All These Years
A/AN: This story is being republished because it accidentally got deleted. This story is AU so there's no curse or savior. Please review! This story takes place many years after "Skin Deep".
"Miss are you sure you wish to travel that way? Only thieves and wolves ever cross those trails. You'll be dead by morning I'll say." the farmer warned who'd allowed her passage on the back of his wagon the past two days.
"I'll fair just fine kind sir…Thank you for bringing me this far." the cloaked young woman added, slinging a brown satchel over her shoulder.
"Aye well best of luck to ye and whatever it is you're looking for." he stated before sending his horses in the opposite direction. The woman eyed the path before her which stretched into a thick undergrowth of trees. She forced her way through the tangled branches and ivy trying to recount the correct path. The familiar trail looked like it hadn't seen much use in the past century but luckily she didn't have to fight her way through the foliage.
The thick forest drew back from where she walked, welcoming her home like a long lost companion. The forest had been enchanted by a spell many years prior but it had weakened giving her easy access to the place she was looking for. The protective magic bent back as she combed through it effortlessly as if she'd cast it herself.
The occupant of this territory had went to great lengths to keep others out. The spells permeating the property caused the bravest of knights to deem it undesirable. She continued to migrate through the foliage until she seen it in the distance, the dark castle.
The castle looked deserted and completely uninhabitable, but she could feel the magic concealing the true state of it. A normal citizen wouldn't have been able to tell the castle was unoccupied, but she knew the master well. He was still living here as surely as she breathed. She could feel his presence radiating throughout the property, leaving her senses tingling.
The woman bravely trekked the rest of the way to the castle using more of her strength the closer she got to unweave the spells, granting herself passage. She'd become a student of magic shortly after leaving this place and had learned much in her studies. She didn't use magic in the literal sense to make herself more powerful but for protection.
There weren't many magic users left in her realm because the art had become practically taboo. She'd witnessed many of its users burned at the stake, and she wondered if this was the reason he'd remained hidden throughout the last century, becoming an old folklore.
She had traveled much during the last one hundred years, never staying in one place to long for the fear of being found out but today she was going to make a deal, his last one she hoped. She eased effortlessly into the barricade he'd created, feeling the familiar presence of magic from long ago. She took in a deep breath, filling her lungs with dust and mold. She rubbed her watering eyes, recounting the months she'd lived in this very castle. She allowed her hood to rest around her shoulders exposing her blond curls. She wasn't sure if he ever wanted to see her again, but he would want what she offered. She took a deep breath, cupping her hands over her mouth before calling out, "Rumplestiltskin I summon thee!"
She could hear the sound of her voice reverberating off the walls as she waited. She shivered in delight when familiar crimson smoke swirled around her. He'd answered her call. She couldn't help but smirk upon seeing the golden gray skinned imp standing before her, curls splayed in his face. He hadn't changed one bit since she'd last saw him. She longed to rush towards him and throw her arms around him in joyous revelry, but she wasn't here for that.
She cleared her throat heavily, "I've come to make a deal with you Rumplestiltskin." The imp stood motionless for a moment, drinking her all in. He looked at her as if he hadn't seen another living soul in an entire lifetime.
"I haven't made a deal in many years dearie, and I don't plan to start now. My dealing days are over, so I suggest you leave before I take the notion to peal off your skin and boil your bones into a stew." he forewarned licking his lips for the full effect, but she knew it was a quip.
"I think you'll be very interested in what I'm dealing in today. I have a magic bean that has the power to-" but he cut her off with the flick of his wrist. They were now face to face with only inches between their bodies.
"Magic beans have been extinct for a very long time, and I won't be tricked!" he retorted eyeing her dangerously.
"You're right, but I happen to have the very last one in existence." she challenged closing the distance between them, her lips so very close to his demise.
"Who are you?" he questioned scrutinizing her presence, circling her, about to pounce on his prey.
"I'm a piece of someone long forgotten…" she almost whispered, her eyes fully trained on him. He drew back from her, studying her intricately.
"I don't take too kindly to riddles dearie, so you're going to have to be more specific!" he hissed in his high pitched voice.
"The caretaker of your estate was my grandmother. She always spoke rather fondly of you. She told me many stories about living here. The one story that always stuck out to me was about a son you'd lost. She told me that you always longed to find him but were never able to. She told me she planned on coming back to this place one day if she ever found a way to bring him back to you, but she died. She made me promise that I would continue her search, so I did. My grandmother was always very dear to me, and I wanted to fulfill her dying wish. I've searched far and wide to procure this bean, and I finally found one." she explained, the intensity in Rumplestiltskin's eyes dissipating.
"You're Belle's granddaughter?" he inquired full of disbelief falling into a leather armchair trying to maintain his composure.
"I am…" she imparted holding his gaze.
"Regina told me that she threw herself from a tower and died…" he muttered quietly to himself leaving out the part about being "cleansed" by clerics.
"Regina did imprison my grandmother for a period of time. She never liked to talk about what she endured during those months she was locked away in her tower. I never pushed her for information. She did tell me that a huntsman of some sort freed her. She said the queen had stolen his heart, but he must have had enough of it left to let her go. She made her way to a village soon after and settled there. She married and started a new life." she recounted weaving the tale intricately.
