Hello friends! So the reason I've been silent for so long is a combination of school, lack of inspiration, and watching three seasons of Once Upon A Time. So, yeah, my apologies. This little ficlet started out as a one shot, but ended up being over nearly 5000 words, so I decided to make it into a four-part one shot of a scene that was in the Disney movie but not in the show. Harmless Dark Castle fluff, please review because I love them :)

Love you guys,

Beth x

Belle didn't tell him it was her birthday. She wouldn't dream of it, even after the odd kindness he'd shown with the thief and the library. He had moments of kindness, she'd discovered, but he chose to hide them as often as possible, to keep them tucked away behind impish snickers and elaborate gestures, and while they made her laugh, she wished he would let the kindness show more often. It was tiring, trying to keep up with him. He always had the mask on, except maybe for when he was spinning. In those moments, she could watch without him even being aware, watch his teasing façade drop and give way to a lost, concentrated look as the wheel spun and his spidery hands moved, seemingly without him willing them to do so.

Still, she woke up excited, in the bed he'd given her shortly after the library. Brushed her hair, tied it to the side, put on her usual blue maid's dress. She hummed as she made his breakfast. She wouldn't tell him, but perhaps today he would sense that she felt like being happy, and thus be kind in return. A girl could only hope.

She greeted him with a "good morning" and a smile, gently placing the breakfast tray in front of him before twirling away to fetch the second tray which held his beloved tea set. When she'd brought it out, poured him and herself a cup (he got the chipped one this time, and while he said nothing on the subject, she knew he noticed), he gestured for her to sit. She did.

"I need you to be out of the castle today, dearie," he began. Her smile faded a little at the sneering, high-pitched lilt in his voice, the one she was coming to know and not-like. "I've some important business to attend to, which will take me til sundown. So," and here he jumped to his feet, "I've arranged for you to work in the castle gardens."

"O-oh." Belle barely stopped herself from looking disappointed. She hadn't wanted to spend the day with him anyway, not really. She forced a smile. "Well, it'll be lovely to spend the day outside, thank you, Rumpelstiltskin."

He squinted at her for a couple of moments. "Well, you could look happier about it," he said, motioning with his hand a little.

This time, her smile was real. "I am happy, sorry. Just . . . not feeling particularly well."

He stared at her again before waving his hand. A cloud of purple mist engulfed her, and when it cleared, she felt exactly the same. The wizard looked down at his hands as if reading results. "Well, there's nothing remotely wrong with you, except that you haven't eaten anything," he said, looking confused.

"I'll have a bit of breakfast before I go out," she replied.

"Good."

When they'd both eaten, Belle found herself being led to a back door that she'd never opened before. Rumpelstiltskin looked at her before opening it. He had a strange look on his face, but she didn't pay much attention.

The fresh air made her dizzy, and she had to blink a few times in the bright light before taking in the scene before her. A cobbled stone path wound through squares upon squares of flower beds. Roses, gardenias, violets, poppies, tulips, lilies; there didn't seem to be any order, just hundreds of flowers. Every now and then, a tall oak or maple tree punctuated the path, forcing the walker to step around it in order to continue their journey through the garden. Water fountains lined some of the flower beds, arranged in some intricate, unseeable pattern so as to all flow together into a single pond that appeared to be the centre of the entire design.

When she turned back to Rumpelstiltskin, she had to fight to keep the smile on her face smaller than she wanted it to be. His own eyes flicked away from her the moment she faced him, looking down at his leather boots that kicked (nervously?) at the edge of the stone path.

"It's beautiful," she offered, and he looked up with that familiar sneer placed carefully over his face.

"Well, I've never been one for flowers myself, but they just seemed to come with the castle."

She stoppered a sigh. "So, what are my duties for the day?"

This seemed to be a better conversation starter; he jumped forward and began pointing wildly at different areas of the garden, talking at such a rapid pace that she could barely keep track of all the tasks he was rattling off; weed all the flower beds, clean the water fountains, feed the fish in the pond, pull out any flowers that don't look like they should be there (whatever that meant), make sure the soil around the trees is the right texture, prune the bushes, and don't even think about putting all the leaves in the pond, dearie, he'd find out for sure, and then she'd be in for it.

And then he was gone before she had time to ask questions, popping out of sight without even a puff of smoke to alert her that he was leaving.

Belle shook her head and wandered to the middle of the garden, crouching down by the pond. She dipped her fingers in the surface, and smiled at the small fish which came up to nibble at them. When she turned around, an enormous basket sat in the centre of the path, filled with all manner of gardening tools, including a hedge clippers, gloves and fish food. Belle sighed, and got to work.

Half way through the day, as she was viciously attacking one of the rose bushes with the clippers, another, smaller basket appeared on the corner of the flower bed. Its contents were wrapped in a red cloth, on top of which lay a tiny scroll of parchment. Curiously, she wiped her brow of sweat, removed her gloves, and opened it.

Time for a break, dearie. Don't worry about my lunch or tea today.

R

When she looked up again, she was sitting on the ground next to the pond, the red cloth forming a blanket for her to sit on and the contents of the basket spread out in front of her; bread, ham, olives, cheese, a glass bottle filled with water and an apple. She laughed out loud, and looked towards the castle, where nothing moved inside. She closed her eyes, and silently whispered his name in her mind, wishing desperately for him to come outside and join her, but there was no pop or swirl of smoke, and after another minute, she gave up and ate the meal by herself.

Belle was exhausted by the time the sun was going down. Who ever would have guessed that a little gardening would be such tiring work? The basket Rumpelstiltskin had given her at the beginning of the day seemed to have expanded as the branches and flowers and leaves she'd removed filled it up; when she tried to lift the thing, she could barely move an inch, and so she left it in the middle of the path where it had appeared, knowing that whatever price the magic to move it was, she'd already paid it off through hours of labour. Hot and tired, she began to trudge towards the back door, only to find it unbendingly and infuriatingly locked. She huffed, and barely avoided hurling herself at it in an undignified frenzy, rather choosing to slump at the base of the wood and yell his name at the awning above. Another tiny scroll appeared in her hands.

Five more minutes.

Hope y'all liked it, let me know!