A/N: OMG I feel really bad for not writing! I've just been nursing my Rumbelle feelings for the past 3 weeks that I've wanted to write, but was to sad and lazy too. (Yay! Go procrastination!)

A/N2: So on my last fic, Warming up, I got a comment that said I needed to work on writing Belle as a character, and that I can write Rumple amazingly. So this is basically a short fanfic with not much Rumple in it, so I could work more on Belle. Tell me what you think by leaving a review, and I'll answer back!

Mirrors

Prologue:

"Come on, Rumple, you can't just leave the mirrors covered." The beauty argued.

"Yes I can." The Imp grumbled in his chair, his head resting on his hand as his little caretaker tried in vain to uncover the glass from underneath the velvet shrouds, his right hand flicking upwards, sending them to their original spot to collect dust again.

"I don't understand why you do. Don't you need to look in one before you go out on one of your deals?" Belle asked, reaching to grab a burgundy curtain.

"I don't need to I have magic, and of course you don't understand why I keep them covered."

The beauty turned to her captor, blue eyes staring into the amber. "Then help me too."

Rumplestiltskin laughed. "Dearie, somethings are better kept under wraps, mirrors for example. But if you insist on having one open to look at you pretty little face in the morning, I'll allow it." With another flick and turn of his wrist, the burgundy blanket flew from the biggest mirror in the dining room. Belle smiled, clearly happy on winning part of this battle. She seemed content with this deal, and ran off to cook or clean.

Present time:

The west wing was on fire. The brilliant flames licking the side of the stone walls, threatening to choke and kill anyone who dared go inside. Belle almost screamed. Her library and his alchemy room! All those irreplaceable things, she just couldn't let them burn and suffer in that fate, the fate she'd brought on them.

The men dressed in black lay slumped unconscious in piles among the piles of rubbish and broken glass. Belle glanced at her reflection in a discarded piece. Ash and soot streaked her face, making her worried blue eyes stand out even more in the blackness. Her brown curls were flying in all directions, though it was as smooth as water just a couple of hours ago. The blue dress she wore had holes and rips in it, and dried blood was on her knuckles from when she had punched a guard in his nose, breaking it.

She kept sprinting up those long stairs. It was tedious enough on other days, but now it felt unending, like a nightmare she'd had as a kid. She tripped and fell, a cut appearing on her left leg. She coughed, the smoke in the air going into her lungs, making it harder to breathe.. Her eyes teared up, salty tears streaming down her face as she continued to hike up the now hazy stairs.

Belle opened the door. It was as hot as the cauldron she made soup in. That was most likely destroyed now. But she managed to open it. She almost screamed at the sight she saw. Her beloved books, they were all on fire. One bookshelf was now a pile of ash in a corner, and what looked like blackened pages were drifting in the air, sparks still getting a ride from them, ready to burn the next book in sight. And Rumplestiltskin's alchemy sets were exploding from the immense heat and pressure, various colored liquids hitting Belle's face. A green potion was boiling and sizzling in protest over flames that were spotted on the floor. The rich tapestries that once hung on the wall, now were in shambles, fire climbing them like a beanstalk. The wooden beams that were once up above Belle were currently on the floor, burning with fierce intensity. The smoke choked her, consuming her, killing her. But it did not make her deaf to the laughing she heard in a corner.

It was a cackle, but not Rumple's wicked laugh. This was more low, like an alto. It was also a woman's voice, and Belle knew who it was, though she'd never seen her before, her father's kingdom was too petty for the evil queen to bother with.

"Thank you, dear, for helping me burn down the dark one's home." Said Regina, stepping out from the flames and smoke, seemingly unharmed.

"Where is he?" Asked Belle, anger creeping into her voice.

"Where is who?" The queen asked, pretending to be confused.

"Rumplestiltskin." Belle gritted her teeth. It was because of this evil, cruel woman that her books were burned, that her stories that took her away from the dark castle were now only in her memory. She wanted to rip her head off.

"Oh him? Out on the courtyard fighting some beast." Said Belle's enemy, uninterested that she had most likely just killed the dark one. "It's all your fault, you know. Your books wouldn't be burning if you would have just left those mirrors alone."

Belle had had enough. She grabbed a pointy object that was extremely hot, the heat blistering her skin where the metal came into contact with her skin. Like a prince or king in a battle, the fierce princess charged at the wicked ruler. She swung the thing in her hands, and drew blood from the queen's forehead, a deep gash appearing a second later. Belle smirked, then coughed because of the even heaiver smoke in the air.

Regina's face, aside from bloody, was furious, her eyes said that she wanted to kill this young girl who ruined her face. Her left hand flew upwards from her side, and Belle couldn't breathe.

"You idiot! You've just made an enemy, and a deadly one at that. I will stop at nothing to get you and your beloved Rumplestiltskin apart, so I can kill you, slowly and painfully." Then Belle could breathe, just barely because of the thick grey smoke that wrapped around her like a vice, and the queen was gone. Spots swarmed her vision as blood rushed to her head. Then blackness surrounded her like the blankets on the mirrors Rumple tried so hard to keep under wraps, leaving Belle in a burning room to die along with her books that were gone forever. .

"Belle!" Yelled a masculine voice. Her eyes fluttered open. The room still had red, orange, and yellow ribbons fluttering in the cool nighttime breeze, and they were blazing on. She was amazed she herself was alive.

Her voice was raspy from the smoke. "Rum..." She spoke. It hurt really bad, Belle ended up in a fit of coughing, her whole body trembling. Then a force flipped her over so she wasn't lying on her back anymore. Her green and gold scaled companion had put her in his lap, stroking her pale forehead.

"What were you thinking, dearie?" He asked softly, healing her wounds as he did so.

"I wanted to-" Another cough. "I wanted to save the books and potions from the fire." Belle confessed. Rumple looked at her sympathetically and smiled.

"I can get them back, Belle, you know that. Didn't you see the place on fire?"

The beauty nodded. "Regina was in here, and I cut her forehead."

Rumplestiltskin's eyes widened. "What did she do to you after that?"

Belle looked away from him, not wanting to tell him, because if he knew, he'd never let her out of his sight again, because he loved her.

"I don't want to talk about right now, Rumple. It's all my fault the queen and her men got inside and destroyed the place. The mirror that you uncovered for me, she looked into it, none of your secrets were safe. I'm so sorry." She nuzzled into his chest, closing her eyes.

"Belle I knew the consequences when I took the curtain off the mirror. I knew she would have come eventually, so I tried to give her false information. I didn't think about if she did one of her surprise attacks. So therefore, you've nothing to be sorry about." Rumplestiltskin looked up, the stars and moonbeams leaking in from the holes in the ceiling. "Come on, my little beauty, lets get out out of these ripped clothes and away from this smoke. Besides, I think you'll be surprised by what you'll find in your room."

Belle really hopped her room wasn't full of mirrors.

A/N: What do you think Rumplestiltskin put in Belle's room? If you can guess right, you'll get like 500 cookies and a chipped teacup. I know what he put in there!