"I will never hurt you… never hurt you… never hurt you" Belle just couldn't take those words off her mind, even though many days have passed from the last time she saw Rumplestiltskin. Why did he said that? Didn't he know that he had hurt her in innumerable ways before? How could he think she would believe that? But somehow she knew he meant what he said. He had nothing to win if she believed him. Maybe he never noticed how hard the things he had done had damaged her, she thought.

Since that fateful day at the fairies' convent, she hadn't seen Gold in Storybrooke again. In fact, nobody had. Everybody was afraid of how could he react if they showed up at his store, which has been closed since, even when they knew for certain that he was in there. They would have been surprised if they knew that he wasn't trying to find a way to find his son this time. In fact, he was spending his time thinking about how he had lost each and every one of his loved ones. He loathed himself for it, but somehow he didn't want to give up on life. It would be better said that he wanted to be dead, but that he knew that it would not make things better. He was miserable, because he couldn't figure out how to make anything work. He wondered about himself, about Belle, about Baelfire… spinning didn't help he forget. In fact, it made him remember more vividly, and for a change, he wanted to remember. He wanted to go back to the time when there was hope for him to become a better man. He cried over his spinning wheel recalling how a tiny sprout of hope blossomed in his heart when Belle tried to kiss him by the first time; recalling when he thought that she was dead; recalling all the good times they had together. "She won't hear me. I was mistaken, but I always tried to do my best. She gave our son to the blue fairy just because she was told on a dream that I would destroy her and my son. How could she believe that? After all that I had done to recover Baelfire! But she wouldn't listen. However, I deserve it. I was a chipped cup… I could have been repaired. Now, look at me. I'm cup dust". And then he suddenly thought: "I was a hero once. I broke that chipped cup that I treasured because of her, because she needed me. Why didn't that work for us then?" Mindlessly, he left the shop and headed to the Storybrooke forest.

Belle was wrapped up in her own thoughts while she drank a glass of iced tea at granny's, when the dark figure of Mr. Gold crossing the street woke her up from her dreamy state. "He's up to something! I won't let him find our son! Not after all that I have sacrificed for him!" In the back of her mind though, the idea of following him and finding her son, to have the chance of holding him in her arms, even if only for a second, was tempting. After all, if she couldn't stop her husband, she would at least benefit from it. With these thoughts in her mind, she left the diner and followed Mr. Gold, trying not to be seen by him. She quickly discovered that he didn't care if someone followed him or not, and that surprised her. Now she was intrigued. If he were going after Gideon, he would be far more careful. But then, if he was not, where was he heading to and why?

She followed him across the town and out to the woods. When they reached a clear, he suddenly stopped, and turning around, asked: "Why are you following me, Belle?" She wanted to answer, but no words came to her mind. "You know something? you are a mystery for me. I never could understand you". The clear in which they stood showed signals of having been inhabited not long before. She saw the remaining pieces of a tent, some stones disposed as if to set a fire, and a dirty, broken stool. "You know… you have brought so much joy to my life… but so much pain too" He wasn't looking at her. His eyes were sweeping the ground, as if he were looking for something special. Belle opened her mouth, but he quickly added raising voice "Don't interrupt me!" he sighed gesturing with his hand and added, in a calmer tone: "Please. I'm not asking you to actually listen to me. I know I don't deserve it. If you don't want to, you can just go away. However, since I didn't ask you to come with me, but, in fact, you decided to follow me here, it would be kind of you to stay until I am finished." She was unsure about what to do, but after a few seconds she sighed and took sit at the dusty stool. Rumplestiltskin resumed: "Do you remember that day in the Dark Castle, when you teared away the curtains from the windows? That's how you entered in my life. You opened a window in my heart, you gave me hope. I didn't have any. I never knew what a good and quiet life is, because I never had one. I knew I was a villain, and I was resigned to my fate: I knew that villains don't get happy endings, and I was ok with that. I was used to the darkness, the hatred, the pain. I lived in a swamp, in a dark moor, so to speak. And then you arrived, with the sunlight, the smell of flowers. You were life, life at its fullest. Do you remember? Do you remember that moment when you fell in my arms? You were so fragile, but then, so strong, so pure… I was afraid of hurting you, afraid of tarnishing your soul. So I let you go, in hopes that you would never come back. But you returned. You will never have an idea of how my heart leaped when you kissed me then. But I was so afraid… I didn't expect anyone to love me. It couldn't be possible. But then, even if it was real, I would be vulnerable, and whenever I was vulnerable, people hurt me. And then I pushed you out, I even hit you" he shivered. "I knew you were best far from me. I have told you to go away so many times… I did it as a way to protect you. But no matter what, you always came back, and I always managed to hurt you again. I really, really don't understand why you have done so over and over again, but each and every time, you killed me a bit more."

