Belle gazed down at the giant map on the large wooden table; the map the charted the battle plans he father and Gaston had recently come up with in order to counter the ogre threat that plagued the villagers below them. So many soldiers had lost their lives; Ogres were less common than centuries before, but once in a while you had a new group reappear from the shadows and wreak havoc in an attempt to restore ogres to their former glory. Her father was a great warrior, but based on his and Gaston's plan to attack the ogres' camp from the west side by the river with all kinds of slick land and rocks around, even she knew that this would cause more loss of life, but she did not dare object. She feared ridicule from her father and, like always, from Gaston. According to them, women had no place on the battlefield; Gaston had objected to her even being in the war room, but she persuaded her father by telling him she just wanted to observe, which was only half true. She wanted to learn most of all; deep down she felt that learning something like this would be very important one day, even though, deep down, she hoped she would never have to use it.

But, with Gaston as her husband, she won't get the chance anyway; so why was she even here? Gaston thought a woman's place was at home, cooking for him, and giving him sons to march into battle one day. She hated the idea, and felt even more sickened at thought of her destiny being out of her control. The only person she would be willing to give sons to was the man she truly loved; her own prince, who she couldn't live without, the one person, who could love her despite all her supposed faults as woman not wanting to be part of the status quo. In this moment, she could only think of her mother, the woman who disappeared when she was so young, whom Belle continued to seek for guidance even when she was no longer around; what would she think of her daughter now? Would she be disappointed or proud? Ashamed or honored? Belle wondered…..

"Belle…. Belle," called Maurice.

Belle snapped out of her musings; based on his tone, her father had been calling her for some time.

"Yes."

"No word, yet… from the Dark One?"

"No, Papa. Not yet," she said solemnly.

Ah yes, the Dark One, Rumplestiltskin, the legend himself. She had forgotten that her father had called upon his help. Belle could only read stories about his single handed victory in the Ogre's War centuries ago, but she never had the displeasure of meeting the man, whose reputation was not in the best condition. Never the less, her family sought his help, and promised to pay him handsomely for it. Suddenly, one of her father's knights came bursting through the throne room doors. With a letter in hand, he quickly approached Maurice.

"Sir, Avonlea has fallen."

"My gods," said Maurice with a defeated sigh.

Belle's heart began to beat wildly in her chest; another village destroyed, and yet they were no closer to stopping the giant brutes than they were when the first village fell three years ago.

"If only he had come," said Gaston.

"Yes, if only he had come….. BUT HE DIDN'T, DID HE?! OGRES ARE NOT MEN!" Maurice yelled at the stunned knight.

He turned and walked over to his throne, which he plopped down in it; Gaston paced beside him, his clutching the hilt of his rather large sword. Belle marched over to her defeated looking father and kneeled down beside him. She placed her hand on his and looked straight into his eyes; with a confident voice, she said:

"He could be on his way, Papa….. right now."

"It's too late, my girl, it's just… too late," he said with no hope left in his voice.

Belle rested her head on his arm, knowing he was right, it was too late Avonlea was not too far away; this castle would be the next haven they would attempt to conquer, and with no peep from Rumplestiltskin, their last hope, things did look pretty grim; then BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. A pounding at the door; Belle thought it could only be one person. After all, ogres were much too big for the castle hallways, nor would they bother knocking. Maurice stood up, Belle with him.

"It's him, it must be him," said Belle, as she walked with her father towards the large doors.

"How did he get past the walls?" asked Maurice.

"Magic," whispered Belle.

"Open it!" commanded Maurice, waving them to remove the log that was blocking the doors from the inside.

The servants opened the doors, which creaked as they swung, but no one was on the other side; just an empty hallway. Belle looked at the empty hallway curiously.

"Well that was a bit of a letdown," said a voice behind them.

