Hey this is my first story for this fic and I hope you will all be kind to me, but offer constructive criticism. Enjoy!

Warning this is a spoiler alert for all those who haven't gotten this far into the series, (Episode 12-Skin Deep) the story will contain multiple points of view and is in no way going to be continued in the real life setting of the show, regardless of how I change the fairy tales ending. This was simply created for my own personal reasons, which is the fact that Rumpelstilskins (aka. Mr. Gold) is my favourite character, and after watching the episode about his wife, son, and Zoso I wanted him to be happy.

I wanted to experiment with how his attitude would have been affected had he found someone who would truly love him, after the previous dark one had tricked him, and he sort of became a monster. After he requested Bell as his price for saving the King's town and everyone in it, I loved the way a relationship sparked between the two.

I loved the way Bell looked at him when he caught her from falling off the ladder, and the way she became his friend and laughed with him, I also loved the way he was watching out the window waiting for her to return from the errand he sent her on. And finally he made me very angry when he told her to leave after he threw her in the dungeons for the second time, and she made me very angry for dissing him before she left, regardless of whether it was out of love or not.

And having said that on with the story!

Once Upon A Time

True Loves Kiss

Rumpelstilskins sat at his spinning wheel, but nothing moved, the broken glass and wood, along with the shattered cups still sat where they were strewn, he sat there and starred as if time itself had been frozen.

Why did I have to ask for her to come and manage my estate? Because all magic comes at a price? Yes.

I wanted her father to feel what I had felt when I lost my son to the magic I now posses, all because of some beggar that told me I could have power if I killed the dark one. I never imagined that he was the dark one and that he had set me up to take his life, he wanted it, he had tricked me, and the curse that possessed him soon possessed me.

After a while of living with me I noticed a change in her, and myself as well, at first I didn't know what that change was, but the day she laughed at my joke, and I caught her from falling off the ladder the expression in her eyes told me what I wanted to know. We had begun to admire each other, and I would go as far as to say love, but how could she love a man like me, it must have been a false reading.

Here was a woman that had traded herself for the protection of her town and people, but yet she looked as if she was content. So many had called me a monster because of what I desired in return for my magic, but 'all magic comes at a price' that was what the dark one had told me before he died.

After so long my title of cruelty and power spread across the land, and soon there were many that feared me, but an equal number of people who were willing to give whatever they had to, to receive my help grew as well. The King was my latest partaker in the making of a deal, he had offered me gold and riches but if I wanted money I could have easily spun it.

I wanted something more personal, and after looking around I found what was precious to him, his daughter, I wanted to see if he was willing to give up what he loved for my magic. I was quite happy to leave the castle once I was told I would not receive the girl, but as I was walking out the door, she made the decision to make the deal with me herself.

A few days after I had saved her from falling off the ladder she announced that if I was the only person she would know in her life, she wanted to get to know me better.

"If I am never going to know another man in my life can't I at least know you?" She asked, I smiled and looked at her,

"Perhaps, or perhaps you just want to learn the monster's weaknesses." I teased, "Neh…Neh…Neh, Neh, Neh." I tsked using my finger to point at her,

"You're not a monster." She said, "You think you are uglier than you are, that's why you cover all the mirrors up isn't it? Mmmm?" She asked me,

She told me that while cleaning the estate she found some clothes that looked as if they belonged to a child, she asked if there was a son, and I told her there had been.

"I've had a few months to look around and there's clothing small as if it were for a child was it yours or was there a son?" She asked,

"There was…there was a son." I answered, "I lost him, as I did his mother." I continued,

"I'm sorry." She comforted,

She asked me to tell her about him, but I was sceptical, and so in order to find out if her sudden interest in me was a rouse to find my weakness or she was truly interested, I had to test her. I offered her the chance to leave my home and go to the market to fetch me some straw for my spinning wheel; she was shocked that I was letting her do this.

She asked me if I trusted her enough to comeback, and I told her that I never expected to see her again,

"You trust me to come back?" She asked,

"Oh, no I Expect I'll never see you again." I replied,

When she left I waited by my window with the hope that she would return, it was strange but I wanted her back. I yearned for her return,

She didn't care about what I was, it was like she could see through what I was and saw my human side, but even if that was true how could she love me?

"Why did you want me here?" she asked, after seating herself on the edge of the table,

"The place was filthy." I answered, as I took a sip of tea,

"I think you were lonely." She corrected, "I mean any man would be lonely."

"Well I'm not a man." I explained, as I took a seat beside her,

I had treated her like she was a piece of property and yet she offered me her friendship and treated me like an ordinary human being.