Now Belle was the one who was shivering. She wanted to say something, but remembered that he had begged her to listen and not interrupt him. "I always thought that you have discovered the man behind the beast, and, even if I couldn't understand why, you loved him. You gave me hope. But every time I hurt you, that same hope rendered me more and more hopeless. I could cope with the idea of never having my happy ending, but I couldn't bear having a foretaste and the sight of my happy ending, and watch it flee farther and farther away because of my own repeated wrong choices; worse than that, hurting those who I love the most, and who I should protect." As he spoke, he was picking something that looked like little white pebbles, and carefully putting them into a green silk bag. At this point she realised what was it: the chipped cup. She gasped. He smirked, and then added: "Now, you realize what this is. Do you know why I broke it? Because I needed something to cut the rope with which Merida tied my hands: because I needed to break free to rescue you. I was a hero back then. What happened to us? That day at the well… You raised my hopes… and then you crushed me. I was a hero indeed, I could pull Excallibur, for God's sake! But you didn't trust me. It would have been better for me if you just hadn't show up: I would have understood. But you did. And you abandoned me when I needed you most. Magic is like a crutch; I had walked for a long time with its aid. I didn't remember how to walk on my legs again. I needed my wife by my side, to help me remember, to help me rediscover how it felt again. To show me that there was nothing to be afraid of. But you abandoned me, so I took back my crutches. And what did you do then? you came back to me again. Do you know? Cora, Regina, Zelena… they didn't love me. They loved the Dark One. They knew it, and I knew it. It was somehow fair after all. But you… you… I thought you loved me. It is clear that you don't love the Dark One himself. I am starting to think that maybe you wanted the man and the beast… We are not that different after all. I want you and power… and maybe you want me and power. Even when it was not the real dagger, you used it against me; you used me for your own ends… Do you remember? You have a thirst for power Belle, like it or not. But, in the same way I cannot have power and you, you cannot have power and me. I am way too much addicted to dark magic to use it only for good. I could have stripped me of my magic, but Would you have accepted me if I did so? I don't know." At that point, Belle opened her mouth to answer, but he added: "Don't, don't answer now, please, just think about it. It's all that I ask of you". he had finished picking the pieces of the cup and was putting the bag in his pocket. "What are you going to do with that?" She finally asked. "I don't know. I still have many things to figure out." And that being said, he disappeared in a cloud of grey smoke.

Belle remained there, thinking. "Maybe he is right." she thought. "I was afraid. He was a hero, no doubt, yet, it wasn't the man I knew. Maybe I was afraid that a life with him would be boring. I always wanted adventure, and the Dark One gave me the opportunity to be a hero, but, would I have been a hero being the wife of just Mr. Gold? I wanted him so bad to change that I didn't actually consider my life with him my happy ending."

Belle got up and strolled in the woods thinking, until she saw Snow White at the wishing well. "Hey, hi! What are you doing here?" "I'm… I'm just… out for a walk" the princess sighed. "I miss my Charming so much! But, you… Are you ok? you look pale" "I was talking with Rumple…" Snow White gave her a concerned look "Did he do something to you? because if he did…" "No, he didn't" Belle cut her. He just… I saw him crossing the town and I followed him, because I thought that he was going after our son… but, well… he was just… doing some thinking…. so… well… I listened to him. You know, he has hurt me so much… but I have never stopped to think that maybe I have hurt him too." "No, you didn't" "Yes, I did" "no, please, listen to me. He told me again and again to go away, and I always came back. That was my fault" "But you did because you loved him and wanted him to be happy. That's not wrong" "Well, I know, but even if he wanted me for the sake of his own happiness, he wanted me to be happy, so he shut me out again and again… because he didn't want to hurt me. He convinced himself every time that it was for the best, he did the sacrifice and then I rendered it redundant" tears started to flow from Belle's eyes. Snow just listened to her speechless. After a few seconds that felt like ages, she said "well, but if he had got rid of his magic, he would have not hurt you, and both would have been happy" Belle groaned, and Snow White looked at her, startled by her reaction. "But he indeed was a hero and I rejected him. I failed him when he needed me by his side the most, the only time he was magicless, I abandoned him" "When was that?" "Do you remember when he pulled Excallibur from the rock? Before he went to duel Hook, he told me that he was willing to stay away from magic, that he wanted to start again; and that, if he survived and I wanted to be with him, he would wait for me here; that if I didn't show up, he would understand. And I came, but I abandoned him. I was afraid. I didn't understand until now that I wanted him to be powerful and good; I had never pictured myself being the wife of Mr. Gold, the spinner and pawnbroker; I wanted to be the wife of a knight in shining armor. I wanted it all, and it's not possible. I was a fool. I wish I could turn the clock back." Snow white hugged her with tears in her eyes. "You know what? let's take some water from the well and go back to town. Maybe we can get something we have lost, even if it is only the hope." Belle nodded, and they filled two little bottles with the water of the well, and went back to the town.