I do not own OUAT nor any of its characters. I also do not own the original fairy tales that have sparked my imigination. Some of the characters in my story have already appeared in the show, but as this is an Alternative Universe story, my characters will lack some cannon consistency with the show. I apologize in advance for this, as I thought of this story before some of the characters appeared in their respective seasons.

Thank you to cynicsquest, my mother and friend, for betaing for me. I love you very much.

Chapter One: Worth Finding

Belle had given up retracing her steps months ago. Since being released from the curse that had kept her imprisoned in Regina's underground cell, Belle had been searching for her mother's locket. It was the only thing she had left of her. She thought it had been around her neck when she had escaped her prison, but she hadn't seen it since she'd been free. She had searched Rumpelstiltskin's house and pawn shop repeatedly. She had even visited her estranged father, Maurice, in hopes of finding her only treasure.

The locket in and of itself wasn't anything special. The gold held no real value, and it wasn't particularly pretty. It was oval and small flowers were engraved on its shell. The chain was just long enough to rest on her collar bone. But inside was a picture of a young woman with soft rounded cheeks, soft dark hair loose in ringlets about her shoulders, and a smile that was full of life. It had been taken when her parents were courting.

Belle decided her mother's locket must still be in the cell Regina had imprisoned her in for the last twenty-eight years. She didn't like the idea of returning there, but decided the locket was worth it. She waited for her husband, Daniel Gold, to leave for his pawn shop before crossing town to her destination. Mr. Gold was an intimidating man to most, but not to Belle. She still saw him as Rumpelstiltskin, a man who had made a series of bad decisions but was still worth saving. She knew better than to think she was his savior, but she loved him and had decided to be an example to him.

Belle descended the dark set of stairs leading to the hospital basement. In the aftermath of the curse, the now unused rooms were coated in a thick layer of dust which stirred with each step she took into the depths of the former mental ward. It didn't help that the knots in her belly were growing as she pushed forward, slowly taking in the scene before her. The absence of color was unsettling. The front desk was still in pristine order, not a paper or even a paper clip was out of place. The door to her cell had been shut after her escape. She cautiously opened it. Out of instinct she winced when it creaked. "No one is coming for you, Belle. Regina can't harm you. Rumpel won't let that happen." She entered her old room and surveyed its contents: a bed with a well used mattress and sheets, a sink with a single bar of soap collecting dust, and a latrine. "So much to search through," she thought. Getting down on her hands and knees, she looked all around the floor first. Next, she lifted the sheets from the mattress, and then the mattress itself. "How could it not be here?" Belle fought the anger rising in her throat.

Walking back to the front desk, she rifled through its drawers to see if the locket was there. There were pens, plastic cards with pictures, batteries, and flashlights. For containing so little, it sure was a big desk. Frustrated, Belle stood to leave when a dull flash of gray to the right caught her eye. She looked over to find a door whose knob was just visible in the light coming through the door she had left open atop the stairs. Belle retrieved one of the flashlights from the desk and went to investigate.

This door was different than the one to her cell: hers had a window that Regina used to peek in on her but this door was completely solid. She turned the knob and shown the light into its room. In it were shelves containing boxes filled with files and large envelopes. The first box to her left was labeled "R." Belle recognized some of the names on the files. She pulled the file labeled Ruby and opened it to find accounts of various whereabouts, men she had dated, and drawings of Ruby in a red cloak as well as drawings of wolves. Belle replaced the file and decided she would discuss this matter with Emma, the sheriff in Storybrooke. Belle looked for the box labeled "B" to find her own name. In it she found both her file and a large envelope with her name. Opening the envelope, she carefully reached inside and pulled out a delicate chain from which was suspended her mother's locket. Sighing in relief, she quickly put it around her neck and clasped the locket in her hand.

Her mother had died in childbirth with Belle, so she had never known her. But her father, Maurice, had often said she looked just like her and Belle loved knowing that she had that connection to her mother. Her maternal grandfather had said Belle had the same spirit as her mother. Her grandpapa would recall memories of his own daughter holding ropes for him on the pier, twirling in her Sunday dress, or reciting her lines for the school play. On more than one occasion, he had mistakenly called Belle by her mother's name. Belle had decided early on that if God ever blessed her with a little girl of her own, she would name her Alice after her mother.

