So, I swore to myself I wasn't going to write anything else based on canon, but this came to me and wouldn't leave me alone, and practically wrote itself, and I like it, so I'm posting it. Please take it as I intend it - a little story about understanding, acceptance, and hope - and not as an excuse to criticise the characters I love (i.e. Rumple and Belle) or an excuse to criticise current canon. Hope you enjoy.

Once Upon a Time belongs, of course, to Adam, Eddy, and ABC.

Acceptance

The light streamed through the castle windows. They were back here again, he and his mother. He didn't know why. He'd woken her up: there was no reason for them to be back here, but they were.

His mother wasn't here right now. She was in some other part of the castle, wandering around. He could feel her sadness, though, her pain. He didn't like it: he didn't like her being unhappy. He blamed his father for it, but he also felt the pull towards him that his mother felt. She loved him still: he loved him. He didn't know what to make of that. His father had hurt her so much, but… He felt his mother's love for his father and for him. She wanted to do what was right for him, her son, but she loved his father too. He loved his father too…

She was confused and frightened. She didn't trust his father, but she wanted to. She wanted to lean on him, be with him, let him protect them, but she kept herself apart because she was afraid what he'd said would come true, that his father would hurt them in the end. And she was afraid that his father's protection would result in them being hurt, as it almost had on the ship.

He didn't know any more what was right and what was wrong. He'd wanted to protect his mother, but she was unhappy. He didn't like any of this. He didn't know what to do.

'Hey, kid.'

He spun around to find a man standing in the light from the windows. The man smiled at him. He was wearing a blue shirt and jeans, and he had short dark hair, greying a little. His eyes were brown, and warm, and understanding.

'Who are you?' he asked the stranger.

The man laughed softly. 'You're a smart kid: I think you can figure it out.'

He frowned. He felt like he should know this man, like they were connected somehow. He stepped closer.

'Figure it out yet?' the man asked, smiling. He looked familiar.

'I…'

'You've got your mom's cheekbones,' the man said, and he tilted his head, studying him, 'but you've got Papa's eyes.'

His eyes widened. 'Papa's…? You're…?'

The man nodded and smiled. 'Hey, little brother.'

He gasped. 'N-Neal?'

His brother nodded. 'Hey. What should I call you? Morpheus?'

'I-I don't have a name yet. Mother calls me little one. She hasn't thought of any names yet.'

Neal smiled. 'I'll just go with kid for now, then. Where's your mom?'

'She…she's wandering around. She's sad. I don't know what to do.'

'You were tryna protect her: I get it.'

'How-how are you here?'

Neal was moving around and he was watching him, shocked. Neal was dead!

'I'm just visiting, kid. Came to give you some advice, about Papa.'

'I'm…not sure I want to hear it.'

'You're scared: I understand. I was scared too. He changed, though, when he had your mom. I saw it. He was different, because of her.'

'But then he hurt her! After you…died, he lied to her, tricked her. She was devastated, and then when she thought they had a chance to make it work and came back to him, he was the Dark One again!'

Neal was nodding understandingly. 'I get it. I get that you're angry. I was too, for a long time, but you know what I figured out?'

'What?'

'Even when it hurt, even when I thought I hated him, I still loved him, and I'm guessing it's the same for you, and your mom.'

A soft gasp from the doorway caused them both to turn.

Neal smiled. 'Hey, Belle.'

'Neal?' she breathed, coming into the room. 'But how are you here?'

'I'm just visiting my kid brother here, and you,' Neal replied.

'You-you moved on, though, right? You weren't in the Underworld.'

'Yeah, I moved on. I can't stay long, but I have a little time. I wanted to talk to you both.'

'About Rumple,' she said, her expression suddenly worn and tired. 'Neal, I can't.' Her eyes watered.

'Mother.' Her son reached out to her and she took his hand.

'I know he hurt you,' Neal said quietly.

'He didn't just hurt me: he put us in danger!' Belle cried. 'We could have died because he was still keeping secrets from me. I can't trust him, Neal: we can't.'

'But you love him.'

'My love isn't enough any more. He loves his power more than me, than us: we can't come second with him. I've tried to make it work, Neal: I have tried. He keeps hurting me. I can't let him hurt our son.' And she looked up to him as he looked down at her.

'You're scared: I get it.' Neal put his hand on her shoulder and smiled understandingly. 'I was scared too. He let me go, chose the power over me, but he regretted it right after, and he spent centuries tryna get back to me. You know all that.'

She nodded. 'Yes.'

'And you know I gave him a second chance. You know one of the big reasons I did that?'

She shook her head.

'Because of you.'

'Me?'

He nodded. 'I was there with him when he called you when you had amnesia: I heard everything he said to you. Kinda surprised me to hear him talk like that, with so much love in his voice. It reminded me of the man I knew, the good man. He said you made him wanna be that man again.'

Tears trickled down Belle's cheeks. 'I remember…but then…'

'Then I died,' Neal said. 'We all had a chance at a life together, a good life, and then it was gone, just like that. There's only so much someone can take before they snap.'

