Belle listened intently to Emma as she replayed her meeting with the suited man, Mr Gold. Apparently he was a very wealthy man that owned a great deal of the town Storybrooke, as well as being a lawyer and owner and operator of Mr Gold's Pawn Shop, situated on Maine St.
"It was just strange Bells, a bit unnerving, the way he said my name...it gave me the creeps a bit actually," Emma said as she sat on her bed brushing out her long golden hair. "Tomorrow I'm going to have a bit more of a look around and see what's going on...are you ok here? What are you going to do? I'm sorry that I dragged you all the way out here." She frowned at her friend who was looking out the window onto the square looking a million miles away. At Emma's comment, Belle turned around and sat on the windowsill facing Emma.
"Ems, please don't worry, I wanted to come with you and Henry, it's almost like a mini holiday while I figure out what my next steps are now that my library closed down. Tomorrow I think I'm going to search out the library, grab a book, or ten ", she said with a laugh, "and find somewhere shady and read. Shocking I know, but true!" she said with a twinkle in her blue eyes. "I'm going to leave you sleep Emma, I'm going to go and get myself sorted and I'll see you tomorrow morning at Granny's for breakfast yes?"
With a nod from Emma, Belle left the room and headed to her own situated two doors down. Belle went to start getting ready for bed only to stop in mid stride. She wasn't tired; she didn't feel like going to bed. The restless energy that seemed to have worked its way into her being since she arrived at Storybrooke practically pushed her out the door and down into the street. Maybe a nice brisk walk will do wonders, thought Belle, and headed across the square towards to the clock tower, where, upon looking at her watch, Belle realised that the clock had stopped on 8.15. How strange she thought, and looking below the clock tower, realised the futility of visiting the library tomorrow. By the looks of the boarded up windows and old newspapers lying on the floor outside, this library had not been opened in a very long time. How sad, thought Belle, as she changed her direction and began walking down the street.
Mr Gold had just finished familiarising himself with all of the treasures that had found its way into his Pawn shop. Within an hour of meeting Emma Swan, the town's saviour, all of his memories returned, the curse, the Evil Queen, his quest to find Bae...and Belle. But he wouldn't think of Belle now, his emotions were so raw, if he thought about his love now, his grief would consume him and he would never be able to get what he needed to done.
IT was going to be a very difficult situation to manage over the next few weeks, thought Mr Gold as he walked over to the front door to lock it and turn off the lights for the night. Mayor Mills (aka the Evil Queen) had no idea that Emma was the saviour, that Rumplestilksins (Mr Gold) memories had returned, and that a change was coming, one that would benefit the inhabitants of Storybrooke, but it was yet to be seen if it would help the Evil Queen in the end.
As Mr Gold switched off the light at the front door he peered out onto the darken street, and stopped breathing. Across the road from his shop walked a woman. A small petite woman with a short blue overcoat on over jeans and boots. A scarf was wrapped around the woman's neck to ward off the chill of the night and a matching hat perched on her long flowing tresses, a deep russet brown, her hair curled halfway down her back. Even wrapped up in the modern clothing, Mr Gold could scarcely believe it, it was his Belle.
He closed his eyes and shook his head, sure that it was his imagination that he saw Belle. She was dead, her father having had her killed after she returned to him for safety in the old land. Mr Gold growled low in his chest, Mr Moe French, Belle's father, owned in Storybrooke the Game of Thorns, the flower shop, and one which Mr Gold collected rent for. As Mr Gold opened his eyes again, he thought of the ways he could extract more money from Moe, and in the process make his life more of a misery than it already was. He looked out across the street again, expecting his vision to have vanished, but instead, he found himself looking at the woman who had now started to cross the street and head towards his shop on her return to the Inn no doubt.
His eyes travelled up her small frame as she crossed the street, and rested on her face. In an instant his brown eyes met her cerulean blue ones. She stopped; right there in the middle of the street and just stared at him through the front window of his shop. He was shocked, it was Belle, somehow this beautiful young woman was alive, and staring straight at him.
Belle was considering what she would do tomorrow, shopping had never really interested her that much, however, with the lack of library; it looked like it might have to come to that. Belle laughed to herself, she would have to be one of the few women that didn't enjoy shopping, unless it was for new books. Maybe I could find a place that sold books, a second hand bookstore or...oh the Pawnshop! Belle looked across the road at the building as she turned back towards the Inn. As Belle starting crossing the road she noticed that the light was still on and, coming closer to the shop, she realised that the man that was outside the Inn previously, the mysterious Mr Gold, was looking out from the other side.
As Belle's eyes met Mr Gold's she stopped still. The raw power that pulsated from the man was unbelievable. Although not overly tall or muscular, the dark strength and power made him appear larger. Belle had a flash behind her eyes of this man, but he was different, clothed in crocodile skin, strange skin that had a green/gold tinge and wild curly hair. A car honked to her left and it broke her trance like stare. She turned to look at the car, smile and wave her apology, and continued to cross the road.