by the Ogre Wars, a kingdom she called home.
Things had turned sour when her father, Maurice, betrothed her to Sir Gaston. A knight. Some might say she said yes so she could get away from him. Belle knew that was part of the reason, she knew, although she would not admit it.
So she agreed to the deal. A deal which would ensure those Belle loved would be safe, and that no harm would come to them. A deal with a price. The price, was Belle.
At first her father objected, and Belle was too scared, too in shock to even protest. But then Sir Gaston spoke.
"The young lady is engaged to me."
"I wasn't asking if she was married, I want somebody to care for my rather large estate."
Yes, Belle thought, yes, Belle was engaged to Sir Gaston, but what Rumplestiltskin was offering was a second chance, a chance to be useful, a chance to help,and Belle was not about to pass this opportunity up.
"No," Belle said, pushing past her father, working hard to keep her voice from showing any sign of fear, "No, I'll go."
"I forbid it!" Gaston shouted.
"It is my life, and only I decide my fate. I'm going."
Rumplestiltskin giggled, a high pitched peal that disturbed Belle, a familiar kind of disturbance, yet she couldn't quite place her finger on it. She shivered.
"I'll come for you at sunset tomorrow, pack what you wish."
"Thank you," Belle whispered.
"Belle-" Maurice began, but was cut off by Belle.
"No. I'm going," with that Belle left the war rooms, and silently walked to her room to pack.
Upon reaching her room, Belle slid the lock on her door over, not wanting anyone to enter. She walked over her bed, still in silence, waiting for somebody to come. To try and convince her to stay. For what seemed like an hours, nobody came. She had almost finished packing by the time someone came. A single knock on her door startled Belle, as she had been working in silence for some time.
"Who is it?" Belle called out, almost inaudibly.
"Faith. Please let me in Belle?"
Faith. The maid and Belle's only friend for almost nineteen years. Faith. Belle ran to the door, shoving the bolt back. She placed her hand on the cold metal doorknob and wrenched it open. It only took a single look at her and Belle was reduced to tears, all her emotions that Belle had been trying to hard to suppress for the past hour boiling over, and suddenly it was all Belle could do not collapse into a heap on the floor. Faith scooped her up and pulled her over to the bed where Belle tried to pull herself together.
"I'm sorry," Belle managed to get out between loud, ugly gulps.
"What for?" Faith laughed
"For abandoning you like this, for crying all over you… For ruining your dress," Belle giggled a little at the last one, knowing how little Faith cared for her dresses. Faith giggled along with her. Belle grew serious.
"You know we probably will never see each other again, don't you?" Belle whispered, almost as if saying the words aloud made it too real, too painful.
"I know. But we can write?" Faith tried to cheer them both up.
"I'll try." Belle promised her best friend.
"Now, let's get the rest of this packing done," Faith stood up.
Back in the war rooms, Maurice was arguing with Gaston.
"She'd made up her mind! You can try and change it if you want, but it's a waste of time, and a waste of effort. She's stubborn," Maurice had come to terms with his daughter's resolve, but Gaston was having a little more difficulty.
"You should have disciplined her better," Gaston yelled. For the first time, Maurice began to doubt his daughter's 'safe' future with Gaston.
"I would never lay a hand on Belle!" Maurice bellowed, "Get out! Get out of my castle! Never come back to my kingdom again!"
"You will regret this, mark my words," Gaston lowered his voice, suddenly becoming far more frightening. He turned and walked towards the great doors of the war rooms, slamming them shut as he left.
Hi guys! I don't know about the length of this chapter, but I was so anxious to get it uploaded. I'll probably update in a few days.
Constructive criticism is welcome.