"BOOM BOOM"
The knockers on the doors of the Dark Castle resonated, and Rumplestiltskin growled. He did not want to deal with any form of intruder right now, and whoever had come pounding on the door had just caused him to drop one too many dragon scales into the potion he was mixing, causing a puff of blue smoke to backfire right into his face, which was, at the moment, dyed a lovely shade of violet. Whoever had come to irritate him was most definitely getting turned into a beetle.
When Rumplestiltskin made his way down the stairs he saw his maid answering the door, and knew that squishing his intruder wouldn't happen, otherwise he'd be facing two deep blue eyes full of disappointment and fury. The fury he could handle, but her disappointed looks killed him every time.
Rumplestikskin reached the bottom of his stairs just in time to see Belle being swept into a elegant twirling hug by his both favorite and most hated visitor, Jefferson. As the closest thing the dark imp had to a friend, Jefferson didn't usually bother Rumplestiltskin as much as some of his other patrons did, but the hatter had become a bit too flirtatious with Belle recently to say that Rumplestiltskin truly enjoyed their recent encounters.
He cleared his throat loudly enough so that both Belle and Jefferson broke away from their bubbling conversation and turned towards the imp.
Jefferson was grinning his cheshire grin when he started speaking. "Why hello Rumple my friend. Finally decided to break away from your potion work and come into the light of day for a while? Belle tells me you've shut yourself up there for almost the past 3 days."
Rumple offered nothing more but a grimace at the Hatter. "How I spend my time is none of your concern, dearie. Now if you would kindly stop distracting my maid and explain why you are here…"
"Actually, Belle is the reason I'm here."
Rumplestiltskin shot a glance over at Belle, who ducked her head for a moment, but then lifted her head so that her eyes, with something mischievous glinting in them, matched his. "I invited Jefferson over to help with some….research I'm doing in the library. We'll stay out your way I promise you."
Rumplestiltskin stood there with a mix of anger and amusement bubbling up inside him. Since when had his maid begun to invite people into his home? "What kind of research are you exactly doing dearie?"
"Oh..umm…Jefferson simply said he would help me learn how to…make a new dress!" she blurted, seeming happy she found her answer.
Rumplestiltskin's eyes narrowed. "Isn't there something in your library the could assist you in that, dearie? Or you could simply ask for new clothing?" he said, and with a flick of a wrist her blue work dress vanished, leaving a simple but elegant emerald dress in its place.
"I thought someone who knows the trade would be more apt to teach me. And I want to learn how to do it myself! You know I can't stand things conjured by magic! Now change me back!" she barked as a blush began to creep up her neck.
Rumplestiltskin gently shrugged and flicked his wrist, putting her blue dress back in place. "How do you plan on still getting all your work done, dearie?"
"You gave me the week off."
Rumplestiltskin opened his mouth to argue that he would never do anything of the sort, until he remembered a few days earlier when he had stumbled upon Belle scrubbing the floor on her hands and knees, he arms red and raw from repeated dipping in the water. Whatever was left of his heart twinged with guilt, and he had given her the next week off. Damn that delicate skin of hers.
Rumplestiltskin's eyes darted between the pair, the hatter attempting to keep that stupid smirk off his face with no success, and Belle's eyes wide and pleading. "Fine" he said with a massive amount of exasperation. He was taken aback when Belle threw her arms around his neck, pulling him much too close to her.
"Thank you!" She said gleefully.
"Tis no matter." Rumplestiltskin muttered as he backed away from his maid, a little dazed. Belle ran off to the kitchen to make everyone a cup of tea, as Jefferson approached Rumplestiltskin. "Looks like your growing softer, my friend. Maybe the girl has done some good for you. I didn't even think her beautiful light could break through those incessant walls of yours." Rumplestilskin simply glared at the hatter. Jefferson just chuckled. "Oh and by the way….I'll be staying the whole week." he said quickly before dashing off to the kitchen to help Belle.
"WHAT?" roared the imp, but Jefferson was already gone.
Rumplestiltskin sighed in frustration and began the trek back up to his workroom. Those two were up to something, and whatever it was, he didn't like it.
XXXXX
Rumplestiltskin was beyond aggravated Jefferson had been with them for three days, and he had hated every minute of it.
The hatter taunted him incessantly, despite the threat of being turned into a beetle.
He also was far too messy and loud for Rumplestiltskin's taste.
But the most irritating part about the Hatter's visit was that he was taking far too much of a liking to Belle.
