A/N: This was for Rumbelle Showdown. Prompt: Epic failure, It's a game, Things fall apart

Dearest Insufferable Lamb,

I am calling you that for it is what you have been for the past two weeks. You have ignored your friends' attempts at consoling your grieving heart and your lashings have burnt some of them. Riding on your roller coaster of emotions is not doing you any good; for you are not addressing the situation properly. At the end of the day, you'll find yourself devoid and confused. Regardless of my irritation at this unusual display of self-pity, do know that you still have my love though I neither say nor show it often.

Belle is your name. It means 'fair' or 'lovely one' in French and 'intelligent' in Hungarian. You are the very embodiment of your name and wise beyond your years yet, in these few weeks, you have been anything but. You whispered of your brokenness through silent tears, but your eyes say so much more. When you find yourself ready to speak, my ears and shoulders are yours.

Our friendship may have been strained due to my past actions, but I have never stopped consider you a friend. I like to believe you are still the same Belle that I have known all those years ago: always courageous and rational. I wave away the rumours circulating about you and Sean, but my curiosity has been roused.

I wanted to know why you are acting this way when this is not your first heartache.
I wanted to know why you are with him when he is rotten to begin with.
I wanted to know why he has a stronger hold on your heart than those you consider family.
I wanted to know so many things that I do not understand.

Then I've realized I may not know you at all.

In my eyes, you are a strong woman. You see the good in others despite their horrible disposition and coax out their light, even when it is not there. You may not emerge unscathed from your battles, but you always learn from them and those scars do not deter you in achieving your goals. You do what you love despite the protestation from others—at the end of the day, you proved them wrong. These are your traits that I envy for we know how much I sorely lack them. Naturally, I think you are going to survive this heartache. I know you are going to survive it.

I know what heartache feels like and I have experienced one too many broken dreams. You're in constant pain. Your world is empty of colour. You can only feel yourself falling deeper into a black void. Everything may look bleak right now but your life will once again regain all the colour lost; your feet will touch the ground and you shall rise again.

Remember the day you caught me stealing candies from your father's candy shop? Your father stored those sweet sirens in the shop's basement. I was too greedy that I stuffed my pockets with candies, making it impossible for me to climb out of the tiny basement window. I still do not know how you managed it, but you freed me and from then on, we slowly became friends. Do you see where I am going with this? Just because something is not in your favor does not mean everything is. It does not mean no good thing will come out of the darkness. In this case, my failure meant I get to know you, even if it is for a brief period.

Life can be a horrible game, but it can be a wonderful one too. What you are going through is merely part of life, a challenge. It is these challenges that shape you as a person. They teach you lessons. The question is what lesson do you take from the challenge? The question is which road do you choose?

The road to healing may take time, but every beginning has an ending. It may take time, but you'll get there. Like a phoenix, you shall emerge from the ashes. You shall spread your wings and fly like the majestic creature that you are. You shall burn when the time is nigh and be reborn again. The cycle repeats, but you will be stronger and wiser with every rebirth. Here I repeat the questions: what lesson do you take and which road do you choose?

Cry if you have to but do know that with time the pain lessens until it is naught but a memory. You may heal tomorrow, the day after, or the day after. Give yourself time to heal. Do not force it. Do not ignore it. Take it gradually. Your friends will be there to guide you until you are whole again. I will be there.

Forever Yours,
Rumpelstiltskin

Folding the worn letter, the cerulean-eyed woman looked at the unconscious man on the hospital bed. The world had not been kind to him. His face was marred with scars and his lips seemed to be forever set in a grim line.

"You fool; you should have given me this letter all those years ago. I needed it. I needed you."