A/N: I can't decide if this is anti-Rumple or not. It's basically a different take on the progress of the end of the episode. Basically, instead of lying, Rumple tells Belle, Gideon, and the heroes the truth. And while we never saw Rumple answer his mother's question about forgiving me, I personally felt like he did. Maybe that's because I am rooting for Rumple and his mother, but I can easily agree with the theories that he is playing double agent (again) and will find a loophole, becoming the Savior he was meant to be and defeating his mother. Anyways, hope you enjoy.
"So, can you forgive me?" Fiona asked, pleading with her son.
Rumple stared, looking for some false sense, a lie, but the tears on the edge of her eyes were betraying him. He had seen the memories, learned the truth, now he just had to trust himself.
"I want to." He found himself saying, thinking about the family his mother continued to promise him.
Fiona sighed. She held out her hand and in it appeared Gideon's heart. "Perhaps this is the first step."
"My son's heart."
"I needed to make him stronger to help free me. I needed him to bring me to you. I don't need him anymore."
Rumple reached out, but stopped. "What do you want in return?"
He saw more tears form in his mother's eyes as she spoke. "I want my son back, just as you want yours. I want you to forgive me. You understand what I did, so please, forgive me. What must I do?"
Rumple thought about it, still hoping this was a lie. "Promise me….promise me that you will not hurt Belle or Gideon."
She smiled. "I promise."
Rumple took the heart and tucked it away, looking back at his mother.
"Now, will you forgive me? Rumple," She laid a hand on his knee. "We may not be the family we could have been, but we still have a chance. I promised you I would everything I could to get back to you, but I realize now I am still away."
"I know exactly how that feels." Rumple said, thinking about Baelfire. And Gideon. And Belle.
"Then surely you understand and know that what I say is true. Rumple." He looked up at her. "I do love you, very much."
Rumple's breath hitched. She was now crying, but still pleading with her eyes. She was desperate. He sighed and cursed himself in his mind.
"I want to be a family." He whispered. "I really do."
"And we can be. It's our turn now. And after all we have both done for our children, why should we be denied this chance?"
Rumple blinked, the realization hitting him. She was right. He always felt he was denied the chance to be a family, over and over again, but here it was. The last chance staring in his face. He had watched Emma and the Charmings reunite countless times. Now she had the pirate and even Regina and Zelena were starting to tolerate each other more. He always wondered why he couldn't have that, but now he knew. It was as Belle always said. He just had to believe it.
"I forgive you."
"You what?" Belle gasped.
"Father, I thought-"
Rumple sighed, looking down at the wand. "Son, everything I have done was to protect you. Nearly all I have done in my life was to protect my family. You, Belle, Baelfire, my first son. I know what my mother did. I understand it."
"But Rumple, she's…she became the Black Fairy." Belle said.
"To protect me, Belle. She didn't want me to die. Just as I don't want any of you to die."
Rumple held out Gideon's heart.
"You got his heart back. How?"
"I made a deal with my mother. She would promise not to harm you or Gideon in exchange for his heart."
"But she is still going to hurt everyone else, father. How can you let her?" Gideon asked. His father had shown in the dream realm that he was really to fight for him, to protect him, but now it all felt like a betrayal. He wanted to destroy the Black Fairy, something he thought his father wanted too.
Rumple sighed. "I do not expect you too to understand."
"Rumple-"
"Belle, please." He looked at his wife. "I have spent my life believing my mother abandoned me because she hated me, because she never wanted me. Now I know the truth and I understand why she did all she did. I do. All I wanted was a family. My father is gone, but I have a chance with my mother."
"Rumple, you have a family. Us. Please, don't betray us. You are the Savior that's suppose to defeat her."
"That's the thing. I'm not the Savior."
"What do you mean?"
Rumple sighed. "She had cut my fate with the Shears."
Belle gasped. "Why would she do that? Why would any parent take that away from their child?"
"As I said, to protect me. She didn't think about the greatness I could have had, only that I was destined to die at the hands of a great evil. She couldn't bare to watch her child die, especially at her own hands."
He walked up to his son and placed his heart back in his chest, finally freeing his son of his mother's control.
"Rumple, you can't let her hurt the town or our friends."
"What friends, Belle? I have no friends, only you and Gideon. And as long as you are safe, that is all that matters."
Without warning, Rumple waved his hand and watched his wife and son fall to the floor, asleep.
"And you will be."
