"We long for Fairytales in a world full of Nightmares." ~ Willowcat

Chapter One

Isabella French had spent most of her life locked in a mental asylum. It was located beneath Storybrooke Hospital. When she was a child of three, her father had let them take her. They placed her in a tiny cell with thick white padding and only one small window. Then they looked through the iron bars at her, talking in low voices. She had been too scared to beg them for her freedom. She wasn't certain that they would understand. No one really listened.

Ever since Belle could remember, she had been bombarded with vivid memories of another place and time, a place that was far, far away. She tried to tell her father, Moe French about the memories, but he looked at her like she was crazy, as though she were losing her mind. He let them take her, the men from the asylum in the long, white coats.

Soon after, she came, the woman dressed all in white. She had medium-length dark hair and a cold, plastic smile. "How are you doing, little Belle?" Regina asked as she peered through the bars at the child with blue eyes and auburn hair.

"I want to go home," Belle said. "Please let me go home.":

The woman let out a sultry laugh. It frightened Belle to the core of her very soul. "I am afraid that's not possible, darling. If you went home, if you were walking along the streets of Storybrooke, HE'd find you... and when he did...well, let's say all hell would break loose."

Belle had no clue what the woman was talking about or why she had been imprisoned in the asylum. Why didn't her papa come to take her home? She missed him so much. She only wanted to go home. She wanted to help him in his flower shop and take care of all the plants. She wished she had never told him about the memories she had of that other time and place. Maybe then, he wouldn't have sent her away... maybe then, she wouldn't have been locked up in the cold, lonely cell, away from everyone who loved her.

Months passed, then years... and no one came. Not a single soul came to rescue her. Belle was all alone. The only visits she had were from the men in white coats, the ones who brought her trays of food. Sometimes they took her into a tiny restroom so she could take a shower. They looked at her with pity, but they never set her free. They were afraid of the woman in white, the lady named Regina. She made all the rules. The nurses and orderlies were afraid to cross her.

During her incarceration, Belle's memories only became stronger. They didn't leave, although many times, she had wished them away. For 28 years, she had lived in the padded cell and those memories were all she had to soothe her while locked up day after day. The memories continued and they were so real. It's as though she had lived another life. She remembered vividly another time and place when she knew a man named Rumpelstiltskin, also known as The Dark One. They had been so happy, once upon a time, but he had rejected her after she kissed him and tried to break his curse. Perhaps that is why that they had locked her up in the asylum, because she tried to tell her father about the memories of living in the Enchanted Forest and about Rumpelstiltskin. Her father had been horrified and soon after, the men from the asylum had come to take her away.

~*~o~*~

Mr. Gold also lived in Storybooke. He owned a pawn and antiquity store across the street from Moe French's flower shoppe. For years he had kept the peace as best he could, but when his house was robbed, he could stand it no longer. He came up behind Mr. French as he was loading some floral arrangements into his van in the dark alley behind the flower shop. With a vicious wack, he hit Mr. French with his cane, knocking the older man to his knees.

"Tell me where she is! What have you done with her?!" demanded Mr. Gold.

French blubbered like an overgrown baby as Mr. Gold attacked him. "I don't know what you're talking about. Gold...I... I-."

Gold knew that the man was lying. "You DO know what I am talking about! Where is she? Have you hurt her?"

"You're out of your mind... I never-."

"Don't lie to me! It was YOU who broke into my house. You took IT..."

"Took what?"

Mr. Gold gave the man several more whacks with his cane. The old man was sobbing and struggling to breathe, "If you've hurt her, I will personally flay you like a fish!" Mr Gold screamed as he thrust the gold handle of his cane tight against the man's windpipe.'

"Tell me where she is... or you're going to die!"

"Alright, I will tell you," Moe French said reluctantly. "But you're not going to like what I have to say..."

"You'll give me the teacup?" Gold prompted.

"Yes," Mr. French sighed.

A few minutes later, they were standing in the flower shoppe. Very carefully, Mr. French presented Gold with a chipped cup. It was tiny and fragile. It was Gold's most prized possession. It was all he had left to remind him of her, the woman whom he had once loved. All this time he had thought she was dead. The Evil Queen had told him that she had been killed, but it had been lies. She had been taken from him... and Gold was determined to find her.

Lovingly he held the teacup, looking upon it's delicate beauty. "You will tell me where she is... and you will tell me now," he demanded.

"She has her... Regina."

The old man looked down, ashamed of his deed. He had let the wicked Regina take his little girl. Regina claimed it was to protect her; to keep his darling daughter safe. When the memories had came to Belle, he felt he had no other choice. All he had wanted was to protect his daughter from Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark One who had whisked his little girl away when they had lived in that other place and time.

"Where is she?" Gold bellowed. "Where?!"

"Beneath Storybrooke Hospital is a secret chamber... an asylum. She has Belle there... in a cell," the old man admitted.

"You will pay for what you did to her! You can count on it!"

