This is way longer than expected but hopefully you're not confused anymore! This is the backstory of what happened before Emma went into a magical sleeping coma. That will be in another chapter, so bare with me! Also through out the chapters Emma will start to get memories of her life and her family back. How she grew up, to getting married to Baelfire and so on. So this is just Rumple's story there's a little bit about Baelfire and Regina but not much. It's all important. Also they had jail back then. It was a thing.
There once was a man named Rumplestilskin. He was a cowardly man who tried to live outside his fathers shadow of being a man with little worth and little respect. As he grew up he got married and the couple lived a happy little life in a small cottage, outside a large village near the Enchanted Forest. With only a few friends and many enemies from his fathers reputation, it was hard to have a good and prospering life like Rumple imagined. He and his wife tried to make the best out of their life but Rumple seemed to hold a grudge over his fathers abandonment.
It wasn't until the Ogre Wars began that Rumple wanted to truly show that he was not his father. He quickly signed up and gleefully volunteered to be up at the front of the line during battle, even to his wife, Milah's dismay. For she was seven months pregnant with their first child. As Milah begged for Rumple to reconsider his choice in joining the army he was dead set on making their reputation better before their child was born.
However, before going into his first battle, Rumple got a letter from a friend who lived a few villages away. The letter stated that he had heard that there was a baby in Rumple's village that was apparently an orphan, for the mother had died during childbirth, he wanted to know if Milah was alright with the baby. Rumple assumed she was fine but sent a letter to her anyway hoping to get one back very soon. But not one letter from Milah came, panicking, Rumple wrote a lengthy message to their neighbor, a man who pitied Rumple and his wife.
To his horror he got a letter faster than he would have liked, it stated that it was Milah who died during childbirth and their son had been placed in an orphanage quickly after he was born, he was sent to another village somewhere south of the Enchanted Forest. His neighbor somehow knew that Rumple nor Milah had any other relatives that were living but he couldn't hold onto the baby because of health reasons that Rumple couldn't understand. It also said that he would have sent him a letter before then but he didn't know where Rumple was stationed. But sadly he did not know where the baby was, for he had been born at least 2 months after Rumples letter arrived. The neighbor was very sorry for his losses and wished the man well.
Rumple instantly felt numb. His whole body shook as he reread the letter. It wasn't until the third time reading over it that something inside him snapped. He memorized the last sentence and repeated it over an over again in his head.
His name is Baelfire.
Rumple instantly tore the paper up and started running from the camp ground that he was stationed in. He ran until he found his son, he searched in every village he came across for a baby named Baelfire.
He searched high and low for the infant, he even started going crazy looking in people's houses. He rummaged through bedrooms, kitchens, even outhouses looking for his little boy. But he did get caught and found himself in jail. For a year and a half he was in jail, every time he got out he was put right back in. He constantly vandalized many villages and almost killed many men for mocking him about finding Baelfire.
Once back in jail Rumple had gotten a new inmate. He was an old man that was a mystery to everyone. The mysterious man mostly sat in the dark and he never spoke to anyone except Rumple, he would sleep on the cold hard floor and mutter to himself everyday, in a corner of the closed in cell. In many months they had created a unique friendship where if anyone tried to physically harm them they would have each others back. But for those many months in jail Rumple was plotting to escape but didn't include his inmate. However his friend figured out his plan and became outraged.
One night while Rumple was laying in his cot he suddenly felt a throbbing pain in his leg. He quickly looked down and saw a knife being cut into his left leg; the mysterious old man was trying to kill him. Panicking, Rumple tried to get up but the man had pinned his body to his cot and he couldn't get up. Rumple instantly grabbed his forearms and tried to fight back as much as possible. Both men wrestled onto the floor in the dark and tried as humanly possible to not make a noise and wake anyone up. For if anyone found out what was going on the escape plan would never work and no one would get out of jail.
"Tell me the escape plan now, you trader," the man whispered harshly. Rumple kneed him in the groin and whispered, "Never, I'm getting out of here and finding my son!"
