It was a dark and stormy night. The man was lost in the thick vastness of the forest surrounding him and at that moment he wished for nothing more than a place to lay his weary head. Through another twist of the forest he came upon a large looming castle. Too tired to contemplate whose castle it may be he gathered his remaining strength and trudged forward into the building. He didn't question why the curtains were drawn on all the windows or why there were no mirrors. The place was covered it a thick layer of dust making him assume it was an empty vessel long forgotten in these woods. He found a sitting room and chose to sleep on the rather large couch next to an empty fire place. He lit the fire place using very dusty wood sitting next to it and finally after fit full moments fell asleep. Unaware as so many are just whose place of rest it was. The sleeping man on the couch was no importance to the master of these halls who left the man to sleep seeing as there was a terrible storm out. Rumplestiltskin stalked back to his wheel unconcerned with the man sleeping in his home.

When light drew near the storm had passed and the visitor woke up feeling a hell of a lot better than he had when he fell asleep. He gathered his things left gold on the table for the wood even though he was sure the castle belonged to no one. He went to venture out of the large estate when something caught his eye as he was leaving the large doors. A rather beautiful rose sat on a small table. It almost seemed to shine in the light from the opened doors. The man remembered his daughter words as he left to see an old friend about his daughter's soon to be husband. He had asked her a hundred times what she wanted. His oldest daughters had answered quickly enough. Elizabeth had wanted a new comb, Lavender wanting a pair of slippers, but his youngest, his Belle, had no desire for anything. Finally she broke down and told him to find her a flower. Any flower would do she had said. But his Belle was his baby. The last child his beautiful and most wonderful wife had produced before she had passed due to an awful fever that no one seemed to be able to cure. He plucked the rose out of its vase and inhaled deeply, the fragrance was soft and perfect for his daughter. A soft smile crossed the man's face before a burst of purple smoke brought a sinking feeling to his stomach.

Rumplestiltskin had an evil look on his scaly green-gold face. He let out a crazed giggle. Sir Maurice steeled himself for whatever the dark one intended to do.

"Why oh why would you take what doesn't belong to you?" Rumplestiltskin asked his grin never faltering.

"I am sorry Dark One… It was foolish of me. I only wished to bring it to my daughter as a gift." Sir Maurice bowed slightly to the creature not sure what he was going to do to him.

"Your daughter?" Rumplestiltskin thought slowly over that conundrum. A wicked look overtook his face once more and lights shown brighter in his oddly green almost black eyes, "I'll make you a deal for your life. I will send you back to your precious home in exchange I want your daughter."

"But you can't-" Sir Maurice stopped what he was about to say as the atmosphere went from a maniacal one to a pressing darkness that threatened to suffocate him.

"Your daughter for your life, you have three days." Rumplestiltskin waved him off in a smoke of purple and suddenly he was in his own chambers with a very heavy heart.

When he left his rooms the castle was a wreck as his party had come home without him and did not know where he was. When he appeared at the bottom of the stairs his daughter Belle was the first one to throw his arms around him.

"Papa where have you been, we have all been worried out of our minds." Belle's blue eyes were full of worry and relief.

"My darling girl… Some things have changed." He brushed her mousy brown hair out of her upturned face, "Come I must speak to you alone." He ushered her out of the hall before anyone else could approach him.

Telling her the story of what happened her eyes never left his sad tired face and when his tale of woe was finished she nodded.

"I will go papa. It is only right and I will not have our lands taken over by a fool if you are to die. This will help all our people." Belle placed her hand on her father's smiling gently the same look her mother gave him. Sir Maurice broke down into tears weeping for the terrible fate he had brought upon his daughter.

Three days of freedom, Belle thought as she left her papa to tend to the castle. She walked up the stairs to her rooms, locking the door behind her as she entered. She looked out the window at the night sky and sighed. For her papa, for her home, for all the people she loved who would lose their way if not for her father's loving but strong hand, she would do this. She would go to live with the Dark One. The most feared creature alive, even the Evil Queen was not as scary as him. Belle began to pack her things. There was no point putting it off until the last day. It would only serve to make him unhappy. What things she truly loved went into her large oak trunk. She packed books, needles, thread, her favorite dress that had once been her mother's, and a couple more books where she had the room. She slightly giggled to herself at all the books she was taking. She knew her sisters would have packed dressed and combs and finery such as that. But she loved her books. They were truly magical. And at least if she were to live with such a man as Rumplestiltskin she would have freedom of mind in these books even if her body could not be free.

And, she thought with a smile, she would not have to marry that cruel uncaring man Gaston. She would be free from him and for that she could probably hug her new captor. Anything would be better than the man she was no longer engaged too. She shivered as she imagined the look of rage on Gaston's face when he heard the news. He would not be happy, but she would be. For even the Dark One had to be kinder than him. Doing a spin around the room she smiled cheerily to herself. She would make her new living arrangements comfortable. She would make her life her own. She would write her own history and be the girl who saved her father's life. A hero. Her mother would be so proud of her.

Finally after supper she ventured back to her rooms falling asleep almost instantly. Unaware that two eyes had followed her all night. Rumplestiltskin was impressed by the girl he saw. He expected her to be a sobbing mess but dare he say it she almost looked relieved and happy to be going.

Pondering this he disappeared back to his Dark Castle. That Belle was something… interesting. He was confused by this but as he sat to spin his wheel he was to put her out of his mind. Soon enough he would have her to himself and learn all that she was.

Sorry this first part is so short. The rest of the updates will not be. I will upload this about every week. So expect the next one Wednesday February the 6th. Thank you to all of you who read this. Please comment and tell me what you think.
-GildedJade