Belle's head snapped up as the door banged shut. She beamed as she scrambled blindly for a bookmark.
"David! How are you?"
He smiled, but she noticed the bags under his eyes. He almost said fine, but he rested his palms on the circulation desk, leaned forward and said, just loud enough to not be a whisper, "I'm hangin' on." He sighed. "How 'bout you?"
She tilted her head to the left, a small smile under her watery eyes. A few steps had her on the other side of the desk, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Ruby told you about the hat, huh?"
She nodded, even though he couldn't see, as she squeezed him tighter before finally pulling back. She was still smiling and she left her hands on his shoulders.
"You'll find them."
He nodded once, though his eyes seemed to remain unconvinced, and she couldn't blame him. From what Ruby (and even Rumpel) had told her, every option they had seemed to be going up in smoke.
"Now," she began firmly, desperate to find something she could do. "How can I help you?" She stepped behind the desk and, standing up straighter, he rapped his knuckles against the oak twice.
"I'm here for my grandson, actually."
She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, and then she laughed. She had heard of his daughter and his wife. He seemed too young for a grandson, but of all the impossible things in her life, this fact should not be the most surprising.
"My wife—" He closed his eyes for a second. She could see the hurt on his face and imagined he was missing her. He was, but he was also thinking of that time while they were cursed when she hadn't been his wife, of everything he had missed without knowing he had once had it. "She gave him a fairy-tale book once, and it helped. It gave him hope, and I just…I'm runnin' low on that myself here. And he needs that; I need that."
Belle bit her lip and, for a second, didn't meet his eyes. Finally she did, and his eyes were duller than she had feared.
Carefully, slowly, she said, "I don't have a book for you."
He sighed and his shoulders drooped as his eyes closed again. She barely caught sight of the tear resting on his cheek. With a polite nod, he stepped back towards the door.
"But…David?"
He turned back to face her, eyes hopeful again.
"I've got some advice…if you want it."
With long strides, he made his way back to the desk, nodding fervently as he does. She smiled, hoping she really does have what he needs.
"It's my understanding that…your daughter, the one who's missing…she slayed a dragon, yes?"
The prince nodded, chuckling at the memory from when Emma had recounted the story to him and Snow in one of the only moments of peace he had managed to get with his daughter.
"And your wife…well, she is the Snow White, yes?'
"Yes," he answered, conviction in the syllable.
Belle nodded, understanding. "Tell him those stories," she commanded. "Anything in which your wife or daughter is the hero. And then, for good measure, every time you've found each other before," she added, remembering something else Ruby had told her about the couple. "He doesn't just need blind hope right now. He needs faith. In them."
David's lips were set in a firm line now and he nodded, determined. He offered his thanks in a breathy sigh and headed towards the door. His hand was wrapped around the iron knob before he heard her again.
"David?"
He paused and looked back at her. She was still smiling and he could imagine exactly what Rumpelstiltskin had meant about a flicker of light.
"Could you send him in here once you've told him some? I'd like to hear those stories myself."
He nodded once with a conspiratory grin and tugged on the door, stepping out into the light with his head held higher than it had been in a while.