The pair had been nearly inseparable ever since Jefferson arrived. When Rumplestiltskin couldn't concentrate on his work, he had taken to spying on the pair. Since he didn't want to actually take up following them around the castle, he had used his looking glass crystal to watch them. The crystal produced no sound, only visuals, but what Rumplestiltskin saw made his blood boil.
It was little things he noticed. The way Jefferson arm would wrap around her shoulder's as she baked in the kitchen. Or the way he sat a bit to close to her as they poured through volumes of books together about gods know what. But more than anything, it was that look. This glint that Jefferson got in his eyes when he was with Belle. The look that said he would be content to spend rest of time by her side. Rumplestiltskin knew this look a bit too well, since he had to hide the same look in his eyes more than once behind a mask behind of indifference.
But simply because she was a good caretaker, nothing more, he had constantly told himself. Good help was hard to find after all.
What bothered Rumplestiltskin the most, however, wasn't Jefferson's reactions to Belle, but rather Belle's reactions to the hatter. He watched her laugh a true laugh at the hatter's antics and she seemed to shy away from his gentle touches. And, she gave him a look, with the softest gleam in her eyes. It was a look of kindness, maybe even love that Rumplestiltskin thought Belle had reserved for him.
You were really foolish enough to think a beautiful women like Belle could ever care for you? The hatter may be mad, but at least he has some goodness in his heart, unlike you. No one could love you.
Rumplestiltskin pounded his fists on his worktable in frustration at the dark thoughts roaming his head. He ran his hands over his face, trying to determine what to make of the situation. Whether he would openly admit it or not, he was jealous.
It didn't matter, however, if the hatter had feelings for Belle, he told himself, or even if Belle returned them. He could turn the hatter into a bug without Belle being any wiser, and life could continue on as it had before.
But then he thought about how happy, Belle had looked being around another soul that didn't belong to her dark master. Her eyes gleamed and he could hear her laughter echo in his spying even if he couldn't hear a sound. She was such a beautiful light. She deserved happiness.
And Rumplestiltskin knew he could do nothing but snuff that light out.
But what was he to do really, simply let Belle go?
If you had any decency your heart, you would let the girl go, before you kill that light of hers. But your too selfish of a creature to do that.
Rumplestiltskin stared blankly down at his long forgotten potion ingredients. For once in his immortal life, he had no idea what should be done.
He was startled out of his stupor by the knock on his door, followed by Jefferson bursting in with a flourish. Rumplestiltskin gripped the table hard enough for his knuckles to turn white. What on earth did the loon want now?
"Well my friend, it seems I will be taking my leave a bit earlier that expected." Jefferson said, and Rumplestiltskin couldn't help but narrow his eyes in suspicion. The hatter hadn't been set to depart until tomorrow afternoon, and he had assumed that he would want to spend every minute he could with Belle, most likely plotting how to get her out of the Dark Castle.
He'll whisk my maid away the day I have a golden heart. Rumplestiltskin thought darkly. Belle deserved much better than that idiot anyway. She only liked him because the only other thing she had was an old monster.
"See you leave quickly Hatter. I am not in the mood to be trifled with, and I just so happened to need a beetle for this potion."
"No need to get testy Rumple. We both know you haven't worked on that potion since the sun set." Jefferson said nonchalantly, and Rumplestiltskin had to steal and peek out the window. He had been up there since midday, and now the the sky was a deep purple. Why hadn't Belle called him down for dinner?
"Where's my maid, hatter?" he gritted through his teeth.
"Our darling Belle is in the dining hall, and asked me to tell you to come down at your earliest convenience. Oh and you needn't constantly look at me with daggers every time I mention your beauty." Jefferson said with a cheshire grin and Rumplestiltskin shot him a death glare. He approached his friend with a daring but cautious step. "Belle is lovely girl, but I have no plan on attempting to steal her from you. Besides, she thinks of me as nothing more that a good friend. Her heart lies somewhere else, and it's certainly not with her oaf of a fiancé back home."
Rumplestiltskin didn't even have a chance to open his mouth, before Jefferson was out the door. At least the hatter was smart enough to know that if he stuck around much longer, he would certainly be leaving the castle as an insect. He sighed and pushed himself away from the worktable, putting on a his impish facade, fully intent on give Belle a good teasing about her flirtatious behavior with Jefferson, now that he had assurance she had no real feelings for the man. But his heart broke just a bit under his mask as he wondered what dashing prince had captured the beauty's heart. Hopefully it was no one more than a character in one of her books. After all, when had she had time to meet anyone else?