"So you were a man once, an ordinary man." She said, I simply starred down at my chipped cup,

I knew I was hoping in vain but still I waited, as if there was a slight chance that she just might come back, and when I saw her carrying a full basket of straw my heart rejoiced.

I quickly returned to my wheel as if I didn't care if she returned, so as not to let on that I had been watching the road for her, she walked in as cheerful as ever, I assumed she was glad she was able to see the outside.

"You're back already…good, good thing…I'm nearly out of straw." I said, as she walked through the double doors towards me,

"Come on…you're happy I'm back." She said, as she set the basket down in front of my wheel,

"I'm not unhappy." I offered which made her laugh, inside I was overjoyed but why did she come back,

"And uh…you promised me a story." She reminded, as she placed her hands on my shoulders,

"Did I?" I asked, because I only really wanted to see if she would leave or comeback,

"Mmmhhhmmm." She answered, as she plucked the straw from my hand and set it on its spool, before she sat down on the wheel infront of me,

"Tell me about your son?" She asked as she moved a little closer,

"I lost him…there's nothing more to tell really." I explained,

"And since then…you've loved no one and no one has loved you?" She asked, I had to know once and for all,

"Why did you come back?" I asked, as I moved inches closer to her face,

"I wasn't going too." She admitted, "But then something changed my mind." There was no way it could have been true,

She then moved closer to me until our lips met, and she kissed me she was the only one to have kissed me or even mentioned a feeling for me since my wife left. Then I felt something strange like I was changing perhaps it was just the kiss but it felt like something greater and more powerful.

"What's happening?" I asked,

"Kiss me again its working." She exclaimed with joyfulness,

"What is?" I questioned,

"Any curse can be broken." She said,

Bell sat in her cell, slumped against the stone wall, after she got up from the floor in which Rumplestiltskin had thrown her on, and regardless of what he had said to her before he did, her heart still wanted him, though his last words still rung in her ears.

"Why won't you believe me?" I begged,

"Because no one, no one can ever…ever love me!" He yelled in reply,

My father had requested Rumplestilskins presence since he had heard of the magic he possessed, he had given up all hope and flopped into his chair accepting defeat. Until there were three loud knocks on the door to the room. I knew it had to be him, and so we walked over to the door awaiting the bar's removal so he could be allowed to enter.

We soon found that he wasn't there so when he spoke we all turned to find he was sitting in the chair my father had just vacated, he walked about the room and explained that he could save us for a price. My father reminded him that he was promised gold, but he replied saying that he culd make gold, and that he wanted something a little more special.

He pointed at me and said that I was his price, Gaston soon shielded me with his arm, and he was bold enough to announce that I was engaged to him, so the reaction was.

"I wasn't asking if she was engaged, I'm not looking for 'love' I'm looking for a caretaker for my rather large estate." He said,

I looked at him sceptically, "It's her or no deal." He announced,

My father ordered him to get out as Gaston shoved me behind him to clear the way, "As you wish."

Just before he walked out the door I called for him to stop, once I said that I would go with him both my father and Gaston objected, so I told them that no one decides my fate but me. When I said that I would o with him forever he made a deranged laugh as if he was a small boy, but there was no going back now I had struck the deal, or so he put it.

He took me to his 'estate' and showed me to my room which turned out to be nothing but a dungeon cell, he locked me in with another deranged giggle, and I asked myself what I had gotten into. The next day he told me what was required of me and I agreed as willingly as I could, then he told me I had to skin the children he hunted for the Palace.

I dropped the cup out of shock, what kind of a monster was he? He told me it was a quip and that he wasn't serious, I was thankful for that but was still sceptical. I then reached for the cup but found that it was chipped, I was so sorry I tried to make it look better than it was by saying that you could hardly see it. Nevertheless he didn't seem to care which was a good thing.

"Well it's just a cup." He said,

Later I was up a ladder trying to remove the curtains and he was sitting at his wheel spinning straw into gold, I asked him why he spun so much and he told me it helped him forget. I asked him what it helped him forget, he didn't answer and said he guessed it worked because he couldn't remember, I couldn't help but laugh.

He got up and walked over to me, asking what was doing, I told him that he should let some light in so I was trying to take down the curtains. I pulled on it trying to take them down but they didn't seem to budge, I asked him if he nailed them down, and he replied saying that was exactly what he had done.

I smiled o myself and begun to pull on them again, but on the second tug I lost my footing and came crashing down, I would have hit the floor if he had not caught me at the right moment. I was surprised that he caught me, he looked and me and I starred back into he brown eyes, I managed a thank you, as I watched him looking at me as if he couldn't believe what he had just done.

