Once Upon a Time is the property of Adam Horowitz, Eddy Kitsis, and ABC. My babies were so sad at the end of the episode that I had to fix it.

The Line Between

An eerie silence had settled around them as they stood on the docks. Hades was gone, his twisted manipulation achieved with the destruction of their hope. Neither of them spoke. They just held each other, quiet and despairing.

Belle's mind was anything but quiet, though. It kept replaying what she'd done, how she'd reacted out of fear. She could not let Gaston hurt Rumple, but to do what she'd done to him…

Hades had wanted her to do this, wanted her to damn Gaston to eternal torment, and she'd done it. What was she?

Feeling bile rise up her throat, she twisted quickly away from Rumple and retched, emptying the contents of her stomach onto the dock.

'Belle, oh, Belle,' Rumple soothed, his hand skimming lightly over her back.

She began to shake uncontrollably. He gathered her into his arms, twirled his hand, and took them back to the shop without another word.

'Sit here, sweetheart,' he entreated, easing her down onto the cot. She sat for him, shivering like mad. He shrugged out of his coat and draped it around her. She tugged it around her with shaking hands, burying her face in it, as if it soothed her to be surrounded by his scent. She didn't speak and she didn't react when he sat next to her, but she did lean into him when he put his hand on her back. She stared ahead, seeing nothing, her breathing jerky as she shook.

He was trying to keep himself from shaking too. He had rarely been this angry. He would make Hades pay for this. He'd destroyed Belle's hope: he'd shattered her idealism and forced her into a cruel new understanding of the world. For that, god or no god, Rumplestiltskin would make him suffer. Whatever it took, he would destroy Hades.

As painful as this was for her, it was equally so for him. He'd never wanted this for her, never wanted her to know darkness. Let it take him by all means, but not her, not his brave, bright, beautiful Belle. He so wished he could go back a few minutes and toss that oaf in the river before she arrived. She'd be angry with him, but at least she wouldn't be feeling this way now. Better her be angry with him than with herself.

Tears dripped down his cheeks for the innocence she'd lost today, but he knew he needed to pull it together. She needed him to be strong now and help her through this, show her that it didn't change anything about who she was or how he felt about her. It was an act of love, not darkness: he would help her see that.

He reached up and gently caressed her cold cheek with the backs of his fingers.

Belle's eyes flicked to his, but didn't linger. She looked away, ashamed, feeling so…wrong.

He only saw the look in her eyes for a second, but it was all he needed to know what she was thinking. She hated herself. He'd been there and he would not let Belle torture herself, not over that bastard.

'Belle, darling, look at me, please,' he begged.

'I can't,' she whispered, voice quivering.

'Please, Belle.'

'I'm a monster,' she whispered, disgusted.

'You're not a monster,' he told her definitively, the same way she had told him once, so very long ago. 'Look at me, Belle,' he requested, swiftly moving and kneeling before her like a supplicant now. 'Look at me, please.'

She did: she managed to focus eyes full of shame and sadness and fear and doubt on his, and his heart broke for her.

'Oh, my beautiful Belle,' he breathed.

Belle sobbed, reaching for him. He took her into his arms at once, moving to sit on the cot again, pulling her into his lap and holding her as she turned her face into his neck and cried.

All he could do was hold her and soothe her, and try his best not to let her feel any of the anger he felt towards Hades. Belle needed him now: he would deal with Hades later.

'I wanted so badly to help, to do the right thing,' she whimpered.

'I know, Belle.'

'I'm not a hero,' she whispered, sadness and realisation dripping from the words.

'You're my hero,' he told her: 'you've always been my hero.' He squeezed her a little as she clung to him.

'My mother would be so ashamed,' she sobbed, fresh tears trickling down her cheeks to soak his jacket.

'No she wouldn't, Belle: she'd be proud that you protected what you love, just like she did. I wish I'd known her, you know: I wish I could thank her for raising such a strong, compassionate, forgiving daughter. It takes an extraordinary amount of goodness to raise someone who's so concerned with what's right, who's so desperate to save everyone.'

