The ogres had come without warning. It was like one day the town had been quietly at peace, and the next there were soldiers stationed on the walls as people fled from their farms to the relative safety of the city. Within a week, the king's advisors were planning for retreat. Treasures had to be abandoned to save the people, though not necessarily sacrificed. There was a tower abandoned just inside the walls of the city for longer than living memory – its use no longer remembered, it stood as a hollow reminder of better times.

It was into this shell of Avonlea's former glory that the retreating people sealed up their most precious treasures in the hopes of returning for them once the invaders had been pushed back, including the most precious treasure of all – the princess. The entrance was bricked up and the court magicians called forth their best charms and illusions to guard the tower, containing it in a thick forest that no one man could conquer. And then, the people of Avonlea fled.

The soldiers covered the retreat, and the princess watched from her tower as her people were scattered to the winds and her soldiers slaughtered.

Belle was heartbroken and angry in equal measures. She'd not agreed to nor approved of this plan to lock her into the tower, but in the end there hadn't been much of a choice. Her father and his advisors hadn't thought that she'd be safe. The court would be seeking asylum with their allies, and an unmarried princess would have been a distraction at best and a liability at worst. Ultimately, the risk of a forced marriage had been too high and she'd reluctantly allowed herself to be shut up in this abandoned tower like a grail waiting for someone to reach the end of their quest. It was an entirely unpleasant sensation.

There were supplies, at least. She would be alright for at least a year, and the plan was that the city would be reclaimed within that year. It was still a nerve wracking proposition to be locked away, but there was hope at least and she would cling to it. In the worst case, she would throw herself from a window. It was a dark plan, but it was a strange comfort in these dark times.

But, in the meantime, she had to survive and hopefully thrive. The tower had been in surprisingly good shape inside, though it definitely needed to be cleaned up. If time hadn't been so valuable, maids would have come in and cleaned for her but perhaps it was a good thing they'd left it. She had a whole year on her own, and anything to keep her from going mad would be a welcome relief.

Within a few days she'd grown sick of the silence and begun speaking to herself just to hear a human voice, but even that didn't help for long. Gods, she'd never last the year at this rate. The loneliness was overwhelming her when she finally stumbled onto the library. If there was one thing that could keep Belle company alone in her tower, it was a library. She'd almost cried when she saw it, pouncing on the nearest book and flipping it open to the table of contents. She was relieved to see chapter titles she didn't recognize, meaning this was a book she hadn't read yet. There were more books in this library than she could read in a lifetime and, for the next year at least, Belle had nothing but time on her hands.

By the second book, Belle was sure she'd stumbled onto something she wasn't supposed to see. At least a third of the books in her new library were books of magic – spells and potions and the creation of amulets and charms. She'd heard of such things, but never seen anything like them. These sorts of books were held in secret by sorcerers and magicians, and certainly never shown to overly curious princesses.

Her cleaning had progressed to the point that she'd begun unlocking new rooms, and this had led her to the discovery of alchemical equipment. The tower had most certainly belonged to some sort of wizard, though whoever the last occupant had been was long gone now if the layers of dust were any indication. It seemed such a waste to have all these resources at her disposal and not to make use of any of them. She could very well need magic at some point – whether to escape or to provide herself with resources or even to defend herself – so why not take advantage of the opportunity that had presented itself? She may never have the chance to learn magic ever again, and she had all the time in the world to perfect it.

There was something different about the tower this year, and Rumplestiltskin knew enough to know that meant trouble the moment he arrived. Someone was here, and he needed to know who. It was a feminine energy which instantly set him on edge – there were far too many witches in the Enchanted Forest, but this was no powerful enchantress. The magical energies were barely above the ambient level of what the tower usually possessed. How curious.

As he made his way through the tower, he became aware that it was cleaner than it usually was when he would return to it. The dust had been swept and the windows were clean with the curtains drawn open. Rumplestiltskin never opened the curtains. Things were also out of place. There were books left on a couch and his spinning wheel had been pushed against a wall from its usual place in the center of the room. Someone was certainly in his tower, but who it was remained a mystery. Or, at least, it remained a mystery until he heard the humming that was rapidly approaching.

