Chapter 1

The woman stepped inside the Pawn Shop with a heavy heart inside her chest and the weight of the world over her shoulders. She could feel the rough texture of the paper inside her hand while her thumb kept stroking it in a mechanical way.

The ancient books, the toys, the furniture… all looked the same and all looked different at the same time…

The smell of alcohol still lingered in the air… mixed with the sweet scent of the potion…

And, then, suddenly, like a wave invading the shore, she felt a sob emerge from her throat and her legs buckle under her body, crashing against the floor in a messy ball of blue and brown. It was like her frame couldn't stop the shivers rocking her from side to side… The tears kept cascading down her cheeks, while she tried to hug herself and stop the pain. It was much worse than when he expelled her from the castle… It was so much worse than when he lied to her about magic…

"Rumple…" Belle whispered and, looking up, saw his… no, their chipped cup. She extended her arm and gripped it with trembling fingers. Bringing the cold porcelain against her lips she kissed it, like she could reach her loved one with that simple gesture.

She still remembered how his skin felt against hers after their kisses... How he cried into her body while the world around them started ruining… How they forgot everything around them, losing themselves into each other. Their love making was punctuated by grief, sadness, but relief at the same time, relief for being together, relief for dying together as themselves and not some cursed characters, knowing what true love really felt like. And then, everything stopped and Rumple looked around, surprised, telling her he could feel the magic again… returning from that vacuous space. He dressed quickly and leaving her in the back of his shop, under a quilt, he opened the door to see the forest receding and Storybrook returning to his normal splendor.

"What happened?" Belle asked, when he pushed the curtain aside and walked towards her.

"Emma did it…" he said simply, with a hint of pride for the woman he saw as perfect for his son.

"Storybrook is safe…" Belle whispered, getting up and grabbing the clothes discharged on the floor. She eyed them with a bit of disdain, but being the only ones she could use she refrained herself from saying anything.

However, Rumplestiltskin was an observant man and noticing her discomfort, fetched from a closet a blue coat, much more to her nature than the flimsy dress. She smiled and brushing her hair into a careful ponytail, took the coat and put it on.

"We have to find them…" Rumplestiltskin said, giving his arm for her to take.

Belle didn't have to ask, she understood that, right now, the man that called himself the Dark One needed to have some kind of connection with his son, even if it was through Baelfire's son and the woman he truly loved.

"How I wish you weren't such an overprotective fool…" she sighed, sitting against the counter and wrapping her arms around her legs and her chin resting over her knees.

I'm going to cry all I have to cry tonight, I'm going to bawl my eyes out and despair and tomorrow, when the sun comes up, I will be the brave Belle, the one that defeated a flaming beast, the one that Rumplestiltskin was proud to love and cherish! Belle thought, nodding with each thinking word. And then, she broke and her only companion through the agonizing night was their memories, even the ones he shared with Lacey, because, even if her cursed self was nothing like her and her actions were contrary to her own beliefs, there was something in those moments missing from Rumples' eyes and with a sad feeling she realized it was true love… Yes, he had attraction for Lacey, she could remember the lust in his eyes, however, Lacey was not Belle, and it was Belle that Rumpelstiltskin loved, it was Belle that he gave a library to in both worlds, it was Belle that he shared teat with, it was Belle that saw him cry for his son and that cried with him, it was Belle… it was Belle that broke his curse and showed him what true and pure love felt like… Yes, she would cherish the memories as Lacey, because they showed her how much she could lose and how easy it was to fall towards the easy path.

Yes, tomorrow she would the brave thing…

But now, all she could do was close her eyes and surrender to a dark abyss.

Our strong Belle will be back, but I wanted to show how she put a mask for Rumple's sake and then, alone, as the brave person she is, she faced her fears.