He set me down on the floor, and backed a few inches away, perhaps taken back by the event that had just occurred, he was turning out to be quite different to what I had imagined, somehow the way I felt about him changed. I watched him walk away, as if he was questioning what had just happened the same way I was, I wanted to be his friend and I think he finally wanted to know me.

Later he was having tea and I walked up behind him to sit on the table, there was something that I needed to ask him, I had to know why he wanted me. He said that it was because the place was filthy, but I corrected him by saying that he was lonely, I mean any man would get lonely, he countered that by saying he wasn't a man. But the fact that he said that proved that he could still feel emotion.

I then told him that I had found clothing upstairs that appeared to have belonged to a child, his mood changed when I said that I could tell it had some value to him because of the way he starred down at his tea cup, the same one I had chipped. He told me that there was a son, and that he had lost him as he did his wife, I could see it hurt him, and in a way I could feel that pain too, and I was actually sorry to here it.

He said he was a man once, but he didn't answer, so I put it another way, if he was the only person I would ever know in my life, I at least wanted to know him, and I told him so. He said perhaps, but then changed it to my wanting to learn the monsters weaknesses, but that wasn't the case, to me he wasn't a monster, not anymore.

I told him that he wasn't a monster, and that he thought he was uglier than he was and that that was the reason he covered up al the mirrors, but as we talked we were interrupted by a knock at the door. He went to go see who it was then returned shortly after, I asked him who it was and he told me that it was just an old woman selling flowers.

He then presented me with a rose tat he was hiding behind his back and offered it to me if I would have it, this was just another way I knew that we now shared something. I took the rose and curtsied as he bowed as well, as I went to find a vase, he questioned why I had chosen to come here with him, since I was leaving my friends and family behind.

I assumed he was asking because I had just asked him why he wanted me to come with him, it was reasonable seeing's as I was going to be spending the rest of my life with him, so I had no problem in answering.

"Heroism, sacrifice, you know there aren't a lot of opportunities in this land for women to show what they can do to see the world, to be hero's. So when you arrived that was my chance, I figured do the brave thing and bravely would follow."

I said, which was what I felt at the time but now I wasn't so sure, I could see that he was interested in my answer by the way he was watching me, like an eager little boy in a candy shop absorbing as much as he could, as I managed the rose he gave me so that it would fit into a vase.

"And is it everything you hoped?" He asked, no it was turning out to e much more,

"Well ah, I did want to see the world, that part didn't really work out." I said, with a small smile, "But I did save my village."

"What about you're…betrothed?" He asked as he tapped the tips of his fingers together, as if trying to say it in a way so that I wouldn't be hurt,

"It was an arranged marriage…honestly I never really cared much for Gaston." I answered, as he then offered me a rare smile,

"To me love is, love is layered, love is a mystery to be uncovered, yeah I could never truly give my heart to someone as superficial as he."

I suppose I let my heart do the talking for that answer, but when I spoke about love I was talking about the strange feelings of love I had for the man who had become my master. Noticing that I had drifted I soon set myself back to what we were talking about before we were interrupted.

"But you were going to tell me about your son." I reminded,

"I'll tell you what, I'll make you a deal…go to town and fetch me some straw when you return I'll share my tale." He announced,

It was surprising surely he would think that I would try to run away, if he wanted me as a payment for a deal, why was he giving me the chance of freedom?

"Town?" I questioned, he nodded,

"You trust me to come back?" I asked, I had to know it was strange,

"Oh, no, I expect I'll never see you again." He answered,

His words cut me deeply, I thought that he trusted me, but he didn't, perhaps I had allowed myself to imagine that there was anything between us. So I accepted his offer and I left carrying only a basket, and as I was walking down the road, guards clothed in black on black horses leading a black carriage came up behind me so I moved aside. I was a little surprised when it stopped and the door opened.

"Did my carriage splash you?" The woman from inside asked,

"No I'm fine." I assured as I then walked away,

"You know I'm tired of riding, let me stretch my legs and walk with you for a while." She said, I didn't really want her to; I just wanted to be alone,

"You carry very little." She observed,

"I don't want to be slowed down." I explained, why couldn't she leave me alone,

"Hmmm, you're running from someone." She said, "The question is master or lover." I looked at her how did she know,

"Oh, master and lover." She corrected,

"I might take a rest you go on ahead." I offered, I didn't need anyone telling me what I was doing or why, but she put her arm around my shoulder and walked on,

"And if I'm right you love your master but you're leaving him." She continued,

"I might love him I mean I could, except something evil has taken root in him." I admitted,

"Sounds like a curse to me." She explained, "And all curses can be broken, a kiss born of true love would do it." She continued, I looked at her with hope shining in my eyes,

"Oh, child no, I would never suggest to a young woman to kiss a man who held her captive what kind of message is that?" she said, "Besides if he loves you then he would have let you go, and if he doesn't love you then the kiss won't even work."

