It had been a few months now since the deal he made in Avonlea. At the time it seemed a good idea: watching a fully-grown and 'powerful' man beg for mercy as he watched his beautiful daughter walk away with the Dark One at her waist. Priceless.
Despite that though, he was starting to think it was one of the worst decisions he'd ever made, besides leaving Bae, that is.
Having a stranger scamper about the Dark Castle as he worked was rather distracting to say the least, not to mention dangerous. He had plenty of dark and ominous objects that could prove fatal in the wrong hands.
'Stranger' the word felt somewhat incorrect to Rumplestiltskin, and he found himself thinking over the small moments of intimacy there had been between the Master and his maid. Even if they were few and far between, and the in between moments were occasionally rather nasty.
Rumplestiltskin recalled a particular time when he had gotten so angry at her naivety he had struck her across the jaw with the palm of his hand. He shuddered at the thought.
That night was the first and only time she'd almost broken her deal to him, as she ran up the Great Hall of the Dark Castle and out into the courtyard, fleeing the monster she had bargained her Kingdom's survival on. She had stopped at the Great Gates and reconsidered. 'Not that you'd of been able to escape anyway' the imp thought to himself as he remembered the dozens of wards and spells he'd set in place to keep her here.
Another memory came to him. A thief had made his way passed all the Dark Castle's barriers and stolen one of the Dark One's valuables. Having chased him down, Belle has made him reconsider harming the soon-to-be-father. Despite him loosing out on a juicy kill, that day was still a goof one for she had hugged him and he had seen the genuine pride she had for him in that moment in her eyes.
That day, he gifted her the library. It was his first proper gift to anyone in centuries. A completely and utterly selfless act, where he expected nothing in return.
He did get something in return though, but not something physical, his gift came in the form of a brightly shining smile as she looked up at him. The words she said to him that day still rang in his head, "You're not the person I thought you were. And I'm glad".
In fact, Rumplestiltskin was realising his deal wasn't one of his worst decision and far from it. Actually, reconsidering it, Belle was hardly even a Stanger at all.
