Hello dearies! I'm quite new to this fandom, and this is my first OUAT story, so please be gentle with it! :)

Since this fandom is soooo huge (I've never been part of a big fandom before), I haven't been able to get through all of your stories. So, if I've unwittingly stolen anyone's idea, I am truly sorry.

Just to set the scene a bit, this occurs pretty much straight after The Outsider, in season two. However, in my version, Rumple decided to delay his trip in order to make sure that Belle was safe from Hook. Thus, Belle didn't get shot, and didn't lose her memories.

Obviously, I don't own the characters.

I hope you like it :)

Breaking

Chapter One

Belle nudged the back door open using her hip, her hands being already occupied by two takeaway coffees and a paper bag from Granny's. It seemed that this world held a never-ending supply of culinary wonders for her to uncover. This week's discovery was the custard Danish, and she could practically feel her blood sugar rising in anticipation of sharing her new favourite treat with her favourite reformed beast. It would be nice to spend some time together in relative peace and normalcy after yesterday's rather dramatic encounter with Captain Hook. Belle wanted to take care of Rumple a little, to relax and refocus him before he set off in search of his son. She smiled to herself as she laid their morning tea out on the table and made her way through to the shop.

As she rounded the corner into the main display area, the sound of voices reached her ears. Belle French wasn't usually one for eavesdropping, but something in the hushed tones of the conversation made her uneasy. She paused beside the counter, out of sight of Mr Gold and the woman with whom he spoke. Her top teeth caught her bottom lip in a tell-tale gesture of curiosity as she watched and listened.

'I only know what you taught me, Master. So, will you accept my offer of a truce?'

'Truce,' Rumple replied, extending his hand to the elegant, honey-voiced woman.

'Let's seal it like we used to.'

Belle felt her stomach twist and her arms begin to ache helplessly as she watched the stranger kiss her Rumple. And he, he just stood there, his eyes closed. Why didn't he fight her?

'Wh... What's going on?' Belle's voice quaked as she made her presence known.

Rumple jumped back from the woman's embrace, lifting his right hand to his lips, as though her kiss had burned him. He turned his gaze toward Belle, his face contorting with... what? Pain? Regret? Confusion? His mouth fell open as he tried to form an explanation, but it seemed that his voice couldn't keep up with his racing thoughts.

The woman, on the other hand, was having no such problems.

'And who is this?' she cooed at Belle with sickeningly sweet condescension. She looked Belle up and down before turning back to Rumple. 'My, my, Rumple. These play things of yours keep getting younger and younger.'

'What's your name, little girl?' the woman continued as she slowly approached Belle, who silently stared straight past her to Rumple, her hands forming fists by her sides. The woman paused and made a face, clearly unimpressed by Belle's passivity.

'Hm. Bit timid for you, isn't she, Rumple? Still, quite a pretty little thing,' she mused as she reached out to touch the younger woman's hair.

Belle felt her own hand shoot up, as if by reflex, and grab the woman's wrist.
'Don't touch me,' she spat with a viciousness which shocked herself as much as it did Rumple. Belle had faced a lot of suffering in her life, a lot of pain. But this... this burning jealousy, this stabbing feeling of betrayal. This was entirely new.

Glancing at the woman only long enough to see her smile slyly, Belle released her grip on the intruder's wrist and returned her attention to the reeling Rumplestiltskin.

'Rumple,' she demanded, 'Who is this?'

'Belle,' he stammered, 'I can explain.'

'Who is this?' she repeated through clenched teeth.

Rumple looked to the ground, knowing he'd be unable to bear watching realisation dawn in Belle's beautiful blue eyes as, with a very small voice, he spoke the woman's name.

'Cora.'

He winced as he heard Belle take a sharp breath.

'Cora,' she repeated. 'Regina's mother, Cora? Queen of Hearts Cora? Personification of evil, Cora? The Cora who's coming to destroy us all? That Cora?'

Cora smirked. 'I see my reputation precedes me.'

'Belle, I can explain,' Rumple repeated lamely, panic tightening in his chest.

'Don't bother,' blurted Belle as she raced toward the door, trying, unsuccessfully, to make her escape before the tears began to fall.

