Once Upon a Time © ABC. I think. Regardless, not mine. Don't sue.
So, out of all of the Rumbelle fanfics I've read (and trust me, that's been a lot today), I don't think I've seen this idea done. Or at least, not like this. So here's my attempt at something vaguely original. Enjoy.
That Darkest of Light
What the strange woman says about true love breaking curses has Belle thinking. She wonders, at some point, if she should give it a try. Maybe she can grant Rum the happiness he's been sorely lacking. Maybe he will be happier as a man again, and not the Dark One.
She returns to the castle still thinking about these things. She's never really believed in true love. To be honest, the most she expects out of life is honest love. Gaston's affection for her is not honest. She's heard him talking to his friends when he thinks she can't hear. He's just proud of the status marrying her will afford him.
Being a princess means arranged marriage, and Belle has always accepted that, but now –
Well, now she's not a princess, is she? And she can love whoever she wants.
She catches movement in the window and smiles. Even though he's back at the spinning wheel, she knows he was watching the path for her. It warms her a little.
"Back so soon?" he asks nonchalantly, spinning the wheel. She realizes he's not actually spinning any gold, and her smile turns into a faint smirk. She hands him the basket full of straw. He looks at her warily. "Why did you come back?"
She thinks again, of true love and breaking curses. Then she smiles brightly and kisses him on the cheek. "Because you weren't expecting it, and I keep my promises." She straightens up, delighting in the look of utter shock on his face. "I'll go make some tea."
/-/
Belle never tells Rumplestilskin about the strange woman and her black carriage. She figures it doesn't really matter. She's not going to kiss him, not like that, not unless he wants her to. He seems too happy with the way things are for that.
Still, things change. Slowly, he warms to her, shows more of himself and less of that Dark One persona crap he likes to freak people out with. Sure, he's still the Dark One, and he's probably evil and definitely does evil things (look at his deals), but Belle can't really find it in herself to care.
That might not say good things about her as a person, but whatever. She's tired of following the rules anyway. Isn't that half the reason she came back the first time? To prove Rumplestilskin wrong? To prove to herself that she's in control of her own life?
A few weeks later, the strange woman shows up in Rumplestilskin's castle. Belle stands there, dusting the table, while she discusses things with Rum. Suddenly, the woman's eyes flicker to Belle. She smiles. "Well, you're still here." She returns her gaze to Rum. "And he's still cursed. Guess it wasn't true love after all."
"Or maybe he's not cursed." Belle says softly. She doesn't bother looking at the woman. Even if that's a bad choice (and with the way Rum is watching her, Belle thinks this woman may just be as powerful as him), she knows nothing will happen. Not with Rum there, anyway.
The woman scowls. "Maybe." She turns to Rumplestilskin again. "Just think about it, will you?"
"Perhaps." He waits until she's gone before rounding on Belle. "What was that all about?" he demands, all good humor gone from his voice. Belle shrugs.
"She just offered some advice while I was in town." she says nonchalantly. "Nothing major."
"About true love breaking any curse?" He giggles maniacally. "And what – you decided not to try?" He slides up next to her, invading her personal space in that way he does when he wants to intimidate her. His voice lowers. "Afraid it won't work?"
She tilts her head back and smiles at him. "I did not fall in love with a man, Rum." she says. "Why would I want him to become one now?" She kisses him on the cheek, just like she did when she first came back. "I'll go put on some tea."
/-/
After that, things change again. Rumplestilskin starts including her on more of the details of his deals – why he asks for this rather than that, why these people, how this deal relates to another. Sometimes his deals are just to screw with people; after all, he does have a twisted sense of humor. Other times, the deals he makes will inevitably help everyone involved. Then Belle asks the question that probably changes the way he thinks of her all over again.
"Why don't you deal in favors?"
He looks up from his spinning wheel. "Pardon?"
She lifts her gaze from the book. "Well, my father always said it's better to do things for people so they owe you favors. He said you never know when they'll get you out of a tight spot." She shrugs. "Besides, favors are harder to say no to."
He giggles. "I like the way you think, dearie."
/-/
It takes a few more months, but eventually he catches her in the library, studying an ancient book of magick. He watches her for a moment before speaking.
