Author's Note: Just some lovely Rumbelle fluffiness because... well... I want to. Enjoy! Please R/R!

Birthday Surprises

Belle was in an exceptionally good mood as she cleaned the main dining room while Rumpelstilzkin was spinning on his great wheel. Granted most of the time she was in a good mood, but today even the notorious deal maker was taking notice. "What's gotten into you, Dearie?" Rumpel trilled, trying his best to mask the genuine confusion he felt. "One would think you actually like being held captive by a beast."

The cheerful humming paused while Belle rolled her eyes before it resumed again and she continued her chores as if she hadn't heard him. That would definitely get his attention. Rumpel wasn't used to being blatantly ignored and the fact that she could do just that irritated him more than he would admit.

Rumpel's nearly black eyes flashed in surprise for a moment before they narrowed almost dangerously at his little maid. She was the only one that had enough guts to do that to him and though he would never admit it, he admired her for it. It took a special kind of person to ignore the most powerful man in the realm; especially when that particular person had no magic to protect her. Before he could growl at her, the beauty turned around and gave him a most breath taking smile. "I'm done in here for the day!" She chirped. "If you need me I'll be in the kitchen." And with that, she was gone.

Belle hoped he would like what she had planned. Winter could be a dreadfully dull season, but she always found it wonderful due to the fact that her birthday was during this time. She planned on having a small celebration for the both of them. Rumpel never mentioned his birthday even in those fleeting moments of humanity he had with her so Belle decided that she would share hers. It took her a few moments to get the cake ingredients together and a bit longer for her to get them mixed properly. She was just thankful for the three cookbooks she found while snooping around the castle. Cooking was never really her strong point, but she was getting better.

While the cake was baking, Belle decided to get dinner at least somewhat prepared. A stew would work, and she knew he liked her beef stew. Rumpel never said so of course, but he always asked for seconds and didn't really do that with anything else she made. She put the pot on the fire and let the ingredients simmer while keeping a close eye on the cake. Everything had to be absolutely perfect.

Rumpel was pacing the massive dining room trying to figure out what in hell his maid was up to. At first he could ignore his nagging curiosity, but the longer he waited the more curious he got. Belle hated cooking! At least that's what he always assumed since she wasn't particularly good at it. So why was she spending the day in the kitchen when she could have been somewhere reading? That's how she normally spent any free time she had. Not that he had been paying attention to her or anything. Rumpelstilzkin gnashed his teeth together for a moment. Why did he even care!? She was in the kitchen! Belle didn't try to leave or anything. He would have known! A few times he tried to spin again, but he couldn't focus on that even.

Alright, this was becoming an issue. The Dark One poofed himself into the kitchen, but before he could get a word out, Belle turned and gasped. "No! You can't be in here!" She screeched. "Get out get out get out get out!" The maid started pushing him towards the kitchen door, ignoring his outraged protests.

"This is my castle, girl! I'll go wherever I please! What are you hiding in here!?" Rumpel demanded while stumbling over his own feet. This girl was stronger than she looked, though it was probably the panic driving her at this point. "Trying to poison me, eh? I knew it!"

Belle was finally able to get him out of the kitchen and shut the door rather forcibly. They were standing almost chest to chest at this point and the outraged look in Rumpel's eyes was matched only by a similar look in Belle's. "If I were going to try and poison you don't you think I would have done it already?" She snapped. Her face was flush from the heat of the kitchen and from sheer embarrassment. Strands of her hair were plastered on her forehead and cheeks while her eyes seemed to burn blue against the reddish hue of her skin. Belle huffed and leaned back against the door, suddenly aware of how close she was standing to him.

Rumpelstilzkin seemed to have the same thought because he backed up a few steps, taken aback by the tone in her normally sweet voice. "Well if you're not trying to poison me, then what are you doing in there that would require it to be kept secret from me, hmm?" He asked, peering deep into her eyes searching for any tell tale signs of deception.

The former noble's daughter narrowed her eyes, not liking the distrust in his voice. It was more common than her temper, but it still hurt. Belle never did anything to him that would warrant this kind of behavior. Sure lots of other people had, but not her. "It's a surprise." She said simply. "If I told you, then it would spoil things."

Rumpel snorted some. "I don't much care for surprises, Dearie." He said simply. "So out with it: what are you doing in there?"

Belle folded her arms over her chest and her eyes got defiant. "I'm not telling you." She said, sounding exactly like one would expect a lord's daughter to sound. "It's a surprise and you'll like it."