They all turned around to see Rumplestiltskin sitting on Maurice's throne. He was just sitting there, smiling, happy as he could be with all this darkness and fear around him; or maybe that was where he was most comfortable. Either way, Belle was already intrigued by him, and even with all the green skin, snake like eyes, long nails, and crumpled hair she had to admit that he looked…. handsome, but she wasn't seeing the beast that he was, she was seeing something else she could explain, like a ghost of an image, a normal man, if he ever was a man, and the man giggling like a taunting child before them was putting on a show or wearing a mask.

"You sent me a message…."

Gaston drew his sword while slowly approaching him; he pointed the huge blade directly at the imp, ready to kill in a heartbeat.

"Something about….. 'Help! Help! We're dying! Can you save us?!" he said playfully, flashing that evil grin like he enjoyed as much as a kid in a candy hut.

Gaston was holding his sword very close now; the only thing Belle ever admired about Gaston was his bravery. Everyone in the Enchanted Forest knew about Rumplestiltskin; knew how ruthless and unsympathetic he was, and how he would have no more trouble killing you then he would a common house fly, and yet Gaston was not afraid of him. In this moment, he could be very foolish or very brave; Belle hoped it was the latter.

"The answer is….. of course I can," said Rumplestiltskin as he swatted away Gaston's sword, like it wasn't even close to being a threat to him.

Not many can do that, especially Gaston, and Belle found herself even more intrigued by this magic man, or whatever he was. Suddenly the Dark One's eyes met hers; a chill ran up her spine, but not necessarily in a bad way. It was though in this moment, something important had just happened; it was the feeling, the knowledge that somehow, this imp would change her life forever. The scary things was that she didn't know how.

"Yes, I can protect your pathetic little town, BUT… it will cost you a pretty price," he said.

"We sent you the promise of gold," said Maurice sternly.

"Ah, see here's the problem….." he leaned in closer to whisper into Maurice's ear.

"I make gold… no, I only make deals for things I can use, things I don't already have. Besides, gold is such a trivial thing. You are a King, you can obtain gold anytime you want. No, what my deals require is something a little more special, something much closer to your heart. That is the price for the thousands of lives you are asking me to save."

"What do you want?" asked Maurice through gritted teeth.

"My price is her," he said, as he pointed directly at Belle; she couldn't hide the look of shock on her face.

She was mildly disgusted that this stranger, this monster, could think of her as some kind of token or object to be traded off.

"She is engaged…. To me," said Gaston, which prompted Belle to roll her eyes.

Rumplestiltskin let out a high pitched giggle, like a little school boy.

"I wasn't asking if she was engaged, I'm not looking for love of any sort… but I am in dire need of a caretaker for my rather large estate."

Maurice huffed, and his blood began to boil. To think this beast could waltz in here and demand his daughter; absolutely not.

"Get out. LEAVE!" screamed Maurice.

Rumplestiltskin smirked, and surprisingly, did as he was told. Gaston put his arm across Belle protectively, and pushed her out the way. She could tell he didn't want the imp anywhere near her.

"As you wish," he said quietly.

Belle watched him walk to the door; a thousand thoughts ran through her brain at once. This was their last chance, their only option. Her family, her friends, the villagers, all of them will die if the Dark One doesn't help. He wants her, that's all he wants is her; such a simple request, but she'll never see her father again, but she'll be saving the lives of thousands. The ogres must be stopped.

"No, wait," she said.

The imp stopped, and even though his back was facing her, Belle could swear he was smiling, like he knew she would go with him. Belle gently removed Gaston's arm and approached the Dark One, trying to appear brave, but deep inside she had never been more terrified. With a deep breath, she said:

"I will go with you."

Rumple let out another high pitched laugh and clapped his hands together excitedly.

"No!"

"I forbid it!" yelled Gaston.

Belle became annoyed by Gaston's sudden outburst, like he was in charge of her; like he was her King. She turned violently around and retorted with equal intensity:

"No one decides my fate but me. I shall go."

"It's forever, dearie."

"My family, my friends, the villagers…. they will all live?"

"You have my word."

"Then you have mine. I will go with you forever."

"Deal," said Rumple before letting out another creepy high pitched giggle.

