This is my take on Belle's first meeting with Ruby post-amnesia. A year after everyone else has done it. This is set after the outsider, but takes no notice of canon after that.
It's my first time writing for 'once upon a time' so we'll just see how it goes.
This is a multi-chapter fic, but don't hold your breathe for the next one (reviews and favourites are encouraging, though :P)
disclaimer: nothing is mine, yada yada yada
She's half asleep when the woman breezes through the door, all smiles, carrying a basket in the crook of her elbow.
"Hi, I'm Ruby!" The woman - Ruby - introduces herself, flopping down onto the chair next to her bed. She's alarmed by the boldness of the move, most of the people who've visited her so far usually started off just hovering by the door, as if afraid.
"Oh! Um, hi!" She doesn't quite know how to react, still startled by Ruby's entrance. Ruby doesn't reply right away, but instead places her basket gently on the bed, next to her feet. She then crosses her (very long, she notices) legs, and leans forward a little, elbows on her knees, chin her her hands.
And just when she thinks Ruby isn't going to reply at all-
"So, are you going to introduce yourself or should I just guess your name?"
"I- what?"
"Your name," Ruby says again, smirking a little. "What is it?"
"I just- but surely you already know it?"
"Oh do I?" Ruby raises her eyebrow, and she can't tell if she feels annoyed or amused. She feels like she's several hundred steps behind in this conversation, and she's struggling to keep up. It makes sense, she supposes. She has got amnesia, after all.
"Everyone else already knows it," she replies. She thinks of the other people that have come to visit. Their greetings tended to consist of "you don't remember me, but-" ,"You don't know me, but I know you-", or sometimes "We used to be friends, before-", and that got old and frustrating very quickly. These things meant nothing to her, and she hated being told how to feel.
The worst was the man, with his thin lips and cold hands. He had tried to kiss her. Why would he try to do that? He scared - still scares - her. So she puts up with the rest of the visitors, because none of them have made her feel as exposed and fragile as he did.
"Well, you see, I've told you my name, but I still don't know yours," Ruby continues, crossing her arms and pulling her - gratefully - out of her thoughts. "And I just don't think that's fair. How are we supposed to be on an even footing when you know more about me than I do about you?"
Ruby's voice is full of mirth, and she's grinning, but the way Ruby's looking straight into her eyes makes her believe that Ruby might know a little more than she's letting on. But if that's true, then why is Ruby going through all this trouble?
Ruby lets out a quiet, breathy laugh and bows her head, still smiling, but smaller now. And suddenly she knows.
She knows, she knows.
Empathy.
Of course Ruby knows who she is, but that isn't the point. Ruby's empathising with her. Ruby's trying to make her feel comfortable. She thinks it might be working.
"Belle," she says, quietly, looking down at her hands. "My name's Belle. At least, that's what they told me..." The name tag on her wrist suddenly feels very tight, cutting into her skin. She feels... self conscious. Ruby's smile grows softer, and reaches her eyes in a way that's different to the way before. Belle likes it. It feels safe.
"Well, nice to meet you, Belle," Ruby says, reaching out to shake her hand. Belle smiles, for the first time since Ruby's arrival, and probably for the first time since she woke up in the hospital bed.
"Nice to meet you, Ruby."
