Notes: This is the sequel of "My Grandma told me". Dancefan93 wanted so much a sequel that I wrote her it. I don't know if you will like this, Dancefan93, since I think that what you wanted to read got buried by other things, but I still hope you will read.
Coming back
It was a lost battle. They all knew. For now at least. If what Queen Snow and Consort King David told was true, they will have help from Emma and Henry any time now. But fighting ogres was not easy task, and she was running out of arrows. She looked briefly over her shoulder, towards the "little" castle they lived now, where Rumpel – no, Ian, Bae saw the blade, Rumpel was gone by now, for ever – stayed, hopefully safe.
Some metres away, at her right, Snow and David were fighting together a giant ogre; he was waving his sword with fine, sharp movements, and she was shooting with a bow too. Snow was running out of ammo too. Belle focused on her own opponent again, a wizard. He was smiling faintly again, casting a spell. She moved away, evading the lightning that came from his hand.
With little time to thing, or to aim in the right direction, she wished her arrow to hit his hand and released the string. The arrow crossed the air smoothly. The wizard used his cape to escape it, and turning around making it float in the air, disappeared from the view. But, he didn't know. He didn't know about this particular bow: it had magic too, it never failed.
She heard his scream at her left, and when she looked, Bae had him down, taking the arrow from his bloodied, wounded hand. One less. A roar from the forest. She looked but aimed too late and the ogre was on her, the bow discarded, the remaining arrows spread all over the ground, the quiver on her back empty.
She hit the ground hard, and heard a crack. With enough lucky that would meant that the quiver was broken and not her arm. But the pain was too much to ignore, so she was deadly sure what was that was broken. The ogre leaned over and opened his mouth at its full. She could smell the hot putrid breath, some of the saliva falling over her face, teeth rotten. It was going to eat her alive, and she couldn't move. She-couldn't-move. She was petrified.
The ogre put both hands at her sides, she could hear Bae's yells of pain, maybe after being hit by a spell; she could hear Snow screaming the name of her husband, surely because he was being defeated and dancing with the Death. She thought of Rumpel and that almost made her move. Almost. Because now one of that thing's hand got her by her legs, too tight. More cracks. It was crushing her bones. She let out all her pain until her throat felt sore. It approached her with it's open mouth ready to taste her flesh, blood and bones, ready to rip off part of her body and chew it while she was still alive, suffering.
Maybe she would be lucky and the shock and the pain would get her to fall into unconsciousness. She couldn't cry. Her wide eyes seemed to look at the bottom of that fearsome throat, but she was reliving all her life with Rumpel, all the good things, the bad things, all of it.
"Rumpel..." she said. She wanted her lasts moments filled with him. He was gone now, but Ian... Ian was safe. She knew Bae would survive, maybe David too. Snow was too difficult to get rid of, so that was out of the question, she hoped.
She closed her eyes, feeling the breath on her skin, the teeth touching her frame by now and she... Felt cool breeze at her back, two strong arms around her, and a very familiar scent right in front of her nose. She could hear a hammering heart, beating fast. She... couldn't look up. She froze. She heard the whine the ogre made to complain, the loss of it's prey.
"Are you alright?" the familiar voice asked. She couldn't talk, for the life of her she couldn't even breathe, but she managed to nod. It was nothing more than a millimetric movement of her head. A sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, I thought I came too late."
She was left there. A safer place she must presume. She finally came to life, shaking so hard, crying so much. There was no ache, she could not see. She... she...
"Ru... Ru... Rumpelstiltskin!"
Down on the battlefield the horde of ogres were retreating at the mere sight of him. Two wizards and one witch were taken prisoners, hands bounded by some magic strap, a golden one. But still there were some stupid ogres that wanted to attack him, so he killed them. Just snapping his fingers and their internal organs were less than dust.
Bae was on the ground, too much blood around and on him. She couldn't see if it was his own or not. But if it was his own... It was an awful lot of blood. She covered her mouth with a hand.
"No... Bae..."
Further away, Snow was finishing off an ogre and helping her husband to his feet. Or to his foot. It seemed that he had lost one. He was bleeding too. Belle got up and ran towards them, stumbling, trembling. A rush of adrenaline keeping her running even when her legs moved strangely. She couldn't sit idle there, watching them suffering.