'I wanted to be there for him,' she said: 'I tried to be, but he shut me out. He lied to me. He gave me a fake dagger and went off after more power.'

Neal smiled sympathetically. 'You're smart, Belle: you're perceptive. Don't let your fear blind you.'

'I don't know what you mean.'

'You should talk to him about what he was doing. It won't excuse the way he treated you, but you should know what he was doing, or trying to do. He's kept a lot from you, but it's not all bad.'

'What are you trying to tell me, Neal?' she asked.

'You know him, Belle: he screws up, but he doesn't always have bad reasons for what he does. Ok, so the execution isn't always great, but you know better than anyone how noble he can be.'

'I… Even so, how can I trust him again? How can I know he won't hurt me again?'

'You can't know that, Belle, just like I couldn't, but at some point you gotta decide whether it's worth one more shot.'

She pressed her lips together and didn't say anything.

Her son watched his brother move away and pick up something that was leaning against a pedestal.

'Hey, kid: catch!' Neal tossed the object, a long wooden staff, to him. He managed to catch it and looked at it. It was old and worn, and there were notches along it.

'I remember this,' Belle said, touching it: 'it belonged to Rumple, your father.' She looked up at her son. 'He must have had it before, before he became the Dark One.'

'He did,' Neal agreed, 'and see the markings?' He watched as Belle and her son examined them. 'That's how he kept track of me growing.' He smiled as they looked at him, identical looks of longing and unhappiness on their faces. 'Family's important to Papa. Whatever mistakes he's made or will make, nothing's more important to him, not even power.'

He came towards them. 'Took me a long time to realise that, but I did.'

'But it still came between us,' Belle said: 'his power nearly destroyed him, and then he took it back! I…I can't bear the thought of seeing him like that again. His heart was nearly black, Neal! Why would he take it back, knowing what it did to him? I don't understand.'

'Then ask him.'

'He won't tell me!' she said bitterly. 'He'd rather make me a prisoner than talk to me!'

'He's just as scared as you are, Belle,' he told her. 'He's always been afraid of rejection, always felt unworthy of love.'

'But I gave him all of me there was to give,' she said: 'no woman could have loved him more.'

'I know,' he agreed. 'I'm not blaming you, Belle. You've put up with more from him than anyone could have asked of you. I'm not telling you what to do, but I think I'm right in saying you don't really wanna give up on him either. You love him too much just to let it go, even after everything.'

'Me wanting to make it work…it just isn't enough. I do love him: I always will, but we make each other unhappy. It's best for us just not to be together.'

Neal tilted his head, studying her. 'That's fear talking,' he said softly. 'What happened to being brave?'

'It got me my heart broken,' she said, her voice breaking.

'Please don't,' her son said, looking at his brother, putting a hand out to keep Neal away from his mother. 'You're hurting her. Can't you see she's unhappy?' As he spoke, though, Neal could see him clinging to their father's staff, his thumb tracing over one of the notches. They were scared to let him in, but they both wanted to: they needed him and loved him.

'I know where you're coming from,' he said: 'believe me, I do. You build up a wall so he can't get through. You put up a front, say things you don't mean because you're angry and scared. I totally get it, but the anger and the fear wouldn't be there if you didn't still love him. I know because I've been through it.

'Belle, I know you and I didn't get to spend much time together, but I remember what you told me the only time we were here together. You said you loved all of him. You accepted him with his power once: maybe you can do it again, if you can take a leap of faith, in him and your love for each other. I know it isn't easy, and I don't think anyone else would be strong enough, but you…you're one of the strongest, kindest people I've ever met. If anyone can forgive him and give him another chance, and help both of you heal, it's you. I don't mean take his crap or put up with him keeping secrets: he needs to man up and be open with you, but if you could make the first move, show him you wanna understand… He does need you, Belle. He can't battle the Darkness without you, without both of you.'

Belle pressed her lips together, but couldn't keep them from trembling. Neal was right: she had said that. She had loved all of him. She still did. It was the first time she'd admitted it to herself. She'd fallen in love with the sorcerer who could do anything with a wave of his hand. She still loved that man, but the Darkness… the thing inside that twisted him and made him hurt her, the beast: she did not love that. She was afraid of what that might do to them.

'Rumple said I fell in love with him because there was a man and a beast,' she said softly. 'I…I do like his power,' she confessed, shaking: 'it fascinates me, but I'm scared…I'm so scared that I like it because what does that mean? What does it say about me? I wanted to be a hero, but I… His power comes from the Darkness, so if I'm fascinated by the power, if I'm attracted to it, then I'm attracted…I'm attracted to darkness. That's not who I want to be!'

'Mother!' her son cried, panicking with her. He was feeling her emotions and he was overwhelmed by them.

'Hey,' Neal soothed: 'hey, it's ok. Here, sit down.' And he pulled out the chair at the head of the table and helped Belle into it.

He put his hand on his brother's shoulder then. 'Kid, how about some water for your mom?'

Belle's son nodded and tried to breathe. He twirled his hand and a goblet of water appeared in it.

