I hope you'll enjoy my "Remix" of season 1 OUAT, the sequel to my story, Reprise. So basically, S1, Belle's POV, with a twist- Belle has her memories from her previous life.
Remix
If he could learn to love another,
And earn her love in return
By the time the last petal fell,
Then the spell would be broken.
-"Prologue"
Belle woke slowly from her slumber. She'd been in such a deep sleep that she didn't quite remember where she was. She opened her eyes, but couldn't see anything. She felt around the bedspread and her palm touched a body next to her. "Rumple!" She whispered excitedly.
They were married now, sleeping in the same bed. "Rumple!" She couldn't wait to wake him.
"Go back to sleep," he said gruffly.
A little bit of the beast still in him, she decided. "Please wake up. Are we married?"
He ignored her.
"Did Regina keep her promise?" Belle persisted despite his grumpiness.
"What in the hell are you talking about?" He turned over.
"Oh." He was…in his human form. She took note that he would be pale and smooth from now on. It took her a moment to adjust to his new appearance. She touched his cheek and he flinched. She realized the extent to which his memory had been taken away. She couldn't seem too clueless or he would think she was crazy. "Can you just tell me if we're married?"
"What kind of game are you playing, Lacey?"
"Who's Lacey?" She asked without thinking.
He sighed, "Are you screwing with me?"
"I don't know." She didn't know what he meant and this casual language was so unlike him. Even at his worst, he was well spoken. "I don't know anything." Hoping that he'd comfort her, she scooted forward to put her face in his chest.
He grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back. "You're acting strange. Did you take any pills?"
"No." Pills? What kind of world was this?
"Where's your purse?" He got up out of the bed and found a bag laying on the floor beside the bed. He pulled out three orange bottles from it and threw them on the bed. "Which of these did you take? All of them? Did you hit your head on something?"
"I don't know what those things are," she said honestly.
"What's your name?" He questioned her.
She had to restrain herself considerably from replying with her real name. "Lacey."
"You seem unsure about that. Lace, if you're having memory trouble, we really need to get your some help." He sat on the bed next to her. "Now tell me what you're thinking."
"It's not me who has memory trouble. It's you," she spoke without considering her words.
"And just what do you think I've forgotten?"
"You don't know who you are. You're Rumplestiltskin. Don't you remember?" She hoped maybe saying his own name would break the curse or at least resonate with him.
Her hopes failed. "You probably have a concussion. I'll take you to the hospital." He pulled back the covers of the bed to get her out.
"I don't want to go. I'm fine. Can you just come back to bed and we'll talk?" She hunched into a little ball on the bed. She realized that she was wearing next to nothing- a little scrap of underwear and a large t-shirt.
"Let's go, Lacey," he ordered. "Come on," he said a little more gently. "You're not going to get in trouble. God knows it's that doctor who keeps prescribing you this trash," He indicated the orange bottles and threw them back into her purse.
She was frightened and confused but she rose out of bed. She wanted to know if they'd made love that night since she was wearing so little, but decided against asking him. He threw some clothes on the bed and put his on first. She examined what seemed to be her clothes. Small, blue pants and a black jacket.
"Here, I'll help you," he offered, grabbing the pants.
She took them from him. "I can do it."
He watched her, his brow furrowed in curiosity. "It's curious…it's almost like you're…" He shook his head.
She buttoned the pants quickly and asked him. "What? What were you going to say?"
"It's nothing." He held out the jacket to her and watched her put it on.
"What?" She cozied up to him again, her body in the right position for him to put his arms around her.
He didn't. "I was going to say…It almost seems like you're sober," he chuckled.
"I am sober," she said, shocked that he would suggest her to be a drunk.
"You're not fooling anyone, Lacey," he scolded and left the room without her.
The first few minutes of their marriage and they didn't have a very good start, she thought. She decided to attempt to do better as they rode in some sort of magic-powered vehicle. "I'm sorry. I guess I am a little confused." She placed her hand over his on the stick shift and he seemed startled by it. "Won't you help me remember?"
"I suppose," he agreed. "Though usually when you black out it's not this sort of memory loss."
"I forget who I am often?"
"No, you forget what you've done."
"You seem upset with me," she said, her voice breaking as she realized the nightmare that this was. "I don't know what I've done, but I promise if I've hurt you, I'm sorry for it."
"What has gotten into you?" Rumple shook her hand off.