The time Belle had spent with her beloved Rumpelstiltskin before the curse had been short. Regina had tricked her and kept her imprisoned in a tower for a little over a year. Belle had been concealed in a room with only one door leading into the hall. She had been heavily guarded in the event of Rumpel discovering that she was indeed still alive. Belle recalled that she never saw the sunlight during that year. More than once that had threatened to break her resolve. She would walk around her small cell either singing the nursery songs her nanny had sung to her or reciting Scriptures she had memorized. Both had given her comfort during her time of isolation.

Since breaking free from her cell and finding Rumpelstiltskin, Belle had tried to resume some normalcy in her life. Recently, she had found herself wondering what it would be like if she and Rumpel started a family. Of course, he was too concerned about keeping Regina in check and searching for his long, lost son Bae to think of beginning a new family. Still, Belle imagined what it might be like.

Their child would likely have brown hair, but whether they had blue eyes or brown would be anyone's guess. She personally hoped he or she would have brown eyes like her husband. She imagined herself singing sweet lullabies to her sleeping baby, having pretend sword fights around their blanket forts, reading bedtime stories every night, and having devotionals every morning before breakfast. Recently, Granny had been teaching her to knit and Belle had already mastered making a cap and a pair of booties.

Returning her attention to the storage closet she was in, she let her curiosity have reign and shown the light into the rest of the room. Regina was nothing if not orderly. Linens and hospital gowns rested inside a large metal cabinet. Neatly stacked totes were labeled with their respective contents, mostly hospital supplies. At the far side of the space, Belle spied a small statue. She could see that it was a statue of a very young child, but couldn't make out the features clearly, even with the aid of her flashlight. Abandoning her query, she picked up the statue and carried it out of the closet. Completely distracted with the found object, she walked right past a faint glow of red slipping through the cracks of a hollowed container. She ascended the flight of stairs and shut the entry door behind her.

Belle set the statue down in the hallway and looked at it in the light. The statue was of a two year old girl with chubby cheeks. Her eyes were looking up and her mouth was slightly parted. Both hands were stretching upward as though the girl had been begging to be picked up. Walking around the back side of the statue, Belle saw that the child had been given very long hair that reached to the ground, neatly braided and tied with a bow. Struck by how lifelike the little figure was, she felt compelled to draw it into her arms, to protect and nurture it. She was not a thief by any means, but decided Regina probably wouldn't miss the abandoned statue anyway. Belle carried the statue in her arms back across town to her home.

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He had been laboring since before dawn and most of the lumberjacks had already left for home. Still, Karl Glückmann couldn't pull himself away from his work. He didn't have much to look forward to at home anyway. His mother had her own set of chores to do around the house: tending the animals and garden, washing the clothes in the stream, and mending socks he always managed to wear holes in. Her cooking was filling albeit bland as she didn't care to waste her time with herbs. After dinner, Karl would wash up in the stream and go straight to bed, all to do it over again the next day. His life had become mundane.

His thirtieth birthday was quickly approaching, and he wasn't enthusiastic about it. What would be the point? He didn't have a wife to share in celebration with. The fair maidens in town had all shunned his proposals. Susanna, Felicia, Marie, and Claire had rejected him for his poor marks in school. Betsy, Charlotte, and Teresa had found him too brutish. The miller's and the butcher's daughters had both rejected him for being too poor. On and on the list went, until Emily Farnswarth had just been insulted for being asked last.

The sun began to show its last light when Karl decided it would be too dark to continue. He gathered his sack with bread crumbs, swung his ax over his shoulder and walked towards the winding river. It had been some time since he had walked home this way. He usually took the shorter route straight through the woods. The babbling brook beckoned him to linger a bit, so he set his belongings down and scooped the cool water up to his face. The splash of water was refreshing. He lifted the water to his face once more before taking a seat along the embankment to watch the sun bid farewell to the day she had shone over.

Slowly the stars began peeking through the night. Karl liked to think of the stars as little fairies that could come down and grant wishes. The moon was full tonight and a soft melody began to tickle Karl's ear. He was just about to leave when the most peculiar sight appeared across the river.

