Enlightenment
This is a little departure for me. It's just a little one-shot of what was going through Mr. Gold's mind as he encountered Emma in the Pilot. We know from interviews with the creators that this is the moment Mr. Gold's memories returned to him. So here is my take on the scene may have followed.
"Swan. Emma Swan," the blonde woman said as she provided her name to the proprietor of Granny's Bed and Breakfast after requesting a room for the night.
Visitors were unheard of in Storybrooke, so when Mr. Gold appeared for the monthly rent from the widow largely known as Granny to much of the town, he did not expect to have his life changed by the utterance of a single name. In a split second, the Mr. Gold he had been was washed away. In his place, a new being took its place. A million thoughts and feelings rushed through the man standing in the shadows, his presence still unknown to the women before him. Luckily for the imp just released from his prison, Mr. Gold called on centuries of experience to reign in his emotions and thoughts.
"Hmm. Emma. What a lovely name," he replied to the stranger before him, alerting the ladies to his presence.
"Thanks." the stranger replied, warily.
Handing the rent money she removed from her desk drawer over to him, Granny said curtly, "It's all here."
Knowing his tenants would think twice before cheating him, Mr. Gold took the widow for her word and responded, "Yes, yes. Of course it is, dear."
He then turned to the stranger before him and said in farewell, "You enjoy your stay. Emma."
If anyone had witnessed Mr. Gold's expression as he exited Granny's Bed and Breakfast, they would have ran in terror. Most would have ran in terror no matter what the man looked like. Owning most of the town was not conducive to friendships. Little did they know that behind the façade of Mr. Gold laid a creature even more terrifying than anything their imaginations could create.
As he walked across the street to his own Pawnshop, Mr. Gold said silently to himself, "The final battle has begun." Everything he planned, everything he predicted was falling into place. The Queen, so easily manipulated, had performed her role beautifully. Centuries of planning and preparation led to this moment. What was twenty-eight years of lost memories in the grand scheme of things, he thought as he opened the door to his store. It was the beginning of the end.
With his cane echoing on the hardwood floor, Gold walked to his office and deposited the rent he spent the evening collecting into a safe hidden carefully among his many possessions, objects which now had far more meaning and value than they had to him an hour before. Glancing up on the shelf above his head, his eyes fell on one particular object. Picking it up, he sat down at his desk and held it gingerly as he closed his eyes. The ancient leather ball in his hands was a reminder of everything he had worked for. A visual symbol of the son he had lost long ago. A son he hoped to once again find. Soon, he thought as he stood and returned it to its resting place on his office shelf.
As he exited the store and drove to the place he called home in this world, Mr. Gold thought about the turmoil that was sure to ensue in the coming months. Regina would not be happy about the presence of a certain blonde-haired lady in Storybrooke. Her arrival alone, to a town that nobody came to or left, would alert her to a disturbance in the air. Did she realize this Emma's importance on their lives? The battle that would soon be coming? Would she realize the significance of the clock that was now mysteriously working? Like the puppet master he was, Mr. Gold would relish sitting back and watching the farce unfolding before his eyes.
Walking into the pink Victorian house that came as part of his bargain with Regina, he noticed the quiet for the first time. He was used to the silence, both in this world and the other, but tonight was different. He was different. He was no long the former impish monster he had been previously, but he was long longer the Mr. Gold of an hour ago. Now, he was an amalgamation. Tempered by this world he now lived in, but still driven by the desires of his former life.
As he walked into the front parlor, his eyes fell upon an object he'd seen numerous times. He'd always meant to throw the cup sitting on the side table away. It didn't match the tea set in which it sat and it had a rather large chip along the rim. But it was one of those things he just never got to. So it remained, unused and sitting on his side table for twenty-eight years, he now realized. Stepping over to the table, Mr. Gold reached down and picked up the cup in question and held it reverently in his grip as he let the memories of its meaning wash over him.
For a brief moment in time, the humanness he thought died the instant he was separated from his son had came back to life. She brought him back to life, and it all began with a simple teacup falling from her grip Without looking for it or even knowing he wanted it, he had found, and lost, love.
"Do the brave thing and bravery will follow," he said aloud to the empty room as he held the chipped teacup in his hands. "I was too cowardly to fight for her. I failed her, but I will not fail you, Bae. I will find you, Son. Somehow, some way, we will be reunited once again."
Placing the cup upon the fireplace's mantle, Gold turned and headed toward the staircase leading to the second floor. He had much planning to do in coming days. Nothing would derail him from his task ahead. Not Regina, not Emma Swan. Nobody would stand in the way of him being reunited with the only person left, in this world or any other, that meant something to him.
As he entered the bedroom, Mr. Gold gazed his reflection in the mirror. Once upon a time, he would never have allowed the object to be displayed thusly, but in this world he felt no fear of the reflecting glass sitting above his dresser. Closely examining the man staring back at him, he uttered to himself "I must burn this shirt in the morning. What was I thinking?"
I may turn this into a series with a chapter on each characters thoughts and feelings as they're awoken from the curse.