A/N : So this walked into my mind and had to be written. Started as something else but, as you can see, it didn't end up that way. Un-beta-ed. I may write more if it is taken well. Thanks- Attracted2Insanity

BTW: I own nothing, sadly.

To Spin A Tale

"Who are you?" The girl asked. I was draped in a cloak with a hood pushed low so my face was hidden.

"I am a spinner. I spin yarn and thread." I said.

"Oh. What kind of thread do you spin?"

"Gold seems to be popular these days." I quipped.

The girl looked at my hands which she could see a little of. "You must be talented with your hands then."

"I am" I responded with a little bit of a giggle, as I waved them around a bit.

"Is your tongue as talented?" she asked.

I stumbled over my words, by Gods she was only thirteen, was she truly asking what I thought she was? "Wh-What do you mean?"

"You said you could spin yarn. Can you spin stories as easily as you can spin flax?"

Ah, that was what she was after. "My tongue is quite talented, milady. Would you care to hear a tale?"

"Oh yes! Yes, please!" her face brightened up and she looked beautiful.

"Let me think…" I cast my mind forward to see what would befall this girl in the future and saw her, a great beauty, bargaining with me to save her kingdom from the Ogre Wars. I would tell her that tale.

"Once upon a time, there was a maiden. This was no ordinary maiden, for she was a princess."

"They always are." The girl sighed.

"They have to be," I told her, "For who would enjoy a tale of a girl who awakens each day to clean the cottage. Then, she bakes bread and does laundry, brings her father and brothers water in the fields, begins to cook supper and mends clothing, and before she goes to bed insures that there is breakfast ready for the next day. Then she wakes up and does it all again."

The girl giggled. "Your right, no one wants to read about that."

I chuckled. "This princess was smart, and kind, and beautiful. One year her kingdom was attacked by Ogres. Her land began to fall into ruin. The people were dying, and her father had betrothed her to a vain man in hopes of helping. The girl did not love this man, but she understood the necessity of the marriage. On the eve before the kingdom fell, a great sorcerer came to the kingdom."

"What is a sore-sir?" the girl interrupted.

I laughed a true laugh for the first time in eons. "A sore-cer-or, dearie, is a man who can do magic."

"Oh, okay."

"This sorcerer could save the kingdom. But it would cost the King dearly."

"Why?" asked the girl. I was coming to like her more and more, she was sensible and asked good, relevant questions.

"All magic come with a price. One can never get something for nothing."

"Not even gifts?"

"Not even gifts. For gifts you give friendship or being family, and those are both very high prices."

"That makes sense." Said the girl, "Please, go on."

"The sorcerer said that his price would be the girl. His estate was rather large and was in need of a good cleaning. And he was a little lonely.

"The girl's father and fiancé did not want her to go with this man who was feared all across the realms. They argued, they said that the price was too high, that they would find another way. But the girl knew this was a lie. There was no other way, and the kingdom was worth it. In truth she did not think he was as bad as the rumors' painted him. She went with the man. "

"What happened?" asked the girl, enthralled with my tale of her future.

"Well, what do you think happened?"

"I think that they fell in love and they lived happily ever after. The end." She said.

I smiled. She would not say that if she knew the story was about us. "If you say so, dearie."

A voice from the distance called, "Belle!"

"That's my Papa." said the girl. "I should go. Thank you for the tale."

"You're welcome, dearie."

She giggled. "Oh, by the way, your tongue is talented."

"Thank you, milady. I feel sure that we will meet again some time."

Rumpelstiltskin drifted back from the memory.

"What happened?" Belle had asked me.

I knew the answer now.

She died.

High up in a tower Belle recalled her first meeting with Rumpelstiltskin. She had not known then that the tale he spun has theirs.

I think that they fell in love and they lived happily ever after.

Belle had said it then, and she said it now. They had fallen in love. They would live happily ever after.

She would make sure of it.