"Do you still love me?" She wanted to know. She wouldn't put it past Regina to put her in a loveless marriage.
"Be quiet." He gripped the wheel of the vehicle tightly. "We're almost there."
They pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and quickly moved into the entrance.
"Mr. Gold." A man greeted them at the front desk and regarded her cautiously. "It doesn't seem like you're in here for the usual."
"No, Mrs. Gold does not need her stomach pumped, but it might be even more disturbing than that." He placed a hand on her back and she was thrilled at the touch. "She's lost her memory. Maybe from a concussion."
"We'll get to her right away," The attendant nodded and handed him a couple forms to fill out. They sat down in the chairs and Rumple started filling them out.
She saw that he put her name as Lacey Gold. "So we are married," she noticed out loud. She felt a bit of relief at the confirmation. At least they were bonded together, no matter how unhappy he was. She could change that. "What's your name?" She asked, no longer shy about how she appeared to him.
Rather than telling her, he opened his wallet and pulled out a small card. It had a picture of him on it and next to that it said, 'Name: Adam Gold".
"Adam. To be red," she said out loud. He glanced at her so she explained, "That's what it means. Red in fury? In passion?" She placed a kiss on his cheek.
"Could you stop doing that?" He asked, short with his words.
Again, he upset her almost to the point of tears. "What? Kiss you?"
"Pretending like you care." He finished the rest of the forms and took them to the desk.
When he got back, she was holding her stare of hurt and astonishment. "What have I done to make you think I don't care about you?"
He walked a few paces away from her, then turned back. "Who has put you up to this? Regina? Gabriel?"
"Who's Gabriel?" She clutched the arms of the chair in fear and frustration. "Regina- she…" Belle tried to think of the words to explain, "she did this."
Rumple looked away and seemed to wrestle with himself. He played with the wedding band on this left hand, twisting it forcefully. Belle looked down at her own hand and saw that she didn't have her ring on. "Where's my ring?" she asked out loud.
He didn't answer but sat down next to her. His eyes were softer, more sympathetic. "I forget that it is Regina who has caused this. I don't believe it's your fault that you despise me." He looked away again, but placed his hand over hers on the armrest. "She has taken so much away from us."
"Okay, Lacey, we will see you now." The voice came from a nurse near the front desk.
Rumple stood with her and led her to the exam room. They did all sorts of weird tests on her that made her uncomfortable. She had to answer some questions about what she did that day. She must have seemed idiotic since she couldn't tell them anything. She just imagined saying- 'Up until this point, I had been in bed with my fiancé, Rumplestiltskin, in the Dark Castle as the Evil Queen cast a curse on us.' That would have put her in an asylum indefinitely.
She was led into a room and told that she would have to change into a gown. "I don't want to change."
"Come on," Rumple nudged her. "They'll leave the room and it will be just us."
The nurses left, as promised, but she stared at him leery. She would have no problem changing in front of her Rumplestiltskin, but this Mr. Gold- she hardly knew him. But maybe this would be a way to get her Rumple back- remind him of how they felt about each other. Rumple could never resist her as much as he tried.
She slinked out of her pants and removed her jacket. She took a deep breath and took off her t-shirt.
He handed her the gown, barely looking at her.
She put it on quickly. "So, you're not enthralled by me anymore? You don't think I'm lovely?"
"What kind of question is that?" He tied the strings behind her back and let her lie on the hospital bed.
"You don't like to look at me," she inferred.
"That is different. I think you are extremely lovely." He sat on the bed next to her. "It's just ruined for me because every time I see you, I think of every other man in town who has also seen you."
What he implied was disgusting and rude, but she couldn't fault him for something that Regina had planted in his mind. He said it with disdain and sarcasm, which made her think he'd resigned to her unfaithfulness.
She didn't know what to say. She couldn't think of any way to deny his accusations so she remained silent. He seemed smug about that.
The nurses came back and took some of her blood out of her body, which upset her greatly though she didn't show it. Then a doctor came in, introduced himself as Dr. Whale and asked her some similar questions to the ones that she had answered before. He had her do some tests with her hands. She had to hold them out in front of her for a while, then she had to grip his fingers.
Her husband watched carefully with a blank stare.
"Neurologically, everything is checking out at this point. So, Lacey, just the memory loss at this point? No nausea, dizziness?"
"No." She refrained from telling him that it wasn't memory loss as much as gain. How she longed to be called by her real name, though.
