A/N: Majority of the AUness is explained in the text itself. The title is borrowed from The Wicked Symphony by Avantasia.

Disclaimer: ABC/Disney, Kitsis and Horowitz own. I merely borrow.

The extended royal family of the Enchanted Forest were the last people to step through the portal connecting Storybrooke with their old/new home. The anti-magic organization intent on wiping out everything and everyone magical had become too much of a threat and it had been agreed that a return of those ripped away by the Dark Curse to their original home was the best solution. Emma and Bae had been reluctant but Henry had been overjoyed and they all had struggled too much in those past months to truly wish to be parted from their family again and that included Rumplestiltskin.

He expected there would be some adjustment to his life, considering the loss of his powers and so it was hard to say who was more surprised when the portal closed and the magic pulsed. Rumplestiltskin stumbled as the family found themselves in the council room of David and Snow's castle. He thought it a phantom feeling at first, the magic settling inside and over him but when he raised his hand, it was the same mottled gold and green it had used to be.

It was supposed to be impossible. He had lost his powers and very nearly his life in Neverland. The magic had been taken from him and then dispersed once Pan had been dealt with. It was supposed to be gone. And yet it wasn't.

Rumplestiltskin thought he should probably feel some sympathy for David and Snow's situation. It was one thing to accept him as a member of their family - soon to be official once Snow got through to Emma about the wedding issue - in the world without magic where, powerful as he was, he still appeared human. It was quite another for the King and Queen to acknowledge the Dark One in all his glory. Yes, he should probably feel some sympathy. But the magic, as much as it had cost him, was an old friend and he had loathed the pitying looks he had been subjected to for the past few months.

"Well, that's quite a predicament we find ourselves in, wouldn't you agree?" he said and giggled as he sat down in David's chair and put up his legs on the table, cheerfully ignoring David's glare. He couldn't help it. Being in his old skin, a skin he had worn for well over three centuries had him almost compelled to act in the way he had been used to. The wide-eyed look of disbelief Emma gave him prompted another giggle from him.

"Dad?" Bae asked, looking just as unsettled as Emma did. Rumplestiltskin gestured to himself.

"In the mottled flesh, son."

"How is that possible?" Snow asked. "We thought you had lost your powers in Neverland."

"Well, so did I, dearie, so did I," Rumplestiltskin replied. He snapped his fingers and there was a child-sized shield on the floor. A flick of his fingers had the shield floating over to Henry. "I distinctly remember you learning the way of sword and the defense is just as important as the offense."

"What are you doing?" Regina asked suspiciously.

"Spoiling my grandson, of course," Rumplestiltskin said and blinked. "That's allowed, I hope."

"Thank you, Grandpa." Henry seemed to be accepting the changes very fast but he was still a child. He was adaptable. It was the adults who needed convincing.

"Spill the beans, Gold," Emma barked as she leaned against the table, glaring at him. "What the hell is up with your skin? Are you sick or something?"

"Not at all, Miss Swan. This is merely a side-effect of my curse."

"It looks different than before," Bae said quietly. "And you act differently, too."

"This is actually what we were used to," David said. "After we remembered, Gold made me nervous with how calmly he acted most of the time."

Rumplestiltskin grinned at that admission. He saw Emma grimace and shudder and he let out another giggle.

"Oh crap, Dad, stop that!" Bae exclaimed. Rumplestiltskin tried to make an innocent face but Bae shook his head. "Can you just answer us, please?"

"Ah, very well. Three hundred years of being a Dark One left me with a couple of quirks."

"That's all?" Emma asked when he said nothing else.

"What else is there to be said?"

"Okay, next question. How come you have your powers again?"

Rumplestiltskin shrugged.

"I really don't know."

"But you have a theory," Regina said as she watched him.

"I might," he admitted. "The origin of my powers lies in the curse of the Dark One. It is a curse from this world, made from our magic. Pan was able to take it and use it but Neverland and its magic is different from here and the transfer didn't occur in the usual way, either. I think that when Miss Swan defeated him, the curse didn't dispense as we thought but instead returned to what was familiar to it. It returned to me. I was so certain I had lost my powers I didn't even try any magic while we were preparing to leave. Coming back to its original world restored the curse and its bearer and so here I am."

"The question is what are we going to do about it," David said. "No offense, but I didn't really trust you when you were ordinary. Now that you're back to yourself, well..."

"Why, Charming, you are wounding me." Rumplestiltskin pulled an exaggerated face. "You don't trust your family?"

"I don't trust you. That's a difference."

"Can we focus here, please?" Snow White sat into the nearest chair, looking at Rumplestiltskin. "Are you happy with this?" she asked. He tilted his head, considering.

If truth be told, he had been getting used to being ordinary. Well, as ordinary as someone with his past could be. He still remembered that although he had grown addicted to his power over time, his original goal had been simply to be able to protect his family. Magic would serve that goal well even now but he was also no longer alone in his goal. Bae was a grown man now, with a family of his own. His grandson had two mothers, both fiercely protective, both powerful magic users in their own right. Snow White and her prince were loyal and brave. He didn't need magic anymore, not to protect.

Besides, he had survived quite well as a magicless human in those long months it took Emma to pull her act together. And although their land was in a dire need of rebuilding, his possessions and spun gold from three hundred years of living would make him and his descendants well-off and comfortable for many generations to come.

No, he affirmed to himself. He didn't need the magic anymore. How to go about ridding himself of his power, on the other hand...

"It's not that simple, Your Highness," he said. "I'm willing to give the magic up but I'd rather not die in the process which is, at the moment, the only available option."

"No, it's not," Emma interrupted. "You said that it's a curse. And all curses can be broken. By True Love."

"Ah, of course. True Love's Kiss. Just one problem with that solution. I don't have a True Love," he said it lightly as if he didn't care. And he didn't. He had foresworn love until her found his son and he had kept that oath.

"What about Neal?" Emma suggested. "I mean, it worked for me and Henry, why not you?"

Rumplestiltskin smiled a little sadly. Bae looked away, uncomfortable.

"True Love between a parent and a child is innocent, Miss Swan. Unconditional, trusting, unbroken. I love my son. I'd like to believe he cares for me as well but there have been too many hurts, too many betrayals between us for the magic to work."

"A traditional kiss, then," David said. "We'll find you someone."

"To love this?" Rumplestiltskin gestured at himself. "Good luck with that."

"What about that girl of yours?" Regina asked suddenly and all eyes turned to her. "The promising one."

"As a maid, not a lover," Rumplestiltskin said simply. "Besides, I haven't seen her since before the Dark Curse. Now," he spoke up, tired of the debate. "You have my word I won't use magic unless forced to defend or protect what is mine. If you need me for anything, I'll be at my castle. You are all welcome there."

He stood up, sketched a perfunctory bow and disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.

A/N: Next chapter is a flashback that will explain what happened to Belle.