'But I didn't save everyone,' she protested.

'You did everything you could: you gave Gaston every chance.'

'And in the end I gave in to darkness.'

'You gave in to love, Belle. He gave in to darkness by scorning your attempt to save him. He was the one who couldn't let his thirst for revenge go. You did what you had to do.'

'I couldn't let him hurt you,' she whispered, clinging tighter to him. 'I couldn't lose you, not again. I'd…I'd do it over again, if it came to it. Does that make me a terrible person?' she asked, afraid it did, afraid voicing this would make him hate her.

'It makes you human, Belle, and I love you for it.' He brushed his lips against her forehead. 'I promise you I will never stop loving you, no matter what.'

She looked searchingly at him, and then, seeming satisfied, she nodded and hugged him.

'I love you too, Rumple. Can you ever forgive me?'

'For what, Belle?'

'For being so uncompromising, for taking the dagger.'

'You took the dagger because I tricked you into telling me the deal you made with Hades and then disappeared before you could argue with me. That wasn't fair to you. Why don't we call it even, eh?'

After a moment, she nodded. 'I'm sorry, though.'

'I know, and it's ok, Belle. As for you being uncompromising, I like that: I need that.'

'You do?' she asked, frowning.

He nodded. 'You make me stronger. You've always seen the good in me and helped me to see it in myself. I told you once that you make me wanna be the best version of myself, and that's still true. I can be everything I've always wanted to be, and that's because of your love, Belle. Don't ever stop pushing me to be my best self, because I love you for doing that.'

She smiled weakly, but then looked troubled again. 'I could have been nicer about it, though,' she said, 'not self righteous. I was unkind to you.'

'You were stressed,' he countered. 'You landed here unexpectedly, found out a) that you're pregnant, b) that, because of a deal I made before you were even born, our baby is owed as payment, and, c) that I'm the Dark One again and that I didn't tell you straight away. Anyone would be stressed under those conditions. Frankly, I'm surprised you didn't scream at me that you never wanted to see me again.'

'I'm tired of fighting how I feel about you,' she admitted. 'I tried and I made myself miserable, and I hurt you when I walked away from you at the well: I'm sorry.' She looked plaintively at him and he smiled.

'You needed more time,' he said, knowing it was true. 'I should have understood that you needed more than a day to see I could really be better. I hurt you far too much for you to be able to trust me easily again.'

'I was hurt,' she agreed, 'but I don't wanna dwell on that any more. I choose to trust you not to hurt me again, Rumple.'

He smiled, knowing how much courage it took for her to say that. 'Thank you. That means more to me than I can say, Belle, and I promise you that I will keep that vow I made to you, to love you with honesty and courage. I can do that and be the Dark One as well.'

She knew he believed that, but she'd seen his heart, all shrivelled and almost black: she didn't want to see that happen to him again.

'I just…I don't wanna lose you to the Darkness again, Rumple,' she said, panicked. 'You nearly died: I couldn't bear it if your heart went black again.'

He cupped her cheek gently. 'That's why you were so adamant about no dark magic,' he realised. 'Oh, Belle.' He smiled. 'I should have known you had my best interests at heart.'

'I can't watch you go through that again,' she whispered, fear in her eyes.

'It's different now, Belle,' he told her. 'I'm stronger: you made me stronger. When I was without power, I learned the kind of man I can really be, and you did that. You helped me become the hero I always wanted to be but never believed I could. You saw that in me, Belle, and I was able to see it in myself: that's why I was able to pull the sword from the stone. I learned to believe in myself the way you believe in me. You always see the potential in me,' he said, and smiled.

'But the power had been part of me for hundreds of years. I missed not having it, I missed not being able to protect the ones I love with a snap of my fingers. When life has beaten you down as much as it did me, you long to find a way to be able to stand again, and I did, Belle: the power allowed me to do that, to be a man. Without it, I didn't feel complete. I need it to be who I am, who I want to be. Can you understand that?'

