A/N - Thank you for all the favourites and alerts. It means a lot to me! I am not too sure how I feel about this... I feel the characterisation is a bit off but I hope you all still like it :) Please review!
Much love,
Rachel xxx
"Good gracious," said Rumplestiltskin as she waddled toward him, arms laden with treasures from her journey through the market.
"Could you…?" she asked, panting as she reached his side.
Rumple drew a circle in the air with his finger and Belle gazed in amazement as her bundle began to levitate as it was drawn towards the faintly glowing circle. One by one, the items went through and then disappeared until the air became still once more.
"There you go, dearie. You will find your purchases back in the carriage," said Rumple with a smile, extending his hand "Now come. I wish to introduce you to something new."
Belle took his hand without hesitation and allowed herself to be pulled down to the lake's side, still trying to regain her breath from her hike through the snow.
"I wish I could do magic, Rumplestiltskin," she began, wistfully "It looks so beautiful…."
"Do you wish to be my apprentice, Belle?" he asked, very seriously.
"What- no, I could never…" her response came quickly "I only meant…"
"If it is your wish to learn magic, then I shall train you," said Rumple "But you must be aware. All magic comes with a price. Nobody can remain pure at heart when they dabble in the arts."
"I do not wish to learn, Rumplestiltskin. I believe I am destined to appreciate the beauty of magic from afar."
"Magic is not beautiful, dearie. My magic is anything but."
"Then change it – use magic to help people, to bring joy and happiness and life."
"Do not try to manipulate me, Belle. It shall not work."
"But I am not manipulating you, Rumple, I am offering you advice."
"You read too many of those books, dearie," he said, an underlying warning in his voice.
"I am only trying to help you," she responded, simply "Now, you said you had something you wanted to show me."
"Yes," he finished "Follow me."
Taking a deep breath, the lady followed, a step behind him. With all his gestures of kindness recently, she had almost forgotten that her companion was the feared Dark One; murderer, manipulator, malicious. How could she have forgot all that with just a few sweet words? She shook her head to clear her thoughts, determined to enjoy the rest of her day.
"Rumplestiltskin, I am not walking across the lake. Are you insane?" protested Belle, her feet firmly planted on the frosty banks.
"Did you never see the common children skating in the winter?" he asked, looking almost shocked.
"My home was never cold enough to freeze the lake. Besides, a future duchess was never allowed outside of the castle without an entourage of guards," responded Belle. Her decision to sacrifice herself for her people was the first that was truly her own. "And even then, 'a ruler does not walk among her people'."
"Why did you come with me, Belle? I could have done anything to you and you would be powerless to stop me. You heard the rumours, the terrifying tales of my wicked ways. Tell me, how does one so privileged gain such defiant bravery?"
"I was never truly afraid of you, Rumplestiltskin. I always found the tales fascinating. My yearning for adventure was strong and I found an escape in my book. In my books, the heroine is always dauntless and wily and clever. Why shouldn't I have a chance to prove myself? A ruler must always do right by her people, do you not agree?"
"You are a very wise woman, Belle. But the world is a cruel place for someone so innocent."
"I learn quickly."
"Yes, you do. Any other lady would have attempted to evade me by now. They would be dead."
Belle didn't know how to respond to such a chilling statement and instead gave a small nod.
"Don't look so worried, dearie. I've grown quite fond of you. Unless you betray me, you shall be absolutely fine," he said, in that all too common mocking way.
"Yes, my lord," she said, tightly.
Ten minutes later and Belle found herself standing a few metres from the bank, desperately trying not to fall. She held her arms out as an attempt to get her balance but she was frozen solid. So much for having the grace of a duchess.
"Lower your arms, dearie. You are not trying to fly off and migrate with the birds," came Rumple's taunts.
Belle scowled, turning her face away from him. In an attempt to prove herself to him, she had foolishly decided to try 'ice-skating'. She was beginning to seriously regret it. Why would anyone choose to willingly step onto some frozen surface in the name of fun? She lowered her arms.
"You are standing far too straight, bend your knees a little."
Praying that she wouldn't slip and make a total mockery of herself, she did as instructed, all the while just wishing she could get back onto the relative safety of solid ground. Her hands were clenched so tightly into fists that her knuckles had turned red and white. Her nose felt numb and she was pretty sure it was ruby red. She had never appreciated the warmth of her home before now… Out here in the middle of the lake, the icy wind picked up around her and she felt even more unstable. Oh god.
"Relax!"
"You're not the one out here," Belle grumbled, in a way most unlike herself.
