In a million different universes, her return ends a million different ways. There are endings that leave both of them broken and alone, yes. But there are also endings that leave them merely halved, or even altogether whole.
In one universe, his cowardice takes hold, and he never asks her why she's come back. They tiptoe around each other for weeks, until she comes to him one night and kisses him so soundly that he's too stunned to react in time, and the curse washes away. He's angry, yes, and afraid of what she will think of him as a weak, ordinary man, but Belle shows no such compunctions. Women do not like to be married to cowards, he thinks, and it rattles around in his head for days until Belle drops to one knee after dinner.
This time, they are married in the Spring.
In a second universe, she refuses to leave. He orders her out of the dungeon, but she smiles around red-rimmed eyes and doesn't budge from the straw pallet. He snarls at her, but she laughs. He leaves her there, and the next day she's back to her old routine. "I won't kiss you again," she says, a day later at dinner. She takes in his stiffened posture with a wry twist of her lips. "Not for lack of wanting, of course," she adds, just to see his shocked face.
This time, they live quietly together until the end, and there is never any Dark Curse made.
In a third universe, she is never captured by the Evil Queen. Instead, she escapes to the only safe place she knows, and is welcomed back with watery dark eyes and shaking arms ending in black nails. He is gentle with her, handles her like fine china, until she makes it very clear that after months on the road, alone, she's done with being gentle. She wears his pants and shirts, and he can't find it in himself to mind, especially when she discovers she's pregnant.
This time, they have a daughter, and then a son, and no Dark Curse can change that.
In a fourth universe, she leaves after the failed kiss, and is captured shortly after by the Evil Queen. The curse is cast over the forest, and she goes from one dungeon to another in her sleep. And when he comes for her, she smiles and tells him that she might have gotten chipped along the way, because she is not the same girl who marveled at long fingers on spinning wheels. He kisses her forehead, and breathes in her tangled hair. "You can barely see it," he says, and if she cries, no one but him will ever know.
This time, they are married while she is pregnant, and live not-so-quietly in his big pink house, their own little happily-ever-after.
