A/N: Just a little "what if" one-shot. WARNING: SPOILERS FOR SEASON 3, EPISODE 15.
"Where am I?"
"...I don't know."
"Who are you?"
"I...I can't...I can't seem to recall..."
"Oh..."
"..."
As they walked through the snowy forest, Neal anxiously rolled the key in his hand. Would this work? Were they really going to trust the words of...a candle? At this stage, he was willing to trust anyone's words if it meant bringing his father back. The man's eyes fell to his hands, eyeing the strange key. Too late he had realised his father had changed, that he did want what was best, even if he didn't always make the right decisions. Too late he had realised his father regretted his mistakes as much as Neal regretted his one mistake...
A hand on his arm jolted the man out of his reverie, and he glanced to his companion. Belle smiled at him through the snow, eyes full of reassurance.
"It's going to be okay. We'll get him back."
Neal couldn't help but smile back at her – the woman's hope was infectious. Belle may not know how to wield a sword or fight, but he didn't doubt she could end a war by inspiring a whole army with her optimism and hope. Her heart...yes, if anyone was going to pull Rumpelstiltskin from the darkness, it would be Belle.
"Right..." He mumbled in response, turning his attention back to the key, "Just...hope it works, you know?"
They came to a clearing, the ground beneath them sheer white with untouched snow; a complete contrast to the dark purpose they no doubt would find themselves tangled in through reviving the Dark One.
"I'll start looking then...here." Neal handed Belle the key for safekeeping, lest he drop it in the thick snow around them as he searched for the vault of the Dark One under their feet. He dropped to his knees and began digging through the snow, the cold biting and nipping through his gloves. Eventually, his numb fingertips grazed stone indentations through the snow, and he began digging away quicker, revealing a stone circle of symbols. "Belle...Belle, I think I've found it!"
Belle left Lumiere atop a tree stump and then followed over to Neal, peering over his shoulder at the markings on the ground.
"The vault of the Dark One..." She said quietly, her blue eyes darting around the circle before them in a vain hope of making sense of the symbols. Her mind was reeling with anxiety, every lesson Rumple had indirectly taught her about magic coming to the surface; there would be a price for this magic, surely.
"...Who am I?"
"Well, that's easy. I know who you are. That's...that's the only thing I do remember."
"Oh...why?"
"...Because I love you."
"..."
The beauty knelt down next to Neal, toying with the key in her hands. Slowly, she leant forward, the key hovering over the keyhole. She hesitated a moment too long to mask her fears, it seemed, as Neal's hand outstretched to her.
"You want me to do it?"
"N-no...I can do this." She protested, swallowing against the lump in her throat. Rumple was her True Love. If a price was to be paid for him to be reunited with his son, then she would gladly pay it to see him happy again. Her spirit ignited, she pushed the key into the keyhole, her palm pressing against the odd, flat end of the key.
The symbol in the middle of the vault burned bright, heating the metal key impossibly fast and, before she could react, the metal had scorched her hand, branding her palm. Belle gave a yelp of pain and yanked her hand back, slamming the wounded hand into the cool relief of the snow.
The vault began to move beneath them, and Belle was dimly aware of Neal dragging her away from it to safety as a black, inky substance poured out of the outer ring of the vault, blotting out the symbols and drowning the key at the centre. A figure began to rise from the darkness, slowly taking shape...
Bleary, unfocused eyes opened, and Rumpelstiltskin slowly looked up, confused and dazed for a moment...before frowning at the sight before him.
"...Belle?"
Belle couldn't help but give a choked sob, a smile spread over her face...
...but her breath wouldn't return to her.
The smile melted away in an instant as the woman tried to drag breath into her lungs, an invisible force seemingly strangling her airways. Eyes wide in fear, Belle's hand came to her throat in a vain attempt to figure out what was attacking her, what was killing her...she barely registered when Rumple had moved, but he was suddenly at her side, cradling her weakening form in his arms.
"No...no no no, Belle...Belle! What have you done? Oh, Belle...what have you done?"
"What's happening to her?" Neal stammered, looking from the dying beauty to his father in panic, guilt creeping into his chest as realisation dawned on him.
Though Rumple made to reply, another voice answered Neal's question.
"She's dying."
The two men looked over at the sound of a newcomer. In a swirl of emerald smoke, a green-skinned woman clad in black stepped out before them, a smirk decorating her unusual features, sharp, blue eyes regarding the sorry sight with mockery. "The silly little bird has transferred her life to the Dark One...magic can't bring back the dead, but it can sometimes let you trade, a life for a life, balance for balance. I thought you would have told them that, Rumple?" She commented with feigned disappointment in her tone, "Tut tut..."
The imp glowered up at the witch, immediately realising who had ensured his son and his love had been told about his vault, about the ritual...
"I won't let her go..." He growled at Zelena, fury burning in his eyes, "I won't let her die!"
