Belle woke up the next morning, disoriented, confused, and most decidedly alone. She had to take a moment to think of why that was unexpected, the previous day's events coming back to her rather slowly. And then she remembered falling asleep with Rumplestiltskin curled up tightly against her naked body.
She knew she should feel shame at that. She had had it drilled into her head that her maidenhead, her virginity, was a precious commodity and that it was to only be given away to her husband. The magic had, of course, decided she was married to Rumplestiltskin, but she was sure that one would not hold up in her village.
Not that it would matter, really. She was certain she would be shunned for simply making a deal with the Dark One. Living with him all of these months, even as her people's savior, would no doubt make her tainted in the eyes of her people. They weren't a superstitious lot by nature, but the Dark One was something they often frightened their children with when they were misbehaving, terrifying stories that had sent more than one child running to their parents' bedroom in the middle of the night.
She wondered what the villagers would say if they knew that the Dark One was a conscientious lover. The thought made her smile.
At least it did until she remembered that sometime during the night he had crawled off, coward that he was.
"Rumplestiltskin?" She rolled over, sat up, and looked about the room. He was not in the seat by the fireplace where she thought she might find him. He was not standing at the window. The room was completely empty, save for herself. The fire was still blazing, the room still comfortable. She was dressed now. She didn't remember getting dressed, but she could well imagine Rumplestiltskin leaving her in her nightwear when he departed. It was a kind gesture, even if she would have preferred to wake up exactly as they had fallen asleep.
The previous night had been glorious. Belle had never spent much of her life thinking about what such intimacy was like. Oh, she was curious to some degree. But she had fully expected to be married off to Gaston and be forced to endure his affections for the sake of children. She had not imagined sex to be enjoyable and she certainly hadn't imagined it coming about quite like this.
But she had never exactly been normal, had she? The people of her village considered her odd. Even her own father found her rather unusual. And perhaps worst of all, there were times Rumplestiltskin stopped what he was doing, cocked his head, and gave her that look. The one that told her he was flummoxed by her.
She wondered what he would think of her now.
Belle sighed. It seemed that she was going to have to go in search of Rumplestiltskin. He had wanted to leave last night, had seemed sure she was happy to be done with it. He had wanted to wipe her memories, take it all away from her so that they could return to how things always had been.
She had refused.
She would always refuse
Her life was her own and she had made the choice to be with him. Magic or no, she had wanted it for far longer than she could comfortably admit to herself. And so here they were, stuck in the middle of something. Feelings muddled, attraction acknowledged. By her at least, though she didn't think he could ignore his own. Male attraction was, after all, somewhat less elusive than female attraction.
Shaking those thoughts from her head, Belle quickly got dressed, finger-combing and braiding her hair as she rushed down the steps to the Great Hall. The tea set was still where they'd left it and she blushed, remembering how everything had begun. She tried not to glance at the puppets. Knowing they were people made them that much more horrifying. And knowing that they had been the witnesses to their strange marriage was really leaving her feeling a bit off about the whole thing.
She turned away from them, kept them out of her line of sight. Some things were better off not thought of at that moment. The tea set. She could think of that. She could clean up the spill, put things back where she had found them just one day ago. She approached the tray and scattered cups still left on the ground, the teapot broken in two pieces, shards of glass still embedded in the carpet. Had it really been just one day ago that this all had begun? She felt like a different person than the one who had served that same tea the morning before.
"Don't touch that." She stood up suddenly from where she had begun to crouch down to pick up the broken pottery.
"Rumple." She couldn't help the smile that broke out on her face. She wasn't sure if he would come down today or if he would stay hidden in some unknown corner of the large castle.
"I…" He paused, one hand making strange gestures in the air. "I need to examine that."
"You want to know how it got here."
He nodded. "Yes. But more importantly, I want to know why." He sounded angry and Belle flinched slightly. His face was impassive as he met her eyes. "The fairies have always sought to remove the Dark One from their midst. I have been subjected to attacks on occasion. But never have they attacked an innocent before."
Belle didn't dare say what was on her mind. Perhaps she wasn't so innocent as all that. She had agreed to go with the Dark One, after all. And not just to protect her people, she was somewhat loath to admit. That was the main reason, but there had been a part of her, a small part of her that she had kept buried, that she knew went with him for the adventure's sake. She had seen in him a sort of kindred spirit. When he named her as his price, the decision was easy. She would get what she wanted, protection for her people and a new life, and he would get…well, something. She never did quite understand why he had named her as the price. Someday, perhaps, she would get to the bottom of that particular mystery.
"Belle?"
Her head shot up. His voice sounded strange, a little hollow, laced with…was that concern? "Yes?"
"Are you alright?" She couldn't quite manage to hide the smile that crossed her face from him.
"Yes."
"And you're not…sore?" He made an odd gesture with his hand as he spoke, a bit of a nervous tic she'd begun to notice he had.