With those words, Mr. Gold walked out of the flower shoppe. He'd deal with Moe French later. It was time to save his lady.

~*~o~*~

Mr. Gold entered the hospital. holding a special flower in his hand. Well, it used to be an ordinary flower till he picked it up and put a spell on it. He walked through the hospital as he located a secret doorway in the corner. He thought to himself, *That must be the way to the secret chamber where Belle is held.*

He walked over to the secret passage and used his magic to enter the door. He descended a staircase to the lower level and approached a desk where a nurse was seated.

"For you," he said, handing her the special flower.

"What are you...?" she was asking as held the flower and took a sniff. "Here-."

The rest of her sentence died off as she collapsed like an old rag doll. She lay limply on the desk as Mr. Gold quickly snatched the keys. He left her passed out on the desk as he walked down the hallway to check the rooms. To his dismay, all of the cells were empty. But as he came to the last one, he tried the key in the lock and it opened.

The door creaked as he pushed it and there was Belle on the single cot.

"Who are you?" Belle asked as she shrank back, looking at Mr. Gold.

"Don't worry; I am here to help you. We must leave now," Mr. Gold said.

"Go where?" she asked.

"Freedom from this place if you come with me; I will keep you safe from harm and from Regina,' he said.

Belle got up and Mr. Gold escorted her out of the room. They walked down the hall and passed the nurse who was lying upon the desk. Belle stared at the nurse in shock as Mr. Gold gently guided her toward the stairs.

"Who are you?" Belle asked Mr. Gold as they were walking out of the hospital together. A name ran through her mind. It almost passed her lips, but she didn't dare say it. If she told him about those memories she had of living in the Enchanted Forest when he was Rumpelstiltskin, he'd surely take her right back to the mental hospital. Instead, she decided to bide her time, because in her heart she knew. She knew who he was - he was the one who had made her happy in all those memories.

He sat at his spinning wheel, his curly dark-brown hair lying upon his shoulders as his nibble fingers were spinning straw into gold. She set her book aside, watching him. He fascinated her, his every movement, his every word. "Why do you spin so much?" Belle asked.

"Because it helps me forget," he told her honestly.

He turned to look at her with those green, gold eyes. They shone so bright in the light of the dancing candles. His skin was rough and scaly with flecks of gold. Most women ran from him, thinking he was a monster, but not Belle. He intrigued her. He had from the first and that was one of the reasons she had agreed to go away with him.

She looked into his eyes and she sighed. Being trapped here with him at his castle wasn't all that bad. It was in that moment that Belle realized she had fallen in love - she was head over heels in love with the Dark One.

As they stared at each other, she realized his eyes weren't the same; not now. The man who rescued her had soulful brown eyes. His skin was not shimmering, nor was it covered in thick, golden scales. Even so, she knew him from that other time and place. Deep in her heart, she had a feeling that he knew her, too and that is why he had come to rescue her.

He paused for a moment, gazing into her bright blue eyes. "I am Mr. Gold," he stated.

Memories were coming to her so quickly, but she was afraid to tell him. She didn't want him to think she was crazy.

"Thank you for rescuing me from that awful place," she said.

"You're welcome."

"Do I know you?" she asked as he was helping her into his car.

"No, but you will," he promised.

They made their getaway, back to his house - a salmon-colored Victorian mansion. It was like a museum inside with all the antiques and priceless artifacts. Belle gasped as they stepped into the parlor. It reminded her so much of that other time and the place; his castle - the one for years she had struggled to forget.

"This is all yours?" she asked as he showed her around.

"It is yours, too, now that you are with me. For many years, I thought that you were dead, but now that you are here, I promise, I will always take care of you. I will keep you safe and I will protect you."

He looked at her with so much tenderness, her heart fluttered. "You'll never have to go back to that terrible place where you were imprisoned. You can stay with me... Forever."

"Forever," Belle said as she was thinking of a different "forever," the one where she agreed to stay with Rumpelstiltskin, to be his companion. She had promised to be the caretaker of his castle. Once upon a time, she had agreed to stay with him for all eternity.

"Take a look around," he said. "Everything is yours."

Belle did just that. She strolled around his extravagant home, taking in all the sights. One item among all the others caught her eye. It was a chipped teacup. It set upon a tall wooden table. Very quietly she approached it, gently taking the delicate object into her hands.

"Wh-where did you get this?" she asked.

She had wanted to serve her master, give him a nice cup of tea, but she found herself incredibly nervous. Her fingers slipped and she dropped the teacup upon the floor. "I-I am so sorry," she said as she picked up the little cup. "I am afraid it's chipped."

She winced, waiting for the Dark One's reaction. Would he be angry and toss her in the dungeon again?

Rumpelstiltskin shrugged, giving her just a hint of a smile. "It's just a cup."

"I remember," she said as gently placed the cup back onto it's stand. "I loved you before... in another time and place."

He nodded slowly as he gazed into her eyes.

"Will you reject me again as you did then?" she asked.

"Never again," he stated as his lips lowered onto hers...