"Belle…. Belle, you cannot do this. Belle, please, you cannot go with this… beast," said Maurice, as he shot the imp a defying look.

"Aw, that hurt….. that hurt me right here….. where my heart used to be," said Rumple before letting out yet another high pitched giggle, laughing at his own twisted sense of humor.

Belle placed a gentle hand on her father's arm.

"Father….. Gaston…. It's been decided…"

Rumple moved closer until he was right behind her, smiling wide, and showing off his decaying teeth.

"You know… she's right. The deal…. is struck."

Belle looked around at all the sad faces in the room. She found her own wyes beginning to well up, as she took one last look at her loved ones, knowing that she would never see them again.

"Oh. Congratulations on your little war," said Rumplestiltskin happily before putting his hand on the small of her back and leading her out of the throne room.

He didn't talk at all on their way out of the castle, but then again, Belle was thankful for it. She wasn't in the mood to talk at the moment. Rumple waved his hand, and the front castle doors flew open; it had begun to rain, and as they stepped out, she watched him look up at the sky.

"Do you have a cloak?" he asked.

"No."

Rumple snapped his fingers, and Belle found herself encased in a cloud of smoke. Her heart began to beat so fast it felt like it was going to beat right out of her chest. The smoke cleared, and she let out a sigh of relief that she seemed to be alright, but a beautiful woodland green cloak was now draped over her; she reached back and pulled the hood over her head. A carriage pulled by four black work horses

"Thank you, it's beautiful."

Rumplestiltskin seemed to have not heard her, instead, he whistled into the air, as if he were calling some or something. There was another cloud of smoke, and a carriage pulled by four black work horses appeared before them. He pulled up his hood, and walked over to the carriage. He turned to look at her when Belle hesitated to follow; we waved her to come closer, and she slowly did so. He held out his hand for her, she took it, and he helped her into the carriage. He hit the side door, and they started to move. Belle took one last glance at the castle she had called her home since her birth, as it faded into the trees, Belle let the tears roll down her cheeks, but she did not dare let Rumplestiltskin see them.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Home," he said coldly.

Belle tried to think of something to keep the conversation light. They seemed to have been riding for hours.

"Do you have a family?"

"If I had a family I wouldn't need you, would I?"

"Right…. Where is your home?" she asked.

The imp pointed outside of the carriage:

"See those mountains… my castle is just on the other side."

So they didn't have too far to go; good. Belle just wanted to curl up in a ball, alone.

They finally reached the enormous castle, surrounded by mountains; Belle knew the winters were going to be harsh here. The carriage stopped in front of the castle doors; Rumple helped her out again. At least he was a gentleman, she thought. The doors opened as they approached; inside, was elegant, beautiful, but dusty. She could see why Rumplestiltskin needed a maid so bad. She hung her cloak on the rack by the door, and followed him into the next room, which seemed to be the dining area. A large wooden table sat in the middle surrounded by artifacts she would probably never understand.

"Where are we going now?" she asked after realizing that they weren't stopping.

"Let's call it, your room. I'm tired."

A thought popped into Belle's head, she could sneak away while he was sleeping, and go back to her family.

"And don't think about escaping. I don't tolerate deal breakers. If you leave, our deal is off….. your family, your friends, and those poor villagers will die. Understand?"

"Yes," said Belle with utter disappointment.

She was trapped, there was no way around it; her life was over.

They descended the winding staircase that led into a dark and damp area. At the foot of the stairs was a door; Rumple waved his hand, and the door opened. He stood there grinning at her; Belle peered inside and was immediately disgusted.

"My room?!"

"Well it sounds a lot nicer than dungeon," he said before pushing her in and closing the door.

Belle tried her hardest to push the door open, but it was locked.

"Hey, you're not just going to leave me here…. Hello?!"

It was useless; all she could hear was the imp's laughter, as he walked away. Belle looked around the dark damp cell, and the full weight of the world and her choice seemed to have collapsed on her. She threw herself on the bed, and just cried; with no hope of freedom, no hope of a happy ending, she just cried, her voice drowned out by the claps of thunder outside.