"Sore?"
He nodded slowly. "Yes…after…"
"Oh." Her hand came up to cover her mouth. She felt…well, she wasn't quite sure exactly how she felt this morning. She felt different somehow, as if the world had changed around her. She had experienced things she never thought she would, once she decided to come with Rumplestiltskin, and while it didn't change her, it did seem to alter her perception of the world just slightly. "I'm not sore, no. Not really. I ache in muscles I didn't know I have, though."
He gave a short bark of laughter. "Always honest, my Belle." He shook his head. "Then I shall leave you to your day."
He turned to leave and Belle stepped forward, placing a hand on his upper arm. He froze as she did so. He always froze, as if he were simply not used to any sort of human contact. She had thought that after last night, perhaps he would be more comfortable with her. But no. It appeared that he wasn't. She withdrew her hand almost as soon as she made contact. "Where are you going?"
His eyes met hers briefly, then slid away. "I need to find out what did this to us. And if there will be any lasting effects…"
"Lasting effects?" That sounded worrisome. "Such as?"
He sighed. "Just…let me find out if there…"
"I want to know."
"I don't know." The words exploded out of his mouth and Belle took a step back. Rumplestiltskin was a man of dark moods, but she had never seen his anger directed at her before. Oh, she had brought out frustration in him, a bit of ire now and again. But anger? He seemed to reserve that for those who came to him with demands and for the Queen, a woman she knew only by reputation and Rumplestiltskin's aggravated mutterings after he met with her.
This wasn't how she imagined the morning going. She had hoped for soft touches, for a repeat of the previous night's activities. "I'm sorry. I'll just leave you to your work then."
She didn't glance at him as she turned and walked away. Sometimes it was easier to simply leave him be. She tried not to hear the sigh that came from him moments before he disappeared in a whisper of magic.
Belle had tried to find ways to occupy herself during Rumplestiltskin's long absence. First she had gone back to her room, intending to set it to rights, but could do little there besides think of what had happened the night before. The bed was still a mess, though she noted a distinct lack of blood on the sheets. She had always been led to believe it would hurt, that her husband would tear through her maidenhead and she would bleed. They had told her it was not to be enjoyable for the woman. It was her duty. Instead, she had discovered pleasure and no pain. How was it the man they deemed a monster knew these things while those who considered themselves the best of humanity did not?
She had sat down briefly, hand running over the wrinkled sheets, before deciding that this would definitely not do. She had felt the familiar rush of heat and knew she'd spend the day imagining their next encounter.
And Belle was determined there would be a next one. She didn't know how. She wasn't exactly trained in the art of seduction, after all. But she knew she wanted another time. And hopefully wanting it would be enough.
That was, if she could find him.
By midday, he still hadn't shown himself. Belle was coming to the realization that if she wanted to talk to him she would have to seek him out. Belle had never been one for shrinking away in fear. She faced her problems head-on. And it seemed, at the moment at least, that Rumplestiltskin was her main problem.
He was hiding.
She had no doubt of it.
Something in the way he had acted toward her during their brief morning encounter made her certain of that fact. He had been unusually taciturn. Not that he hadn't been so on occasion, but lately he had been warming up to her and after the previous night's events, she thought he would have warmed up even further.
Instead he'd shut down. She should have expected it of him, really. But she had hoped…well, it was no matter now. She would have to draw him back out, try to right things between them.
Treading carefully up the many steps to the tower room she was sure he occupied, she tried to keep her thoughts in order. Serve him tea. Ask if he needs help. Stay away from other topics. She wished it were really that simple, but she knew him better than that. She had wanted layers. She had wanted a mystery. It seemed she had gotten both in abundance.
If she hadn't been holding the tea tray, she would have knocked. But by now Rumplestiltskin was used to her comings and goings and so she shoved the heavy door open with the toe of her shoe and pushed her way in. He was seated at the same table he had been sitting at the day before, when he had found out what the curse was and together they had discovered what it would take to break it.
It seemed a lifetime ago.
He didn't look up as she entered and so she stood, rather awkwardly really, just inside the door, tea tray in hand. When a few moments had passed, she finally spoke. "Tea?"
His head shot up and his eyes focused on her. The look he gave her was inscrutable and after a moment he went back to whatever it was that he was reading.
Belle strode forward and set the tray down on his table, perhaps a little harder than was necessary. His eyes flashed upward to meet hers again, his lips drawing together in a tight line.
"Tea?" Belle said again, brightly. She smiled, a great big smile that felt almost awkward on her face.
"No."
"But I've brought it all this way."
"Then you'll just have to take it back downstairs again." There was a hard edge to his voice that left her slightly uncomfortable. She hadn't heard that particular note in a long time, not since she had resided in a dungeon and he had attempted to frighten her.