Gold's heart was heavy as he approached the wharf. It was never supposed to be like this. Cora's globe had brought him so much closer to finding Bae at last. He should be sharing his joy with Belle. Instead, he found it tempered by the gripping fear of losing her - a fear that his constant failures had made all too familiar. He had wanted to chase after her when she left the shop, but he knew Belle too well for that. He hoped that his visit to Emma and Henry had given her enough time to calm down, to think, to be ready to talk to him again.

In fact, it had been enough time for her to cry all of her tears, so that sore red frames formed around her eyes as she sat on the bench by the water, hugging herself against the cold of night. Hearing footsteps approach, she knew it would be him. But she didn't turn.

Seeing her huddled against the cold, Gold instinctively removed his coat and draped it over her shoulders. He watched, waiting for her to reach up and flip her hair, releasing it from beneath the collar, as she always did. But she made no movement. Tenderly, Gold did it for her, gathering her dark locks in his hands and gently pulling them out from beneath the coat. As they slipped through his fingers, he wondered if this was it, if Belle's trust - her unending, unconditional devotion - was finally broken. Yesterday, she'd learnt of Milah, of how her beloved Rumple had killed his own wife in cold-blooded vengeance. And yet she'd stayed. But, surely, there was only so much she could take. Even angels have their limits.

He walked around the bench, and sat down beside her. For a long while, they stared silently ahead at the dark, restless water, both fearful to begin the conversation they knew they must have.

It was Belle - always the brave one - who broke the silence.

'What happened between the two of you?' she asked quietly.

Gold thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully.

'We... We shared something,' he said gently.

'What kind of something?'

'She needed to learn magic. I was her teacher.'

Belle scoffed. 'Well, call me prudish, but I certainly don't remember kissing any of my teachers.'

'No.' Gold swallowed. His whitewashed explanations weren't going to be good enough for Belle. He should have known that by now.

'With time, it... escalated into something more.'

'Something more.'

'Don't make me spell it out for you, Belle,' he pleaded.

'You... slept together?' It was half asked, half stated.

'Yes.'

Belle closed her eyes, feeling the icy wind caress her face.

'Did you love her?'

'I love you, Belle.'

'That's not what I asked.'

Gold sighed, tightening his grip on his cane.

'Cora and I shared a common anger, a bitterness that we both understood. We connected over that - over our hatred, our desire for power and revenge. She spoke to the darkness in me. And I spoke to the darkness in her...'

His words were jagged, accented in scattered places by some trace of a long lost emotion. Something dark shining through. If dark things can shine.

Nausea washed over Belle as she envisioned the damaged relationship Rumple described. But she was determined to listen until the end.

'The darkness in me loved her. The person I was then, the Dark One... he loved her. As far as he was capable of love, he loved her. But Belle...' He reached out and placed his hand on top of hers where it lay in her lap. 'The goodness in me, the man, Rumplestiltskin... Rumple,' he choked on his tears as his voice fumbled awkwardly over her name for him, 'He loves you.'

Finally, she looked over at him. Her eyes searching his face, she asked, 'And which one of those people is the real you?'

Gold flinched, as if physically struck. He drew his hand away from Belle's, and she watched the hurt register in the crinkles around his eyes. He stood and wandered a few paces away, facing the water. When he spoke, his voice was small; it was nearly lost to the wind.

'How can you even ask me that, Belle?'

Belle stared at her hands a moment, her heart sinking with regret. She was the only person who'd ever believed that Rumplestiltskin was truly good at heart, and here she had let him think that she doubted him. All because she was jealous of a love of his past.

She stood and walked around in front of him.

'I'm sorry, Rumple,' she said, taking his hand.

'Oh, Belle,' he breathed, squeezing her hand. 'It's our last night together for a while. Let's not spend it fighting.'

Belle nodded, and stepped forward into his embrace. Stroking her hair, he whispered to her.

'You're my only true love. You know that, don't you?'

Belle smiled into his chest.

'I know.'

'And I'm sorry about what happened today... in the shop. She just... took me by surprise. It didn't mean anything.'