They wrestled around the tiny cell until Rumple twisted the man's right arm, making him loosening his grip and dropping the knife. Rumple quickly got out of his inmates hold and crawled over to the knife. As the man yelled in protest Rumple picked up the knife and stabbed him in the chest.
Once the man hit the floor he started to chuckle. "Thank you" he laughed as he looked down at the knife in his abdomen.
"What," Rumpled asked confused. He watched the man laugh even harder as he watched his own blood leave his body.
"I knew it would be hard to get someone to do my bidding but this was too easy."
Rumpled gasped as he felt a rush of power come over him. His skin started to turn colors and he was able to see things beyond his imagination. A dark spell seemed to come over him as he looked down at his once called friend."
"What did you do to me?" He spat.
"I think dark magic suits you Rumple, my friend."
"Dark magic, what are you talking about?"
His jail mate chuckled but quickly coughed in response. His breathing became heavy and his hands were shaking. He struggle but managed to touch the knife on his chest. "This is the Dark One's dagger," he pointed, "You were too much of a coward to actually kill me if I had told you who I was and what I could do." He coughed, "The Dark One is a very powerful creature. You can easily make people fear you. You can also manipulate people such as I did to you."
As the former Dark Once coughed one more time he whispered "Do hide the dagger, it is the one thing that can kill you. But thank you my boy, the curse is off of me and now onto you."
Rumpled looked dumbfounded at the man. He was now the Dark One? This couldn't be happening but then again he was very powerful now and he could get his revenge on anyone who made fun of him.
Rumple was interrupted from his thoughts when the man yelled "Rumple, one more thing you can find your son now with all that power that you possess but remember all magic comes with a price."
"What are you talking about?" He asked to the dying man but he drew in his last breath and died on the floor in front of him.
Without a second thought Rumple instantly tried to figure out his powers and broke out of jail, caring the dagger gently and killing anyone who tried to stop him. He did just what his former jail mate said, he used people and manipulated them to find his son Baelfire. He did finally find him when he was two years old. Rumple instantly knew that was his boy, he had his fathers eyes and his mothers smile.
He took Baelfire away from everyone and took over a giant castle in the mountains. Rumple believed if he isolated his son, they would grow up loving each other more and never having to be apart again. However growing up with a father who was the Dark One was very challenging for Baelfire. Rumple didn't know how to react when watching his son flinch when he would cast spells and do magic. He believed his son wanted to learn magic just like his father but Baelfire seemed to hate magic and wanted nothing to do with it. It troubled Rumple but he let it slide, the boy was with him and that's all that mattered but he didn't realized how miserable his son was. Baelfire had very few friends and could rarely go outside. His father would constantly say that the world was wicked and people everywhere wanted to destroy him and everything he loved. He tried to put on a good face for his father because he knew he loved him very much but it was hard to believe he was always this way. Bae started to wonder if his father ever was human before or if he was born The Dark One like he had told him.
One day Bae went outside to go play with a stick he had found in the forest. It was his twelfth birthday and his father let him go outside for thirty minutes, it was his birthday present and Baelfire couldn't be more happier. As he was playing through the woods he glanced up and saw a glowing blue speck of dust. Curious, he started following the speck until it started to talk.
He gasped and instantly ran behind a tree to hide. The little blue speck chuckled and whispered, "There is nothing to be afraid of, I am the Blue Fairy."
Baelfire peaked over and looked at the now small blue fairy, "What's a blue fairy?" he asked.
"Why I am a good fairy! I come and help people in need. Are you in danger young man?"
"No,"
"then why are you out in the woods?"
"It's my birthday and my papa let me come out to play," he said warily.
"Is that so? Well happy birthday! Would you like a wish to come true?"
"Oh yes!" Baelfire said, "Please!"
the Blue Fairy chuckled as she looked at the little boy, he was very innocent and adventurest, he might grow up to do great things, she thought.
"Well…I heard there are other realms, is that true?"
Shocked, the Blue Fairy stutter, "Well yes…how did you know?"
"My papa told me, I was wondering if I could go to one. For my birthday!"
The small fairy hesitated before waving her hands and making a small clear bean appear in the young boys hand.
