'Go.'

In the time he has left her alone, she had imagined many scenarios of how this might play out, but this had not been one of them. He had said forever, had always emphasized on it whenever he had the slightest suspicion that she wanted to run away. How could he so easily tell her to just 'go'?

Of course things have changed. Changed the moment her lips met his, and now , for her, there was no going back. It was true love, and she would convince him of it or die trying.

So it was that, in that moment, her decision is made.

'No. You promised me forever."

-#-

For three days, Belle sees nothing of Rumpelstiltskin.

She finds everything cleaned, her meals prepared. In the dungeon, she finds a note telling her of her new room, not the one in the servants wing she previously occupied but one of the castle's more luxurious bedrooms.

She knows he is still somewhere in the castle. It takes three days to work up the courage to find him, and even then she has only a vague idea of what she is going to say.

She finds him, of course. She always can.

"I won't kiss you.' she says, before he has even looked up from his work.

And apparently he has been gathering his courage as well, because the first words that leave his mouth are, "I'm sorry."

He sighs, and Belle remains silent, sensing an inner battle.

And then he says the unexpected."I promised to tell you a story."

And he does. He tells her the important parts, and the not-so important ones. He tells her of his quest, and admits that he never considered finding love. He says he'll understand if she hates him for what he's done, but he wants her to know the truth.

Because she is his True love as much as he is hers.

Belle listens to it all. And then she says. "Stop trying to get rid of me. Because its not going to be that easy."

He looks at her with wide amber eyes.

"Marry me."

"I thought you'd never ask."

And they don't kiss.

-#-

"It'll only be a few minutes, now."

The purple cloud over the land hovers ominously closer as Belle turns to face her true love.

"I wish there had been some other way."

She knows the necessity of this curse as much as her husband, but that does not mean she approves of what the curse means- twenty-eight years is a long time, even when time itself stands still.

Rumpelstiltskin looks at her, his wife and their daughter. Their daughter, this beautiful angel with his (and Bae's) brown eyes and Belle's chestnut curls, and wants nothing more than to promise no harm will ever come to either of them .. but she understands, and soon, his family may be complete.

"We have our assurances from Regina," he says instead. "We will not be separated."

The plan had to be rearranged, just slightly, to allow for this family he had never intended, but those are minor inconveniences, and everything is now to his liking.

They stare out of the tower window as a world is swallowed up and neither breaks the silence for a while. Magic like this deserves its own reverence, for all the sheer power that swallows a world.

Finally the child in Belle's arms stirs, opens sleepy chocolate eyes, and fusses slightly. Belle sighs as she rocks her back to sleep.

"You think she'll have magic of her own?"Belle asks, petting the baby"s curls. She is named Hestia, fitting for what her parents have found in her and each other. It is a name they both love, found in Belle's books.

"Daughter of the Dark One, born of True Love. Of course she does. Quite powerful magic , I believe. But we won't see it in that world."

Belle smiles.

"No, there we will be just an ordinary family."

Family. His family, wife and daughter and son.

"I love you." he tells her.

"I know."

And then purple smoke surrounds them, and they are being carried away. To a land without magic, to a town called Storybrooke...and if, just this once, fate is kind, to a happy ending.

XxXxXxX

A little bit I wrote, just because I could.