Rumplestiltskin cast a quick spell, hiding himself from view just in time as a young woman in a blue dress to come into the great hall. Her clothes were expensive – a blue silk brocade over a chemise of white cambric. This wasn't a peasant girl who had wandered into the tower seeking shelter, Rumplestiltskin knew fabric well and this was expensive fabric. Somehow a fine lady had ended up in this tower and that was just so very interesting he could hardly stand it.

He watched her as she hummed and moved around the room, taking a book from a shelf and setting it on the table alongside a simple wooden spoon and a wand. She then began flipping through the pages to a place marked with a ribbon and picked up the wand and began to read aloud. The lady was teaching herself magic! If Rumplestiltskin lived another thousand years, he wasn't sure he'd ever be given another opportunity like this.

"Fire, wind, earth and sea, let your magic work through me," she read in a confident voice. Her accent was of the local dialect so she hadn't travelled far to get here, though that still didn't explain why she was here or why she was trying to learn spells. "Through my hand your power flows, turn this spoon into a rose!"

She said the last with a little flick of the wand towards the spoon. He thought he felt a little tremor in the air, but nothing strong enough to do what she'd commanded and the spoon just sat there before her exactly as it had been before. She bit her lip and looked back to the book before repeating the spell again, but firmer this time and with a more exaggerated flick of her wand that had no effect whatsoever. She crinkled her nose in annoyance, and even he thought the spoon looked like it was taunting her now. She huffed and flipped back a few pages, and he supposed that was probably his cue.

A snap of his fingers turned the spoon into a rose, and she'd barely had time to be startled by it before he revealed himself and she practically jumped across the room.

"Who are you?" she asked, pointing the wand at him as though she knew how to use it.

His first instinct was to tease her, but there was really no need. She was already terrified and alone, and he could always use a favor from a lady.

"I'm the one who owns this tower," he replied as cheerfully as he could before dropping into a courtly bow. "Rumplestiltskin, at your service."

She seemed to calm a little that he wasn't chasing her down and doing gods only knew what, so that was a good sign.

"And who might you be?" he asked when she didn't immediately offer any information of her own.

"B-Belle," she replied quickly, ducking her head in a quick curtsey. "Princess Belle of Avonlea."

There was the information he'd been looking for, he'd stumbled upon an actual princess in his lair and there were so very many things she could be useful for later.

"And what brings you to my tower, Princess Belle of Avonlea?"

"We thought it was unoccupied," she said. She still wasn't relaxed, but the wand was by her side now and she'd drawn herself up to her full (if unimpressive) height. She was wary, but not obviously distressed anymore – if anything, she was bordering on curious and that was a very good sign.

"So you thought you'd just move in and start rearranging the furniture?"

"I didn't have much choice. They were trying to hide me from the ogres."

That was news to him. All his various homes were guarded against ogres in particular due to his distaste for them. He'd heard whispers that they were on the move, but somehow the fact that they'd gotten far enough into Avonlea that the royals were locking the princess away had eluded him. That was an oversight on his part, and he didn't intend to repeat it.

"The princess locked in a tower," he said teasingly. "How droll."

She didn't seem amused, but he hadn't meant for her to appreciate the comment. He wanted her unsettled, he wanted her not thinking straight. He wanted her to not think about what he was about to offer. He wanted to manipulate her, and this was a start.

Rumplestiltskin picked the rose up from the table and made a show of smelling it before offering it to her. She was still watching him uneasily, so he smiled and wiggled the flower until she finally reached out cautiously and took it from him. She spun the flower in her fingers and looked at it for a long moment before glancing back to him, and he knew he was close to his goal. She wanted the thing he hadn't offered – she wanted to learn, and if he could make her ask for it…

"Can I ask you something?" she said at last, and he nodded his assent. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"The rose. How did you do it? You didn't say any of the words that were in the book and you didn't use a wand."

"Magic is all around," he replied with a wave of his hand. "You just have to learn to tap into it. But you won't learn that from a book."

She was chewing on her lip again, which he was beginning to think she did whenever she was thinking.

"Could you teach me?" she asked at last. He had her, but he couldn't seem too eager. Eagerness was suspicious, and if it was her idea then she'd be far more likely to go along with his methods.