"Rumple…"
"Belle." The word sounded more like a threat than simple exasperation.
"I thought after…"
"After what, Belle? After I defiled you? After you were forced to endure my affections?" He turned away on the last word, his lip curling up in a slight sneer.
"Is that how you see it? Truly?" Her memories of the night before were slightly hazy, but force was not involved. For a moment he watched her, his eyes hooded. She could see nothing in their depths, nothing that told her of how he was feeling. She took a step closer and he turned away from her again. "Rumplestiltskin…"
"Belle please. I need to concentrate." He didn't even look up at her as he spoke, though she was sure that he wasn't reading a word on the page either.
After a moment, she sighed. "If that's the way you want it…" She let the words trail off, hoping that he would respond, hoping that he would at least be willing to set aside whatever he was working on and have tea with her. But he didn't move, just kept staring downward at the page like he had been turned to stone.
Finally, Belle turned and left the room, left him with the tray and teapot and the two cups. She didn't usually take the easy route, and leaving was certainly the easier one, but sometimes it seemed to be in her best interest.
He would talk if…when…he was ready.
Belle wasn't prepared for what she found in the Great Hall. She expected quiet, solitude. She expected it to be empty, seeing as how she and Rumplestiltskin were the only two people who lived in the castle. But it wasn't.
Flitting about the Great Hall, for that was the only way she could describe the movement, was a woman. She had her back to Belle, rather sickeningly pink dress flaring about her hips as she moved, auburn hair piled high atop her head.
Belle watched her for a moment as she moved frantically around the room, leaning close to many of the objects Rumplestiltskin kept in the Great Hall, but never coming close enough to touch them. As she moved nearer to the woman, Belle could hear her murmuring something, words too quiet for her to actually make them out.
"Can I help you?"
The woman turned toward her with a slight squeak, hand held up to her mouth. "I didn't think anyone was here."
"The castle is occupied," Belle pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I…" The woman paused for a moment, eyes wide. "I didn't think I'd find anyone here but the Dark One."
Belle let out a small laugh. "And so you thought to break in and take whatever you wanted? That he'd just let you go when he found you here?" It wasn't all that long ago that she had had to free his last prisoner. There had been none since, but one had to be ridiculously stupid or desperate to break into the Dark Castle. She wondered which this woman was.
"Oh no. No. I'm not looking to steal anything." She glanced around the room quickly. "I need to get something back."
"Back?" She narrowed her eyes, studied the woman as she resumed her flitting about the Great Hall, obviously far more concerned with what she was trying to find than she was with Belle's discovery of her. "He doesn't let people go back on deals."
"It wasn't part of a deal," the woman shot back. She sounded annoyed.
"Then?" Belle strode across the room and stood directly in the woman's path. The other woman's eyes came up to meet hers and Belle gasped. "You're a fairy." She didn't know why she didn't realize that right away. The way she moved, the dress. She had forgotten fairies could take human form, but there was a certain glow to their skin, a look in their eyes, that still gave them away.
"I'm Nova." The fairy nodded quickly and stepped around Belle, continuing her strangely frantic search.
Belle's eyes widened as she realized what she must be looking for. "This is your fault." The words came out perhaps a bit harsher than she meant, but everything she had gone through, from the wonderful highs of the intimacy to the lows of Rumplestiltskin's shutting himself off from her, at least made it understandable.
Nova turned back to her and she could see the fear in her eyes. "Oh Gods…you found it?"
"We more than found it." Her lips tightened as she watched the fairy cringe.
"Oh…oh no. You didn't…"
"It was with the tea things."
"And so you…"
"Drank it, yes." She didn't need to go into details, assumed the fairy was smart enough to make the connection. She watched as she glanced around the room, her eyes falling briefly on the frightening puppets that had been their "witnesses."
"Oh…but…then how…" Her voice trailed off and Belle simply narrowed her eyes at her. "Oh."
Belle let that sink in for a moment, refusing to go into any more details of what ending the curse had entailed. She didn't think the fairy needed to know all the details. After some moments of silence, Belle finally managed to ask the one simple question that had been on her mind ever since first discovering the curse. "Why?"
"Oh," the fairy said again.
Belle rounded on her. She wasn't particularly known for her temper, but she also wasn't known to be the most mild-mannered woman when something had really raised her ire. And this did. Not because what it had resulted in. She had been truthful when she told Rumplestiltskin the fairy curse wasn't the only reason she wanted that to happen. But it had driven a wedge between them when she felt they were finally getting comfortable with each other. He was up in the tower, even now, trying to find out how it had come to the castle and why.
"Why would you do this to us? To me?" Belle's voice was loud in the large room.
"I didn't." Nova's voice sounded dejected, perhaps even ashamed.
"But…"
"It wasn't my fault. I didn't intend for this to happen. She said to hide it." Her voice was getting increasingly anxious and she started to move about the room again, wringing her hands and glancing over her shoulders at Belle every once in awhile.