"You must promise me that you will use this for good, is that understood young man?"
Baelfire looked at the bean in awe. He nodded quickly as he looked up and beamed at the little fairy in front of him.
"Alright young man now listen closely, this bean can only take you to one realm. Only one, but you can't come back here, you must use this wisely and you mustn't go alone."
"Yes ma'am! But…how do I use it?"
"Just throw it on the ground and make a wish."
Bae looked down at the tiny bean again, "thank you ma'am," but she was gone before he could say anything else. He didn't think much on the disappearance of the Blue Fairy, he was too busy coming up with a plan to go to another realm.
Baelfire thought he had an amazing plan! He would get to go to a new land with his father, and they could meet new people and everyone wouldn't be scared of his father or him. His birthday seemed to be like the best day ever until he told his father he ran into the Blue Fairy. His father was furious, he refused to let Baelfire finish his story and instantly banned him from ever going outside again. The only person he could talk to was his papa and no one else.
With tears in his eyes Baelfire yelled, "I hated you!" And with that ran to his room and slammed the door shut. He started to mumble about his birthday and how he just wanted to play outside, that's when Baelfire came up with a plan. He stopped and quickly rubbed his eyes and got the clear shaped bean from his pocket.
"Just throw it on the ground and make a wish."
Baelfire closed his eyes and threw the bean on the floor. The floor started to cave under as swirling green smoke started to rise. Baelfire was very scared, he didn't remember the Blue Fairy saying anything about this. Right as he was about to panic and run away he heard his father banging the door open. He turned to his father and saw his face of shock and anger. "GET OVER HERE NOW BAELFIRE," he screamed, "NOW, DON'T JUMP!"
"NO!" He yelled, "I don't want live in a castle alone anymore papa, lets go somewhere else!"
Bae watched his father panic as he yelled for him to get over to him. "No," he yelled, "I can't!"
But with little thinking Baelfire jumped into the swirling green smoke and disappeared from his fathers eyes.
"BAELFIRE," Rumple yelled, "BAE!" But the smoke cleared up and his son was gone.
Rumple didn't know what to think, he wanted to kill the Blue Fairy but couldn't for reasons that were not relevant at that moment in time. Instead he ran through the castle destroying every piece of furniture he could find. He tore curtains apart, broke every piece of glass in his house, dishes, cups, figurines, everything had to be destroyed.
Once he destroyed the whole castle he realized that his temper tantrum was getting him no where. He had to find his son again, but this meant he needed to use his recourses. For only the fairies held the key to the gardens where the beans grew. He needed magical beans to help him find his son. But he didn't know how, so he went to the man who was the Blue Farie's closest acquaintance.
King Leopold. After his wife was severely sick he relied on the Blue Fairy to help her but alas she had died and so the king was looking for a new queen or his daughter, Snow White and her husband Prince Charming, would be crowned King and Queen with their daughter, Princess Emma. Leopold knew he was getting old and that his years on the thrown were getting smaller each year. So Rumple disguised himself as a matchmaker, Mr. Wonka and tried to set the King up with another suitable woman.
It wasn't that hard to pretend to be a matchmaker, all Rumple had to do was lie and tell the King and his daughter how many royal's he had gotten together and they bought every lie he had told.
However Snow White's husband and daughter did not like him and were suspicious of him right from the start. But it didn't matter cause he got the job. However getting close to the King was harder than he thought it would, especially since a woman named Cora kept on coming to the castle and shoving her daughter in the King's face. It was nauseating for Rumple to watch but Cora knew dark magic just as much as he did and so they quickly became friends.
Rumple realized if he was going to be friends with Cora he might as well sleep with her too, it didn't really seem logical to him but he had needs and desires and Cora didn't care so life wasn't as bad as he thought. Until he witnessed Cora yelling viciously at her daughter for being worthless and not winning the King's hand. She even abused the women with spells Rumple didn't know could be used on a human. So after Cora left Regina lying on the floor of one of the many grand rooms in the King's castle. Rumple came over to Regina and took pity on her and offered to teach her magic secretly after her mother would leave every night. Regina was hesitant at first but once she thought of her mother using curses on her she quickly accepted the offer. She would be prepared for her mother's next attack on her.