The Dark One glowered at her and took a step forward again and straightened up, trying to use his ever so slight height advantage against her. No dice. Belle just looked up at him with that same glare and just raised an eyebrow at him. "That won't work, Rumpel. Now if you'll excuse me, I have more work to do." She slipped back into the kitchen, shutting the door firmly in the Dark One's face and letting out a breath, slumping back against the door. Wow. That had been close. She darted to the oven so she could check on the cake and was relieved to find it cooked to perfection. Belle took it out to let it cool and did her best not to think about what she had just done. Hopefully he wouldn't be too angry with her and decide to skip dinner.

Rumpelstilzkin blinked as he stared at the shut kitchen door still trying to process what exactly happened. She wasn't intimidated by him… AND she slammed the door in his face! His eyes narrowed. He had half a mind to throw her out of his castle. And what was with her calling him Rumpel!? They were NOT friends. He was her master and she his servant. Oh that girl was going to be in so much trouble. He magicked himself back to the great hall and tried to spin again, fuming over what just happened. In what was left of his heart though, he knew that he would never do anything to hurt Belle. The Dark One had grown rather… fond… of her company. Not that he would ever tell her of course. But the way she would go on and on about some book she found did wonders to dispel the silence that surrounded him for almost three hundred years. If he was going to be truly honest with himself, which he very rarely was, the young woman reminded him a lot of Bae… Always full of energy and light, always trying to find the human buried under the scales.

The Dark One sighed softly, finally able to fall into a rhythm with his spinning. She was so kind to him. Everyone in his entire existence was always cruel to him, or wanted something from him. Not Belle though. No, she willingly came to live with him to save her people. She knew what she was getting in to and she didn't care. The former noble never tried to run, never tried to bargain for her escape, she just made the best of the situation and did her chores to the full extent of her abilities. This girl was truly something that Rumpelstilzkin had never seen before. He wondered if he would ever really get used to her.

Belle was able to slip past Rumpelstilzkin unnoticed so she could get cleaned up for dinner. He was still at his spinning wheel. She always thought he looked so human in those moments. The maid shook her head and quickly finished washing up in her room and changed into a different dress. It was blue still, but slightly nicer than the one she wore when she worked and there was no white apron. Belle slipped back by Rumpel without him noticing and when she returned again, she had their bowls, a bigger bowl with a ladle that held the stew, spoons, a plate of bread, and a golden dome covered dish. "Rumpelstilzkin." She said softly. "Dinner is ready."

The wheel stopped and the deal maker turned. He blinked and had to force his face to go blank to hide his surprise. Belle looked particularly lovely this evening, and the cart she had was a little more carefully put together than all the rest of the times she served him dinner. The snarky comment came out before he could stop it. "Trying to make up for your rudeness earlier, eh, Dearie?" He quipped.

The young girl narrowed her eyes some and was about to say something equally snarky back before her face cleared and she gave him her trademark brilliant smile. "You could say that." She said easily. Belle went about setting the table since he seemed to be willing to share a meal with her now. "I do apologize for shutting the door in your face. That was dreadfully rude of me." There was a lightness to her tone, but under that she did sound genuinely sorry.

Rumpelstilzkin narrowed his eyes some. That had been far too easy to get out of her. "Are you sure you didn't poison my meal?"

"Would it do me any good to try?" She asked drily. "You're immortal, the most poison do would give you indigestion."

The Dark One took that into consideration and grinned. "You're probably right, Dearie!" He giggled. "Doesn't mean people haven't tried."

Belle huffed some and finally finished setting the table. "Well I haven't tried. And besides, I promised you forever. I don't break my promises." There was something in her tone that made Rumpelstilzkin look at this girl in a whole new light. She stood by her chair, waiting for him to take a seat and when he did so, Belle sat down and stirred her stew a little before taking a sip.

Rumpel noticed that there was a certain excitement in her eyes, but also a deep sadness. In that moment, he found that he didn't want Belle to be sad. The spinner looked down at his stew and took a sip of it, closing his eyes as he savored the flavor. She made him his favorite stew. Oh this girl was something else entirely. He opened his eyes again and saw that she was watching him with those bright blue orbs. There was no fear there, just curiosity and that excitement… and again that sadness. Why was she sad!? Rumpel cleared his throat a moment later. "It's very good, Dearie. You've outdone yourself."

The woman blinked and in that instant the sadness was gone, replaced by a strange gratitude. "Thank you." She said softly. "I'm glad you like it."

The spinner's mouth twitched into an almost smile. There was no more sadness in her eyes now. That was so much better. In a second the expression was gone and he went back to eating. Belle just gave a soft laugh and ate too. There was rarely any conversation when they ate dinner. Tonight was no different. When Rumpelstilzkin finished his meal, he got up to go to his room for the night.