'I… I think I can,' she said softly, after a moment. 'Growing up, I knew I would never get the opportunity to be a great leader or to earn the respect that men could. I knew I was just supposed to be a pretty trophy.' She sent a flicker of a smile to him as he tensed in irritation. 'Still, I read and studied, hoping that one day I could prove myself and earn the respect of my father and his men. For me, knowledge was power that I acquired in hopes that I could earn respect and acknowledgement as more than a pretty bauble.'

'And so you have,' he whispered, looking at her with such awe and respect it made her eyes water.

She smiled, warmer this time, and nodded. She knew he respected her, and that was enough.

'So I understand how you feel,' she said quietly. 'I understand that power is as much a part of you as books and knowledge are part of me, and I won't ask you to give up part of yourself, not for me, because I know you would never ask me to give up part of myself for you.'

He stared at her, completely awed by her capacity for understanding and acceptance.

Suddenly needing to desperately, he kissed her, catching her by surprise this time. She wrapped her arms around him, gasping when he pulled away.

'You are the most wonderful woman I have ever known,' he told her.

She smiled, and then it turned sad. 'I don't feel so wonderful right now,' she said tearfully, remembering Gaston.

'Oh, Belle, I'm so sorry.' He pulled her closer again, stroking her hair as she rested her head on his shoulder.

'Gaston was a beast, but he didn't deserve that fate: no one does.'

'No,' he agreed.

'You agree with me?' she asked, surprised, 'but you hated Gaston.'

'I did, but… Belle, there's something I have to tell you, something I did before you arrived down here, something I'm not proud of.'

'What was it?' she asked.

'I pushed Milah into the river,' he said, voice full of regret.

'Your first wife?'

'Yes.' She could see that he hadn't enjoyed it. There was regret and shame in his eyes.

'What happened?' she asked gently. If he felt anything like she did right now, she wanted to comfort him, because this wasn't a nice feeling.

'It was the day I discovered you were pregnant,' he said. 'I wanted so much to get back to you and Emma and the others were stalling too much, so I told Emma I could get us into Hades' lair. To do that, we needed the help of a dead person. I approached Milah. She came with us and we found a boat that we could use to get us all home after we'd gotten Hook. Emma went to get Hook and Hades arrived. He froze Milah and offered me a deal: he'd send me home to you if I burned the boat and got rid of Milah.'

'And you did it to come home to me, to us.' There was no judgement in her voice, no anger. How could she judge him after today? She'd just wanted to save Rumple: he'd just wanted to get home to her and their baby. With her new understanding of how harsh choices could be, she could never judge him for this.

He nodded. 'Just like you, I wish I could undo it. I wish I could go back and find another way, but Hades would have killed everyone if I didn't do it. He backed me into a corner as surely as he did you today. He knows how to push people's buttons, Belle.'

She nodded. 'Why didn't he let you come home?'

'Because he found out about the baby. I killed the man I made the deal with when I became the Dark One and I thought that meant it was nullified, but then I came here and found that Hades had bought the contract from the healer, which means…'

'We owe our baby to Hades,' she finished. He nodded. 'But he tricked you: he broke your deal! How are we to fight someone who doesn't play fair?'

'By beating him at his own game,' he told her.

'You have a plan already, don't you?' she asked, and he smiled at the spark of hope in her eyes. There was the Belle he knew and loved.

'Yes,' he agreed: 'it just came to me.'

'Will you tell me?' she asked, not sure he would.

He nodded. 'No more secrets, Belle: I promise. Besides, I need your advice.'

'You do?'

He smiled and placed a tentative hand against her stomach. She brought both of her hands down immediately to hold his hand there.

