"Bae, we've been through this before. I keep you in the castle so you can be safe and away from harm; nothing else."
"Really?" the teenager snapped back, "I think you like having me trapped here, where I can't see hurt innocent people! Well I don't want to be stuck in this stupid castle anymore."
The Dark One's patience with his son was starting to wear thin. He's become so mouthy lately. This type of behavior is normal for boys his age, Rumpelstiltskin tried to reason with himself. Still, he felt he became angrier each day by Bae's growing disobedience.
"Where do you suggest we go then, Baelfire? We have no other options, so I suggest you accept this as our home now."
"The Dark Castle will never be our home, Papa! Not to me." Baelfire ran out of the room, his curly brown hair swinging across his face as he stormed up the stairs.
Rumpelstiltskin sighed as he watched his son stomp to his bedroom. He hated arguing with Bae, but the boy was so stubborn he had no choice but to be firm. It was almost a daily occurrence now, and Rumple resigned to letting the boy have his space.
He became the Dark One to protect his son, but lately it's just been driving them apart. Rumple decided to clear his mind by spinning.
After a few hours he had spun enough gold to stretch around the entire dining hall. Not that they needed it, but it helped Rumpelstiltskin relax after stressful arguments with Bae. Speaking of his beloved (if temperamental) son, it was time to check on him.
The Dark One materialized outside the door but entered on foot, not to startle Bae if he was still awake. Rumplestiltskin entered the room to find Bae sound asleep. One look upon his son's sleeping face erased any trace of anger he'd held on to.
In fact the Dark One's heart broke as he noticed the trail of dried tears on Bae's cheeks. He may have been nearing 15 years old, but Baelfire still had childlike innocence within his round face and dark brown eyes. Eyes that were the same as his father's, before he became the most evil entity in the realms.
He considered clearing the tears with a simple spell, but knew Bae would prefer the old-fashioned way. He brought a scaly hand to his son's face and gingerly wiped away the tear streaks. He let his hand linger on the boy's cheek, still flushed from crying earlier.
"Oh Bae…," sighed Rumple. "I really do want what's best for you, son. I know it's hard for you to trust me now; I seem like I've lost myself completely…" Rumplestiltskin trailed off, fighting the Darkness that threatened to devour him at every moment.
"But whatever this curse does to me, I promise I will always love you." Rumple gently brushed the hair from his son's forehead to give him a small kiss.
Suddenly he felt an odd sensation pass through him and looked down at his hands. Slowly, the grey-green color of his skin began receding back to normal. The Dark One was fading from Rumplestiltskin's soul. He could feel his powers slipping away from him as the curse lifted its weight. Quick on his feet, he transported back to the common room in a flash.
"It looks like your son's prayers have been answered", replied a voice. His voice, "The real question is: do you want to give up being… me?" Rumpelstiltskin saw himself, as the Dark One, standing before him. This version of him seemed more menacing though; more…inhuman. The last gleam of humanity Rumple held on to for Bae was absent in this version of himself.
"W-what is this? How is this possible, what's happening to me?!" The real Rumplestiltskin was on the verge of hysterics when he remembered his son was upstairs fast asleep.
The Dark One however remained calm. "Remember all those times you've heard a voice in your head? Well that voice is now here, in the flesh- your flesh", he bowed with exaggerated flourish and continued. "It seems that your…touching display of parental affection is breaking your ties with the Dark One. True love's kiss will break any curse. Including this one."
The Dark One mimicked Rumplestiltskin's flourish gestures with barely contained glee; though he- it- was slightly puzzled at the idea of a Dark One having True Love.
Rumple glanced down again at his skin. He was halfway through the transformation; he could feel his magic getting weaker; an ever-faint throb was felt in his left leg. "Why haven't I finished changing back?"
He- The Dark One- giggled impishly. "Well I think it's rather obvious. You don't want to change back. You'd be perfectly content keeping the unlimited powers of the Dark One. There's only one thing standing in the way", he stopped midsentence for dramatic pause, "- your son."
Rumple's nostrils flared immediately. "You leave Bae out of this! I've let this curse take its toll on me but you will not ever pose a threat to my boy".
Rump- The Dark One- showed faux fear at Rumplestiltskin's anger. "No need to get worked up dearie, I was simply stating the facts.