"Wait!" Belle said, standing up quickly. "There's dessert." There was an urgency in her voice and a slight desperation in her eyes. The spinner had never seen that look in Belle's eyes before. It confused him.

"I'm not one for sweets, Dearie." Rumpel said, though he did sound unsure. His eyes gave away the confusion inside of him and Belle saw it.

Rather than try to explain what she had on her mind, she just got up from the table and went to the cart with the golden domed covered dish on it. "I made this because... Well... Today is my birthday, and I wanted to share it with you." Belle said. "You've never really mentioned when you were born so I just thought we could celebrate ours together..." She uncovered the dish and under it was a cake with blue and gold icing in a kind of swirled pattern. Belle laughed a little nervously. "Baking and cake decorating were never really strong points of mine, but I thought that I could give it a try. You know.. Be brave." The girl looked at the Dark One, searching his face for something, anything really at this point. She felt stupid enough as it was. There was no way he could really make her feel any worse.

Rumpelstilzkin blinked and his jaw slacked a little. The cake didn't look all that appealing because of the icing admittedly, but no one ever really did anything like this for him before. When he was a lowly spinner, it was only his son's birthday that was celebrated. Rumpelstilzkin never much cared for celebrating his own. The Dark One was honestly stunned speechless. It took a few moments to get himself together. "Uhm... It's very lovely." He said quietly.

Belle smiled a little and blushed. "Oh you don't have to lie. I know it doesn't look that great. Would you like to try a piece anyway?"

"I don't lie." The spinner said, sort of severely. Not anymore. The dark side of his mind taunted him. He pushed the thought aside and put on a smirk. "I would very much like to try a piece, but perhaps with some tea." He said, magicking the tea set to them. The water was of course hot already. All that was left was to put the tea in the pot and let it steep for a few moments.

Belle got to making the tea and smiled brightly. "I loved my birthdays back home." She started. "There was always a grand party and my father would get me all kinds of books..." There was that sadness again. "I do miss my library..." Belle would never say she missed her father, even if it was true. It felt like complaining if she did that and she didn't want to sound like she wanted to go back on her word. The girl shook her head some and tried to dispel the thoughts of home. "Anyway, I thought we could have our own party and you could have a birthday too." She said lightly.

Rumpelstilzkin knew in that moment that he would never be able to figure this woman out. She was so kind and generous to him, even though he had never really done much for her other than take her away from the only home she had ever known. Why was she even doing this? It didn't make sense. Was she hoping to buy her freedom or something? Maybe she was trying to soften him up so one of his enemies could make a move on him. The more he watched her though, the more he realized that none of those things were true. Belle just had a good heart. It reminded him of his boy... He looked down at the cake as she placed it in front of him and shook his head a bit too. "Well... It's a bit early for my birthday." He admitted. "I was born in the spring.."

Belle giggled. "Well then this can be your un-birthday!" She exclaimed. "All the perks with none of the side effects, like actually growing a year older."

Rumpel snorted some. "Cute. But I don't technically grow old anyway so it doesn't really matter does it?"

"Maybe not. But it's still fun to have a party." Belle said simply as she started to pour the tea. "It may not be as grand as the ones I used to have, but it will do quite nicely. To tell you the truth, I was never actually fond of the huge crowds. I prefer smaller gatherings like this one."

The Dark One watched his maid with uncharacteristic kindness and toyed with the chipped cup he insisted on drinking from now. She was an odd girl, but very sweet. The kind of girl that he really wouldn't mind having around for as long as he could. They sat in silence again, but it was comfortable and neither really pressed the other for conversation. It wasn't exactly how Belle pictured the night going, but it was nice all the same. Maybe she was hoping for too much too soon. Yes, that was probably it.

Once they had their fill of cake and tea, Rumpel poofed away the mess and grinned at the shocked looking Belle. "You've already done so much cleaning on your birthday. It seems only fair that I do the rest."

"Thank you." Belle said softly, smiling shyly at him. "That's very nice of you."

The spinner snorted and waved it off. "Don't go spreading that rumor around, Dearie. I do have a reputation to consider."

Belle giggled and nodded. "Of course." She said. "My apologies." She added with mock seriousness before she turned to go to bed. It was rather late and she was tired. When she got to the top of the stairs, Rumpelstilzkin called her name and she turned to face him. "Yes?"

Rumpel cleared his throat some and gave a small quirk of his lips. "Happy Birthday, Belle." He said quietly. "Sleep well."

Belle blinked some but then smiled tenderly back at him. He did have a heart deep in there after all. "Happy Un-Birthday, Rumpel. You sleep well too." She turned and went to her room before getting ready for bed and falling asleep.

The next morning, Rumpel gave her a library. Naturally, she was thrilled.