There was a momentary silence and Belle gingerly moved her feet to turn around to face him. To her surprise, there he was, gliding over the ice towards her, confidence radiating off of him. He grinned at her, showing blackened teeth that still managed to look endearing. He came to a halt behind her, and took her hand tightly.
"Come on, Belle. One step at a time. Push forward," he said, showing her the basic movement on the spot "Gently."
Clutching onto his hand like a child behind her mother's skirts, Belle took her first step. She stumbled, but didn't fall. That gave her some semblance of hope that she wouldn't be entirely hopeless at this strange activity. Belle took another step. And another. And another.
"Well done, dearie," congratulated Rumple as he helped her stop.
Belle was beaming with delight at her achievement and was so giddy with excitement that she didn't notice that Rumple had released her hand. She stepped forward again and managed to get a few metres before she realised she was on her own.
"I did it!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, Belle. Did you enjoy it?" asked Rumple.
"Oh yes, Rumple. I loved it," she replied "Thank you!"
In the spur of the moment, she felt she should hug him. To let him know that he was capable of love and affection and friendship and all those other good, human emotions. Forgetting that she was not exactly a competent skater, she tried to race over the ice to him. That worked fine, until she found herself barrelling towards him like a runaway carriage, and unable to stop. She screamed out a warning as she began to flail her arms in all directions.
Belle looked down at Rumple's surprised expression. She breathed heavily, placing her hand on the ice to get more comfortable, even though it burned through her skin. There was a sort of dull pain in her ankle but she ignored it, staring into his eyes. The way the dying light caught them, they mesmerised her and she couldn't tear herself away, even though she know these sorts of feelings towards him were wrong and unwelcome.
"Belle," he said, pointedly, with a cough.
Flushing red, she tried to push herself off. Unfortunately, her luck had well and truly run out. Her foot slid and she collapsed back on top of him with a sharp scream. He grunted but didn't otherwise protest. His chapped lips formed a slight smile.
"You have certainly knocked me off my feet, Belle, dear. You could have just asked," he teased.
It had the desired effect. She turned as red as a tomato, hastily breaking their eye contact. I should have paid more attention during my lessons. The shame of physically assaulting her master was almost too much to bear.
"I am only joking, dearie," he responded, seeing her flustered state "Although if you wouldn't mind…"
Deciding that standing up was out of the question, she rolled to the side, landing on her stomach on the ice. She shivered. Rumple was on his feet in a moment and she gratefully accepted his hand. Once on her feet once more, she wound her arm tightly around his, clinging on as if her life depended on it.
"Don't let go," she half-pleaded, her short-lived confidence on the lake falling away.
"I won't," he agreed.
After 'skating' round the lake once (Rumple keeping his promise) the pair reached the bank. Belle collapsed to the grass as if it were heaven; drawing her knees to her chest to shield herself from the biting wind. To her surprise, Rumplestiltskin sat next to her, legs straight out.
"Here," he said, pulling a fur blanket from mid-air.
"Thank you," she replied with chattering teeth, wrapping it around her shoulders and pulling the hood of her cloak up to cover her ears.
They sat in silence for a while, watching as the sun dipped further in the clear blue sky. The snow clouds had gathered once more and the first flakes of the night were slowly drifting down. Belle remembered the time she had gone to visit her royal cousin in her kingdom – her very very cold kingdom. It had been her first proper snowfall and her cousin had spent as much time as possible with her; teaching her how to build a snowman and how to make snow angels. Smiling, the lady stuck her tongue out, catching the perfect little flake on her tongue. After a while of doing so, she noticed her companion staring at her curiously. She had forgotten she was not alone.
"During the winter of my eleventh year, we went to sort some affairs with my cousin. There was miles of snow all around, every day, completely untouched…" said Belle "It's just a silly thing we used to do."
"I don't find it silly," he said.
"Oh…?"
"It's very endearing, actually."
"Oh…"
"I may be the Dark One, dearie. That does not mean I cannot appreciate the beauty of small things. As impossible as that sounds."
"You were not always this… way, were you?" asked Belle, suddenly.
"No. I was not," he responded, his walls firmly in place.
"Tell me how you came to be the most feared in all the realms, Rumplestiltskin. I have told you a story, I only wish to understand you better…. If you have to be my only companion for the rest of my life… I deserve that much, don't you think?"
It was blatant manipulation, but despite his earlier warning, he gave in to her. She felt a pang of guilt but pushed it away. If she was to help him become a better person, she needed something to work with. And so she listened intently to his tale.