"And why would you want that, dearie?"

"I want to help my people. I want to get rid of the ogres."

"That will take a bit more magic than that rose," he said. "Quite a bit more."

"I know that. Are you saying you can't teach me?"

"Not at all, just that it will be a lot of work and princesses were never known for their work ethic."

"I'm not scared to work."

She had a haughty tilt to her chin now and he let himself giggle at her clear offense at his words. That just made her angrier, which was an excellent situation for him.

"So you won't teach me?" she asked sharply.

"I didn't say that, dearie. I'll teach you if you want, but everything comes with a price."

"What price?" She was suddenly wary again, but he was fairly certain she was too angry and stubborn to back down easily. He made a show of thinking for a moment before answering.

"Your first born!"

"What? No!"

She looked horrified, and truly scared for the first time since they'd been speaking.

"Second?" he asked with a quirk of his lips. Her jaw dropped and then suddenly she started giggling prettily at the joke. She was perhaps more beautiful than he'd realized, and he was suddenly having some reservations about this plan but it was too late to back out gracefully. "Oh fine," he continued. "Let's just say you would owe me a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"Does it matter?"

She was in a bad situation and they both knew it. There were ogres outside and while she might be able to avoid them if he cast her out she would still be at the mercy of whatever brigands and rogues were outside the city. Even if he let her stay, she would still be trapped in this tower until someone else came to fetch her. She didn't have many options available to her, and this was the best one.

"I suppose not," she said at last. "Alright. You'll teach me magic to help my people and I'll owe you a favor?"

He nodded his assent, and her shoulders sagged with something that might have been relief.

"Then we have a deal," she said at last. "When can we begin?"

"How does right now sound?" he replied and Belle tried to suppress a shiver. This was all going so fast. Fifteen minutes ago she'd been trying to teach herself to transmogrify a spoon into a rose and now there was a sorcerer standing in front of her offering to begin teaching her right now. She wanted to take a moment to just breathe but she was in a bad position to ask for much and they both knew it. If he wanted to, he could kill her or cast her out or any number of things that she didn't want to think about.

He was still standing there, looking at her expectantly and she knew that there could really only be one correct answer. She straightened her shoulders and tried to call up the words her mother had always given her in times of crisis: do the brave thing, and bravery will follow.

"What do I have to do?" she asked.

"You're thinking too much about it," he said, reaching out and plucking the wand from her hand. He swished it through the air idly before flicking it quickly and summoning a white and blue teacup into his empty hand. "Magic is about emotion. Think of that one moment that made you so angry you would have killed if you could."

Belle was taken aback. She didn't know much about magic, but she did know that anger had never led her anywhere good. She'd certainly seen people who had given into anger – as princess she had been her father's proxy for any number of capital trials. She'd sat in on the court and approved sentences in a largely ceremonial capacity, but some of the things she'd heard had stayed with her. Anger led men to do terrible things, and she didn't want to let it into her heart.

"I don't have a moment like that," she fibbed. "I'm not angry at anyone."

He blinked at her with his over-large eyes and then his face split into an unsettling smile. He walked back to the table and set the teacup down where her spoon had been.

"Everyone is angry over something," he said a little condescendingly. "What of your father? The men who trapped you here?"

"They were trying to protect me. There were no other options."

She didn't know why she was defending them, but it was as true as anything else. That had been the justification – aside from the threat of ogres, the court would be taking shelter in a neighboring kingdom. The fear had been that she would have been too great a prize if they were to take her abroad. Belle was her father's only child and heir to the throne, her husband would be prince-consort and her children would rule. She'd have been a temptation to any nobleman looking to expand his territory and increase his status, and they hadn't wanted to risk that. She also suspected that she was to be used as an incentive for aid, a princess in the tower to be given as a prize to whomever could drive off the ogres, and she had fought her father on that tooth and nail though he'd always denied it.

Perhaps she was angry, but she wouldn't give this stranger that knowledge or the power over her that it would grant. If he hadn't realized her value yet, then she wouldn't share it. The last thing she needed was yet another threat to her freedom.