When she got where the rest where, she noticed that Rumpel was only covered by a black sheet. His skin was dark too, but it was turning to its previous colour, recovering its human look. Snow sat David, and between both of them, they cut the bleeding as best as they could. Rumpel was giving them his back, focused on Bae. Bae was so ghastly. No, no, Bae couldn't die here and now. They had suffered too much, travelled too far, to lose his life like this, not now that Rumpel was back. But how?
"Don't worry, my love, you will be ok. This is nothing. You have been worse," Snow said, bringing her back to her task.
"Don't worry, David. The worst will be the loss of your foot. It doesn't seem to be infected. But to be sure we will have to get you inside."
David groaned, he was pale too. "Right... now... I wish... Whale was... here."
Nobody said anything. In the silence, he snorted. "He wouldn't be of help if he lacks the facilities and tools, boy." His voice was full of sarcasm, but he got up and then leaned over David, moving aside both Belle and Snow. "Let's see what we have here." He took the limb in his hands and David let out a hiss of pain. "Tks. This is bad. It seems your bone is broken, I can see white splinter all over your flesh."
He moved his hand over the leg, conjuring a purple smoke. When it dissipated, David had his leg completed again, but the new foot looked like dead, too pale, the veins too blue.
"Until your blood is restored you will feel this foot numb and won't be able to walk properly. I suggest you to get a cane." He put the leg on the ground and stepped back. Snow hugged her husband tightly after thanking him, not even asking about a price.
Belle looked up, to him. He was looking down, to her. Their eyes met. It felt like an eternity. She couldn't look away, and it seemed he neither. There was still a faint golden gleam on his brown eyes dying away.
He reached a hand and she took it, letting him pull her to her feet. She lost balance, but he caught her, steadying, gripping, not letting go. Eyes still locked. She lifted a hand, and deliberately slow she caressed his cheek. He closed his eyes, leaning on the touch, relishing it. His nostrils trembled, he was breathing through his nose. He opened his eyes again, looking at her.
Belle felt her lower lip shacking. Her hands, both hands, got tangled on his hair, then she crossed her fingers in the back of his neck. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, closing her eyes, feeling this. It was too much. Too much. Oh, god, she had missed him. So. Much.
His hands tightened on her.
"Whoa, whoa! Save something for the wedding night, would you?"
Bae! He was conscious!
She turned to look at him and was about to run towards him to make sure he was alright when her left knee snapped, her right leg failed too and her shoulder burned in pain. She didn't fall, she was still on Rumpel's arms. But she did scream. Pain came. Too fast, too strong, too much. She fainted.
/0/
Snow and David were on other floor. Belle was on her own room, resting. It seemed that what his father did to cure her didn't last long, maybe just a workaround until he could cure her full, since apparently he had been in worst shape than her. Though Bae didn't like being cured by magic, he was grateful of his father for saving all their lives with it. He felt like a hypocrite now, and ashamed.
They were now alone, beside the fireplace. His father was looking into the flames, absentminded. He was wearing clothes now. Breeches, boots, a shirt. Bae was still feeling tired. Loss of blood. He knew the symptoms, he had had them after donating blood. But he would get a coca-cola and a sandwich for it and the nurses wouldn't let him go until he felt like the world didn't spin around him, and what he donated wasn't as much as he has lost. This time he could have died if not for... magic.
He let out a heavy sigh. His father looked back at him, over his shoulder, with a concerned look.
"Are you alrigh, Ba-Neal?"
He winced. He had desired so much for him to call him Bae again over these past ten years. He repeated it inside his mind over and over again, trying to keep the memory of his voice. And he had ruined it. Because he wanted his father to call him Neal when they were on Storybrook.
"Yes, yes... Only tired." He looked again towards his father. "I thought you were gone for sure." His father nodded. "Your name... It wasn't on the blade."
"I know, I saw it before..." he sighed. "Before I came out to help."
Bae got up and walked towards him. He did something he had wanted to do. He hugged him, tight. He hugged him with all his strength, well, his remaining strength. His father mirrored him.
"I have missed you," he said with broken voice.
"I know."
"I love you, papa."
"I know."
"You promised you wouldn't go."
"Yes. I won't"
He cried. He felt his papa cry. He kissed his papa. The same kisses he gave to Ian, the same frantic kisses, he gave them to his papa. He had him now, here, with him. And Henry and Emma where on their way here. His family... at last, complete.