"The blood tests will be done in about an hour. The memory loss could be caused by a blackout from alcohol poisoning or from drug use. Are you sure you haven't had anything to drink today?"
"I'm sure," she said, the truth as she knew it.
"That's a lie," Rumple spoke up. "She had wine for breakfast."
"You don't remember that, Lacey?"
She shook her head.
Dr. Whale spoke to Rumple, "Is it possible that she would have come in contact with a date rape drug?"
Rumple shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "It's possible."
"You think I've been raped? How could you let that happen?" Belle felt tears well up in her eyes again, and this time they slipped down her cheeks. She tried to remind herself that this wasn't really Rumple.
Still, he seemed to be hugely affected by her accusation. He stood up and stumbled out of the room. She noticed for the first time that he walked with a cane now.
Rumplestiltskin came back just as the tests had arrived.
She felt an immediate need to apologize to him. "I'm sorry for what I said."
"It's fine."
She didn't quite believe him because he stood far away from her by the chairs at the opposite side of the room.
"So?" He patted his thigh anxiously.
"Completely clean," Dr. Whale said. "It seems miraculous, really."
Belle smiled, "I told you!"
"That's impossible," Rumple said. "Redo the tests. When she came to bed she had alcohol on her breath and dozens of pills in her purse!"
Dr. Whale flipped through the charts. "She's not pregnant. No STDs or infections of any kind."
Rumple folded his hands in front of him calmly. "Would you please do another test?"
"Of course, but I'd like to do a CAT scan as well. Look for signs of a stroke, just to make sure."
Belle wasn't sure what a STD or a stroke was. She was completely lost and knew that they were just wasting their time. "I'm fine. Maybe I'm just tired. Can't we just go home?"
"It's possible you have something called transient global amnesia," Dr. Whale suggested. "It's very rare, but your symptoms are lining up."
"Is that better than a stroke?" Rumple asked quietly.
"Most definitely. It will only last 24 hours or so. We'll keep you here until we are more certain though." Dr. Whale checked his watch. "Mr. Gold, I'm sure you have to open your store soon. I can call you and update you on the tests if you'd like."
"What causes this- transient amnesia?" Rumple asked.
"Being dunked it cold or hot water…strenuous physical activity…sexual intercourse…"
"Got it," Rumple interrupted.
"I didn't-" she tried to defend herself.
Rumple didn't even look at her but continued talking over her voice to Dr. Whale, "You're right. I'd better get to the shop." He walked quickly out of the room.
Leaving her there, alone with a stranger.
"I was surprised to see your blood tests," Dr. Whale continued talking to her. "Are you trying to sober up?"
"Yes," she said cautiously.
Dr. Whale straightened the papers of her chart. "I hope that won't affect the little deal that we have. Gabriel will not be happy."
"Yes, Gabriel," That name again. Maybe he was the one behind all of this…the reason Rumple hated her. "Do he know that I'm here?"
"He'll be over soon," the doctor confirmed. "He's called Regina as well. She was very worried."
"I'm sure she was," Belle frowned, knowing that Regina just wanted to keep control of her new curse.
"I am," The queen appeared in the doorway, a piece of paper in her hands.
Belle was taken aback by her short hair and the sharp angles of her 'new world' clothes. "Regina, what have you done?"
"You're my dear friend, Lacey. How could I not come when I heard you were in the hospital?" She sauntered to Belle's bed and handed the piece of paper to the doctor. "I ran into a nurse in the hall and she gave me Lacey's labs to hand to you."
Dr. Whale looked over them, "Blood alcohol point-two-four." He looked up at Lacey, "Not a surprise. That IV'll get you through until the morning and stave off the hangover." He placed the piece of paper in Belle's file. "Thanks Regina."
"I'm sober!" Belle shouted at him as he left.
"Sounds like someone had too many tequila shots last night," Regina smirked at her. But instead of a teasing grin between girlfriends, she looked like a predator that had caught its prey.
A/N: Who's excited?! So this is at the beginning of the curse, but we'll jump to 28 years later soon. The lyrics will kind of give you a hint to where this is going.
The names are surprisingly tricky. Since it's from Belle's POV, she'll be calling him Rumple until she knows him as Adam or Mr. Gold. Also, it was hard to remember that her name is Lacey so if anyone calls her Belle (except Regina), let me know.