Wee Little Sorceress

A Baby Belle fic

By ZionAngel

… …

Belle watches Rumpelstiltskin from beside the spinning wheel. She doesn't have much in particular to say today, as she hasn't most days for a while now. And Rumkin doesn't like to talk all that much – he usually lets her talk all she wants, answers her questions and just goes along, and rarely starts up a new topic on his own – so the days spent up in his tower have been mostly silent. But Belle comes up and spends time here anyway. With her papa always tending to some urgent matter or another, and her mama… Well, she would much rather sit in silence with her friend than be alone anywhere else.

For now, she watches him spin pieces of dry, dull straw through his wheel, and stares as perfect, gleaming golden thread emerges, winding tightly around the bobbin. For months now she has watched him do this, over and over and over again, yet somehow she never tires of watching it.

"Can you teach me how to do it?" She asks quietly. "You said before that anyone can learn magic, even if they don't have special powers like you."

He glances her way, and grins. "Well, having powers certainly makes it easier. But if you learn well enough you can do just fine without them."

"So will you teach me magic?" She pushes, as he didn't actually answer her question. "Please? Will you teach me how to spin gold?"

"Oh, spinning gold isn't easy, Belle. It's not exactly advanced magic, but it does require changing the very essence of the straw into something entirely different altogether. That sort of thing takes a lot of practice and years of training."

"Oh, but please!" she begs, grabbing the arm feeding the straw. "I'm sure I can do it!"

"Now, now, dearie. You didn't go and climb the tallest tree in the kingdom when you were three days old, did you? No, you had to learn to crawl first, and then to walk, and then you climbed wee little trees first. Magic is just the same. You can't learn the complicated stuff before you learn the very basics."

Belle's heart sinks. She lets go of his sleeve, and stares down at her shoes. "Oh."

But he pushes a finger up under her chin and makes her look at him. "Now, little beastie, when did I ever say I wouldn't teach you the basics, hmm?"

"Oh, thank you, Rumkin, thank you!" She nearly tackles him to the floor with her fierce hug, and it makes him laugh. It's a funny thing – he never seems to laugh when he's with her papa, or the servants, or the war council, or anyone else. Only with her.

"Now, come sit with me, and I'll spin for a while so you can learn what magic feels like, all right?" He pulls her up onto his lap. He lets her hold the few pieces of straw as he slowly feeds them into the machine. As he spins, she feels a familiar warmth in his fingers, spreading through hers as well and into the straw. She thinks she sees something in the air around his hand and the straw and the newly spun gold, like a cloud or fairy dust, but when she looks more closely, her eyes see nothing at all.

"There now. Can you feel that? That's magic."

"But I've felt that before." She looks up at him, and she smiles in that way that says she's being silly.

"That's because magic is everywhere. It's in everything. It's just a matter of learning how to harness it and use it." He keeps on spinning, and she watches more closely, doing her very best to feel the magic and understand it better.

After a while – she found herself lost in the magic and isn't quite sure how long precisely – he stops, and smiles down at her.

"Think you're ready to learn something?"

Belle nods, smiling brightly and full of excitement. He lifts her up off of his lap, and sets her down on the other end of the little bench that serves as his chair. He straddles the bench, Belle crosses her legs, and they face each other. He leans forward a bit, and it takes all of Belle's willpower to contain her excitement.

"Now, this," he says, as a glowing ball of pure light appears above his open palm, "is a very simple bit of magic. It's like a tiny star, and it gives you light to see by. It's a perfect spell for a wee little sorceress." He taps her lightly on the nose with his free hand, and Belle giggles. "It's quite simple to make – you just have to find the magic around you, and pull a few bits together, and tell it what to do. It's like… think of it as if you wanted to fill a vase with pretty flowers for your room. You just go out into the garden and find some flowers, and you pick several from all around you, and bring them all together in the vase and make them look however you like. Does that make sense?"

Belle nods emphatically. He makes it sound so very simple, and she is eager to try it.

"Good. Now, close your eyes, and just feel the magic in the air, get used to it…"

She does as instructed. She reaches out behind her eyes, and sure enough finds the magic in the air and the objects all around them. It glows in the objects, things like the wheel and the gold thread, and the rest floats through the air like butterflies.

"Now just pluck a few little bits out of the air and bring it all into one spot… and tell it to give you a little star of light."

She pauses a moment, not sure how to bring the magic together. Eventually she just sort of… asks it to come, asks the little butterflies to come together in front of her, and sure enough, several wisps of magic come to her, gathering themselves together in front of her. And again she asks, and they spin themselves together until they are one little ball of magic behind her closed eyes, sure and strong.

"Open your eyes, Belle."

She does, and there, floating between them, is a tiny ball of light, not much bigger than a plump grape, but bright and glowing steadily. She gasps quietly, amazed at what she's seeing, amazed that she did that. Amazed that she is actually, truly using magic for the very first time.

"There now," Rumkin says, smiling and proud. "I knew you had it in you. I bet you could even make it a bit bigger. Just put a bit more magic into it…"

Belle carefully takes the light into her hands, bringing it closer, and concentrates. Even with her eyes open, she can still find the little butterflies of magic floating about them. She asks, and several more come to her and join her little star. Sure enough, it grows to the size of Belle's fist, still giving off its warm, bright glow.

She just about squeals in delight. "I did it!"

"Indeed you did, dearie. Keep this up and people will be calling you Madam Sorceress one day."

Belle smiles down at her little light. She finds she need only ask the little butterflies of magic to stay as they are, and without much focus at all, the light stays as it is, unchanging in her hands.

"Do you think my mama would be pleased?" she asks softly, looking up at Rumkin. He eyes turn sad, and sorry. She knows that look. Everyone looks at her like that now. But then it goes away, and he gives her a quiet little smile instead.

"Your mother would be thrilled. And very proud of her little Belle." His voice is very quiet and soft, meant only for her, and she wonders how anyone could ever be afraid of him.

He taps her nose again, and she smiles back at him.