The Dark Castle had seemed all the darker since Belle left. Since Rumpelstiltskin had decided that she was simply another child brainwashed into killing him. He hated to admit even to himself that he missed her. When she was his maid the birds sang louder along with her clear voice. She seemed so logical but still so caring. Rumpelstiltskin had taken her from her home because he could. But it hurt to let her go. In her time with the beast he had learned to love once more.
Rumpelstiltskin had been spinning to escape his thoughts of her. Hands glided over the ancient wood and he thought of her hand placed on his knee. The wheel creaked and his head would shoot up mistaking the sound to be her footsteps on the cold stone floors. But he kept spinning till the straw would run out and he had to wave his hand for more.
Hook walked past the dead flowers and up to the large wooden door. Making his way inside he could hear the sound of the spinning wheel. He followed the sound straight to his crocodile. He was soundless till he was behind Rumpel. Hook pulled out a sword and the sound of it being unsheathed filled the room. Pointing it at Rumpelstiltskin's heart he ordered, "Stand and face me. I'd like to see the hope drain out of you."
Snapped out of his thoughts Rumpel stood and turned to his attacker. With a high pitched giggle and a shake of the head he said, "You still can't kill me, dearie." But Hook did not waver, the sword stayed level with Rumpelstiltskin's heart. "Oh I'll kill you someday. But I have a gift for you till then." Hook brought the sword closer for emphasis. With a smirk Rumpel made the sword disappear, "I think you should leave now."
"You had a girl here…Belle." Hook's eyebrow raised as if to say, 'do you deny this'. He continued on, "You must know by now but I thought I'd fill you in. She made it home to father dearest. But her fiancé has been gone without a sign for sometime. And after her stay here - her association with you – no one would possibly want her. Soiled goods… Her father shunned her. He cut her off and shut her out." A wicked smile flied across his face. Rumpel only managed to stammer out, "So…she needs a home?"
It's Hooks turn to laugh as he continued on with his tale, "He was cruel to her. He locked her up in one of his towers. He had clerics sent to cleanse her soul with scourges and flying. They never did think she was healed." He stepped closer to his crocodile letting his words cut deeper and deeper, "It wasn't hard to reach her. And she was so weak. The clerics nearly did all the work for me." Rumpel wanted to back away or to strike this man dead but he needed to hear the rest of what happened. "I threw her off that tower. She died Rumpelstiltskin. Her little body hit the rocks below. Your Belle is dead and gone."
Rumpelstiltskin stumbled away from Hook. The words kept reverberating in his head. 'Dead. Belle is dead.' His hands shake, should he kill Hook or let him suffer? But suddenly Rumpel became still. He looked almost through Hook, "You're lying." But Hook only crossed his arms, "I took her. She couldn't even fight it. And I let her dangle out of the window long enough for her to know what was to happen. I let her go. I bet the boulders are still marked with her blood."
It's was as if Rumpel could see his love, her long dark hair as she tied it back before climbing up on the ladder to release the light. And for the first time he acknowledged that he did indeed love her. He could picture the book that nearly fell from her lap because she had fallen asleep reading once again. And finally he could hear the air rush from her lungs as she fell from the tower knowing he wouldn't save her this time. He fell to his knees in front of her imagined body. "What you've done can not be undone!"
Hook merely walked up to the monster, "Just like you killing Milah can never be undone. Now you can finally understand how it feels. Go ahead, crocodile. Do your worst." Hook had come ready to fight. Ready to die. But Rumpel stayed on his knees beside the girl who showed him kindness for the first time in several lifetimes. Hook wouldn't have known about the tears but one made a trail down the scaled cheek and splattered upon the floor.
Rumpelstiltskin looked up at Hook as the body disappeared. He shakily returned to his feet, "You know nothing!" His sadness was replaced by anger, "I have lost more then you ever have known. I've lost my son! I lost Milah not once but twice. I've been tricked into thinking someone could care about me. Only to have them walk away. Belle was a brief flicker of light amidst an ocean of darkness…and now she's gone for ever." A ball of fire formed in his hand and he just held it there. Time seemed to slow down and speed up all at once. The fire cracked and singed his fingertips. Hook turned his back on his opponent. He walked out of the grand ballroom and out the front doors. Rumpel was rooted to the spot and let the flames die in his hand. He already regretted his outburst. Letting out all those disappointments to one person, let alone Hook, could prove to have horrible repercussions.
In place of the fire a mirror appeared in Rumpelstiltskin's outstretched hand. With a few words an image appeared, Sir Maurice and many other lords and ladies stood over a grave. Clearly just dug. They were having the funeral and Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark One, cried with them all in there time of sorrow and loss.