Belle followed and reached out a hand to place it on the fairy's shoulder. "Stop. Please just stop." This was all starting to get to be just a bit much for her. Curses and unwilling brides and grooms and fairies and Rumplestiltskin's reticence. It was all just too damned much. "Sit," Belle said, pulling out one of the chairs at the large table. There were only two there. Once, long ago, there had been one. Hers had appeared a few weeks after her arrival, a silent addition to the room that she knew was put there to make her feel more welcome. Rumplestiltskin never said anything about it, of course, but she knew nothing happened in his castle without his doing it.
Nova did as she asked, but didn't stop fidgeting, her hands weaving together over and over again, making strange patterns across the wood. In some ways it reminded her of Rumplestiltskin and his nervous tics, the way he rubbed his fingers together when he seemed especially anxious, the way he spun straw into gold whenever he needed to forget something. She pushed the thought from her mind after having a small internal laugh over it. Rumplestiltskin would not appreciate being compared to a fairy.
Belle waited for the fairy to look up at her and when she refused to, when her eyes kept following the patterns her hands made on the dark wood of the table, Belle sighed. "How is this your fault?"
With a small squeak, the fairy finally looked up at her. Her eyes were filled with fear, tears just reaching the corners. "I'm not sure I should say…"
"I will not let him hurt you." Belle had no real way to guarantee that, of course. Rumplestiltskin was angry and an angry Dark One could be a frightening thing. But she had faced down his anger before, had stopped him from acting out some nefarious plan born of his rage. She could do it again.
"It's not him I worry about."
Belle's eyebrows shot up. "I really think you should tell me everything. Perhaps Rumplestiltskin could protect you…"
The fairy gave an indelicate snort, hands moving faster over the wood as she did so. She ducked her head slightly, eyes downcast. "Blue told me to hide it."
"The curse?"
The fairy nodded. "She said 'Hide it somewhere dark, somewhere out of the way, somewhere no one will ever find it.'"
"And so you hid it here?"
"She said somewhere dark…"
Belle's eyes widened. "Did you really think she meant the Dark Castle?"
Nova shook her head, her eyes still downcast. She looked miserable and for a moment Belle felt sorry for her. At least she did, until she remembered all that the fairy's mistake, if it were indeed a mistake, had caused.
"It was the darkest place I could think of."
Belle shook her head. "The Dark Castle."
The fairy nodded, looking forlornly at her hands. "It's a dark, dark place inhabited by a solitary being. I never considered he might have a…" She looked up at Belle.
"Maid," Belle finished for her. "I was his maid…before…"
"Right."
For a moment both were silent. "Now I don't know what I am." Belle's voice was small as she spoke.
"Oh this is all my fault," Nova exclaimed, laying her head down on the table.
"Don't be so dramatic. All you did was leave a curse here. You weren't…affected…by said curse." Belle raised an eyebrow as the fairy looked back up at her.
"And when Blue finds out what I've done, that the curse was used to bind an innocent woman to the Dark One, I will be cast out." Her fidgety hands plucked at the pleats of her skirt.
Belle started. "Cast out? For a mistake?"
Nova nodded sadly. "She will take my wings and banish me. She has done it for lesser offenses."
The teary-eyed Nova put her head back down on the table, another dramatic gesture Belle was beginning to find grating. Belle leaned back in her chair, worrying her lip with her teeth, watching the fairy carefully.
Finally Belle found the words she was searching for. "Then we'll just have to get it back without the Blue Fairy finding out what has happened."
Nova lifted her head off the table, her watery eyes holding hope. "We can do that? You'll just…let me get away with what I've done to you?"
Belle took a deep breath and reached out a hand, placed it over the fairy's. "You caused nothing to happen that was not going to anyway." She knew her face was far too serious, but there was a truth to her words, one she was even more certain of now than ever. She and Rumplestiltskin had been growing closer, their lives becoming entwined. She had been touching him more often, sometimes without even thinking about it, and his reactions had become less those of a skittish wild animal and more those of a man who welcomed the bit of affection she showed him.
It took a moment for the words to get through to Nova. "But he's…"
"The Dark One, I know."
Nova just shook her head. Belle didn't expect her to understand. She didn't expect anyone to understand. She wasn't even sure she entirely understood it herself.
Belle stood, offering her hand to the fairy. "Come then."
Nova allowed Belle to draw her to her feet. "Where are we going?"
Belle gave her a somewhat sheepish look. The fairy wasn't going to like this. And neither was Rumplestiltskin, though she tried not to think on that for the moment. "We need to retrieve your curse." Nova stared at her, eyes wide. "But there's just one problem. It's with Rumplestiltskin."
Nova's hand gripped hers hard as Belle turned away, dragging the fairy in human form along behind her. She would have to face up to him if she wanted to escape the Blue Fairy's wrath.