Everything was going boringly smooth for Rumple for about a year, every woman he found for King Leopold, he would decline but still Rumple had a job, and then Regina would show up and attempt to flirt with the king, failing miserably. It was all going well until Cora found out about Regina learning magic from Rumple. During a birthday party for Princess Emma, Rumple and Regina were having a conversation when suddenly Cora appeared clutching Emma's throat. The crowd gasped as they stood frozen, watching the woman hold the young girl hostage.
"I'll snap her neck in half if anyone comes closer!"
"Mother, what are you doing?" Regina yelled, "Leave the poor girl alone!"
"this poor girl told me that she saw you and Rumple doing magic, is that true?"
Another gasp went through the crowd as all eyes turned to Rumple and Regina.
"He is teaching me how to defend myself mother," she barks, "So when someone tries to attack me I can protect myself."
"And why on earth would he do that?"
"Because I pity the poor girl dearie." Rumple stated, "all magic come with a price"
"What?" She asked, "Never mind. I know who you really are Rumplstilskin. And I know why you betrayed me, you're in love with my daughter."
"What?" Rumple barked, "You're mad, I would never love a woman who is terrible at magic."
"Hey!" Regina yelled, completely ignoring the royal families remarks on the subject.
"Well this little brat tried to get rid of me, apparently you don't like how I treat you sweet daughter, so you have little brats try and get rid of me for you?" She asked tightening her grip on Emma's throat.
"Let her go," Regian yelled, "She has nothing to do with this!"
Regina tried to walk up to her mother confidently but she tripped over someone's foot and threw her hands up and coincidently casted a spell at her mother. She didn't mean to turn her mother into a rabbit but Regina just went with it and and quickly casted another spell putting her mother in a cage. It almost seemed too easy, getting rid of her mother. She turned around to Rumple who looked at her as if she grew two heads. She quickly touched her head just incase she did cast a spell that made her grow two heads.
Once she calmed her self down she looked around at all the faces in the ballroom. Everyone was staring at her dumbfounded. Then all of a sudden a roaring applause came out of no where making Regina blush.
"Let's here it for Mr. Wonka and Regina, the magical sorcerer's who saved my granddaughter!" King Leopold yelled as everyone in the room began to cheer.
Rumple looked over at Regina, "But I didn't do anything-"
"Just go with it, I'll be damned if I'm going to be with these people by myself. They annoy me just as much as you." Rumple threw her a look, "What, I'm better faking it then you."
Soon after that Rumplstiskin and Regina became King Leopold's confidantes. Rumple didn't mind, one more step to getting his magic beans. However years past and it was hell being a confidante to the king. They would sit in important military meetings, get asked about the castle and if they should add more rooms. What colors to put on the dinning table, if they could teach magic to the guards, which of course they couldn't and even meetings on how to handle the rebellious Princess Emma.
Those meetings, Rumple hated the most. He didn't understand why her parent's didn't lock her up in her room in the first place. All she did was try and rip off every suitor's head that came in contact of her and yell that just because she was a princess doesn't mean she had to marry. Emma constantly tried to escape the castle grounds and always got caught. It was a disaster and Rumple was realizing his plan was failing and he was never going to get the magic beans, no matter how many times he asked about the Blue Fair to Snow White or even the King they would always act like they didn't know who she was.
He tried to get mad at them and burn their castle on fire but right before he planned on setting a match to the place one of the soldiers from the royal army came to him with a letter addressed to Charming. Since he wasn't at the castle at the moment Rumple was the next in line for mail, apparently. Irritated Rumple opened the envelope and found a letter from Aslan, the lion. Rumples eyes went wide as he read the letter, it said that the evil White Witch had captured a boy that Aslan took under his wing when he first arrived in Narnia. The boy seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. His name was Baelfire and the queen had captured him and had called to battle from Aslan. He needed help and he needed back up fast because most of his army was in Oz. There seemed to be war going on there with the land of Wonderland and time seemed to be running out. Rumple clutched the letter and quickly went to the King.