"So she found love then?" he asked almost to quietly with a deep longing in his voice.
"She found security…She told me that the only man she ever truly loved was you." she swallowed hard at her admittance.
"What's your price dearie?" Rumplestiltskin inquired ignoring her sentiment. She realized he was masking his true emotions.
"I just want to know one thing, and you may have the bean." she breathed, her hands began to quiver at the oncoming revelation.
"You want information? Wouldn't you rather have someone's throne? Citizens at your feet, or perhaps it's jewels you want?" he inquired with dazzling amber eyes.
"I just want to ask you one question that you will answer honestly." she required, the heaviness lingering in the back of her throat.
"Fine what's your question?" he grimaced with a clenched jaw.
"If Belle was standing right in front of you, would you give up your power for true love?" she asked daringly awaiting his fiery darts of accusation, but they never came.
Rumplestiltskin was taken aback by the mysterious girl's question as he formulated the sincerest response in his mind, "I would gladly give up my power if it meant having Belle by my side again. I would give up all of this power if it meant finding my son without it. It hasn't enabled me to find him thus far, so what reason do I have to keep it? I stopped making deals long ago because they led me down so many empty paths. I've lost so much for the sake of this power, including the two people I loved the most."
He was surprised when he felt her press the small object into his palm, closing it gently. He stared into her mysterious blue eyes, the memories began flooding his subconscious, drowning him. All he could focus on was her tinkling laughter, inquisitive eyes, adoration for books, invigorating scent of roses, and her confession of true love.
"Who are you really?" he questioned the woman mere inches from his face. He longed to reach out and touch her blond tresses. She was entrancing.
"I'm someone long forgotten Rumplestiltskin." the girl beamed cupping his face in her hands, the blond color darkening as she etched closer to him.
"Belle…" he respired afraid she was just a mirage of his cruel imagination playing a cruel trick on him.
"It's me…I'm sorry I lied to you, but I had to know the truth." she whispered running her fingers through tufts of curl.
"How are you here? You should be well over a hundred years old by now." he pointed out warily.
"I am over a hundred years old Rumple, but I've maintained my youth all these years because I'm immortal. I drank from an enchanted spring who's waters hold magical properties. The spring granted me immortality when I drank from it by accident. I was malnourished and dehydrated, wandering through the wilderness for days. I came upon the spring thinking it was just a normal watering hole, when it really was a fountain of youth. The weakness and pangs in my body left immediately. I realized soon after the water was enchanted because I wasn't aging like anyone else. I went back to the spring once I discovered its power and took more water for myself. I traded some of the water for this magic bean, and I kept some on hand for you too Rumple." she explained stroking the side of his face endearingly.
"I want to know how you managed to get inside…The spells I cast weren't mere jigsaw puzzles. You could've been killed!" he exclaimed with fear in his eyes.
"I'm over a hundred years old Rumple, and I've had a lot of time on my hands. I've studied different magical arts in depth, including spell unweaving." she smiled placing her hand on top of his.
"I see…" be blinked still uncertain if he was dreaming or not. He ran his fingers over the magical bean in his hand, feeling one step closer to freedom with each passing second. He was startled by Belle's next suggestion.
"Rumple will you allow me to break your curse? There's no one left in this world I love but you. We can use the bean to find Baelfire and finally be together." she proposed with pleading gaze.
"Break my curse Belle…" he affirmed closing the distance between them, enveloping her in a hungry kiss that was long overdue. There was magic in the motion, an inevitability born of something stronger than the both of them. They were both terrified yet relieved but most of all, they were in love. He didn't care what the consequences were because the prize was finally in his possession. Power whooshed out of him, but Belle clung to him tentatively. She saw a golden light surround him. True Love's kiss was working.
"I love you." he declared. She felt the skin beneath her fingers begin to change, revealing a man with deep brown eyes and wispy brown hair. She held him close as he stumbled forward, his torn ligament weighing down on him.
"Drink the water Rumple…It will heal you and then we can be together forever." she told him, grabbing a small brown skin from her bag and thrusting it into his hands. He opened the bottle without hesitation, greedily devouring the liquid inside. He was surprised when he felt torn muscle and tissue begin to sew itself back together, strengthening the bond.
"Belle it worked!" he shouted joyously taking her into his arms, twirling her around exuberantly. She giggled girlishly at his excitement.
"I love you Rumplestiltskin." she returned pulling him for another deep kiss. He moaned longingly into her mouth, threading his fingers through her hair wistfully.
He pulled away staring softly into her cornflower blue eyes, "Belle…" he whispered ardently.
"Let's go find your son Rumple…Let's go to a place where we can start a new life together." she proposed, and he nodded smiling lovingly at her.
"As you wish." he said before Belle threw the bean into the center of the floor. A green swirling whirlpool appeared in front of the hearth.
"Let's do this." she affirmed grabbing onto his hand tightly. They both jumped simultaneously into the swirling green vortex. The portal disappeared whisking away the lives of two people their world wouldn't remember, leading them away to the freedom they'd always longed for. A dark curse had torn them apart, but something more powerful than any magic had brought them back together: true love.
A/AN: I hope everyone enjoyed that! I might make a twoshot out of it if enough people request it. That all depends on you dearies and thanks for reading! ;)