He smiled again. 'We created this life together,' he murmured: 'our love created it, and our love will protect it, so, yes, I will share every thought and every plan with you from now on. We'll decide on everything together. We'll fight and be stubborn and compromise, because that's what love is. It's taken me a long time to understand it, Belle, but I know what love is now. Love is forgiveness and acceptance and understanding: love is you, and I won't lose sight of that again. Oh, don't cry, sweetheart,' he pleaded, bringing his hand up to brush away her tears.

'I can't help it,' she sobbed, tears spilling down her cheeks. She caught his hand and pressed it to her cheek. 'When I remember that I thought you loved power more than me, I…' And she rolled her eyes at herself.

'I'm sorry I made you feel that way,' he said regretfully, stroking her cheek with his thumb. Then he moved his hand away from her cheek and reached into his jacket, pulling out the dagger.

'This is a just means to an end, Belle,' he said, showing it to her. 'This dagger and the power I wield because of it will always and forever work in the service of the ones I love most in all the realms: you and our child. Nothing else matters to me: no one else matters to me. I will do everything in my power to protect you both and keep you from harm. That's the only reason I love this dagger: because of what it allows me to do for the ones I truly love.'

Belle nodded, accepting his words. 'And I - we - love you for that.' And she kissed him gently, smiling as his eyes watered at the mention of their child loving him too.

They smiled at each other then, hope reignited, and Belle stared at him, a new certainty coming to her.

'You're different,' she said softly, awed. 'I can see it in your eyes: there's something different about you this time. The Darkness, it's there, but it seems weaker now.'

'It doesn't own me the way it used to,' he explained. 'I told you: you make me stronger, and I acquired the power differently this time as well: I didn't kill for it, and that makes a difference.'

'Killing automatically binds your soul to the Darkness,' she reasoned.

'Yes,' he agreed.

'So, how did you get it back?'

'Emma came to me with a plan to sacrifice herself to destroy the Darkness. She was going to gather all the Darkness into Excalibur and then get Regina to kill her. I used some magic to turn the sword from a weapon into a conduit to channel the Darkness into me. I didn't know that Hook would die: that wasn't part of the plan.'

'He was wounded by Excalibur in Camelot,' Belle told him: 'that's why Emma turned him into a Dark One. Merlin said that a wound from the sword couldn't be healed: Emma was trying to save him.'

'Well, that turned out well,' he grumbled. 'Instead of one Dark One wreaking havoc, we had two, one of whom had been mired in darkness for hundreds of years. Nice going, Emma.' His voice dripped with sarcasm.

'Well, you do crazy things for love,' Belle said understandingly.

'Yes,'' he agreed, softening a little.

'So, you turning the sword into a conduit wouldn't have killed Emma,' she surmised: 'what you did saved her life.' She looked at him, awed. 'You sacrificed yourself to the Darkness to save her: you're a true hero, Rumple!'

'I'm not sure my intentions were quite that noble, Belle. My first thought was to get the power back. I didn't believe her plan would work the way she intended, though. Magic can't be destroyed: it can only change form, so the Darkness would have to go somewhere once it had been cut from her.'

'Back into the air, like last time,' Belle said.

'Possibly, or back to the vault, where it would wait for some desperate soul to come and claim it.'

'So, what you did was the safe option,' she said. 'Even if you wanted the power back as well, you did save Emma's life, and after seeing what she and Hook did with the power of the Dark One in less than six weeks, it's probably in the safest hands it could be in now. You never created a second Dark One or opened a portal to the Underworld to free all the previous Dark Ones. How did you manage not to give in to the Darkness completely for all that time?'

'I channeled it into finding Bae at first,' he said, 'and then I met you. Love is the best defence against the Darkness. You helped me in so many ways.'

'Did I?' she asked uncertainly. 'Did I really help you, Rumple? I made you leave. How was that helping you?'

'You woke me up,' he told her. 'I was giving in to the Darkness and you made me see that I needed to deal with it differently.'

'That's why you got the Author to write new stories.'

