A/N-Hey! Thanks to Woubazoid for an awesome edit job on this one...and apologies to that same Beta for this particular fic. Flames will be used to cook Jiffy Pop. Loosely based on the song Skin by Rascal Flatts. Read and Review:D
Disclaimer-I own neither OUAT or the song.
The Price Of Magic
The sound of the antique phone ringing through his shop drew Rumplestiltskin out of his examination of the Faberge that had recently come into his shop. He had an idea of what to do with it, however he was still unsure of the timeline he wanted to follow. Keeping his eyes on the delicate light pink enamel and gold ornament, double the size of a chicken's egg, he reached for the phone.
"Gold's Antiques, Mr. Gold speaking."
"Hi Rum," through the phone came the voice of an angel. Rumplestiltskin smiled, an involuntary reaction that happened every single time he heard her voice.
"Why hello Belle, how are you doing? I'm quite looking forward to tonight." The memory of her saying his name after recovering her memories once more, even though it had been almost six months since then, still had the power to warm his heart and make him nearly tear up with relief. He had his Belle back.
"I'm...I'm fine." Her voice sounded hesitant. He immediately went on guard. Something was wrong, he knew it, just as he intimately new every inflection of her voice.
"What's wrong sweetheart?"
"Nothing," she said, a little too quickly. So whatever it was, she didn't want to share. Not wanting to push her, he didn't ask any more questions, merely waited for her to talk. "I just...I was calling to say that I don't think that I can meet you for dinner tonight. It's not you," she hurried on, not wanting to hear his reaction to her cancellation. "And this is nothing, nothing against our relationship. Something has come up though, and I'll need to see you maybe tomorrow instead?"
"Whatever you need, Belle. Are you sure everything is ok?"
"I'm fine," again he noticed that she answered too quickly. "Ruby asked me to help her with something. She's taking some online courses, so she asked me to help her with a paper."
"Alright," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow then, my love."
"I love you, Rumple."
He responded in kind before hanging up the phone. Staring at the ornament on his desk, he made up his min. Digging his keys out of the drawer and picking up his cane from where it leaned against the desk, he prepared to leave the shop and head over to the library.
Belle hit the end button on her phone with a shaking finger. Burying her head in her hands, she dissolved into shoulder shaking, body wracking sobs. She had been able to hide it so far but now, now it was showing. It was showing in a way she could no longer hide.
After she had regained her memory, after the curse on her had been broken a second time, she had noticed a bruise on her leg after bumping into a shelving cart at the library. Thinking nothing of it, she had gone on with her day. A week passed, and she was getting dressed one morning when she had noticed that the bruise hadn't gone away. It didn't even look as though it had healed. Waiting a couple more days without it getting better had finally sent her Dr. Whale in pursuit of an answer.
A few tests had been preformed, and a week later, Whale had come back to her with a somber look to his face. "Belle, I don't know how to tell you this, but our tests show that whatever is wrong with you is mimicking cancer - Leukemia to be precise. But we can't find any cancer cells in your blood, or anywhere in your body. I think I have a theory about it. It could be because your body went through the trauma of having your memories altered twice. It's finally taking its toll on you. It's changed some of your cells and now your white blood cells are attacking your cells because it doesn't recognize them."
Belle sat there stunned. She was a reader; she knew what these diseases could do, even if she didn't have a medical degree. This was not good. "Is there anything that can be done?"
Whale rubbed his head. "Well, I've been thinking about that. I think our best option is to treat it aggressively, with chemotherapy and radiation, like we would a regular cancer. I would suggest you ask Gold if there is anything he could do for you, in any other situation. But since this is magically caused, there's no telling if more magic would make it worse."
Belle agreed to Whale's course of treatment, and they had begun chemo almost immediately. Due to the fact that after treatment she felt far too weak to drive herself home, she had enlisted Ruby's help, after swearing her to secrecy.
Thus far, she had managed to brush off her pale colouring and her weight loss to Rumple as the flu. But now - something was happening that was too blatant for her to deny.
The previous night when she had taken her shower, a clump of chocolate brown hair had fallen out in her hand. Before this it had only been strands at a time, enough that she could hide it by putting her hair in a ponytail or wearing a cute hat. But when she had gotten out of the shower, and dried it, more and more came out, until she looked in the mirror and her hair was so thin it barely deserved the name.
She cried, realizing she would have to tell him now. He would hate her for lying, or he would hate himself for causing it.
She got up from where she was sitting and walked over to the mirror. Her skin was pale, and her eyes were rimmed with black shadows from the lack of sleep she had gotten last night. Today, she decided. She would tell him today. But first things first, she thought as she picked up a razor that she had waiting on the counter. She had just finished cutting off the last clump of hair that was left on her head, when a knock came at the apartment door.
She froze. She hadn't opened the library. And there was only one person who had access to her apartment when the library was locked. That would be the landlord; and he hadn't bought her excuse.
"Belle, dearie, I know you're in there. And I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong."
Belle gripped the counter. "Then come in and see what's wrong." Her voice was bitter. "For the record, I was coming to tell you."
His key scraped in the lock and she heard the door open and close accompanied by his cane coming towards the kitchen. "So, now, what's the problem..." She knew the moment he saw her, his voice trailed off into silence. "Belle," he breathed her name. "What happened?"
He hurried over to her, as fast as his leg would allow. Wrapping an arm around her, they went to the table to sit down. In a slow, halting voice she explained to him what had happened, and watched as the knuckles on the hand holding the cane grew white from strain. Reaching up his other trembling hand, he brushed a hand over her head. "And you didn't think that you should tell me?"
"Given how it happened I didn't...I didn't want you to blame yourself. With Bae back in town and with everything going well; you were so happy."
"You are not cancelling on me tonight. We are still going for dinner. If you are not hungry, we will go to a movie. But I am not leaving you alone tonight. We are going to go out and have a good time, just the two of us, okay?" She nodded slowly and he smiled softly. "I'll pick you up around seven?"
She nodded again, and kissing her gently, he got up, and left.
Rumple walked out of the apartment, mentally postponing his plans with the Faberge, deciding that he needed to do something else to prepare for tonight.
After calling Ruby to come over and help her, the two women had spent a majority of the afternoon figuring out how to hide her lack of hair. Finally, combining a couple of outfits, she got into a knee-length, floral print sundress, with strappy sandals, and a scarf that matched the fabric of the dress wrapped around her head. Makeup had brought colour back into her skin. "At least Whale says that the chemo seems to be working," said Ruby encouragingly. "And hair grows. It will be back to length in no time."
Belle smiled. She knew what Ruby was trying to do, and she appreciated it. "I don't think you were supposed to tell me that," she elbowed the other woman. "And I don't think that I'm supposed to know that doctor-patient confidentially was broken over pillow talk." At that Ruby blushed.
At precisely 7 pm a knock came from the door. Belle breathed in and out before walking to the door. It wasn't as though it was her first date with him. But it was the first date when he knew the truth and she didn't need him treating her like a porcelain doll.
She opened the door, and froze when she saw Rumple standing there.
There was not a hair left on his head. His soft, beautiful hair was gone. She knew exactly why he had done it and her eyes filled with tears.
She threw herself into his arms, nearly crushing the roses he held. "I love you Rumple."
He pressed his lips to her forehead, muttering into her skin. "I love you too. You look absolutely beautiful tonight, sweetheart."
When they pulled apart, he gave her the roses, which were immediately taken by Ruby who hurried the two out the door.
They made their way to the restaurant side by side. They received several strange looks from those they passed on the street, but they paid them no mind. This was another bump in the road; another attempt to pull them apart but they would not let it. As they did with all things, they would face it together.