Belle left Nova in the hallway outside of Rumplestiltskin's tower room. It was easier that way. Approach him first, explain the situation, then bring in the fairy. If she even needed to. Her hope was that he would hand over the jar of fairy curse and let the whole thing go, give them a chance to get back on an even keel.
But she knew him better than that, which was ultimately why she left Nova behind. Rumplestiltskin was not always the easiest man to get a read on. His eyes hid his feelings far too well. She had been getting some idea of what went through that quick-thinking mind of his, before all of this. But now she felt like she was back to square one. He had been closed off that morning when he came down, already impeccably dressed, his armor against the world.
She entered quietly, stopping to study him. Bent over one book, unruly hair hanging down over his eyes, he was scribbling something in a second book, occasionally waving his hand over the jar containing the fairy curse. She found him fascinating to watch, the graceful movement of his wrist and hand, the slight flamboyance to the gestures that seemed unconscious. He was one of showmanship and it seemed that even when left alone, some of that came through. She wondered if it had always been a part of him or if it was something that happened after living such a long life.
He finally set down his pen. "What do you want?"
Belle stepped back slightly, as if his harsh words had actually been a physical force. "Rumple…"
"Didn't I tell you I needed time to study this?"
She narrowed her eyes on him, not even bothering to hide her anger. "Oh yes. You did. Unfortunately for you…" She slammed her hand down in the middle of the book he was reading. "I know the answer. And you do not."
For a moment the sorcerer stared up at her, eyes slightly narrowed. Belle couldn't help the smirk that crossed her face. "I highly doubt that," he finally responded with, looking back down at the book that her hand was still holding down.
"Really?" She raised one eyebrow.
"I know magic. And you do not." The words were an echo of hers. "I've been studying this all morning and have found nothing. Therefore…" He let the words die out with a small wave of his hand.
Belle moved the hand that wasn't holding down the book to briefly touch his, just a fleeting touch ghosting across the oddly colored skin on the back of his hand. He ceased moving in that moment, stopped and finally met her eyes fully. Her eyebrow was still raised, a slight smirk still on her face. His eyes were wide and slightly unfocused.
"Belle."
And she couldn't decide if her name was an admonishment or a plea.
"Rumplestiltskin, please…come sit down." He hesitated for a moment, before doing as she asked, moving slowly to the small couch that he kept in his tower room. He sat down, back ramrod straight, hands clasped together in front of him. Belle sat near, but not too near. She didn't dare touch him again. The news…well, she knew that it would not be welcome.
"It was an accident," she began with.
"An accident," he repeated, sounding the words out slowly.
Belle nodded. "Yes."
"Someone just accidentally left it in the Dark Castle. Just…what? Stumbled in and left it sitting with the rest of the things you use for tea? Belle this really is…"
Belle cringed at the flat tone of his voice. "It's not. Rumplestiltskin, listen to me." She reached out a hand as if to touch him, but stopped just before she did. "When I…"
"Wait."
"What?"
Rumplestiltskin cocked his head to the side, a strange motion that reminded her of a curious dog. And then he did something even more curious. He reached out and grabbed one of Belle's hands. It was rare for him to touch her first. Even during their encounter the night before, Belle had been the one to initiate things, to give him permission to touch her. But now he held her hand lightly in his, pulling it up and further into the light.
"There's a fairy here." His voice was dark when he spoke, a brittle sneer that she hadn't heard in a long time, a tone she had hoped to never hear again. Truth be told, he had seemed off since the whole thing had happened. He had been so open with her the night before, willing to cross boundaries, to touch and be touch. But not today.
"There is."
He released her hand and stood suddenly and as he stalked toward the door, Belle saw just a glimpse of the feared Dark One everyone else saw. She well remembered the stories, the rumors. She had grown up with them, frightened into submission with threats of the Dark One coming to take her away. He stole babies, they told her, did nefarious things with their corpses. He was a shape-shifting demon, an incubus, everything that was wrong and terrible in this world. And yet she had found him little more than a man.
She called his name just as he flung the door open with nothing more than a brush of his hand. "Ah, and what do we have here?" His voice had gone high-pitched and nasal. No longer the voice of the man she cared for, he was all Dark One at that moment. Belle had almost…almost…forgotten this side of him. It had seemed another life when he had shouted her down and dragged her on a carriage ride into the middle of a forest in order to kill a man who he considered nothing more than a common thief. He had backed down. And everything had changed.
Nova let out a small sound of surprise as she found herself in Rumplestiltskin's grip. He dragged her into the room, spun her around and let go of her. Unsteady on her feet, Nova nearly fell backward until Belle rushed to her and helped her stand.
"I thought you said he would understand." Nova's eyes were wide and she could see the fairy shaking slightly.
Belle shook her head. "I never said that."