'Yes, but even then I lied and tricked, and I'm sorry for that, Belle.'

She nodded. 'I know that you were losing the last flicker of love in your heart: I know that must have affected you.'

'It did, but, thanks to you, I'm still here.'

She smiled. 'And now you're a hero who can use his power for good. That's why you came here, isn't it: to save Hook, even though you and he were enemies?'

'Well, I may have felt a little guilt, but, again, I wouldn't say my intentions were quite so noble. I mainly came here because Emma threatened to tell you about me being the Dark One again.'

Belle tensed. 'What?'

'I was afraid to tell you,' he admitted. 'I wanted to, but Emma made it sound like you'd—'

'No, hang on: she blackmailed you into coming here, into leaving me and our baby?'

He realised in surprise that she wasn't angry at him, but at Emma.

'Well, to be fair to her, she didn't know about the baby.'

'That doesn't matter! How dare she hold that over you? I thought she was supposed to be a good person: she's the Saviour!'

'Turns out the Saviour is not above blackmail.'

'Oh, I should…' Suddenly her anger evaporated and she soughed against him in despair. 'Who am I to talk, after what I did today? Heroes and villains…there's no such thing, really, is there?' She sighed. 'The world isn't as black and white as I wanted it to be: right and wrong is a matter of perspective, like you said.'

'You always look for the good in people,' he reminded her.

'But sometimes it's really not there, is it?' she asked, 'or, sometimes, the right thing is subjective. What I consider the right thing isn't necessarily what someone else considers the right thing.' She was thinking of the day she left the others when they wouldn't help her get Rumple back.

'I'm angry with them, you know,' she said quietly, admitting it for the first time.

'With Emma and her family?' She nodded. 'Why?'

'I went to Camelot to help Emma. I was going to ask Merlin for help saving you too, but I also wanted to help Emma. They barely acknowledged me. Then, the day you came to the library, after you got away from Merida, they were all talking about contacting Merlin. I asked why we were bothering with Merlin when you could help us. They wouldn't ask for your help and they wouldn't help me rescue you because they blamed you for Emma being the Dark One. They said if you hadn't brought the Darkness back, that wouldn't have happened. They refused to accept that what happened was as much Emma's fault as yours; she was seduced by the Darkness too. I'm really angry with them for just dismissing your safety out of hand because it wasn't convenient to what they wanted. Well, not with Henry or Robin, but the others. They only care about what's best for them and the people they care about. They're supposed to be leaders: they're supposed to care about everyone, not just their family. I gave them too much credit for too long. I didn't wanna see how selfish they really are. I… I don't trust them to help us save our baby.'

'I hadn't planned on asking them anyway,' he told her. 'Knowing you as I do, Belle, I've always felt you had more heroism in your little finger than all of them put together. You know what real heroism is: compassion, forgiveness.'

She stared at him. 'You…you read my book!'

'Of course I read your book,' he told her. 'I've read every book you love.' He smiled as her lips trembled.

She blinked. 'I can still be compassionate and forgiving,' she said, 'but maybe I need to stop giving people so many chances when they don't respect me or show me that they deserve them.'

He nodded. 'I think that's a good lesson to take away from all this.'

She nodded. 'And I've realised the hard way that things aren't simple black and white: they're complicated, and it's alright to act with the interests of the people you love in mind. You walk the line between good and evil, light and dark, the best you can, and all you can do is work and hope to stay in the light more often than not.'

'Yes,' he agreed, smiling at her. She did have a wonderful way of clarifying things.

'Ok,' she said, 'tell me your plan for saving our baby.'

'Well, as I said, we beat Hades at his own game,' he said, switching tack with her. 'You're right: he doesn't play fair, and there's only one way to cheat a cheater: find an even bigger cheat.'

'Who do you mean?'

'How do you feel about being properly introduced to my father?'

So…shall I leave it there or do you want to see Belle meet Pan…and maybe have some RumBelle/Charmings interaction too? :)