Us being together only causes heartbreak.

Belle missed him already, but she told herself to be strong. She had to protect their child. True love's kiss had woken her. She and the baby could make a fresh start, free of darkness. She couldn't afford to let Rumple slip back inside her defenses. She needed a place to stay, somewhere that wouldn't remind her of him. At first she thought to beg a room at Granny's inn, but then Hook offered to let her stay on the Jolly Roger.

A pirate ship? Belle was dubious at first, especially given that this pirate had tried to kill her on multiple occasions. He gave her his best charming smile and apologized, blathering something about wanting to make it up to her.

Well. If she was going to be a good person, she had to give him a chance if he was sincere. But stay on his ship? "If Rumple finds you harboring me..."

"His wrath will be an added bonus." The pirate smirked, clearly proud of his own bravery in angering the "crocodile".

We both know he won't kill you, or he could have done it long ago! Belle bit back the retort. It was an added bonus. Rumple disliked Hook intensely, which meant he would be that much less likely to seek her out if she was staying here. And if it hurts him to lose a second wife to the pirate's ship, all the better. She shoved back the vindictive thought and concentrated on the more heroic reasons for avoiding her husband: he had proven himself too untrustworthy for her to continue as his wife. She decided then to accept the pirate's offer.

The antique ship turned out to be barely more comfortable than her cell under the hospital. It was cramped, creaky, and lacking in the modern conveniences she had become used to while living in Storybrooke. Still, that was unimportant. It gave her the peace she needed to think about what she was going to do. A child! She had barely ever had a chance to live on her own, and now she was going to bring a baby into the world, a baby that she would be solely responsible for if she couldn't trust Rumple.

You can't trust him. The darkness owns him. He killed his first wife on this very ship.

She didn't know where the thought had come from. A memory, perhaps, of something her son had told her in the dreamscape. She had felt his terror as if it were her own. She wrapped her arms protectively around her abdomen. It was true, though. Killian Jones — Hook — had told her... and Rumple had later confirmed it. She had never been afraid of her husband before, but things were different now. At night, she fell asleep to the soft lapping of the water against the hull. Her dreams were full of forboding images, veering into nightmares that left her crying and shaking underneath the thin shield of her blankets.

The next morning, Moe French came to see her. Father and daughter threw their arms around each other with watery smiles, a family reunion thankfully free of magical complications. After she told him about her pregnancy, Moe urged Belle to move back to his house.

Belle shook her head. "I'm fine, here. I'm a grown woman, Father. You don't have to worry about me." In fact, she was more worried about him. The last thing she wanted was for her father to be caught in the crossfire between herself, Rumple, and Rumple's enemies.

"I know, love." Moe sighed, shaking his head. "Thank the gods you've left that beast, finally. We did everything we could to keep you from him."

"What do you mean?" Belle still wasn't sure what had happened while she was under the Sleeping Curse, wasn't sure she wanted to know what darkness Rumple had unleashed in trying to wake her.

"He came to the flower shop and demanded my help. Of course, I refused, as long as he was with you. Wake you up only to be his prisoner again?" Moe drew himself up proudly. "I would never do that to my little girl, no matter how much he threatened me!"

"Oh." Belle hadn't realized that Rumple had gone to her father after all. A twinge of anger stirred at the thought of her father meddling with her fate again.

Moe nodded. He continued on, oblivious, "The whole town stood up to that monster. When Rumplestiltskin tried to steal all the magic, the Savior and the mayor stopped him."

"Steal all the magic?"

"Well, not even the Dark One has enough magic on his own to break a Sleeping Curse. But don't worry, love, he failed." Moe frowned. "But he still stole you away and..."

"You were all trying to stop him from waking me?" Anger boiled up again. Didn't they realize what kind of nightmare the Sleeping Curse could be? The "whole town"? Even all the people she had thought of as her friends?

"It was for your own good," her father said, gripping her hands placatingly. "We just wanted to free you from that beast!"

"My own good?" Belle jerked her hands free and took a step back. "No. No. This is the mines all over again!" The past replayed itself vividly in her mind. Her father had kidnapped her and tried to send her across the town line in a mine cart, which, due to the curse, would have erased her memories, her self.

"Belle," pleaded her father.

"No. You do not make my decisions for me! If you really cared about me, you would understand that."

"I do, of course, but that beast has you confused. It's a father's duty to—"

"Stop. Don't." Belle raised a hand, and her father shut his mouth abruptly, eyes widening. "Just. Go. Please. It's my life..." She willed him to leave. Leave, before she... before she...

Moe turned and left, stumbling slightly as he walked down the gangplank onto the docks, and Belle didn't have to complete her thought. Instead, she retreated back to the dim security of her cabin on the ship. She was confused, by Rumple and by her conflicted feelings for him. Confused by the lurking darkness that continued to cling to her, the darkness that she didn't want to acknowledge.