"I love you, papa. I love you," he couldn't stop saying it. He couldn't. It had been so hard. He had come here, finally, the end of this journey.
"Bae... my Bae."
His heart stopped dead on his chest before starting a rushed pace. Bae. He had called him Bae... His Bae. If there was any possibility of him to stop crying, it was destroyed now. The feeling, it was too intense.
"Call me that again."
"Bae."
"Again."
"Bae."
Both were pleading. It was so strange now. He couldn't let go of him. What if he disappeared again? No, he wouldn't let that happen.
"When... When Emma and Henry... when they arrive, you and Belle can come with us, if you want."
Belle. Yes. They had had a strange relationship up until now, but now that didn't matter. Things would go back to normal. Or so he hoped. He had... He had kissed Belle. They had kissed. On lonely nights when the loneliness was too hard on them, when the memories were too strong, when the alcohol stripped them of any common sense and the pain threatened to take away their sanity.
It had been all about not being alone, about being understood. Who could understand their pain better than them? Belle understood his, he did Belle's. Now, those moments of need weighted over his conscience. Pain for the man in his arms. Pain for the woman who would feel the burden of those thoughtless acts. They had been too foolish. Stupidly so.
"I love you, papa," he said again. And kissed his lips, trying to erase Belle's mouth, to give it back to where it belonged.
His papa didn't got away nor closer. He just let him. As if he knew why, as if he knew the meaning. If that was... true, then... The ache on his chest grew bigger.
"I know," he repeated, too.
"I don't want to hurt you."
"Neither do I."
It was a good reply. He could be saying that he didn't want to hurt him or being hurt by him. He felt the arms around him relax. He let go too, stepping back.
He took a mouthful of air. That conversation was going to be difficult, awkward, hurtful. It wouldn't be easy, and it would shatter whatever they had done to save what was left of their bonds. It had been hard until now. But his papa never gave up and always looked for him. He even managed to change. And all that progress. He hoped his papa wouldn't destroy half of the realm in his ire. Or himself.
Where is the dagger?
/0/
"We have to tell him."
"I know."
"It's going to tear him apart."
"Don't repeat that. And stop pacing! You are making me restless just by looking at you."
Bae stopped to gave her a look. She stared back. "Okay, sorry. But it's the truth."
She let out a noise between a whine and a laugh. "Yes, it is. But that doesn't meant you have to repeat it again and again, you know?" She played with her hands, nervously. "I'll talk to him. I'll tell him first. With some luck he won't kill neither you nor me and let us explain. And if we are still lucky, he will forgive us."
How pretty, thinking first the worst so the less worst would hurt less. It was spiteful how their way of thinking had changed so much in these years. If it was before, she would have thought... not the best, and surely neither the worst.
"You make it sound as if we had betray..."
"We did," she cut him, saying it flatly. "And while we have a reason, it doesn't mean that he won't feel hurt. It might cost us a couple of years, maybe more, maybe a couple of centuries, to get him to trust us again," she said, fearing her own words. Yeah, of course, as if they could live centuries.
She was feeling already uncomfortable. How do you tell your True Love that you have kissed with his son several times while he was away, or worse, dead? Whichever way you looked at it, it seemed like they had moved on and forgot about him. She sighed heavily.
"Please, Bae, go now. I need to rest."
He nodded and went out, closing her door quietly. She smiled ruefully. He used to do the same after she was at a break down point. She would cry herself to sleep in his arms, feeling his heat, his lips on her hair, his words telling her everything would be okay. Then, she would hear him cry in silence, just to not bother her.
She sighed, glad that he was gone. Now, she could think about what really mattered to her. She knew that what had happened between her and Bae would be difficult to forgive, by herself, by Rumpel, but it was okay. Now she had the person whom she have been looking for so desperately. She felt hot tears coming out her eyes. Oh, perfect! Now she would cry as if she was the victim here.
"Hypocrite," mumbled, fisting the sheets on her hands. Yes, she would have all. She had Bae when Rumpel was away, and she would have Rumpel now. She could have both. And, it was wrong. She wasn't ready to break his heart this soon. She couldn't. Not anymore. "Lets... wait..."
