Curses and Claws: A Once Upon a Time Story

by Hannah

Join the newly-married Golds and the rest of our favorite Storybrooke characters as they help a mysterious young man fulfill his destiny and save a kingdom. Let's see who can figure out who the new villain is before Chapter 5! Free apple turnovers to whoever can! Wait... maybe a burger at Granny's on the house? Okay? Okay.

This story features prominent post-wedding Rumbelle *squee* and dashes of other ships as well, but rest assured it has an actual plot and not just our favorite newlyweds making out for 20 chapters. ;) I'm having fun making those two domestic and also making them deal with new threats as a pair and not just with Rumple hiding her away someplace. It will be somewhat AU as I have no clue how season 4 is going to go and there's some issues I just don't want to tackle the Elsa arc, and the whole Regina/Robin thing. I will leave that tangled mess to the experts! :P Anyway, I am going to try to give some of the lesser characters a little more attention and just kind of go with the flow on this one so if anyone has any requests of something or someone they'd like me to add, just mention it in your review or send me a PM and I'll see what I can do. :) I am trying really hard to capture the characters and I hope I don't disappoint. Just so you know, I'll be referring to Rumplestiltskin as "Rumple" when he's alone with Belle, and "Gold" otherwise. Now, without further ado.. on to the story!


The unusual couple had only been married a couple weeks and Rumple still felt giddy every morning when he woke to find his darling Belle lying next to him, her brown curls tickling his shoulder as she nestled into him. So this morning, he was surprised to find her side of the bed empty. After all they had gone through, he couldn't help feeling a twinge of apprehension, but told himself not to worry. He willed himself to calmly get up and don his pajamas. He was a bundle of nerves as he descended the stairs, half expecting to find something horrible. There was a huge rush of relief when he caught a whiff of bacon from the kitchen. A smile crept onto his face and he strode into the kitchen.

He thought his heart would melt when he saw her! She was standing over the stove flipping an omelette while wearing an oversize souvenir T-shirt he had purchased her on their honeymoon. Her hair was tangled up in a mess of curls on top of her head and she had snitched his slippers. He had never seen her this casual, as she was a bit of a fashionista, but he thought she had never been more adorable! Something about his darling young bride making breakfast in a baggy T-shirt made him feel so normal. Maybe he was better suited to this modern world than he thought. He felt young, carefree, for the first time in centuries! Grinning and stealthy he sneaked up on her. He grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off the ground, spatula still in her hand. She squealed and then laughed and he just wanted to feel like this forever!

"Rumple! You scared me to death you-you-you... flirt!" Belle pretended to struggle but was obviously amused.

"Hey, I've been called worse, Princess," he teased as he nuzzled her neck.

"I'm about to call you a starving husband if you don't let me finish cooking!" She laughed and he put her down.

Belle turned back to the stove and he noticed she had made two servings of everything. She was cooking for him. It had been so long since a woman had made him a meal. "Belle."

"Yes, Rumple?" She was facing the stove but he could see her eyebrows quirking up in his mind.

"Thank you. For this. I'm not used to having a feminine touch around the house but it's quite nice."

She took the skillet from the eye and turned to smile sweetly at him. "Oh Rumple, I'm happy to! I'm your wife and I'm enjoying doing wifely things."

"Well, as long as you're comfortable, Darling, but you're not my servant. Not like, before..."

"I know that, Rumple. Stop worrying." She pecked him on the cheek.

"I'll try." He smiled. "By the way," he smirked, "What ARE you wearing?"

"Oh!" Belle exclaimed and looked a little embarrassed. "I know I look a mess but I didn't want to get grease on my nice pajamas."

"Actually," he grinned, "I quite like it."

She quirked a brow at him. "You do?"

"Yes. You look very... cute." She snorted and he shook his head. "No, really." Belle smiled at him as she sat the plates on the table. "My little domestic goddess," he teased, and she whacked him with a tea towel.

They discussed this and that about the goings on with the town as they ate and Rumple gobbled up his omelette so fast Belle scolded him. "Sorry, Dearie, but you are an amazing cook!" Belle blushed and denied his statement but was obviously flattered.

After they washed up the dishes, he took her by the hands and studied her sweet face. "Oh, Belle," he sighed as he gazed into her baby blues, "What have I ever done to deserve you?

Belle wrapped her arms around his neck in the same sweet way he had grown used to and said softly but firmly, "You loved me."

He pulled her closer and buried his face in her hair. He wanted to argue her logic but she smelled like heaven and he was too busy drowning in her embrace to ruin the moment. When they finally parted, she looked him straight in the eyes. Her eyebrows raised the way they always did when she was making a point, she said, "I know you don't think that's reason enough, but it is. You loved me like I never imagined I would be loved. I was born knowing I would be married to the highest bidder, and I could only hope I might grow to love him. I honestly never dreamed I would marry for love. You SAVED me, Rumple. From a life of tedious royal affairs and false affections. From..." She paused, and some emotion flashed across her face that he could not place, "From dying young birthing children of a man who only saw me as a trophy." Rumple cringed at the thought of it but she pressed on. "With you, I have a real life. The life I CHOSE."

"A real life," Rumple muttered, and he recalled his dead wife LEAVING him for want of a life, instead of making one with him. Suddenly, he felt glad that she had left, except for the abandonment of Bae. He would never have found someone who actually did love him if she had not. Belle chose him, fought for him even, and her dedication had changed him forever. She had decided her fate was with him, and he would be forever grateful. He felt he could never repay her but he wanted to spend the rest of his life trying.