"And you have no hard feelings about their methods?" he asked, practically prancing closer to her. "No bottled up resentment about being trapped here alone? No anger at mommy and daddy?"

"My mother is dead," Belle replied on reflex. She wished she could call the words back to her mouth the instant after she said them. She shouldn't tell him more than he already knew about her. She wasn't so sheltered that she didn't know he was the Dark One, and while she trusted he would uphold their deal she didn't trust him much further than that. She'd heard the stories, she knew what to expect. She needed to be on her guard, and she wasn't.

"My condolences," Rumplestiltskin said and it sounded like a taunt even though she couldn't quite figure out why. "Was her passing recent?"

Belle didn't want to think about this. The grief was still too fresh and too overwhelming. It felt like she was drowning still to think about it. He was still looking at her expectantly, and she knew she didn't need to answer – he already knew the truth.

"Was it sudden?" he continued, and this time she did manage to nod.

"Ogres," she said quietly, not wanting to hold that truth in anymore even if it wasn't a good idea. "She was killed by the ogres."

"Ah, so that's why you want them gone?"

"I want them gone because they're dangerous. They've killed hundreds of people."

"And that makes you angry."

"It would make anyone angry."

"But even so, it makes you especially angry. They took your mother, and now they've taken your freedom."

"No."

She didn't want to think about it, because thinking about it did make her angry. She tried desperately to be above it, but this was something she couldn't let go of. And honestly she wasn't sure if she truly wanted to – it would have meant letting go of her mother's death and she didn't want to let go of any part of her mother.

He began circling her slowly which just set her further on edge as he went.

"They've pushed you," he said. "Stole your mother, forced your people out, and caused you to be locked away in a tower. Anyone would be angry, take it – use it. Use it to fight them, to save your people. Think of the lives you could save with it."

He was right, and it was hard to find fault with his words. She could do so much with the sort of magic he possessed. She could escape, she could drive out the ogres and return Avonlea to its former glory. She could keep anyone else from losing a loved one the way she had.

Even as he spoke, she could feel the magic beginning to wake up in her. There was magic in her, and he was waking it up. It was an intoxicating feeling to have this power, she wanted to reach out and take it. It would be the easiest thing in the world to follow where he was leading her, but the anger inside her stole her breath and she could feel it trying to take root in her heart. Her mother wouldn't have been proud of her in that moment, and that thought was the only thing that brought Belle back to herself.

"No," she blurted out. "I don't want it. Not this way. There has to be something else."

"No? What did you think I do, dearie? Summon puppies and kittens?"

"I don't care what you do, I'm not going to be evil."

He narrowed his eyes at her, and she could feel the power he'd awakened inside her receding. She wanted it back, but she couldn't lose herself to get it. Could he feel it, too? He must, if he was as powerful as everyone said.

"We'll discuss this later," he said sharply. Before she could even think of what else to say, though, he snapped his fingers and then he was gone, leaving no sign he'd ever been there besides the teacup on the table and the rose in her hand.

There had been a stalemate for close to a week before Rumplestiltskin reluctantly agreed to attempt to teach her again. He wasn't sure if it would even work if she was refusing to embrace her anger. He'd never tried to teach someone like her before, and it was highly annoying. After a full week of training she could on occasion levitate a small item. It required a lot of poking and prodding on his behalf, and he was sure she was accidentally channeling annoyance with him into magic. Which probably wasn't what she really wanted, but it amused him if nothing else.

Still, things were at least progressing. She wasn't going to be winning any wars any time soon, but she seemed impressed with her own progress and sooner or later someone would come to fetch her. Regardless, she'd owe him a favor after all of this and that was the important thing. He just had to get through the rest of this war and then he could be rid of her until he had need of the favor she'd promised him.

Honestly, he wasn't even sure why he cared this much about his favor. His foresight was sometimes spotty, but he could tell she'd be important somehow. He just needed to bide his time until it became clear to him. In the meantime, he had to focus on teaching the girl to actually levitate things when she meant to and not just on occasion.

"You should be able to do this consistently," he scolded, trying to goad her into performing.

"I'm trying," she shot back, glaring at the teacup he'd summoned for her to practice on. "It's harder than it looks!"