White magic began to glow about him enveloping him and Belle...but jarring, stuttering...the witch was casting a spell too, attempting to drag both Belle and the dagger from his hands. The spell Rumple was casting needed all his attention...he couldn't focus on Belle and the dagger.
"You can't hold on to both of them..." The witch sneered, as if to confirm his thoughts.
With one last glare of utter venom at Zelena, Rumple cast his dagger into the snow, focusing everything on Belle. The magic surrounded the pair, and in a flash of light, Belle merged with the Dark One and disappearing from sight. The man slumped to the side, the sudden surge of voices and thoughts and memories of Belle pouring into his head, unable to be commanded or quieted by the man's mind to whom they did not belong...
He had to keep her alive. He had to make room for her memories, her thoughts, her identity, her life. So he cast his own out, pushing them out into the dark to allow his love to live, to share the one life they had now. A loophole...the Dark One could practically feel the Reaper cursing his name for cheating his rules, his perfect balance...but gods, would he pay for it.
"You're Belle. That's who you are. You're a hero."
"I am?"
"Yes."
"...I...I think...I remember. I remember who you are."
"Oh..."
"...You don't sound happy about that."
"...I...I don't think I want to remember."
He could barely hear anything, but that didn't matter. He didn't need to hear the dagger-wielders orders...his body would move of its own accord to complete the orders given.
"...But before we do...kill him."
Him? Who?
Rumple twitched, jerked, eyes wide as he looked over to his ordered target.
...Bae? That was Bae...that...that was...who was that again?
"No! No, Rumple, don't!"
A voice? Where? ...Belle?
"Rumple, fight it! You know who that is! That's your son. I won't let you follow her orders...that dagger controls you, but it doesn't control me!"
It was true, he realised...the dagger controlled the Dark One, but he wasn't just the Dark One...his body housed two minds now, and as much as Zelena now commanded one, she did not command the whole of him now. Another loophole...would he pay for that too?
His vision began to blur at the edges, the pressure and strain on his mind becoming too much...he couldn't focus...he couldn't focus...he couldn't...
"Rumple...Rumple. Wake up."
Someone was shaking his shoulders. Grudgingly, the man opened his eyes, and his view was instantly filled with Belle's worried face. Relief crept into her features as he woke and slowly sat up.
"...Where...where are we?"
He looked at the landscape around them. They were sitting under a tree, in an impossibly green field under a perfectly too-blue sky. A gentle breeze curled about them, playing with Belle's curls as he turned to face her. She smiled at him, though there was uncertainty in her eyes.
"I...I'm not really sure."
"...It's a lovely place." Rumple admitted, scooting a little closer to Belle. He leant back against the tree trunk behind them, and slipped an arm over Belle's shoulders. She snuggled into him, resting her head against his torso and curled up comfortably.
"It is. But..."
"...But what?"
"...Don't you feel it?"
Rumple frowned at Belle's words, confused. Feel what? Everything was perfect here...all he could feel was the warmth of the sun and the comfort of Belle beside him. She turned her head to look up at him, her big, clear blue eyes glittering up at him.
"...Don't you feel it? Don't you feel you're...forgetting something?"
No words could reach him now. No orders could command him, for the Dark One had no mind to heed the orders...no brain to register them...
He lay in the snow, lips parted a little as just enough breath to keep him alive came in and out...in and out...just enough to keep him alive...
Half-closed eyes stared out to nothing, unfocused and unseeing...body limp and lifeless.
...He couldn't do it...he couldn't keep a hold of his own mind and Belle's. It was too much...too many voices...
So he'd let go. Thrown his own mind and memories to the wind and left himself an empty shell, a vessel to keep Belle's consciousness alive...
I won't let her go...
Rumple thought for a while...yes...there was a lingering feeling of...a gap in his mind. A memory, or something he'd forgotten...but the more he tried to recall it, the more it faded.
The more he tried to recall...what? What was he doing again?
"Rumple? Are you all right?"
He looked down at Belle and she laughed at him, turning to lie across his lap and reaching a hand up to brush his face. "You had your very serious face on." She teased him, drawing a smile from the man.
"I did? Oh, I was just thinking..."
"What about?"
"...I...can't remember. But I don't suppose it matters. Not any more. I have you, and I have this wonderful day...what more could I want?" He smiled down at Belle. For a moment, she smiled back, but then a sadness crossed her face.
"...You know this never happened? This memory...it isn't real...it's just a shared wish...a desired memory we both had..."
"...It...isn't?"
"...Isn't what?" The sadness had passed, and Belle looked up at him in confusion again.
"...What?"
Belle giggled then, poking him in the cheek lightly.
"You're being very odd today. Are you tired? Should we go home?"
Rumple thought for a moment...
"...I'm happy here. I don't want this to end."
"...Is this our happy ending?"
"...I think it is, sweetheart. Nothing can keep us apart now..."