"All magick comes with a price, dearie."
She looks up at him. "I know."
"Then what are you doing?"
She can't tell if he's mad or intrigued – honestly, he doesn't know either. So she decides to tell the truth. "You are magick. If I want to understand you, then I must understand this."
"You were serious before, weren't you?" He approaches her slowly. "You fell in love with me."
She lifts her chin. "I did."
"With me. The Dark One." He reaches out and touches her cheek. "What if I don't love you back?"
"I wouldn't be the first girl to live with that fact." she replies smartly. "So long as you don't mind having a love-struck maid running around the castle."
He smiles then, a true smile, before it morphs into a smirk a second later. "I find they do better work than the ones who hate me." he teases lightly. His hand falls back to his side and he takes a step around her to get a better look at the book. "Would you like to learn?"
"I thought all magick came with a price." she teases back.
"Oh it does." He smirks. "See – you're learning already! But if you want, I could teach you a few simple spells."
Belle recognizes this for what it is – a truce of sorts. He's not ready to admit he feels anything for her, so instead he offers this chance to spend time together as an apology. She jumps on it. "Of course! That would be wonderful!" She hugs him tightly, and for a moment she thinks he hugs her back.
To Rumplestilskin's delight, she turns out to be an excellent student. Women, apparently, are well-suited to magick. She learns almost as quickly as he did. The lessons bring them even closer together. After a few weeks, he gets comfortable enough with her to start initiating physical contact. A hand on her shoulder, a touch that lingers just a bit too long –they give Belle hope more than the lessons do.
After their lessons one day she curls up on the cushion he set up beside his spinning wheel (if you won't leave me alone while I'm spinning, then at least you can be comfortable, and the words made her laugh). Her eyes are closed, sleep pulling at her, when she feels Rum come closer.
For a brief moment, she thinks he's just standing there, watching her. It really wouldn't be the first time. Then she feels his lips brush against her cheek.
"I think I love you too, Belle."
By the time she opens her eyes, he's gone. With a small smile, she curls back up into the cushion, too comfortable to move.
/-/
He tells her about a deal he needs to collect on – a woman who bargained away her firstborn for a chance to change her life. For some reason, there's something different about this deal, something he's not telling her. He's never talked about taking children before, and honestly she doesn't know what he'd do with a kid. So when he goes to leave, she says the only thing she can.
"Be careful, Rum."
He places a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Don't worry about me, dearie." And then he's gone, and there's nothing left to do but wait.
When he doesn't come back after a week, she worries. After two weeks, she's frantic. She knows where he's gone, she knows where this Cinderella woman lives, and she is going there and finding out what happened to Rum. So she grabs a cloak and sets off.
It takes her another week to reach the castle. Unfortunately, teleportation was one of those tricks that Rum wouldn't teach her. Something about it being too dangerous or whatever. But she makes it to James and Snow's castle anyway.
She doesn't bother trying to bargain her way into the castle. She doesn't demand an audience with Snow and James. She simply casts an invisibility spell on herself and marches down to the dungeons.
Every castle is laid out basically the same way. Belle knows her own castle well enough to find the dungeons in this one. She pauses at the entrance to the lowest level, reserved only for the worst of criminals. She's snuck past every guard, and her spell is going to wear off in a few seconds, but she's not planning on having to sneak back out. Not if she can get Rum out of here.
So instead of sneaking past the last two guards, she does what every good princess would do – she picks up a rock and hits them both in the back of the head. They drop to the ground, unconscious.
Rumplestilskin looks up from his position by the far wall of the cage. His eyes narrow. "Do I have a guest tonight?" he calls out, his voice wary.
The last of her spell vanishes. Belle feels the exhaustion crash over her like a wave. She's not sure she has the strength left to do what she came here for, but she has to try. She steps into the torchlight. "Rum."
In a flash he's pressed against the bars. "Belle." Her name comes out a whisper. "What are you doing here!"
"I came to get you out." She snaps her fingers, and the bars vanish. With that last bit of magick, her strength leaves. The bars are enchanted against his magick, but not hers. Her knees give out, but she never hits the ground. Rum catches her. He picks her up, cradling her in his arms, and even as the room spins around her she can hear him cursing.