"I've been doing it since before you were born, dearie."

He could tell she wanted to retort, but instead she just screwed up her face and focused on the cup again. This time she managed to make it wiggle a few times before she lost it. If nothing else, teasing her seemed to work. So there was an idea, he could send her out into battle and just shout insults at her until she could kill an ogre. Assuming she could do it before she was stepped on, anyway.

"I'm getting better," she said defensively once the cup wasn't moving anymore. "But it's hard work!"

"Yes yes, so you've said. But then I suppose princesses aren't used to hard work."

She was angry again, and he enjoyed the moral victory if nothing else. Before he could savor it too much, though, there was a little tug in his mind – Regina was calling. Rumplestiltskin tried not to roll his eyes too harshly, though he supposed he needed to deal with it. Regina could be a little unstable at the best of times and he was at a point where he very much needed her to focus. Besides, his princess could probably use some time to percolate.

"I have to go for a bit," he said with a dismissive flip of his hand. "I trust you'll be able to keep yourself amused while I'm gone?"

"I think I'll manage." There was a sharp edge to her voice that he found he quite liked. It was a sign that there was some passion there and passion he could work with.

"Before I go, I've a task for you." He snapped his fingers and transported both of them into the library. "I need you to fetch down a book."

"Which one?"

He scanned the top shelves for something vaguely appropriate before settling on a particular tome that was fairly high up and heavy.

"The red one with gold leaf," he said. He waited until she took her first step towards the ladder before continuing. "Not so fast, dearie. You need to fetch it magically."

"You know I can't do that!" He half expected her to punctuate it with a foot stomp, but she held it together at least that well.

"Then it's lucky for you that you'll have time to practice while I'm gone."

He brought the teacup to his hand and set it on a side table. It was almost funny how exhausted she looked, but he wasn't going to think too much about that. Regina needed to be managed and Belle would keep until later.

Belle was so frustrated with that damn teacup she could scream. He'd had her levitating it for weeks and she still couldn't do it reliably. It was miserable. What was she supposed to do? It was like there was a block she couldn't overcome and she wasn't sure what she was doing wrong. She'd ask about it, but whenever the topic came up he just wanted to ask her about ogres and her mother again. She didn't want to think about that, she had a lot of work to do and lingering on it wasn't anything she wanted to involve herself in.

She sighed and sat near the teacup, staring at it and trying to focus the energy she needed into it. It was interminable. Had he had to go through all of this to gain his skills? Maybe she could press him for that safely. She wanted to make this work, but she was starting to worry that it wouldn't. What would she do if she failed in this? She'd never really failed at anything before, there'd always been some way to work through it.

Oh, this was ridiculous. The teacup wasn't moving and there was no way she was going to be able to get the damn book down, either. But she wasn't going to face him with the book still on the shelf. She'd just have to go up there and get it the normal way with the ladder – and then be very careful to put the ladder back exactly where she'd found it so he didn't have to know. He'd probably suspect, but she couldn't handle another failure right now. She just had to get one thing right and please him for once in their acquaintanceship. She just needed some encouragement was all, or at least for him to stop taunting her.

With that in mind, she didn't even feel guilty sliding the ladder over to the book he wanted and climbing up it. The library at the castle had been bigger than this one, so she'd been up and down these sorts of ladders her entire life and felt no fear being at the top shelves. She took down the book and looked at it from her perch at the top of the ladder. It was a magic book, but she didn't see anything about levitating in the index. This had all been busy work, he was just trying to make sure she practiced while he was gone.

"What are you doing?"

Belle hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings, and the abrupt interruption to her reading sent her dangerously off balance. The book slipped from her fingers and she reached for it instinctively, pitching off the side of the ladder and out into nothingness. She was suddenly looking into Rumplestiltskin's scaled face and his strange eyes, and belatedly she realized that he was home. He'd caught her out of midair as she fell. It was strangely impressive, like something out of one of the books she used to sneak out of the library and hide under her pillow during her teen years. She should thank him, but she couldn't make her mouth form words and she was just watching him watch her. He looked just as stunned as she felt, as though he hadn't expected to reach her or for her to be so close.