To her relief, Rumplestiltskin stayed away from the Jolly Roger. He sent David Nolan to deliver a cassette tape to her. Of course her husband had made a deal with the Sheriff to act as his messenger. Simple friendship was obviously beyond him. Bitter and contemptuous at the thought at first, it twisted in her mind after she had listened to the tape. A poem for their unborn son. And then it struck her how isolated Rumple was, how utterly alone. Nothing was ever given freely to him, nor would he ever ask. That had been his life for centuries, and that was what it was again, now that Belle had left him.

And who's to blame for that? If he would be the good man he could be, maybe people would be friendlier to him. It's only his fear and weakness that lets him down, lets you down. Every time. Don't be his enabler. Stay strong.

Her darker thoughts were confirmed a week later when Rumple showed up at the ship only to trap her aboard it with his magic. Protection! It was only his paranoia speaking. Furious, she could only wait until he had destroyed whatever threat he imagined. And why had he cut his hair? She thought it just made him look more sinister. There was a ruthlessness in the way it was cropped so close to his skull.

At least a visitor came by to distract her from her thoughts.

She was grateful. Grateful, all the way up to the moment when Jekyll tried to kill her. He slammed Hook's enchanted seashell to the ground, smashing it. She screamed the pirate's name at the shards, knowing it was no use. All she could do was to pick up the biggest piece and stab it into Jekyll's shoulder. It bought her enough time to flee to the deck of the ship. And there she was trapped, Rumple's spell a wall she couldn't break.

"Rumple!" She begged him to release the spell, but to her horror, he refused. The man beside him held his dagger, controlling Rumple completely. For some reason, he wanted Rumple to watch her die.

And she would. She saw Jekyll emerge from the hold, murderous intent clear. It was like a nightmare. Reality slid away from her. Belle froze, unable to wake from the dream. And then, in the way of dreams, Captain Hook was there. He and Jekyll grappled. Jekyll was flung back, right onto the point of a harpoon. Moments later, he was dead.

Rumplestiltskin watched, helpless. His soul enslaved to the dagger, he could do nothing to save his wife. He cursed his own stupidity in this matter. His fears had overwhelmed him and he had made one mistake after another. Now he was left with nothing, nothing that could save her. Only she could... if only... he held his breath, hoping.

And there was a shimmer of magic, invisible to everyone else. A transport spell! The pirate. Of course. He appeared on the scene as if he had always been there. Rumple could see the false memory sink into his mind, smoothing over the continuity. Another adjustment, and a harpoon angled itself to impale Jekyll right through the heart.

Rumplestiltskin let out his breath, his eyes turning to Belle. She blinked, looking like someone just waking up out of a nightmare. Did she know? No. Her shock was genuine, as was her gratitude to Killian Jones. He gritted his teeth, swallowing his annoyance. It didn't matter. Belle was safe. Jekyll and Hyde were dead.

He retrieved his dagger. His name was solid as ever, white lettering on black metal. He turned it over to study the other side. Where it had once been blank, now faint, barely visible pale streaks had appeared, spelling out another name: Belle French. He glanced over at her, wondering how long she had before her soul was completely tethered. Until he could free her, he had to make doubly sure that the dagger did not leave his possession.

Regina, then Sheriff Nolan and Emma Swan, showed up, too late to make any difference. Rumplestiltskin had little attention to spare for them. He needed to talk to Belle. To apologize. To explain. He fumbled with his words, as clumsy with them as he had ever been.

Belle wasn't in any mood to listen to him. Too angry. Too frightened. She demanded explanations from him, but not about what was truly important. So he told her about his history with Jekyll. The reminder of their Dark Castle days did nothing to soften her stance. Well, not when he himself admitted that he had seen his feelings for her as a weakness.

In the end, he could only leave her on the ship while he returned to his shop. Now that his vision had been confirmed, what could he do about it? Would it be any kindness to tell her? When Killian Jones had suddenly realized that he was a Dark One, he had summoned the shades of the previous Dark Ones to murder everyone he cared about. Rumplestiltskin didn't think that Belle, gentle Belle, would do anything like that, but you could never predict someone's reaction to the darkness. No matter what happened, she would suffer from the knowledge.

No. Better if he could contrive some way to free the darkness from her, the darkness that he had inadvertently infected her with. Better that she never had to consciously bear the burden of the Dark One. If he acted quickly enough, he could divert her from the path that led her to become the woman he had Seen. Let her curse his secrecy. Let her never speak to him again. Whether she ever forgave him or not, he would never forgive himself if the darkness taught her to hate herself.

And if she killed someone with magic as he had foreseen, crushing a heart in her fist, she would hate herself.