A/N. The title is a small play on an old song, "L'amour est bleu."
"Thank you for coming so quickly." Belle set a hand on David's arm, started to reach out to do the same with Regina, then as Regina lifted her chin defiantly, Belle let her hand drop. Belle directed David, and Regina followed, toward the workroom and quietly held the drapery aside so her guests could peer inside. The newcomers stared in stunned silence for several long moments before Belle let the drapes drop back into place.
"How long has he been like this?" Even Regina, normally the picture of poise, was startled and troubled by what she'd just seen.
"Almost since he awoke." Belle's fingers twined nervously through the hem on her blouse. "Can you do something? Please?"
"We'll need to know what's causing this condition." Regina glanced back toward the now closed curtain and frowned. "But yes, I'll try. The town needs him."
"Wait." David's detective senses had pricked their ears. "You said 'almost'—he's been like this 'almost since he awoke.' Meaning, he was okay at first?"
Strangely, Belle reddened and her gaze dropped to the floor. "Yeah, at first he was a little disoriented, but then he saw where he was, and he saw me, and he smiled and said my name. I helped him sit up and gave him a glass of water. He asked for something stronger but I told him we'd better get Whale to examine him before he started drinking whiskey. He asked how long he'd been unconscious and he seemed surprised that it had been so long."
"Six weeks. I would be too," David grunted. "Is Whale on his way over?"
Belle nodded.
"He asked for whiskey. Then what happened?" Regina pressed.
"Well, he drank the water and I fluffed up his pillows so he could be more comfortable, and he leaned back, and he asked what had happened. I told him about the Apprentice cleansing his heart, and the Darkness escaping, and Emma—"
"Did he have any answers for how to drive the Darkness out of Emma?"
"I haven't asked him yet. He really needs some time to recover." Belle folded her arms. "You can't expect him to wake up from a six-week coma ready to solve your magical problems again."
"We'll get to that," Regina frowned at David before returning to Belle. "So you caught him up on what he'd slept through. Then what?"
"He lay back on the pillows, smiling; he said, 'No wonder I slept so soundly. First time in centuries that I haven't been plagued with nightmares.' I asked how he felt and he said 'Lighter. Like Sisyphus's boulder has been lifted from me.' Then he attempted to conjure a glass of whiskey but he couldn't. No magic would come."
"That's the cause then," David surmised. "Centuries of having magic and now it's gone. Got to be a shock."
Belle seemed puzzled. "No, he wasn't really bothered by that. 'It'll come back after I've recovered,' he said, 'and if it doesn't, I have potions and charms enough to see to our needs.' He lay back against the pillows and asked me if I was all right, and Henry, and we talked a while, and then he got kind of misty and he thanked me for taking care of him for so long. It must have been exhausting and worrisome, he said, not knowing if he'd ever wake up. He said he was sorry to put me through all that, and for so long. I said I still care about him very much and it was no trouble. He rubbed his chin, then looked down at his clothes, and he said, 'You shaved me and bathed me and changed my clothes. How did you manage it, all by yourself?' And then I said I'd had help; while I was in Camelot, someone else had shaved and bathed him and changed his clothes every day. He seemed a bit disappointed, but he said, 'Oh, of course. Remind me to give Dove a raise.' I said it wasn't Dove. He frowned and guessed, 'Whale then?' I said no. 'Archie?' I said no. He seemed to grow annoyed. 'Surely not the dwarfs?' No, I said. 'Then who?'"
Understanding dawned and Regina and David shared a wide-eyed glance. "Ohhhh. . . ."
Belle nodded as she drew back the drapes again. The visitors shook their heads in sympathy at the well-dressed, clean-shaven man sitting bolt upright on his cot, staring into space, pale lips moving soundlessly, shuddering periodically, his mouth twisting in disgust.
Regina came to Gold's side and set a comforting hand on his shaking shoulder. "I understand completely," she soothed him. "I'd feel the same way." She shook her head at Belle. "Really, Belle, how could you? Leaving him in HER hands." She wrinkled her nose. "Knowing their history, yet you allowed HER to—"
Even David cringed. "Take off his clothes and wash him. . . ."
"Every day," Regina spat.
"Well, we were in a hurry," Belle argued. "We had to get to Camelot. . . ." She appealed to David for support. "For Emma. . . ."
David and Regina, however, were still trapped in the image of Rumplestiltskin being disrobed and bathed—a disturbing enough image in itself, but throw in a vision of the caretaker and . . . .
"My gods!" the normally unflappable ex-queen exclaimed, and David patted Rumple's shoulder. "Dude, I feel for ya, man."
"Just, please, help him," Belle said in a combination of impatience and worry.
Regina shook herself back to alertness, then, positioning herself behind her patient, clasped her hands over his eyes. A cloud of purple magic rose about them as she recited a spell, specifying it: "Sights too shocking for the mind to bear/Memories haunting, following everywhere/Begone, I say, from this tortured soul/Where memories haunt, let there be a hole/Only Belle's nurture will you recall/Her loving hands alone touching all/Banish from dreams memory of who/Actually undressed you, the Fairy Blue."
She removed her hands and stepped away, her magic vanishing into the air. Rumplestiltskin, who had ceased his shuddering when the recitation began, blinked, drew in a deep breath, looked up at the woman standing before him and smiled fondly as he spoke her name, "Belle, sweetheart. You're here."
She took his hands in hers. "I'm here, Rumple. How do you feel?"
"Fine, except I'm famished." He glared at the other two, seeing them for the first time. "What do YOU want? Can't a man recover from a coma in peace around here?"
Regina thrust her hands onto her hips. "Well! Obviously exorcising the darkness from your heart did nothing for your disp—".
But David seized her elbow and nudged her toward the front door. "Goodbye, Gold. See you later, Belle."
As the service bell jingled, signaling their departure, Rumple nodded in satisfaction. "There." He stood, a little unsteady, but Belle brought him his cane. "Now, let's go home and see what's in the fridge. I have a sudden craving for blueberries."
"Yes, dear." Belle slipped under his arm.
He smiled down at her, "Have I mentioned lately how beautiful your eyes are? Such a bright—"
"Blue?" she supplied, trying not to wince.
"Cerulean."
"Let's go home, dear."