Just Another Fairytale

Summary: When their sick daughter can't watch her favorite movie, she gets a Rumbelle story instead. Set in the Freeze on the Stones universe, but you need not have read that to understand this story.

My Round 2 Submission from the 2015 Rumbelle Showdown, written as "Purple Crocodile". Prompts were: Behind the locked door, Once upon a time, Netflix.

"I want to watch Beauty and the Beast," their daughter announced firmly, and then sneezed. At five, she was old enough to know exactly what she wanted, and although Gabrielle knew that her parents' story in the movie wasn't terribly accurate, she still loved it. And frequently demanded that her father enchant "Chip" so that he could play with her instead of just sit on the shelf.

"Netflix isn't working," Belle said several minutes later, as their daughter sniffled miserably on the couch.

"Let me try," Rumplestiltskin replied, reaching for the remote, which Belle handed over with a sigh. His wife dealt better with people than she did with electronics, but as the oft-times antisocial Dark One, Rumplestiltskin was just the opposite. However, fiddling with the remote and even turning off the DVD player and turning it back on again did nothing. Netflix still just hung up on that infuriating red screen while Rumplestiltskin resisted the urge to try to curse the application into submission.

"You said I could pick 'cause I'm sick!" their daughter complained. Big brown eyes, suddenly red-rimmed and miserable, turned on her parents, who exchanged a look.

"You broke the DVD, honey," Belle pointed out reasonably. But sick children were not rational, even if they were normally well-behaved ones. Gabrielle pouted.

"Not my fault. Papa stepped on it."

Rumplestiltskin snorted but didn't argue. He had stepped on—and broken—the DVD in question. Right after the little minx had left it on the stairs.

"Do you want to watch something else?" Belle asked, gesturing at their large movie collection.

A five-year-old frown. "No."

Time for drastic measures, then, the Dark One thought. "How about I tell you a story instead, sweetie?" he spoke up, putting the remote down and shifting over to sit on the couch next to Gabrielle.

"What kind of story?" she asked skeptically.

"Another fairytale," he answered. "One about a knight's brave daughter and a terrible beast."

She giggled as he made a face to accompany the description of himself, finally cheering up. "Okay! But it better be good."

"Cross my heart," Rumplestiltskin promised, and Gabrielle smiled, crawling over to sit in his lap. Melting a little inside, he wrapped his arms around his little girl, leaning in to kiss the top of her head. Meanwhile, Belle stole the chair that Rumplestiltskin had vacated, beaming at him the way she always did when he showed his softer side.

Winking at her, Rumplestiltskin was glad that he had a good story in mind, because Netflix was obviously not going to defuse the potential temper tantrum this evening. Perhaps they would have to get another copy of that DVD for the next time Gabrielle was sick.

"Story, Papa!"

"As you wish." Chuckling, Rumplestiltskin began: "Once upon a time, there was a pretty maid living in the Beast's castle. She had volunteered to come and save her people, but she was terribly lonely. Because of that—and because she had always been enormously brave—she decided to explore behind the Locked Door."

"What was back there?" Gabrielle demanded immediately.

"I'll get to that," he reassured her, exchanging a look with Belle. His wife did not look amused at all, but that was because she had been the one who opened the door that day. Actually, Belle looked a little mortified, but as far as Rumplestiltskin was concerned, she shouldn't have been. This memory was one he was most fond of.

"You better," she sneezed.

"Have I ever failed you, sweetie?"

"No."

"Well, then if you want to know what happened, you'd best let me continue," he pointed out. "Now, where was I?"

"The Locked Door!"

"Oh, yes. The Locked Door. Down near the dungeons of the castle, there was a big wooden door that was always locked. Our Beauty had been told repeatedly not to try to open any locked doors, but she has a kind heart and had been in the Beast's castle for months and months. She thought she knew where all the dangers were, so when she heard an animal whining from the other side of the door, she went to find the keys. But first, Beauty knelt by the door and said:

" 'Erm, hello?' she asked. 'Is anyone there?'

