Belle patiently waited in the library for Ruby.
It had all started this morning when a woman and what appeared to be her daughter, came into the diner. Ruby had let out a squeal and run over and all but tackled the woman and then spun the child in her arms in a huge hug.
Belle hadn't been able to keep the smile from her face. The little girl's laughter seemed to fill the diner. Granny had then yelled at Ruby to "set the poor child down before you make her too dizzy to eat." Granny had then given the girl a hug and hit the young woman on the head. Belle wasn't able to hear much except that she "couldn't use a phone?" The feeling in Belle's stomach wasn't so much jealously as it was worry. The type of greeting she'd just seen was usually reserved for just Snow, Emma, and herself. It was stupid, Belle knew, but she couldn't help but feel left out. With that feeling came the tingling feeling of isolation, which left her a few steps away from a panic attack. But she was worried for nothing since seconds later Ruby came over to refill her iced tea.
"That was Skylar and Zoe, they were friends from the old world. Skylar had to get Zoe to school, otherwise I would have introduced you." Ruby had promised to explain more later after work.
Which was now.
Belle heard Ruby come in and watched her walk over and sit down only to get up and begin to pace.
"Ruby, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to..."
"It's not that, it's just that while we're practically family, we always seem to run into each other when we're in trouble." Ruby sat down across from Belle and let out a long sigh. "Skylar is one of four sisters. Her older sister Kensi has been my friend forever. When Skylar was ten, her parents were murdered and the four of them were split up to be kept safe. Kensi stayed with me and Granny until she was taken to fight in the ogre wars. Anyway, Skylar and her girlfriend Jane Foster became the leaders of the Lost Boys in the old world. Snow and I stayed with them after what happened with my Mom. Snow tried to help as much as she could, but Skylar really seemed to get it."
Belle watched as Ruby played with her fingers. She could tell that Ruby was more in her memories than she was here with her. The look of sorrow on her face made Belle want to pull her into a hug, but not wanting to interrupt, she fought the impulse.
"I remember going down to the river to wash the shirt I had been wearing when I pushed Mom. I didn't even hear her approach...
"Hard isn't it? You don't want to keep her blood on you, but at the same time, you don't want to get rid of it because it's all you have left of her."
That day, I found out that Skylar had seen her mother's death. When she was trying to run, she heard her little sister cry and went back for her. She had forgotten about the blood from her mothers wounds and slipped face down into the pool of blood. She doesn't remember what happened after that, not even how she and Elena got out. She didn't speak for five months after that." Ruby shook her head to clear her head.
"Snow had been doing her best to help, but that mainly involved asking me if I was okay. I mean, how could I be? I'd finally learned to control the wolf but it still resulted in me killing people. Skylar was the first person who seemed to understand. I'd been close friends with Kensi, but Skylar said I'd always been family and that I was her honorary big sister. So from that point on, we did our best to look out for each other." Belle squeezed Ruby's hand.
"It sounds like the two of you are close. I can't think of a person other than you that'd I would want looking out for me." It was true. Belle's transition to this new world had been quite smooth thanks to Ruby. She trusted both the woman and the wolf with her life. Belle couldn't miss the shame that clouded Ruby's eyes as she looked away.
"I didn't do a very good job. She got captured by Cora. She and a handful of others became Cora's lab rats for a new type of warrior. Four years later, they escaped and became the Lost Boys."
"And now they're here." finished Belle. Ruby nodded tiredly, the whole tale making her emotionally drained.
Belle pulled Ruby close, not knowing how else to offer her comfort.
AN: This follows the show's storyline for the most part but Belle got her memories back. It's Red Beauty but pre-relationship.