"Stupid, stupid girl – told you magick always comes with a price, but does she listen? Nooo, of course not! She comes down here to pull off a stunt that will kill a normal novice."
She has to laugh at that. "Good thing I'm not a normal novice then."
"Oh, hush up, you." he grouses. The world gives a shuddering lurch, and suddenly their back in their castle. More specifically, his room. He sets her down on the bed and looks her over carefully. "Don't you be dying on me now, dearie." he warns, and only Belle could hear that note of desperate worry in his voice. "That just wouldn't be polite."
"Not dying." she chuckles. "Just really, really tired."
He utters a helpless laugh and touches her face gently. "Good." He leans down and kisses her forehead. "Rest, then."
/-/
The next morning she's awakened by the sound of that strange woman's voice again. She gets out of bed and sits at the top of the stairs. From here she can hear clearly, and not be seen. Rum's annoyed. The woman is pissed.
"What brings you to my castle again, dearie?"
"I thought Snow had you locked away in a dungeon." the woman snaps. Rum giggles.
"Yes, well, you really should have known better." he says. "So – what do you want from me?"
"Your spell didn't work." There's a swishing noise as the woman starts pacing. "You're going to help me fix it."
"You really are mad if you're going to play with that." Rum says flatly. "Besides, I may not want to help you."
There's a long pause. Belle puts a hand over her mouth to keep her breathing from giving her away (although in all honesty, Rum probably already knows she's there). Then the woman speaks again. "And what love would you ever have for this world?" she hisses. "I can give you anything you want. It is a deal you want, right? Some form of leverage? What is it then? I'll make you rich. Comfortable." She's pacing again. "Anything."
Belle can almost imagine Rum leaning forward. "No deal."
A flurry of curses follows that. Something breaks. Belle flinches. "You made the curse! You were going to help me enact it! What's changed your mind?"
"I no longer have a desire to see the world suffer." His voice darkens considerably. "You, on the other hand, I would greatly enjoy to see suffer. Get out of my home."
"It's that girl, isn't it?" the woman demands, incredulous. "Have you really gone that soft, you hideous imp? Do you really think she loves you, o Dark One?"
There's another very long silence. Belle is ready to stand up and go down the stairs, if only to see, to make sure that woman hasn't done something to Rum (if anyone can, it's her). His voice, when he speaks, is low and dangerous.
"Get. Out."
More cursing follows. The door slams shut. Belle hesitantly goes down the stairs. Rum meets her at the bottom. "You were listening, were you?"
She nods. "Who is she?"
"The Queen." He starts pacing back and forth while Belle stands on the last stair, watching him. "Damned woman, she'll figure it out, no doubt, just a matter of time – " He's cut off abruptly when she reaches out and grabs his arm. He slowly turns his head to face her. There's something off with his expression; it reminds her of the time he caught her when she fell, and it almost makes her smile.
"Your curse?"
He smiles then. "I am the Dark One."
She nods. "So, what do we do?"
"Unfortunately, we can do nothing. I built in a failsafe, but that's entirely dependent on Snow and her Charming. It will work, it's just out of our hands." He shrugs and looks away.
"Can we protect ourselves?"
Suddenly, he smiles. "I think we can, dearie." Before she knows what he's doing, he leans forward and kisses her – an actual, honest kiss. This is the kiss that the Queen thought would break Rum's curse, but once he pulls away, Belle knows that's not what happened here. He's still the same imp, the Dark One, but that just makes her smile.
She feels something hum through her blood, something like the magick she's learned, but different. She frowns, and it makes Rum smile.
"Now, no matter what happens, you'll be protected like I am."
/-/
The curse is enacted, eventually, just like Rumplestilskin said it would be. He warns Snow of the coming danger, at any rate. Things will change, for the better.
Eventually.
/-/
Emma Swan walks into the inn and asks for a room. When she's introduced to Mr. Gold, there's a young woman standing beside him, wearing a warm smile. She offers Emma her hand.
"I'm Belle – Mr. Gold's wife. Who are you? We don't often get strangers here."
"Emma." She shakes Belle's hand.
Mr. Gold's gaze sharpens. "Emma. What a lovely name." He steps forward to shake her hand as well. "Enjoy your stay here, Emma."