Rumple stood outside of Granny's, contemplating on what to tell the others. They were expecting him to have killed his mother and were no doubt waiting for the news. He sighed and looked down at his hand. It was the blackened heart he had magically created to fool them, to lie and tell them what they wanted to hear. He looked through the window, saw how happy the Charmings and her pirate were. He knew making this lie would be his most costly, but he always knew how to play both sides to achieve what he wanted. But that was the question.
What did he want?
Ever since his mother arrived, the answer was simple. Defeat her. Then he learned about Gideon's heart and defeating his mother took backseat. Now he had returned his son's heart and now…
He saw the heroes laugh. They truly were a perfect family. Annoying, but in their own way, perfect. He sighed, thinking over all he had learned today. The truth of what his mother had done, had become, why she abandoned him. All he knew was a lie. Now he knew what he wanted.
He looked at the heart and magicked it away. Since when did he care what the heroes thought of him?
He opened the doors to Granny's and the charming little family all turned their heads to look at him, expressions of expectations flashed. He sighed, walking up to them.
"Did you do it?" Emma asked. "Did you…"
"Kill my mother?" He took a breath. "No."
They would have all immediately stood up were they not trapped in a booth, but their faces quickly turned to fear, with the exception of Hook who looked ready to kill him, not that Rumple was surprised.
"What?!" Emma exclaimed. "I thought-"
"Perhaps I should explain myself, first. If you would let me."
Emma closed her mouth. She was seething, but she listened.
"I've learned a lot of things today. I have learned why that no matter what I do, I always make the wrong choice, why I can't be the Savior."
"But, I thought-"
"Yes, well, my mother showed me the last part of that history. Apparently, she had cut my fate with the Shears of Destiny."
"It didn't meant you should have let her live!" Hook glowered.
"But that's not really your choice, is it?" Rumple glared at the pirate. "My mother, my choice. You see, Miss Swan, I couldn't help but notice something today. Your parents banished all of your darkness so you could be someone great. And while my mother took my greatness away from me, all she had done was to protect me. The same thing your family does for you all the time. So why, for once, can my family not do the same? I became the Dark One for Baelfire to protect him. I tried to use the Shears on Gideon so he wouldn't hate me. Nearly all the things I have done in my life was to protect my family. You don't have to believe it, but it is the truth."
"You betrayed us. Why is that not a surprise?" Snow said.
Rumple laughed. "You see, that's the other thing. You think that merely because I hated my mother, for reasons I never knew, I would automatically be on your side? No, the only side I have ever been on is the one that saves my son."
"And defeat your mother. I thought that was what you wanted?" Emma asked.
Rumple sighed. "I thought I did. But I understand what my mother did, all too well. When she first came here to Storybrooke and saw me, one of the first things she told me was that we could finally be the family we were always meant to be. Well, I realized that we might not be the annoyingly perfect family you lot are….but we can be a family. And if I have learned anything from you and your heroism, it's that no one else comes first."
Emma glared at Gold, her fist shaking. She understood, she really did. She understood choosing your family before others, doing everything you could to protect them. But-
"Your mother is after our daughter, Gold." David said. "We're not going to let you or her kill Emma."
Rumple looked at the shepherd. "Then I guess we're at war."
Rumple stood in the alley, waiting for his mother to come out of her hiding spot, not that there was any need to hide now.
"Did they believe you?"
He turned around, seeing his mother in all her dark glory. "Actually, I told them the truth. Same with Belle and Gideon."
She halted, staring at her son. "What for?"
"I've made enough lies in my lifetime. If we're going to become the family we can be, I rather start this off right."
Fiona smiled. "It doesn't matter, they can't stop me. But tell me, Rumple, are you sure about this?"
"What do you mean?"
"I promised to keep Belle and Gideon safe, but you are okay with the rest of the town suffering this fate?"
He shrugged. "They don't mean anything to me. They never have. I have learned that no matter what I do, I will never be a hero to them. I will always be a villain, so why not be upfront about it?"
"They will never trust you again."
"They never trusted me. I feel we were always bound to be at war."
Fiona caressed her son's cheek, smiling. "You grew to be a handsome man, just like your father. Now, tomorrow, we begin. You might not be the Savior, but one still stands in our way of being the family we were suppose to be. And tomorrow is a special day for her."
"Yes, I hear she's getting married."
Fiona lifted her brows. "Well then, let's give her a very special wedding gift. Her end."
Being someone who loves Rumple, I was very upset about him lying to the heroes. It was definitely a first to me and I can now understand why the anti-Rumple's despise him. But, I still love him just as much and always will, that will never chance. Let me know what you think, but no major flames. Any slamming on me as a writer or person will be deleted without hesitation. If you don't like, just tell me, don't go all beserk on me.