/0/
Almost a month. Snow and Charming were gone, preparing what was necessary to help Emma get back – apparently she encountered some sort of difficulties when she and Henry tried to cast a spell to get them here – and took with them the wizards that they had captured. The palace, castle, whatever, was so very quiet now, as if magic had brought silence to the place.
The mood was stranger, too. Baelfire and Belle almost didn't looked at each other, and it was a lucky day if they shared monosyllables. He knew why. Sort of. He was sure they were gathering the strength to come at him and tell him the truth. A truth that he truly feared. He... knew.
His hands trembled a little, so very slightly, when they were suddenly in the same room, at the same time. The book was secure on them, but he had stopped reading by now, full concentration on the others. He didn't look up. And they didn't talk.
So... He sighed. They had made up their minds at last. They, they... He knew. It was too perfect to be real. Belle... Belle had fallen in love with Bae, and Bae... Well, who couldn't resist Belle's charms? They had fallen in love. It was so logical. They had spent together what, ten years or so? And he and Belle... one year at most, and not even an everyday thing. They had been apart. True Love, he snorted inwardly. It was so very logical. Their ages matched better, too.
He felt sorry for Emma but, hey, that woman was as tough as dragon's scales. After what seemed hours, he looked up. They weren't holding hands. Well, small mercies, isn't it?
"Yes?" his voice was shaky, but he managed to hide it.
"We need to talk about something important," started Bae.
He looked at him first. His Bae, his little child, his kid, his son, his life. If it wasn't for Bae... Well, he wouldn't have ever meet with Belle, that's for sure, but now. He loved his son, but he couldn't love him wholeheartedly like before. He nodded.
"It's something that might hurt you. But we want you, before hearing it, to comprehend that we are still loving you the same, if not more than before. In the same way," Belle's words were aiming to keep him calm, but they only get the raising ache in his chest worse.
"Go ahead," he motioned one hand towards the chairs. They sat up.
"We had kissed," they said at the same time. Then, looked startled and at each other, as if wondering how was it that they talked at the same time, saying the same words.
The air held still. Nothing moved. After few more seconds, he nodded again.
"I know," he allowed, deliberately slow. He swallowed the acid that was creeping up his throat.
"You... know?" Incredulity on their faces, relief even.
"Yes, I... I saw... you. I saw you kissing some nights before the ogre attack," he clarified.
Of course, they both paled. And then their cheeks reddened.
"I am sure," said Belle, not looking at him, but a point between his feet on the floor, over the carpet. "That you don't know that we have kissed more than once."
This... Was unexpected. He blinked, slowly. Don't let your face show your heart, he told himself.
"I... we... It wasn't something... We don't love... I mean, of course I like Belle, she is an amazing woman, but it's not like..."
He lost track of what Bae and Belle were telling him. Because... That kiss wasn't... Their first time. The air didn't come in. Not that he really needed to breath here, it was just a way to make him feel more human among the mortals. Because... Heck, he was immortal and they were not and they would die at some point but. They. Kissed. More than once.
"I... see." He rose from his chair and went out, dismissing their excuses, not attending to their words. He just, went out. And when he was near the three's line, he disappeared to materialize again on the top of the highest mountain, surrounded by growling wind and coldness and a blizzard. There was where he conjured all his Dark One's powers.
He felt his skin change instantly, madness seizing his sanity, the voices of all the previous Dark Ones whispering in his ears what to do to them. To rip them apart. To take their hearts out and squeeze them until they were mere ashes in his fist. They had betrayed him And he didn't forgave betrayal. No one played games with the Dark One. No one. Not true loves, not sons.
But what he did wasn't any of this. He just screamed, crying, invoking lightnings, making the storm get worse, the wind wilder. He opened an "eye" in the clouds. He was right inside a tornado, looking straight at the stars above him. Up there, in the space, it seemed like peace was always there. He suddenly wanted to go. He lifted his weight from the snow, beginning to fly.
What about Belle?
He blinked. What about her?
Are you going to leave her alone again? She won't be able to recover this time, and you know it.
Yes, he knew it. But he had Bae now.
Are you sure that Bae is the one she loves?
Why wouldn't it be Bae. His Bae was his son, and his son was so...
Stop depreciating yourself, Rumpelstiltskin!
