Chapter 1
Christmas Eve
The night before Christmas in the enchanted forest was not unlike any other, but a chill froze the air that was unprecedented at the time. A wild storm, the largest blizzard that had ever existed in the world of kings, dragons, and witches now blew in the forest. It froze the air around it and the breath of every living thing, covered the land in heavy snowfall, and turned the entire kingdom white with it's wintery wiles. Any living thing that was out and about would be impossible to find and would find it impossible to survive or wander…except one creature, one poor, unfortunate creature. It was a very small girl. She looked very much like a young teen…except for the fact that she was the size of a toddler. She was pale, small, and skinny in appearance, looking more of a stray animal than a human being. Her brownish red hair flew in all directions and her grey eyes were dull and clouded, one eye showing blindness from it's milky complexion. Her frame shook with every single movement. Her makeshift buckskin and wolfskin clothing clung to her, the rags sticking to the blood of a rib wound…or was it several? She was so damaged that it was hard to tell. Her leg was also bleeding heavily, a wound inflicted by the wolf whose fur she wore. It was all dark for her now, and there was nowhere left for her to run or hide. Everything was both exposed and hidden by this dreaded blizzard. No doubt, her majesty was probably laughing her rear off somewhere at her situation….Regina had put her there herself. The child had been chased, tortured, belittled, and made ill by the hands of the evil queen herself…and to her, she was very…special prey. With no knowledge of a family, the little thing somehow had survived on her own in the wilderness…but all things must come to an end. Running any longer was impossible, and known to her now, a disease was spreading through her body like wildfire, and a curse was already infecting her blood. Soon, she was unable to take another step. One limb fell after the other, first her legs, then her body, and then her arms. Before she knew it, the nameless wild child had sank into the snow. The cold stung her body as she looked up to the cloudy heavens. There was only one star to wish upon, and it was too faint for her to see. There was no other option but to prepare for what she had been expecting since the day she was born, and what she thought was her fate. She thought back on her short life….there wasn't much too it except her memories of injury and hurt from humans, her only fond memories being with the herd of horses that she used to travel with. She could only faintly remember what it felt like to turn into one…which is the way by which she survived. This was one situation in which she could no longer run from or fight. Having enough strength only to cross her arms over her chest, she closed her eyes, let the darkness and cold surround her, and just waited, shedding freezing tears.
The beast strode through the blizzard alone as he usually did. He could have teleported himself back to his castle, and yet he chose to go out in this night of all nights. Perhaps his castle was just as cold and empty in itself as this storm was. He could have sworn he had heard the sound of Belle's anguished cries in his dungeon earlier…yet that was long gone. Too much spinning, he told himself, if there ever was such a thing. Growling at the freezing air, a shiver ran down his spine. He had sworn that he could feel something pulling him to be out here, a cause of him wandering the wretchedly cold landscape. Looking around, nervous for some reason, he conjured up a fireball in his hand. "Snap out of it, you old fool…" he scolded himself and then started to turn back to saunter back into his castle…a mere twenty feet from where he was, when all of the sudden, a sound in which he had not heard in centuries could be audible in the roaring storm…the sound of a child crying. He thought his mind was playing tricks on him once again when he heard it coming to him again…louder and even more heartbreaking and helpless. Before he knew it, he arrived at the tiny, frail body of the young girl covered in snow, crying out helplessly for a second chance at life. That crying sounded exactly like Belle's, and he recognized it well…the sound of a heartbroken, defeated soul begging the heavens, desperate for a second chance, broken from the cruelty of another person. Any other person, he would have left for dead…but never a child. It would be like leaving Bae all over again, and it appeared as if she had suffered the same fate as him at someone else's cowardly, cruel hands. Shaking his head in disgust at what might have caused her to be here, he flipped her over to examine her. His body grew even more cold and somewhat squeamish as he saw such deep wounds…on a child. He gasped at how thin and frail she seemed, at all the blood, snow, and tears soaking her makeshift clothing. Biting his lip, he closed his eyes for a moment. He could have left her here, as the girl obviously had very little chance at life to begin with…or he could heal her and give her a place to live out her days. As far as he could tell, she had earned it. He nodded to himself, and not wasting a moment, he grabbed her and disappeared out of the storm and into the laboratory of his castle. He lay her down on a workbench, sweeping away the instruments of torture that had been used on the dark castle's last "guest". As the child continued to cry, he awkwardly stroked her hair and muttered "Shhhh…", not knowing how else to settle her. It had been centuries since a child was in his care. One thing was for sure, he had to heal her straightaway, or she would not survive the night. And she had stopped crying…but it was replaced by the silence of her fainting. "Stay with me dearie…you'll be alright soon enough…" he sighed as he swept his hand over her frail body. However, what would usually work by magic in a matter of seconds was not working at all. His eyes twitched at his magic not working, and he shook his head in confusion. Eyes wide, he grabbed every potion off the shelf, everything he had, and muttered every spell he knew….nothing. The one time he chose to save someone like this, and it didn't work. He growled in frustration and knocked over all the bottles with a sweep of his hand "Bloody hell!" he cursed and took a deep breath, frantically running his fingers through his hair. The best option for her now was to do something the old fashioned way, but it had to be something quick. It didn't seem like she could take much more of her wounds being exposed along with the rest of her body. At least he could conjure up a few things that would help the situation…a fresh nightgown, bandages, blankets, and a needle and thread to bind the wounds. Working feverishly, he winced as he bound the wounds, stitching her up like a torn up doll. It was said that Rumplestiltskin could practically bathe in blood judging by the severity of punishment in which he subjected bad debtors, but all the sudden the very sight of blood…her blood…made him light headed. It was at least a few hours into the night before what he could do for her was done. Looking at her sleeping in the pale light of a candle, he stared at her reddish brown hair and broken body. He could not tell what it was, but there was a connection he had with this child…this poor, unfortunate soul who looked so much like Belle…and so much like him.