'Impressive,' Neal said, smiling. 'You've got Papa's flair.' He took the goblet from his brother and pressed into Belle's hands. 'Drink,' he invited, 'and breathe.'

Shaking, Belle did as she was told, managing to calm herself down. She looked at Neal as he crouched beside her.

'There's a difference between understanding darkness and accepting that it's part of us, and giving into it, Belle.'

'But I did give into it,' she whispered. 'In the Underworld, I pushed Gaston into the River of Lost Souls to save Rumple.'

'And you think that makes you a terrible person?'

'I'm afraid that…that my love for him made me do something like that,' she admitted. 'I'm afraid it's changed me, made me someone else.'

'Or maybe it's made you who you were supposed to be.' Neal smiled at her.

'My mother was a hero: she died protecting me. The least I owe her is to live up to what she would want me to be, and that's not someone who gives in to darkness.'

'You think your mom would want you to torture yourself? You think she'd want you to live up to some impossible standard? You think she never did anything that wasn't perfectly right?'

Belle recoiled a little. 'I… My mother was kind, and generous, and loving, and… I can't imagine her ever doing anything bad.'

'I'm not saying she did,' Neal soothed: 'I'm just saying maybe you're being too hard on yourself tryna live up to her memory. Everyone has flaws, and it sounds to me like you saved Papa. You did a good thing, Belle.'

'But it cost someone else his soul! How is that good? How is that not giving in to darkness?'

Sometimes there's no way to save everyone: sometimes you gotta choose. Would you make the same choice again?'

She was silent for a moment and then nodded. 'Yes. If the circumstances were the same, I wouldn't do anything differently. I couldn't let Rumple…'

'The world's not always black and white, right and wrong, Belle: doing the best you can in a difficult situation doesn't mean you give in to darkness, especially when you're acting from a place of love.'

Belle nodded slowly, allowing his words to sink in. She hadn't thought about it this way, hadn't thought she might be being too hard on herself, and thus too hard on Rumple.

'We all have a little darkness in us, I guess,' she said. She reached for her son's hand. He took it and crouched on her other side.

'And knowing that and accepting it…that's what makes you strong, makes you understanding,' Neal said. 'It'll help you help Papa. It's ok to like that he has power: you can help him find a different way to use it, a way that doesn't mean letting the Darkness win. I know you can do it because you did it before.'

Belle and her son looked at him, both thoughtful, a little more light and hope in their eyes.

'You guys are so alike,' he said quietly. 'You got this, Belle: I believe in you. Don't let Papa shut you out if he tries. You know him better than anyone and you're perceptive: you'll know it something's wrong.'

She nodded. 'I have to admit that part of the problem was me not wanting to see that there was something wrong,' she said quietly. 'It isn't just his fault that we ended up here. I wanted us to be happy.'

'Because you love him,' Neal said, and smiled.

'But I know now that we can't paper over the cracks. We've both made mistakes. It wasn't only his fault. I said things I shouldn't have, did things I shouldn't have, because I wanted to be a hero so badly. I…I need to ask his forgiveness.'

'If I know Papa, you already have it,' Neal said.

'Are we going back, Mother?' her son asked.

She smiled at him. 'We're going to try to fix it, little one,' she said: 'we have to try. We all need each other, and I know he was a good father to your brother and loved him very much. He still does,' she said, looking at Neal.

'Tell him hello from me?' Neal asked: 'tell him I'm ok?'

'I will,' Belle said. She sighed. 'This won't be easy,' she said, 'but nothing that's worth doing is easy, and we love him, and he loves us. We have to figure this out.'

'Yes, Mother,' her son said. She was right, he knew. This was the only way to make them all happy.

'Good,' Neal said. 'Do me one more favour?'

'Anything,' Belle said.

'Tell my boy I love him?'

Belle blinked back tears at the love in his voice for Henry. She knew Neal and Rumple were alike in how much they loved their children. She was even more convinced that working it out with Rumple, however long it took, was the right thing to do.

'I promise.'

The three of them stood up.

'I gotta go,' Neal said. 'Hugs before I leave?'

Belle smiled and hugged him. 'Thank you,' she whispered. 'I won't give up on him.'

'I know you won't,' Neal said. 'How 'bout a hug for your big brother, kid?'

Belle's son smiled and hugged his brother. 'I think she'll be happier now: thank you.'

'You're welcome, kid. You'll be alright. Papa will love and protect you both like no one else could.'

His brother nodded, and Neal could see his heart opening up to their father. He'd done what he came to do and now it was time to go.

'Well, my time's up,' he said. 'We probably won't see each other again, so…'

'We will one day,' Belle said quietly.

He nodded and smiled. 'Take care: be happy.'

'You too Neal,' Belle called: 'your father loves you.'

He smiled fondly, nodded, and was gone.

Belle woke up in the pre-dawn light and sat up. She immediately put her hands to her stomach, cradling the place where her and Rumple's son was growing.

'Everything will be alright, little one,' she promised: 'Mummy will make everything alright.'

And Belle got out of bed and began to dress. She had a husband to find, much talking and listening to do, and much to accept and understand.

The end: thanks for reading :)