"Oh no, my little maid would never say such a thing. She knows better than that." Rumplestiltskin stalked forward, pushing between Belle and Nova, separating the fairy from the only person willing to protect her.
"You know that's not all I am, Rumplestiltskin." The words she spoke were quiet.
He turned away from the fairy. "Oh no. Now thanks to this creature you are indeed so much more." He pointed at Nova as he spoke, two quick jabs that accompanied the words. "Shall we spread rumors of the Dark One's whore?" He leaned closer to Belle, his wide eyes slightly manic.
"I'm not…"
"The young maiden that was defiled because she was stupid enough to be caught in his trap? Is that what you want to be known as? You have become everything I never planned for you to be."
"What did you plan for me to be, Rumplestiltskin? You locked me in a dungeon. Was that all you meant me to be? Another prisoner?" She crossed her arms across her chest and raised one eyebrow.
"Of course not," he snapped at her, turning away suddenly and fixing his gaze once more on the fairy. "So you…"
Nova backed up a few paces until she came up against the table and she could move no further. Her frantic eyes met Belle's and Belle could well imagine how frightening Rumplestiltskin must look in that moment.
"Rumple, don't. Please." Belle rushed forward and grabbed his arm.
He shook her off and raised a hand. Nova flinched back and Belle reached for his hand again, grabbing his arm and spinning him around. She caught both his hands in hers as she did so and met his eyes. Wills clashed for just a moment and then, finally, the fire went out of him. He slumped, just the tiniest bit, almost unnoticeable, but it was enough for Belle to know she had won. "Belle, she…"
"It was an accident, Rumplestiltskin." She held up a hand when he started to talk and he fell into silence once more. "She hid it here because she thought it would remain out of sight. There are so many magical objects here. Would one more be noticed?"
For a moment he simply stared at her and then finally, ever so slowly, he shook his head. "But you…"
Belle smiled and for a moment all the sadness she felt over Rumplestiltskin's reaction to what had happened came to the surface. "She didn't know I would be here. No one did. Have you ever dealt for a human being before?"
He glanced away from her. "Not an adult one, at any rate."
Belle raised one eyebrow. "Well, that's a conversation for another day, isn't it?" The answering smile that ghosted across his face for just a moment made Belle breathe a sigh of relief. He was coming back to himself. She looked away, met Nova's eyes for a moment. "Rumplestiltskin, this is Nova."
He didn't let go of Belle's hands as he turned toward Nova. "You'll excuse me if I don't shake your hand." The words had a dark edge to them and Belle squeezed his hands hard before releasing them.
"Nova made a mistake," Belle continued. "The one truly to blame is…"
"The Blue Fairy." Rumplestiltskin's head cocked slightly to the side and one corner of his upper lip hovered halfway between a crooked grin and a sneer.
"You knew?" Nova asked on a gasp. "But if you knew…"
"Oh no. I didn't know. Not before. But I know how that one works." His upper lip turned completely into a sneer on those words.
"She will be punished if she returns without it. The Blue Fairy will take her wings."
Rumplestiltskin's strange eyes focused on Nova, the intensity obviously making the fairy rather uncomfortable as her hands began that annoying little dance again. "Will she now?"
Nova opened her mouth to speak but couldn't seem to produce any sound. Instead, she nodded, just a quick fluttery motion of her head.
"And this is a bad thing?"
If Belle didn't know him half as well as she did, she would have thought the question was innocent, an honest expression of curiosity. But she knew otherwise. "Rumplestiltskin," she murmured, the word a clear admonishment of the sorcerer.
He shrugged. "Well, I would have thought it was a good thing, personally. Who wants to be a gnat anyway, always getting in people's hair and all? Besides, the outfits are horrendous."
Belle crossed her arms over her chest and Rumplestiltskin leaned slightly toward her, a sneer lifting his lip for a moment. "Fine," he said on a slight pout. "She can have the damned curse back."
Nova let out a little squeal.
Belle reached for the jar that still sat on the table.
Rumplestiltskin smacked her hand away before she could touch it and she looked up at him, eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Not so fast, dearie." And with those words, the showman was back. She saw the change come over him and recognized it almost instantly. This was Rumplestiltskin the deal-maker, Rumplestiltskin the trickster. This was the Rumplestiltskin who would deal away the shirt off your back while making you think you had gotten the better end of the bargain even though you left his castle in the dead of night in the middle of a blizzard.
She knew this Rumplestiltskin and even now he was turning back to Nova with that grin on his face, the same one she had seen countless times when he was in the middle of deal-making. He had a love for it that none could deny. "I'll make you a deal."
"A…deal?" Nova's smile disappeared and she glanced over at Belle, her eyes wide once more.
Belle just shook her head, a small smile on her face. "Just hear him out."