With a start, he recognised the voice. It wasn't his conscience. It was Sozo's voice. It was one of the fewer voices that wanted him to go back to them and not kill them or torture them. And it seemed like, being as Sozo was the only Dark One he met while alive, his was the strongest voice.
"Okay. You, what do you want?"
What you need now, is to get rid of your fears, you, son of a coward, and start being who you really are; the man who crippled himself to be able to protect his family, the man who would risk everything just to get back what he loved most. Come on! You are better than this. Cry, cry now and here and go back and try to understand.
That he had a scolding made by the same man that tricked him into being the Dark One, the very first man he had ever killed, was somehow dishevelling. What the hell?
I am older than what you think, kid. And I have much more wisdom than what you would attain ever.
"How much older," he wondered, still in the eye of the storm.
Oh, let's talk about million's years.
Then, as sudden as all those voices came, they were gone. He was alone again.
"Okay, that was... Strange."
He breathed heavily. He needed more time to think, so he remained there, sitting on the cold snow to meditate.
/0/
"Rumpelstiltskin! Rumpel! RUMPELSTILTSKIN!" Belle ran from one room to another, calling for him, not stopping too long in each one, leaving doors open, tiring her recovering limbs. She fell more than once, she stumbled on things she didn't saw, her eyes full of tears, her hair undone.
Outside, Bae was doing the same. He even ran towards the woods.
It was late that day, full moon on the sky, when they came back to the living room, near the fire. They were not remotely calm, if so, they were even more anxious, but they couldn't do anything more. They felt defeated and both cried silently of the loss of their beloved one.
When Belle couldn't bear it anymore she yelled in despair, bending over, eyes tightly closed, almost breathless. Bae, on the other hand, couldn't move, he was lax on an armchair. He couldn't even close his own eyes, any part of his body mover and he was choking silently, not breathing.
But... then. A thought crossed their minds at the same time. Fear and hope mixed on their faces as they got up looking at each other.
"The dagger."
Belle ran faster than Bae at first, but her sore legs and her bones couldn't keep the pace. Bae ended up passing her. They came to there at the same time, though. Ian's room. The only place where they haven't looked yet.
When, with trembling hands, Bae opened the door they almost hoped to see him there, sitting on the bed. They would have even welcomed Ian again. Silence, darkness. The room was empty. Belle went straight to retrieve the wooden box and opened it. She shouted, the box felt to the floor. She covered her mouth.
"What? It's not there?" Bae approached to her and took her hands, squeezing hard. She didn't talk, she closed her eyes. Bae looked down, at the dagger. "No... That's... Why?"
There, in the blade, one name standing out in black over a silver background: Ian.
"Why is it not his name? Bae, what's happening? That's not his name!"
"In fact, it is," said a voice at their backs. They startled and looked back. Rumpelstiltskin was there, looking at the dagger, as if to avoid looking at their linked hands. "It's my name as much as Rumpelstiltskin is. If I had stopped fighting it earlier, maybe I would have recovered my memories and my actual body sooner. But I was afraid of the memories, so I didn't let them flow, I repressed them." As he talked, he knelt to take the dagger from the floor. "When I realised I needed to stop fighting myself, the process completed and I came back to being myself." He held the dagger in both hands, not looking up. Not at them. "I needed the power. I needed the knowledge of it, to save... to save you, my new family." Then, he looked up.
They were still, not holding hands anymore. Belle was trembling furiously, fighting the necessity of hugging him. Rumpelstiltskin looked down again.
"Belle, please, sit on the bed, you have yet to recover," his voice was soft, caring even.
He had cured the worst of them all, but let their bodies to do the recovery, since he knew how much Bae despised magic. He had closed Bae's worst wounds, conjured some bandages and helped with the loss of blood enough to get him out of Death's grasp. In Belle's case, he had put all the broken bones back to their previous places, but the muscles and bones needed rest to heal up properly. A David he had given only a new foot. The rest was upon him
Except for Belle sitting down, neither her nor Bae moved, waiting for him to say or do something more.
"I am sorry I left like that. I needed to think."
"For more than eighteen hours?" Bae's voice was full of reproach and fear. "We thought you had abandoned us. That you were gone again. We feared..." But he stopped. What he was feeling was the need to take out all his uneasiness, not to scold his father.
"I had a lot to think about," was the almost defence. Not really defending himself, but pointing out why did he felt the need of leave.
