It's a warm day in Storybrooke – the kind that totally justifies a break from work at the library for milkshakes at Granny's.
"Who'd wanna categorise books on a day like this?" Ariel asks Belle as they walk down the sidewalk of the main street. The redhead has been helping to finally get the dusty old place up and running, with setback after setback having troubled its librarian on previous attempts. She gives her friend a look, but it breaks into a wide grin and subsequent laughter after only a moment.
They order the moment they walk in the door, taking two seats at the counter. Belle places a ten dollar bill on the counter, but her hand is quickly covered by the other girl's in protest.
"I've got it," Belle insists.
"You've always got it," Ariel teases, slapping her hand away and handing her own bill straight to Granny. Within minutes, each of them have their own cold, brightly coloured beverage to sip on contentedly. Absentmindedly, and with a somewhat frustrated expression, Ariel tries to scratch the skin beneath her thick, gold bracelet decorated with oceanic symbols.
"Must be a little annoying, having to wear that heavy thing all the time," Belle observes, wrapping her lips around the straw once more.
She shrugs. "Used to it, I guess. Much better to have it than not."
The brunette swallows thoughtfully, before frowning. "What's it like?"
"What's what like?" Ariel asks, bringing the glass all way up to her lips in a gutsy move and sipping, leaving a milky white mark around her top lip. Belle laughs and gestures.
"Being a mermaid." For some reason, she says it under her breath, like it's a secret.
"You should know – you've got enough books about us; anatomy, society, mythology …"
"That's not what I mean," Belle says. "I mean, what's it like to share that infinitely blue underworld with such amazing creatures? What's it like to be so graceful and beautiful and magical? What's it like to have the freedom that you do, going anywhere you like in all the seas, all the realms. I always wanted to see the world but that'snothing compared to the world you can explore. I can't even begin to imagine how amazing that would be."
"I don't get your fascination. I mean, I spent every day down there wishing I was one of you."
Belle shies away from it. "I was only curious."
A wave of guilt washes over the red-headed girl. "Come on. The books can wait. I've got an idea."
…
"You're sure this will work?" Belle asks with obvious hesitance. They stand knee-deep in the icy waters at Storybrooke's edge.
"Yeah!" Ariel replies enthusiastically. Then, she draws back. "Well, maybe. In theory. I don't know. Let's call it an experiment."
"An experiment," Belle echoes. "Okay."
"Look, it makes perfect sense. I take the bracelet off, my tail grows back. It should have the opposite effect on you if you follow basic logic."
"Normally, I'd be fine with that, except you got that bracelet from Regina. Rarely does she follow basic logic."
She does not get a reply from Ariel. She only feels movement at her side, and when she looks, she sees her friend sprawled out on the sand beneath them, the bracelet in her hand. A brilliant emerald tail replaces her legs and detailed purple cloth embroidered with tiny jewels preserves her decency.
"So much for 'graceful'," Ariel says dryly, rubbing her back, which is sore from the impact of her rather sudden descent. It may not have been graceful, but Belle cannot help but stare in wonder. "Don't look at me like that. Come on – you're not gonna let a sister swim alone, are you?"
With great care, she takes the bracelet and clips it onto her own wrist before squeezing her eyes shut tight, waiting for pain. She feels nothing, besides the thud of her body hitting the soft ground. She opens one eye, and Ariel throws her head back in laughter, victorious laughter.
"Look at you!" she exclaims. "You make a great mermaid."
And she's right. She does.
Her tail is not quite as long as Ariel's, but then again, neither are her legs. Her tail is also a brilliant shade of gold, shining magnificently in the sunlight. It has two delicate fins at the end which are almost transparent in the brightness of the day. Covering her chest is a garment like Ariel's but a sky blue colour that shimmers with tiny gems that look like water droplets. Belle's lips part in wonder and she stares at the transformation with wide, childlike eyes.
"That's … that's amazing!" she exclaims, laughing with glee when she successfully moves her new fins.
Ariel smiles with great anticipation before rolling over and diving under, slapping her tail against the surface of the water and splashing Belle. When she reappears, her auburn locks are drenched but the smile on her face is just as wide. "Are you coming?"
Soon, a gold tail and a green tail disappear, leaving nothing but ripples in their wake.
…
When she's not in her library and doesn't answer her phone, he tends to get a little worried. It's not that she isn't capable, it's just that she and trouble seem to have a magnetic connection.
Rumplestiltskin approaches the counter at Granny's with quiet footsteps, startling Granny herself with his presence.