"But there was no answer. After a moment, she promised:

" 'I'll be right back. I'm going to get you out. It'll be all right.' And then she went to get the keys. After several minutes searching, she found them, and then headed back to the Locked Door. Meanwhile, the Beast—"

"That's you!" Gabrielle interrupted. "And Mamma is Beauty."

"Of course we are. But are you going to let me tell the story, or not?"

Her smile had turned sunny, sickness forgotten. "Okay!"

"So, the Beast was away, but his magic warned him that she was walking into danger. You see, the very day before, the Beast had caught his maid when she fell off of a ladder, and had realized that she was special to him. He didn't want to tell her that because he was very shy, but he worried about his maid. Particularly when her bravery made her silly."

"Rumple!" Belle objected, and now her cheeks were bright red. Gabrielle, however, giggled.

"What silly did Mamma do?"

"Well, the Beauty rushed down to the door, saying: 'Stand back. I'm going to get you out.' Then she opened the Locked Door, and a terrible roar filled the air!"

Rumplestiltskin let out his own roar, and grinned as his daughter jumped delightedly. He continued:

"There, behind the Locked Door, crouched a terrible Rodent of Unusual Size, or R.O.U.S. Rodents of Unusual Size are native to Florin, on the edge of the Enchanted Forest, and live only in the Fire Swamp. But they are terrifying and vicious creatures, with huge teeth for biting and claws for tearing. They only fear fire, and Beauty had no idea why the Beast had one in his castle. But he did, and now our brave maid faced one all alone, without any way to defend herself.

"She backed away, grabbing her broom to fend the R.O.U.S. off, but soon it had her in a corner and it seemed like all hope was lost."

"And then the Beast rescued her!" Gabrielle put in excitedly, but then her lower lip trembled. "Didn't he?"

"Of course he did. Realizing his maid was in danger, the Beast appeared in a cloud of red smoke, shouting her name. He knew that R.O.U.S move very slowly, and that his maid could outrun the creature if she started right away. Unfortunately, she paused to glare at him.

" 'It's a R.O.U.S.!' Beauty explained. "Who keeps an R.O.U.S. in their castle?'

" 'I do. Come here!' the Beast retorted.

" 'But Rodents of Unusual Size only bite when threatened,' she argued. 'I'm trying to help—'

"And the R.O.U.S. bit her," Rumplestiltskin continued, not telling their daughter about Belle's pained screams or the horrible mess the R.O.U.S. had made of her leg. That was too gory.

"No!"

"Oh, yes. But the Beast rushed to catch her, conjuring up a fireball. Magic doesn't really work on Rodents of Unusual Size, but the Beast set his maid down very carefully and jumped between her and the R.O.U.S., using his fireball to chase it back behind the Locked Door as it snarled. Then he took his maid to her room, laying her down on her bed and healing her hurt leg."

He meant to stop there, but Belle picked up the story, saying softly:

"That was the day that she stopped fearing the Beast. Before then, she pretended not to be afraid, but when he saved her and helped her, she realized that he was just lonely and sad. So, she started to look at him differently from that day forward."

"And then you fell in love?" their daughter yawned. Gabrielle was leaning heavily on Rumplestiltskin; the cold she had was magic-resistant and sapped her energy away.

Belle chuckled. "Eventually, yes. It was never easy."

"Good."

Moments later, Gabrielle drifted off. Rumplestiltskin didn't dare move lest he wake her, but he managed to shift into a more comfortable position. Glancing at Belle—his Beauty—he admitted:

"I think I fell in love with you that day."

"I almost kissed you after you healed me," she replied, moving to sit next to him on the couch and do just that. Her lips were warm against his, and as always, Belle tasted like coming home, with just a touch of the purest magic behind her kiss.

"Did you?" he asked.

"I realized that my feelings for you weren't something to be afraid of," Belle answered. "I just didn't know that you felt the same."

Rumplestiltskin smiled. "Well. I hope you know now."

Wrapping an arm around his neck, Belle kissed the soft place behind his ear. "Tell you what. Let's put our little monster to bed, and then I'll show you how much I know."

"You have yourself a deal."

A/N: Next up, "Frilly Pink Apron", in which Belle burns down a kitchen and Rumplestiltskin cooks.