The Full Moon Festival was just beginning and not a fairy would miss it. Once each month, the fairies gathered from the farthest corners of the realm. Each fairy would wear her most ornate leotard and petal skirt with matching slippers. Fairies weren't known for having long tresses, but they would splay feathers in their hair and wear thick glittering eyeliner, blush, and lipstick. If she had children who had not yet come of age, she would nestle them inside a tulip, which gently rocked them to sleep. The Festival was held in the Enchanted Forest by the Moon River. As each fairy arrived at the festival, she would assume human size and then quickly greet her neighbor before taking her place along the forest's edge to join together in a well rehearsed and fluid dance.

First a few fairies emerged from between the trees simultaneously with arms slowly moving towards the sky. Their legs moved in elegant patterns as their skirts bounced and swayed. They joined hands, forming a circle and dancing around an empty center joyfully. A second set of fairies emerged from the forest and joined them, dancing in the opposite direction. One group after another they came until they had little room left beside the water.

Suddenly the song quieted to a low hum and the melody changed. Through the center of the trees came the most beautiful fairy of them all. Her dress was pristine white and longer than the other fairies' dresses. She wore pearls and the white feathers of a peacock lightly kissed with soft blue at its tips were pinned around her soft blond curls. Her face had been dusted with pearl glitter and her lips were the color of the pink oleander growing in his mother's garden. He had never before seen such a beautiful woman and he was captivated by her. Her dance was more somber and when she reached the center opening, the other fairies joined in her dance.

Karl longed to get a closer look at the white fairy and quickly made his way down the river to a shallow crossing point. Stealthily he snuck towards the dancing fairies until he found himself hidden in the tall grass a mere arms' reach from her. He waited until the white fairy was close enough to where he was crouched and reaching out his hand, he grabbed hold of the handkerchief tucked in to her belt sash. He quickly drew it close to him and waited to see if he had been caught. The white fairy hadn't felt the theft and continued to dance her way back to the center. Karl pulled the fabric up to his nose and smelled the intoxicating perfume of the Ireus flower.

Ignoring the ache beginning to grow in his belly after his long day's work, he settled against a tree to continue his vigil. The music began growing in speed and sound and the dance became more joyful. The White Fairy led the procession weaving around trees and under arms in a dizzying frenzy. As the music ceased the fairies sat down in the grass. Trumpets announced the Blue Fairy as she gracefully moved through the forest to the river. The ancient fairy had the undivided attention of those gathered and gave a gentle smile and nod in appreciation.

"Fae Sisters, welcome to the Full Moon Festival!" Shouts of excitement erupted from the crowd. "These festivals are always full of cheer and celebration, but tonight is especially wonderful. Our sister, Loraleis, has just come of age!" More shouts of cheer and jubilee. "From this night forward, the White Fairy may join us in granting fairy wishes so long as she retains her symbol of chastity and honor."

Karl thought the White Fairy was lovely before, but now her face was beaming! Oh, how lovely she was with a smile.

"Well, Loraleis, do you have your handkerchief?" Reaching her hand to the sash she wore around her waist, Loraleis expected to find her heirloom. Her smile changed to a look a puzzlement. Had she dropped it?

"I'm sure it was on my sash, Blue Fairy."

"Ladies, look around. She must have dropped it during her dance."

A murmur broke out through the crowd.

"Oh please, find my handkerchief," the desperate fairy pleaded as she began to retrace her steps.

Unsure of what this meant and not wanting to be spotted, Karl decided it was time to leave. He quickly and quietly began moving through the trees back to the point of crossing. Loraleis found that her legs began working against her and she found herself walking in a new direction, an area she hadn't yet checked. Thinking at first that her handkerchief was drawing her in, she stopped resisting. On she walked across the grassy glade of the fae festival and into the shadows of the forest. When it became apparent that her legs were taking her past the area she had danced in, however, Loraleis became frightened. "What's happening to me?"

Blue Fairy stood quietly for a moment before calling out, "Another destiny has been chosen for you. You must follow it."

Tears began streaming down the White Fairy's face as fear and confusion set in.