Chapter Two: You Can't Leave Me
When Baelfire was born, I will admit I wanted to die freely and willingly. I'd never experienced anything more painful than childbirth. Nonetheless, I was happy to see the boy grow to be two years old. Then, I began to feel oddly nauseous.
These feelings did not go away, and after I returned from a personal affair, I knew I had to tell Rumpel.
"I'm literally pissing my own death," I suddenly said, closing the door behind me. Rumpel looked up from the wheel, looking at Bae for a few moments wrapped in blankets then back at me.
"What do you mean?" he asked, ready to stand from his work.
"I mean, I'm pissing blood. Just pure...blood," I told him. "I think there is something wrong with that."
The weeks that followed were not much better. I could barely take care of Bae, and Rumpel ended up doing most of the work while I laid in bed, too weak and tired to do anything.
I felt awful from the inside out. Now, I felt as if Rumpel's sacrifice was in vein. I'd heard about this kind of thing happening to other women in town, and none of them ever recovered from whatever it was. No one even knows how it spreads or what causes it. Not that any of that mattered, because now Rumpel had no magic and my pain increased every day.
Whenever Bae wasn't crying or I wasn't pushing him to take care of Bae or himself, Rumpelstiltskin was at my bedside, refusing to leave me.
"Maria..." he said one night, tears filling his eyes. "What am I going to do? I have no idea how to raise a child!"
"Neither do I," I replied softly, closing my eyes part way. "I was just going with what I thought was right."
"Maria, I can't do this," he said. "There is no way. I need you here, with me...I can't do this on my own-"
"Shh, Rumpel..." I said, trying to get him to relax. "Listen to me for a moment. I love you. You and Bae...you'll be a matching pair. He's a part of me, do you understand that? I know you will do what you think is right for him...and that's all I could ever hope for."
"You can't die," he said right away. "I have nothing except Bae and you to hold me together. Maria, please, there has to be something. What I wouldn't give to still have my magic..."
"I think you'll get it back," I told him honestly. "I know you can do a fine deal. Become close to Baelfire, trust him, and love him. You'll be a great father, Rumpelstiltskin. I am not gone forever...I'll watch over you...both of you."
I stared at Baelfire's blankets where I wrapped him snug inside a few hours ago, too weak to do anything else.
"Don't say that, Maria..." his eyes were beginning to let tears fall, but I had to face my demise. "What am I without magic or a wife? I'm dust Maria, that's what I am."
I didn't say anything, fearing he was right about that. As a man in the village, he didn't have much to amount to if I was gone, and he had no special ability or talent. He'd given up his talent for me...and now I was here, on my deathbed.
Everything had gone to waste. Rumpelstiltskin was probably eating himself from the inside out about giving up his magic. There was no one able to help my sickness for almost nothing in return, so it seemed a lost cause.
"Just...come here," I said, wanting him with me every moment I had left. I had an idea, though it may not amount to much. "Give me your hand." He grasped my hand tightly with both of his, and then his head bent over.
I shut my eyes, thinking this was the last thing I'd ever do for him. If there was something anyone with magic needed to know, it was how to give it away. That's what I had to do. Even deep inside, I knew that Baelfire would take a lot from me, but maybe not the magic I possessed. I wanted Rumpelstiltskin to have his best leveling with Bae just in case.
My magic ran through my vains, and I could feel every last drop of it disappear from my system, and it was then I experienced only a portion of what those who have much more powerful magic go through when they lose their ability. A deep exhale...I was exhausted.
"What did you do?" he asked quickly, and I felt his eyes on me right away. I just needed to focus on breathing.
"If-if Bae-does have-any magic...you'll need mine."
When I opened my eyes again, I saw his hair had changed back a dull brown, his eyes still pleading with my condition.
"Maria..." he began sobbing after that, not saying anything else to me. I moved my body over so he could come into the bed with me.
"Please don't cry...It makes me feel even worse to leave you like this," I confessed.
"But, I don't want you to leave..." I felt a sudden spark of energy course through me like I had somehow conjured up a lightning storm. My body forced backwards, Rumpel jumped beside me, almost falling off the bed.
The energy continued moving until my head felt like it'd been struck with an arrow. I shut my eyes in panic, not understanding what was going on. Images flashed before me in random waves, and I remembered a lot of things about my childhood: my friends, Rumpel, even when I was born.
Everything went white.
