This is my complete AU setting: Belle is released from Regina's psych ward and finds Mr Gold. He wants to pick up where they left off, but Belle doesn't remember him, and she needs time to adjust to life outside of imprisonment. She finds her love for him once the spell is broken but continues to maintain distance. This AU will deviate from the main storyline from here on out, though I plan to keep most elements the same.
I just really really needed a story where Belle is struggling with her own character flaws, yet trying to reclaim what Gold so often breaks when he makes a promise for the sake of their relationship and then breaks it. I wanted to give a little more insight and depth to Belle, so I'm thinking about introducing a Ruby Belle pairing among other things, so please leave me some feedback on what you think about that.
Belle was working on her second iced tea when her father Moe walked into Granny's.
"Belle?" he exclaimed incredulously.
"Papa!" she replied, leaping up and giving him a hug.
"What are you doing here, papa? Why aren't you at the flower shop?"
"Oh, Belle. Game . . . Game of Thorns isn't doing so well. I think I'm going to have to close it," Belle's father choked out.
"No, papa! Why? What's happened?" Belle was shocked, she hadn't realized things had gotten that bad.
"It's, well, it's just not making the money it used to."
Belle knew how to interpret that - her father's drinking had gotten worse since she'd been gone. She felt instantly guilty but struggled against it, knowing that her imprisonment was certainly not her fault. Her father's choices were just that, her father's alone. Although what could definitely be considered alcoholism by now couldn't really be said to be a choice, it also wasn't Belle's responsibility to parent her own father. Her altruism did guarantee that she would do everything in her power to help him.
"Papa, maybe you should step back from the shop for awhile. I can manage it, maybe use some of the knowledge all that reading has given me, to revive it. And you can take a much needed break."
She watched the series of expressions crossing her father's face, excitement at the prospect of being able to relax, crestfallen at his daughter's easy unearthing of his failure, and finally, a hesitant resignation to her suggestion. He knew his daughter enough by now to know that if she dug her heels in, she'd get what she wanted. And truthfully, the business would probably be better off in her hands anyway. She had a certain way about her, she made things magical in a way he never could. The gardens in their castle during their other lives had always been beautiful. Between the absence of her touch around the shop and his drinking, he knew he was headed for bankruptcy. And that was a terrifying prospect, what with Mr Gold being landlord and holder of some of the loans Moe had taken out over the past 28 years just to make ends meet in between holidays.
Belle could see how crushed her father was at the idea of relinquishing his shop, but there really was no other way. She knew that the finances would be bad. She knew that the shop might not be recoverable. But at least this way, worst case scenario, her father would be able to blame her. It felt like a small consolation after choosing to leave him and home behind to save them, but the last thing her father needed right now was to feel like he was a failure. She could handle being alone, she'd been alone for a long time, but if she could, she'd continue to protect her father always.
The next morning, she left the room that Ruby had so generously offered her as a safe place while she got back on her feet and set off for Game of Thorns. The outside was shabbier than she expected. She could tell that once her father had kept beautiful, unusual, and vibrant blooms growing in hanging baskets and in window boxes. Now they were looking tired and thirsty. She unlocked the front door with the key her father had given her and stepped inside. The smell of flowers and chemicals and dirt met her.
"Well," she muttered to herself, "A new coat of paint is definitely on the to do list." She walked around the counter and picked up the list of things she had to do to open. She glanced down the short list. No wonder her father had been able to afford to drink. There was little to be done because there were hardly any orders. She booted up the old computer and pulled out the old fashioned accounting books. Working through the numbers, she winced. It was pretty bad. And what was worse was how much was owed to Mr Gold.
She was now more determined than ever to make the flower shop a success. She could do this, and she could do it on her own without help. Or at least without Mr Gold's help.