With the help of the King and Prince Charming, they sent many solders to help Aslan and found the boy. They tried to defeat the White Whitch but she vanished during battle and left Narnia entirely. Which gave Aslan time to help rebuild back his land so Charming went to go see how the boy was. He seemed important if a war was created just for him but he seemed to be severely abused and injured. Charming took him back to the castle immediately, for Rumple and Regina to heal him. Rumple immediately healed the boy and asked everyone in the room to leave and give him room to wake up. Once Bealfire woke up he saw his father and began to cry.
"Papa," he sobbed, "I'm so sorry!"
Rumpled began to cry as he hugged his son. "Oh Bae," he cried, "I'm so sorry too!"
None of them knew Snow was watching from the door and immediately made Baelfire stay at the castle with his father. Rumple was outraged she saw him and his son hugging but if it made his son stay at the castle then he realized it wasn't that bad.
Although having his son fall in love with the princess was completely different. He wasn't royal, she wasn't a peasant, their love was not meant to be and yet they fell in love. Emma begged her parents to let them marry. After all her grandfather had retired and her father was the king so he could make the final decision. And with many long talks they got married to Charming and Rumple's dismay.
Not even a year later she gave birth to their first child, a boy named Henry. Everyone was shocked but Bae and Emma had not a care in the world, for he became Kernel in the Royal Army and everyone seemed to love the Princess and her husband. There was one person who did hate her, Cora.
On the day of Henry's Christening Cora decided to show up and announce that she will destroy the kingdom and everyone in it, especially Bae and Emma's child. With that she left leaving everyone terrified.
She then reappeared and announced that she already defeated Aslan with her favorite daughter, Zeleana, and together, they would destroy each realm until they ruled all. Starting with the Enchanted Forest.
Once she was gone, Rumple and Regina started to plan a way to save the kingdom but Emma was convinced that Zeleana and Cora hated each other and if they didn't kill each other first then they should come up with a plan. Furious, Rumple started planning just incase. Emma might be the Princess but she didn't think much.
Twelve years past and nothing seem to happen. Except for the fact that Baelfire and Emma were not only expecting another child, but were now the King and Queen. Regina hated the fact that Emma was right about Cora, it didn't seem like her mother to just give up but on Henry's thirteenth birthday Regina was going to actually tell Emma that she was right, if only Rumple was there, but he was traveling, looking for something he wouldn't tell her. Something that would help them with the plan they were creating to help Bae and his family. However her thoughts were interrupted by the queen. She was going to announce the sex of her baby to Henry as one of his many gifts. He had been wanting to know since he found out his parents were pregnant but before Emma could utter a word a woman barged into the room. She was dressed in white furs and crystal's that elegantly draped around her like a dress.
"We really need to get a lock on that door," Emma muttered to her husband.
"My darling Baelfire," she purred, "why did you leave so sudden?"
Bae tensed as he looked at the pale woman. Chills ran down his spine as memories came flooding back to his teenage years.
"What are you doing here," he asked quietly.
"For you of course."
"Like hell," Emma barked. She tried to get up but her stomach wouldn't let her shoot up out of her seat so she wobbled up.
The White Witch looked startled, "And who is this?" She snapped, "One of your little whores?"
"How dare you talk to me like that in my kingdom!"
"I have no use for you or your little kingdom dear, I just want the man sitting next you, please."
"Over my dead body!"
"Emma…" Bae warned, "Don't tempt her."
"Well that can be arranged!"
"No!" Bae yelled, "I'm the one you want so don't you dare touch her."
"Is that a threat?"
"Do you want it to be?"
The fragile woman laughed, "Oh how I missed my little protege."
"I was never your anything! Now leave this place at once!"
The White Witch stopped and looked up at the couple emotionless. "I know who your father is Baelfire and that won't scare me away. Don't worry, if I don't get you Cora will." She sang as she disappeared. All that was left were snowflakes falling from where she stood.
Emma looked over at Regina, trying to look brave, "Send everyone home and get Rumple." She looked at her husband helplessly while clutching her swollen belly, "We need a plan, fast."