Suddenly, he seemed to realize what was going on and dropped his arm out from under her legs so she was standing and still so close to him. It was unsettling but not unpleasant at all. She still hadn't thanked him.

"I...you – thank you." She felt warm and tingly where he'd been touching her. It was probably the magic, but it was a beautiful magic. She hadn't known it could feel this way.

He waved her off, still looking shaken at the whole situation. She should say something else to try to break the tension but a part of her liked the tension. It was full of promise and she felt like she was on the cusp of something big if she could just put her thoughts in order. Perhaps she could even make the damn cup move if she tried it now.

At the thought of the cup, a loud noise shot through the room and she practically jumped back into his arms in an attempt to spin around to face the threat. There was nothing, though. No intruder, nor attack weaponry – just the cup still on the table with a large crack down the face of it.

She'd been progressing well since she cracked the cup. Rumplestiltskin hadn't expected her to suddenly become so proficient, but whatever had happened while he had been gone had turned Belle into a proper little witch. She still wasn't powerful, but she could move things reliably now and had progressed to some conjuring and transmogrification. Perhaps she would be able to learn some offensive magic at some point if this kept up, he'd certainly seen stranger things in his life.

There was another interesting development, which was that since she was doing so well and he wasn't making an effort to annoy her anymore they were getting along so much better. She was an absolutely charming girl, which shouldn't be surprising because of course she was charming – princesses were raised to be charming from the time they were in the crib. Still, he was surprised at how much he enjoyed her company when she wasn't angry at him. She was smart, and had a strangely dark sense of humor that mirrored his own and that was something he certainly wouldn't have expected from a princess.

The new ability to do the things he asked of her seemed to have had an effect on her confidence. Perhaps it was just the pleasure of doing work, or maybe she responded better to compliments than insults. Regardless, it was working and things were so much more pleasant in the tower now. Not that it really mattered in the long run how much he was enjoying himself, but he didn't have much joy in his life and he was willing to enjoy this for now. Even if she would only be around until she'd learned what he could teach, she was a nice distraction and here at his endgame he could use a distraction.

Belle was in the great hall when he walked in, and he tried not to look at her right away. He was getting far too attached, and the last thing he needed to do was let her know that. She was too absorbed in whatever she was doing to notice him, and that was what finally drew his attention to where she stood in the middle of the room whispering words to a floor-length mirror.

He leapt from his spinning wheel and rushed over to drag her out of the line of sight of the mirror only to realize belatedly that he was holding her tight with her back to his chest. It was far too intimate, but somehow his arms wouldn't release her. The mirror was still uncovered and it had been such an incredibly big risk for her to have taken.

"What are you doing?" she asked breathlessly. He'd expected her to be irate, but she just sounded shocked and something else he didn't dare think too hard about while the heat of her was soaking through his shirt.

"The mirrors are dangerous. You shouldn't have them uncovered."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't...I found a spell and I wanted to check on my father."

"That's why they're dangerous, you never know who's looking."

She nodded and he was hit with the scent of her hair. He had no idea how she smelled like she did. They lived together and at least in theory had the same soaps, but yet she smelled like the spring air after a rainstorm. She was flowers and sunshine and wholesomeness. Finally, he released her to take a step back. The mirror needed to be covered again, and he desperately needed some space. This was all getting far too out of hand.

"Can I ask you something?" she said once she was out of arm's length. "Why did you agree to let me stay here?"

Because he'd thought he could manipulate her into owing him a favor, and now he had no idea of what to do with her, but how could he say that?

"The place was filthy," he replied flippantly, picking up the cloth from the floor to put it back on the mirror. She shrugged and hummed a little, and he watched her as she went and perched on the table happily.

"Come on," she said. "Who knows how long I'll be here? I'm learning so much, I'd like to learn about you, too."

It was said with a sweet smile that made his chest hurt and he suddenly knew what he had to do.

"I have to leave you for a few days," Rumplestiltskin said and Belle wasn't sure if she knew what to say. He hadn't left her since she'd fallen off that ladder, and she'd been making so much progress with her magic ever since. She didn't want him to leave her, she was just enjoying his company so much.

"Do you really have to?" she asked him. "We've been doing so well."

