A/N: I'm sorry, I'm sort of a terrible human being for writing this. After all the emotion in the episode, I just had to write a fic about Belle. Literally as soon as the episode ended a flood of ideas came into my head. I'm not quite sure how many chapters this will be yet, but at least four.
The Rumbelle goodbye literally killed me, but they're still my OTP and I'll never stop fighting for them. Please review, follow, and favorite! :)
"It's time for you to see the world."
Belle smiled at Rumplestiltskin. He had known about her dreams of traveling for a long time, and now that the Snow Queen was gone, it would be the perfect opportunity for them to get away.
Rumple reached his hand across the table and she took it in hers. He smiled at her, seeming just as excited as she was that she would be able to live her dream.
"Elsa must have gotten rid of the ice wall, then?" she asked, sitting up and stretching her arms.
He nodded. "It seems that our friends from Arendelle are now going home."
"How?" She thought that other realms were impossible to reach from here now, at least without a magic bean or another curse.
"A special portal that they found." He stood up. "And one that I must help with."
Belle felt her heart sink, just a little. He was gone so often now, but at least once they left Storybrooke it would just be the two of them with no one else to interrupt. "Is there anything I can do?"
He smiled, his expression softening. "No, it should be fairly simple. You'd be better served beginning your packing here."
She chuckled along with him, pushing the blanket off of her and setting her feet on the ground. She stood up and ran into Rumple's waiting arms, hugging him tightly and placing a gentle kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you, Rumple," she murmured.
He pulled away from her slightly to press his lips to hers. Though she could feel him beginning to pull away after a moment, Belle held on for a few seconds longer, not quite wanting the kiss to end. Finally she relented, though their heads were still only inches apart.
Rumple's smile was wide and pleased. "Your breakfast is going to get cold."
She giggled and kissed him again, though only for a moment. "We wouldn't want that, now would we, with all the effort you put into it?"
He placed a hand on the side of her head, softly caressing her cheek with his thumb. "I'll be back in a little while, and then we're off to New York." His smile grew wider and she grinned in response.
Rumple turned away and began to leave the shop.
"I love you," Belle called after him, feeling as if she could never say it enough.
He smiled at her over his shoulder. "I love you too."
Little did she know it was the last time she would ever hear him say those words.
She had turned so that she couldn't see him, though the scuffling made it sound as if he had fallen to the ground. What she hadn't been prepared for was hearing him.
"Belle," she heard in his broken voice. "Belle, please."
Tears fell endlessly from her eyes, unable to be controlled. She clutched the dagger in her fist so hard that her knuckles turned white. His voice was torture, but all the same, she couldn't move.
"I'm so sorry, Belle, I'm so sorry."
She could have sworn that she felt her heart being ripped out of her chest. Maybe he had done just that.
She didn't regret her choice. Rumplesiltskin was a danger to the town, a monster to be reckoned with. And since he had seemed so determined to play his role as the villain, she had no choice but to be the hero and save everyone from the beast.
A broken sob pushed past her throat. She remembered all the times she had dreamed of things like this happening, terrible nightmares which Rumple's soothing voice had chased away. Now they all came back to her, and she thought that she must have always known there was truth in them.
How could she have ever thought that Rumplestiltskin, the Dark One, the most powerful man in the world, would love her? She had been deceiving herself for a long time. He had never loved her. His power had always been everything to him.
Not her. Not ever.
And now she doubted. She had read of true love, and it had been the one thing she had truly wanted: to be chosen and cherished. But now she saw that true love was only for fairytales, for others like Snow White and Prince Charming, but not for her.
"Belle, Belle…"
Belle gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, trying to block out his voice. She could have walked away, but something was gluing her feet to the ground. Perhaps she didn't want to leave him. Perhaps she knew that there was nowhere for her to go now, because he was her home.
Her thoughts turned to the thing in her hand, the terrible dagger that had started all of this. She dropped it onto the ground, hearing the clatter with satisfaction. She wished she could destroy it, bury it where no one could ever find it…
A wave of drowsiness came over her, and all she could to was collapse to the ground in a shivering heap. The pavement was frigid, but she couldn't have moved even if she had wanted to.
"Belle," he cried, his sobs so pitiful that they made more tears spring to her eyes.
"Rumple," she whispered as if he could hear her. She wanted so badly to look at his face, to have one more chance to memorize every feature, but she knew that if she did, she would cross the line too.
Tears continued crawling down her cheeks, unabated. Belle closed her eyes. The last thing she remembered was the sound of sobbing behind her.