Rumplestiltskin clapped his hands together in a ridiculous sort of glee. "Excellent. Here's the deal, dearie." He took a step toward the fairy and leaned close to her, his voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper. "And you'll take it if you know what's best for you."
Nova nodded again, eyes wide. Belle at least had to commend the fairy for standing her ground and not running screaming from his castle. Rumplestiltskin was absolutely feral when he was in deal-making mode.
"You can have this curse, take it back to your fellow gnats…"
"Fairies," Nova shot back with. Belle was proud of her for speaking up for herself. She didn't expect it of the timid fairy.
"Fairies, whatever." Rumplestiltskin waved one hand in the air. "You can take it back to your friends," he amended, pointing one long finger at the fairy. "But you will find a way to destroy it."
"What?"
"You will find a way to make sure that no one suffers what Belle has suffered." He jabbed his finger at Nova, coming close but not quite close enough to touch her.
"I didn't suffer," Belle said quietly.
Nova looked at her for a moment. Rumplestiltskin kept his eyes trained on the fairy. "Deal," Nova finally said and held out her hands. A moment later the fairy curse was deposited into them and she pulled the jar in close, holding it tight to her chest.
"You may go then." Rumplestiltskin turned away after the words were out and Belle knew they had somehow both been dismissed.
"I'll just…see Nova out." The words came out nearly on a whisper and she saw Rumplestiltskin nod, just a tiny movement of his head. He remained turned away from her.
Belle lightly touched Nova's arm and led the fairy out of the room.
She had escorted Nova to the Great Hall and bid her goodbye. She hadn't known her long, but in some ways it was nice actually having someone there to talk to, even if it had been for the briefest of times. Even if she had been a much-hated fairy.
Rumplestiltskin had treated her fairly and for that Belle was thankful. He hadn't gone soft. She never expected him to. But he had made a good deal with the fairy, though one that didn't entirely benefit either party. Nova had to convince Blue to destroy it without telling her why it must be. And Rumplestiltskin only had the satisfaction of knowing no one else would fall prey to it.
After seeing Nova off, Belle returned with a heavy heart to the tower room where she had left Rumplestiltskin. Despite her continued protests, it seemed he simply wanted to believe that all that had happened between them had been nothing but an absolute horror for her.
It wasn't true, of course. But she could not seem to convince him otherwise by words alone. Perhaps actions would. Something had to give. She couldn't imagine spending the rest of her days holed up in the castle with a man, not a monster, who believed he had forced himself on her to save her from a curse.
The door to the tower room was still open when she returned and she crept closer, peeking around the corner to gauge his mood before stepping into the room. He was standing at his table, eyes downcast. His face was etched with lines of darkness, a sort of brittle sadness that left his shoulders slightly slumped and his eyebrows drawn low over half-closed eyes.
"Rumplestiltskin?" She spoke his name quietly, almost a whisper, yet it sounded loud in the room.
He straightened at the sound of his name, snapping to attention, hands gripping at some piece of rough material she hadn't noticed he was holding before. "Is she gone?"
"Yes."
She thought she saw relief briefly cross his features and then finally, he looked up at her. Belle took two more steps into the room, crossing the threshold fully, but not moving too close to him. His eyes looked…dead. It was the only way she could describe them. The light was gone from within the strange irises, no sign of anger, of humor, of anything. She whispered his name again as he continued to watch her.
And then he turned away, eyes falling again on the piece of material clutched so firmly in his hands. She hadn't noticed the way the color faded out of his knuckles, his grip so tight it looked painful. He finally spoke, though the single word he said was too quiet for her to hear.
She stepped closer, finally coming up against the side of the table opposite where he stood, eyes still downcast. "I'm sorry…"
"Baelfire," he murmured and this time she was close enough to hear the word.
"Your son." He had only spoken of him in a few broken sentences once, not that long ago. He had lost him. And he had lost his boy's mother. Little more had been said and he had closed himself off to her again, disappearing with some quip about cleaning.
She had long ago realized those moments were ones of deflection. She got too close and that was clearly too much for him. And so he left with some ridiculous parting shot meant to either make her laugh or enrage her, sometimes both.
"Yes."
Belle reached out and put her hand over his, watching as he froze and his eyes rose to hers. "Will you tell me about him? About what happened to him?" She had asked before, more than once truth be told. But this was the first time she saw Rumplestiltskin give a little sigh and an almost imperceptible nod.
She let go of his hand and retreated to the couch, folding her hands in her lap as she waited for him. She would give him all the time he needed. But there was something there, something she sensed had as much to do with his son as what was happening between them. She didn't understand but she knew that she needed to understand, needed it like the air she breathed.
"It was long ago," Rumplestiltskin finally said, walking slowly around the table and stopping on the other side. He leaned back against it weaving the rough scrap of material through his fingers as he spoke. "I…lost him."
"I know." Belle gave him a sad smile, her voice carrying her sympathy clearly.