The door to the dining halls were closed, and Rumplestiltskin's curiosity piqued. He threw the doors open with full force, fully intent and teasing and scolding his maid, but the sight before him made his mind go blank.
The hall was lit with soft candlelight, from about a hundred candles scattered throughout the room, their soft glow lighting the delicious spread of food that was layer across the table. He could see a variety of his favorite foods laid across, with double layer chocolate cake at the end of the table. At the other end he could spot a small gift wrapped package. And although Rumplestiltskin noticed all this delicate details, none of those things were what caught the imps eyes. It was Belle. She stood to the side of the table, wringing her hands together nervously. She was dressed in a soft pink gown that complimented her crystal blue eyes well. Despite her apparent nervousness, she wore the brightest of smiles. She was truly breath taking.
Rumplestiltskin approached the table with a bit of caution, truly not sure what to make of the situation. "What's all this my dear?"
"Why don't you sit down and see for yourself?" Belle said as she guided him to the end of the table where the chocolate cake sat. He took a seat and glanced at the inscription of the cake. Happy Birthday Rumplestiltskin. Rumplestiltskin cursed under his breath? Was it really that day already? He had stopped keeping track of the day once he became the dark one, since years passing no longer mattered when you were immortal.
He felt Belle's hands on his shoulders and her breath against his ear, which made the hairs on his neck stand on end. "Jefferson was the one to inform me of the date. He said you told him the date in a moment where the two of you shared a bit too much mead. You owe him a thank you next time you see him, he also spent the week helping me set everything up."
Rumplestiltskin didn't know whether to strangle or hug the hatter next time he saw him.
He stared at Belle incredulously, truly not understanding why she would go to such lengths to celebrate the start of such a miserable life. "You did all this….for me? But why?" he asked her blankly.
"Because it's your birthday! Don't you wish to celebrate?"
"I have not celebrated the day in two hundred years, dearie. No one wants to celebrate the life of a monster."
"Well then this is a great year to start again. And I want to celebrate your life because despite all your arguments, you are not a monster."
Her genuine smile struck his heart in a way he had never truly known. He wanted to pull her down onto his lap, put run his fingers through her hair, a place a dozen kisses up and down her neck. He had never felt happier. Where the hell had this feeling come from?
"Did you hear me Rumplestiltskin?" Belle said, and it startled him out of his daydream.
"What was that?"
"I asked if you like the dress. I wasn't lying when I said Jefferson was teaching me how to make one. This was done completely with me." she said with a small smile as she twirled in a slow circle.
"Its absolutely lovely, Belle." he said with a soft, nearly human smile. He couldn't help but think that maybe he should gift her with a string of pearls to make the simple dress as elegant as she deserved.
"I'm so glad! Now, did you want to open your present before or after dinner?" She said, a gentle grin playing at her lips.
His mouth was salivating looking at all the delicious options, but his curiosity got the better of him. "Gift first I guess."
Belle grinned and snatched up the box from the opposite end of the table. She placed the present in Rumplestiltskin's hand, and he turned it over and over,looking at it from all angles. It was about the size of an average piece of parchment, the box painted a deep black and tied up with a red ribbon. He undid the ribbon with a spinner's grace and carefully lifted the lid. What he saw inside was like nothing he had ever expected. Inside the box laid the painted portrait of a dragon. Not a menacing or vicious dragon, but rather a dragon whose eyes were wide open and fiery, yet content. He was curled in a protective form around a simple but lovely red rose, not touching it, but not allowing anything else near it.
Rumplestiltskin looked up at Belle, who was biting her lip nervously. He had no idea what to say.
"I don't really know where the inspiration came from for the painting, I just…." she started to stammer, but Rumplestiltskin got up quickly and placed his hands on her shoulders.
"It's perfect Belle. Truly perfect." he said looking deep into her blue orbs. And suddenly, her arms were around his neck, and as he continued to search her eyes, he saw the same look he had seen in her eyes that she had when she was with Jefferson, but it was different. It was even happier, even more kind, a loving look.
"Happy Birthday Rumple." Belle said soundly as she placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. She grinned as he immediately placed his hand to the place her lips had touched. "Now lets eat!"
And in that moment, as Rumplestiltskin stared at his lovely Belle, he didn't care about his dark heart, or her bright light, or hatters or putting up impish facades. He had her here with him in this moment, and thats more than he could ever ask for.