"I am so glad you are back," was the faint reply that came from Belle. She was shaking so hard now. Exhausted, hurtful, pained, relieved. "I am so glad..." Crying.
Rumpelstiltskin didn't look up again from his dagger until he talked. "I can understand," he said, deliberately slow, swallowing the lump on his throat. "That you are more suited for each other than me."
"No!"
"NO!"
Both answers, shouted with indignation. "I can also understand for what both of you went through. Over all my years..." He couldn't continue, he couldn't. His throat closed, his tongue a mere piece of paper, but they both nodded, they knew. "I had my needs too," he admitted. "I hated being alone. But I never found... Until you." Rumpelstiltskin looked straight at Belle. "I... truly think I have lost both now."
He looked away and was on the door too fast for them to catch him.
"Wait here!" said Bae, and ran towards the door. She froze. She felt frozen. Colder than she had even felt.
Hours are gone and the dawn surprises her sitting still on the bed, looking at her ghostly hands.
"Where are you?" she mumbled.
/0/
"Please, papa. Don't go. You promised!" Bae reached a hand, but he shook his arm.
"Don't..." he cut mid-sentence. After taking a long deep breath, he looked at him straight in the eye. "I can't. Not now."
"Okay... okay." Bae felt like he was panting. Maybe he was. "Then... Don't go. Just... stay. Let's... let's talk about something, anything," he pleaded.
"What do you want to talk about?"
He couldn't help a sigh of relief. "Why another name?"
"I do believe I had explained it before," he replied, darkly.
"No, no. That's not what I mean. What I mean... Why the name Ian is on the dagger and not Rumpelstiltskin."
"I have explained it already, lad."
"No. You explained something but not all. Why hasn't it come back to normal?"
"Because the Dark One is called Ian, not Rumpelstiltskin."
Bae gaped, speechless.
"Look, son, now, if someone who doesn't know the name of the Dark One looks at the Dagger, they will only see Rumpelstiltskin, but even if they tried to summon me, I wouldn't come. I can't be controlled by that name anymore. I still don't know the full details yet, they haven't explained that much."
"They?"
He sighed. "The previous Dark Ones."
"Wha..."
"I can hear them if I summon all my powers. Do you remember me when, when..."
"Yes, I do. Your... your eyes, and your skin... your hair."
"Well, that's not the real appearance of the Dark One."
"No?"
"No. Not even Sozo was using it. Why should he, when he was being controlled by that despicable mortal human? But, of course, not even the most stupid Dark One would summon all his powers at full, not even me." Yes, on the top of that mountain he had feel it, the call, the power. If he had done it, the whole world would have been ripped. "And there's more than one way of breaking the curse of the Dark One, which appears that one of them is summoning all the power, letting the magic take over. The Dagger, then, will be destroyed."
"Then, why?" Bae still wanted him to break free from the curse, it seemed.
"If I had used that method I would have to create a new world, a new Realm. This one was created by the very first Dark One." He smiled ruefully. "Which, of course, means that he destroyed the previous one. It's like a cycle. Until the end of the times, since the beginning of the times, the Dark One's magic destroys and creates this realm."
"That's..."
"Yes. I told you I had a lot to think about."
Suddenly, Bae gripped his hand and pulled him into an embrace. "I'm so glad you came back," he said, repeating Belle's words. Bae felt his papa's arms around him.
"There's others ways to keep the curse at bay," he whispered, feeling his son trembling. "One is True Love Kiss, other is me dying in a world without magic... Well, these two would make the Dark One disappear, and all the magic coming back to the earth, fire, wind and water, refreshing all the livings creatures until another new catastrophe happens."
"I don't want you to disappear."
"Then, there's the names thing." Bae tightened his grip, but he didn't stop talking. "When given a new name, the previous name gets erased, giving back the human appearance to the Dark One, and the opportunity of having a human life and dying like one, which would result in the magic release I told you about. Tough whenever I use my powers I'll have to summon that magic and that will affect my body."
"I don't care anymore. I don't care what you look like, but don't go ever again!"
"Why?" he pleaded. "Why do you want me to stay? So I can see you being..."
"Stop that, papa! I love Emma, Emma. What happened with Belle wasn't even love. We were using each other. We needed that comfort to numb the pain!"