"I didn't mean to startle you – have you seen Belle today?" he asks, in the kinder voice he uses when enquiring about his love.
"She was here for lunch with Ariel," Granny answers, tucking the pencil she uses to write down orders behind her ear. "That was about an hour ago. They ran outta here all excited. No idea where they went."
He tries to process this as best he can, before nodding politely in thanks and heading for the door.
"Mr Gold?" he hears a voice call. He turns to find two of the dwarves standing behind him. It is Happy who speaks to him now, with Grumpy at his side. "I saw Belle and Ariel down at the beach about a half hour ago. I think Ariel might have leant Belle her bracelet because … well …"
"Your girlfriend's a fish, Gold," Grumpy finishes for him, bluntly.
His eyes widen. "Excuse me?"
Happy takes a deep breath. "She's a mermaid."
…
Belle swims for hours, never tiring and hardly ever coming up for air. She revels in the feeling of the water gently caressing every inch of her skin, and the way she effortlessly glides and floats with every movement of her tail. The salt in the water does not sting her eyes and she uses that to her advantage, using every second to take in the infinite blue depths that surround her, searching for signs of life in the nothingness.
Under the water, she flips and spins and somersaults, and smiles at her friend whose hair is fanned out around her. They venture deeper and deeper and then search for the sun's guiding light and race to the surface. Before they know it, the sun is almost behind the horizon and they can't see it the deeper they go. With a sudden jerk, Belle swims towards the surface.
"What's wrong?" Ariel asks, following her.
"It's almost dark," she replies, pushing the dripping strands of hair off her face.
"So?" Her eyes are big and innocent as she speaks.
Belle purses her lips and looks at the sun, and then at the beach. "We should be heading back." Then, without another word, she dives into the water and starts swimming towards the shore.
…
Convinced that she is safe in Ariel's care – even if they are under the sea – Rumplestiltskin does not go looking for her all afternoon. However, they have dinner plans, so when dusk hits, he decides that he better track her down. Fortunately, it's not all that hard. The two brightly-coloured mermaid tails catching the sunlight do give it away a bit. He smiles when he catches sight of the golden scales – just like the dress she used to wear in their old land. He is little more than a reflection of the man he was then, but she hasn't changed a bit. Her heart is every bit as big, and she is every bit as loving, if not more.
He waits on the beach for her to swim back to shore, which she does almost immediately after he arrives. Ariel has an almost guilty look on her face when she spots him, but he does his best to make her know that she is not at fault.
"Hi, Rumple," Belle says cheerily, her head poking out of the water. "I'm not late, am I?"
"Actually, you're right on time," he replies. He is holding a picnic basket, which she eyes with a playfully suspicious expression before smiling at him. "Ariel, if you'd excuse us …"
Ariel shakes her head in surprise, having been admiring their lovebird-like exchanges. "Right. Sorry." She turns to Belle. "If you could just give me my bracelet?"
"Oh. Right. Here." Belle unclips the bracelet and hands it to her friend, immediately regaining the ability to stand vertically. Ariel soon follows, though she walks away from the other two, heading in the direction of the docks which would lead her back into the main part of town.
The would-be tail has dissolved into a scaly golden skirt that flares below the knee. The blue garment covering part of her torso stays the same, and Rumplestiltskin cannot help but take in the sight of her perfect, creamy skin. He can see the delicate curve from her neck to her shoulder, and the slight shape of her collarbone. He can see the swell of her breasts and the flat expanse of the stomach, and he wants nothing more than to kiss every inch of her.
"What are you looking at?" she asks with a mischievous smile. It's a pointless question; she knows what he is looking at.
"You make quite the mermaid." He opens the basket and offers her a thermos of soup.
"It was amazing – I had the whole ocean to explore, just me and Ariel and the water. I've never felt so free. It's so different to what I thought it would be. I mean, I've read about mermaids but I never imagined it would feel so liberating."
He feels a pang of guilt for a moment – his captivity of her all those years ago must have fuelled that flame. Silently, their eyes meet, and she leans up to kiss him, her hand on his neck, lips gentle on his own. When she pulls away, her gaze lingers on his mouth for a moment. And then the corner of her mouth moves upward.
"What was that for?" he asks, a little breathless.
"A whole ocean to explore and coming back to you is still the best feeling," she tells him. And it's true; exploration is one of her heart's greatest desires, but he is her home. She is where she belongs: on dry land with legs instead of a tail and Rumple by her side.
Although, she thinks, the occasional dip in the sea never hurt anybody.