Rumplestiltskin glanced up at her quickly, his eyes meeting hers, and then the corner of his mouth turned up in a ghost of a smile. "He's not dead. Just…lost. Long ago I sent him through a portal to another world. Everything I have done since has been to get to him. My life has been dedicated to that and that alone." He gripped the cloth harder, shaking it slightly as he spoke. There was anger there, hidden within the words, and sadness, and a deep desperation. He had often spoken of "desperate souls." It seemed he was one as well, at least when it came to his son.
"And so all of this," Belle said, waving a hand around rather half-heartedly. "Stuff between us…"
At the same moment he stepped closer, sank to his knees in front of her, Belle leaned forward and grasped both hands in hers. She didn't know if he wanted her to, but she was relieved when his fingers curled around her own. "Belle…" When he spoke, her name was edged in pain. She tightened her hold on his hands, afraid he'd pull back, afraid he would close down, walk away from whatever he was trying to tell her.
"Yes. Go on." She couldn't keep the urgency from her voice. He looked down, but did not back away.
When he spoke, his voice was soft, no sign of the showmanship she was used to. He was a man. Perhaps not an ordinary one, but still just a man. For that moment at least. "After I lost him, I swore that I would not love another until we were reunited."
The words hung heavily in the air until Belle really let them sink in. "Are you saying…"
"I can't." The words came out clipped.
"I wasn't asking you to," she shot back without thinking. Was she? Was she asking him to love her? Love had been the furthest thing from her mind when he had escorted her out of her home, when he had thrown her in the dungeon. Love had not been a thought when she broke his cup and he waved it off. Love hadn't even been something she considered when he caught her, saved her from sure death, despite the way finding herself in his arms had made her breathless.
But was it there? Was that the problem?
"No?" he asked and there was an odd note in his voice. A bit of relief, a bit of sadness.
"Maybe," she amended.
"Ah."
She released one of his hands and brought hers up to run her fingers lightly through his hair, letting her hand come to rest on the side of his face. "Do you really think you only have enough room in your heart for one person?" He gave her a somewhat blank look and she wondered if he had even contemplated that loving someone else did not mean he loved his son any less, did not mean he couldn't dedicate his life to finding him. "Do you think your son would want you to love only him?"
"There was always only him," Rumplestiltskin murmured.
"Always?"
He nodded and she found herself gripping his hands harder, almost painfully though he seemed to not be bothered by it. She wasn't sure if an immortal sorcerer could feel pain, at least of the physical kind. The way his eyes were shut, the furrow between his brows, all spoke of intense emotional pain. She had seen it before on his face, usually just a fleeting look. Now it remained for far too long, until she reached her hand under his chin and lightly pulled his face back up toward her.
Belle spoke softly when she finally managed to get the words out. "Would your son begrudge you some happiness? Would he love you less if he found someone to love in the years you've been apart? Is it not possible to love someone and still devote your time to finding your son?"
"I…" She watched as he swallowed hard, drew in a deep breath. "I hadn't thought about that."
"Well, then," Belle said and gave his hands one final squeeze before standing. He remained kneeling and she put a hand on his shoulder. "It's something to think about." His eyes shot to hers. "Maybe?"
He stared at her for a second before rising. "Maybe," he conceded.
Belle could not help the grin that broke on her face. "Well, good. Now that that is out of the way, shall we go to bed?" She held out a hand to him.
His face scrunched up a little. "It's only mid-afternoon."
Belle bit her lip, wrapped her arms around her middle, and glanced away from him. She could feel her cheeks warm and she knew she must be bright red, but she finally managed to look back at him and meet his eyes.
His eyes narrowed, as if she were studying some sort of strange mutant creature he had never seen before. And then…finally…"Oh."
Belle let out a slight giggle. "So?" She held out her hand again.
He stood, but did not touch her, backed up a pace. "You want to…"
"Yes," she said quickly, cutting him off before the sentence could go any further. His head cocked slightly to the side. Belle stepped forward and grabbed one of his hands, stopping the anxious movement of fingers rubbing together. "I do."
"You do." His brain seemed to be one step behind his mouth, not quite able to catch up.
With a sigh, Belle stepped closer to him, not quite close enough that their bodies were touching, but close enough that she could feel the heat emanating off of him. Her cheeks were still warm, no doubt her face still red. "Rumplestiltskin." His name came out just slightly sharper than she intended. His eyes snapped up to meet her own. "I would very much like a repeat performance of last night."
For a moment he was completely still, eyes wide, a cornered animal who simply didn't know what to do with himself. And then he grabbed her about the waist, pulled her tight up against him. His eyes searched hers. "Truly?" The word was a mere whisper.
"Yes." She reached up and cupped his face.
He moved suddenly, wrapping his arms around her, and as his lips touched hers both disappeared into the purple smoke of his magic.