Written in Stone, Paved in Fire

He was torn between two, yet he was only one. He was faced with a choice – a perfect, healthy love, tailor-made for him in the very threads of the universe, or a dangerous, out-of-control love, defiant against nature in every sense of the word. A woman bound to him by a string of fate, his perfect match, or a woman belonging to no one, fiery and right and wrong at the same time.
A relationship Written in Stone, or a romance Paved in Fire.

Rumpelstiltskin wasn't a picky man.

Whether known as the "man who ran", or the Dark One, or the Beast, he wasn't complicated at first glance. He knew what he wanted, and he knew how he was going to get it. He took time to write up a contract, which, in all reality, only gave him what he wanted and left you to pick up the pieces. He was painstaking and intelligent and patient, and mapped out exactly what was to come and what part he would play in bringing it to pass. With a sign on the dotted line, he'd receive what he desired – this was his way of life, and he'd mastered it before too long. In fact, his patience and caution led to a deal that introduced him to the princess whose name was written on his heart the very day it had been ripped apart by his runaway wife. Magic led him to Belle.

Since the day he'd taken her up as his housekeeper, Rumpelstiltskin knew she was special. He spotted the natural magic in all she did; the way her curls twisted around her face when she turned to him, and the flutter of her eyelashes on her cheeks as she worked endlessly on a sleepy afternoon. She brought light back into his life with opened curtains and books read aloud and chipped cups and roses. She was magic in herself, and she never ceased to amaze him with the things she said and did every waking day; and suddenly, he found himself happy to be amazed. He was no longer lonely, and it brought joy back into his heart. It never quite left.

Of course, there were bad days; she'd argued with him and gotten too deep into emotional discussions and he'd screamed at her. She'd kissed him and nearly rid him of his powers, upon royal recommendation, and for that, he cast her out, only to find she was snatched up by Regina the instant he'd let her go. He had said and done many things he regretted, and often found himself in a hopeless state, unable to keep from letting his dark side come out to shield himself from love. Belle addressed the issue a few times before, each time assuring him she forgave and loved him no matter how he screwed up. But every time he felt he was doing better for her, he lost his temper and said something harsh or sent her away. He wasn't sure he could live like that anymore.

But a deal, of course, could lead to many things – many people, if you will. He supposed that, in her youth, she was still referred to as human. Back in the early years of Regina, before magic and evil and hatred took rule over her life in one fell swoop, she was, in fact, a good-natured, kind person.

Well, until he'd walked in.

He knew of her innermost thoughts: her hatred of her mother, her everlasting love for the stable boy, her deep conflict between magic and suffering... She was a mess of emotions, which he twisted and manipulated to get what he wanted. From the instant they'd met, he'd used her as a pawn in receiving what he had tried to wriggle from others for a time or so. She was uniquely equipped to deliver, however – until she'd so suddenly became his enemy.

He should've known what she was capable of, in the length of time he'd watched her blossom from something gentle and quiet to someone evil and extravagant and perfectly cruel. He should've been aware of her inevitable future firsthand, yet he found himself surprised at her quick transition from apprenticeship to royalty and her marked abuse thereof. Before he knew it, she had taken over the kingdom and risen to as much power as he. It was both unsettling and inspiring. He'd taught a wonderful pupil; but the student soon became contest for the master, and a rivalry of the ages was born.

The battle had then begun - she'd bite, he'd bite back; he'd take her love, she'd take his; she'd destroy something, and he'd destroy something, back and forth, until they'd destroyed everything. That was their way of life, and in that time, they were unconsciously building each other up into a huge obstacle – but a large part, nevertheless – of their lives. There was no higher priority of his than Regina; there was no higher of hers than Rumpelstiltskin. In all that hatred and competition, however, a strange sort of addiction grew between them, a need to best each other, a need to break and burn and end everything the other had created. The more they fought and demolished, the more fire and passion that transformed animosity into a fascination, an obsession, until the absolute abhorrence was revealed to have roots of a much deeper hurt never healed and a quiet admiration never dissolved, something neither of the two could admit. There hadn't been much chance to face it, until the curse was enacted, and they were forced to interact, to speak, and even more, to think. And the thoughts were what tore them apart inside, as Regina watched him fall in love again, and Rumpelstiltskin watched her take control of everything he'd once had the upper hand of.

There was no turning back then. The passion and the burning inside would never go away, and the fact that they had to watch each other appear like they didn't care and put up a straight face when the attraction was too strong to abandon.

Now, in the present time, he found issue with both of them. While the rivalry with Regina remained strong and contradictory, the love he'd shared with Belle was only becoming more difficult, until he found that nowhere was truly safe for him. There was no love he could retain absolute power in, and he had to wonder if, because of that, there would be no love for him, if not a dysfunctional, destructive love. He didn't think there was a chance.

No matter where he turned, he would lose. He was torn between two, yet he was only one. He was faced with a choice – a perfect, healthy love, tailor-made for him in the very threads of the universe, or a dangerous, out-of-control love, defiant against nature in every sense of the word. A woman bound to him by a string of fate, his perfect match, or a woman belonging to no one, fiery and right and wrong at the same time. A relationship Written in Stone, or a romance Paved in Fire.

There was no choice. There was no breakaway that felt safe or right, because breakaway could never be safe or right. He'd dug himself into a hole too deep to truly escape, and magic couldn't help him now. Power couldn't rescue him from the maze of emotions he'd trapped not himself, but all three of them in, and at that point, there was nothing else for him. What else could handle a force as gentle as the sea but as ruinous as a tidal wave? What else could wash the stone clean without putting out the fire?

I saw this in my Evernote account and fell in love with it again, so... here it is :) Please leave a review if you liked it!

* *-TheSongbird341-* *

DISCLAIMER: World's shortest tragedy: I don't own Once Upon A Time. The end.