Rumpelstiltskin tightened his own grip around his son. Slowly, gradually. He knew when he had to stop when his son stopped breathing. He knew that if he continued he would crunch his spine. That this could kill his son. So he stopped. He stopped moving, loosening his arms. But instead of running away, his son hugged too, stronger than before.
"I don't care if that's what you want, but I want you to know that I still love you, papa. I'm sorry."
He closed his eyes, feeling the warm traces on his cheeks. He let his son kiss him there, over the cheekbone. He let his son's hands pull him even closer, he let his son's tears wet his neck. When he felt ready, he hugged back again, trembling, crying.
"I'm so sorry, Bae. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay."
"No," he shook his head. "It's not okay, because I desired... I almost, almost..."
"I know, it' okay, papa. I know. Shh."
Yes, he knew. His father could kill him. He almost did right now. But it was okay. It was okay because he had decided not to, because wouldn't even if he had the opportunity. His papa, he had suffered. They all have suffered too much. They deserved a rest. He deserved happiness. They had been running behind it for too long, and they wouldn't let it scape between their fingers. Not now. Not ever.
"You should go to talk with Belle. She needs you. Now. I... I'll prepare my things... Snow and David are waiting for me."
He nodded. Then, he felt a hand on his face, he looked up and Bae kissed him good bye right in the nose. Like he always did as a toddler when he went to the market. This put a smile in both men's faces.
"You look terrible," he dared to say, his son's smile only grew wider.
"As if you are one to talk."
/0/
When he sees her she is sitting still on the bed, looking at her hands. She had been crying again. She is a mess. Her hair tangled, her eyes swollen, her lips red and marked by her teeth. He can't help but feel guilty. He made it. He made her cry like this.
"Belle..."
She looks up, and almost fall to the floor when she rushes towards him not thinking twice, not thinking anymore, just feeling. She clings onto him and is kissing him faster than he remembers she being. She is thirsty of his lips, apparently. And she won't let him go, won't let him talk, she only kissed him, fiercely, gripping his hair in two fists to prevent him from withdrawing. He is not going anywhere.
"You, stupid, moron, idiot... I am sorry, I am so sorry, Rumpel. Please, please, forgive me, please." Even when she stopped her attack to talk, she didn't wait for him to reply. She kissed him again, and he kissed her back, again. And she opened his mouth and she was tasting him and he... He didn't know what to do with his hands, only hold her tightly towards him, one hand between her shoulder blades, the other circling her waist.
Minutes passed and the only thing they could hear was sobs, light moans and the friction of their clothes. Finally, she released him, slowly, not letting go entirely. They were both panting and blushed. She was still looking at him. She wouldn't look anywhere anymore.
"I was so stupid. So careless. It was a mistake. Rumpel, I..."
"Sh.. I know. I understand. I really do. I am.. not mistaken again. Don't... don't worry. We..." he was so unsure, stumbling with words. "We all make mistakes, Belle. There are a lot of them I had made and... I don't want you to... I... I am sorry for..."
"No, no, no please, don't apologise. You are not at fault, please not."
They kissed frantically again, bodies flush together.
"Oh, god! I have missed you so badly. Rum, my Rumpel," she murmured on his lips, not stopping kissing him.
"I'm sorry, Belle."
She smiled at him, and he smiled weakly. "Don't be. We are together now. We... I..." she felt like crying again. She did. He held her, guided her to the bed and sat at her side. "Bae says Emma and Henry will be here. He is looking toward to see them. He will bring them here. I... think I want to see Henry again, but I'm afraid how he will look." They chuckled. Slowly, they lied on the bed, looking at each other, talking in whispers. "Last time I was expecting to meet a boy I found a man instead. I think can get used to this."
They laughed again. "I love you Belle."
"And I love you Rumpelstiltskin."
They stayed there, the sun going higher and higher on the sky, talking in hushed tones, giggling and chuckling, kissing. They both fell asleep, the sun was bathing all the room.
It was past midnight when Bae dared to peek in. He feared what he might see – or interrupt. But what he saw made him smile brightly. His papa and Belle were both asleep over the bed covers, full clothed, hands tangled, breathing even, foreheads barely touching and both smiling.
He stepped out, closing the door behind him. Now, it was his time for go and find his True Love.
"See you, guys."