Belle drew back in order to look sternly into his face. 'I understand. But don't ever do it again. Or there will be severe consequences.'

Gold smiled.

'Yes, boss.'

'What did she want, anyway?' Belle asked as, hand in hand, they began the journey home.

'She gave me a globe.'

'A globe?'

'It's enchanted. It shows me Baelfire's exact location.'

Belle fell silent.

'I thought you'd be happy for me.'

'I am. It's just... What did she ask in return?'

'Nothing.'

She stopped walking.

'Rumple,' she said - no, commanded, in that no-nonsense way of hers.

'What?'

'You said she was your student. Surely the first lesson you would've taught her is that everything has its price. What price did you pay for the globe?'

Gold sighed.

'All she wanted was for me to promise not to hinder her quest to repair her relationship with Regina.'

'And you really think that's all she wants?' Belle asked sceptically. 'To make up with Regina?'

'It's not really my concern, Belle. I'm just concerned with finding my son.'

'And if Cora's plans should endanger Storybrooke? If harm should come to the people who live here? To me? Would you be concerned then?'

'Sweetheart, I promise you, I will not let her harm you. Please, just trust me.'

He leaned forward to kiss her forehead before continuing in the direction of home.

'Well, I guess that conversation's over, then,' Belle muttered to herself.

Perched on the edge of the bed, in what had become their nightly ritual, Gold rhythmically ran a silver-handled brush through Belle's hair. The comfort was bittersweet this night, the lovers knowing that tomorrow would bring their separation.

Tentatively, Gold laid down the brush.

'I have to tell you something.'

He saw Belle's shoulders tense.

What could it be now?

Moving closer to her, he placed his hands on the soft skin of her shoulders, and spoke gently into her hair.

'No, sweetheart. It's nothing to fear.'

She relaxed a little, inclining her head slightly to listen to him.

'You remember that I told you of a dagger, the source from which my power is drawn.'

'Yes, I remember.'

'Whoever controls that dagger, controls me. And if someone were to use it to kill me, that person would take on the power of the Dark One.'

Belle turned to face him.

'I thought you said it was nothing to fear.'

'It's not,' he assured her. 'The dagger is safely hidden. It's just that, with me out of town, certain people might be tempted to search for it.'

'Cora,' Belle supplied.

'Or Regina. Or Captain Hook. Or somebody else. The point is, I need to entrust the location of the dagger to someone. Someone who won't be tempted to do the wrong thing. Someone I can trust. That can only be you, Belle.'

Belle gave him a small smile. She was happy that he trusted her so completely. But she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling, the creeping sense of dread, that seemed to surround all of this. It just didn't feel quite right.

'Knowing the location of the dagger could be a great burden, Belle. I don't want to force it on you, but-'

'Rumple,' she interrupted, shaking her head slowly, 'You know I'd do anything for you. You can trust me. I won't let you down. Tell me where it is.'

Pulling her close, Gold whispered his secret into her ear. Then, he reached for a vial on the bedside table, and held it out to her.

'What's this?'

'It's a potion. A memory protection spell, in case somebody tries to use magic to retrieve the dagger's location from your memory. The spell will allow you to shut them out of your memory, as long as you will it.'

'Oh, Belle, I so wish you were coming with me.'

He spoke to her warmly from where he stood, across the town line, whilst Emma and Henry waited in the car parked up ahead.

'As do I,' Belle replied with equal warmth, 'But... it doesn't matter.'

'Why not?'

'Because you'll find him. And, when you do, I'll be here waiting for you when you get back.'

Rumplestiltskin felt as if his chest might explode. He didn't deserve this beautiful girl, her constant forgiveness, or the faith she put in him. But he was determined to make her proud, to prove that he was the man she believed him to be. Leaning across the line, he kissed her lovingly, his lips lingering against hers until she finally pulled away.

'I love you, Rumple.'

'And I love you, Belle.'

She stood and watched, and sadly smiled, until the car was out of sight.

She turned back towards Storybrooke just in time to see a cloud of blue smoke lingering in the still-warm shadow of someone who had been watching them from the forest.

'Cora.'

Not a very pretty name, is it? Sounds like something breaking.