"Well he did let me go." I confessed,

"Yes but no kiss happened."

"And a kiss, a kiss is enough?" I asked, "He would be a man again."

"An ordinary man." She assured me, "True loves kiss will break any curse."

From that moment my mind was made up I had to go back, I had to know if what we had was true love, I had to know if he loved me, I had to know if I truly loved him. When I walked through the doors he announced that he was glad I was back already because he was nearly out of straw, but the time it took him to say why he was glad I was back told me that he was only happy to see me.

"Come on you're happy that I'm back." I insisted,

"I'm not unhappy." Was his giveaway reply, I knew he was happy to see me,

I told him that he had promised me a story but he asked as if he couldn't remember he had said such a thing, was it all a trick to see if I would come back? I made sure I had his full attention then sat down on his spinning wheel before I placed my hand on his leg and asked about his son, and for the full tale.

He explained that he had lost his son and that there wasn't much more to tell, so I asked if he had loved no one since then, and assumed that no one had loved him since then. I could see an emotion on his face and in his eyes, I had hit a nerve somewhere I just wasn't sure if it was what I said about him loving no one else, or that no one had loved him.

He asked me why I had come back, and I explained that I wasn't going to and that something had changed my mind, and before I knew it my lips were against his. When the kiss had ended I noticed that he was changing back into a man, so I told him to kiss me again because it was working, he asked what was working, and I told him that any curse could be broken.

Bell was interrupted from her train of thought as the door to her cell was opened and Rumplestiltskin walked in turning his back to her, she was eager to learn what was going to become of her.

"So what happens now?" She asked,

"Go." He simply answered,

"Go?" She asked,

"I don't want you anymore." Bell then got up and stood behind him, spinning him around so he faced her,

"No I'm not going anywhere." She said,

"I told you to go." He ordered,

"I know what you said but I'm not leaving, because if I leave we'll both regret it, whether you want to admit it or not you love me and I love you, and if I leave then all you'll have is an empty heart and a chipped cup." She explained,

"I don't love you." Rumplestiltskin said,

"Yes, yes you do, and you're just too afraid to admit it, you were freeing yourself but you couldn't take the chance." Belle countered,

"That's a lie."

"Well unless a better explanation is brought to my attention that is what I will always believe."

"Do you know how I saved your village Bell, your friends and family?" He asked, she starred,

"Magic dearie, and in this land there are only two people with any power, and that's me and the Queen." He continued,

"And?"

"And if I lose my power then she becomes the most powerful person here, and that means whatever she wants she gets, because at the moment I am the only one that stands between her and destroying everyone else, because I am more powerful than her, so that dearie is why I can't free myself, I made the decision to kill the dark one because he tricked me, and no this is the result." He explained,

"And the reason I cover all the mirrors is because the Queen has enchanted mirrors in her castle that allow her to see and hear anything she wants to from people who have mirrors and aren't aware of her eavesdropping on them. She can learn their secrets and gain power over them and in return they fear her and do whatever she says, so I am not a coward dearie I need to be more powerful than her." He continued,

When he had finally finished giving her his explanation she was speechless.

"I...I." She stuttered,

"Don't bother covering yourself."

"I'm not, I just wanted to say I was sorry for calling you a coward…and that no matter what you do or say, I won't leave." She explained,

"And why do you want to stay?" He asked, a little softer than his previous tone,

"Because I love you, and I'm going to stand by you no matter what, because when I kissed you your curse was breaking because of true love, and I'm not going to throw that love away just so I can return to my arranged marriage with a man I don't want…if you won't let me love you up close, then let me love you from a distance, but don't make me leave you I would rather die first." Bell then slowly put her arms around him and rested her head on his chest, she felt him slowly put his arms around her,

"Then don't leave." He said, as he kissed her softly on the crown of her head,

"Why do you want me to stay?" She asked,

"Because I love you." He whispered,

The End

Having watched the entire first season I know that Rumplestiltskins finds Bell and he tells her that he loves her, and that it works out just fine in the end, but wouldn't it be great if none of the prolonged separation happened at all? Anyway I hope you enjoyed the story, and I wouldn't mind if some of you who read this would tell me if you have actually finished watching the first season or you have spoiled yourselves.