He began pacing the room slowly, seeming calm and unassuming. But The Dark One was actually circling around his host like a shark.
"You're conflicted. You are torn between the love for your son… and the lust of your magic. The choice, of course, is yours.
"But"- The Dark One held up a finger. "I must warn you of the consequences of going back to the uh, simple life you lived before."
"No 'consequences' will keep me from being the father my son needs me to be", Rumple said confidently. But deep down he was afraid. Afraid of being afraid of everything again; afraid of reverting back to the poor, inadequate little man he was before The Dark One. Afraid of not being good enough for his only son Baelfire.
The Dark One seemed to be following Rumple's thought process because his response was: "You can't be the father your boy wants you to be without the magic that keeps you both safe. You have to make a choice; his happiness", he made a sarcastic-looking gesture with his hand and continued, "or his well-being."
"No", Rumple started to protest. Then his voice began to falter. "No, I-I can make Bae happy while still protecting him with my powers…"
The Dark One was starting to grow impatient. "You can't have both, dearie, no matter how hard you try to convince yourself!
"Make your choice." The Dark One was only inches away now. Waiting, calculating…and confident.
Rumpelstiltskin tried to grasp the weight of this decision. This might be his only chance to release the curse on his soul while still keeping his life. But he'd made many enemies in the following year as The Dark One. Rumple couldn't bear to imagine what they'd do to Bae if his father was rendered powerless once again. Besides, as much as it pained him to admit, Rumple greatly preferred inflicting pain than receiving it.
There was something about being universally feared that was quite empowering; a feeling he'd only experienced after first holding Baelfire. Even though he trekked for three months with a bad leg, withstood taunts from other villagers, and was greeted with a sneer by his wife Milah, holding his son for the first time gave Rumple a special kind of strength.
Rumpelstiltskin was at a loss: his life meant nothing without his boy, but magic had become a permanent fixture of his life these months as the Dark One. And the beastly entity inside him was right; he needed this magic to protect Bae. The boy would come to realize that in time, right?
"So", The Dark One spoke up, "you've made your choice. The right one indeed if you ask me. "
The Dark One gave a dismissive shrug.
"Then again, what do we know? We're", putting special emphasis on 'we're', the Darkness continued smugly, "the Dark One."
With a smirk he vanished, and Rumpelstiltskin felt surges of power re-entering his bloodstream. His scaly color returned, pupils grew reptilian again, and his hair became wavy and damp. Rumpelstiltskin was once again reborn as The Dark One; this time by choice.
The weight of his choice slammed into Rumple at once. He crumpled to knees, buried himself in his cloak and wept. "I'm sorry Bae… I'm so sorry! ", over and over again, until Baelfire himself came groggily up to the banister. He saw his father in a heap and rushed downstairs to meet him.
"Papa! Papa, what is it?" Baelfire had never seen his father so upset since he got his powers. And even before then Rumple would put on a brave face for Bae during their hardest times, breaking down only when he thought he was alone.
Still on one knee, Rumple reached up to place his hands on Baelfire's shoulders. His eyes had diluted some, but they were still distinctly inhuman. "I'm a very selfish man, Bae. You deserve so much better."
Whatever anger Bae held on to from their argument earlier was gone. With tears in his eyes Bae helped his father up and immediately buried his head in his chest. "Don't say that, Papa. I haven't been very fair. I've only been seeing you as a monster lately but it isn't true-"
"- It is true, Bae! I am a monster; I don't deserve your love. I'm sorry."
"You're not a monster, you're my Papa! It-It's not like you chose this life. And I'm your son; I still love you anyway. Even when you're acting like a jerk." He said the last sentence with a small smile.
"Oh my son" Rumple cupped Baelfire's cheek in his hand, "how you did grow to be such a wise young man?"
Bae looked up earnestly. "I learned from the man who raised me. He makes wrong choices sometimes, but I know he just wants to be the best father he can. For what it's worth, I think he's a great father."
Father and son stayed in an embrace for a long moment. Bae must never know about the kiss that temporarily broke the Dark One's curse. It would break his heart knowing his Papa denied a chance to give up his power, knowing it made Bae unhappy.
Rumplestiltskin vowed to find another way to break the spell, when they were both ready.