"You'll be fine," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I'll be back before you know it."

Somehow, that thought didn't comfort her. It was going to be just awful until he returned.

Rumplestiltskin came back late the next day, and as soon as she realized it she just about flew to the great hall to see him. Maybe she could get him to teach her to fly soon – she was sure that was something she could learn and it might be fun.

He seemed tired and didn't return her hug, but she was sure things would all be fine in a day or two when he settled back into their routine. Of course, a day or two later she found out where he'd been while he was gone.

There was a banging at the door, and while she didn't usually answer it she had no compunctions about looking out through a window that overlooked the door to see who was there – it was a single battalion of men bearing her kingdom's flag.

"Rumplestiltskin! Come look!" she called out, drawing him away from his spinning. "My father sent soldiers. The war must be over."

"Indeed," he said, sounding entirely unsurprised and not particularly happy.

It was at that moment she realized they had come to take her away, and her magic lessons were going to be over and that was when an upsetting thought occurred to her.

"Did you do this? End the war, I mean?"

"Are you packed?" he asked her instead of answering, and she knew it was true. She wasn't sure if he'd done it as a favor or to get rid of her, but either way she felt tears beginning to well up in her eyes. She didn't want to go, she didn't want to be away from him. He was her favorite person in the world to spend time with.

"Am I ever going to see you again?" she asked, turning from the window to face him at last.

"You can call if you ever need a rescue," he said with a little smile that she didn't really believe he meant.

She wanted to kiss him all of a sudden, but he snapped his fingers before she could manage to get her courage up and then he was gone. He wasn't in the tower anymore, and she wasn't sure she'd ever see him again.

Two weeks later and the tower still felt different with Belle gone. He should leave it and go to one of his other haunts, but something stopped him. It was silly to be so morose when he'd known all along that she'd leave eventually but still...it was just wrong to not have her there. Everything felt duller somehow without her there, but he couldn't bring himself to leave the tower even though the walls themselves were full of her. There were books she'd been reading left on tables, projects she'd started and abandoned in various stages of completion, and occasionally he would catch a whiff of her scent still lingering in the curtains or on the sofas she'd lounged on during her stay. It was maddening, and he couldn't get enough of it. Everything she'd left behind were just crumbs of a life that was lost to him now.

Gods, it was so maudlin he could vomit. She was returned to her people and he could focus on his goals and that was the important thing. He was almost convinced to give up on her when he heard a voice that could only be hers calling him. If he were a wise man, he'd stay away but no one had ever accused him of being wise and it was a matter of seconds before he was standing before her.

Rumplestiltskin was acutely aware that this must be her bedroom at her father's castle – the large bed and complete solitude more or less giving her away – but there she was standing there with a smile on her face. It took him an embarrassingly long time to realize she had a trunk next to her feet and was wearing travelling clothes.

"It took you long enough," she said brightly. "I was starting to think you wouldn't come."

"I came as soon as I heard you," he replied, not quite believing what was happening. "Were you planning a trip?"

"Sort of. You said I could call you if I ever needed another rescue."

"And what did you need to be rescued from, dearie?"

"It's so boring here! Nobody ever teases me or pushes me to get better at anything, and I have to keep the magic a secret from most everybody."

"You called because you were bored?"

"Well, yes, I suppose if you want to put it like that," she said with a little shrug. "But also because I missed you. Didn't you miss me?"

He'd missed her every second she'd been gone. He hadn't thought he would, but she was like water or sunshine and to say that he'd missed her was a lie because how could you miss something if you couldn't live without it? She wasn't a choice – she was his survival.

"Perhaps," he replied, knowing she could see right through him regardless. "The place has been a bit empty without you. I wouldn't be opposed to your return."

Belle threw herself into his arms and had her lips pressed against his before he could even catch up with her. She was sweet and soft and persistent, and all he could do was wrap his arms around her waist and hold on for dear life. After an eternity that somehow wasn't long enough, she pulled away and he was lost in blue eyes.

"Take me back to the tower," she said softly. "Let's make magic."

He didn't have to be asked twice, and they were back home before she could blink. And this time, he wouldn't ever let her go again.